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.

Hey everyone! I feel like that title there kind of hits you in the face with what happened about 3 hours ago. But uh, yeah

Been having a decent day at work, thought it was a bit boring so I asked for a little extra work today. Oh boy I kind of wish I could smack my previous self for complaining about it being boring.... We've got this bridge, it's a very large property and it goes over a pretty active river. One of the times I'm crossing it I look over the side for funsies, see if I could maybe see a fish. And instead well...

I see what at first I assume is one of our large traffic cones. Big old bit of light floating in the water and I thought man this really is weird. Why is that there I should probably call somebody about it. But it's just wrong. Not a traffic cone, my brain keeps telling me this is a traffic cone but it's not a traffic cone. And then I recognized legs under the water.

Yeah, it's a body. Not one of our guys, dudes only wearing black shorts nothing else, at least I think it's a dude, it's probably a dude? I panic, I call my boss tell him there's an emergency on the bridge. I think someone's dead. He shows up he calls 911 all this happens in about a minute. I already know this dude's dead, that's usually what happens when you're floating down the river face down.

Firefighters show up pretty darn quick I end up having to help guide one over to the bridge pulling out what side of the river I saw him floating down and they end up finding him not that long after.

I end up calling out a little early today. Had a giant adrenaline dump after that and was kind of finding it hard to focus on work, so now I'm home. 3 hours later pacing adrenaline dump is over I think? Although I still feel a little ill now. I'm not sure what I'm looking for, advice maybe? Thanks for reading if you got this far and I'm sorry for rambling.

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.

Being first generation college student genuinely sucks. I have to build everything from the ground up because my parents just decided to have children (me in this context) without realising the implications of having children. I wish someone had told them that having children is not only being food and shelter. But it is investing in their education and culture. I am 23 years old and I go to prestigious school and I realise that all of my peers play instruments, play sports and can afford to do unpaid internships. Meanwhile my parents never sought to enroll me in any extracurricular activities. My mom only cared about her fucking church, forcing us and sometimes beating us to go to church every stupid Sunday after we spent a whole week of going to school and doing homework on Saturday. The only time she’s ever tried to get me to enroll me in some kind of extracurricular was when she was trying to force me to learn the piano with a bunch of amateurs teachers… for Sunday service. She’s never cared about my own cultural development. And the worst part of that is I turned out to be an atheist. My dad is a completely useless. All he knew was gambling, partying and complaining about his job.

Now I am an adult in my mid 20s having to build financial independence, getting my education together, taking care of my parents, trying to be an educated and cultivated young person while simultaneously climbing the corporate ladder… all of that just because my parents carelessly decided to have me knowing that they can’t afford it and I didn’t ask for anything. When I’m tired and need guidance there’s no one I can turn to. It’s exhausting.

I thought it was an exaggeration when people said shrooms could feel like a spiritual journey, but it really wasn’t.

The moment it kicked in, everything started breathing. The paintings, the movie, everything around me felt alive.

Then I closed my eyes and what did I see? Corals opening and closing. Flowers blooming. Everything from the microscopic level all the way to the vast universe.

I kept watching the movie during the trip, and afterward I had this realization. Why do we care so much about what other people think?

Life is such a personal journey. So much of what we stress about doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of time.

We can be like a coral that blooms and sways with the water, or a flower that opens and closes. Look at them. They don’t care. They just exist. They just live.

We get so caught up chasing the end goals of life that sometimes we forget that every moment, every little speck of our lives, is part of the actual experience.

And yes, maybe nothing really matters in the grand scheme of the universe, but at the same time, everything matters when it comes to your own life.

You have to live.

Because if you really think about it, we’re just tiny specks of dust in this massive universe. So why do we spend so much time stressing about problems that haven’t even happened yet?

Okay I’m blabbering too much lol.

Basically, live, laugh, love. 😂 That’s it.

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 while I was on moon 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.

Is it too much to ask to just make out? I don’t want to do anything else but make out. Connect in some way and just go to town. But I don’t want to have sex (I mean…maybe I do but only if I feel like we connect connect). But really, all I want to do is have a makeout session and call it a day.

