People Share The Innocent Questions That Absolutely Crushed Them

September 5, 2023 | Andrea Papillon

People Share The Innocent Questions That Absolutely Crushed Them


Oh, the joy of people asking questions that they think are innocent, and entirely appropriate. They may want the person they’re asking to think they’re being selflessly interested. They may think they’re just being teasing. Or, maybe, they’re just a kid who really doesn’t have a clue. The problem is, their question absolutely crushes the person being asked. These Redditors share the innocent, but crushing questions they’ve been asked, and how the experience affected them in heartbreaking, awkward, or enlightening ways.


1. Riding Solo

Just happened recently actually. A few years ago, I had a pretty awesome life, I was married. My husband and I were trying to have kids and when I needed a car, we just got me an SUV in anticipation for needing it for kids (he had two and we planned to have 2-3). Well things didn’t work out and he ended up dying from drinking too much in January. Between that and two miscarriages, an ectopic and an IVF cycle that failed I’m slowly coming to the realization that I’ll never be a mother.

It’s painful to say the least. The kid I nanny for was sitting in my car and we were discussing his day when he says, “Nanny, why do you have such a big car when it’s only you?” I wanted to cry right there on the spot. It just really stung. But instead I told him it was because I knew I would be watching him, and I needed a car big enough for him, which seemed to placate him. He then started discussing Batman with me.

2. An Empty Seat

“Table for how many?” the first time we went out for dinner after my dad took his own life. That one hit like a truck.

J.K. Rowling FactsShutterstock

3. Losing Their Appetites

I lost my brother in 2007 and my father passed two years ago. I took my mom out for dinner one night and the host asked, “Just the two of you?” It took everything we had not to cry.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

4. This Calls for Afterbite

My four-year-old cousin once pointed at my acne and asked me, “Why do you have so many bee stings on your face?”

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

5. Style With Class

I went to get a haircut for my fiancé’s funeral. It was Friday. He had passed on Tuesday. My stylist, all bubbly, said, "It's been awhile!! The last time I saw you, you were just about to move in with your boyfriend! How's it going?" The words stuck and I kind of rasped it out. Honestly though, her reaction was so wonderful.

She was behind me, and just put her hands firmly on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes in the mirror. No shock, no stupid platitudes, just silent, genuine empathy. The rest of the haircut was pretty quiet, but she did everything so...like, lovingly. She also didn't make a big deal out of it when I cried a little.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

6. A Student Error

I teach first grade and was talking about how I've been married for five years. One student asked, "How could you not have a baby by now?" Not wanting to explain multiple miscarriages and IVF to a classroom of six-year-olds I said, "Being around all of you makes my heart so full that I don't think I have room in my heart for a baby!!"

They all smiled. I smiled too. I've learned from my experience to never ask couples when/if they want to have a family.

Brightest Things Said By Dull Students factsShutterstock

7. Keep It in the Family

We had been struggling to have kids until we finally saw a fertility specialist who immediately diagnosed the root cause and prescribed medication that helped. We didn't feel this was a topic we really needed to mention to anybody though. All the while, my wife's older sister had been telling everybody that she had no interest in having kids of her own. We took this at face value initially, but then on a whim, we decided to tell her my wife's medical history, as these things often run in the family.

And who would have thunk it...Two months later, my sister-in-law was pregnant too. She'd just been too shy to tell anybody about the real reason she didn't have kids. Sometimes, communication is a good thing.

Pregnancy factsPixabay

8. Wrong on Both Counts

A friend looked at me and said, “I know we’ve talked about it before, but how did you break your nose?” I’ve never broken my nose. This is just how it looks.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

9. An Unable Uncle

"When will you get better so you can play with us?" My niece who was too young to understand what disabled meant. She's older now and understands I will never get better. And we have adapted playtime to do things I can handle as well. But that broke my heart.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

10. Tough to Fake

My son was undergoing chemo and radiation treatment for a bone marrow transplant. People, meaning well of course, would always ask, "How's your son doing?" I'd always have to fake a smile and give some shallow hopeful answer: "He's fine. He's a fighter". But deep inside the question crushed me every time. No, he was suffering. Teetering on the brink of dying. 

