Babysitting is an incredibly hard job constantly undermined by the greater workforce, as well as some of the parents that hire babysitters.

In theory, parents would be willing to pay a good price in order to ensure their children are cared for by someone equal parts loving and professional, and many are (within their means), but there are still sadly a lot of people who low-ball young babysitters through emotional manipulation.

If you're a friend or extended family member, there is often an expectation that you'll babysit for free or very cheap. Obviously, if you're super close and want to do the favor, these arrangements can be lovely for all parties. But there are times when parents try to wrangle a friend or family member into free or underpaid work simply because they cannot afford, or don't want to shell out a professional fee. In these cases, being ask for a full professional rate can send families into a spiral.

In a recent post on the Am I The A*shole subreddit, a 24-year-old woman asked if she was wrong for requesting $35 an hour to babysit her cousin's three children.

AITA for saying my babysitting rates are $35 an hour?

OP started the post by sharing that she's a software engineer with a freelance side hustle who makes $40 an hour at her regular job, and $60 an hour for freelance.

I'm a software engineer, with a full time job and a side hustle of doing freelance coding work in my own time. I've always been the type to have a side hustle I put a lot of my free time into; I get really bored sitting idle.

My freelance hourly rates are $60 an hour, and at my full time job, my hourly pay works out to about $40 an hour. So that's how I value my time.

OP stayed with her parents over Christmas break, and during that time her cousin and three young kids also visited.

Anyway, over Christmas vacation, I was staying at my parents house. My cousin was also staying over with her three young kids from Christmas to new year's.

Originally, OP had planned on doing some freelance work during the break to fill time in the mornings and make extra cash.

I'd been planning on doing some work on my freelance projects when I had free time; in the mornings when my family had no plans. I wasn't in any rush; I was already ahead of schedule on them all, but I didn't really have anything else to do. It was in a really rural area and it's like an hour drive to the nearest anything

So, when OP's cousin asked if she could watch the kids for three full days during an adult getaway, OP requested payment to make up for the lost freelance work.

Then my cousin and her husband asked if I could babysit all day for three days, so they could visit some friends in the area and hang out with just adults. I said I had planned on doing freelance work at the library, and she offered to pay me to babysit.

When OP's cousin asked for an hourly rate, OP settled on $35 - which is far less than she makes doing regular freelance work, and the least she can accept for time spent working hard.

I said I could if they got close to my freelance rates. She wanted a number, and although my freelance rates are $60 I didn't feel like that was right, it was high. But I didn't want to go too low; honestly babysitting 3 kids would be harder for me than the routine coding work I had for my freelance project. I don't know a lot about kids and I've never babysat for long, and I had a feeling it would be stressful and difficult.

So I said $35, which is below what I make hourly at work, and what is the bare minimum I'd value my time for, if that time is spent doing difficult work.

Unfortunately, OP's cousin immediately got angry at the suggested rate, claiming it was ludicrous and that OP was taking advantage of the situation.

And she went crazy at me, saying that's a ridiculous rate for babysitting, that I was entitled and being selfish, that I'm trying to take advantage of how she didn't have other options, etc.

I said that's way below what I'd be making if I had the time to do my own work, and I'd be putting off my own work to babysit.

The situation escalated even more when the husband of OP's husband started yelling about how OP is too young to make that much money, and her time isn't worth that much.

Her husband then got mad at me saying that I was a 24 year old girl, that I'm damn near a child myself, that my time is not worth that much and it's childish to say that it was. And that I was a stupid girl for not knowing that babysitting costs like 15 an hour, when I grew up and have kids of my own I will see how stupid I was being.

OP tapped out of the situation after the name calling, and wished them luck on finding someone else.

I was kind of done with being called stupid so I just told them I hoped they could find someone else.

OP's mom sided with her cousins, but OP still believes she was correct for holding her ground when it comes to valuing her own time.

My mom thinks that I asked for something offensive, and my cousin and her husband obviously did too.

AITA for giving that number?

Phy44 thinks that OP was completely within her rights, and it seems clear her cousin expected a favor.

NTA. 3 kids all day, for 3 straight days? Even real babysitters would charge more than 15 for 3 kids. Obviously they wanted you to do it as a favor, and got upset that you treated it as an actual job.

runthereszombies thinks OP's cousin's husband is incredibly sexist for how he talked to her.

NTA. If they really wanted to go away for three days they should have arranged a sitter in advance. The husband saying you're a 24 year old girl (btw, you're a woman at 24...) and your time isn't worth anything is ridiculous considering you'd get paid $60 an hour if you don't babysit their kids. The husband sounds like a sexist dick.

Plus you told them you wouldn't babysit if they couldn't approach your rate. You probably should have just said no from the start but you did inform them that it would be expensive. Don't worry about it too much.

IndianaRedneck said that as a parent, they wish they could find someone with rates as low as OP's.

$35 an hour for watching the 3 kids? Where were you when my three kids needed babysitting? My wife and I hardly went out and never for very long because we were being charged $20 per hour per kid.

NTA, OP. It's your time and you charge what you think your time is worth. It's up to the customer to decide if they agree or if they think they can get the same service for less somewhere else.

Superbia18 thinks OP's cousin should have arranged a babysitter far ahead if they really wanted one.

NTA.

A. If they need a babysitter that badly they should've arranged for one in advance.

B. You're being asked to baby sit three kids. Three kids is a lot of work, $15 sounds kinda absurd to me.

C. You have your own life and an actual job that you would be neglecting (or free lance at least) that is worth almost double that amount.

D. The only offensive ones are your cousin and husband who started calling you names when you didn't bend to their will.

The internet unanimously agrees: OP's cousin's were the entitled folks in this situation, and if they really wanted child care they should have arranged it much earlier.

Going to the airport is a character-building experience full of pitfalls and challenges: from waiting in epic lines, to taking off your shoes while someone yells at you, to paying $97 for three snacks and a magazine. But if you think going to the airport is a wild ride, imagine what it's like to work in one.

Someone asked airport employees of Reddit: "what is the strangest, funniest, scariest thing that happened at your airport?" These 20 stories will put your TSA tales to shame.

1.) From magic_zipper:

A little different, but I work Avionics on F-22s in the Air Force. Most of the work is done outside. One day on mid shift we get told to go inside, turn off the lights, and not look outside. Not knowing what the hell was going on, we obviously complied. Once everyone was inside, the big stadium lights that covered the entire airfield were turned off and all the entire airfield was dark. We heard low rumbling in the distance that was getting closer and rumors started flying. We were under attack, aliens, you name it. Eventually we could hear 3 large planes fly very low overhead and be gone. After 15 more minutes we were given the go ahead to go back outside and back to work. To this day I still don't know what the hell happened.

2.) From EffityJeffity:

Another one, this time from my Dad. We're coming off a plane at Lagos airport, it's 1992, I'm about ten years old, so I wander around the baggage hall, and find, in a secluded corner, a service lift, with a bloody great hole cut out of the door. It's cordoned off so you can't use it. I ask my Dad about it.

A cleaner had been using the service lift one night after a shift to go back up to the departure area, where he could stash his trolley etc. Lift breaks down between floors. The emergency help button does nothing (this is Nigeria, remember), and of course it's way before mobile phones were even introduced. He pounds and pounds on the interior of the lift, but it's in a quiet bit of the airport, where no-one goes.

He's not scheduled to be on shift the next day. His colleagues come in and assume the trolley has been stolen as the cupboard is open, and it's not there. They carry on. When they try to use the service lift, it doesn't work. They don't hear their colleague, as he's trapped closer to the floor below than the one above.

Trapped cleaner has now been in there 18 hours or so. He's desperate. He drinks the water from the mop bucket. Still pounding on the lift, hoping someone will come.

24 hours pass, his family come to the airport to find out where he is. (Their village has no telephone. At least, not one that works.) Colleagues haven't seen him. Maybe he's gone into the city to spend his paycheck, given to him that morning?

Eventually, it's been nearly 48 hours. Trapped man is feeling sick from drinking mop bucket water. He's had to use another bucket as a toilet. The smell is unbearable. A technician arrives to try to fix the broken lift. He's saved!

Or not. The tech manages to get the lift back down to the ground floor, but the doors won't open. They try prying, jimmying, nothing's budging them. They even removed the motors and tried by hand. Eventually, they realise they'll have to cut him out.

So they fire up the angle grinder, and cut a 2 foot by 2 foot hole in the door. Sparks flying everywhere. That's just the outer skin. They can't get the angle grinder in further to the inner door. Welding torch comes out - gas axe or whatever you want to call it.

Of course, this is flinging hot metal into the lift. The cleaner is absolutely scared shitless - he's been in the dark for 48 hours and now someone is flinging hot metal at him.

Eventually they make a hole all the way through. He crawls out, collapses, and is taken away in an Ambulance. He survived, but does not return to his job at the airport.

The broken lift was still there until we left in 1995. When I returned on business in 2001, it had been repaired. I still think about the poor guy whenever I get in a lift.

