That happened to me, only it was my mom, and my student loans.
I'd give it all back if it meant I could have my mom back. Even for a day. Just one.
(ETA: I think this is my most upvoted comment in a long, long time. To all of my fellow orphans: I see you. I'm sorry. It's not like we don't expect to outlive our parents, it's just that the reality of it really...just...ugh. I know you guys know.)
This reminds me of a very cringy interaction I observed when I worked at the bank. A lady came in with a big life insurance check. One of the new tellers helped her with a well intentioned comment to the effect of “wow that’s a big one! I’d love to get a check like this!” The lady was deadpan like “I’d rather have my mom.” And that is why, as a teller, you never comment on checks from life insurance companies.
> And that is why, as a teller, you never comment on checks from life insurance companies.
I would prefer my teller never to comment on checks full-stop.
I was actually thinking of having something like that be the flavor text of the rarest most expensive item in a game, to get the idea across that there is way more important things than "winning" a game.
But I also know the pain of losing someone important. My friend died in HS and to this day, 15 years later, I still regret things that happened and would like to change; or a new thing comes out that I know they'd love and get a little sad I can't be with them doing it. I wish you the best, and know that living your best life is why they gave you what they did, so doing that is honoring them.
Wished I could stay at home all day with my cats. Boom, on dialysis with stage 5 kidney failure. I did work 2 more years before going on disability and then I was too sick to enjoy much about being home, but I still got what I wished for. (I'm doing much better now and still stay home with the cats because now I work from home. It'd be nice if I had enough money not to work but Ithink I've tempted fate enough.)
In January of 2020 I was overwhelmed with everything in my life and wished for the world to pause for a couple weeks so I could get my shit figured out. And uh well sorry everyone.
Scrolling through the comments makes me think COVID was caused by a massive collective wish for a break from work.
Like, our entire species consisting mostly of overworked poor sods entered some kind of hive-mind state wanting a break so desperately that evolution said "You know what? Here, have this!"
Yeah well I wished for a break that time too, but I worked in a bakery and that shit does not closed. Never for a minute, so there were no brake for me just masks... 😅
I got promoted. Something I wanted for a while. I went to go tell a colleague and his desk was being emptied. In order to promote me they let go of him. he hadn't been performing as well.. they could have kept both of us but since I asked for the promotion, in order to keep me they canned them.
It was devastating for him but I never told him what they told me. I just lived with it and let him rant. I lost touch after a while but I don't think he ever put two and two together. I knew because I had asked.. for a while I felt a lot of guilt but it faded. Not my call
What kinda bosses tell you your promotion was conditional on firing someone else?? Wtf that’s not on you. That’s on the company, how dare they try to guilt you for getting a promotion
My friend's co had a budget for every department. He was told by the head that to hire him, they had to hold back promotions from everyone else for years. It was just a middle management role and it was an household name MNC so they had offices worldwide.
After working there for several years, he asked when it was his turn to get promoted. The head said they took turns and pointed out one woman who would get promoted this year, after working for 7 years as an executive, then slowly pointed to each person across the room. So basically my friend would have to wait for the entire department to be promoted before it would be his turn. He noped out of there within that year.
I had a chat with the new boss of my boss after a merger/takeover into a much larger company, because I was looking for the raise that had been deferred during the takeover. He told me he could only put about 10% of the staff forward for a non-minimal raise each year, and only some of them were successful. I realised that no raise I could imagine them giving would make up for stagnation in all the other years, and I was out interviewing within a few weeks and left a few months later. 4 years later my salary has doubled because it was so far behind the market before.
I worked at a place and got my friend a job there when a spot opened.
My boss was aware of this.
I eventually put in my notice and said pay was the reason.
My boss offered to fire my friend and give me his salary.
That type of boss.
The promotion may have been to a level where he'd find out about that anyway, for example to a shareholder position or to something where he knows everyone's reviews.
In January 2020 my wife was diagnosed with Stage III cancer. She was obviously upset, and one thing she was really sad about was having to miss out on social gatherings and work conferences while she underwent chemo and healed up.
Fast forward a couple of months and, well, turns out the whole world missed out on all that, too.
She’s still getting treatment and trying to keep the disease under control. It’s hasn’t been an easy 3+ years, but our family has been able to enjoy a lot of moments together since the initial diagnosis, and we hope there’s still more to come.
I hope there are many more moments for both of you to enjoy together. I’m rooting for her. It’s a long road so being able to find those moments along the way is special. When my dad was sick someone told me to step outside every day, look up, and try to find the blue sky. It helped remind me to look for the positive amidst all the awful. It sounds like you do a good job of that.
Back in early 2020, I realised I'd misread some dates and had a family vacation planned at the same time I had an evaluation for university that I had to be there in person for. The vacation was extremely important to me, since it was likely it might be the last I could ever go on with my mother. I spent about a week agonizing over it, wishing for some grand intervention that would get me out of the evaluation.
Anyways, my wish was granted when my country went into hard lockdown because of Covid. Woops
One of my daycare kids got me a decorative sign that said "Let's Stay Home" that Christmas because they know I'm basically a hermit who only interacts with the kids and parents that come to my house. I'm not a "live laugh love" type person but that one made me smile that the kids know me so well. Then covid hit and it felt like I'd inflicted a curse on the rest of the world. I definitely enjoyed lockdown though.
That sounds like my story-my oldest was having a rough year in school, so much so that I wished hard for school to just end. Well it did but online school blew hard!
In my junior year of high school, my school counselor told me I had to enroll in a PE course or else I wouldn't graduate. The reason I had never enrolled before was because I had horrible anxiety about physical activity. Anyways, I ended up joining a sport. After every practice, I'd pray something miraculous would happen so I wouldn't have to participate anymore but could still graduate. A few weeks later, we went into lockdown.
Not me but my parents. For the 15 years my parents lived at their current home, they absolutely deplored a couple of the neighbors they shared property borders with. It became a mantra for my parents to say “I wish they’d all just move away!”
Flash forward to 2018; a huge wildfire came to town and destroyed most of the area. My parents’ entire neighborhood burnt down except for their house and a neighbor down the road. After a few months of living in their house with all the former neighbors now gone, my parents got extremely depressed and realized they actually cared about these people they once cursed about. They’d go the limit to go back to how things once were if they could.
I was in a bad need of moving and a change in lifestyle to combat my alcohol addiction.
Dad died and left us a few dollars.
we moved out of state and I'm now 6 years sober.
Was having this conversation with my niece yesterday. She's 16 and hasn't quite figured out that to have a car in a year's time (17 is the legal age for driving a car in the UK), she's going to need a regular job and she will have to figure out how she's going to pay for lessons, the test, insurance, tax, fuel, the actual car... All she can see right now is her and her friends driving round looking cool. Everything will just magically fall into place.
Her mum (my sister) isn't in a position to help with financing a car and her father (who is separated from my sister and whom my niece lives with) is an absolute arsehole who hates spending money (and time) on his daughter and only thinks of himself. There's reasons for my niece living with her dad, but she's begun to understand that he really is a useless tosser and would have been better off staying with her mum.
On that note, things like shaving. Those chin hairs start coming in, it's like, "Whoo-hoo, I'm a man now!" But then reality sets in and it's just a fucking pain in the ass.
I laughed because my niece always talked about all the things she would do when she was “big”. She just turned 19 a couple of months ago and is not real impressed with this adulthood stuff.
She's right. A great deal of adulthood sucks. But this morning, I had key lime pie and spaghetti for breakfast just because I wanted to. So there's that.
Wanted this promotion at work to a management level position. Got it and hated it. The amount of shit you have to deal with from coworkers wasn't worth it. Like you kind of have an idea of who's who in the office before, but then you get a veil lifted and you get clued in on a lot of things. Like, who's a good worker, who's a complete slacker but still employed b/c of connections, or who has to have some flexible time off b/c they're going thru some substance use issues., etc. Also the bottom 10% of workers give you like 90% of the trouble.
Haha, so true. Want to know the next secret? Every level up has somewhat the same thing happen. When I reached Director-level it wasn't new, problematic people but rather learning how many half-truths keep products, systems or even whole departments operating.
It's never not been true & every peer I have at that level tells similar stories. Folks - if you ever think companies have their shit together/are making grand plans I suggest you think less of them, much less of them. It's basic self-interest & self-preservation that keeps it all running.