He was not "fine," and every time I heard that question, I was reminded of it and had to swallow the pain. My son has since recovered, but it was a very tough time.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

11. Hurtful Humor

Not me but my husband. We worked at the same place. I had a miscarriage and had a week off work; my husband was at work when the manager and other workmates asked where I was and jokingly said, “Is she pregnant?” I had to tell the boss why I wasn’t at work just to get them to stop mentioning it because I could tell it hurt him WAY more then he led on.

Hardest News They’ve Had To Break factsShutterstock

12. Wardrobe Three-peat

I grew up lower-middle class and my parents had been severely injured by an intoxicated driver at the end of my eighth-grade year and were disabled and no longer able to work. We basically had no money for school clothes, but my mother tried to get me a few cool shirts. I wasn’t a popular kid and most people didn’t really know much about me.

In my freshman year of high school, one of the popular girls in my class asked, “Don’t you have more than three shirts? I only ever see you in the same three shirts". High school in the 80s in the United States sucked.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

13. An Awkward Checkout

"What's on her face, mom?"—Little girl. I used to be a cashier and had terrible acne at the time.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsMax Pixel

14. Shaking It Off

“Rough night last night?” Usually asked with a big smile. I was asked that all the time when I was younger because I had an obvious tremor. Thing is, I did not drink or do any substances at all. I had no idea what was wrong with me. I was eventually diagnosed with Graves’ Disease and treated for it, but I still have a bit of a tremor.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

15. Just Plain Thyroid Ignorance

I had hyperthyroidism, then underwent radioactive iodine treatment and am now hypothyroid. My lips were often blue, and I was always pale and cold with sunken looking eyes until we got my medicine on track. People asked me all the time if I was sick because I looked like I was dying. Thyroid stuff really messes you up, and when you try to explain it, no one knows what a thyroid even is.

Self-Diagnosing Patients FactsGetty Images

16. Not Mine to Choose

“I could never imagine getting cancer at such a young age. How are you this strong/brave/do you stay so positive?” I’ve stopped counting the amount of people (especially working at the hospital, I’d expect a bit more sensitivity from them) who have asked me that. Yes, I’m mid-20s, but it’s not a choice that I’m “staying strong,” it’s freaking survival.

Every time someone asks me that, it feels like getting punched.

Coma Survivors factsShutterstock

17. What, No Dollar Discount?

Nonverbal, but the nurse at the flu shot station seemed unsure whether to give me the under-65 or over-65 consent form. If I'm going to be mistaken for being that much older than my actual age, at least it should be in the context of me getting a senior discount.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

18. A Natural Hair Pay Off

My grandma's hair has been stark white since she was 23, and she has been getting offered senior discounts since she was about 30. She used to get offended, but now sees it as a sorta life hack (she still hasn't hit 65).

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

19. I Am Standing Tall

I got asked why I wouldn’t stand up straight for a photo. I have kyphosis and am standing up as straight as I can.

So Crazy, No One Believes FactsShutterstock

20. A Staying Homebody

"Why don't you ever go out?" Well, because I don't have anyone to go out with. Dang...

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

21. The Painful Deets

Specialist appointment and they did the normal thing of checking contact details. They asked if the contact number and details for my wife were still correct, and I just started crying. My wife passed on this time 12 months ago. Surprising how much one simple question asked in total innocence can bring you to your knees.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

22. A Tough Friendship Quiz

I had no friends in summer school and a girl asked me if I had any friends. Like straight up, “Do you have any friends?” She then became friends with me, but still.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

23. Too Many Casual Customers

I worked in retail when I was younger and people would always be like, "Oh, do you have any ideas for Father’s Day?" "What'd you get your dad?" My dad took his own life when I was 16. They had no way of knowing that, but man if it didn't hurt.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

24. An Arrangement for the Deceased

I was cashiering and we had some red roses that were pretty popular. I rang up some lad dressed quite nice purchasing the roses and I asked if they were for anyone special, you know. Well, no, they were for his recently passed dad’s grave. I apologized so hard. He said it was fine and he’s doing well, but it was time to change the flowers.

Shut me the frick up, really quick.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

25. The Single Parent Trap

Part of the “young with a dead parent” club problems. No one assumes that we’ve already lost a parent, so the casual questions can just punch you in the gut. My mom passed on after being very sick for a very short amount of time when I was 19, and there were a lot of older people in my life who genuinely didn’t even consider someone my age losing a parent a possibility. “Where do your parents live?” “Oh, my dad lives in California". “And your mom?” “In a box in dad’s room". That is why I specified dad instead of saying parents, and that’s a hint you shouldn’t have ignored.

