There are, unfortunately, entitled people everywhere. Anyone who has ever worked in customer service or dealt with a greedy family member could tell you that. But those people are absolute angels compared to the entitled jerks in these stories. From nasty neighbors to insane in-laws, these are the worst of the worst—so buckle in, ‘cause it’s about to get infuriating.
1. Sharing Isn’t Caring
Okay, so, this happened a few years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday and to be honest, still can't understand what my sister was thinking. A little backstory: My sister and I had to share EVERYTHING as kids. Not to mention I was forced to be her and our younger brother's "second mother", but that’s a story for another time. For some of my childhood, I was happy to share things with my sister.
Sweets, snacks, toys—the normal kid things. There are four years between us, I'm the oldest and as you can probably guess, when I reached my teen years I wanted my own things and to spend time alone. Nope. She wanted me to do everything with her. I could barely spend ten minutes in the bathroom before she would start banging on the door.
Unfortunately, when I was around 15, my siblings and I were taken into foster care. We were separated from our brother which was difficult for both of us and for a while I didn't mind my sister wanting to spend all her time with me. Shortly after my 16th birthday I wanted to have my own space and things that are, well, mine.
She would argue with me over not sharing MY stuff and of course, typical sibling fights and yelling happened almost every other day. We sort of grew out of our sibling squabbles over the years but she kinda developed a "the-world-owes-me" attitude which drove me crazy. I did my best to hold in my frustrations but I'm human and sometimes…I kinda snapped.
A couple of years after my daughter was born, my sister and I weren't really talking much because of her selfish attitude towards me spending most of my time and income on my daughter. During one of the times we were on good terms, she was over for the weekend and everything was okay. Until a conversation lead to her telling me she was going to take my daughter for a week because she wanted to spend time with her because it was "her turn".
I said, "Not gonna happen. She is MY daughter, not a doll or pet we share”. She gets mad and starts yelling. I told her to leave and she argues how "she had parental rights" and "social services will force me to allow her to take my daughter whenever she wants". I laughed, told her to get out and don't come back. Honestly, I don't know if she seriously thought that it was her right to have my daughter.
2. First-Class Pain In The Butt
We were on a flight from Miami to Bolivia as a family of five with three kids under 12. We’re getting on the flight, sitting down, when this entitled woman and her husband come up to my row. I’m sitting in the same row as my brother and sister. They say: “Excuse us, you’re in our seats”. All three of us have all been well versed in child travel by this time so we pull out our individual boarding passes and show her that we’re also assigned these seats.
They insist that we’re wrong and demand to see the passes. We don’t give them over. My dad comes over to see why strangers are talking to his children: “Excuse me, why are you talking to my kids”? “They’re in our seats, look”. My dad says: “That’s their assigned seat, they know how to read a boarding pass”. By this time, we have attracted the attention of the flight attendant.
She confirms that indeed, those seats had been double-booked. The couple are irate, demanding their assigned seats. The flight attendant leaves to go “see what I can do for you”. This whole time, the woman is making a big show of trying to store her bag in front of ours in the overhead bins and complaining loudly. The attendant returns and says: “Thank you so much for your patience. It was double booked, but it looks like we have enough seats in first-class available for your party. If you could please follow me”?
They sigh, relieved that finally SOMEONE will see reason. Well, the joke was on them. The flight attendant holds up her hand. “No sir, not you. If you three (looking at me and my siblings) will please join us up in first class, we’ll make sure you’re taken care of”. The lemon-sucking look on the woman’s face as we politely grabbed our bags and moved to the coziest laps of luxury our young selves had the fortune of lucking out on was unforgettable.
I remember the meal making me have a headache, but the reclining seats, warm blankets, and sleep masks sure helped with all that suffering.
3. Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes
When I was a kid I never cut my hair, no matter what I never cut my hair, so I had very long blonde hair. And as a kid, a lot of people would ask to touch it. And I was fine with it, as long as they had my permission. So when I was six, my mom took me to a grocery store to buy some things for dinner that night. We got to the store and my mom got the stuff she needed, but was missing the bread from the other side of the store.
She sent me to go get it since I was fast and small. When I got to the bread, I picked out the brand we would usually buy, and at the time I really liked baguettes and other types of bread. So when I saw the baguettes, I totally forgot that my mom was waiting for me and grabbed a loaf(?) and headed back to my mom. When I was heading back to my mom from the bread aisle, I felt someone pull on my hair. Not gently, no, they yanked it.
They pulled so hard I thought my hair what going to come out. And I cried so hard my mom heard me across the store. I turned around in shock. It turns out it was a kid about my age who wanted to touch my hair, so his MOM, and I say his 40-YEAR-OLD MOTHER, pulled my hair so her friggin' kid could touch it. My mom rushed over and told the lady to let go of me.
The conversation then went like this: “Let my daughter go”! “My child just wanted to touch her hair, she has very pretty hair”. Me: “She pulled on my hair, it hurts”! My mom: “You could've just asked! You can’t just pull a kid's hair, I can call 9-1-1 for assault”! Her: “You are harassing me, all I did was let my son touch her hair! I can call the authorities on you for harassing me and my child”!
My mom: “Firstly, I am not harassing you, you grabbed my child. And secondly, you can call the authorities. You will only be making things worse for yourself”. She was absolutely right. As it turns out, the entitled mom DID call the authorities and they took both our statements. The entitled mother had given an over-exaggerated and dramatic report, telling the officers, as we would find out later, that I had given consent for her kid to touch my hair and my mom had come out of nowhere and started harassing the entitled mother.
My mother had given the officers the actual report from her side. I had been asked to give a report, but I was too scared and tired from the experience to say much. They checked the security footage and saw what actually happened. In the end, she got what was coming to her. My mom decided to press charges and sued the entitled mom for assault.
She was sent away for six months and fined for providing a false report as the cherry on top!
4. Out Of The Flowerbed And Into The Fire
Because the groundhog had no shadow, spring came early, so I had decided to work on the garden strip that borders mine and Karen’s property. There's a fence between the garden and her house. While doing so, I get rid of some of MY daylilies that are on MY property. I finish, return to my house and continue my day, until I hear a shriek from the side of my house.
I rush over, because I'm scared someone got hurt, and Karen, who just got home from work, asks me why I got rid of HER lilies. I say that they were MY lilies, and that I was making space for tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. She then calls 9-1-1 because I had destroyed HER property. The authorities come and basically tell her to go inside and shut up, because it's pretty clear who's flowers they were.
But it didn’t end there. The next day she had a few too many. This put her anger over the edge about the loss of my lilies. She went, with wood and a firestarter, to my neighbor’s house on the opposite side. She then lit their bins on fire. This then spread to their porch, and before long their entire house was on fire.
I'm a light sleeper, and living in a cul-de-sac, was woken up by the orange haze floating through my windows. I called 9-1-1, the whole shebang, witness report and everything. I walked out of the house, with 9-1-1 still on the phone—and I couldn’t believe what happened next. The deranged neighbor fully confesses, all while they’re in earshot.
After a while and as the fire department shows up, she realizes her mistakes. One: she lit a house on fire, and two: she lit the wrong house on fire. She's being charged with arson and the like, and everyone got out. There’s a mother, father, and two kids who are high schoolers. It still feels surreal.
5. Blood Isn’t Always Thicker Than Water
I'm an IT engineer with terrible family relationships. I did cut off my father and my uncles and aunts, yet I keep in contact with my cousins and their children, who somehow I treat as mine. I had none and I'm an only child, therefore they're the closest I got. I always prioritized success over relationships so I'm single, and through the years I felt that my cousins' children weren't mine therefore I wanted to raise one of my own.
It took me some time, but finally, I adopted an 8-year-old kid, as those usually age out of foster care. I love the experience of raising a kid, yet I have had to deal with some entitled behavior from my cousins. Every now and then I spend some money traveling with my cousins and their children, yet this year, for obvious reasons I need to save money in order to get all of the stuff my son would need.
I'm planning on going big and getting the best of the best that I could afford. I just explained this to my cousins and told them this year our trip together will be canceled. They said nothing so I thought they understood the whole situation. Anyway, I wanted my kid to socialize with my cousins' children so I invite them all to a get-together party (after about two months, when my son felt comfortable enough).
Somehow, all of the kids were so mad and refused to play with my kid. He just sat in a corner and tried to not cry, but he did. I talked with the kids and they said he was not part of the family and they deserve more, as he is adopted and they, as my family, were entitled to the trip to the parks in Florida. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was in total shock, but managed to ask them where they got that from.
They told me how their parents have told them the reason why I took away their trip was my son, who comes from the streets and isn't even family. I was fuming, so I told them all to leave. I had a Zoom meeting with just my cousins who all told me that their children must come first, and I told them they made me realize my son comes first, so I canceled their college funds, their private school tuitions, and just told them that if my kid is not part of their family, neither am I.
I cut them all off. I have been called unreasonable, but I think my son comes first and I made the right decision.
6. Turns Out Indentured Servitude Isn’t Legal
My wife and I had just immigrated back to the US and needed jobs and a place to stay. We thought we'd struck gold when a fabulously wealthy woman hired me as a groundskeeper and maintenance guy and my wife as a cook and maid for her elderly parents. The pay was low, but part of it involved being able to live rent-free in the second house on the estate.
The elderly couple was extremely senile, but still the sweetest old folks you can imagine, it was a really nice property so for a few months, everything was great. Then about three months in, my wife noticed the pantry—which was itself bigger than our living room—was not being re-stocked by the grocery delivery company that normally did these things.
We contacted our employer—and her reaction was bone-chilling. She flew into a rage that managing that sort of thing was our responsibility so she had canceled the delivery service without telling us. It became apparent that she fully expected us to notice and take care of it ourselves. When I asked her how she expected us to buy groceries for her parents when she didn't even tell us she had canceled the service, she became extremely irate.
Direct quote: "Then what do I sign a check to each of you every week for?!" Yeah. This woman earnestly thought we should be using our personal paychecks, which were NOT very big, to pay for her parent's upkeep. After much deliberation, she begrudgingly left us a credit card to go out and buy groceries for her parents, which added to our workload at no extra pay, but we didn't have anywhere else to stay and no other job lined up so we just dealt with it.
Well, another few months go by and she contacts us again, she wants us to sign something. The paperwork shows up and it's requests for medical documentation from an insurance company. The chick wants us to attach our timesheets to it, sign it, and send it back to the insurance company. Well, I read it and it becomes apparent she has elder-care insurance to pay for live-in nursing services and has told them we are nurses so she can try to get them to pay our wages.
I contact her and inform her that we have not provided medical care, are not licensed to, and will not fill out the paperwork. Cue the mother of all tantrums. Karen goes nuts screaming into the phone about how much she has done for us and we owe her, how she will report that we are neglecting her parents, and then call immigration on us and have us “sent back to where we came from”.
I don't think she ever realized I am a citizen and my wife immigrated legally. I tell her that what she is asking us to do is against the law, and that I'd rather get fired than get caught. I tell her she has 90 days to find a replacement for us and we will be moving out. Things devolve into her screaming about how much money she has and how she is besties with the authorities and has a bunch of expensive lawyers to sue me with.
I suggest she asks one of those lawyers how they feel about defending her for insurance fraud and hang up. My wife and I continue our services for the old folks while looking for a new place, because they were actually super nice and the situation wasn't their fault. They were also VERY senile, mistaking us for other people they knew, forgetting they had kids, etc. etc., so they can't be held accountable for their daughter's behavior as they lack any ability to intervene.
Then, instead of a paycheck, I get a bill for the last eight months of rent and a note that she isn't paying our wages until we "pay her back for everything we owe her. Plus interest". She had valued the rent of the second house provided in our contract at more than she paid us monthly, so we'd never actually be able to pay it off. Yeah.
This woman actually tried to make us into indentured servants. So, without responding I continue performing my duties. I studiously kept logs on our hours, and retained all the "receipts" for how much more we owed her. 90 days go by without a paycheck. We purchased groceries using the card she provided, which she added to our "debts".
We document EVERYTHING. That’s when we really began to enact our plan. About a week before the 90 day, we contact two government agencies. First, the state department of labor to report exploitation, second, adult protective services to inform them that an elderly couple that requires caretaking are going to no longer have caretakers and that their daughter has refused to provide it.
Then we call her and inform her she is going to be receiving some phone calls from these agencies shortly and should probably contact her attorney. There was about a 60-second silence on the phone, then this deranged laughter, and she hung up. Okay...not the response I expected but whatever, one more week, and we're gone.
Eight hours later she shows up in the driveway in a rental car. This woman bought a one-way plane ticket to come out to the estate and report us to the authorities for trespassing on the property. This, of course, doesn't work because we have a tenancy contract and if she wants us gone she has to utilize the official eviction process.
She then tries to claim we are aliens, which a quick glance in our wallets at our IDs by the authorities proves false. She is starting to shriek at them about if they know who she is or how expensive her lawyers are. The officers look that unique combination of irritated and amused. They advise her not to talk to us or attempt to enter or go near the guest house.
She moves in to their house that night and presumably takes over our duties. I would go out on the balcony every day for the week before I left to drink my coffee, and smile as I stared across the big, luxurious lawn to see her standing in the picture window, arms crossed, glaring at me. To make a long story short, the expensive lawyers she has convince her to pay our back wages with additional interest for violating state labor laws by withholding them.
7. Standing Up For The Little Guy
I was in line at Costco Gas. The lines are nuts because gas prices are nuts and Costco gas is cheap and convenient. Everyone is on edge. The Costco gas employees have to periodically sweep the lanes and clean up spilled gas. Just like at the registers when they close a line they stop people from lining up in that lane.
They finish the people currently in the queue and direct other customers into different lanes so they can cone off the lane and sweep. I’m pumping gas and see this go down. A woman drives around the cones and into the lane they are sweeping like she’s exempt from the process and is going to get gas. Employee guy jogs over and tells her in a normal tone, “Sorry ma’am, this lane is closed for the moment, can you please pull around into a different line”?
She says “Why”? He says “This lane is closed… (sees an empty spot not yet filled in the adjacent lane) you can go there”. And points. She starts screeching “You don’t have to talk to me that way! I don’t appreciate! Screech screech screech”! A guy gets out of the passenger seat. Employee guy is babbling and pointing and waving, points at cones, empty lane, broom.
Screeching lady turns into cursing lady and starts dropping expletives about how he can’t treat me this, and effing that. Passenger guy gives employee the finger. Employee is looking around because he’s in over his head. Cursing lady starts with the “Your manager is going to hear about this, you just lost your job, screech screech”! Gets in the car and peels out leaving. I knew what I had to do.
I finish pumping and go find a place to park. I google the store phone number and call. I hit the number to speak with a manager. I ask for the manager in charge of the gas station. “Sorry, he’s gone for the day. Can I leave a message"? Uhm… “Ok, can I tell you then? I just saw this whole thing go down. In a minute you’re going to get a call from a lady claiming she was just disrespected by a gas employee and complaining a storm. Let me tell you what actually happened from an objective observer because no way this guy did anything wrong and it’s going to come down to his word versus crazy lady”.
They replied: "Ok, thank you for the heads up, it’s nice to hear he was doing the right thing, and oh, actually your lady is on the phone with this other manager right here it sounds like, and I’ll pass along your message. Thanks for calling”.
8. The Best Revenge Is Petty
My mother-in-law is very entitled. She visits and plops herself on the couch and expects us to wait on her hand and foot. The couch may as well be her throne. I had told my wife I had one rule for her visit: no news. I can't stand having the news on. It's nothing but things crafted to get you angry or afraid. My mother-in-law was informed of this multiple times.
