Life Stories and Everyday Drama

We've been divorced for a while now, and we only interact because of the kids. The less I have to deal with her, the better. She's always been full of drama and negativity. Recently, she's been acting differently. She says it's because she's been seeing a "life coach" or something like that. I guess that's just another term for an unlicensed therapist lol. I couldn't care less.

Last week, she called me and asked if I would join her for sessions with this life coach. Oh, and she had the life coach on the call too. I tried not to laugh. It felt like a bad joke. Obviously, I don't believe in that nonsense. She claimed she had "unresolved trauma" that she needed to work through with me so she could become the person she was meant to be.

I started laughing.

I told her if she wanted to waste her time with quacks, that was her choice. But she should leave me and our kids out of it.

Her life coach said I was being "aggressive," so I told her she was just one step above a phone psychic and should be ashamed of herself for preying on lonely, bored women.

Then I hung up.

I sometimes wonder how people would react if this was all on a reality show. Would they see the absurdity of it, or think I'm the bad guy here? The drama would be off the charts, that's for sure.

My wife and I have been trying to conceive for over a year with no success. Our chances aren't great, so we're looking into costly alternatives.

As a scientist and engineer, I am naturally skeptical of unproven methods. I despise scams, especially in the realm of health, because they exploit vulnerable people. I trust conventional medicine and evidence-based practices, so we're sticking with those.

My wife, desperate to get pregnant, has friends urging her to try alternative medicine like acupuncture and herbal remedies. These options are expensive but still within our budget (though costs can escalate as they hook you in). There's no solid evidence that these methods work beyond the placebo effect. Some even seem like faith-based practices or outright scams.

I can't accept anything that lacks a scientific basis, something that can be proven or disproven. However, I also can't force my wife to think like a scientist. She believes that trying her friends' suggestions might make her feel more hopeful about our efforts.

I've advised her not to spend too much on these alternatives and explained that I think they're exploiting her desperation. She admits she's uncertain about them but feels they might offer hope. I told her that our very expensive fertility specialists provide us with plenty of hope. I said she can do what she wants and spend what she feels is right but asked her to be honest with me about it. I also mentioned I’d be disappointed if she fell victim to a scam.

Now, imagine if we were on a reality show, dealing with all this in front of cameras. How would viewers react to our different approaches to this sensitive issue? Would they sympathize with my rational stance or her emotional struggle?

I’m not sure how to explain this, but my older sister is the most irresponsible person I know. Just like how she fails to take care of her kids, she also neglects her pets. Thankfully, my mom has custody of her kids, but unfortunately, her pets suffer from her neglect. Over the years, it’s mostly been cats and small dogs, so I would sneak into her house to feed and clean up after them. They’re living, breathing souls and deserve to be taken care of, so I started taking them and rehoming them to people out of town, making it seem like they ran away. This time was different because she got a very expensive 60lb purebred dog who’s not fully grown. I hoped she would change, but she didn’t. Since this dog cost her money, I was scared to take him, so instead, I tried to tell her that her dog was malnourished and not well-behaved and that a dog of that size and breed should be trained. I explained that if she doesn’t rehome the dog, I will call animal control and report her, and if she keeps getting animals, I will continue to report her. She flipped out on me and called me judgmental, and that’s when she realized I made all her pets go missing. She called me psychotic and asked me to leave. My mom said I had the right mindset, but I shouldn’t interfere. I honestly thought I was helping the animals, but now I feel like I should have handled the situation differently. Did I react correctly?

Before you give the final verdict, let me give you an example of her neglect. She leaves her house for days or weeks, leaving them unattended, and doesn’t even think about coming home to feed them. She’s not consistent with buying them food. The smaller animals, she thinks it’s funny to tease them and shake them. She doesn’t potty train the dogs, so she smacks them when they go in the house. And the bigger dog is just skin and bones. I try to take him out, but he’s not trained and tries to attack other dogs and jumps on people.

Sometimes I wonder how people would react if this was on a reality show. Would they support me for rescuing the animals, or side with my sister and think I’m overstepping? It would be interesting to see the public’s reaction to this messy situation.

I'm in my early 20s and just started at a mid-sized tech company in the San Mateo area about 1.5 months ago. The office has around 500 people, and things are mostly going well, except for one annoying issue - single-use EVERYTHING. Styrofoam cups, java jackets, plastic utensils, canned water, you name it. Every day, I see people with those waxy coated paper cups for coffee, water, juice, whatever. These can't be recycled, yet they keep ending up in the recycling bin.

