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Copyright 2019 by Bruce D. BruceWORDPRESS EDITIONCover Photo: Victoria Borodinova will make NO money from this book. It is royalty free and a labor of love.Note: Yes, these good deeds are impressive, but we may want to ask how society can change so that some of these good deeds are not needed. TABLE OF CONTENTSChapter 1: Questions 1-201Chapter 2: Questions 21-4039Chapter 3: Questions 41-6086Chapter 4: Questions 61-80129Chapter 5: Questions 81-100167Appendix A: Some Books by David Bruce212Appendix B: About the Author218Chapter 1: Questions 1-201. “Guys of Reddit, What is the Cutest Thing a Girl can Do?”1)?kushglo wrote this:“Lemme tell you about the cutest thing my fiancée did last year.“I was working so much and wanted to go camping, but I didn’t have the time for it. I usually work bar hours so I don’t come home until about 2:30am or so.“One night, I come around the corner and see our fire pit burning. I look further and on our patio she had set out a tent. She had a mattress, blankets and the iPad hooked up to the roof of the tent so we could watch movies. She also bought a 12 pack of cold beer.“I think that’s when I realized I need to marry this woman.”2)?HMS_Shorthanded wrote, “When a girl casually grabs all her hair and puts it up and makes a ponytail/bun in one fluid motion.”3)?whydoiwxist wrote, “The girl I’m dating grabs me by the shirt and pulls me in for a kiss. I’ve never had a woman do that for me, but I love it every time she does.”2. “What is your ‘Friendly Drunk Girl in the Ladies’ Room’ Story?”1)?jaqenjadz wrote, “The one I will always remember is being at a Barcade [a chain of bars] three years ago. I had just moved to Chicago, and I probably hadn’t even been here two weeks. I barely knew anyone. I was in the bathroom applying a dark red lipstick that is not my usual color and made me feel kinda self-conscious and this woman comes out of the stall to wash her hands and goes, ‘WOW, that color looks AMAZINGGGGG on you! You look great!’ (with the cute drunken emphasis that often is used — I do it myself). I was so excited to have a friendly interaction that I still remember it now even though it was a pretty standard compliment from woman to woman.”2)?LO571 wrote, “I was asking EVERYONE for gum in the club toilets but no one had any. One very enthusiastic girl offered me the gum that she was literally chewing in her mouth lol [laughing out loud].”3)?gimmedatRN wrote this:“I was recently at a punk show and got my period during the opening set. I didn’t have a tampon and the machine in the ladies’ room was broken. One of the girls who was in there with me went out onto the floor, started asking around, and finally found a woman who had one on her, who dragged me back to where her husband was guarding her purse and handed me one.“A+ girl moment.”4)?BonkersMuffin wrote, “I was at a club a few years ago, and one of the stalls had no toilet paper. It was like that for most of the night even after we told staff. So the next stall would hand some over without question. Then one time I was waiting in line and one girl had had enough. She got out two packs of tissue she had in her purse, those little purse/pocket ones. She went in the stall with no tp [toilet paper] and when she was done, she handed the tissue packs to the next girl. Somehow it got upgraded to a box of tissues by the end of the night. It was hilarious and sweet.”5)?fatbabyotters_ wrote this:“I was in Vegas with my boyfriend, best friend, and her husband. My best friend and I were both kind of going through some things in our relationships, and looked super hot but got no real enthusiastic response from either of our partners about how we looked. We four were out and she and I went to the restroom where a very kind but very smashed young lady told us how beautiful and hot we were and how we should forget about anyone who thinks otherwise. It was actually a pick me up to how insulted and jilted we both were feeling.“We are still with the same partners, but much has been worked out in the five years since and we both get the compliments from our partners that we deserve.”3. “Cops of Reddit, What’s the Most B[*]llsh[*]t-Sounding Excuse You Got That Actually Turned Out to be True?”Note by David Bruce: Some people who are diabetic can seem to be drunk although they have not been drinking.aintscurrdscars wrote this:“This is actually a pretty common occurrence. When I was doing my EMT ridealong, we had a 5150 call. Police had the driver subdued when we got there, guy seemed drunk out of his gourd. Smelled like alcohol, no obvious signs of drug use, etc. Normal DUI [Driving Under the Influence], it seems. But this was a smart copper, and the second the guy started getting out of his car, the cop took him down, handcuffed him and checked his pulse: It was sluggish and the guy’s skin was pasty, so he called for EMS.“The paramedic immediately does a capillary glucose test, and whaddya know, the dude is hypoglycemic. Put him on oxygen and IV dextrose en route to the hospital (cop wanted to ride with him, of course) and the dude was practically singing apologies and asking to call his brother to get his car picked up by the time we were rolling him into the ER.“Dude was driving while literally 10 minutes away from a diabetic coma. That smart cop saved his life by knowing that drunk people get [hot and] flushed, but if the person’s their skin is cool and clammy then they’re going into shock.”4. “[Serious] Mental Health Professionals of Reddit, What is One Thing a Patient has Said that Will Always Stay with You?”Twinblades713 wrote this:“I operate a foster home for adults with disabilities. We used to have a female staff member who came into work one day with a black eye. She told everyone she got into a bar fight after lipping off to a huge chick. This wasn’t unreasonable to believe based on her personality and history. She tried her best to downplay the whole thing. The next day one of the individuals in the home walked up to her dead in the eye and said, ‘Don’t wait for next time. One day he’s gonna murder you.’“After two or three days, she left her husband and took her two kids with her to her mother’s house and divorced him. It was her husband who hit her and she’d been dealing with it for awhile but this guy sensed it and gave her a huge reality check.”5. “Redditors in Relationships: Instead of ‘I Love You’ What Do You and Your SO [Significant Other] Usually Say?”1)?halesfyeah wrote, “I tried to say “I love you, too” over text in Spanish, but Siri wrote tambourine instead of también so now we send each other gifs of people playing tambourines.”bagel_it_up commented, “Y yo te quiero a ti tambourine.”Note by David Bruce: This means, “And I love you, tambourine.” “También” means “too.”2)?kveens wrote this:“‘You’re gay.’ ‘No, you’re gay.’ “We’re two girls.”gymger commented, “My girlfriend and I say ‘I’m so gay for you!’”3)?leenie5 wrote, “I tell him that I like him and that he’s my favorite husband.”4)?Osterel wrote, “You’re my favorite mammal.”JB_Wong commented, “This is so lovely that I started to lactate.”5)?FlashQueue wrote this: “‘Colorful’. “If you mouth it silently, it looks exactly like ‘I love you’.”6. “To Those Who have Felt like They’re Being Followed or Stalked, Was There a Time When There Actually was a Stalker and It Wasn’t Just Your Mind F**king You Up? What Happened?”1)?trailblaiser wrote this:“I’d just gotten to Rome on a backpacking trip in 2015, left the train station towards my hostel and several blocks in, the sound of footsteps that should’ve detoured a while ago we’re still behind me.“The second I turned around to look, this guy pulled me into a small side street (essentially an alleyway). Thank god I paid attention during remedial Italian in school, because I managed to yell ‘Che Cazzo!’ (‘What the eff!’). There was a restaurant on the corner and one of the employees either heard me or saw it happen. I don’t think the guy had dragged me 10 steps before the employee was smacking the guy over the head with one of those old-fashioned wooden menu displays.“I was honestly so shaken I don’t remember too much. The guy ran. I thanked the employee profusely in bad Italian and Olympic speed walked to my hostel. I’ve traveled alone in tons of cities, and yeah, it’s uncomfortable, especially as a young woman … but that was the first and only time I ever felt unsafe/threatened.“TLDR [Too Long, Didn’t Read]: my guardian angel is a restaurant employee with a wooden menu.”Trailblaiser added, “I went back the next day to try and thank him but he wasn’t there. I was only in Rome for the night before heading to Florence, so I left a thank-you note […] with another employee.”F1NANCE commented, “Not all heroes wear capes, some carry wooden menu displays.”2)?nixi-on-site wrote, “I was about 12 and didn’t even notice I was being followed. I was walking through a park near my house. I just heard someone behind me say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ When I turned around, the guy trailing me took off running in the opposite direction. The guy who alerted me walked through the park with me the rest of the way and told me to be careful. Apparently he had noticed the guy following me and thought he looked suspicious. Thank god for that stranger.”7.?“What was Your ‘I Need To Grow Up’ Moment that Actually Made You Grow Up?” sxjamk wrote, “I got pulled over doing 90 mph in a 55 mph zone. I was 17, and in my state that is when you are legally an adult. I was still in high school and on my way back from my military drill that weekend. The officer had me stop the engine get out, and then he proceeded to handcuff me on the side of the road, in my uniform, and had me sit on the grass. Then we proceeded to have a nice long talk about making choices and the consequences of my actions if I had crashed or lost control and what would happen if he booked me for this: reckless endangerment, operating a motor vehicle 35 mph in excess of the speed limit, reckless driving. I was going to be one f[**]ked teenager. He then took off the handcuffs, handed me my keys, and told me that he wanted to never see my name come up anywhere for anything ever again, before letting me go. I was shaking so bad I could barely drive off the highway. Suffice it to say: I’ve never had another traffic violation.”mommai commented, “Major props to that good cop who taught you a major lesson and let you go rather than book you for all those things. Great example of effective instruction/correction.”Hotdoggos commented, “My uncle is a cop, and he says when he pulls young drivers over he does his best to make them cry. He asks questions about what they would do if a kid ran out to see their mom on the other side of the street, etc. And he just grills them, making them feel guilty about being negligent. If they end up crying, as both guys and girls often will, he lets them off. It makes a much bigger and longer-lasting impact than a fine and a couple points on their license.”Pepperinmypaprikash commented:“I had a ‘scared straight’ moment as well. The 23-year-old me thought it would be a great idea to just stop paying bills, including my car insurance. (I was massively depressed and this was a symptom.)“It turns out, the state I lived in will hound you for a while via mail, then they send you one final pink notice before suspending your license. Did I pay any attention to these? No, I did not. Was I still driving my sh[*]tty minivan to and from work? You bet I was! If you are caught driving with a suspended license, they like to give you a new set of bracelets, if you know what I mean. The thought of the shame I would feel for getting arrested (my dad was friends with lots of local cops) nagged at me, but I was hoping I could rectify the situation before I got caught.“One day, I decided to go home for lunch (literally doubling down on my chances of getting caught … I was dumb) and I impatiently passed someone on the right, and all because I was speeding of course.“Bam. Flashing lights behind me. My heart sank immediately into my stomach. My mouth went dry and my hands started to sweat. I remember panicking that I had to explain to the officer that my window wouldn’t roll down and questioning if I should open my door before or after he came up to my car. I didn’t want him to think I was getting out. Not sure why my brain decided to focus on that detail rather than the fact that I had no license or proof of insurance to give him.“I must have turned pale as a ghost because the officer asked if I was going to pass out. I said, ‘maybe,’ and I just started spilling my guts about my sh[*]tty job, my sh[*]tty life, my sh[*]tty ex, and my sh[*]tty self.“He didn’t say much except, ‘Okay, pepperinmypaprikash … well, you are in a very serious situation.’ And he walked back to his cruiser with his hand on the handcuffs. I was doomed.“When he came back, he had a slip of paper with his phone # on it. He said he understood that sometimes we feel hopeless and it can make you do stupid things, like not pay your bills. I had told him where I was working and so he knew I had a job. He told me he was going to let me go, but he wanted me to save $100 and donate it somewhere and send him ‘proof’ for my fine. He stressed that once I left, I didn’t legally have to comply, but he said he hoped that I would.“Then he left me with this: ‘When you donate that money you’ll be doing a few things that need to happen in your life. First, giving will make you feel good. It seems like you could use a little good.’ (I was crying my eyes out, couldn’t believe how nice he was.) ‘Second, when you text me your proof of donation, you’ll show that you can meet an obligation. And third, if you can donate $100 then that proves you can also save your money to pay the fines to get your license back and get insurance, even if it’s crap.’“He made me leave my car (my sister picked me up) and then he left. Officer Gregg, if you’re out there, that experience taught me so much and was a definite turning point in my life.“I donated to an animal shelter, sent him a pic of the check, and started to slowly get my sh[*]t together.“Tl;dr— I was stupid, cop was nice, f[**]k depression, make sure you donate.”In response to a commenter congratulating him for getting his life back on track, pepperinmypaprikash wrote, “Thanks, old chap. Took years. Still living with depression, but I at least know how to manage it now. I also haven’t gotten a ticket since 2009!”8.?“What are Some Things You’d Only Know by Growing Up Poor?”1)?Wheel_redbarrow wrote, “How to keep a seven-year-old from knowing she’s poor. My mom used to take my brother and me to the soup kitchen every week to volunteer. ‘We must always be kind to those less fortunate,’ she’d say. Then, after volunteering, ‘Oh, it’s so late and I don’t feel like cooking. Let’s just eat here while we’re here.’”Obi-Anunoby commented, “Your mother is a remarkable person.”Wheel_redbarrow replied, “She absolutely is. And now that I have two kids of my own, I realize every day that I’m turning more and more into her, and I couldn’t be happier.”unhappysince2014 commented, “I’ve never seen someone turn a compliment about their mum into a personal brag but well done!”Wheel_redbarrow replied, “D’oh! I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant so many women are upset about turning into their mothers — it’s a whole trope. Whereas I’m thrilled about it, lol [laughing out loud].”2)?HailPacowrote, “What hunger really is. I remember waiting for my dad’s payday for the grocery shopping trip and being absolutely ravenous when the food got there.”i-like-things-shiny commented, “I don’t remember which day of the week it was, but we’d go on the day that the most free samples were available.”9.?“[Serious] People Who were in Gangs, Why Did You Join? What Made You Leave?”KosViik wrote this:“This one wasn’t one of those ‘bad gangs’. I was like 14, the whole town was a bad neighborhood. Mean-eyed people were everywhere. One day someone decided he wants to be tough and found my 14-year-old tiny self a worthy opponent.“Suddenly some people stepped forward and bailed me out, gave those guys a small beating and told them off. I asked them what is going on and they said that’s just what they do. There are already too many violent people around, and someone has to protect the smaller ones. (Later on, I found out that one of the guys’ little sister was beaten hard, and that’s why he started it.) I decided to join, thought I’d learn a thing or two while being able to hang out with people who can protect me … seemed like a logical choice.“About five years passed, nothing too eventful. They taught me how to fight, and how to talk with confidence to sort of intimidate others. A brawl or two every week, but usually nothing more than bruises.“Eventually things settled. It seems like it was just a generation thing, people grew out of it, or they had to stop attending because life was knocking on the door. Mean gangs disappeared, and we didn’t have much to do anymore. At first we devolved into just a big friendly circle who’d hang out, then we got chipped away, too.“I literally have no idea where any of these people are now.”10.?“You’re Dead and God Asks You for One Good Deed from Your Life for Him to Disregard Your Sins, What Would You Present to Him as Your Most Sincere Kind Moment?”1)?seenheardliveditall wrote this: “I literally gave my friend the shoes off of my feet.“My friend had been spending 24/7 at the hospital with her mother (9/11-related cancer). I would bring my friend dinner every night at the hospital. When her mother wasn’t in ICU [the Intensive Care Unit], I would bring her mom’s service dog to visit, too. We would all eat dinner together. After dinner and my visit, my friend would walk me to the bus stop so she could just get outside for a few minutes. One night, when I didn’t have the dog, as we were walking she said, ‘Look at my shoes.’ Her shoes were literally broken — the soles were flopping off. They were special shoes for her back, but that brokenness was going to hurt her. I suddenly remembered that I had folding ballet flats in my backpack for emergencies. They feel like you are walking on the bare ground. You feel everything! But when shoes hurt your feet, those are a relief. I told her to try on my sneakers and if they fit, wear them until she came home to change shoes. Surprisingly they just fit her. Her toes touched the top but it was ok (I wear a 6.5 and she wears a 8.5)?The sneakers would be better on her back on a hospital floor than the flats. I wore the flats home. Honestly, if I did not have the flats I may have run around to CVS or Duane Reade to see if they had flip-flops for me to wear home and still have given her my shoes. I couldn’t wear her shoes home as they were too big and would have flopped off of my feet. We threw hers in the garbage. She came home a couple of days later to shower, change, and nap before she went back with proper shoes.”2)?Mange-Tout wrote this:“I pulled three children out of a flooded river.“I was 18 and we were on a church field trip to a campground on a small river. The park rangers had warned us that the lake upstream had received heavy rains over the least few days so the dam floodgates were going to be opened to release the pressure. However, we were assured that the floodwater would not arrive until after the park closed at 8 pm.“So, we took the kids to the river and they had fun splashing around. The water was only about a foot deep and slow moving, so it was as safe as a water park. I was wading in the middle of the river when I turned around and suddenly the water was over my knees and moving much faster. The children started screaming and parents started yelling as all the little kids were swept downstream. The water got up to my waist and it swept me away as well. Two kids were floating nearby, so I grabbed them and swam/walked over to the riverbank. Then I grabbed some tree roots and held on for dear life, because the riverbank was steep and muddy and I couldn’t lift the kids out. While this was happening, another kid floated by so I yelled, ‘Hold on!’ to the kids at the tree roots and I lunged out and snagged the third kid. Then we simply held on to the tree roots until several adults on land formed a human chain and pulled us up the riverbank. Luckily, at the end of the day no one was harmed, but it was a very scary situation.”3)?typhondrums17 wrote, “One of my friends, who I’ve known since 4th grade and have been friends with since 5th grade, has told me that I’m the only person who was consistently nice to him and friends with him. He was autistic (we all suspected it, but he wasn’t officially diagnosed until we were in 9th grade), and he had an abusive family that made him do all the housework and then leave the house if his siblings had friends over. They were really poor, and he was tormented by other students and even the teachers throughout elementary school. He was extremely suicidal and he said multiple times that I was the only reason he didn’t kill himself. We just graduated high school together and this will be our first year apart, as we’re going to different colleges, but I genuinely believe he can make it through anything now. He got much better in the past two years and he’s very intelligent, I believe he will go on to do great things, and I’m proud of myself for getting him through his extremely tough childhood.”4)?Valirony wrote this:“A woman was sitting in the waiting room at my doctor’s office; she was in her 50s, I was in my late 30’s and had my infant son with me, sleeping like an angel in his carrier.“We got to chatting (I’m a therapist and naturally good at getting complete strangers to open up, even when I’m really not trying) and she told me how she never wanted kids, and then had cancer ten years ago that resulted in having a complete hysterectomy.“Stranger: ‘It’s so strange. I never wanted them and I don’t regret that I didn’t have them. But … I still feel sad about it. It’s stupid and doesn’t make sense.’“Me: ‘I don’t know you, but I think it makes perfect sense. Whether or not you would have made the choice to have children, you had that choice stolen from you. You can mourn the loss of the option to have kids, even if you wouldn’t have taken that option.’“This woman wept and held my hand until the MA [Medical Assistant?] came to get me. She thanked me profusely for helping her finally understand why she had been so sad all these years. I was totally humbled and felt bad that I had said something that was just … obvious to me but had touched her so deeply.“It was my most profound experience as a healer, and it wasn’t even in my professional capacity, just as a human being sitting there with another human being, witnessing and naming the sadness.”5)?MacCostello wrote, “The time I got back from trick or treating and it was really late, knock on my door and I answered it to find a little boy with his mum wanting candy, we didn’t buy any … so as my parents said we didn’t have any, seeing the boy let down … I ran to get my candy back and grabbed two handfuls and gave him some. Stupid, I know. Only thing I could think of.”Note by David Bruce: That was hardly stupid.11.?“Ladies Who have Taken Self-Defense Courses, Did You Ever Have to Use the Teachings IRL [In Real Life]? In What Situation?”1)?ConnieC60 wrote, “I did kung fu for a few years. A guy grabbed my arse on the tube, and without even thinking, I put him in a wrist lock without even turning around to look at him and he yelped in pain and left me alone.”Register2014 commented:“I trained for several years and thankfully haven’t been in a life-and-death situation. The situations I’ve used it were with guys grabbing me, usually my wrist or arm.“This drunk guy at a bar once grabbed my arm and I did an escape, the type where you twist their arm into an awkward position to release their grip and he looked so confused, ha ha.”2)?madeupgrownup wrote this:“I have been told three main things:“Scream.“Run.“Go limp: dead weight is harder to manipulate and hold.“This is the core of what I’ve been taught by various little self-defence one-shot classes and awareness programs.“When I was 15 I was almost home at 1am after a late party, when I was grabbed in a bear hug from behind by someone next to my looooong driveway. Looking back, I have suspicions who it was and I have no doubt that he was waiting for me.“I struggled, but they were obviously stronger.“I tried to scream, but I was out of breath and couldn’t get any decent noise out. My asthma was making it hard to breathe, too.“So, without other choices, I went limp.“He held me for a second or two, seemed to kind of giggle, I don’t know, then he put me down and walked really quickly towards the road a few steps, I think maybe to see if anyone was around? I remember he sort of scurried.“I tried to quietly roll onto my side, and I just got up and ran.“I have never run so fast in my life before or since.“I ran the 150m to my house like an Olympian, straight in the side gate, in the side door, locked, bolted. I sat on my stairs staring at the door for what felt like hours. Just waiting in case he came after me.“After a while exhaustion won out over terror and I went up to bed after (poorly) barricading my bedroom door with my computer chair, much to my mum’s confusion.“He didn’t follow me, I don’t know who it was, I never saw his face, but I have a great suspicion as to who it was, looking back.“I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t think they’d believe me.”12.?“What Celebrities have You Met? How were They in Person?”1)?sickofthisugh wrote, “Meeting Jeff Goldblum at the airport was pretty memorable. I’m a huge fan, so I finally worked up the courage to ask for a pic. He was very enthusiastic and even introduced me to his friends. Later on the plane, he came over to my seat out of nowhere and talked to me about music for a good 10 minutes or so. Nicest guy ever.”2)?lollipopbylilwine wrote, “Not to brag, but I met Sportacus from LazyTown [an English-language Icelandic children’s TV show] when I was seven when he visited my school. At the time there was this huge conspiracy theory that he was our PE teacher in disguise who, by sheer coincidence, was off ‘sick’ that day.”Bassbby12 commented, “I was always secretly in love with him, a fit dude who could dance and was protective of a younger girl without being creepy. Lord, have mercy.”13.?“What is the Fondest Memory You have About Your Childhood?” 1)?cjcandi wrote, “I was three years old, I remember my grandpa waking me up early in the morning to watch Saturday morning cartoons. My grandma tucked me in while he was wheeling the TV in front of us. And I smelled breakfast cooking.”2)?jaquenjayz wrote, “My dad was on a rec softball league and we’d go to his night games. They were at a park with a VERY cool playground with top-quality slides. It felt really exciting to play in the park after dark, and those were the times that we were allowed to get something from the ice cream truck. I don’t know why, but it honestly was as exciting as Christmas morning in my memories. So much so, that the first time I was stung by a bee as a kid, the only thing that calmed me down was my mom telling me we were going to dad’s softball game that night. It’s a really strong memory of all of my sadness going away instantly.”3)?Bug92 wrote, “My dad took me up to the high dive at our neighborhood pool, and since I was scared he went up with me. The lifeguard yelled at us that only one person was allowed at a time, and my dad ignored him. Then he started blowing his whistle, and my dad told him to shut up. I was still nervous, but felt emboldened. So I hugged my dad, told him thanks and that I was ready, and jumped.”4)?itdosenttickle wrote, “My brother and I playing with sticks. Always outside and so many adventures. We even took over a tree and wouldn’t allow other kids to touch it. That tree was also the unfortunate spot where I ripped my shorts clean off my body in front of the kids we deemed as invaders. I was red faced, but laughing all the way to my room to fetch new shorts.”5)?smartykiss wrote, “Before my parents split up, my dad would set up a big camping tent in the living room and open the tent door so we could see the TV and we would have movie night while camping. Gosh, I miss that so much.”14.?“Has Your Significant Other Ever Begged You to Answer a Question that You Knew They Wouldn’t Like the Answer To? What Happened When You Finally Gave In?”1)?GBSEC11 wrote, “This happened to me the other day in reverse. My weight has fluctuated over a 25lb range since I met my husband, and I’m currently in the middle of that range. He’s never really commented on it to the point where I can’t even tell if he notices the fluctuations. This came up in conversation naturally, and out of curiosity I started to really ask if he preferred me at a specific weight or if he thought I was more attractive at my lowest weight. After trying to deflect a couple times, he looked at me and said, ‘Do you really want to know? Everything is fine, I love you, and if there’s a problem I’ll let you know.’ I realized he was totally right and dropped the subject. My husband is a smart man.”2)?slipperfingerss wrote, “Male here. I am currently on my second marriage, and we got married when we were about 30. That was 20 years ago. Anyway, we laid out some basics on our first date, since we were both married before, we both knew there was baggage. One thing I stated, and stand behind, ‘Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to’. In other words, don’t ask if you can’t handle whatever way the answer goes.”15.?“What was the Nicest Thing You’ve Done Today?”1)?Rumplemiveskins wrote, “Held my fart until I was off the crowded elevator.”David_YJC commented, “People like you are the backbones of our society.”Dlongbeach commented, “Not all heroes wear capes …”Nyruel commented, “But if he did, it would nicely flap in the wind.”2)?Joaziez wrote this:“I work in a candy shop and we have this ‘play car’ (I don’t know what to call it) outside, in which you put one euro and it starts to move and make sounds. There was a dad with two little kids in the shop today. While the first kid was in the car, the dad was hopelessly searching for another euro in his wallet. He told his other son he could go another time, but he started crying, of course. So I walked to that car and said to the little boy he had to push the button reaaaally hard, and that it maybe would start. In the meantime, I secretly put one euro in the car, winked to the dad and let the kid believe it worked.“It’s a small thing but the smile of that boy definitely made my day.”TexasPhaka wrote, “You’re awesome. […] You are amazing, because you handled that so well. Me, I might have offered to pay (giving the kid the idea that his folks didn’t have enough money) or maybe just given the dad a glance (if you’re a parent, you know the weight of other’s opinions), but you pulled it off so cool. Thanks, you’re cool.”3)?alfalfaress wrote this:“At my job (bakery with a small drive-through, also) I had an elderly man go through the drive-through to order something and after I got his order he told me he appreciated how nice I always was to him (his face rests where he looks kind of mean all the time but he really isn’t) and he went to explain that he isn’t used to it considering his environment and places he had to go to where he wasn’t treated that well.“He seemed really happy about it and took a moment to just tell me thank you for always being kind to him regardless, and it made my day. It’s something really small compared to what other folks said here [in this thread] but d[*]mn did I nearly cry because of it.”USCitizenWhoWontVote wrote, “You never know what kind of sh[*]t people are dealing with in their lives to act the way they do in public. Always best to err on the side of caution. It’s more likely that they act that way toward other people to begin with because they are having a hard time trying to manage the issue that caused them to be this way in the first place.”4ninawells commented, “Yes. Here’s the thing: Everyone is suffering and worrying. Some just hide it better than others. So erring on the kind side is always great advice.”Azitik commented, “Resting Bitch Face is a serious problem for those of us afflicted with it, unless you enjoy being alone — if you do, then it’s a gift.”4)?watching-the-office wrote this:“I live in Florida and my part of the state is expected to take a heavy hit from the hurricane that’s heading our way this weekend.“Earlier today I was going between the stores I oversee to discuss plans to close down during the storm, etc. The woman who runs the store closest to the coast (and will be impacted the most) mentioned that she’s worried about being out of power for a long time and how miserable it will be for her kids if they’re trapped inside a hot apartment for days. I asked her if she had a small backup generator for her apartment and she said she did not. I told her I think I still have mine from when I lived in an apartment and that if I find it she can use it because I won’t need it. (We have a different kind that runs off gas for our house.)“Anyway, I never actually had a small generator when I lived in an apartment, but I knew she wouldn’t let me buy her one. So I ordered one on Amazon and when I got home a little while ago I sent her a text and told her I found my old one and would bring it to her.“It’s not the best generator out there, but it should be able to power a window A/C unit. I’m hoping it’ll at least get them through a day or two.”5)?Rimefang wrote, “I gave a homeless man my bottle of water I just bought but hadn’t opened. He didn’t care if it was carbonated. He was just grateful to drink something to cool off. Humid as f[**]k here in Texas.”Alwin_ wrote this:“So a few days ago I walked to the nearest supermarket and saw this homeless dude sitting on a bench nearby. It was amazingly hot that day and I felt a little bad for the dude. I was preparing for a BBQ at my place and I decide I could spend a little bit of money on making this dude’s day a little better. I decided to get him two ice-cold beers from the cooler in the store. Now I know that giving alcohol to homeless people is not the best thing you can do, there is stuff they might need more, but it was hot as f[**]k and I figured he’d like a beer, so why not?“I finish shopping and bag everything, put this dude’s beers on top so I can give it to him as I walk past him again. When I get to him I tell him, ‘Hey, man, I thought you might like a cold beer. I’ve got two for you, if you want?" He looks up at me and says, ‘Yeah … you know I’m not homeless, right? I’m just really f[**]king hung over, man!" I then told him that if it would make his day better, he could still have the beers. He accepted them :)”6)?Captain_Moseby wrote this:“Not me, my wife. A close friend of hers lost her husband to cancer five years ago. Not long after his death, she informed my wife that one of the things she dearly missed was picking wild blackberries at the end of summer and making blackberry jam with him.“After that the two ladies went together to pick blackberries and together they made jam just as she had done when her husband was alive. This went on for a couple of years until the elderly lady grew too feeble to make the effort“My wife came home with a couple of quarts of hand-picked wild blackberries today. I asked her what they were for.“She said, ‘My friend can no longer do the berry picking that she used to share with her husband. It was making her happy, so, a couple of years ago I decided to do it for her. This will be the third year that I have picked a few berries as I have done today and made them into blackberry jam. At Christmas time I wrap them up with a ribbon and a note and gift them to her. I intend to do this for her as long as I can.’“I was suddenly in awe of this simple but profound gesture of kindness and the thoughtfulness that lay behind it. That elderly lady is very lucky to have someone as special as my wife to be her friend, and I am so very lucky to have her as my life partner.”Captain_Moseby added, “Frankly, I was blown away by her loving gesture. Wild blackberries are delicious, but the bushes are covered in very sharp thorns. You really can’t pick many of them without expecting to get stuck by a thorn or two and it really hurts! For her to have gone out and picked a couple of quarts on her own, in spite of the thorns, with the intention of making jam to give away to her friend spoke volumes for who she is as a person. I was super proud of her when she told me what she was up to and I still am.”16.?“What is One Random Act of Kindness a Stranger Did for You?”1)?kemosabi4 wrote, “One of my most vivid childhood memories is of me at the local bar and grill with my parents. I was like six years old and looking at a very specific doll in a claw machine. It was Tweety Bird in a spacesuit. I was so zoned out, I didn’t even know someone walked up until the claw came down, picked it up, and dropped it in the chute in one fell swoop. I turned to see a man who looked homeless/transient taking the Tweety Bird out of the chute and immediately bending down and handing it to me. Neither of us said anything, just smiled at each other, and then he turned and walked out of the restaurant.”2)?MarsNirgal wrote this:“I was on a trip on Norway, and it was literally my last night in the city and the country. I missed the midnight train, but no problem: I could still take the first train in the morning. In the meantime, I went to the dock because that’s where all the nightlife was.“The bar closed at 2 a.m. and the train passed at 5 a.m., so a guy I had met at the bar told me, ‘There’s no way you’re gonna spend three hours walking around,’ and he took me to his house. He gave me the worst coffee I’ve ever had, and we spent those three hours talking. Then he took me to the train station, bought my ticket to the airport and before he left he told me, ‘I’m drunk and I haven’t slept, so tomorrow I might not remember you, but it’s been a pleasure helping you.’”3)?Goofball412 wrote this:“On Christmas Eve a couple years back, I had worked a shift at the hospital (not a doc or high-paid person) and was trying my best to get to my family’s house about two hours away before dinner. My brakes on my car just are not working right. It’s snowing like crazy, and I’m thinking there is no hope. I saw the local mechanic was still open so I pulled in and told him what was going on.“Half hour or so later, he comes out and tells me what was wrong and that he had gone ahead and fixed it. I asked him what I owed him for the work. He said, ‘Get home to your family safe and have a merry Christmas.’ I felt like I was in a Hallmark Christmas movie. It is now the only place I will take my car.”Cinder-hella commented, “Once I blew a tire on a pothole an hour from home and by sheer coincidence, the first place I was able to pull off the road was an auto repair shop. But it was well past closing time. I was starting to panic (clueless young woman by myself, didn’t even know if I had a spare in the trunk let alone how to put one on) but I knocked anyway hoping I wasn’t completely f[**]ked and turned out the mechanic was still there. It was a nice old guy who took mercy on me even though it was late. Told me to sit in the office and calm down and he put my spare on for me and charged me less than 10 bucks for his trouble. I told him I would leave him good reviews on Yelp or Facebook or whatever and he was very politely confused, said he didn’t know whether they had pages there but gave me a business card because ‘there’s a website on that.’ The next day my mom called and tried to buy him and his employees lunch but he insisted it was fine, he just did what he would want anyone to do for his daughters. Nice mechanics are a special kind of angel.”4)?DrunkenOliphaunts wrote this:“I was an American in China and six months pregnant. I was at the train terminal and the hormones kick in. I start crying for literally no reason, which makes me only cry harder. A very tiny old Chinese woman grabs my shoulder and said something I don’t understand. She then grabs me and gave me a huge hug.“When she pulled away, she gave me a great smile. It was exactly what I needed.”5)?bexaliday wrote this:“I was at Target to do some shopping when my baby had a diaper blow-out. I also had my two-year-old with me. There was no family restroom so I had to use the changing station in the ladies’ room. My toddler was out of control and was just itching to do gross stuff like lick the floors or play in toilet water or something that would horrify literally anyone on the planet except a mischievous two-year-old.“A woman, probably in her 40s, saw my predicament (baby on changing table and me unable to physically intervene with the two-year-old) and interacted with my toddler so I could deal with the sh[*]tsplosion my tiny infant son produced.“They counted sinks, jumped from tile to tile, made silly faces to one another. It probably lasted only 2-3 minutes, but it was the most helpful thing someone could have done for me in that overwhelming moment.”6)?gothicxtoy wrote, “Person donated $200 to me, no strings attached to help with my cancer treatments. Bless them.”Bn1979 wrote this:“When my daughter was in the hospital with a brain tumor last year, many people sent money (total of $800ish) to help with our costs. We initially didn’t think we were going to need any money, but over the three weeks we were at the hospital, the money was a godsend for meals, buying clothes rather than leaving to do laundry, etc.“When we were a few days from leaving the hospital, I spoke with another family that was really struggling because they had to drive two hours each way every day to come visit their grandchild (who was going to die as a result of parental abuse). We had a couple hundred dollars left of our gifts, so we stuck it in an envelope and asked the nurse to give it to them later.“The nurse wasn’t supposed to tell them where the money was coming from, but they did and the grandparents tracked us down and tried to give the money back. We of course refused, and the family gave us a nice thank-you note.“I didn’t want them to know where the money came from, and I didn’t want any thanks, but in a way I am glad it played out the way it did. Seeing the impact the money had (and let’s face it, $200 isn’t a huge amount) really resonated with me, and has encouraged me to be generous any time I can — even with small gifts. It changed my life, and I know without any doubt that the $200 stuffed in an envelope changed their lives and was one of the few bright spots in their time at the hospital. It wasn’t about the money. It was about having a stranger care about them in their time of need.“I don’t want it to sound like I’m patting myself on the back. I simply passed some gifts on to a person who needed them more. I like to tell this story only because I want others to know how easy it can be to have a positive impact in the life of others.”7)?TheRealEvanG wrote, “My buddy and I are in the Navy, and we worked the night shift from Christmas Eve into Christmas morning. When we got off, we went to the Waffle House, which is just what we did after every night shift, so we were still in uniform. I don’t remember if we even remembered that it was Christmas until we got there. When it came time to pay up, we were told that three separate people had paid three separate hosts for our food. Our waitress, who knew us pretty well, gave us our paid check and the rest of the money, about $50, which we left as a tip.”8)?emmareddit wrote this:“A girl came up to me at the train station when a man was harassing me for my number/wouldn’t leave me alone/generally being very creepy and asking what train I was taking, and she said, ‘Oh, my God, Sarah, it’s been so long! So good to see you! Come over and say hi to me and Jake!’“I’d never met her before, but I was eternally grateful she saved me from a potentially very dangerous situation.”17.?“Gush About Your Crush. Why Do You Like or Love the Person You Do?”1)?madjanky wrote this:“She’s just one of the sweetest, kindest, gentlest souls I’ve ever met. She seems to just savor or at least appreciate every moment of her life in a way that very few people are capable of, and it rubs off on me when I’m around her. She has the absolute sweetest dimply smile you’ve ever seen, and her voice is so sing-song, and she has great taste in clothes. I do think she’s very attractive, like easily one of the prettiest girls I’ve ever seen, but in an unconventional way, like I could pick her out of a crowd like it was nothing. She’s very nurturing and I so appreciate that about her, but it’s also gotten her hurt in past relationships and I just want to give her someone to lean on and to treat her well and look out for her. Not to smother her or anything, but just let her know that I’m thinking about her needs and that she matters to me.“I’ve known her for three years and she’s recently single, and I’m actually seeing her regularly again and hoping to actually get my sh[*]t together and ask her out. She told me she was bi once, but I think she’s dated only men, so I dunno, I really hope she’s still interested in seeing girls.”2)?Foxynite wrote this:“Idk [I don’t know], man, I just do.“Basically it’s my first year of college and during band camp (I’m in color guard) I saw this guy who plays tuba. He has a sort of punk/metal aesthetic and he just looks super dorky and cool. Out of my entire 18 years, I’ve never really like had a spark just from seeing someone and being like ‘I like him,’ but it did for him.“I got one chance to talk to him, his name is Drew, and he just started a conversation so easy with me and he talked about this one guy named Dean from his senior year whom he didn’t like. We talked about Dean because I mentioned that my friends thought his [my crush’s] name was Dean, lol [laughing out loud].“I never get a chance to see him outside of marching band, but one night we [we = my friends and I?] went out partying with another tuba player. So when we came back, the other tuba player was pretty much smashed, and I asked him about Drew.“Luckily, and sadly, he just got out of a two-year relationship, but he’s not exactly ready to date again. He was also in the Air Force for like three years and this is also his first year here at my college. So he’s a freshman.“Anyway, idk I just really like him and he’s super chill and I wish I had more chances to see him and hang out, y’know [you know]?”333_pineapplebath commented:“I had this same feeling for a girl — I’m a guy — my freshman year of school who was also in a relationship, then out of one. I still regret being dumb and not really going after her and just being vague.“If you get any opportunity, take it.”3)?HobbotPotat0 wrote, “Probably the absolute cutest guy ever. Def [Definitely] got the booty. My-all around best friend. He makes me laugh about the stupidest stuff. He supports all my dreams. If people read our text messages, they’d probably puke with all the soppy crap we text. We’ve been together almost 10 years and married almost five. Gives me butterflies just thinking about him.”kighlee commented, “I feel the same way about my husband. He has a great butt, is a great parent, and is so supportive I could almost puke. Married 10 years, and been together almost 12. We can talk about anything from sex to politics. Not that we always agree, but we can talk and respect each other’s perspective. I really couldn’t ask for a better partner.”Aaamdos commented, “I see a trend here. I’ve been with my husband for 10 years and he also has a great butt. We never get bored of each other and also we have no filter on our conversations, which opens up to good communication. Respect is a huge part of the relationship that goes hand and hand with commitment. Seriously, though … that butt.”4)?dinahsaur523 wrote, “I can’t even. I’ll cry. I’m 32 and FINALLY got it right. He’s the best ever.”5)?yeetlord322 commented, “Notice how most of the girls in the comments are dating their crushes and most of the guys aren’t.”jmlswiftie420 commented, “I’m in this picture, and I don’t like it.”Bsauce7 commented, “Never before have I been so offended by something I 100% agree with.”6)?RedditSobStory wrote this:“I don’t like him, I don’t like him, I don’t like him!“But like he’s really really attractive. I mean really hot. And smart. And sweet.“But I don’t like him. Nope. Ha ha.“Oh, sh[*]t.”HEY_THERE_NICE_HAT commented, “RedditSobStory, we just got your results back from the lab and, well … you like him.”18.?“What is the Creepiest Thing You’ve Heard Someone Say?”ChilliKitten wrote this:“‘Hey sweetie? Are you lost?’“Four guys asked me one day, while I was walking around town at night, waiting for a bus to arrive in half an hour. I was just walking around with headphones on, to pass time, and suddenly, four guys walked over to me, one of them reached for my shoulder, and asked that. Never have I ever been so scared before.“Luckily, they noticed my response, stepped back and he was like ‘We just saw you walk by a few times, and wondered, sorry for shocking you’ and … they were actually really nice :)”19.?“Teachers of Reddit, What Secrets have You Found Out About Your Students that They Don’t Know You Know?”peachesagain wrote this:“I used to be a teaching assistant in a third-grade classroom. One day I was asked to ‘grade’ their poetry assignments (they all got A’s) and pull the best ones to be put on display at open house. There was one poem a student had written about their dog that had been hit and killed by a car the previous week that left me in tears. The student had been having some problems focusing in class, and the poem explained a lot. I never would have guessed that an eight-year-old was capable of writing such a moving and articulate poem, or that their behavior problems stemmed from something so painful. It made me a lot more patient and understanding when interacting with kids, and the poem has a very special place in my heart.”20.?“What’s the Nicest Thing You’ve Done Without Telling Anyone?”1)?MaybeMoriarty wrote this:“My friend has/had serious depression, and I was extremely worried about the guy.“I told him I would support him through therapy. That there’s a scheme where you can get treatment for free, provided you were serious enough. Well, there was no scheme. I paid for the whole thing so he would get top-quality service. He went through the initial assessment and never returned. I don’t mind losing the money, but I just wish my friend would come back.”2)?oxygenie wrote this: “One of my best friends is disabled and has to get around in a wheelchair. This means that, when we go to a café near her house, she can’t cross the road at the intersection because there is a curb. Instead, we have to stop traffic at a driveway just down the street.“After six months of following up with the city maintenance department, they finally removed the curb. One day, I went to coffee with her and noticed they had fixed it. Her expression was priceless. She still doesn’t know I arranged it.”3)?giant_pp_man wrote this:“I was cycling when I saw this man walking with his bike, so I asked why he was walking with the bike instead of riding it, and he told me he had a flat tire. So I pumped it up for him. Else he had to walk another 5km to the nearest town.“Made me feel good about myself. (I know it’s nothing special, but it’s nice to help someone.)”Lakewoodwanderer commented, “I did something similar. A man on a long day-trip broke his derailleur hanger a few hundred yards from my house, but he didn’t understand that it was not really repairable at the side of the road. He was going to wait for about five hours for his mum to collect him, but I persuaded him to let me drive him thirty miles to his ninety-year-old grandma who was expecting him in about three hours. I’ve found that the cycling community is good at helping others with bike problems for no other reason than to be helpful.”4)?FontinalisG wrote, “Once I left a piece of candy in a little cup in my mother’s house. I had it given to me as change at a store, but I didn’t want it. I put it there because reasons. After that, a few days later, my little niece was there, found the candy and started asking everyone who stored it there. No one knew (I wasn’t home), so she thought it was a magical cup. I heard this story and never said a thing. So after that I always put candy in the cup. Not everyday, but from time to time. And my niece has the idea still that it is magic and her face lights up every time she finds something. It’s a nice sight, ha ha.”5)?5dog4cat wrote this:“During the holidays my kids and I would pick a family that was struggling, usually a classmate or friend, and buy Christmas presents for their family. This would include an outfit and a toy/game or two. We would also put together a bag of groceries. We would put everything on their porch and leave. Sometimes one of us would ‘doorbell ditch’ so the goodies wouldn’t sit all night.“These were often families that wouldn’t ask for help. My kids never told, even when the recipients would talk about their surprise.“Only one time did we ever disclose it was us. About 15 years later, my daughter posted something on Facebook and it was figured out by one of the recipients. She was surprised and said that we have no idea how much that meant to her family. It helped them through a really hard time.“We were not well-off, and we had to sacrifice as a family to help another family. It is a life practice that has stuck with my kids. Doing good is its own reward.”6)?ThatDudeBroGuyMan wrote this:“I was a local store where they sell a bunch of donated stuff: old computers, clothes, furniture, etc. I tend to check it out every few weeks because I’ve picked up some pretty cool things for rather cheap such as a Nintendo 64. Anyways, while I was in there browsing the electronic section some kid maybe around nine or ten taps me on the arm and asks, ‘You haven’t happened to seen a DVI cable anywhere around here?’ I asked what it was for and he was testing out an old computer that was at least seven years old to see if it worked. I helped him find one, we plugged it in, and it seemed the power supply was shot.“I got to talking with kid and he says he has a laptop at home, but the charger he has is also used for their TV (I think they were using a Toshiba Monitor or something for their TV screen). He was trying to get a computer and monitor so that he could play on the computer when his parents were watching TV. I asked him why he didn’t just look for a spare charger, and he said, ‘I have, but my laptop needs a 19v charger, anything less doesn’t work with it … BELIEVE ME, I’ve tried.’ I was laughing in my head, I thought this kid was super young and he knew so much about it. We got to talking about computer parts and other things involving technology.“I parted ways with the kid, and went to purchase a hoodie I found. As I left the store, I saw him and his dad putting stuff in their truck. His dad had a phone number on the side of his truck, which seemed to be promoting his lawn care business. I noted down the phone number and headed home.“After a search on Google, I found the guy’s address and ordered the Kid a 19v Toshiba Battery, a Raspberry Pi, and a handbook to go along with it. I never got his name, but I hope the kid grows up to be a super genius. The only gift note I wrote with it was ‘For the kid I talked at [store name].’”Chapter 2: Items 21-4021.?“Girls/Women Who Fake Their Identity on Games to Pass as a Boy/Man, What’s for You the Most Unexpected Thing You Went Through One of Your Gaming Sessions?”NausVed wrote this:“My friends and I used to participate in a chatroom-based roleplaying game. My best friend, a girl, often preferred to pose as a guy online to avoid sexual harassment, so she roleplayed a male character.“We made quite a few online-only friends through this activity (some of whom we’ve stayed in loose contact with for years).“My best friend ended up getting this huge crush on one of them, but since she’d been posing as a guy this whole time, she felt really guilty and awkward telling him she was actually a girl and totally into him.“When she did finally work up the nerve to tell him, it turned out he was also a girl who regularly posed as a guy to avoid harassment, and that she’d also been crushing on my best friend’s male persona and fretting about admitting her real gender to ‘him.’”ASC404 commented, “That’s hilarious … I think my funniest thing was being told I needed to ‘find a good woman’ lol [laughing out loud].”22.?“Women of Reddit, How Many of You have Taken a Women’s Studies Course? What is Something that You Learned and It Completely Changed Your Views?”msbilliejean wrote this:“Growing up, periods were very taboo in my household. When I took a women’s studies course my freshman year of college, I learned about the different types of period products that were available, which seems like a joke, but my parents never really discussed any of it with me.“Even though the class itself was not rich in content, taking that course proved valuable in that it taught me how to seek out my own resources and take my body ‘into my hands’ (i.e. try tampons, menstrual cup, and other things not considered okay in a conservative household but which improved my overall experience).”23.?“Women Who have Experienced a Man Standing Up Against Rape Culture for Them (Stranger or Friend), What Happened, What did He Do and What was Your Impression of the Situation?”1)?missthatisall wrote, “Once I was stuck in a crowd and looked at a dude and mouthed ‘help me.’ He put out his hand and was able to pull me from the crowd. Then I left. I don’t think that’s the response you’re going for, but it was nice.”Cookmesomeeggs commented, “Yeah, there are some really good dudes around.”2)?lp87_ wrote this:“I don’t know if this follows what is meant by the post. But I’ve had a few experiences actually — once, I was at the bar and a man ‘ordered a drink’ while I was standing around waiting to get one for myself. He pretends to sort of pull it away from the bar, as if he just got it, and slides the glass my way saying ‘I got you covered, sweetheart.’ I think he could tell by my look that I was not going to grab it. All within seconds of each other, I hear a ‘f[**]k that’ and another man is approaching me. He grabs the cup. I was absolutely not going to take it anyway — because I did not see where it came from … and no, creepy man anyway. But this other man grabs an empty glass near him, dumps the drink and out comes some sh[*]t that he put in there. He tells the other man to ‘eat sh[*]t’ and then has to force now both me and him away from this man. The bartenders are flagging bouncers and the bouncer gets the man out.“Another while I was in college, a girl was passed out at the bar. In a booth, sleeping. I still don’t know how she managed to pass out there and be allowed to stay … unattended and passed out. Her group of friends had apparently up and left her. As my friends and I approached her, we saw a group of young men who were noticeably taking Snapchats of her, and one man was getting so disgusting even to start touching her underneath her skirt. My friend snapped into action, causing a scene and the guys noticeably get mad. Bouncers got involved. (We took videos btw [by the way], and knew who one of the guys were to report them immediately.) The woman woke up enough to talk to my friend and tell him where she lives; she now was aware that none of her friends were around but she was struggling to stay awake. We got her out of the bar. This girl, completely incapacitated, was picked up by my friend. He walked her all the way back to her apartment (broken elevator up nine flights of stairs, too, with this woman over his shoulders) and took her inside, where a sober whoever was there agreed to take care of her.“Another time occurred at a Super Bowl party. I am with a bunch of people, minding my own business. I’m tending to the food in the kitchen as I feel someone touch my lower back in a way that I did not appreciate. I turn to see who it is; I don’t recognize the man. He’s a friend of friends. I shot him a look and went and did something else. He tries it again at least three more times, grabbing my ass and boobs. I grabbed his wrist and threw it away from me. A guy pulls him away by the shirt and shoved him out the door. Other sh[*]t unfolded that they don’t talk to this man anymore.“My friends and I were walking home from a party. We are starting to get followed by a group of men who are now heckling us. Three blocks from our place, which we weren’t going to walk to — lost as to what to do, thankfully while passing another house of fraternity brothers — one of them had to be witnessing the situation — he starts calling out, ‘Babe! There you are!’ He comes running down the steps and shoves his way past the guys. He tells me he ‘tried calling me five times.’ Another friend follows to come join my friend as well. ‘We were looking for you guys.’ I vaguely know the man. He’s laying it on thick to pretend that he’s my boyfriend. This causes the group of men to turn around.“It’s a horrible experience to be caught up in sh[*]t like that, but honestly it is the best, most relieving feeling to have someone there. It’s so easy to feel so alone. Unfortunately, largely you are alone. These situations are f[**]king scary. You never know what’s going to unfold half the time, as much as you’d like to rip the nose off the mother[**]ker — the situations can really require help to best handle it. It makes me thankful for these men and the kindness and respect that they have — that they aren’t afraid to step in. Unfortunately, a lot don’t offer to help.”porridge_thief asked, “Out of curiosity, what sort of thing fell out of the cup? I’m unfamiliar with what’s actually put in drinks (though I do know the rule to watch it being made and to keep an eye on it at all times).”Lp87_ answered, “It was a bluish tablet. Looked all mangled and sticky, the coating had started to come off. It was in a tequila cranberry — relatively well hidden. With the ice and stuff, it was alarmingly hard to see.”3)?cbratty wrote this:“I’ve told this story a few times, but it’s my best example of this, though more passive than upfront.“I used to have to walk 10 or so blocks from my parking lot into work in the middle of downtown. A man started talking to me, asking me if I was single, following me, complimenting me, etc. I didn’t really respond, so he started yelling at me instead, calling me all sorts of fun names, telling me that I’m fat so I should be grateful he was looking at me.“A different stranger walked up, put his arm around me, and started talking to me like he knew me, asking how the family was, saying it’s been too long since we’d talked, etc. He didn’t really acknowledge the other man, aside from throwing a glance his direction. The other man got the hint and walked away. The guy stayed with me until we got to my building, gave me a hug, and wished me a good day at work. I never saw him again but I do think about it a lot.”slatboyfim asked, “Jeez, how did you react when he put his arm around you? I can’t imagine that you were in a terribly receptive state of mind at that point.”Note by David Bruce: No answer was made, unfortunately.4)?knifeinbackpocket wrote, “A dude was circling me while I was waiting for my bus (probably looking to rob me or something) and a random Uber driver pulled up after noticing the guy (the bus stop was next to the light so he saw while waiting for the light) and circling back. He told me to get in and he would drop me off home and he wouldn’t charge me. He had the Uber and Lyft stickers and I saw his open app, but I was still a bit hesitant about possibly jumping from the frying pan into the fire. I took the chance, though, and when I got in the car he said he had a daughter and would want someone to do the same for her. Anyway, I got home safe and I still paid him (over Facebook) instead. Also before telling me to get in and stuff, he did ask if I was okay or if I was aware that there was a guy eyeing me, etc.”5)?Jbsbm wrote this:“I was raped and told friends when it happened and if they can help me piece together that night and if they saw anything at that party. No one had any helpful info and I feel like some do but withheld it to keep the friendships of those who ran these elaborate parties.“My two guy friends supported me and cut off all of that group out. If they hear whispers at school they shut it down. It was never a question to them that something happened, and they weren’t ok with people who would protect creeps. It meant everything when the world fills you with so much apprehension and doubt about yourself if you ever try to come forward with accusations to a boy from a very rich and successful family.”6)?KoolaidMansboner wrote this:“A housemate of mine had attacked me after a date — he tried to rape me, but he stopped when he leaned on my stomach too hard, causing me to start gagging like I was going to throw up.“I didn’t think I could go to the police (no evidence, plus no rape was actually committed) but I did feel the need to tell people in the house. If I were living in a house with a guy who had attempted to rape another housemate, I would want to know!“ALMOST EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE (male and female) refused to even let me finish the story and simply insisted, ‘Nope! Didn’t happen! Nope!’ They didn’t even want to ask the other guy what happened to get his side of the story — they simply told me to my face, ‘No, that didn’t happen.’ I was floored. I was prepared for people to call me stupid for getting so drunk and for going up to a guy’s bedroom expecting not to have sex. I was prepared for people to say, ‘I want to ask the other guy what happened. I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding.’ And, to be clear, the guy was just as much of a stranger roommate as I was. They weren’t his best buddies or anything like that.“But I never expected them to simply deny the whole thing without talking to the other guy — straight-up cold hard denial. I had no history of making up stories, ever. I hadn’t told a lie the entire time I lived in the house. I hadn’t had any problems with anyone, I was quiet and shy, not a troublemaker at all, not a party girl, not a promiscuous girl. There was no reason to not let me finish the story and no reason for them to deny the whole thing! What’s crazy is these people were all liberal recent college grads who were working for the underprivileged, the downtrodden … yet when faced with the concept that someone they knew could do something bad they simply plugged their ears and shouted, ‘LALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU! NO NO NO NO THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN BECAUSE I DON’T WANT IT TO BE TRUE!’“One guy … ONE FREAKING GUY… sat me down and explained that it doesn’t matter that I drank, it doesn’t matter that I went to the guy’s room, he should have stopped when I said to stop and that I wanted to slow down.“He helped me figure out how to get the would-be rapist kicked out of the house. And he actually uncovered another incident in the house where ANOTHER girl had nearly been raped by this guy! We had a predator in our house and everyone except this one guy was ready to enable a rapist because it’s easier than dealing with the fact that he’s a rapist.“This was 2004, not 1954. And they were liberal college kids, not stereotypical conservative frat boys. Rape culture is real and it appears in places you would not even expect. I do think things are different 15 years later, but godd[*]mn that whole experience spooked the hell out of me. Like an episode of The Twilight Zone watching intelligent, mostly good people turn to spineless mush in the face of an inconvenient truth. (Except for that one guy, thank God for him!)”7)?noturloita wrote this:“My fiancé worked with a group of very talented salespeople in a company that marketed itself as a ‘feminist’ organization (quotations because of lots of internal issues but that’s another story). He told me about how one of his coworkers leered and made inappropriate comments about one of the female salespeople, and as a group every person shut him down. That company was f[**]ked up in a lot of ways, but a lot of really fine people worked there.“Personally I can’t think of an example in my own life. I’ve had to fight a lot of my own battles.”8)?Second_Sandwich wrote this:“This might not be exactly what you’re looking for, but it’s something I think of often.“My boyfriend and I were at a strip mall, walking down the sidewalk to go into another store. We rarely ever go shopping together, but we had just moved in together and were buying some essentials for our new place. We were walking up to a bench on the sidewalk that had two older men sitting on it. I smiled at them as we approached because I’m friendly; they just stared and as we passed I could feel their eyes on my body as we passed (you may know that feeling). Then I heard one of them say, ‘Look at that body.’ and the other one said aggressively, ‘I bet she’s a little SLUT!’ I tensed immediately and looked up at my boyfriend, we had just turned to walk into the store and his body language didn’t change, so I figured he didn’t hear. As usual I tried to just brush it off even though I felt very tense and kind of scared. As we were leaving the store, I subtly tried to look out the window to see if the guys were still there. They were and I let out a little defeated sigh because I knew we were going to have to pass them again and I really didn’t want to. As we walked out of the store onto the sidewalk, I turned toward the bench and the men. Just then, my boyfriend grabbed my hand and started walking straight ahead to cross the street into the parking lot. I looked at him confused and said, ‘We parked down there.’ He replied, ‘I know, but I want to go this way,’ and he led me away from those nasty guys. It was literally one of the sweetest things he’s ever done. I know some people would want their significant other to speak up and tell those guys off, but that would have made me feel even more uncomfortable. He quietly supported me and never made a big deal of it or even brought it up. He just knew what I needed and did what he could.”9)?tryingstuffThrowaway wrote this:“Twice from strangers actually. Most recently was when a couple guys were hitting on me at a bus stop and pretty much had me backed into a corner. There were loads of people around, so it’s not like they were gonna commit a crime but I also couldn’t just walk away.“After awhile a different man walked up to us and it seemed to scare them into backing off a bit. He didn’t even really say anything. Or at least not before I got the F [F[**]k] out of there.“My impression of the situation? A little embarrassing, but probably turned out better that way than if he’d just left me alone with them. Definitely better than if he’d made a huge scene about it.”10)?callofcthululu wrote this:“I’ve never expected my guardian angels to appear as a drunk, thrash-metal-loving Dane, who stumbled down a hill without shoes and his equally drunken, heavily pierced companion — but that’s exactly how it happened.“I was invited to a friend’s birthday party — he lives a bit further away from the city center, so you either had to stay sober / leave early to catch the last bus or you would have to sleep over. (This is important.) When I got there, I was introduced to a band mate / friend of the host, who immediately took great interest in me. At first we hit it off — I was extremely flattered and was already thinking about handing out my phone number, so we could arrange a date sometime. The night got on and most people left, my other friends were already asleep or gone, so I stayed outside on the patio with this guy, some other guests, and the host. I had a good time and was really excited to chat with everyone, but then things started to get uncomfortable. There was a lot of drinking and my admirer kept handing me more and more drinks. I was feeling already quite drunk when he started placing his arm around me — which I was initially okay with — and kept on ‘accidentally’ grazing my breasts — which I wasn’t okay with. But somehow I didn’t manage to say anything. I just froze. Danish guy noticed that and sat down right next to me. I used the distraction to get away into the house to find a place the sleep. The guy kept on following me, and I started feeling really uncomfortable, so I decided I won’t fall asleep. I got out again and sat down near a lake — thinking I’ve finally managed to get rid of him. Nope. He sat down next to me and first engaged in some normal conversation, before touching me again. This time he slipped his hands under my shirt and kept on trying to kiss me, even though I turned away my face multiple times. I felt gross. I always thought I’d be able to say no if something like that would happen to me, but I froze. Thankfully, my Dane must have noticed my disappearance and came to save me, by plopping down in the middle of the guy and me, spilling his beer all over Mr. Grabby Hands. Another friend of Danish guy (the heavily pierced one) led me away and made sure I got into the house safely. He even lent me his sweater, and sat down beside me to make sure that Grabby Hands wouldn’t try to occupy space next to me. They both tried to cheer me up when they found out I had been crying and reassured me that even to them, in their drunken state, it was clear how uncomfortable I was and Danish guy even stood up to the host, one of his closest friends, for berating me for not saying anything earlier.“I’ll be eternally grateful for their intervention.”Swedette commented, “The opening of this read like a comic book, or an awesome Tarantino movie. Loved it before I even got to the story. All hail the Danes and I hope Mr. Grabby Hands is still sticky to this day.”24.?“What’s Your Most Memorable Experience of Catching Someone in a Lie?”Barnonyx wrote, “I found out my parents were lying about Santa Claus by finding the presents in the back of the garage. I was so distraught about the episode that instead of confronting my parents I went to my priest. I was inconsolable … lol [laughing out loud] ….”InkaCrema asked, “I’m curious, how did your priest respond?”Barnonyx answered:“He gave me a hug….“I went to Catholic school and knew the priests and nuns like family. When I went to him, I was very distraught about going back in my house and continuing to behave as though I still believed in Santa Claus. I felt caught in a web of lies and I was super stressed over it. My parents were lying to me and I was deceiving them right back. (I was a good girl! Deep, but good.) … so I went to confession (it was Advent and we’re supposed to go before Christmas) in the face-to-face room and confessed that I knew the truth, I had been lying to my parents and didn’t know what to do and started to cry.“He gave me a hug and told me not to lie to my mother. Gave me some Hail Marys for the other stuff, and I was on my way. When I left, my teacher saw that I had been crying … it was a mess. But, whew, it was over.”25.?“In What Non-Sexual Way Do You Feel Most Loved by Someone?”1)?PseudoOfTheCarps wrote, “My dad is really socially reserved and never talks about his feelings. But this one time my dad and I were having a drink at a local pub and suddenly this random guy is trying to start a fight. I got up from my seat to tell him to call down. The guy grabs my collar and is about to punch me. My dad, still sitting, just looks at the guy and calmly says, ‘Touch that boy and I will kill you right there where you’re standing,’ and by the sound of his voice you could tell that he wasn’t kidding. And that’s the closest thing my dad has ever come to saying ‘I love you.’”Salt-Pile commented:“I can’t decide whether to imagine this in a Southern US accent or a Northern UK accent.“So for now I’m going with Clint Eastwood in The Unforgiven instead.”quinnflintt commented, “As a father, I can tell you that we don’t utter words like that unless we fully expect to carry them through.”boriswied commented, “I did this one time with my younger brother and I swear I have never been less interested in posturing. There are some natural laws, and it feels like one of them, that I love and care about him much more than myself, and I’d happily take my life and the lives of a bunch of others if his was threatened.”2)?AgentMarshall wrote, “When someone goes out of their way to compliment me. I didn’t get that growing up, and when someone does that, I’m not sure if they are serious or not, but when they do it, it brings a warm feeling to my heart.”3)?TheChocolateDealer wrote, “I’ve started treating the moon and some constellations (usually depicting humans) as old friends because when I go stargazing, I usually go alone. I don’t think you can call it love, but it’s a nice feeling not feeling alone under a starry sky.”26.?What’s an Unexpected Cool Thing that Made Your Life Richer?”BearsBirdsBooks wrote this:“I once got sad and an insane girl forced me to eat a lot of bread.“She’s now my best friend.“Edit: Some of you asked for context, so behold the story that I have copy-pasted from a previous post because I’m not writing it out all again.“All right, story time.“I had just started university, and as a rule I absolutely SUCK at making friends. I had somehow stumbled through primary, secondary, and sixth form without having any real friends (at most I had acquaintances), so I figured that university would be a chance to make a fresh start. New location, new you,, and all that. However after two weeks the only person I had had an extended conversation with (who wasn’t a professor) was some guy who later tried to hit on me in the very first lecture of the entire course.“So there I was, Friday night, lying on my bed trying to figure out which pulp eBook to read next and generally trying to distract myself from the crushing loneliness. Nothing takes my fancy so I phone home so I can at least get something resembling human contact. After exhausting every other possible topic of conversation, Mama hits me with the question I had been dreading.“‘Have you made many friends?’“I try to swerve and sidestep this question, but babushka didn’t raise no dummy so now I have a lawyer constantly subtly dragging the conversation back to where I didn’t want it to go.“‘I’ve been busy,’ I say, in a semi-lie. I made a habit of hardcore going through my notes each evening, but in the end the real reason I was too busy is that university socialising f[**]king SUUUUUUUCKS.“‘It’s Friday, though,’ she says, knowing how I always arbitrarily refuse to work after 6pm on a Friday. ‘There’s an event for international students on, and you should go.’“She read my fresher’s week schedule. I’ve got no way out of this.“‘I’m not an international student, though.’“‘You’re sort of an international student.’“Well, she got me there. No comeback.“I reluctantly agreed she had a point, but I wouldn’t go until she put the dog on the phone. I heard some heavy breathing and exaggerated licking of lips so I guess she did. I make myself look as good as I can (not hard because girl, I am gorgeous) and head down to where this event is allegedly happening. After walking around in circles for about twenty minutes and passing the door five or six times while mustering up the courage to go in. When I finally do everyone is leaving to go to a club.