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People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments I was doing a phone port with AT&T, and when we got done, the AT&T guy say "Alright man, have a good weekend", I replied back with "I hate to break it to you bud, but its only Tues....", I heard him actually sigh and say "f**k" under his breath....

Deiafter , Freepik Report

Final score:

268points

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Chonky Panda 1 month ago

Best one so far 😂

92points

Lauraploradon , Karolina Kaboompics / Pexels Report

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments Had to tell my mom, that my grandma (her mom) had died and been buried a month before. My mom had been in a Covid related coma for 6ish weeks during that time. At one point they were actually in the icu, in beds beside each other. Neither ever knew.
Sooo yeah, that sucked.

Final score:

251points

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Full of Giggles 1 month ago (edited)

I truly feel for Op. My mom has Alzheimer’s. I have to break the same news to my mom on a regular basis. Edit: I need to give some context. My grandmother was an abusive narcissist who hated and resented her children. Because of this, my mom is comforted by her mother’s death. You can see the weight come off her shoulders. It’s like she knows she’s safe from her mothers’ torment.

130points

To find out how this conversation started in the first place, we reached out to the Reddit user who started this thread, Floyd-96 aka Screener on YouTube. They were kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and share what inspired them to invite others to share their stories.

"Well, throughout my life, the society I grew up in had a major lack of honesty, or people were unable to confront someone about a sensitive matter with any degree of maturity or respect," the author noted. "The main cause of this question was actually a result of a philosophy of mine which was when someone says to you 'let me be frank', in most cases, they'll end up being disrespectful and/or emotionally expressive rather than being honest or helpful. It's almost like a phrase or a mask that people use when they want to express a very harsh or shocking opinion."

"A quick example would be if someone says to you, 'I hate to break it to you, but you're not funny,'" the OP explained. "What we consider funny, artistic, entertaining, etc. is purely subjective. It's not objective reality, so it is absolutely wrong to deliver a message with the setup that you're about to reveal a harsh objective reality to them, but in truth it's a subjective and personal thing."

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments About a decade ago, I was having dinner with friends and we were all sharing crazy partying stories. One friend said that a few weeks before that, she witnessed a drunk girl chasing her crush around, frantically trying to kiss him or grope him. The poor guy kept telling her to stop, but she wouldn't have it. Some of the drunk girl's friends even joined in, they tried to undress the guy and would not let him leave. Eventually, the guy managed to escape and ran back to his car.

My friend was telling that story as if we were supposed to laugh, but at one point, we gently broke it down to her that she had witnessed attempted r**e and the fact that the victim was a man was not an excuse.

My friend's face changed as the horror of what she had seen dawned on her.

anon , Freepik Report

Final score:

243points

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LB 1 month ago

I don't know if I could be friends with someone who doesn't get this from the start.

129points

gaqua , Tima Miroshnichenko / Pexels Report

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments I had a guy working for me that was extremely nice, easy to get along with, and wildly inept. Not even like “low effort” but just…not capable of learning seemingly basic tasks. We tried everything. Coaching, giving him legitimate “checklist” instructions, having a team lead sit with him for a couple weeks to walk him through basics, everything.

Everyone said the same thing. He just…couldn’t do the job. Everything he did had to be double checked by somebody else, which meant that we might as well have somebody else do it.

But everyone liked the guy - they thought he was easy going and cool to be around, everything. But still he just straight up couldn’t do that job. So I had to find another place for him in the company that would better match his skills. The option would be for him to either take the lower job with lower pay, or he would be fired, with severance. I was not looking forward to the conversation.

I called him in for a 1-1 to break it to him and the first thing he started with was “hey boss, before we start I just want to tell you that I really feel like I’ve been doing a great job here and I would like to talk about a raise.”

Yeah, that conversation was not a fun one.

Final score:

235points

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Nitka Tsar 1 month ago

Oh no, poor guy! Maybe he was just a tiny bit…. What is the correct term? Mentally challanged?

