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Y2K Survivors Recount How Their News Years Eve 1999 Plans Went Down

Y2K Survivors Recount How Their News Years Eve 1999 Plans Went Down

For those of you who are too young to remember, New Years' Eve, 1999 was a giant source of anxiety to the American people.

People lived in fear of the Y2K bug, which was supposed to cause incredible problems in all computer software and cause nuclear missiles around the country to malfunction and fire.

Curious to see how the general public reacted, Reddit user nikkefinland asked:

Redditors who can remember 1999, how did you spend the New Year's Eve?

Here are some of the answers.

Whoopie 2K

I met a guy I had been chatting with on AOL. Got drunk had sex, did the walk if shame. 14 years later we are still together. hrtbrknmama

Gloria In Reclusive Deo

We spent it eating pork and saurkraut at the house of my parents' Amish friends. The theory was, if all technology suddenly gave out, we'd be in the right place. virnovus

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Failure To Launch

A friend and I thought we were so f*****g slick. We were standing by an ATM at the stroke of midnight. We thought that the Y2K virus was going to cause the ATMs to just start spitting money out. Right before midnight, a police officer, seeing us in our all-black garb, asked what we were doing. When we told him, he started laughing his ass off and told us he'd split the money three ways with us if it started shooting out. No money was made that night, but it left a lifelong memory which is okay...I guess. kcman011

Scary Spice

I was 12. My friends and I dressed as the Spice Girls and played Backstreet Boys' album "Millenium" on my boom box all night long.

I would totally spend this New Year's Eve the same way if my friends were into it. HodorYelledHodor

Mommy, Can I Go Home Now?

I went to a huge party with my family because I was only 8 at the time. All night all the adults were getting tanked, not just a little bit... They were full blown wasted, falling over etc.

I kept getting sparks in my eyes from party poppers because every adult in the hall was wasted and kept popping them in my face and then laughing before doing it again. Being 8 years old and wanting to go home I did it back and one woman got all the confetti in her eye and spent the rest of the night nursing a sore face. I had to go sit on these horrible plastic chairs for the remainder of the evening as a punishment. Ahh the good times. sauceoclock

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Stayin' Inside

I would have been 12 on the millenium. My mother genuinely believed in all that 'y2k' stuff and had stockpiled water etc. We weren't allowed to go into the town (about 15 miles away) to watch the fireworks or have a party because she was worried we wouldn't be able to get home. We had New Years the same way we always had it when I was kid. Everyone had to stay up til midnight and after the bells we went to bed. [deleted]

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Unimpressed

At like noon my Aunt had already called people and gave the update from Australia. 12:30 a.m. the first me and my friend paused the game we were playing and checked our watch and were like, "oh, yeah Y2K", looked out the window and didn't see any flames or such and went back to playing video games. NewRedditAccount11

An Actual Bug

I was 13 or so. We were all at a family friend's house, not worried at all. It had been pretty well debunked that anything bad would happen.

There was a plush bug-like toy that we were all playing with that would make a crash sound upon impact; it was marketed as The Y2K Bug (probably sold at Target at the checkout line or something). We tossed that all over the living room for hours.

Found It Also, On eBay. Kirjath

Trick The Adults

Parents had a huge blowout party with all their friends. I was 12 at the time. I decided it would be funny to turn off all the lights when it turned midnight to freak everyone out a little bit. So at midnight, I went into the garage and flipped the main breaker for the whole house. Heard a couple of screams, but everyone was so drunk that they didn't even notice as I turned the lights back on about 5 seconds later. I was a little s**t as a kid. sonOFsack889

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Typical Tomfoolery

Told my parents I was staying at a friend's house, told his parents I was staying at home, went to another friend's house for a party. Ended up getting really drunk, took a tree branch to the head while riding in the back of a truck, fell down a flight of stairs, used a dog as a pillow, and got punched by a friend for trying to fluff his dog.

