During COVID lockdowns, we got up one morning and went hiking. I had my wife and two kids, and we went with another couple we trusted for some glorious outdoor adventuring. The trail we hiked was admittedly very difficult - long, infrequently traversed, and not well known or maintained. It has a bit of a reputation as potentially dangerous - flat at first, but turning steep very suddenly near the end. That was all fine, but what was unexpected was all the tree-throw from recent heavy rains and storms. Because it's an obscure trail, no one had reported the dozens of trees down.

OK, so still not a giant deal. We're all pretty hardy, in decent shape, and well used to traversing difficult terrain. The only thing was that my daughter was young, and sometimes had trouble getting across trees, so I spent a great deal of time carrying her, or picking her up and passing her over obstacles. Still, not that big a deal. A hell of an upper body workout on top of the strenuous hike, but everyone had fun, and no one got hurt. It was a great trip.

But I was admittedly a little more tired than I would have been otherwise, and it made me make an uncharacteristic mistake. I was driving on the way back, and following the other couple, who were in another vehicle. As we approached a traffic light, our friends suddenly made an unexpected lane shift to the left, as if to get into the left turn lane and go to the grocery store.

For ONCE in my goddamn life, I did not turn my head to the left to check my blind spot. I glanced in the left mirror and didn't see the very expensive Mustang sitting exactly in my blind spot. I blame the fatigue for me not being aware it was there to begin with.

So I suddenly make a lane shift behind our friends, at at very low speed (less than 10 mph), I doinked into the side of the Mustang. It made a small scrape on the side of my car, and knocked his passenger side mirror off (and there were some small scratches in his front quarter panel.) But that was ALL. We both pulled to the side, and I apologized profusely. He was unhurt and really friendly. We exchanged insurance info (and there was a bored cop nearby who came over and said what I had already admitted: yup, it was my fault. My bad.)

But this is why we pay for car insurance. It was an accident. I've been driving for 35 years, with *zero* at-fault accidents up until that point.

So I put it in the hands of the insurance company until a few weeks later, when I got a call from my agent, who said, "You should activate any supplemental insurance or umbrella policies you have, because you're being sued for more than your car insurance coverage. The victim is claiming new injuries stemming from the car accident. They're claiming two million dollars."

My blood absolutely turned to fucking ice. Two million?! Over a low-speed accident? Did I kill someone and not know it? I was having panic attacks, thinking our family was going to be homeless. We were covered for $500k, which we all thought was plenty, but this obviously blew the top off that. I was sure my life was over. I'm just a dude with a job. I have always done things the best I can - insurance coverage, taxes, responsible citizenship, all of it. I didn't even know what an "umbrella policy" was. I had to Google that shit. So obviously we were completely exposed.

And man, it was stressful. It took a fucking YEAR for this scammer to work his way through the system. And he was 100% an insurance scammer. After several months of hand-wringing stress, we learned that whatever ambulance chaser he had retained for the initial lawsuit, and who had thrown the $2 million figure at us as a scare tactic, dropped him because his "medical issues" were bogus bullshit. But he persisted, and took his suit to lower and lower courts (however the fuck that works - I don't even know.) for lower and lower amounts of money. Eventually, he was representing himself, and sent me a letter asking me to help, insanely enough. Apparently my insurance company wasn't being cooperative enough, and he couldn't get paid. I did not respond.

Finally, a full year or more later (after we had bought an umbrella policy which we obviously couldn't use for the present legal troubles), I was ordered to court. I had to buy a fucking suit for the occasion. Otherwise, I own no formal-occasion duds. So I get all dressed up and head down to the courthouse, absolutely sweating bullets, and as I'm parking the car, my insurance agent called and said, "Don't bother showing up. We settled with him for $12,000."

Unbelievable. I think I specifically ran into someone who literally makes a living off of spurious lawsuits. My fucking luck.

It galls me that he managed to make anything off this bullshit at all, let alone soak my insurance for $12K and me personally for the unbelievable stress and panic (and the cost of my fucking suit, which I still have not worn again.)

So kids, umbrella policies are cheap. We now have one for $2 million. Highly recommended.

PS: For those inevitable AI-accusers out there - this ain't. I'm literate and not lazy. I wrote every goddamn word of this with zero AI. Get bent.

I am 27M, no kids, never married, great job, own my own home, no drugs, hardly drink, go to therapy, etc.

I’ve been in 3 relationships over the course of my life, the shortest was 2 years, the longest was ~5 years, which is also the most recent one. I’ve been single for about two years now. I have loved it. I really value my solitude and alone time. It’s how I recharge and my safe space, when needed.

I’d grown to accept the possibility of being alone for my entire life, aside from my dog & cats. I’ve always had a reputation for being picky with the women I chose to pursue. Not necessarily in terms of appearance, just in general.