86points

Spacegod87 , Chevanon Photography / Pexels Report

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments My dad has been a musician since the 70s. He's incredibly talented, can play multiple instruments and has written many songs that honestly would sound at home on the radio.

About a year or so ago, some scam artist told him they "loved his work" and wanted to represent him and get his music out there to make money.

They just needed a "small upfront fee"...

My poor dad was so happy too. He had wanted this for literal decades, I think that's what clouded his judgement at the time.
And yeah, the moment he told me, loud alarms went off in my head.

I researched these people online and found an ocean of comments saying they all got scammed. I wanted my dad to be happy but I couldn't let him be scammed so I told him.

He accepted it, kind of brushed it off...but it was that, "Yeah, I should've known this would happen." kind of response. Really depressing to see him so happy, just to be let down.

I know to you and me this would have been an obvious scam, but my dad is from a different time and has no idea about computers or online culture.

F**k scammers.

Final score:

229points

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Bay Bo 1 month ago

Yeah F those scammers. I opened a bank acct for an online job ..good thing someone told me it's a scam. Then they got mad at me for not depositing money.

53points

Tabitha 1 month ago

You did your Dad a real service. How much more depressed would he have been if he’d been scammed AND had everything stolen from him by the scammer?

18points

pfeils wife 1 month ago

WHERE IS KYRA? She should have been there to tell his dad that it was a scam.

8points

WindySwede 1 month ago

Kyra?

1point

Pencil McGovern 1 month ago

Please don't believe that being "from a different time" makes people more likely to fall victim to scams. Gen Z grew up with this technology and are naturally extremely comfortable with it. And that makes them *more* likely to be victimized: https://www.vox.com/technology/23882304/gen-z-vs-boomers-scams-hacks

8points

Parmeisan 1 month ago

Also, scams existed before the internet. When I was in high school, I got a letter saying that I'd been chosen to have a piece published in a poetry anthology. I don't remember if I submitted it to them, or they found it (I have a vague memory that the poem had been in my yearbook). I was so excited! Who cares about the small fee, it will be published! My parents had to explain that it likely never would be, or if it was, it would just be a book sent to the writers and not actually out there in any meaningful sense. Glad I learned the lesson the easy way.

4points

Šimon Špaček 1 month ago

There are few musicians that started on YouTube. It is not much, but at least you don't get (totally) ripped off.

5points

HTakeover 1 month ago

It preys on his life hopes, and it's difficult to overcome that.

4points

CwtchyMama 1 month ago

You could help your dad put his music on TikTok /youtube

3points

Roberta Surprenant 1 month ago

"promoters" and "agents" have been scamming musicians since well before the 70's...

2points

nuberiffic 1 month ago

"would feel at home on the radio" is not the compliment you think it is lol

0points

dremetrius 1 month ago

I regularly attend local police presentations on scams and what they reiterate, over and over and over and over - is that *nobody* is immune to being scammed. It happens to all ages, all genders, all education levels, all personality types... scammers are dedicated to learning and exploiting human nature, they are *experts*. Anyone who judged your dad was a victim-blaming butthead who took away entirely the wrong lesson from his experience.

0points

Marno C. 1 month ago

I really hope the poster helped their Dad make a YouTube channel and similar social media. He might not become a huge sensation, but he can be out there for people to discover and support him.

0points

Riley Quinn 1 month ago

Just this one on Reddit today, too.

0points

Jorge Gonzalez 1 month ago

I hate scammers, specifically those that prey on elder persons. If it were me, they would all be sentenced to death eaten by screwworms

0points

Elle Gea 1 month ago

F*k um

0points

glowworm2 1 month ago

I'm just glad that the dad didn't actually give them money.

0points

wrludlow , Tima Miroshnichenko / Pexels Report

"I mean if you look at history, many artists, musical artists for example, were told that they have no talent, they have nothing unique, their songs are terrible, they should stop pursuing their goals," Screener continued. "Most of the people who tell them these things are ones that I just described: ones who propose a personal opinion, a subjective take, but propose it as if it's an objective reality and you should surrender from pursuing your goals."