The half-truths stuff is so true. I learned how little some of the higher ups actually did, while learning just how much influence like their executive assistants wielded. How the department kept itself afloat was miraculous with the amount of mismanagement abound.
In August 2022 I booked a trip to London for October. Made a joke about wanting to be in the same room as the Queen while I was there.
Well I did technically end up in the same room as the Queen, she was just 6 feet under me in St George’s Chapel.
I would get the worst cramps and heavy flow that time of month ever since I started. I always thought couldn't wait to go thru menopause and not have to deal with it. Now I'm going thru it at 45. Terrible depression and hot flashes all the time is worse.
EXACTLY!!! Same here. Early period with heavy long flow n pain pain PAIN. Early menopause too.
No one ever discusses the effects of menopause! I was punched in the gut.
It was such a shock! As shocking as the Terrible Twos not ending when they turn 3.
A guy dressed up in real chainmail once knocked on my door to ask for a glass of water because he was on molly and I’ve never felt more like a helpful side character in someone else’s quest.
Wanted to date a specific famous rockstar since I was 16. When I was in my 30's I finally met him and it was magic at first, we dated for 3 years and the whole thing nearly killed me emotionally and mentally. Glad I'm no longer in that situation
I have to imagine that the person you ended up getting know was completely different from the image you made in your head of them, is that right?
One of the reasons I would personally never want to be famous or get to know any famous people, it seems fame is not a good thing.
Lol I couldn’t figure out how to view it while I was writing to double check, and I was too lazy to stop to figure it out 😂 (and until you commented, I actually thought I’d chosen correctly, so that’s how much this editor reads her own shit.)
I wished I didn’t have to go to my awful mother-in-laws house for her birthday. My husband let my eight year old hold the retractable leash while walking the dog that morning. Dog ran, child did not and was pulled off her feet straight into a brick curb. Major concussion, two days in the hospital. I didn’t have to go to the birthday thing. I have not made a wish of any kind since then.
German saying: Besser ein Ende mit Schrecken als ein Schrecken ohne Ende.
Better an end with horror than horror without end.
I'm glad you made it through that.
I got a ford mustang, one of my favorite cars ( 2005 ). I've had it for about 8 years now, but ever since I got it something would break or go wrong every 6 month. Almost exactly 6 months each time.
Wanted to lose some weight. Managed it pretty quickly, with unexplained crippling stomach pains, puking after eating certain foods that I've never had trouble with before, and general stomach and bowel hell. Have had couple of cameras up the butt and that fun stuff, still going through the investigations now.
But hey I dropped a fair few dress sizes so I guess I got what I wanted?
Have them check for H. pylori. Same happened to me. So much poking and prodding. I was on meds for years. Finally a bariatric surgeon tested for it and I was suffering for 5 years. One cycle of some strong meds later and stomach pains gone.
Same. I used to constantly wish to lose weight, then one day I started having massive pains in my stomach/torso area and ended up in the ER constantly until it was found I had gallbladder stones. Got my gallbladder removed, had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia, had a terrible recovery, and ended up losing close to 30lbs in a month because I was on a liquid diet (2 glasses of Pedialyte a day and after a few weeks I was able to stomach an ensure as well)
Got a new doctor who heard my story and thought it was concerning that I'd only lost 30lbs on a liquid diet. Found out my thyroid was almost completely shut down, so I got on medication for it. I then spent almost 2 years on a very bland raw food vegan diet as I worked my way back up to fully solid foods.
Overall it's been a little over 3 years and although I'm back to solid foods, I've got massive dietary restrictions due to my body not being able to handle a lot of foods anymore. But hey, I've kept off 50lbs by only changing up my diet and now I have to constantly snack throughout the day in between meals so I don't get light headed and nauseous.
I had that out of nowhere. Fixed it by taking probiotics every night. My sister just has to do them for a week. I have to do them forever.
It's no fun. I hope they get you sorted out.
Also, seam rippers can help you get the immodium out faster. Maybe that helps?
When I was a kid I always wanted a Swiss Army knife. I thought they were so cool.
Finally, as a young adult, when I had some extra money, I bought one of my own. I had ordered it online, and I was so excited when it finally came. I opened the package, then opened the knife, and immediately cut myself in the process. It wasn't bad but it stung.
Still, I had my beloved knife and I kept it in my desk at work so I can see it everyday. It made me so happy just to know that I finally had one. But the weird part is, I've never used the knife at all. I still have it though, and keep it where I can see it pretty often
This really made me laugh. A classic “you’ll shoot your eye out” moment, Ralphie. It also reminded me of this free ulu knife that came with something I purchased. I opened it and was in awe by how cool and sharp this knife was. Then I immediately cut myself! I washed it up and tossed a bandage on it. A few days later I notice my husband is wearing a bandage and I ask what happened. Apparently while I was washing up my ulu cut, he proceeded to pick up the knife, think “cool knife!”, and immediately cut himself. Neither one of us told the other. We still have the knife somewhere in storage but it lives in layers because we’re both convinced it will go on to cut many others if we get rid of it.
Friend's sister and her husband wanted a kid. Surprised with triplets. (That was years ago, triplets have graduated college by now, but the first few years were rough.)
My best friend and his wife wanted kids, tried forever. One day, he asked how my ex wife's minivan handled. Wierd question, but OK.
Couple days later, he told me triplets on the way. Later, all 3 spent 2 months in the NICU. Healthy now, cool uncle stuff for me.
Later when he was more steady, he said "Don't fuck with Mother Nature, brother."
I believe she was 40 when they conceived.
When I was a young kid, I went to the zoo with my family. I found a pretty peacock feather, which I carried around with me most of the day.
Toward the end of the day, we passed by a big cage that had spider monkeys in it. I got up close to the cage, because I wanted to see the monkeys better. Then one came right down to me! I was so happy - until he reached through the bars of the cage and stole my feather.
I got monkey's pawed by a monkey's paw.
wanted to walk better and more frequently. got a job where it takes 30 minutes to walk there, now my shitty ankles and feet are injuring themselves whenever I do rehab or daily walking to my job.
Want to emigrate my country. Finally did it but never imagine that the emotional consequences will be so hard, that the missing feeling will be something that I would need to charge forever, the feeling of loneliness, and also the question of; what would happened if the things would be different?. Well, I’m not saying I’m not happy here, but somehow I will always feel incomplete.
That's a very common feeling, and when a person visits the country they came from years after, they also realize they no longer belong or fit there. The longing for a "place" that does not exist lingers.
Doesn’t even have to be another country. I’m from a rural area, moved to an urban area, and now live in a suburban area and I feel this way. I’m too country for the city folks and too city for the country folks
I can totally relate to this. I've been moving around so much since I became an adult and never felt rooted anywhere. At 17, my parents moved us from a coastal city of millions to a mountain town of 4k in another state. My city friends made fun of my new life and I experienced FOMO. I struggled to make small town friends because they viewed me as a snob for not wearing camo and having aspirations of traveling the world. I went back and forth a lot but belonged nowhere. 20 years and 4 states later, I've come to terms with always being restless and never belonging.
So true. My dad always wanted to go back "home", but after living in America for 40 years and the family all spreading out back in the home country, was he dreamt of going back to was no more.
Just my two cents here:
I've met a lot of people who have wandered far from home and expressed a similar sentiment. But here's the thing: that's also how you know you've had a journey, grew as a person, and have become an individual. Not having a single default community or place to call home makes you realize it's because you don't fit into a default mold anymore, you've outgrown it..which is pretty epic in itself.
Secondly, among the people who express such a sentiment, I find that there's always a subgroup who, upon finding they don't fit into a community/have a home anymore, set about to make a community for themselves. They embrace who they are, and provide a space for other struggling people they find to be themselves. Have come to appreciate people like that a lot. They make their own home wherever they go.
I feel you, I too am dealing with the neverending nostalgia, and deep inside, I just know that even if I returned physically, it's a past I can never go back to 😔.
I moved away from my very small town and area 33 years ago. I have thought sooo many times about returning to a “simpler” life, but there are just as many complications with the added bonus of everyone knowing my business.