I'll always remember the worst one: A very well-meaning coworker stopping to tell me that she heard my mom had cancer and asked how everything was going. Three weeks after my mom passed on. And since I still hadn’t gotten used to saying the words “she died” out loud, I choked up immediately and almost burst into tears at work, making a sweet lady who just wanted to offer me some support very uncomfortable.

Several years later, saying that is just stating the facts, but back then having to say the words and acknowledge the truth of them was freaking awful.

Biggest Attention Hogs factsPixabay

26. No School Zone

"So, when are you going back for your master's degree?" I was so proud of getting my bachelor's and had no intention of going back because how rough school was for me.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

27. Remembering Mom

My mom passed on a couple weeks before I got engaged. Went dress shopping with my bridesmaids a couple months later. I found the dress I liked and the sales girl goes "Did you want to buy it now, or did you want to bring your mom in to see it first?" Everyone just froze as I muttered, "I'll...buy it now...thanks..".

Soul Crushing Questions FactsRole Reboot

28. She Didn’t Go for Gold

When I was 13, my mom got a divorce from a man who I can only refer to as a “step monster". I worked all summer to save up money since we didn’t have a lot and I was worried we wouldn’t have enough to pay the bills. I ended up having a few dollars left over and wanted to buy my mom a gift and she mentioned she needed a new watch for her birthday.

I went to the jeweler and got a $100 gold Citizen Evo Drive watch. It was functional and it looked really nice. When I gave it to her, her first response was, “Thanks honey, did it come in silver?” I was crushed. Insult to injury: she started dating a guy around the same time and he bought her a cruddy silver watch. She ended up wearing his over mine. 18 years later and it still hurts when I think about it.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

29. She’s Not Daddy’s Girl

If my girlfriend at the time was my daughter. We're only two years difference in age but I look super old. I was only 22...

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

30. Quitting Is for Losers

My recently-divorced ex and I worked at the same place. Divorce was not my idea, but he'd found someone new and I was heartbroken. He ended up quitting at her insistence. Six months after the divorce was final, a coworker asked how ex-husband was doing, hadn’t seen him since he quit, yadda yadda. Behind my back, another coworker was trying to wave first coworker off... but it was too late. 

I spent the rest of the shift crying on and off. Apparently, coworker #1 was oblivious and didn't know we'd divorced, just thought ex had quit.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

31. Sentenced to Retail for Life

I work at a pretty boring convenience store and my neighbor down the street, young maybe 12-year-old kid was there. Good kid usually hangs out there and talks to me. One day I was drawing cartoons for him by his request and he said, "Wow you're really good at making cartoons, why don't you just quit this job and become an animator or make comic books?!"

Really bummed me out because when I was his age that's ALL I wanted to do but was never financially given even the slightest opportunity to go to school for something like that and I'll never have the motivation for stuff like that when I'm working 50+ hour weeks in retail just to barely make ends meet. Plus, I remember being his age and thinking people could still, "Do whatever they want when they grow up"

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

32. Mom’s Memoryless

My mom asked me, "Who are you?" when I visited her recently. She has dementia.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

33. Brief Snapshot of Mom

I used to work in a nursing home. This family came to visit their mother who had NO idea who they were, didn't even remember having children. They had their visit and as I helped her get back into her wheelchair (I had helped her on the couch so they could snuggle a bit to their mom), she had kinda paused mid-sentence, looked them in their faces and said, "Oh, my babies! I love you so much honey!" and then kinda "snapped back" into dementia and kept on talking about other things.

That one little glimpse of their mom had them sobbing so much.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsMax Pixel

34. Photo Recollection

My dad had early signs of dementia. I'll never forget the day I came home from watching football. I'd only left him a couple of hours earlier and he told me to enjoy the game, yet this time I walked in and he was terrified. He pushed back in his seat, mouth and eyes wide open. I asked if he was ok and he just froze. I asked him if he knew who I was, and he said, "No".

I explained I was his son and showed him a photo of me and him and he relaxed and smiled. That was the day I knew I'd lost my dad.

