Police scanners provided an unfiltered feed of the crises happening in our communities, in real time. If true crime podcasts no longer provide a big enough fix of the creepy and the macabre, then the scanner is the way to go.

People shared the stories of the most harrowing things they heard over the feeds, and they're fascinating.

1. OK_HERES_YOUR_ANSWER stumbled upon some beastiality.

I was fascinated with scanners when I was in my early teens... One night, back when you could pick up any cell phone call within miles (as they were analog and unencrypted in the 900mhz band), I was scanning through the 900mhz band and my scanner stopped on an in-use frequency... All I heard was "and then I'll bring the rottweiler in and let him f*ck you, how'd you like that?".

It was kinda shocking to my 13 year old self... I think I switched frequencies when I heard that... Now I wonder what else was said o.O

2. From coloradofishtapes:

When we had the Waldo Canyon fires here in Colorado. A buddy of mine sent me a link to a scanner broadcast keyed in on the firefighters. They entered a house that was about to go up in flames and found a women dead in a bathtub, and then left because the house was about to go up.

It was really straightforward, like "yep, lady's dead lets go". What a hellish situation to be that calm in.

3. Hopefully Gibusmann was only listening to somebody watching the movie Room.

Heard a man saying:

"Hey . . . hey shush, hey shush. Quiet, quiet. You're not getting out. Shush, shush, you're not leaving, you're mine."

I live in rural Pennsylvania by a large patch of woods.

4. From HyperactiveGirl:

Grew up in a remote area where police were hours away so we all listened to scanners and would rush to help as a community until police got there. A neighbor called in a motorcycle accident up the street from our house at a bad curve where there had been lots of accidents over the years. My dad would often take us along to help. We rushed out knowing an ambulance is usually at least 45 minutes away. We pulled up to the motorcycle and a guy laying in the ditch. I knew something was different because dad told me to stay in the car. It was his best friend. He was dead. It was one of the few times in my life I saw dad cry.

5. STR8_SH00TER can do this all day.

I'm a cop, so listening to a police radio is something I obviously do all day, every day.

Car crashes, house break-ins, assaults... Those are all routine.

The calls that send chills up my spine are actually the silent ones. When you hear a radio squelch, and maybe one or two words from another officer. "Fight" or "Gun!" and then silence. Then there's just dead air, and everyone stops what they're doing while dispatch tries to figure out who it was, and where they are.

6. From Metmendoza:

My dad was a volunteer fire fighter so we always had the scanner on. One night when I was about 10 the tornado sirens went off. We ran to the basement and once we were settled we turned on the scanner. That night I listened to police and firefighters, many of whom's voice I recognized, give a play by play of our town getting destroyed as if it was a god damned football game. I listened to business names and street names trying to remember where my friends lived. My dad left to help. Then we heard my street.

The next morning the house 2 doors down was gone. I didn't sleep well for a long time after that. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.

7. From ninjatemplar:

I always wanted to go into law enforcement as my grandfather was a chief of police. So I had a pro model scanner that I listened to as often as most listen to their favorite fm radio station. When I was 18, I worked the graveyard shift. Well after I was done with work, I came home turned on my scanner and went to sleep as I usually did. I woke around 11:00 am and was listening to the dispatchers. All of a sudden they mention my home address. I was shocked and got out of bed excitedly to go tell everyone in my family that I just heard our address on the scanner. When I turned the corner in the hallway to go into the family room. The people from our fire department were coming in the door and my Dad way laying on the sofa in full cardiac arrest. I will never forget that moment as long as I live.

FYI: My Dad did survive but was never the same. He had seven full arrests that day and was in a coma for a month. He was 48 and died at 57. He was taking an average of 160 pills (Yes 160 pills) per day to survive. I think he just got tired of taking all of the medication.

8. From NismoGismo:

I'm a LEO in a rural area, so we get odd calls pretty often from elderly people that are starting to lose their grip on reality.

One time around midnight I got dispatched to a call where an elderly woman saw children in her yard. She was worried about them and wanted them sent home.

On the way there she's still on the phone with dispatch describing them and where they are in her yard.

I get to her house, a lightly wooded area on a rural road about 100 yards off the road, no yard lights or anything. There aren't any children in the yard so I knock on her door. She invites me in and starts telling me about the kids.

She points to a window that peers out into the darkness and says there was a little girl standing there staring at her. The little girl smiled... Gave a wave and walked away from the window. The woman knew she was still there because she could still hear the little girl giggling.

I went back to my car and left. We get calls like this all the time that you know the person is going crazy (mental illness, old age, drugs, etc..) but they are so serious it almost makes you believe.

9. From akanya:

I was listening to a police scanner when the Aurora theater shooting in Colorado was called in. They were taking people to the hospital in their police cars and I remember one of them saying they couldn't use his car anymore because there was too much blood in the backseat.

The worst part of that night was that I knew my brother had gone to the theater to see the Batman premiere that night and I didn't know which theater he had gone to. Thankfully he came home later that night without any clue about what had happened.

10. From T0m3y:

I was listening to the scanner during the Baltimore riots this spring and every 15-20 minutes the "oh shit" button was pressed by an officer somewhere. The most chilling to me was one where an officer was on the radio giving information about a crowd behind a drug store and as he was saying how many people were congregated there someone pulled a gun on him and he said "He's got a gun! - Help!" Then the button was pressed and there was silence.

11. You're not the only one laughing, Bdsmaam.

"We have, uh, a man who assauted his neighbour here because his TV was on and it's, uh, earth day?"

Burst out laughing.

12. GameofCheese's watch has ended.

I used to be a "park ranger" for a top 1% affluent town and we carried police radios. I thought the summer was going to bring wild and exciting communications. These two events were most notable:

*"Domestic Abuse" incident between a daughter and her mother. One hit the other like once and there was a lot of yelling and temper tantrum behavior.

*Report of a white male walking down the street with a back pack and long hair.

I sh*t you not. They sent police to question someone for walking down the street without a suit or polo shirt and having hair like Jon Snow.

Very few of us like the dentist, but when we get the courage to go, we want a sensitive dental team to there's any hope of us going back.

One person hit up the popular Reddit forum Am I The As*hole to ask whether leaving an appointment early to write up some honest reviews was taking things too far.

The thread kicked off when the OP yayaheeyayahee asked Reddit this question: "AITA for leaving a dental appointment and leaving a 'mean' review on every site humanly possible after the way I was treated?"

Here's what she wrote:

This is really hard for me to share. I have purging disorder. It's like bulimia but no binge. I'm 25 and started getting help which was hard because everyone associates throwing up with bulimia (or worse "bulemia" and "bullemia") and gets dismissive.

I've been purge free for the first time since I was 10. I hadn't been to a dentist since I was 12. Well obviously, my teeth are f*cked. Now when I made the appointment I was clear that it's been a long time since I'd been to a dentist and have an eating disorder, and asked if I could schedule with a kind dentist because it was already scary for me. They said of course, they understand.

When I had the appointment...that's not what happened. The person who started the cleaning and exam was very rough and as soon as she got into it she made this long deep sigh and said "Let me guess, you're bulimic?"

I started to say "No, I have purging disorder" and she cut me off as soon as I said no and said something like "Please don't lie to me. It's not going to help you or me. We're going to have to (bunch of stuff I don't remember/understand."

I said "No, you don't understand. I don't have bulimia, I have--" she cut me off and said "It doesn't matter. You have severe enamel erosion, several of your teeth have X and Y."

I said "IT'S PURGING DISORDER" because I thought if I said "no" again she would catapult me.

She said "Okay, sure, "purging disorder"" with air quotes and rolled her eyes.

I'm not proud of it but I started to cry because it was already so anxiety-inducing for me. She got annoyed and took off her gloves, threw them away, and said she would be back when I calmed down. Instead of calming down, I just got my things and left without paying anything. I cried in my car but shook it off and ended up going home.

When I got home I was still really upset and so I started writing reviews left and right about the situation. I think I left one on like 7 sites. About two weeks later, I got a call. It was someone from that dental practice who had matched my name with my appointment and was wanted to discuss my reviews and how I was obviously very upset, but was leaving those reviews really necessary.

I said yes, it was, to prevent anyone else from having the same humiliating experience. She argued with me that it wasn't going to change anything or fix my teeth. I lied and said that I had already seen another dentist who had managed to treat me with dignity and respect and hung up. On the sites you can reply to reviews, someone responded to me and tried to pretend they worked with me to figure it out.

I've talked about this in my therapy group and with friends. A bunch of people are telling me I'm wrong because 1-star reviews can really hurt small businesses and how it's not their fault they aren't trained better, but I shouldn't take it out on them. I don't know. I think people need to know. AITA? Is it really that bad?

People didn't hold back their feelings on if she was in the wrong here.

hapcloud77 replies with a comforting thought on review sites saying:

NTA. This kind of thing is exactly what the review system is for.

As long as what you’ve said is accurate/not exaggerated, you’ve done nothing wrong.

JoyRd2012 says they're pro-write the review:

As someone who had bulimia from grades 7-12, there are dentists who don’t ask belittling questions, and encourage you on how to treat your teeth going forward. I hope you find one who can treat you with respect in your area, and who is covered by your insurance.

And ilyriaa says to take it one step further even:

Agreed, NTA. I would go so far as to update your reviews that they tried to call you about the reviews and were rude all over again.

scarlet112 is a dental hygenist, too and doesn't think the OP was in the wrong here either.

Yup, I agree. I'm a dental hygienist and I completely support leaving them shitty reviews. The hygienist should be reported to their regulatory board, and honestly, fired from their job. We are supposed to make our patients feel safe and comfortable regardless of the condition of their mouth, or how long it's been since they've been seen, if at all. This person is not cut out to be a hygienist at all. NTA.

her_ladyships_soap says it's their fault for treating her the way they did:

NTA. An employee of this business shamed and humiliated you. If the business, no matter its size, didn't want negative reviews, it shouldn't have tolerated an employee treating you that way.

And MooseChain agrees:

Not to mention the way that dentist behaved could very well have been a trigger for some who are struggling to manage their disorder.

I have a friend with a disorder where she vomits the majority of what she eats. It’s not by choice at all, her body just rejects a lot of food. I can’t remember the name but anyway. She goes to the dentist regularly because of the damage that can be done to her teeth and AFTER the dentist got her to provide information on her condition, they did the exam and then INFORMED her of what she can be doing to help her teeth, what foods to avoid if possible, how to brush so she’s not stripping more enamel off.

How this dentist behaved is disgusting and for the office to follow up and ask if it’s necessary for OP to write reviews is cheeky as hell and the fact that they contacted her to ask that just reinforces that OP did good in leaving the reviews. Had they been contacting OP to apologise for the experience then it would be a completely different story.

OP, if I were you I would be looking into see if it’s possible to complain to a dental advisory board or similar (not entirely sure of the name but I know my country has a dental association that all dentists must be registered with and is basically like a higher power to keep them in check).

Edit: Okay its been pointed out it may have been the hygienist, in which case yeah it’s a different process.

Not everyone agreed here though and vivere_aut_mori though the OP should have handled it all better.

You're arguing semantics over what you had as a kid. To a dentist, whether or not you ate before throwing up is irrelevant. She was trying to do her job, and you had a breakdown over whether or not you binged before puking.

When I'm looking for dentists, I trust the reviews are relevant to them doing good work and not being drill-happy. I don't care if they are experts in the finer points of eating disorders and having the sensitivity of a PTSD-specializing therapist. Spiteful 1 stars make figuring out the real quality of small business very difficult.

YTA. [you're all as*holes]

I know I'm being harsh but you don't need a dentist, you need someone or something who will keep you from flying off the handle when someone fails to care about the difference between bulemia and purge disorder.

No matter what people think, the original poster was already anxious when she arrived at the appointment, and it shouldn't be too much to ask for an undersanding dental experience, right?

Coronavirus is no laughing matter. While you should take this virus seriously (WASH YOUR HANDS, PEOPLE) there is no reason to panic. Laughing at these memes will definitely relieve some of the stress we're all under while the world tries to figure this whole thing out. So relax, laugh, and keep washing those dang hands.

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Coronavirus is no joke. In the U.S., many people are bracing for a potential quarantine by stocking up on essentials like food and toilet paper. And in some parts of the world, this is already a reality. In Italy, as of this morning the government put the entire country on lockdown to help contain the spread of the virus, CNN reports. But what does a "mandatory quarantine" actually look like for citizens? Outside from watching Outbreak (do not recommend), the best way to find out is to hear from people who are currently living it.

Someone asked Reddit: "to those that live in Italy, how is the situation right now with coronavirus and lockdown?" These 19 people shared their stories:

1.) From TrickiestLemon:

Right now I'm in my office in Tuscany, 20 miles away from my home. This morning at 7 am we hadn't any problem moving around, but I don't know how things will evolve outside my workplace.

There are a lot of different informations about what you can and what you can't do from all the media, so I'm here hoping to not getting sick and still be capable at least to move to home tonight and maybe came back to work in the next days.

Some say life goes on like always, others say everything is compromised. I'm just here, waiting for things to develop. I have friends in northern Italy quarantined in their homes, my mum in hospital working with face masks and generally people freaking out.

They say grocery shopping will be guaranteed, so overall I'm not even worried about it. Maybe is the chance to have some days off and enjoy my home and some games...

Unrequested update: is 6pm, while working we got a document to show to police officers if we get stopped while going from a "comune" (something like U.S. municipalities) to another. In this document we declare who we are and why we aren't in our home. You can move by car/bike/whatever if you have to meet your family (older people who need care, children and so on) or go to work. Every other reason is forbidden. Right now you still can go around the comune where you live without almost any problem (you only have to keep distance from people around you).