“And herein lies the crux of my problem. I don’t drink, I can’t be around people who are drinking, and I can’t spend long periods of time in places where excessive drinking happens. As anyone who has ever been to university or watched a college film knows, excessive drinking is seemingly the only form of socialising that happens.“So they try to drag me with them. I make an unconvincing excuse about having forgot my whatever in my room and make empty promises to catch up with them. I turn around and walk in another large circle until I’m sure I’ve given them the slip and then make my way back to where they were gathering in the first place on the off-chance that anyone new has arrived. It’s empty.“Reality hits me. I will ALWAYS be friendless and alone. So I just sit in an empty chair and start crying my eyes out.“I don’t know how long this goes on for but eventually through my wails I hear a quiet voice say, ‘What’s your name?’“Through the blurry haze I see a tiny girl who has pigtails almost as long as she is. She’s holding a box filled with what looks like brownies. I tell her my name and she hands me something from the box. It was a slice of bread. Who brings bread to a social event? Just some mad Finnish girl who loves to bake. It was the best bread I had ever tasted in my entire life.“So I just blurt out my entire tragic story to her while she fills me up with more bread like I’m a duck or something. Eventually I get to the end having demolished like a third of a loaf and I am now very thirsty.“‘I’m having a movie night with some guy friends on my floor. We’re watching the extended edition of Fellowship of The Ring. You should come with me.’“I try to make my excuses because I want to crawl back to my bed and die in peace. She doesn’t buy it, though, because at some point during my sadness I removed my jumper to reveal my Children of Húrin [a book by J.R.R.Tolkien] shirt. She gives me more bread until I eventually agree to go with her.“‘We have to fix your makeup first, though.’ She holds up her phone camera to me and I realise that I look like Alice Cooper.“And thus was born a beautiful friendship.“tl;dr: Yeast products saved me from turning into an elderly rocker.”27.?“People Who were Adopted When They were Old Enough to Remember It, How Long Did It Take for Your Adopted Family to Feel like Your Family?”1)?elizardbreath12 wrote, “About a week in when they told me I didn’t have to ask permission every time I wanted food. I was like ‘well, this is family.’”2)?oranges_and_lemmings wrote, “About two months; that’s when I asked if I could call her mum. She cried, and I felt bad because I didn’t know happy tears were a thing when I was five.”3)?Ellyendra wrote this:“I was adopted by my foster family when I was five years old. I had been with them since I was a baby, but I fully understood there was a difference between being a foster kid who called them mom and dad and being ‘their’ kid. A lot of kids came in and out of the doors who called them mom and dad, but I knew that if I was adopted it meant I got to stay.“This may sound harsh, but I sincerely appreciated it. When my parents were waiting to hear about the adoption, my mom sat me down and we had a very tough conversation. I obviously don’t remember the details, but I do remember one thing. A yes to the adoption meant I could stay with them forever. A no meant that I would likely be moved to a new foster home. I remember hiding in my room when any new cars pulled up out front of our house because I so badly wanted to stay. My mom said she told me because she wanted me to have no doubt in my mind that yes or no they wanted and loved me.“Luckily for me (and I have to say this because I can feel the stares of my whole family if I don’t: luckily for them, too), the answer was yes.“I think when it clicked for me, really fully clicked, was when I was about 10-13 and I found an old VHS tape with my name on it. I put it in and it was my family: my mom, dad, brother and sister. They were all standing in front of the camera and they were talking about me. My older brother said something I’ll never forget. ‘I have a little sister; her name is Ellyendra. I guess she isn’t ours yet, but we want to keep her. I really hope we get to because I love her a lot.’“That. Did. It. Knowing that this awkward 14-year-old kid loved me so much he was willing to say that into a camera for a tape my parents planned to send with me if I couldn’t be theirs. I was a mess. I still can barely watch it now without bursting into tears. My brother and I are about 12 years apart and we are the best of friends.“It definitely helped that all of my extended family felt the same, too. Anytime anyone would say something or make a comment or even mention adoption — my aunts were like vultures. It’s the most amazing feeling ever. ‘Well, that doesn’t matter: She is ours! Always has been!’ Followed by crushing hugs from at least five people.“I’ve read a lot of the comments about people wanting to adopt and I think that’s a big one. Talk about it. Don’t let it be a dirty secret. Make sure your kid knows that different biology or not they are yours. My family was fantastic about it, and I feel like it made a huge difference.“I’ve also read a lot of comments about adopted kids never feeling like they fit with their adopted family. I had that less because I was always allowed to be who I was. I’ve since met my biological family, and I feel much more awkward and uncertain with them; they expect me to be just like them and I’m not. I’m also not just like my adopted family either. I’m just me. My family does a much better job of making me feel valued, loved, and accepted for those differences than some of my birth family.“That said, I also get along really well with my birth mom who I just call by name. We met when I was 16. She has never tried to parent me, and we have a solid understanding of our role. I have a mom, and she is fantastic. My birth mom is not my mom, but I am her daughter. It’s confusing for other people, but it makes sense for us. :)”AliMcGraw commented:“Once I was in family court (I was having a guy declared dead, of all things) and a girl who was about 11 was being adopted that day. From what I gathered from the chit-chat, she’d been fostered by that family for several years, and they’d been waiting YEARS for the mother (drug problems) to finally terminate her parental rights so they could adopt her for good. There were like THIRTY PEOPLE there, literally everyone she was (about to be) related to, grandparents who’d flown in for the occasion, aunts and uncles with toddlers in tow who’d driven three states to be there, all dressed in their Sunday best. The girl’s (adoptive) mom was tearing up every 30 seconds and trying really hard to not cry; dad was more stoic and just kind-of staring straight ahead. The lawyer presented the final paperwork to the judge, who looked it over, called the immediate family forward, signed it, reached over the tall desk to shake the girl’s hand and said, ‘Congratulations, young lady. You’re adopted,’ and handed her the paper. She froze and stared at it like she couldn’t believe it, then her hand holding the paper started shaking, then she just started SOBBING. She dropped the paper and collapsed in her mom’s arms, who was sobbing her eyes out, and the dad was stoic for like 15 seconds and then started the gigantic, whooping, gasping sobs of a man who otherwise cries only when his mother dies. The assorted aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents all crowded around them, crying and laughing, and the judge started crying, and all the lawyers who were there on other matters started crying, and the bailiff and the court reporter started crying, and the judge had to call a recess because everyone was crying too hard to continue with court.“If I were an artist and I were going to paint angels seeing the light of heaven, I’d paint the faces of that family as they left the courtroom.“You and all your hug-smush aunts made me think of it and just typing it makes me start crying again!”28.?“What is the Most Thoughtful Gift You’ve Received on Your Birthday?”1)?eatsleeprepeat101_ wrote, “This guy made a portrait of my dog and was very hesitant to give me because he thought it wasn’t good enough. Eventually, he gave it to me later on and it was the best thing someone has ever done for me. It made my heart melt.”2)?Blasphemiee wrote, “My brother and I are a year apart, and I worked really hard to get us a place to live after I graduated. Once he finally graduated, he left for the service. He asked me what I wanted for my birthday that year and I jokingly said socks because I can’t afford to keep replacing them all the time. We usually don’t exchange gifts that cost any money, but that year this mf came home with a GI duffle bag full of new socks. Like an uncountable number of pairs. So I wore GI socks for years at work. That was like 10 years ago, and several moves across states later I found another f[**]king single green sock unpacking a couple months back. Thanks, bro.”NotSoSecretGarbage commented, “This guy socks!”3)?ZebraCard wrote, “For my 20th birthday we had a HUGE party and my roommate at the time went around with a Polaroid camera and had me take photos with everyone at the party. She had them write nice things on the pictures. She framed it and it’s still in my room four years later. Every time I look at it, I smile.”4)?lauraaynslee wrote: “My mother returned a calendar I had made her with my daughter’s pictures for Christmas. I was a little confused at first as to why she would give me the calendar back and the year was nearly over and it would be essentially useless soon. I opened it and saw she had written notes every day for the entire year; they were milestones and memories made about my daughter who was about two at the time and I was a newly single mom. I love looking at it and being able to pinpoint the certain date of so many fun memories.”5)?IqbalAhmed483316 wrote this:“Back in elementary and middle school, I was the real unpopular nerdy kid who always was carrying a different thick book every couple of days. I think I practically lived in the library. As an unwanted side effect, I got bullied pretty hard and was never really the object of any attention from the opposite gender so when Valentine’s Day would roll around I never got any of the ‘school sanctioned’ carnations or candy and never received any gifts. As one can imagine this really killed any self-confidence I might have had and (on top of other things that were going on in my life) made my then depression a lot worse.“Fast forward a couple years to 8th grade and my best friend at the time gives me a gift bag with a big heart-shaped box of chocolate and a Siamese cat stuffed animal. It was totally platonic and I guess she just thought I deserved something to look forward to and enjoy like other people on Valentine’s Day. I am now 26 and we aren’t in contact anymore but I still have that stuffed Siamese cat sitting on my bedside table.”6)?Morally_Inept wrote:“The best gifts are those that I get to spend time with someone (providing I want to spend time with that person). Instead of physical gifts, my dad and I plan to do something together for birthdays, father’s day, etc.“I don’t remember what most people gave me for my last birthday, but I’ll never forget going to a hockey game with my dad.”29.?“Who is that One Stranger Whom You Still Remember?”1)?xenedra0 wrote this:“We were very poor when I was little. I didn’t have many toys. I didn’t get to indulge in many snacks. My mom made all of my clothes. Our tiny home was infested with bugs. In 1st grade, my teacher took our class on a field trip to a festival that was in town. All of the other kids had money in hand to buy food and souvenirs, but I had nothing and remember just walking around aimlessly feeling a bit sad.“At some point I became fixated on this old man with a long gray beard carving shapes out of wood in one of the booths. I must have been watching him for a while, because at some point he stopped and came over. He knelt down to my level, pulled one of the pieces off the shelf and handed it to me. He then said something along the lines of, ‘Here, this one is for you. It will bring you good luck.’“The other kids may have landed things like giant stuffed animals and cotton candy, but that day I scored something far more special that I still treasure 30+ years later. And, yes, it has brought me plenty of good luck.”TheRealSlimReaper35 asked, “Are you super rich now?”xenedra0 replied, “Let’s just say my kids are growing up much more comfortably than I did.”2)?TophCookie wrote, “This happened a few years ago. I was in the bus heading back home. I remember feeling particularly down that day so I stared out of the window during my long commute and let my mind wander as usual. It was a rainy day so it was coincidentally a gloomy setting. At one of the traffic stops, this old Asian man on a motorcycle pulled up next to the bus. Our eyes met and he gave the warmest smile and a simple nod (the slight bow you witness in Asian culture) at me. And he drove off. I had no idea how or why, but that instantly warmed me up and made me feel so much better and my mind went on to wonder about why we don’t smile more. The effect a simple smile had on me was something I would never forget. He was a stranger on a motorcycle, and he had the kindest eyes. A simple smile and nod cheered me up for some strange reason and got me thinking about why we always forget to smile, in the midst of mundane things.”3)?ShibertInu wrote, “Some random girl I met during my holidays once told me I had a great jawline. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with this information, but I guess it’s a compliment so I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget it.”Chromattix commented, “Getting a compliment about my appearance from someone who isn’t a friend or family member can make my entire week. We guys need to feel beautiful, too.”4)?yamsnz wrote this:“I had my son when I was 18 and I looked a lot younger. Everywhere I went with him I would get dirty looks and comments.“One day when he was about 6 months old we were at the food court at the mall. I fed him lunch, and then read him a book because he was getting tired, just talking away to him as you do.“As we got up to leave and I put him back in his pram, an older lady came over and said, ‘I just wanted to tell you what an amazing job you are doing, I’ve just been sitting watching you while I had lunch and watching you interact with your baby and it’s beautiful and refreshing to see. What a happy healthy baby and a credit to you as his mum.’“I actually cried in the car on the way home because I was so proud and it was so nice to hear. I still remember it 10 years later when I’m questioning myself as a mum.”5)?Trektopus wrote, “The old lady at work who made me cry because she was telling me how she is about to start chemo for colon cancer. I told her that my step -mother had been diagnosed with it the year before and was now cancer free. The old lady took my hand and looked me in the eye and said, ‘So you’re saying there’s still hope.’ I said, ‘There’s always hope.’ When she walked away, I had to go back to my office where I cried like a bitch for about 20 minutes.”6)?cb789cb wrote, “I was 11 or so and watching a baseball game in the TV at a restaurant. I was a huge baseball fan at the time and starting talking to this guy watching the game. He mentioned that he lived in the same neighborhood as a couple of baseball players I was a huge fan of, and offered to get me an autograph. He took my address, and a couple weeks later an autographed baseball card showed up. It was a little thing but this guy absolutely did not have to do that—he just took a considerable amount of time to do something nice for a kid he would never see again.”30.?“Married People of Reddit, What Did You Only Start Doing in Your Relationship After You Got Married?”1)?BearofBears wrote, “Costco is now considered a date so that’s something.”AgentElman commented, “Yes, I can get my wife to get excited about almost anything by calling it a date.”Bonzai_Bananas commented, “Getting excited when you both receive a toaster for Christmas.”Blog_Pope commented, “Wife legit wants a vacuum cleaner for Christmas. No necklaces, no diamonds, just another Dyson stick vacuum that we can just keep in the basement. This will make her happy. I meanwhile will feel like a bad 1950’s husband, but it’s a sacrifice I make for my wife.”emilyrein229 commented, “For her 80th birthday, my grandfather took my grandmother to lunch for Costco Pizza and nothing was more wholesome than her glowingly telling us about it.”2)?ScaredOfSocks wrote, “He tried calling me dear when we were dating. I jokingly told him, ‘Don’t call me dear; I’m not your wife.’ He never did it again. Fast forward a few years, we get married and walking out of the courthouse he whispers in my ear, ‘I can call you dear now.’ So now he calls me dear and I call him Moose.”3)?Christian_Writer wrote this:“Everything. I married my husband, who was in the Navy, at 18, and he immediately moved me across the country and then got deployed, leaving still teenage me alone in a strange place trying to take care of our home alone.“My sweet, elderly neighbor, who had been really lonely because her son didn’t visit often, came over the first week with some flowers from her garden. I was so touched I started crying, and she said, ‘Honey, what’s wrong?’ I was like, ‘How do you write a check to pay bills?’“She helped me, and we became really good friends. I’ll never forget her.”LiveRealNow commented:“That’s awesome.“I just heard a family story over the weekend.“My Grandpa died when my dad was nine, leaving my Grandma on a farm with nine kids ranging from infant to 18.“She didn’t know how to drive or write a check. My dad’s (eventual) high school principal — a known hard-[*]ss — took her under his wing and taught her all the things she needed to know to get by. At my dad’s high school reunion 50 years later, he told the principal’s daughter that story, along with how much that meant to the family and how much respect my dad had for him. She cried.”4)?dalebearkissme wrote, “Creating ‘traditions’ together. It is our wedding anniversary this month, and I am looking forward to arguing about how big the chunks of bacon should be while making homemade pizzas, listening to Flashback Friday [a radio program?], all while wearing my wedding dress.”SethParis83 commented, “This has been my favorite thing so far. Wife and I just celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary and already in this first year we’ve begun work on our own traditions. The one we’re most excited about is our New Year’s Eve tradition. It used to be that we’d attend a party over at a friend’s house. We had a lot of fun, lots of food and board games, but last year we decided to skip that and do our own thing. We watched all three of the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings films and made a special seafood stew and just enjoyed being together. We decided that’s our new tradition: NYE movie day and seafood stew! We’re going to watch all of the Avengers films (Avengers, Avengers 2, Avengers Infinity War, and Avengers Endgame). We’re looking forward to it!”31.?“What is a Thing a Teacher Did for You that Made You Feel Special?”1)?hisloyalconcubine wrote, “I had a teacher in elementary school who noticed I didn’t have clothes that fit. So one day she gave me a whole trash bag filled with clothes that were my size.”2)?tenaciousfall wrote this:“I once stayed up for 32 hours straight for the sake of sending someone off at the airport (long story, it was a stupid decision). I went home, crashed and woke up with an absolutely blinding headache. My whole family was overseas and I was in so much pain I couldn’t even get myself out of the house to go to a clinic on my own and I didn’t want to call an ambulance because I wouldn’t be able to pay to go to a hospital, so I tried making contact with other people to see if they could send me to a clinic. No response from anyone except one of my JC [Junior College?] teachers (who, at this point, hadn’t formally taught me in two years), who immediately offered to drop everything and came down to my place with painkillers and hot food. And she did.“It’s been two years since then and I’m still grateful AF [As F[**]k].”3)?9uhbuh9uh wrote this:“This is kind of on a different end of the spectrum, but my senior year of high school was terrible, lots of drug use and school skipping, but was preceded by years of straight A’s going all the way back to 6th grade.“My AP [Advanced Placement] literature teacher, a woman who I still admire greatly, caught me rewriting old essays while I was her TA [Teaching Assistant] — papers I’d literally written for her class the year prior (stupid, I know) — for some less-than-great folks I was friends with at the time.“She pulled me aside and said, ‘Those kids you are doing this for don’t deserve your work, and you don’t deserve to be dragged down by them’, and then some stuff about why she let me work as a TA — because I was smart and honest.“I was so taken aback by that experience that I still carry the things I learned from it with me today.”4)?doublecrust wrote this:“I was an AWFUL student in high school. I was dealing with undiagnosed depression and anxiety, and even though I loved learning and wasn’t a total idiot, I caused myself a lot of self-sabotage and ended up failing a LOT.“My 10th-grade English teacher took the time to pull me aside often to praise my creative writing and my participation in class, and told me that he looked forward to having me in his AP [Advanced Placement] class for my senior year. You bet your [*]ss that I was there, and he flipped my tassel at graduation :)”32.?“Women Who have been in Relationships for 10+ Years, What are Some Ways Your Partner Shows You that They’re Still in Love with You?”1)?brews_and_chats wrote this:“My fella and I have been together 13 years today, and we try and do the following:“He calls me beautiful every day, even when I’m ill.“He’ll make sure there’s food in after a long shift if he’s not going to be home.“He’s my biggest cheerleader in everything I do.“He still makes me laugh like we did when we were 16years old.“Cooks me breakfast in bed when we are off together.“Makes time for us, despite our busy and often conflicting schedules.“He’ll dress up for dates.”2)?togtogtog wrote this:“All the ways! :-)“Mind you, I think part of a good relationship is knowing that the other person does love you, without them needing to constantly prove it.“He tells me.“Hugs, kisses, and looks.“Does practical stuff that needs doing (cooks tea, cleans, sorts the car out, does the garden, visiting elderly relatives etc.).“Enjoys my company, chatting together, doing fun things together.“Understands what I am like, and my motives.“Gets me thoughtful presents, makes me homemade cards.“Sings stupid made-up songs with me.“And probably a zillion more that I’ve not even thought of.”RanShaw commented:“‘Sings stupid made-up songs with me.’“We do that, too — it’s lots of fun! Our best one yet was Adele’s ‘Hello’ from the perspective of a cat wanting to come inside and then not being able to decide whether it wants to be in or out. Funniest part is when we’re improvising and happen to come up with the same thing.”Bee73086 commented:“I love made-up cat songs! My husband and I had been together about a year or so and I was singing my made-up cat song and got distracted halfway through the verse; he ended up finishing it with my made-up lyrics, I was shocked! How did he know my song!“He came over, gave me a hug and a big kiss, and told me something along the lines of, ‘Sweetheart, you sing to the cats all day everyday. How could I not know your songs?’ It was very sweet.”3)?EleahThiaBea wrote this:“He calls me from work just to hear my voice.“He makes the bed.“He plays my song (he wrote me a song) on his guitar. I love my song. Finger-plucking guitar music is my favorite.“He opens doors for me still; I like the attention.“He tells me daily how beautiful (he is specific and boldly compliments both inward and outward beauty) I am.“He buys my favorite snacks when we go to the grocery store.“He spends time looking into my favorite authors so he can buy me the next book in the series I’m reading.“Married 16 years.”4)?feralfred wrote this:“He calls me from work just to tell me about the latest funny thing. Sends random pictures and films of things he sees at work (he’s a postman) — latest was a fat hairy caterpillar crawling on the floor.“He notices how I make the bed and tries to copy it.“He plays me all his favourite songs, listens patiently to mine.“He opens doors for me, always has. Also, picks up the heaviest shopping bags / heaviest end of whatever we are trying to move (although I’m stronger).“He tells me several times daily how much he misses me.“He buys my favourite snacks from the shop — I work way more than he does, so shopping is his job — he knows and gets exactly my favourite things without asking. This includes regular cosmetic and toiletry purchases.“He gives me lists of films, documentaries, and books I might like. I tick them off, he gets them!“Together 21 years. Getting married soon.”33.?“When was the Last Time a Guy Approached You?”voyagingsince2005 wrote, “A couple of weeks ago at a friend’s birthday. My husband and I were talking to a random at the party and we mentioned something, and the guy stops and says, ‘Wait … you’re married. I was going to hit on her.’ Super awkward. My husband just winked at me and said, ‘See … I told you, you looked hot.’”Skywing97 commented, “Haha, you have an awesome husband!”34.?“What is a Subtle Sign Somebody was Born Poor?”1)?14thCenturyHood wrote this:“I grew up dirt poor but didn’t really know how poor I was until just a few years ago (I’m 35)?when I mentioned to my SO [Significant Other] the memories of when my brother and I ‘went camping’ as kids (I was about five). This consisted of my mother putting a serape over the kitchen table to make a ‘tent’. Then my brother and I would go under the table with pots and pans and my mom would make us ketchup sandwiches, or as she called it, ‘camping food’. We thought it was awesome! I always loved it. Truth is, she had nothing else to feed us.“When I told this to my SO [Significant Other] he laughed and immediately go ‘KETCHUP SANDWICHES? Damn, you were poor!’… and it dawned on me like, holy sh[*]t, I really was. I guess my mother was just really good at tricking us into thinking ketchup sandwiches eaten under the table was great fun.“So yeah, if someone grew up eating ketchup sandwiches on a regular basis, that’s a good sign things were rough.“EDIT: You guys are so nice. Thank you all so much for all the kind, wonderful comments about my mom. It’s really very touching and I didn’t expect it. I hope all of you have a fantastic happy day.“EDIT 2: Just want to clarify because I keep seeing comments saying that it was insensitive of my SO to joke like that — it was all in good fun! My SO is wonderful. That’s just our sense of humor, and we like to poke fun at each other sometimes. We both laughed about it together. No worries!”JenniferJuniper6 commented, “She sounds like a great mom, though.”14thCenturyHood replied, “She was my best friend and always so much fun! I really lucked out having her a mom.”In reply to a probably negative comment that was deleted, 14thCenturyHood wrote, “She did provide food. Every single day. She worked her [*]ss off. We never went hungry. Ever. When things got rough, she provided us with ketchup sandwiches and they were f[**]king delicious, filling, and a whole lot of fun to eat. She was 100% an amazing parent. I only hope you may have had the experience of being raised by someone who loved you as much as my mother loved us.”JustInBasil commented, “For my family growing up, it was mustard sandwiches. Same idea, but a condiment my siblings and I would actually eat.”fTwoEight commented, “I guess I was lucky because everyone in my neighborhood was poor, so there was no shame in it at all. We just thought that was normal and that everyone lived like we did. It was also the 1970s and 1980s so there was no social media or even much on TV (we couldn’t afford cable) so we never saw any rich (or even middle class) people except for celebrities and OF COURSE they were rich.“My favorite story is that, as kids, we talked a lot about this mythical car that we all wanted but that ONLY rich people owned. It was so expensive and so rare that, even though we were 12, we had never actually seen one except on TV. It was a Mercedes.”2)?SexceptableIncredibl wrote, “My one set of cousins were very well off but all boys. My brother would get handmedowns (nice sh[*]t like True Religion, Polo and real sports jerseys, Jordan shoes worn maybe twice) and I’d get to go to Blessed Old Navy with my favorite aunt Titi. She’d spend around $300 on me every summer. I’d be so happy, but she’d brush it off like ‘it’s just some cheap Old Navy stuff’. She had four boys, so she loved shopping with me. I’d be so thankful and grateful for it, too. We’d go to a restaurant and sit down to eat as well. Then, she’d call her girlfriend who was a retired hairdresser over to do my hair. “One time, when I was in like 7th grade and Pandora charms were all the rage, she caught me looking at one and got me the bracelet and a shopping bag charm, too. Always threw in one semi-expensive thing for me to cherish. One year, it was a Kensi Doll. They were like 100 bucks each and sold out everywhere. But she got me one and drove it from Jersey to DC on Christmas. For me. I love that lady […] whenever she was around, I was her favorite and I knew it.”3)?oilnair wrote this in a comment responding to people writing about children and parents focusing on fancy brand-name clothing:“My daughter wears a uniform to a public charter school.“One kid is from an incredibly poor family. Dad is a janitor. Mom stays at home. Compound that with rent in Portland, and you get the idea.“The rest of the parents threw down 10 bucks each to crowd-source uniform bits and supplies for the kid.“Among them was an off-brand cardigan sweater. It cost like, 8 bucks at Target.“He both a) is popular, and b) was vocally proud of said sweater. There are now a bunch of cardigans being sported by first graders who want to be like him, my daughter among them.“I love the little kid, wonder if he’d be able to strut like he does in a public school without uniforms, and sure glad he doesn’t have to worry about it for seven more years.“Edit: side note: the dad is an ‘honor first’ kinda guy, and keeps trying to pay back the fund, sometimes a dollar at a time.”4)?EasilyLuredWithCandy wrote this:“I was bullied in 5th grade because I had Payless shoes. My mom ugly cried. A week later I got a box from my uncle who managed a store in New Jersey with a pair of Reeboks. Small gesture from him, but huge for us.“At that point, I had seen him only on holidays and he didn’t have much of a relationship with us kids. In the note with the shoes he asked me about my life and what I was into. I wrote him back with basically a novel about music and MTV.“After that, I started receiving occasional packages with CDs from artists that I wasn’t familiar with. He really broadened my music interests. He moved back to our city years later, but died from a very quick-spreading cancer after two years.“When he died, I walked into the funeral home calmly. When I saw him, I was slammed with the memory of those shoes and how he was a little girl’s hero for a while. My husband had to pick me up when my knees buckled.“Thanks, Uncle Rick.”35.?“Police Officers of Reddit, What are Some Laws that You Feel Uncomfortable Enforcing Because You Disagree with Them?”1)?zgh5002 wrote this:“Not exactly a ‘law,’ but it’s the closest thing I have that’s semi-relevant. I did a spell as deputy and had to work in the city jail. When working the jail, I would be put in charge of the holding cells where you would go while you wait to see a magistrate judge to get your bail set. You could be in these cells for up to 72 hours in same cases.“Anyway, the rules for this particular part of the jail were that you could not shower for 72 hours and you got one meal every eight hours while you were there. Meals were served at 6am, noon and 6pm. If you shower up at 6:30 you were not getting fed until 6am for example.“The food they would serve was always the same: bologna sandwich, white bread, American cheese, one apple and one bag of pretzels. Nothing fancy or delicious, but it would keep you going until you were released or sent up to the normal jail cells.“Anyway, I’d always order a dozen or so extra lunches to have on hand for anyone who showed up late or for the homeless who were arrested. I made sure they could shower much sooner than 72 hours and I would help anyone who needed it get in touch with a bondsman to get them out of jail.“The way I saw it, I was saving taxpayer money getting them out of jail and they already had the food that would have just led to wasting the taxpayer money. Plus no one wants to go to court reeking of booze.”DeanLivanos commented:“When you act like this, some people don’t get that mentality that cops are [*]ssh[*]les, etc. When I was young and getting in trouble stealing cars, break-ins, fighting, etc., most cops were pricks to me and looking back I think it was justified.“Two detectives from Criminal Investigation Bureau (one male, one female) came to my house to ask questions as part of their job. Halfway through he starts talking about for me to go rehab, if I have a drug problem, programs, etc.“Stupidly I never took him up on any of it but I saw he was trying to help — I quit on my own accord about four months later but that moment broke down my me-versus-the-cops attitude I had. Pretty much mostly stayed out of trouble for the last decade.“Keep up the good work; it does make a difference.”2)?JaCrispy1990 wrote this:“Before I was a police officer, I was put in a sort of catch-all position (police service officer). Duties included evidence custodian, animal control, court bailiff, code enforcement, and part-time police work. This was 2012-2013, Kansas had a rather wet season. For about a month and a half straight, we had rain almost everyday. No one had a chance to mow their grass. The city manager saw it as a grand opportunity for me to start writing people tickets for their grass being too high. I told him I didn’t feel comfortable doing that. When asked why, I told him I didn’t think it was right for me to write people tickets for tall grass when there are city-owned properties all over the city that had grass just as tall. We went back and forth, and he got my Captain involved and threw a fit. Before he stomped out of my Captain’s office he made the comment ‘This is my city, you work for me and what I say is law,. Captain agreed he was an [*]ssh[*]le but ultimately said I should just write the tickets. So I went back to the evidence locker, what everyone called my office because I was the only one who had access, and did some research. An hour later, I walked over to the city manager’s office (which happened to be right across the street) and handed the city manager about 14 tickets. He asked what those were, I told him I was doing exactly what he told me to do, I was writing tickets for grass being too tall. The first 14 tickets were for the 14 city-owned properties that had grass over 12-inches high. He said those weren’t his responsibility. I calmly reminded him of his previous comment about him ‘owning’ the city, and he called the chief. He insisted I be fired for insubordination. A month later, I was promoted to full-time patrol officer.“Edit: After responding to a few comments, I figured it would be easier to just add this to the end of the post. Yes, I’m currently an EHS Specialist and am no longer in Law Enforcement. This happened seven or eight years ago. I was eventually fired for reasons I won’t get into; all I will say is I obviously wasn’t going to be the type of police officer they wanted me to be, so they made an example out of me. I’m sure there are different ordinances around America regarding the maintenance of your grass. In my city, the ordinance says you can’t have your grass over 12 inches (30.5 centimeters). The tall grass attracts vermin and reptiles that people don’t want in their yards. And with the property taxes we pay in our area people don’t want to have to worry about stuff like that. It’s amazing how the facade of your neighbor’s house can affect the property value of your property.”3)?Individual_Lies wrote this:“I got pulled over last year, not long after moving back from Arizona to Louisiana. Cop got me because my tags had expired a few days before.“Lucky for me I already had it planned to swap the tags over that coming Monday (this was a Friday evening). I hadn’t been able to that week because of work, and I thought I still had a few more weeks since for some reason I thought the tags were still good for the rest of the month.“Anyway, I told the cop all this and after running my info he asked me:“‘So you’re swapping the tags over Monday, right?’“‘Yes, sir.’“‘All right. Be safe and enjoy your night.’“I could’ve kissed the dude.”4)?Thud2 wrote, “I’ve had a few good experiences with reasonable cops over the years. One time I was rolling into a small town in western NY in a snowstorm and had a radar detector on the dash. I see a cop coming the other way and Beeep! I look down and I’m going like 32 in a 25. I look in the mirror and he flips around and I just pulled over and waited for him to catch up. He gets out and says, ‘You were goin’ a little fast back there, why’d ya pull over?’ I said, ‘Roads are slick, didn’t want ya to have to catch up to me.’ He goes back and runs my plate, comes back and bullsh[*]ts with me for a couple minutes and says, ‘You have a good day, get in outta this snow!’”36.?“Tattoo Artists of Reddit, What is the Most Wholesome Story Behind a Tattoo You Did?”JimmyL2014 wrote this:“A friend of mine is a tattoo artist. She got a guy who came in with a photo of a tattoo on someone and insisted it be placed in the same place, exactly the same. It was a pink butterfly on the right wrist. When she asked him questions about it, he got defensive and just wanted to get it done. He was a big guy with a nearly full body of tattoos getting a pink butterfly on his wrist.“Anyway, she does the tattoo — took only about 30 minutes — and when he saw the finished tattoo, he started to cry. It was his daughter’s tattoo, one he took her to get. She had died a couple of weeks before in an auto accident, and he wanted to get her tattoo as a memorial. When he tried to explain beforehand, he kept getting choked up and got defensive automatically (as guys often do).”37.?“What was Your Childhood Best Friend Like? Do You Have a Favourite Memory with Them?” 1)?AsahinChan wrote this:“My childhood best friend was charismatic, honest, strong, and a great leader. He usually picked what to do every day, like play a game, sport or even watch a movie. We had a group of boys and me as the only girl, so he was quite protective of me. I was also the youngest in the group.“My favorite memory is when he got a big jar of cookies to share with us. Being the leader, he cut everyone a deal. He said that whoever told him the name of their crush would get a cookie. The more crushes, the more cookies. He, however, knew I was shy and wouldn’t be able to speak out the names of guys I liked, so he ended with, ‘And Asahina can tell us the names of her best friends instead’. Everyone got cookies that day!”2)?baileythedove wrote this:“Not gonna lie, I was a very shy, awkward child and I didn’t have many friends at all. My childhood best friend was definitely my dog. One of my favorite memories with her is the day that my parents finally agreed to let me pick a puppy out. When I first saw her, I knew she was the one. Honestly, this is probably the happiest memory of my entire childhood.