Labels are incredibly useful for things like organizing your canned goods, knowing what protein/marinade combo you've got in the freezer, finding the right haircare products - that sort of thing.
Not necessarily so useful or appropriate when it comes to human beings.
Reddit user UltimateDiscordMod asked:
"What do you hate being labeled as?"
So here's the thing - there are some labels people just flat out HATE.
Having no control over the way someone perceives you is irksome, at best. But in these cases it's something more.
Let's take a look.
Shy
"Shy. For the love of god stop labeling me as shy just cause I don't feel like talking to you."
- brisnoctis
"Came here to say this."
"I wouldn't mind being labeled as quiet, which is almost the same thing. But 'shy' often has a slightly infantilizing side to it. Like I'm some kind of scared cute little creature."
"There's really no need to talk to me like I'm a lost child at the supermarket, I'd just rather listen than talk right now."
"I also feel like once people have categorized me as shy, they assume I don't have anything meaningful to contribute to the conversation, and I feel like they're not really paying attention to what I'm saying when I do speak. Which is a shame because I really like to talk and give my opinion on things once I feel comfortable."
- migzard
Shy GIF GiphyUseless
"Useless."
"It's a word I've been labeled as multiple times throughout my childhood by certain family members. Absolutely ruined my self esteem."
- crowdfear
" 'Oh you aren't helping ME out with every little problem I should be dealing with!? You're useless!!!!!!!' "
"I hate that sh*t."
- Solitary_Stars
"Then again, it's not like you are an instrument or a tool to anyone."
" 'Useful' is not a term you'd want to use for humans, let alone 'useless.' "
- TreborNuh
GiphyThat Southern Sound
"When people hear my southern accent and learn I'm from Alabama, I'm automatically labeled as less intelligent."
- boadicea-h5
"I live in Florida and people sorta just invalidate the possibility of me having brain cells just because I'm a 'Florida man.' "
- PsychologicalArm8990
"Man I feel this one."
"I'm from a tiny mountain town in North Carolina and once, when I was describing my hometown, I was asked if I even went to school."
"I was like ???? Girl what! this isn't the 1800s."
- psb811
"I'm from West Virginia and once got a similar reaction from a girl that I was talking to from California. She was asking me if I could read and stuff like that, and had all this pity for me."
"When I explained that I went to school and could read she didn't take it as that just being normal, but that I had broken out of the stereotype and achieved something not many people do where I'm from."
"I was just like holy sh*t how are people this ignorant? lol."
- DevilsNDeepBlueSeas
wwe the wrestling album GIF GiphyAlcohol Issues
"Alcoholic."
"Haven't had a drink in 9 years. I'm a lot of other things beyond just a guy who once had a drinking problem."
"I don't know why for some people that's the centerpiece of my identity."
- boeheim03
"Well, in my opinion it keeps it real. I'm an alcoholic and part of that is knowing I can't drink because of my genetic predisposition, illuminated by my past is a powerful deterrent."
"It's when people forget how bad they got that they do it again. Just like the cycle of economic strife and the subsequent rise of populism nationalism and fascism."
"Revisionist history serves no one."
- ericdevice
"Dude same. My mom and brother are super into AA and the way they talk about me and my sobriety drives me nuts. AA people are actually the worst. And I say that as a former AA guy."
"I actually believe that sticking hard to that label (which is a HUGE part of AA recovery) keeps people sick, in a way, and prevents them from truly healing."
- Sentientdoing
Drunk Drinking Beer GIF GiphyBig Doesn't Mean Violent
"I'm a big person an people automatically assume that I'm aggressive and violent."
"I don't like having to explain that I have no desire to cause anyone pain, I feel like that should be expected of common people. I can't control how big I am, it's not an indicator of my violence level or anything like that."
- Aggravating_Bat1786
"I'm 7 foot 1 and am not a skinny dude. I'm also Black and I have a lot of tattoos."
"People will switch sides of the street when I'm walking down the sidewalk. But really I'm a gentle dude and I've never hurt anybody nor have any desire to."
"Sometimes it hurts my feelings but at the same time I get it."
- umbrella_CO
"There's a guy who works at my local dog shelter who looks like a hairless bear with more defined biceps."
"Nicest guy. Has my preferred breakfast saved for me whenever I'm late. Two small pups at home. Genuinely curious, thoughtful, progressive, insightful, and articulate."
"Looks like a Rocky villain. Or a Mortal Kombat character."
- Lucky-Definition-189
Animated GIF GiphyPants On Fire
"A liar."
"Trust is the most important thing to me, and I make a point of being honest. When someone goes off on me and calls me a liar (either to cover their ass or just because they do not want to admit their data is inaccurate) it is deeply insulting."