3.) From DomLite:

I work at my local airport (I live on a tiny island and this airport is smaller than our library), and just last summer we had a hurricane looming down on us. Everyone is getting packed up to evacuate, we're renting cars like crazy to people fleeing and we're trying to get them out of the storm area. I was out checking on the cars we had and when I walked back up there was a man sitting on a bench out front, with an apocalyptic-looking storm bearing down on us, wind whipping everywhere, just soulfully playing the trombone. No idea where he came from or what he was doing but it was surreal. Like something out of a David Lynch film.

EDIT - To clarify, this island is tiny, but it is also very close off the coast and has a bridge to the mainland.

4.) From vivalapancakes:

Worked at Perth airport until recently. Most flights in Perth go to Bali and you see some right characters (read: Bali bogans). A Jetstar flight was delayed by 7 hours and a woman and her husband used the time to get absolutely shitfaced. The woman fancied a cigarette and rather than go outside and go through security again, lit up in the middle of the duty free. My colleagues quickly tried to stop her, but she told them to fuck off. Cue airport police, $10,000 fine and no flight to Bali.... should have listened to the staff...

5.) From ironwolf56:

Worked for a summer as a skycap at an airport in Maine. A couple of the 9/11 hijackers came through that airport, and then to Logan (in Boston) which is where the hijacking took place; they chose this airport in Portland precisely because it was kinda podunk and no one would pay attention as much. A guy I worked with actually showed them to where the rental car place was because the way the airport was set up back then it was in this weird corner and people would ask for our help to find it constantly. Poor guy felt like he was in some way responsible.

6.) From AB-G:

I was cabin crew doing a turnaround from Dubai, UAE to Muscat, Oman and back again. We’re on ground in Muscat and hear from ground staff to take extra care of a passenger who is about to board. She was an English lady in her fifties, as you can imagine, well turned out but unassuming all the same. But she looked completely shaken when she boarded. So what happen was, she had checked in her luggage and had gone on to security. She placed her trolly bag on the conveyor belt and she went ahed through the metal detector and was waiting on the other side for her bag. Next thing she knows she’s being detained, placed in hand cuffs and taken to a room for questioning. They take in her bag and start questioning her... Airport police officer: ‘Did you pack this bag yourself?’. Lady: ‘Yes’,

Airport Police: ‘So you know whats in the bag?’ , Lady: ‘Yes’ and goes about describing whats in the bag. The questioning goes on for a while and is quite aggressive . The police officer then opens up the bag and right on top of everything is this parcel filled with Marijuana. Shes aghast and protests her innocence, doesn’t know anything about it. This poor lady is completely distraught. The gravity of it is hitting her and shes inconsolable, Drugs trafficking anywhere is a big no no, but in Middle Eastern countries it can end up giving you the death penalty. The officers reviewed the footage of when her bag was scanned, and when she placed her bag on the belt and turned away, a man standing right behind her, in seconds undid the zips and slipped it in. She had no idea who this man was. So she was let go and free to continue travelling but her trolly bag was confiscated as evidence. She wasn’t too worried about the bag at that stage. I got her a very big brandy! Lesson to be learned is to not let your bags out of your sight, even for a second!

7.) From Chupacabra_Sandwich:

I used to do cargo for Delta and British Airways.

We ship A LOT of dead people.

A lot of animals, too. They actually sent me to la to go to a class entirely on animal handling. THere's regulations and procedures for EVERYTHING all the way up to Elephants and whales and shit. Weirdest thing we ever got to actually ship was an alligator of some sort.

8.) From drinkduff77:

Last year I was working as a contractor in the planning department of a large commercial airport. This airport has a park between the runways that people go to to sit and watch planes. I decide to take my two young boys out there one evening because they like to watch the planes take off and land.

It starts to get dark and I see a lady stand up and put her arms up and start making a howling sound. At first I didn't know what she was doing or where the sound was coming from. I hear it again and realize it's her and she might be a little crazy. This continues for a few minutes and I decide to leave. Meanwhile she's still standing there, arms up, howling at the planes taking off.

A week or so later, I had to ride around the airport with an operations guy and I tell him about my trip to the park and what happened. He says "was there a Lufthansa Airbus leaving while she was doing that?" I tell him, yeah, there was. He proceeds to tell me that she's pretty well known around there. According to him, she believes that she died on a Lufthansa flight in a previous life and has been reincarnated into her current body. She thinks her soul is still connected to the flight somehow. She goes there to pray over the same Lufthansa flight every time it departs.

edit: Just remembered that I had a video of this. You can see her stand up at 0:14, she starts singing at 0:30, and the Lufthansa flight departs shortly afterwards.

9.) From Streder:

Pittsburgh international, 3am or so several years ago. Watched an older woman tumble down the "up" escalator. Every time she flipped over she yelled "I'm ok" like Filburt from Rocko's Modern Life.

Flop I'm ok Flop I'm ok Flop I'm ok

Rolled in place for maybe a minute before someone shut the thing off.

10.) From ErrantRose:

I used to periodically work security to supplement my income. In 2002 I'm assigned, for the first time, to Spirit Airlines repair facility at Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth, TX.

One day I'm sitting in the guard shack with a coworker, reading a book, when a number of Fort Worth Police Department vehicles swarm the parking lot. SWAT Officers, accompanied by an impressive number of Federal Officers, locked the place down at gunpoint. My coworker and I get dragged out of the guard shack, and yes I do mean dragged, and held by law enforcement at gunpoint while they secured the facility.

It turns out that Spirit hadn't been doing proper background checks on the mechanics and a number of the them were in the country illegally, using falsified documents. Many were suspected of having ties to extremist groups on the Philippines. The scuttlebutt around the office is that a C-level executive for Spirit had flown them in privately to cut payroll costs, but this was never confirmed.

As if that wasn't bad enough my coworker and I were reprimanded for not calling our supervisory staff as soon as the raid occurred. You know, while we were being held at gunpoint.

And for the doubters:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/amp/28-nabbed-by-feds-at-Fort-Worth-site-2067089.php

11.) From chuchubott:

I worked at a corporate aircraft maintenance place, and we had a situation where this crazy woman somehow got out on the secured ramp area. By the time one of our line service guys saw her she had the main entry door opened up on a Global XRS aircraft. When he pulled up she looked at him and asked if he could help her get her bags onboard, when he told her he couldn’t, she told him she was going to fly the plane to China and didn’t want to be late. After that occurance the security at our airport became insane.

12.) From R8RBruin:

Not me, but my father was regional manager of one of the rental car companies at the airport and on 9/11 when all flights were grounded everyone needed rental cars and it was havoc. My father said the phone rang and he almost didn't answer because he was so busy, turns out it was the company CEO and ordered him to hand out keys free. No cost, no documentation as the situation was severe and all other major rental companies followed suit.

Not necessarily strange, funny or scary but it is one of the few stories he told me about the job as a kid that I always remember.

13.) From Chupacabra_Sandwich:

I used to work on the ramp for UPS and we had a couple incidents in my time.

One of our small aircraft was on approach and had an issue with his hydraulics. The pilot turned off his automatic systems to fix the issue manually. With no warning to tell him otherwise, he landed the plane without landing gear.

Told this story before, but we used to ship crates of bees in our system. A box broke loose mid-flight in a Beech 99. The pilot had to declare a state of emergency, take the plane as high as it could go to subdue the bees, and then land as quickly as he possibly could.

We had an employee mangle his hand trying to attatch to tow bar to the front wheel. Blood was fucking everywhere and that shit was never the same.

But the scariest might not be what happens at an airport, but who works at the airport ramp at 2 am. During my 3.5 years there I worked with three seperate murderers/attempted murderers. One guy got into an argument at a local college and shot someone in a classroom. Another beat his girlfriends three year old daughter to death (he's currently on Arizona death row). And most heart-wrenching for me, one of my friends, a dude who I was super cool with and I thought of as super nice, was involved in a robbery that went south. His partner ended up stabbing the woman they were trying to get money from. Then the two of them went on the run and his partner murdered him before killing himself. It was a dark time.

14.) From Flupsy:

A schoolfriend’s father worked on Passport Control at Gatwick in the mid-80s. In those days passports were often handwritten and had spaces for things like ‘distinguishing features’.

One day a young woman presented her passport to him, and he opened it and compared the photo... and then paused before saying ‘this is a bit unusual’. He showed her the open passport which read in part: ‘Distinguishing Features: BIG TITS’. She exclaimed ‘my bloody brother, I’ll kill him!’

15.) From Sk8Chach:

Not me, but a friend. He used to work refueling planes. Most days during lunch he would sit in the airport and do some people watching. Anyway a cart with a bunch a baggage rolls by and the bag on the end falls off without anyone noticing, but him. After some time security is notified of the unknown bag. Taking all precautions security bring in the bomb sniffing dog to check it out. The dog sniffs it for a second and then all of a sudden begins to dryhump the bag.

This was all before 9/11

16.) From non_clever_username:

Worked at a tiny little airport with puddle hopper planes.

Plane landed on a really fucking windy day in the winter so there was still some ice on the ground.

I went out to flag the plane in and watched incredulously as the wind blew the entire plane sideways toward the ditch next to the taxiway.

