As the saying goes, "you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince," and by "kiss a lot of frogs," I mean "endure dozens of awkward conversations with people who don't get your sense of humor so they think that you're a total degenerate."

Here are some awkward conversations real people had and posted that will make you feel smooth.

1. Who's a good boy?

2. Almost as sad as the movie itself.

3. Don't believe everything you see on the internet.

4. Abort! Abort!

5. Love yourself.

6. Fat-shaming with a side of gaslighting.

7. Pets are for petting.

8. Romantic?

9. Mission: Impossible.

10. Mission accomplished.

11. Ouch.

12. RIP Princess Diana and also this match.

13. How lactose intolerant intolerant.

14. Roasted.

15. Soup is so hot right now.

It's hard to follow a doctor's orders 24/7. But some people can't even do it when they're on their way out of the hospital.

A recent Reddit thread asked hospital workers to share the dumbest things they've seen patients do upon leaving. The answers might make you feel better about your own health practices.

1. What a smooth operator.

I work in medical imaging where patients have to drink oral contrast for their exam.

Some folks really hate the stuff and one patient after being given the oral contrast went outside and dumped it in the bushes and came back in and said that they had drank it.

Our front desk lady actually saw her dump it in the bushes and told us about it but we would have seen the lack of contrast in the image even if she hadn’t told us. I talked to the patient and was like “we can see inside of you, we can tell if you drank it or not.” - Kyla_420

2. Tackle football after back surgery? What a choice.

I work for a medical device company that makes bone screws. We had a patient sue us for faulty implants - apparently his screws broke less than a month after surgery. This is a big deal, and not just from a financial standpoint, so of course we launched a full investigation.

Turns out the dumbass decided to play tackle football less than a month after his major back surgery. Our bone screws are strong, but not "tackle football" strong.

His case was thrown out. - Notmiefault

3. Their burgers are so good though.

Not after leaving but this older gentleman had his wife bring him in-n-out the literal day after his open heart surgery. I couldn’t believe it. - babynursebb

4. This person was the dumb patient.

When I was 15 I broke my arm. Went to the hospital got a cast went about for a few weeks and got it removed. Great! I have my arm back. Now I wasn’t the brightest kid and needed everything explained to me. No one told me not to have an arm wrestle with my fresh out of cast arm.

No one explained it was still healing. 4 hours after having my cast removed I was back in A&E and getting a new X-ray and then a new cast put on by the same nurse who just took it off. I have never seen such disappointment in the eyes of someone who wasn’t my mother. - Wildlife_King

5. Wild.

Countless COPD/asthmatics coming in for wheezing, SOB, rapid breathing. We treat them and the second they feel better they will state, “I forgot something in my car”, only to leave and light up a cig. - SonofTreehorn

6. Food is important.

A lady came to our ER for tachycardia, and anxiety. The triage nurse, on a hunch, asked what she'd eaten that day, and if she'd had any coffee. "I haven't had time to eat (this now being mid afternoon), and only four or five cups of coffee." Genuinely clueless... - Cohult

7. Some people just don't want to eat healthy.

Now retired but one of the things I liked about "my" hospital was the food. We have a lot of immigrants in our area and some wise person decided to hire a pretty diverse crowd of cooks - Jamaican ladies making spicy chicken, Japanese cooks making sushi, Mexican dudes making made-to-order burritos, local barbecue, etc.

And it was all very "clean" from a nutritional viewpoint - all of it was inspected by our RDs.

And just about every day I would see patients turn down this excellent food and have their families bring them crap from fast food joints in town. - Nagsheadlocal

8. This person worked at a fun hospital!

• Inject heroin into their PICC line (big IV)

• leave to go smoke a cigarette and get hit by car

• steal from a 7-eleven while in a hospital gown

• escape from the ER and steal an ambulance - senorkose

9. No cigarette is worth a flaming face.

Somebody lit up a cigarette (in a no smoking area) with a nasal cannula on, and lit their face on fire. Had to come right back into the ER. - CRRT93

10. Must've been a cool jacket.

I saw someone pull his newly slung arm out of it's sling so he could put his jacket on as he was leaving the ER. He just stopped in front of my desk and started whimpering and yelling "Owwwwww! OHhh!" as he slowly worked his arm around to get it out of the sling and into the sleeve of his jacket.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't very cold outside at the time.

I plead for him to stop but he ignored me. It was really bizarre. - Beartown9000

11. He was desperate to get downtown.

Guy was discharged from our emergency room and wanted a cab voucher to get downtown. We wouldn't give him one because he didn't meet our requirements. He walked outside, called 911, and told the ambulance to take him to a hospital downtown. - Anokant

12. Sad.

We had a guy leave AMA (against medical advisory) and then get hit by a bus. - eccentric-assassin

13. What a guy.

Not a hospital worker but I was in the emergency room due to a sports related injury. Finally got let out after hours of x rays and examinations as I was learning how to use crutches and watched someone with stitches on his arm start stretching like he was going to run all the way home.

He turned around, walked towards the desk and yelled “your nurses are shit!” after the cut on his arm reopened mid stretch. The woman at the desk looked so tired. - JunkoAdoresMonsters

14. Someone get this guy some cab fare!

My brother works as a volunteer for the red cross. He mostly volunteers as a medic in ambulances. He told me how they picked up a guy because he crashed his bike after he didn't pay attention and got his tyre stuck in some tram tracks. About 3 hours later he was picked up again after he tried to ride his bike with one hand in a cast. First time round he sprained his elbow, second time round he broke his shoulder on the same side. - asdfqwertop

15. You can't blame her, funnel cake is amazing.

On my OB rotation in med school: we had a 32 week pregnant woman with cardiomyopathy (heart failure like condition) and an ejection fraction of 15% (bad). She’s inpatient until delivery and everyone’s worried she will die during or after delivery. One night the unit clerk calls and asks the nurse on duty, “Have y’all seem Ms X tonight?” The nurse says, “she’s in her room I assume.”

The clerk then says, “well that’s weird because I’m looking at her eating a funnel cake at the state fair right now!” The patient just decided she needed a break from all of this hospital life. - _Gphill_

16. Weird choice.

I work in a COVID clinic and I had a patient come in who was just a ball of anxiety about all sorts of things but mainly COVID. He had no symptoms either, just general anxiety. Anyway, he walked out of the clinic, immediately took off his mask and went into the Jimmy John's across the street.

Seriously? You come to specifically talk about your fears of COVID and then you take off your mask before going into a store?? Whyyyyy - artemis43

17. Imagine wanting to work out this badly!

Not a doctor but....I knew someone that is a fitness freak to an obnoxious level. She had a medical emergency (intestinal blockage) one day that involved major abdominal surgery and removal of part of her intestine. The day she was released from the hospital, she went back to her insane workout routine, trying to make up for the muscle she lost. She claims her doctor told her she could.

Her intestines ripped open. She barely survived. She still claimed after the fact that her working out had absolutely nothing to do with her body ripping open and it was just “bad luck.” - gouwbadgers

"Let's Begin By Taking A Smallish Nap or Two."

-Winnie the Pooh

I like to start off every morning by going back to sleep, but when I absolutely have to be conscious in the a.m., there's nothing better than waking up and laughing at some randomly funny memes. This list is the best thing to happen to mornings since the mimosa.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

We all like to think our family members aren't capable of meanness, but sometimes that's just not the case.

A recent Reddit thread asked parents to recall how they figured out their kid was a bully, and what they did about it. The answers, which also include a few from adults who realized they'd been bullies themselves, are illuminating.

1. A death in the family may have caused this child to become a bully.

Not until he started 5th grade. He was super close to his grandpa (wifes dad) and when he died it destroyed him and his behavior changed. Few weeks after the funeral this kids mom called my wife saying things my kid wassaying and doing. Not the school mind you. We had a parent teacher conference days BEFORE she called. Teacher didnt say a word. We talked to him.

Your first reaction is to protect your kid and not accept it, but we can tell by the way he was recting to the discussion. We arranged a playdate of sorts. We monitor it now. He talks to a therapist to. Hes a good kid just makes terrible decisions. As a father of 4 weve been on the other end of it as well and usually if the kids an asshole so is one or both of the parents. The apple doesnt fall far from the tree at times. - Peace1969

2. This parent overheard one of their kids bullying the other.

Recently, because I'm working from home and so get to hear, albeit distractedly, the discourse between my two youngest sons. My ears perked when I heard the oldest one's voice drop and the other react with a sudden wail. Then the older one, cool as a cucumber, affected as hell, say "Hey... are you ok, little buddy?" while the other one continued to cry. I strode into the little one's bedroom in time to see the older one towering over the younger one staring at him menacingly.

But he saw me from the corner of his eye and continued with the fake tone, "Mom, something's wrong with that chair, he was sitting in it and it just like flipped over."

I just could not believe how he could believe that I would buy that. And his tone was just... fake. It gave me chills. I had never seen that side of him before. He's 13 btw. - PurpleVein99

3. This person explains the mindset of a bully.

I was a bully in middle school, and I can tell you that you won’t get many good answers. People like me get that way because nobody is paying any attention. If nobody makes you feel good you do it yourself. And children aren’t mature enough to do that properly.

So they try to steal happiness from others. They’ll put you down to feel good. That’s why bullies break down if you beat them just once, their hand has slipped from the last string of control they had. It’s not pleasant for anyone, and the longer it goes on, the more irreparable the damage becomes. - unusuallytinyhorse

4. This kid changed their ways.

I used to (verbally) bully a neighborhood-kid. I think we were around 7 or 8 years old or so. She was deaf and therefore talked a bit weird. At one point we were being mean towards her and it got so bad she jumped on her bike to get away from us and she lost her balance and fell, chafing her chin and palms.

She starts crying, and at the same time laughing but also panic and remorse on our side ensued. Not long after I got home, her mother called mine and my mum was very upset and angry with me. She said she was taking me to the toy store and told me to bring my pocket money and buy this girl a gift as an apology. Also I had personally go to her house, ring the bell, come in, gift her the present and say I’m sorry, that it was hurtful what i did and would never do it again.

I remember feeling so bad, I cried harder than she did when she fell of her bike earlier that afternoon. I was so ashamed of myself and horrified that my mum was so mad at me. The girl asked me why I did this to her and I just could not answer the question. I just wept like a baby on my own mothers lap, mumbling “I’m sorry” between sobs.

For sure my parents taught me a lesson. - emptyjetpack

5. It slowly dawned on this guy that he was a bully.

I am a parent but of only a 4 year old. But I was a huge bully in high school and I’m such an idiot it never even dawned on me until I was like maybe 21-22. I did horrible stuff just for laughs. But I made it a priority to personally apologize to everyone formally and in person since then. It’s one of my highest priorities as a father to ensure my son embraces everyone as a friend when he gets older. - dougwertz

6. This person's young relative has a hard home life.

we take care of our girl relative as often as we can (she has her own family, we're just close)

She's 8 now and started bullying when she started school because she thinks she's "dominant"

Underlying reasons are mainly rooted in the household and environment: how she's being treated (mostly by adults), how people react to her actions, how she's being reprimanded, methods (and how often) she's disciplined, who she's surrounded by, etc.

Still hard to fix right now, but best method: keep calm and explain to the child. Cause-effect, consequences, the feelings and situation of the victim, etc. Remember that you're dealing with a kid, don't just scold them and expect em to see at your level of maturity and understanding. Explain, talk it out. Their stubbornness will get in the way, but stay firm and ease your way into their trust and comfort. Child Psychology, learn it.