However, she insists she can't live without knowing what is going on. As soon as we go to put my daughter to bed, I hear the news on. That’s when I decided to get petty revenge on her. My TV is controlled by Google Home. My phone is tied into the system so acts as a home unit. I tell it to turn off the TV. She puts the TV back on. I turn it off, she turns it back on. I then go into the FIOS app and block news channels.
She does something I didn't realize that could be done and had Google turn on CNN on YouTube, but she doesn't know the difference though between the TV and the YouTube feed so...cue pettier revenge. I use the app to pause the playback. My wife is now trying to laugh quietly. She waits a few minutes, has Google start it again and I immediately pause the playback so she again has a frozen screen.
She is screaming about how the TV is frozen, so I shout down it must be the storm we are having and the cable is down. It gave me such a warm fuzzy feeling.
9. Pre-Emptive Strike
I had a very long commute to work and some days when I was working late, I would take an Uber home, rather than go through the pain of changing several trains. It was expensive but comfortable. To keep a track of how much I was spending on Uber I had a separate bank account and I would use only that account to pay Uber.
In those days my manager and I were still on good terms. She got to know during one conversation that I made only online payments to Uber and rarely carried cash on me. So she decided to take advantage of this and one day pretended that she had lost her phone and needed to book a cab for her father and so could I book it for her. I obliged.
But there was something that she didn’t know. I hadn’t told her that I had opted for payment in cash, rather than online payment while confirming the booking. And it turned out to be a good thing that I made that switch. She kept the cab for six hours and proceeded to roam all over the city. Next day she asked me why I had not informed her that the payment was in cash.
I pulled out my phone, showed her the map of the route she had traveled, and the time the cab stayed with her. No. You are really not as smart as you think.
10. Now That’s The Tea
I work in the marketing department of a small-ish cosmetics company. I’m not what you would call “higher up” in the company, but I’m not entry-level either. Earlier today, I went into the office’s common area/kitchen to make a cup of tea (earl grey, if you care). A woman talking on a phone came into the room as I was waiting on the kettle to boil.
I recognize her as one of our new hires from sales. I doubt she’s been here long enough to get her first check. She was talking loudly, but I ignored her; it’s a somewhat loud office, so it isn’t a big deal for someone to make a little noise. A minute or so later, she says into the phone, “hold on, I need some privacy,” and then turns to me and says, “Excuse me, sorry, I’m on a private call, I need you to leave”.
I’m confused at first, then what she says registers. I get this surprised smile on my face, the kind that says “you joking, mate”? I tell her no. She gives me the look. Her mouth is open, eyes wide. How dare I use the common area for what it’s for. She doesn’t even say anything. I point to the kettle. I tell her I’m making tea.
She tells me that it is an important medical call. I tell her the kitchen isn’t a private room, and that she can go to an empty conference room or to her car if the matter is that sensitive. She says she doesn’t like the chairs in the conference room and that it’s too cold to walk out to her car. I shrug. She eventually gets that I’m not leaving until I’ve had my tea and she stomps off to a conference room.
I hate being a narc, but, for heaven’s sake, just let me make my tea in peace. So, I decide to walk down to sales and chat with her supervisor (whom I know fairly well). About the time I finish relaying the experience, the woman in question walks in, sees me, and stops. I point her out to the supervisor, pat him on the back, and walk back to my office. Good luck, newbie!
11. A Shaggy Dog Story
My brother is getting married in July. I have a service dog for my various disabilities and since the day I found out about the wedding, my brother’s fiancé has been unwilling to accommodate my need for my service dog. She has made various excuses like "What if the dog gets hair on my dress"?, "We don't want dogs eating food off the table", "What if he jumps up and messes up my dress? It's expensive and I don't have the money to replace it".
I've made it clear that I can't be at the wedding without my service dog. Both my mom and I have also made it clear that he would never do any of the things she's mentioned. Now it's the venue. "Well, we don't know if the venue will accommodate you". I mentioned that they had to legally and my brother was like "Still..".
It seems like they are trying to find any reason to deny me. We are re-evaluating the topic in July and if it doesn't go well I might just show up with my service dog anyway.
12. One Name To Rule Them All
My wife and I spent four years trying to get pregnant before the wrong side of 35. We are currently 33 respectively now and are blessed with a wonderful infant son. My wife has a younger half-sister. The woman is entitled and awful, and also her mother's golden child. We've refused to let her or my mother-in-law in the house since they both blatantly tried to make off with my wife's jewelry box a couple of years ago.
The box contained a lot of valuable jewelry inherited from my wife's grandmother. Said jewelry is now in a safety deposit box as per my suggestion. My wife and I had nearly given up trying to conceive when it suddenly happened. And we were ecstatic. After we found out we were having a boy, we started looking into names. I ended up suggesting the name of my Scottish grandfather, and my wife loved it.
So that's the name we settled on. But we made the mistake of posting about it on social media. Well no surprise to the stereotype in this mess, my sister-in-law was pregnant too. And was months further along than my wife and also having a boy. She decided to claim my grandfather's name for her own son. And not just the first name, but the middle name too.
We called her furious over what she was doing, and she smugly told us there's nothing we can do about it. Which she was sorta right. There was nothing we could do about it legally. We realized that drama was exactly what my sister-in-law wanted. And she thought that by taking the name for herself, we'd not be able to use it.
I laughed and told her that while what she did was dirty and underhanded, we would keep our chosen name. And she could just deal with it whether she decides to go through with copying us or not. Well my sister-in-law’s baby-daddy called me and said I was an unreasonable jerk for still wanting to use the name after sister-in-law claimed it. I said she claimed nothing.
Since we couldn't own the name, then neither could they. Before he ended the call he threatened me by saying I'd be sorry if we didn't change the name. Then he hung up before I could respond. Months later, sister-in-law has a healthy baby boy and names him my grandfather's name. We did not show up for the birth. Both because of the pandemic, and because we simply didn't care to be there.
The sister-in-law called us wanting congratulations. But we told her we simply didn't care. And that if she was still insisting we change our baby's name, then she'd be in for some big disappointment because we were not. Sister-in-law demanded I put my wife on the phone. But it was already on speaker and my wife spoke up and said she agrees with me entirely.
We weren't changing the name. Sister-in-law hung up on us, but soon started sending emails with text walls of names. Even suggesting similar ones. I responded back that the name was from my grandfather, and that's why we were not changing it. She shut up and we didn't hear from her again till after our own son was born.
Two months later we were blessed with our son. He came out perfect, and we named him just as we'd intended. Well, no surprise my sister-in-law called us a few days after the birth to scream in our ears that we copied her son's name. I pointed out she was the real copycat since she had no familial ties to the name and we did. And anyone who looks at our family trees could see that.
Then my wife spoke and said after the attempted theft of her grandmother's jewelry, she no longer considered her her sister. And would have nothing to do with her nephew either. For months we were bombarded with messages and emails from my wife's side of the family. Half were on our side after finding out the whole story, the other half were not. But it didn’t end there.
Sister-in-law baby-daddy true to his word showed up at my door to "Make me sorry". I'm not sure what his plan was. But I pretty much towered over him. I'm 6'1” tall and well-built from regular exercise and three trips to the gym a week. He on the other hand was very skinny and about 5'6” tall with a babyface that was badly hidden by a slim beard.
I told him my house has cameras, and to get off my property and never come back. He just yelled at me and drove off in his beat-up old car. Sister-in-law and mother-in-law called us from a different number to yell at me for making sister-in-law’s baby-daddy feel emasculated. I didn't even threaten the man. Just told him to leave and not come back. And if he didn't want to feel emasculated, then he shouldn't have come knocking.
Then they tried to bring up the issue of the baby name again and demanded we change our son's name as, "He's so young. So there's still plenty of time to do it!" We held our ground and told them that they were bonkers to still think they were in the right after they copied our choice of name just to try and get one over on us.
I said sister-in-law didn't even name her son out of love, but out of spite just to try and stick it to my wife for no good reason. Then my wife called them both out on the way she was treated growing up, how entitled sister-in-law and mother-in-law have always been, and how she was glad to leave them far behind. And she wants nothing from them, and they won't have anything from us.
That left sister-in-law sobbing and mother-in-law called me a terrible person before hanging up the phone. We were no contact again for a little while till sister-in-law called us again sometime later to bitterly tell us we'd won. She and her baby daddy got in a huge fight and he left. He was apparently very sore that sister-in-law didn't let him even give their son a middle name from his family.
He said he was sick of the drama and wanted his son named after him and not some guy he wasn't even related to. Sister-in-law finally caved and they got the boy's birth certificate reissued with a completely new name. Which cost sister-in-law around $500, or so she claims. I still can’t believe that she still tried to twist it around after that.
Sister-in-law then demanded we at least compensate her for the name change, plus another $100 for the emotional damage as now she's going to have to get used to calling her son by a different name. We laughed and said this would have never happened if she hadn't stolen our baby name to begin with, and we didn't owe her anything.
Since then we've been no contact with sister-in-law and mother-in-law. But my father-in-law who's a very nice man and divorced from mother-in-law for obvious reasons would come by often and loves his grandson. From what he and other relatives told us the situation between sister-in-law and her baby daddy was pretty tumultuous. But we don't care. Not our monkeys, not our circus.
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13. Fools Rush In
I was there when this 16-year-old motorcycle driver was hit by a truck. The paramedics had to treat him on the spot so that he’d have a chance of survival. This didn’t sit right with a 50-year-old driver who claimed that she had "an important appointment" and the resulting traffic jam was getting in the way of that. The officers on the scene told her to calm down and get back to her car.
Well, she didn’t like that and started to harass them non-stop. Screaming, cursing, getting out of her car to nag at them because she was running late. After all it was "just a single motorcycle driver, how long can this take?" Sadly, the boy didn’t make it—but the story doesn’t end there. The horrible woman is now facing charges for blocking the corridor for emergency vehicles and resisting officers.
I hope the poor guy at least gets entertainment out of haunting her for the rest of her miserable existence.
14. Bridesmaidzilla
My baby brother was born terminally ill. The long hospital stays and expensive meds kicked in around six months old. To cope with the huge medical bills, mom worked some odd jobs over the years, including making custom wedding and bridesmaids gowns. My mom had a few golden rules. Number 1: She did all of your measurements. I heard the lecture of “vanity fibbing only results in a poorly fitting dress” more times than I can count.
Number 2: All final fittings must be completed at least three weeks before the wedding. That way if Dewey had an emergency hospital stay, she’d have time to arrange for someone to sit with him while she went home to finish a job. He was nonverbal and needed a constant companion. This particular bride wanted all of her bridesmaids in pastel organza dresses (organza is a gauzy fabric).
The base dresses were white, covered with these colors. Unfortunately, the bride had more bridesmaids than pastel shades the fabric came in... meaning one lucky bridesmaid wore tan. The bride refused to start a fight by assigning colors so it was first come, first serve. When you came for measurements, you got to pick from the remaining colors.
One bridesmaid lived three hours away and flat out refused to come to town to be measured. She insisted that telling us she was a size 8 was good enough. Bridal sizes are very different and didn’t cleanly convert, so that meant nothing. Mom finally reached the compromise that a local seamstress could measure her and send in the measurements.
One month before this wedding, Dewey was admitted into the ICU to be placed on a ventilator. Mom now had to find coverage enough to get eight dresses finished off in the next two or so weeks. She pulled it off thanks to amazing friends, but it was tight. Dad was busy working overtime to pay the bills and dealing with us other two kids.
Well, this horrible bridesmaid still REFUSED to have a final fitting more than two days before the wedding. She “didn’t want to waste a trip just because [my mom] was a horrible seamstress who didn’t understand proper sizing”. I was cleaning up seed pearls during that lovely conversation! My mom begged a friend to sit with Dewey for an entire day so she could do the fitting and adjustments all at once.
Well, the horrible bridesmaid was two hours late. When she arrived, she saw the hideous tan dress and began literally screaming about how it wasn’t fair and my mom must have picked that color. She demanded another bridesmaid return their dress and both dresses get swapped colors. It would have been 20+ hours of work, so mom laughed and told her that was a big no.
The bride arrived and told her friend that color was the only option left and she was sorry, but it was that or drop out of the wedding and pay for the dress anyways. The bridesmaid finally agreed to put it on...yeah, she’d lied about her size. When the zipper didn’t go all the way up, Mom whipped out the measuring tape only to discover this woman had shaved 1-2 inches off every measurement except height!
Her defense was that she wasn’t going to let a jealous seamstress lie about her so she “fixed” the numbers before passing them on. By this point, my mom was all but breathing fire. Her son’s life hung in the balance and this lunatic was making her life awful. My mom demanded double for the dress because she was going to have to add strips to the base white dress to make it big enough then make a whole new overdress from organza.
It was doubling the time and adding substantially to fabric costs. The bridesmaid fought over it and my mom finally told her “Fine, pay me the agreed-upon amount and take your dress as is”! Now, the bride herself was trying to talk the bridesmaid into just paying up. She finally agreed to it and my mom told the bride to get the bridesmaid out of her house.
They could come back in five hours to get the dress. Thankfully the redone dress was a perfect fit. The bridesmaid paid the remaining balance and left after that. But she still ruined something that day. After my brother passed, my mom refused to ever make another wedding dress. She’s only made one in the 21 years since, as a favor to the friend who spent that ill-fated day with Dewey in the ICU while Mom fought with the awful bridesmaid.
15. Where The Sidewalk Ends
So, when I was around six years old I lived with my family in a nice house in a small city in Poland, it was a quiet neighborhood on the outskirts and pretty much all the neighbors knew each other. There were no sidewalks around the part of the street I lived at. Only one crappy sidewalk that started on the other side in front of my neighbor's house.
It's important to remember that the sidewalk was very old and in bad shape. Still to this day, people are asking the city to fix it. This story is about that neighbor, Karen. She was an older lady, everyone suspected that she really didn't have anything better to do than gather gossip and disturb everyone trying to rule the street.
Everyone was commenting that if you wanted to get the whole area to know something you had to tell her it as a secret. Whenever someone came to visit us they usually parked their car in front of our property. But on bigger meet-ups, like barbeques or parties, people would park in front of our closest neighbors' houses too.
That never was a problem, no gates were obstructed, and no one was disturbed. Well, almost. Karen hated when someone parked in front of her house, she would always run out yelling about "How we dared to park filthy cars on her precious sidewalk”. My mother is not someone that lets anyone yell at her. She had many discussions with Karen about the laws and rules that stated that she doesn't own anything outside her fence.
Which means that the sidewalk is public and anyone can park on it as long as they leave enough space for a wheelchair to pass. That wasn't enough. Every time someone would come to us and park their car there, the yelling would start. Until one time when my mother’s friend, Tomek, came for a coffee during winter. He's a local policeman and his specialty is road law.
So my mother tells him about Karen and her behavior regarding the sidewalk. Tomek laughs since that thing was in such a bad shape that it can barely be even called sidewalk. When he was leaving, he assured my mom that he would step by next day for a coffee on his lunch break. Next day comes by and I was playing with my brother in the snow.
We see a black car pulling over in front of Karen's house and, as the driver gets out, Karen storms out of her house yelling “You can't park here. This is MY sidewalk. Get your filthy car off my prop—“. Well, there he was, Tomek, with his full uniform, hat and all, turning around towards Karen as comically as he could and asking “Excuse me? You tell me that I can't park my car here”?
She says yes, and he tells her that the sidewalk is open to the public. She claims it’s her sidewalk, and he asks if she is then the one responsible for taking care of it. She says yes—but he has the perfect reply. “Oh, that's so nice that I found you. Since it's YOUR sidewalk, you are responsible for clearing the snow from it to not create danger for the people walking on it. Since it was not plowed I need to write you a fine for endangering public safety”.