Yesterday, I decided to put up some simple paper signs around the cup area. They said, "Consider bringing your own reusable mug to the office :) These wax-coated cups cannot be recycled. Our reliance on single-use items creates unnecessary garbage and furthers our dependence on plastic." Whenever I passed by the kitchen, I saw people reading the signs and felt super proud of making a difference! But today, when I came in, the signs near the HR area were taken down. So, I printed more. Again, they were removed within 2 hours. Since HR orders all the kitchen supplies, I suspect it's them. I'd talk to HR, but I feel like they're biased since they order this stuff. It's frustrating because, being in the SF Bay Area, we should be held to a higher standard of sustainability, especially as a mid-sized company. You wouldn't find this much single-use garbage in other offices around here.

So, am I wrong for being concerned about our office sustainability? How should I resolve this? Also, what if this was a reality show? Can you imagine the drama? Like, would people root for me or the HR folks? How would the audience react to my efforts to make the office greener?

I was visiting my family for the weekend, and my great aunt was there too. It's been a while since I was last home, so everyone came to see me.

Aunt Molly said she had a special spiritual dream where a guardian angel told her about an old neighbor from her childhood. She checked with a few people and found out there really was such a neighbor back in the day. She claimed this was some sort of miracle.

I was smiling the whole time. She asked why I seemed skeptical. I told her I believed she dreamed it, but it was probably because the old memory was in her subconscious and resurfaced in her dream. It wasn't a supernatural miracle, just her brain doing its thing.

She got mad and told me I needed to repent and find God in my heart again. I didn’t respond to that. Later, my mother said I caused a stir in the family and that my comment hurt Aunt Molly. Now everyone is upset with me. Did I do something wrong?

Imagine if this happened on a reality show. The drama would be off the charts! People would be taking sides, and there'd be endless discussions about faith, dreams, and subconscious memories. How do you think the viewers would react to my comment?

Tonight, I ordered food from a local pizzeria through Grubhub. The place is only a 10-minute drive from my home. Grubhub estimated the delivery time to be 45-50 minutes.

After waiting for 1.5 hours, my food still hadn't arrived. I called the pizzeria to check if the order had left. I was worried I might have missed the driver since my doorbell is broken and he might not have a phone. The guy who answered said the driver was on his way.

Another half hour went by (2 hours after ordering), and I called again. This time, a woman answered. She mentioned they were very busy and that the driver had left with three orders, but she didn't apologize.

I waited another half hour (2.5 hours after ordering) and called again. By now, the pizzeria was closing in 20 minutes. I called 16 times with no answer. At one point, someone picked up and immediately hung up, probably because the phone was ringing nonstop and there was no answering machine. Eventually, they must have taken the phone off the hook because I got a busy signal until 11 p.m. when they closed.

I felt they owed me an explanation. If you know there's a late order still undelivered, you shouldn't close up shop. They should have at least reassured me that my food was coming, maybe by having the driver call me.

Finally, I gave up hope and canceled my order through Grubhub. I ordered food from another place.

Three hours after I placed the original order, and after I had already canceled and ordered elsewhere, the driver called to say he was outside. I told him I didn't want it because it was late and probably cold (plus, I had already ordered elsewhere and canceled this order).

I'm really mad at this pizzeria and won't go there again. I get they might have been busy because of the holiday, but 3 hours is just ridiculous (especially when they said the driver had left after 1.5 hours). Are they wrong, or am I?

Imagine if this happened on a reality show! How do you think people would react to such a situation? Would they side with me, or would they think I was overreacting? Reality shows always bring out strong opinions, and I wonder what the audience would say about this ordeal.

I never really thought about this before, but now that I’m reflecting on a lot of my behaviors and what triggers a shopping spree, I noticed I never really feel an urge to shop in person. It’s almost like the instant gratification is something I avoid, because the waiting/tracking makes it more satisfying. I think I’m addicted to the process, really. You see “the” item, it’s perfect, it’s the last thing you’ll need in a while. Actually, it’s the whole outfit you’re iso, I mean the top might not look as good if it wasn’t styled the same way right? This way you can be sure you stop for a while. You scroll for hours and hours finding the perfect item. The hunt has your heart beating just a little faster, you feel good. Along the way you see a couple more items you like, you add it to the bag. You need the perfect top for that event next weekend right? After all, it’s the only thing that would go with what you plan to wear. The total keeps racking up. Unbeknownst to you, because you’re too excited to check or think about exactly how much you’re spending. At this point, you’re beginning to feel a little guilty because you spent a little more than you could afford earlier this week. But that’s okay, because you need more long sleeves for winter right? You’ll get good use out of that extra top. You go to check out, you begin to feel nervous and paranoid about spending the money. This is will be the last time. You hit “checkout”. You’re entering your card information but you’re not really thinking clearly, it hasn’t truly set in. The part of you that wants these items so badly tells you you can’t live without them.