"Countless times these people have been wrong, which is why I came with the philosophy that you should absolutely not give a [crap] about anyone's criticism of your art form," the author says. "Pay no attention to critics, opinions, nothing, just do your thing without allowing anyone to interfere with your process or outcome. Once you do that, not only you win as an artist, but you become closer to achieving uniqueness and ultimately discovering your true self and who you are as an artist."

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments There was a rule at my job where only one of these two supervisors could be off at a time. One of them loved to take a full week off work during holidays, to get more bang for his PTO buck.

One year, he had Thanksgiving week off, but the other supervisor had family come to town that week on late notice. The other supervisor asked him to cancel just one of his days so she could spend the day with family. He declined, even after she basically begged him, and he even said he didn't have anything to do that day...

She then proceeded to take pto days every Wednesday of a holiday week for the next calendar year, effectively blocking him from taking his cheap weeks off.

He told me that he thought it was funny because he knew she didn't have enough time to take all those vacation days off, and she'd eventually have to cancel some of them. I got to tell him, "I hate to break it to you, but she only took 2 hours off each of those days." See, the rule didn't differentiate between a partial or whole day, so she only had to burn 24 or so hours to block him. He looked devastated.

It was kind of petty on both of their parts, but I give her credit for being creative in her retribution and don't blame her a bit for what she did.

Final score:

205points

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Marianne 1 month ago

Where I work, it's mandatory that we discuss vacation time in our team and you're only allowed to take days off when the team agrees, so that we can always find fair solutions, especially around holidays.

43points

cpt_jerkface , Kampus Production / Pexels Report

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments I used to work in a customer care call centre for a major telecommunications company. A woman called in one day to inquire about two 99$ charges on her bill from LavaLife. She kept pressing about the charges, what they were, and I had to explain to her that LavaLife is a dating service and that the charges were legitimate. If she didn't make them, did someone else live in her house who might have? There was only her husband, and I heard her go from '...But he would never...' to 'I have to go now' as it set in.

That was almost 20 years ago now and I still feel awful about it. .

Final score:

197points

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Full of Giggles 1 month ago

Poor lady.

93points

OkReflection4620 , pch.vector / Freepik Report

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments An employee confidend in me that she contracted gonorrhea and was talking about how she got it from the toilet seat at work because she is monogamous with her husband.

I was like girl he ain’t monogamous with you.

Final score:

191points

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Hphizzle 1 month ago

There’s a reason it’s an STI and not TSI (toilet seat infection).

133points

cornisgood13 , DC Studio / Freepik Report

We also asked the OP if they believe that there's ever a good way to deliver bad news. "If humans had any level of decency, the scenarios would go something like this: so based on the previous example, if I had to confront someone who asked for an opinion, I would say, 'I don't think you're funny, but that's my opinion. Millions of people might find you funny, but not me. Do you think of yourself as funny? If yes, then stop giving a [crap] about other people's opinions and keep doing your thing, no matter how many people think of you as funny or unfunny. If what you do is truly unique, makes you happy and you grow as you do it, then do it for that sake, for your own sake!'"

#10

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments It’s part of my job but:
Telling a couple their 15 day old had died overnight and was not able to be resuscitated. Those screams are a sound you can never scrub out of your brain.

Final score:

179points

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Ava Lemar 1 month ago

Just tragic. No other word for it.

90points

nothandomha , KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA / Pexels Report

#11

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments I had to tell my friend that the online "girlfriend" he'd been talking to for months was actually a scammer using stolen photos. He was planning to send her money to come visit, and breaking the news to him was one of the toughest conversations I've ever had.

Final score:

169points

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Alexia 1 month ago

Classic scam. Kudos for protecting your friend

112points

Goldf_sh4 , Isaac Taylor / Pexels Report

#12

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments My sister and her husband had a newborn baby. 4 days old. My sister's husband turned to me and said "he'll sleep soon, right?".

Final score:

165points

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Nadine Debard 1 month ago

Who knows. My son slept at 2 months. My friend's son barely slept at 3 years.