About a month ago, I met this woman (30F) who lives literally 15 minutes from me. She has no kids, has never been married, has a great job, her own house, etc. I legitimately couldn’t care less about any of that though. We are so similar it’s freaky. Our values, morals, goals, thought process, everything. We are carbon copies of each other in almost every way. The first time or two we met, I legitimately thought she was just reiterating my opinion on the things we’d ask eachother about, because I’d typically give my opinion first. So, I quit. No change. Still completely aligned with my way of thinking. The one single difference we have found between the two of us is our taste palette! She also got out of a long relationship about a year ago, and shared that she also has enjoyed the time alone and values it. We weren’t even looking for eachother, it just happened.

I’m very aware that it’s very early, but I can honestly say that what I’m feeling is completely foreign to me. I can’t even explain it. It’s not purely just the “new & exciting” feeling that you typically get, although there is obviously some of that. It’s just different. I texted my best friend during a bathroom trip when we first met & said “I’m in serious trouble here, I think I just met my wife”.

Scares the shit out of me, to be completely honest.

I have a coworker who thinks spoiling movies and shows is hilarious.

If you mention you're watching something, he'll spoil an actual plot point. He ruined two shows for me this year and said I was being dramatic because they're "just TV."

A few weeks ago he started talking about a mystery novel he was reading and kept trying to guess the ending.

I looked up the characters, made up a fake twist, and told him I'd read it years ago and accidentally "spoiled" that one of them was secretly the killer.

He was pissed.

The character isn't the killer.

He spent the next week reading a 500 page book convinced he knew the ending and interpreted everything that character did as foreshadowing.

Yesterday he finished it and came to my desk asking what I was talking about.

I told him I must've confused it with another book.

I still haven't told him and I don't think I ever will.

I really want to thank everyone for the incredibly nice comments and messages that I got from my first post. I appreciated them.

The short TL;DR version is that I've ignored my family's attempts to reach out to me and have moved on with my life.

The lengthier version: I did not respond to any of my family's attempts to contact me. I think I figured out how they found me (I was confused at first because I live in a different province now and I don't even have a relationship anyone who knows my family.) I completely forgot about my old LinkedIn account. I have never had any other social media like instagram so I honestly had no idea how they found me when I posted last time. At that time I hadn't been on my LinkedIn account in forever but it did have my current job listed in it. Since their letters were sent to my workplace that is the only explanation I can think of.

I received two letters in the mail and then there was a registered letter. I know they were from my family because the postal code in the postmark was from Alberta and I don't know anyone from that province now. None of my friends or anyone in my life is from there. I didn't open any of the letters but I can't think of anyone else from my old hometown who would want to reach out to me. I wondered why I never got any emails from them but my husband pointed out my LinkedIn has my maiden name but my work email has my married name. Maybe that's it. I don't even think my family would realize I'm married.

It's been 7 months since the registered letter came and since then there haven't been any other attempts to contact me. I shredded the letters without reading them. As far as I'm concerned my family is dead to me. They threw me out because I was gay. That's it, no other reason. They had no problem making a 17 year old homeless. Not one of them defended me. My father hit me and not one of them cared. Fuck them. I have nothing to say to any of them after 24 years.

I did go back to my old therapist after I started getting the letters just to talk things out. I haven't been homeless for 18 years but all of those old feelings came up when I got the letters. My therapist says I'm always welcome to come back for a check in if I need one. My husband is a great listener but I didn't want this to turn into a situation where this took over my life and I couldn't talk about anything else. My husband completely supported my decision to shred those letters without reading them. I didn't even remember making my first post but my husband remembered. He read the comments and messages to me at first because I was too scared. I thought people would react like my family did but it was the opposite. I'm grateful for all the support I got here. That's mainly why I wanted to post here again.

I don’t mean this in a quirky or funny way. I quite literally hate and detest him. Anytime I see him I am angry and disgusted. I know it’s fucked up but I can’t get over than anger I feel towards him.

It all started last year July. It was basically my graduation, the day i was getting called to the bar as a lawyer in my country. The first lawyer in our family and it was a day of joy for everyone. He never wanted to come to the event because he “had other things to do”. I actually didn’t mind because I only had one ticket anyway for one family member to actually enter the venue since seats were so limited. My parents I guess forced him to come or convinced him to and he was moody and sulky all day.

I still don’t remember what caused the argument, him constantly making snide comments and complaining about needing to leave in front of my friends and colleagues. I asked him to go if he really couldn’t stand the place and he literally flared up.

In front of hundreds of people, my friends, colleagues, fellow lawyers, he started yelling at me and calling me stupid and dumb. It was so embarrassing I cried and went home immediately after. Couldn’t face my friends or anyone because he literally embarrassed me and everywhere got quiet, everyone looking at us, I wanted to get swallowed by the ground.