He then pulls out his notebook. She says that no other sidewalks are plowed, and claims that she’s too old to shovel. He tells her that she should hire someone in that case—but that she wouldn’t be responsible if the sidewalk was not, in fact, hers. Finally, she relented and said it wasn’t hers. Tomek says: “But a moment ago you were yelling at me that it was. So what is it? Is it yours or not? Because I don't know if I should fine you now”.
She says it’s not hers. He replies: “All right, seems like we cleared that up. Now, if you ever harass anyone like you did with me, it could result in a fine. So I recommend you watch out on what you claim to be yours”. And then he proceeded to cross the street and enjoy a coffee in our house. Karen never disturbed anyone for parking in front of her house again, she would only stare at people trying to burn holes in their skulls with her sight.
16. Nama-Stay Away From Me
So, this happened two or three days ago. I had gone to the grocery store, since I was running out of sausages, eggs, and milk. Over there, I ran into my friend. I greeted him by saying "Namaste". We're Indian. Enter entitled vegan, stage left. "Are you guys vegan?" Perplexed, we both shook our heads. "Then you can't say 'Namaste'. That's a vegan term".
My friend and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Not only was she trying to tell Indians to stop speaking their own language, she was pronouncing it completely wrong. Between gasps of breath, my friend managed to say, "It's pronounced 'Namaste". At that, the entitled stranger turned bright red. "How would you know?" she demanded.
I interjected. "We're quite literally Indian. 'Namaste' is a word from Hindi. You're the one who is wrong". Of course, logic did not work on her. As she opened her mouth to retort, my friend picked up my chicken sausages and shook them at her. She leapt back and then thankfully walked away in disgust.
17. How The Tables Have Turned
My mom works for an energy company in customer service, taking phone calls, answering questions and sometimes helping fix simple issues. It started not too long ago and she was one of the few first employees so right from the start she knew pretty much everyone who worked there, including the CEO who she describes as a very nice, down to earth guy who'd always dress pretty casually so he'd blend in with everyone else pretty easily.
After a couple of months, they started hiring more people to work, including this one guy who was apparently very entitled and considered himself better than everyone. Mom and a few others didn't like him because he was apparently arrogant, always tried to correct others only to be wrong himself, kept making the same mistakes, ignored many rules on the floor and had a huge temper and would scream and curse at anyone who said something he didn't like.
The screaming would 99.9% of the time be something along the likes of "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO (insert whatever someone did or said)". Many complained about him but the manager at the time was too nice or scared or both to actually do something about him. That is, until he made one fatal mistake. One day he was apparently playing games on his phone while at the same time talking to a customer and telling all kinds of random wrong things.
That’s when the CEO came to check the floor after a meeting. Seeing this guy he walked up to him and calmly informed him he wasn't allowed to have his phone out while helping a customer so he could completely focus on said customer for the moment. Cue the guy literally throwing his headset off, jumping to his feet and scream in his face "AND WHO THE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO TELL ME HOW TO DO MY JOB?!?!"
Along with this, he was stomping his foot at each syllable. The boss stood there for a moment, obviously in shock, and the guy, thinking he'd won smirked all smug before the boss pulled a, well, boss-move. "WELL I JUST SO HAPPEN TO BE THE CEO OF THIS COMPANY!" he screamed back, even copying the foot-stomping. The dumb guy lost the smirk.
According to my mom, he went from angry bright red to pure white in half a second. The boss then calmly grabbed the headset, which apparently still had the customer who held everything, and apologized for what she heard and just asked her what she needed help with, finished in a minute and, before hanging up once again, apologized.
He then told her the other guy was fired so it wouldn't happen again. As soon as he hung up he told to the other guy he was serious and he'd better gather his stuff. At the end the annoying employee was gone, the manager got a talk on dealing with bad employees, and someone baked the boss a cake.
18. No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
This literally just happened. I work for a security company that has a branch that transports patients from regular hospitals to mental health hospitals. I can't say more due to both company policy and HIPPA Laws. Anyway, our local office is in one of the main hospitals here. I started getting hungry and we didn't have any transports at the moment so I decided to go down to the cafeteria and get some food.
When I got down the I was surprised to see my second eldest Nephew (who we'll call R) looking over everything with a defeated look on his face. I walked up and said, "R what are you doing here?" He turned and said that my parents were there for an appointment. "Ok, so why you down here looking so upset?" I asked. "I got hungry but I don't have enough money to get anything" he replied".
No worries, get whatever you want" I told him. I texted my mom to let her know he was with me eating vs lost in the hospital while we were in line. Soon, as I had paid for our food a random woman taps me on the shoulder, looks me in the eye, and says, "Aren't you going to pay for mine too”? "I never planned to," I responded. "Why not, you paid for that chubby kid who has been hanging around for half an hour, why not pay for a cute girl’s too"".
Well, first of all, the 'chubby kid' as you put it, just so happens to be one of my nephews who is here with my mom and stepdad somewhere, Second of all, why would you just assume I would buy you anything?" She told me that I was rude, that she was going to report me to the hospital director and get me fired. I told her that I didn’t work for the hospital. "Then why do you have a hospital ID badge"
I told her, "The person you are talking about is two people behind you and just saw the whole thing, so have fun with that". Then I walled off and joined my nephew at the table. Not sure what was said after I walked off but I saw the woman leave the cafeteria with nothing, and the director came out of the pick-up area laughing his behind off.
19. Taking It To The Max
When my mother and her dog moved next door to our entitled neighbor, they fell in l love with my mother's dog, Max. For about two years the neighbor would come get Max for visits. She would watch Max if my mother went out of town, or just so they could play with him. She then moved across town and would still call to ask for Max visits.
My mother started letting the dog go less and less, but would say yes now and again because of the neighbor’s pleading. Just before one of the arranged visits, Max got into a fight with another dog. Max seemed to be ok. When the neighbor came my mother said she was worried about letting him go because of the dog fight. The neighbor promises that she would look after Max and make sure he was ok.
The next day she called my mother and told her that she took Max to the vet because he had a wound on his neck. She also told my mother that she was keeping Max because my mother neglected the dog. My mother was devastated. My mother then called the authorities. They couldn't help because she had agreed to allow the dog to go with the neighbor.
My mother had to file a civil complaint. It took two months to go to court. The neighbor told the judge that she and my mother had always shared custody of the dog and that she was the most fit dog parent so she should have the dog. The judge explained that Max was my mother's possession and that the neighbor was to return him immediately.
He also said the neighbor was responsible for the vet bill and no, my mother did not have to give her visitation.
20. Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number
I’ve flown alone since I was 5, and when I turned 13 my parents said it was ok if I travel without a flight attendant observing me on my layovers as long as I text them when I’m boarding when I land. Fair enough. This happened when I was 16. Now, I don’t look my age and never have. There’s a bad combination in my family, short genes, and a baby face. I was lucky enough to inherit both.
Well, flying was always the worst offense because I was alone. I also have bad anxiety and stutter a lot when I’m nervous, so it only adds to the age confusion more. I was coming back from New York and had a two-hour layover in Baltimore. I decided to get some food at Chipotle. While I was eating at the food court, minding my own business and scrolling through my phone, this middle-aged, white, blonde woman with her two kids walk up to me. We’ll just call her Karen.
She began asking if I was ok and if I was by myself—calling me honey the whole time. Oh great, here we go again. This wasn’t the first time this happened so I calmly told her that I was fine, and thanks for the concern. Well apparently, Karen didn’t like my answer. Her tone soon changed from a caring, concerned citizen to a demanding jerk.
She told me I wasn’t fine because I was a minor by myself and needed adult supervision to fly. She was correct about the minor part but the supervision part was a lie. I was flying Southwest, who allows anyone 12 and older to travel by themselves, but someone is still supervising you on the flight until you’re 15. I did not need adult supervision to be in the airport past security alone, and I told her this.
I politely asked her to leave me alone and I understand the confusion. Karen wasn’t having it. She told me I was lying and that she knew the airport’s policy about minors. I said she didn’t and asked her to leave me alone. Then she said she wanted to speak to my parents. At this point I was getting annoyed. I didn’t want to tell her about the fact my parents were divorced but back then I saw it as the only way for her to fully understand the situation and leave me alone.
I said: “Ma’am, I’m 16 years old, my mom is in Nashville waiting for me and my dad is New York. Neither of them are in this airport and they both know I’m by myself and are ok with it. I’m allowed to have a layover by myself and I’m not considered an unaccompanied minor when I’m 16 years old, according to the airline. Now please leave me alone”.
But she couldn’t stop herself. She told me I was lying and that there was no way I was 16. I was getting mad at this point. For one, what right do you have to tell me how old I am? I stood up, put my food in my bag and told her, “I think I know how old I am”. She then asked for proof. I took out my driver’s license—looking back I probably shouldn’t have but I was desperate for her to go away—with not only my birthday, but the fact I had one in the first place signified I was 16 or older.
I didn’t want to show this lady my other information so I let her see the birthday and nothing more. Karen wasn’t going to swallow her pride and walk away. She said I still shouldn’t be at the airport alone and that I could be running away from home. I wanted to tell her that even if I was it was none of her business. I repeated Southwest policy to her and told her that if she still didn’t believe me she could go on their website and check for herself or ask an employee.
I then repeated for her to leave me alone or I’d get security. My bluff didn’t seem to affect her. She said I wasn’t going anywhere and I HAD to come with her and find my parents. I simply told her no and began reaching for my backpack. The Karen grabbed my wrist and started pulling me. I yanked my wrist away, grabbed my backpack and stared running.
At that point, people were watching and her kids seemed distressed, but I didn’t care. I made a run for my gate. Now I’m not very athletic but I’m definitely faster than this awful lady. I eventually made it to my gate and took a seat at one of the chairs. Still feeling uneasy, I told the lady at the gate what happened and that I was still shaken up.
She understood and said if she saw a woman matching the description near the gate she’d make sure she didn’t come near me, and if she did security would be alerted. Well, it turns out my gut was right. After about an hour I saw her looking around the different gates, I told the lady and she nodded. She instructed me to get behind the desk as the Karen approached.
The woman began yelling at the gate agent. All the same stuff from before—but this time she claimed I had a fake ID. I showed my boarding pass and ID to the gate agent. She reviewed it and said it looked fine. Karen demanded the woman at the desk hand me over to her so she could take me to her gate and find my parents. This scared me.
I knew I wasn’t going anywhere with this woman, but it didn’t stop me from being scared. The woman still wouldn’t give up. She yelled: “She’s rebellious and lying, I’m clearly more qualified to take care of her considering I have children and you don’t”! That did it. At this point, I could feel a panic attack coming on, the nice woman must’ve noticed this.
She told the Karen that either she goes to her gate and leaves me alone or security will be called. Karen huffed and puffed, saying the front desk lady didn’t know her own airline policies and she’ll be calling 9-1-1 for child endangerment and Southwest was going to get shut down for this. The lady at the desk only nodded. After Karen was done with her rant she walked away before security could come.
Before she left the lady asked her name so she could file a complaint for her (an obvious lie) and she told her. We’ll just keep her name as Karen. The lady at the desk offered to find her gate, inform them of what happened and made sure she didn’t leave her gate to make me feel safer. I agreed and we found out her gate was in the international terminal.
Knowing this woman wanted to take me to a completely different terminal, the international terminal no less made me even more scared, but I was assured everything was going to be alright. Her gate was informed about the situation and they said that would make sure she wouldn’t leave the terminal once she arrived. It made me feel a lot better.
21. My House, My Rules
So I am now back at work one day a week as of this week, but since October I have been on maternity leave. For the first few weeks, we wanted total privacy as this pregnancy was pretty hard on me. Most people respected it—but my husband's sister did not. Now when I'm at home, especially being two weeks post-birth, I like to breastfeed without a shirt on.
I use a frozen cover over the bosom not being used or tandem feeding. Very rarely when it is near feeding time will I wear a top or bra. My husband is very happy with this arrangement and my daughters don't mind it as long as I cover up if they have friends over, which is understandable since I don't want to do it in front of a bunch of 10 and 7-year-olds.
So two weeks after I gave birth I had my newborn son on one side of me and my toddler son on the other tandem feeding. I wasn’t wearing a shirt, feeding, and sitting with my feet up watching a horror movie on the couch. Then I heard the front door unlock. Now my husband gets home around 12 some days so I assumed it was him, completely forgetting that my sister-in-law has a spare key in case of emergencies.
I focus on my feeding then I hear her scream from the living room door. I turn my head to look at her and she's covering her husband's eyes with one hand and taking off her shawl with another to drape around me. She comments on the "state" of the house. Remember I had a 2-week old baby and a toddler in the house on my own. And how I am causing trauma to my kids and hurt her husband's feelings by exposing him to my bare chest.
I told her if she didn't like it then leave. She threw some more insults and left. To this day she still wants me to apologize for breastfeeding shirtless in my own home that she walked into unannounced.
22. Master Of Her Domain
I live in a block of six units. A month ago the unit above mine went up for sale and sold fairly quickly and the new owner moved in less than a week ago. This morning I got up and went to take the garbage out and found a note stuck to my door. I honestly thought it was a "I'm new to the building" kind of note, ya know? Oh, I could not have been more wrong!
It read: "Dear tenant, I recently bought your building and wished to introduce myself. My name blah blah (not going to put her actual name) and I think you will find me a fair landlord. However I do have rules. Everyone is to be in their units by 9 pm. If you’re going to be out past this I suggest you find accommodation elsewhere”.
But that’s not all. It went on: “No pets allowed. If you have any they must be relocated before I do an inspection or I will call the ranger to remove them. This is the only warning. I will conduct an inspection once a month and you will be present to answer any questions or face eviction. Failure to pay rent on time will result in your eviction. If we all follow these rules I'm sure we will get along, Sincerely blah blah".
WHAT did I just read? Fun fact about my building: We all own our own units, nobody actually owns the WHOLE building! I won't lie, I got to the number 2 and had a slight panic attack because I have cats and there's no way I was giving them away before I remembered we bought our unit just before Christmas. We rented it from a friend prior and when she told me she was thinking about selling it we brought it, didn't even have to move!
So in some ways it still feels like renting, but we actually own our unit. Now I'm not great at confronting someone, I tend to shake a lot but at that moment I was quite angry so I went upstairs and knocked on her door. You know that gut feeling you have? It was spot on. That door opened and there stood a Karen, her hair blonder than my own, her nails long and bright colored.
She didn't look happy to see me there. I introduced myself and explained that I lived downstairs and that I wanted to talk to her about her note. She started to talk over top of me, explaining that her letter was basic rules and even a child could understand it and if I didn't like her rules I could hand in a letter to vacate. Wow.
I would ask if people are really this up themselves but I work in retail and could answer my own question. I told her that I actually own my unit, she hadn't bought it or the rest of the building but only her own unit and that she couldn't enforce anything in her note. She didn't like that at all. She started yelling at me saying that yes she had indeed bought the whole building and that failure to comply with her rules would mean I would be evicted.
I was just starting to think maybe I was wrong when another neighbor opened his door. He came out and asked what the issue was about and could she stop screaming as he worked nights and was trying to sleep. I told him I was trying to explain that she hadn't bought the building and she started yelling again. My neighbor told her to stop and then said the best thing I had heard that day".
Are you stupid?" Her jaw dropped as he explained to her how wrong she was and that he was in fact part of the strata committee (kind of like an HOA that oversees the building) and that she had no right to make rules for everyone. She gave us dirty looks before slamming the door. I thanked him and he said in the entire time he lived there he hadn't seen someone so entitled!