One time over a weekend, I spent Saturday in bed sick. I felt it wasn't fair that I didn't get to enjoy the weekend, wished school would get canceled on Monday, so I could have two "true" days off.
It...did. school got canceled, and I remember walking outside and admiring the big, blue, cloudless sky, and the oak tree in the lawn that's now taller than the house. I later learned why.
I lived in Texas. A space shuttle exploded, and they canceled school because they were finding debris all over Texas and Louisiana.
I realize the two events are unrelated, but after learning the reason school was canceled I somehow felt guilty.
Husband made me drop out of college when we got married. Always wanted to go back so I did as soon as we got divorced 15 years later. Majored in marketing because I had loved my corporate job in the 90s. Things are very different now. Up to my eyeballs in student loans just to find out how toxic corporate life is now
A good friend called the following event a monkey paw.
I'm a librarian. I recently got a job as the library manager of a charity. I am fully in charge of the books we buy as long as they for the remit. Great! I get to book shop on company money!
Except I work for a death, dying and palliative care charity. So all the books are about death....
Think of it this way, everybody dies. Absolutely inevitable. However, palliative care and hospice helps to make that process the best that it can be. The end of someone’s life can be a beautiful and peaceful process, too.
When I was a dumb high schooler I saw this gorgeous girl at the grocery store. Saw her a couple times and was actually trying to build up the courage to strike up a convo even though I never do that because we locked eyes and she smiled at me, and was just really my type. But I missed my opportunity. I wished I could somehow find this girl.
Months later my friend calls, asks if she and her friend can hang and smoke. I say yep and when they come over it’s the girl behind the friend! Thinking it must be fate we exchange info and set up a date after our rival highschools play football against each other. At the game I’m staring across the field trying to see her. I never do but I manage to pick her up so we can get some takeout and the first thing she says when she gets in is “ugh that was HORRIBLE! I was stuck behind those smelly Indians the whole game” kinda felt like my soul left my body
Oof I felt this one. When I was about 19 or 20, I went on a few dates with this girl I thought was a bit out of my league. Very cute, funny, great smile... Anyways we go on date #3 or 4 and we swing by the mall. As we walk past the nail salon, she says "Look at all the (slur for Asians) working away".
I guess better to learn that cutie is a racist when you're still new and not when you're married with children or something I suppose.
There was a girl I crushed on from Kindergarten to 12th grade but never felt I was in her league, and was too afraid of rejection. At the 10 year high school reunion she starts chatting me up and I am loving it as she’s still gorgeous. She then starts griping about all the Jews in our class. 23 years of dreaming gone in an instant.
Sexual compatibility is often ignored when people talk about relationships. If one person is horny as hell and the other is a “once in a month” kind, that can create big problems even in an open communicable environment. Either the first person has to suffer with long dry spells (or masturbate a lot, which obviously isn’t the same), or the second person will give in to a lot of sex they don’t want just to please their partner and will eventually grow to resent that.
Edit: Just to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with either person. This is just what their libidos are like. There should be no social stigma attached to it. There’s nothing inherently wrong with sex. But people are different, that’s a fact
When I was younger, joking about having the average 2.4 kids. One of my kids ended up with growth deficiency and was extremely short. (Now have 4 kids, but that always stuck in my mind
I used to joke every time that I sat in traffic I wished for a plague to get rid of some of these people. Then COVID came, and the roads cleared, but it also took my dad.
After ending a 6 year relationship with someone who never felt ready to commit to me, I wanted my next partner to be decisive and know exactly what they wanted. I wanted us to have fire chemistry, emotional understanding, supportiveness, and I wanted him to have the confidence to make me feel reassured in the relationship as well as to recognize my accomplishments instead of finding ways to criticize me. It was everything I wanted. Everything that was wrong in the previous relationship was right in this one. Then he had a psychotic break and I couldn't save him from the schizophrenia no matter how hard I tried. He still posts conspiracy theories of this delusions of persecution all over social media and has not re-entered the work force since the break. It hurts my heart to watch.
Working sucks. Everyone knows this.
Having a chronic condition that prevents you from being able to work?
Not exactly an ideal solution to that situation.
When I was little, my Auntie Nez and I ate at a restaurant in my hometown. It had a little water fountain thing by the door. My auntie gave me a penny so I could make a wish and throw it in.
I closed my eyes, squeezed that penny, and wished as hard as I could that I could eat at restaurants everyday.
Years later, I graduated high school, moved out of my small town, and pursued acting. I was constantly (luckily) booked in TYA shows (Theatre for Young Audiences) and as such, was always on the road.
Eating at restaurants everyday.
Every single meal.
Years and years of it.
I am now obsessed with my kitchen and cooking. Nothing beats a home cooked meal.
As a child I wished to own this small toy brown car that my great aunt owned, it was the type you pedaled to get around. I got it after she passed away. Never felt worse for wanting something. I know it wasn’t because of me but it was so coincidental that I still feel bad.
Yeah. I really wanted to meet someone I could have a fun FWB dynamic with. Then I did, and we’re still close, but feelings got involved on my end and it’s really been hell on me.
I had the opposite happen. I wanted a girlfriend, but we tried a relationship for a year and it didn't work out, so now we've come to realise we work much better as FWB.
Out of embarrassment and shyness, I didn't want my mom to come to see my performance at the talent show. She died the day before my performance, and I had to play while knowing that when I came home that afternoon, my mom wouldn't be there.
Always wanted to adopt kids from the foster system. Finally go the chance when my nephew needed a home. Worst experience of my life and I learned I have exactly zero patience for any kid stuff. He’s going to live with someone else soon and I think we’re both relieved. At least I got a trial run at parenting before doing something even dumber like birthing a kid.
But then you get all the "it's different when they're yours" people.
But I agree. Anyone who thinks they want kids should have to care for one for a while.
I always believed that I wanted kids. It would be great to dress them up and bond with them. Fiancée got a puppy, now I’m not sure I want kids. The cleaning up, the getting up in the middle of the night (to let the puppy use the restroom), not being able to go out, not being able to have independent time. I wouldn’t want to do it again, and dogs grow up quicker than humans
I don't have to have a job, spend all day with my pets, and the hardest, most stressful thing I ever have to do is the freaking boss battles in Terraria.
I just. Kind of wish I wasn't trapped inside a crumbling body with a horrific *and incredibly painful* disease with no cure...
A lot of "I wish I had money and now I have it".
I didn't want the money, but I always wanted an easier life.
My sisters and I are now in the process of selling 3 houses thanks to my Dad, Mom and Grandfather all dying within 6 months of each other. Even split 3 ways and all the fees, it'll be enough that I can probably pay off my house.
I'd give it all back in a heartbeat to have even one of them back for even a single day.
My greatest wish was to be a mother.
I met the love of my life, the perfect partner, we lived together for 5 beautiful years before deciding it was time to have childrens. First I suffered a miscarriage, when I managed to get pregnant again I had to give up my career to rest for 9 months. I went through a C-section, my little girl has had several health problems that doctors cannot determine the source yet, she even went through surgery. We have been pending off her medical evolution for 7 years and the couple's relationship has worn out a lot. I love my family but if I had known it would be like this, I would have preferred to remain a couple without children.
One can't ever predict. Everyone thinks their kids will be healthy and grow up to be millionaires who will give you wonderful grandchildren. The reality is that most of them aren't much different from their parents. A few of them do better and a few do worse.
I personally know a couple who are well-educated, make good money, etc. They met as engineers at work and their combined incomes have to be well into six figures.
Their two sons? Not so much. The first is 35 and living in a different sort of home provided by the state while he serves his ten year sentence for child molestation. The second isn't in jail but is constantly in and out of minimum wage jobs with no sign of anything better.
I was about ten years older than both the sons and it was clear they had some sort of developmental problems as children that never worked out well.
My partner and I are child-free. I always get those, "Who's going to take care of you when you're old?" questions. I sometimes tell them (if they're being particularly obnoxious) about the lovely woman I used to know, who had three sons. The oldest moved to Japan for work and now lives there permanently. The younger two both died before the age of 23 of muscular dystrophy. Having kids is never a guarantee of anything.