It was a good night. tattedspyder

From From The Home I Love

In my parent's home village in Mexico, at the time each house had a lightbulb in the kitchen if they're lucky and the running water for the town was from a local well running on a gas powered pump. My dad would tell me "We won't know if civilization collapses here." 4chanian_immigrant

Vive La Millenium

I was in Las Vegas with my girlfriend and a group of friends. Dressed in a suit and her in a dress, we hit the strip and walked from various casinos until our group found a spot we liked. Las Vegas was prime for a Y2k breakdown being that they relied on a tremendous amount of power and automation for a relatively small city. You could feel there was a slight tingle of uncertainty in the air that night and people were meandering around with a bit of a high anticipating what we all thought would be a total breakdown of society.

Las Vegas had blocked off the strip and set up a fireworks show (I believe they did this for two reasons - 1: Y2k celebration and 2: In the case of a breakdown, you wouldn't have people running out of hotels/casinos into streets packed with cars). So, right before midnight, as i'm in the middle of an amazing roll on the craps table, my girlfriend and group of friends drag me outside the casino onto the strip to watch the possible Y2k implosion/fireworks show.

Everything goes off without a hitch, I kiss my girlfriend at the strike of midnight and we return back to the casino. However, now that Y2ker's are streaming back into the casino, the table minimums have been bumped up. I was on a $10 craps table and they are now $25 minimums...so, with the foolishness brought on by the joy of the world not imploding, I rallied and laid down some serious (for me at the time) coin on my regular numbers and let the dice roll. It was serendipitous! I couldn't lose and sat at that table as long as my girlfriend and friends let me (which was only 15 minutes or so) and had an amazing roll...It was a great way to kick off the millenium! highway570

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Misbehavin'

I was a senior in high school. My buddies parents went out of town, so we had a party at his house. Busted into the liquor cabinet making horrible mixed drinks like gin, rum, and kool-aid. Danced to Prince's Party Like It's 1999 over and over. Got to third base with my girlfriend, and then had to take her home at 12:30 because of her curfew. Went back to the party and played Atmosfear...this board game that had a VHS "dungeon master" that told you to do things and interrupted play as you tried to win. Then more booze concoctions and passing out in the buddies parents bed. Ah memories... nickyrat

Wait, Which End Of The World Is This?

I was 13, at church and terrified that The Rapture was due to arrive at midnight. We all had knotted stomachs at the prospect of a tormented damnation for all eternity, and as the hour came, there was a brief, audible silence before a collective sigh of relief as the hour passed.

My kids, should I ever choose to have any, will never know that kind of torture. [deleted]

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Playing It Safe

I worked on a Y2K team for an international company. The whole team spent New Year's Eve at work. We had a huge spread of food and beverages. A couple of TVs were setup to watch every time zone ring in the new year starting with the first one. And we got to talk to people all over the world in the company at each of our locations to verify everything went ok. Even though I was at work, it was a nice and interesting time. Greyyguy

Bein' A Big Kid

At home with my parents drinking sparkling grape juice and pretending I was drunk. I was 7. Oh, and we watched the typical New Years stuff on tv.

Millenium & M's

I was with my family (my parents and younger brother) at a cabin outside Pidgeon Forge Tennessee.

I ate millennium m&m's (which were all white if I remember correctly) and watched my dad set off fireworks that we weren't allowed to be shooting off. It was cold and dark and lovely. I ate collard greens, black-eyed peas and cornbread with butter for luck, and a sip of champagne because it was a special occasion.

On the first day of the new millennium we drove by Dollywood and decided not to go because it was packed. We got barbecue instead and I read a book and took a nap.

Pretty uneventful, but I'll remember it till I die, unless I get Alzheimer's. Kijafa

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Relationship Bugs

New Year's Eve 1999? I broke off with my first boyfriend (he'd been seeing another guy behind my back) then went to a big party some of our punker friends invited us to. Which turned out to not actually be their party, but a party hosted by someone none of us actually knew. They'd discovered it via the friend of a roommate of the host or something and decided to mount an invasion. Good times. Drank until I was in a good mood, slithered home, slept on the couch, then spent the next decade telling anyone who'd listen that my first relationship ended because it wasn't Y2K compliant. runpmc

This Sounds Familiar...