23. Party For One
I have a co-worker who is really disorganized and waits until the last minute to schedule things and so that frequently means calling a meeting at 4:00 on a Friday. For reference, my 8-hour workday ends at 3:00, so these meetings make for 10 hour + days, and because the coworker is so disorganized and unprepared, we frequently have to cover things that they should have done ahead of time, like creating an agenda or desired outcome, at the actual meeting.
Because these are required meetings (usually only once or twice a month), I have to go to them no matter when they’re scheduled, and get extended pay for working overtime, but my co-worker is supposed to give at least a week’s notice, and I’d definitely rather have the free time than the money. Typically if I don’t hear by Thursday afternoon that they have scheduled the meeting for 4:00 on a Friday, I make other weekend plans, like hiking or bicycling or going out somewhere.
Yesterday (Friday) the co-worker attempted to schedule the meeting at 4:45, but didn’t put it on my calendar until 3:05. I should have been off by then but I had an end of day meeting that went over by a few minutes so I was doing a last check of email and then shutting things down for the weekend. I saw the meeting request and responded that that wasn’t enough notice for a meeting that far outside the workday.
I added that I normally would not have even seen the notice until the following Monday, and cc’ed my boss just so they knew I wasn’t trying to shirk any duties. Of course, coworker is upset because they’re required to hold the meeting and it’s the absolute last day to do it without filing an extension—which they’ve been told by my boss they’re not allowed to do unless there’s extenuating circumstances.
They’ve known about it for 2 months, they just didn’t plan for it. My boss calls at 3:10 saying can you please do this now and end at 4:10 and we will address it on Monday, fine. I was planning on leaving town but I can leave a little bit later. Coworker responds to my boss by email and says they’re using personal time between 3:10 and 4:45 so they can’t hold the meeting until then—but that’s not the most infuriating part.
They then say that nothing I’m doing could possibly be important enough that I can’t attend the meeting at 4:45. Boss calls coworker, coworker confessed that their child’s birthday party is at six that evening and that they have to go try to find a cake and party supplies for the party before the meeting, which is why they can’t be available.
The Boss gets annoyed and says that we (boss and I) will do the meeting now and coworker will have to answer for it on Monday. Boss and I hold meeting, it takes 20 minutes, I’m out of there by 3:45. My co-worker sends me a nastygram by text at 10:15 pm saying it’s my fault they’re in trouble and that they have a child so I should understand that people with children come first, and that my activities/hobbies are pathetic.
They say it wouldn’t have been that hard for me to just attend the meeting they scheduled and that they’ll have to go back and fix everything my boss and I did incorrectly because they like to do it a specific way (my boss had already submitted it). I responded that I hope they enjoyed their child’s birthday party and to have a good weekend. Well, the funniest part was yet to come.
They respond that they forgot to invite people so no one came, and thanks for rubbing that in their face.
24. That Takes The Steak
This still makes me sort of angry giggle when I think about it. So, last year was my mum's 60th birthday. With lockdown, we couldn't do a big party, but instead I did a socially distanced meal for her, my dad, and me. She wanted a steak dinner with all the trimmings. I went down to the supermarket a few days beforehand. Said supermarket has these specially cut steaks in vacuum packs, and a deal of 3 for £10.
I was choosing steaks and noticed a woman close by doing the same and picking up several. I took my three, put them in my trolley, and moved on. I moved on, got the remainder of my list, then thought of getting something else. I moved away from my trolley whilst choosing. When I turned back, I made a disturbing discovery.
The customer from before was leaning over my trolley. I told her that it was mine she replied: “I know, I'm just taking one of your steaks”. I asked why, and she said “I got 14 and I need one more”. I said: “I have three! You're not taking one of mine”. I deliberately pulled my trolley away from her at this point. She said: “You have to! I need it for the multideal”!
I replied: “And I need it to feed three people. No”. She was red in the face at that point, and she yelled, “I'll go get a manager then”! I told her to go ahead. She runs off and I finish choosing my items. Five minutes later, I'm waiting to get checked out when the lady comes over with a manager. She stood back with this smug look I could see through her mask while the manager came over.
The manager says: “Ma'am, this lady says you took one of her steaks. Is that true”? I said: “No. I picked up three at the freezer, and later on found her leaning over my trolley and saying she'd take one. She said she needs it for the multideal”. The manager sighed. His reply blew me away. He said: “I knew it. She does this. I'm sorry to trouble you, enjoy your day”.
I replied: “You too. Good luck with her”. The manager sighed again and walked away. As I checked out, I saw him guiding her away from the till points. A few minutes later, I heard a “security to the meat aisle” announcement as I was leaving. The steaks were lovely. But not worth stealing from someone else's trolley.
25. She Said Yes To The Dress—Twice
Back in 2016, my brother John announced that he and his girlfriend Jane of many years were engaged and were planning on having a wedding the following year. They gave nine months’ notice at least to people who would be invited and also told them what the color theme for the wedding would be (purple). In that time between the announcement and the wedding date, I was easily able to order a dress from an online retailer in London, have it sent to me, and still had time to replace if I needed.
2017 comes and the wedding weekend has arrived. I live in a different state from my brother, as my mum and I moved from our hometown back in 2013, so we both had to travel across the ocean back to the mainland to attend the wedding. The wedding was absolutely gorgeous. Sunny day, on the beach, I couldn't help but cry because my piece-of-work of a brother was actually marrying the mother of his children and love of his life.
He had never seemed happier. John and Jane had three kids together already, and the older two were flower girls which was sweet. Now, John is technically only my half-brother, we share a mum but not a dad. Yet growing up, it was my dad who raised John and me, so to him, my dad was his dad. My dad, prior to marrying my mum, had a first wife and a couple kids with that wife, including Susan.
John and I have always had some issues with Susan. She was only my half-sister, not John's, but he still included her in the wedding and such as a family member and guest. I hadn't noticed at the time, as I was too caught up in the whirlwind of my brother's wedding ceremony, but Susan wasn't wearing purple. No, no. She was wearing white. To be specific, she was wearing HER WHITE WEDDING DRESS to someone else's wedding.
John and Jane were furious. Especially Jane. Cue reception, some people have changed clothes, it was my first ever wedding so I didn't think that far ahead and still wore my soft lilac dress without a problem while everyone ate and shared some drinks, interacted with the bride and groom, what I assume to be normal wedding things. But Susan. Oh, Susan, Susan, Susan.
She was feeling extremely sad and lonely because no one was paying attention to her: the 30+-year-old woman who wore her wedding dress to someone else's wedding. I wonder why no one wanted to interact with her? So she began acting out. Susan began crying maybe halfway through the reception.
Openly, loudly, and in a way that clearly begged for someone to come notice her. I'm a nice person, so I tried to be the good half-sister I should be and took the L to go sit with her for a little while, ask her what's wrong. Susan: "No one is paying attention to me!" Me, while staring at her confused a little: "What do you mean?" I couldn’t believe how clueless her answer was.
Susan: "Everyone is talking with John and Jane but no one is talking to me! And when I try to speak with John and Jane, they don't talk to me!" I sighed internally, and couldn't help but wonder how she didn't connect the dots. Me: “Susan, it's their wedding. Of course everyone is going to be talking to them and they're going to be busy". Susan: "I don't care! I'm John's sister, so he should talk with me more".
Actually, lady, you're not his sister. I am. But okay, whatever. I was able to slip away and spent time with some other family who weren't acting as if this day was all about them. After the ceremony, Jane admitted to me she was livid about how Susan wore the wedding dress. She had plenty of time to plan for the wedding and get appropriate attire but when finally confronted, Susan said she had no other dress she could wear.
Even three, nearly four, years later I'm still angry at my half-sister for doing that. My mum, John, and Jane are also angry about it still. I've since cut contact with Susan. Her and I never had a good bond anyway and as far as I could see it, we just shared a dad but I almost never had to deal with my dad's previous family.
As far as I know, John and Jane have limited contact with her but that can't be helped as they live in the same city as her now while I happily live in a place where an ocean is between me and her.
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26. When You’re Here, You’re Family—As In, Annoying
So, first off, it's 9:45. We close at 10 PM. This table of three walks in, and they’re in my section. I greet them, things start as usual. I'm just upset they came in so late, but whatever. They end up wanting a Tour of Italy, which comes with fettuccine alfredo, lasagna, and chicken parmigiana. We had been out of lasagna since 8 PM, so I asked her if she wanted to substitute it for something.
She mumbled that she should get it for free since we were out, but she subbed it for something. About 30 minutes pass, I had already brought out their food and such. She wanted to try all of our soups as she had also bought the soup/salad bundle. We have four soups. Minestrone, chicken and gnocchi, pasta fagioli, and zuppa toscana.
The last soup she hadn't tried was the minestrone, but we were completely out. I told her this and she got very, very upset. At the end, she asked for extra alfredo sauce to take home, and I told her we didn't have any more alfredo. This was now 40 minutes past closing. She freaked out and demanded to talk to my manager.
I got him, laughing with him about her behavior, and he went to talk to her. She flipped her lid, going off about how we shouldn't be open this late if we can't offer full service. Excuse me? We AREN'T OPEN. We closed FORTY minutes ago. She went on about how her meal should be free because we were out of everything, and how we handed her a full menu but we didn't have it all.
My manager didn't give her a single free thing off of her ticket, because he realized how entitled she was sounding. When I walked over at the end to hand her change back I heard her mumbling about "the terrible service," and prior to that she had said "guess we shouldn't come here again before closing". Good, please don't ever come back.
27. Over There, They Call Her Karine
I work at a company that has over 300 sites globally. I work in the only plant in the UK (we have 22 people working here). I was asked to join a call with our other European sites, as I also speak German fluently, and can understand/speak Italian to a level about the industry I work in. So we have this call and we have English (me), Greek, Turkish, Romanian, Italian, German, Spanish, and French on the meeting.
Everyone other plant has management, and all can speak English. So we go about the meeting, and the German starts talking to me in German, I'm translating, and it’s all going well, we all know each other well, as we have regularly visited each others’ plants. Apart from France, they have a new woman, Karen, who keeps trying to be center of attention.
She’s been speaking fluent English all through the call so far, I'm translating for German and Italian, it’s all going well. Until Karen starts speaking French, I told her I didn't know French—it’s already confusing enough with three languages—the conversation goes as follows. Karen: “What do you mean? You're the translator”!
Me: “No, I'm a chemist, I know German fluently, and Italian to a level that is relevant to this call”. K: “Well why are you making me speak a second language, but learning everyone else’s!”? M: “I'm doing the company a favor, otherwise they would have to get a translator”. K: “Oh, I get it, it’s because I'm new and a woman”. M: (I'm also a woman), “No, I just never learned French”.
Here’s where I really lost it. She yelled at me: “Oh, so it’s a race thing now”?! I replied, “You speak English, you don't need it to be translated, or it to be all about you”. Karen hung up, and the next day reported me to HR for discrimination. I don't think she realized that the call was recorded, So I sent a copy to HR.
Unfortunately for her, at my company, you have a six-month probation. She’s only on month three. Throwing out stupid accusations like this means you're probably not going to make it.
28. Finders Ain’t Keepers
I am both autistic and have severe PTSD. I'm on a few different medications for depression and migraines and have to live in section 8 housing that I just moved into a few months ago after being on the waiting list for years. I don't like being touched or loud noises. And I certainly don't like seeing anyone take my stuff.
When I moved to this city for the section 8 housing I'd been gifted a brand new razor kick scooter by a friend to get around my new area with. And I love it. It's black and made a bit sturdier than typical ones for an adult to ride and has bigger wheels. It also isn't sold in the local stores, but they have similar-looking ones in the bike department.
Obviously, I don't just leave it outside when I go into a store. I fold it up and put it in my cart while shopping. I look kinda twitchy so most people leave me alone. And I'm just fine with that. But touch me without consent or take my stuff and be ready for a massive freakout. I went down the canned food aisle and started browsing the chunky soup.
When I picked what I'd wanted and put the cans in the cart, I noticed my scooter was gone. And there was a woman with a kid fast walking away while carrying it. I shouted after them to return my scooter. But they ignored me so I abandoned my cart to give chase. When I caught up to the lady and the kid I tried to take my scooter back and the kid screamed so loud my eardrums felt like they were gonna pop.
The Karen mom shoved me down while yelling something I didn't hear because my ears were ringing and my brain just stopped working for a moment. A manager noticed the commotion and came to see what the trouble was. I didn't even get a chance to speak when the Karen mom started calling me a creep and was demanding I be thrown out.
I kept trying to explain what really happened, but the Karen just kept yelling over me. We were separated and I was made to sit in an office. The manager approached me and I asked him where my scooter was and he admonished me and said it was sold to the Karen, and I shouldn't have tried to take it from the kid when they were just trying to buy it from the store.
Then he pointed out he had to give the Karen a discount just because of the situation. I understandably freaked out and told him that the Karen had taken my scooter that I came into the store with. And it wasn't sold there. The manager just looked confused and I nearly broke down. Then I pulled my phone out and showed him a picture a friend had taken of me with the scooter right after I'd gotten it.
The next thing I knew he was running out of the room. And when he finally came back he said that the Karen was long gone. I pulled out my phone back out and started frantically calling 9-1-1. I couldn’t believe what the manager tried to do. He put his hand over my phone to stop me from calling and I freaked out from him touching me. He backed off because I'd nearly kicked him and was panicking and saying he'd buy me another scooter from the store.
I told him that my scooter was expensive and didn't come from their store. And I wanted mine back. Well, it turned out I had managed to dial 9-1-1 because the operator was already listening in on the line and was trying to get my attention. I just told them to send someone over because my property had been stolen. I had to wait for another hour at least while authorities showed up and then went through the CCTV footage.
It clearly showed me entering the store with the scooter, and showed the Karen and her crotch goblin taking it from my cart. And the mess that followed when I tried to get it back. I wanted my scooter back and officers had to find the Karen from the camera footage of the parking lot. They found her address by running her plate number they got from the camera footage and I got to ride in the back of their car while we went to her apartment.
The officer knocked on her door and I didn't hear the situation because I was still sitting in the back of the car with the windows closed. But the Karen mom looked really angry and eventually brought out the scooter after some back and forth. She practically had to wring it out of her kid's hands. I got let out of the car and they asked me if I wanted to press charges for assault because the mother had shoved me.
She looked ghost white when I said I did want that. But the Karen started crying and begging me. She said that she honestly thought it was something the store was selling and it was her kid's birthday. I yelled that didn't excuse her stealing from someone else's cart, let alone from a legally disabled man. Her kid was also loudly crying and my ears were hurting again.
So I said I wouldn't press charges on her if she didn't come near me or my stuff again. But I wanted something done about the manager at the store for letting this happen. And I was ready to ride my scooter all the way back there. But the officers convinced me that it'd be better if I just went home and calmed down.
I later learned on my next visit to the store a couple days later that manager was fired over what happened because he already had a few complaints against him and didn't bother to check that the scooter wasn't one of theirs. And the store gave the Karen and her kid a replacement razor scooter that they had in stock because she'd already paid for one. But it didn’t end there.
She was also banned for six months from the store for shoving me and stealing my property. I was also given a $50 gift card for some free groceries since I wasn't able to buy anything the day that mess happened. Now every time I go into that store a few of the employees know me by name. And one actually told a random kid to leave me alone when he asked about my scooter.
I certainly keep a better eye it now too. I've also since added a name tag on the underside of the scooter with my full name on it just in case this happens again.
29. Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire
There were a bunch of flashing lights and loud sirens on the street behind mine last night. I just found out why and I'm gobsmacked. The family that used to live in the house behind mine who ever so helpfully called the authorities on me after I gave them a heads up about their wi-fi has moved out. A new family has moved in—and they’re even worse than the previous neighbors.
Our houses are separated by a couple hundred feet and a brush line. I found this out because they came to talk to me last week about me having a smoke before I go to bed on my porch, and how the smell is terrible and it's bothering them and I just need to not do that. Note: I smoke for a minute or two on my screened in porch before bed perhaps 3-4 times a week.
The likelihood that ANY of the smoke from that is going anywhere near their house is slim to none. I told the new back neighbors I'll turn a ceiling fan on to thin out the smell, but I'm not going to get eaten alive by bugs just before bed because they don't want me to smoke on my own property. The porch is screened in.
I guess this answer didn't satisfy them, because last night one of them came up with a cunning plan to get back at me. They dug a hole in their lawn, built a fire with a bunch of green pine wood so it'd be extra smoky, started the fire, and THEN PUT A BOX FAN POINTED AT MY PORCH NEXT TO THE FIRE AND WENT INSIDE. Three guesses what happened.
If you guessed they set their own house on fire you would be correct. One of their next-door neighbors called 9-1-1 because some cinders from the fire set my back neighbor’s house on fire. I have no idea how much the fire damaged the house, only that the people who lived there got detained and given an impressive set of fines for negligence and a bunch of other things.
Did I mention my county is under a fire weather warning and all of those fines are multiplied?
30. Turning The Tables
My wife and I are "senior citizens". In other words, we are OLD. My dear wife is a strong, independent, take no guff from anyone, type of woman. I adore her for it! She keeps me in line pushes me to be a better man, and is the reason behind my (modest) success in life. She is sarcastic, is wicked smart, can swear like a sailor, and as she gets older, her filter is practically non-existent!
A few months ago, we decided to treat ourselves, we made reservations and went to a rather high-end restaurant. They had a maître d’, sommeliers, highly trained wait staff, etc. My wife, even though she is in her 70s, has very little grey hair and can pass for 55. She was wearing a very pretty white, lacy blouse, very flattering black pants, and black flats (she looked GOOD!).
When we arrived, there was no line (surprisingly) and the maître d’ had apparently stepped away from the podium where he stands. We were waiting there and my wife was right next to the podium and I had sat down at one of the benches provided by the entrance, when another couple came in. Without missing a beat, the man walked up to the podium and told my wife, "Rockefeller (not the name he used), we have reservations for two".
My wife said that she was sure someone would be with them shortly. The woman huffed a little and the man said, "Please seat us NOW!" My wife told them that she is waiting to be seated but the man said again, "Seat us NOW!" My wife knew just how to deal with them. She said, "Right away, walk this way, she walked away with them behind her as she walked around the partition separating the entrance to the dining area, circled around to the other end and led them back to the entrance and, pointing to the bench, said, "SIT DOWN!"
The man looked like he was going to lose it, and my wife repeated, "I don't work here you moron, you wanted me to seat you, so sit right down!" As the couple were sputtering, and before it could escalate further, the maître d’ arrived, we gave our name and he lead us away. There was no yelling and no threats of calling the authorities.
We had a wonderful meal (over-priced but, oh well) and the other couple was several tables away from us. We didn't interact again with them, but they did shoot us dirty looks now and then.
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31. Time Isn’t On Your Side
I work as a receptionist at a medical clinic and it is not my job of choice. Even though I don't love my job, I take it seriously, as other people's health is not a joke, in addition to having the job policy of doing the best job possible at the moment—and then having to correct later what is much more work. I have seen many patients who are rude or disrespectful, including an elderly lady trying to beat my co-worker using a cane. That became the unit's internal joke for the month.
But there’s one patient who topped them all. They arrive with three pages of exams to take (big but not the biggest I've ever seen). As always, I added each exam to the system. Keep in mind that it is not the only step in the work, it is still necessary in some medical plans to make additional requests and add each individual code back to the health insurance system.
As the patient was on the phone, the first part was very quiet, but when she finished the call she started complaining and insisted on being in a very loud tone for the whole place to hear, talking about how long I was taking and how much time she needed too much to be there. As professionally as possible, I explained what I was doing.
I was attaching the order to a fixed agreement and waiting for the return from the insurance company. The client asked to speak to my supervisor, who was already coming to see what had happened. My supervisor knows this type of client very well, and he knows that it is not possible to do all the procedures magically quickly.
He used all the professional words he explained to the client. The client did not accept what my supervisor said and demanded that my supervisor replace me for opening the record. My supervisor, being responsible for the area, had to resolve the situation Now comes the part that the client does not know. All the forms have to be opened under the login of the employee who was making the request.
That meant I was no longer responsible for her. With a big smile I erased everything I spent almost two hours doing, and bonus—I had to cancel the request for medical insurance. Good luck having to wait another two hours for a completed medical record to be done again—in addition to the time it takes for the exams to get approved by the health insurance.
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32. The Man In Me
This happened last weekend. On weekends I work part-time delivering food with Doordash, in my area I make good side money. Last Saturday my wife texted me to stop by the store after work and pick her up some tampons and she sends me a photo of the box that she needs. I'm a guy, never used one so I would be clueless without that info.
So here I am standing in the aisle looking at all the female products still confused and lost even with the photo because well I don't see it on the shelf. Then I hear a lady pipe up. What she said was absolutely vile. She told me: "See no matter how you dress, you're still born a woman". I look up to see who is talking to who and I see her, Just standing there glaring at me.
She’s a Karen, I'm guessing in her late 40s, not much older than me. I respond with, "I'm sorry, were you talking to me?" as I look around and notice her and I are the only two in the aisle. She just rolls her eyes and starts a rant about transgender people and so on, she's being very insulting to anyone who is transgender. So, after she finishes, I just start laughing.
Her face turns as red as my Doordash mask that I'm wearing in the store. She starts to scream then I cut her off. I'm 6'1, 280 pounds "Look lady, if I was born a woman would I look as clueless and lost as I do right now? Have you not ever seen a man by tampons for a woman? See this is called being a good husband. My wife wants tampons and I'll be darned if I come home empty-handed”.
I hold up my phone and point at the pic, "Now do you see this brand on the shelf?" She backed away eyes big, face drained, and walked pretty quickly down the aisle tearing up. I finally found the brand, checked out, and made my wife happy.
33. Keeping It OUT Of The Family
My parents and sister are trying to stop me from taking an incredible job overseas because of my daughter. There’s a really mind-blowing reason why. See, biologically she is my sister’s—but I adopted her. Earlier, I got a call from the school that a woman not on the list had come around and tried to pick up my daughter claiming she was the mother.
She had claimed there was a family emergency and she needed to take my daughter home early, now only myself and my best friend are marked down as able to pick up my daughter. When they wanted to see her ID she got cagey and claimed she forgot it and when they told her she couldn't pick her up without an ID she shouted at them before storming off.
I have spent all day on the phone with my lawyers and my boss, and my schedule is being moved ahead. I’d wanted to give my daughter a final Christmas in our current home but it's clear that's not a safe idea anymore. Our move has been brought forward and my company is putting us up in a hotel until they help us find a home.
34. A Crown Vic And A Clown Sib
I have an older brother Dave that has always been a jerk to me. There's only a one-year gap between us. But he liked to beat me up when we were kids, and he always acted like anything that was mine was also his. He was also somewhat the golden child. Which made me miserable. So no surprise I moved out at 18. My uncle was in law enforcement, now retired, and he took me in after I left home.
He even hooked me up with a decommissioned Crown Vic. I absolutely love that car. I don't know why—but Dave hated the fact I had that car. He drove three beater cars into the ground while my Crown Vic kept chugging along. Well after his third beater finally got totaled when he drove it into a pole, he asked to borrow my car.
All of a sudden, a terrible feeling washed over me. I told him I wasn't gonna do that. He called me entitled and said he needed a car to get to work. I told him to take the bus because I know how he drives and my Crown Vic was off-limits. My parents called me after that and told me to just lend him my car. I said I won't no matter what they say.
I rely on the car and need it as well since it's my personal transportation. Dave wasn't the only one in the world with a job he needed to get to. My uncle congratulated me for standing up to them and gave me a high-five. A few days later when I got off work the car wasn't where I parked it. I called my brother's cell, but he didn't pick up.
Then I called my parents and asked them if he took my car. They denied it. So I said I was gonna call the authorities and report it stolen. What they said made my blood run cold. They admitted he'd "borrowed" it because he needed it. I told them he better bring it back right now or I'll have authorities looking for him. They called me a jerk and then phoned Dave to bring my car back.
He showed back up in the parking lot in my car 20 minutes later. I demanded to know how he took my car, and he held up a set of Crown Vic keys he'd bought online. Some were made universal. I told him if he ever took my car again, I'd have the authorities deal with him. Then he had the audacity to ask for a ride home.
I told him he made me wait in the December cold after stealing my car, so he could walk. He called me a jerk before I drove away. After that my uncle installed a tracking device in the car. But my nightmare wasn’t over yet. When Christmas Day came I was celebrating with family like every year. The roads were cold and icy. So I had to be very careful while driving.
By now you're probably clued in. Yeah, Dave "borrowed" my car again during the Christmas party. Apparently, he decided he was gonna go pick up a friend and figured I wouldn't notice. But I did when I looked out the front window and saw my car was missing. I pulled up the tracking app and saw he was a few miles away. Then called his cell to yell at him.
Everyone at the party saw this and asked what was going on. I said Dave took my car without my permission again. And my uncle confirmed it wasn't the first time. Dave told me over the phone to screw off and he'd be back soon. I said he better not have been drinking. But he just hung up on me. Well, while I was watching the tracker app the dot stopped and didn't move for a while.
Soon we got a panicked call from Dave asking for help. He'd crashed the car because he couldn't handle the icy roads and he wasn't used to a rear-wheel drive vehicle. So we piled in my parents' minivan and followed the tracker. We found Dave by the road and my Crown Vic nose deep in a snow-filled ditch. My uncle was furious as it was his old department's car.
I was furious at Dave for jacking my car again. My parents wanted me to let it go. But I said enough was enough and was gonna call the authorities. Dave begged me not to because he really had been drinking before he set off and would get in trouble. I said he was gonna pay me back for my friggin’ car then or I'd sue him.
Well as luck would have it the authorities were already aware of the accident and were driving in to check on the scene. Someone else had called them I guess. My parents tried to say that I was the one driving the car and they were just there to help me. I said that wasn't true, and my uncle backed me up. In fact, one of the officers that was there recognized my uncle and they had a chat.
Then they went to Dave and asked to see his license. Well, we were all in for a surprise. I then found out his license had been suspended after he'd crashed his previous car. Then they breath-tested him. He wound up with cuffs slapped on his wrists while my mother was crying and begging the officers not to take him away.
But the officer just said that she and my dad could get detained too, for lying to them. That shut my parents up. And we got back in the minivan. The Christmas party ended early and my parents drove me and my uncle home since he rode with me. They didn't say much to either of us the whole drive, and just sped away as soon as we were out of their van.
They nearly slipped off the road themselves doing that. My brother was let out the next day. And he looked so scared that he was practically crying. The officers there had roughed him up a bit while talking about prison and the bad stuff they'd seen go on there. Dave had actually wet himself during that and they let him take a shower.
That's when my uncle started cracking up and revealed to us that his friends in the department never filed the D-U-I and just the charge for the suspended license. Which was about a six hundred dollar fine. My uncle said he just wanted to teach Dave a lesson. And this would be the one and only time he'd ever get his help. Dave then apologized to me and said he'd pay to have my Crown Vic fixed and would never touch it again.
When it got pulled out of the ditch the front end damage was actually minor. It needs a new front bumper, a headlight, and a grill. The damage was just superficial thankfully. My parents have pretty much glossed over the whole incident and act like it didn't happen. Dave gave me the extra Crown Vic keys he'd bought online and said this has taught him a lesson he won't soon forget.
35. I Do & You Don’t
I'll start this off by saying my wedding is scheduled for April because my fiancé has always dreamed of a spring wedding. And I really like the idea too. I have an older brother though. And last Saturday I was called over to my parents' house to talk about something. But they refused to tell me what until I got there. They then sat me down with my brother and told me that my brother wants to use my wedding as the perfect day for him to propose to his girlfriend.
I was instantly mad and told them ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I couldn’t believe their reaction. They all ganged up on me. I ended up so enraged to the point that I, one man, somehow backed all three of them into a corner. I told them that if they want to do this, then not only will they all be uninvited, but I'll also cut off the financial support I've been giving monthly since they paid to have my golden child brother go through college by taking out a second mortgage.
I landed a decently high-paying job and have been sending five hundred dollars to my parents monthly to help ease their mortgage. And I didn't ask for a stake in the ownership of their house either because I really don't want it. It was entirely goodwill. And I can cut it off any time. I left without speaking anything more to them.
But my brother came to my home the next day to yell at me that I ruined his big chance because now our parents are siding with me and say they'll evict him if he tries to propose at my wedding. He said I was financially blackmailing our parents, and that he just wanted a good chance to propose because he was afraid his girlfriend might leave him soon.
I said that was his problem, not mine. Because my wedding day is not about him. That’s when I laid down the law. And if he tries to propose at my wedding, I WILL have him thrown out. That's not a maybe, but a definite. And I doubt his girlfriend would appreciate her proposal followed up with being tossed out by a bouncer.
He yelled a few choice words at me, then went crying to our only surviving grandparent. Our maternal grandmother. And she called to try and ream me over the phone. No surprise my brother heavily embellished the version of the story he told her. But she still sided with him after I gave her the real story. She tried to hold her ground, but the verbal backlash I ended up giving her left her crying.
That got back to my parents, who were furious at me for taking things so far. But I told them I only went that far because I had to when they were all trying to get me to let my brother use my wedding as his springboard for a proposal. They ended up agreeing with me, but still stated they feel like I'm crass. And my brother showed up at my home again to scream at me that I'm a jerk, and I hope I'm happy with myself for not allowing him the opportunity.
My fiancé knows what my brother tried to do. And she's very angry about it. She's almost ready to have him uninvited if he pursues this any further. Normally I have a very mild temper. But when it comes to certain people like my brother, parents, and grandmother, I can easily get short with them because of all the past favoritism.
My grandmother especially. She always sided with my brother and believed his lies no matter what he did. She's the biggest reason my parents favored my brother too. She kept trying to convince me over the phone to let my brother propose at my wedding, so much that I ended up losing it on her. I ended up speaking with my brother again and threatened to tell his girlfriend if he was still intending to propose at my wedding without permission.
He took it poorly and called me an awful person. So I pointed out that my wedding isn't about him. Our parents were there for this, and they backed me up. I think my brother did a double-take when they did that. My dad pointed out that he'd raised my brother wrong, and that was on him. So from now on my brother was to show them real respect.
And they wanted to get an official lease drawn up for him to pay proper rent and utilities. He was only paying them $300 a month without contributing to any utilities or food. And if he doesn't want to pay, he can move out and they'll rent his room to someone else. My brother turned to our mom for help. But she just agreed with dad.
He looked like he was having a conniption and then left the house. He came back a couple hours later, but spoke to no one and locked himself in his room. Two days later my brother announced he was moving in with grandma because she invited him. And our parents basically told him that if he wants to live with her, then to go ahead.
My brother responded to this by saying we all hate him for just wanting to propose to his girlfriend. My parents pointed out that it's not that he wanted to propose, but where he wanted to do it. And he'd get no support for it. He's refusing to talk to our parents now. My grandmother did try to call me again. But it ended up with me telling her that my brother will not be allowed to propose at my wedding, plain and simple.