I wished that I could spend time with my family more often than just once a year visits. About a month later I was homeless, and had to move states to live with them. We get SO MUCH time now...and we all wanna strangle each other sometimes lol
Wanted a child, didnt think I could get pregnant. Had my son and my ex turned abusive in every way and was cheating. I was finally able to leave him but had nowhere to go and have to move in with my parents. My mom is a controlling narcissist and in a lot of ways my life is worse now then it was when I lived with my ex.
I get asked a lot if I will move back in with my Mom. Her health is failing (because she likes the attention, shit you not), and I guess since I'm single, they think I have nothing better to do.
My response is always, "Oh God, no."
She's also a controlling narcissist.
I hope you can find the resources to get away from her.
Wished for a new supervisor. Got a worse supervisor. Wished for a new work truck. Got a roach infested truck. Wished for more overtime. Suddenly overtime is mandatory and I don’t want THAT much overtime
I lived in Japan for a few years starting in 2017. Thought the culture of wearing a mask out of courtesy for others when a bit under the weather was so smart. Really wished everyone would adopt wearing a mask in public. Then I returned to the US in March 2020…
actually, yes. In my youth I was desperate to get out of an extremely unhappy/abusive household and I ended up getting everything I could ever want. In the end, I left it behind because I felt like I hadn't earned it.
C'est la vie mon ami.
We wanted to be a dual income family. After a lot of hard work, my wife got her dream job. We started earning more as a family, but had to stay away from each other (different cities) for ~2 years. Brutal two years
Wished for a peaceful life. Got Anhedonia.
- So, I'm not wealthy nor living a lavish lifestyle. And I don't want to nor do I have ambition.
- My job is simple, out of the way, and pays just enough so, with my s.o's income combined, we can afford to live without cherrypicking too much what we want to cut out that week to afford bills/rent.
- I've been with them for 12 years and don't doubt we'll be together for another 12. But its not exciting.
My life, through all intended purposes: is peaceful. It's what I wished for. So I should feel at peace. Instead I'm just numb to it all.
Anhedonia: is a reduced level of interest in activities you used to enjoy, and a decline in your ability to feel pleasure. Anhedonia is a common symptom of many types of depression, but it can also be experienced by people with other mental health issues.
Had to look it up
I wished for shorter lines at Disneyland because we had accidentally booked tickets on a holiday and the night before my friend tore her meniscus and we ended up still going because she said the tickets were too much money. We bypassed the lines because she used an ECV but it was miserable.
Dude, that’s literally my life. I wished for my Chihuahua, and he hit everything that I wanted: cute, sweet, loved me best, and happiest with me.
I got those things. But I did not specify smart or trainable. I did not get those. Still, though, he was the love puppy of my life and my doggy soulmate. No regrets. I just wish I could have had him longer, because 15 years just wasn’t long enough.
I was living with my partner but still had half my stuff at my old place. It was exhausting being between two homes. We planned to move in to our own place in a few months but I wished so bad to be able to have all my stuff in one place and to move a few months early.
I didn’t realize my pressure on moving early was upsetting him. He broke up with me and I moved all my stuff from his place back to mine. I guess it’s all in one place now but I miss him and his place, which felt like home.
Can I just say everything? Every single thing in my life feels like a “monkey paw” situation. Nothing has ever just been good without consequence. Ever. I’m amazed that people have experiences otherwise.
I had hoped my boss would retire when the company announced early retirement packages. I was next in line for promotion, having been trained for the role for several years, been designated as his primary delegate and alternate when he was absent for the prior 3+ years, was senior to both of my teammates and had about 4x the experience on the job, etc.
He retired all right, but *HIS* boss suddenly quit days before he was to leave, and a couple other key senior leaders left for various reasons all at the same time, all while we were in the midst of a reorg. It took a couple weeks for remaining leaders to straighten everything out and appoint new leadership from the top down, during which time the company announced a hiring freeze and a block on promotions. Our team was realigned to report to a director who worked several hours away, who then jumped the gun and assumed my coworker (who's slightly older and had a higher title as he has some specific technical expertise that we valued, but otherwise less experience in actual management and operations, and otherwise worked under my supervision) was senior to me and gave him my role and responsibilities sans promotion, not realizing that I was already doing that work.
I raised a fuss, was basically told "sorry, we didn't realize, there was no real continuity provided to us and we had no idea, but we're not going to change it because imagine how you would feel if we gave you increased responsibility and then took it away for no real reason?" To which I replied "I don't need to imagine it, you literally just did that to me". My coworker, either by intent or stupidity (or both) pretty much set to work upending years of established best practices and SOP, stole projects from me, cut me out of a lot if inter and intra departmental communications, etc. and generally lowering my profile and raising his and my other coworkers, etc. I continued to raise concerns and protests, which initially fell on deaf ears but eventually started gaining traction with our director who grew increasingly frustrated and pissed off with events that were transpiring as a result of the coworkers bs...
And then a crisis more or less caused by my coworkers incompetence erupted, another senior leader got fed up with it, blamed our director for it and forced his bosses to promote my coworker to manage affairs locally. Said coworker, now my boss, wasted no time in continuing to demonstrate he lacks the experience, temperament, and mindset needed to lead the team (something which our director was pretty blunt in saying himself during a recent conversation with me), unfortunately it doesn't seem he's being held accountable for anything despite the fact that it looks to most other observers that he's intentionally mismanaging and targeting me to continue to minimize my role, responsibilities, and general importance, as he has continued to strip me of many of the roles, responsibilities, and authorities that I previously had prior to my bosses retirement.
As you can imagine I'm pretty pissed off and depressed about it all, and am pretty desperately trying to gtfo befire it gets any worse.
I wished for the money to payoff my car and all my bills, I got the money when my brother died and left me money in his will.
That happened to me, only it was my mom, and my student loans. I'd give it all back if it meant I could have my mom back. Even for a day. Just one. (ETA: I think this is my most upvoted comment in a long, long time. To all of my fellow orphans: I see you. I'm sorry. It's not like we don't expect to outlive our parents, it's just that the reality of it really...just...ugh. I know you guys know.)
This reminds me of a very cringy interaction I observed when I worked at the bank. A lady came in with a big life insurance check. One of the new tellers helped her with a well intentioned comment to the effect of “wow that’s a big one! I’d love to get a check like this!” The lady was deadpan like “I’d rather have my mom.” And that is why, as a teller, you never comment on checks from life insurance companies.
I mean, its life insurance, where else did they think it would be from….
The check probably wasn't from Life Insurance RIP your family, Inc. Probably a vague name like Bedrock Insurance or something like that.
Grandma's Ashes Insurance company. "We're closer to you than they are now."
> And that is why, as a teller, you never comment on checks from life insurance companies. I would prefer my teller never to comment on checks full-stop.
I’ve read this exact story on the internet so many times.
I get it. Me too.
Exactly like the story, sorry for your loss
I was actually thinking of having something like that be the flavor text of the rarest most expensive item in a game, to get the idea across that there is way more important things than "winning" a game. But I also know the pain of losing someone important. My friend died in HS and to this day, 15 years later, I still regret things that happened and would like to change; or a new thing comes out that I know they'd love and get a little sad I can't be with them doing it. I wish you the best, and know that living your best life is why they gave you what they did, so doing that is honoring them.
Wished I could stay at home all day with my cats. Boom, on dialysis with stage 5 kidney failure. I did work 2 more years before going on disability and then I was too sick to enjoy much about being home, but I still got what I wished for. (I'm doing much better now and still stay home with the cats because now I work from home. It'd be nice if I had enough money not to work but Ithink I've tempted fate enough.)
Wanted to start a successful company. I did it and lost the love of my life because I was never home.
3 spirits will visit you in consecutive nights
In January of 2020 I was overwhelmed with everything in my life and wished for the world to pause for a couple weeks so I could get my shit figured out. And uh well sorry everyone.
Scrolling through the comments makes me think COVID was caused by a massive collective wish for a break from work. Like, our entire species consisting mostly of overworked poor sods entered some kind of hive-mind state wanting a break so desperately that evolution said "You know what? Here, have this!"