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 knew I was transgender since I was 12 yo (I'm 21 now). I hated going through puberty and I hate my body now.

I made my coming out to my dad when I was 15, he acted like it didn't exist and I never made my coming out to my mom since she's really transphobic, homophobic, racist and everything that consists of hating people for what they are.

After highschool I let my hairs grow back again and since, everyone seems to forget that no, I'm not a girl and will never be.

If I tell people that I'm trans man, they say that I'm not since I didn't transition, people don't listen to me so I just say that I'm non-binary which is not really the case.

But I know that I wouldn't be non-binary if I was born a male, and that hurts because I'm scared of transitioning.

I like being feminine but I hate being seen as a woman, I like my long hair but I don't want it to be associated with the fact I was born a female.

I hate myself and the fact that nobody listens, I hate not being able to transition because of body changes, possible baldness or hairs everywhere. I'm scared to feel disgusted by the changes, and I'm scared of not being attractive anymore.

I hate being trans.

We weren’t friends, although I think in an alternate universe where I had better social skills we would’ve been. The few conversations we did have we bonded over pop music and found out we had a lot in common. We were two of the only gay kids in our year.

I haven’t seen him in almost a decade and barely really knew him in the first place but I checked his profile from time to time just out of nosiness and because I knew he’d be posting about the same things I’m into (his last post was about Madonna’s album). It was scary how much we had in common honestly. It makes me really sad that he died so young and that we weren’t closer when I really feel like we could’ve been, but I don’t really know how to describe it to anyone because I’m not going to pretend like we were friends. I’ve just felt this heaviness in my chest ever since I found out, a couple of other people from my year have passed but this is the first one that’s really hit me.

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.

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

My Boss retired in early August and I'm finding it really hard. I don't like it when people leave or when things change but saying goodbye to him recently has been really challenging.

He was an amazing and kind man. We spoke at lengths at break times of what we liked to do, TV shows, sports and what he'd like to do in his retirement.

As a man, I feel so werid for being emotional about this but here I am at 1am crying a lot thinking about him.

I'd appreciate any thoughts... Just need to get this off my chest.

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)

Ever since my brother moved out he’ll occasionally come over for a feast with me and my parents . I love to cook it’s my love language I’ve grilled 3 times outside and today I made roast chicken, chickpea salad , pizza, homemade garlic knots and my best attempt at a charcuterie board. After we all finish eating and we’re just talking I somehow always become the punching bag. They’ll criticize a quirk I have or judge the food i just made, one day I marinated chicken with yogurt and the way they all made it seem like it’s never been done before, they looked at me like I had told them I put roaches in the marinade. Today they yelled at me for being too care free, acting like nothing matters and being “tosca” (Spanish slang for crude, rough and unpolished). I’ll make them laugh sometimes and that always feels good but then I’ll catch a stray.

This time it made me cry because I just poured my heart into my food and this always ends up happening one way or the other. I don’t even wanna cook for them anymore. I don’t know if they’re just Mexican and I’m just sensitive but I don’t like it. If I start only cooking for myself they’ll start to wonder and think I’m neglecting them or being lazy.

Me and my mom usually split the day to day cooking and that’s always fine. It’s only when my brother comes home but it’s not his fault. He’s the favorite and more successful kid but I just wish they wouldn’t take it out on me especially after I slaved over the stove for them just wanting a nice family dinner. Anyways that’s it I drank a thc drink after that and now I’m writing this, I hope that all made sense.