So he can get over it, or not come. And the same goes for her. I ended up calling her out on her favoritism towards my brother since we were kids. Which she tried to deny at first, but couldn't keep doing so because of how much I'd pointed out. She ended up crying again while I told her that if she keeps trying to insist on this, then she won't be coming to my wedding.
She begged me not to rescind her invite. But still said she doesn't understand why I couldn't let my brother have his way before ending the call. My fiancé is 100% on my side. And is fully ready to remove my brother and grandmother from the wedding. My grandmother hasn't called again. And she's not talking to my parents either.
My guess is my brother went crying to her again to tell her mommy and daddy weren't enabling him anymore. So she offered for him to move in with her. But there's literally nothing she can do to sway me. And I think my last conversation with her made her realize that. But then, something happened that made everything 1,000 times more complicated.
My brother’s girlfriend saw my post about the issue on Reddit and she called me up. She realized it might be me with the way I described my brother and grandmother. So yeah, now she knows. She ended up tearing my brother a new one. And he still tried to justify himself to her. That's when she told him they were through and cut all contact with him.
My brother, of course, blamed me. Even though his girlfriend said that she's been ready to leave him for a while now, and if he'd tried to propose, no matter where, she'd have told him "No". So that's it. My brother showed up at my place one more time to have a fit, and said he is boycotting my wedding. He actually thought he had leverage that he and grandma won't go.
I said I wouldn't miss him, and that he's in his 30s now and needs to grow up. Our parents have cut the umbilical and are no longer supporting him. And they're already repainting his room to rent it to someone else. And they plan on renting out my old bedroom as well because they need the money after the financial hole he left them in after dropping out of college
They spent the world on him and he wasn't the least bit grateful. That made my brother just shut down and leave. And since then we've not heard a peep out of him.
36. The Bad Wedding Hall Of Fame
So this happened yesterday and I'm at a loss for words. I proposed to my now-fiancée back in 2018 and other than initial decisions on which venue, we haven't made a single step in further planning our wedding. With the pandemic going on we decided to hold any future wedding plans off until this situation is 100% solved.
Well, yesterday I was on a Zoom call with several of my cousins just catching up on things and whatnot. At some point on the call one of my cousins' wives barged into the conversation and pretty much took over it. She's not well-liked at all in our family so the call ended soon after she invited herself in. Anyways, about 30 minutes after the call had ended, my cousin's wife called up my phone.
Before I could even say hello, she just started interrogating me about my wedding and when I said that we haven't planned anything yet, she began gushing about how we should hold it at the venue she held hers along with catering, DJ, and so forth even as going as far as to "donate" us her playlist. She said she'll get right to it and she'll handle everything for us.
Now, if there was an award for the worst wedding ever, this one would be in their hall of fame. First, the venue was a dump; in the middle of nowhere with no roads connecting to it from the highway. It was so bad many of the guests weren't able to find it so a lot of them were extremely late or ended up getting frustrated and traveling back home.
Furthermore, the venue was not handicap-friendly so it wasn't fun for the more elderly and wheelchair-bound guests including this woman’s own brother. Also, the venue had no restrooms available and the only ones that were available were located about a 30-minute walk away. Seriously. Adding on, when we got to the venue we saw that there were a lot of cats literally on the guest tables and some guests were horrified to find cat poop at their designated seats/tables.
The staff took their time to do something about it so those guests left soon after. Next, the food. The food itself was horrible, the deserts were in a horrible shape and were nothing but a crumbling crust and fruit paste that had to be scraped onto the plate, the cooked dishes weren't properly stored beforehand and a lot of it smelled spoiled which later turned out to be true since people began complaining about stomach pains.
Third, wedding ceremony in the midst of summer at an outdoor venue = NOT A GOOD IDEA. The wedding ceremony was INCREDIBLY long (about two hours). Again it was the middle of summer at an outdoor venue so it was HOT. Not only staff had closed the bar for the two whole hours of the ceremony, we weren't even able to get glasses of water.
Fourth: the staff, they were highly unprofessional and while they did have fans set up at the beginning around the tables and dance floor, they were later picked up and the owner refused to get them out even though people were starting to fry. Finally—the music/DJ. The music was ridiculously loud.
While of course it's only natural for people to have a different taste in music, let's just say that the playlist my cousins had chosen didn't fit a wedding at all. If anything it was more suitable for hotel's kids pool gymboree. Needless to say, with the lack of any ventilation and the extremely loud volume, other than my cousin’s wife and her few sisters and friends, the dancefloor was mostly deserted.
I didn't stay long either and left right after my fiancée began complaining about severe stomach pains which later turned out to be from the spoiled food. We spent the night at the ER, so that was fun. Back in the present, my cousin’s wife kept running my ear off how amazing hers was and how ours could be just as amazing if we stuck to her plan—meaning, copy-paste hers onto ours.
When she had noticed I was silent she was about to pitch her idea to me again but I quickly shut it down. I reminded her how a good chunk of her guests ended up with food poisoning, my fiancée included, as well as that several of the said guests later on sued the venue. I then informed her that my fiancée and I have already decided our venue.
I basically informed her that while I appreciated her willingness to help out, our tastes do not match and would prefer to consult people who are more familiar with my fiancée and myself. I was furious and wanted to rage on about how her wedding sucked and our grandfather (mine and her husband's grandfather) nearly ended up dehydrated but I held it in and simply ended the call.
I knew she was upset because this was a woman who has rarely heard the word "No". throughout her life so I was mentally preparing for whatever hostile fire coming my way. Sure enough, cousin hits up my phone and demands to know what I said to his wife because she hasn't stopped crying since we ended our conversation.
I told him she decided upon herself to plan our wedding but I refused. He was a bit over the top at first but calmed down a bit after I explained myself, he knows I wouldn't make stuff up. His wife on the other hand said I called her names, that my fiancée hates her, that we're going to sue her and that my family can't wait until cousin divorces her. Sigh.
I chuckled a bit and told cousin exactly what I said and even offered to send him a recording of the call (all of my calls are recorded, trust issues). He said he'd like to listen to it so I later sent him the recording. He later called again and said that they had a big argument and she went to spend the night at a friend's.
Later that night it was brought up to my attention that CW went on to social media to say how I'm a horrible person who hates her and is the sole reason why her marriage is crumbling. However she soon removed the posts when people who know better came to defend me and I even made a reply that I can share the recording with whoever's interested.
37. Not Such A Mystery After All
For those not in the know, a mystery shopper is a person assigned by the company to make random unannounced inspections with regard to customer service and in general, the well-being of the company employees and the store. Also, it is customary for the mystery shopper to BLEND in with everyday customers and NOT bring attention to themselves, in a way that can be misconstrued as just another obnoxious and rude customer. i.e act like a jerk, get treated like a jerk.
This woman didn't get that memo. One day around lunchtime, my boss was in the back having her lunch. I was out on the shop floor and serving customers—an unusually high amount, but nothing that I couldn't handle on my own, since my co-worker wasn't going to be in later, when in walks this Karen. As I was serving the queue of customers, I half-heartedly said, "Hi, welcome to ..". ( I was hungry) while still serving and ringing through items.
She gives a harrumph and says, under her breath, that it’s polite to make eye contact. Alarm bells. She hums and haws while I'm making my way cautiously and correctly through the remaining customers, all the while she's making daggers, and eventually storms off in a huff looking around. Like I can come away from paying customers, just to help her.
As the last two customers make their way to the till, she joins the queue with a whole two items, with an audible "Oh, for heaven’s sake!" The customer I'm serving looks at me with a confused expression and I nod. Then she mutters: “This is freaking ridiculous”. Finalizing the payment before moving on to the next customer, the till decides to freeze and it takes a few minutes for it to re-boot.
I make my apologies, and the customer I'm serving is fine with it, along with the other customer behind. But the horrible Karen keeps muttering and at one point she says, “Ugh. The service in this establishment is absolutely RIDICULOUS”. I had enough. With my best passive-aggressive customer service voice and smile, I replied.
I say: “Listen, as you can clearly see I am dealing with other customers. I am the only staff member on the floor as my boss is at lunch. The till has decided to not play nice, and to be perfectly honest with you, I am well within my rights to refuse you service and ask you to leave as your attitude absolutely stinks”. She says: “WHAT?! YOU CAN'T TALK TO ME THAT WAY!!! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM”?
I told her: “I really don't care to be honest, now I am once again asking you to leave”. She storms off in the foulest mood you ever did see. The customer I am serving says, "Thank the lord you said something, I was ready to smack her". We both laugh and I finish both services and thank them for their patience. They both worked in another store where we were based.
My boss has finally finished her lunch at this point, and has come through the front. That’s when my boss drops it on me. She says: “Oh, I meant to say there's going to be a mystery shopper in at some point. Don't know who, but please be on your best behavior”. I think oh noooo. I quickly tell her what happened and explained that I was busy but not too busy that I needed to involve her and the conversation as it happened.
And lo and behold just as I'm finished telling her, in walks the Regional Manager for the company. He yells at me to go to the back office now. I know it’s bad. Now, knowing that the RM has a tendency to be a hot-head in these situations I was losing my mind at this point. Thankfully, I have had a reasonably good working relationship with him up until this point, so it really could go any way.
I tried to stay unusually calm as he asked me what happened. I explain EVERYTHING. From the moment she entered, to the moment she stormed off (almost taking the door with her) and the fact that I had witnesses that worked in the immediate vicinity. The full shebang. He sighs and nods. But I still can’t believe what he said next. He tells me: “I'm finally glad that someone else has the balls to stand up to my wife”.
WHAT?!?!?!? The look on my face said it all and he starts to laugh. He says: “Please, accept my apologies and I will let your manager know that there's not to be any repercussions of this. And I think it's time to let my wife know it's time to find more suitable employment”. I was speechless. He hands me a £20 gift card for the mall's cafe and said lunch was on him.
That was the best coffee and chicken/bacon club sandwich I ever had.
38. The Ballad Of Officer Nephew
I live in one of those middle of nowhere desert towns where almost everyone knows almost everyone and it's hot as heck, but dirt cheap to buy a home or land in. And it's not uncommon for old cars to last out here as they almost never rust and people keep fixing them. After high school I worked my behind off at a local job to get my own place.
I ended up buying a small plot of land with a trailer on it off of a local guy. Ten years have gone by since then. And for a while, I spent a lot of my time tinkering with an old 87 Monte Carlo that I bought super cheap as it was without an engine or transmission. I loved that car as an older cousin of mine had one when I was a kid and I always wanted one of my own.
I spent two years fixing up the one I got with help from some friends and finished it in 2019. The car was fun to drive and looked good. And I kept it in good order. That is, until this mess went down. Now I didn't really trust some of the local law enforcement out here before. And this gave me even more reason not to.
A lot of the guys around here are barely qualified for the job. They are practically hired with a handshake and just told to play Doom for training. Granted though many of them are really nice. The sheriff is even kinda a friend of mine. But he's really one of the only competent ones there. Most of the rest really don't do their jobs very well.
Especially whenever a new one gets hired on. Like a guy that went out of his way to move to my town just to get to be a cop. In this case, he was the nephew of the sheriff. He even brought his own Crown Vic with a loudspeaker to drive around town in. Let’s call this guy Officer Nephew. He and I didn't know each other personally yet. But I was aware of him.
One Saturday morning I took my Monte Carlo out to meet a friend. But they ended up bailing because of a last-minute issue with their girlfriend. I thought "Meh. No problem. I'll just get some fast food and go home". I went to the local burger place and got a meal to go. And as I was walking out there was a lady outside looking over my car.
People would stop here and there to ask me about my car and where I got it. I usually don't mind talking so long as they are polite. Though this woman ended up anything but. I asked her if she liked my car. She stood up, took one look at me and snickered. I asked her what was so funny. I guess she figured I was poor or something. So she was probably judging my appearance.
She looked me up and down in a very obvious way. And then said "There's no way this is your car! You couldn't possibly afford something this nice!" Now I have a tendency to get sarcastic or snide when people make assumptions about me. So I said back "Oh really lady? The title is in my name. And these keys right here in my hand say I'm the owner too".
The Karen just glared at me as I put the keys in the lock and began to open the door. I looked behind her and noticed a beige 90s Volvo with a missing headlight and had out-of-state plates on it parked not far from me. I put two and two together and laughed. "Let me guess lady? That's your car over there?!" She started to turn beet red.
I laughed and said "Oh don't be ashamed. Those things aren't lookers but they'll run forever!" I figured this was over, but as I was opening my car door, I suddenly felt her nails digging into my shoulder. She was screeching so loud my ears were hurting. And before I could turn around she kicked me between my legs from behind with a high-heeled shoe so hard I collapsed in agony.
And true to my luck, Officer Nephew drove right up because he'd heard her screeching from down the street during his noon patrol. As soon as Officer Nephew was out of his car the Karen ran to him crying and saying that I was a carjacker that was attempting to take her new car. I wasn't looking at either of them as I was on the ground wincing in a fetal position from the pain.
The next thing I heard was Officer Nephew yelling "PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK!" And then I was being pinned down by his knee on my spine and forcibly cuffed. I tried telling Officer Nephew that I knew his uncle and can prove I am the real owner of the car. But he called me White Trash and told me to shut up. That’s when it really spiraled out of control.
He picked my keys up off the ground and actually handed them to the Karen. Then he seemed to do a hero pose while she gave me a hideous grin. No matter what I said Officer Nephew wasn't listening to me because he fully believed her. And then I had to see Karen start up my car and drive off with it. My heart sank as I watched it sail down the road with her flipping me off.
Then Officer Nephew dragged me back to the sheriff's office. I'd hoped his uncle was in. But just my bad luck he was out to lunch. So Officer Nephew put me in the cell and told me to keep quiet. I was furious! But I knew I wasn't gonna make my situation any better, so I just waited. And during that time Officer Nephew kept giving me looks of contempt.
At least an hour went by and the sheriff finally came in through the door nursing a big gulp. But froze the second he saw me. "What are you doing here?!" he asked. I was about to speak when Officer Nephew jumped in and said, "I caught this lowlife creep trying to take a lady's car! So I hauled him in!" That's when I finally got my chance to speak and said "Yeah! Only it was my car! The one you know I spent so long fixing up!"
Officer Nephew just rolled his eyes and said not to listen to me. But the sheriff silenced him and asked my full story. As I tried to tell it Officer Nephew was making dismissive looks and kept repeatedly interrupting until the sheriff told him to sit down and shut up. Then when I was finally able to say everything that happened—he was furious.
The sheriff laid into Officer Nephew, who was cowering in a chair like a little boy and saying that it indeed was my car, and he stupidly gave my keys to a thief that had hit me. Officer Nephew started frantically apologizing and trying to say he was just trying to help. But the sheriff called him an idiot that just wanted to play hero by saving a damsel in distress.
And now the whole department would be in hot water for his unlawful detainment. Then he finally let me out of the cell. I got some ice for my crotch and got taken home. The sheriff and Officer Nephew went back to the burger restaurant. But the Karen's car was no longer there. They got the CCTV footage from the camera the restaurant had looking outside.
It caught everything minus the audio. The Karen came back riding piggyback with a guy on a motorcycle over a half-hour from the time she left with my car. She blew him a kiss and then drove off in her Volvo. The sheriff scrambled everyone, even Officer Nephew to try and chase her down. But they couldn't find her as she'd already driven out of the county lines.
