Life Stories and Everyday Drama

I’m not sure if I’m in the wrong here and I need some outside perspectives. For some background, I (24f) and my friend (24f) were both raised Catholic, but she converted to Islam about four years ago because she got married. We grew up together and did everything together, including our first communion and being baptized a week apart. I’ve never believed in just one true religion and have explored many.

Now to the issue: I started learning Arabic while in the army, and a few months ago I reached a level where I could read the entire Qur'an. This is when I first noticed a problem. My friend's husband (let's call him A’s Husband and my friend A) joked that I was a better Muslim than A. A then burst into tears and yelled at her husband for hurting her feelings, saying how hard she works to be a perfect Muslimah. He apologized profusely and left the room. I made sure she was okay before leaving. The next day she said she overreacted due to pregnancy hormones. It sounded weird but okay. Fast forward to now, she’s about to have her baby and asks me to babysit her other kid while she delivers. I agreed because the kid is like a nephew to me. The entire time the kid was whining and crying, so I got an idea. I have trouble sleeping and listen to recitations of the Qur'an. It helps me fall asleep and I thought it might be good to have it playing during a stressful experience. I turned on Spotify, found a peaceful recitation, and the kid fell asleep instantly. I fell asleep too until I heard knocking at the door. A’s husband said, “What a fantastic idea to play the Qur'an during this blessed occasion, I swear (my name) you’re a better Muslim than us.” A then exploded. She said a lot of hurtful things, including, “Allah doesn’t love lesbian tattooed sluts” (I’m bi and have only been with my boyfriend). She then told me to stop pretending to be Muslim and either stop my sinful ways or stop appropriating her culture. I left immediately, thinking it was just her being stressed. Today, I texted her asking if she was okay, and she responded with, “Don’t text me until you apologize for appropriating Muslim culture.”

Should I apologize? I don’t feel like I did anything wrong, but have I been appropriating Muslim culture?

I wonder how things would have played out if we were on a reality show. Would people see me as the villain for unintentionally hurting my friend, or would they see her as overreacting and being unfair? It’s hard to know how our private issues would be judged in the public eye.

When I was around 2 or 3, my parents went through a divorce. My dad had an epiphany and became deeply religious after being an atheist for years, which clashed with my mom's beliefs. They had been on the same page about religion until my dad pushed for my mom to convert and baptize me. My mom stood her ground, and they eventually divorced. The court granted my mom decision-making power over religious matters. This meant I could attend church with my dad until I was 12, but after that, it couldn't be forced upon me. I also wasn't required to take religious education classes or become a church member.

As soon as I turned 12, I stopped going to church and haven't returned since.

My dad remarried when I was 7, and he and my stepmom have kids together. They were upset when I refused to go to church with them or participate in their religious activities. I would sit quietly during prayers but never joined in. I even told them I've never said a single prayer in my life, even though they brought me to church for years.

Now that I'm nearly 18, they're starting to panic. They've been trying to have conversations with me, asking me to give religion and god a chance, to attend church with them one or two more times, and really listen. But I've always known my answer: no. I don't believe in any of it and never will. I told them they can believe what they want, but I’m an atheist and don’t believe in god, heaven, or anything spiritual.

My dad and stepmom said I should respect them enough to try, and my stepmom cried about how awkward and sad it would be for their kids to realize their big brother dismisses their beliefs. They were really angry and said I was disrespectful before I went back to my mom's house.

Am I being mean by doing that?

I wonder how this would play out if I were on a reality show. Would people see me as the bad guy for standing my ground, or would they understand my perspective?

My husband Josh and I usually see eye-to-eye on most things, except when it comes to our taste in art (music, television, movies, visual art, etc.).

For context, he’s a huge fan of Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Radiohead, and a bunch of modern classical composers. Almost anything you’d call "pop" from the 90s onwards he despises, often ranting that nobody knows how to craft a decent song anymore.

Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal - everyone has their own preferences, right? But we’ve been together for seven years, and this has been a point of contention since day one. The latest incident happened last night on our drive home.

I adore Prince, but I don’t think everything he’s done is fantastic. When "Diamonds and Pearls" came on the radio, I groaned and muttered, "Great, one of my least favorite Prince songs." Josh commented that, in his opinion, this is one of Prince’s "more intriguing" tracks. I replied that while it might be intriguing, I find it kind of atonal and odd. Immediately after that, Justin Bieber’s "Love Yourself" played. I mentioned that even though the song is simpler, I enjoy it more because it has one of those timeless melodies that feels like it’s always existed, even though it was just recorded a few years ago. To support my point, I said it often gets stuck in my head and I end up humming it all day.

He argued that a song can be catchy without being "good" and that complexity and interesting composition matter more to him. I countered that complexity doesn’t necessarily make something better and that it's impossible to be objective about what makes for "good" art or music... and we went back and forth. Then he said something like, "a more sophisticated listener can hear and appreciate complexity."

He equates appreciation of complexity with "sophistication" in the listener, implying that if I (or anyone) were smart or educated enough, we’d appreciate the same things he does. Essentially, I'm just not sophisticated enough to "get" what good music is. I found this offensive and elitist, and I told him so. He said I’m too sensitive and that it’s no different from someone not being able to appreciate a poem if they don’t understand the language it's written in.

I asked Josh if he understood why I took issue with his attitude, and he said that he can’t help it if I don’t like the way he thinks about it. If I don’t want to hear his opinions on the matter, we’ll just have to avoid talking about it in the future, like we’ve been doing all these years.

Sometimes I wonder how this whole scenario would unfold if we were on a reality show. Would people side with me or him? How dramatic would it be to watch our arguments on screen?

Have I done wrong?

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?