- 8dogsinatrenchcoat
"This, this right here."
"It quickly leads to a short fuse for me because I also make a point to be honest. I've stopped talking to many people because they're pathological liars, blatantly."
"I've been told I'm 'too honest' whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. To call me a liar is wild."
- Simpl3Nik
"I once been called a liar/cheater by a high school teacher. The sole argument and evidence was that they believed I couldn't have realistically done that great on the assignment."
"I had to argue with her for 15 minutes that it was, indeed, possible for me to achieve success."
"Made me hate being labeled as a liar as well as a loser."
Kristen Wiig Wow GIF by Where’d You Go Bernadette Giphy- ExWeirdStuffPornstar
"I feel the same, but for a different reason."
"I was a liar. I grew up in a situation that pushed me to lie to protect myself."
"As a teenager and young adult I lied a lot. About anything and everything. To everyone, myself included. I believed some of the lies, I told them so much."
"Toward the beginning of my current relationship, I realized that I wanted to be honest with my partner. I started trying not to lie to her, and coming clean when I did."
"Through this, over the first couple of years of our relationship, I kicked dishonesty. The desire to lie to protect myself is still there sometimes, but I'm conscious of it and I do not lie anymore."
"Being called a liar now irks, because I've put forth (and continue to put forth) so much effort to be honest, something that is genuinely difficult for me sometimes. With one little word, a decade of concentrated effort can feel invalidated."
- Darkhymn
"It's funny because the people who hate being called a liar the most are either honest Abes or mind-numbingly conniving sociopaths."
"I had a close friend who scammed me for thousands of dollars via lies. He had this almost-famous phrase he was always saying:"
" 'I've got thick skin. You can call me a lot of things and I won't care. But if somebody calls me a liar I won't take that. I'm always getting in trouble because I tell it like it is so I won't be accused of being a liar.' "
"Turns out he's a heartless con man so people calling him a liar is bad for business."
- lasertits69
"My ex had a similar stance on this."
"Which would have been fine except for the fact that she was a compulsive liar. It made it incredibly difficult to approach her about something she lied about."
"Crazy right?"
- Classssssic"
People Break Down The Nicest Celebrities They've Ever Met | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
They always say, "don't meet your heroes." But here's the thing, sometimes your celebrities are actually just chill, normal people who are overjoyed to meet ...Casual Racism = Racism
"Different from most Black people or pretty for a Black girl."
"My little sister gets that a lot. She'll say something awful back like 'I got lucky, my mom is light skinned.' "
"What's sad is some people still stay clueless that she is sarcastically pointing out the racism and agree with her!"
- Pscilosopher
"I feel this so f*cking hard. I also get 'one of the good ones' and 'you talk white' a lot too."
- ImJadedAtBest
Thats Racist GIF Giphy"This would describe how everyone always seems to describe me. They always act offended when I tell them I find it insulting and nonsensical."
- mrockracing
"A friend of mine posted about how much he hates it when people refer to him as being the whitest Black guy they know and thinking it's a compliment."
"It clearly implies that there's something wrong with being Black. Things like that are not uncommon and really shows how ignorant people are when it comes to race."
- LobotomistPrime
Physically Small Doesn't Mean Emotionally Small
"I hate being labelled cute when I'm angry and having my feelings completely invalidated because of things I can't control like my stature and appearance."
- milkywaymistress5
"This sh*t irks me."
"It stopped me from getting a few jobs that I really wanted because people didn't take me seriously. You've really gotta prove yourself when people think you're just 'small and cute' and nothing more."
- Own-Researcher-5507
"I felt that. I'm rather small and I have this young looking face that make people think I'm just sooo cute and adorable."
"My sister is taller and has a more adult face. We can have the exact same angry behaviour/reaction to something and we get completely different results."
"She has her concerns considered and addressed whereas I am dismissed or infantilized."
"If I get angry I'm either 'cute' or brushed off because 'How can such a small thing be so angry?' "
"Actually, that's the attitude with every emotion. As if being physically small makes your emotional range smaller."
- Ledifen
tinkerbell GIF GiphyLiving In Japan
"A weeb."
"I've lived in Japan going on 30 years and never had the slightest interest in anime. In the early 90's it hadn't reached US shores yet."
"The real boom happened around 1996 or whenever Pokemon hit North America and the internet fueled a thermanukular asplodey of nerdity after that."
"Until then, it was small quiet enclaves of Studio Ghibli enthusiasts, but now you have entire sections at Barnes & Noble and cable channels dedicated to it, and good Lord did it bring the tourists vaulting over the turnstiles in crazed cultural consumption sprees. And blah blah blah."