She's not intentionally bad... Just that her jokes come off as sarcasm at such a young age, to the point of insult sometimes. We found out from her teachers and classmates. Problem: her household doesn't see this as an issue to address and actually celebrates her cleverness. But even when they do, their way of discipline obviously apparently doesn't work - bunsiescheeks

7. This parent was informed that their kid's friend group included bullies.

My kid is fairly popular, more than I ever was, and I'm ashamed to admit I was conflicted when I learned from their school that they're part of a clique that bullies others.

My first thought should've been disappointment, but instead it was "I'm glad he doesn't have to put up with bullying like I had to as a kid." It was an instinctual response that borders on tribalism, i.e. I'd rather have my kid be a popular bully than be an unpopular victim.

But afterwards I approached it logically and sat him down, shared with him my experiences during school and how bullies nearly ruined my childhood. My kid respects me and hasn't seen me that vulnerable before, so it ended up making an impact. I'm sure though as long as he sticks with that same social circle he will still be in situations where he looks the other way on bullying. I can only continue to try and guide him to the best of my ability. - throwrentbully

8. This person bullied others in order to cope with their own victimization.

I was a bully in middle school and high school and was bullied as well. I never saw myself as a bully because I was constantly picked on and made fun of and didn’t realize how many people’s feelings I was hurting.

It honestly took a trip to the office freshman year for me to come face to face with the fact that I was making other people feel bad about themselves.

My mom sat me down and reminded me of my insecurities and how I used to come home and cry. She told me if I wanted to make other people hate me like I hated my bullies, then I should keep on doing what I’m doing.

She also whooped me. I made reparations and try to be better than I am. I have a tough mom. - rajarajana

9. This person realized it during a reunion with their old friends.

I was definitely a bully. It hurts to admit that. I really only know that bc all my "Friends" from school stopped talking to me bc of how mean I was. They all just stopped talking or replying to me one day. I could tell they planned it. Two years later I bumped into everyone at a gaming convention. We spent the whole convention together. I payed for everything for everyone. I knew before they said it why they all stopped talking to me.

At the end of the convention, in the parking lot. They all told me why they quit talking to me. I was a bully. They were right. That was the last time I talked to any of them. I deleted all social media and went into self imposed exile. I'm alot better now and realized my actions had consequences. This might sound stupid, but when you have no parents that guide and teach you, you just don't ever think about consequences bc you never really dealt with them. Being a bully is not cool. You hurt people majorly with actions you think are minor as a bully. - LordFantastic

10. Some people remember being mean to their siblings.

Man, reading this thread brings back bitter memories of fighting with my brothers when we were younger that make me feel really guilty and sad.

When I was a kid, I was prone to anger, and I took it out on my younger brothers a couple times that really stand out in my head.

We all have great relationships with one another now, but sometimes I get hit by a vivid memory of making one of them cry, and it really hurts to think about.

I actually brought it up with them one of the times it was bothering me, and they forgave me and said they didn't really remember, so at least there's that, but I wish I could forget. - Arnumour

11. Interesting approach.

My parents knew I was trouble since the beginning of school but never really gave me much except a slap on the wrist. The final straw was when I was in 4th grade. My dad got called in to the school after the principal told him a special education needs kid refused to come to school because I've been bullying him so much.

I got a real good beating then, and my parents were so ashamed they decided to transfer schools. Lo and behold they chose a french immersion school as my next school. Without knowing a single word in French, I became shy and introverted at the new school just enough to be no longer a complete jackass. - MonkeyDaFist

12. This woman married a bully...

I married one - but a reformed one of that makes sense. Known each other through K12 school. In high school he was athletic and popular. Picked on kids who were out or perceived as gay and held some racist views. Didn’t know all of this until after we graduated since we ran in different circles (definitely would have been one of the ones he would have picked on).

I’m a stubborn person and when we got together he’s voice his viewpoints and I’d challenge him on them. Called him out on shitty behavior. I’ve helped him realize those viewpoints he had were wrong or based out of ignorance. It sounds so bad in a sense but even his sister has praised me for forcing him to realize he was an a**. He’s even now calling his dad out for bullying our nieces and nephews for their sexuality.

His behavior in school was based on a homophobic and racist father who abused his children. He also was hungry a lot of times and just had an overall crappy childhood.

I’m proud of who he’s become and I know he’s going to be a good dad who is going to raise his kids to be better than he was. - CatLadyLostInLibrary

13. Who knew Jojo Siwa could end bullying!

One of my friends is dealing with this right now with her 6-7yo who is also on the spectrum. She's got her kid hooked on someone called Jojo Siwa, who has a lot of anti-bullying stuff. A lot of the bullying came from her school environment, and she must have decided "better you than me," and took the initiative. So her mom is home schooling until her daughter's social skills are more sympathetic and in tune with her age group. - punkwalrus

14. This person's sister saw no repercussions for being a bully.

Well, my little sister straight up cornered a girl in a restroom w/ a bunch of her friends, got in the girl's face, and my mom didn't do a thing. She's been known to send nasty texts and say horrid things to other girls in school to the point my mom was called in but they were still no repercussions.

My mom's excuse? "its girls at their age (14), its normal" I was SEVERELY bullied at that age, and she saw how I suffered and it caused long term damage since I am 23 and I struggle to have friends as I have a hard time letting people in because of my experience, so my mom's reaction, or lack of thereof, is appalling. - ex-plore

15. This kid stopped bullying when he learned a family member was bullied.

My oldest son (of 3 sons) He’s on the spectrum (high functioning) Found out multiple times he was being a bully. And every time I’d ask the school to hold him accountable (they struggled with this) And at home I tried a “this really hurts me, because I really enjoy helping people. I thought I’d share that with my boys. We’re helpers. We don’t hurt people like this” approach.

When I explained to him that my late brother (died at 24, was autistic and severely epileptic) was always being bullied- it broke his heart. Because he knew how sweet my brother was. Now, he’s chaotic good. I always drilled it into him “THIS IS NOT HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE. WE HELP THEM. ALWAYS.” And eventually it stuck. Now he catches himself when he’s being judgmental. - ibrkforsqurrels

16. All it took for this kid to stop was getting called a bully.

I was a former bully in middle school. I could say it was because of the abuse I got as a kid but back then I was just angry at everyone, I had no one to talk to. It was different in the 80's they didn't think about mental health as they do now. What ended it was someone actually calling me a bully and that night I cried and couldn't stop. I didn't want to hurt someone like I had been hurt anymore. We moved away shortly after and I was able to change that part of me in my new school. - Goosekilla1

17. This is a lot for a toddler!

I got pulled aside at my toddlers day school when he was 2 because he was hitting. He was an only child so I never noticed anything weird with his interaction with other kids. I kept telling him not to hit his friends at school. One day when I picked him up I saw him grab a kid by the shirt and repeatedly slam him against the wall.

I was like WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU'RE MAKING HIM UPSET, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?

I keep it in mind, kind of coach him. He's older and I was asked by his school what kind of teacher he should get and I said a strict one would be better. He mostly does fine in school so far.

- chimchillary

18. This person was able to be treated for her anger issues.

Hi, I’m 13 years old. I have anger issues. (I take meds now,) When I was in kindergarten, I did not take meds yet and I a lot of the time I got really angry. I had a bad teacher (in my opinion.) I kinda bullied other kids in my class and I feel bad for it because I still go to school with most of the kids. - random_children

19. This mom put an end to the bullying in kindergarten.

I realized my eldest (now 9F) was a bully in kindergarten. I put a really quick end to that. Every time she did something mean, (she picked on her "best friend" by throwing a rock and busting her lip. Then hitting her in the mouth with a school issued iPad. Pinched her arm so hard she drew blood. And smacked her.)

A few more incidents she punched a boy who punched her back. I straight up told her she got what she ask for. Another time she kept poking a MUCH bigger boy with a spork at lunch, he ask her to stop, but she kept doing it. So he shoved her onto the floor. Once again I told her she picked a fight she couldn't win. With EVERY SINGLE incident I made her apologize in front of the class to those children. Took away all her privileges and told her dad to do the same thing while he had her for as long as she was grounded.

She had to write an apology letter to the parents of those children after every incident, meaning she ended up having to write 4 separate letters to the little girls mother. She's going into the fourth grade this year and she has never done anything like this again. She's become quite popular, and I know with popularity comes the idea that she can be mean to others. I've taught her that she can use her popularity to help others when she sees them being bullied.

So far she's a really great kid in school. She stands up for the "unpopular" kids now, and unfortunately she has been in trouble because of it. She's never used violence to stand up to them, but she's yelled and called them bullies straight out and got suspended for it. Meanwhile, I don't think ANYTHING happened to the actual bully. But I'm proud of her, I'm glad I saw it before she became that bully that I was afraid she'd become. - LizBethmarie143

20. This parent also nipped bad behavior in the bud.

When my daughter was five, she had just returned from living in Brazil for six months with her mother (I’m in the US). She had just spent six months being the “cute American girl” and getting her way ALL of the time.

I noticed this right away and was NOT happy. Neither were her teachers.

This first thing I did was call a friend of mine who had children slightly older. She began to spend more time with them (we’d go over on weekends to hang out) and all of a sudden, my daughter realized she couldn’t push over these seven and ten years olds! She was NOT able to get her way anymore.

The next thing was implement radically quick discipline. I didn’t give chances, I didn’t give warnings. I explained to her that she knew what was right and what was wrong, and if she behaved well she’d have a ton of fun and an easy life, and if she didn’t, there would be consequences. Well...there were lots of consequences lol.

I heard that you talked back to your teacher? We’re going to the store to return the toy I got you last week. What’s that...you tried to bulldoze your way and didn’t consider someone else’s feelings? You don’t get any iPad time today. Etc.

Took about three months before I saw some real changes. Now, she’s eight, as sweet as ever, and she’s very sensitive to how much of her own “will” she’s trying to impose on others. - alllowercaseyouknow

21. This is a fascinating approach.

My son was a bully.

1st grade I started getting noticed from his teacher that he was throwing sand at girls and stabbing people with a pencil. I talked to him and he had crazy first grade reasons like "she was being mean first". I told him it's not cool and to knock it off.

Every teacher meeting I would tell them to let me know and I'll punish him.

Second grade. I meet the teacher. I warn her that I think he's a bully and to watch him. Same shit starts happening. But now hes being mean to specific people. Anyone that can't run fast etc. I'm thinking to myself... I cant watch him all the time, what do I do. At home I start punish him but it doesn't really do anything. All teacher conferences main agenda is bullying.

Third grade. I meet the teacher and warn her we have a bully on our hands. Same crap happens. I'm reading a book on the subject and I read a passage that says if you call a kid a bully he lives up to the role. Hmmmm let the experiment begin.

From that day I stopped calling him a bully and started saying things like "your going to help your teacher today right? You are a good boy. Make me proud by being a helper". Almost night and day. The calls stopped. The next teacher conference, the teacher said how helpful he was.

Hes in 8the grade now. No bully calls. I make him do volunteer work weekly just in case. He still does crazy crap like attacking kids that are mean to girls but no bullying.

I don't know if I caught it in time or if my kid just needed coaching but it worked. - vintorzaleris

Big age differences in romantic relationships can be complicated enough without dating someone who is young enough to be your child's sibling...

Remember that scene in the Lindsay Lohan remake of the "Parent Trap," when 11-year-old Annie accuses her father (Dennis Quaid) of "adopting" his girlfriend instead of marrying her, because she's only 26-years-old? If you're going to date someone who is a lot younger than you, it's critical to consider how you're making your children feel. If your child's stepmom is only 7 years older than your child, is she supposed to be their mom or is that just big sister territory? Pay attention to the red flags that creep up when the person you're dating has more in common with your kids than they do with you...