“She passed away last year, but I’ll always be grateful to her for being my most loyal, and for a while, only real friend.”Baileythedove added, “Dogs will never betray you. (Or so I thought until mine chose my fiancé’s lap over mine that one time, hahaha.) Childhood was a strange time for me indeed.”3)?coastalkid92 wrote this:“My childhood best friend (whom I am still friends with) was athletic, a leader, fiercely loyal and fun. But she had/has a jealous streak a mile long, insecurities up the wazoo, and is stubborn as all get out.“My favourite memory of her was when we were 13/14, and we went to the park at night to hang out with friends. One of the boys was trying to serenade the girls like in 10 Things I Hate About You and ended up falling and we laughed so hard she peed her pants. We had to run all the way home to get her some.”4)?Aiscriim90 wrote, “I had many because I moved around a lot. My favourite, though, was Maureen. She was tall and beautiful and didn’t care about school social status, so she still hung out with dorky little me. Her dad lived in the neighbourhood and when she was at his place we would troll the streets convinced we were super bad[*]ss, eating cola candy and bossing my little brother around. We were nine or ten, and my brother was six. Such a cool team.“My favourite memory is when her father asked me to help her learn how to use Microsoft Word so she could do her homework. It was 1999, I already had a computer, and I was a self-proclaimed writer. I proceed to spend two hours on the father’s computer teaching Maureen how to use icons and to lay out fake living rooms in Word. She was delighted. I then start panicking because I suddenly can’t find my glasses, she starts panicking, too, because she can’t find them either and I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO LOOK AT THE COMPUTER WITHOUT MY GLASSES. We call her father — we were completely desperate.“Turns out I never took them off so they were on my nose. He found it so funny he didn’t care we hadn’t finished the homework.”38.?“What Secrets Do You Have that You Would Take to the Grave with You, But Would be Willing to Share Anonymously?”1)?pickmeacoolname wrote, “There’s part of me that’s always felt so guilty about this, but the other part of me thinks that I did the right thing. When my mother-in-law was in hospice and dying, we had gotten the call that her last rites were being read to her and we should come because it was very close. The family gathered in her room, my father-in-law (her husband of 42 years) had been by her side and hadn’t left for days. We were there for hours, my sister-in-laws had to take their kids home at some point, so they had left and it was just my husband, me, and my FIL [Father-in-Law] left. The nurses were saying that they might have spoken too soon because she was still hanging on; it was awful to watch. My FIL [Father-in-Law] looked ragged and tired and he said he was just going to go to the other floor for a cup of coffee, and my husband went with him. I said I would call if something changed, but he was only going to be gone for 15 minutes maybe. About five minutes after they left my MIL [Mother-in-Law] really started to have very labored breathing, I called the nurse to see what was happening and by the time she came to the room (maybe two minutes) she had passed. I asked the nurse to wait for me to get my FIL and husband back to the room to pronounce her dead. They rushed back and my FIL held her and after a minute the nurse and doctor pronounced. My FIL believes he made it back to the room and was holding her while she left this life, I have never told him or my husband. Only me and that sweet nurse know she was already gone. I have debated telling my husband this, but he’s always said he was comforted by watching his dad hold his mom when she died. I know I will never tell my FIL this because when he talks about her he always mentions how he was there for that moment and I don’t want to take that away from him. It would crush him. Part of me thinks she waited for everyone to leave the room so they didn’t have to actually see her go; she was always worried about everybody else. I’ve never told anyone.”39.?“Have You Ever Successfully Stopped a Repeat Marketing or Scam Phone Call? How Did You Do It?”1)?venice7771 wrote this:“I always hit the button to speak with a person or get more info, or sometimes they call with a live person to begin with. I put on my ‘sexy’ low voice and say, ‘Hey, baby, how you doin’?’ They usually hang up immediately. If not, my next response to whatever they say is this: ‘That sounds really hot. What are you wearing?’“Pretty close to 100% hang up and don’t call back.”2)?DrScottyBrown wrote this:“Told them that I was a member of their branch a floor above them and that they misdialed.“They said, ‘F[**]k you,’ and hung up. Didn’t get a call back from them for a few months.”OPointE commented, “Oh, man, this is great. I think I’m going to finally start picking up for these bastards and take my own spin on this. Let them go through whatever little spiel they have, add in a little giggle here and there, and finally just start laughing and tell them it’s James or Cindy down the hall and ask them out for a date.”3)?SAEPUMA wrote, “I asked them for THEIR Social Security number and they hung up on ME.”Todd-debinkis commented, “Hahahahaha! I did the same! I answered all worried and then said, ‘So can I borrow yours for awhile instead?’ Person got piiiissed and hung up on me.”40.?“Women of Reddit, What Do You Think Would be the Worst Part of Being a Man?”nainamaina wrote, “Having to build up the courage to ask a girl out on a date. I got asked out by some guys I wasn’t attracted to at first glance, but I still went because I know how much it takes to approach a stranger.”refreshing_username commented:“May I suggest you consider politely declining? Accepting just delays and worsens the inevitable rejection that’s coming.“Edit: fair points raised that there could be different outcomes. I suppose there’s a continuum running from ‘Uncertain if I’m attracted to this guy, but I’ll take a chance’ vs. ‘Bless his heart, I’ll go on one pity date with him.’”Mom_with_an_attitude commented, “I am a woman. I asked a guy out. A guy I barely knew. It was scary.”Chapter 3: Questions 41-6041.?“What is the Nicest Thing You’ve Ever Done for a Complete Stranger and Vice Versa?”1)?EdithVreeland wrote this:“A woman was in front of me at the cash register; she had two screaming children and just wanted to buy some milk and diapers. She didn’t have enough money, so I paid for it. I wouldn’t wish small children without diapers on my worst enemy!“A few years ago I was sitting in the subway with a broken heart. I tried very hard not to cry, but of course that didn’t work that well. The subway was packed; it was rush hour. People were looking at me because I couldn’t suppress little sobs, and also my mascara was running mercilessly. But the woman across from me got some tissue out of her bag and gave it to me. She patted my hand and told me that everything will be fine. Her look wasn’t saying ‘just get on with it’ like the others did. It was just kindness. It felt like a cup of warm tea after walking through the cold for hours. I will never forget her and her kind action.”2)?eddywoon wrote, “I was holidaying in Vietnam and was at a restaurant at about 1am after clubbing, and a sister and brother aged (about 12 and nine) came over to sell lottery tickets. I asked if they were hungry and they should find a table and order whatever two dishes they wanted and I will cover the bill. They were excited as they were not in a financial position to eat at restaurants. As their parents were working too, they were offered to take two takeaways for their parents. Gave them a small monetary donation, too.”3)?mynameisbence wrote this:“Sadly I don’t have anything really nice to share, but I always help the elderly by carrying their packages or getting them down from the bus.“Once (about a week ago) an old woman asked a guy to help carry her bag home since she had some health problem with one of her legs. The guy refused so I offered my help and that was the worst and the best decision I made that week. The bag was 7-10 kg and I had to carry it in slow motion (because she couldn’t walk faster) to her house. My arm felt like it was going to rip off, but it was worth it!”4)?LivingInPugtopia wrote, “I went to a local dive restaurant, noticed one of the servers was upset and trying to hold back tears. I’m nosy and asked if she was okay. A table of folks had run out without paying their bill and she didn’t know if she would get fired, or have to cover the bill, or both. So I paid it. I didn’t want her to lose her job because of some [*]ssh[*]les.”5)?gigabytestarship wrote, “I helped a man buy food when his debit card was declined. He was old; he looked around 70. He was in line in front of me. He was sobbing on the phone with the card company, freaking out that he had only a few dollars. He mentioned to the cashier that his wife was disabled and they needed the food. It could’ve been a scam but f[**]k, I wasn’t going to risk it. This poor man was just sobbing. It was only about $30 so I didn’t mind. He hugged me and said, ‘Bless your heart, your parents raised a good woman.’ I’m not very good, but I try.”Olicepoeth commented, “I honestly don’t think a man of that age would be openly crying about not having money for food if he wasn’t at his last straw. This makes me very sad.”6)?Id_punch_a_ghost wrote this:“When I was 20 I worked for Target, right when the whole credit card/hacking issue happened.“I was in Kohl’s right after work (still in red & khaki) and this old lady walks up to me and starts berating me over Target’s security and how if anything happens she’ll sue the Target I work at.“I just sat there kind of stunned for a minute or a year, can’t remember, when a man came up and said, ‘Mom was in an accident — we have to go,’ and pulled me with him.“When we were out a few steps, he just said, ‘You’re welcome,’ and went about his way.“If you’re reading this, thanks, random dude.”42.?“Hey, Reddit! What is a Small Thing You Do to Make the World a Little Bit Better?”EarlyHemisphere wrote this:“I always smile and thank every person in customer service that I interact with. Even if the person just told me the ice cream machine isn’t working, I still thank them for letting me know because the inconvenience is none of their fault at all. Obviously the only exception to this would be if the person was being a d[*]ck to me for no reason, but I’ve never had that happen.“While they are getting paid and what they’re doing might just be something small, they’re making an effort to help or convenience me, and I want to let them know that it’s appreciated.“So, people in customer service: thank you :)”KipsyCakes commented:“I remember taking a college class that talked about Existentialism. One of the topics that came up was about how man lives in a mentality that they have to have a purpose in life and that they have to do something large to feel complete when their lives come to an end. My professor taught about the idea of ‘doing small things with great love.’ Something as small as a smile or a happy ‘hello’ to a random stranger can cause them to feel happy, loved, and even lead them to spreading the same love you showed them. The cycle continues more and more and even causes huge changes in someone’s life that you may never know about. Not everyone will be affected the way you’d want them to, but you’ll likely have some effect on someone and that’s what’s important. Emotions are contagious and the stronger they are, the more effective they are.“Not only is this something small that can make people happy, it can satisfy those who feel like their lives don’t have purpose or haven’t fulfilled some gigantic accomplishment. Every life does have a purpose, but not everyone knows how big of a purpose it actually serves to others.”[Name Censored] commented, “Several years ago, I’d just gotten out of a brutal Physics final. I was mentally drained and my face showed it. A girl riding a yellow bicycle passed me and gave me the biggest smile that completely changed my mood. Another time, leaving a different physics final, I was walking down the street and a random bloke passing by looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Look at you, man, you’re so f[**]king put together. Keep it up, man!’ Those two incidents are burned in my memory, and I always try to have a smile and/or a compliment for strangers.”Reverse2057 commented:“This is also the foundation of the ‘Pay it forward’ mentality. You might just be helping another person who was in more need than you might realize. It’s nice at the drive-through’s as it might help someone who’s counting their pocket change to try and afford dinner that night and you just gave the break they needed. Remember to love each other and be kind!“This reminds me of my first job working the drive-through at Carl’s Jr. And this mom with four rowdy young kids in the car had forgotten her purse at home. And I knew with that car load of kids she had they’d be obnoxious and loud and she’d either have to drive all around to get her purse then order again or make something at home, I ended up paying for her meal because I knew how tough an evening she would have without this. I could see her trying not to tear up in the car when I got her food to her. It really kept my good mood going that day, and I’m sure helped her out a lot that day as well.”ChrisDEmbry commented:“A couple years ago, a kid about six years old wrecked his bike in front of me at the park, and there were no adults around who might have been his guardian. I went over and made sure he hadn’t broken anything, and then I put the chain back on his bike. He was crying about his bloody elbow, so I pressed his chest to calm him down (I had read about endorphins being released by chest-to-chest contact during hugs, but I wasn’t going to hug some stranger’s kid) and then told him to go home and have his mom wash his wound.“It wasn’t very important in the overall scheme of things, but that memory has stuck with me as something I’m more proud of than almost anything I’ve ever done. I have a few memories like that, and knowing that I took control to solve a problem and handle a situation makes me feel like my life has been worthwhile.”43.?“[Serious] Former Members of Hate Groups (KKK, Neo-Nazi Groups, Etc.), What Made You Join, and What Made You Quit?” Ventingthroaway2579 wrote this:“I never straight up became a neo-Nazi, but it’s something I came very close to getting sucked into when I was around 12-14. For me, it wasn’t about hate. It was about having an identity and fitting in with a group. I had switched schools. I had a hard time making friends, and I was bullied a lot. Like I was one of the three most bullied kids in a school of almost 2000. You know who didn’t bully me? The neo-Nazis. They were nice to me when no one else was. I just wanted friends and to feel like I was a part of a group.“I didn’t know about stuff like the Holocaust or what they were really about. When I started to get an idea about it, I stopped associating with them.”44.?“Men Of Reddit — Have You Ever been Cat Called in Public? How did You Feel about It? Does This Even Happen to Guys?”Glitchwinkle wrote, “A gay dude loudly called me cute at a Starbucks one time. I’m not gay, but it was flattering.”OhNoCosmo commented, “This happened to my husband once when we were at a restaurant. He would brag about it for weeks saying things like, ‘Go ahead. Finish the ice cream. I bet Bruce at Applebee’s would let me have the last serving.’ He’s such a dork.”NotCreativeAtAll1 commented, “I was at a strip club with a buddy of mine one time. A very flamboyant guy was sitting directly across from us. The stripper came back over to us and told me that the guy sitting across from us wants my number. I told her to politely decline since I’m not gay, but it was totally flattering.“Later on in the night we saw these two d[*]ckheads picking on the poor guy. My buddy and I aren’t small guys and went over and told them to go find somewhere else to sit or there would be some problems. To this day I’m still surprised they listened and didn’t try and fight us. We saw them get into daddy’s brand-new Porsche after they left. Felt good.”Etxguy commented, “I am a gay dude and I make it a point to compliment other guys regularly. I came to realize that a lot of men, especially straight men, are rarely complimented for any reason unless they have gym bods or movie star looks. It’s nothing sexual at all. Saying ‘nice haircut’, ‘you’re dressed really nice today,’ etc. always makes them smile.”Etxguy added that “it doesn’t cost me a thing to make someone’s day a little better.”45.?“What is Something You Would Like to Tell to a Significant Male in Your Life?”1)?nevertruly wrote, “I generally just tell people if I have something that I really want them to know. That’s not really a viable option in this case, but I hope that he knows this: ‘The strength of your unwavering commitment to your personal ethics and personal responsibility had a very strong influence on me. I appreciated seeing that example lived in your day-to-day life; that helped me to develop my own deep commitment to my personal ethics and responsibility. Holding myself to my own high ethical standards is one of the most important characteristics I’ve developed as a person. It’s a huge part of the core of who I am.’”2)?Soft_Pretzel89 wrote this:“To my daddy: You are an absolute superhero: You hold together a family of six-plus who can’t stop seeming to encounter crisis after crisis. You attend and pay for my never-ending barrage of surgeries. You let my husband and me live in a house you own that you remodeled with us for barely any rent fee because my career fell through when I became disabled. You have had three legal battles for your children’s screw-ups in the last five years. You just let mom quit her job because she moved to a new school and things were really hard on her. You drive strangers home in the winter when you see them walk outside. You stop at accidents and rip the door half off the car to help free some teenagers, but you don’t brag or consider it a big deal.“When I ask how you manage, you just say, ‘Eh, life happens.’ When I ask how I can help, you say, ‘Take care of yourself, your physical and mental health.’ The world doesn’t deserve angels like you, Daddy.”46.?“What is Something Your Brother has Done for You that Made You Appreciate Him More?”1)?sabre-skills wrote this:“The first few years I lived away from my hometown, he paid for my AAA roadside assistance and cell phone. He was worried.“He also taught me algebra in high school.”2)?Farore91 wrote, “My brother is literally the best. But I think the thing that stands out the most was when we were both living at home still. I’d just broken up with my physically abusing girlfriend and she was coming to get her stuff. He tried to hide well, but I caught him hiding outside every room we were in. He was trying to give us privacy while still trying to make sure I was okay.”3)?thehiddenpinup wrote, “After one of my last relationships ended, he helped me get some of my possessions back from my ex. My ex had been physically abusive at the point when the relationship ended, so it was a big help that he stepped in in that way.”4)?TubbzyTeddy wrote, “He helped me get therapy! I was going through a rough time when I was 16 where I was becoming pretty reclusive as I suffered with bad Social Anxiety and OCD. When I told him I didn’t want to go to university after college/sixth form (Brit here), he confronted me quite aggressively and told me that I needed to see someone to talk to as I’m just running away from my problems instead of trying to deal with them. He was right as I was terrified of going to university as I didn’t know what to do with my life and I was afraid of doing something so far out of my comfort zone. He spoke to our parents and I ended up in therapy, which helped … a lot. I’m now 23 with a full-time job I love with lots of friends I love and I can’t thank him enough for pushing me through that bullsh[*]t. I still suffer from Social Anxiety and OCD, but it’s so much better and easier to handle. Cheers, Bro!”5)?curly-hair07 wrote this:“I really adore this question because my older brother passed just shy of a year from today. I would say our best brother-sisterly moment was when I was going through my first break-up. My brother and I get along, but we never spoke on a daily basis. But I chose to call him. I cried. I cried so hard. He was scared because he didn’t know what happened. I explained to him how my now ex-boyfriend broke up with me. My brother was so cute: He offered to speak to my ex. I kept crying and telling my brother how I had so much anxiety and how I didn’t want to feel like this anymore. He thought I was alluding to suicide and he said, ‘[Curly-hair07], you’re scaring me.’ But then he proceeded to tell me that everything was going to be all right. This was the one moment that bonded us because we had an estranged relationship for a few years.“It was the first time I felt he was being like a brother to me. And it made me feel really loved to know I had a male figure who cared about me. I truly believe this break-up was meant to happen, because if it hadn’t maybe my brother and I wouldn’t have been able to live his last year alive so closely together.”6)?eugenelevyeyebrows wrote, “There was one birthday where the electricity in my house was turned off (we were on one of those plans that was meant to get you through winter and then they hit us with a $2000 bill come April) and I was really sad about it — obviously we couldn’t afford to go out for a special birthday meal, and couldn’t make one at the house. My mom always made an ice cream cake for my birthday, but couldn’t this year, and mentioned to my brother that I wasn’t very excited for my birthday this year. “Tl;dr: My brother made me a cheesecake in his tiny-[*]ss kitchen. It was lumpy and tasted weird, but I love him so much for it.”47.?“Married Men of Reddit: What was that Dumb Thing You did During Your Dating Phase that You Can’t Believe Your Wife Ended Up Overlooking?”1)?MadHarryRackham wrote this:“I turned her down when she suggested we go on a date. Read as: I’m super awkward.“I was working for Starbucks, and she was a regular customer. I was new in town and noticed her a couple times; she was a regular customer and we got to some small talk, chatting about places to eat. She said there’s an amazing taco place down the road, we should go sometime. I misheard her, thinking she said, ‘You should go sometime’. I replied with ‘I’ll definitely check it out!’ I handed her a drink, and she left very awkwardly.“She was back in the next day and, against all odds, I was able to clear up the misunderstanding and I wrote my number on her Starbucks cup.“We went to that taco place for our first date and she was right: It was amazing.“Three years married and two kids later … I’m really glad she saw through my awkwardness.”RarelySmart commented:“Oh, man … that’s my story, too.“She asked me to go to a dorm party, and I said no. She was in my friend zone, and I didn’t think about her in a dating context. I talked to her a few hours later and asked if I could change my answer. She said ok.“We are coming up on 40 years together. Almost ruined because I’m an idiot.”2)?RMBK wrote, “I forgot her name once when introducing her to a friend. This was maybe a month into our relationship. I was all like, ‘Hey, and by the way this is … uhhh … my girlfriend.’”3)?mollyjean- wrote this:“Not my story, but my parents: Some backstory — my dad has a brother who’s only a couple years older. Growing up, they’d commonly try to steal food off each other’s plates just to be [*]ssh[*]les to each other. This was remedied by plate guarding and defensive maneuvers with utensils if hands got too close.“On my parents’ first date, my mom reached for something to try off my dad’s plate and he instinctively stabbed her hand with his fork — drew blood and everything. He was obviously mortified. I’m glad my mom was crazy enough to keep dating, marry, and procreate with the fork stabber.”4)?mehfesto wrote this:“I get very nervous around women who are into me and especially when I know she’s watching me do something. Even something trivial.“On an early date, we went to the local shop to pick up some things for a picnic, including some gum. I was thinking really hard and aware that I was being watched.“I had this. Money on the counter, gum in your mouth. Money on the counter, gum in your mouth. Easy.“Suffice to say when I put the gum on the counter and the €2 coin in my mouth, the cashier was baffled and my girlfriend (now wife) was crying with laughter.”5)?designgoddess wrote, “My husband kept calling me by the name of his previous girlfriend on our first date. I finally told him to give her a call because they clearly had unfinished business to talk about. He did, and she reminded him why he was happy to have her out of his life. And he never called me by her name again. Forty years later, and it seems to have worked out in my favor.”48.?“Disney Theme Park Characters — have There Been Situations Where You had to Break Character? What was the Reason? Consequences?”1)?florgblorgle wrote, “WDW [Walt Disney World] character department at Magic Kingdom many years ago. I can’t remember breaking character, but I do remember working the restaurant at the Contemporary for dinners; one time we had a ‘Make a Wish’ kid as a guest and the kid was just the most awesome kid, and it was just heartbreaking to know why the kid was there. So our Lead let us do a group hangout with the kid for something like an hour in costume, playing and running around and having fun; you could never play like that in the parks, you’d start a kid riot. No consequences, we just all hoped we made that little kid happy.”mrdannyg12 commented, “We had a similar experience at a character meal with Eric, Ariel, Rapunzel and Flynn! Everything went as normal, although they probably noticed my son was more interested and chatty than most boys his age. After the meal, the characters are in a cordoned-off area taking pictures with a bunch of adults individually, who seem to be part of a corporate event. The adults don’t seem that interested. Eric sees my son staring at them longingly while we wait for my wife and daughter to finish in the bathroom. He slyly sends a [female] handler to chat with us, and a minute later when the last corporate dude is done, she invites us in for a private hangout. We start to go over, but I’m torn whether to wait for my wife and daughter to come out but not wanting to deny my son any time since the characters obviously won’t be able to stay long. Eric probably visited our table an hour ago, but immediately remembers us and recognizes the dilemma, and suggests my son and I spend time with his friends, and he’ll make sure my wife and daughter join us. Sure enough, he spots them before I do, and my daughter is greeted in the lobby and Eric asking her to join him because Ariel was dying to see her again (she had told them that Ariel was her favourite princess). We ended up spending probably 10 minutes in just a little nook with them, chatting and being silly. The actors probably gave up any break time they had between meal sittings to do that for my kids. I could tell a dozen stories like this about the actors there, and my kids will always have a sense of wonder and magic thanks to them.2)?goyteamsix wrote, “I watched Jack Sparrow talking to a kid when the kid started puking everywhere. He said, ‘Too much of the ol’ apple juice eh? Been there myself! Even ran out once!’ All the while, the kid is just projectile vomiting everywhere.FieldMarshallFry commented, “Jack Sparrow has to be one of the most fun to play, you get to act drunk all day.”—Ryman— commented:“I just wanna say that there is a video on YouTube of some meathead trash talking Gaston about how he could beat him in a pushup match.“They go at it, meathead gives up, and Gaston cranks out a few more one-handed pushups just to rub it in.“Talk about character.”3)?tekclash wrote, “I couldn’t even get the zombies at Halloween Horror nights to break character. Asked one where the restroom was and he flung his arms in the proper direction and grunted. Pretty hilarious.”4)?Darling-Jess wrote, “A face performer broke character for my husband and me. I won’t say which park, but we took a trip to Disney about two months after our infant son died. He was our first. Our entire nursery was Neverland/Peter Pan themed. We always wanted to take him to Disney, have him meet Peter. Well, he couldn’t. I got a memorial tattoo, an exact replica of my son’s hospital ink handprint, and we got a picture of Peter Pan with the tattoo. We were alone with him and his handler. I tearfully explained the situation before asking him to pose with my arm. He took lots of photos with my tattoo and us. And afterward he hugged me tight, told me he was proud of me, and god bless us, and he was so so sorry for our loss. It was amazing and emotional, and I’ll never forget that Peter Pan was proud of me for finding the strength to keep on living. It honestly meant the world. I’m so glad he broke character. I’ll always treasure those photos and that memory.”5)?elee0228 commented:“Awesome question. I don’t work at a park, but I took some time to look through some older threads for some relevant responses to get the discussion going.“/u/Theblkjedi said here:“At the mouse we had a kid who had a check list shirt on. On it said Darth Maul (?) and Darth Vader (?). Then the last one said Beat Cancer (?). The kid was six years old. Then I’m told backstage that the parents wanted to do something special for him in the show. But my director couldn’t find a spot in the show where this special moment would work. So we finished the show (Jedi training academy) and set up a meet-and-greet with the kid. I get out there and this kid’s whole family is at the greeting area, I mean everyone. So I hear ‘Ok, champ, you ready!’ Kid replies, ‘Yup.’ He pulls out this pill and swallows it, and the family breaks down crying! The kid yells, ‘I’m a real Jedi!’ Come to find out the kid took his last chemo pill that eradicated his cancer in front of us. He waited all morning to show us that he was brave and a true Jedi. We were all holding back tears.”“/u/in_the_vortex said here:“I worked at Club Disney for the brief time it was open. We had codes we used on the radio headsets that were coordinated with character names. For instance, code Baloo meant there was blood that needed to be cleaned up immediately.“One day, I’m taking a stroll around the club to check on things when I spot a small boy about two years old taking a massive dump right in the middle of the play area. He sees me, starts to cry, and runs away with no clothing on the lower half of his body. I get on the radio and can’t think of what to say as we hadn’t discussed a code for ‘human feces in the play area and naked kid running around.’ So I just called, "I have a code Pooh situation in the play area and Piglet’s on the loose."“/u/[deleted] said here:“I was sitting with a group of guys by where Mickey and Minnie get dressed. When they came out, the guys started cat-calling Minnie. The guy that was Mickey said, in a perfect Mickey voice, ‘If you look at my girlfriend again, I’m gonna pop ya!’”6)?CoolDimension wrote this:“ALLEGEDLY, one day, Goofy’s shift was over, and he was trying to walk to the back area to cool off, when a very angry mom started yelling at him because he ‘ignored her son’. In reality, he couldn’t see them as he was turning to walk away.“The lady then called him racist, and said that Goofy was ignoring them because they were black. Goofy turned around to greet the child and signed his autograph book, and then turned to the mom, and slipped up his sleeve to quickly point at his own black skin underneath before walking away.“[EDIT: A few people commented that this isn’t how the costume works, and that the sleeves aren’t possible to pull up under the gloves. It could be a baloney story, but this is just what I heard from my friend who worked at Disney, alongside a bunch of our other classmates from our performing arts school at the time.]”7)?TheRedAlenader wrote, “I chaperoned a gentleman with special needs to Disneyland as part of a group tour. When our group of special-needs individuals met the characters, they were all absolutely incredible with our people. Minnie flirted with my friend I took, Merida flirted with me. But the best of all was Cruella De Ville. Normally she insults whoever she takes pictures with. With us she managed to stay in character but not say anything actually mean. She said to one guy with a cane, ‘Ah, I like your cane. You can use it to beat little ones out of your way.’”49.?“Ladies, What’s Your Nice Drunk Girl Story?”1)?MoonSearcher wrote this:“I spotted a drunk girl around 10 p.m. while I was biking home and stopped to see if she was okay as she was alone outside a club. We talked for a bit, and she told me she was very hungry, so I gave her my leftover donut.“She was SO happy. She teared up, hugged me, and gave me a lighter as a parting gift. I don’t smoke, but I still have it because it was a really nice memory.”2)?centi_folia wrote, “I was getting out of the bar when an unknown girl looked me in the eyes, said, ‘Tu es magnifique’ and kissed me on the forehead.”3)?thehistoryofwomen wrote this:“Oh, I have SO many of these. Drunk girls are truly the best.“The one I remember most was something so simple. I had gone out for a night out with my guy friends, and I had tried a new highlighter that day. Obviously, my guy friends noticed absolutely nothing about my makeup, but when I stepped into the bathroom, these two girls immediately were like ‘OMG [Oh, my God], you’re beautiful. I love your highlighter.’ and proceeded to talk about how pretty they thought I was.“It was something so simple and insignificant, but it stuck out to me because I had tried something new, and these drunk girls recognized me for it. Really, nothing is quite like an ego boost that you didn’t expect, haha.”Inkishworks commented, “Drunk girls in the bathroom is the sisterhood we all need.”4)?dream_bean94 wrote this:“I was waiting to use the single bathroom at a dive bar when this old guy started creeping on me aggressively. The woman in the bathroom overheard, opened the door just a sliver and pulled me in with her.“She stood in there while I peed next and then escorted me out of the bathroom, past the creeper, and back to where my friends were sitting.”5)?DisloyalMouse wrote this:“I was sitting outside a bar getting some air. A random girl came up to me and said she’d seen me sitting alone and was worried that I was sad or upset and wanted to know if I wanted to have a smoke and talk to someone. I told her I was ok, but would happily have a smoke and a chat. She gave me a cigarette we chatted some rubbish for a few minutes — she was rambling/slurring a bit — then she went back inside.“Even though I was totally fine — well, maybe feeing a little sick — it warmed my heart that a random stranger was looking out for me. I almost cried.” 6)?rosylux wrote, “I was sitting on a stool in a bar struggling with my heel strap that had gotten loose. It was dark, and I couldn’t find a dignified angle. This drunk girl silently reached over and fixed my shoe for me before walking away.”7)?taetertots wrote, “I was drunk in a club and went to the bathroom. Proceeded to talk to myself looking in the mirror. Something along the lines of ‘whoa, I’m pale. I kind of look like a ghost. Sometimes I forget how pale I am and then I look in a mirror and get surprised. Whoa.’ Turned around and found myself in a sea of black girls who promptly laughed their asses off at me, fixed my hair, and then safeguarded me from creeps the whole night. 10/10 not entirely sure how that turned out so well.”50.?“Women Who Pursued an Investigation for Sexual Assault, What Led You to this Decision and What was the Process Like?”1)?gothbambi wrote:“I’m so so sorry all of you have gone through this :( *hugs* You are so brave. Thank you.“My story luckily was much more positive than some of the ones here. I had a stalker and he was also stalking a woman I didn’t know at all, but I found her on FB [Facebook] and we connected and started the police report together.“When I called the police station, I had no idea what to say or who to talk to. I just said this guy is following me and he’s talked openly about seriously stalking another woman and I don’t know what to do.“They immediately passed me on to a female officer. She kept saying to me that it wasn’t my fault and I had done nothing wrong. I kept wanting to minimize what was happening and saying that he ‘hadn’t touched me or anything’ or that ‘I didn’t want to overreact.’ But she kept firmly assuring me that it didn’t matter if I was ‘overreacting,’ they could look into it and keep me anonymous.“A week later I get a phone call from the police saying that five other woman had complained about this person who used variations of the same name. I think my call and the other woman’s call was the tipping point where they could take action. They visited his house and scared the sh[*]t out of him. They sent out letters to all the gyms in our city (where he met the women) saying ‘a known male in the area’ was a stalker and had targeted female personal trainers.“I never heard from him again and neither did the other woman. Neither of us pressed charges, but I don’t know about the other three women.“We were both so thankful we decided to speak up even though it was uncomfortable.“Obviously, this was on a much smaller scale than the atrocities that other women have mentioned, but my experience was positive and I would probably contact the police again should another issue arise.“I think it’s really important to share these stories, even the negative ones, because it keeps fuelling the fire to create change and continue pressing for women’s rights and better systems to help survivors of assault and trauma.“I’m so sorry for the other women here who had terrible experiences. Please keep fighting if you can.”2)?thecrocodile44 wrote this:“I wouldn’t have ever reported it if it hadn’t been for my best friend. She knew something had happened, but I wouldn’t tell her what until she dragged me for an ice cream date, which was how we took time to discuss major events in our lives. She listened; she cried; she asked me to go to the police. I didn’t want to; I wanted to forget it happened. She put me in the car and drove me to the police station. She didn’t make me get out of the car; she went and talked to a deputy to see what could be done. About a half hour later, a county cop showed up who was trained to handle such cases, and he asked if I wanted to talk. A few hours later, I found myself sitting there as he told me they’d be heading to the guy’s house and the investigation would begin. Turns out that was the easy part.“The deposition tore me apart. It was like reliving it all over again. I remember getting out of the room when it was done, running down the hallway to the restroom, and throwing up. My best friend sat beside me on the floor and cried with me. It was absolutely awful.“The court case dragged on for over a year and a half as the guy’s lawyer kept putting off the hearings, etc. Finally, after realizing he was facing a trial by jury and would more than likely be convicted anyway as there was so much evidence against him (including a text message stating he’d done it and saying I’d deserved it), the guy plead guilty. He was sentenced to five years, I believe; he served only a little over a year.