"A quarter century later I can casually mention where I've lived for over half my 51 years and nearly always get a response containing some obscure Martian J-pop-culture reference I have no idea how to form a conversation around."
"I came to Japan for a reason and anime ain't it. I was looking for a job in the budding IT industry, not a waifu."
- the2belo
Pokemon Taking GIF Giphy"This one!"
"I have a masters in Japanese history and lived there on an off for years. I do watch some anime but not very much. I specialized in pre-modern history, my nerd specialty is gender performance in Kabuki, not animation."
"I'm not weeb, I'm a historian. I still jokingly call myself one sometimes though…"
- ParadoxInABox
"Picky"
"Picky."
"I am an grey romantic asexual person which means I don't experience sexual attraction and I rarely experience romantic attraction."
"I'm in my late twenties and I've definitely been romantically attracted to one person, not so sure about the other two people. It's a maybe? It's unclear."
"For me being 'picky' is having people you are attracted to and finding faults with them. Whereas I go on dates and meet lovely people but I ultimately feel nothing for them."
- DuckiesBeDamned
Twd Nothing GIF by The Walking Dead GiphyBooked Seats Don't Mean Racism
"I was accused of being racist at work (flight attendant) recently."
"An Indian family had booked the last row and were sat together. The passenger in front had two seats booked for him and his partner and they chose to lay down together on their seats."
"Said family at the back accused me of being racist because I wouldn’t force the couple to move out of their booked seats so the family could lie down instead."
"I completely understand that there is a huge issue with racism, but it’s definitely not something to hide behind to try to get your own way."
- jack172sp
hasan minhaj no GIF by Patriot Act GiphyDon't Throw The Label Around
"OCD."
"Society throws around this label waaay too much. I don’t have OCD because I like to keep my house clean or color-code my clothing."
"A close friend of mine suffers from severe OCD and it’s a LOT different from what society labels it as."
"Someone being neat is one thing, but OCD isn't something to be made light of. It's a serious struggle."
- Curlyhairdontcarex
Clean Up Cleaning GIF by Bear Hands GiphyHomeschooled
"I was homeschooled up until college."
"A lot of people assume I have a disorder (autism downs etc.), that my mom taught me sex Ed the 'intimate way,' or other generally stupid, disgusting, or ridiculous thing about me being weird."
"The only mental issue I have is occasional depression (just like everyone else) and I missed out on some phrases that were popular as jokes for people in middle school."
"I’m introverted but I socialize well do well in my engineering classes and have a normal relationship with both parents. I'm no weirder than the rest of you."
- dalawre
weirdos GIF GiphyCombat Sports
"People assume I think I'm some badass bro or hardo because I do combat sports. I hate that."
"I'm a f*ckin neeeerrrrrd. I can blather on and on about fighting technique the same way I can blather on about Warhammer."
"The sports I like are just one more thing to geek out on."
"Don't think for one second that I'm willing to fist fight someone over liquor induced drama either. I don't wanna get stabbed, shot, arrested or kicked in the head by a friend of the person I'm fighting."
"I hate confrontation. If I get in a situation, I'm dropping to my back."
- liquorlanche617
Muhammad Ali Boxing GIF GiphyI'm Not 5
"An autist or autistic."
"Though not inaccurate as I have high functioning Aspergers, the way people treat autism like a disease that needs to be cured, or make it clear they think I'm completely incompetent by treating me like I'm 5 is flat out insulting."
"Many people often guess that I'm on the spectrum and either treat me like I'm a toddler or try to sell me on bullsh*t 'cures' for all sorts of diseases while painfully emphasizing the part about autism."
"I don't need to be 'cured.' Stop doing this to people."
- Some_Tiny_Dragon
Eyeroll Reaction GIF GiphyI Just Have Bad Eyesight
"A geek or nerd."
"I have a huge respect for geeks and nerds, but I’m not one. Honestly, I’m pretty sure geeks and nerds would be dishonored to have someone like me associated with them."
"I’m only labeled as a geek or nerd because of the fact that I wear glasses. Which I only wear because I have bad eyesight. I’m not even smart."
"But yeah it gets annoying."
- VoiceOfNoOneNNN
Glasses Seinfeld GIF GiphyPersonally, I relate HARD to the cute one. I'm (well) under five feet tall and I'm often dismissed as cute rather than having my concerns actually addressed if I'm dealing with someone in person.
I've been working on the internet since 2009, in part, to avoid dealing with it. And the petting. People would CONSTANTLY pet me like I was the office mascot.