So, when a recent Reddit user consulted the wonderful world of moral dilemmas, "Am I the As*hole?" about a conflict he had on Instagram with his younger ex-girlfriend and his teen daughter, people were ready to deem a verdict on whether or not this dad was in the wrong.

AITA (Am I the As*hole?) for publicly shaming my ex girlfriend who is an aspiring Instagram model?

I have a 17 year old daughter. I’m not her bio dad but I’ve been in her life since she was four and I married her mom. We divorced when she was 13 and unfortunately her mother has some mental issues she refuses to treat so I took full custody. I recently dated a woman who was probably too young for me (25) and she was an Instagram model though not very successful.

My daughter did a little child modeling and has had a lot of success on Instagram. There were times I felt like my girlfriend was using my daughter for Instagram likes and she seemed jealous of her. Besides that they got along alright. I broke up with my girlfriend two months ago after he stupidest fight. My daughter said something about college and my girlfriend wanted to know if I was still going to pay for her college despite the Instagram money.

Technically she’s made enough to pay for college but I intend to pay for her education and she can use that money for her future. This upset my girlfriend for some reason and she was whining about how no one paid for her school and she has so much debt and she needs her Instagram career to take off. My daughter said maybe you should get a day job, which maybe was a little bitchy but she’s not wrong, and my girlfriend said maybe you should get some real parents. I just saw red. I kicked her out that night and that was the end of our relationship.

Well today I saw a picture she posted on damn Instagram of the three of us as a throwback Thursday. I feel like she is just using my daughters name to get attention so I commented that I would like all pictures of my underage daughter removed from her account and I included what she said. I guess she got some hate because she left me a voicemail crying.

Wow, family drama and a war between models! Of course, people were quick to offer their opinion on this one:

Good on you for protecting your daughter and not letting ex monetize your images after the breakup. - namieamie

That's creepy to post pics of your ex's kid...glad you broke up, she sounds toxic and crazy - Character-Blueberry

NTA (Not the As*hole)

And WTF dude ... Don't date people who have more in common with your 17 year old, than they do with you. - ProbeerNB

Stop dating your daughter's peers. - GaloisGroupie3474

The girlfriend sucks for saying something so horrible, and for posting the picture months after you broke up. You had every right to ask her to take it down, but you suck for airing your personal fight on IG. That’s something most of us outgrow as we become adults. - mythoughts2020

You should always protect your daughter. But also, the fact that you didn’t include your age has me side eyeing you. Next time don’t date someone young enough to be her peer. - roselvea

YTA (you're the as*hole) for dating a woman who is too close in age to your daughter. - johnrain41

So, there you have it!

While most people agree that he was right to defend his daughter, dating someone who is essentially your kid's peer is weird and pretty inappropriate. Good for him for cutting the relationship off, but he shouldn't have really been that surprised that she was not mature about his daughter's Instagram career. Good luck, everyone!

Kids say the darndest things, and it's up to teachers to fact-check them.

Tasked with imparting to children the ways of the world and building the next generation of citizens and leaders, educators get asked the darndest questions.

Teachers shared the most adorably childish and shockingly silly questions they've been asked by their pupils, and you'll be amazed how they manage to keep a straight face all day.

1. It's New York City, duh.

High school geography class when studying capitals of states and countries: “What is the capital of the world?” -something-not-clever

2. That would be convenient.

I teach elementary school. One of my students asked if honey comes from a persons eyebrows. Another teacher walked by and asked what I was teaching in my class. -augustaurora13

3. The kid wasn't very sharp.

"Can I go sharpen my pencil?"

The kid was using a mechanical pencil, and we were about to take a quiz. When I said no, he promptly asked to use the restroom. I let him go, but he came back 30 minutes later trying to sharpen his mechanical pencil with SCISSORS. Mind you, these weren't the little safety scissors we were using for the activity, they were specialized for cutting CARDBOARD and were kept in the teacher's lounge.

I can't even... -MEScout

4. Just how advanced is Advanced Placement?

Toured a university medical department with my high school advance placement biology class. Prof was showing class internal organs and pulls out a uterus. 12th grade boy exclaims “that’s kinda small! Is that why girls have to pee all the time?!”-bc_girl35

5. Hail to the Chief of Ohio.

I've posted this one before so I just copied and pasted it:

During silent reading one of my 8th graders raised his hand, and I said I would be right there.

He said "No I just have a quick question you don't have to come here." I started walking over there to him anyway, and he asks loudly "Is the president of America also the president in Ohio? Like do they have the same president as us?"

This was only one week after the kid got moved to my advanced class because he was not getting along with the kids in his class. I was proud of my other students though, some of the main weird faces, but everyone remain silent and didn't laugh at him. -hyacinths_

6. She missed the Arthur episode about how library cards work.

Wait, do you have to take books back to a library? From a tenth grader. Class dissolved into laughter. I thought she was joking, then saw her face and realised she was actually confused. No idea what she thought happened to the library books when you had read them. -literarycephalopod

7. Did it hurt when Vincent van Gogh fell from heaven?

I was teaching second graders about Van Gogh. I explained that he only sold one painting when he was alive, but he is now dead and his paintings sell for millions of dollars. Cutest second grader ever asked, “How does he get them down from there?” I was totally confused and asked, “Down from where?” Her reply? “Heaven.”

Another time I was teaching a first grade class. They are really chatty so I asked them to stop talking and blurting things out and to raise their hand if they had a question or comment. Adorable little boy raised his hand and asked, “Is it ok if I talk in my head? It’s really hard not to talk in my head.” Of course you can kid; that’s called thinking. -la_psychic_gordita

8. There's a lot to learn about lizards.

Reptile education teacher here (keep your jokes, I educate kids, not the reptiles)

-Had a snake in my hands. 10 years old asks if it’s a real one or a moving plush...

-After the presentation, a mom comes up to me and asks if they have to eat. At first I was like, well yeah, sometimes they can eat like once a month or even once a year in the wild. She answered: Oh so I should feed my snake then? Managed to make her surrender the snake to my reptile rescue...

-« Can they hear? They don’t have ears!! » « Yes, they have ears, it’s the two holes right there on the side of their heads. » « But what about the snakes!?! » « Their ears are under their skin, they hear muffled sounds. » « So they can’t hear? » « Yes they can, just not very well. » «Poor things, they can’t hear!! » SMFH... -DarthCurse3131

9. Ouch.

Not a teacher (sorry) but in middle school sex Ed a kid asked “ if you put 100 condoms on will that be a 0% chance of getting someone pregnant?” -SillyRibcage987

10. It's not easy being green.

Got asked if you eat enough plants do you start to photosynthesize. -Adonis0

11. We're more alike then we are different.

I taught a class in rural Uganda for 6 months and within the first week a 4th grader asked: "Do white people reproduce?" English isn't my first language and sometimes things in Uganda are used differently so I said I wasn't sure what he meant. He explained: "Can white people have babies?"... I was baffled and then we turned the class into an open question hour "Ask someone from Europe anything you want to" and there were a couple of gems in that. -Tankoff

12. Ouch.

Not a teacher, but an elderly woman once asked me when her dog's leg would grow back after it had been amputated. -Moctor_Drignall

13. Hot take.

Once we were discussing the book Fahrenheit 451. (If you don't know the book, it's dystopian science fiction set in a future where books are illegal and there are "firemen" whose job it is to burn books).

One student asked me, "If the firemen burn people's books, won't the houses catch on fire?"

I responded, "That's a good question! The story actually explains that all the houses in the future are fireproof."

He asks, "Oh, I get it! So is that why books are illegal?"

I was confused and thought maybe I had misheard him. "Umm... wait, are you asking me if houses being fireproof is the reason for why books are illegal?"

He said, "Yes."

I was stunned. "Umm... no... that's not the reason... We'll get to the reason later on in the story." I just tried to move on after that.

His question has bothered me for years. What was going on in his brain? Why did he think that houses being fireproof had any connectionwhatsoever to banning books? -Fahrender-Ritter

14. The answer to every question.

The dumbest thing a kid (10th grade, so like 16 y/o) ever said in my classes was from a student who had just completed a presentation on Afghanistan. I was asking some general questions about his project. I asked him if he knew the geographical location of Afghanistan. He responded, "I don't know! I ain't Google!" -TheJermster

15. Instagram will blow his mind.

I’m not a teacher (but I am studying to be one woo) and I remember how in freshmen English, a kid literally didn’t understand pictures??!? Like I remember we were talking about Marilyn Monroe and how everyone was saying she was the prettiest of her time and he was like how do you guys know how she looked like?And we showed him pictures but he thought they were drawings or something. He genuinely did not understand and this kid was not homeschooled or sheltered from what I remembered. And then he got really mad at everyone and started fighting a girl who called him stupid so. -amourloves

16. The kid has balls.

I teach ESL to adult students. Talking about parts of the body one day. I had a 26 year old male student ask me "What part of body is the balls?"
I had to draw a picture to explain. I drew a dick and balls on my whiteboard in front of 13 adults. To show them the balls. -virgo-punk

17. If only.

"Wait.....Cheese doesn't grow on trees?" from a 14-year-old.

Accidentally breaking something that has monetary or sentimental value is a horrible, panic-inducing feeling...

We probably all have at least one memory from childhood of running around the house and watching something fragile fall in slow motion to the floor before shattering into a million pieces while you wonder if your parents will kick you out of the house and if you have to escape and start over with a new identity. Sometimes objects can be repaired or replaced, but the guilt that comes with breaking something that is important to someone else or critical to your workplace is never fun to endure. Shout out to the time I broke a celebrity's credit card in half while bartending!

So, when a recent Reddit user asked, "What was the most important thing you broke, and what was the aftermath?" people were ready to share stories of the things they've destroyed...

1.

The condom. Aftermath is no money and sleepless nights - Yoguls

2.

I was 12, asked to carry a ceramic urn for my aunt while we were loading up the car for a trip. I dropped it and it turned out they were the ashes of her grandfather that just passed.

We were driving to some lake to spread his ashes. I felt bad, but she was devastated. Not really a dignified thing having your ashes cleaned up by a swiffer wet jet.. - BCKPfNGSCHT

3.

I broke a $3,000 diamond at work once. It was a wedding ring. I was tightening a little princess cut (the square one with the sharp points), and all of a sudden it turned into a broken "milky/frosted" mess, lol. You would be surprised on how easy it is to break a diamond; especially when they have super sharp points. You can't scratch them, but they will break. Aftermath was a "hey, that happens" and some more training. I broke several more stones after that, but all small and easy and cheap to replace. Best job I've ever had. - Sparkselot

4.

My mom told me to get a cake out of the oven for her while she stepped out of the store. I was in the middle of a COD match when it was time to take it out so I ran, took it out of the oven and put it on a the glass table we had in our kitchen, and ran back to my game.

Fast forward my mom comes home and is screaming at me for what I think is her not believing I took the cake out of the oven, but when I go downstairs to tell her I did take it out of the oven the table was shattered to pieces on the floor. - notFG

5.

My front teeth, I've been broke ever since - whywee

6.

"Hey can you look after my fish while I'm gone?"

"Sure, that'll be easy!"

Spoiler alert: it died. In like an hour. - JackOfScarlets

7.

I broke my front tooth biting an apple, can’t even make that up.

Nearly 5 years of painful root canals, gum surgeries, braces, and countless trips to the dentist later the tooth is still dead, and there is a chance I will need to replace the tooth with a multiple thousand dollar implant. - thebigm101

8.

Oh boy do have I a story for you! I managed to get a scholarship to a really prestigious school and a few months in I wandered into what I thought was an empty classroom and was startled by a few students and accidentally broke an $80,000 vase.

