Being accused of things you didn't do is annoying and can be infuriating even in the best of situations. Sometimes, though, the thing you're accused of is so ridiculous that you can't even be mad.
For example, I had a group of friends I would chat with online. One day, the elderly father of one of those friends got a phone call from Florida saying the friend was in trouble and needed bail money.
Dad knew it was a scam because he had heard about it on the news and just spoken to his son. Dad brushed it off, but did tell son about it. Son mentioned it to a few of those friends.
One of them decided that *I* must have been behind the scam since I live in Florida - along with like 18.5 million other people, but that's not the point. As far as this person was concerned, it was totally me who tried to scam an old man (who I didn't even know was alive and would have no way to contact) out of some money.
Amazingly they managed to convince a few other people that I was a nefarious phone scammer, too. Extra amazingly, that's not even the strangest thing I've been accused of. Let's not even talk about the Nigerian Illuminati incident...
Reddit user Memerdreemurr_Unrl asked:
What's the weirdest thing you've been falsely accused of?
The responses honestly made us laugh pretty hard in most cases. Some were sad since you can tell mental illness played a roll. All of them were outright odd.
Drug-Free Brownies
A long time ago: In exchange for housing, I took care of my best friend's 2 y/o niece and 3 y/o nephew. One day, their insane mom showed up and insisted that I'd given her children pot brownies - not regular brownies - since they were running all over the place (like children sometimes do.) She even called the cops on me, who confirmed that I gave the kids normal, drug-free brownies. She was admitted to a mental hospital not long after. It was so dramatic.
I took care of them for about another 3 years after (until someone else was awarded custody) and still travel back home to see them when I can. Their mom never showed up again - it's been 7 years now. I also lost both parents to mental issues, no way I could just duck out.
- M31K_
You Can't Fit A Dumpster In An Impala
GiphyMy boyfriend got pulled over by the police in his super tiny Impala car, because apparently some shop owner accused him of trying to steal a whole dumpster with said vehicle.
We Can't Afford A Coke Habit
Doing drugs every morning before work.
It's called coffee people, I work at the same low paying company as you all. None of us could afford that coke habit.
- Majik9
That's Not How Alcoholism Works
Freshman year of college I had a super sheltered roommate. One Friday, I illegally bought a bottle of vodka, had a shot, thought it was gross, and put it in the freezer. Never drank again the rest of the semester. She accused me of being an alcoholic a month later.
She was ungodly stupid. If I were an alcoholic that bottle of vodka wouldn't have stayed there the entire semester, practically full. She opened the freezer a lot for food, the alcohol was always at the same level. It's unlikely she thought I was replacing the bottle. Unless she thought I drank an entire bottle a day.
Hill Letters
Some places in the US have big white letters on the side of the hill to signify the name of the town, the name of local schools, etc. I grew up in between 2 towns like this.
Both of the "hill letter" towns were "cross town rivals" and were always playing (lame) pranks on each other. One time, a bunch of kids from my school went up to the rivals letter and changed it around to their letter. It required hiking up a large hill and rearranging boulders for hours. A couple of the kids were football players and there were about 6 kids doing the work.
Because my car was seen in town, I was accused of doing it. Just me. I wouldn't have even climbed up the hill, let alone spent hours lifting rocks plus this was a task that was literally impossible for a single person.
There are still people that remember it happening and ask if it was me.
- Gekokujo
Rewards Program Identity Theft
I have to ask every customer if they'd like to join our rewards program. It's the retail equivalent of "would you like fries with that?" To complete the enrollment I need a phone number and an email address.
Being accused of trying to steal someone's identity to sell it to the Russians (or some equally paranoid rant) is a dramatic event that happens a handful of times per year.
One lady went on a fifteen minute rampage about how she doesn't trust anyone with her phone number because banking can be done over the phone and she never knows when she'll be tapped, etc. Then she has the nerve to go off on me because she's not getting any reward coupons...
Once in a while I'll drop the hint that they can, in fact, give me a fake number or email and I'll never know, and they look at me dumbfounded like someone just told them Santa Claus isn't real.
Rural Chinese Stairs
I was staying at my girlfriends hometown in rural China.
Little old lady fell up stairs and she started accusing me of pushing her... I was a good 10 meters away. A security guard saw what happened and he told me to just ignore her and walk away.
I Don't Work Here
Being late for work/skipping out on work by not being in uniform (this was at a grocery store.)