Some phone calls were made to other departments to look for her. And I had to sit at home with an ice pack on my crotch all evening waiting for news on what happened. A couple days later my car was found just a few miles out of town. The Karen had broken all of the windows with what I'm assuming was the tire iron and then put the car in neutral and let it coast down a deep rocky hill, which rolled it into the bottom ditch which smashed the front end and warped the frame.
It was completely totaled. I wanted to cry from the sound of metal grinding on rock as the tow truck pulled it back up. Officer Nephew was there too. And he couldn't even look at me the entire time. My insurance also didn't wanna cover the car. So the sheriff's office was made to pay me the value of my Monte Carlo instead, since Officer Nephew let it happen. Which was only about five grand.
Though that was honestly close to what I had into it since I did almost all the work by hand with the help of friends. Officer Nephew also paid me another two thousand for my trouble and said it was most of his savings. The Karen was caught at a motel a state over some time later and detained for a bunch of reasons. Grand theft auto was just one of many things she was charged with.
I got on a video call just to see her in court and testify. She looked like a wreck the whole time because she knew she was screwed. And it wasn't long before she was pronounced guilty. She got ten years behind bars with no possibility of parole. As for Officer Nephew, the sheriff all but begged me not to sue him because he was his nephew and he promised his sister he'd look out for the guy.
I'm not a sue-happy person, so I let it go provided Officer Nephew actually take some sort of course on how to properly do his job. And so the incident was more or less rug-sweeped and Officer Nephew was demoted to sitting at a desk all day answering phones, and they would be docking part of his pay until every penny was paid back.
He's still regulated to desk duty half of the time these days. And he still avoids me any time I'm near him. Arguably he's a better cop now though because he mellowed out. As for me, it took some time, but with help, I finally located a replacement Monte Carlo project car with a clean title. The sheriff personally came by to help my friends and I build the new car in his downtime.
It took a year, but now I've got a fresh-looking Monte Carlo that looks just like my old one. You'd never know they weren't the same car. I've made sure to have better insurance this time around, and I'll be darned if I ever let a Karen near my car again.
39. Now That’s What I Call A Secret Weapon
When my now-adult daughter was almost three, we had a regular monthly family dinner plan. We would go to a used bookstore that was near a Mexican place we liked and a McDonald's which our kids liked. The Mexican restaurant would let us sit on the porch and bring Happy Meals there for the kids. One night our son (older than our daughter) was at a sleepover so we were a party of three.
After eating, we went to the used bookstore. We had a stroller with us so that our daughter could sit in it if she got too tired. She was an easy kid who would just climb into the little stroller and chill or snooze if we were not done browsing. I was looking at cookbooks while my husband was in the kids' section with our daughter. I noticed some redheaded chick talking to my husband.
I went back to the books for a couple of minutes and when I look up, the woman is still talking, but more talking AT him than TO him. He was starting to look VERY uncomfortable. I can tell she is hitting on him by the way he held up his hand and pointed to his wedding ring. Being me, I let this play out for a few minutes. Mostly to laugh about with him later.
As I watch, my daughter goes to him and wraps her arm around him. She gives this woman the nastiest look I had ever seen on her face. I start walking over because I can tell that my daughter is about to say something to this woman that I will either laugh at or need to intervene because of. As I get almost to them, my daughter tells the woman that "her daddy" already has a mommy for her and if she doesn't get away from him, she is going to puke on her.
My daughter has ALWAYS had the ability to vomit at will. She had already used it against one of my male relatives with a weak stomach. The woman, not knowing I was behind her, told my daughter that her daddy didn't have a mommy to go with him, and daddies NEEDED mommies. My daughter looked at me with a look that clearly stated "She is an IDIOT. Get her away from me NOW".
I walk past the woman and up to my husband. I put my arm around him and lean into him. Then I put the hand wearing my wedding ring up on his chest as I look at her. The redhead doesn't have the sense to just leave the area—but that’s not the worst part. She had to start a rant about how I should have been right by him if I wanted to keep him.
How he should go with her and divorce me because she would NEVER be away from him, and how I don't deserve a man and she does, so she is just going to replace me and raise my kids as her own. I looked up at my husband and asked how he kept getting the weirdos that have elevators that don't go all the way up to want to replace me?
Redheaded chick loses it and starts saying she wants to fight me over him, that whichever one of us wins will get to keep him. I asked her if she SERIOUSLY thought that I would bother with a fight? He was already mine, and I don't believe in fights. Then this lunatic starts screaming that I am trying to kill her. At that point, my daughter had enough.
She walked over to the lady and waited until the stupid, stupid woman bent down to talk to her. Then my daughter puked all over her. And sort of up onto her neck so that when she stood up, lots of it ran down her shirt. Staff was already on the way over, and wanted to know why the lady was screaming? I told them she was hitting on my husband and then wanted to fight me for him.
I didn't know why she suddenly started saying that I wanted to hurt her, to shoot her. She was just being an idiot, then she got my daughter all upset so my daughter puked. I cleaned our daughter up and had her rinse out her mouth. On the way home my husband insisted we stop and buy her some ice cream. When I asked my daughter why she thought she needed to puke on the lady, her reaction was legendary.
My daughter told me that we had already spent enough time talking and it CLEARLY wasn't going anywhere. So she ended it. My daughter has always had a way of cutting through the garbage in life.
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40. My Drinking, Not Your Problem
I drink privately, I would NEVER drink and drive, I am quiet and respectful. I have a job, I have friends, I have a nice apartment, I've never hurt anyone. Most nights, I like to chill out on my couch with a drink. Thus, I often walk into my apartment building with a case of beer or whatever I decide to poison my body with that night.
Many of those nights, I've run into a certain middle-aged woman on the elevator. Well, yesterday I got a phone call from my landlord. Here's how the conversation went. Me: “Hey Ray. “What's up”? Landlord: “Uhh. I got something awkward to tell you”. Me: “Okay... what is it”? Landlord: “Someone made a complaint about you”. Me: “What? For what”?
Landlord: “Another tenant called to say that you're an out-of-control alcoholic, and you always walk into the building carrying drinks. She wants you out of the building”. Me: “Umm... okay”? Long pause. We both start laughing. Landlord: “Yeah, she said the next time she sees you with any drinks, she's calling the authorities”. Me: "Tell her I said good luck with that, and to tell me how it goes".
You can't get me in trouble for being drinking in peace, Karen.
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41. Playing Favorites
I have a young sister that has honestly been the golden child to my mother but not my father for as long as I can remember. My parents divorced when I was a teenager because my mother cheated with an old high school ex-boyfriend and has always been controlling, manipulative, and narcissistic. And sadly my sister was like her little Mini-Me.
Our mother also seemed to believe she had total authority over me any time she so much as snapped her fingers. She'd snap them and order me around like a dog. It was demeaning. And my sister always backed her up too. So no surprise I went to live with my dad full time after our parents split while my sister stayed with mom.
The two of them were very alike. And both pretty much stopped speaking with my father unless it was about money. Though I'm more like my dad. My father was very business-oriented and started teaching me how to do his line of work as soon as I was 16. I got pretty good at it. And after 12 years of working for my father I was made a partner in his company.
Things were great. But then, about eight months ago tragedy struck. My father had become somewhat immunocompromised due to being a heavy smoker for much of his life and passed on at only 60 years old after he caught C19. I met my mother and sister for the first time in years after we had a socially distanced funeral for my father over video call.
My father was cremated by his own request and buried in a local cemetery. So there was no body or casket. My sister seemed to grieve, but my mother looked indifferent the entire time. Though I honestly was not surprised. The last time she saw my father she screamed at him that he owed her more money, and then threatened to sue him. To which he just laughed at her.
He'd paid alimony and child support as long as he was legally mandated to, and no more than that. And he even put 30K toward my sister's college fund. But ten years after the divorce he was no longer legally required to send mom money anymore because of the judge's ruling. And she's by no means broke. She works the same job she has had for nearly three decades, fully owns the old family home we used to share, and even rents out two of the rooms in it to Air B&B regularly.
She's by no means hurting for money. Some time after the funeral, my dad's will was read. Apparently, he'd figured that if his bad habits didn't eventually do him in, something else would. And even joked about it in a pre-recorded video. I was pretty much willed nearly all of his assets from most of his money to his business and home.
He left my sister a car (2015 Nissan Altima) and about 10K in cash. My mother only got one grand and a few other items that she'd been claiming were rightfully hers since the divorce. Beyond that, I got the rest. And my girlfriend now lives with me in the house my father passed down to me. My sister pretty much went from finishing two years of community college to living off her boyfriend and only working part-time online for several years.
But she didn’t have it easy. During that time she got pregnant but suffered a miscarriage. I wasn't aware till after the funeral because we were practically no contact and no one else told me. When lockdown hit her boyfriend's job started downsizing little by little and eventually he was only able to stay on part-time. Which hampered hers and his finances to the point he was finally telling her she needed to look for better employment as well since he was trying to find a second job.
Then, she got pregnant. She claims she and her boyfriend were careful, but calls it her miracle baby. Recently, I got an unexpected knock at my door. And when I answered I was unpleasantly greeted by both my mother and sister. They both walked right in without even asking and made themselves comfortable in my living room.
My girlfriend and I shared a look of confusion and I asked why they'd come by. My sister was giggling and looking all over, opening doors and seemingly giving herself a tour of my home. My mother had just plopped herself down on my sofa and snapped her fingers while demanding a cold bottled water. My girlfriend got the water for her and I asked what they were here for.
My sister seemed all giddy and just ignored me to continue snooping around my home. And before long I heard her yell from down the hall "Mommy, it's perfect!" (Yes... She still calls her mommy...) My mother finally spoke up and said "Well. I think it's time to did your brotherly duty". To which I was like "What?" What my mother said next was seriously twisted.
My mother then proceeded to tell me: "Now that your father has passed, this house should have gone to me since I was his only spouse. But you can still fix this. You make plenty of money and could just buy a new house. Your sister needs this one so much more since she's the one with a baby on the way. But if you're so determined on staying, you could just keep to one room and cover all of the bills until you decide to move out".
My GF and I know exactly where this is going. And how it'd play out if I let it go on. So I guess you could say we were mentally prepared. I took a deep breath and stated aloud, "That's not happening! You don't order me around! Especially not in my own home! Yes I make plenty of money! But like dad, I'm gonna save it for when I really need it! Not that you care!"
My mother started snapping her fingers at me like she used to and loudly stated: "Stop! I am your mother! And you will do as I say because I brought you into this world, and I'm the one in charge here! And as far as you're concerned, I Am God! That means when I say 'Jump', you say 'How High?'! This house is rightfully mine! And your sister will live here! Consider this your formal eviction! But since I'm gracious, I'll give you two weeks to pack your bags and transfer the deed to me!".
In the back of my mind, I'm thinking "This can't be real!" But then I just grabbed my cell phone and started dialing. My mother quickly stood up and yelled "What are you doing!" And I retorted "I'm doing what I should have done as soon as this started! I'm calling the authorities to get you out of my house!" She started swiping at me and managed to knock my phone out of my hands.
Then she proceeded to try and stomp on it. But I was quick enough to snatch it up before she could. "That's it! If you don't leave I will force you out myself!" My mother proceeded to smack me across the face. And I returned the favor. So much so I ended up knocking her back down onto the couch. She held her hand over her reddening and smeared makeup face in total shock. And then yelled "How dare you”!
I went back to dialing on my phone and said that if she didn't leave, I would have the authorities come and remove her by force. My sister came barreling in between us holding her arms out and saying that I should just do the right thing for once in my life and be a good big brother. I snapped and said "Oh really? I'm the bad sibling?! Last I checked I was the one who's had to work for a living since I was a teenager!"
"I had to do all the chores in the house while you just sat playing video games or talking with your friends all day! And you used to take my hard-earned money just to go out shopping after you spent all of your allowance! You're a complete mooch and thief! So I don't owe you anything! Now both of you get out before I decide to dial this last number!"
My sister started to tear up crying like a baby and said "Mommy make him stop!". My mother began hugging her and kissing her cheeks while giving me a glare. Then she seemed to think she'd gotten smart and said, "You know. If you do call 9-1-1 I can just tell them that you hit me. And who knows, I could maybe say to everyone you wanted to do a lot worse to a poor pregnant girl in need. I don't think that'd be very good thing for your—".
I cut her off with a raised hand. There was one crucial detail she didn’t know. I said "Just stop! If you haven't noticed my girlfriend over there has had her phone out recording almost this whole time! And that means we have recorded evidence of you assaulting me first and openly stating you'd lie to the authorities! I don't think that'd be so good for your reputation at your job, or your little Air B&B!"
If looks could kill my mother would have blown me up like a tactical nuke. But she quickly deflated and started dragging my crying sister out by the arm. My sister was somehow acting like a complete toddler and broke loose of our mother's grip to sit down on my porch step and have a tantrum. I just gave my mother a look and said "Do you see now! This is the result of the spoiled way you raised her!"
She glared at me again and then I was treated to a show of my mother trying to drag my sister off of my porch steps. But she latched onto the porch handrails and kept saying "YOU PROMISED MEEEEE!" over and over again. I let out a cackle and told them both from the door to never come back. My mother flipped me the bird and then went back to trying to drag my sister off the porch.
It took a few minutes, but she finally got my sister to get up and leave with her by saying I am "a cruel heartless jerk who will burn for this!" I laughed some more and said that there's also a special place for liars and narcissists who try to manipulate others to get their way. My mother clenched her fists and was about to say more when I just held up my smartphone again with it recording.
I said, "The clock is ticking mom! Get off my property!" My mother then walked my sister to the car, gave me one last snooty look and drove off. I thought that was the end of it. But letting things go was never something my mother would do. After a few days I started getting messages from people I know and some relatives online.
A lot of them were furious with me. But others just had questions about what was going on. I tried to check my FB, but couldn't see anything they were saying because my sister and mother both blocked me on their social media. But my girlfriend could still see everything because they kept their profiles set to open. We screenshotted everything and then printed some of it out.
Both of their profiles had posts that called me a greedy heartless jerk who stole the house that was meant to be my sister's inheritance right out from under her by paying off the lawyer who handled dad's will. Which is a complete and utter lie and they both know it. I called my lawyer, who was also my father's lawyer and a trusted family friend, and gave him copies of all the screenshots from FB and the video my girlfriend had recorded the day my mother demanded my house.
He wanted to just write a formal C&D. But I wanted to take it further than that. And he sent them a letter I told him to write via express mail that had to be signed for. So I know they got it. My mother called me in an absolute fury the same day the letter was delivered. I told her that if she and my sister didn't redact all of the untrue social media posts they made about me and tell the absolute truth, I'd send all of the information I have to the whole family, her boss, and upload the videos we'd recorded of her online. And then I'd sue her on top of it.
She called me unreasonable, and that she just did what she did for my sister's sake. And then went into a full-blown lecture reiterating her belief that my sister still needs my house more than me. I bluntly stated I didn't care what she thought. And if she didn't redact everything and tell the truth I'd make sure her career would be over.
She begrudgingly said "FINE! You win! Have it your way and keep the house!" before hanging up the phone. That very evening all of the lying posts disappeared from both their profiles, I was unblocked, and my mother gave me and everyone else a half-hearted apology claiming she was too impulsive with everything she said because she thought my sister needed my house more than me because she's broke and pregnant.
But the house was rightfully mine according to my father's will, and she knew that even before my father passed. So she had no right to try and claim it. As for my sister, she also apologized, but more or less just parroted everything our mother said while claiming she just went along with her ideas. And then she blamed what she did all on our mother and her pregnancy hormones.
The replies poured in for some time on both my mother and sister's profiles. Many were furious with them for trying to take my house. I got a lot of "sorry" and "my bad" messages from those who'd previously believed her. But all it really did was show me who was more on her side to begin with since they all believed her nonsense so quickly.