Turns out is was part of the decoration for some silly tea club and was told to work for the club as an errand runner to pay off the debt or they would tell the school principal. I ended up becoming really good friends with the club runners and dated the president of the club and we ended up getting married a few years after graduation!

Breaking that vase should have been the worst thing in my life and somehow I lucked out and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. - capndelirium

9.

I have broken 5 different laptops, three have had their screens replaced and two have not.

Thankfully I have been much more careful with my latest laptop and everything is fine. - dgw5

10.

burned a side of my grandparents house after lighting a firecracker when I was 11. It blew up in my hand after I was called to get something in another room. Not sure how one firecracker could cause this and it took like an hour before it started burning. The after math was that they had to pay for revocations,got some help from my parents, grounded, and can never use anything fire related ever again . - A-real-human

11.

A chandelier in a pub, which used to be a church.

Barred. - ihaveadarkedge

12.

A bridge. Well, cracked. The boat also broke but that wasn't my fault. - Zeruvi

13.

Well the most sentimental thing I broke was my late Great-Grandmother's antique cooking dish. It was mounted high up on the wall because my Mother had two boys and knew better. What she didn't account for was us throwing a toy back and forth to each other and getting a little too rambunctious. Anyway, it fell off the wall and smashed into many pieces and we somehow survived her murderous rage. - zerbey

14.

I put chocolate in the microwave, in a glass bowl, for 10 whole minutes. It exploded and the flat filled with smoke. We had to live with my grandmother for months before finding a new place - Lazydelay04

15.

About 6 months ago, I shut my laptop without realizing something was on the keyboard. Screen cracked, totally busted. Fortunately, the actual PC portion was unharmed. I then had to take the TV from my bedroom and use it as a monitor. It may sound fun to use a TV as A monitor, but let me tell you, I'm gonna have neck issues for a while because of this. - DoctorDonut0

16.

Took a bath at my dads house while visiting and didn’t realize that 6’3 men don’t fit well in tiny tubs and this led to water spilling out through a hole and soaking the downstairs ceiling. Dad hasn’t talked to me in 6 months. - AcceptableMold

17.

I broke my dads fake leg once , for the aftermath he couldn't really catch me...for a while. I got a good smack from his crutch lol - chevy1500

18.

I broke my dads original Xbox because I would spam the on/off button because i liked the light. - ItSn0tmanmy

19.

While testing the seals on a hazmat suit, I over inflated it and ruptured one of the seems. These things cost thousands of dollars. My lieutenant looked at me wide eyed then wrote "suit has failed inspection" on his clipboard. - RobertBorden

Movies are made to seem magical and exciting with the help of screenwriting, actors, and the cinematic trifecta of lights, camera, and action. But when you think about what a movie is really about, in the simplest of terms, it's often pretty funny that we'll pay $20 just to sit in the dark and watch it.

Someone named Romina on Twitter asked people to describe their "favorite movie" in "as boring as possible" terms. The replies hilariously illustrate how many big cinematic adventures are actually pretty boring if you strip them down to the basics.

Here are 33 of the funniest replies showing how different our favorite movies seem when you break them down to the basics:

1.)

2.)

3.)

4.)

5.)

6.)

7.)

8.)

9.)

10.)

11.)

12.)

13.)

14.)

15.)

16.)

17.)

18.)

19.)

20.)

21.)

22.)

23.)

24.)

25.)

26.)

27.)

28.)

29.)

30.)

31.)

32.)

33.)

34.)

The past few weeks have been full of discussion about "cancel culture," what it means, whether it truly exists, and how we should move forward in a productive and just way.

On the Fourth of July, Trump gave a speech comparing cancel culture to "totalitarianism," going on to warn that people on the political Left were using cancel culture as a weapon of intimidation.

Then, on Tuesday, more than 150 writers, celebrities, and academics signed a letter opposing "cancel culture."

The letter was published in Harpers Magazine, includes signatures from big names such as J.K. Rowling, Noam Chomsky, Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie, and opposes a "a vogue for public shaming and ostracism."

"As writers, we need a culture that leaves us room for experimentation, risk-taking, and even mistakes. We need to preserve the possibility of good-faith disagreement without dire professional consequences," the letter reads.

It also claims: "The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted."

The letter was published shortly after J.K. Rowling faced backlash for transphobic tweets that compared hormone therapy to gay conversion therapy, and went on to mock the fact that some trans women don't menstruate.

Needless to say, the letter received a lot of backlash from people across the political spectrum.

Following both Trump's statements on cancel culture, and the letter in Harpers, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez laid out why she believes people are talking about "cancel culture" all wrong.

She brought up the fact that everyone who signed the "cancel culture" letter has a huge platform, and is confusing criticism for deplatforming.

She went on to point out that the people who are truly "canceled" were never given the chance to have a platform in the first place, and are often threatened with violence.

Her thread received a lot of support from people equally frustrated by how people confuse criticism or debate for being "canceled."

Per usual, she also received a lot of angry dissenting responses.

Regardless of where you fall in the "cancel culture" debate, it's certainly stirring up a lot of vastly different perspectives and points. Per usual, AOC has added another nuanced angle to consider.

The "Best of NextDoor" Twitter account showcases funny, petty, and wildly TMI posts from people's neighbors on NextDoor.com, a popular website for people who live in the same neighborhood to connect (and often overshare) with each other. If you haven't already, I highly recommend joining NextDoor if you ever wanted to learn just how crazy your neighbors are.

Here are 28 of the funniest and pettiest posts from NextDoor from the past two months:

1.)

2.)

3.)

4.)

5.)

6.)

7.)

8.)

9.)

10.)

11.)

12.)

13.)

14.)

15.)

16.)

17.)

18.)

19.)

20.)

21.)

22.)

23.)

24.)

25.)

26.)

27.)

28.)

"Work is a necessary evil to be avoided."

-Mark Twain

If you don't feel like doing your job today, you're not alone. Who came up with this whole 40-hour workweek idea anyway? That's just excessive! This list of memes is a hilarious distraction from all of the work you should be doing right now. Take a few minutes to laugh at these memes and you'll be that much closer to clocking out.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

It's finally July, which means that kids are out of school for a reason other than coronavirus. If Summer 2020 were a Beach Boys song, it wouldn't be one of those peppy tunes like "Fun Fun Fun" or "Surfin' USA." This pandemic summer is more like an "In My Room" or am "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times." But that doesn't mean there can't still be Good Vibrations. These tweets each got thousands of likes, and you'll see why.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

No one likes getting injured. But at least if you injured yourself doing something cool or noble, like rescuing a cat from a tree, you get some glory to go along with the pain. Unfortunately, a lot of injuries come from dumb mistakes or other embarrassing reasons that the injured person now has to recount every time someone asks how they got that cast, scar, or bruise.

Someone asked Reddit: "what's the dumbest reason you ever got hurt?" These 22 people share their stories of all the dumb, silly and/or embarrassing ways they've injured themselves:

Let these serve as a warning to us all.

1.) From PinballCM:

I cut myself... on my carpet... to this day I still have no idea how it happened

2.) From lunaslay:

I put on a Tigger costume when I was little and thought I could bounce on his tail jumped off my dresser & broke my tailbone.

3.) From BillsBayou:

Powdered Draino, shredded aluminum foil, rubbing alcohol, and a match. Set my 12-year-old head on fire.

4.) From 303242919:

A few years ago I woke up, when to the bathroom, and was wiping my ass when I pull my neck. Still not sure how but it happened I just felt the pull and had an enormous pain.

Went to the doctor who gave me anti-inflammatory injections and had to use a collar for a week and . I used to tell people I fall.

5.) From -A_Singular_Brick-:

I threw a stick into the sea, wanted the stick back and slice my foot open on some oysters (down to bone)

6.) From rashtial10:

Age 3 we were visiting my mum’s hometown in England to see relatives when a black wasp or something managed to get in my sock and my mum put the socks on me, it stung me for a good 2 minutes straight and even tho I was so young I will never forget how painful it was and how guilty my mum felt that she didn’t check the sock

7.) From khanfactor:

I walked into a door forgetting to actually open it. Resulted in a bloody nose.

8.) From Butterscotch-Queasy:

Got involved in a bar fight because a friend of a friend called someone else gay in an argument over the jukebox, then ended up getting hit with the pool cue they'd taken from the friend. Had to be told later why I'd been suckered, and that one of the guys had flashed a pistol. Ended up getting a girlfriend out of it, but then we broke up and she had some other guy's kid. Ten years later we hooked up again, and I married her and now I'm divorced, so really the whole story is just bad from start to end.

9.) From PennySuplex:

I got run over by a hayride

Don't stick your arms and legs off the ride.

The tractor was backing up and I was sitting at the back of the ride with my legs hanging off when the trailer's wheels went into a ditch. My left leg got caught under but I wasn't too worried and just tried to pull it out. No luck. The wheels went deeper into the ditch and suddenly my leg was pressed into the gravel as the ride continued to back up. My leg was dragged along through the rocks until I fell off and started getting sucked under the ride. People were screaming but the driver couldn't hear them because of how loud the tractor was, plus he was wearing hearing protection. Luckily the driver stopped before I actually got run over by the wheels but my entire calf had been scraped raw and I had three hairline fractures along with a deep laceration on the side of my leg. I spent about two weeks on crutches and it was close to three weeks before I could get in the river again (my leg got infected when I eventually did).

All in all its actually a pretty humourous experience that my friends love hearing about. Not too many people are dumb enough to get run over by a hayride that's moving at about 5mph. 😂

10.) From GIVEMEH20:

I fractured two metatarsals in my foot and currently I am in a boot riding a knee scooter.....I was walking, just walking. Not running, not playing sports, not kicking a rock. JUST WALKING!

12.) From WatchTheBoom:

Circle birthday cake. I lit the candles on the outside first. Burnt my wrists/forearms trying to light the candles in the middle.

13.) From JuiceBox1:

I once kissed a reflection of myself on the outside of a metal toaster while in use, and seriously burned my lips. Technically my first kiss...

14.) From PossiblyPrecarious:

I cut myself by eating a round candy.

15.) From evilrabbit99:

I was making caramel by melting sugar in a pan. As it was cooling down I was wondered if it solidified already so I poked it with my finger.

Second degree burns are not fun

16.) From lifeis_beautiful:

I closed the trunk door of my car on my nose. Still wondering how i managed to do that.

17.) From Etilon:

Leaned too far back with my chair and passed the point of no return

18.) From AIDS4093:

Tested to see how sharp a knife was with my finger.

19.) From anarchmonarch:

No lube

20.) From cheda23:

Trying to awaken my psychic ability by bicycling down a hill with my eyes closed

21.) From Mickey998:

I stapled my fingers to see what would happen

22.) From Jauxerous:

Acted on a call of the void and put my hand into a toaster. I told my parents I fell and the hand landed in the toaster. I don't think they bought it.

23.) From mybloodyballentine:

I broke my foot while putting on pants.

24.) From BingoMachine:

I fell off a fake horse and broke my arm. The fake horse was a 1m high barrel with legs.

25.) From ernore:

Square dancing alone in my room. Sprained my ankle pretty good.

There are some romantic partners that, no matter how hard you try, you cannot scrub from your brain and heart.

In some cases they're your first love - the one who drew you into the scary waters of vulnerability and then left you heartbroken and melted. Other times it's a stranger or acquaintance who left a mark of infatuation too strong to shake or forget. But in many cases, the one who got away has an arc for more complex - a relationship that failed, or maybe never officially sparked, and years of longing.

In a popular Reddit thread, people answered the question: "Those of you who met what was probably your soulmate, but didn't wind up with them, what's your story?"

These stories range from beautiful to heartbreaking to deeply surprising.