52points

TeacherPatti , Cedric Fauntleroy / Pexels Report

Finally, we asked Screener what they thought of the responses to their post. "I can see that most of the time people mean well, but they have a problem with delivering the message in a creative, civil or positive manner, thus using a socially manufactured phrase as a gateway to deliver news that they struggle to communicate in their own ways," they explained. "This question was simply a leaf from a branch belonging to a tree of philosophy that I'm growing, so I was simply conducting an experiment and the response was absolutely explosive & brilliant!"

#13

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments Having to tell a a student who was almost totally blind that she likely couldn't be an ER nurse. She and her dad moved to our district and at the IEP, her dad starts talking about how he can't wait for "Sue" to go to nursing school. I frantically scanned my brain, trying to think of how someone who was going to need Braille would be able to do that job. Then Sue piped up to say that her dream was to be an ER nurse.

Her prior district told her she could do anything, including this. She had a degenerative disease that would eventually make her blind. I talked to my friends who are nurses, I talked to our career lady at the school, I researched but there just wasn't any way someone who couldn't see could be an ER nurse. I reconvened the IEP and had to explain this. I know both were in denial but I was not happy that the prior district pumped up this idea. I mean, sure, there is lots she could still do but that just wasn't one of them.

Then another student came from the same district with the idea she could be a CSI Investigator. She was also nearly blind.

Final score:

154points

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Pink kitty 1 month ago

I'm all for supporting people to achieve their dreams but giving people false hope is cruel

227points

Cool-Newspapers , Keira Burton / Pexels Report

#14

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments Oof, definitely the time I had to tell a friend that the business opportunity.... he was so excited about was actually a pyramid scheme. He was *so* hyped, talking about how he was going to quit his job and be his own boss. I tried to ease into it, but there’s really no soft way to say, Hey man, you’re about to lose a lot of money and ruin your friendships.

Final score:

148points

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Bat cat in a hat 1 month ago

I've lost a very good friend through mlm - she lied about having a big birthday bash, I even brought along a couple of friends from Uni, and it was a recruitment event. Never spoke to her again.

59points

FingerSlamGrandpa , RDNE Stock project / Pexels Report

#15

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments My best friend in high school was over weight and would sweat profusely. We would come in after lunch in Texas and he would smell awful. I think he would wear his clothes without washing them after sweating. We had english after and the ac sucked so teacher put a fun in the window. He would sit in front of the fan and blow his funk over everyone. The class got together and voted that I should be the one to tell him. Well I had to break it to him that for the last year he has smelled horribly. I felt pretty bad but he never stunk again.

Final score:

146points

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Heffalump 1 month ago

I think I like that he didn't get told by some AH shouting at him, but the class actually gave telling him some thought, and delegated his friend to tell him.

157points

own_pleasure777 , RDNE Stock project / Pexels Report

#16

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments I hate to break it to you, but the hardest moment was telling my best friend that their partner was cheating. They were so in love and completely blinded by it, and when I broke the news, it shattered their world. It even strained our friendship for a while because sometimes, even when you're trying to help, the truth is too painful to accept.

Final score:

144points

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Sue Denham 1 month ago

You were being a good friend by telling her, even if she didn't want to hear it.

61points

ImNotRacistBuuuut , Laker / Pexels Report

#17

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments Fifteen years ago, my friend's father sadly passed away shortly after we graduated college. It was devastating for him. He figured he'd at least get a nice money boost to help him get back on his feet, but unfortunately, his father kept it a secret that he was deep deep in debt and had no liquid cash to his name. My friend had no support, and fell into a terrible depression. He was broke, he couch-crashed with me and our friends for a while, he quit his job...

...and he got comfortable with this new lifestyle.

Two years later, he's still spending a month here and there with various friends around the city, eating their food, occupying their couch, sipping off their booze cabinet, using the terrible tragic passing of his father as his reasoning for being the way he was. It had been two years, we understood the pain he felt was real, but it was really time for him to actually get back on his feet and taking care of himself. We didn't know how to explain it to him, but we all felt he was taking advantage of us, and was using his father's death as an excuse to just not get a job.