The pilot had to do some serious engine-revving to keep the plane from going into the ditch.

Kind of funny and a little scary. Luckily no one was passengers were on board.

Edit: because you're anal retentive

Edit2: quick clarification that they landed fine because the wind was parallel with the runway. However, the taxiway they were attempting to go down was perpendicular to the wind. 60-70 mph winds + some residual ice on the taxiway = No Bueno.

Tail of the plane was taking the brunt of the wind and trying to drag the rest of the plane in the ditch. Kind of looked like someone had an invisible rope attached to the tail and was trying to drag it into the ditch with a tractor or something . It was crazy.

17.) From faisent:

My mom worked for British Airways for years, dealing with special freight cases for import/export. Much of this freight was offloaded and put in a holding warehouse for customers to collect - it wasn't your typical suitcases and luggage of traveling passengers.

One shipment came in from Africa, a large wooden crate that didn't actually weigh very much. Her client came in, opened the crate to check the contents and immediately became hugely irate to the warehouse staff. He barges into her office holding a frozen, venomous snake - she said it looked like a jagged lightning bolt, all zigs and zags. He's screaming at her in the office gesturing wildly with this dead snake, demanding compensation in the hundreds of thousands of dollars...

Turns out he didn't declare them as animals (probably to get around any customs laws - there were dozens, if not hundreds of various venomous snakes in the crate). The cargo area of most planes isn't heated, so the poor snakes had frozen (literally!) to death in transit. He couldn't sue and had to answer some interesting questions from the Treasury Department once all was said and done. The sucky thing is he was importing them to make anti-venom; if he'd only declared them and paid for them to be shipped correctly he would have made a health profit and probably saved some lives...

Edit, thanks everyone for the comments.

We've learned anti-venom is another word for antivenin, that modern planes have heated cargo areas, and that Samuel L Jackson was sorely missed in a warehouse 30-odd years ago.

Going to take a moment to say that you should make sure you check with your carrier if you're flying with pets (or even venomous snakes!) and make sure you do it safely. As one of the commenters posted, please don't ship your wife in a box on vacation!

18.) From BooRadley9669:

I used to work for TSA and intercepted a human trafficking situation. There was a guy and a lady and a little boy. But the lady wasn't allowed to speak. The little boy looked scared but didn't say anything. He wouldn't even look at me. So it freaked me out. I told my supervisor and she called the airport PD. As soon as he saw me go talk to my supervisor, he looked sort of agitated. He sent the lady and the little boy down the terminal and he was trying to grab all of their things to go meet them.

The police showed up and asked me for a description. Since the airport wasn't big, he found them and brought them back to the checkpoint. As they got closer to the checkpoint, he tried to send the lady to the exit instead of having her come back to the checkpoint.

Eventually, the police was able to separate the man from the lady and the little boy. She told them everything. They walked the man out in cuffs. I didn't get to see what happened to her because my shift was ending. But when i grabbed my stuff from the back, we made eye contact and she nodded at me. I took that as a thank you.

It was a scary situation but I'd do it again any day. There's no telling what would've happened to that lady and little boy if I didn't follow my instincts.

19.) From [deleted]:

A grown woman fell asleep while waiting for her flight to board. They called her name several times - this was a small airport, so it was quiet, and she was in the area. She just slept through it.

She woke up and realized it after the gate agent had already pulled back the ramp and the plane was backing up to begin its taxi. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, cursing, crying, and then go on her phone with her "mommy" and kept screaming that her mom had to do something for her because the asshole ticketing agent wouldn't let her on the flight. Again, this is a grown woman. She ended up running into the airport bathroom in full hysterics and had to be dragged out by half a dozen TSA employees.

Not as weird, but still funny to me: A guy came to tell me that someone had left their luggage in the boarding area. There's constantly an announcement about telling someone if they see abandoned luggage or something suspicious. I tell him OK, I'll call TSA. He's clearly freaking out and going on about how there's probably a bomb in the bag. I calm him down and he goes back to his seat. About 10 minutes later I go over to him with the TSA agent and ask him where is the bag? He points to a bag RIGHT NEXT to him and starts rambling again about how there's probably a bomb in it, etc. So I just ask him, "If you're so sure there's a bomb in the bag, why are you sitting right next to it?" You could just see the lightbulb go on in his head.

20.) From [deleted]:

Airports employ falconers. The birds are used to keep other birds away from aircraft, because a bird in an engine can really mess up someone's day.

So this falconer had come into the airport with his bird to grab a cup of coffee. He decided to try to impress some ladies by taking the hawks hood off and doing a little demonstration. What he failed to notice was the starlings resting outside on a steel beam. Hawk flew after starlings, smoked the glass and broke it's neck.

Thousands of dollars worth of highly trained bird, gone.

21.) From Trauma_Mama_xx:

Not me, but my sister works at the airport.

Funny things: sex convention in town. Someone going through security had a dildo that has a suction cup to one side to stick on a table or other surface. TSA employee didn't realize what it was when doing a bag check and stuck the suction part on the table. They had to slide it to the edge of the table to release the suction.

Scary ( I guess): Dude coming through security. His bag goes off as needing to be checked because there is something coming up like a weird metal inside of plastic. They pull out a pencil case and open it. When the agent opens it, the scorpion inside's tail shoots up. The guy won it at a scorpion fight or something. TSA employee was like "fuck this. I'm going home"

Funny and scary (my personal favorite): In the security area for checked bags. Employee A asks his supervisor of the next day off to start his week or so off early. Supervisor says no because he already has a lot of time off. A is checking a bag when something pokes his hand. He tells his supervisor that there is something sharp in the bag that stabbed him. Sup thinks he's trying to make excuses to go home, but checks the bag. The sharp thing was a scorpion. Sup tells A to sit down with his hand down and calls first aid. They put the bag inside of plastic bags because they are all afraid of this scorpion. Agriculture comes after handling a situation at a different airport and puts the scorpion on ice to kill it and asks the hospital if they need it for anti-venom. Dude calls his supervisor and tells him he won't be in tomorrow or for the next like month because they had to give him so much anti-venom. Then tells his boss to call him the scorpion king.

I saw a picture of the scorpion. It looked big. Also I believe this all (except the sex convention one) happened in the international terminal, but I could be wrong about that.

Timing is everything, and this was...not the time.

WW, the Artist Formerly Known As Weight Watchers, was ready to capitalize on everyone's New Year's Resolutions to lose their holiday weight, and paid Twitter to feature their hashtag #thisismyWW.

The timing was unfortunate, because another "WW" was on people's minds: World War. On Thursday, a U.S. drone strike assassinated Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, a drastic escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. Iran has vowed to enact "serious revenge," a serious threat that has millions of people fearing a World War III, and tweeting about it.

This was the backdrop when the Weight Watchers marketing team rolled out their pre-scheduled promoted hashtag, and the side-by-side is objectively hilarious.

People were burning calories by laughing at this unfortunate coincidence.

Their thoughts and prayers go out to whoever runs WW/The Artist Formerly Known As Weight Watchers' social media.

There are many grave consequences to war, impacting people devastating ways we can hardly imagine, starting with turning WW's campaign launch until a national joke.

If you're an avid fan of Sherlock, Murder She Wrote, true crime, or really any famous capers, than it's likely you've daydreamed about the fascinating cases you'd solve as a real life detective.

While a lot of private investigative work centers around affairs and interpersonal surveillance that can be wrapped up using the internet, there are still plenty of on-the-job stories that could merit their own movie scripts.

In a handful of popularReddit threads, private investigators and detectives shared some of their most memorable cases (without breaking their NDAs), and I would watch any of these on the big screen.

1. straight_edge_PI trailed a guy with a steady Walmart game.

I've been a P.I. for about 3 years - mostly for disability fraud, no cheating wives or anything. Coolest/strangest thing I observed was a low level criminal (who was supposed to be disabled), who would spend all day going from Walmart to Walmart.

In each Walmart, he would fill the shopping cart full to the brim with energy drinks (Monster I think), walk briskly out the door without paying, throw them in his trunk, and take off like a bat out of hell.

At the end of the day he sold a trunk-load of energy drinks to a corner store and I video taped him walking out with a wad of cash.

Definitely not as exciting as the movies, but it was a fun day for me.

2. davevr has a litany of stories.

Ah, finally something I can share!

A few years back I accidently became the owner of a detective agency. I intended to just be an investment partner, but the owner and actual PI died shortly after I made my investment and lo - I now owned an detective agency.

After quickly getting the various legal licenses, etc., I just started taking cases. The entirety of what I knew about how to be a PI was from various TV shows, movies, and books. For cases, I would just rely on random people whose life has become so bad that they decide calling a PI is the next logical step. Much later I learned that normal PIs never take these so-called "domestic" cases because they are always a huge mess. Real PIs get almost all of the work from lawyers and hire off-duty cops to do all of the leg work. As a result, I had a TON of crazy cases. Several TV seasons worth. Here are a few classics:

Guy calls me to help catch his neighbor who is knocking over his trashcans at night. We set up a small night vision camera to catch the guy. Watch the video the next day - it is the wind. The client freaks out, says that his neighbor could have had an invisibility field or could have been moving too fast (like the Flash) to show up on camera. Wants to pay us thousands of dollars to rent a heat-seeking camera or one that can shoot thousands of frames per second... Turns out lots of crazy people call PIs to investigate the TV controlling them, alien abduction, etc.