I was working at a pizza shop and was sent out to deliver a pizza to a guy in Times Square. On my way there I discovered my girlfriend Michelle was cheating on me, and later she dumped me. Eventually I discovered that the pizza delivery was just a result of a prank phone call, so I stayed at the cryogenics lab I delivered it to and ate it myself. When New Year's arrived at midnight, I toasted to another lousy millennium, and fell backwards into an open cryogenic tube and was frozen for 1000 years. lihorne

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Woodsy Dads

I was 13 years old, living in the UP (of Michigan). I was with my father at a huge party out at someone's camp- now, if you know anything about the UP, sometimes camp is nicer than the house that people live in officially. This was one of those, in my opinion. The only "downside" is that there was no electricity already- but the guy that owned the place had a huge generator to light the place up. The most memorable thing about that night is that my dad let me drink a few beers! Also, there was a bonfire that was about 20 feet in diameter, with flames that were at least 30 feet high at its apex. I am NOT s******g you. My father would never admit to being superstitious, but he found me wandering around talking to people just before midnight and and grabbed my hand as the countdown began. He was white-knuckled by the time it hit midnight. I honestly think he thought the world was going to end. He was an interesting fellow- he passed away last November, telling stories about him still tears me up a bit. Thanks for listening, anonymous friends! rewayna

Wary Walking

I went out drinking and partying with friends. Ended up at a private rooftop party and got yelled at by the cops for "accidentally" throwing our empties into the street. As I recall I wasn't too worried about Y2K, but I had a bag of rice and a gun in the trunk just in case. I expected a few power outages and random wonkines with minor systems, but I guess enough people were on the ball fixing stuff that nothing bad happened. I myself had fixed some Y2K code a few months earlier, so for once I was part of the solution. lshiva

Other Reasons To Worry

What I remember most about that new years was actually the next morning, the first. I was in college and we drove to another university a few hours south (Southern Illinois at Carbondale). When we went to sleep there was snow on the ground, and when we woke up, it was almost 80 degrees outside, on January first, 2000, in Illinois. It was really creepy and strange, everyone was outside I shorts and t-shirts playing basketball and hanging out. That's when I knew something was drastically wrong with our climate. ive_lost_my_keys

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Nothing Went As Planned

I was going to our local teen friendly, no alcohol party. I borrowed my mom's truck. Driving past the gas station, the sign read $1.09 per gallon. I arrived at the party. I got some cash from one of those tornado cash grab machines, where you step in and money flies around. The clock struck 12, and the lights were still on. I met up with one of my friends, returned to the gas station to top off the tank with my winnings. Driving home, I couldn't help but think, "I guess it's not the end of the world like they said it'd be." planification

Infamous Internet Rumors That Ended Up Being True

Reddit user strakerak asked: 'What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?'

boy playing at laptop inside room
Photo by Ludovic Toinel on Unsplash

In 2017, I returned to my office after my lunch break to hear my supervisors discussing Tom Petty. This seemed like a random topic to me until one of my supervisors told me Tom Petty had passed away. He was a huge fan of Petty and spent the next hour or so combing through the internet to get more information.

He came back into the room my other supervisor and I were working in and announced that Tom Petty wasn't dead after all. News outlets had jumped the gun to announce his death, but he was actually still alive.

The next day, I came in to find out that Tom Petty was dead; the news may have been premature, but true.

This is a classic example of the rumor being started on the internet. Sometimes, like with the news of Tom Petty's death, the rumor can run wild and appear everywhere. Other times, the rumor can be seen by just a few people and dismissed. However, a lot of times, these rumors turn out to be true.

Redditors know a lot of internet rumors that turned out to be true, and are eager to share.

It all started when Redditor strakerak asked:

"What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?"

The King Of Pop

"Michael Jackson writing the music for Sonic 3."

"He actually did, but was never credited on the game because it would breach his contract with his record label."

– -WigglyLine-

"He did the same when he appeared on The Simpsons. He appeared under a pseudonym, and the Producers said it was an impersonator."

"Only years later they confirmed it really was Michael."

"His singing voice was actually done by an impersonator, though."