1. From OlasNah:

Met a girl on an early era Internet date, before OkCupid and stuff was around.

We met at a restaurant around 6pm and had talked all night til they told us they were closing.

We clicked big time.

She up and vanished on me after that. Found out several years later she’d been killed in an accident.

2. From duct_tape_jedi:

She was my high school sweetheart, but I was too young and stupid to realize how amazing she was and I broke up with her. My family moved away to another state and I lost contact with her and any mutual friends, but I never stopped thinking of her.

30 years and two divorces later, she shows up as a “person you may know” on Facebook. I sent a friend request and went to bed. Unbeknownst to me at the time, my friend request came up on her phone at the same moment that her husband of 20 years was telling her that he wants a divorce.

We started talking and reconnecting, I flew to meet her a few times, then moved back to be with her. That was 2 1/2 years ago and now I can’t imagine life without her...

3. From MorannaoftheNorth29:

We met 4 years ago through a mutual friend. He was very much into the same stuff I was. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Sci-Fi literature, heavy metal and musicals, etc.

My proudest moment with him was showing him the recording of Ian Gillan singing Gethsemane and watching his jaw drop. I loved him so much then.

I introduced him to Monty Python and he showed me The Fall, which became one of my fave TV series. We just...taught each-other stuff. I taught him some Swedish, he taught me some rudimentary SQL.

We just clicked in everything. Went to concerts, movies, parks, museums and stuff. I took him to my favorite city here and showed him the historical buildings and so on. We went to the castle near the city I'd go for summer vacations and it was like a fairytale. They had a medieval festival there, with minstrels and stuff. We sat and listened until the dead of night.

Nothing ever happened, not even a kiss, but we never stopped smiling when we were together, and of course I cared so much for him.

...and then his GF came back from her year abroad for school. They had decided before to put their relationship on pause for the year, but when she came back they started over. We're still friends. I became friends with her too, because I genuinely like her. I never felt any resentment towards either of them. I just .. felt empty. I still do.

I'm invited to his wedding next Saturday.

4. From venusianthrope:

We were both quite young and too emotionally immature in our own different ways, but he at least was mature enough to know we weren’t suited for a relationship at the time. Since then it's been a case of bad timing.

He was in a relationship when I was single, and then when I got into a relationship later on he became single shortly after. I love my partner too much to ever consider leaving them for this guy, especially since I hardly know him anymore and still feel a bit of residual shame over things I said and did, but I always wonder what might have been had things gone differently.

5. From Clockwork_Orange20:

To this day, I have no idea.

I was home schooled through high school, but I took dual-enrollment classes at my local community college. In English class I met this girl, I'll call her Ash, who was doing the dual-enrollment program with her school too. We were both in our senior year of high school and had both just recently gotten out of negative relationships. We started doing homework together and spending time together outside of class. We had really great chemistry and started dating within a few weeks. We dated the whole school year, and as we were both graduating we were thinking about going to two different colleges but in the same city so we could keep seeing each other. It was some of the happiest times I've ever had.

Then one day, we met up and went on a walk through one of the hiking trails at the park. We took the trail up to the overlook, and we sat down and enjoyed the view. It was just that time of day in early summer where the sky was turning orange and doing weird stuff with the clouds. I looked over at her, and after a moment of taking in her beauty--and she seemed like the most beautiful person I had ever seen--almost simultaneously we frowned at each other.

After another second of making sure it was truly what I wanted to say, I told her, "This...isn't going to work out, is it?" And she shook her head and said, "No, I don't think it is." We both started tearing up, and I told her, "I think I've loved you," and she told me that she loved me too. Then we walked back to the beginning of the park holding hands, hugged each other in the parking lot, and got in our respective cars and drove away. School had let out at that point, so I never saw her again.

To this day I still think about her. She's married now with a kid on the way, and I'm in a very happy relationship with my SO. But to this day I just can't pinpoint what it was that told both of us it wasn't meant to be. And I always wonder what would've happened if we had just ignored it and stayed together.

6. From melbell518:

He couldn’t commit. We dated on and off for over 10 years. He was in the military, so it was a lot of long distance, which was ok for me, I like my independence. We had a pact to marry at 30, which we were close to. I met my husband when I was 28. When I told him that I was getting married, he called me from Afghanistan and professed his love and said we were soul mates. But that’s as far as he went. He didn’t ask me to rethink my engagement. He didn’t say any of the things that you would expect to hear from someone who missed their chance and wanted it. I got married.

I still talk to him occasionally, he is married now. But when he talks about her, moving in was just the next step. And marrying her seemed like the right thing to do at this point in the relationship. And they seem to get along well. (Paraphrasing his words) I think he settled because he realized he messed up.

I love him very much, and probably always will.

7. From bttrflyr:

When I met him, we had the most romantic summer of love. We were both living in different states but spending the summer working at the same amusement park (big park, had employee dorms and is partially named after a tree, also featured in the 1998 film "Edge of Seventeen"). We worked together and immediately had a strong connection that evolved from friends into a full on romance. The kicker was, he was still in the closet (coming from the bible belt) and his high school sweetheart/ long time girlfriend was working at the park with him. He hadn't fully accepted he was gay, but was more "bi curious" and became one of those where I (the fully open and confident gay guy) had helped him experience affection and intimacy for another man; all behind his girlfriend's back. He was "waiting for marriage" with his girlfriend so he was also a bona fide virgin.

While we both knew it was just for the summer, I had fallen hard for him. We had shared our most intimate secrets, even things he has never shared with his girlfriend or anybody else. My young heart was hoping that one day, him and I would be together. After the summer was over when we went back home, we texted and sexted almost every day. He went through periods of guilt and such that any closeted gay guy from a conservative religious background goes through and tried to just be friends which I respected. However, it still always came back to us talking to each other as lovers, usually at his behest.

A year later, he came to visit me and we spent a week together catching up on a lot of things and spent the week essentially making love. He went back home and we continued our long distance "friendship" until a year or two later. He seemed to start to lose interest as he went back to work at the amusement park and met knew friends (one that he said he fell in love with but who was legitimately straight). Slowly our "friendship" withered away until I, feeling depressed about the whole thing, sent him a scathing email that evolved into a huge fight that changed everything between us. We lost touch for a couple years. (I regret what I said in that email today, but then I was driven solely on a broken heart and frustration that he wanted to maintain his relationship with his girlfriend when it was so clear that it wouldn't last).

A few years later, he gets back in touch and announces that he is marrying his GF (same one). Brought back some old feelings of love but I kept them to myself and went to attend his wedding, I brought my own date (a dude). My date and I were the only male-male couple in attendance at a wedding in a small town in the bible belt, so it was a bit scary but we didn't have a problem. I am also a wicked line dancer, so at the reception when all the white people wedding songs came on, I made their jaws drop by showing off that at least one person there could actually dance. Since it was his wedding day and he was focused on the event, we didn't get to spend much time chatting or catching up, which I was okay with. It was his day, I was happy for him and I wanted him to enjoy it.

After the wedding, we chat online some more and he tells me for his honey moon, they are planning a road trip through my state and asked if they could stay the night at my place 1 or 2 nights to save money. Of course its okay. I also give them some suggestions of cool landmarks they can visit during their trip. The first night they are in town, they got a hotel room but him, his (now) wife, my bf (same date from the wedding) and I meet up for dinner at a local restaurant. His wife and my BF are bored as hell as him and I catch up, like old friends who never lost touch we just talked for hours and hours. However, the sexual tension between the two of us needed quite a sharp knife to cut. The next day, when they did spend the night. Him and his wife were sleeping in their own bed and I was in mine. He told me later on that he was tempted to sneak out of his bed and join me in mine for an hour or two. I wish he had, but wisely, he did not.

When they left, I bid them good bye and we fell out of touch again. 3 years later, he gets back in touch with the same ole "why haven't we talked in so long" to which I respond that he never responded to any of my messages to I figured he didn't want to be friends and I wanted to move on. To which he finally drops the bomb...

"So I am going to come out as gay, and divorce my wife." I mean, shocker right? (Sarcasm) but he needed a friend for advice and moral support so I was happy to provide. I thought "wow, now is the time I can finally tell him that I have been in love with him for all these years and be with him." But before I could do that, he tells me the story of how he met a guy last year and they've been secretly "dating" behind his wife's back. I end up with a broken heart yet again and didn't tell him.

But I was there for him through all the emotions and fear he was going through as he prepared to embark on this big change and the uncertainty of coming out as gay while married to a woman in the bible belt. Of course my first question was "did you have any kids?" Thankfully, no. Second question, I asked him how his first sexual experience with his wife (and first woman) went, and it quickly explained why they never had any possibility for kids. (Shocker, I know.)

After that summer, we didn't talk much until a few months later when he packed his whole life, left the bible belt and moved to Chicago. He had broken up with his "boyfriend" and again, I was there for emotional support. I was ready to drop my "L" bomb when before I could, he told me he had met someone there he was now living with. Again, broken heart, but it was clear we still both harbored feelings for each other and occasional exchanged hot pictures and sexted, me holding out hope that maybe I would finally get what I have been longing for. This emotional experience for me, at this point, had killed at least 2 different relationships (over different time periods) with guys I was dating because it stopped me from developing feelings for them. I feel really bad now, because I was a completely jerk to them and no doubt left them with a broken heart.

Finally, I just said f*ck it and in my own emotional puke, I told him I was in love with him and wanted to be with him. I just let it all out there. He essentially responded with "I love you to" but at the same time, put me right into the friendzone, (Click here for a visual representation of how that made me feel). I stayed "friends" with him on FB but distanced myself a bit from him and unfollowed him when the posts with him and his Chicago BF became too emotional for me in the vain hope of moving on.

About 6 months later, I still hadn't gotten over him and every time we chatted (a few times a month) my heart would flutter. So I told him I wanted to come visit him for a few days in Chicago. It was during the travel off season, so I booked a cheap flight and a nice hotel room for cheap in the Boystown area. I was looking forward to a few days of us catching up on some intimacy, adventures, and just spending time together. What he didn't know was that after years of toiling in emotional turmoil over him, this trip was going to be the decisive moment that I would decide whether or not to continue to pursue him, or move on with my life. At this point, it had been 10 years since we first met, I was at the end of my 20s and contemplating other life changing things as well.

Well, during my visit to Chicago, we had some sexy and non-sexy fun times. However, I had realized that while it had been 10 years since we met, he didn't really seem to change that much from the person that I met, not much personal growth or maturity at all. I had left Chicago with the answer I was seeking when I arrived. I got on the plane, with a sense of closure and happiness that at this point, we are different enough people, in different directions in our life that a relationship is simply not going to happen. I felt like a huge emotional burden was lifted off my shoulders and ready to pursue new things in my life. It was truly freeing. While we're still FB friends today, we hardly ever talk and you know what? I'm okay with that!

TL;DR- A gay version of Ross and Rachel from Friends, but with a different series finale. Also, a true story, reminiscent of the 1998 film "Edge of Seventeen"

8. From zazzlekdazzle:

Because he wasn't my "soulmate" but he really felt like it at the time.

There was something really strong drawing us back together again and again, feeling like we were meant to be together, that we had an energy and connection we could have with no one else. But there also always seemed to be a force pulling us apart. Like he could never really settle, "commit," and be my "real" boyfriend. I am sure I was also ambivalent or didn't really know what I was doing, but he held all the cards in that way. (Even after years together - on and off - we only admitted we had been in love when he was about to marry someone else.)

This man was no doubt one of he great loves of my life, I still think of him often and very fondly even though we haven’t spoken in almost 20 years. But he only felt like my soulmate to me because he was the first intense, adult love of that type I had ever had. This was the case for both of us, and I think it's a big part of why we kept going to back to the same well to see if it would work out.