Memorable Last Words factsShutterstock

35. What’s My Name Again?

My grandma asked me once if I knew who she was (because she didn't). Absolutely heartbreaking.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

36. Light of His Life

I was visiting home for the first time in a while (I lived across the country at the time) and spent a weekend with my dad, who was in the early stages of frontotemporal dementia. I left him alone for a couple of minutes to grab something, came back, and saw him looking around. Me: "What are you looking for?"

Him (looking right into my face): "Oh, uh, I'm looking for my son". A moment passed where I felt a lot of emotions ripple through me, then the light went on in his eyes. Him: "Oh there you are! Come on, grab what you need and let's get going".

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

37. Hide It, They’ll Seek

"Are you okay? You seem a little off". I've been diagnosed with chronic depression and paranoia disorders for years and I thought I was doing a decent job hiding it from all my friends, but apparently it wasn’t good enough I guess.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

38. No Checkmarks in the Mom Boxes

Someone once asked me, "Don't you want to be a mom?" Yes, I do. But as I'm single, over 40, and not rich, that's probably not going to happen. It devastated me. I had to say "Yes, I'd love that," and then excuse myself to go home and cry.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

39. Serious Red Eyes

Someone jokingly asked me if I was high because my eyes were red. I had just been diagnosed with an eye disease and told I would go blind before 50. My eyes were red from my medicated eye drops and partially from crying. I was only sixteen and having a hard time coming to terms with it.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

40. Misfit Questions

"Why are you so weird?" I never really fit in, but I'm not sure why this question crushed me so much.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

41. She Got It Already

When I surprised my girlfriend with a gift. I told her I got a gift for her. I gave it to her...and later she asked when she was gonna get her gift.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

42. Gramps Gone Bye-Bye

My five-year-old cousin asked me where Grandpa was when we were getting ready to head to his funeral. Everyone went silent and we just kind of stared at each other until my dad managed to distract her. It was brutal.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

43. Grandma’s Arms

My five-year-old nephew did this to my grandma at my grandpa’s funeral. Asked her, “Did grandpa die?” It was an innocent question and he was genuinely curious, and I guess no one had talked to him about it. My grandma hugged him and said, “Yes, sweetie, he died".

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

44. Answer Is Never

"When will we dig up dad?" Asked by my almost five-year-old son. He's never met him, as dad passed on three months before birth. This goes along the question "When will dad stop being dead?"

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

45. Nightmare on Repeat

So, years ago, a guy I went to high school with was in a really bad car accident. He passed on a few weeks later. His sister lived but was in a coma for close to a year. When she came to, she had no long-term memory. Every day, she would ask for her brother and her parents would have to tell her every day that he was gone. It must have been a nightmare.

Recently, the father and daughter were found lifeless, ruled a murder-suicide. Beyond this point, it’s all speculation, but I can't say I wouldn’t be tempted to do it so I wouldn’t have to break my daughter’s heart like that every single day.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

46. Be Still, My Breaking Heart

I lost a baby boy in the third trimester last year. We just got it through to my four-year-old that his baby brother’s soul is in heaven and his body is buried we cannot visit him. And now my 2.5-year-old is starting to ask questions and we have to start all over with her. I told her the other day that Peter had to go to heaven because when he was in my tummy his heart stopped beating.

Then at dinner, she announced she wanted to go to heaven now, but her heart was still beating. My husband just stopped eating and looked at me horrified.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

47. Cooking for One

Co-worker innocently asked, "Who does the cooking at your house?" I had very recently separated from my wife and was living alone.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

48. Food Baby Due Date

“When are you due?" I wasn't pregnant. I have since lost over 60 pounds though.

Attention-Seekers factsNeedpix

49. A Bad Feeling

Speaking to my coach the other day, she asked me "How are you feeling?" and I honestly did my best not to cry my eyes out. I just got out of school and have to figure out what I wanna study next year while balancing three jobs that barely give me enough for rent...so... I feel bad, to be honest.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

50. Orientation Misinformation

One time a girl I had a crush on asked me, “Oh wait...aren’t you gay?”