Traffic is quite low, compared to last week for example, but people still do their things. A lot of non-fundamental services are closed but you can still go to a pharmacy, hospital, gas stations and big workplaces like industries.

Social life is paused, almost everything else is still active in my life.

2.) From Giopiero98:

I'm a university student, and since last week we have been doing lessons via Microsoft Teams or Google Classrooms. I don't really like these methods, but it's the only alternative, so... There's a fair amount of psychosis between a big chunk of the population; supermarkets have been raided overnight. We are advised to not leave our houses unless it's necessary, but you can fill a form on your own to certify that you need to go to work, so basically everyone is running around without a real examination of that form because literally anyone can do that. The only thing that has been really impacted by this is nightlife and sports since every league of every sport is suspended until April

3.) From blobfishlord_099:

Highschool student here, school's are simply closed and the TV is full of ads about washing your hands and avoid contact with other people. Edit: I forgot to say that each morning we have approximately 3 hours of video lessons from our laptop

4.) From Rexam14:

I'm Italian but live abroad. Currently my brother is in one of the high risk zone in the north. He works at the university as a researcher, today he went to work and the laboratory was empty. Starting from tomorrow the uni told him to stay at home and that the structure will be temporary closed. He was planning an exchange with a laboratory in Ireland for April but I think it's canceled. He's worried of course and a bit bored too but he understands that the situation is critical and that we have to give our contribution to avoid the spreading.

My cousin is in Bologna where the situation is surreal. According to him, no one is on the streets and the the supermarket got assaulted multiple times from people concerning that they would have run out of food (which is not going to happen since supplies are guaranteed).

My parents live in a small city in the south where only four cases were registered in the entire region so far, so they are not much concerned, but they are taking precautions if the situation will get worse and they are trying to stay at home when possible. Luckily their jobs are not at risk because my mother works in public administration and my father can work on remote.

I live in Germany instead. Yesterday I went to a pharmacy and I could get a couple of face masks "just in case". The ladies there understood from my accent I wasn't German, so they asked me where I was coming from. As soon as I said I was Italian they "jumped away". I felt like I needed to specify I was living here and had no contact with Italy since December. That felt bad.

5.) From QueenDiva9:

I have a daughter living in Saronno, but she works in Milano. She is house bound, on lock down. Her courses are being done via Skype. Her employer has asked her not to come to work. She is not allowed to leave her house unless it is an emergency (which I hope never happens). She says there has been quite a bit of panic buying at the Supermarkets. All the restaurants are pretty much empty, however they are allowed to be open between 6am and 6pm (people who are seated should have at least a 1m distance between them at restaurants). Tourist areas (eg Duomo in Milano) are devoid of almost anybody. All school and University's remain close, all sporting or any kind of events have been suspended, ski resorts are closed, the same for cinemas, theaters, discos, all church services have been suspended. Whilst the measures may seem extreme, Italy has been the hardest hit worldwide besides for China, so it's necessary to curb travel and cultural activities to stop the spread of the virus.

6.) From sore_8:

For a couch potato like me it's awesome. I can watch my uni lessons online and in my free time play a fuck ton of videogames or work out a little bit. Also I think we're allowed to leave and get some fresh air. So except for the deadly virus thing everything is ok

7.) From CarbonaraDude781:

I live in Verona, I’m a 19 years old living alone because my mother and my father took it in milan and for the first time I’m home alone for a month. Pretty nice tho, I play gta5 with my friends like the old days, doing some indoor workout and experimenting with cooking (I’m becoming a good chef). The school is quite annoying but its ok, I wake up at 7:30 and at 8am I start a 5 hours straight in front of my laptop for online lessons and then I go cooking my lunch. I don’t go out if not to buy some food and maybe some cigarettes because the situation its not good, there is no space left in the intensive therapy so if I get really sick, they would have to remove someone to save me since I would have better chance of surviving. This is why I almost never go out (once a week). I don’t want to be the reason for someone death

8.) From ilPito:

Currently watching a university lesson from my bed but my father went to work this morning, I'm in a region where the lockdown started officially today so it's all pretty new, let's hope people don't storm the grocery stores

Edit: since a LOT of people are mentioning it there no news about shortage of toilet paper and, at least in MY area, no assault on grocery stores

Edit 2: we can get out of our houses, we are asked to do so just for necessity like buying groceries, we have to have a good reason if we want to leave our town

9.) From robin240:

I've been locked in my house with my two sisters and my mother for 2 weeks and i still have a month ahead of me. pls send help

10.) From bulletime:

I am a doctor who works at one of the largest hospitals in Rome. The situation seems much worse than reported in the news. We are scared, but we continue to go to work for a sense of responsibility by turning. We do not have suitable safeguards for our protection, such as ffp3 masks.

11.) From Ghorba96:

I'm a nurse student in italy, right now i can't go to the university, i can't go to work, we shouldn't go out unless it's a necessity, so basically we need to stay home and finally finish our netflix list. It may sound pretty cool for the first few days, but after a while it gets pretty depressing and boring, i got so bored that i cleaned everything at home.

12.) From scjefin:

Basic italian uni student with bad english here. Basically in the past we used to cough to cover up a fart, nowadays we fart to cover up a cough.

13.) From accursedleaf:

I'm a final year medic and I'm graduating on Thursday over skype.

14.) From yabboi_:

I'm a student who lives in Emilia Romagna. Schools have been closed for three weeks, there is no one hanging out, everyone is cooped up in their houses. Ngl, this looks like a post apocalyptic scenario. People are starting to have relatives with the virus (my aunt, for example, has the virus), in every town there are a few infected. We can't move from a town to another, unless we have a specific permission (for example, we can if we have to go to work).

Every day we use Google meet to make online video-calls with our teachers and classmates, so we keep studying and doing our programs even if we are closed in our houses.

Many people are terrified, while many are chilling way too much, especially in the southern regions, because the virus has just started spreading there, while here in the Northern regions there are already thousands of infected.

15.) From AntsKingII:

I am 14 and live in Italy. It's not bad, I don't have to go to school, but I still have to do homework but it's not too much. We will have virtual lesson this week. I have finally time to read(Plato's Republic) and I can finally get better at doing the Rubik's cube. I have a lot of free time so I joined the conlanging discord to learn something new. This will last until 3 April and I'm really happy about it.

16.) From daltanious:

South Italy here: I'm waiting for the virus to spread as in northern Italy, if not worse.

A lot of idiots rushed south to their mommy after the Government declared the region of Lombardia red zone, and here the people seems to not understand the situation.

Yesterday morning there were a lot of people strolling around not caring about what's happening. Yesterday night the Prime Minister declared all Italy red zone, and a lot of people rushed to 24/7 stores to buy food.

I decided to stay at home for at least a week, but my parents and the parents of my friends are going around the city like it's not their problem.

There will be another infection peak here in the southern Italy in a few days.

17.) From Zub89:

We have an hashtag running on Twitter, #IoStoACasa it basically means IStayHome. People only travel alone and mantain a 1 meter safe distance. We have to change life habits drastically for two weeks to keep the virus from spreading. It worked in Wuhan, we hope it works here as well

18.) From GranFabio:

Had to go to work this morning in a desert city, felt post apocalyptic in every means (empty stations, recorded warnings about the situation, etc) and despite wanting to rush thing at work to go back home I can't really get the right amount of concentration.

19.) From marmellata92:

Our area is in lockdown since Sunday. Life is still quite normal here, except for the lines at the grocery stores. We need a paper in order to travel from a city to another, you can travel for emergencies and for work. Got some extra food just in case. Get ready fellow European redditors, this is not a joke

20) From Davide1011:

Since yesterday night, every town is locked down. I cannot move 5 km without a proper reason (work, or a relative very sick and so on) otherwise a could get arrested. The government, immediately backed up by lots of celebrities, is basically saying "please, stay home". Our emergency departments in the hospitals are collapsing. Literally, chemos or surgeries that are "not urgent" are being delayed (how's a chemo not urgent?). Bars and restaurants can only open from 6 am to 6 pm. It's been over a month that places where big number of people could meet have been closed (discos, sport centers, clubs, schools and universities). It's crazy.

21.) From spicy_elevator:

It's pretty shit actually. I'm sophomore and I feel like it will be really hard to catch up, because we will have barely a month of actual school left. Moreover, the lockdown is causing severe economical issues, expecially to those who own small businesses such as restaurants, clothing stores ect. A lot of these activities will go bankrupt, because they have close to no customers. However, I think the only thing we can do is contain the infection, so the lockdown is necessary.

Don't panic. But you might want to stock up on toilet paper.

We all know reality television isn't actually real, that's part of the beauty of it.

All of the interpersonal drama, the spiritual transformations, the houses that transform from dusty shack to mansion overnight, these are illusions meticulously crafted by Hollywood producers to distract us from actual reality.

Fake or not, the shiny and trashy illusion of reality television is hard to look away from, and often leads to impassioned debates between those who "want to believe" and those who assume it's all scripted.

Luckily, some of our burning questions were answered in a popular Reddit thread, where reality show contestants broke down what really happened on set.

1. ledzelda9 knows firsthand that Martha Stewart is cheap.

My family won a kitchen makeover from the Martha Stewart show. They said they sent us on vacation for the last week of construction but in reality we stayed home and ate in our basement the whole time. They filmed us driving up the street, had us change our shirts and then filmed us "getting back back from the airport."

Can't complain though, the kitchen was nice.

Edit: Just to be clear, we were never promised a vacation. We were aware it was just something they were telling the audience because it sounded much nicer than "we made them eat in their basement." It actually wasn't bad eating in our basement for a while but I can understand how that sounds bad.

2. pepsiboycoke had a disappointing experience on The Year Of Making Love.

I went on a show called The Year Of Making Love, where we filled in an exam to scientifically match us up with our ideal partner. It studied our likes, dislikes and what we looked for in a partner.

We all had to drive up to Birmingham or some place, and there was 1000 people. 500 women, 500 men. Split into genders, we sat on each side of a hall, when numbers would be called up and a man and woman would walk onto a stage, meet and walk off down the aisle.

My one didn't show up.

3. SexBobomb knows the home renovations take much longer than they appear.

I was on Holmes on Homes in the second season, we had our weird cement bullsh*t floor replaced with granite. The crew were very nice and almost everything was 'authentic' with two exceptions - work took about 2 and a half weeks and they presented it as being a two day job, and Holmes didn't do much work on our place - not for lack of ability but simply because he was busy as hell; his crew were great and he chipped in and led where he could.

We paid for materials but the labour was free.

4. BrotherofAllfather had a positive "What Not To Wear" experience.

I was on What not to Wear - AMA. :) I will say the hours were really long and they don't make you throw everything away. Also Clinton Kelly was one of the nicest people I have ever met. Went above and beyond to help me get clothes that worked, even staying on off camera at the 15th hour of a day to get the right pants. Stacy was nice too.

The weirdest things were the up close re-shoots. if you pointed at anything while being filmed, they'd come in afterward and do an up close of your hand doing the motion. We learned towards the end to just stop pointing.

5. DecentDudeDustin vouches for "American Ninja Warrior."

I was on American Ninja Warrior. All in all, it's legit.

The crowd reactions are often from different runs/times, the crowd noise may be doctored here and there, the order of the runs may be changed, and the commentary may be re-dubbed, but that's all minor TV-stuff that's expected.

Everyone that worked on the show was incredibly nice. It's clearly a TV show more than a pure athletic competition, but that doesn't detract from it in anyway, in my opinion.

10/10, would keep watching.

6. NormanBorlaug69 was a peripheral part of the MTV show "Made."

My high school was on a couple of episodes of MTV Made. The girl wanted to become more popular and the prom queen. MTV put on a sh*tload of different events in her name to encourage us to vote for her.

What MTV didn't show was that the reason she was unpopular wasn't because she was overweight or in the band or anything, though both were true. She was unpopular because she was a giant b*tch...like insanely rude and b*tchy. Needless to say, she did not win prom queen. To their credit, the show didn't try to re-shoot it to make it look like she won or anything.

7. inkyton loved Gordon Ramsey.

When I was 10 I was on this show "The F Word." My mum put in an application to be "taught" how to cook (this was one of the 10 min things aged within the episode as a side thing) because she was getting lazy and we'd always just buy takeaways lol. She got accepted and it was the most fun day. Gordon Ramsey and his crew and him showed up one morning and spent the day with us. We lived in a tiny flat without a dining table so they bought a beautiful one with them and let us keep it after as well as lots of other goodies.

But apart from that, he was such a wonderful guy to us and when Gordon had finished teaching my mum how to cook paella, we all sat down at the table (my mum, him, me, one of my mum's friends) and ate it all together and discussed random sh*t for like an hour while the crew packed everything up. I know the episode is on YouTube but I really can't remember the episode although with some time could prob find it. It was 12 years ago though. We had a copy but it was misplaced while moving. I do have a picture of him, my mum and I though. Such a great guy.

Edit: A couple of cool people found the link. Thanks I'm very grateful! I'm the girl with the blue headband on the right of Gordon at the table. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sGZgdNP5c_I

Edit 2: The YouTube comments are hilarious. I can't remember what it tasted like but my mum said it was good. But what do us British know about paella eh?? :D

8. FeatofClay has the tea on Antiques Roadshow.

I am sure it will be disappointing and not at all surprising to hear that Antiques Roadshow is pretty much like it looks. Our dusty crap was not selected for a special segment, but we did have our items appraised. They film the segments right out in the middle of where everyone is lined up waiting, so you get to see it unfold.