Someone here said that the first person who treats a teenager like an adult will have that teenager's undying devotion, and to be careful of that. I think, for some people, it's the same with love. Because he was my first real love, I sort of imprinted on him and our relationship. I felt nothing could ever be like that again, and I was right, but it's not bad on balance. We were together, on and off, for five years and I never seriously dated anyone for more than a few months for about eight years after that, when I met the man I eventually married. I don't believe in soulmates, but I do believe you have a few great loves in your life.

9. From Oscarmc17:

Just another dumb 21 year old who wanted to have his cake and eat it too. Wanted her and all the others. Wanted to do “my thing” while she was just hoping and waiting for me to return. Found out too little too late that the grass was not greener on the other side. Now we’re both 23, she’s moved on with someone else, and I’m here still thinking about her at times.

Still stings, but not like it did at the beginning. In hindsight, I’m glad she got tired of my shit. I wasn’t taking life very seriously, I was immature, and other than merely passing classes in college I didn’t have much else going on. She changed me, and life hit me like a ton of bricks after she left. Hopefully, one day we talk again. Till then...

10. From LastEmperor_:

She was everything I ever dreamt of, then multiply that by infinity and take it to the depths of forever. Truly one of a kind type of girl. Loved everything about her. We shared similar thoughts and feelings about everything, the perfect soul mate. Sadly, she's just as fearless, she died in a hiking accident falling off a waterfall. I've never felt or been the same since, my passions passed along with her. I feel numb without her.

11. From planvital:

Met her in high school. Perfect girlfriend. Very attractive. Loyal. The whole package.

I wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment, though. I wanted to focus on myself, go to a good college, and explore what the world had to offer, so I broke it off about a year before college after 2 years of dating and a year of friendship. No regrets. I’m in a good place now at a good school, so it all worked out. I still love her though. Not in the sense that I’m dying to be with her again, but in the sense that she’s always gonna have a place in my heart, as cheesy as it sounds. I wish her nothing but the best.

12. From ninemiletree:

This may sound a little out there. I want to clarify that I am currently in a committed relationship with someone I love very much and I consider a soulmate.

But in terms of missed connections, there is one single time in my life have I have seen someone - just looked at them, and was immediately overcome with an intense, profound attraction that went beyond physical. I guess you would call it love at first sight. I've really never believed in that, or really even knew what it was. And I'm not sure if this is what people refer to when they say that, but this was a transcendent and instant magnetism I have never felt before or since.

It was in the parking lot of a grocery store, of all places. I was on lunch break at work.

I was driving out of the parking lot when I saw this girl in the parking lot leaning against an old Bronco with her arms crossed.

She was wearing these sort of Native-American type tan leather pants, boots, and a black tank top. She had tattoos up and down her bare arms (I'm a sucker for tattoos), a nose ring, and this amazing long black hair.

And she also just had this air of utter and total self-possession. When I looked at her she looked back with the most profound confidence I've seen in a person. Like I felt it. This was a woman who could break worlds.

I almost crashed because I couldn't take my eyes off her. I wanted to park and get out and say something, but I was in a relationship, and I didn't even know what I would say. I felt like I would just stutter, and she'd crush me under her shoe and keep walking.

I was deeply affected by that for hours afterward. I kept thinking of her. I still wonder where she is. Who she was. Whether she lived around the area or was just passing through like a storm.

On the off chance that any of you reading this happen to be a very attractive woman in her late 20s or 30s who with a unique fashion choice, nose ring and long dark hair, and remember standing like a warrior queen in the parking lot of grocery store staring at this sad little office drone gawking at you as he drove by - how's it going, who are you, and how did you become such an effortless bada*s?

13. From adp1314:

She was my physical therapist. I got sick a few months back and lost the ability to walk., Which she helped me do again. I don't actually remember meeting her. As my cognitive ability came back, she was just a normal part of my day. Hard to describe. I know it might just been a friendly, professional relationship, but I feel like something might've been there. And the help she gave me in the worst time of my life inevitably gave me strong feelings. Got discharged before I could ask her out and don't know how to get back in touch. Yet.

14. From dallaaaas:

The man I considered my soulmate and the one that got away was someone I wanted so badly and just couldn’t ever have. Whether it was bad timing or just in different places in our lives. We lost touch and found each other over and over again consistently over the course of abt ten years. He found me after a few years of being out of touch and I was married. When I got divorced I found him and he was in a relationship with a new baby. I confessed my love for him at that time, but he didn’t want to hurt her and I understood.

I met my now husband soon after that and said my final goodbye and moved on. I think about him often and wonder how he is and what he’s doing. But, I honestly feel like if we had ever got together and had a real relationship he wouldn’t hold the same place in my heart. Instead, Life would have happened and we would have ended up hurting and hating each other. It just wasn’t meant to be, and I’m sure it was for the best. I am now in a very fulfilling and happy marriage with a wonderful man and a new baby. He is undeniably my soulmate, but I would have never found him had the timing ever been ‘right’ for, “the one that got away!"

15. From mmcelticrose:

He was perfect. Funny, charming, weird, loving. We hit it off immediately and were together for almost 2 years. He supported my decision to go back to school, traveled with me, adored me. He had a tendency to be self defeating and would often drop things if they became to difficult but we we're each other's best friend. He supported me and I supported him.

He switched his unit at work and met a girl who he started hiding messages from. She became a point of tension between us multiple times but we usually worked through it. Finally a year later after just getting home from a trip we did for my birthday he broke up with me. Saying he didn't like how we fight and that he didn't think we wanted the same things in life. We spent the whole time on vacation talking about getting married and had plans to move in together in a few months.

Turned out the night prior he lied about going to a work thing. He actually met her in the city and she told him she liked and wanted to date him. I found this out through a mutual friend after he broke up with me. He had lied to everyone.

I lost the love of my life to the girl he told me not to worry about. And now she can have everything I deserve and was promised. I feel like I'm drowning in everything I could have said or done differently to keep him around. And I know that everyone keeps telling me I need to get over this but I cant. He was everything I ever wanted.

16. From StrikerPost:

She just didn't feel the same way. I've learned now that I tired to bury that pain with other relationships, but 11 years later and I would still swim across the ocean, fight a giant squid, and face anything to be with her.

I just never shared a single iota of the level of emotional connection I shared with her, to another human being. She still holds secrets that I have never dreamed of sharing with another. Everything about my time knowing her was simply effortless and completely sublime.

Kristen if your on here, I'm hopelessly in love with you still, and sorry that professing this to you back in Chicago all those years ago ruined everything.

Even if you still don't reciprocate the feeling, I would love to have my friend back.

17. From monachopsiss:

I met him on an "adult" site, and it started out as purely sexual but evolved. He admitted he had feelings for me and I was completely flabbergasted and never had even considered it so I was like uhhhhh, no. Then a couple months later, I realized I shared those feelings. We talked all day everyday, but I eventually discovered that I was not the only person he was talking to.. He has very low self-esteem and needs multiple people to want him. So that completely shattered me, but I knew he was very important to me (and vice versa), so I was able to ultimately remain friends with him.

5 years later, he is my absolute best friend, he comes to visit every year, and I would take a bullet for him. We still talk all day everyday, but I have absolutely no romantic (or sexual) feelings anymore. I absolutely believe he is my soulmate because he's changed nearly every aspect of my life, and I believe soulmates can be platonic (a la Dawson and Joey). Hopefully I'll find a romantic one somewhere out there though!

18. From jimthree60:

I don't know if she was my soulmate or not, but it was certainly a special moment when I saw her for the first time, and then I was absolutely amazed to find her suddenly standing next to me after wishing I was brave enough to go over and say "hi".

We got to talking, we spent the whole night talking, and then the evening after that as well. She had a boyfriend at the time, but they were long-distance and in trouble and broke up soon after -- nothing to do with me, I hasten to add. But all of that and I felt I had to keep my distance, and just make a point of spending a lot of time together and letting things develop naturally.

It was working beautifully... until about a month ago, when I had to head back home for a while and, although we'd made plans to meet up, she went and snapped her Achilles tendon while dancing. And promptly seems to have fallen for the man she was dancing with at the time.

Sitting here right now cursing my luck. The most wonderful, gorgeous woman I've met, who seemed to enjoy my company almost as much as I hers, but wasn't quite emotionally ready for us to get together yet; and then fate has put paid to any hopes of a slowly-burning relationship...

Keeping your true feelings or memories a secret too long can easily fester into shame and isolation. However, many secrets are secrets for a reason, and it doesn't always feel safe or productive to talk to someone you know personally.

This is where anonymity can be a real bastion of relief, and the internet provides plenty of spaces where people can anonymously get secrets off their chest without facing the real life repercussions of confession.

One popular Reddit thread served as this space for dozens of people who shared secrets ranging from existential to material.

1. From thankandthrow:

After finding out I was infected with HIV as a child right before I turned 15, I suppressed every bit of my sexuality when I’m around other people to the point that even the thought of kissing someone gives me tremendous anxiety. Now that I’ve started working on those issues, along with my almost 20 year marriage ending, I’m terribly afraid I’m going to die sad and alone.

2. From GrowingApathetic1:

I just want a do over on my life. I don’t feel happy where I am even though I know a lot of people would kill to be in my position and I feel like an ungrateful pain in the ass because of it.

It will be a few more years before I can realistically change the way my life is but it doesn’t feel like it will be enough at this point. I just want to start over.

3. From SK209919:

I'm really bad at forming bonds with people. I might act like I care about people but deep down, I just want to be left to myself. I have to act like I belong with the people around me when I clearly don't. I feel like I'm just cheating everyone around me.

4. From disturbed_dinosaur:

I'm scared of the "real me". I'm not an angry person generally, I rarely get mad at things. I'm not a violent guy. The few times I have gotten legitimately angry, or even just irritated, I've been told by people it genuinely scared them. Hearing that cut deep. I hate knowing that I've genuinely made people afraid.

5. From Miss_Minus:

I've been hiding my recurring drug addiction from everyone. My parents and most other people think I got sober years ago. In reality I relapse every 6 months to once a year, to the point where I have to lie to get out of work for a couple days to fight withdrawals. I missed so many important social interactions because of it and I hate myself every time it happens. I'm the best at believing my own lies that this time I can use responsibly.

Edit: thank you so much for the incredible kind, loving and supporting words. As stated, I'm going through withdrawals at this very moment so replying to every single one of you is kinda hard right now. So, I'll say some things in reply to what most of you stated.

To start, I'm not a dude, but I don't mind ;) it's the message that counts.

I know I have to tell my family, I will after I get through this particular episode. Mainly because I know my mom will drop everything to come get me, and while that is amazing, she will not know or understand what I need right now. Like I said, my neighbor is chilling with me for the most of the day, he's fully aware of the situation and supports me in doing what I have to do to get out on the other side.

Thanks for all the resources you guys provided, I'm not based in the US but Europe, so I'll see what's of use for me.

Last, but not least, to every single one of you that is going through this, or has gone through this, please hold on. Reddit has been amazing for me, both for support and just mindlessly passing time scrolling. Thanks to everyone who offered to talk, and likewise: Please pm me if you need to talk.

THANK YOU ❤️

Final edit: In my part of the world it's the middle of the night now so I'm going to try and sleep, I will answer the people that need answering tomorrow. For those of you saying I should tell my neighbor how much I appreciate him, I just did and got the tightest hug ever. For those of you saying he only wants to f*ck me: I'm sad that you think a man will only help a woman if he wants to f*ck her. He happens to have a lovely girlfriend who I'm also friends with but lives a bit further away, she's also fully aware of my situation and supports his decision to help me out.