– given2fly_

The Truth Comes Out

"In 1998, US Men’s National Team captain John Harkes was shockingly cut from the team right before the World Cup. The coach claimed it was because Harkes wouldn’t fit into his new preferred formation, but rumors flew on the early internet that it was actually because he had slept with his teammate Eric Wynalda’s wife. The rumor was so well-known in soccer circles that Harkes expressly denied it in his autobiography the next year."

"Fast forward 12 years to 2010 and Wynalda admits it’s true. The coach then came out and admitted it was why he dropped Harkes, but that he’d planned to keep the secret as long as Wynalda did."

– guyfromsoccer

Video Evidence

"The Tim Burton Hansel and Gretel that aired once on halloween in the 80's."

"I heard for years that it was fake but I knew it was real because my dad recorded everything in the 80s and he recorded that. We let a good friend of ours borrow it and switch it over from VHS to DVD and soon after that it made its way on to the internet , and there it is now. I know it's our copy because the tracking in the beginning is screwed up. Still have the VHS."

– Frozenthickness

"There was a similar story with a Nickelodeon movie called Cry Baby Lane. It was supposed to be so scary that Nickelodeon got complaints and denied its existence for years. Someone uploaded a taped copy to youtube about a decade ago."

– PattiAllen

The Movie Business

"That North Korea hacked Sony Pictures because of The Interview movie."

"I worked in the movie business at the time and the account managers at Sony all basically needed to get new identities as all of their personal information got leaked online."

OldMastodon5363

"My partner worked on that movie and the production bought all the crew 1 year of an identity theft tracking service."

CMV_Viremia

Keep Away From The Ears Of Kids

"Some banned episodes or scenes of cartoons."

"For example, I remember there was a Dexter’s Lab cartoon where he clones evil versions of DeDe and himself and they swear like every other word (censored of course), and people debated whether it even existed cause they only aired it like once. Now it’s pretty accessible online."

– Spledidlife

Yes, It's True

"Echelon, a massive electronic espionage system by the US and allies to intercept all electronic messages, especially emails."

"In the mid-nineties it was a topic on conspiracy BBS boards. A lot of people in my bubble at the time (mainly uni students in Europe) were including fake threats to the US in the their email signatures as a way to "protest" and "fill the system with false alarms" (obviously useless)."

"Then, in 1999-2000 came out to be true and a lot of security service agencies from UK and other US allies started to admit they were part of the espionage network."

– latflickr

How The Mighty Fell

"John Edward’s love child."

– ACam574

"A reminder that he was cheating on his wife while she was hospitalized for cancer treatment."

– Fanclock314

Ugh...

"Carrie Fisher's heart attack. Some a**hole who was on the same flight was livetweeting the whole medical emergency and justified it by insisting she was just making sure the family was informed."

– everylastlight

It Actually Happened

"Every year around her birthday there was a rumor that Betty White died. When I heard she died, I scoffed, saying that dumb rumor is back.... then saw it on the news. I was in shock."

– Known-Committee8679

"The fact that Betty died literally right before she turned 100 is such a Betty White way to go out."

– Paganigsegg

Big Actor, Small Roles

"I distinctly remember some rumors about the reason why Bruce Willis was taking so many roles in sh*tty movies before it was announced he has dementia."

– KampferMann

"RedLetterMedia did a deep dive on his recent movie activity to try and work out why exactly he was taking part in basically scam-movies. They noticed he had an earpiece in one of the scenes and joked that the director was feeding him lines. I remember they even disclaimed over the rumours at the time, and possible made a follow-up vid when it was revealed to the public."

– CardinalCreepia

What To Do Next?

"That the writer of LOST were making it up as they went."

"Turned out to be absolutely true."

– homarjr

That last one was kind of obvious!

Do you have any to add? Let us know in the comment below.

Person holding large stack of books
Photo by Jay Lamm on Unsplash

Whether you're naturally interested in fun facts and trivia or not, it's always nice to know a few that you can pull out of your pocket at a moment's notice as a nice conversation starter.

But there are some fun facts out there that are so weird, people become more preoccupied with how the teller found out that information rather than the information itself.