Seventh Day Adventist lady in an abusive relationship who wants to divorce her husband but apparently needs the husband's permission, which he won't give her. So she wants us to hire a prostitute to seduce him, get it on video, and then mail that to the church leaders to show the marriage is broken.

Criminal who is serving 20 years in jail for hiring a hit man (who happened to be an undercover cop) to kill his friend. In prison he came into some money and hired us to prove he was innocent. His plan to do this was to have us tell his friend that he better recant his testimony or else our client would use his new money to hire a hitman to kill him "for real this time." This criminal genius told us this plan on a recorded phone call from jail.

Get hired by a wife to see if her husband is sleeping with his secretary. We follow them, recording them going into his single-bed hotel room at 10:20pm after a nice dinner and leaving together the next morning at 8am. She says it proves nothing, that they could have just been working late...

Guy calls to ask for Paddy, my late partner. We tell him he is dead. Conversation that follows goes like this: Bob: Dead? Tell him its Bob. Davevr: Bob - Paddy is dead. B: sure, ok, whatever. Who's this? D: This is Dave. How can I help you? B: Dave huh? Dave... yeah, Dave, I think Paddy mentioned you. D: I doubt it, but go ahead. How can we help? B: I was just calling to make sure the thing is still on for Friday? D: What thing? B: The thing, you know... D: I don't know, Bob. What? B: Well yeah, I know you don't "know", but is it on? D: Bob, I have no idea what you are talking about. B: Ok, I get it. Of course you don't know. But - all I'm saying is, we're good, right? D: We are not good Bob. I don't know what you are talking about. B: Of course. Got it. No idea. Great. Friday? D: Bob, Paddy is dead so whatever you think is happening on Friday is not happening. Understand? B: Perfectly. Tell him I will see him then.

Different call, also asking for Paddy. Conversation goes like this:

Guy: I was told to ask for Paddy.

Davevr: Paddy's dead. This is Dave, how can I help?

G: Hmm, I was told to ask for Paddy.

D: You did that, I told you he was dead, so can I help or not?

G: Well, OK. I need to disappear.

D: What do you mean, disappear? Like, from your girlfriend or from the Feds? (I literally had no idea what he meant)

G: Really disappear. Like, dead.

D: I don't know what movies you have watched, but there is no way to disappear unless you have a ton of money and a body. (I made this line up on the spot btw just to shut the guy up).

G: I have 3 million in cash. Body is no problem. Can you help or not?

D: .... I can't talk about this on a cell phone. click
Never called back. Later found (from tracing the # that called me) it belong to a real estate investor who was being sued for millions in back taxes from the government who died in a private plane crash about a week after that call...

The list goes on and on...

In case you are wondering, I am no longer in this business and the business itself no longer exists.

3. VAofficer has seen far too many elderly people scammed.

Cases where older people get a phone call from the "IRS" and get tens of thousands of dollars on prepaid credit cards and read the numbers off the back to the guy on the phone with the Indian accent to pay their tax debt.

This happens a lot actually. It's just weird that otherwise intelligent people can be talked into doing stuff this dumb.

Please talk to your grandparents. Make sure they know this is a common scam and their are many, many variants of this scam. No reputable business or organization takes payments by I-tunes gift cards. Their grandchild did not get locked up in Mexico, they aren't overdue on their electric bill and their power is about to be shut off, the police don't have an old warrant that they'll dismiss for a small fee.

A lot of these victims are so sold on the lie, that store clerks will stop them in the middle of purchasing $3k in moneypak cards, TELL them that they are being scammed, and these victims will argue with them that they need to pay the guy on the phone.

4. philds2nuts has 5 years of cases under their belt.

P.I. for 5 year, I had a few exciting, not necessarily strange cases. One incident was of a coach who was sleeping with one of the female players. One of the players that was benched hired me to document the coach for sleeping with one of the starters on the team...They were careful with how they arranged their meetings, and took me a bit to document it, but ultimately got the information.

Fast forward a week later and the papers reporting the coach has resigned to work in the family business...fast forward another week later, the story broke with all the evidence I had collected (I was not named in the story as I had requested not to be.) Another case was my quickest (2 hours). Picked up surveillance after the subject had dinner with his wife at Applebee's, followed to a hospital parking garage and he went in to visit his mother. I stayed to monitor the vehicle, and another shows up.

The subject exited the hospital and jumped in the other vehicle...I then recorded him getting a bj. Case opened and closed in 2 hours (paid $1,000 retainer, was able to keep all $1,000 since retainers are non refundable I charged $60/hr and would've only made $120)....I have many many more stories....some funny, some really sad (I specialized in father's rights cases).

5. eli1323 had a very fascinating (and gruesome) case of one woman.

Currently studying Criminal behavior analysis.

A woman in her midlife, presumably between 45 to 50, was found dead behind a dumpster around a local bar in the middle of December.

She was wearing a skirt that was pulled up to her waist, and leggings that were pulled down, and torn in multiple spots. She also had abrasion around her buttocks, the heels, thigh, and wrists.

At first, the cops are thinking that they have a sexual abuse or a possible rape case on their hands.

However, certain things were not adding up. Even though it was mid December, that particular bar was fairly populated, and thus, someone should have reported at least hearing a woman in distress as the dumpster was near the parking lot of the bar.

Also, the abrasions on her buttocks were rather strange, as if someone had dragged her across the cement floor. Some state that it is possibly due to livor mortis ("marks" caused by settling of the blood).

After some investigation, they found no traces of physical proofs that suggested neither sexual abuse nor rape. No semen, saliva, or hair, was found.

Later it was revealed that due to loneliness of losing her husband and daughters (husband through divorce and daughters simply grew up and started their own lives), this woman went to the bar to meet potentially a new partner but have gotten carried away drinking.

Once outside in the freezing cold, she wants to take a leak and hides herself behind the dumpster. While doing so, she is slowly suffering from hypothermia due to the cold winter wind and lowered body temperature caused by the alcohol. She begins feeling hot (due to paradoxical undressing, caused by hypothermia), she presumably stripes off her jacket, and other pieces of clothing. At this point, the hypothermia is really getting to her and she begins slowly losing consciousness.

While laying on the freezing ground, skirt pulled up and leggings down, she begins convulsing which leaves abrasions on her body. Leaving behind a curious scene that appeared as if she had been taken advantage of.

6. RomanusAugustus had a case that sounded straight out of a videogame.

My personal favorite case was this one wherein a guy with a video-game esque last name (akin to Gannon) had a criminal record against him. The record indicated that he had been charged with cocaine usage and that he had reportedly snorted the cocaine out of a Hooker's a*s.

7. rommelsjackson worked with a guy whose subject died the first day of the case.

Not me personally, but I worked with a guy whose subject died on the first day of surveillance. Drug overdose. I'm sure the final report must have been legendary. "The claimant died."

8. Comrade11111 stumbled into something accidentally juicy.

Last year (I was 17) I pretended to be a private investigator just for fun and my neighbour gave me a tenner to go look for his missing cat, I guess he just wanted me to have some fun and I was just fooling around and I was pretty sure I wouldn't find anything.

But damn did I find something.

At the bottom of my street there was an old abandoned retirement home, closed a couple years after I moved in. I went there first and found a blood trail leading into the place, there wasn't a lot of blood but just enough that it could have been the cat's blood.

Case in point, the building was being used by some druggies that were hiding their operation, just some weed, meth and coke and a couple of guns. After seeing that I shat myself because I was only going in to the whole PI thing as a joke.

I anonymously tipped off the police who raided the place, apparently one of the guys accidently attacked the cat who started to wail loudly and he was scared people would come to investigate, he couldn't bring himself to kill the cat so he dragged it inside and forgot to clean the blood away.

It was one of the most thrilling, yet terrifying things that I had ever gotten myself into. But hey, at least the cat lived and my neighbour got her back!

9. hauntedbalaclava never has a boring day on the job.

I actually have something for this. I don't have my license but I work in a PI office. I'm the only administrative staff member. It's basically me and my Vietnam Vet boss in a Ron Swanson-April Ludgate kind of situation. A story he told me recently comes to mind.

He and his partner were once hired to sweep a house and look for any valuables. They agreed to the case before knowing the full extent of the damage to the home because the lawyers were willing to pay well and our caseload was small at the time.

The home was owned by a man who inherited a large fortune because his father had invested in a little movie that went on to become one of the biggest horror franchises of all time. The son never worked a day in his life. He had a big mansion out in the boonies. No one ever saw him or his wife because they spent all of their time inside.

The home was now empty because he went nuts and murdered his wife and their dog. He was serving life in prison and the family's estate needed the home cleared.