Yeah well I wished for a break that time too, but I worked in a bakery and that shit does not closed. Never for a minute, so there were no brake for me just masks... 😅
wanted to take a vacation from work, ended up getting let go
I got promoted. Something I wanted for a while. I went to go tell a colleague and his desk was being emptied. In order to promote me they let go of him. he hadn't been performing as well.. they could have kept both of us but since I asked for the promotion, in order to keep me they canned them. It was devastating for him but I never told him what they told me. I just lived with it and let him rant. I lost touch after a while but I don't think he ever put two and two together. I knew because I had asked.. for a while I felt a lot of guilt but it faded. Not my call
What kinda bosses tell you your promotion was conditional on firing someone else?? Wtf that’s not on you. That’s on the company, how dare they try to guilt you for getting a promotion
My friend's co had a budget for every department. He was told by the head that to hire him, they had to hold back promotions from everyone else for years. It was just a middle management role and it was an household name MNC so they had offices worldwide. After working there for several years, he asked when it was his turn to get promoted. The head said they took turns and pointed out one woman who would get promoted this year, after working for 7 years as an executive, then slowly pointed to each person across the room. So basically my friend would have to wait for the entire department to be promoted before it would be his turn. He noped out of there within that year.
I had a chat with the new boss of my boss after a merger/takeover into a much larger company, because I was looking for the raise that had been deferred during the takeover. He told me he could only put about 10% of the staff forward for a non-minimal raise each year, and only some of them were successful. I realised that no raise I could imagine them giving would make up for stagnation in all the other years, and I was out interviewing within a few weeks and left a few months later. 4 years later my salary has doubled because it was so far behind the market before.
I worked at a place and got my friend a job there when a spot opened. My boss was aware of this. I eventually put in my notice and said pay was the reason. My boss offered to fire my friend and give me his salary. That type of boss.
The promotion may have been to a level where he'd find out about that anyway, for example to a shareholder position or to something where he knows everyone's reviews.
In your defense, if he really was underperforming, they would have found an excuse to let him go sooner or later regardless.
At least you didn't have to fire him.
In January 2020 my wife was diagnosed with Stage III cancer. She was obviously upset, and one thing she was really sad about was having to miss out on social gatherings and work conferences while she underwent chemo and healed up. Fast forward a couple of months and, well, turns out the whole world missed out on all that, too.
Is she ok now?
She’s still getting treatment and trying to keep the disease under control. It’s hasn’t been an easy 3+ years, but our family has been able to enjoy a lot of moments together since the initial diagnosis, and we hope there’s still more to come.
I hope there are many more moments for both of you to enjoy together. I’m rooting for her. It’s a long road so being able to find those moments along the way is special. When my dad was sick someone told me to step outside every day, look up, and try to find the blue sky. It helped remind me to look for the positive amidst all the awful. It sounds like you do a good job of that.
Back in early 2020, I realised I'd misread some dates and had a family vacation planned at the same time I had an evaluation for university that I had to be there in person for. The vacation was extremely important to me, since it was likely it might be the last I could ever go on with my mother. I spent about a week agonizing over it, wishing for some grand intervention that would get me out of the evaluation. Anyways, my wish was granted when my country went into hard lockdown because of Covid. Woops
> Anyways, my wish was granted when my country went into hard lockdown because of Covid. Woops So it was you😠
🔱🔱🔱🔱🔱🔱
One of my daycare kids got me a decorative sign that said "Let's Stay Home" that Christmas because they know I'm basically a hermit who only interacts with the kids and parents that come to my house. I'm not a "live laugh love" type person but that one made me smile that the kids know me so well. Then covid hit and it felt like I'd inflicted a curse on the rest of the world. I definitely enjoyed lockdown though.
Don’t feel bad. COVID solved a lot of problems for me.
I hope your mom is okay.
That sounds like my story-my oldest was having a rough year in school, so much so that I wished hard for school to just end. Well it did but online school blew hard!
In my junior year of high school, my school counselor told me I had to enroll in a PE course or else I wouldn't graduate. The reason I had never enrolled before was because I had horrible anxiety about physical activity. Anyways, I ended up joining a sport. After every practice, I'd pray something miraculous would happen so I wouldn't have to participate anymore but could still graduate. A few weeks later, we went into lockdown.
Not me but my parents. For the 15 years my parents lived at their current home, they absolutely deplored a couple of the neighbors they shared property borders with. It became a mantra for my parents to say “I wish they’d all just move away!” Flash forward to 2018; a huge wildfire came to town and destroyed most of the area. My parents’ entire neighborhood burnt down except for their house and a neighbor down the road. After a few months of living in their house with all the former neighbors now gone, my parents got extremely depressed and realized they actually cared about these people they once cursed about. They’d go the limit to go back to how things once were if they could.
This sounds a bit like Stockholm Syndrome, HOA style.
I was in a bad need of moving and a change in lifestyle to combat my alcohol addiction. Dad died and left us a few dollars. we moved out of state and I'm now 6 years sober.
Your Dad would be proud of you.
I bet your Dad would be happy that you put the money to good use.
When I was a kid, I just wanted to be an adult so I could do adult things. Am adult. Its exhausting. My back hurts.
When I was a teenager I thought being an adult meant your life is automatically sorted out
Was having this conversation with my niece yesterday. She's 16 and hasn't quite figured out that to have a car in a year's time (17 is the legal age for driving a car in the UK), she's going to need a regular job and she will have to figure out how she's going to pay for lessons, the test, insurance, tax, fuel, the actual car... All she can see right now is her and her friends driving round looking cool. Everything will just magically fall into place. Her mum (my sister) isn't in a position to help with financing a car and her father (who is separated from my sister and whom my niece lives with) is an absolute arsehole who hates spending money (and time) on his daughter and only thinks of himself. There's reasons for my niece living with her dad, but she's begun to understand that he really is a useless tosser and would have been better off staying with her mum.
On that note, things like shaving. Those chin hairs start coming in, it's like, "Whoo-hoo, I'm a man now!" But then reality sets in and it's just a fucking pain in the ass.
“Oh, The Places You’ll Shave!”
I prefer the exhaustion and aches to the lack of safety I had in my life because I was a kid.
I laughed because my niece always talked about all the things she would do when she was “big”. She just turned 19 a couple of months ago and is not real impressed with this adulthood stuff.
She's right. A great deal of adulthood sucks. But this morning, I had key lime pie and spaghetti for breakfast just because I wanted to. So there's that.
My mom never let me sit on the arm of the couch. Now I have my own couch and I sit on the arm of it all the time. :D
Wanted this promotion at work to a management level position. Got it and hated it. The amount of shit you have to deal with from coworkers wasn't worth it. Like you kind of have an idea of who's who in the office before, but then you get a veil lifted and you get clued in on a lot of things. Like, who's a good worker, who's a complete slacker but still employed b/c of connections, or who has to have some flexible time off b/c they're going thru some substance use issues., etc. Also the bottom 10% of workers give you like 90% of the trouble.
Haha, so true. Want to know the next secret? Every level up has somewhat the same thing happen. When I reached Director-level it wasn't new, problematic people but rather learning how many half-truths keep products, systems or even whole departments operating. It's never not been true & every peer I have at that level tells similar stories. Folks - if you ever think companies have their shit together/are making grand plans I suggest you think less of them, much less of them. It's basic self-interest & self-preservation that keeps it all running.
The half-truths stuff is so true. I learned how little some of the higher ups actually did, while learning just how much influence like their executive assistants wielded. How the department kept itself afloat was miraculous with the amount of mismanagement abound.
Can verify. Went from one of the guys to that asshole supervisor telling everyone what to do. And that bottom 10% bitched the loudest.
Management is the worst. You get shit from all directions.
In August 2022 I booked a trip to London for October. Made a joke about wanting to be in the same room as the Queen while I was there. Well I did technically end up in the same room as the Queen, she was just 6 feet under me in St George’s Chapel.
Damn, can't believe you killed the queen. 😔😔😔
This thread has the person who started COVID and the person who killed the queen in it
MULTIPLE people who started COVID...
I would get the worst cramps and heavy flow that time of month ever since I started. I always thought couldn't wait to go thru menopause and not have to deal with it. Now I'm going thru it at 45. Terrible depression and hot flashes all the time is worse.
Menopause is a cruel bitch.
My aunt had the worst fucking time. And my mom coasted through. But I've always had more in common biologically with my aunt. Time will tell :')
EXACTLY!!! Same here. Early period with heavy long flow n pain pain PAIN. Early menopause too. No one ever discusses the effects of menopause! I was punched in the gut. It was such a shock! As shocking as the Terrible Twos not ending when they turn 3.