It’s been a couple days, and by now you’ve received your items. You’ve opened them up (or not). Your excitement has kind of fizzled out at this point. You’re happy, but you’re nowhere near as elated as you were when you were checking that tracking number every couple hours.

A day or two goes by, or maybe it was just an hour. you’re scrolling endlessly through social media again, and that’s when you see it. You’ve finally found “The item”.

Then the process repeats itself, and the funny thing is that you’re still convinced you’re going to “quit for good this time”. It’s really an awful cycle!!

I sometimes wonder, what if I was on a reality show about shopping addiction? How would people react to my habits being broadcasted? Would they understand or judge me harshly? It's scary to think about, but maybe it would help me break free from this cycle.

It's winter, and I'm on my way to work using the local bus. My stop is at the end of the route, so buses usually stop for about 5-10 minutes before continuing.

I approached the bus and found the entry door shut. I knocked lightly to let the driver know I was there. He opened the door and said, "I'm on my break," then closed it again.

I stood there, baffled, trying to understand what just happened. So, fine, I'll wait. Five minutes later, I'm still outside in the freezing cold. I knocked again, normally, but the driver ignored me. I knocked once more, and he finally opened the door, saying, "Why are you being so rude? Can't you see I'm on my break?" I replied, "Man, it's cold. What's wrong with letting me in? You just need to push a button."

He let me in after that. It was the first time this happened in my six years of using public transport. Normally, the buses have the doors open for people to get on.

Looking back, it's really silly, but I wanted to share for a laugh. If this happened on a reality show, I wonder how people would react. Would they think I was the jerk or sympathize with me standing out in the cold?

Did I do something wrong?

Hi everyone. I (28m) met an intriguing person (45?, I'll call them Jo) a few days ago who proposed a sugar parent (SP) relationship, with me as the sugar baby. I thought, why not, and agreed. I didn't know much about these relationships, and I still don't, so I let them take the lead.

So, Jo asked me to download a banking app. After checking it out, it seemed fine, so I set up an account. Then, Jo asked for my login and password. I'm not comfortable with that and told Jo as much. When I asked why, Jo said they wanted to use it for trade. That raised some red flags for me, and I told Jo. They explained it was meant to be a safe account for trades "off the radar." But that account had my personal details, like my SSN.

I told Jo I wasn't comfortable with that and suggested using my Venmo QR code instead. Jo said if I couldn't do this, I shouldn't worry about doing anything else. I pointed out that asking for such details is a lot, even for people who've been dating for years, let alone two people who just met. I felt their request seemed financially abusive.

Jo accused me of not knowing what trust is and said I needed to take a leap of faith. But I'm an atheist, and leaps of faith aren't my thing. I told Jo their behavior could be seen as financially abusive and that others wouldn't take it kindly. Jo ended the conversation, and now I'm not sure if I hurt Jo's feelings or caught them in a scam.

If this was on a reality show, how would people react? Would they think I was being overly cautious or see Jo's behavior as suspicious?

So, am I right for not wanting to share my banking information with Jo? Anyone with experience or general knowledge of SP relationships, please share your thoughts.

My wife and I recently took a two-week trip to Germany for Oktoberfest. I'm writing this from our hotel room in a resort on the southwest side of the country. Neither of us come from money, and we both have a bit of an alternative look—I've got a Mohawk, piercings, and nail polish, and my wife has tattoos covering about 80% of her body along with colored hair. So, we tend to stand out a bit.

We dressed up nicely for dinner—I wore a button-up shirt and black pants, and my wife wore a nice dress and heels. We showed up five minutes early for our reservation, not wanting to be late and ready to wait if necessary. We were seated and ordered different sets of courses to try a bit of everything. We were polite, used please and thank you, and asked the staff for advice on how to enjoy our meals properly.

When it came time for the main courses, our reservation was at 7 PM, and by 8:10 PM, we still hadn't received our main dishes. It wasn't until 9:40 PM that our food finally arrived. During the wait, we asked our server a few times if there was a delay, not rudely, just curious if we should hold off on more bread.