When my boss and his partner got in there they realized how bad it was. For years this guy and his wife had been shooting up drugs in the house. Every square inch of the mansion was covered in trash. After binging on drugs and alcohol the two would puke and then just cover the vomit with trash and leave it there. The same went for the dog shit and piss. This went on for years. In addition to the puke and animal waste there were needles littered through the trash. My boss had to buy hazmat suits to sweep the home and look for valuables. Apparently, there was a ton of diamond and gold jewelry just thrown right in with the filth.

At one point they found a table behind a door that was missed by the forensic crew completely covered in the wife's blood from where he had mutilated the body.

They also found an entire room full of a many thousand dollar kiln and ceramics supplies, all untouched. I guess the guy decided he wanted to become a master potter before quickly abandoning that pursuit to become a f*cking murderer.

They could only access the home through one exterior door that wasn't blocked. When they eventually walked around the exterior of the home they found that the guy had purchased himself a shark cage. As in, he decided he wanted to become a shark photographer, and ignoring the fact that he didn't live right on the ocean, BOUGHT a shark cage and stuck it in the yard. Eventually, people started to invade the grounds and steal stuff from the home and one day the shark cage just disappeared.

This is the first one that came to mind because it just escalated so much as he relayed the story to me. It's hard for me to tell a lot of these stories because of our confidentiality policy but if I think of any more I can tell I'll edit. My boss has other crazy stories from working private security for Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, and the Girls Gone Wild guy and we have a few instances of having to serve papers to crazy people. This job is never boring.

10. million_monkeys caught someone pretending to be a dead person.

I'm a paralegal who investigates backgrounds of witnesses for our cases. I found someone who was pretending to be someone else who died as a kid. My boss alerted the feds and they investigated and found out he had faked his death 20 years before to avoid a embezzlement trial. He got convicted for the false identity because he filed taxes in the fake name. Not sure about the original embezzlement charge.

He was a witness in a financial case involving the SEC, btw.

11. Antedelopean was a high school detective.

Not a professional pi but I did some investigating for fun during my senior year in high school, as i had literally half the school days worth of free time, had friends who weren't exactly on the same schedule, was always in want of pocket change, like everyone else, and had variable amounts of fucks to give. So from time to time I would be hired for my services, usually a 5 or 10er for some simple work, mostly just making sure bfs and gfs weren't having "fun" without each other, during times they were apart at school hours. But aside from that work, occasionally I did have some interesting actual detective like work.

In this case, I was actually hired by this really chill teacher, who taught comp sci, in order to try and catch a serial class cutter, in exchange for access to the comp lab, so I could chill and sh*t, and occasionally use, to probe social media for other cases. He wanted me to catch the cutter and bring him to the teach, because he really wanted the kid to come to class and learn and he really wanted to help the kid. Also he didn't want administration to catch the kid as that would just screw the kid over more. So I accepted the case.

First thing was first, I made sure to check in with some of his classmates, who actually saw him come to school. In exchange for some gum, they told me when he'd come in and the names of some kids he hung around. From that I drew a list of potential people to question, but soon found out the kids either belonged into one of two categories.

Category A involved mostly normal kids, who went to school and did their thing. From these kids, I kinda got the gist of mapping out the perp's normal schedule, had he chose to attend class. And from his schedule, I came up with a potential theory for the perp's motive. You see, this kid was a supposed overachiever, and was Korean.

This meant, he was probably pressured by his family to overachieve in all of his classes, and judging by his schedule, he was damn overloaded. He was only a sophomore, and yet, he was already taking calculus, and 2 ap courses. He was also overloaded on 5 classes, with his elective of comp sci. And for all I knew about the typical Asian household, he was also probably prepping for the sat's as well. Yeah, this kid was damn overworked.

In any case, on to category b. From this group, most of the kids here were known stoners, users mostly, who hung about at the park next door, smoking pot and just chilling. From this group, there were two people, I guess famous among the student population, for being dealers, who dealt usually in some cheap (but still works) weed, or more expensive edibles. I heard from kids, that the perp had been hanging around these two, trying to ask around, how these kids could be so chill in high school. After that meeting, the kids said he would meet the group more and more often. And after those few meetings, it seemed to correlate with the perp's started absences. So I went to talk to the two.

When I first met them, they were extremely tight lipped about not snitching out their clientele. Pretty admirable, if I do say so myself, but I had a job to do, and a perp to find. So I tried to convince them by appealing to both their compassion and their business interest. I told them about the perp, told them of his circumstances, and told them why I wanted to bring him in. I told them he needs actual help about his circumstances, and someone professional to talk to, not just a temporary escape. Keep in mind I was not this eloquent, I'm just retelling it as so, because we all like to glamor the proud moments of our past. I could tell this had some effect, though they wouldn't budge.

So I told them to cut me a deal, just this once, and said, in exchange for info about the perp, I would help keep lookout for a week, for them, when they dealt in the building. In any case, from the two, I found out where the perp regularly hung out, which was either out in the farthest edge of the park, near the forestry area, or near the school's boiler room.

I found the perp at the park. I knew he was there, because I could smell the pot in the air. Pot always smells like skunk, with a tinge of metal. When I spotted him, he was facing away just sitting there, looking at the trees, a rolled joint hanging out of his mouth. And when I knelt down next to him to talk, I could see his lifeless bloodshot eyes. So I just talked to him, while he listened, just sitting there, staring into the trees. I told him who I was, what I was doing here. No reaction.

I told him about the comp sci teach and how he wanted to help him. No reaction. I told him, there people worried about him. He cringed a bit, then resumed sitting. So I sat down, sighed, opened a bag of chips, and offered him some. He ate some. And for the rest of that morning I just chilled there with the perp, telling him it was okay to wait, but I needed to bring him back by the end of the day. I ended up inadvertently cutting some classes myself, that day, though it wasn't as important, as I was a senior, and really only showed up as a formality, anyway.

In any case, as he inadvertently sobered up, and came back to reality, he started weeping. I could tell from his demeanor, he was sick and tired of his life, but was too scared to say anything, as I knew from the Asian stereotypes, the kids were harshly disciplined from a young age. And as I took his hands to pick him up, I could tell he had no strength in him.

So I had to bring back this sad weeping lifeless sad sack, and had to carry him, shoulder to shoulder, out of the park, and into the school building. Luckily it was still during class times, so not a lot of people saw me carrying this weeping kid in. The security guard up front and passing aides were originally suspicious, but I managed to convince them, as I told them I was working a case for a teacher. And when they pressed further, I gave them a hand written note, signed by the comp sci teach, which had his number, in case people pressed.

Naturally, a security guard did press, and we had to wait at the entrance, while the comp sci teach was called in to pick us up. And when he showed up, the teach had a face of first, relief, but then sudden shock, as he looked at the kid's lifeless weeping face.

And so, he escorted us back to his office, as I continued having to drag the kid over. I explained to the teach everything I had investigated about the kid and his circumstances, especially with the potential abusive household, and his resulting escapism. And while I stood there explaining, the kid was just lifeless. In the end of the meeting, the teach called in both a guidance counselor, and the "school psychologist". And as I left to attend the only class I had left, I heard his parents were called in.

In any case, that was a case closed. But unfortunately the kid's life didn't really get much better. I heard from the teach, because of the loose definition of what constituted discipline and abuse in the household, they couldn't press charges against the family. And because the family found out about his apparent drug use, skipping class, and apparently wasting the kid's own time and future, the parents were very pissed off at the kid.

And so, afterwards, rather than getting help or getting better, the kid just kind of shut down as a person. Though he attended all of his classes and did all of his work, he made no friends, exhibited no apparent emotion, expressed no interest, achieved only what was necessary to pass, and always went straight home. It seems the teach, I and the system all failed him. That was probably one job which wasn't worth doing. The resulting room felt empty, as we would both lamented on this case, with guilt, if and when I showed up to the comp lab. So I didn't really hang out there, and just went to the library, with a vpn, for my needs.

In any case, a few years after I graduated, I tried to look the kid up, but found nothing. I tried to investigate, via people who knew him, but everyone didn't really know what happened to him. He made no friends, talked to no one, didn't even have an account on social media. He just kind of disappeared.

There are generally two kinds of people who don't get vaccinated. There are the staunch anti-vaxxers who are like, "Big pharma is poisoning our children!" and then there are those who are, how do we put this, flu-shot ignorant? The types who are like, "Well, I've never had the flu, so therefore I don't need a flu shot." Someone in the latter camp took to Reddit's "Am I the Asshole" because she couldn't understand why she'd been banned from visiting her friend's newborn child unless she got a flu shot.

But then, in a miraculous turn of events, Reddit's shame-based tactics convinced the flu shot-averse woman to — wait for it — get a damn flu shot!

The story goes that a woman offered to help her friend with her newborn child and the friend was like, "you can come see my child, but only if you get a flu shot."

My good friend has a toddler, along with newborn twins. Her husband just went back to work from paternity leave, so she reached out to our friend group asking for help. I don’t have nor want children of my own, so I can only imagine how hard it must be trying to entertain a toddler, feed one baby, burp the other, etc. I offered to come help with cleaning, laundry, cooking and the babies over the next few weeks so I can give her some relief.

She texted me today and told me that her husband is insisting that anyone who sees the kids has to have had their flu shot.