The one thing that they don't show is how much research the appraisers do. I mean, sometimes they'll say on TV "I did some research" or "I consulted with colleagues" but I think most times a viewer might come away with the impression that the appraisers clap eyes on a piece and immediately understand its significance. But generally they have a laptop and some reference books to turn to, as well as memberships on the fine arts auction sites which show prices realized in previous sales.

Also: I was a volunteer on a short-lived makeover show called School Pride where they renovated public schools. I worked several days/nights at the Detroit area school that they made over. I don't know if it was because the show was new, or what, but it did not seem very organized and a lot of the student volunteers on site didn't have enough to do because no one had a plan for them. I think they must have made a monster effort in the last few days. When the segment aired, they showed some very industrious-looking work sessions and those weren't going on at all when I was there. Nice people, though. I am not sure the producer on site ever got much sleep.

9. unioncarp got robbed right after "Home Makeover."

Did the "Home Makeover" show when it was in Philly. The neighbors make out great. Some of the neighbors were sent away on trips too so we could take over their yards for storage and setting up a cabinet shop. They also received free furniture. And the surrounding neighborhood can go to the hospitality area and eat some free food.

But as other have stated, the construction is horrible. They used leaf blowers and hair dryers to get the joint compound to dry faster. After the show aired the bed that could lower into the floor was permanent disabled because someone could get crushed under it. House was robbed a week after the show aired and the family ended up moving 5 years later which I heard is the amount of time you agree to not sell the house as a condition of being on the show.

10. btrites was on "Trading Places."

I was on a Canadian show called Trading Places. My wife, our two kids, and I swapped lives with another family on the other side of Canada for a week. It was actually a pretty cool experience. The producers set up a number of activities with the idea of creating watchable TV but in the end everything was pretty authentic. For one activity I was entered into a cycle-cross race and the idea was that I was to only do one or two laps... just enough to grab some footage.

I actually kept going...finished the race.. and beat two of the other racers! The other family is absolutely awesome. After the show we met up and have actually stayed in touch ever since. They even came for a visit last summer! The show was back in 2002 so this was the early days of reality TV. I am sure it's a lot more scripted now.

11. willysmd was on "Hardcore Pawn."

Late to the party here but I have a relevant story.

I live near Detroit and had an old ozone-generating air purifier called a Homozone for sale on craigslist that I had picked up at a garage sale because it looked cool. I got a call from a production company in California that asked if I would be interested in appearing on Hard Core Pawn (the shop is only a few miles from my house) for a chance to sell my item. They offered me $50 for my appearance and I could keep any money that was offered by the shop. I decided to accept so they gave me a date and time to show up.

The place was packed because they shoot the whole season in a couple days then fly back to California. First I did a breif interview with the camera outside the shop about what I was bringing and how much I wanted for it. Then I was ushered inside where they took my item and told me to wait until I was called up. After browsing for a while, I was called up by one of the assistants and they brought me to the counter where the main guy' Les Gold, with the pony tail was standing. We talked for a bit and he asked me about where I was from and explained how the bartering would work.

Once the introductions were out of the way, the cameras go on and he put on his TV character. He seemed like a real nice guy when we were talking but a little sleezy when "in character". Mainly the bartering process consisted of him making gay-jokes about the name of my purifier and insinuating that I may be a homosexual. He made me an offer for $5 and I turned it down then went on my way with the $50 from the production company. I don't have cable so I have never watched the show but my parents watch it and have not seen me on it yet.

Tldr: Got paid $50 to go on Hardcore Pawn to be called gay, but when not on camera Les seemed like a pretty cool dude.

12. eoesouljah is not a fan on Ty Pennington.

I worked on one of the final "Extreme Home Makeover" episodes, the '7 in 7' episode where we built 7 houses in 7 days in Joplin, MO after a huge tornado wiped out a lot of the city.

The construction crews were all run by local general contractors and their teams donating their own time which was really awesome. None of the hosts did any of the real work, they just did a few things for cameras.

Ty Pennington was a huge douchebag and diva. He only came out of his lavish tour-bus for a few minutes at a time to shoot his scenes. The week of the shoot he went and got belligerent drunk at a bar in town and made an a*s of himself.

Oh yeah, and the house I was working on was framed with 8d nails! (I wasn't part of the framing crew - inspector never said anything).

13. MondoHawkins knows the truth about Glass Sword Guy.

Late to the party, and I've posted this before, but here goes:

I used to work with Glass Sword Guy who was on Pawn Stars season 1. For those who can't watch the clip, according to the show, Glass Sword Guy supposedly spent several years crafting a sword made of glass that he was then trying to sell to Pawn Stars. Pawn Stars basically ripped apart the idea of making a glass sword, calling it a "piece of crap."

In actual reality, Glass Sword Guy's wife owned a stained glass shop in Vegas at the time. The Pawn Stars producers went to her store and commissioned the creation of this glass sword. When it was done, they asked Glass Sword Guy to be on the show pretending he was trying to sell it.

14. iLift4days was on Yo Momma.

I was on the old MTV show Yo Momma...jokers keep a piece of paper with the jokes on it in their pocket and they pull it out before each line and memorize the line. The background group had to rehearse several times for the applauds and cheers.

15. survivor-contestant survived.

I was a contestant on Survivor: Pearl Islands. For the most part nothing is really scripted, although obviously it's cut way out of order for dramatic effect (I learned you can always tell by the pimples that appear and disappear on contestants from scene to scene).

Some people are surprised that we were provided toilet paper and tampons plus a spot to shit and throw away the paper. Which was good because most people had to get up to blast a diarrhea dump at least three times a day from eating rice cooked in stagnant filth water. No matter how much they boiled that water it still tasted earthy and had grains of dirt in it.

16. ShiningDraco saw how "Made" is made.

I was on Made, an MTV show about turning nerds into pickup artists/charming people/whatever term suits your fancy.

Well, technically, rather I was at a party being hosted for the main star of the show. My family and I happened to be vacationing at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, an island in the Bahamas, when we heard about MTV hosting this party, and 15 year old me figured it would be fun to go. As I walked through the entrance to the party I saw a pretty girl on a seat in the corner. I asked her what she was doing and she said something along the lines of, "They asked me to wait here." From being at the party and later watching on TV, I learned that this was the girl that the star of the show got to go on a date with.

In other words, MTV spoon fed a date to a guy on a show about how to get a date. I can't blame the girl for agreeing to it, she got to be on TV and all she had to do was go to a nice dinner by the dolphin enclosure with a fat nerd. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but confirmed to me that, yes, reality TV is as fixed as everyone believes.

17. CptBuck knows all the logistics of "This Old House."

I realize I'm late to the party but my family's house was featured on a season of "This Old House". The biggest thing in terms of what "really went on" is that we very cautious (and rightly so) about the promise of any "free stuff." Unlike some other shows, on "This Old House" we paid the full price for them to do the construction basically on a contractor basis, but the show does have certain materials that get donated as part of advertising/sponsorship relationships.

Now, when that stuff is donated it's free for the show, but it gets taxed as a gift to the people receiving it, i.e. us. So my parents were very cautious in terms of working with an accountant and particularly at the design stage to make sure that what the architect was proposing wouldn't bankrupt us. Some of the previous "old houses" had had some horror stories that we'd heard rumors about on that front. The advantage from our perspective wasn't that it was any cheaper, it was that A: the contractor team was exceptionally good and B: that everything would get done on time. And that was certainly worth it.

As for the "reality" aspect, well, I don't think "This Old House" tries to go in for the drama as much as the other reality shows, but they did feed my parents lines about the construction. My parents are not DIY people so when they're talking about switches and wood grain and all this other stuff that was fed to them.

All in all a great experience and we're still in touch with some of them. Roger Cook, in particular, is awesome.

18. normanlee was on "Myth Busters."

It's not exactly billed as a reality show, but I was on Mythbusters! Proof: http://i.imgur.com/RyRNYfK.jpg (the one in the gray on the very right)

They had a survey linked on their Facebook page for you to be a volunteer. It asked a bunch of seemingly random questions, I guess to make sure they got a good spread of people across a wide variety of different myths to test. I signed up, got an email saying that it would be in some industrial part of San Francisco, and then another email saying it had been canceled. A few days after that, I got another email offering a different position, this time at 10 in the morning in a nightclub, with business casual clothing specified. No information about what the myth actually is.

I show up at the nightclub and I'm waiting around for about an hour or so before things actually happen. In the meantime, other volunteers show up, and it's all dudes. I think to myself that it's just the sort of demographic that would want to sign up for a Mythbusters myth, or because this is the bay area (a lot of them also happened to be engineers), but once somebody comes over and directs us to the restaurant next door, I see girls seated at little tables around the room and realize that it's a speed dating myth and they were keeping the guys and girls separate.

When we go in, the director or some guy tells us what's going to happen, what Jamie's going to say, and then we have to step out of the restaurant so we can step back in while the cameras are rolling. We go in, Jamie and Adam have a bit of a rehearsed intro, and then Jamie messes up and we have to go out and back in again so he can redo it.

Once that's all done, we get down to the "mock" speed dating (essentially real speed dating, just that no actual exchange of contact info occurs), and I have a few awkward conversations with the girls. The awkwardness was compounded by the fact that there was a camera three feet to my right that I had to avoid looking at while trying to hold a conversation. At one point, after filling out my little rating card, the camera guy asks me to act as if I'm filling it out again, so he can get a close-up shot.

I should note that, although there was the bit at the beginning where Jamie and Adam talk, we were never explicitly told what the myth was. I did notice some of the girls' hair looked a little weird, though, and when we were taken back to the nightclub afterward for the debriefing, the guys concluded that it must have had something to do with testing hair color. We then had individual exit interviews, we took the group picture that you see above, and then I was on my way.

There was a separate set of people in the afternoon, and they mixed both groups' footage for the show, so I barely even show up; the clearest shot of me is of my back as the camera is focused on the girl I'm talking to.

Edit: For the people asking which episode it was, it was Laws of Attraction. The volunteer opportunity was in August 2013, so it took a whole year to air; sometimes they sit on the myths for a while.

19. davesjustbored knows all the juice.

I was a cast alternate for Fox's "Utopia." What that basically meant is that I had to be constantly ready to drop everything and join the show to replace a voted out cast member.

Here's what I can tell you...

The show was pitched to me as a survival show. They wanted to know all my skills and how I would handle dangerous situations. The show, in actuality, was all about getting good looking people naked in the man made, fully stocked lake. The cast had electricity by day three.

I would receive phone calls, asking me if I've been keeping up with the action and what my feelings were. Knowing full well that they wanted drama, I'd lash out at nearly everyone on the show. They asked me if I could design their e-commerce site better. Yes, this was a survival show, but the group had a fucking e-commerce site to make money.

The best thing I got out of the ordeal was a paid vacation to Los Angeles for a week. Got to meet a bunch of whackos and pompous LA executives. Got to meet the guy who created "The Voice" and all that shit. It's 100% as sleazy as you'd expect.

20. TheTallGuy0 was a carpenter on "Top Design."

I was an on-air carpenter for Bravo's show Top Design, season one, did 9 episodes. It was awesome, basically I was the grunt doing all the building and carpentry for the designer/architect. Met a sh*tload of cool people, many of whom I'm still in touch with today.

It was a brutal schedule though, as we did a show every 4 days basically. We'd work from noon till midnight the first day, usually planning and getting materials. The show was mostly in the Pacific Design Center in LA, and we'd have to hit HD for materials, then load it all into trucks, elevator and cart it onto the set. Then we'd work from 7am till midnight the next day, building the projects. The last day was from 7am till 2-3pm where you'd wrap up the builds and the designers would wait for judging. The next day you'd have off to sleep and recover. I didnt see as much of LA in those 6 weeks as I'd have thought.

After finding out if your designer got the boot or not, you'd be back at it again. Got to meet some cool people in the fashion/design world (Margret Russell, editor of Elle Decor, Todd Oldham, Jonathan Adler, Kelly Wearstler) so that was fun as well.

As far as scripting or manipulation, the producers didnt do any of that, not on our end anyway. We made sh*t in the time they gave us, with real budgets. The first time we built stuff, it was like "imma glue and screw this together real good..." all professional and such. Then you see the production assistants tossing your hard work into a dumpster at the end of the day. By the last show, everything was barely held together with a few 18 gauge brad nails. Margaret Russell went to go sit on a canopy bed I made and I grabbed her, yelling "DONT SIT ON THAT!!!" as she would have promptly eaten sh*t and destroyed the whole bed!

A dare from their dad has two sisters in a fight, and their relationship is already fraught.

Sweaty-Wallaby wrote into "Am I The A**hole?" to ask the internet "AITA for ACCIDENTALLY announcing my pregnancy at my sister's wedding and not apologising?"

Emphasis on the "ACCIDENTALLY," but still: it's a classic case of thunder-stealing.

Sweaty-Wallaby provided the context of her relationship with her sister, complete with an observation from her therapist.

Backstory on me and my sister is that we've always had a competitive relationship. My therapist says we were put in competition against each other as kids by our parents and that's carried over as adults. Six months ago I sat down with my sister and we agreed that it's f*cked up how we both acted and we want to be loving sisters who aren't constantly trying to get one over on each other, and we came to a truce.