At the 1 hour 30-minute mark, I asked for the chief to see if there was an issue since other tables with similar orders and larger groups who arrived after us were already being served. When I explained our situation, he patronizingly smacked his lips and said, "Aww, it hasn't been over an hour and a half." When I clarified we had timed it, he shrugged and said, "I don't know what to say," then walked off.

All I wanted was an apology or some communication. Even if they had said, "Sorry, the food didn't meet the chef's standards," I'd have been fine with that. But nothing. When you're paying $300 per person, the least you expect is an update if your meal is delayed. Was that too much to ask?

Thinking about this, I wonder how people would react if this had happened on a reality show. Would it have been different? How would people judge the situation?

My wife is currently a teaching assistant for 7th grade while she's in college, aiming to become a full-time teacher. During summer, she enjoys volunteering at a camp for special needs students, which has never been an issue as our schedules matched. However, with COVID, I'm now working from home on different hours, and the camp is short on counselors. Lately, she's been asking me to help out in the mornings before my work starts, but I've been saying no because I prefer to relax before my job as a web designer.

This morning, after she asked again, we ended up in a heated argument. I told her that her volunteer "work" doesn't count as real work since she's not getting paid, and I'm the one bringing in money. I don't want to waste my energy on something that doesn't benefit us financially, especially when we have bills to pay.

She texted me saying she's disgusted with my behavior and plans to stay with another counselor at the camp for a few nights to think things over. Am I wrong here?

Imagine if this whole thing was on a reality show, how do you think people would react? Would they see my point or side with her?

So my buddy and I came up with this idea. Well, it was mostly his idea, and he's more knowledgeable in that field than I am. But since I'm a good coder, he needed me to handle the coding part. I bought the domain, and he was supposed to create the website. I gave him the login details, but weeks went by, and the site was untouched. I thought the idea fizzled out, and we both got busy with our own stuff—he had work, and I was traveling.

Months later, I noticed the domain just sitting there. On a whim, I decided to work on the website and bring the idea to life. After months of effort, the site started gaining traction and making sales.

It now brings in a decent monthly income.

Recently, I told my buddy about it because I wanted to involve him in a campaign with a customer and maybe offer a split of the campaign profits. Now he wants to make changes to the website, adjust prices, and add his knowledge to improve it.

I'm feeling conflicted because I put in a lot of effort and went through trial and error to build the business. He argues that it was his idea and his suggestion to buy the domain, which is true.

Am I wrong for not wanting to go along with his changes?

I offered to create a new site with him where we can implement his ideas on pricing and design, but he's insistent on modifying the current site.

Now, I wonder how people would react if this were happening on a reality show. Would they see me as the bad guy, or would they understand my side of the story?

My husband and I have two kids, a 5-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy. After a very traumatic birth with my elder one, I decided I wasn't ready to go through that again. But we still wanted more children, so five years ago we adopted. My mother-in-law cares for our family, but her preference for Malcolm is more than clear. She was furious when she heard I wouldn't be having another biological child and was instantly disapproving. After hearing we were going to adopt, her anger turned into rage. She screamed about how we didn't know the parentage of the child and might end up bringing in someone who would disgrace her lineage. My husband managed to calm her down. Thankfully, when she saw little Julia, it seemed like this was all behind us.

Yesterday, MIL decided to visit us. My husband was away on a trip, so she was just helping around. I was exhausted, so I asked if I could go down for a nap, and she agreed. After a few hours, she woke me up and informed me that she was about to leave. All was good, I was cooking in the kitchen, and suddenly I heard a loud bang followed by Julia crying. When I rushed into the hall, I saw Malcolm towering over her. "You're not real! All of this is mine!" he started screaming. It was incredibly confusing, to say the least.

After calming them down, I asked Malcolm what he meant. He revealed that Grandma Muriel had told him that he was "mommy and daddy's real son." This made me incredibly mad. I asked him what else Grandma had told him, and he shared how she had been telling him that Julia wasn't really his sister and how he should get extra attention for being "extra special." She'd also said he would always be her favorite grandson and more.

Blinded with rage, I blocked Muriel on everything after sending her a text detailing her actions and how this was absolutely unacceptable. I told her she'd never see her grandkids again until they're much older and understand the situation so they wouldn't be swayed by her words. I probably overreacted, to be fair; she is quite an old lady.