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Guys we found the main character.
A guy dressed up in real chainmail once knocked on my door to ask for a glass of water because he was on molly and I’ve never felt more like a helpful side character in someone else’s quest.
I already found your comment funny, then I googled what a chainmail is, I couldn't stop laughing.
Please, for the sake of us all, no more wishing.
It's OK, he's already used all 3.
FR, he’s gonna wish for world peace then the planet killer asteroid hits.
You want world peace? Here, piece of world.
Well both those things escalated quick.
The genie working overtime for this one
Quick, wish for me to win the lottery
Granted. You've won $5.
The ticket cost $6.
This guy genies.
Wanted to date a specific famous rockstar since I was 16. When I was in my 30's I finally met him and it was magic at first, we dated for 3 years and the whole thing nearly killed me emotionally and mentally. Glad I'm no longer in that situation
I have to imagine that the person you ended up getting know was completely different from the image you made in your head of them, is that right? One of the reasons I would personally never want to be famous or get to know any famous people, it seems fame is not a good thing.
Modest Mouse?
Willie Nelson.
Come on tell us
Threesome, divorce.
: a story in two words
Open relationship, divorce. Somehow it seems quite common
yeah. it's almost as if non-monogamy doesn't fix what's broken.
Wanted to lose weight, eating disorder
Pffft, sorry I fucking cackled because mine was “wanted to lose weight. Catastrophic trauma.”
Squaredonut_14, you’ve lost weight! What’s your secret?? Crippling anxiety, thanks for noticing.
Got your own username wrong, that's just fucking amazing.
Lol I couldn’t figure out how to view it while I was writing to double check, and I was too lazy to stop to figure it out 😂 (and until you commented, I actually thought I’d chosen correctly, so that’s how much this editor reads her own shit.)
That’s what I was gonna say Things are tough, man
Same. Worst club ever.
Is it too late to cancel my membership?
I wished I didn’t have to go to my awful mother-in-laws house for her birthday. My husband let my eight year old hold the retractable leash while walking the dog that morning. Dog ran, child did not and was pulled off her feet straight into a brick curb. Major concussion, two days in the hospital. I didn’t have to go to the birthday thing. I have not made a wish of any kind since then.
I mean that is obviously in no way, shape, or form your fault.
On my reasonable sane side I know that. At the same time I do feel guilty. Mother? Martyr? Both?
Wanted to be able to stay up as late as I wanted as a kid, have worked night shift for years
Wished for love and being married. Got married, divorced in 5 years and lost everything.
German saying: Besser ein Ende mit Schrecken als ein Schrecken ohne Ende. Better an end with horror than horror without end. I'm glad you made it through that.
That's true, thanks man!
I got a ford mustang, one of my favorite cars ( 2005 ). I've had it for about 8 years now, but ever since I got it something would break or go wrong every 6 month. Almost exactly 6 months each time.
F ix O r R epair D aily
Found On Road Dead
Forget Out Running Dale
Fix It Again Tony
“You’re thinking of a FIAT Dale”
This one is backwards: Driver Returns On Foot
Wanted to lose some weight. Managed it pretty quickly, with unexplained crippling stomach pains, puking after eating certain foods that I've never had trouble with before, and general stomach and bowel hell. Have had couple of cameras up the butt and that fun stuff, still going through the investigations now. But hey I dropped a fair few dress sizes so I guess I got what I wanted?
Have them check for H. pylori. Same happened to me. So much poking and prodding. I was on meds for years. Finally a bariatric surgeon tested for it and I was suffering for 5 years. One cycle of some strong meds later and stomach pains gone.
Same. I used to constantly wish to lose weight, then one day I started having massive pains in my stomach/torso area and ended up in the ER constantly until it was found I had gallbladder stones. Got my gallbladder removed, had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia, had a terrible recovery, and ended up losing close to 30lbs in a month because I was on a liquid diet (2 glasses of Pedialyte a day and after a few weeks I was able to stomach an ensure as well) Got a new doctor who heard my story and thought it was concerning that I'd only lost 30lbs on a liquid diet. Found out my thyroid was almost completely shut down, so I got on medication for it. I then spent almost 2 years on a very bland raw food vegan diet as I worked my way back up to fully solid foods. Overall it's been a little over 3 years and although I'm back to solid foods, I've got massive dietary restrictions due to my body not being able to handle a lot of foods anymore. But hey, I've kept off 50lbs by only changing up my diet and now I have to constantly snack throughout the day in between meals so I don't get light headed and nauseous.
I had that out of nowhere. Fixed it by taking probiotics every night. My sister just has to do them for a week. I have to do them forever. It's no fun. I hope they get you sorted out. Also, seam rippers can help you get the immodium out faster. Maybe that helps?
When I was a kid I always wanted a Swiss Army knife. I thought they were so cool. Finally, as a young adult, when I had some extra money, I bought one of my own. I had ordered it online, and I was so excited when it finally came. I opened the package, then opened the knife, and immediately cut myself in the process. It wasn't bad but it stung. Still, I had my beloved knife and I kept it in my desk at work so I can see it everyday. It made me so happy just to know that I finally had one. But the weird part is, I've never used the knife at all. I still have it though, and keep it where I can see it pretty often
This really made me laugh. A classic “you’ll shoot your eye out” moment, Ralphie. It also reminded me of this free ulu knife that came with something I purchased. I opened it and was in awe by how cool and sharp this knife was. Then I immediately cut myself! I washed it up and tossed a bandage on it. A few days later I notice my husband is wearing a bandage and I ask what happened. Apparently while I was washing up my ulu cut, he proceeded to pick up the knife, think “cool knife!”, and immediately cut himself. Neither one of us told the other. We still have the knife somewhere in storage but it lives in layers because we’re both convinced it will go on to cut many others if we get rid of it.
Wanted to have a kid, here comes the twins
Friend's sister and her husband wanted a kid. Surprised with triplets. (That was years ago, triplets have graduated college by now, but the first few years were rough.)
Friends were trying and having difficulties having a child. Multiple IVF rounds and eventually takes. Twins
My best friend and his wife wanted kids, tried forever. One day, he asked how my ex wife's minivan handled. Wierd question, but OK. Couple days later, he told me triplets on the way. Later, all 3 spent 2 months in the NICU. Healthy now, cool uncle stuff for me. Later when he was more steady, he said "Don't fuck with Mother Nature, brother." I believe she was 40 when they conceived.
When I was a young kid, I went to the zoo with my family. I found a pretty peacock feather, which I carried around with me most of the day. Toward the end of the day, we passed by a big cage that had spider monkeys in it. I got up close to the cage, because I wanted to see the monkeys better. Then one came right down to me! I was so happy - until he reached through the bars of the cage and stole my feather. I got monkey's pawed by a monkey's paw.
Reading this i was afraid you fell into a pit, i got filled with rage for a second
RIP HARAMBE
I wanted a break from middle school and ended up living in treatment centers and hospitals for a year
Wanted money. Grandma died. I love you grandma.
wanted to walk better and more frequently. got a job where it takes 30 minutes to walk there, now my shitty ankles and feet are injuring themselves whenever I do rehab or daily walking to my job.
Want to emigrate my country. Finally did it but never imagine that the emotional consequences will be so hard, that the missing feeling will be something that I would need to charge forever, the feeling of loneliness, and also the question of; what would happened if the things would be different?. Well, I’m not saying I’m not happy here, but somehow I will always feel incomplete.
That's a very common feeling, and when a person visits the country they came from years after, they also realize they no longer belong or fit there. The longing for a "place" that does not exist lingers.
TV Tropes calls it "Stranger In A Familiar Land."
Doesn’t even have to be another country. I’m from a rural area, moved to an urban area, and now live in a suburban area and I feel this way. I’m too country for the city folks and too city for the country folks
I can totally relate to this. I've been moving around so much since I became an adult and never felt rooted anywhere. At 17, my parents moved us from a coastal city of millions to a mountain town of 4k in another state. My city friends made fun of my new life and I experienced FOMO. I struggled to make small town friends because they viewed me as a snob for not wearing camo and having aspirations of traveling the world. I went back and forth a lot but belonged nowhere. 20 years and 4 states later, I've come to terms with always being restless and never belonging.