The truce came to a halt at the sister's wedding:

She got married today. I am 4+ months pregnant, so there's a baby bump. The dress I bought a few months ago with my sister was now clinging to said bump so I changed my outfit to a loose blouse and slacks to hide it, which worked, and texted her a picture of the new outfit along with a lie about spilling wine on the dress. She approved the new outfit. Once there an aunt comes over to talk to me and comments on me not drinking. I panicked and grabbed a glass of champagne and she left. When I thought no one was looking I gave my glass to my husband to take a sip from so it would look like I'd had some. Dad then comes over and says "something wrong with the champagne?" I say it's fine. Dad says "take a sip then". I hesitate and he says "you're not pregnant are you?". I go "please don't say anything, it's Sister's big day and we're waiting to tell people". He says he won't. Barely 5 minutes later another aunt comes over and congratulates us with tears in her eyes and hugs me. I know I should have said dad was wrong, but she was literally crying, so I tell her we're trying to keep it quiet because it's not our day and she nods, hugs me again, and leaves.

It was too late: the secret was out, and thunder had been stolen.

What follows is basically every one of my family members congratulating us. I can see my sister getting upset so I go over and explained what happened, and say we really didn't mean to do this. My sister says that it's probably for the best that we leave, so we do. I get home, go on social media, and just about every post from my relatives is something like "Sister's wedding was lovely and thrilled to hear about OP being pregnant!" And now my sister has privately messaged me saying "so much for not one upping each other" and "you couldn't let me have ONE DAY". I told her it was an accident, but she says I could have done more to hide it and then she sends another message basically saying she can't believe I've not even apologised for causing a scene at her wedding. It's true I haven't apologised but I feel like I went to great lengths to not tell people, it's not my fault they found out, and I'm being made to feel like I did something wrong when I took precautions on my end.

Now here's the question:

AITA [Am I The A**hole] for not apologising for accidentally announcing my pregnancy?

Members of the jury are calling her the A**hole, but for different reasons.

SanguineMermaid calls her The A**hole for not lying.

Dude. I mean, how hard would it be to say "I'm sorry I didn't anticipate people noticing my not drinking & prepare an excuse"? There's lots of things you could've said instead of panicking & it's still not apologizing for telling people.

YTA (You're The A**hole), because it was avoidable even if you didn't explicitly say it.

Because the situation was avoidable with a little white lie, people are questioning whether or not the OP (Original Poster) wanted it to happen on some level.

That sounds like a job for the aforementioned therapist.

Jendi2016 even pitched some ideas for lies if you ever find yourself in a similar situation.

"I'm DD tonight." "Havent been feeling well and dont want to agrivate it." "On a medication and alcohol might affect how body reacts." Assuming you are taking prenatals, each one is true from a certain point of view.

vodka_philosophy called the woman an asshole not for leaking the news, but for refusing to apologize:

YTA. Not for it accidentally getting out, but for thinking that you don't owe your sister an apology. Your news hijacked her wedding day; yes, it getting out was an accident, but, when you hurt someone, you apologize for causing them pain, regardless of whether you intended to do it or not.

"Just apologize," Kittytigris insisted.

"Whether you intended for it to or not, you did upstage your sister on her wedding day. If you care at all about your sister, just apologize, take some responsibility for the whole situation and understand that you did f up and do your best to salvage whatever relationship you have left with her."

Unless she wants her sister to announce her divorce at the baby shower, she should do the right thing and apologize.

There are a lot of wild tattoos in the world — but the even crazier ones don't even exist, because tattoo artists refused to do them.

Yes, tattoo artists actually have a right to refuse service to anyone who strolls in the door looking to get a butterfly permanently stamped on their forehead, or whatever. A recent Reddit thread asked ink-slingers to name the most questionable tattoos they've ever had the pleasure of turning down — and boy, are there some doozies.

1. Plenty of tattoo artists will turn away visibly drunk people and minors, thank god.

A girl came in to the shop and was SMASHED, actually laid down on the floor and screamed “BUt I WaNT MY NOSE PIERCED RIGHT NOWWWW!” Also turned away a wasted mother/daughter duo. That time, the drunk mother argued “she’s not drunk, I’m her mother!” Lady, you can’t sign a permission slip to make someone sober. - _rummagingsoul

2. The Eye of Sauron would've probably been more apt.

Lord of the rings ring around their butthole. No thanks. - oldcoffee

3. And apparently, that location is a common request.

From my friend that does tattoos he turns down more request to do butthole tats then he ever thought he'd have to. - gil_beard

4. This one's really sad — and thank god the artist got this grieving mom to change her mind.

A lady whose child recently died Wanted me to tattoo “you should have saved her” on her chest. I convinced her to get the symbol for mental health (semi colon) and baby footprints instead. This woman was devastated, we talked a lot during her session And I always wonder how she is doing. - Grandnaguss

5. The same artist turned in an animal abuser to the authorities.

another guy came in - he had one leg so I thought he was interesting, he wanted a tattoo on his hand and asked if it was ok to tattoo it since he had recently broken it (his hand), I said it was fine as long as it was healed up. I asked out of curiosity how he broke his hand and he said “I punched my dog”. I got him to fill out the form with his name and address and asked casually where the dog was and he just said “gone now”. Told him I was sorry that I couldn’t do his tattoo and then turned his Shit in to the cops. I should have just taken his other leg. Fucker. - Grandnaguss

6. Tattoo artists will also refuse people who want offensive tats.

Something generally offensive. Like the guy who wanted 'Party Girl Anne Frank' because his drinking buddies called him Frankie. - Wind_Yer_Neck

7. Many won't do tattoos in prominent places if the person isn't already pretty covered in ink.

My tattoo artist friend says she automatically turns away all hand, face and neck tattoos unless the client is already heavily tattooed. Her reason is that she doesn't want the backlash of future regret due to "job-stopper" tattoos. - odyysseyy

Basically my policy. I won't screw up someone's life and job chances on a one off decision. If they are already covered in tattoos either their profession doesn't care or they've long since sailed that ship. - Anukari

8. Taint tattoos? Taint gonna happen.

Some dude wanted his girlfriends initials on his taint and requested a female artist to do it. We kindly denied it because a.) not 100% sure how that would heal and didn’t want to deal with him coming back with issues trying to pin it on us, and b.) our only female artist didn’t want to go near some random dudes taint... - GoreTiciaAddams

9. Hasn't this guy ever heard of nail art?

[My tattoo artist said] he once had a guy want a tattoo under his thumbnail, like he was gonna rip the nail off, then come in to the studio so he could get a tattoo that would eventually be protected by a new thumb nail - bloodectomy

10. Turning down hate symbols seems like a great policy.

I turn away anything with swazis, bolts, or other racist bull****. I also ask what any symbols I don't know are, and confirm before doing them.

I don't need some racist s*** running people off. - BjOaNMeRzz

11. This guy should be thanking everyone involved in not making his sun-nipple dream into a reality.

I wanted to tattoo one of my nipples as part of a piece on my ribcage. I wanted to put sunglasses above the nip tip and rays around it to turn my nip into the sun for it. Fortunately, they knew me well enough to say, "Dude, you cried getting your ribcage done, your nipple would be even worse and it won't take the ink as well. I like the idea but no" Mad respect to artists that keep it real like that. - punkrockpizza

12. Yeah, it's time for the inspirational anchor quotes to go.

My managers brother runs a tattoo shop and if I remember right they turned down a lot of young white girls when the anchor tattoo on the ankle with something like “refuse to sink” or some s*** because anchors are literally made to sink - _retail_btch_

13. This is not only stupid, but would force some poor artist to hold your junk for over an hour.

Not a tattoo artist but a friend is. He turned down a guy who wanted a fly coming out of the head of his penis. - heysharkdontdotaht

An outspoken brother-of-the-bride is in hot water after he tussled with his in-laws over their laughter during wedding reception speeches.

He posted on Reddit to ask whether he went too far in calling his future in-laws "rednecks" and "bumpkins" after they laughed so hard at his girlfriend's speech, he thought it went into heckling territory.

He outlines the cultural differences between the two families from the beginning:

This past weekend I (31 M) was at my sister's wedding. To preface, her husband's family comes from a very rural, backwoods part of a southern state, whereas my family is more of a northeastern city area near NYC. So there is a bit of a culture clash that I am taking into account.

His sister was the bride, and his girlfriend was her maid of honor:

My girlfriend is my sister's best friend and she had to give a speech. She is VERY nervous speaking in front of crowds but she wanted to give a speech for my sister.

She starts the speech and is visibly nervous as her voice shakes a little. My side of the family is quiet but a couple of people from the groom's family shout out "no need to be nervous, we're all friends here!" I wanted no one to interrupt but that wasn't a big deal.

The in-laws called out to decrease his girlfriend's nerves, then started laughing loudly at all of her jokes:

What started to annoy me was that as the speech went on, and she told a joke, the rural side would erupt with laughter as if it was the funniest thing in the world (even though it was only worthy of a chuckle and she knew that). The bride and groom seemed to be enjoying the speech and didn't mind the people constantly heckling but I was getting pissed off.

After a few big laughs, the brother of the bride decided to jump in:

I eventually called out to them "will you slack jawed bumpkins shut the f*** up and let her finish?" and they all stayed quiet.

A bunch of people told him he owed said "bumpkins" an apology:

Later on in the wedding, the groom, my sister and a few other people from his side came up to me and told me to apologize, which made me even more upset and I told the main heckler "I'll apologize when you apologize to my girlfriend for heckling her and making her more nervous, you inbred redneck trash."

Whew. He left early and despite even his girlfriend saying he went too far, he's convinced he's in the right:

I ended up getting pressured to leave the wedding early and my girlfriend left with me. She insisted I didn't have to defend her and it was no issue, but I could tell she was getting more nervous and didn't like the disruptions

This is one of those rare cases where pretty much everyone agrees this guy is the a-hole.

FRANPW1 is from a family similar to the bride's, and is horrified:

OMG. I am so speechless. I am from NYC and married into a southern family. Their southern customs are different. Those people were trying to encourage your girlfriend. They weren’t ridiculing her. How mortified everyone must have been when you did this. You may have ruined the entire wedding for your sister. All that money they spent went down the drain. Even if the southerners were in the wrong, you were so out of line. I certainly hope that no children heard you curse like that. What on Earth were you thinking? YTA.

Prettyandsmart points out that if anyone embarrassed his girlfriend, it's the brother:

Ironically OP wanted to prevent his girlfriend from humiliation, and he basically ensured that she would be humiliated! How does anyone look at this situation and sincerely believe their behavior was above reproach?!?

And Due-Faithlessness pointed out that the in-laws were probably just trying to be nice.

Wait... you're mad at wedding guests for trying to encourage your GF and laughing at her speech? Of course YTA!

Everyone laughs louder than normal at weddings because emotions are high. Your sister's husband's family sounds friendly and you should apologize.

Rather_Dashing says that even if the laughing was ill-intentioned, the brother overreacted:

I can understand OP being annoyed at them for (assuming he is accurate and his GF didn't appreciate) misguidedly trying to encourage her but having the opposite affect. But what he did was so wildly over the top, just crazy.

And awaistcoat pointed out that his bigotry was hard to miss:

Not to mention, it sounds like he already had some real prejudice against Southerners before the wedding even started. Have some more faith in your girlfriend, too. She did not need your intervention.

ArtfulBludger provided a valuable and entertaining southern perspective:

D'you know why "Yankee" is considered a pejorative in the South? Because of pompous boors such as yourself whose only notion of folks south of the Ohio River is "inbred redneck". All you accomplished was embarrassing both your girlfriend and your sister while guaranteeing you'll be the topic of holiday tales for years.

"I heard Sarah mention her brother earlier. How come I've never met him?"

"Steve? snorts You were too young to remember, but when Sarah and John got married, Steve's girlfriend was trying to give a speech."

It goes on:

family gathers around, with those familiar with the event sharing half-amused, half-horrified expressions

"Poor thing was so nervous, bless her heart. We were all trying to help her relax. Steve, well, Steve's a Yankee, boy, and he lost his ever-loving mind. Screamed at us about being inbred and rednecks and to shut up. Carried on something fierce until Sarah and John actually kicked him out."

Grandma nods "Haven't seen hide nor hair of him since, and he never even had the guts to apologize. Ain't that just like a Yankee? Now, you go give Sarah a big hug for having to grow up with someone like that."

So there you have it. If people are laughing at the jokes in your partner's speech, insulting them is not the proper response...

"Why do they call it rush hour when nothing moves?"

-Robin Williams

Mornings are so freaking stressful. Who decided this is how we should start the day? Some idiot, probably! While there is nothing we can do to make your day start at noon, at least we can make you laugh with this hilarious collection of memes.

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While working from home sounds like it is an ideal situation, people who do it regularly will sometimes disagree.

If you're easily distracted or a naturally extroverted and social person, being away from a traditional office setting can force you to be alone with your thoughts, at the mercy of your attention span. However, if you've ever worked in a fast-paced customer service work environment, making money at home seems like a special sort of luxury.

In light of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), many people are choosing to work from home if their jobs allow it, in order to protect themselves and others. When Solar System Specialist, Emily Lakdawella, asked the internet about their tips to working from home, freelancers and remote office workers everywhere were definitely ready to share their tricks of the trade.

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It's women's history month, and you know what that means! This month women will be treated the way they've been treated throughout history, which is badly! Lol, sorry ladies. Obviously there have been many positive strides for women, like we can wear pants now! And we can vote (just not for a female President)! But sexism is still rampant. And it's not only men who are guilty of trying to keep women from smashing that glass ceiling. Women are often equally guilty of trying to keep women down. So at least there's equality in sexism. I guess, Yay?