6. From DeathSpiral321:

My ability to empathize with others is almost non-existant. When I'm in a situation where everyone else around me is crying, their emotion doesn't rub off on me at all. I'm more stressed about trying to make myself appear just as sad as them than the actual situation causing the sadness for others.

7. From denolly:

I have an eating disorder I’ve managed to hide from people for 8 years. Sometimes I forget it’s not normal.

8. From musical-fangirl-here:

This don’t really that deep or dark. But, at one point in my life, I was a really horrific person. I was angry, and violent and I hated everyone, including my family.

It was at this point of my life when I was the reason my mum wanted to kill herself.

I look back and think what an awful person I was. I don’t even think she told me this personally. I’m pretty sure I heard her talking to my sister.

It makes me really guilty to know I could’ve been the cause of that. I haven’t forgiven myself for it, and I never will.

9. From tyrannosaurusfox:

I have really bad intrusive thoughts. I’m trying to get a new therapist because I just moved. But my intrusive thoughts are why I really never want to live in another place with a balcony, not because I’m afraid of heights.

Edit: Gosh, I really didn’t expect this to blow up. I appreciate all your responses! I want to clarify a few things-

-I have OCD and bipolar 2. I have been diagnosed, have been in therapy and on medication for over a year, and am seeking a new therapist right now (I recently moved).

-Intrusive thoughts are absolutely normal but it also depends on the scale of them and how they’re affecting you! If they’re causing you a lot of distress you may want to talk to somebody about it.

10. From Gartholamewd:

My ex cheated on me and left just after our 18 month anniversary and us getting our own place. I struggle every day to see a point in anything anymore. I feel I could quite happily crawl into a ball and do nothing forever.

But life needs to go on. So I put on a brave face and do my daily routine just watching the hours, the days, the months go by.

I know I’ll be okay, but I’m not okay right now, and I suppose that’s okay.

11. From mlayman13:

I love my kids, but I don't like them. I do my best to teach them to be good people, but they are horrid jerks, and frankly, it's hard to be around them.

12. From _darthriven:

I (M) have feelings for my old best friend(F) and I am too afraid to tell her because I don't want to risk our friendship even though the friendship is nearly dead. These feelings have been there for the past 2 years and It hurts now...

13. From Ascendia_california:

I'm working on my masters degree in law. I've wanted to become a lawyer ever since I was a kid.

It's really f*cking hard and sometimes I fantasize about quitting, moving back to my small home town, buying a deep fryer and getting a job at the local supermarket.

No more expectations. No more pressure. I wouldn't do it but God sometimes I really want to.

14. From thrownawaynov2019:

Throw away because my husband knows my real account. I regret having a kid. My son is a really awesome kid, but I feel like a terrible mother. I have constant anxiety. I feel like I’m constantly angry. I’m constantly stressed. I feel like I have to be perfect for my son all of the time. I constantly feel guilty for everything. On top of that I hate making dinner every night and trying to give my kid healthy variety.

I’m lucky he isn’t a picky eater. I hate that I have to ask him a question 4 or 5 times before he will answer it (he is 2 almost 3). I miss my free time. I miss being able to go out and do things without having to pack a huge bag of crap to keep my kid entertained. In the past few months I have started to think my kid would be better off without me. That I should pack a bag and disappear. At least then he wouldn’t grow up with a mother who is angry and yells all the time. But I won’t leave. I love my kid and I live for those moments where he is just so sweet or makes me laugh that I can’t imagine leaving him.

Edit: this has gotten so much more attention than I could have ever imagined. THANK YOU for all of the comments and words of encouragement. You all are amazing. I’m just going to keeping taking it one day at a time. As for dinner, chicken nuggets are pretty regularly on our menu but my son loves it. I also just want you all to know my husband is amazing. He is very supportive and takes very care of us. He tries to make sure I get some free time each weekend but it’s never really enough. I’m working on finding ways to have more “me” time.

I also just wanted to add that my husband isn't usually home in the evenings so he isn't there to help with dinner. We also don't have any family close by so it takes planning to have someone watch him for us. I do have some mom friends with kids the same age as my son, but they are busy with their lives too so I dont see much of them.

15. From abagofsquirrels:

So, I do have a few very close friends and family who know about this. That includes my therapist.

I'll start by saying that I'm a recovering addict with some pretty severe mental health issues. I used all sorts of drugs and alcohol for 11 years and I now have 2 years clean and attend NA meetings regularly. Have a sponsor and am working on turning my life around with much success. I have complex PTSD (repeated and/or multiple traumas). As a result of the repeated traumas I've endured as well as the years of drug use, I have developed psychosis and obsessive compulsive disorder.

Now to the secret: When my drug use and mental health got to its worst, a bit before getting clean, I was pretty emotionless most of the time. I was an extremely angry person and I lacked a lot of empathy. I dealt with some behavioral issues that caused me to lash out at people and my environment in general. I didn't know what to do with all the rage, but I knew I didn't want to feel it. Because of childhood trauma, I do not react well to not being in control of things.

So in an attempt to quell the rage, I practiced being a composed and calculated person. I thought if I held the rage inward and made myself more emotionless, it would help me.

All the emotional issues I was experienced ended up coming out in other ways.

I started having serious thoughts of hurting other people. First, it was people I was angry with. And when I say thoughts of hurting people, I mean very violent thoughts. I will refrain from going into detail, but I'm sure you can imagine based on some of the violent crimes you see in TV and movies.

Eventually, I started thinking of hurting people that didn't make me angry. It was hard to focus on anything because I would think of hurting and killing people close to me: my mom, my brother, my dad, and even my girlfriend at the time.

I would look up pictures of dead bodies to try to ease some of the urges. This eventually stopped doing it for me, so I tried to find videos of people being killed. I had trouble finding anything, so I would watch these fake videos on specific porn site type locations. There wasn't any sex in the video cus it wasn't sexual for me. I watched men drowning women, men choking women, etc. (Probably because the person who sexually abused me was female).

This issue got so bad over time that I started imaging ways I would avoid getting caught by the police: How I would hide my face, avoid leaving evidence, avoid letting a victim get away. I even looked online at things like full body suits and night vision goggles just so I could get ideas.

I even developed an "MO". I liked the idea of drowning (oddly enough my biggest fear) and then that lead to the thought of knocking people out with chemicals, tying them up and stabbing them.

I was really afraid when it got this bad. Not because I was afraid of hurting anyone, but because I was afraid of going to jail.

I decided to talk to my therapist about this issue after she told me that she couldn't report me unless I was "planning" to hurt someone. So I told her everything that wouldn't get me locked up.

She helped me through this issue and made a constant effort to show me that I did in fact have empathy. She pointed that just the fact that I was seeking help was a sign that I wasn't a complete psychopath.

Fast forward 2 years and I'm not the most sensitive and empathetic person I know. I cry if a bug dies. No joke. I have two happy and healthy cats that I spoil on a daily basis. I have a wonderful and vast support group that is there for me as I am for them. I'm closer with my family than I've ever been. I'm now working as a self-employed artist with my own online business.

I'll admit, there will always be this "pull" towards those old behaviors because there was an addicting quality to them, but the urges are gone. The thoughts are not there anymore and my empathy is too intense for me to ever be able to hurt anyone. I value human life and have a great love for other people. Words cannot express the gratitude I have for getting my life back and just being alive in general.

TL;DR - Two years ago, I almost became a serial killer.

16. From YN0tZ0idberg:

I recently came to the realization that my SO doesnt want children due to her mental illness and as much as its a deal breaker for me i dont feel like I can break it off and leave her to suffer through her depression and anxiety on her own. I feel trapped.

17. From OWNPhantom:

I am very possessive and my family thinks that because I haven’t been getting a girlfriend I’m gay but no it’s mostly because I don’t want to attach myself too much to the point I have to know where she is 24/7. I hate this about myself.

18. From Johnsonmattheww:

About 10 years ago, I accidentally knocked my sisters toothbrush into the toilet and never told her.

19. From Shinjisky:

I want to get money without working.

Like I really want to just spend everyday 24/7 on my computer doing whatever I want. I have a scholarship at an university and they always say, "do the things you want", "you should work for what you want to be", "follow your dreams" and things like that, but in fact, there are things that even if you really want, it will be impossible to get/do.

I don't really talk about this because I know the answer. You need to work for the "society" so then you can get the "things" you want from it. There is no option were you just get what you want without working, because to get it, you need someone to work for you and they won't work for nothing.

Everyone around me has a dream of working on something they like and I'm here really just wanting to get home and watch or play what I want.

Since I know the answer, I kinda gave up on being happy. Unless I kill myself (which is not a possibility), I cannot stop working.

20. From ClearReason:

I think I’m a sociopath. My grandad is, and my mom has narcissistic tendencies, so it’s plausible. My mom has a really hard time relating to people and understanding pain, so growing up I heard a lot of “stop feeling sorry for yourself and get up” whenever I was hurt or cried. Don’t get me wrong I love my mom, and she did her best, but our relationship is more sisterlike than motherly. Anyway. I honestly just don’t care how people feel. The only thing that genuinely gets to me is when people don’t like me.

I have this incessant need to be liked by everyone all the time. I’m very empathetic, but it’s just like a trained reaction. It feels fake. I understand how something makes someone feel, why they’re hurting, and how I can help them, but I feel like Data from Star Trek training my software to be more humane. Do I actually genuinely care about anyone but myself? I don’t know. And that scares me.

"Hearty laughter is a good way to jog internally without having to go outdoors."

-Norman Cousins

This list of memes is so funny you might as well consider it your morning workout. Get your heart beating and your blood pumping with a few belly laughs. These utterly hilarious and relatable memes are just the thing to get your motor running this morning.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

Look, we're not the best proofreaders in the world (there are probably errors in this post), but we're also not related to the President of the United States, and we don't have a book publisher with proofreaders, agents, ghostwriters, etc., to check our work.

In DTJ's new book, Liberal Privilege, there are at least two errors on the cover. It took us a few minutes (and a little help to be honest) to get them both, so we'll reveal them at the end of the article. Take a look and enjoy.

If you didn't get them, there are arguably 3 errors.

The first is "best selling" should be one word, "bestselling" or "best-selling," depending on who you ask. Even though the NY Times is "fake news," and the bestselling numbers were created by the RNC buying up copies, the grammar is wrong.

The second is that "Democrat's" has the apostrophe in the wrong place. It should be "Democrats'," otherwise you're referring to only one Democrat.

Lastly, a defense of the indefensible is logically impossible, but personally we'll give him a pass on this one. We assume he means they're trying to defend something that should be indefensible (to him).

Did you get them without help?

You never really know who's looking after your kids.

A parent is asking whether they overstepped when they hired a private investigator to check out their nanny because her name was apparently different from the one she'd given.

The dad in question posted on Reddit asking whether his actions qualified as a-hole behavior, because the nanny flipped when she figured out what he'd done.

Dad says the nanny works part time in their house:

We have a nanny (late 20s) who comes to watch our 3 year old and 1 year old when our work schedules overlap or we have to go out together for whatever reason. She’s watching the kids between 10-20 hours a week.

He recently went to pay her when he made an unsettling discovery:

Recently I came back and it was time to pay her, but she was in the middle of bathing the kids so said “Can you just put it in my purse?” I said no problem.

I went downstairs and found her purse but it was a little cluttered so I put it in her wallet in her purse so it would be easy to find and count.

When I opened her wallet to put it inside, I couldn’t help but see her ID in the transparent front pocket, and it had her photo but her name was completely different from the one she had given us and we’d background checked when we had hired her.