I found him a job. A nice one. One he would be good at, he went to school for, and didn't need prior work experience. I talked to a team lead and an HR rep, and got him a contact line for them, basically assuring an interview and a job offer if he arrived on time and sober.

Weeks later, my HR rep and this team lead were confused, thinking I didn't relay the information to him. He never called. I gave him a layup of a job opportunity and he just ignored it outright.

I called him out on it, but he told me to calm down and chill out, and that I wasn't being sensitive to his depression, and I wasn't understanding of his needs.

So my worst "I hate to break it to you" moment...wasn't actually with him. It was with all my friends afterward. I had to tell them all to turn him down every time he asked to stay a week at their place. It sucked. The timing and my response to his refusal would give it away. This guy knew I was the horrible jerk who turned all his "friends" against him and denied him free room and board, hell I was probably going to be the sole reason he'd blame for his inevitable descent into homelessness. I accepted the burden, and called them up, explaining I had a job lined up for him and he refused, and we must all stop giving him a free place to stay if he won't take an easy job.

Yes, it sucks his dad died. And it sucks he didn't get any kind of inheritance to start his life proper. It sucks he felt this terrible depression that lingered for years, and most of all, it sucks he had a group of enabling friends like me who humored it for so long it just became his accepted norm. We failed him.

He didn't end up homeless, though. Without us offering his jobless butt a couch to crash on anymore, he ended up moving in with his aunt. Apparently she didn't take his excuses, didn't put up with his laziness, and did all the things we should've been doing all along. No booze allowed. No weed. No gaming after she went to bed. She only had one TV in the house and it was for Food Network only.

He got a job developing 3d assets for VR titles, and started moving up and up creating VR Experiences for architecture companies. Dude still hates me probably, and I'll admit I made mistakes to justify it. But I'm really grateful his aunt was there. I did what I needed to do, but it would've been even 10-times worse if he did end up living on the streets, still blaming his father's sudden death for his two-decade-long predicament.

Final score:

137points

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Stephanie Did It 1 month ago

You had his best interests at heart and your actions led to his breaking out of the bad pattern. It's okay and you don't need to beat yourself up. Over time he will realize how he was helped by you, his friend.

77points

RareBeautyOnEtsy , Yan Krukau / Pexels Report

#18

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments I have two. The first one was having to tell my father and my brother‘s girlfriend that my brother had been in a bad automobile accident, that my cousin who had been with him, was dead, and my brother was in a coma in a hospital three hours away.

The second one was when I had to tell my mother that my sister was sleeping with my mother’s boyfriend. That was a tough one. And yes, I was 100% sure, because they did it in front of me.

Final score:

128points

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Ava Lemar 1 month ago

Whaaaaaat???

50points

LifeApprentice , DC Studio / Freepik Report

#19

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments I told a gentleman with acute mesenteric ischemia that it was going to k*ll him. He told me that he’d had a good life, and if it was going to k*ll him in the next year or so, then he could accept that. I said, “this will k*ll you today, within the next 24 hours or so.”.

Final score:

127points

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Bay Bo 1 month ago

Oh dear, that went dark too quickly

83points

#20

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments My Primary Care Doctor who told me I have anxiety and exagerrate my health symptoms...when I got to tell her I saw an endocrinologist on my own (luckily with my insurance I didn't require a referral) and was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder.

Elliejq88 , freepik Report

Final score:

120points

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Nina 1 month ago

Really hope the doctor learned from that

50points

#21

My friend has been constantly complaining about her husband. I visited them for a couple of weeks and I had to break to her that she is the problem, like massively so. I genuinely felt sorry for her husband by the time I left. The man gets both verbally and emotionally abused constantly. I told him he should report her to the police if she ever hit him again cause honestly, the situation is completely out of control. Even more out of control than she is, she needs a couple nights in jail to rethink her choices tbh.