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

51. Normal Is Anything But

"Why don't you ever talk, are you unsociable?" By a classmate when I was in high school. As someone with severe social phobia who was struggling to hide it at all costs and to be normal at the time, I died a little inside.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

52. Tick Tock on the Book Clock

My manager asked me what the last book I read was the other day and I realized the last time I read a book was around four years ago. I used to read a ton but now working and worrying about money and my future have made it difficult to sit down and read a book.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

53. Jealousy Can Be Taught

I was a freshman in high school in 1992-93. My high school science teacher asked me if I was ever jealous of my older brother (he was a senior). I was kind of confused. She said, "You know, since he is so smart, popular, and just has everything going for him..". It was the first time I had ever, in my entire life, considered that people viewed my brother as better than me.

It has honestly kind of stuck with me. That was 26 or 27 years ago.

Brightest Things Said By Dull Students factsShutterstock

54. Leveling With a Kid

When my dad and my sister and I were driving to another town to get away from my mom so we could eat without getting yelled at/stuff thrown at us, my sister asked why mommy was so mean. My dad had to simplify to her level that her mom was an alcoholic. She was six.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

55. Mom Is a Major Pain

I always wanted to study psychology in college, but my overbearing mother wouldn’t have that, so I studied chemistry. In my last semester I took an abnormal psychology class just for fun and I crushed it, ending with a 99% average. After the final, my professor took me outside the classroom and said, “Why didn’t you major in psychology? You would have made a great psychologist".

That really crushed my soul. I think about that day a lot.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

56. She’s With Chemo—Not Child

A waiter asked me if my wife was pregnant once. She was just bloated from chemo side effects. It crushed me, so glad she didn't hear. She couldn't have had kids and she passed two years back.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

57. A Misfired Question

"Who died?" It was a common question my friends and I asked each other when we were sitting there looking mopey. Usually we were just staring off and nothing was wrong. On this day, I'd lost one of my army buddies after he took his own life. It was only a year after we came home from overseas. I looked at him and broke right down.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

58. Right Question, Wrong Guy

“How do I ask out (guy name that isn’t me)?”

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

59. Get With It, Mom

“Since when do you have a stutter?”—my mom. When I get extremely anxious, I stutter a lot. My dad had been incredibly hard on me that day and I was holding back tears. It hurt me that my mom had never noticed it before, and she seemed annoyed by it rather than concerned.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

60. A Hard Question

"Where do you work?" Disabled combat veteran struggling with PTSD and Bipolar 2. It's a blow every time someone reminds me that I barely contribute financially to our family.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

61. You Talking to Me?

"Are you sure it’s not twins?"

Disrespectful at Home FactsShutterstock

62. The Timeclock Is Running

“What game do you kids want to play now?” My dad, after my sister and I helped him sit up. He was on his deathbed, dying of cancer.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

63. A Wedding Saver

A couple of years ago I had a miscarriage. Was working behind the bar helping my mum at a wedding. My mum organizes the weddings at this particular venue and the bride, hadn't got the memo, asked me when I was due. Didn't want to ruin her day, so just told her my due date.

Ruined Wedding factsShutterstock

64. Straight up Street Talk

“Why do we do things we know will kill us?” A homeless man.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

65. Constructing the Criticism

"Why are you so stuck up and never talk to anyone?" I was cripplingly shy all through school. This was asked by a girl I didn't even recognize, at the end of summer school after my senior year (last credit I needed to graduate). At the time it was shocking and crushing, but later it helped me reevaluate things I was doing (like body language) that I realized made people think I was antisocial.

I'd always wondered why people reacted so badly to me when I really wanted to make friends. I managed to change a few small things that led to small positive interactions, that led to more and more. I still feel really shy, but I've learned how to fake it until I actually get comfortable with people, and now nobody even believes me when I say I'm shy.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

66. Grab the Whitener

On my see-through braces: "Why didn't you just get yellow ones?"

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

67. Girl’s Night Out

At a restaurant with my wife. The server walks up from behind and says, “Ladies, how are we this evening?” I’m a guy.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

68. Out of Tunes

Worked for years as a professional musician, mostly doing cruise ship gigs, but also live shows and a bit of studio work. "Why aren't you doing music anymore?" Cause my passion got crushed by the industry, that's why.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

69. Nightmare on Set

A veteran actor on set two days into production asked me who the heck the director was. It was me.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

70. Relationship Denial

"Do you have a boyfriend?" "No". "Oh. Why not?" Because I'm a loser, lady, and nobody wants me.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

71. We’re Gonna Need More Wax

Went to get my eyebrows waxed today and the lady said, “Lip too?”