I'm older, wiser, and way less shy about speaking up now, though, so I don't imagine things going down the same way if I ever go back to office work.
But please don't make me go back to an office.
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People Break Down The Creepiest Movies And Television Episodes They've Ever Seen
Reddit user juliacorco asked: 'What is the creepiest tv episode or movie you’ve ever seen?'
Back in the 1980s the threat of nuclear war was pervasive in daily life.
That fear and paranoia made the TV films Threads and The Day After particularly effective. People were genuinely terrified or traumatized.
Both told the story of an atomic apocalypse, with Threads set in the UK and The Day After in the United States. I wasn’t familiar with Threads until about 5 years ago, but The Day After was a TV event everyone seemed to be talking about in the USA.
But fear inducing isn't quite the same as creepy.
For creepy, you need something like The Twilight Zone, Creepshow or Night Gallery.
Reddit user juliacorco asked:
"What is the creepiest tv episode or movie you’ve ever seen?"
Haunting of Hill House
"Haunting of Hill House on Netflix."
"Scary as hell."
"Bent Neck Lady makes the hair on my neck stand up on end every time."
"Same with the ghost looking for his hat. Or whatever was down in the cellar."
~ Pretend-Cucumber-711
GiphyHereditary
"Hereditary"
"That one scene near the end in the dark bedroom…is essentially a reverse jump scare. Something is there the entire time and it’s just a matter of when you notice."
"Sent chills up my spine."
"That movie stuck with me for days."
~ Plus-Statistician80
Doctor Who/Torchwood
"I have two contenders, from the Doctor Who universe..."
"'Blink' from Doctor Who."
"'Children of the Earth' from Torchwood (all 5 episodes)."
"Both are the stuff of nightmares, but in very different ways."
"'Blink' will make you not sleep at night, while 'Children of the Earth' will deeply disturb you."
~ Common_Sense_Dudd
Giphy"The first few seconds I was exposed to the Weeping Angels in 'Blink' I thought it was a dumb, silly conceit."
"By the end of that episode I knew I would have nightmares for months."
~ codyish
"'Children of Earth' was amazing. There was so much complexity to it, and the way they solved it was downright horrifying."
"The 456 just felt so real with their motives, and were really dark compared to other Who-niverse villains."
"It wasn't that they were trying to build a galactic highway, or were trying to save the universe. Just that (SPOILERS) they were drug dealers/addicts and would kill millions if the didn't get their supply of children."
~ NinjaBreadManOO
Paranormal Activity
"Paranormal Activity."
"I was not prepared and only 12 years old."
"Traumatized for years!"
~ Sudden-Star-7190
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode 'Hush'."
~ Malk_McJorma
"The gentlemen were some of the best villains."
~ Sudden-Star-7190
Room 1408
"Room 1408 creeped me out."
"I usually don't find hauntings or ghosts scary, but this one was something else."
"Left me really uneasy when trying to sleep after."
"I had to keep a light on. I'm 46."
~ hartschale666
The Twilight Zone
"I find the The Twilight Zone episode titled 'Living Doll' to be particularly creepy."
~ Ill_Fisherman5547
"Talky Tina was so creepy."
~ peachesfordinner
"The Twilight Zone episode—'Mirror Image'—with the woman at the bus station who has a doppelganger still creeps the sh*t out of me."
~ BurningSlash88
Ghost Ship
"Opening scene from Ghost Ship."
~ teslatinkering
"This movie is 21 years old, I’ve only watched it once and I still remember this scene vividly."
"Props to the creators because I can’t say that about many movies."
~ PainfulPoo411
X-Files
"The X-Files."
"Episodes 'Home'—inbred family in Pennsylvania—and 'The Host'—the Flukeman."
~ True-Mousse4957
"I was going to say season 3, episode 12—'War of the Coprophages'."
"Only due to one little thing."
"Mulder is in a lab with some scientist looking at the weird cockroaches. They're just chatting away when a cockroach walks across 'your' TV screen."
"It's made to look like it's an actual cockroach walking across your in real life screen. We don't even have cockroaches like that in my region of the world, but it still freaked me out for a second."
~ STROKER_FOR_C64
The Blair Witch Project
"Not gonna lie."
"I saw The Blair Witch Project in the theatre after watching some MTV documentary on it the day before."
"I thought it was real and I was afraid to walk to my car."
~ heavymetalsculpture
Are You Afraid of the Dark
"There's an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark—'The Tale of the Dead Man's Float'."
"It's about a school that was built on an old cemetary and there is some sort of creature thing thant comes into the pool while some kids are swimming."
"I still think about that episode every so often."