A perfect example of female sexism comes to us from a woman who calls herself "The Transformed Wife" on Twitter (uh oh). She recently shared her thoughts on women in the military, police force, and other "men's jobs."

She writes:

I'm not sure how men could be attracted to women dressed as men like female police officers and females in the military. These are men's jobs. If they weren't, then women could dress like women in these jobs but they can't. Stick to being feminine, women.

Oh we love when someone tells women to "be more feminine," whatever that means. What other tired, ancient traditions should we try to keep alive, people dying of preventable diseases?! Oh wait.... People like this are the anti-vaxxers of gender and it's exhausting and harmful.

Apparently both women and men agree that this woman's opinions belong in the past, along with polio and contacting people via telegram.

This guy really broke it down.

Many women are sharing their own and other women's experiences working in uniform that completely disprove her sexist theory.

Men in uniform are responding, too.

This woman has a convincing theory about where this woman's anger comes from.

This woman offered the woman some advice of her own.

Some people even think it's satire.

If true, congrats "the transformed wife," you really succeeded at satirizing the sexism that is present in many women, often under the guise of "Christian values." Unlikely, tbh, but we can hope.

But though we probably can't give the "transformed wife" credit for her humor, we can give credit to Tracey O, who served up the best, most Christian burn of all time.

That was a clap-back so good it belongs in The Bible. God, we're ready for a new edition.

A woman named Erica kicked off a thread for people to share their embarrassing sex stories, and the schadenfreude will leave you satisfied.

Needless to say, they're Not Safe For Work.

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We've all had a co-worker so uniquely awful that we're forced to deeply question every career move we've ever made.

Whether it's someone deeply irritating or just generally bad at their job, it's unfortunate that not every work environment is like a magazine office in a romantic comedy. If you've worked in retail or the service industry, you'll understand that everything that goes on behind the scenes is often far more interesting than reality television. However, if you have the right group of co-workers, the shared struggle of the same job can be cathartic, beautiful friendship.

So, when a recent Reddit user asked, "Who was the worst co-worker you ever had?" people were more than ready to vent about their tales from the hustle.

1. Wow, "mamacrocker."

One I hired. She was our neighbor, a young mother whose husband was a truck driver. I knew they struggled with finances, had been evicted from past apartments, gone to their church for help with food and utilities, etc. When she told me she was laid off from her job at a bank, I hired her at the store I managed. It was the beginning of the busy season and I figured that would give her a few months to get back on her feet while she looked for something back in banking.

Instead, she worked for me less than two weeks. In that time, she stole from the register and another employee, was late twice, and quit by leaving her uniforms balled up in a grocery bag with a note saying she "just couldn't do it anymore." That chick was an A1 scam artist and I held a grudge against her for a long time.

2. NOPE, "shesjuststrange."

I worked in a bookstore, we had a cafe and the cafe manager was my worst coworker ever. She was nice and all but sooooo unhygienic. We'd had to discuss more than once not using the dish sink in the cafes backroom to bathe herself in. She always smelled slightly sour.

Well one day while covering the cafe managers break an employee discovered a pair of freshly stained underwear that she'd washed in the dish sink hanging off the counter in the cafes backroom. She got fired for that one.

3. Wow, "Puppy_kss."

There was a man at my work who would make inappropriate jokes to me (16F at the time) and other girls ages 16-20. He was like 50. He didn't get fired even though he made all of us uncomfortable because he was "good at his job." One of the girls quit and had some ptsd from him because of the harassment. He also attempted physical contact outside of work with us and hugged my best friend in walmart when we were shopping together, like??? He didnt even know her.

4. Yikes, "nashbar."

Guy had my name in his diary notebook, listed under “people that need to be taught a lesson”. He was fired immediately and I wasn’t allowed to come and go alone.

5. WTF, "Victoria-Wayne."

My manager.

After break a girl didn't come back and I asked why and my manager said it was because her grandfather passed away.

And then said: "She could have at least finished her shift."

6. You failed, Janet. "tamadrum32."

The "subject-matter expert" who was supposed to be my mentor decided she was threatened by my existence and seized every opportunity to try to get me fired.

I didn't get fired. I worked extra hard to figure it all out on my own and eventually got promoted because of it. So f*ck you Janet.

7. Why though! "TheCumCatcher."

There was a guy I worked with who...while he was fine and good at his job...just didn't bathe. It filled the room.

I could tell when he entered the building from the next floor up.

Like ..how do you tell a superior about washcloths and deodorant?

8. Roger is a nightmare, "BitPoet."

Roger.

He was a software developer, he was very very smart and stupendously incompetent in the ways that only really intelligent people can be without everything collapsing around them.

Everyone hated him. We cheered when he finally left.

He was condescending to the point where he would stand behind people and tell them what to type on their computers. He believed that allocating memory, and using locks in multithreaded code was error prone, and the source of Junior programmer mistakes.

He was a colossal as*hole.

Years later, another co-worker was getting his security clearance. I got interviewed as a reference. One of the questions was "did the applicant get along with everyone?". I said "yes, except for one guy". The interview said "I've heard all about Roger, and I don't think I've ever encountered a more universally despised person".

He was an orthodox Jew, which meant that his diet whenever he travelled was really hard to maintain. Especially in places like Florida. It made it hard, because it really humanized him. Otherwise he was just this giant monochromatic as*hole.

9. HA, "deterministic_lynx."

Someone who, by now, would go as an entitled Karen.

I was still a teenager back then and it was just a side job for me.

I was a sales assistant in a bakery. Or, to be exact, in one store of a bakery chain. I had been there almost a year, worked 2-3 times every week and usually worked alone, closing the store. I knew what I was doing. So did the apprentices who were my age.

They hired a part-time worker. We were the age of her children and she treated us as if she had the right to give us orders. Didn't ask if we would clean the glasses but ordered us to. Didn't do things herself. Knew everything better "No you can't take that cloth for window cleaning, take the other". We always take the other one...

The most horrible one was when I was with a customer and sold them a very big bread, bigger than our paper bags. I put it into two bags. Not in the plastic bag, as bread really does not belong into plastic bags.

In front of the customer she told me multiple times how what I was doing was wrong and I needed to do it differently and how dumb and wrong it was. I finished the sale and took her back and I, a 17 year old, scolded her massively never to do that in front of customers again and that she had no idea what she was talking about. Why was I so sure? A month before I had been to a workshop on product sales, profession attire and behaviour, promotions. Which covered exactly this behaviour.

The apprentices made her quit after a few months...

10. WHY, "Back2Bach."

In a building with 3 floors, he'd use alternate men's rooms each day, never flushing the toilet when he was done.

The guy thought it was hilarious to leave it there for all to see - including coworkers on other floors.

Even when he was called out on it, the guy persisted leaving his #2 in plain view and somehow feeling "cocky" about it.

11. Wow, "g0rewh0re."

I worked as a barista for a while, and I had this one customer who came in a few times a week. He was awkward, not in the cute way, but I didn't think much of it. He'd try to start conversation and I'd be polite but I wouldn't necessarily encourage him. He mentioned where he lived, and I noted that my chain had a coffee shop in his town, but he drove a couple towns over to mine which I thought was odd.

One day I'm at work and he orders a coffee and as I'm making it, he starts talking about how cool and pretty I am and asks if we could go out sometime. I was pretty annoyed and I politely declined, saying I had a boyfriend - which I did at the time - and he said "he's lucky, I wish I had a girl like you." Which creeped me out.

That was on a Friday, I come in for my shift on Monday and he's behind the counter in a uniform. Excitedly tells me he got a job here. I didn't really know what to do.

Not only did he continue to hit on me and constantly try to get my social media from me, he was absolutely fucking incompetent, and a health hazard. He came in with a disgusting rash on his arm once and he would scratch it and then handle people's food.

I told the manager if she didn't fire him I'd quit - I was the longest working employee there by far so I figured she'd fire him, but she didn't, so I left.

12. Ha, "Poespluis."

There was this girl at my work that would talk all the time, but like, she never stopped talking. Not about her own stories but only stories about her boyfriend and their many cats. So, whenever I had to share a lunchbreak with here, I took a 15 minute longer break to have some quiet time. My boss understood

13. Amazing, "mjolnirmkiv."

Had a guy who would only pack Mt. Dew and Marlboros for his lunch.

That's also how I'd describe his work ethic.

14. Damn, "achievespace."

She was super friendly with customers, but a pathological liar and crazy to her coworkers. She called in sick at least once a week. After I quit that job, she called me at 6 in the morning asking me to cover her shift because she thought she broke her back. I told her I didn't work there anymore and she goes "Aww why'd you quit?" as if she didn't just tell me she was having some sort of medical emergency.

15. The pizza game isn't for everyone, "Patsfan618."

Pizza restaurant.

He showed up late for his first day, first thing he said when he arrived was "When's payday"

Showed up late day #2.

Day #3 called out because "his car broke down"

Also day #3, called and ordered a pizza to his friends house, which he had driven too instead of work.

Day #4 no longer employed.

It can be incredibly painful to look your relationship straight in the face and see it for what it really is. No long-term relationship is a simple walk in the park, but some reach a point of death where the love fades out completely and what's left is obligation and habit.

Since deciding whether to separate or fight for the relationship is far more complicated when there's a kid in the picture, many people stay in marriages until their kids are grown up and out of the house.

However, these decisions become even more complicated when the crumbling foundation of a relationship is revealed to be a lie.

In a recent post on Reddit Relationships, a man shared why he got a paternity test on his 12-year-old son behind his wife's back.

I (34m) conducted a paternity test behind my wife’s back on our 12 year old son.

He kicked off the post by sharing that he met his wife during a drunk hookup when they were 20, and the relationship bloomed when she realized she was pregnant a few weeks later.

Typing this out in Mobile. Apologies for grammar or formatting

A little back story before I get to the meat. My wife and I met when I was 20. We had a drunk hookup the first night we met. We continued seeing each other after that night. A few weeks later she found out she was pregnant.

OP proposed shortly before his military deployment, despite having some doubts about the pregnancy being his.

We stayed together and I proposed a few months later. I had doubts about her pregnancy lining up with our timeline but I never brought it up or discussed it. Not to mention I was in the military and deployed a few months later. My proposal weighed a lot on her carrying my child. I grew up in a home without a dad and never wanted that.

Now, 12 years later, they're still together and OP loves his son deeply. The marriage, however, has been volatile and the love and passion died quickly.

Fast forward 12 years we are still married. Though it has been extremely volatile and rocky I’ve stayed together honestly because I could never part from my son. I can’t let him grow up with an absent father. So I’ve made it work. Our marriage is dead outside of our child.

OP's dormant doubts about whether he's the biological father came to a head recently, when he ran into an old friend who mentioned that OP "stole" his wife from him. In the conversation, the old friend revealed he'd been dating OP's wife up until the weekend they hooked up, which lined up more logically with the pregnancy timing.

I ran into an old friend who I knew around the time I met my wife. He asked if I was still with her and I said yes. He mentioned how “it was crazy I dated her and then you stole her from me!” I wasn’t sure what he meant and asked him to elaborate. He said “it’s no big deal but I was seeing her up until that weekend you met her.” I dropped it but inside my doubt and insecurities ran wild. I couldn’t get it out of head. I broke down and bought a home DNA test kit and used it on my son and I without telling my wife.

The anxious run-in inspired OP to buy a DNA test to use on his son, and when the results came back, it was confirmed that OP is not the biological father.

The results came back today. He is not my son. 0% chance I am his biological son. I’m destroyed. My whole world is upside down. I’m just on autopilot at the moment. I don’t know how to act or feel. I’m just a zombie right now.

Regardless of what happens moving forward, OP is dedicated to his son and loves him, but this new reveal makes the marriage feel even more like a chore.

One thing I know is no matter what he is my son. I’ve been by his side the moment he was born and will absolutely never abandon him. Absolutely nothing will change that.

Now, OP is parsing precisely how to bring this up to his wife, especially since it's not just a matter of paternity, but his feelings about the relationship as a whole.

What I haven’t decided is how if at all I bring it up to my wife. I feel like my whole marriage was a lie. I can’t help but wonder if she knew. How do I confront her. Regardless that I’m not in love with her I still love her. This will crush her. This will absolutely devastate her. I don’t know what to do. I plan on seeing a counselor/therapist ASAP. So many emotions and thoughts flooding my mind. Just need some help to bring me back down.

EDIT: I appreciate all the support and words of advice. Both good, bad and the assholes. I’m going to sit on this until I get my head right.

miranda-the-dog-mom encouraged OP to pull the trigger on a divorce, and shared that she's happy her parents made that decision.

First of all, I can’t even imagine how blindsided you must feel. I’m sorry this has happened.

My parents (biological parents) got married because they found out they were pregnant with me. When I was about 1, they decided to end it. I’ve talked with my mom a lot about why this happened and what her thought process was and she always says something along the lines of: “I knew that I’d so much rather raise you in two happy households instead of one unhappy one.”

And that’s exactly what happened. I grew up with two separate, happy marriages as examples. I got to be loved by so many more people. I have good relationships with all my parents. I have no resentment.

I just wanted to say that good outcomes of divorce exist. Sometimes it really is what is best for the family unit as a whole. Divorce doesn’t always end badly. Sometimes it’s the most calm & clear path for everyone involved.

Good luck, I’m rooting for you.

jillbowaggins suggested OP talk to a lawyer to see what his visitation and custody rights would be like if he left his wife.

I am so sorry.