“I guess I was a lucky person; the cops never once questioned my report, even when they found out the guy and I had a history/had dated. They took everything seriously and handled everything very professionally. The deputy I originally spoke with to report the rape is still very much a figure in my life; he’s an absolutely amazing guy and celebrates milestones in my life with me. He helped my best friend get her foot in the door and she has an amazing law enforcement career now, thanks to his help and him noticing how she was helping me get through the process.”3)?Angelkitty15 wrote, “I thought the guy was my friend. I went two days trying to push it away, make it go away, but I broke down in band and told my professor what happened. She gave me all the resources I needed to get started in pressing charges. I called the local group that helps women who’ve been assaulted and my best friend and went to the hospital to have a rape kit done. They’re not lying when they say that sh[*]t takes five hours. They gave me so much medicine to prevent STDs and pregnancy. It made me so sick and I spent all night trying not to puke it up. I went to the police station the next day and told this large male police officer everything that happened. He asked me for specific positions he used, too. I was so sick that my sweaty hands coated the table I was sitting at in sweat. He started investigating as soon as I left the police station. I also applied for a restraining order and was granted it, but the rapist decided to contest it. It took four months for a court date; they set it for the day before the concert I’d been looking forward to for months, which pissed me off. Seeing him in that courtroom was miserable. In the end the county attorneys decided not to press charges as there was no proof or witnesses…. I would do it all over again even knowing the outcome because f[**]k him. I owed it to myself to try. I know this is choppy; it’s still hard to think about without dissociating.”51.?“What is the Most Wholesome Interaction You had With a Drunk Person?”1)?social-waves wrote, “My friend (straight man) and I (straight woman) were day drinking on a Sunday afternoon. At the next table were two gay guys. The four of us started talking, and we had an amazing time. At some point I mentioned where I work. When we said goodbye, there was no exchange of phone numbers. Later on, my old friend and I were bummed that we wouldn’t see our drinking buddies again. The next day I received an email at my company address from one of them. They were determined to find us, and they were able to remember my company name. The four of us went out again the following weekend. And again and again … for the past two years. One of the new guys, the one who sent the email, has become my bestie.”2)?marileevee wrote this:“At the tail end of a wedding reception in 2017, a woman I’d never met went apesh[*]t over my dress. I felt like I’d worn it enough that summer, so I offered it to her.“We swapped dresses in the bathroom in the reception hall. It was stunning on her.”-give-me-my-wings- commented:“Once a few years back, I ran into a guy who was wearing a t-shirt with my favorite band on it. I offered to trade him shirts. He said no thanks since he didn’t want my purple tank top, and then the ook his shirt off and gave it to me.“I never saw him again, never found out his name, still have the shirt. I was amazed.”3)?Slagathor182 wrote, “A guy said to me, ‘You have freckles! I f[**]king love freckles.’ And it was so genuine. I’d never had anything positive said about my freckles in my life before.”Iamagiraff3 commented, “This is mine but about my nose! I have a nose that has been described as ‘Roman’ and I grew up being very self-conscious about it, so my ‘wholesome drunk person’ moment was a drunk guy slurring, ‘I like your nose! Very pretty,’ and then walking away.”Lazaruslongismybf commented, “I tell my freckled girls ‘a girl without freckles is like a night without stars.’ I’ve always wished that I had them.”sunsociety523 commented, “A woman at a park approached my daughter aged five at the time to tell her how beautiful her freckles were, then pulled her sunglasses off to show my daughter her own cheek freckles. It made me cry because she had really been struggling and we just found a doll with freckles for her, too. It was just really good timing and I’ll never forget it.”4)?crazynekosama wrote this:“I was like 18 and working my first job at a fast food place that was located a couple streets over from the bars. We were open late on weekends so it’s like 1 a.m. and I’m outside the back of the store doing garbages/getting some fresh air.“This drunk girl comes stumbling into the parking lot. Clearly she had been at the bars based on her outfit and how smashed she was. She was visiting from out of province and her stupid friends had ditched her (or she wandered off you never know with drunk people) and she couldn’t get in touch with them.“She had literally no idea where she was but she saw our fast food sign and headed towards it because she loved the burgers we had and she really wanted one. Because, drunk girl.“She was very friendly and very drunk and at this point my manager comes to the back and is like ‘Who the f[**]k are you talking to?’ He, being the [*]ss he was, was all ‘We can’t just feed random drunk girls who show up at the back door.’“So once he went back to his office to do f[**]k all I snuck her into the girl’s change room and then I got her a burger and some water. She tried calling her friends a few more times, no luck. So I called her a cab since she had no idea what the cab number was (this was like 2007ish). I then snuck her back out to get the cab.“We became temporary bff’s and she had the ‘best burger ever’ and my manager was none the wiser.”5)?heartsighed wrote this:“It was Halloween and I was at a college bar with friends. Some guy dressed like George Washington was trying to get drunk me to leave with him by pulling me out of the bar. I’m short and this guy was really tall, so even though I remember saying ‘no, thanks’, off we went.“Some guy in a blue Morphsuit appeared out of nowhere outside of the bar, pretended he knew me, and walked me back inside to my friend to get me away from George Washington. It was so nice! A total stranger bailed me out of a sketchy situation.”6)?emalyne88 wrote this:“My alcoholic mother was in the ER [Emergency Room] after her third suicide attempt in six months (she was always pretty wasted for her attempts). She sent me home after I had been there only a few minutes. Before I walked away she pulled me close and said, ‘You’re stronger than I am. You can do this. You can kick life’s [*]ss.’“We both struggle with depression and in that moment, I think it was somehow clear to her drunk brain that I could end up in the same position someday. Idk [I don’t know] for sure what prompted it, though. Maybe she thought she would die and those would be her last words to me. Either way, no matter how good/bad my relationship is with my mother, I will always hold those words close to my heart. And I’m trying my best to kick life’s [*]ss.”52.?“After Hearing About Many Bad/ Awkward/ Embarrassing First-Time Stories, I Genuinely Want to Know: Did Any of You Have a Good First Time Having Sex? What Made It Good?” 1)?baileythedove wrote this:“Mine was pretty good. I was eighteen. I waited a couple years into dating before I was really ready so when it happened, I was the one to initiate. It was a good experience because my partner asked me if I was sure before and periodically asked me if I was okay during. And since I was so comfortable with him, I really didn’t experience much pain at all.“We’re still together six years later, but I find the first time to be a fond memory.”2)?eloquentsnark wrote this:“I had a very positive experience.“We had made out topless and fingered/hand jobs already so we were pretty comfortable with each other.“We planned it on a day we both had off school (we were 17)?and my parents would be at work.“We used the guest room of my parents’ house because it had a bigger bed than my bedroom. LOL.“We made out a ton and gradually removed each other’s clothes and he performed a lot of foreplay, so I was very ‘ready.’“No pain and we kept checking in with each other throughout the entire act: ‘Are you okay? Was that okay? Are you comfortable?’ It didn’t last long, as most first times don’t but it was very positive.“We have been together 13 years and married for three years now :)”3)?Luminaria19 wrote, “It didn’t last very long, but I consider my first time good. There was no pain or discomfort, and we both had a good laugh about how quickly he came. Got ice cream afterwards and then gave it another go, which was a more enjoyable experience all around.”4)?Feather-Light wrote this:“My first time was amazing. I had all my firsts with my partner. We met on an online game and didn’t meet in person for a few years. And that cheesy affection and love we had had for each other all that time online just came naturally when we were in person together, too. I waited for, and found, the exact right person. He is so patient, supportive, and loving. Our strong communication lets me explain and manage my anxiety; naturally, I was very nervous about losing my virginity. Not that I was a prude or anything. And certainly not that I wasn’t sure this was the right person to give it to. But my vagina often was too tight when I’d use a dildo during our video calls hahaha! I often tried to push past pain, which he would chide me for. Those early experiences helped me really understand that I was projecting my feelings on him, like feeling he’d be disappointed if I wasn’t relaxed enough, wet enough, couldn’t tolerate pain, couldn’t even have pain-free sex, period.“He never pressured me. Never initiated, even! He’s very much so a person who is genuinely happiest making me happiest. Very, very rarely does he even request anything for himself. But his nature of not initiating wasn’t an issue! I was and still am more than happy to jump the guy each day. So of course I initiated my first time. It was stressful because like I feared, penetration was painful and difficult. That got better over time and entirely went away by the fourth time! The first time was stressful, and I tried to not feel disappointed in myself when I had to take him out of me and take a break before trying again. He always cuddled me and stroked my back and sides and was just so loving and reassuring that I could take as much time as I wanted, that I could stop anytime. I think it took the fourth attempt for me to feel like I could take more than two inches. I was always on top so I could control our pace. That’s still my absolute favorite position. Admittedly, it took maybe fifteen minutes of trying to tough out the bearable pain before my body finally relaxed and opened up somehow and I didn’t hurt. That was a huge relief. And that was when I knew that I could do it: have pain-free sex. I sucked at riding that first day of course but somehow, I was able to make him cum! That was so exciting!! And disappointing because I was looking so forward to feeling that moment in me and I literally couldn’t tell inside me, haha.“My first time was amazing. The best time. It was the instant I felt so proud of myself that I knew my body was normal and not defective, that I could enjoy penetration beyond just an emotional level, that I could feel physical pleasure with penetration, and that my pussy could make the man I loved cum, even with my absolute noob [inexperienced] riding skills! That was an awkward, stressful, and wonderful day I cherish.”5)?Angry-unicorns wrote, “I wouldn’t have wanted mine any different. We had been dating for three months and had done pretty much everything else. (I was 23 and a virgin; he was 25 and not a virgin.) It was unexpected and we had fooled around so much that night that he had already cum twice. Third time we just started making out again, my hormones got the best of me, and I said, ‘F*ck it, just go in,’ and he asked if I was sure before he did. It was amazing, no pain and very intimate and arousing. Directly afterwards he told me that he wanted it to be more special and planned out for me and I was like ‘What are you talking about?’ He said he wanted it to be with candles and music and I said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous; this was perfect but wait a second….’ Then I turned on some fairy lights hanging on the mirror next to the bed. We both had a good laugh about that. Two years later, and the sex has only gotten better. Our wedding is in two days.”53.?“What is the Birthday Gift that Surpassed Even Your Highest Expectations?”1)?Its_RJ_Bitch wrote, “My girlfriend at the time made me a photo album of (almost) everything we did together since I met her. It was really cool. I thought she was just gonna get me a giftcard. I really like sentimental gifts.”2)?Important_Emotion wrote, “My sixth birthday at McDonald’s. My parents saved for months so I could invite everyone in my class. Everyone talked about that for months. That was in the early 1970s when going to McDonald’s was a treat.”3)?GlutensRevenge wrote, “I grew up poor and always wanted to go to Disney on Ice but never got to go. I told my then bf [boyfriend] about it and for my birthday he surprised me by taking me to Disney on Ice! He didn’t tell me until we pulled into the parking lot of the coliseum. I cried. And then he freaking bought me a shirt, light-up princess crown and we took a picture with Ariel. Best. Gift. Ever. I was just as excited as all the screaming little girls around us. Lol!”4)?Spookyredd wrote this:“My birthday is three days after Christmas. I NEVER had a birthday party growing up.“I’m a full-grown woman and last year for my birthday my husband brought me to Chuck E Cheese. Best birthday ever!”5)?BeccaAmethist wrote this:“This wasn’t a birthday gift, but before I went to live in Japan (we weren’t sure if I would move away permanently, and Japan was a good 24-hour trip away from my old home), my aunt invited me to have tea with her, to say goodbye. She doesn’t have a lot of money and she asked me what I wanted to have before I left, so I told her I’d write her a letter and all I wanted was her to write me back. She teared up and told me I’d grown up to be such a good girl, despite everything I had going against me. She then proceeded to lead me into her storage/laundry room, opened up a drawer and handed me her engagement pendant. ‘I can’t give you much: You know I own very little,’ she said as she held my hand with the pendant in it tightly so I couldn’t give it back, ‘and I know how much you loved Johan. So I want you to have this.’ (Johan is her late husband; he died when I was 11.) I put it on a necklace as soon as I got home and I haven’t taken it off ever since. Every time I see her now, I can tell she enjoys me wearing it and I never pass on the opportunity to tell her how much I love it.“Oh and we did write letters while I was away, and continue to do so even now.”6)?cannon85 wrote this:“My now wife sent me a package with a hoodie that matched hers, birthday cake mix and candles, and a few other things on my birthday. It was one of the worst years of my life. That single package brought me from ending my life to marrying her. We lived in different states at the time and were not dating. We had broken up a while before that, and she moved away.“I got sent to her town for work training, it happened to be her birthday so I decided to say hi. We walked around a mall for a few hours, talked, and said goodbye. I got the package and decided in that moment as I cried that I needed to spend my life with her. We are now married for five years and have a seven-month-old. Life can be pretty awesome sometimes.”54.?“Make-a-Wish Workers of Reddit, What’s the Weirdest Wish You’ve Seen a Kid Ask For?”1)?Veronica wrote, “Lurker answering because I was a volunteer wish granter for a few years! A fellow volunteer that I worked with had a small child say that for his wish he wanted to eat at McDonald’s or be on TV with a frog :) When the kids are that small, and don’t understand, you work with the parents to determine the wish. I think that 90% of the wishes I worked on ended up being a trip to Disney World (with a stay at Give Kids The World, an amazing organization). I always wanted to help with a shopping spree wish, or a bedroom redo wish, but most kids pick Disney since the whole family gets to have fun. I did it for only a few years, as it was tough in a lot of ways.”AMetalWorld commented, “It is so unbelievably depressing that a child as young and innocent as to truly want nothing more in the world than to be on TV with a frog can be struck with a terminal disease so debilitating as to warrant a Make-A-Wish mission. Why is the world so cruel and uncaring? F[**]k, man … I need a drink.”Yinzer63 commented, “My daughter was three when she made her wish and they sent me, my sister, and four kids to Disney World for a week, at Christmas. Give Kids the World was AMAZING! They thought of everything. All we had to do was get on the plane. They had all the machines and bandages and supplies I needed in the townhouse when we arrived. It was very memorable and something none of us will forget. God bless Make a Wish.”ZN199 commented, “I stayed at Give Kids the World around 2007 as a leukemia patient. It was an absolutely amazing place, but man, it was rough. Since I was a kid at the time I didn’t know this, but there was at least one occasion where my mom went and broke down in private, away from us kids, because by looking at some of the other kids, she knew it was the family’s ‘last trip together.’ A sad thing for sure, but still, it’s an amazing place.”2)?kcvngs76131 wrote this:“Not a grantor, but still marginally involved in Make a Wish. There was a kid in my hometown who wanted to be a musician and always intended to join the marching band in high school/university. He unfortunately became sick enough to receive a wish, and his wish was to experience band camp. He got to play the sax when he was able, and marched around in basic blocks and even got his own place in the drill we were learning. No one was sure why he’d choose such an activity, where it’s ridiculously hot, extremely physical, and mildly soul crushing when you get called out for a mistake. But he loved it.“It honestly kind of put the whole band camp thing into perspective for us. We always bitched about it before, but seeing how that little boy lit up whenever he was able to play some of the notes in ‘Live and Let Die’ really just made us rethink why we did it. It was for the love of music and friendships forged on the field in 100° heat. The entire band attended his funeral when he died a year later, including those of us who had graduated already. At the next home game, our band director let halftime run long because he allowed the students who knew him to play ‘Taps’ and hold a moment of silence. He would have been a freshman in high school this year.”55.?“What Do You Actually Think of Russians?”1)?sparrow125 wrote this:“I lived in Russia for two years. Much like any group of people, some of them were great, some of them were terrible, most were somewhere in the middle.“In my experience, Russian families really helped each other out (and I’m using families loosely — I met many people who considered good friends to be their brother or sister). I went to a lot of family-style get-togethers where everyone brings something (meat, chips, beer, etc.) and everyone sits around a fire and talks and talks and talks.“I really liked how everyone seemed to have a camp (or dacha [country house]) and there was a lot of importance on getting out in nature and growing some vegetables and taking time out of living in a city.“Politics was difficult — protesting the way I was used to in the United States wasn’t tolerated. It was difficult to talk to people I considered friends and hear some really offensive views about people from different cultures or sexual orientations, but I met some open-minded people as well.“Russian hospitality meant I ate a lot of great food — any home I went to, I was treated to a meal or a snack with tea. Though there is a lot of drinking booze, I was more surprised by the amount of tea consumed, which seemed to be constant.”2)?LA_Nail_Clippers wrote this:“I work with a bunch of Russians here in the US. Half are college educated and either immigrated as children during the fall of the USSR or during college years. The other half are janitors, mechanics, or construction workers who came over as adults. My exposure is certainly biased, though, as most of the ones who left during the USSR period were religious (Jews and Catholics) and college educated so they were brought to the US or Canada under asylum programs.“Culturally, they’re very interesting. They have lots of love for their long-term Russian culture but a lot of dislike for the politics in the last 120 years. They’re distrustful of most governments and institutions but also recognize their usefulness and necessity as much as that can be a contradiction.“They adore children and families. They are frugal, almost to a fault. They love to eat and drink and invite others to drink.“They don’t have a culture of healthfulness — so many smokers and alcohol abusers, even second-generation people.“As far as I can tell, none of them has a desire to ever return to Russia, but they want their kids to grow up learning about it and speaking Russian. They value education — especially encouraging kids to take opportunities for college and graduate studies that they didn’t have.“Overall, good people. I’m glad I’m exposed to them at work.”3)?Joshk11 wrote, “Personally, I think Russians are some of the toughest sons of guns around. They frolic in snow, fight bears, and are afraid of nothing. That’s just my American opinion.”4)?skaliton wrote this:“The average Russian is just like the average people anywhere else. I’ve met quite a few and there really isn’t much else to say. Uh, their culture is a bit different than in the West but it is ok.“Before anyone asks, I do have some stories but they really aren’t anything more interesting than this: One of my friends asked me to review her paper before she submitted it for a class (I’m a native English speaker) and rather than just email it to me we met at a coffee shop and I’ve never had someone try to offer me more coffee/tea and various cakes in 20 minutes than she did.“[…] I am entirely aware that isn’t an entertaining story. I intentionally left out the part where a bear came in and she shot it with her AK-47 while drinking vodka.”5)?RadleyCunningham wrote, “I love the Russians whom I have met, and I hope the day comes in my lifetime when I can party with these people without our governments building a wall of prejudice between us.”56.?“Ex-Homophobes of Reddit, What Completely Changed Your Views on Homosexuality?”1)?Sir-weasel wrote this:“We had a gay neighbour. They came to a communal BBQ. I started a bit of jokey banter and his boyfriend turned out to be a comedy genius… He wiped the floor with me, which completely broke the ice.“He also beat me drinking, which was impressive considering I was in my 20’s and at peak British drinking form.“Both guys were open, honest, and up front, which helped dispel some myths I had in my head (e.g. all gay men want to convert straight guys, etc.).“My wife and I are still friends with both of them even though their relationship didn’t work out.”2)?SkySprite wrote, “In my defense, I grew up in a really sheltered home (mom super religious, and dad who just hated homosexuals, or anything that went against him) Even my siblings — five of them, all older than me — made homosexuality seem to be something similar to any terrible thing that a kid could think of. I was terrified of anyone who was homosexual. However, my view changed when I found out one of my friend’s friends was homosexual. She was super friendly, and we talked about a lot of stuff. It was an eye opener, and I grew to be more accepting of others’ differences. My mom has become a little more open-minded, but I think they will always believe what they believe.”3)?cookiekiller47 wrote, “My parents are from Afghanistan and I (lesbian) came out to them two weeks ago. It was the scariest conversation of my life, but it worked out so well! My dad said he wished he knew earlier because he hated how much I was suffering alone.”4)?Green-Synth wrote, “My dad used to be a homophobe because he was coming from a very homophobic mentality, just like all of Eastern European and ex-communist countries. Anyways him moving to an EU country and getting to know people of the LGBT community changed his views on homosexuality and accepting them with open hands. The most notable example was a gay student he had, whom I happened to met when I was six, and still to this day I remember him as the sweetest guy EVER! The most recent scenario was of an exchange gay student from Spain, and my dad was the only teacher to accept and even support him while the other teachers were pretty much douchebags towards him just because he was gay….”5)?ICantThinkOfNameHelp wrote this:“I had a friend […] in middle school [who] wasn’t overtly homophobic (wouldn’t hang out with him if that were the case), but he held those beliefs for most of our friendship. That was, until he fell in love with Brooklyn Nine-Nine.“He realized that Captain Holt, an openly gay captain in the NYPD, was just a normal and loveable person. He realized that all those myths he was told as a child aren’t true.“You could argue that Brooklyn Nine-Nine isn’t as funny as The Office or Parks and Recreation, but I believe it’s the most progressive out of the three. I doubt that any other sitcom would’ve influenced him as much as Brooklyn Nine-Nine; that’s why it’s my favorite.”57.?“What’s One Thing You’ve Done When Drunk, that You Would have Never Done Sober, and You have No Regrets?”1)?iaintnoporcupine, “I emailed my favorite guitarist a video of me playing one of his songs. It worked out well. He Skyped me and showed me how to play the parts I was having trouble with.”2)?a-big-ol-throwaway wrote, “Nearly got into a scrap with a grown man harassing my friend outside a house party (as a then-15-year-old girl whose friend was also a 15-year-old girl). Told him to f[**]k off, he decided to start mouthing off to me by saying I must be a ‘man’ because of my height (5’11” and a good few inches taller than him). Told him I wasn’t a man, but I ‘will beat your [*]ss like one.’ A couple others intervened before anything could escalate further. Not even a year later I found out the guy got arrested for rape. My only regret is that I didn’t actually beat his [*]ss that night.”58.?“Men of Reddit: What is the Nicest Compliment You’ve Received?”EvanCathy439, “‘You look just like my future husband.’ My crush said this after I confessed to her.”59.?“Kids Who Saw a ‘Free Candy’ Van, Did You Get Your Candy?”carraohoyt wrote, “Not exactly what you asked for, but one of my friends traveled around quite a bit when she was younger. When she was five years old or so and living in some eastern European country, she was traveling to her dad’s workplace all alone when a man stopped her and asked if she wanted some treats. Being the bright child she was, she agreed to it. She ended up going back to the stranger’s place where he did in fact give her some tea and cookies. Afterwards, he took her to her dad’s place and immediately left. She told her dad about it, to which he responded, ‘Please don’t ever tell your mom this.’ My friends still make fun of her from time to time about it.”60.?“What’s the Most Wholesome Thing Your Significant Other Does?” 1)?DreadfullyBIzzy wrote, “Every single night since we moved in together, he takes off my glasses for me. I tend to forget to take them off and fall asleep, which ends up in bent frames. So every night as I’m falling asleep he takes them off. We’ve lived together five years now, and the only nights he hasn’t done it are the nights he was out of town.”Tweety_ wrote this:“My SO [Significant Other] does this, too, but not with glasses.“On our first night together, we were talking before going to sleep so I had kept my hearing aids in. As I started dozing off, he gently took them out, turned them off and put them on the nightstand.“Even half asleep, this was extremely touching to me. I got my first hearing aids at 14, so my parents never took them off for me. Previous boyfriends didn’t do it either, and one even looked away when I took them off to change batteries.“I think the reason I was so moved was because not only was it a genuinely sweet and caring gesture, but it showed how comfortable he was with this part of me.“He still does it every night to this day.”2)?srb221 wrote, “So many things lol … if he’s lying on my lap or chest and wants head scratchies, he’ll silently take my hand and plop it on top of his head. When we are in the car or standing at a concert or other things like that, he will hook his pinky finger through mine and we’ll ‘hold pinkies’ instead of holding hands. He loves to be the little spoon, and right before he falls asleep in that position he will grab my hand and wrap my arm all the way around front of him and cuddle it like a kid with a stuffed animal. Whenever he leaves his house, he says goodbye to his dogs and tells them when he’ll be back. Every. Single. Time. I love that last one so much tbh [to be honest].”3)?nosiriamadreamer wrote this:“I’m hard of hearing and recently got a cochlear implant after wearing hearings aids for my entire life. Well, the cochlear implant comes with three rechargeable batteries and each lasts for only eight hours. This means I’m discreetly changing them when it starts dying, and last night he asked me if I would like more batteries and a second charging station so I’ll never run out.“Guys, I’ve had some great boyfriends but NONE of them have ever offered to buy me extra (expensive) accessories to alleviate the stress of being profoundly deaf. He researches hearing loss, comes with me to my appointments and asks my audiologist questions, is earning sign language, and is educating his friends so I can feel more included.”4)?spohiamaris wrote this:“I’m horrible at plugging in my phone at night and it makes the next day frustrating when my phone dies in the middle of the day. Now he plugs my phone in every night before bed. Last night he was really drunk and forgot to plug in his own phone, but he still remembered to plug in mine.“Also, I have anxiety and sometimes it gets worse when my room is really messy. So whenever I’ve had a bad day, he cleans my room while I’m gone so that I come home and don’t feel more stressed that I already do.”5)?Sockbum wrote this:“He catches the spiders in our house in a cup and puts them outside because he knows I don’t like killing things.“He has arachnophobia.”Nellnotsubtle wrote, “D[*]mn. That’s some serious love right there.”Chapter 4: Questions 61-8061.?“What’s the Dumbest Sh[*]T You’ve Ever Cried About?”Trrry wrote this in a comment about someone who cried when her brother forgot to record an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “When I was like six, my brother taped over my Sailor Moon VHS tape. I was heartbroken. For Christmas that year, he gave me like six VHS tapes worth of recorded episodes. Apparently he would wake up earlier than me every morning to record them when they aired reruns. My mom helped him. I haven’t thought about this inlike 15 years and holy sh[*]t all the feels. I should totally call my brother tomorrow and say hello.”bourbon78 commented, “I am attending my big brother’s (age 42)?funeral this morning … it’s those little things that remind me of what a great big brother he really was. Make sure you do call your brother.”62.?“Nurses of Reddit, What’s Something a Patient Can Do for You to Show How Much They Appreciate You?”1)?emr2193 wrote, “Most places have comment cards or a mechanism for feedback — I’d do that as well as flowers/candy/donuts/etc. Those compliments go up to the managers and are considered in decisions about promotions and funding. At least for my place of work, compliments go in your ‘permanent file’. Also be sure to visit later! The work can get you really down, but seeing someone who’s thriving is just the best.”Brancher commented:“To add to this … and this is f[**]king HUGE … you will most likely get some form of follow-up survey about your hospital stay (HCAHPS). When you fill this out, in the comments section NAME YOUR NURSES and comment about what they did for you that you appreciated.“Nothing will catch the hospital admin staff’s attention more than feedback from HCAHPS directly naming staff who did outstanding work.“Source: I am that staff who looks at this stuff.”quack–quack_moo commented on “be sure to visit later”: “Yes! My daughter went through cancer treatment at age four: We were at the hospital/clinic A LOT. We try to visit our nurses whenever we have a follow-up appointment because it’s so important to them to be able see her thriving and growing up (and all of her gorgeous hair).”AnyelevNokova commented, “YES. Formal positive feedback is so rewarding but incredibly rare. A couple dozen donuts will be destroyed by the entire unit and gone before the shift is even halfway done; flowers, we’ve got lots of them. But positive comment card/phone surveys can have a real, tangible impact on our unit staffing and wages. Please please please do the surveys — I know they’re a PITA [PAIN IN THE [*]SS] and take time out of your day, but if you had some stellar nurses and/or techs, it makes a big difference. Doctors get the spotlight most of the time when, if it’s inpatient, nurses and techs are the frontline providing 90% of the care and advocating on your behalf.”KatieCashew commented, “Try to remember specific names for this. The nurses for my first labor were absolutely amazing. I went back the week after being discharged with a huge bouquet of roses and a thank-you card for the nurse’s station. I wrote the card for the nurses in general because I cycled through several shifts before finally giving birth. At the nurse’s station they asked me for specific names, so they could give credit.”corisande commented, “Yes! My husband is a nurse, and it makes a huge difference when patients write out a hospital-provided thank-you card, call management to mention their good experience (and name the nurses involved), or come by to show that they’re doing well after treatment. : ).”2)?EnormousMonsterBaby wrote this:“My mom is an RN, and she loves when patients write heartfelt cards or letters to her! Also, if you are given a chance to review/provide feedback/comment cards, I know a lot of places really value that, and you can call out some of the MVPs by name if you know them! Flowers or food/treats (pastries, a box of chocolates, etc.) are also a good choice.“Edit: I assumed that this was an outpatient setting, but looks like OP [Original Poster] is talking about hospital nurses! I know some hospitals are kind of strict about flowers, but most outpatient clinics aren’t, so just make sure to check with your hospital’s policy before you bring flowers to a loved one/nurse in the hospital because there are concerns over the mold and potential for infection.”Damn_Dog_Inappropes wrote, “I wrote my doctor’s boss an awesome letter of appreciation for my doc. And my doctor was so touched by it, he showed his whole family! He told me his sister teared up reading it.”3)?thehotdog wrote this:“This works great in schools, too. I taught middle school for 11 years (music and technology education) and I would make every kid write a business-style letter but write it to an adult in the building who had helped or meant something to them. Print, sign, and I’d have them file them in the person’s folder.“At teacher appreciation week, I would distribute the letters to teachers (only thing anyone did for Teacher Appreciation Week). TEARS TEARS TEARS. Kids would write things they would never say to the person. I saw some surreal transformative letters kids wrote that would make the most hardened person cry.“A simple gesture of just a few paragraphs meant so much to the teachers/staff. So many teachers had scrapbooks full. I did have to bribe some kids to write a letter to a less popular teacher, and I got exactly 7 in 11 years of doing it.“The year I left there was bad blood between the principal and me, but the teachers were all ‘You’re still gonna do the letters, right?’ I did.”4)?dietdiesel wrote, “Being polite and friendly is the number-one thing I can think of. Really just basic manners!”63.?“What’s the Nicest Thing Another Woman has Done for You?”1)?Dtazlyon wrote this:“I was in the bathroom at a bar, and I had just left my abusive, cheating ex-husband. It was rough and very fresh.“After a few drinks I was buzzed, but definitely not drunk. I started getting emotional, so I went to the bathroom for some privacy and to fix my makeup.“I will never forget those girls. They saw me come in and immediately went into ‘OMG, GIRL, WHAT’S WRONG?’ mode. They listened to me for at least a half hour, and I have never felt more genuine support and love. Eventually we had a massive group in the bathroom all just supporting each other … it was truly the nicest and most uplifting thing that ever happened to me.”She added, “That was six years ago. I still think about that night, though. It was really one of those ‘is this actually happening right now?’ moments.”2)?BrokenHaloUseToShine wrote, “After I had a baby, one of my neighbors cooked several homemade meals for my spouse and other kids every day. She also coordinated a list for other neighbors to sign up. This is something I really like to pay forward when I know someone is ill or having a baby. Knowing your family is taken care of is a great relief.”3)?brokenburrito wrote, “A woman once complimented my organisation, demeanor, and perceived intelligence after a meeting where I was representing my ex and his right to receive disability allowance for a rare, but painful, condition. I was only 17, and her going out of her way to encourage me after the appointment stuck with me. The organization that deals with disability payouts is traditionally hard on applicants and she didn’t have to do that.”64.?“Adults, What’s Something Your Parents did Right Raising You?”1)?deadantelopes wrote, “Let me debate with them on why I wanted something/should be allowed to do something and would change their minds if I made a compelling argument.”UnfunctionalFunction commented, “My mom let me do that, too. She would say I could be the lawyer in the discussion, but she was the judge and had the ultimate final decision.”KLWK commented, “I’m happy to hear this because I allow my son to make an argument as to why he should be permitted to do or have something. If he makes a compelling enough argument, I allow it. (And, yes, there are some things that I’ve said, ‘Eh, no, not a good enough reason.’)”2)?paragraphsofparagraphs wrote this:“My mom always made a point of apologizing to us after we had a fight with her and admitting anything she’d done wrong. I remember having one big fight when I was in high school where I threw a complete tantrum and screamed at her. Afterwards, she came upstairs and said, ‘You were right; I was being unreasonable. That was maybe not the most mature way to tell me, but you were right and I’m sorry.’ It made such a difference to know that my mom would actually listen to and respect the things I said, and it made me do the same for her.