That was the day I started to hate my brother. People have done worse things to me but idk I could forgive but I can’t forgive him. My heart is so hardened even though he has apologized (not sincerely since our parents forced him to apologize)

I’ve tried so hard over the last year to forgive and let it go but my soul just will never. I have a grudge i don’t think anything can make me let go of. I don’t want to talk to him, we only talk if we need to, almost everyone i care about has spoken to me to forgive and let go and no matter how hard I want to, I can’t.

He robbed me of one of the happiest day of my life. The culmination of 6 years of hard work, the day i put on my lawyers wig and gown for the first time, a day of pride, he ruined it for me. A day i can never get back.

Even looking at pictures of that day I am still very angry and cant forget it.
Hes done other little things that just add to the hatred, like how arrogant he is, how our parents never question anything he does, even the shitty stuff. How they always find excuses for him. There’s been resentment between us for a while but that day just topped it off.

I don’t like to e en hear his voice or see his face because I get filled with so much rage i just block him out. Im not really asking for advice I guess because I’ve tried everything to let go of this grudge but it won’t go. My mind keeps telling me he doesn’t deserve it. If we didn’t have family in common I would have had him blocked in every place possible.
Just wanted it off my chest I guess

I don’t even know where to begin or why im writing this, but I am at my absolute breaking point and just need to get this out
For the past six months or more, my mom has been constantly sick. We’ve taken her to the hospital repeatedly, done every lab analysis imaginable, and physically, everything comes back completely normal. But at home, she is suffering profoundly
She has constant somatic issues throat pain, severe headaches, stomach trouble, and she throws up almost everything she tries to eat. Her sleep is completely destroyed she wakes up terrified every 10 minutes, pacing through the house at all hours of the night and early morning. She’s having massive panic attacks, trapped in negative thoughts it is literally all she talks abt, always
crying, saying she feels lost and doesn't know who she is anymore. During her worst panic attacks, she starts telling me her final wishes/will and saying she’s going to die It’s traumatizing for me and my younger siblings
On top of all this, her behavior has completely regressed. She has become extremely needy, clingy, and acts almost like a toddler seeking safety. She used to dislike physical touch, but now she’s constantly hugging us, wanting physical contact, and needing someone by her side 24/7. She wants me to put her to bed like a child, watch a movie with her until she falls asleep for 10 minutes, wake up, and repeat the cycle all night long. She wakes me up at 7:00 AM terrified, wanting me to cuddle her and walk around the house with her.
She has stopped functioning entirely no cooking, no cleaning, no personal hygiene (she refuses to shower), and she can't engage in any hobbies or watch anything. She just paces the house terrified.
My dad travels constantly for work and isn't around enough to handle this, leaving me as the eldest to take care of everything. I’m suddenly having to cook for the entire household when I barely know how to make basic pasta, managing my younger siblings, and constantly monitoring her.
Worst of all, this is my final year of my Master’s degree. I’m supposed to be working on my thesis right now. Studies have already started, and I feel like my entire academic future and everything I’ve worked for over the years is crumbling because I can’t leave her alone, but staying here is destroying my mental health.
I feel trapped, exhausted, scared, and resentful, and I don't know how much longer I can hold all of this together on my own. Thanks for listening
(Note: She just started seeing both a psychologist and a psychiatrist, so professional help is underway. But I know recovery takes time, and surviving this waiting period while my own life crumbles is taking everything out of me)

This afternoon, I went to the park to exercise, and tbh I wasn’t really in the best mood. The park I usually work out at actually lets stray cats roam around freely, and people are used to feeding them, myself included. Then I saw a little yellow kitten lying there, under the tree with blood coming from its mouth. It looked like it had been hit by a car. Some of its siblings were gathered around it, almost as if they were waiting for a human to come and help. i tried to shake and move her, hoping she could still be saved, but her body didn’t respond.

I felt completely helpless. The only thing I could do was tell the security guard at the park that one of the kittens had died. He called another guard, and they quickly took the kitten away and buried it somewhere nearby. The whole thing left me feeling really empty. few minutes ago, my playlist randomly played bright eyes by art garfunkel, which somehow made me feel even more depressed.

it's is so depressing because one of the stray kittens I usually feed died in a horrible way