"One thing I know is no matter what he is my son."

But thank god for that. He didn't know any better than you did, you both grew up knowing each other as father and son, and DNA only changes that biologically. It doesn't change all the time you spent together, all the time you spent raising him, all the time he spent knowing you as his father and you are still that person and so is he. Family is so much more than blood and I'm glad you're on board with that.

But wow yeah, how to deal with your wife... It's okay to still love somebody but not be in love with them, and obviously this was becoming the case long before you found out that your son is not biologically yours.

So one of the things to me, is that kids tend to learn a lot from their parents relationships. And a loveless relationship is only teaching them that they should do the same. Definitely see a therapist to help you navigate this, but also see a lawyer. Even if you don't have any plans right now, talk to a lawyer and see what your options are. Because despite not being the biological father, presumably you're still on his birth certificate and you've been his father for a dozen years. So at least talk to a lawyer and figure out what you can expect if you do decide to leave her.

k8tiebr0wn doesn't think OP should bring up the DNA test, but believes it's time to call it quits on the marriage.

My first thoughts while reading this (before I even got to the part with the results of the DNA test) were that you should consider splitting up with your wife. From what it sounds like, you’re not exactly happy with her. Life is too short. I think that the results of the DNA test are irrelevant. You know in your heart that you will always be your son’s father, even if you don’t share DNA. If you decide to get a divorce, you can find someone who really makes you genuinely happy, and your son will be happy for you and will understand when he gets older. Kids feed off of your happiness.

Personally, I wouldn’t even bring up the results of the test to either one of them. Maybe that’s your mental “out” for gathering the courage to start over. Maybe that’s a chat you can have with your son in a few years, but I wouldn’t even worry yourself with the stress of discussing it. I also agree with u/jillbowaggins in that you should definitely seek legal advice before you do anything, just in case there’s a chance of you jeopardizing the custody of your son.

You will get through this, life has a funny way of sorting itself out. Good luck and thank you for your service!!

TheBestPeter thinks OP should talk to a therapist before bringing this to the family.

Definitely talk to a therapist and work shit out before you talk you your wife. You need to be able to process this and figure things out before a confrontation.

No matter what else happens, though, you got yourself a son out of it. Treasure that.

derogatori pointed out the fact that starting a relationship out of obligation was a bad omen in the first place.

First of all, for everyone reading, this is why you don’t get married for anything other than love and you don’t blindly stay in an unhappy marriage.

Just get out of your unhappy marriage, tell your wife, keep being his dad but let the other guy know, too, and if he wants a paternity test then let him get it and meet your kid. He’s 12 and can probably handle more than you think. Just explain to him that you’re still his dad, and he kind of has another dad, too. Lying is what got you all here in the 1st place, so don’t keep lying to your kid now that you know the truth.

petit_cochon encouraged OP with the fact that a lot of kids are raised by non-biological parents.

The important thing here is what you already know: you love your son, and he is your son, legally and emotionally, if not biologically. Whether she knew or not, you may never truly know, but out of an unhappy marriage, you got a beautiful, wonderful child.

This may be the freedom you need to end something that's toxic, and keep something that's beautiful. Definitely see the therapist.

One last thing I'll say...this is shockingly common. Believe me. I found out when I was in my late 20s that the man who raised me wasn't my biological dad. My parents used a donor to conceive. I'm pretty open about this, and when I tell people, they're always like, "Oh yeah, that happened to my friend," or "I was raised by someone who wasn't my bio parent," or tell me a story like yours. Families come in all forms and people are complicated. All of which is to say that you're doing a great job processing this and I love how much you love your son. It's amazing and what every parent should be. Let that be your anchor.

It seems abundantly clear that OP needs to have a serious talk with his wife about their marriage, and what the future will look like for co-parenting, it's just a matter of when, or how.

It’s hard being a teenager, but even harder if you feel like you’ve been left to care for your younger sibling. That’s the case for one person who posted on Reddit looking for advice, and asking if she was perhaps too honest with her mom. Here’s what happened.

In a recent Reddit post in the popular forum Am I The A**hole (AITA) the 17-year-old user, DanyDevitoismymom, asked: “AITA for telling my mom that she’s the reason I don’t want kids?”

The user starts off their post with some context, saying she's only 17-years-old and has been mostly raising her 7-year-old sister.

"My dad has been out of the picture since I was born. My mom was 17 when she got pregnant with me."

Then she gets into her story:

I got my period pretty late. I was 15 to be exact. And they were awful from day one. At one point I literally couldn't move so my mom brought me to the doctor and I was told I have endometriosis (at the wonderful age of 15!) and that it would be extremely hard and nearly impossible for me to have kids biologically. Kind of sucked but I accepted it. But now that I'm 17 and kind of basically raised my sister, I realize that I don't want kids. It's exhausting and a lot of work and she isn't even my child. (My mom is kind of irresponsible and would leave me to look after my sister and go out with friends and come home late. I have to miss classes to take my sister to school, etc. When my sister and I go out in public together, people think I'm a teen mom. I hold nothing against my sister. I love her dearly.)

She says she's "dead-set on not wanting kids," adding that she's basically raised her sister during her teen years.

The teenager then follows up with the story of telling her mom she's the reason she doesn't want kids.

A bit of family came to visit and when they do, my mom puts up this "im a great mom" image which is bs.

My cousin (f22), her husband(23), and their newborn come too. We're all gushing over how cute he is, etc. And my grandma makes a comment about how exciting it'll be when I have a kid too one day which I then say "Oh, I don't want kids." And she says "You say that. Im sure you will eventually." But I don't, so I say "No, I wont." And she says "Again, your young, that will change."

And then she lets her truth bomb hit her mom.

And I said "Considering I basically raised Ella (sister), I really don't want kids." My mom looks like she's gonna kill me and we get into a screaming match and I basically tell her to her face that she's the reason I don't want kids. That because I'm already raising a kid, that isn't mine, I don't want kids. (My sister isn't in the room, shes in the basement with the younger cousins).

She said everyone looked confused and shocked and her mom sent her to her room before telling her how she felt.

Later she told me I was being disrespect and was an asshole. So, am I the a*shole for finally blowing up after 7 years of playing mommy to my sister while my mom goes out and makes the family think shes a great mom?

The Reddit community didn't hold back their feelings on this teen's situation.

NUTmeSHELL says it was the mom's fault:

NTA. If your mother didn’t want the truth about her parenting skills to come out, she probably should have raised her own kid.

vallyallyum agrees and says mom should know better:

It's like what I tell my mother now that I'm about to have children of my own: if you wanted to be an involved grandparent, you should have tried being an involved parent. OP is definitely NTA, her mother deserves to be called out for being a sh*t parent.

WonderfulResult says that they hate hearing "You say that. I'm sure you will eventually." adding:

Uuuugh, I hate hearing that from people. NTA and I'm sorry you're stuck in this situation.

politicsnerd67 also blames the mom here:

NTA- Your mom is extremely irresponsible. First she had a child as a teenager and then had another child and made you become a parent to that child. And she has the gall to act she’s like this amazing mom when she’s a failure as a parent.

DreamingofCharlie sounds like they can really relate:

NTA I also spent my life raising my siblings and when I was finally free I knew I would never want to do it again. Live your life for yourself and don't worry about your mom's feelings.

And Marie1420 had a similar experience, too:

I too was treated like the free nanny to my younger siblings. I’m 50 years old now and must say that my choice to not have kids has been one of my best life choices ever. And should it come up in conversation, I don’t shy away from telling people that my mom didn’t do a great job being a mother. I’ve “been there, done that” with childcare and it killed my interest in becoming a mother myself. As you age, you’ll come across more women that have chosen to be child-free because they were treated as free nannies during their own childhoods. Good for you for making your own choices.

nutmegisme says none of this is her fault:

NTA. It's not your job to protect other people's manicured images. If they don't walk the walk, the truth is their fault, not yours.

And Olyfia is seeing red:

NTA. So so so so so many red flags from your mum there.

While KryLei_0603 gives another perspective:

NTA. I’m sorry you’re having to be an adult when you should’ve been enjoying being a kid also. One day, when your little sister is older, she will absolutely appreciate what you’ve done for her. You have my respect, and I do hope you and your little sister continue to stay close to one another. I’m a mom of two kiddos and my greatest wish, other than them to be happy and healthy, is for them to be close and take care of each other.

But, LiquidDreamtime has a different take saying "everyone here sucks."

Edit: this is more of an ESH situation YTA

Every adult tells teenager that they “think they know everything” because we ALL thought we knew everything when we were 17.

The fact is that you will grow up, change, and learn so much about yourself in the next 8-13 yrs that you’ll look back and laugh at how certain you were of things that will no longer be true.

You definitely don’t want children right now. That’s great, don’t have kids right now. You may not want children in the future, that’s also totally fine. But being rude and disrespectful to your mom who, even if she hasn’t gone great, did her best to raise you, is not ok.

Most everyone has issues with their parents that take years, decades, or lifetimes to resolve. You should seek out therapy to try and get ahead of this animosity you feel toward your mother (where is dad?).

Relax. You’re young and have a lot of time to make a lot of big decisions. Picking fights with relatives over innocuous comments about your potential future is a waste of energy. Enjoy being 17. Don’t worry about children or any ridiculous pressure your family may be putting on you for them.

However, Trania86 took it a step further and called out grandma, too:

Can we please say that grandma is TA as well? She probably means well but people REALLY need to stop telling young women "they will change their minds." We are not incubators that are enslaved by our hormones and a personal choice should be respected.

Clearly. this is a complicated family situation and her sister is lucky to have this person in her life.

Being a parent is hard and, like anything else in life, it's impossible to do it perfectly. Even sometimes when you think you're doing the right thing for your kid, it can turn out to be the wrong thing. Aunt Becky can probably attest to that.

A mom shared her story on Reddit's "Am I The A**hole?" forum about something she did that she thought was helping her daughter. But it turned out to be a mistake, at least according to her daughter's dad, and the majority of Reddit commenters who, it behooves me to admit, are rarely wrong.

The mom explains that "a lot of people are angry" over her decision to get her 17-year-old daughter lip injections.

She claims her daughter has wanted lip injections since she was 10 after being "bullied" for inheriting her father's "thin lips."

I would like others to give me their opinion on this situation. A lot of people are angry with me but I think at the end of the day I did this to help my daughter.

My daughter is seventeen years old. She turned seventeen in February. Since she was around ten, she has been complaining about her lips. She inherited her fathers thin lips. They are a great shape, but they are thin. She has been bullied for it for ages. She has come crying to me about it several times. I thought she would get over it as she got older, but she never has.

She travels full time so her daughter lives with her dad, but they are "very close." The mom agreed to pay for her daughter to get lip injections and signed the consent forms.

My daughter lives with her father and step mother full time because I travel for work. But when I am in town, she tends to stay with me for weeks at a time. We are very close. Two weeks ago she confided in me that she had been saving money for lip injections for two years now. She had a lot of money saved up.

We had a heart to heart about it and I decided to go ahead and pay for her to get them from a good doctor. I signed the consent forms and we did it. She is very happy with them, she loves them. They have really balanced out her face.

The way this mom comments on her daughter's lips lets you know that this wasn't a "it's what's on the inside that counts"-type household. But I digress.

The real reason the mom is in trouble is that the dad, who "flipped" at her for not consulting him first. He claims his daughter is a "child" who is too young to "know what she wants."

When it was time for me to leave for work again, I took her back to her father’s. He flipped it. He started yelling at both of us and claiming that we destroyed her face. I apologized to him for not clearing it with him, but it was because I knew that he would say no. This was something she has really wanted for a long time. He argues that she is a child and doesn’t know what she wants.

Apparently extended family are also pissed that the mom would take her daughter in for plastic surgery. But the mom claims that the daughter would've done it herself anyway.

Of course he has spread the news of the lip injections to several family members. They think that it is shameful that I would take my daughter to get plastic surgery and are urging him to limit my visitation (probably not going to happen). I think that they just do not empathize with my daughter and are excited to shame me for letting her get the most minor plastic surgery. She would have gotten it herself anyway, I just wanted to make sure it was done correctly. AITA?

Commenters are weighing in, and the majority are saying that the mom is "the a**hole" here—mainly for not consulting the dad first.

RGD1983 writes:

YTA, you did this behind her father's back(who is her primary caregiver) and while she's a minor. That alone makes YTA.

grumpyspudgal writes:

YTA. For not talking to the other parent, because avoiding difficult conversations is a deeply immature thing to do, especially when it involves your daughter.

rckymtnrfc agrees:

I'm going to agree with you. Although I don't think the lip injections are that bad, the fact that she didn't ask the other parent "because I knew he'd say no" is YTA territory.

And murder_sickle writes:

One parent unilaterally okaying a medical procedure that's not life saving is not only asshole behavior but is in contempt of most custody agreements.

I would be livid if my ex did this with my daughter without so much as a warning. The dad got no input and no say in something that has an inherent risk, no matter how small, for his still underage child.

Maybe he had talked to her about his feelings and made them clear then the daughter went to mom specifically to undermine the dad? We have no idea.

Dad reacting strongly may not be appropriate but its understandable. Even if the daughter would get it done at 18, that's besides the point that the mom did it without discussing a thing with him.

Samuel24601 agrees the mom was wrong to not consult the dad, and points out she could've just waited a year:

YTA for not clearing it with her father first, knowing full well he was against it. The girl’s gonna be an adult in less than a year, you could have waited and avoided this.