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

72. Never Been Kissed

I’m 20 and no one’s ever been interested in me. My friends make jokes about virgins and they don’t know I’ve never even had a first kiss.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

73. Kids Say the Most Heartbreaking Things

"Dad, can we come live with you?"

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

74. Too Good a Girl for Him

"You're a girl, right?" He proceeded to ask me to proofread a love note to his cheerleader crush. I crushed on him hard but was firmly in the friend zone. He WAS in my league for heaven's sake!

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

75. Those Look Familiar

Age 13, in front of three male friends, a toddler came up to me, pointed at my chest (I was/am fairly well endowed) and asked, "Do you have milk in those?" I was very taken aback and utterly mortified, but come to think of it, it was a reasonable question from a kid who's only experience of bosoms was from breastfeeding.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

76. Tune In, Sweetheart

Me: "Babe, do I have a good singing voice?" Babe: "I don’t know, have you ever sang around me?"......I sing almost every day.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

77. It Isn’t, Actually

"How's married life going?" It was a good six months that acquaintances kept asking me the question after my fiancé broke up with me days before the wedding after a two-year engagement. It made it so much harder to get over it. What made it worse was that he was cheating on me, and on the same weekend of our wedding, he married the other chick in Vegas.

So, he didn't have to deal with the same awkward questions I did.

I’m Outta Here FactsShutterstock

78. Drop It, Danielle

"Does it bother you that your sister is so much prettier than you?" Yes, yes it does. Also, eff you, Danielle.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

79. We Need a Fiber Marvel Action Figure

People asking if you are pregnant because your belly is slightly protruding. No, Karen I have to go. It’s been three days.

Hate Someone FactsShutterstock

80. You’re Obviously From Ignorant

"Where are you really from?"

Unsolved Mysteries FactsShutterstock

81. She’s Counting on 100

My five-year-old daughter asked me the other day, "When do humans expire?" Followed by, "We're gonna be together forever right? Until you're 100?"

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

82. The Reason for Reading Problems

"That's not great, is it?" When told my ASD daughter's reading level (second grade as a 16-year-old). They didn't know she was on the spectrum. It still hurt.

I Still Cringe factsShutterstock

83. A Size Matter

"Is that as big as it gets?"

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

84. That’s O’Albino to You

I was living in Las Vegas for a while and I was asked by my local booze store clerk if I was albino. I'm just Irish.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

85. Bad Taste from Management

I’m an actor and I work in a restaurant. One of the girls got an acting job, and my manager turned to me and half-joking said, “Why can’t you do that?!” I brushed it off, but later that night I got completely hammered.

Most Metal Things They’ve Seen factsShutterstock

86. How to Halt Immigration

I was going through immigration. The officer took my passport and made fun of it. Asked if it had been through a washing machine. I told him it was in a tsunami.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

87. That Is Not Hot

I work in mobile gaming. A young relative found out I make games and said: "Oh, cool, did you make StarCraft?" I didn't make StarCraft, but I did work on Paris Hilton's Diamond Quest, so...

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

88. Growing Your Self Consciousness

In seventh grade, a girl I became friends with asked me: "Did you get made fun of because of your nose?" I had never seen a problem with my nose until this moment. 11 years, I still haven't forgotten and am incredibly self-conscious about my nose.

I Still Cringe factsShutterstock

89. Have You Tried Shutting Up?

"Have you tried this medicine?" I have adult acne and have had acne since puberty. I HAVE LITERALLY TRIED EVERY MEDICINE AND NATURAL THING IN THE UNIVERSE, please stop reminding me that my face is horrifying to you.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

90. No Longer Blissfully Unaware

"Hey, so who's this new guy your ex is talking to?" Didn't know that was happening, thanks...

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

91. A Weighty Role

Audience member after a performance: “Were you wearing a fat suit under your costume?” I was not.

Zendaya FactsShutterstock

92. Daddy’s Mummy Tummy

Daughter, seven, to me (the father), while my wife was pregnant: "You have a big tummy like mommy. *suspiciously* Do you have a baby in there too?" And that's the origin story of my 50 lb. weight loss.