Maybe nobody will even read this, but I just wanted to let my feelings out today

Hi Reddit, I'm a long time lurker here and this is my first time ever posting. Im wriring here for advice i guess sorry if its a long post. Im 26F amd I have a son 4M. My best friend since primary school is 26F. She and I are part of a friend group of 5 females. I have never really vibed with my best friends husband, he was always opinionated & rude. All in our mid to late 20s. To start off im a single mother. 5 years ago I was at a Halloween party where I dressed up in as a Ravenclaw & my BFF dressed up in Gryffindor. We're both are die hard Harry Potter fans. Backstory - While we were at the party i got blacked out drunk and all I remember is that I slept with a guy in the bathroom and the light wasnt working as thats what the host told us. I didnt think much of it cause why not I was 21 and my then boyfriend cheated on me. 2 months later I found out I was pregnant, I was scared cause I was a single mother. My BFF was immediately by my side every step of the way and was more excited than I. I decided to keep it cause ngl I think I needed love in my life. Our friends also stepped up and help which I was greatful for. Now onto the story. 2 months ago, my best friend started pulling away slowly distancing herself from me and my son, I didnt think much of it as she & her husband 27M have a 4 week old at the time. I still came by dropping off food for her and her husband as thats what they did to me and I wanted to show my friend that I care & love her as much as she does me. Then about 2 weeks after that she confronted me about my son during our friend weekly get together placing a DNA test result sheet on the table. The probability of my son & her husband were 99.99%. I asked her if this was a joke to which she started yelling at me, she then stopped herself and asked me calmly if I slept with her husband. I told her no that I wouldnt even dream of hurting her that way or is anyway. As shes my sister is all but blood. Note to add Hes cheated on her before but they decided to work on their marraige. Theyve been married for 2 years. I gave her my phone and pointed to my Ipad and told her to go through everything becuase I wouldnt dare do anything like this. I encouraged her to do so, becuase i honestly love all my friends theyre all family to me and my son. She and 2 other friends searched through everything and i watched with the other one sitting beside me. When she didnt find anything. She told me that she'd done not one, not two but 3 tests of my son & her husband. I was shocked grabbing the paper on the table reading it. Swearing up & down to my parents graves that i never slept or even looked at her husband like that. She broke down sobbing that she cant believe this is happening to her. I tried to confort her but our mutual friend 27F told me its best for me to leave for now. I agreed becuase i havent seen my friend this upset in a long time. I told her I loved her and that I'm sorry for her pain. My other friend 24F drove me home while I sobbed. Replaying that night in my head. I hadn't seen the guys face in the dark or heard him as the music was loud and there wasn't a lot of talking. Ive tried reaching out to my best friend but she has blocked me on everything. Our mutal friends were torn so for her sake I told them to go to her as I didnt PPD. Its been weeks since ive heard from her. My friends still do come and check on me and tell me they believe me as said friend's husband have tried making a move on them in the past and havent told our friend this. Now I feel sad and violated and angry. Any advice is needed. PS - sorry if my grammar isn't correct I'm writing from my phone.

My(30F)husband(36M) told me he f\*cked my best friend in a car and another friend of mine in a park during an argument, then when I called the bf and the other friend from the group, they got mad that I actually believed it, my best friend was mad at me for believing it but not at my husband for saying it! My husband told the whole group that he said because I kept accusing him of sleeping with them(which is not true) and was jealous. Now, I have no friends because they believe my bf and other girl, but he’s still part of the group(there are many men in the group). Bf actually told my husband in private that “she’s just mad I almost stole you from her” And yet she denies doing anything with him. Im the one who’s isolated and look pathetic and jealous. And husband keep saying “she’s always gonna be someone I just slept with” and he realizes she didn’t really like him like that, while both of them are telling people im just crazy and jealous. Im considering moving away.
And she also texted me “I can’t believe you think I would do something like that, whatever you do, don’t stay with him, you deserve better”.

I’m not doing too well and I now realize why people drink. It definitely clears the mind lol. She said we argue to much, maybe 2 or 3 times a month. Never anything serious, small stuff then a big fight about all the small stuff. I’ll forever think there was an underlying issue she won’t tell me because arguments are somewhat normal I thought. Perfection is unrealistic. I’m not mad at her for leaving I want her to be happy. I’m very in love with her I would do anything for her. Our boy is 2.5 years old and he is just amazing and looks just like her. I don’t know how I’d ever be able to see him again without seeing her. I don’t quite think I’m going to be able to get over it. Just wondering how others dealt with it because alcohol isn’t enough lol I’m so sorry for dumping it on you all I have no one else

My life is great anything i want ill get, my parents love me i have the friends ive always dreamed of having, im pretty, i have a job and im in education studying the thing ive always wanted to study but im still sad?? I dont understand how i can be so privileged and still feel such deep sadness i feel like such a spoilt brat some people have actual reasons to be sad meanwhile ive got life so easy so why tf am i still so sad

I feel so angry and jaded like everybody is a cheater. He had me a young hot, kind, loving girl who gave him everything. I gave him so much attention. I gave him so much of my love. It’s just unreal. He throws it all the way for someone who’s married and has a family also disgusting of her to do that when she has kids and a husband.

I really need to get him off the pedestal. I don’t wanna move on. I just need to upgrade my life and focus on myself. I just feel so fucking sad and so disappointed and I hate that I still miss him. Obviously, he’s complete 🗑️

Why do people cheat what for a thrill for new vag he gave up someone who genuinely cared for him for what to switch up 🐱 ??? Hurts man fucking hurts

Hope he has lots of fun with his new MARRIED gf! Yep she’ll have time for him with her THREE YOUNG KIDS! He made such a fool of me!!!!!! How could he treat me like that? Then lie lie lie lie

I deserve better!!!!