WaDaEp also thinks the mom could've waited a year:

If you were going to pay for it and find a good doctor, you could have told your daughter of your plans and asked her to wait until she is a legal adult to get the lip injections.

While lacrimosa122 makes a very good point that the mom should've responded to her daughter being bullied by trying to address the bullying...instead of the lips (truly WTF):

Doesn't sound like the daughter would've wanted to get fillers if she hadn't been bullied. Why didn't the parents address the root of the issue (bullying) instead of "fixing" insecurities? It seems like OP just up and went, "ok honey, if you're being bullied for your thin lips, we'll just make them bigger" instead of saying "how can I help fix this toxic environment?"

People are also criticizing the dad for his unnecessary comment that the injections "destroyed his daughter's face." This girl's parents have ZERO chill about her physical appearance.

reddy1218 writes "ESH" (everyone sucks here) but mainly the mom:

ESH but mainly you for not talking to your daughters father (aka her primary guardian) about this. It’s pretty disrespectful that you didn’t at least consult him about it. Her father sucks as well but only for saying that you destroyed your daughters face, which couldnt help her confidence. But I would say 99% YTA

And newaxcounr agrees:

ESH

this should have been a discussion with your ex because it’s a big decision and you’re coparenting.

he sucks for saying you ruined her face when she wanted the procedure done and likely likes it

i wouldn’t worry too much about visitation if she’s 17, custody pretty much doesn’t matter once she’s an adult

At least one person is on the mom's side. banjotwenf believes that the daughter would've done it anyways. But even they think the mom should've consulted the dad:

NTA she’s 17 and if she’s been this serious about it for 7 years now I doubt it’ll change in 12 more months.

I do agree that you should have told her father first but he’s completely wrong for saying you “ruined her face”

(As far as I know) most Lip fillers go down after a while so it’s not like it’ll be that that for forever

One thing is certain: it's pretty clear why this girl felt the need to change her lips in the first place, since both her parents are apparently obsessed with her looks. Both these parents owe their daughter an apology. And many, many years in therapy.

It's the pandemic introverts and agoraphobes have been waiting for.

Public health officials have encouraged people to self-quarantine and practice social distancing (aka not go to places where people are really close together, like concerts or Trader Joe's).

People are tweeting about this new era of social isolation for the greater good as a way of connecting with others from the comforts of their home offices/beds.

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Navigating relationships is hard, and once you add kids and careers to the mix you have an even more complex situation. One family is feeling this on all fronts, and the mom took to the Reddit community to ask for advice. Here’s what she wants to know.

ThrowRAMoneyOrHim (OP) posted in the relationship forum on Reddit looking for advice on a recent career opportunity. She writes:

We've been married for almost a decade and have two children that are elementary school age. I work remotely. My job offered to literally double my income if I move to be local to where the company is. To me, this is a no brainer. That's a life changing offer for us and our kids. However, he refuses to move. His family is here, and he won't leave them.

He says money isn't everything, but it would make their life a whole lot easier.

He claims money isn't everything, which is true. But it sure helps and with the promotion I've been offered, he could travel to see them as much as he wanted to. He wouldn't even have to work if he didn't want to.

He says he's happy here and he wants the kids to grow up around family. I get that. I do. However, if he wants the kids to grow up around family, we're living in the wrong state anyways because I have 100x the amount of family in a different state than he has here. What he means is he wants the kids to grow up around his family.

His refusal to move makes this woman feel like her husband is choosing his family over their family.

I am interpreting this as him choosing his family over me and that crushes me. WE (The kids and I) are his family and he should want to do whatever he can to give US the best possible life. Never in my life did I think I'd have to fight for the priority spot in his life over his mom.

I don't know what to do. I want this promotion. I will never see this kind of money otherwise. At the same time, I am not one to thump my chest to get my way. We always make decisions together, but we're at a crossroads with this and I don't know how to reach a mutual agreement. No matter which route we take, someone loses.

She posed the question: What would Reddit do? Take the promotion with or without him? Or decline the promotion and stay here where his family is?

Dietcokeisgod answered her question with another:

If you decide to not take the promotion you are likely to resent him. Would it be possible for you to commute?

The OP answered saying:

That's my fear... Resenting him. But at the same time, I don't want him to resent me... And, no, my job is located many states away.

BamaSOH offers some insight based on their own experience:

Part of the reason for my parents divorce was all the great jobs my dad wouldn't let my mom take because he didn't want to move anywhere.

t4mpon tries to find a compromise asking:

Can you guys agree to try it for a year? If you own your house, keep it and rent it out so you can come back if you have to. If he’s miserable at the end of the year, then revisit the decision.

lowlysquib says it's time to think about her for a change:

Choose you for once. Don’t let this dynamic be all your kids see of an adult relationship. Time to stand up for yourself, and them.

KitchenCellist suggests therapy after OP says she always puts her husband first:

Maybe therapy for yourself to figure out why you always put him first, even above your own interests.

And magictubesocksofjoy thinks about the future and proposes another question:

Let's say the "one emergency expense" happens. how are you going to handle waking up next to the person whose stubbornness means you have no savings to help you, no buffer to shield you from this one life-ruining emergency expense?

how are you going to explain your financial crash to your kids when their lives are flipped upside down?

ThrowRAMoneyOrHim edited her original post to provide more details:

Where my job is, we've lived there before. We lived where we are currently for 6 years, where my job is for 4, then we moved back a year ago. My daughter wants to move back. My son doesn't.

We are "one emergency expense" away from being homeless type of middle class. We have no savings, we can't vacation, my parents pay for school supplies and clothes.

She says the only reason he told her he doesn't want to move is because his mom lives near by:

My biggest issue is that his sole reason for not wanting to move (At least what he tells me) is that he wants to stay close to his mom. I am not looking for a divorce. I take my marriage very seriously. I feel I've sacrificed a shit ton to ensure this marriage stays successful. Divorce is not something I entertain. That's why, when push comes to shove, I know I'll be the one to give up my opportunity. For the sake of keeping my family together. That's how it's always gone. I know that that's where this is headed.

starrynight75 says maybe it's time to think of something different:

Or... you and the kids move. He can stay home with his Mom and commute to see you all on the weekends. You’re doing what you can for their future, he’s snuggling up to Mom.

masuka1219 offers a story of a similar situation with her ex-husnand:

Already divorced and share 50/50 custody of the kids. In addition to doubling my salary (including bonus), the company included all moving expenses including up to $25,000 reimbursement if you sold your house at a loss. The job was 2 hours away (so... not several states away, understand this is a huge difference).

The point of all that? MY EX HUSBAND WAS WILLING TO MOVE SO I COULD TAKE THE JOB. Let me say that again - my ex-husband was willing to move because he knew what it would mean for the kids. After struggling for years as two single parents... it would be life changing. And it was.

Long story, but I ended up moving a bit closer to work. Ex-husband did in fact move... he had to move 5 minutes away from his current house so he would be in-district and the kids could stay in the school they loved. On my nights - he drives to my place in the morning to get the kids for school. In return? I pay for travel hockey, give him cash to chip in for groceries and gas and finally can save for college. We compromised and the kids are better off. I’ve since gotten to take them on their first real vacation to the ocean.

Your husband is being selfish. You have the opportunity to change your kid’s lives. Do it. You won’t regret it

SunsetGrind has this to say:

I personally don't believe in sacrificing career opportunities. Especially if it means having a better life for you and your kids. You two need to have an objective discussion about this. The LEAST he can do is discuss without having his mind already made up. Also let him know how you feel about him choosing his mom over his wife and kids.

A deleted user who had been following the OP's responses in the thread says it might be more than just the job bothering her husband:

The more I read your responses the more it seems like he doesn’t want his wife being the breadwinner.

And IamPlatycus says either way this lands, it's not going to be great for their marriage:

Either way your marriage is going to take some damage. You're going to need counseling to repair the already apparent resentment growing on both sides, counseling you can better afford by taking the promotion

Relationsips are hard, and there really is a lot of compromise that needs to happen for the partnership to remain healthy. Refusing to talk it out like this situation? Not a good look.

“When you work from home there is no such thing as a holiday.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

If you're working from home, chances are you're not wearing pants and you have a snack in one or both hands right now. Skipping the commute and not having to be in close proximity to your coworkers is pretty sweet. All of these things are great, but the best part of all is you can laugh at these memes without your boss catching you.

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It doesn't matter how nice and calm you are, everyone has their breaking point. Since people with reputations for being kind and mild-mannered are often taken advantage of by those who underestimate them, it can be cathartic to witness them fight back.

In a popular Reddit thread, people share stories of seeing a nice person "snap." In most of these cases, their behavior was completely provoked.

1. mintieee saw the sweetie pie go full fight mode.

I had just started high school and there was a new kid (I was from a one primary/one high school town, so all the kids already knew each other). He was a giant aboriginal kid who was quiet with no friends, so my friend and I befriended him. We always chatted to him and he was so lovely, always softly spoken and generally just so nice.

Like holding doors open for us and bashfully smiling when we would go out of our way to be friendly to him. Anyway, he started getting picked on by the “bad boy” of our grade relentlessly. One day he snapped and beat him up with a garbage can and was expelled and I never saw him again.

2. RemoteControlled-Cat watched Mary stand her ground.

This woman, “Mary” I worked with was always pleasant and cheerful, said hello in the lunchroom and was generally liked. She worked in Finance in special projects. She said she wanted to retire “in a few years” and she had been working there for 15 years.

Her boss started pressuring her to complete our annual budget report faster, but this thing is huge and comprehensive and a figurative beast. “Mary” told the boss it would be ready in a couple of weeks, per the usual schedule.

The boss said that it needed to be completed within one week to give to the higher ups. “Mary” said it wasn’t possible. Boss emailed “Mary” + Cc a bunch of coworkers and the Assistant Managers, calling “Mary” out for a poor work ethic and for making the department look bad.

“Mary” said it wasn’t possible and didn’t appreciate being bullied. She put in her notice to retire by the end of the week, leaving her boss high and dry. She was the only one who could do the budget report in a timely manner - so the Department was double f*cked.

Good for her.

3. steerbell's friend will not abide trash talk about his sister.

I mentioned this in another thread. Samoan friend. Happiest, most friendly guy you ever want to meet. Some guy said something about his sister and of course it made him mad. My friend went after him and caught him. Punched about three times and we realized he was going kill him.

It took three of us normal sized guys to hold his arm back from hitting the guy one more time. We told the other to run, like run f*cking now. He did. Our friend was mad at us for awhile for stopping him then he went home. The next day it was as if nothing happened. He just went back to being a super nice guy.

P.S. I forgot a couple days later our friends big brothers (BIG brothers) were looking for that same guy that got the crap beat out of him. I don't think they found him but never did see him again.

4. PryzeTheBest watched the jerk manager get his.

She was an assistant manager and was known for being soft spoken.

At a manager meeting one of the General managers (who was known for being a total jacka*s to everyone) was going off on how every store should be run. Well, she snapped. “You have the highest turnover rate out of any store in the district! You can’t keep employees for more than 6 months before they just quit all saying you were the problem. Maybe you should take that “advice” you’re giving us and use it on yourself.”

5. gil_beard's best friend got pushed to the brink.

My best friend had lost his mom to murder a few months prior when we were in the 10th grade. Some how he had pulled himself together just enough to start going back to school. I don't know how he handled it with being an only child and growing up without a father, his mom was all he had.

A kid that thought he was popular that got on everyone's nerves cracked wise to my friends face about his mom's death, what he said isn't exactly sure. My friend threw him on the ground and punched him in the face multiple times. The end result was a broken nose, a broken left orbital, and my friend got kicked out of school. We were very grateful he taught him a lesson but sadden it had to come at such a high cost.

6. hamsterqueen420's teacher lost it.

Back in 5th grade, I was super lucky to have the elementary school’s favorite teacher. Every single student loved her.

My class was always super loud and annoying. We were working on some assignment before PE, and everyone was pissing her off. She was only allowing students to go out if they finished the assignment. My slow a*s was unfortunately one of the last kids in the room. This one student, who was a godawful and annoying sh*tbag kid, was being way over the top.

My teacher got up, put her hands over her ears and just started screaming “SHUT THE F*CK UP! JUST SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP.” And she just stomped out of the room still screaming with her hands covering her ears. All of us just sat there in horror. Couple of kids just left to go to PE, and I sat there just trying to finish the assignment.

Our principal came into the room a few minutes later just telling the rest of us to go out to PE, but she made the sh*tbag kid stay in the room with her. He was moved into the other 5th grade teachers room after this.

She was completely normal and fine after coming back. And there was nothing else that went wrong for the rest of year. Just worked her a*s off and made all of us love her by her caring soul and all of that fun stuff. But that moment completely traumatized me.

7. TheWaystone watched their coworker do what every frustrated employee dreams of.

A long time ago, I used to do call center tech support for fairly complex issues. A really nice, quiet guy went through the same training class. He talked if you talked to him, but never went out of his way to chat.

Right after training, the call center changes a ton of stuff - we start getting squeezed on the amount of time we can do documentation, how much research time we have, just metrics in general. It was utter bullshit, because the favorites got to go on smoke breaks as often as they wanted with the managers. We'd essentially be punished for that because we had to keep the average numbers in a certain area. He did all the right things.

Talked to his manager, talked to their manager, then to HR. It kept getting worse, plus enforced overtime. Then he got a super long call (he was on it at least two hours) about a complex issue, and the customer was just straight up abusing him but he had to take it because the managers wouldn't give permission for him to hang up. And they were basically screaming at him to resolve this issue and get to his next call, but we couldn't end calls, the customer had to.