ThrowRA31263 Report

Final score:

120points

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LB 1 month ago

There's no update on Reddit about if this person is still a friend.

30points

IDriveLikeYourMom , Athena Sandrini / Pexels Report

#22

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments Had a friend ask me about some green sign in the distance. It was in fact a sodium vapour sign giving off an intense orange light which sodium vapour is known for. Had to tell him right there that he was colour blind. He was in his mid thirties too. A lot of odd things that had happened in his past fell into place for him that day.

Final score:

117points

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Learner Panda 1 month ago

My hubby was diagnosed at nursery school. They couldn't figure out why he wasn't learning his colours.

39points

Celefalas , Gioele Fazzeri / Pexels Report

#23

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments When I got the call that my mom had passed they wouldn't say that she had passed, or that she had died, they kept saying medical things like, she doesn't have a pulse, she is not breathing, etc - it took a long time to understand that they were saying she was gone, and that it was final.

Final score:

112points

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B 1 month ago

When my brother died, I was there, along with his wife and a nurse. She had turned off the sound of the machines so they wouldn't disturb. At a certain point, numbers stopped appearing on the screen, so I wasn't sure of his death. I just looked at the nurse and I don't know what face I must have made, but she with a lot of pain in her eyes could only nod, without saying anything. I really admire healthcare workers who are faced with this kind of situation and have the skill and humility to know how to react and communicate.

105points

Petty_Paw_Printz , cottonbro studio / Pexels Report

#24

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments Not me but my Ex a couple years ago got a job as a cook working at a big Hospital. They had a mostly set and reoccurring cycle of dishes/ items in Golden-Corral style stations around the cafeteria. Basic b***h food dressed up or pre-prepped. Nothing too fancy.
His first month he became familiar with some of the Residents/ Doctors who would make small talk and shoot the s**t with him as he loaded up their plates.
One of these Doctors was a man originally from India who was very enthusiastic about the Country Fried Chicken smothered in Pepper Gravy. He said it was his favorite dish out of anything else there and it wasn't uncommon for him to stop by at the end of his shift to purchase extra to take home.
My Partner's first time working the Entree station the Doctor pointed and asked my Partner for his usual Country Fried Chicken.
My Partner stared at him confused.
They didn't serve Country fried chicken. But they *do* have Chicken Fried Steak.
When he nonchalantly informed the Doctor of this, the man's eyes went wide, he looked genuinely shocked "This isn't chicken?!"
My partner described the expression on his face as going from jarred and baffled to so, so sad when he realized he had been eating beef this entire time. But also that it had tasted so delicious.
Apparently despite eating other types of meat, the man was still deeply tied to his Hindu roots and avoided Beef in his regular diet because of this. The previous cook before him had mistaken these ambiguous meat patties smothered in thick gravy for chicken so wires got crossed and he then relayed that incorrect information to the Doctor.
I still cringe when I think about this. Ex felt so sad he had to be the one to tell him.

Final score:

111points

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Manana Man 1 month ago

Basic b***h food?

34points

#25

I was travelling for work in Australia. Let's say I was commuting between Perth and Sydney and back again. The back again flight was at stupid o clock, requiring me to get up at 3am to leave at 4am to be at the airport by 5am. I was groggy and moving on autopilot. I stopped to buy a coffee at an airport kiosk and the barista asked me ... where are you flying to today? I sleepily replied 'to Sydney' and the guy looked stunned. He said 'I hate to break it to you, but you ARE in Sydney.'.

Molloney178 Report

Final score:

109points

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Bay Bo 1 month ago

Ooof , I hope u finally got some sleep

36points

Avocado-Toast-93 , Luke Miller / Pexels Report

#26

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments My sister in law. My niece plays field hockey and I love her. She plays in two different leagues. Meaning it’s 3 hours of field hockey games every Saturday and Sunday. My SIL expected me and my husband to drive an hour one way both days to watch niece play and pay rapt attention the whole time. Did I mention the games are at 7 am? We did this about once a month on either Saturday or Sunday and I guess this wasn’t enough for her.