“It totally baffles me when parents don’t want to apologize to their kids or admit they’re wrong because they think their kids won’t respect them anymore. The fact is your kids already know you’re wrong — they want to know if you know it and if you respect them enough to admit it.”3)?Dapper_Presentation wrote, “They supported my (then) unusual interests. I was into astronomy as a younger kid, and they bought books and telescopes and drove me to/from the local astronomy club at late hours. Later (this was the 1980s), they bought me a series of computers that were pretty expensive for the time and for their income. I’m grateful they supported what I was into.”Andromeda321 commented:“Me, too! I was super into astronomy and props to my parents for my telescope and chauffeuring. They were even kind enough to send me to a life-altering astronomy program in summer when I was a teen, and had unwavering support when things seemed impossible during all my studies.“I start my research postdoc in astronomy at Harvard next week. :)”65. “Men of Reddit: What is the Nicest Compliment You’ve Received?”1)?hot_grills wrote, “A girl I had a crush on told me I had a nice beard a few years back. Needless to say I still have a beard.”2)?Blackspider1111 wrote this:“My friend: Taylor Swift is 6’4".“Me: if Taylor Swift is 6’4” then I’m Beyoncé.“My friend’s girlfriend: You’re one sexy Beyoncé….“Most awkward compliment….”Note by David Bruce: Taylor Swift is 5’10”.3)?SweetCityLady wrote, “Girls, are you listening? Guys want/need compliments just as much as girls do. If you think he looks good or you notice something you admire, no matter how small, for Heaven’s Sake just say it! But be sincere. No bullcrap. I complimented a man on his tie once, and he started wearing it almost every day. God, I love men! I love the way they think and sometimes the way they don’t think. BTW [By The Way], yes, I am a woman.”Hi_Jen, the original poster, commented, “That’s why I (a 19-year-old woman) posed this question as I recently found out through another post (‘men of Reddit: what do you wish women understood about men?’) I made that guys don’t get complimented enough. So I wanted to know what compliments guys have actually received.”3)?EvanCathy 439 wrote, “‘You look just like my future husband, too.’ My crush said this after I confessed to her.”4)?bcnedicts wrote this:“I was on the bus coming home from work and was finishing up the rest of [the anime] Seven Deadly Sins. If you’ve seen the anime, you know that Meliodas is a pervert; and a scene came up where he was groping Elizabeth. She started moaning and I panicked, trying to turn down my screen brightness and volume, but the lady next to me had already saw and heard. She started laughing at me being flustered and embarrassed. I tried to explain ‘It’s not like that!’ and thankfully she understood. She told me her grandson watches anime and is into cosplay or whatever so it’s fine. Then she added, ‘You don’t look like a pervert,’ so I was thinking, ‘Oh, okay, thanks.’”5)?amerkanische_Frosch wrote this:“Professionally: I’m a lawyer, a client told me one day that my nickname in her company was ‘The Magician’ because I could always find a legal solution to their problems, like pulling a rabbit out of a hat.“Personally: This was a long, LONG time ago. I met a woman, dated a few times, went to bed with her. After ‘the main act’ was over and we were cuddling, I was stroking her skin and also sort of giving her a back rub. After a few small noises of pleasure, she said: ‘This must be what heaven is like.’ I have been carrying that compliment around for 40 years.”66.?“Women Who Made the First Move on Your Partner and had It Turn Out Well, What’s Your Story?”1)?oatandham wrote, “I met my fiancé at a bar and immediately was attracted to him. I put my number in his phone and rang myself so I had his. We always joke he didn’t have a choice, but the reality is my partner is quite shy and probably wouldn’t have approached me otherwise. Six years later, we’re engaged to be married next year.”jennisashark commented, “Are you me? I also met my now-fiancé in a bar six years ago, made the first move, and we are getting married next year. Except, I approached him in the middle of a conversation with other people and just joined in. At the end of the night, I asked him to text me that he got home safely and put my number in his phone.”2)?sissy_space_yak wrote this:“I saw his profile on OkCupid, and I sent him a super dumb message. (Basically ‘Dude. We have to hang out.’ Because we had so much in common and should at least be friends.) By pure coincidence, we ended up at the same event an hour later and we’ve been inseparable for the past four years.“I kissed him first, but he said, ‘I love you,’ first. He’s shy.”3)?artichoke wrote, “I was at a house party day-drinking and saw a boy across the room who I thought was gorgeous. Me being bored, intoxicated, and my forward-self walked over as I saw he was leaving and said ‘Hey, you’re not gonna leave here without talking to me, are you?’ Seven years later that gorgeous human is my husband.”4)?Contaminated_Bliss wrote, “I asked out a guy from my gym. It turns out he is gay and now we are best friends!”5)?JellyForTea wrote, “I’d liked him for a while but was too scared to do anything, but then one day I went in for a hug after he walked me to my car after work and I kissed him. It turned out super well and we’ve just had a baby; she’s 1.5 months old now! This guy is the love of my life! Don’t be scared like I was; it could be the best thing you’ve ever done!”6)?lilbitchybitch wrote, “I think I made the first move on every one of them. I literally just ask ‘Hey, I like you. Do you wanna be my boyfriend?’ Works most of the time.”67.?“How did You Make Someone Cry?”1)?The2kman wrote this:“I heard it second-hand from my mom, but I made my grandfather cry (in a good way).“I had taken him for his monthly doctor appointment in the big city. My cousin just had a baby girl, so he was showing the nurses photos of her exclaiming:“‘I’m a great-grandfather!’“I turned to him and said, ‘You were already a great grandfather.’“He didn’t say anything, but later, Mom told me he cried when he got home.”2)?EnsonAmata wrote this:“I graduated high school. That’s obviously not special, but the year before I graduated, my brother was involved in a serious accident that left him quite crippled. He put off getting his degree/GED, so now he’ll never have it.“My dad cried big time when I walked across the stage.”68.?“Question to Girls, What is the Warmest Thing Your Friend Done for You When You’re Under Pressure?”1)?sazed_sassypants wrote this:“It’s not some big grand gesture, but when I was living with my best friend, they would just bring me tea all the time.“If I was studying for an exam, I’d look up and there’d be a cup of tea next to me. When my then-partner was threatening suicide again and I was crying (don’t worry, we’ve been broken up ages now), my friend would never make me talk about it unless I wanted to, but would just make me a cup of tea.“Even now when they call me, they ask: ‘Have you been drinking tea?’ When we’re together, they know my exact favorite type of tea and how I like it made, and they wake me up with a cup of my favorite brand every morning even when they don’t usually buy that brand for themself (and even I don’t buy it for myself because it’s expensive!).“It’s like a hug in a mug every time :)”2)?Slickxx wrote, “When my ex-fiancé and I split up, it was quite a time in my life; we’d been together nine years, had a house/dog etc., so it was basically a divorce. The day I moved out, my dear granny passed away and I had to find a new job (I worked for my ex’s mom at the time). So basically it was the classic bad-things-happen-in-threes scenario. My best friend and her husband came to my new apartment, brought a basket of magazines, wine, chocolate, the entire series of SATC [Sex and the City] and sat with me for hours while we watched and her husband set up all of my tech stuff for me. It was just such a sweet unexpected gesture on both their parts. Friends are just the best. Big or small gestures, they all mean so much.”3)?Abisoccer1 wrote this:“My first finals week as a freshmen in college, I was stressed out because I did the typical thing that freshmen do … partied too much and was trying to cram everything in last minute study wise.“I mentioned this to my friend Tim, who I’ve known since I was a child and who was at the same university.“I woke up the next morning to a Facebook message with a YouTube link. He went to the music annex in the middle of the night and recorded himself playing one of our favorite Christmas songs and just had a little note saying something like … ‘I know you feel like you broke your brain, but everything is going to be okay.’“You know what? Everything was okay after that.”4)?superokayfriend wrote this:“My best friend is really great with supportive gestures, both big and small, when I need them most. We live in different states now, but she always goes out of her way to show she cares. I recently went through a big breakup, and she sent a very cute taco- and cats-themed care package to my new home. She always includes a thoughtful, handwritten card. It always cheers me up.“When I was younger, it was my dream to travel to India. I’m half Indian but have never been (can’t really afford to travel) and I had focused most of my academic studies on Indian diaspora at the time. I had the opportunity to study abroad in South India for a term and was ready to go — visa and plane tickets in hand. Just before I left, my mother did something that royally f[**]ked it up, leaving me unable to travel and several thousand dollars in debt to the university for a trip I could not go on. A bunch of other sh[*]t happened all at once, and my life became a mess pretty quickly.“My best friend threw me an India-themed ‘party.’ It was just us and one other friend so that I could feel comfortable since it was a touchy subject. It was one of the sweetest and most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me. She made sure I was okay with it and was really careful to be sensitive to my feelings about the whole thing, while still making this really lovely effort to cheer me up.”5)?KahlE001 wrote, “I mean this with all sincerity: They left me alone. They understand that when I’m under pressure that I don’t also want to be social, I want to deal with it and move forward so I can always be present in the moment with whomever I’m with. They get this and they love me all the more for it. They send an occasional text to check in on me, but other than that they leave me be. I do the same for them.”6)?souponastick wrote this:“I have a few really close friends. In all honesty, I’m one of the ones who reaches out and does the gestures more because that’s the way I show my love. I’m more of a ‘shower upper’ than a verbal or physical show of love person. But…“I’m a competitive powerlifter. My best friend has never missed a meet. Even the ones out of state. She doesn’t lift, but she’s taken the time to get to know the rules so she can cheer me on and knows what she’s talking about. It also was funny because there is a brand that is popular only in powerlifting and she saw a dude wearing it at the airport. She asked him if he powerlifted and was able to have a knowledgeable conversation with him about it.“Another friend of mine lives less than a mile from me. We have a place with a daily ice cream flavor and she knows my favorites. Recently she texted me from my driveway and told me to come out and get my ice cream.“I live with another close friend. The moment I cough, I hear him getting up to make me a hot toddy. He makes me every meal since I work more than he does. He’s an avid gamer and the moment I come home he tells his group that he’s gotta get going so he can hang out with me.“Small gestures really are what make me feel loved and they’re all great at them.”69.?“Confucius Once Said, ‘We All have Two Lives, The Second One Starts When You Realise You Only have One’. When and Why did Your Second Life Begin?” DeusExPir8Pete wrote:“So one week after being told I have prostate cancer at 47, I decided I needed to get fitter and healthier, but honestly, my heart wasn’t in it and I was on the verge of depression.“It’s 5:40 a.m. and I am idly drinking tea, before going to the gym but I am 50/50 about going back to bed, and pretty much giving up on life. Scrolling down Facebook, I see the quote ‘A man has two lives, one before he realises he is mortal and one after.’ I stared at it like it was a revelation. Something I can’t describe lifted in me. I drained my tea and went to the gym. Almost exactly one year later I am fit (officially), I have lost 15Kg, with another 13 to go. And six mornings a week I row a 10k on a concept 2 rowing machine, and go to the gym doing weights once a week. My last scan showed the cancer hasn’t changed one bit in a year, and now will be monitored for two years to see if it’s stable. If I do need to have it removed, I am in the best shape for a successful operation.“It’s no exaggeration to say this quote changed my life.”70. “What is the Most Romantic Moment You’ve Experienced in Your Life?”1)?Girlwithasling wrote this:“I noticed in our shared calendar that my boyfriend had made plans simply labeled ‘date night’ three days out of a completely random week. When I asked him about it, he simply said, ‘You’ll see’. One date he took me out to dinner and a concert. Next date it was dinner and a show with a comedian he’d remembered me mentioning I liked once in passing years ago. Another date he took me to watch a classical orchestra live.“Why did he do that? Was it some big romantic gesture? No, he just saw some events he thought I’d like, bought tickets, and plotted it into my calendar without giving a second thought to the fact that they all clustered around the same time or the end result being me being spoiled rotten for like a week straight. Every couple of months a new mystery date night shows up in my calendar. Like it has for four years.“Unsurprisingly, I adore this man. He says he’s unromantic, but I beg to differ.”2)?ditzycup wrote, “A boy I met on a cruise ship and I spent the day cuddling. I remember he stole my phone and refused to give it back until I ate three slices of pizza because I hadn’t eaten all day. When we sat at the table, I noticed he just kept staring at me, but it really hit me because the way he was looking at me was like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. No one had ever looked at me that way before. When I asked him why he was staring, too, he said, ‘Nothing, just admiring the view.’ and grinned and it was the cutest sh[*]t, I kid you not. I’m pretty inexperienced and it was just the smallest thing, but it was super cute. :)”3)?Alexander_dgreat wrote, “A random trip to the beach at night with my then-girlfriend (I’m also female). The beach was deserted so we decided to go skinny dipping, and it turned out there were phytoplankton (glowing blue tiny algae creatures) in the water that night and also a full moon. Everything was just glowing and beautiful. I watched my gf [girlfriend] walk naked into the water that left a glowing blue trail behind her. She then threw some water up in the air and the glowing water just ran down her body making it mildly glitter and look so delectable. We goofed around in the water for a bit splashing each other and making out. We ended up trying to have sex on the shore but sand was getting everywhere so we decided to take it back to the car and the sex was going so great until the police showed up. We had to scramble for our clothes and didn’t manage to get dressed before the cops were by the backdoor smirking and asked what we were doing. They shone light into the vehicle and told us we had to leave. It was a great memory. lol”retropanties commented, “What the hell! This sounds beautiful!”4)?anzuj wrote this:“We were taking a bath together. He knew I am super conscious about my thighs from behind. Suddenly he told me to stand up in front of him, while he was sitting in the other end. I am shaking like a leaf. My cellulite, flabby thighs, huge ass all right there in his face, I felt exposed, ugly, and vulnerable.“So what did he do? He gently poured water on my backside, tenderly washed me with the sponge, took a deep breath and said, ‘My god, you are beautiful’. I crumbled down in the bathtub in his arms in an emotional overflow right there and then.“Never once has a man dedicated such a moment to teach me self-love through his eyes.”Justinee91 commented, “I’m WEEPING. I’m so happy for you!”5)?Landislit wrote, “I was literally stretching on his bed because my back and ribs hurt from martial arts, not trying to seduce him at all, and I was fully clothed. The second I stopped to talk to him more, he was already on top of me and gave me the kiss that everyone speaks of when they get THE kiss. I felt like I was in a movie and for the first time, I felt truly wanted and beautiful at the same time.”6)?mymainmandudley wrote, “My boyfriend at the time and I went on a holiday. We took an overnight ship at one point, and had to get our bags checked, but it wasn’t like at an airport, the security folks manually went through your sh[*]t with you standing there. I was too mortified to show my bag because inside it was one of those Lelo vibrators that come in the black case, which I knew they’d open. So my boyfriend just grabbed my bag and pretended it was his as I stood several metres away and watched on. ‘It’s a vibrator,’ he said. ‘What?’ ‘A vibrator. For sex.’”71.?“What’s the Craziest Way You Ever Got A Girlfriend/Boyfriend?”1)?ridemooses wrote, “I went up one floor too many at a party. I invited the girl who answered the door downstairs to the party. She’s my wife now.”2)?NeedsMoreTuba wrote this:“He pulled up to my dorm to deliver a pizza. I thought his car looked interesting, and so I thought he did, too, so I walked up and got into the passenger’s seat and was basically like, ‘F[**]k what you were doing. We’re going on an adventure!’“And we did. It’s been a really long adventure, over 15 years, married for eight of those.”3)?zazzlekdazzle wrote this:“In this day and age? I directly went up to a guy I somewhat knew and asked him, explicitly and clearly, to go out on a ‘real’ date with me. At the time, neither I nor a single friend of mine had ever been on a traditional date (the closest thing was someone they met online to meet in person).“Everyone just picked-up people in places, macked on their friends, hooked up at parties or with dorm/roommates, plotted ways to get to know their crush and get that person in series of situations where they could stealthfully get to know each other and just grow on each other, etc.“I met this guy and was inclined to take the stealth route, as we had mutual friends and it would offer me an opportunity to slowly ingratiate myself and feel him out. But this time I decided, ‘I know I like this guy, I want to date him, so I am just going to ask.’“Although we ended up together for years and quite deeply in love, I really think it was the novelty of getting asked on a real date by someone he didn’t know that well that got him to say yes. He got all dressed up and everything (dress pants, dress shirt, I think even a tie).“Of course, at the end of the first date, I lost my nerve and just gave him a hug. I had to email him later that night (shaking with nervousness) that I really wanted to kiss him.”4)?othybear wrote this:“Back in high school, this guy and I really liked each other, but we were both shy and neither one of us wanted to make the first move (neither one of us had dated anyone before).“After months of us flirting back and forth, a friend of mine finally blurted out, ‘Are you guys dating yet or what?’“He looked at me and said, ‘If she wants to, sure’.“I said, ‘Sure, why not’.“When we invited her to the wedding several years later, she made sure to tell everyone that we would never have gotten together if it wasn’t for her.”72.?“People Who Live in ‘Vacation Destinations’ (Paris, The Bahamas, Etc.) What is the Most Irritating Misconception About Where You Live?”Double_Joseph commented on a post about tourists in Tokyo, “I was in Tokyo for a week last April. I met some really nice locals and even had dinner with some local girls my age that I met at a bar. Also, Iwent to a sushi restaurant and the chef was so nice and walked us one mile to another spot because he was completely booked for a month.”Pelennor commented on the same post:“When I was in Tokyo, I went out for food late at night and found a tiny little ramen place that was open late.“I sat down in a corner, ordered a bowl of ramen, some gyoza [wonton wrappers stuffed with pork and cabbage — this is a Japanese dish] and a beer. Next minute, a family of locals is inviting me to their table because I looked lonely. I didn’t speak a word of Japanese beyond the basic ‘hello’ type stuff. They didn’t speak any English.“Best. Dinner. Ever.“We shouted, we laughed, they bought me more beer, we hugged and high-fived … oh, man, I still grin stupidly thinking of that one night.“I love Japan. Can’t wait to go back one day.”Octobus_from_space also commented, “Oh, man, I was in Kyoto this year in April and a small gyoza standing restaurant was the only thing open near my hostel one night. I walked in and was greeted with open arms by a few locals and one white guy who acted as translator. Many beers later he wasn’t needed as happy drunkenness needs no translation. Best gyoza I’ve ever had in my life!”73.?“What’s Your Best Experience of Women Being Supportive of Other Women?” 1)?icommentingifs wrote, “My first career job was awful — think two Blackberries (I’m old), 16-hour work days, six days a week. At 21 years old, I was burning out real fast. I went to my boss and basically broke down in front of her six months in. She went into resolution mode and we brainstormed ways to lighten my load and then she said, ‘If you give me a year, hand me your resume and you can go anywhere you want (in this hyper-competitive industry).’ We made a significant automation change that did lighten my load somewhat. Aftert a year, I handed her my resume and told her my dream company. She said, ‘I’ll make a call.’ Two weeks later, we hired three people to replace me and I signed on with my dream job. Worth the hell. And I’ll never forget the woman who gave me a leg up when she could have easily tossed me out for a million other women vying for my position.”2)?Anomnomouse wrote this:“My L&D [Labor and Delivery] nurse and the two OBGYNs who helped me deliver my daughter. Honestly, I don’t even know if I can fully describe it in a way that does them justice.“I had an induction and the woman who ended up being my nurse during the birth was incredible. She helped support me during the worst of the contractions, held my hand, rubbed my back, talked me through how to push, protected my dignity, and celebrated with my husband and me when our healthy baby came into this world. Before her shift was up, she came back to the room to check on us, gave me a hug and congratulated us on our little girl. My OBs comforted me when I thought I might have to have surgery. They stitched me up after I tore, encouraged me, and were so diligent to make sure I had a safe and comfortable delivery.“I will always be grateful to those wonderful women and the level of care and compassion they showed me during my most vulnerable moments.”3)?mymainmandudley wrote, “Once I was out dancing in a club with a guy I knew and his friends. A strange gross dude kept trying to bust a move on me; he was being quite the pest. A female friend of the guy I knew came up to me and discreetly slipped one of her rings on my left ring finger, then waved my hand in front of the gross guy next time he came over. It was all done without words. I was only 19 at the time, about ten years younger than the group I was with. It was a sweet gesture I will always remember.”4)?rachel_bee wrote, “I was sexually assaulted at a music festival. My boyfriend tried to knock the creep off of me, and security kicked my boyfriend out for instigating a fight. I tried to explain the situation, and the fact some creep had his hands up my shirt ‘because he could.’ Security essentially said it wasn’t his problem. Later in the night the girls who were around me all ran up to me to validate my feelings. I kinda felt like I was making a big deal out of it, but they were like ‘no, girl,’ that guy was NOT NICE.”5)?IrritatedMangao wrote, “My best friend once held my hair back when I was eating ice cream on a really windy day.”6)?StunningTrade wrote, “Not necessarily woman related, but one time I fainted in the middle of my airport gate. It was really busy and the boarding just started, but this one girl around my age helped me and stayed with me until I felt good enough to also board the plane. She even bought me a bottle of water and some M&M’s! She was seriously an angel. Never met such a helpful person.”7)?GennyX wrote this:“My two-year-old daughter was throwing a tantrum and letting go of my hand to run out onto the road. I had a lot of grocery bags and was struggling to get her back to safety.“A woman came out of her house and carried some of my bags home with me, so I had one hand that was better able to hold onto my daughter.“She also told me she had a two-year-old who would love to play with her, so some friendships formed as a result.“It was much nicer than all the other people who stood there, watching and judging the situation.”74.?“What Pick-Up Lines have Actually Worked on You — Or What Pick-Up Lines have You Successfully Used on Someone Else?”1)?camelfarmer1 wrote this:“I saw this girl going through Tinder on her phone. I said, ‘I’ve got a tip for your Tinder’ and when she asked what it was, I said, ‘Delete it and go out with me’.“We went on a couple of dates.”Plscanunot commented, “I love how wonderfully normal that ending is.”2)?barackandrollband wrote this:“A few years back I gave a guy I had a crush on but had never actually spoken to a Valentine’s Day card saying that I wanted him to choke me the way the Falcons had choked in the Super Bowl against the Patriots.“We have a cat together now, so that’s about as good an outcome as you can hope for.“Edit: I survived because he’s vanilla, and when he chokes me it’s less ‘Falcons in the Super Bowl’ and more ‘Georgia Bulldogs every year in the most important game of the season.’”3)?lonelypauper wrote, “In the middle of a playful conversation, she says to me, ‘What are you going to do about it?’”dalenaucio commented, “That line, with that tone, and the accompanying look, is a surefire hit on me. If there’s even a bit of playful tension in the air, that phrase will set the spark to the fuse. It really goes beyond merely attractive.”4)?VonHammerstein wrote, “While avoiding a drunk girl at a Halloween party who was stalking me, I ducked behind a group of girls and asked one if she would pretend to be my girlfriend so this other girl would leave me alone. Someone walked up and handcuffed us together with fake handcuffs and we started dating. Now we’re married.”Note by David Bruce: It’s ambiguous which girl he was handcuffed to. I assume it wasn’t the stalker girl.HIstorybuffman commented:“Do you keep handcuffs in the bedroom to remind you of how you met?“The bonus is that if someone walks in and sees them, you can say, ‘Oh, it probably isn’t what you are thinking. That’s how we met!’“Then they will make an even weirder face at you.”5)?GeoSquig wrote, “My ‘greatest’ relationship to date was started when I texted ‘I like food, you like food, want to get some food’… ironically we both ordered shakes and no food. We dated for three years.”6)?eyerollemojii wrote this:“This happened yesterday.“This guy who clearly likes me (has been hitting on me for weeks) was like ‘Hey, you need to hold this,’ as he had his hand curled in a fist, hiding whatever would be in his hand. He then grabs my hand to put whatever it is in my hand, but just ends up uncurling his fist and interlocking his fingers with mine.“I died laughing. It was quite charming.”sonickarma commented:“Reminds me of a time when I was in high school.“This girl that I had been crushing on for months agreed to come over and watch a movie at my house. We were lying on the couch together and she says, ‘My fingers are cold.’“I, in a surprising move of not being a completely clueless idiot, picked up on it right away and held her hand while we finished the movie.“We dated for about six months before she had to move away. Good times.”7)?PegShop wrote this:“A cute 20-year-old walked into the music store I worked at in the late 1980’s, chewing on a straw. I’m normally shy but pulled it out of his mouth and said, ‘May I help you?’“He left his number and ‘let’s split a bottle of champagne’ on the receipt.“I called … after marriage and two kids and 21 years … he died. I wish I had that straw.”8)?deathinactthree wrote this:“A girl I’d been friends with for a while was lightly fretting because she’d been casually dating a guy another town over for a few weeks, and she was supposed to drive down to see him that weekend but she’d decided she didn’t really want to date him anymore and wanted an excuse not to make the trip while she decided how to break up with him.“I said, ‘That’s easy, just tell him you’re going on a date with me instead.’“‘Why would I do that?’“‘Because, hopefully, you’re going on a date with me instead.’“Been 20 years as of last May.”75.?“What are Some Things that Make a Great Older Brother?” 1)?childfree_IPA wrote this:“When I was a kid, I loved my older brother because he’d include me in things with his friends. He’d stand up for me if anyone said something mean or rude. He’d stand up for me against our parents, too, which was pretty wild. He’d spend a lot of time with me one-on-one. We had a lot of inside jokes that we still talk about in our 30s.“As I grew older, I loved my older brother because he looked out for me. He already knew all the bad apples in school and helped guide me away from them. I didn’t like when he tattled on me for getting a ride home from Justin, but I appreciated that he was looking out for me. A couple years later, Justin got in a car accident that was Justin’s fault. No severe injuries, but there were some broken bones.“Now that we’re both adults, I love my older brother for our history, and for understanding how the family is, for not judging me or telling my business when I confide in him, for drinking as much craft beer as I do when we brewery hop, and for always sending me pictures of funny things that happen in his life.“D[*]mnit, now I want to write him a letter.”2)?icommentingifs wrote, “Making an effort. We’re not super close, but he reaches out from time to time and invites me to dinner with his family and it means the world to me.”3)?Letmetellyowhat wrote, “Well, my older brother could whistle. That was the height of how cool he was when I was three. He has kept up the coolness to this day.”4)?beepoboopthrowaway wrote, “I am a 17-year-old female, and my brother is a 20-year-old male. He and I never got incredibly close — at least not in comparison to some of the relationships my friends have with their older siblings. As awful as this sounds, I don’t really miss him even though he’s off at college. Not that I don’t love him (I love him lots!), but at home it’s like he was never there in the first place. He was always in his room, studying or playing video games. I wish as we grew up he’d have been more emotionally available with me and would have spent time one-on-one with me. I know the dynamic is a bit different because I’m a younger sister and not a younger brother, but we never really ‘hung out’ together. Now that I’m older I’m trying my best to make our connection stronger, but it would have meant a lot if he had gone out of his way to spend time with me when we were kids.”76.?“What was the Best Mistake that Happened in Your Life?”1)?ohmylanta04 wrote, “This is gonna sound dark but for me it was an accidental, unwanted pregnancy that ended as an ectopic pregnancy. Don’t get me wrong; it was a f[**]king terrible thing — I was terrified and wouldn’t wish it on anyone BUT for me (after it was over and I was recovering and no longer pregnant), it was the wake-up call that I needed to change my life. I chose to not dwell on it and instead put it in my rear view and chose to think of it as a second chance — pulled myself out of my depression, changed the social circle I was in, stopped partying, became more focused on my goals/job and just generally stopped making the irresponsible decisions I was making at the time and started treating myself with some much needed self-love. It completely changed the trajectory of my life in the best way.”Vistage777 commented, “Rock bottom can be a solid foundation to build on.”2)?Millysmama wrote, “I had my son at 15 and believe me, that baby flipped my life UPSIDE DOWN. Luckily, I had an amazing family that was able and willing to help support us. He is now 22 and this year graduated college (w/ honors) from an elite, private art school and is living his dream of traveling and photographing the world. For Mother’s Day, he sent me a card that said, ‘Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. From your most expensive mistake.’ We had a good laugh at that one! I’ve done a lot of things wrong, but he is one thing I definitely got right.”3)?darkbluedarkbluedark wrote, “I got excessively drunk one night and broke some rules at my strict Catholic college and was so angry at my punishment that I applied and got in to one of the best schools in the country as a transfer student. If I hadn’t been a drunk idiot, I would have been really complacent and stayed there.”77.?“What Simple Thing in Life Always Brings a Smile to Your Face?”1)?LoneCypress94 wrote, “When my nephews run up to me yelling my name and I pick them both up, one on each arm.”noturmoms_spaghetti wrote, “I do this with my two oldest boys! They always seem so shocked that their dad is strong enough to pick them both up. They’re happy and it makes me happy, if not a bit proud!”Ask_me_4_a_story wrote this:“Hugs by little people are so sweet! My ex and I went through a pretty bitter divorce and my kids got quite a bit of propaganda. There were never any addictions or affairs or anything, just two people who had grown apart and I absolutely had to move out — I couldn’t take it one more day.“I refuse to say anything bad about her, I just take whatever comes my way and I decided to let them find everything out on their own. Its been really, really tough, though, and my kids went through a period where they really didn’t like me. They still won’t hug me, really any of them.“I tried hugging them at first, but it felt stilted and awkward and something they didn’t want to do. So we’ve really stopped hugging, which is so painful to me. I hug everyone, and I especially want to hug my sweet little kids. On Mondays I have them for dinner and I let them pick where to eat each Monday; from the oldest down to the youngest they take turns. Last night one of my kids picked Claire’s to get trinket jewelry and then we had dinner and then we had ice cream and walked around outside. It was a really, really good night.“I drove them home and dropped them off and told them I loved them when I got out of the van, but they all ran inside. All of a sudden, though, my seven-year-old daughter came running back to the car, sprinting back, her blonde hair bouncing up and down with her arms spread wide open and she hugged me so tight. She didn’t say anything; she just gave me a huge hug. I got really choked up. She said, ‘Daddy are you okay?’ I said, ‘Yes, I just love hugs so much,’ and then I cried a little bit. She didn’t know what to think, but I wasn’t embarrassed. I just said, ‘I love you,’ and asked if I could hug her one more time. She said, ‘Yes.’”2)?HappinessOrgan wrote, “Seeing people in their car jam out like no one can see them.”3)?AnActualCrow wrote this:“When I see people taking selfies.“Once I saw a group of construction workers sitting on a wall eating lunch and then one of them held out his phone for a selfie and they all crowded in around him giving each other bunny ears or making faces and it was the purest thing. It was even better because they were all like 40-50.“And if it’s a person by themselves taking a selfie, it just makes me happy because they’re documenting how they feel or look or whatever and that’s so nice to me. Like selfies are so neat. I wish people didn’t act like they’re all trashy or whatever.“Everyone should take more selfies. 100% selfie positivity from me. I never used to take selfies because of my crippling insecurity (lol), but I finally decided to take one now and then and over time (along with other things obviously) my self-esteem has just skyrocketed. Take more selfies.”78.?“Ladies, What was the Best Revenge You’ve Ever Gotten?”CPetersky wrote this:“Me, pedaling my bicycle along a busy road in the bike lane, coming home from work. It’s a bright and sunny late afternoon.“Young fellows, probably in mom’s SUV, yell using vulgar language as the pass me, just to see me jump, then take off. They underestimate how easily they can get mired in traffic, while I have the bike lane all to myself. I catch up to them, no problem, at the traffic light.“At the light, I lean over to their motor vehicle, which has the windows down, and peer into the car. I say, in my best ‘concerned mom’ voice, ‘Are you boys all right? I heard you call out something over there — everybody OK?’“The young fellows try to shrink down as far as they can go, except one, who boldly says something like, ‘We’re just fine’.“I peer at him intently. I say, ‘Do you go to Skyline?’ This is a wild-[*]ss guess on my part, as there are about four high schools in the vicinity, but I must have hit the mark, as they all flinch. I look at one of them quizzically, and add, ‘Don’t I know your mother?’“Light turns green, and they take off as fast as they can accelerate out of there. Me, I just pedal on and chuckle to myself.”79.?“What’s the Sweetest Thing a Significant Other has Done for You?”1)?BoomJayKay wrote this:“Idk [I don’t know] if I wanna say this is the sweetest, because it’s not. But it is one of the more recent ones.“I lost my necklace somewhere. I’ve also have been in the middle of tossing out (aka Marie Kondo’ing) my life, including my jewelry. I recently collected my junk of jewelry and tossed it out into the kitchen garbage.“The next day, I asked my SO [Significant Other] if he’s seen my missing necklace. He asked me a few questions to get my mind jogging. And then he’s like: ‘What happened to your pile of jewelry that was here before?’ I told him I threw it out.“Without any hesitation he grabbed the kitchen garbage (which is the grossest thing ever, with old raw meat, cuttings of other raw food) and just scavenged through it one by one to look for my necklace. I told him I was quite sure it wasn’t in there but he simply said: ‘I don’t care. We should double check’.“Lo and behold, my necklace was not in there. But my heart felt so loved that this man went digging into the garbage without even a second thought. Safe to say I was equally grossed out and full of love, all at the same time.”2)?seizy wrote this:“My grandma died when I was eight. She was a quilter and had made a quilt for me. Well, I used that quilt until it was literally falling apart. I attempted to fix it and ruined it in the process. I put it in a box and forgot about it.“After we got married, my husband pulled it out. He had had it fixed by a professional and had our wedding date embroidered on one corner, and it is perfect. I bawled my eyes out when he gave it to me.”3)?kitkatobuildadreamon wrote this:“If I said all the sweet things my wonderful boyfriend did for me, this post would be super long. But I’ll give two examples.