Flu shots are typically free and very easy to come by, but alas, the woman still refused to get one.

I totally understand, however I have never gotten the flu shot, and never intend to get it.

I have not gotten a flu shot ever because I have never had the flu, never had the shot..so I just never have. When I went to my doctor a few months ago, I mentioned that I was considering getting it before an upcoming vacation. He told me that it will most likely give me flu-like symptoms for a few days, and to hold off.

So now the OP wants to know who the asshole is here. Is she the asshole for refusing to get the flu shot or is the new mom the asshole for insisting on protecting her infant child from a potentially deadly bout of influenza?

Naturally, Reddit did what Reddit does.

AllAboutBird called OP out for refusing a totally reasonable request.

Unless there's a medical reason you can't get the shot, YTA. This means not only that you won't be able to help out but that you won't be able to see the babies at all, all because you're refusing a totally reasonable request to keep them safe.

CodexAnima pointed out that until you get the flu, you have no idea how traumatic it can be, especially for an infant.

If you have never had actual flu (not just random stomach bug) you don't realize how BAD that shit is. And why it kills infants and old people.

I got H1N1 when it frist hit. I spent a full week on the couch unable to even think. It was weeks after before I felt well. The flu is no joke. I'll take a bought of Norovirus (the one where you are losing everything from both ends for a day or two) over the flu any day.

ThePointIsMoo called out how ridiculous it is when people are more concerned with getting "flu like symptoms" for a few days, then getting the actual flu.

People who freak out about the “reaction” are completely baffling to me. I get a reaction every time too. This year I got the shot when I was pregnant, which made it extra special. But I’ll take 24-ish hours of feeling like crap over actually getting the flu EVERY TIME. The mild reaction isn’t going to kill you, but the flu might.

QuarterInchRibEye said that OP is offering her friend an empty promise if she refuses to get a flu shot.

YTA - and this is why. You offered to help out in any way you can. They’ve asked a very reasonable accommodation and you have refused it.

So what does your offer mean? When push comes to shove, nothing. Not to mention she probably wants you around her kids but now knows she cannot do that.

And then, the impossible happened. After reading through the Reddit discussion, OP changed their stance and got the flu shot.

I admit I was totally ignorant about the shot actually haha. My friends and family don’t get it, so I’ve honestly never had much education about it and kind of went with the flow.

I’m getting the shot at Kaiser’s flu clinic after work today. Even if I feel funny or something after, it’s a small price to pay if I get to see those babies and help my friend in need. Thank you all, I feel so bad. I’m glad I posted - sometimes you need other people to call you on your shit.

Who knew Reddit could be a force for social change and not just, you know, a collection of Imgurs and stories about assholes?

When she's not busy trying to save the planet from impending doom, teen climate activist Greta Thunberg is well on her way to becoming your new favorite Twitter comedian.

When not dunking on the U.S. President, the 17-year-old Swedish activist has become internationally renowned for her work to fight climate change, including recently speaking at the UN. But though she's becoming a household name across the globe, apparently some households have yet to get the memo. Specifically, the household of British actress Amanda Henderson.

Henderson recently appeared on the game show Celebrity Mastermind, where she was asked this question: “The 2019 book entitled No-one Is Too Small To Make A Difference is a collection of speeches made by a Swedish climate change activist. What is her name?” Most of us immediately think of Greta Thunberg when we hear the words "Swedish climate change activist," or even just the word "Swedish." Sorry, IKEA! She's just that iconic.

But the Casualty star must not spend a lot of time on Twitter (or the internet in general), because her response to the question was: "Sharon." No last name. Just, Sharon.

The absurd moment of course went viral, and people on Twitter are declaring 2020 cancelled. That was fast.

Amanda may want to continue to avoid Twitter for the foreseeable future, unless she's able to laugh at herself. Because that's what everyone else is doing.

"Sharon" has reached meme status.

But no one's reply has been better or funnier than the one from "Sharon" herself. In a classic Greta move, Thunberg changed her Twitter bio to "Sharon."

People noticed.

Even better, today is her birthday! The viral moment is the gift that keeps on giving.

Happy birthday!!! We are so glad you were born, Sharon.

Is there anything the internet loves more than a proper dragging, particularly when it fuses politics with pop culture?!

Currently, several corners of Twitter are reeling with glee and gaping mouths after a call-out of Karlie Kloss on last night's episode of Project Runway.

For those uninitiated, Kloss is a supermodel, entrepreneur, and guest judge on this season of Project Runway, but more relevantly, she is married to Joshua Kushner - the brother of Jared Kushner. This of course means that Kloss is also related to Ivanka Trump and the larger family of White House grifters.

Up until last night, the implications of Kloss's in-laws haven't come up on Project Runway, but sharp-tongued contestant Tyler Neasloney wasted no time bringing it up.

During yesterday's episode contestants were asked to build a dress for Kloss using clothing from Goodwill. Rather than going all out, Neasloney opted to go for a paired down office look: a fitted black skirt and ruffled white blouse.

The episode escalated from 0-100 when judge Brandon Maxwell claimed he could not “see Karlie wearing it anywhere,” to which Neasloney quipped: "Not even to dinner with the Kushners?"

This blatant call-out of Kloss's connection with the Kushner and Trump families shocked the entire scene, causing Kloss to gasp and others to cover their faces in discomfort. One person can be heard in the background exclaiming: "Oh no, Tyler, don’t say that out loud!”

Given the fact that it's rare to see celebrities called out for their connections to Trump (and Trump money) called out firsthand, the clip quickly set the internet aflame.

It's definitely telling that all Neasloney had to do was point out the fact of Kloss's marriage in order to drag her.

The clip also served as a PSA for people who didn't realize she had married into the Kushner family.

However, others think the exchange was misleading since Kloss has always identified as liberal, and Joshua Kushner shares her values despite his family.

In an interview with British Vogue back in July, Kloss opened up about the struggle of being a Democrat married into the Kushner family.

It’s been hard. But I choose to focus on the values that I share with my husband, and those are the same liberal values that I was raised with and that have guided me throughout my life.”

Neasloney ended up eliminated from Project Runway, despite giving the internet abundant tea and joy. I have no doubt he'll accrue a larger web following from this.

Did you know that military spouses are supposed to get free stuff? Yeah, us either. One anonymous "military spouse" was apparently operating under the assumption that she would "get free stuff" for being married to an active-duty service member, and when she went to a bar and was charged for her drinks, it did not go well...for her.

A military spouse's bar tab has gone viral, not just for her colorful commentary about expecting free stuff, but she refused to tip the server with the argument that "military spouses deserve drinks for free."

The military spouse shared the photo of her bill to what appears to be Snapchat and wrote, "When I became a military spouse I thought I would get free stuff WTF … Military spouses deserve drinks for free fuck this place!! OMG FUCK THIS PLACE!! We serve our asses off way more than anyone!!”

The woman bought two $12 glasses of Chardonnay and then where she's supposed to leave a tip, she tipped nothing, and wrote, "I'm a military spouse it should be free — next time thank a military spouse," and then she punctuated it with a smiley face.

Yiiiiiikes.

The image was shared to Reddit's "ChoosingBeggars" thread and one Redditor commented on the absurdity of using your husband's bravery to get some...free Chardonnay? Of all things.

I don't get how someone can be so insane to try and exploit their husband risking his life.

"My husband is willing to die for your freedom, so give me free drinks!"

Many actual service members and their spouses weighed in.

However, actual service people and their spouses weighed in on the thread to defend military wives who don't expect free things. Someone on Reddit— rightfully — pointed out that many military spouses are "really strong women" who "[take] care of everything, and asking for almost nothing in return, while their husbands routinely deployed," and another spouse said "expecting free stuff is not very common." However, one military wife on Reddit did"confirm" that there is a sub-culture in military life where some spouses legitimately believe they deserve free stuff.

Entitled behavior or not, that server depends on tips to survive! How would any server make a living if they worked at a restaurant near a military base? They'd be comping drinks left and right!

Some commenters didn't quite seem to grasp how bad it was that the spouse didn't tip, so one Redditor swooped into the comment section to give a Ted Talk on U.S. tipping culture.

EDIT: For all the US commenters who disagree with tipping or the foreign ones unfamiliar, tipping 15-20% for good to excellent service in restaurants is how servers make a living.

That's how it works in the United States.

Servers are wholly dependent on tips to earn a living. That's why it's deplorable when people get good to excellent service and tip poorly.

You can disagree with the policy all you want but at the end of the day if you tip poorly for good service, you are directly screwing over another human being who made sure you enjoyed your dining experience, waiting on you hand and foot. That's all.

Don't punish the human being trying to earn a living. The tipping system has been in place for a long time in the US, and love or hate it, that's how it works. There's a lot of systems I disagree with but I don't punish the people at the bottom just trying to make a living.

We get showing respect to military members and their families, but like, pay for your glass of wine, it's not that hard.

“Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits.”

-Anonymous

New Year, new memes! Whether you're going strong on your resolutions or you've already crashed and burned, I'm proud of you. You're crushing 2020 just by being alive. These hilarious memes are the best way to start off a new decade.