It started with a foreign employee yelling at me in broken English as I entered the store. I understood about 1/3 of what she was saying and tried explaining (in vain) that I didn't work there. Later, when I was doing my shopping she came back and started yelling at me again and started trying to pull me towards the employee area. Luckily I was bigger and stronger so I stood my ground and yelled for help.
Another employee who spoke better English and could communicate with her arrived and I yelled at him about his crazy coworker. The store owner was called in and gave me a gift card for my troubles and a lot of harsh words for the female employee.
I saw the new employee I was presumably mistaken for a few weeks later. I have to admit, we were very similar except for our height, weight, skin tone, hair color, facial hair and race. Anyone could've gotten us mixed up.
Terrorism
Another student in elementary school once accused me of "terrorism" by claiming I blinded her with a so called "weapon I snuck into school."
It was a little light for a diary that would reveal UV ink; I forgot it was in my pocket and took it to school accidentally. I pulled it out because the light was on and this girl across hall starts flailing and saying that I blinded her. I lost recess for a week even though it was just a light, they called it "directed aggression" or something.
Making It In New York
I had just moved to New York for a job at a mid-size company.
One of my co-workers threw a house party to welcome me and another woman who also just started. (I didn't really know this other woman, she worked in a different department and we only talked once during a benefits orientation thing.) It was a Friday night, and I stayed and partied into the next morning, while the other woman left around 10:30PM or so.
Next Monday morning at work, that woman messages me and says she needs to talk to me immediately. We go to the empty break room downstairs and she is furious. She's doing the red-face/angry crying thing.
"I heard you were talking about me after I left. You were telling everyone that there is no way I can make it in New York. How dare you talk about me behind my back. F*ck. You. I hate drama and I will not let you get me involved in it." (I don't think I'm explaining this well enough, she had veins popping out of her neck, she looked like she wanted to fight me.)
I'm absolutely shocked and confused and I'm looking around the room like that John Travolta GIF.
"Are you sure it was me? I have no opinion on your ability to live in New York. I hardly even know your name, to be honest."
That pissed her off more, she cusses at me a bit more, and threatens to report me to HR if I don't stop talking about her behind her back.
The situation kinda worked itself out because it turned out she couldn't in fact "make it" in New York and quit about a week and a half later.
I ended up being good friends with the people who were at the original house party and I asked them about that night, if anyone was talking about her after she left. They all swear that her name was never mentioned and she just made the whole thing up. Friggin crazy.
Gang Banger
Being a "gang banger" at my old job. What actually happened was a coworker that didn't like me found a box cutter in the staff bathroom. This coworker took it to our department head and said it was definitely mine and she knew that because I was a gang member. Spoiler alert: it wasn't my box cutter. It was the maintenance guy's.
"It's A Shank!"
When I was 13 years old, my friends sister got in an argument with a old lady in McDonald's. My friends 9 year old brother had climbed over the booth to get to his seat, as kids sometimes do. The lady yelled at us that we all belong in a zoo and then called the cops.
The police showed up and accused me of being a local gangbanger with the moniker "Lil Joker."
This wasn't even in my city. I'm definitely not a gangbanger and I have no idea who "Lil Joker" is. The fact that I wasn't from that city wasn't enough for the cops. They then searched our car and came out with a small phillips head screw driver. When I say small i mean TINY. It was the ones used for tightening the screws on a pair of glasses.
The cops came out aggressively shouting "What is this?!?!?" We told them it was a screw driver.
"Its a shank!" was their response. All in all a pretty ridiculous interaction with the police when I was a kid.
Few things can give you a better cry than a sad movie ending.
It's cathartic and horrible all at once.
I still weep at 'Ghost.'
That ending will always be relevant.
Also, there is something beautiful about crying as a group of strangers in the dark together.
Note: there are movie spoilers below.
Redditor Fl1p1 wanted to talk about the times movies left us in tears, so they asked:
"Which movie has the saddest ending of all time?"
I've shed so many tears in theaters. I can't keep track.
But I will say one word... "Titanic."
Knock Out
morgan freeman boxing GIFGiphy"Million Dollar Baby."
thesweet_submissive
"Damn, I was gonna say the same. I went in blind and that sad ending hit me like a truck. I wept so much alone in my room. The only movie to evoke such a strong emotion from me."
if**kbarney
I Love Literature
"Of Mice and Men."