~ streetsoulja31
"There’s that one episode—'The Tale of the Frozen Ghost'—where a kid froze to death at some point and the ghost kid just appears and says 'I’m cold' in such a weird inflection…."
"It still creeps me out now. And whenever I am cold, that’s the only way I can say it in my head."
"Man that series had no business being that scary!!"
~ mistresssweetjuice
GiphyFor me, children in horror can always produce the creepiness factor.
Who doesn't feel unsettled after seeing the twins in The Shining?
So what movies or TV episodes creeped you out?
People Break Down What's More Emotionally Painful Than Being Cheated On
Content warning: abuse and suicide.
There is a level of devastation caused by being cheated on by a partner, especially if it's someone you trusted and have been with for a long time that people who haven't experienced it can't understand.
I've been lucky in that I've never been cheated on myself, but I've had friends who have gone through it. My college roommate told me it was the worst pain she's ever been in when she found out her boyfriend cheated on her, and she couldn't imagine anything worse.
It was indeed horrible. My confident, strong roommate was crying all the time and wondering why she wasn't good enough to keep her boyfriend's interest, even though that had nothing to with it.
Redditors agree that being cheated on is painful, but also are prepared to share things they think are emotionally more painful.
It all started when Redditor Darkterrariafort asked:
"What is something more emotionally painful than getting cheated on?"
Medical Helplessness
"Watching your most precious person die a painful and scary death and knowing there’s nothing you can do about it. F**k cancer."
– coastalliving40
"This. I watched my husband starve to death from gastroesophageal cancer."
"It was like watching a nightmare repeat of my dad all over again. 😞"
– NedsAtomicDB
Mama Who Bore Me
"Death of your child."
– NBA_Fan_76
"I truly cannot imagine a deeper pain."
– theawkwardmermaid
"Your child being serious injured by your ex, and custody court keeps forcing the kid into contact with their abuser."
"You spend years of your life dealing with court homework where you recount every excruciating detail of your own abuse at the hands of this person, in addition to the crimes against your child."
"It costs you about $100,000 in legal fees, and you still aren't able to protect your child. It keeps going on indefinitely, and perversely, your ex tries to send you to jail because the child runs away from them."
– JadeGrapes
"Being responsible for your childs death directly."
– Kanulie
"My father passed very suddenly and unexpectedly two summers ago. It was the deepest, unimaginable despair that it was almost like a dream. Being walked to the little room at the hospital where they let you know he didn’t make it on the ambulance ride was surreal and up to that point the worst moment in my life."
"One month after he passed, I was in a four wheeler accident with my then three year old. And we were alone as my husband was out of town. I wasn’t being negligent- it was just a terrible, terrible accident. But, in the chaos of being thrown off and being in complete shock, I thought the four wheeler was pinning her down. I was screaming at the top of my lungs and crying and trying everything I could to lift it up. Remaining calm simply wasn’t a possibility when you think you’re killing your own child."
"She wasn’t pinned-and actually didn’t have a scratch on her. EMT checked her out and I went to the hospital because I had ripped the top part of my thigh off trying to lift the ATV."
"The whole thing was eye-opening in the worst way possible. Because, I could never, ever, ever, ever imagine losing my daughter- especially to my own fault. What if she had been hurt or died that day? I would be living in my own constant hell. I didn’t think there could be worst pain that when I lost my dad, but now I know there is. Just the thought alone of losing my daughter brings tears to my eyes."
"Life is really rough sometimes. But it gets better."
– BoredMillennialMommy
Going Down
"Seeing a loved one go on a downward spiral and you can do nothing to stop it."
– New_me_old_self
"Extension of your comment: Seeing a close one(wronged by their protectors) going down the spiral."
"You tried to help them a lot but they dragged you down with them and left you not just empty but drained."
– Sullen_Wretch
So Hard
"Suicide bereavement."
"I lost my best friend in 2022. Found him. Everyday is a struggle to not be in my grief."
"I’d take 100 heartbreaks, 100 nights of going to bed hungry, and 100 punches right to the face just to have him back."
– KatastropheKraut
"It does. I got wasted and said far too much about myself once. One of my friends verbally smacked the f**k out of me, got me to see that people do care about me and that my relationships aren't all just superficial, really just hit my sorry a** over and over again with the idea that I'm deserving of love not because other people get something out of being with me but because I am a human being, and it slowly does get better."
"It stopped me, I was going to kill myself in two months on new year's."
"When I can't live for myself, I live for other people, even when I start doubting other people actually like me, I still don't do it or hurt myself at all, because there's always, no matter what I feel in the moment, a chance that they do truly just care about me."