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People, like onions, have layers. And sometimes exposing those layers can be a painful reality check. One minute you think your friend or lover or family member is a wonderful person; the next minute you find out they're a bad tipper with a fedora collection. Goodbye forever, Eric*!

*Name has not been changed

Someone asked Reddit: "What's the fastest you've ever gone from caring about someone to straight up loathing them?" These 22 people share stories of the times their feelings about a person changed faster than you can say "wow, that is a LOT of fedoras, Eric!"

1.) From trampoline_tester23:

One summer back in high school years, I had a crush on this girl and we'd hang out when we weren't working together. A friend of mine would keep insisting that I should just ask her out. So I mustered my courage and asked her out. Yeah - it was a glorious fail. I still remember when she smiled and told me the truth.

That was when I found out that they had been secretly dating for a year and thought it would be a "lark" to just fuck with me.

100 to 0 in a few words and a vicious smile.

2.) From AustralianLeprechaun:

When he convinced their wife to kick her young kids out because they were finally having a child together. He was very open about hating his step-kids.

3.) From redditsavedmyagain:

friend at a bar tells some people we just met how her mother died, later in the night i express my sympathy -- now she's without parents. she'd told me hush-hush a few years prior about how father had passed.

"wait did i tell you back then my dad died? i thought i told you it was my mum! no, both my parents are still alive; when we were in uni i just read in a book telling people a parent has died is an good way to get sympathy, ha ha!"

fucking sociopath

4.) From Jazmer1:

Talking to my then gf about her cheating on me. Explaining I couldn't ever possibly trust her again, and she replied "But do you really need to trust me?"

Clearly had different ideas on what's required for a healthy relationship

5.) From Source_Points:

Gave my roommate an envelope with a money order for bills in it, to drop in the mail. He got arrested. While looking for some of his documents to take to him I found the opened, empty envelope in his closet. Peace out.

6.) From Nail_Biterr:

My, at the time girlfriend, had a little sister. She was graduating from college, and her college was not close by. It was a few states away, and at least a 5hr drive. We both loved the sister, but we weren't going to make it to her graduation. We couldn't afford a hotel for the weekend, and we couldn't take off from work to get there on time.

She FREAKED out on us. It was the biggest tantrum I've seen an adult make. My GF and I both assumed it wasn't that big of a deal, but seeing how much her sister freaked out, we re-evaluated the situation. So, we packed up quickly, and drove through the night to get there. She told us we could sleep in her apartment that night, but that we'd need to get a hotel the following night. That was fine, we found something online for like $100/night.

We got to her place in record time. It was not even midnight. We felt like heroes for making up so quickly. We get to her apartment - and she won't let us in. She says she's already in bed, and we should have gotten there earlier if we wanted to take her up on her offer. So, we're both exhausted, and we have nowhere to stay. I wanted to just turn around and go back home, but my GF was a better person than me. Luckily we had other friends in the city, and one was nice enough to give us their couches for the night.

It's been like 15 years, and I assume the sister was getting one last lay with a college hook-up, because I could not imagine any other scenario where she couldn't simply walk down 2 flights of stairs to open the door for us.

I ended up marrying the GF, and still bring up this situation anytime she gets in a fight with her sister. It's usually 'I can't believe how selfish my sister is being.' and I go 'you can't!? remember that time we drove to her college gra...' and she cuts me off. of course she also remembers it.

7.) From ForestRoos:

When my best friend of 10 years slept with my boyfriend of 2 years. I was so crushed but to be honest was more angry with the friend. I truly did believe that I was deeply in love with the boyfriend but he was kind of a shit head to begin with....I saw my friend as a sister and her betrayal left longer lasting impact and hurt way more. I hated her in a violent way for a very long time...fast forward 11 years and now I am to a point where I have forgiven her and wish her well but would never let her back into my life again.

8.) From Swinella:

When he became angry with me about something trivial (agreed to disagree instead of conceding to him) and then he proceeded to tell me he should beat the shit out of me because of it. Yeah, no. Done.

9.) From AgreeableSeries:

Partner of 3 years broke up with me via text while I was at work... I lost my job by leaving work immediately to go home (a complete wreck) to discover he had given his friends a months notice so they all helped him move, and I was literally the last one to know. When he left suddenly like this, he had in his account the money I had raised for charity by shaving my head because of my father's terminal illness. Went from upset to level 1,000 rage as soon as I realised this.

10.) ​​​​​​From ChefSandman:

Was at my wife's family Christmas gift exchange. My wife is estranged from her direct family, so this was all of the uncles, aunties and cousins. There were multiple nieces and nephews running around having a good time. We all agreed to a white elephant exchange for the adults so we didn't have to buy a lot of gifts, we did that the night before and did the gifts for the kids in there morning.

Morning rolls around and all the kids are opening gifts... except my son. None of those entitled ass hats got him anything. He sat there and watched everyone else open multiple gifts and it broke my heart to see him sitting there with nothing. Fuck those people right up their stupid assholes.

11.) From Gabba737:

When he started being condescending to me in almost every conversation we have, in about almost every topic we talked about, then him complaining to me that some people can’t handle him having such strong opinions on topics he’s “passionate about”.

12.) From AustralianLeprechaun:

When he convinced their wife to kick her young kids out because they were finally having a child together. He was very open about hating his step-kids.

13.) From phunkydroid:

Found out this girl I was getting close to had been lying about her ex being a deadbeat dad and well, her ex. He wasn't just still in the picture, they lived together. I should have guessed after the third or fourth time she made an excuse to not go to her place. Never ended something so quick.

14.) From igetb0red:

A former friend bailed on me when we were supposed to hang out and so I called my then girlfriend to see what she was doing and I could hear him talking to her parents in the background...

15.) From cdxxlxixdclxvi:

My childhood friend he lived pretty close to me and seemed like a nice dude until he stole my GoldenEye and moved to Minnesota. Fuck you Derrick!

16.) From Coogles:

When my grandfather screamed at my mother that she had ruined his life by being born. Never spoke to him again after that.

17.) From Snow776:

When i was younger I found out one of my childhood friends was stealing from me and the friendship group. Every so often we would 'lose' a phone or Ipod then said friend would have conveniently got the same model but beat it up a bit with his initials in tipex or something stupid. Being a good friend we didnt want to believe it but we started putting distinct markings on our items. Low and behold my phone goes missing and he turns up with the same one a few weeks later with the markings. We brought him up on it but he just lost his temper and stormed off. 15 years later hes in prison for armed robbery....

18.) From tatychann:

I loved (still love) playing Pokémon and I had no female friends with the same interest. Found out about this group of guys that played it after school. Got really excited and made plans with them. I waited for hours and they never showed up... next day I overhear my best childhood friend laughing about how annoying I was and that they had to hide from me to play in peace. That really hurt

19.) From Navaro27:

My ex girlfriend. We were childhood sweethearts. Dated from 17 to 25. Found out she was cheating on me with her boss, who was more than twice our age.

Then proceeded to find out there was many more occurrences and she was a very different person than the person I'd been dating. Shattered.

20.) From GenJonesMom:

As fast as it took for his wife to call me at work to tell me that he was not only married, but had three children including a newborn.

21.) From RicyHub:

My best friend back in school got a F from the teacher. Me and him asked if we can go to the toilet. I go to the toilet to text a bit with friends from other school, he goes to the parking lot and scratches the teachers car. School break and the teacher finds his car, we both get called to the director etc etc. Friend said that we both scratched the car. Í showed the teacher my phone to show him I was texting and couldnt have scratches his car, told friend to fuck off and went out.

22.) From portlandninja:

in the blink of an eye. i thought i was in love and then witnessed the asshole kick a dog. hard. see ya.

Trust. No one.

And you thought Avengers: Endgame was the greatest crossover event in history?

Get reading for this Wedding Shaming post about a Choosing Beggar.Redditor bocajim shared a screenshot of a text conversation they had, in which they were invited to a wedding, and then told that the celebration of holy matrimony will require a gift of $250 or more to attend (!!!).

First of all, the couple couldn't even make their invitation a Paperless Post? Or an Ecard (hint hint)?

Here's how it all went down:

The person's pitch is admirable. Beer, cocktails, and cake are indeed the holy trinity for a good time, but is it worth $250? How close is Bocajim to the couple to begin with?

Obviously not close enough that they didn't find out about the wedding until a month before.

The "if you're buying us gifts" doesn't sound convincing, seeing as the person simply responded "yep" when asked about it, rather than issuing a "your presence is a present!"

The commenters also dragged the engaged couples' demands.

"I’ve always been amazed by how seriously people take their gift registries... for a party they’re throwing for themselves, to celebrate themselves," ​​ letsdemonizeeveryone wrote.

Any time some one says 'So many people are going, you'll really be missing out,' After a conversation like this. I automatically think people aren't actually going and they are trying to talk people into going to save face," montbm01 aptly observed.

Plus, "everyone else will be there" is a middle school slumber party tactic, not an Adult Wedding tactic.

Congratulations to Christian and their fiancé nonetheless! Here's hoping at least a few people show up.