3BlindMonks
"Oof we had to read the book in high school, and we read THAT part aloud in class. Before we began, the teacher gave a tissue box to each row of desks, and all us teens were like 'that’s a bit dramatic isn’t it haha.'"
"Then while reading that scene, most of the class ended up either quietly crying or at least visibly sad. I love literature, i majored in English, and I know reading isn’t everyone’s cup of tea; to see a novel move the ones that didn’t even enjoy literature to begin with was truly inspiring. I think seeing a novel move people so drastically is what really pushed me into creative writing."
gothboob69
So... Moving
"Where the red fern grows."
Fun-Training-6241
"I had a sociopath for a 6th grade English teacher that made the class take turns reading this book aloud. So cruel. Everyone was choked up."
WhiskyNerdFAF
"It was actually the VERY ending that got to me, where he's talking about wishing how he could go back and visit his old stomping grounds and maybe find a 2 bit axe with a rusty lantern hanging off of it. I grew up in the woods and seeing evidence of your old past self still preserved is so... moving."
spazmatt527
I'm Tired Boss
"The Green Mile."
Short_Perspective72
"I'm tired, boss. Tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we's coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other."
Johnny_Grubbonic
"Saw it in the movies. Everyone in the theater cried. Even when the credits started to roll and the lights went on, we all sat there for a couple minutes collecting ourselves. Hadn’t seen anything like that, before or since then."
DopeCharma
Bye Jenny
Academy Awards Film GIF by CBSGiphy"Forrest Gump. I wouldn’t say it is the 'saddest' however the ending where they visit Jenny’s grave, gets me every time."
Emeraldfox_5
"The part where Bubba dies got me even more."
RandomMemer_42069
Forrest Gump always sets the tears flowing.
A Hard Hit
ewan mcgregor popcorn GIFGiphy"Big Fish... Fantastic movie. I generally don't do emotional with movies but damn this one hit hard. Probably topped my childhood tears of Optimus Prime being killed off in the Transformers movie when I was a kid."
sirandtheirDLW
Family Fun?
"My Girl."
longtallsally15
"On Weekends my dad always looked into the tv magazine and chose a kids movie for us to watch. No warning for it, just 'lovely movie for the whole family.'"
"So me, overly empathic 7 year old watched it… and ended up crying for like 2 hours. My father ended up calling the magazine hotline to yell at them. Since then I spoil myself with endings. Unless I know it has a good ending I just can‘t watch movies."
kamalaophelia
Gut Wrenching
"Life is Beautiful."
mazlow01
"Gawd that movie is so hard to watch but is so amazing."
PirateJohn75
"I literally just saw a clip of this movie in a documentary of where he goofily goose steps around the corner in front of his son with a nazi behind him a couple of days ago and just burst into tears. That movie is gut wrenching."
ArmadilloNext9714
"Also my answer. As a Jew who lost ancestors in the Holocaust, that movie had a physical impact on me."
CommissarCiaphisCain
Bad History
"Bridge to Terabithia."
OkFineBanMe68
"I knew nothing about the movie or book when I went in so it was a huge surprise to me and honestly it tore me to pieces when it played out."
Malikhi
"I read that book in school. Didn’t like it. Movie came out and my mom was like hey that was a school book we should go see it. I said nah no thanks I was a kid when I read it I’ll pass."
"She says fine takes my younger brother (4years younger than me so maybe 10 at this time) and two of my cousins (10 and 8) and my aunt."
"My mom came home so upset and I was just hangin' on the couch. She started yelling at me asking why I didn’t warn them and how come I let them go see that stupid movie. I got grounded for it."
VolubleWanderer
Value
"Schindler’s List."
"Though 1100 Jews were saved, Schindler broke down and mourned over not saving more. Instead of patting himself on the back about what he achieved, he came to understand the value of human life and wished he had done more."
Breathtaking
Great Job Congrats GIF by Cappa Video ProductionsGiphy"The Whale recently. The reveal of the letter had me shattered."
bharatchipkar6
The Whale was a lot. But beautiful. See it.
Do you have any to add? Let us know in the comments.
Most people have suffered wide-ranging types of addiction, from the mundane to the ones that cause harm to themselves or to others.
Compulsive shopping and drinking gallons of coffee on a daily basis are common addictions, as are more extreme examples like being dependent on illegal substances or drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.
It's a slippery slope that many individuals experience and are in too deep to even notice their vices have taken control over their precious lives.