"If I end myself now then I give so many other people survivor's guilt, I leave all the people I care about wondering for the rest of their lives how it all could've been different if they had just tried a little bit harder to help me. I won't elaborate now but I feel a similar sort of regret when it comes to a number of aspects of my own life. I could never leave someone with something so unfathomably more painful than that."
– pissandsh*tlord
Sounds Awful
"Mental instability. It's cruel because it's your own mind killing you, you can't run or hide and it's long-winded. I couldn't say a single event has been more emotionally stressful than what's happening."
– Country-Road--
"It’s like you’re dead in your twenties but haven’t been buried til you’re 65."
– Gmr33
Tragedy You Never Get Over
"Having your mother pass away in your arms."
– Repulsive_Cricket923
"Something similar happened to me when i was 4. My parents sent me over to get babysat by my grandmother and she sat on a chair and passed as i was sitting on the floor playing with my toys. I only thought she was sleeping at the time, but later learned the truth as i never saw her again."
– Lucidnuts
Just Done
"As far as relationships go, being abandoned by your former partner is pretty damn painful."
– heyitsvonage
"Mine did this to me after 2.5 years and it was f**king devastating, it took years to get over. He acted as though everything was fine, I was his everything, we were actively planning how we would elope after I finished my degree that term, and BOOM NO DO-OVERS YA DONE."
"It was immediately what came to my mind when I saw this post."
– paprikashi
My Work
"When someone steals your research, hands it in first, gets the high distinction, then everything you submit is plagiarizing that a**hat."
– StaunchMeerkat
"This is two steps worse than, "hey can you put my name on your paper too.""
– karmagod13000
Rather Be Cheated On
"When the person stays with you but they secretly still yearn for that other person (even if no cheating occurs)."
– Deleted User
I actually didn't think there was anything worse than being cheated on after watching my friends go through it.
I stand corrected.
Do you have any stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
Mistakes happen, but when the world is watching, those mistakes are magnified.
When those mistakes have a major impact, those minor mistakes become major.
Reddit user UltraAirWolf asked:
"Who made the stupidest and most embarrassing mistake in history?"
Rudy, Rudy, Rudy
"Low stakes, but high embarrassment: Four Seasons Total Landscaping."
~ kategoad
"You just know that SOMEONE demanded they use a high-class location like the Four Seasons Hotel, and incompetent hilarity ensued."
~ SpooSpoo42
"On November 7, 2020, four days after the United States presidential election, Rudy Giuliani hosted a press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."
"The event was held at the company's garage door and parking lot to discuss the status of the Trump campaign. Many observed a comical aspect to its location—near a sex shop and a crematorium.
"The Trump campaign likely meant to book the upscale Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia, five city blocks from the Pennsylvania Convention Center where Philadelphia's ballots were being counted."
~ Milk_and_Cougar
"Günter Schabowski—the guy that accidentally brought down the Berlin Wall by declaring at a press conference that the right of freedom to travel was effective immediatly."
"Which was not at all what the GDRs political party had wanted, but led to thousands of people rushing to and overwhelming the borders and in the end to the reunification of Germany."
"It was a small mistake but with a great outcome."
~ GrouchyMary9132
💩 Happens
"The captain of German submarine U-1206. During WWII, it was fitted with a high pressure toilet system that was so complex flushing it required a trained technician to do it."
"So one day it was out on patrol when the captain needed to use it. Unfortunately, the number 2 he deposited was of considerable stench, so out of embarrassment, he attempted to operate the flushing mechanism himself."
"Unfortunately he botched up the sequence of valves needed to successfully operate it, and ended up causing water to leak onto the batteries used to power the ship whilst underwater which causes the ship to begin to fill up with cyanide gas and as a result they have to surface to re-circulate the air."
"To add insult to injury, this all takes place off the coast of Scotland and they are promptly spotted by RAF Coastal Command, who then proceed to send a welcoming committee and the captain is forced to order the ship scuttled.
"Four crewmen die, the rest are captured."
"All as a result of the captain not wanting to admit he did a stinky poo."
~ StarbuckTheThird
Why Guam Is A U.S. Territory
"During the Spanish-American War, the US decided to take Guam—colonized by Spain—so they showed up with a bunch of gunships and fired a warning shot to say 'This is your last chance to surrender peacefully'. There was no response."
"Then, a small Spanish boat started rowing up to the American fleet and when they got there, a representative said 'Hi! Welcome to Guam! We saw that you fired your guns to salute us and we would have saluted you back but unfortunately we ran out of gunpowder and nobody has been by to restock us'.”
"Nobody told Guam that the US and Spain were at war."