We had to tell her that we loved Niece but we weren’t going to be as involved as she was in the league.

Final score:

103points

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Ava Lemar 1 month ago

Thats what Facetime and Zoom are good for.

11points

#27

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments I had to tell my husband his ex-wife died. I felt so bad for him, but I assured him it’s okay to be sad and that he should attend her memorial.

barbie399 , Alex Green / Pexels Report

Final score:

100points

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Stephanie Did It 1 month ago

I had to tell my husband that his current mistress died. I answered the phone that evening, and a young man asked for my husband by name. He then explained that he was calling to tell Husband that his mother (the mistress) had passed in a car accident. I had been told the affair was over. I handed him the phone and said "It's for you." Then I had to sit there and watch him burst into tears.

101points

fastfrank001 , Maycon Marmo / Pexels Report

#28

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments I found out my friends girlfriend had Hep C. Her cousin told me she had it and she was not going to tell him. No one else would tell him so I called and told him.

It was Valentines day, awkward.

Final score:

98points

POST

The Doom Song 1 month ago

Good on you for telling your friend.

55points

#29

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments Recently, a friend on Facebook mentioned how she was pro-life, but still thought women had the right to choose. I had to break it to her that if that’s her stance, she’s pro-choice. She deleted the post.

kbrown423 , Yan Krukau / Pexels Report

Final score:

95points

POST

CK 1 month ago

But the terms "pro life" and "pro choice" are kind of reductive, because a lot of opinions fall somewhere in between.

55points

#30

I had an employee who was a strict vegetarian for religious reasons. One day, we were discussing the employee salad bar and he mentioned how much he loved the Caesar dressing packets they offered. I was surprised and stupidly blurted out, "Oh, I didn't realize you ate fish!" He responded that he was vegetarian and gave me a quizzical look. I had to explain that the salad dressing contained both fish and Parmesan cheese, which is almost always cultured with animal rennet.

He didn't believe me and, the next day, insisted on reading the ingredients on one of the packets to me to prove to me that I was wrong. Then he got to the anchovies and got quiet.

I still feel awful that he had to find out that way. Neither of us handled the situation well. .

primordialpaunch Report

Final score:

94points

POST

LB 1 month ago

If he feels that strongly about being vegetarian he should have been reading the packaging, it's kinda part of the deal.

167points

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

See Also on Bored Panda

Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

#31

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments Lol, I had to tell this girl that my boyfriend she was crushing on was... well, my boyfriend. She kept talking about how cute he was, and I was like, ‘I hate to break it to you, but he’s taken... by me.’ The awkward silence after that was priceless.

CeceSmutt , Mental Health America (MHA) / Pexels Report

Final score:

92points

POST

ShaZam 1 month ago

There isn't much you can say after that comment.

23points

RecognitionEast1278 Report

#32

I was crossing the road at Great Portland Street when I heard a screeching of brakes. I turned around to see a dude flying through the air. It all happened in slow motion.

I got to him quickly and checked him over. He said, "I'm going skiing tomorrow." I said 'no, you're not," as I found the bottom half of his leg was snapped clean in half. Had to phone his wife and break the news.

Final score:

92points

POST

Bay Bo 1 month ago

Holy s**t, no you're not 🥶.

26points

#33

I explained to my girlfriend what hospice was and what it meant for her grandfather.

enocenip Report

Final score:

92points

POST

Pink kitty 1 month ago (edited)

I had to explain to a coworker once what hospice was. He'd been diagnosed with cancer and the doctors made him an appointment to discuss hospice care. The coworker thought it was a good thing like going to a holiday place and was excited

66points

Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 24 Photos Of Regular Visitors (New Pics)

See Also on Bored Panda

“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

#34

Sister's a victim of her own impulsivity. She really likes new cars, and will roll negative equity into a new car. Then she'll get bored of it, stop maintaining it, trade it in for a loss, and have an even bigger loan. And this was back when loans were pretty much free, and they could finance anybody.