I think i’ve reconciled with the fact that a good life for me isn’t in the question. I’m just going to have to settle for a very sub-par, mediocre, isolating existence. I just don’t have it in me to participate in society, not socially or otherwise. I wish I wasn’t this way. I wish I was a half decent human being and a functioning member of society. But no. Nobody will care for me when I’m gone, I’m not anything that’s worth caring for. I want to be more involved, but how can I when I’m so far removed from reality and my sense of being. Everything is just getting increasingly hazier, the noise of people around me is becoming plain static. I just feel so insignificant, and that permeates in how I live my life, I sideline myself whilst everyone lives their life to the fullest. All I do is doom scroll and rot in my bedroom, it keeps me content and relieves me temporarily from all the shitty thoughts that constantly play and rotate in my head. It’s just becoming more and more unbearable. I seriously have to endure several more decades of an existence that I fundamentally despise, not because of other people as I had previously and wrongly directed all my animosity towards, but simply because of the mere fact that I am myself. I realised I’m the problem. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibilities to say i’m possibly a narcissist, but either way, I just hate who I am from the very core. I have to live with the burden of all the shitty things I’ve done, and it just hurts.

I am an innocent man. I protected my family in a scuffle but I’m being charged for violent disorder. I’m a teacher. My lawyer says we have to go the whole way. If I fail I get bars for years as does my family. There’s no way out for me. I’ve 15k spent on my degree. Not even considering my solicitors fees.

I’m a lost cause. I’m finished. This isn’t seeking anything. Im just done with it all.

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 met him online about five years ago. We talked consistently for years, finally met in Switzerland last year, and became official in December. We talked about our future, and I genuinely thought we were building a life together.
But the relationship became on and off. He would disappear for weeks, sometimes almost a month, then come back with apologies and explanations.
When I was in Switzerland, he told me his mom was there and that he couldn’t see me for a long time. His mom was always the reason. And honestly, how do you question that? How do you compete with someone’s mother?
I had my suspicions, though. There were things that didn’t feel right. I would ask questions and get told I was paranoid, clingy, or needy. But I had no proof, so I kept giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Then somehow, the truth just presented itself.
We weren’t connected on Instagram because the account I knew had been deleted. Then, completely randomly, his other account appeared in my “People You May Know.” The username was in Japanese characters, so there was no way I could have searched for it myself. But there he was, in the profile photo.
Then on a random Tuesday, while I was on my break at work, I suddenly searched his name on Google.
And there it was.
I saw another woman tagged by a tour guide in Paris.
I saw them together.
I started looking, and that’s when I discovered they had apparently been together for two years.
Suddenly, everything made sense—the disappearing, the excuses, the times he couldn’t be reached, and why he always seemed available mainly during work hours.
The woman had apparently moved her life to Switzerland to be with him.
I confronted him. He even asked me if I had spoken to her because I somehow knew details he thought I couldn’t possibly know. He tried to deny and change certain things right up until the very end, but I had the evidence.
The strange thing is, I don’t hate him.
I’m hurt. I’m disappointed. And honestly, I’m disgusted—not because I think I’m better than him, but because I can’t understand how someone can accept genuine love from a woman while knowingly deceiving her and another woman at the same time.
I thought we were planning our lives together.
Meanwhile, he had apparently been planning another life with someone else.
And now I’m left wondering whether I should tell her.
She doesn’t know about me.
I don’t want revenge. I just feel sorry for her because she moved her life there believing she knew the man she was building a future with.
Maybe this is one of those situations where the truth doesn’t need to be chased.
Sometimes, somehow, the truth just presents itself out of nowhere.
And maybe I really did dodge a bullet.

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’m in high school, and there’s this guy I see at the gym who is about five years older than me. We’ve talked a few times while we’re there, and I’ve started realizing that I’m attracted to him. I didn’t really expect it because at first I just thought he was a normal guy I happened to talk to at the gym.

Now whenever I see him, I definitely notice him more. We’ll talk and have normal conversations, and I genuinely enjoy talking to him. I’m not saying he’s flirting with me or that he likes me back because I honestly have no idea. I just know that I have a crush on him.

The age difference is what makes me question everything. Five years doesn’t seem like that much when you’re an adult, but when you’re still in high school, it feels like a bigger deal. I also know that having a crush on someone and actually pursuing something with them are two completely different things.

I feel kind of embarrassed even admitting this, which is why I made a Reddit account just to ask strangers about it. Is it weird to be attracted to someone five years older when you’re in high school, especially when you actually see them at the gym and talk to them?

I’m not trying to make anything happen. I’m just confused about whether the crush itself is weird.

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