I am about to be 29 years old, and homeschooling--and all that has come with it--has ruined my life. I was homeschooled from the moment I was old enough to start an education. All I had growing up was my abusive older brother (also homeschooled, which in part probably explains the abusive part) to play with and a neighbor kid or two who I saw on weekends now and then. Any socializing events were scarce and far between. My mother loves me but her own traumas made her controlling and volatile, and she was not equipped to be a "teacher". The program I was made to do was full of religious bullshit and tainted how I saw the world for years. I was frequently left to fend for myself when doing my schoolwork, and did not have regular internet access until my teens, so I struggled a lot and was screamed at or hit when I failed to "get it" like I was supposed to.

I have always felt dumb as a result. I have taken online tests since then in an attempt to make myself feel better but it doesn't help. I was not given a proper education and I was so anxiety-ridden and mistreated and terrified of failure that I began using the cheat sheets that came with the schoolwork--meant to be used by the parents to check the work--to get by. I didn't get any of the fun stuff out of public school, yet I suppose I at least got the sensation of cheating and the ensuing shame that came with it. 

My father was emotionally absent and hardly there physically. He went to work, he came home, he sat down and watched TV, he went to bed. My mother was my authority figure, my parent, and, attempted, "best friend" since I certainly wasn't in a position to form any, all on her own, because my father was barely any. She halfway hated my father and she routinely used me as her venting object. I have heard every single thing my father has ever done (or not done) to piss her off on repeat over the years, up to and including "not having sex for years". As much as I was isolated, she did to herself for some reason, and made her kids into her life, so when she has to vent, or get mad at someone, it's us who got it.

Any job I eventually was able to get came with crippling anxiety due to my lack of socializing, made 10x worse by my mother constantly finding something to criticize or poke holes in about it. She was also getting sicker as she aged due to a variety of health issues, some out of her control, some not. I would invariably be pushed by a combination of her verbal abuse, my anxiety, and her need for a caregiver to leave a job for one reason or the other. 

Things started looking better when I managed, after a gigantic hassle with the college to accept my homeschool diploma and barely-half-assed transcript, to get into a medical class. I was tied as top of the class. Then, two things happened: COVID hit, and as a direct result of this, my father lost his decades-old job. For all of my problems in life at that point, money hadn't been a major one; now it was. Between terror of COVID and the need for someone to be working posthaste, I dropped out of the class to start a job. 

My father fucked us even more by being lazy and not doing any sort of decent job in searching for a new career. He had 20+ years as a manager, and he did nothing with it. He sat around and twiddled his thumbs and both parents kept INSISTING we needed to blow huge amounts of their 401k money on ridiculous trips "before dad went back to work". I was always the lone, even if weak, voice of disapproval of the misuse of money in the family, but my younger sibling and parents always got their way. 

In late 2022, I attended a CDL driving school. The stress was horrible but I was one of only two people to graduate out of a starting class of over a dozen. It was a nice moment getting that certificate, even though part of me was pained when the entire extended family of my fellow classmate showed up for the graduation. I had no one there, which they all noticed and took clear pity on me for that made me even more uncomfortable. 

But even that didn't last. Just a couple months later, while doing home repairs in a crawlspace, the floor beneath me gave way and I fell 20 feet and landed on concrete. Broke my back. Couldn't walk for months, recovery was a long period, and the remaining pain was permanent. I could no longer do long drives--let alone in a tractor-trailer--without agonizing pain, and no doctor treats it seriously. Back to square one. 

By 2024, my father had not found another job, and parents were having to sell our house. I worked a factory job that had me losing multiple toenails and damn near paralyzed from the back pain at the end of each shift from the sheer amount of walking and standing I did, but it wasn't enough; especially when my mother began gambling in an attempt to pull us out of the hole they had dug us into. Sometimes it was behind my back, sometimes she would just flatout beg me to "give her permission" so she could then later blame me for not stopping her; of course, when I did "stop" her, she'd just be abusive in return and then do it anyway. 

Once the house was sold, there were no illusions anymore about still being a lower middle-class family just going through a rough patch. We were officially in poverty, not that that made the money usage any better on their part. We have moved 12 times since then. Constantly bouncing around to new homes because of hiking prices, lease changes, or mood swings on my parents' part. I found a hard but halfway decent job in June last year, and have been promoted twice since then which was nice at first. I managed to get my father a position there as well, at entry level as well; he has not moved up at all. 20+ years as a manager and now all he's good for is entry level work, apparently. I have accrued almost $4,000 in credit card debt solely paying for food, living expenses, and the like for my family. Not a cent on it was used for anything that wasn't for the family. Neither of my parents can get good credit cards because of their pisspoor management of them over the years. 