They were mostly people from her side of the family anyway. No one on my father's side believed her at all. And openly said so. My sister and her boyfriend ended up moving in with our mother to save money. But she put them in the basement to keep her Air B&B running. And my sister started crying on social media that she can't live upstairs.
I'm pretty sure the two of them were fighting with each other because all my sister did after that is complain online, and my mother barely posted anything on her social media anymore because of the previous stunt she'd tried.
42. A First Class, One Way Ticket Back To The Gate
I’m an airline captain, and I was commuting to work. I purchased a full-fare first-class ticket to get there. I lived in Atlanta at the time, but was domiciled in Houston and commuted. Normally, I could get a jump seat in the cockpit, but on this auspicious day, that was already taken. Pass riding wasn't an option because there were no seats in coach and only one in first.
See, pass riders can be bumped for fare-paying passengers. And I needed to get to work, so I plunked down my credit card and bought the last seat in first. Boarding has occurred and I am peacefully in my seat, waiting for pushback. That’s when this woman comes up and says to me: “You are sitting in my seat. You'll need to move right now”.
Just to be nice, I double-checked my boarding pass and replied: “Nope. This is my seat. Not going to happen. Sorry”. She replied: “You're an employee. You're sitting in my seat. Move now”. Me: “May I see your boarding pass? Clearly there's been some mistake”. She said: “You may not see my boarding pass. I showed that when I boarded. I've upgraded to first class. Now move”.
That’s when I decided I’d had enough. She said: “You'll need to resolve this with the flight crew. I'm a passenger”. She stomps off, resembling an irritated Dolores Umbridge and returns with a flight attendant, who says: “Good morning Captain! May I see your boarding pass”? I show her my pass and she tells the awful lady “Ma'am that's his seat. He paid for it”.
Her reply was infuriating. She said: “Well, then throw him off dear. I've upgraded to first-class and that is now my seat”. The flight attendant asked to see her boarding pass. The lady replied: “You will not! I showed it when I boarded. I've upgraded to first-class”. The attendant says, “How did you upgrade to First Class”? The lady replied, “I upgraded to first class. I'm more important than an employee. Now get him out of my seat”.
Someone had called the cockpit and now the captain had left the flight deck to deal with her. He knew exactly what to say. He told her: “Ma'am, I'm the captain of this flight. I've just spoken with the gate agent. We certainly apologize for this awkward situation. The agent has corrected your paperwork, and has a voucher for future travel for you as well. Please go fetch your new boarding pass and your voucher and we'll be on our way”.
She thought she’d won—but she was so wrong. She departed up the jetway, a triumphant smile on her face. That’s when the captain turned the attendant told her to prepare the doors for departure. The doors close. The captain returns to the cockpit and as we push back from the gate I can see the entitled woman pounding on the glass next to jetway. It was a nice ride to Houston. The coffee was wonderful.
43. Susan Steals Spanakopita And Succumbs To Shame
I used to work with this super-entitled woman once upon a time. Her name was Susan. Susan liked to get to the office way earlier than everyone else, but I didn't find out why that was until I'd worked there for a few months. She was the sort who liked to help herself to the snacks people had stashed in the communal fridge.
She'd also take individual sodas from the case my cubicle neighbor kept under her desk, and had a real thing for stealing either my chocolate or my good granola bars, depending on what I had stashed, right out of my desk drawer. But she got her comeuppance one year at the office Christmas potluck. We had a lady who did Greek cooking and was magnificent at it.
This particular year, she'd brought in an enormous tray of mini spanakopita, the spinach and feta cheese in phyllo dough. Each roughly the size of an Oreo cookie. Literally hundreds of these little beauties, stacked two high on the tray, just waiting to be devoured. And then along came Susan, with the Tupperware of Holding.
I kid you not, she scooped fully 1/4 of the contents of that tray into her Tupperware, looking around furtively to make sure no one would try to stop her. She brushed the phyllo crumbs from her fingers, popped the seal on her massive Tupperware, and turned smugly away from the buffet table...and every single person in the office was glaring at her, fit to set her permanently ablaze.
Our office manager was particularly salty, because she, dear reader, was the Greek chef who had provided these delicious morsels. She spoke, and it was with the voice of a vengeful Goddess. "SUSAN, WHAT IN THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Crickets. And then, the foot-tapping began. Tap. Tap. Tap. And the hand on the hip.
And finally, the FINGER OF DOOM did aim at Susan, Thief of Treats, Hoarder of Spanakopita. And Susan did meekly open her Tupperware, and return unto the tray roughly 90% of the 'pita. Thus was the Office Manager appeased, and thus was Susan forever sneak-shamed.
44. Leaves A Bad Taste In Your Mouth
So almost a year ago, I was working as a hostess at a fine dining establishment. We had just opened our doors after Covid and I was excited to be back. I was outside taking temps and asking the mandatory questions due to Covid restrictions. Then this couple walked up. I was asking them the questions and then took their temps.
The man, who was in his mid-30s, had a fever that was 104°. I thought maybe my thermometer was messing up since it was about 100° out. I tried again and then tried with a thermometer that was inside. They all said the same. I try his wife’s and hers read 102°. I calmly told them that although I’m very sorry they can’t come in and I would recommend staying home.
The man requested I try one more time and I do. I would like to say I was wearing a mask and they were not. Since they were still outside I wasn’t going to tell them yet. The temp comes out the same again and he starts screaming in my face. Yellin how I’m a jerk and I’m stupid. As my manager starts coming out, he spits on my face. I had no idea just how bad it would all turn out.
I instantly freak out and run inside and my manager locks the door behind me. I ended up going home the rest of the day. About four days later I felt terrible. I go and get tested for Covid. I had it. I stay home for the appropriate amount of time. I had lost my taste and smell during that time. Once I go back to work my taste and smell start coming back a little.
But the thing is, nothing tasted right. Everything tasted like rotten meat. It has taken a year to get the ability to eat food again. All I could eat was bell peppers. I lost 20 lbs. I had to go to specialists. I had to go thru a few surgeries because of all the things Covid did to my body. I even now have a thyroid issue that is assumed to have been brought on by Covid. All due to the entitled jerks who couldn’t handle that I wouldn’t allow him in.
45. What’s Mine Is NOT Yours
I was on the government waiting list for a house/flat for over eight years when I got a call asking me to go to a viewing. I went to see the flat, it had a small bedroom, a tiny bathroom and sitting room and a kitchen. It wasn’t much but it had CENTRAL HEATING!! (My old place was one room with high ceilings and no heating) I took two seconds to think about it and signed the lease.
A week later I got my keys and started moving a few things in. My “friend”, who I’d stay with sometimes on the weekend, wanted to come by to see the place before I moved everything in. She lived up the street from me now so I told her to come and take a look. She walked in and started telling me how I was going to repaint and decorate. Huh?!? And it continued on like this.
First, she said the bedroom should be Hello Kitty themed. I said no. Then, she said the bathroom should have racy Victorian wallpaper. Again, I said no. Then, she said: “You’ll also need to change your bedcovers every Friday by 5 pm and you can’t use your bed until Sunday night/Monday morning, depending on when we leave”. What? Did I miss something?
That’s when it all became clear. She said: “Well you know how much I hate my housemate”. Side note: he’s a good friend of mine. She continues: “Well, my boyfriend and I hate seeing him so we’re going to take your place from Friday until Sunday, and you can sleep at my place on the sofa. We need somewhere nice and private to sleep without my nasty housemate. You’ve slept on my sofa before, it’ll be fine”.
She gives me this obnoxious, huge grin and followed it with “Or we could move in here and pay your rent and you can sleep on my sofa and pay my rent”. Hers was not a government flat and she paid at least 10x more rent for her place. I put up with her ranting about how she was going to "properly decorate" for a couple of minutes.
She was sure to tell me not to move anything else in until she could inspect it and see if it was on her approval list before it came into the flat. Needless to say, I kicked her out and blocked her number, social media, etc. She spent a while badmouthing me but thankfully enough people knew how crazy she was and probably still is.
46. Telling On Yourself
I work IT at a small non-profit. We have a kitchen/ staff room and supply free coffee, tea, milk, sugar etc. During the pandemic all staff were working from home but, for the past few weeks, some staff have been coming back gradually (most for just 1-2 days a week) including myself… and, unfortunately, Karen. Now Karen and I have had many run-ins over the years and suffice to say we don’t get along.
It's mostly because I can’t tolerate her bad behavior. A week or so after being back, Karen sends a condescending email to the office manager, CC’ing all staff. In which she says that, while she accepts that the office kitchen had not been stocked while everyone was on lockdown, she is appalled that there is no bread, bagels, yogurts, etc. for staff that have returned.
The office manager replies, adding CC’ing all staff: “Karen, As a courtesy to staff, we provide free coffee, tea, milk, and sugar, all of which have been stocked. We have never proved free bread, bagels, yogurts, or other food. However, staff do keep personal food items in the refrigerator". Yup, she outed herself as the office food thief.
47. Bad Samaritan
So about 10 months ago I was there when this guy collapsed outside a strip mall store. He had a medical alert bracelet on about a heart condition. The paramedics get called and they arrive QUICKLY. They showed up in a four-door pickup with bed shell, all fire engine red, flashing lights and sirens, fire department and paramedics all over the truck.
They jump out and start hooking this guy up to a blood pressure cuff, sticking the heart monitor pads to him, etc. I’ll never forget what happened next. Karen rolls up behind the paramedics' truck and starts screaming the truck cut her off at the intersection…once again, they had lights and sirens on. Then she demands the paramedic LOOK AT HER as she melts down while he is starting CPR on the victim!
The paramedic is ignoring her entirely, but has to get something from the truck, she blocks his way and gets moved aside, as he goes to the truck. But Karen wasn’t done yet. This is where she pulls out pepper spray and hoses the standing paramedic directly in the face. She's STILL not done, and she sprays the second paramedic on the ground.
Then, just for the trifecta, she hoses down the heart attack victim—while screaming he is too young to have a heart attack!. I took it as my cue to remove her pepper spray, and hold onto her (with others) until the authorities arrive. Still, others are trying to help with CPR while some try to help the paramedics wash out their eyes.
Amidst all the chaos, the authorities arrive, Karen goes immediately into handcuffs, and then attempts to bite/kick the officer, which results in getting hogtied and her shirt pulled over her face. And then, she somehow made it worse. As they arrest her she starts shouting, “Do you know who I am?” Ultimately, she got what she deserved.
They charged her with two counts of aggravated assault (with a weapon) on paramedics, two counts of assault on the officers, one count of aggravated assault (with a weapon) on the heart attack victim (who survived), and resisting arrest. She also is being sued by the heart attack victim for $10 million, which she apparently has...
Her trial is coming up. I bought a new suit for it and I will be there to testify with bells on! Since the entire event is on video from two cameras (and who knows how many cell phones) it will be interesting to see what her high-powered lawyers are going to cook up, but ultimately I hope she will be convicted. She’s facing a possible 65 years, but practically will only get about 10 maximum, if any prison time.
But she’s already started to pay the price for her terrible behavior. I later found out that her husband is a bank vice president and refused to make her bail. It took her 13 days to get her family to bail her out!
48. Safety Last
I'm allergic to hand sanitizer, alcoholic wipes, generally anything that has an alcohol base. I even bring my own soap because I can have a reaction to some soaps. I can't even drink the stuff without my lips swelling. My old boss was my cousin, so when Covid hit I didn't really have a problem until, my cousin got promoted and got transferred to a new office.
Enter our new boss. We got a mass email going over our new safety procedures and one of the new procedures is that we all have to use hand sanitizer and antiseptic wipes. I sent an email to HR telling them about my allergies, with medical documents. They sent back saying that I don't have to use the hand sanitizer and antiseptic wipes and that they put it in my file.
However, they then sent the exact email to my new boss. His reply was infuriating. He said that all employees have to follow the new safety procedures, with no exceptions. When I replied that if I use those products I will need medical attention, he then sent me another email saying that if any employee doesn't follow the new safety procedures correctly that they would be fired.
I sent copies of the emails to our union rep and HR department to which they replied that they would talk to him and kinda told me to ignore him unless he tries to actually fire me. So I go into work and my new boss is literally waiting for me at my desk with a bottle of hand sanitizer in his hands asking me to hold out my hands. I did reply saying "No thanks, I’d rather not go to the hospital today".
What he did next was so twisted, it’s unforgettable. He got mad and literally grabbed my hand and squirted sanitizer on it, then rubbed it in. He then said "See, that wasn't so bad". I tried to go to the bathroom to wash it off but he blocked me. Well, I had a bad reaction—thank god I had an EpiPen in my desk. My boss kept saying “I thought he was lying” until I was put into the ambulance, but I couldn't hear him.
A member of HR department came to visit me in hospital—probably making sure I don't sue—and informed me that he was fired. The woman from HR department also said that they called the authorities on my behalf and, I should be getting a visit from them soon.
49. If You Can’t Take The Heat…
While my brother Kyle and his friend Josh were surfing, Josh’s girlfriend Luna and I were sunbathing on the beach. It was hot and about a hundred degrees, so we were in bikinis. We were talking about the usual stuff when I noticed some teenager, who looked like he was 15 or 16, watching us. Luna and I ignored him, but only until he started getting closer and closer to us.
Luna is short, but she's incredibly muscular from working out hours every day, so she seems intimidating to a lot of people. Anyway, when the guy was too close for comfort (arm's distance away from Luna and me), I asked if there was something he wanted from us, because he'd been watching us for at least 15 minutes. The guy never looked at my face, just my chest.
Yeah, I was in a bikini, but I was covered. The guy's mom (our Karen) came over to Luna and me at this point, then asked if we could cover up. Luna looked at Karen with a “Really”? expression, and Karen had that entitled face. "It's only fair. You're distracting my son, and I'm afraid you'll seduce him with your bimbo wear". Luna and I looked to each other and burst out laughing.
I know it was kind of rude, but when would you hear “Cover up”! at the beach during a heatwave? Kyle and Josh came back to us, and Josh asked if everything was OK. Karen pitched a fit that Luna and I were seductive and flashing her son. "Only in your son's dreams, lady. We were not flashing your son". Karen looked like she was going to smack Luna, so Josh stepped between them to keep them apart.
Kyle saw a patrolling cop on the boardwalk and waved him down. The officer had red hair, like my brother and me. He waved to Kyle and me, then came over and asked if everything was alright, and if there was a problem. Karen looked smug. "These harlots were trying to seduce my baby boy! Arrest them for exposing themselves to a minor!" The officer just looked from Kyle and me back to Karen.
What he said next was epic. "Lady, my cousin is not a harlot, your son isn't a baby, and if you had any brains at all, you'd teach your son to respect women and not see them as 'scantily clad objects' during a heatwave. By the way, do you see the ocean? We're at a beach. My cousin can wear anything she likes". Karen's jaw dropped, then she grabbed her son's arm and pulled him away while Kyle and me, Josh and Luna were just grinning.
I didn't just soak up the sun, I basked in the awesomeness of my officer cousin!
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50. Don’t Get Keyed Up Over It
So me and my partner had just finished shopping and were leaning on the car having a smoke. This made me remember a story from a long time ago. Basically, he was leaning against his car outside of a store finishing a smoke before he went in when some random woman walks up to him and says, “I don’t think the owner would appreciate you leaning on their car".
He told this woman he owned the car but she tried to argue the fact that it was her car. She even said: “It’s my car, get off of it". He then pulled out the keys and unlocked the car and she just went silent and walked away.
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