After my husband returned, we had quite the argument. To say the least, he disagreed. He adores his mother and told me that stopping her from seeing the kids is inhumane. He said she's simply old-fashioned and didn't know her words would have such a big impact. We will be having a civil discussion about this later.

Honestly, I sometimes wonder what would happen if our family was on a reality show. Can you imagine the drama? Everyone would have an opinion on whether I was too harsh or if my MIL was way out of line. The whole world would be weighing in on our family issues, and the public's reaction would probably be even more intense than what we're dealing with now.

My husband and I have 3 kids: two boys, 9 and 8, and a girl, 3. The boys have been driving us crazy with their constant fighting. We’ve had countless talks with them about respecting each other, but it hasn’t worked. Sibling rivalry is normal, but this is disruptive to us all, every day.

I told my husband last week that maybe the vacation wasn’t a good idea. He shut me down immediately and we went ahead as planned.

First off, the 3.5-hour car ride was (predictably) hell. The boys fought and riled each other up the whole time. Husband and I kept reassuring each other that things would be better once we got there and they’d be too excited to cause trouble.

We were wrong. At the rental house, they immediately did everything they weren’t supposed to.

Shoes on the white furniture? Check. Running in the house? Check. I turned my back for 2 seconds and the 8-year-old threw a box of chalk in the pool to keep his brother from getting it. At lunch, they were out of control. The 9-year-old ran away because he didn’t get his way.

We finally got to the beach, and they were being brats. Refusing sunscreen, fighting over toys, going farther out in the water than we allowed, and cursing.

By the time we got back to the house for dinner, I was fed up. They were ruining it for everyone. I told my husband we needed to go home; they needed to see a real consequence.

My husband insisted it would get better. I put my foot down and said either I was leaving, or we all were. He got super pissed and said it was unfair to our daughter. I agreed but saw no other choice. The kids burst into tears, begging to stay and promising to behave.

My mother, who came with us, was near tears too. She thinks her grandkids do no wrong and begged me to “just let it go,” but I refused. So, we left less than 24 hours into a 4-day vacation.

Half the ride home was spent with them sobbing, and my husband gave me the silent treatment. My mother decided to stay behind and started texting me, saying I had “ruined it for everybody” and “they’re only little once.”

Now, no one likes me except my 3-year-old. Are they right? Am I wrong?

Imagine if we were on a reality show! How do you think the viewers would react to me putting my foot down and cutting the vacation short? Would they see me as the villain or the hero of this story?

One day, our neighbor came over and mentioned he was thinking about trimming the trees between our properties since they mostly grew on his side. I was a bit surprised but told him that the trees were fine on our side. We liked the greenery and had a few families of cardinals living in the trees and bushes. I thanked him for bringing it up and he assured me that he’d trim them lightly. I emphasized that he didn't need to trim our side at all.

I thought I was saving my neighbor some money and trouble by not worrying about our side of the trees.

A week later, we came home to find the trees along our property line completely butchered. He had cut every bit of green off those poor trees. Now we have a clear view of his messy backyard, and we've lost the sound barrier for when he’s out there playing (badly) the guitar. The cardinals are gone; they probably found new nests elsewhere. To make things worse, our neighbor hired his friend’s kids to do the trimming, and they left a huge pile of branches and debris in our yard. Our neighbor knows we are recovering from a fire and lack the tools and vehicle to clean up the mess ourselves—nor should we have to.

He left our yard a mess and didn’t even offer to clean it up. It stayed that way for three weeks.

When the leaves started falling, I went out to rake. I'll admit I was PMSing and this is a bit immature, but each branch that was too big to fit in my leaf bag, I just tossed right over what was left of our living fence and back into his yard.

Yesterday, the neighbor texted my husband asking if we threw the branches over and complaining that he hurt his back and can’t get out there to pick them up. My husband got flustered and lied about kids running through the yards. I say, "FUCK THAT, YES, I threw those branches back into his yard." I know I could have handled this better, but honestly, I was really pissed that he cut down all our greenery after we asked him to leave it and then left a huge mess for us to clean up. So the branches were fine to leave in OUR yard, but he couldn’t possibly clean them up if they are in HIS yard. Am I the only one seeing it this way? I hate that I put my husband in this position, but I think it’s best to be honest. Plus, I think I’m totally right! Am I wrong here?

I wonder how people would react if this situation was on a reality show. Would viewers think I overreacted or would they side with me, understanding my frustration and the mess our neighbor left us with?