It takes a major lifeline in the form of an intervention or hitting an absolute lowest point in life to come to terms with the issues, recalibrate their choices, and, hopefully, turn things around.
Those who've miraculously turned their lives around shared their stories when Redditor CreepyAssociation173 asked:
"Ex addicts of Reddit, what was your rock bottom that made you realize you had to stop?"
Former alcoholics who survived the worst wanted to share their harrowing accounts of a former life.
Waking From A Coma
"I was a serious alcoholic for many years. 5 years ago I ended up in a coma. 2 weeks later I woke up and never looked back. I feel like a part of me died. I lost a lot of friends, family, money, etc. but I’m happy with the outcome."
"I have two brothers. Both of them have a fentanyl addiction. The youngest one (in his 20s) died 3 days ago. We both found him and tried to save him, saw things we will never forget. The other brother is now 2 days clean in detox and getting ready to start rehab after finishing. Hopefully he never looks back either."
– Quick-Potato-3638
Parents Come To The Rescue
"I didn't drink until college, but when I did I hit it like a freight train. By the time I was in my late 20s I was having withdrawal seizures. Had my first one Dec 26th 2016 and that kept up until 2020. I was hospitalized multiple times for them and had more that went 'unreported' (once at work) but I don't think anyone really noticed or cared enough to do anything substantial about it. Even myself. Every day I would vomit and feel sick, I had bruises everywhere from god knows what, but I never really cared enough to change. Between me and my husband we were going though 3 handles of cheap vodka a week. What broke me, us, it, whatever was my husband's body giving out Feb 2020 just as the world fell apart too. Our dog died Feb 15th and I think part of us did too, for husband anyways it was his liver and kidneys. They had finally had enough and called it quits. By the time he got to the ER Feb 23rd he was a Simpsons character. As he got treatment and I stayed by his side, still drinking insanely but now he was in the hospital so I was alone."
"In mid March he somehow got a transfer to Stanford and started the process for a liver and kidney transplant with about a 30% chance of survival. His family hated me at this point and I was forbidden to contact him and, I broke. There was no one, espctially now with Covid making it's debut to help or care about me. For two weeks I drank, sized, vomited, cut myself, fell downstairs... It was actually this *exact* time 3 years ago where I was all alone with no one but vodka and my cat and somehow I didn't die. Heh. Then the lockdown was offically called for California March 25th and my MIL decided to evict me the same day so my parents begrudgingly drove the 4hrs to get me, load up their car with as much of my crap (but mostly toilet paper) as possible and I lived in their basement for 3 years while I picked up the pieces of my little life. I couldn't quit cold turkey, I was still having seizures at this point, but I weened myself off slowly and now on Day 990! Comma Club here I come!"
– FroggiJoy87
Acknowledging Is The First Step
"Not an addict myself, unfortunately he only realized he really needed to stop right before it killed him. My fiance was a severe alcoholic, at his worst he drank half a gallon of vodka a day. He'd been trying to quit for a while, off and on, I kept trying to get him to stop. I'd go to doctor's appointments with him and he would always avoid saying he was an alcoholic because he didn't want it on his medical record. He hadn't been feeling well for a while, he had to quit drinking two or three days before because we were broke, and he asked me to take him to the hospital. We got into triage and the nurse was going through intake questions with him, and he said 'I am an alcoholic.' That shocked me, that's how I knew it was rock bottom, because he'd been so adamant that no medical professional know he's an alcoholic, but this time, he didn't even hesitate. His liver was failing, and a week later he died. I wish so badly that he could've gotten better and turned it around, I really think he could have if he survived, but I also think he knew it was the end."
– Swell_Inkwell
Becoming Jobless
"Getting fired. Having to tell my spouse who was unaware of my issue (I functioned very well). Then getting served divorce papers while I was entering treatment two weeks later. My home became the treatment center for 90 days and when I was finished I had nowhere to go since my spouse took possession of the house. So I was homeless, penniless, jobless. That pretty much incentivized me to continue on my path of recovery."
– Phasianidae
These habits wound up costing Redditors financial losses.
The First Addiction
"I've hit rock bottom a few times for different addictions. The first was my gambling addiction. It was so bad that I was stealing scratch tickets from my workplace, where we weren't even allowed to be playing lottery from in the first place. I got fired (understandably), and my boss could have easily pressed charges, but he didn't. He gave me a second chance for which I will forever be grateful."