Redditor Dry_Bus_935 asked:

"What is your 'don't ask me how I know' random fact?"

Nuclear Fail Safe

"You have quite a lot of time, certainly more than ten seconds, to turn back on the main pumps of a nuclear reactor once you have accidentally turned them off."

- egorf

"I'm not surprised. The amount of fail safes, redundancies, and emergency scenario planning for nuclear power plants is insane."

"I toured a nuclear plant and wrote my high school senior thesis on the plans put in place to ensure the Fukushima disaster would not happen at that plant."

"I'm sure the secondary pumps are plenty capable of handling the reactor until the main pumps are repaired or just turned back on."

- Borderlandsman

Happy Cat

"If your cat chews on fresh eucalyptus, they might start hallucinating and fall over repeatedly, leading to a $400 emergency vet bill just to be told she’s just kinda high."

- oddidealstronghold

"And, that's part of why koalas love it. Little stoners."

- littlebluefoxy

Archaeology: Do Not Lick

"Old human bones are very porous, so if you lick them, they’ll stick to your tongue."

- clanculcarius

Sharing is Caring

"A pigeon will only eat a Starburst if you chew it up a little bit first. Just to clarify: chew the Starburst, not the pigeon."

- OhTheHueManatee

"Instructions unclear. Pigeon unhappy."

- Wild-Lychee-3312

Intriguing Anatomy

"Everyone is here with the creepy crime stuff, and I'm just like, 'A soft fur rat has 22 nipples.'"

- horroscoblue

"Okay, so either they have really small nipples, their nipples overlap, or they have nipples in places where there shouldn't be nipples."

"(I've never written the word 'nipples' so many times in a singular sentence before.)"

- GdeGraaf

'Don't Ask Me,' Indeed!

"Turmeric can be used as clothes dye. It is capable of permanently dyeing cotton cloth even after it has passed through the digestive tract of an adult male."

- SlefeMcDichael

"You s**t your pants, didn't you?"

- PMmecrossstitch

"I'd prefer not to answer that question."

- SlefeMcDichael

High-Risk Survival Skills

"If you ever trying to survive in the Arctic, don’t eat polar bear liver. It is so high in vitamin A, it will kill you."

- WrongWayCorrigan-361

"It's also surrounded by a lethal amount of angry polar bear."

- horanc2

Real-Life Spies

"TV shows and movies go out of their way to make military/intelligence officers look bada**."

"But real-life 'spies,' by design and training, are boring. They have regular houses and standard second-hand cars, they dress down, and they have vague, boring job titles (accounts receivable) as cover, and they do not draw attention to themselves. Most come from specialized academia."

- Ok_Worth_1093

Haunting Reality

"Your muscles can keep twitching for several hours after you die."

- JustDave62

"Also, beards can appear to grow. This is however not because the beard itself grows but because the skin shrinks."

- RRautamaa

"I worked at a morgue for over eight years. If you grasp the hand of a dead body to move the arm, the hand will grasp back, but that's just muscles and tendons reacting to the tension."

- goneferalinid

The Sneakiness of Drowning

"When a drowning victim is revived, get them to a hospital as soon as possible. Drowning is the leading cause of death of kids from the age of one to seven and is ruled as accidental drowning when it comes to secondary drowning or dry drowning."

"Basically, your lungs are full of water despite being revived. Your lungs will absorb the liquid, but not before your body acidifies from high levels of carbon dioxide. The only chance to survive is to have the lungs pumped with oxygen via CPAP machine and time."

"Also, drowning is extremely quiet. You don’t hear the victim go under. And if you see flailing, do not attempt to save the victim otherwise you’ll become another drowning victim. Throw them a lifeline and hope their amygdala realizes that a rope or something is floating near them and grabs on it."

- Dfiggsmeister

Not Everyone's Favorite Chocolate

"Hershey’s chocolate has the strong smell of vomit or feces to some people (me), and that’s because they use butyric acid as a preservative. Butyric acid is the compound that makes vomit smell so bad."

"Edit: Digging further into it, there are some claims that they may not be “adding” the butyric acid, but rather it is occurring from essentially spoiling the milk in their milk chocolate. Either way, the butyric acid and putrid smell remains a part of their product."