One day he just stood up, stepped onto his chair, then onto his desk, threw his headset on the desk and sort of growled something like "f*ck this," quietly. He looked around, staring people in the face, especially the people who took those long breaks and the managers.

Then he walked out and no one ever saw him again. Everyone was super quiet and afraid to move or say much of anything.

8. Master_J_2003 knows not to mess with Hudson.

Back in the 6th(?) grade I was in a class with this kid we'll call Hudson, now Hudson was the nicest calmest kid in the entire school and almost never spoke a word.

Then came along someone who we'll call Will, Will was from a nearby city and since we were all from a small little town he thought of himself as above everyone else. This resulted in him being an overall piece of sh*t to everyone around him whether it be students, EAs or even teachers.

One day Will decided he wanted to try picking on Hudson who was sat quietly reading a book. Will walked up to him, spat in his face and took his book and proceeded to tear out pages from it.

Now, Hudson was a huge bookworm so seeing a book having its pages being torn out by Will must have snapped something because he lets out this unholy shriek and launches himself out of his chair and right onto him. Hudson then proceeds to beat the absolute crap out of him and then just when you thought he was done he grabs the book and begins smacking him with it, I'm talking meaty slaps here these could be heard very clearly.

After almost a full minute of Hudson beating him with a book a teacher finally returns to the class only to see the quiet kid beating the ever loving shit out of the prick with Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows.

If I remember correctly Will managed to get off with only 3 days suspension and Hudson got at least a full week, when Will came back he had a broken nose and enough bruises to make him look like a human grape if you looked at him right.

Needless to say Will didn't mess with anyone after that.

9. axialage saw Brian lose it over his jukebox choice.

I used to manage a pub in a small rural town (population around 300) in Australia. Running the pub was mostly a business of maintaining the peace between the itinerant oil and gas workers, and the local cattle industry families who resented their presence. The flash point for this conflict was frequently the jukebox in the bar. The oil and gas guys were usually city folks on fly in, fly out rotations, so their musical tastes somewhat differed to the locals.

Anyway so there's a guy we'll call Brian who is the heir apparent to one of the larger cattle empires in the district. Super cool guy, everyone liked him, would give you the shirt of his back sort of thing. Brian had a daughter who'd just married and was pregnant with her first kid. Sometime during the pregnancy she'd noticed a dodgy looking blemish on her butt, though she figured she'd wait til she had the kid to get it looked at. Months later, she's had the kid, goes to get it checked. Skin cancer, metastasized everywhere. Weeks to live.

There's a huge funeral. Brian is destroyed. At the end of the church service there's a procession of vehicles out to the cemetery. Some Halliburton truck, impatient to be caught behind it, plows down the side of the road and spews dust over the whole thing.

From then on Brian would be down the pub every other night. He'd get half smashed, and then put that f*cking If I Die Young song on the jukebox that was popular like ten years back. Man was circling the drain but nobody really knew what to do about it.

Anyway one night, Brian's at the bar and the song is on the jukebox. Some guys in Halliburton patched Hi-Vis start b*tching about the song choice. I tell them to just leave it be, but one of them gets up and unplugs the jukebox. Brian plugs it back in and puts the song on again. One of the Halliburton guys calls Brian a depressing old c*nt, Brian tells him to get f*cked and... well I don't remember who threw the first punch.

But between the fight starting and the couple of seconds it took me to break it up, Brian did enough damage to put the guy in an ambulance.

Edit: For those wandering how this all turned out for Brian, there was no trouble with the police because the town didn't even have a police officer at the time and the gas worker couldn't have his boss knowing he'd been brawling with the locals at the pub. I haven't lived out that way for a couple years, but last I heard Brian was still running the family cattle stations and de facto raising his granddaughter because the son-in-law works FIFO, three on and one off.

10. Maple-Lady's brother got free.

Older brother's wedding. He's a very nice guy, almost too nice. He had a horrible girlfriend. He adored her though. She told him that he wasn't good enough and that she would break up with him unless he bought her this super fancy ring and married her. He did. He wedding was very stressful, and she was extra nasty. After they cut the cake, she got herself a huge slice and left him with none, telling him he should go on a diet.

(For context, he was underweight. He was working his way up to average.) He snapped. Threw a handful of cake at her pretty dress and hair, then told her to expect divorce papers to sign. He proceeded to scream, cry, and rant about how horrible she was and how she made him suicidal.

He's better now. They split up and live in different continents.

11. Cgfuselier knows that Darrel means business.

An acquaintance of mine, “Darrel”, was always a quiet kid that bothered nobody. Given that he was 6’5” and 250 lb, he played football and was generally respected and liked. One day in Spanish class the class clown was making his usual rounds talking shit, until he got to this one girl, “Nelly”. He never really made fun of people of the other sex, so everyone around him was telling him to f*ck off, but he kept going and finally got to the birthmark on her neck that was very large and dark red. He told her that it “dropped her a few numbers down.”

At this point just about everyone and their grandma in the class was standing up about to rush him (save for “Darrel” and a few others) until Darrel got up, waltzed over to the class clown, picked him up BY HIS HAIR and said and I quote “if you don’t shut the f*ck right now I am going to put you through that f*cking wall points to the nearest wall” he dropped the clown and walked away.

A few seconds later, with his band of merry men behind him, the clown tries to jump Darel in the middle of the class, Darel then proceeds to elbow him across the room, run over, pick him up by the shoulder, and put his hand through the drywall right next to the clowns head. Security by this point was called and both Darell and the clown were arrested with both only getting off with fines for damages. Every day, the spackle patch where the hole used to be humbles me every day.

12. armadillowillow respects K more now.

When I was in high school, my group of like 6 friends were sitting at a round table in the cafeteria for breakfast. A table over, some girls had been tossing small chunks of their food in our direction. My one friend (M) wore her hair in an unusual, spiked up style & I guess the girls at the table were trying land food in her hair while cackling to themselves.

Cue my quiet, sweet, introverted friend (K) getting so angry I swear steam was coming out of her ears. One of the girls had thrown a decent sized piece of her egg patty at us & it landed on the floor near K’s foot. K proceeded to step on the egg patty, pick it up off the ground, walk over to the table of bullies, and shove the egg DIRECTLY INTO THE MOUTH OF THE ONE WHO HAD THROWN IT!

This was such an amazing moment in my high school memory. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing as K was the last person I would’ve expected to do that. Of course she did get in trouble but she didn’t regret it one bit.

13. 210_Daddy has a few messed up examples.

Guy I'd worked with for about 10 years, never could get ahead at work, wasn't "bad" but just didn't really excel. He was always kind, always ready to laugh and crack a joke. Never saw or heard him be mean, but apparently him and his wife were having some trouble, though I'd not heard him talk about it much. But one day while his youngest was out at church with a family member he flipped out and shot his wife then himself.

Another woman I worked with even prior to that, but at the same place, was super sweet and always smiling, she was mid divorce and drowned her 3yo daughter in a bathtub at her dad's (the kid's Grandpa's) because she didn't want to "share" her with her ex after the divorce. She's still in prison as far as I know.

Both are kinda f*cked up.

14. CHOGO_CHOGO's friend N could not abide bullying.

So this story is from the time I was in high school. 2 years ago to be exact.

Our group had this guy (we'll call him N) he was pretty popular and every one liked him.

He was the perfect blend of Jock and Nerd.

• You want to break up a fight? you call N.

• You want someone to play the piano for your musical? you call N.

• You want help with mathematics or physics? you call N.

• You want a midfielder for the football(soccer) team? you call N.

• You want to talk to someone? you call N!

So we were in the mess when a guy (let's call him A) started teasing our friend (P) because how fat and ugly she was. A and his friends were laughing passing comments all around. N told P to "ignore the bs". Then A and his friends started throwing paper bits and food at us, N told A to quit it. A didn't listen and told P that her father left because he could't stand how ugly she was.

This was pretty much the last straw.

N got up grabbed A and threw him against the wall, like a bag. A's friends got up and N punched both of them in the face and one of them ended up with a bloody nose. N went back A and laid it to him at least 10 to the face. It was at this time that me and my friends could separate them.

A ended up with a 1 week suspension and two broken teeth.

N also got a 1 week suspension but his mother told us she is proud of him when she invited all of us for dinner. She even told P that she will be going to the school with P's mom to talk to the principal about this matter.

All in all N and his family are the most wholesome people I've ever met.

15. shadowhq93's friend was NOT here for trash talk about his mom.

In middle school, my six foot two gentle giant friend who is literally the nicest guy you'd ever meet got teased about his mom by some short popular kid. My friend no hesitation picked him up by his shirt and slammed him against the locker at eye level and said, "Never talk about my mom like that." One of my favorite memories of him.

16. maverick_jones926 watched James rock another dude's world (in a bad way).

A guy I knew freshman year was super chill, we'll call him James. He was the guy that if ya didn't like him or picked on him, everyone just hated you. So one day this absolute douche of a junior who thought he was so tough cuz he was just older than him was just being a douche and picking on a group of freshman for literally nothing. So James did the appropriate thing and stepped and told the junior to knock it off. Now James wasn't a very big dude.

Maybe 5'6" and 120 maybe, give or take and the junior was about 5'11" and 190. A fairly large difference. So this junior dude is like actin all tough and being a douche like usual and James just sucker punches this dude in the stomach and proceeds to rock this dudes sh*t. The junior goes to the hospital and had a broken arm, 3 broken ribs and a pretty messed up face. Nobody really bothered to ask James why he was able to beat this dude up so bad but bottom line is, we all became very scared of James.

17. scruit thinks Tom deserved it.

A lady where I used to work was subjected to constant sexual harassment by a much older co-worker and the company failed to do anything about it. He was showing up at her house, eventually forcing her to move house. After she moved into the new house he bought the house next door.

She arrived to work with a baseball bat and stopped at reception to ask if “Tom” was in. When they asked why, she calmly told them she was there to kill him.

She walked upstairs to his office (reception called ahead and had him take the fire escape) and she instead demolished his office until the police arrived.

She was not charged. The company and police knew she had announced her intentions to reception as a cry for help so she didn’t actually find him, because it was clear that if she had found him she would have killed him.

She took some sick leave and eventually returned to work. And the company put her on a project with this guy as her manager. because f*ck protecting victimized women, right?

18. umassmza has no regrets.

Freshman and sophomore year the same kid gave me shit at the bus stop and the whole walk home. Every single day, nonstop harassment, just kept needling me constantly. So many people asked me why I took it, but I was just really shy and passive at that age, I stayed quiet and didn’t react.

One day the kid tried to push me into some bushes thinking it’d be funny, he’d never gotten physical before. I grabbed his wrist and put him on his a*s. He went down on his back and when he tried to get up I put the past two years into a single punch that put him right back down. Next day in school kid had the darkest black eye I’d ever seen, he wasn’t at the stop for the next few days and when he started taking it again he never said another word.

I shocked a bunch of people, but turns out lots of other kids hated this guy and were jealous I gave him what he had coming. It did a lot of good for me and the positive reaction kind of helped me come out of my shell. 10/10 would punch again.

19. 9106-17 fully went off.

I used to be really shy and quiet, as a single daugther of a single working mother it was hard to socialize with people my age when everyone around me was 6-10 years older than me. (This happened around 97-98.) My mom decided to put me in private school, it was the biggest change of my life as these kids knew about computers, music and english (I'm from Mexico), and I just knew the essentials of everything since I came from public schools.

The first week was a nightmare, this girl decided to make fun of me, my skin (I was a lot darker, I was a prietita and this girl was white) and my accent (these kids didnt have the 'region' accent'...for whatever reason). Things continued like that and everyday I felt sadder and lonelier, until one day I just snapped.

I started being friends with a girl that liked the same cartoons as I did (Dragon Ball, pokemon, etc) and my bully didnt like that I wasnt letting her bully me. One day, she decided to poke me with her pencil while we were in class, since I was just to shy to say anything when there was a teacher. She continued to poke me until the teacher had to get out for something, so I just grabbed her pencil and threw it away.

We started to fight in the middle of the classroom while everyone was either cheering, trying to stop us from getting out to get the teacher. She ended up pinching, scratching and hitting me, but she never expected me to actually fight back. And fight back dirty. I grabbed her hair, punch her stomach and bite her (I went full chola lol). I don't remember what happened, or how I avoided getting expelled, but 2 weeks later I was in recess eating my lunch and talking happily with my best friend, when all of the sudden she just came to us, handed me a bag of cheetos (pizza flavor!) and we never spoked about it again.

20. biigsnook showed the "cool kid" why you don't mess with the quiet kids.

I was that kid. I was the nice guy. I grew up poor and matured slower physically than everyone else. I had to be a nice guy bc if I screwed up my dad would literally beat the sh*t out of me. I was used to getting in fights with my Dad and getting hit, hard. In 8th grade I kept getting picked on by a big popular athletic rich cocky 'cool' kid. I never retaliated or stuck-up for myself not out of fear from him or his friends but that I'd get beat up by my Dad.

One day the "cool" kid made a comment about my Mom, usually it was about me, this was different. My mom was the one person I could count on to be nice to me. It broke me on the inside. I was still a little guy and much smaller than him but had been in so many fights with my Dad by that age that his punches felt like girl slaps.

I f*cking demolished the kid. I remember being pulled off the kid while pounding the side of my fist against his face hammer style. When I looked back he was still on the ground not moving. I unleashed years of child abuse on that poor kid's face. I feel bad now for what I did. My Dad never found out and the 'cool' kid never said another word to me ever.