– maymayiscraycray
Saving The Life Of A Pet
"Mine was only weed but I was spending around $600 a week. My rock bottom was spending my dog’s home euthanasia savings on drugs, she had a brain tumour so I had the money aside so she could go comfortably when the time was right. She was my closest family and meant the world to me, I’d have traded our places in a second if I could’ve, she was all the goodness in my life. I ended up quitting cold turkey, did some extra work and sold a bunch of my possessions to remake the money within a week, was just in time to because she needed that money a few days later."
"The realisation that I had put my addiction before the comfort of my beloved dying dog was my turning point."
– Chrysocyon_b
Not everyone who battles drug addiction manages to come out the other side alive. Fortunately, these Redditors did.
Waking Up In The Hospital
"Im making this post with no intention of deleting it like 90% of what I post in hopes it will make me more accountable."
"I OD’d recently on some presses/xanax (been addicted to fent for close to 3 years now and was using heroin before then)."
"Woke up in the hospital with no hearing and realized I have no friends, either dead or couldnt handle watching me tear myself apart from closer than an arms length. I’ve been running around the last 6 years lashing out at myself and hurting others in the process. It made me feel selfish and uncaring."
"I’ve been on a subuxone taper since and threw all the sh*t I had out the moment I got back. 14th time is the charm or some sh*t."
– burgerstm
A Friend's Response To Rambling
"I used to down amphetamine pills like crazy back in the day. The end of that train happened when I was sitting with a friend who knew me prior to these addictions, and he was looking at me like I had two heads as I rambled on and on and cried and burst out laughing and basically made a huge scene of myself in the middle of a restaurant. After that day, I called up my dad and told him I needed to come crash at his house for a couple of weeks as I detoxed. I didn’t realize just how fried my brain was because most of my life for a year was spent surrounded by other people just as off the chain as me."
– Upstairs_Cow
Addictions can take on many forms, and some might not even be able to identify them as an addiction.
But others have talked about social media addictions, phone addiction and even work addiction, where an employee took on more shifts to make more money but later realized they were missing out on life.
Anything that takes you away from living and slowly wears you down is not healthy.
As one Redditor noted, here's an encouraging note to leave on.
NightKatCares00 wrote:
"For everyone who is struggling-"
"Please, keep trying. Keep fighting. You can do it, I believe in you. It sucks and it's hard, but you CAN do it!"
"Don't give up, please. You are wonderful and deserve it. You can do this!"
Not everyone has the best memories of high school, so it stands to reason that they might not be the most excited about attending their high school reunions.
For those who actually do attend, they're able to confirm that the events are not all they're cracked up to be and are sometimes, quite frankly, a little bit strange or surreal.
Redditor Zdvj asked:
"People who attended their high school reunion, what was the biggest surprise?"
Stuck in the Past
"My 10-year reunion was held at a bar. It was all the same people at the bar as it was every weekend, but this time they were wearing nicer clothes."
- survivalguyledeuce
All Grown Up
"Back in high school, there was one girl who was extremely popular, extremely pretty, and seemed totally unapproachable from my vantage point."
"She was also really catty, embodying a lot of the 'Mean Girl' stereotypes."
"Talking with her at the reunion, it turned out that she was very insecure, and had a very tenuous home life for which she was compensating and now she is extremely kind, full of gratitude, and just really down to earth. I love seeing that sort of change in people!"
- Hetvenfour
Excruciating Detail
"The only high school reunion I attended was my 50th. I was surprised that people remembered things I'd done with amazing detail specificity."
- zoosuitbeatnick
Past Crushes
"At some point during our 10-year reunion, I asked the girl I had a crush on back in seventh or eighth grade if she knew that I had a crush on her. I just thought it was fun talking about that as adults."
"As it turns out, she texted me several times during the next few days, we met again, and now, almost six years later, we're engaged (for two years... but didn't marry yet) we have a house, a child, second child on the way and everything is great."
"Not what I expected back then!"
- juleztb
Forgetting Everyone
"That I couldn't remember anyone."
"Everyone remembered me because I was the freak in high school, and people kept coming up to me and being like, 'Scienceforbid, it's so great to see you.'"
"And I kept having to run to the wall where they'd plastered blown-up yearbook photos to figure out who the f**k anybody was."
- scienceforbid
The Aging Process
"How incredibly differently have people aged."
- Loud_Adagio2222
"I’ve never seen men age/gray so quickly as when they increase the size of their family."