"When the Americans informed the representative that they were at war and were there to conquer this island, they asked again if Guam would like to surrender. The representative, having already given away that they had no gunpowder, agreed to surrender."
~ Not-sure-wtf-I-am
Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
"Whoever lost Special Order 191."
"In 1862, during the American Civil War, Robert E. Lee decides to invade the Union. His outnumbered army is secretly marching in several divided columns into Maryland to attack Washington DC."
"He sends out this secret order to his top commanders, detailing where and when everyone should be during the march."
"A few days later, a Union soldier finds a couple of cigars lying in a field. With a copy of these orders wrapped around them."
"Some idiot had dropped it."
~ brainsewage
No One Will Remember...
"Hegelochus was an actor performing the play Orestes by the famous playwright Euripides. In the dramatic climax the king he was playing lay dying and is supposed to say 'after the storm I see again a calm sea' as he expires."
"He mispronounced the word galḗn as galên changing the line to 'after the storm I see again a weasel'.”
"This embarrassing mistake happened in 408 BC. It is the only thing we know about Hegelochus."
"It was so humiliating and so widely mocked that we’re still talking about it two thousand four hundred and thirty one years later."
~ aunomvo
Bye, Boy, Bye
"My personal favourite is New Zealand prime minster Robert Muldoon getting drunk in his office one night in 1984 and then calling a snap election."
"Two weeks later, his government was voted out of office."
~ Fresh-Hedgehog1895
Tale of Tails
"The Vietnamese city of Hanoi had a rat problem so French colonial city officials decided to pay people for each rat tail they brought in. It seemed to be a huge success because thousands of rat tails were being turned in."
"Turns out the people just started breeding rats and bringing in rats from other areas to cut off the tails. City found out, stopped the program, and everyone released their rats since they wouldn’t get paid for them anymore."
"Rat population boomed making the initial problem worse."
~ droooo0
The Cobra Effect
"Almost the exact same thing happened in Delhi, India, while the British were in power."
"They started a reward program to get people to kill cobras."
"People just bred or imported and killed cobras and turned them in for the reward."
"The British eventually figured it out, and stopped the reward program, which lead to people releasing their breeding stock."
"It's the origin of the phrase 'the cobra effect' coined by German economist Horst Siebert. It describes how incentives designed to improve a system can lead to unintended—or sometimes perverse—consequences that can make issues worse instead of better."
~ Relevant_Change3591
Bird Brained
"Mao Zedong ordered an eradication of sparrows from China in 1959."
"Sparrows were believed to be pests that ate grain so the authorities started a campaign to eradicate them, along with some other perceived pests. The eradication worked."
"Unfortunately the sparrows, while they do eat some grain, also play a critical role in controlling the insect pests that cause crop disasters of a biblical scale."
"The next year, locusts boomed without their sparrow predator and took the crops, initiating a famine that killed 15 million people."
"China ended up having to import sparrows from the Soviet Union."
~ meganetism
There are certainly plenty of boneheaded moves from history to choose from.
What's your choice for the worst historical mistake?
People Reveal The Grossest Hygiene Issues They Overlooked In An Ex
When it comes to love, we've all overlooked something in a partner that we normally would not excuse, because that person meant so much to us.
But when the love wanes and the relationship ends, we realize looking back just how bad some of the things we overlooked actually were.
Already cringing, Redditor MustangSallie asked:
"What is the grossest hygiene issue you overlooked in an ex?"
Poor Dental Hygiene
"They said, 'My tooth keeps chipping and growing back.'"
"Dawg, that’s tartar."
- Alternative_Chip_280
What Teeth-Brushing Habit?
"He said, 'I don't like to brush my teeth because it makes my gums bleed,' as in therefore it's not good for him."
- feyceless
"I dated someone who never brushed his teeth because he didn't like the tastes of minty toothpaste, as if other flavors didn't exist."
- Princess_Jade1974
Used Tampons
"How’s this, happened with my high school girlfriend, at 17."
"The bottom drawer of the bathroom was filled to the brim with used tampons, and when I discovered this and asked why the bin or even just a sealable bag wasn’t an appropriate option, she sheepishly said she liked the smell of them."
"I tapped out."
- Metaphysical-Alchemy
Sniffly Nose
"I would frequently hear my ex blowing his nose at night in bed. He always said it was into a t-shirt. I thought that was gross but whatever."
"Then when I moved out, I discovered he was actually blowing it into his hands and wiping it onto the back of the fabric headboard of my bed! His side was covered in so much disgusting crusty snot."
"I left it there. F**k trying to clean that!"