“a) About a week ago, my mom had to be admitted to the hospital for an emergency procedure. Thankfully it was routine and she’s fine. But I called my boyfriend, crying because I was so scared and didn’t want to be alone while I waited to hear about my mom. He had just gotten home from work, about 9:00 at night, and I didn’t expect him to drop everything and come over by any means. But that’s exactly what he did. To take my mind off the stress, he went through his Facebook and showed me every embarrassing photo he could find from high school and college. So when it comes to it, find ways to be there for her.“b) Every single date, outing, or errand we’ve ever been on, he brings me a water bottle. A simple gesture, but it speaks to his thoughtfulness and generosity.“Last week I busted my ankle and thought I’d have to cancel our plans, but he brought over some groceries and made me dinner.”80.?“What Little Things Keep You Happy?”1)?Ocula wrote, “I’ve been eating this protein bar when I’m in a pinch and don’t have time to make something better. I mentioned to my boyfriend that I ran out and then when I got home today there was a big box of them left on my porch.”2)?preludelove wrote, “When my husband takes the time to brush the snow off my car even though it’s early and he really doesn’t have to. Makes my heart smile that he thinks of me.”3)?HidingWhoIAm5683 wrote this:“When I come through the door at the end of the day, the cats always scream in delight. They never do it for my boyfriend, or anyone else.“I’m positive that it’s because they’ve learned that when I’m gone for a few hours then come back, they means they’re about to be fed.“But I’d rather pretend it’s because they love me.”4)?notreallysrs wrote, “If I brought up something in a conversation about what I wanted to do and the next time we meet the other person asks how it went, it makes me feel good and I actually feel like I exist.”5)?Poullafouca wrote this:“I work in the film business; constantly changing crews, you definitely make friends, but you might connect with someone and not see them for years. I had an assistant, Tara. She never forgot anybody’s name, ever; she could meet someone four years later, throw open her arms, and gush (for example), ‘Evan, how is your wife — did her catering business work? Your daughter was graduating last time we saw each other — has she graduated yet?’“She never forgot a name, a face, or a detail. I have never seen a person more loved and more loving. I am the opposite. I was her boss, and I guess I flatter myself that I have always had to ponder the more difficult things that we were dealing with. Tara was an inspiration. Years later, we both have kids, and things have changed — she has become a psychologist. Man, the people who will walk into her office have no idea how fortunate they are.”moxthunder commented:“I found out my old general manager had a diary entry for all of his key staff members. After speaking with one of the staff, he’d write down a few key points they had spoken about (birthdays, life events, hobbies) And before doing his next visit to the store, he would reread all the entries.“Thanks to this he always came across as the most genuine and caring boss I’d ever had.”6)?razerwin wrote, “A genuine compliment. As a guy it is rare and can make my year honestly, always a good memory.”tommystjohny commented:“My three favorite compliments that I’ve gotten that I still think about all the time:a)?“A girl at work told me she really likes the way I hold my coffee cup.b)?“I order a lot of things from the library and when the guy who works there found out who I was he told me that I have the best taste in movies of anybody he’s ever come across.c)?“I was at some tennis courts by myself and a guy walking past told me I had a nice swing.”DanceStringStrapS commented:“When I was on a boat party in Ibiza, this very attractive lady (early 40s maybe), looked me up and down and said, ‘I’m loving what’s cooking.’ I got flustered and asked her to repeat herself. She just pointed at me and looked up and down and said it again. I went red in the face, said. ‘Thank you,’ and ran off (as far as you can in a boat).“Inside, I was like FUUUUUCCCCKKKK YYYYEAAAHHH!“As a dude who is a solid 4 out of 10, this made me feel amazing! This was back in May. Still riding on those coat tails.“Sometimes when I feel unattractive, I remember that moment and feel like Toby McGuire in Spiderman 3.”AgentEves commented:“I remember a few years ago, I had recently stopped seeing someone who, on reflection, was actually pretty sh[*]tty to me. The whole relationship absolutely battered my confidence and, honestly, my self worth.“I had long hair at the time and decided that it was time for a change, so I cut my hair short. I was pretty pleased with how it came out, and I went to the pub to meet some friends. This older lady was leaving while I was standing by the front waiting for a table. She smiled at me as she walked past, and then turned back and asked if I had a new haircut. I said yes, and she said that it looked really great.“I’ll likely never cross paths with that woman ever again, and it’s such a shame that she’ll never know how much that innocent compliment meant to me and what a massive boost it was.”Thebaconvanman commented:“Seriously, the best comment I ever got was from my co-worker’s shy little daughter (probably five or six years old?).“The coworker was introducing us since he brought her in to work, and I said hello and she just kinda stared blankly at me, so I just thought, ‘Oh she’s just shy, no big deal.’“And then she finally stops drinking her Slurpee to say, ‘You look really awesome and cool,’ and then goes right back to her Slurpee.“I smiled so huge, haha. I was so stoked that some little kid thought I was awesome AND cool. I felt pretty good about it for the rest of the day.”Chapter 5: Questions 81-10081.?“What is the Best Compliment You’ve Ever Received?”1)?King-Wug wrote, “Never received one….”BigRedHawk42 commented, “I like your name. It’s cool.”xolynnmarie commented, “Your comments are funny. You seem cool!”Wingtales commented, “You seem pretty cool!”tripleK69eleven commented, “You’re breathtaking! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!”2)?SaeYurie wrote, “‘I’d forgotten you were so kind,’ from someone I randomly met and hadn’t seen in a long time. I’m not, though, but I try?”reigningstorm commented, “It’s the trying that makes you kinder than you realise because most people don’t even try.”3)?margeincharge94 wrote, “Upon my meeting a relative for the first time, she immediately told me that my smile reminded her of my grandmother who was killed in a car accident when my dad was a teen (before I was born). This has stuck with me for years. It’s nice to think I might remind my dad of his mom when I smile.”4)?wavekelpto wrote, “‘Super attractive’ — said by my mom.”5)?thisisntcreativelol wrote, “My best compliment was ‘You should start a web comic. I would definitely follow you.’”6)?Iwantarattoewat me wrote, “I was playing with my six-year-old cousin once and he asked me about this whale toy he had. So I ended up showing him pictures and videos of whales and so he says, ‘You’re so cool. Cooler than a hot dog.’”7)?laneybuggy wrote, “After I ran towards the scene of a big car accident with a fire extinguisher to put out the motorcycle that was on fire, a lot of people called me a hero. Especially after I was taken to the ER [Emergency Room] for smoke inhalation. It made me pretty teary.”8)?Minimalcharges wrote this:“About halfway through college, a professor pulled me aside after the last class. He proceeded to tell me that I was one of the smartest students he had ever had the opportunity to teach, and he said that it was obvious I wasn’t even trying.“He told me that if I truly applied myself to my work that I would change the world. Ever since that day I’ve been convinced to do my best. It really changed my life.”82.?“How Do You Handle Street Harassment When the Harassers Won’t Stop?”1)?moonlilian wrote:“In the few times I’ve experienced this, where they are following me, I will go to a bar and say to the bartender: ‘This dude is being psycho.’ And usually the bartender will watch over me. One bartender actually said to one such guy, ‘Why don’t you leave the lady alone?’ and I left him a hundred dollar tip just for standing up for me. In the meantime, I started talking to another patron, and whispered, ‘This dude is being a psycho. Can you help a sister out?’ and he was kind and pretended to be a good friend. Of course, this was a bar I was a regular at, so I knew people knew me and I knew they were good people.“Absent that, I’ve got a terribly short temper and I have straight up turned around and screamed, ‘Don’t f[**]k with me,’ which has worked; but I am in awe every time I do this that I don’t end up dead in a ditch.”bassbby12 commented, “It works because you’re screaming, which draws attention to the situation. I’ve gotten someone to run away FAST just by screaming ‘What the f[**]k!’ People are going to wonder who is harassing the woman and try to target him.”2)?auamethyst wrote, “Leave the area ASAP, pretend to be on the phone with someone who is coming to pick you up, and call the police if it is bad enough.”3)?drunkemknitter wrote, “‘NO, THANK YOU! I DO NOT WANT TO BE RAPED TODAY! PLEASE STOP SEXUALLY ASSAULTING ME!’ said very loudly while walking to a very populated area.”4)?overlysaltedpepsi wrote this:“If people are around, yelling, ‘I DONT KNOW YOU,’ is pretty good. I think sometimes people are afraid to get involved because they sometimes assume it’s a ‘lovers quarrel’ if you just yell ‘F[**]k you’ or ‘Go away.’“If you get cornered in your car, getting your car alarm to go off or honking intermittently to mimic a car alarm, to get outsiders’ attention can work, too. (There’s situations where this may not work.)”83.?“What’s a Little Thing that Someone Did for You and Probably Forgot About It Right Away, but You Remember It Years Later?”1)?Ashtronica2 wrote this:“One time I was in the summer school class, and I became friends with two girls in the class.“Once for a whole week, they were purposefully ignoring me and I felt hurt. When I went to confront them, they surprised me with a poster board covered in magazine cutouts that spelled my name and had pictures of things I was interested in. Pictures of my characteristics and theirs, too.“They had been secretly working on it the whole time. Almost 20 years later, I still have it somewhere.”Sofpug commented:“This reminds me of something my friends did for me. There was a lot going on with my family, and I was pretty sad. Then I noticed some of my friends not being around me during breaks. I later found them in the hallway and they immediately changed the subject, leaving me thinking I was left out. Later we got a biology assignment, and I teamed up with my friend and decided on a date to work on it at her house.“Suddenly all my friends were at her house with cake. They all worked together to have a surprise party for me. They even contacted the teacher and whole class for that fake assignment. It was nothing big, but it meant so much to me while I was having a difficult time. The little jar of good luck they gave me that day still sits on my desk years later.”2)?manymoth wrote, “I was trying to quit drinking. I came home form work, and my friend had gone and bought all kinds of non-alcoholic drinks, soda, and a bunch of flavors of fizzy water and stuff, and left them for me so I would have other stuff to drink without having to navigate past the beer aisle at the grocery store.”3)?Boop108 wrote, “I was seven years old, and I was riding the bus with my mother. She was a horribly abusive mother, and she was yelling and screaming at me about something I can no longer remember. The woman sitting across the bus from us was staring at my mom with her mouth open and look of shock in her eyes. That one tiny moment let me know that what was happening to me wasn’t normal. It helped to start me down the path of understanding that my mother was the one with a problem not me. That woman on the bus probably forgot about the whole thing by the time she went to bed that night, but that brief moment is still precious to me 44 years later.”4)?Brand-Spanking-New wrote this:“As a teen, I didn’t know how to read the bus schedule. I took the wrong bus and ended up in an unfamiliar neighborhood. I was super lost, overwhelmed, and trying not to panic.“A tiny, elderly black lady in a giant hat saw me freaking out. She told me to take some deep breaths until I wasn’t on the verge of tears, and then she taught me how to read the bus schedule. She told me which buses I needed to take to get back where I was going.“I’m sure she didn’t think anything about it, but I still appreciate what she did for me that day.”BrujaBean commented:“I was coming home from Whole Foods (with like five paper bags) via a five-block walk to the bus that goes right to my place. Well, it started to rain and my phone died, so I had no choice but to walk with paper bags five blocks in the rain. One block in, they start ripping and so I have to walk them in two loads basically doing half a block at a time, holding back frustrated tears.“This old man saw me and just took a couple things out of this camo bag he had and just handed it to me, saying, ‘Looks like this will help you more than me,’ and he left. It held the stuff from the broken bags and got me onto my bus. I’m a nicer and more considerate person to this day, always aspiring to be like random camo bag man.”Note by David Bruce: I’m guessing a camo bag is a camouflage tote bag.5)?LonelyPauper wrote, “When I was in the hospital teetering on the edge of dying and brain damage, my friend Laura would just sit there holding my hand. It’s amazing I remember that at all because I don’t remember anything else.”6)?ElementsofEle wrote:“I was an awkward teen and bullies loved to pick on me. One day, a guy was making fun of my shirt in front of the whole class. Those situations always made me die inside, but that day another guy spoke up and said, ‘Actually, I think it’s a really cool shirt.’“That was over a decade ago, but I still remember the incident clear as day.”7)?stupidlyyugly wrote this:“Thirty years ago when I was seventeen, my friend and I went over to a classmate’s house and saw her hug her dad.“Up until that moment, I had no conscious knowledge that kids existed who loved their parents. Or that parents could be loving to their children.“That moment changed the way I saw the world and always stuck with me when I became a father. There weren’t very many days when I was raising my own daughter that that moment didn’t come to mind.“That classmate was universally loved and tragically died young from cancer.“So I never got to tell her what she’d done for me. I did make it a point to hunt down her dad, tell him the story, and thank him. Without witnessing that, my entire adult life would’ve been dramatically different.”Woodcoffeecup commented, “Some people act like kindness is weak and anger is strong. There are so many instances that prove the opposite. Like this one.”4ninewells commented, “Years ago my sister taught me the value of telling a parent that they are good at parenting, even if they are a stranger. My sister’s best friend died. My sister had only briefly ever met her friend’s mother. Regardless, when she saw her at the funeral, my sister handed the mother a long letter about what an amazing person her daughter was, and that’s how she knew how wonderful a mom she had been.”8)?Goldzeo88 wrote, “I am poor, and one time needed toilet paper real bad. I am also sick and have to go to the bathroom a lot. I went to the store to get some, but my card declined. I didn’t know what I was going to do. The guy behind me paid for it. I know it was just so he could get on his way, but it felt like he saved my life.”9)?pizzamarguerita wrote, “When I was like eight years old, my mom worked as a cleaning lady for a family. The mom of that family took her kids to the movies and invited me to join them. We saw Toy Story. I felt so happy that I consciously try to take a mental picture of that moment. It was like the second time I went to a cinema in my life.”84.?“What is Something You Did in the Past that you Regret and Want to Advise Others Not to Do?”BitchyKitschyWitchy wrote this:“Do not make fun of the weird guy. Seriously. Not even if all of the others do. I’m not saying this because they got violent or anything. I’m saying this because it’s heartbreaking to see someone getting sadder and sadder everyday with you knowing that you were a part of it.“Please be kind to all of those who are a little bit odd. They are just like you, fellow human beings, in the end.”redwolf1219 commented, “As the weird kid, I feel this.”Starshinefirebubble wrote, “Oh my gosh, I feel this so much. My son is the weird kid. He talks a lot. People tend to think he is annoying. I laughed at something he said last night, and he said, ‘Finally! I made someone laugh!’ My heart sank.”Flamboyatron commented:“This still applies in your 30s, btw [by the way].“In the Air Force, we get people from all walks of life, so we get weird guys/gals quite often. I realized I was doing this to a weird guy on my crew, and I felt awful; as a weird guy, I went through the same thing at his ‘age’ (rank) and felt terrible then, too. So I pulled him aside, told him that I realized what I was doing, how I felt, and apologized for alienating him.“He’s a good kid, if a little weird, but there’s nothing wrong with him and I enjoy his company these days.“So yeah, just be nice to people, weird or not. Chances are you’re just as weird in their eyes.”85.?“How Does Your Partner Say ‘I Love You’ Without Actually Saying It?”1)?Next_Perception wrote, “My husband isn’t the most physically affectionate person. But I tend to be the first to wake up in the mornings, and every morning without fail, he wordlessly comes into the bathroom where I’m getting ready and gives me this amazing minute-long hug. Before we talk, before anything else. It’s become a habit that I don’t even think he realizes. And I absolutely love it.”2)?Devnine wrote, “He notices when I’m running low on things (dog food, dish soap, etc.) and gets them for me. Another small thing that’s similar would be he leaves a bunch of quarters in my change bowl that I use for the coin-operated laundry whenever he comes to visit. They probably sound trivial, but it means he’s thinking of my day-to-day life even when he’s not here.”turtlebowls commented, “Man, this made me tear up a bit. Making day-to-day life easier for someone else is one of the most beautiful parts of being in love, to me.”3)?introvertedszechuan wrote this:““He would, out of nowhere, say how beautiful he thought I was, how intelligent and how I’m ‘the best’ over text (with about three heart emojis) or in person (in a sing-song voice).“He would kiss me good night while I’m sleeping (he sleeps way later than I do).“When we’re at a restaurant, he checks out the dessert menu, despite not being a big fan of desserts, because I love desserts, and he’s already figuring out what I would love best.“He remembers my favorite foods from restaurants we go to, even more than me. One time, we went to a restaurant we hadn’t been to in a long time, and he buys me a dessert I liked even when I no longer remembered that I liked the dessert. It made me tear up.“When I asked him why he remembered my favorite foods so well, he said, ‘Your face lights up when you eat something you really love.’“He learned a lullaby in my language so he can sing it to me during my most anxious moments.“Everything in his life includes me. When we were just dating, he asked me about a large purchase and whether or not I thought it was a good idea. We didn’t even live together then!”4)?beevb43 wrote, “I walk home from work, but I work the evening shift so it means walking at night in the city. He waits for me outside my building every shift to walk me home — sometimes in rain or snow — even though he gets up early for work the next day. He’s told me it’s his favorite part of the day.”5)?MrNormalRs wrote this:“I came by his work to grab pads. He bought me a stuffed dinosaur on the way home to make me feel better. He came home, yelled, ‘I got you a menstruation buddy!’, and threw it at me.“He does a lot more, but I don’t get to tell this story as often as I’d like.”6)?DOrkasaurusRex wrote this:“I have severe social anxiety. When we’re hanging out with friends, if someone asks me something and I’m having trouble being verbal, he’ll answer for me to take the pressure off and then let me elaborate. Also, if I say something and I’m too quiet, he’ll make space in the conversation for me to speak up.“It probably sounds insignificant to someone who doesn’t struggle with my type of anxiety, but when he does those things it makes me feel valued, and like I’m part of the group instead of just an outside observer.”7)?Huskeya4 wrote, “We have ‘sale’ kisses. When one of us is sitting down and the other person comes up behind them, they lean over and give a bunch of little kisses on the side of the check. The kisses are on ‘sale’ so you have to get lots of them really fast. Sometimes the receiver will pull away and tell the other person they can’t just decide there is a sale anytime they want, and act all haughty (jokingly). Other times we announce, ‘Fire sale, everything must go!’ And the giver has to give even more kisses. It makes absolutely no sense and it’s super goofy, but we laugh about it.”Grenherz commented, “My ex-girlfriend and I used to do something similar where we’d try to sneak kisses on each other’s cheeks without them seeing you do it and then they’d have to ask, ‘Who was that?’ and then the other would play dumb like “I don’t know. I didn’t see anything,’ and then we’d both complain about that pesky kissy bandit being on the loose again terrorizing the neighborhood, planting kisses on unsuspecting victims’ cheeks. It’s goofy, but it was fun.”Thish[*]tisquackers wrote, “We do this, but instead one of us yells ‘kiss tax’ and we have to kiss or else we will go to jail for tax evasion.”8)?ReporterGrace wrote this:“If I am having a particularly terrible day, he will ask, ‘Do you want to watch Say Yes to the Dress?’ and binge watch it with me for hours even though he loathes that show.“He also sat through a week of the Pride and Prejudice mini-series (working through it an hour at a time) when I was having a terrible week. I thought he might die, but he made it all the way through. I really appreciated hanging out with him and him watching something I loved with me even though he hated it.”9)?typeyhands wrote:“I would always buy 2% milk. He bought 1% milk. Always. When I moved in, he would get 2% to accommodate me and I switched to buying 1% to accommodate him.“Turns out neither of us gave a sh[*]t what milk we drank, we just did it out of habit. But that tiny gesture — the smallest indication that we each cared enough to change a habit — made all the difference in the world.”86.?“Women Over 50, How is Being a Woman Today Different from When You were Younger?”LJ1205E wrote this:“We have more of a voice now. It’s more than just, ‘I am woman, hear me roar!’ You can make noise and march the marches and demand equality, but it’s also being the quiet steady solid women who nurture and love themselves. We can be curious now and raise our hands, ask the questions.“I remember in the early 1970’s my grandmother being so excited because she finally got a credit card in her name. It wasn’t allowed back then. That gave me Handmaid’s Tale vibes. (Shudder)“I’m 52 and my upbringing was a cultural thing I fought. I wanted to be an architect and was told by my dad that it was a man’s job. I wanted to join the Air Force and wasn’t allowed because I was expected to get married out of high school and have lots of babies. I wasn’t allowed to go to college. Or dream my dreams. I fought but not hard enough because above all I had to honor my parents. Keep your legs closed. Don’t cut your hair. If you get pregnant before you’re married, don’t bother coming home.“I really thought the first time I dry humped my boyfriend I was gonna get pregnant and freaked out for a month.“I raised my daughter much differently. I wanted her to be loud and stubborn and resilient. I urged her dreams and supported her decisions even when it conflicted with my core. I let her be her.”Anilxe wrote this: “As a young woman dealing with her own flavour of struggles, I’m proud of the way you fought yours. Your disagreement with the way things were is WHY people started raising women to have a voice. Not only that, but being raised by someone like you, and someone like my mother, has given me power over my body and my choice, even if that choice is to not have children at all. And I can choose that, without shame, without guilt. Because it’s my voice and my choice.“You were part of the movement, and I thank you.”patelp7 commented, “As a man raised and surrounded by strong women: thank you for raising your daughter in that manner. It goes a very long way when girls/women know they have the power and voice within themselves to live life on their own terms.”87.?“What is the Most Original Way You’ve Been Asked Out?”1)?SeeMeNowYouDont wrote, “A huge box of crayons (the one with the sharpener) and a note inside that said, ‘Will you go out with me?’ With only a yes box. I scared him and grabbed a crayon and started writing like I was putting a box that said ‘no’ and checking it but I wrote a box that said ‘definitely’ and checked it (;”2)?bananababy82 wrote, “He showed up at my best friend’s house when he knew I was there and texted to come out front, where he was in a shirt and tie with a sign that said, ‘Will you go out with me?’ Fourteen-year-old me thought it was the most romantic thing ever and 20-something me still thinks it’s pretty cute :)”3)?mssatrk wrote, “He created a Facebook event and invited only me. I still said no, but it was creative as hell.”4)?Ihavestufftosay wrote this:“Well, perhaps not original but uncommon. A guy saw me on an online dating site and messaged me along the lines of ‘I saw your profile, I liked XYZ, I think we also might have ABC in common, are you free at 2 p.m. on Saturday for a drink at [insert here].’“Extremely straightforward, no bullsh[*]t, no texting, no ghosting, 100% accurate profile and the man who turned up was the man he said he was. Now we have a baby. The end.”88.?“What is Something that You were Taught by a Female Role Model When You were Younger?”1)?expressioniskey wrote this: “‘Don’t let the one person who calls you ugly overpower the ten people who tell you you’re beautiful — that’s just bad math. It makes no sense.’ —my eighth grade math teacher (seriously).”2)?heyfolksletsparty wrote this:“My senior year high school English teacher. One day in class, someone asked her why she came to our school (we were in a rural, remote area and she was from out of state). She was like, ‘My fiancé told me I had to lose weight before he’d plan a wedding with me, so I dumped him and moved here because I’ve always liked it.’“It was such an incredible, enlightening experience for me being raised in a very patriarchal culture that worshipped marriage. It completely changed my perspective on relationships.”3)?MuppetManiac wrote this:“My calculus teacher snapped at me once when I said I was bad at math because I was a girl. That had been ingrained in me since childhood — boys were just better at math.“She took my head off and told me I was struggling because I wouldn’t memorize the d[*]mned unit circle, not because I was female. She then assigned me detention where she made me grade unit circle quizzes for two hours.“My grades improved dramatically.“It took that for me to really internalize that I could get better at something through effort — as dumb as that sounds.”4)?HonestCard wrote, “My mom made it clear how important education and career was. She says how she never wants me to depend on any man, especially financially.”Standupfiredancer commented, “I can remember being about 12 years old when my grandmother told me the same thing. ‘[Insert name], don’t you ever depend on a man, or on anyone. Go into the world and do things for yourself. Support yourself. You’re smart. You take care of you.’”SpidersMcGee commented, “My grandma cried when I told her I had a job after college. She had was on her second sh[*]tty marriage when she was my age, and she was in it for over 20 years because she had no way out, no job or marketable skills.”89.?“People Who had a Teacher Change Their Life, Who was Your Teacher and What Did They Do?”1)?Al_Fatman wrote this:“My primary school principal. Right before my teen years, I started acting out due to family/home problems. No matter how many times I acted out, he treated me with absolute kindness, always above and beyond. I can’t remember what I did to get sent to his office, but I’ll never forget what he told me: ‘The best man you can be is a gentleman’.“He encouraged my love for writing and drawing, helped me submit a story and was there when I won second place. When I failed maths, he tutored me in his office after school. When I showed interest in music, he let me practise on his guitar. I am forever in his debt for making me the person I am.”2)?Sh[*]tiforgotsomething wrote, “I struggled with eating disorders in high school. Senior year my dad passed away and I spiraled. I had a meltdown in the middle of my English class. Teacher pulled me out into the hallway, gave me a hug and asked, ‘Are you eating?’ Idk [I don’t know] why, but it snapped me out of it and that is the first time I realized people noticed or cared. She probably doesn’t know this, but I’m sure she saved my life.3)?boyvsfood wrote this:“Ms. O’Connor was my first truly eccentric teacher, and probably one of the first eccentric adults I had ever met. It was eighth grade, which I think is an early formative year in the transition into pre-adulthood, so the timing was perfect for me to have her class. Here are a few things I still remember:“She would teach us some stuff that I now know is taught at a college level. But she didn’t preface it with ‘this is college stuff’. We just thought we were learning what we were supposed to learn. And even the dumb kids in class got most of it. Reflecting on that, I know now that people WAY overhype [already knowing something]. Like one time I didn’t get promoted at work because there was something I didn’t know how to do that the other internal candidate did. Then I set out and learned it on my own. Literally took me an hour to get the gist of it, and within a week, I was doing it very well.“She lived in a three-story house with her daughter and granddaughter, and she had an intercom system installed so she could call down to her granddaughter to bring her stuff. Hilarious.“She was SO go with the flow. One day, I came into class and she had a bunch of sh[*]t all over my desk. I just stood there, not knowing what to do. She asked why I was standing, and I told her there was stuff at my desk. She was like, ‘So? Sit at my desk.’ And so all class long, I worked from the teacher’s desk like that was normal.”Note by David Bruce: She taught English.4)?vitaminsaregreat wrote this:“My English literature teacher, who taught in the school for over two decades, suddenly quit and became a taxi driver. She said it was just something she always wanted to do. She moved to Japan after a year of driving a taxi and started teaching there simply because she really likes Japan.“She changed my life by teaching me how simple things can be.“She did all that simply because she wanted to. She always told us in class, ‘Don’t think too hard. Think a lot, but it should never be hard.’ As someone who used to be obsessed with perfection and plans, having her as my teacher and friend taught me to be happy through living simply. It didn’t mean not trying to strive to be better; it meant not over-complicating things. Just think, decide, and then do.”5)?3eyyes wrote, “My high school shop teacher, Mr. Nelson, would stop the class if someone came in late to tell everyone, ‘If I teach you only three things I want them to be these: 1)?Show up. 2)?Show up on time. 3)?Do your best.’”90.?“People Who were in Prison, What Unexpected Acts of Kindness Did You Witness?”1)?Spolitarill1why wrote, “I walk in the block for the first time and see all these people yelling and screaming, but one guy just staring at me not sayin’ a thing. I get a cell to myself and a few hours later I’m asked if I’m willing to sleep on the top bunk. I have no problem so I say it’s cool. Well, they go get this scary-[*]ss guy who just stared me down and move him to my cell. I spent 57 days with this guy, and he taught me how to play chess and make dice out of toilet paper and treated me like a brother. I haven’t seen him in years, but I hope he is doing well with his life cause he definitely changed mine.”2)?kolegian wrote this:“I spend a year in a high security prison in Turkey; my charges were political. The second I entered the cell, everyone was really helpful, greeted me, tried to console me, lent me some basic stuff that I would be needing, as buying things would not be possible within a week. There were not enough bunks in the cell, thus I had to lay my mattress down on the floor; the next day one of them suggested that I should take his bunk and we started switching the bunks in every two weeks so that no one would spend more time on the ground. There were six inmates in the cell btw [by the way].“One of us was relatively poor, so they decided to pay for him when we buy the common things such as tea, detergents, etc. They were a hell of a group: One was a brain surgeon, one was an associate professor, one was a pilot, and two were ex-policemen.“Edit: I am Turkish national btw [by the way].”3)?NorthernHackberry wrote this:“Never incarcerated, but I’m an RN [Registered Nurse] and worked at a large county jail until recently.“The facility was built in the 1950’s and doesn’t have a meaningful psych/medical ward. There’s straight-up no place to put one. So, if someone attempts suicide, the only place to keep them for observation is in segregation (‘solitary’). It’s miserable and evil.“Someone made a suicide attempt (hanging) in one of the camera-blind spots in the community pods because he’d found out his brother had died. The other inmates got him down right away and tried to care for him themselves because they didn’t want him to have to go to segregation.“This was discovered fairly quickly. It wound up being a huge incident. A sergeant got involved and they wound up doing something that, to the knowledge of even the most senior employee there, had never happened before: They put him in segregation, but with his best friend from that pod in the same cell so that he would not be alone. He did make a full recovery, at least until he was released, at which point I had no real ability to keep track of him.“It didn’t become a trend. Never saw it happen again in the year that I worked there. But for a moment, the whole facility came together for that guy.”4)?truisluv wrote, “I went to jail for having a pill in my car. I had never been in trouble and was scared. It was freezing in there, and I was dressed for summer clubbing. The hookers took care of me. They gave me a coat and comforted me. They gave me advice and were really nice. Some of them do have a heart of gold.”5)?crackle_crackle wrote, “Not prison, just jail, but I had a truly memorable birthday thrown for me by like 50 guys. I was in a decent pod where for the most part the races got along well and there was very little tension, and me being the diplomat I am, got along with everyone. I was unfortunate enough to be spending my birthday locked up and my cellmate who’s a paisa [in this context, people from Central and Southern America] got the ball rolling on his end and it kinda trickled out from there. All the races put in and made a big cake from the commissary items and they even drew a big d[*]ck on the cake with jelly, it was really funny. They sat me down at a table in front of the cake and then a full pod sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me in English and then the paisas sang it to me in Spanish. (I’m white so the fact that they did that was so meaningful to me that I almost broke down right then and there. I love you, Central and Southern American bros.) Despite the context, I absolutely cherish that memory.”6)?sugar_lace wrote this:“My husband spent one night in juvy [juvenile detention center] …. He had a rough life, suffice it to say, and both of his parents are currently in prison, but we have no contact with them. Anyway, a security guard gave him A Child Called It from the library, and my husband, who is not much of a reader, read the entire book in one night in his cell. He was 14. He said for the first time in his life, he felt like somebody ([the author] Dave Pelzer) understood …“My husband was sentenced to two years juvenile probation and successfully completed it. We met when he was 17, and he is currently a state trooper and a specialist in the army. He turned it around and is absolutely the guy you want in the squad car. I am a probation officer and our life with our two children has never been more full.“To the CO [Corrections Office] who gave him that book … THANK YOU!“Kindness has a ripple effect. <3”91.?“People Who Grew Up Rich, When did You Realize You were Living in a Bubble and Not Like Everyone Else?” Dubanx wrote this:“I’m not super rich, but things really hit home when I was with a friend and his mother started to panic because she couldn’t afford milk for her toddler son (my friend’s little brother). I was just walking around with $40 in my pocket for no real reason, so I gave her $20. She was embarrassed to be taking money from a 13-year-old, but swallowed her pride for the sake of her children.“I knew my friend wasn’t as well off as I, but it never fully hit me what that meant before then. To me, being poor just meant someone couldn’t afford nice things. What it meant to struggle with providing children with basic necessities like milk never really struck me before then.”Ratsandfoxbats commented:“I went to a private art school in NYC [New York City]. I grew up poor and was there on loans, but 99% of the kids there were super well off. I remember they’d joke about being ‘poor’ because they ate ramen noodles for lunch and bought clothes from a thrift store. It’s like they had this romanticized, almost comical image of ‘being poor.’ Meanwhile their parents wrote a check for their tuition and paid the rent for their Brooklyn apartment every month.“But what you said is 100% spot on. People don’t realize how depressing being poor really is. It’s more than just not having the latest iPhone or a huge house. It’s having to boil water on the stove to take a bath and bouncing a check just to buy groceries. Living in poverty is debilitating and affects you mentally just as much as it does materialistically.”92.?“Men of Reddit, What is One Thing that Instantly Makes You Think that a Girl is ‘Girlfriend Material’?”CallMeKami94 wrote this:“Once went on a date with the neighbour’s girl. We had a talk about times where one is hungry and how much of a sloth I am once I hit the bed even though I’m extremely hungry.“So what happens the next night, she gets into my garden (two or three meters away from hers) and knocks on my window….“I open my window. She smiles, and in her hands she holds two sandwiches for us to eat.“I fell for her instantly.”93.?“Reddit, What’s Your ‘No Good Deed Goes Unpunished’ Story?”Many people wrote stories about good deeds being punished, but in their comments other people wrote about good deeds being rewarded.1)?Otakulad commented: “Don’t let one bad person ruin it for you.“Years ago I found a wallet with a lot of $2 bills in it at Home Depot in a cart outside. I went inside and asked the counter person if anyone called about a missing wallet and at the time, no one had. I gave them my contact info and said, ‘I’ll take it [the wallet] with me.’