Towards the end of 2019, all of Twitter was obsessed with "decade in review" posts. These year-end, re-cap, and decade in review posts would typically involve people bragging, and rightfully so, about the things they accomplished in the last ten years.

These tweets are nice, but they're just the greatest hits, and they don't show the struggle to buy that first house or the layoffs that led to your creating your own business, so one mom decided to switch it up.

Christina Fattore, Ph.D, decided to do a decade in review post that actually summarized the last ten years. At first, she shared her "decade in review" like everyone else:

Yes, she bought a house and had kids and got a good job, but then she went into the "unedited" review:

In between all the major milestones, Christina got real about what it took to get there.

She opened up needing surgery so that she could get pregnant, how she struggled with post-partum depression, and how she did 15 cycles of IVF to conceive for the second time.

The thread continued in this way.

Christina concluded her post by explaining why she chose to give an "unedited" decade in review, when she could have just bragged about buying a home and getting tenured.

I’m sharing this because you never know what others are going through. I get sad when I hear people comparing themselves to others. Some years/decades are better than others. Be kind to yourself and empathetic to others. Happy 2020, folks

Christina's honest and transparent Twitter thread touched a lot of people online who praised her for her vulnerability.

Here's to decade in review Tweets that list the highs the lows, the trials and tribulations, and all the real shit in between — we are all more than a 280 character tweet.

"Hello. Who are you? All your accounts are public, you want them to see you, to listen to you, to know you. And I thank you."

– Joe Goldberg, "You".

Those of us who binge-watched all of the crazy messed-up drama on the latest season of the Netflix thriller "You," will find these memes to be hilariously spot-on. Let's just say, if you found Joe attractive despite his being a stalker and killer, you are definitely not alone.

*Warning: may contain spoilers.*

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Donnie Wahlberg's ~thing~ is leaving huge and generous tips when he dines out, which is an extremely awesome and charitable thing to be known for, and for 2020 he upped the ante.

While dining at an IHOP in St. Charles, Illinois with his wife Jenny McCarthy, Wahlberg left a $2,020 tip on their $78.46 bill, which means he left a 2589% tip for their server.

McCarthy shared the generous moment on Twitter, with the hopes that it would "inspire others who can do the same."

"@DonnieWahlberg starting 2020 off like the amazing man he is. #ihop #2020tipchallenge," McCarthy wrote on Twitter.

Wahlberg specifically tipped his server $2,020 and not $2,000 so as to participate in the #2020TipChallenge, where the uber-rich are challenged to tip $2,020 when they dine out this year, though the rest of us can tip $20.20 to join in.

So far, tons of people on Twitter have joined in, sharing their receipts where they left $20.20 tips on small bills, which hopefully made a server's day.

As for the IHOP server that Wahlberg tipped two grand, People reports that her name is Bethany Provencher, she's a single mom and has been waiting tables for 25 years.

“I served them the best I could do,” Provencher told People. “[Wahlberg] folded up the receipt and he gave it to me, and told me not to open it until he left. I said ‘okay, thank you, guys, come again. I’ll take care of you again.’ Then I open it, and I almost fell to the floor.”

I just started crying. I couldn’t believe it. I mean, who does that? It was a blessing,” she says. “I just moved into an apartment, I’m a single mother—by myself with my son. So I struggle every day to make ends meet. And now I can buy furniture and put some money in the bank, and make sure my son is good.

She said Wahlberg later called the restaurant and that she was able to thank him personally.

As we mentioned before, Wahlberg's done this a few other times. One time he tipped $2k at a Waffle House and $500 on a separate occassion to the breakfast eatery.

Here's to 2020 and paying it forward.

Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles last night for the fifth time in his career, and he might have delivered his most savage monologue yet.

The British comic spoke for nearly eight minutes at the top of the show, and took aim at everything from Martin Scorsese's height to Felicity Huffman's jail time. But the part that really made an impact was the last minute of his speech, when he took aim at celebrity virtue signaling and attempted to bring the stars in attendance back down to earth.

“You're in no position to lecture the public about anything," he said. "You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. If ISIS had a streaming service you'd call your agent."

Tom Hanks made incredible faces throughout.

And so did the other celebs.

Gervais also called out pedophilia in the entertainment industry, and among the world's most rich and powerful. He made a "Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself" crack, then added, "Shut up. I know he's your friend, I don't care."

He also called out celebrities for working with companies like Apple and Amazon.

Toward the end of the show, he called out people who worked for Harvey Weinstein and "acted like they didn't see a thing."

Many applauded Gervais.

But not everyone was a fan of his acerbic humor.

Some take issue with his advice for actors to leave politics out of their speeches.

But many thought it was a breath of fresh air.

The full opening monologue can be seen here:

The first major award show of the 2020 season has come and gone, and the red carpet choices were... certainly choices.

In a night dominated by giant sleeves and more-is-more maximalism, it was tough to figure out who the craziest-dressed celebs were. But Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow were certainly the most talked about.

Let's start with Jenny from the block. Her dress didn't scream "awards show," it screamed "Christmas."

And worse yet, it screamed Macy's.

It was... festive!

And it looked familiar.

But she might have been a few weeks late.

There's just so much fabric.

Like, biblical amounts.

But based on the Twitter reactions, Gwyneth Paltrow came in second place for worst-dressed.

Her dress was very au courant. It's from Fendi's pre-fall 2020 collection, which is wild because last time I checked, it's not even pre-spring yet.

And the back of Gwyneth's dress was just underwear and frills.

Some were confused about why she went in this sheer, brown direction.

Some designer dresses aren't actually meant to be seen in the wild.

Others thought it made perfect sense.

Comparisons to her once-a-week smoking habit were made.

And to some, the dress looked like home decor.

She definitely has enough money to afford a full dress.

But honestly... some of us were living for the fashun of it all.

As long as she keeps warm.

Mornings are not fun, but laughing is. This collection of memes is guaranteed to help you start your day off with a chuckle or two. Get your giggle on and have a great day.

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Didn't get an invite to 2020's Golden Globe Awards?

It's ok, most of us didn't. To be honest, the entire process seems like a lot of work. Dressing up for hours, wearing uncomfortable shoes, having a team of stylists follow you around with hair spray all night while you drink unlimited champagne and celebrate career highlights with all your famous friends...

Ok, fine I guess it sounds pretty good.

Luckily for those of us with FOMO, the celebrities who did attend were pretty active on Instagram last night. Here are some of the best, funniest, and most honest behind-the-scenes Golden Globe moments. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners! Keep hustling.

1. Priyanka Chopra shared her primping process.

2. And Joe Jonas posted their ride in style.

3. Gwyneth Paltrow made sure to get in a little pre-Globe yoga.

And some...face vibrating?

4. Shailene Woodley got real about the black car LA traffic.

5. Mario Lopez showed off his open container champagne.

6. Taron Egerton shared an adorable photo of his proud family.

And this amazing #twinning photo:

7. Jason Momoa didn't know which shoes to wear.

8. Reese Witherspoon celebrated "Big Littles Lies" AND "The Morning Show" in all white.

9. Kerry Washington shared her absolutely stunning outfit.

And a fun selfie with Jennifer Lopez...

10. Jennifer Lopez wanted to squeeze in a pre-party workout.

And she thanked her beauty team:

11. Beyoncé and Jay-Z looked perfect.

12. Winner Awkwafina thanked her team:

And re-posted Billy Eichner's story:

13. Busy Philipps and Michelle Williams partied pretty hard...

14. Kaitlyn Dever shared a note from her stylist:

15. Tiffany Haddish looked pretty in pink.

Sunday night marked the 77th annual Golden Globes Awards, a night full of gussied up stars, tons of ceremonial gushing, and the host Ricky Gervais calling out Hollywood for its hypocrisies.

As with all awards shows, Twitter was alive and well with hot takes on who should have won, which outfits were the best (and which ones should die in a fire), and abundant jokes about all of the above.

Regardless of whether you watched the Golden Globes or not, these tweets will help give you a laugh and an overall vibe of last night's show.

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It's been fifteen years since Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston parted ways romantically, but that hasn't stopped the public from referencing their past marriage whenever humanly possible.

Last night's 77th Golden Globes Awards show was no exception, so when Pitt made a speech that referenced his dating life, the cameras were all over Aniston's facial expressions.

When Pitt won best supporting actor for his role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, he poked a bit of fun at the dating rumors constantly swirling around him.

"I wanted to bring my mom but I couldn't because any woman I stand next to, they say I'm dating," he quipped.

Naturally, cameras wasted no time before panning to Aniston's reaction to Pitt, which was expressive to say the least.

For some people, this was not enough. They needed full seating arrangements to be shared, graphs of how many times Pitt and Aniston exchanged glances, a therapist's estimation of what emotions were spilling out of the ex-spouses at all times.

Needless to say, the people LOVE a chance to re-analyze what went wrong with Pitt and Aniston, and whether there's a sliver of hope they'll rebound in the future.

Suffice it to say, even though Pitt and Aniston have moved on with their lives and pursued other relationships and countless career milestones, the internet is still not over their relationship.