Medical Practices factsShutterstock

93. That’s the Last Time She’s Here

We keep our home clean and neat, but a dinner guest said: "You have such a nice home. How often do you dust it?" (as she looked with disdain at the furniture).

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

94. Making a Difference

My third-grade teacher asked me why I don't sit with my friends at lunch. I told her it was because I didn't have any. From then on out, she became very adamant about me never changing for anyone and encouraged me to pursue the things I was interested in, like music. I really wish she knew the kind of lifelong impact she's had on me.

Brightest Things Said By Dull Students factsShutterstock

95. Impossible Vacation Planning

"Why don't you and mommy get along? I want to go on a trip with you guys!"—my son. I still cry.

Change Life FactsShutterstock

96. The Ouch of Bagging Off

I wear no makeup the day before I plan to call in sick. Hurts a little when my boss says, “Yeah you looked like [heck], don’t blame you".

I’m Outta Here FactsShutterstock

97. Not Botched

I used to work at a tutoring place and at the time my skin was filled with acne and I had a very pointy nose. A little girl I was helping with homework asked me if I was a witch because of all my pimples and big nose. It absolutely broke my heart since I was already extremely insecure. Fortunately, one nose job and many acne treatments later, I’m no longer insecure.

History's Creepiest People factsPixabay

98. Tray for One

Once, I was running a tray of food to a seat at a dine-in movie theatre. There was A LOT of food on the tray and when I brought it to the single person, not thinking, I asked, “Is this all for you?” She responded “Yeah” in a depressing tone. She was overweight. I still feel bad about it.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

99. You Idiots Don’t Want to Know

“What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen?” I’m a firefighter/EMT. People don’t really realize what it is they’re asking for. They’re asking me to intentionally relive the worst things I have seen on the job. They also don’t realize that they really don’t want to hear what I have to say. They expect cool car crashes or fires.

What they get are stories of infant cardiac arrests, overdoses with the family screaming for them to come back, and older people who have just lost the person they’ve spent the last 50+ years with. Stop asking.

Memorable Last Words factsNeedpix

100. Bonfire Disinvite

"So, this thing happened at [insert Friend's name here]'s party/bonfire last week". My friend had a party/bonfire last week? Nobody told me...

SO Said in Sleep FactsShutterstock

101. Not Dressed for Success Today

"What are you all dressed up for?" It was a funeral.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

102. Dream Believer

“I had a dream that you had lost a lot of weight and we were getting married!”—best friend I had a crush on who was dating someone else. Like, bruh, why even say anything.

Disturbing Interactions With Strangers factsShutterstock

103. A Lukewarm Yes

"We're just friends, right?"…"Uh, yeah..".

Innocent Questions Crushed factsShutterstock

104. An Accidental Mother

My mom accidentally called me after about 10 years of not talking. I answered, all ready for a serious conversation. When I answered, she was like, "Wait who's this?" I say, "Hey mom, it's me". Her reply is what hurt: "Who? Why are you calling me mom?" She was so messed up she didn’t recognize her own daughter's name.

Innocent Questions Crushed factsPixabay

Sources: ,


More from Factinate

Featured Article

My mom never told me how her best friend died. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery.

Dark Family Secrets

Dark Family Secrets Exposed

Nothing stays hidden forever—and these dark family secrets are proof that when the truth comes out, it can range from devastating to utterly chilling.
April 8, 2020 Samantha Henman

Featured Article

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.

Madame de Pompadour Facts

Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.
December 7, 2018 Kyle Climans

More from Factinate

Featured Article

I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life.

These People Got Genius Revenges

When someone really pushes our buttons, we'd like to think that we'd hold our head high and turn the other cheek, but revenge is so, so sweet.
April 22, 2020 Scott Mazza

Featured Article

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but few people know her even darker history.

Catherine of Aragon Facts

Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s First Wife

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but very few people know her even darker history.
June 7, 2018 Christine Tran



Dear reader,


Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? We’re always looking for your input! Please reach out to us to let us know what you’re interested in reading. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from “Life” to “Compact Cars and Trucks” to “A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius.” We’ll get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics you’re interested in. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your time!


Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? At Factinate, we’re dedicated to getting things right. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. We want our readers to trust us. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. Please let us know if a fact we’ve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect it’s inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your help!


Warmest regards,



The Factinate team




Want to learn something new every day?

Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter.

Thank you!

Error, please try again.