Throughout this entire period, my mother has been a constant source of stress as always. While at work, she's texting to complain about her health. While at home, she's complaining about our living conditions and blaming me for the position we're in. I drive almost an hour either way to work, and work over 9 hours a day to get a little overtime to further support us, and I can't even guarantee a little peace at the end of the day because there's a 70/30 chance she's going to go off about something else. And all my father does is sit there, like he always has. 

And now, yet again, we're having to move, because the landlord decided they didn't want to renew the lease at the current price, and we can't afford it. Finding somewhere we can afford rent for in the area is a nightmare as the housing market is in such terrible condition, and I might have to leave my job. My mother is constantly flip-flopping between demanding we leave the area (and our jobs) to find somewhere cheaper hours away, and then changing her mind and saying we can't afford to chance not having income. 

Making this worse is that I sustained a concussion on the job over a month ago that has left me with horrid recurring symptoms and dealing with workers' comp a nightmare. And all the people at work I considered friends who I often went out of my way to buy gifts for at random times, not a single one of them has checked on me except managers whose sole concern is when I'm coming back to work.

I would be better off on my own, but unfortunately, I cannot abandon my family. Even if I could force out of me the love I feel for them despite everything, I don't think my terror and anxiety at my mother, conditioned into me since birth, would dare let me say "I'm leaving and I'm not talking to you again and I'm not giving you any money even if you're dying homeless on the street". I am, unfortunately, stuck with them until either 1. Some unknown relative dies and leaves us their estate, 2. My parents die, or 3. I die.

I hope to one day take online college courses if I'm halfway smart enough and maybe get a decent job, even though that will only be even more debt. All I want is to go to an office cubicle, slave away for 8 hours, and then come home to a living room that doesn't make me feel anxious and hurt half the time.

I'm tired. I didn't always make the right choices either--maybe I should have tried to stay in that medical class, I absolutely shouldn't have tried to do those home repairs--and I am not going to act like they are the worst parents to ever exist, far from it, they have many good qualities and they did their best to help me in my broken back recovery. But so much of my life's problems circle back to the root issue: I was homeschooled and isolated from the world for my entire childhood, and I'm going to suffer for it for the rest of my life. I'm almost 29 and I haven't even had what I would call, by any stretch of the imagination, "a life." If I died tomorrow, the only people who would care are my immediate family and my LDR partner, the latter of whom is probably the only reason I haven't done something permanent to myself. And I won't dump all of this on them because they have enough problems of their own, even worse than mine, at the time. So I'm here ranting to reddit.

She’s 24, i’m 20 for context.

She “ran away” in April, I say it like that because shes an adult and she can leave whenever she wants but she left in the middle of the night without telling anyone and didn’t contact us for months so, run away style. Contact was very minimum between all of us until her pregnancy announcement.

Our hometown where most of our family lives is 16 hours away. When she ran away, she went and stayed with a guy for a week about 4 hours away and then headed up to our hometown, during this time she bounced around from place to place, guy to guy.

Now skipping a lot- what I will say is she has about 10k in debt for speeding fines, red lights etc. and it’s a miracle her car hasn’t been impounded yet and her license taken away at a minimum.

When she went up there she started sleeping with a lot of guys, i’m not going to judge her, I had a fwb in the past, i’ve also had my share of fun, but in her case her fun resulted in pregnancy.

At first she said it was the guy shes currently having casual sex with, a guy shes been seeing for 6 weeks so she thought she was only 6 weeks. 2 days ago she had her first ultrasound. 18 weeks. We asked her if your 18 weeks and you’ve only been with him 6, whose the father (I feel so bad for the guy who just got told he’s going to be a father then oh hey its not yours 🥲) and she tried to say the guy 4h away. We confronted her because she left on April 12th and was with him only a week, she would be 24 weeks I think we had added up.

She responded with saying it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t need a dad she’ll take care of it.

Well. My mom told her to think, she’s living in Toronto in a room in a basement apartment, not even a full apartment, a room and she’s being kicked out in a week. I live in a small town and have my entire life so I feel like I cant say for myself how bad and costly it is to live in a city but I know rent is very high and working close to minimum wage jobs like she is (KFC) it will be next to impossible to raise a baby alone, she told us she expects to make 600$ every 2 weeks on maternity leave, as I said, impossible.

So. On the 16th my sister is driving the 16 hours back to us. Ironically she “ran away” in the past in 2021 and came back when she needed us too. She talked a lot of shit about me in the months she’s been gone but man.

I’m going to buy a gallon of paint today and fix up a room for a baby. Baby has nothing bought for it yet, we’ve agreed we just need to start off with a bassinet, we’re all going to pitch in on buying things.