- JMDeutsch
"I've noticed this at work. I'm the youngest guy in my department, and most of my coworkers are 50+. But guessing the actual ages of any of them, or even who is older than someone else is really difficult. Some of the guys look really old in their early 50s, while others are nearly 70 and relatively young."
"There are lots of factors, the job they've had, genetics, how well they take care of themselves, etc. But by far the biggest factor is kids. The guys without kids all look great for their age. While the guys with kids look like they've lived a rough life."
"It's a couple of decades worth of differences like increased financial stress and worse sleep that causes the fathers to age more quickly."
- MazerRakam
Job Choices
"Real estate agents. So many real estate agents."
- Hectordoink
"And 'entrepreneurs' and life coaches. Really, they seemed to be there to market their services."
- TrenchardsRedemption
Uninvited
"The reunion itself."
"My wife was down in the state south of us for training and got into an accident. I went down and got things sorted with her so she was good and went back to what she was doing and I drove back north. It was a Friday and I was driving through my hometown and figured I would take my mother out to a restaurant we used to both really like going to."
"As we were eating, an old friend from high school walked through, waved, and headed into the back. Then another, and another, and another. Just as I was about to get up and go see what was going on an old girlfriend and later good friend walked in, saw me, and came up to talk for a bit. Then she asked if we should head back there, which confused me."
"Turns out I made it to the 10th year reunion for my class without knowing that I was at the 10th year reunion for my class. I finished my dinner with my mom, let her take my car home (I would catch a ride), and had a good night at the reunion I didn't know to expect."
- ACorania
Survival Stories
"A guy had cancer and attended. He looked to be 80 years old but was in his late 20s. Cancer really took a toll on him. Sad."
- Tuesday2017
Career Choices
"The biggest surprise anytime I catch up with people I grew up with is finding out their career. Most of us have pretty unremarkable jobs but some that stood out:"
"The guy who got arrested for underaged drinking three times is now a cop."
"The girl who couldn’t form a coherent sentence is now a teacher."
"The super genius is living in poverty because he decided to move to Costa Rica to save the rainforest."
"The bad kid joined the Army and now runs a small business and is doing very well for himself."
"The weirdo became a DJ and does shows at nightclubs."
"The nerdy D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) kid now owns and operates an outdoor shooting range and is one of the largest ammunition suppliers in the area."
- PM_Me_UrRight
The Late Classmates
"It was disturbing that 17 classmates had died by our 10th reunion."
- Back2Bach
"We had a lot of kids die with in the first 5 years after graduation. Can't remember the exact number, but it was in the neighborhood of like 20."
"Don't remember all of them, it was a weird mix of stuff. Three died in the same car crash, five to ten were OD-related deaths. At least one murder."
"We were a class of 650."
"Still, felt weird that there were that many deaths. We went to a pretty decent school in a nice area."
- Main-Yogurtcloset-82
Feeling Excluded
"The last I ever heard of my high school reunion was in an alumni newsletter. I was listed as 'missing' with a request for anyone who knew how to contact me to contact the alumni organization."
"The newsletter was sent to my house."
"I’m trying not to take it personally…"
- Someoneoverthere42
Surprising Turnout
"At the ten-year, one guy who had been a kind of a nerd and on the bowling team was now part of a 'wacky morning DJ' crew on one of the more popular radio stations in New York City, and came in with big hair and dressed like a rock star."
- brock_lee
Alternate Endings
"The only real 'surprise' was just how wrong we were about how people would turn out."
"The ivy-league bound people you were sure would be CEOs one day, ended up dropping out of college, having normal middle-class lives, jobs, and marriages, and just being happy as 'average.'"
"The people you were sure would end up like Wooderson from School Daze, turned out to get Master's degrees and even PhDs in one case, and now work in either government or aerospace."
"The guy who fought to get into West Point, ended up doing his required four years and then leaving the armed services."
"One guy ended up becoming a semi-successful author, and nobody saw that coming."
"The girl who got pregnant at 16, who you were sure was destined for a life of struggle, ended up landing a great career and retiring early. And her kids turned out to be great people who any parent would be proud of."
"The people you were sure would never lose contact with their friend group, vanished as if they never existed."
"The people who had to ask yourself, 'I don't recall that name at all, did they graduate in my class?' are now friends with 75% of the class on Facebook and active!"
"The athletes (boys and girls) are now anything but athletes, overweight, and frumpy."