He was surprised because she's been so good with his children:

She’s been great, so I didn’t want to just fire her, but this meant she was either using a fake name with us or carrying a fake ID, so we had to see if she was trying to hide something relevant. She’s someone who spends prolonged time alone with our kids. And as great as she seems to us, our kids can’t really talk yet. So we can only know so much.

He and his wife decided to hire an investigator:

My wife and I discussed it and decided to hire a private investigator to check into her, because whatever story she gave us if we confronted her, we’d then take steps to verify it anyways. So it was best not to give her the opportunity to hide anything or backtrack.

The P.I. cracked the case successfully:

The PI discovered she had the ID to circumvent a bureaucratic rule about student living arrangements for the graduate school at her university (something like she wanted to stay on the undergraduate campus when she became a graduate student so used an undergrad friend’s name on her ID to register for housing.) Not a big deal.

The nanny found out what they'd done:

Then, unfortunately, unbeknownst to us our 3yo overheard us talking about it and said something that tipped her off to the whole thing. We explained that we had become aware, looked into it, but it was all fine now.

She was very upset, said it was none of our business why she would have two IDs, and it was a violation of her privacy to look into her life instead of just asking her. Now she’s even considering quitting.

The parents still don't know if they've done anyhing wrong:

We feel awful, but are also weighing that with how awful we’d feel if we didn’t do due diligence and there was something serious to it. We’re conflicted now, because she has always been wonderful. [Am I the a-hole] for hiring the private investigator?

This one is contentious. While people see both sides, most agree that the dad overstepped.

Pzengz summed up most people's feelings on the matter:

You’re good for wanting to double check who’s around your child.

She’s not wrong for feeling uncomfortable that you guys did that.

Dszpughsbnt agreed that he's okay for hiring the P.I., but the nanny has every right to feel violated:

She watches your kids, you have the right to know what her deal is. Also, someone's gotta employ the private investigators, amrite?

But, on the other hand, she has every right to be upset and feel like you invaded her privacy, because...you literally did. You literally hired someone to invade her privacy.

Try giving her a raise to get her to stay, maybe? Or let her go and hire a PI for the next nanny from the jump.

But beentheredagnabbit disagrees:

You're making a huge leap from 'you have the right to know what her deal is' to 'you should feel free to send out a PI to trawl through her social situation, perhaps follow her, talk to her friends etc etc'.

Being a nanny doesn't mean you consent to any and all investigations the parents subjectively deem to be necessary for their comfort.

But one user who says she's a nanny understands:

I'm a young woman who nannies part-time and I wouldn't begrudge a family for having me investigated (without notification) if I had a fake ID or something else that seemed sketchy. I'm protective enough over my nanny kids and if I were their parent I'd want to 100% trust the people I let around them; while I do think OP should have asked her first before going full-on with the PI, they're not the AH for wanting to ensure their kids' safety while also not firing someone for potentially no reason.

Darkdarkerdarkness says the parents' motives were understandable, but their actions were all wrong:

You 100% violated her privacy. She said “put the money in my purse” not “ look through my bag and personal belongings and snoop around in my wallet.”

The two reasonable options upon your discovery of her ID are:

1)Fire her because you don’t trust her and you feel she lied about her identity

Or

2) sit her down like an adult, admit that you shouldn’t have been snooping in her purse (obviously you should apologize for this) and ask her what the deal is with her second ID card. When she explained her reasoning you can say “would you be willing to allow me to look in to this? I’d like to make sure my kids are safe.” Or you can not believe her and go back to option 1.

What you did instead was go behind her back, proving you don’t trust her, but secretly hoping you were wrong so you could keep her as an employee without her ever knowing that YOU ALSO BREACHED HER TRUST.

The employee/employer relationship is a two way street dude, yes, you need to be able to trust her, but she also needs to be able to trust y’all.

If I were her, I’d quit too.

So while there's no clear-cut consensus for this conundrum, most people agree that the nanny has every right to leave if she wants.

And that the parents probably should've given her a chane to explain before they went all Sherlock Holmes on her.

When you've been in a certain field for a long time, you can start to forget that not everybody has the same knowledge of it as you do. And that's how dark industry secrets happen.

A recent Reddit thread asked people, "What's a dark secret/questionable practice in your industry?" Here are the 22 best responses.

1. Lobbyists aren't just influencing laws, they're allegedly writing them.

Many bills are literally written by lobbyists or special interest organizations. I have seen my boss give bill language to a state legislator and then found the same language in print a few days later several times. The bill may change in committee but usually not drastically against the original intent. - Jenova66

2. Your kid's teacher knows more about you than you think...

Young kids talk to their teachers/coaches/counselors/principals about their parents. A lot. And kids pick up on all the dirty little secrets. - MineralWaterMike

3. Airport hotel workers are living life on the edge.

Many hotels often sell rooms multiple times. Used to work in airport hotel. Knowing that chances are some guests won’t arrive due to missed or delayed flights so we sell more rooms that we have. You have guests checking out from 2/3 am due to early flights so even though the room is technically still theirs you quickly and sometimes poorly clean the room and tell the arriving unexpected guest or new booking there’s a random computer issue and to wait 20 mins and then check them into the departed guests room praying. Multiple times I’ve had to run a kettle under a cold tap to hide the fact the previous guest used it 15 mins before the new guest arrives - AndromedaFire

4. We've all seen that episode of "Sex and the City."

I ended up quitting a career because people (all genders and ages) kept trying to solicite me for prostitution.

Young male massage therapist. - NinjaWen

5. This is sad.

Air traffic control (cue the Breaking Bad jokes)

A diagnosis of virtually any mental illness...and a diagnosis of many physical conditions...is disqualifying and will end your career. For that reason, people avoid doctors like the plague. - ShttyMcFckface

6. Oh nooooo.

Have you ever started filling out a form for a quote on something (insurance website, or literally anything) and then changed your mind and said "nah, I don't want to give them my personal information", and then abandoned the form before pressing "submit"?

If you think that stopped them from getting your personal information, it didn't. Most companies looking to capture leads will capture your info in real time as you enter it into a form. The submit button is just there to move you to the next step, not to actually send your information to the company. - phpdevster

7. Well, they're only human.

How many people who work with children (teachers, childcare workers, etc.) don't follow confidentiality guidelines. Gossiping about families with coworkers, talking about children's home situations, creeping family's social media, etc. - secretleymorbid

8. We all knew this deep down...

Services costs are based on how much money you look like you have. I’m a woodworker/contractor. I come to you house, you tell me what you want done. My jumping off point is how much the market will bare. If I think you can afford a $4,000 solid oak book case that’s what I will quote you.

I can make a cheaper version that I make less money on, but why would I do that? It’s not that I’m just ripping you off, I’m selling you a better product, but in doing so I make more money. So when getting a quote it can pay to be very direct about what you want to spend or you are going to be sold the most expensive version they think you can afford. - JerkITwithRIGHTYnewb

9. This is not surprising.

You know the people who write instruction manuals or user guides in things you buy?

Half the time, they've never even seen or touched the product. Some dude just sends us pictures, a rough description of how it's supposed to work, and that's it. - katakego

10. Darn it.

When we take x-rays of your pelvis, we can see your penis. And we can see your labial folds. - Givemetheformuol

11. Good to remember next time you're thirsty.

There is at least one water bottle/soda can/energy drink/ spray paint can sitting on a piece of blocking behind your drywall somewhere in your house. - Djdubbs

12. How annoying...

University Professor: we don’t actually read your entire answer. Most of us don’t. - Revolutionary_Buddha

13. Another sad one.

Former retail pharmacy technician. I received many forged prescriptions for strong narcotics for otherwise seemingly young, healthy patients. In hindsight, it's really sad, because I'm witnessing the opioid crisis unfold before my eyes.

But the pharmacist has full discretion to pretend we don't have the drug in stock, turn people away, or straight up call the cops.

We will literally put on our acting game and keep these people at the pharmacy until the cops arrive. - rx6553

14. The only thing they're "engineering" is the deal.

A lot of the time the engineer you talk to about your project (and decide to trust with it) delegates it to cheaper contractors as soon as you sign the paperwork. Their job is new business. - steelavian

15. Moldy pizza, ew!

At a very large pizza chain restaurant that remains widely popular, we had these perforated pans for thin crust and stuffed crust pizzas. They'd get washed in the dish washer by the hundreds per day and at least half would still have burnt cheese and shit on them. Well they were just stacked to dry.

When making new pizzas in those pans, sometimes the pans that were left to "dry" overnight grew bits of mold around the burnt cheese. We were told just to put the dough on top because otherwise we'd never keep up with the orders if we rewashed everything. The manager said, "don't worry, it gets cooked". - 69fatboy420

16. The best way to get into college for free is to play a sport.

Our athletic department has strong-armed financial aid into finding money for athletes who have sub-2.0 GPA's, are constantly busted for drugs, and get in trouble all the time which leads to them being ineligible for athletic money, but we want to keep them on the team so they find other money to keep them here - pacmanrockshok

17. Costco does caskets!

Funeral Director:

You can buy a casket from Costco for 20% of the price that I'm going to sell you one for.

About 70% of the cost of the funeral is overcharging options and leading you on to feel guilty if you don't take them.

We have a lot of fun when we don't deal with customers, but we never have that "fun" with bodies. - Privvy_Gaming

18. This always seemed like a scam...

You know when you are checking out and the store offers to round up your total and donate that to a charity? Well the company is using this to pay into their own charity with over site costs etc who then pays into another charity. They are also then using this charitable donation as tax offset. You are much better off choosing a charity yourself and saving the 5-10c each time and donating it at once to the same place. You get a small tax offset and know the money is going to a place you have researched. - bladeau81

19. Blech!

I work in quality control. There are acceptable levels of insect parts that can found in manufactured food and be OK by the FDA. - ETS5559898

20. No more seafood for us.

As a kitchen hand I'd often have to 'refresh' the squid and mussels in a fine dining restaurant. That basically meant go through all the old smelly seafood, clean it in salt water and keep on selling it. I don't order seafood in restaurants. - Kiwi_Woz

21. Not every package gets checked at the border — far from it.

Customs can't actually screen everything coming in. I'm oversimplifying but CBP basically works on the honor system. You file an entry saying what the shipment is, and they just take your word for it and release it. This happens hundreds of thousands of times a day. Maybe at best customs can screen 3-7% of what's coming in, the rest of just waived through.... - callmeraylo

22. The diamond industry isn't the only one that's messed up ethically.

The gold and gemstones in your jewelry are A LOT more questionable than the diamonds. They just didn't make a movie about those.

And if you ask me if I'm "sure it's not a blood diamond" but you're carrying Prada or wearing Nikes screw you and your ignorance. - nrz242

23. Honestly, this is fair.

Retail worker here, when you ask an employee to check for something in the back we almost always know if we're out of it but go back there anyway. We dont actually check for the item, instead we go on our phone for a few minutes and act like we looked. - hindenbob

Telling someone, "I love you" for the first time can be terrifying, especially if you're not sure what their answer is going to be...

The pressure of those three "magic" words is something that some people consider sacred, while others are quick to tell their romantic partners they love them regardless of what the response will be. The time between saying "I love you" and waiting for an answer can feel like a solid five years of anxiety-sweating if you're not sure if the other person reciprocates your feelings. While there are plenty of ways to tell someone you love them back, there are a few responses to "I love you" that can seriously sting.

So, when Twitter user, @Kissmyartt asked the internet for some of the worst responses to "I love you," people were quick to share.

You'll never forget your first love, and you'll also never forget that they said, "Interesting! Thank you so much" when you spent hours in their parents' basement trying to work up the courage to tell them you love them to their face and not your diary. Good luck out there, everyone!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.