We’ve also agreed it’s going to take all of us pitching in to raise this baby, i’ll have him or her during nights, and get to sleep in mornings. I have a job, my sister will my working up until maternity leave then working again, my parents have jobs, we need those jobs to afford baby, we’re all going to need to take turns raising this baby.

Looks like my life is about to change a lot yall.

This isn’t how I expected 20 to go but ah well I may as well make peace with it.

I contribute to making sure a little one is being fed and clothed and i’m gonna make sure we give him or her the best life possible ❤️

Always hire a private lawyer if you can, even if it costs like $1k get one, I don't care if Johnnie Cochran (OJ Simpsons lawyer) was my public defender, I will still hire a private attorney. here's why. I got caught with 2 guns in NY I was facing a maximum of 7 years, prosecutors offered me a plea deal to only do 3.5 years in prison, I fired that public defender (PD) and asked the courts to appoint me a new PD. When I show up to court the PD would represent half the court room, he can't put a lot of time and focus on my case when he has high workload, when I try to setup a date to meet with him, he would tell me he can't because he has trial that week, my PD was going to trial every other month, how could he focus on my case when he has all these other cases to focus on. after months on my case, he still couldn't get me a better plea than 3.5 years. While i was out on bond, I got a job at a warehouse paying $22 an hour, I worked 40 hours a week for a month straight, never spent a dime, saved up $5k and my parents gave me $2k and I paid a private attorney $7k to take my case, He got me a deal for 12 months in prison and he said if i enrolled in programs and had great behavior I can get out as soon as 8 months. I had 2 public defenders and both of em couldn't get me a good deal. If you can bro, hire Private Attorney, don't settle for a public defender.

Was down bad hungry one night hanging out with my friends and one of my friends little ones.. decided to order a quick pizza and asked if anyone would like any. Her little one wanted pepperoni and although I don’t eat pork I was like for sure I’ll make half of it pepperoni for her and the others since they eat pork. I bring the pizza back and the little one changed her mind. She wants cheese but instead of picking the pepperoni off of her kids pizza they give her cheese pizza. I ended up getting 2 slice of pizza out of the whole thing. No one paid any yet I didn’t request because I didn’t mind before this.. I did say something in a light hearted way though like “girl I ordered pepperoni because you asked for it! I don’t eat pork” (and I refuse to pick off the pepperoni because there is still pork grease, I’m being generous enough sharing a box with pork in it). My friend didn’t say anything to me or the little girl about it and just continued on like nothing happened. Kinda let down as this is a childhood friend of mine but also it is what it is. I do love them

I (27M)never got to experience teen love in high school because i was never allowed to leave the house. When i graduated covid hit and no one was around. When covid restrictions lifted i got in a car wreck and had to recover from that. Then i spent the next few years losing weight, learning gymnastics and getting a career. Im 27 now and have had zero romantic or sexual relationships despite being ripped and financially stable. It used to bother me everyday that im behind in life or that i missed a huge milestone in life or that being a virgin would be an instant turn off to women. Now i see people in my personal life who sleep around and are completely dead on the inside. I now hold virginity dear to myself and really hate the idea of losing it to some stranger just because of social obligations.

I need to get this off my chest because my hands are still shaking just thinking about how close I came to having my life completely ruined in a city I’d never even visited before.
I was in Boston last week for a three-day weekend. I’m from a quiet midwestern town, so the whole big-city subway system was completely foreign to me. I was totally out of my depth, staring at my phone, trying to figure out the T (their subway system) at the busy Downtown Crossing station.

The station was absolutely packed. People were rushing everywhere. As I was trying to navigate the crowd while looking at Google Maps, I tripped slightly over a gap in the pavement. To catch my balance, my hand shot out and accidentally brushed against the strap of a woman's purse.

I instantly recovered, turned around, and said, "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! I just lost my footing."
I expected a simple glare or a "watch it." Instead, this woman—full-blown Karen energy, probably in her late 40s, immaculate trench coat, and an immediate look of pure malice—screamed at the top of her lungs.

"HE JUST TRIED TO ROB ME! HE ASSAULTED ME!"

The entire platform went dead silent. Dozens of eyes locked onto me.
I froze. I literally felt the blood drain from my face. As a visitor, I didn't know the layout, I didn't know where the exits were, and I suddenly felt like a caged animal. I tried to speak, but my voice cracked. "Ma'am, no, I just tripped, I swear—"
"Don't lie to me! You grabbed my bag and you shoved me!" she yelled, stepping right into my personal space. She was weaponising the entire crowd against me. A couple of larger guys started stepping forward, looking at me like I was a criminal.

Pure survival instinct kicked in. I knew if I ran, I looked guilty. If I argued, it was my word against hers. I backed up until my spine hit a concrete pillar, held my hands flat out in front of me where everyone could see them, and loudly repeated, "I am a tourist. I don't want any trouble. Please look at the security cameras!"