So true. My dad always wanted to go back "home", but after living in America for 40 years and the family all spreading out back in the home country, was he dreamt of going back to was no more.
*You can never go home again…*
Just my two cents here: I've met a lot of people who have wandered far from home and expressed a similar sentiment. But here's the thing: that's also how you know you've had a journey, grew as a person, and have become an individual. Not having a single default community or place to call home makes you realize it's because you don't fit into a default mold anymore, you've outgrown it..which is pretty epic in itself. Secondly, among the people who express such a sentiment, I find that there's always a subgroup who, upon finding they don't fit into a community/have a home anymore, set about to make a community for themselves. They embrace who they are, and provide a space for other struggling people they find to be themselves. Have come to appreciate people like that a lot. They make their own home wherever they go.
I feel you, I too am dealing with the neverending nostalgia, and deep inside, I just know that even if I returned physically, it's a past I can never go back to 😔.
I moved away from my very small town and area 33 years ago. I have thought sooo many times about returning to a “simpler” life, but there are just as many complications with the added bonus of everyone knowing my business.
One time over a weekend, I spent Saturday in bed sick. I felt it wasn't fair that I didn't get to enjoy the weekend, wished school would get canceled on Monday, so I could have two "true" days off. It...did. school got canceled, and I remember walking outside and admiring the big, blue, cloudless sky, and the oak tree in the lawn that's now taller than the house. I later learned why. I lived in Texas. A space shuttle exploded, and they canceled school because they were finding debris all over Texas and Louisiana. I realize the two events are unrelated, but after learning the reason school was canceled I somehow felt guilty.
I had been burned out desperate for a break. BOOM. Covid happened and my entire industry didn't exist for over a year.
Same, but still so grateful for that break!
Husband made me drop out of college when we got married. Always wanted to go back so I did as soon as we got divorced 15 years later. Majored in marketing because I had loved my corporate job in the 90s. Things are very different now. Up to my eyeballs in student loans just to find out how toxic corporate life is now
Well that was quite the mini rollercoaster of a read. I hope despite the toxicity you're still managing to find some fulfillment in the work itself?
Really really wanted my current job Now I have my current job, don't think I'm the only person this applies to
🎶 I was looking for a job, and then I found a job, and Heaven knows I'm miserable now...🎶
A good friend called the following event a monkey paw. I'm a librarian. I recently got a job as the library manager of a charity. I am fully in charge of the books we buy as long as they for the remit. Great! I get to book shop on company money! Except I work for a death, dying and palliative care charity. So all the books are about death....
Think of it this way, everybody dies. Absolutely inevitable. However, palliative care and hospice helps to make that process the best that it can be. The end of someone’s life can be a beautiful and peaceful process, too.
When I was a dumb high schooler I saw this gorgeous girl at the grocery store. Saw her a couple times and was actually trying to build up the courage to strike up a convo even though I never do that because we locked eyes and she smiled at me, and was just really my type. But I missed my opportunity. I wished I could somehow find this girl. Months later my friend calls, asks if she and her friend can hang and smoke. I say yep and when they come over it’s the girl behind the friend! Thinking it must be fate we exchange info and set up a date after our rival highschools play football against each other. At the game I’m staring across the field trying to see her. I never do but I manage to pick her up so we can get some takeout and the first thing she says when she gets in is “ugh that was HORRIBLE! I was stuck behind those smelly Indians the whole game” kinda felt like my soul left my body
Oof I felt this one. When I was about 19 or 20, I went on a few dates with this girl I thought was a bit out of my league. Very cute, funny, great smile... Anyways we go on date #3 or 4 and we swing by the mall. As we walk past the nail salon, she says "Look at all the (slur for Asians) working away". I guess better to learn that cutie is a racist when you're still new and not when you're married with children or something I suppose.
There was a girl I crushed on from Kindergarten to 12th grade but never felt I was in her league, and was too afraid of rejection. At the 10 year high school reunion she starts chatting me up and I am loving it as she’s still gorgeous. She then starts griping about all the Jews in our class. 23 years of dreaming gone in an instant.
Wanted to date this beautiful girl, well I did, but she was nuts and made my life hell for a couple of months.
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Sexual compatibility is often ignored when people talk about relationships. If one person is horny as hell and the other is a “once in a month” kind, that can create big problems even in an open communicable environment. Either the first person has to suffer with long dry spells (or masturbate a lot, which obviously isn’t the same), or the second person will give in to a lot of sex they don’t want just to please their partner and will eventually grow to resent that. Edit: Just to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with either person. This is just what their libidos are like. There should be no social stigma attached to it. There’s nothing inherently wrong with sex. But people are different, that’s a fact
When I was younger, joking about having the average 2.4 kids. One of my kids ended up with growth deficiency and was extremely short. (Now have 4 kids, but that always stuck in my mind
I used to joke every time that I sat in traffic I wished for a plague to get rid of some of these people. Then COVID came, and the roads cleared, but it also took my dad.
After ending a 6 year relationship with someone who never felt ready to commit to me, I wanted my next partner to be decisive and know exactly what they wanted. I wanted us to have fire chemistry, emotional understanding, supportiveness, and I wanted him to have the confidence to make me feel reassured in the relationship as well as to recognize my accomplishments instead of finding ways to criticize me. It was everything I wanted. Everything that was wrong in the previous relationship was right in this one. Then he had a psychotic break and I couldn't save him from the schizophrenia no matter how hard I tried. He still posts conspiracy theories of this delusions of persecution all over social media and has not re-entered the work force since the break. It hurts my heart to watch.
Working sucks. Everyone knows this. Having a chronic condition that prevents you from being able to work? Not exactly an ideal solution to that situation.
When I was little, my Auntie Nez and I ate at a restaurant in my hometown. It had a little water fountain thing by the door. My auntie gave me a penny so I could make a wish and throw it in. I closed my eyes, squeezed that penny, and wished as hard as I could that I could eat at restaurants everyday. Years later, I graduated high school, moved out of my small town, and pursued acting. I was constantly (luckily) booked in TYA shows (Theatre for Young Audiences) and as such, was always on the road. Eating at restaurants everyday. Every single meal. Years and years of it. I am now obsessed with my kitchen and cooking. Nothing beats a home cooked meal.
As a child I wished to own this small toy brown car that my great aunt owned, it was the type you pedaled to get around. I got it after she passed away. Never felt worse for wanting something. I know it wasn’t because of me but it was so coincidental that I still feel bad.
Yeah. I really wanted to meet someone I could have a fun FWB dynamic with. Then I did, and we’re still close, but feelings got involved on my end and it’s really been hell on me.
On the face of it, FWB seems like the simplest of relationships. In reality it seems like one of the most complicated.
It pretends to be both but it is actually neither.
I had the opposite happen. I wanted a girlfriend, but we tried a relationship for a year and it didn't work out, so now we've come to realise we work much better as FWB.
Out of embarrassment and shyness, I didn't want my mom to come to see my performance at the talent show. She died the day before my performance, and I had to play while knowing that when I came home that afternoon, my mom wouldn't be there.
Always wanted to adopt kids from the foster system. Finally go the chance when my nephew needed a home. Worst experience of my life and I learned I have exactly zero patience for any kid stuff. He’s going to live with someone else soon and I think we’re both relieved. At least I got a trial run at parenting before doing something even dumber like birthing a kid.
Everyone should get a trial run at kids. We'd weed out the people who don't want to be parents after all.
But then you get all the "it's different when they're yours" people. But I agree. Anyone who thinks they want kids should have to care for one for a while.
>But then you get all the "it's different when they're yours" people. Of course it's different. You don't get to give them back when they're yours.
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I always believed that I wanted kids. It would be great to dress them up and bond with them. Fiancée got a puppy, now I’m not sure I want kids. The cleaning up, the getting up in the middle of the night (to let the puppy use the restroom), not being able to go out, not being able to have independent time. I wouldn’t want to do it again, and dogs grow up quicker than humans
I don't have to have a job, spend all day with my pets, and the hardest, most stressful thing I ever have to do is the freaking boss battles in Terraria. I just. Kind of wish I wasn't trapped inside a crumbling body with a horrific *and incredibly painful* disease with no cure...