- bilby_mum
Simply... Unclean
"I could smell my ex's a**. I had to bring it up more than once. That was one of many things. I don't know why I put up with that s??t. All I can think of is that I had low self-worth."
- rubberloves
"Oh God, same. My first proper boyfriend had a constant stink of s**t. I thought I was going crazy because how could someone who just showered smell like poo?"
"Anyway, when we broke up, the first thing my sister said was that she was so glad I was no longer dating S**t Man. Cannot believe I dated that."
- rabbitluckj
Nowhere in the Wedding Vows
"Oh hi. This is going to be cathartic."
"My ex had a toenail fungus so bad that his super long and disgusting crust-mobile toe literally cut holes in multiple fitted sheets."
"Our toilet paper rolls would get poop on them. Because ye olde ex somehow got a poopy hand EVERY SINGLE TIME and then transferred a little bit of it to the roll. Was he doing the first pass with a bare hand? I have no idea."
"Once he didn’t change his clothes for a week, then he took a shower AND ALMOST PUT THE SAME UNDERWEAR BACK ON. I had to convince him to put on clean undies."
"Sat on the bed right after a shower, naked. Stood up, and a tire track was on the bed. HE HAD JUST SHOWERED. THIS HAPPENED MULTIPLE TIMES."
"Fuzzy teeth."
"Anyway, we’re divorcing now."
"All of this started after we got married, and then the pandemic basically turned him into a feral animal. I did not consent to marriage with this level of hygiene."
- psnugbottybug
Disgusting to the Family
"Well, not on purpose, but when we broke up, my family told me he smelled horrible. (I have zero sense of smell, so I had no clue)."
- AtomicDreamWeaver
A Reality Check
"I was seeing a guy but he would never invite me over to his bedroom, and one night his friend dragged me to the room and was like, 'LOOK, at THIS. You want THIS? This is nice?! It’s disgusting! He’s hiding THIS! I’m trying to help you!'"
"He was flipping through trash to show me how bad it was. Food containers everywhere, trash all over the floor and I’m pretty sure suspect-looking piss bottles?"
"I ended up dating him for a year, and cleaned/gutted his room several times, but it was just too much."
- Zoinks3324
"I can just imagine how hard it was for that friend to be like, 'I love my buddy, but please do not date him.'"
- Camimo626
Absolutely Unlivable
"They peed the bed. Every night. I would sleep so close to the edge of the bed to avoid it, and my ex always reeked of piss, even after washing the blankets."
- glusmoker69
Poor Cleaning Habits
"He showered maybe twice a week and changed his underpants even less often. In the summer, I could smell his a** crack."
"His job was dishes and he'd leave them for weeks if I didn't end up doing them for him."
"The only thing I really wouldn't do was laundry because we had a creeper downstairs I wasn't comfortable around. So sometimes even I ran out of underwear."
"I left him almost two years ago and he went back to living in squalor. His place is all carpet and he told me recently he vacuumed it once since I left and that was just because the unit was being inspected."
- Pour_Me_Another_
What Shower Habit?
"She showered once a week, sometimes longer, and was very usual for her to go days on end without showering, didn’t change her panties or bras for weeks, either."
- DUKEPLANTER
Worrying For Them
"Refused to floss. She claimed the space between her teeth was too tight, so I introduced her to the Glide series from Oral B; but she still refused. I suggested a water pik since there was no actual flossing involved, and she refused again."
"Some nights her breath was really really bad, to the point where I let her know because I was worried for her health. She took it as an insult and tried to say I was just being a d**k."
"I loved the relationship, but we eventually broke up. The flossing wasn't a factor in this, but it's certainly something that I eventually overlooked."
- bassman2112
Taking Care of Them
"His toothbrush was moldy. I don’t think he ever thoroughly rinsed it off after brushing He still used it, and called me a nag for mentioning it was probably unsanitary."
"So I got him an expensive electric one. It got moldy. So I took on replacing the brush heads for him myself every couple of weeks."
"He wondered why I barely wanted to have sex. Who wants to f**k someone they’re raising?"
- powands
An Unwelcoming Home
"He did not clean his house at all. I mean there was trash everywhere, no clean dishes, no spot was clear on countertops, and his bedroom was so cluttered, there was only a trail clear to the bed."
- wetpeachyangel
So Necessary
"He refused to wear deodorant because it was 'feminine' and 'feels weird.'"
"Mofo, you stink. Wear it."
- GodHatesUsAll
This conversation gave us the creepy crawlies and left us in need of a nice spa treatment.
Everyone could use a healthier dose of self-worth and self-respect, but that seems especially true for these Redditors who actually thought they had to put up with this.