"The frumpy dumpy ones now are rock climbers and hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail."
"IT JUST GOES TO SHOW: Who you are on graduation day is absolutely not who you will become in three, five, ten, or thirty years. The future is yet unwritten, and the only thing stopping you from change is yourself."
- whomp1970
Many of these Redditors shared in the woes so many of us experienced during those rough high school years, but because they also toughed it out and went to at least one reunion, we're able to see all that we are, and are not, missing out on by potentially not attending.
Sometimes it's surreal to bring people back from the past.
It's rather sad to think that the majority of men in this world still let even the tiniest things threaten their masculinity.
As a result, countless (mainly heterosexual) men won't wear certain clothes, eat certain foods, or partake in certain activities.
All owing to the fact that they might not appear "manly" in front of present company.
On the flip side, many other men will go out of their way to do things to prove their masculinity.
Needless to say, all of these fears and stigmas are ludicrous, to say the least.
"What is the dumbest thing men associate their masculinity with?"
Nothing Screams "Manly" Like A Sunburn...
"Not wearing sunscreen."
"I can’t count the number of times people seem shocked I’m wearing it."- ImperialCapybara
Real Men Don't Need To Hear What You're Saying...
"My grandpa was nervous about his hearing aids being 'too feminine'.”- professionalDrTalker
In With The Wrong Crowd...
"I said I’m gonna get some drinks and got called 'gay' because saying drinks instead of a drink wasn’t masculine enough."- Breakfastbaconat0r
Happy Hour Dancing GIF by New GirlGiphy"I'm A Man, I Know When I'm Sick!"
"Not Going to a doctor when something seems wrong."- icomefromjupiter
Unless You're Superman, Even So...
"Not protecting yourself from easily-mitigated hazards."
"Silicosis risk?"
"Dustmask."
"Driving?'"
"Seatbelt."
"Skin cancer?"
"Sunscreen."
"Imagine thinking you’re tougher than the f*cking sun."- Ludwigofthepotatoppl
Season 4 Hospital GIF by NBCGiphyUm...
"I recall a tourist local once fighting a crocodile for a girl's number."
"He lost, but the girl still agreed to a date."- Ok-Seaworthidssw
No Grip Needs To Be That Firm!
"Trying to crush someone’s hand when handshaking.''
"There is a difference between greeting and assault."- SuvenPan
Have They Never Seen A James Bond Movie?
"Lacking hygiene."
"I've encountered guys who bragged about never washing their hands."
"I specifically remember seeing some opinion piece shared on Facebook about how women tend to prefer men who take care of their skin."
"First comment was some boomer posting a selfie saying, 'I've never used moisturizer, this is what a rEaL MaN looks like!'"
"Setting aside that this dude predictably looked like a sunburnt dipsh*t, it was such a pathetic thing to be proud of."-R1DER_of_R0HAN
Hungry Henry Danger GIF by NickelodeonGiphyNothing Says Grown Up Like Playing Video Games All Night...
"Getting proper sleep."
"I often have issues going to sleep and some days I just stare at the ceiling for 5 hours rather then sleep."
"I tell people if I seem a bit off I didn't get any sleep."
"A lot of the times I have a guy call me a p*ssy because he purposely stayed up late to play video games or hitting the town."
"I'm sorry I like to feel well rested."- Vexonte
Some Role Model...
"Being an incompetent father."
"You have four kids and you've never changed a diaper?"
"That's not a brag, dude."- doghorsecatbaby
Unless He Actually Likes Being Wet...
"My dad will claim he doesn't need an umbrella because 'real men' don't need them."
"Ok dad."- spidergirl79
Raining Weather Report GIFGiphyBeige On The Inside And The Outside
"Wearing certain colors."- Tubie123
We Hear You!
"Being loud."
"Men think adding volume to their voices helps their masculinity and dominance."
"But there's nothing more threatening looking than my 5'7 male boss walking in Stealth Mode with a crow bar to go get something unstuck from a machine."
"He's more intimidating in those moments than any man who has ever yelled in my presence."
"It's fine to be naturally loud by default."
"I'm that way."
"It's when men will try to use loudness as an intimidation tactic against others."- DarkInkPixie
loud noises anchor man GIF by FirstAndMondayGiphyIt's sad to think men will and won't do so many things for fear of being judged.
Particularly as any real "man" knows that, as long as they are treating others with kindness, other people's opinions are meaningless.