- hefewiseman1

"That explains the weird aftertaste I always get! I don’t smell it but their chocolate always has this super unpleasant sharp/acidic aftertaste that I find repulsive. I assume this is why!!"

- PomegranateNo975

Do Not Lick the Asbestos

"Asbestos tastes like chalk. And if you lick it, it has the texture of extremely gritty sandpaper. Which is actually the feeling of microscopic asbestos needles piercing your flesh!"

- TooYoungToBeThisOld1

Mapping Out the War

"Beginning in 1911 in anticipation of the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, two statesmen, one from England and one from France, began visiting locations in France that they believed would be the settings for a number of major battles that would occur during the great war."

"Long bike rides through these future battle zones in the countryside and weeks spent building a foundation for a French-Anglo codebook that would later prove important in helping win the war."

- fjordperfect123

Avoiding Lawsuits > Protecting Patients

"Doctors, or surgeons more specifically, that make too many mistakes during surgery, ie, leaving instruments in patients, frequently gets ‘quietly traded’ to other hospitals where they continue their path of destruction with the patients not being aware of their past record. Hospitals tend to keep quiet about the matter to avoid lawsuits."

- Kittytigris

Bonus Points: Do This While Having Lunch in Your Car

"If you overfill a fast food gravy cup and then put a lid on, it will create a pressurized gravy stream that sprays all over your face and uniform while your coworker looks on in horror."

- thechaosjester776

This subReddit thread was so a roller-coaster of random facts, we've surely all walked away learning something.

But the biggest takeaway might just be: Maybe don't lick so many things.

Shocked woman covering her mouth
vaitheeswaran Nataraj/Unsplash

When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.

But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.

Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.

It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.

Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:

"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"

These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.

Bleeding Out

"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."

"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."

– DongLaiCha

Tragic News

"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."

– accountnameredacted

Bottom Of The Barrel

"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."

– Crotch-Monster

A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.

Like Father, Like Son

"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."

– psycospaz

Busted

"Flashing blue lights."

– FiddleOfGold

"This sobered me up just thinking about it."

– redmaple_syrup

Losing Sight

"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."

– MissHibernia

Quitting The Bottle

"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."

– omgtater

These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.

Unplanned House Guests

"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."

– Oneinsevenbillion75

Serious Health Warning

"Elevated liver enzymes."

"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."

"So I opted for recovery, instead."

"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."

– Far_Meal8674

The Joyride

"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."

– foxfood9116

The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?

How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.

But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.

Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.

Woman holding multiple shopping bags
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.

Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.

These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.

From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.

Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:

"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"

"Tale As Old As Time..."

"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","

"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."

"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."

"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."

"Lol!"

"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom

"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."

"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."

"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."

"I think he was a germaphobe."

"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."

"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."

"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.

"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."

"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."

"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000

Money Burn GIF by nog Giphy

Who Wore It Better?

"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."

"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."

"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."

"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'

"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"

"No."- mertsey627

Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...

"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."

"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."

"It was very low key."

"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."

"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."

"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."

"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."

"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa

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See You In Court!

"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."

'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."

"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."

"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."

"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."

"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin

It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!

"I work in a public library."

"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."

"A popular book that just came out."

"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."

"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten

A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!

"My own."

"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"

"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."

"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"

"Unacceptable!"

"This shall not stand!"

"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."

"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."

"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."

"I got over it."- DeathGrover

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Holy Matrimony!

"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."

"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."

"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."

"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."

"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."

"It's just a party."

"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree

When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...

"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore

In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...

"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."

"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."

"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."

"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."

"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."

"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."

"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."

"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."

"We don’t offer wrapping services."

"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."

'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae

Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso Giphy

Happiest Place On Earth!

"I used to work for Disney."

"That in itself should tell you everything."

"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."

"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."

"Suddenly got worse huh?"

"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."

"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."

"I'm not kidding."

"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."

"My wife worked booking."

"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."

"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."

"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."

"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."

"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."

"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong

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The horror!

Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!

It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...

Said absolutely no one.