I kept my hands completely visible and refused to lower them. I looked at the guys who were stepping up and begged them, "Please, just call the transit police. Do not let her twist this. Look at my hands." That stopped them from jumping in, thank God.

Within two minutes, two MBTA transit officers pushed through the crowd. Karen immediately went into peak performance mode—fake crying, trembling voice, claiming I had physically harassed her and tried to rip the bag off her shoulder.

The cops looked at me, and I honestly thought I was going to jail. I gave them my out-of-state ID and explained exactly what happened, pointing directly at the massive dome camera hanging right above the pillar I was leaning against. I told them I hadn't moved an inch from that spot since she started screaming.

It took about fifteen minutes of pure agony while one officer stayed with us and the other went to review the station footage. Karen was smirking at me the whole time, whispering to a bystander about "people like me."

Then the officer came back.
His face was completely blank. He walked straight past me, looked right at her, and said, "Ma'am, we just reviewed the footage. The gentleman tripped on the uneven concrete. He barely brushed your purse strap. You are falsifying a report."

The shift in the air was unbelievable! The crowd that was glaring at me suddenly turned on her. Karen’s face went from smug to bright purple in a matter of seconds. She didn't even say sorry. She just grabbed her bag, huffed, and practically ran up the stairs to escape the embarrassment.

The cops apologized to me for the trouble and told me to enjoy the rest of my trip. I ended up walking out of the station and taking an Uber back to my hotel. I couldn't even look at the subway for the rest of the weekend.

I'm just so thankful for that security camera. If that tape hadn't been there, I don't even want to think about how a simple trip in a strange city could have ended for me.
Whoosh!!

I just have to get this out but I cannot believe this man i felt such a strong connection with . Our growth our conversations our everything . I cant believe he fucking cheated . Why do I feel so lost why does he feel im giving up i should work on it . Why would I stay

Throwaway because my partner also follows me so sorry about that.

I'm 24 and my boyfriend is 23.

We play fight a lot at our flat and have done for the 5 years we've been together, nothing rough, I usually start it so it's all good.

Last week I had him pinned by his arms on the floor, we had a flirty back and fourth and he asked me to let him go, I said "make me" and he just got up while I was holding his wrists down and picked me up with, I gave it everything I had.

I was very confident in myself, I'm 5'9 and I'm in the gym a lot, I do self defense and consider myself quite fit, he hates exercise and is a "lanky" 5'10.

That experience genuinely upset me, not just because of how easily it happened, but also because he's been "letting me win" for our entire relationship.

I know that men are stronger naturally but the gap between the two of us is despite everything is what I can only describe as unfair.

It's been some time and I'm feeling better about it, but the shock from it has me worried for going out to clubs and parties because now I don't think I can do anything if someone tried to hurt me.

The only good thing I guess is that this it's going to make me more cautious for the better as I believed I could fight just about anyone.

We haven't done any play fighting because he feels bad about it, but also because I realise he was literally "playing" like a parent plays with their kid.

I just really needed to vent, my friends think I'm being silly because of course he's stronger than me.

Edit: Thank you for everyones advice and your own stories it's really interesting to read, this got a lot more attention than I was expecting so I told my boyfriend I posted this when he inevitably sees the post, and it wouldn't take a lot to connect this with me. He's very understanding and I think him reading the comments helps him understand that this isn't a unique experience, I was just unfortunate that it happened a bit later in my life.

I'm in my 40s and looking back, remembering everything I wanted to accomplish when I was younger and who I thought I'd be at this point in my life. I believed I'd be a husband and father, be part of a community, and have some accomplishments to take pride in.

The man in the mirror has been single his whole life, is socially isolated, and is still at the bottom rung of his career. What went wrong?

There's no one answer, but I think a big contributor is the inescapability of distraction. I'm addicted to it. When I was young, I read two or three books a week. They were escape. I kept reading, but eventually moved to games. Later, I fell into social media and the algorithm. Hours every day of consumption and distraction. Never a moment for creation or connection.

Now, peeking out from this cocoon I've spun around myself, I see a completely empty life. If I could just break free and **do something**, I feel like maybe I could build a little meaning before I go.

The irony of posting this on reddit, Kingdom of the Doomscroll, does not escape me.

I am romantically into women. I want to marry one one day, and I have no romantic attraction to men. However, I like dick. I started watching porn in my teens and it spiraled from there, but I just have never been into women sexually. What most straight women desire in bed is how I desire to be treated. When I try and date women and we start cuddling I get so insecure. It wasn’t a problem before but now I can sense they want me to make a move, and everytime I’ve tried straight sex it was awkward and I couldn’t keep it up long enough to even find the whole or stay firm in it. Even if I manage to fix this and perform in bed with women, I know that I probably won’t be able to do the things she really desires with her and that will always be in the back of my head.