“About an hour later I got a call from Home Depot saying someone called it in. I gave the guy a call and we met down the street from me. It turns out that he had so many $2 bills because he gave them to his grandkids as a gift for a Christmas tradition (this was at Thanksgiving). He was so grateful he offered me $40. I told him I didn’t need it and he should turn it into $2 bills for his kids. He looked flabbergasted, as in someone did a great thing for me and doesn’t want anything in return? He offered me $20 and said he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I told him fine and I would use it on my family.“There are people out there who won’t accuse you of stealing. Don’t let the [*]ssh[*]les get to you.”2)?hyperfat commented:“We found a purse with over 1k [$1,000] in it and a passport. We put it in the safe. She came back. We returned it and told her we cannot accept anything.“Next day a beautiful bouquet of flowers, chocolate, and donuts arrived from an anonymous customer. Bless her soul. We are honest folk.”3)?RawketLeeg wrote this:“I work for an animal hospital and one time a lady brought her goats in to be seen. She took them out after the appointment and came back in to pay and they managed to lock her out of her car. I called the locksmith for her and asked him to come over on an emergency basis (it was a very hot day and we didn’t want the animals to get too hot) and they said they only come that quickly if a child is locked in the car.“Well, I wasn’t lying when I told him there was definitely a kid locked in the car.”94.?“To the Women of Reddit Raised by a Single Dad, What Advice Would You Give for a Recently Bereaved Father of Two Girls, Ages 5 & 7?”1)?ofjune-x wrote this:“Learn how to do things like book hairdressing appointments, and take them to traditionally feminine clubs/sports like ballet, etc., if they want to do them. Once they’re around 10, buy sanitary pads and make sure they know where to find them when they need them so they don’t have to ask you. If they have an aunt or older female cousin who is comfortable with them, make sure they get their first bras at the appropriate age.“I grew up in a single-dad house with two older brothers, and my dad never spoke to me about bras or periods. I had to steal bras from a close friend and used toilet paper instead of pads for years until I was able to get the contraceptive implant at 15, which stopped my periods. He never took me to a hairdresser despite taking my brothers to a barber and left the onus on my mum to take me (even though I rarely saw her) so I had my hair cut maybe only four times between the ages of two and 12, after which I learned to cut it myself. I never went to any clubs or sports because he was too embarrassed to take me, I guess, or felt it was out of his comfort zone, so while my brothers did football, karate, and guitar lessons, I missed out on doing any of these things or ‘girly’ things like gymnastics, etc. Even now at 23, I still feel awkward about putting tampons in the cart when shopping; thankfully Amazon, etc., has made this easier to deal with.”VanellopeEatsSweets commented:“Oh, man, I’m sorry for both yours and OP’s [Original Poster’s] experiences.“I was essentially raised by my siblings until I was old enough to be taking care of my little sister. My older brother was my resource for everything and to build on what HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" u/ofjune-x said, make these things your comfort zone. It’s only as awkward as you make it. I had conversations about needing pads/tampons and eventually trips to Planned Parenthood for birth control with my brother. I can’t imagine how I would have made it if he would have acted like my actual human needs were uncomfortable to him.“Beyond this, just be there the amount they need you to be there. Don’t hover, but always be available. I also have always wished that I could go through some comprehensive therapy for childhood trauma, so maybe keep that on the table? At least consider it for their sake.”2)?katiesue64 wrote this:“My mom died when I was 10 and my sister was 12. My dad did an amazing job of raising us on his own.“Some advice: Be emotionally accessible, always. Talk with them about their mother, especially as they grow older and the more immediate memories/details of her fade. Tell them stories about her that help them see her as a real person rather than an idealized memory. Also, learn to cook if you don’t already know how (we lived on Tuna Helper for months after my mom died) and get over any embarrassment you might have about buying tampons and bras. (My dad was a proud member of the Belk Bra & Panty Club.)”3)?lemon–17 wrote, “I wasn’t raised by a single dad, but I am a girl. The most important thing for me is having someone to talk to, someone to trust. Make sure they never think ‘Oh, crap, dad’s gonna kill me’, but rather ‘Oh, crap, I really have to call my dad’. You’re gonna do amazing. <3.”4)?BANotorious wrote this:“I’m a 23-year-old guy, so I’ve no experience whatsoever and not really in a place to give advice on such a situation. But may I suggest opening up to some of the women in your life whom you are close to and get their advice for more girly things such as hairdressing appointments, etc.“There’s stuff we guys just don’t understand because we’ve never gone through it, so maybe just asking some of your girl friends when you’re unsure about something could help you get the grasp of things.“I’m sure you’ll do a great job!”5)?Pumkinbread717fan wrote this:“Dude here, but I had a female friend who grew up in this situation.“Her dad was always looking for more advice. Talking with moms during sporting events, Back to School Night, PTA meetings, anytime there was a situation he could learn/ask questions he did it. He became a d[*]mn good father because of it.”95.?“Therapists of Reddit, What’s Something that a Client has Taught YOU (Unknowingly) that You Still Treasure?”1)?SirSirSirplzsitdown wrote, “In general, that humans can experience an incredible amount of trauma, loss, and overall suffering, and not only continue to exist, but continue to find meaning and even contentment in their lives. It’s helped me to re-frame my own trauma in a more helpful way and also made me less fearful of what my future may hold — recognizing that we can tolerate much, much more than we think we can.”UnihornWhale wrote this:“Sometimes it’s the people who have endured trauma who have an easier time letting things roll or looking at life’s speed bumps and saying, ‘That happened. How do I handle it?’“Once you’ve hit a hard bottom, any hardship that isn’t that bad doesn’t stress you as much. It also gives you more empathy and compassion for people in a hard spot.“When my mother was at her Cluster B [personality disorders] best, my friends were impressively self-absorbed and actively did not care. People who had endured worse were so much kinder than people who hadn’t.”deadlyturtle22 commented:“I learned the same thing a while ago while researching the military. I discovered what the real difference between a Navy Seal and you and I was. They are willing to put their minds in that much stress and keep pushing. We are not. It’s a choice, not a capability issue. Most young men could probably become spec ops if they really put their mind to it, but that’s the thing. It’s your mind. It can take days without sleep or food and the bare minimum for water and still your brain will function. I realised that this applies to all walks of life. It is all a choice. A choice of how far you are willing to force your mind to go. Even when it desires to cave in, you can tell it not to and it will listen.“Humans are strong. Very strong. Our bodies can tolerate more than we realize, and our brains can tolerate more than our bodies ever could. It all just comes down to your choice on when to give up. You choose what you can tolerate. It isn’t a set-in-stone system.”TheOriginalSamBell commented, “This is gonna sound a little morbid and maybe inappropriate, but when I’m in a bad place I sometimes tell myself that people survived Auschwitz and my own grandfather survived Stalingrad (yeah, I’m German) — so I’m gonna survive this.”2)?schweinerneer13 wrote this:“Just today someone said to me, ‘I tell myself all the time that if I can stay sober for the next 30 minutes I’m going to make it. Sometimes I have to tell myself that more than once, but I make it every time.’“It really got to me today; that little saying has so much meaning behind it for so many things. It put in perspective for me that dealing with certain issues is a minute-by-minute thing, but I can make it no matter what.”3)?broskymchoesky wrote, “When I’m at my most suicidal, I think about movies that are coming out this year and think ‘Wait, no, I have to go see that with my sister. I’ll wait until after that’s come out,’ and then when it comes out and I see it, I come up with another movie.”96.?People with Emotionally Difficult Jobs (Police, EMS [Emergency Medical Services], Firefighters, Doctors, Nurses, Therapists, Etc.), What was Your BEST Day on the Job?”1)?WinterPush wrote this:“Very early in my career as a criminal defense attorney, I had a black college student charged with a shooting. It was getting a lot of media statewide due to one of the people involved being a professional athlete. After investigating, I became convinced that he was innocent and the actual shooter was probably one of the state’s primary witnesses. I had had only a few jury trials at that point and they all were defendants who were guilty as hell but refused to plead out. I didn’t have a ton of faith in either a jury or my own ability to handle the case/consequences.“I worked my [*]ss off in preparation. Once we started trial, I realized I was knocking down every piece of evidence that the state was presenting. I was pumped with adrenaline and growing confidence. I tore up their star witness, who I thought was probably the actual shooter. One of the jurors actually laughed at the guy in disbelief of some of the things he was testifying to. I gave a thirty-minute closing argument without even looking at my notes with the jury nodding along to everything I was saying. They were out 20 minutes and came back with a not guilty verdict. Front-page news article in the biggest papers in the state. Client’s mom is hugging me and crying with relief in one of the photos.“That guy still calls me up once a year to check in. Married, kids, solid white-collar job. I always think of that case when I start to have doubts about doing defense work.”2)?Tickser wrote, “Paramedic here. My best-ever job was on a hot summer’s day in Australia, we were called to an 11-year-old boy who had drowned in his family pool. I was halfway through a foot-long meatball sub when it happened and d[*]mn near sh[*]t myself. We were about five minutes away, and when we arrived the boy’s mother was providing CPR while his eight-year-old twin sisters watched on, horrified. I check the carotid pulse (non-existent) and started to take over on compressions, my partner started to unpack the defib pads while our student toweled the kid off. Defib comes back showing Ventricular Tachycardia (one of the only two shockable rhythms), so we hit him with the lightning and he instantly went back into a sinus rhythm (normal heart rhythm). Kid then began to splutter, we rolled him into the recovery position to help him get the water out of his lungs. In such a high-octane situation, it honestly felt so good to be able to successfully revive somebody. I still think about that job any time that I wonder why I’m in this profession.”3)?Ayzmo wrote this:“Psychologist here:“I did my year-long internship at a university counseling center. While we normally saw clients for only eight to twelve sessions, we were allowed to have one longer-term client to give us more experience. Mine ended up being this wonderful young woman who was deeply depressed. She was an identical twin. Sessions were slow going at first, and there were a lot of tears. She worked through a lot and she was much better by the end of our ~10 months working together. My supervisor and I talked about her frequently and she watched tapes of our sessions.“The next year I was on my post-doc and I got a call from my former supervisor who had just started seeing my client’s twin in private practice. The mother of the two, not knowing who my supervisor was, started talking to her about how her other daughter had gone to therapy and how her therapist had changed her life.“My supervisor called me to tell me this because, as she well knows, we don’t get to hear that very often.”4)?talibob wrote, “I was a teacher in a low-income charter school, which you may recognize as a recipe for disaster. The school was poorly run, we had to provide most supplies ourselves, and we had unreasonable and unrealistic expectations placed on us. I was teaching first grade at the time. We had a rule that only one child could be out of the classroom at a time, no matter what. I had 30 kids. Eventually, one of my kids had a bathroom accident. (I have to say here, if I knew he had to go that bad, I would have let him go rules be d[*]mned. He never gave any indication that it was an emergency.) He did his best, but first graders have small bladders. I got him a change of clothes and minimized his embarrassment as much as I could. His mom was furious. She came in the next day and spent a solid 10 minutes screaming at me. A dean finally came and escorted her away, and I thought that would be the end of it. It wasn’t. She stayed at the school the entire day and just … watched. She saw what the teachers were going through and what we had to deal with. She came back to me at the end of the day and apologized. She was my biggest supporter from then on, and if I needed something, she had it for me. On the day I quit, she hugged me and told me that I was too good for that place and it was her son’s last day, too. Obviously, I’ve had better days than that in my career, but that was a day that gave me hope and helped me not give up my career due to one bad school.”5)?HeadFullOfBrains wrote this:“I work physical rehab in a skilled nursing facility. I had a young, early-40s patient with a hereditary degenerative condition who had been in different hospitals and facilities for months. In addition to genuine pain and disability, she was being very self-limiting — unwilling to do pretty much anything for fear of it increasing her pain levels. Bit by bit a coworker and I convinced her to first roll over, then sit, then stand, then spend longer and longer periods out of bed. Finally, we got to the point where we were able to do a home visit, and you could see her remembering what it was like to be in her own space. That light of desire to go home was in her eyes and she worked harder from that point on, and two weeks later she was discharged. Helping her into the car and waving it out of the parking lot was the best feeling I’ve had so far in my career.“Tl;dr [Too long; don’t read]: Was able to help someone go from bedridden inpatient to home in a wheelchair after months of painstaking work.”beepborpimajorp wrote this:“There’s something about being in a hospital/nursing facility that seems like it causes learned helplessness. IDK [I Don’t Know] why. When I went in for major back surgery, for the first few days I just lay there in agony and depended on my nurses for everything except going to the bathroom on my own. (I forced myself to do it because I was too embarrassed to ask for help.)“The physical therapist came and had me walk around the floor to make sure I was okay, but beyond that I never really got out of bed. I just … didn’t want to. I wanted to lie in pain and sleep. The nurses told me I’d feel better if I walked around more but no, I just wanted to lie there and wallow. They had me stay an extra day, and when my family came to get me on the discharge day, it was like something clicked in my head. I’d been so isolated in the hospital, just left by myself with nurses checking in on me occasionally, that it had become the new normal for me to want to lie there and be like that. When my family showed up, I realized how much I missed my normal life. That was enough for me to get up and shower on my own and get dressed. (In PJs, but still.) I was wheeled out to the parking garage and survived the ride home. When I finally got home and laid down in my own bed, I cried a little bit with relief.“My mom ended up bringing Burger King [fast food] that night, and I made an intense effort to sit at the table and eat. Things went uphill from there with me walking around more, and training myself to feel normal again.“This last time I had surgery, I asked to be discharged the day after because I didn’t want to sink back into that weird helplessness again. I came home and rested, but I was out of bed within days doing light chores and trying to stay active. I felt normal after the end of the first week, although I still took it easy for a few weeks afterward before the doc gave me the okay to go back to work.“So out of all of these experiences, I’ve learned a few things. I’ve learned how easy it is to feel helpless and isolated in a hospital if you end up having to stay. But I’ve also learned that when nurses tell you it helps to get up and move around, THEY’RE RIGHT. It’s painful, and while rehab is great to help re-train your body, it also gets you back into the right mental place where you feel almost like a normal person again and you start wanting to get back to your normal life more quickly.“I think most people would be surprised how quickly bodies can bounce back from even major surgeries. With some obvious caveats. (I wouldn’t expect someone dealing with heavy chemo to be running 5ks or whatever.) I mean I’m not saying someone should come out of back surgery and start mowing their lawn or doing heavy lifting to fix their car as soon as they get home. But the sooner you start trying to live a normal life again, it seems like the faster your body heals itself.”6)?oculus77 wrote, “Medic here, best day on the job was my ‘no hitter’, not a single call in 14 hours. Glorious day that was.”HolyMuffins commented, “I worked in a fairly small ER [Emergency Room], and we had an afternoon where no one came in for like four hours. Truly amazing. Probably a once-in-a-lifetime event.”7)?Steveg27 wrote, “Policeman in small town. I got a call to try and locate a woman who was on the heart transplant list. She wasn’t answering her phone or pager. It was the early 1990’s, and she didn’t have a cell phone. It was in the middle of the night and cold in the middle of February. I knocked on the door of every neighbour on her cul-de-sac without success. Last house on cul-de-sac, which was across the street, told me she’d gone to her mother’s out of town. I was able to get her number and contact her. She got a new heart that night. I’m retired now and still see her on occasion. She always makes a big deal and hugs me. She’d forgotten her pager and didn’t go back to get it, thinking what are the chances they’ll call tonight ….”8)?DendroNate wrote this:“I used to work as a janitor in a high school. There were three of us in the school and during the summer break, we were normally given a list of jobs to do, but we were mainly just expected to show up and be on hand if we were needed.“This one year, we finished all our work super early into the break, so we had practically nothing to do. One day, I was sitting in a classroom watching movies on my phone, when my friend radioed me and asked me to come to the roof. Bear in mind that we were the only people on staff authorised to access the roof.“I went up and walked outside. It was a beautiful, sunny day. My friend had set up some chairs from a classroom and had a bucket of ice with some beers floating in it. We spent the whole day up on the roof sunbathing and drinking.“It was a magic time.”9)?ironmaven wrote this:“Nurse here. I was a student on a cardiac unit, and there was a lady there waiting for surgery. She and her husband spoke little English, although their friend was there sometimes to help translate. The night before her surgery, her husband and friend left and I helped her take a sanitizing shower to prep for the next day. My preceptor told me her surgery was extremely risky and carried only a 20% chance of success. Neither of us was sure if she understood this fully, but she knew it was necessary and she was scared.“I kept thinking it might be her last night on earth, and she was here all alone. Through broken communication her last words to me that night were her thank you’s because she said we were so sweet and caring in a time when she was so afraid. I didn’t care whether I was allowed or not, but I gave her a strong hug before I left that night. On the eve of surgery, she was all alone, regular hospital meal, with little ability to communicate. I left with a terrible sadness.“I was relieved when I did see her the next week when she demanded more hugs and asked why I wasn’t her nurse again.“There are days we see someone for the last time, and sometimes we never find out. Then there are days when things go well and people remember the kindness they received instead of their fear.”ViperBunny commented, “Thank you for what you do and being so kind to your patients. When my daughter was in the NICU, the nurses were the best support system. Unfortunately, we found out my daughter had trisomy 18 [a rare life-threatening condition that causes severe developmental delays] (my first OBGYN didn’t think three soft markers were a big deal and didn’t tell me, but the time when I knew something was wrong I was 26 weeks and she was born at 29 weeks). I am not a hugger, but the nurses and doctor hugged us. They sat with us, and they grieved with us. They gave us a box of her things from the hospital. They sent sympathy cards. And when I had my next two daughters (both healthy), the maternity nurse — who had sat with me, hugged me, and was really an angel — was my nurse. It was a real gift.”97.?Hey, Ladies, What’s the Best Compliment You’ve Ever Received?blatentpoetry wrote this:“I worked on the 3rd floor of a concrete pipe manufacturing plant with no elevator, only stairs. I was up and down those stairs all day long. Vendor came to visit me in the office and was a little overweight (not huge, just maybe 25 pounds). When she arrived she was a bit out of breath and slightly sweaty. She laughed in embarrassment and said, ‘I’m not thin like you.’“She had no idea that I had been working hard to lose weight and had lost 65 pounds but my own self-image hadn’t changed much. That one single sentence was my turning point in seeing myself for what I had accomplished. I’ll never forget her.98.?If You Saw a Crying Girl in a Bathroom, What would You Do?PandaJewels wrote this:“Today as I was finishing up in the bathroom of my university’s library, I heard a girl rush into a stall and close the door behind her. She tried to muffle her sobs, but I could tell she was really panicking and in pain.“There was no way I was leaving without giving her the hug she needed. I didn’t care whether I knew her or not.“Lord knows how many times I had to rush in a bathroom and curl up on the floor with my hand over my mouth.“When she came out, I immediately went in and embraced her. No words passed between us as she clutched me, and no words were necessary.”99.?“Girls of Reddit, What is the Best Way a Guy You Don’t Know Can Start a Conversation Without Being Creepy or Annoying?”1)?MentalSewage wrote this:“Guy here who learned a hard lesson.“It’s not about how to approach girls. Learn how to approach people.“The easiest way is to compliment every time something catches your eye. To everybody. NOT something they were born with or generic. Things like ‘I love the pattern on that shirt!’ or ‘Hey, that necklace is super cool!’ I’ve even complimented makeup.“The next step is to read their response. Did they ignore you or just give a simple ‘thanks’ and move on? Move on, they took the compliment but aren’t interested in conversation. Did they get mad? Keep practicing, you picked something they weren’t intentionally trying to show you. Did they brighten up and start talking? Carry on, friend, you nailed it!“The idea is simple. They picked the thing you complimented because they thought it looked good. Complimenting that is validating their taste and nothing more, which if done casually is REALLY hard to be creepy or annoying. And as an added bonus, it’s assumed you are saying they look good in it. So it’s two compliments in one with almost no risk of doing it wrong.”tacosandrose commented:“Yes! This is exactly it! Approaching girls is just approaching people. I agree with all the examples given in this comment, but I would also add that I particularly like when people start talking to me about random observations that we sort of share in, about wherever we are.“For example, we’re in line at the grocery store. Someone behind me might say, ‘Hey, do you always come to this store? Is it always this busy on Sundays?’“Then we’re going to have a conversation about what time of day is best at all the nearby grocery stores, including that one.“If we’re at a restaurant, someone might say, ‘Have you ever tried the chicken cacciatore here?’“To which I would reply, ‘Well, I’m vegetarian, so I haven’t tried that, but I can very positively recommend the pasta primavera. What are some of your other favorite Italian foods?’“Or if we’re anywhere, and someone drives by in a really interesting car, point it out! I love stuff like that!“Just any question or observation that you’d make with a fellow human being is the way to go.”2)?MePirate wrote this:“I once said to a girl, ‘Hey we are in the same math class, right?’ And now we are married.“Always take math, guys. ALWAYS. That’s the key.”CaptainGanny commented:“While I didn’t take a math class WITH my former husband, it was a math class that connected us: He was in the same class as one of my friends and our relationship started with him asking me to give her a calculator he had borrowed back. So maybe math class really is an answer!“(I realize I said former husband and this may dissuade people, but we were together for 14 long, happy years that I don’t regret in the slightest so even though it ended, I still count it as a success.)”100.?“What’s the Nicest Random Act of Kindness Someone has Done for You?”1)?kitchentrash wrote this:“My husband was diagnosed with stage-four throat cancer. He had a 16-hour surgery, where he had half of his throat and tongue cut out and then rebuilt using his pectoral muscle, and skin from his thigh. He also came home on a feeding tube, and a tracheostomy, and was unable to swallow. Before all of this, he was also paraplegic. It was a very complicated recovery.“In the midst of all of this, his insurance decided that it couldn’t pay for a hospital stay any longer, and he was abruptly sent home, with none of the equipment, or specialized care set up, that he so desperately needed. They just bundled him into my car, handed me a stack of prescriptions, and instructed me to take him home, an hour and a half away. I was terrified. On the way home, I stopped at a local pharmacy and handed them my stack of scripts. The pharmacist started filling them, then stopped and called me over for a consultation. He said, ‘Miss, I’m only two prescriptions into this stack, and even with insurance, you’re already over $800.’ He could clearly see my fear and helplessness, and I explained my situation to him. He listened to my story, then just calmly said, ‘Have a seat. I’ll be with you in about 15 minutes.’“About 15 minutes later, he called me back up to the pharmacy. He handed me enough supplies to get me through the next 24 hours. I later learned that he had paid for those himself. He handed me a phone number and said, ‘Call these people at 8:00 tomorrow morning. They already know who you are, and they will take care of you.’“The number was for Catholic Charities, and they were expecting me. By 8:00 the next morning, they had already paid a ‘spend down’ through Medicaid, which then covered all of his prescriptions, and had set up a visiting nurse, and had arranged delivery for all of his specialized equipment to my house that afternoon.“My husband was actually re-admitted to a local hospital later that same day, but thanks to the kindly pharmacist, the next time I brought him home, I was ready for him. Although he ultimately lost his battle with cancer, I was able to care for him at home, in his final months.“I’m an atheist, but I still volunteer for Catholic Charities whenever I can.”Note by David Bruce: Pretty obviously, the country this happened in is the USA, which does not have universal health coverage.chicknburrito commented, “So sorry for your loss. I’m sure your husband would appreciate the generosity you reciprocate now for what the pharmacist did for you. Even though he lost his battle with life, I think he won in life by getting to spend it with a great person like you. Thanks for sharing your story and your volunteer service.”italia4386 commented:“The fact that millions in this country have to choose between death or financial ruin is a CRIME. A CRIME.“I work in politics, and to see disabled people having to fill the hallways of Congress to literally beg their representatives to let them live is absolutely reprehensible.“We are the wealthiest country in the nation. We spend TRILLIONS on defense spending. And yet, we are somehow unable to take care of our most vulnerable citizens. There are so many stories like yours, and it makes my eyes see red.“I’m so sorry. And I am so glad that the pharmacist showed you kindness.“Now let’s f[**]king give our citizens their right to live healthy lives.”2)?RaeKay14 wrote, “This is an on-going scenario: My mom is going through treatment for breast cancer, and I have siblings much younger than me still at home (I’m 25, my brother is thirteen, my sister is eight). Every three or four days, something shows up on their porch — bags of clothes for my sister, book series for my brother, giftcards so my parents don’t have to cook, supplies for my dad’s hobby. We don’t know who is coordinating this or where anything comes from, but on top of the wonderful people who bring meals we get these deliveries out of nowhere. It’s awesome watching a community really take care of my family, and one day I’d love to learn who has been helping us.”3)?checknburrito wrote, “I’ve been in classes, so I’m just getting around to adding my own experience. I was taking a nap in the library at my school, and, when I woke up, I found that someone had left in my backpack a king-sized 3 Musketeers chocolate bar and a note saying something along the lines of ‘You’ve been reverse pickpocketed and hope it makes your day better.’ College can obviously get very stressful, so it was just a small gesture to really appreciate. Definitely made my day.”4)?TheLostSkellton wrote this:“Through no fault of our own, several years ago my husband and I found ourselves in dire financial straits. We ended up stranded in a place where we didn’t really know anybody, and we couldn’t afford our rent that was due in a week. There was no help forthcoming from either of our families. “That Sunday, I was downstairs in the church hall having coffee after the service, and someone I barely knew asked me how my summer was going. I burst into tears. She took me aside and asked for my story, and I told her everything. She prayed for me … and then asked me how much my rent was. I told her. Then she said, ‘You’ll need groceries, too.’“When I looked up, she had her chequebook out, and was writing a cheque for $1500.“Because of what she did, we had the safety net we needed to find gainful employment in time to make next month’s rent, and slowly get back on our feet.”APPENDIX A: SOME BOOKS BY DAVID BRUCERetellings of a Classic Work of LiteratureBen Jonson’s The Alchemist: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair: A Retelling Ben Jonson’s The Devil is an Ass: A Retelling Ben Jonson’s Volpone, or the Fox: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Complete Plays: RetellingsChristopher Marlowe’s Dido, Queen of Carthage: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus: Retellings of the 1604 A-Text and of the 1616 B-TextChristopher Marlowe’s Edward II: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s The Massacre at Paris: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s The Rich Jew of Malta: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine, Parts 1 and 2: RetellingsDante’s Divine Comedy: A Retelling in Prose Dante’s Inferno: A Retelling in Prose Dante’s Purgatory: A Retelling in Prose Dante’s Paradise: A Retelling in Prose The Famous Victories of Henry V: A RetellingFrom the Iliad to the Odyssey: A Retelling in Prose of Quintus of Smyrna’s PosthomericaGeorge Peele’s The Arraignment of Paris: A Retelling George Peele’s The Old Wives’ Tale: A RetellingThe History of King Leir: A RetellingHomer’s Iliad: A Retelling in Prose Homer’s Odyssey: A Retelling in Prose Jason and the Argonauts: A Retelling in Prose of Apollonius of Rhodes’ ArgonauticaJohn Ford: Eight Plays Translated into Modern EnglishJohn Ford’s The Broken Heart: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Fancies, Chaste and Noble: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Lady’s Trial: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Lover’s Melancholy: A RetellingJohn Ford’s Love’s Sacrifice: A RetellingJohn Ford’s Perkin Warbeck: A RetellingJohn Ford’s The Queen: A RetellingJohn Ford’s ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore: A RetellingKing Edward III: A RetellingThe Merry Devil of Edmonton: A RetellingRobert Greene’s Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay: A RetellingTarlton’s Jests: A RetellingThe Trojan War and Its Aftermath: Four Ancient Epic PoemsVirgil’s Aeneid: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s 5 Late Romances: Retellings in Prose William Shakespeare’s 10 Histories: Retellings in Prose William Shakespeare’s 11 Tragedies: Retellings in Prose William Shakespeare’s 12 Comedies: Retellings in Prose William Shakespeare’s 38 Plays: Retellings in Prose William Shakespeare’s 1 Henry IV, aka Henry IV, Part 1: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s 2 Henry IV, aka Henry IV, Part 2: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s 1 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 1: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s 2 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 2: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s 3 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 3: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s As You Like It: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Hamlet: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Henry V: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Henry VIII: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s King John: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s King Lear: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Othello: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince of Tyre: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Richard II: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Richard III: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s The Tempest: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s The Two Noble Kinsmen: A Retelling in Prose William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale: A Retelling in Prose Children’s BiographyNadia Comaneci: Perfect TenPersonal FinanceHow to Manage Your Money: A Guide for the Non-RichAnecdote Collections250 Anecdotes About Opera250 Anecdotes About Religion250 Anecdotes About Religion: Volume 2250 Music AnecdotesBe a Work of Art: 250 Anecdotes and StoriesThe Coolest People in Art: 250 AnecdotesThe Coolest People in the Arts: 250 AnecdotesThe Coolest People in Books: 250 AnecdotesThe Coolest People in Comedy: 250 AnecdotesCreate, Then Take a Break: 250 AnecdotesDon’t Fear the Reaper: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Art: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Books: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Books, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Books, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Comedy: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Dance: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 4: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 5: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 6: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Movies: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Neighborhoods: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Relationships: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Sports: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Sports, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Television and Radio: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Theater: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People Who Live Life: 250 Anecdotes The Funniest People Who Live Life, Volume 2: 250 Anecdotes The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds, Volume 1: 250 AnecdotesThe Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesMaximum Cool: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Movies: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Religion: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Sports: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People Who Live Life: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People Who Live Life, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesReality is Fabulous: 250 Anecdotes and StoriesResist Psychic Death: 250 AnecdotesSeize the Day: 250 Anecdotes and StoriesAPPENDIX B: ABOUT THE AUTHORIt was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly a cry rang out, and on a hot summer night in 1954, Josephine, wife of Carl Bruce, gave birth to a boy — me. Unfortunately, this young married couple allowed Reuben Saturday, Josephine’s brother, to name their first-born. Reuben, aka “The Joker,” decided that Bruce was a nice name, so he decided to name me Bruce Bruce. I have gone by my middle name — David — ever since.Being named Bruce David Bruce hasn’t been all bad. Bank tellers remember me very quickly, so I don’t often have to show an ID. It can be fun in charades, also. When I was a counselor as a teenager at Camp Echoing Hills in Warsaw, Ohio, a fellow counselor gave the signs for “sounds like” and “two words,” then she pointed to a bruise on her leg twice. Bruise Bruise? Oh yeah, Bruce Bruce is the answer!Uncle Reuben, by the way, gave me a haircut when I was in kindergarten. He cut my hair short and shaved a small bald spot on the back of my head. My mother wouldn’t let me go to school until the bald spot grew out again.Of all my brothers and sisters (six in all), I am the only transplant to Athens, Ohio. I was born in Newark, Ohio, and have lived all around Southeastern Ohio. However, I moved to Athens to go to Ohio University and have never left. At Ohio U, I never could make up my mind whether to major in English or Philosophy, so I got a bachelor’s degree with a double major in both areas, then I added a Master of Arts degree in English and a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy. Yes, I have my MAMA degree.Currently, and for a long time to come (I eat fruits and veggies), I am spending my retirement writing books such as Nadia Comaneci: Perfect 10, The Funniest People in Comedy, Homer’s Iliad: A Retelling in Prose, and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet: A Retelling in Prose. ................
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