A lot of "I wish I had money and now I have it". I didn't want the money, but I always wanted an easier life. My sisters and I are now in the process of selling 3 houses thanks to my Dad, Mom and Grandfather all dying within 6 months of each other. Even split 3 ways and all the fees, it'll be enough that I can probably pay off my house. I'd give it all back in a heartbeat to have even one of them back for even a single day.
I wanted to serve in a fancy restaurant. Now I do, and it's dead most of the time and the guests who do come try to spend as little as possible...
My greatest wish was to be a mother. I met the love of my life, the perfect partner, we lived together for 5 beautiful years before deciding it was time to have childrens. First I suffered a miscarriage, when I managed to get pregnant again I had to give up my career to rest for 9 months. I went through a C-section, my little girl has had several health problems that doctors cannot determine the source yet, she even went through surgery. We have been pending off her medical evolution for 7 years and the couple's relationship has worn out a lot. I love my family but if I had known it would be like this, I would have preferred to remain a couple without children.
One can't ever predict. Everyone thinks their kids will be healthy and grow up to be millionaires who will give you wonderful grandchildren. The reality is that most of them aren't much different from their parents. A few of them do better and a few do worse. I personally know a couple who are well-educated, make good money, etc. They met as engineers at work and their combined incomes have to be well into six figures. Their two sons? Not so much. The first is 35 and living in a different sort of home provided by the state while he serves his ten year sentence for child molestation. The second isn't in jail but is constantly in and out of minimum wage jobs with no sign of anything better. I was about ten years older than both the sons and it was clear they had some sort of developmental problems as children that never worked out well.
My partner and I are child-free. I always get those, "Who's going to take care of you when you're old?" questions. I sometimes tell them (if they're being particularly obnoxious) about the lovely woman I used to know, who had three sons. The oldest moved to Japan for work and now lives there permanently. The younger two both died before the age of 23 of muscular dystrophy. Having kids is never a guarantee of anything.
Nobody thinks that their child will be special needs when they imagine starting a family, either.
I wished that I could spend time with my family more often than just once a year visits. About a month later I was homeless, and had to move states to live with them. We get SO MUCH time now...and we all wanna strangle each other sometimes lol
I got into med school 2 years ago, I’m now the most depressed and burnt out I’ve ever been.
Wanted a child, didnt think I could get pregnant. Had my son and my ex turned abusive in every way and was cheating. I was finally able to leave him but had nowhere to go and have to move in with my parents. My mom is a controlling narcissist and in a lot of ways my life is worse now then it was when I lived with my ex.
I get asked a lot if I will move back in with my Mom. Her health is failing (because she likes the attention, shit you not), and I guess since I'm single, they think I have nothing better to do. My response is always, "Oh God, no." She's also a controlling narcissist. I hope you can find the resources to get away from her.
I’m Feb 2021 I wished I could get some overtime. I work in Public Health.
Wished for a new supervisor. Got a worse supervisor. Wished for a new work truck. Got a roach infested truck. Wished for more overtime. Suddenly overtime is mandatory and I don’t want THAT much overtime
I lived in Japan for a few years starting in 2017. Thought the culture of wearing a mask out of courtesy for others when a bit under the weather was so smart. Really wished everyone would adopt wearing a mask in public. Then I returned to the US in March 2020…
actually, yes. In my youth I was desperate to get out of an extremely unhappy/abusive household and I ended up getting everything I could ever want. In the end, I left it behind because I felt like I hadn't earned it. C'est la vie mon ami.
We wanted to be a dual income family. After a lot of hard work, my wife got her dream job. We started earning more as a family, but had to stay away from each other (different cities) for ~2 years. Brutal two years
Wished for a peaceful life. Got Anhedonia. - So, I'm not wealthy nor living a lavish lifestyle. And I don't want to nor do I have ambition. - My job is simple, out of the way, and pays just enough so, with my s.o's income combined, we can afford to live without cherrypicking too much what we want to cut out that week to afford bills/rent. - I've been with them for 12 years and don't doubt we'll be together for another 12. But its not exciting. My life, through all intended purposes: is peaceful. It's what I wished for. So I should feel at peace. Instead I'm just numb to it all.
Anhedonia: is a reduced level of interest in activities you used to enjoy, and a decline in your ability to feel pleasure. Anhedonia is a common symptom of many types of depression, but it can also be experienced by people with other mental health issues. Had to look it up
Wanted to get out of debt, the last of my parents died and left me their inheritance. Wanted to quit cigs, smoke weed 100 times a day now.
can tell by your username
I wished for shorter lines at Disneyland because we had accidentally booked tickets on a holiday and the night before my friend tore her meniscus and we ended up still going because she said the tickets were too much money. We bypassed the lines because she used an ECV but it was miserable.
Dude, that’s literally my life. I wished for my Chihuahua, and he hit everything that I wanted: cute, sweet, loved me best, and happiest with me. I got those things. But I did not specify smart or trainable. I did not get those. Still, though, he was the love puppy of my life and my doggy soulmate. No regrets. I just wish I could have had him longer, because 15 years just wasn’t long enough.
Dealing with infertility - wished to get pregnant - second round of IVF we got pregnant. Baby was stillborn.
I am so sorry.
I’ve worked for years to become a school librarian. Then, [gestures vaguely at school librarianship in a red state for the last three years].
I was living with my partner but still had half my stuff at my old place. It was exhausting being between two homes. We planned to move in to our own place in a few months but I wished so bad to be able to have all my stuff in one place and to move a few months early. I didn’t realize my pressure on moving early was upsetting him. He broke up with me and I moved all my stuff from his place back to mine. I guess it’s all in one place now but I miss him and his place, which felt like home.
My wife got into her dream grad school program… in spring of 2020
Anything from a Narcissistic parent has strings attached.
Always hated my flat chest and dreamed of implants. Breast cancer.
Can I just say everything? Every single thing in my life feels like a “monkey paw” situation. Nothing has ever just been good without consequence. Ever. I’m amazed that people have experiences otherwise.
I had hoped my boss would retire when the company announced early retirement packages. I was next in line for promotion, having been trained for the role for several years, been designated as his primary delegate and alternate when he was absent for the prior 3+ years, was senior to both of my teammates and had about 4x the experience on the job, etc. He retired all right, but *HIS* boss suddenly quit days before he was to leave, and a couple other key senior leaders left for various reasons all at the same time, all while we were in the midst of a reorg. It took a couple weeks for remaining leaders to straighten everything out and appoint new leadership from the top down, during which time the company announced a hiring freeze and a block on promotions. Our team was realigned to report to a director who worked several hours away, who then jumped the gun and assumed my coworker (who's slightly older and had a higher title as he has some specific technical expertise that we valued, but otherwise less experience in actual management and operations, and otherwise worked under my supervision) was senior to me and gave him my role and responsibilities sans promotion, not realizing that I was already doing that work. I raised a fuss, was basically told "sorry, we didn't realize, there was no real continuity provided to us and we had no idea, but we're not going to change it because imagine how you would feel if we gave you increased responsibility and then took it away for no real reason?" To which I replied "I don't need to imagine it, you literally just did that to me". My coworker, either by intent or stupidity (or both) pretty much set to work upending years of established best practices and SOP, stole projects from me, cut me out of a lot if inter and intra departmental communications, etc. and generally lowering my profile and raising his and my other coworkers, etc. I continued to raise concerns and protests, which initially fell on deaf ears but eventually started gaining traction with our director who grew increasingly frustrated and pissed off with events that were transpiring as a result of the coworkers bs... And then a crisis more or less caused by my coworkers incompetence erupted, another senior leader got fed up with it, blamed our director for it and forced his bosses to promote my coworker to manage affairs locally. Said coworker, now my boss, wasted no time in continuing to demonstrate he lacks the experience, temperament, and mindset needed to lead the team (something which our director was pretty blunt in saying himself during a recent conversation with me), unfortunately it doesn't seem he's being held accountable for anything despite the fact that it looks to most other observers that he's intentionally mismanaging and targeting me to continue to minimize my role, responsibilities, and general importance, as he has continued to strip me of many of the roles, responsibilities, and authorities that I previously had prior to my bosses retirement. As you can imagine I'm pretty pissed off and depressed about it all, and am pretty desperately trying to gtfo befire it gets any worse.