So she called me up all excited because she found a new truck, got approved for financing, and was on the way to go buy it. So I went to meet her there, big V8 full size pickup truck. For a woman working part time and living in a congested city.

"Why do you want this?"

"My kids need a place to transport their bikes! And I want to go camping!"

So I test drove it with her, salesman was doing everything in his power to make the sale, and fair enough, he's not a financial advisor, he doesn't need to deal with the fall-out.

But right there in the showroom, I had to tell her that look, this is an awful idea, you can't afford this. It's going to be a huge burden on you, and you need to walk away.

Thankfully, she did. Salesman would have punched me if he could have gotten away with it, he was seething mad.

lazarus870 Report

Final score:

92points

POST

Pyla 1 month ago

Trucks are so expensive. Plus once you are in that realm, the add-ons seem cheap, so they get piled on. It's not uncommon to have car payments that are $800-1200/month. I was going to say rivaled your rent, but that ship has sailed. Trying to buy a used rig is hard because of all the price jacking add-ons. And because they are trucks, in the US at least, they aren't required to have the same safety standards as sedans.

16points

50 Of The Most Incredible Shots That Were Submitted To The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

See Also on Bored Panda

French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

#35

I once had to tell a friend that the "crypto expert" he hired was actually part of a pyramid scheme. He stared at me in silence for a few seconds before saying, "I already invested everything.

miamoonof Report

Final score:

90points

POST

Pink kitty 1 month ago

😬

35points

#36

My uncle called me to ask where my mom was. I told him she went to look at my grandfather's body. Apparently he didn't know his father had passed yet. That was pretty awkward.

MGsubbie Report

Final score:

87points

POST

Bay Bo 1 month ago

I'm guessing I were in a state of shock

11points

confusedmaybechemist Report

#37

A friend of mine unironically thought that he was the first person ever to experience existentialism - he literally said that no one ever talks about how small we are in the grand scope of the universe and kept saying that no one else ever wants to talk about the meaning of life. I felt too bad to explain to him that the concept of how small we are in relation to our world has literally been one of the backbones of philosophy for centuries.

Final score:

85points

POST

Pandarosa 1 month ago (edited)

My ex-fiance had an operation where he was given ketamine to "go under", later he was excitedly telling me how he'd met the universe, understood why we were here, how we're all interconnected, etc etc. I just let him enjoy it. He didn't mention 42 though, much to my disappointment ....

117points

Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

See Also on Bored Panda

Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

#38

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments Freshman year of college a friend said that he was going to go barefoot as much as possible to toughen up his feet so that his future kids would be born with tough feet too. Had to explain to him why that wouldn’t work and the basics of genetics. He didn’t believe me and stuck with his theory. We have since lost touch but I know he had a son a few years ago. I’ll have to ask him if it worked out….

Juxie , Gabriela Mendes / Pexels Report

Final score:

84points

POST

Stephanie Did It 1 month ago

And so many women convinced their kids will inherit their nose jobs...

79points

swishymuffinzzz , ANTONI SHKRABA production / Pexels Report

#39

People Share 45 Uneasy, Sad, And Painful “I Hate To Break It To You” Moments Not me but I went to visit my dad at his job and he has an employee there who was kind of bragging to his other co workers about how well he has been doing at the job and thinking of asking for promotion.

My dad later told me that he fired that guy later that day due to poor performance despite multiple attempts to help him lol.

Final score:

80points

POST

Savahax 1 month ago

It's the same guy from a few posts up

128points

Woman Refuses To Chip In For Babysitting Because She Doesn’t Even Have Kids, Asks If She’s A Jerk

See Also on Bored Panda

“This Breaks My Heart”: People Stunned—And Angry—After Woman Buys Lost Luggage From Airport

#40

My brother calling me to tell me that our sister was in the hospital after a hit and run. Then hours later being told that she didn’t make it.

Final_Defenestration Report

Final score:

80points

POST

PunnyPanda 1 month ago (edited)

My mom died early in the morning one day last year after a long hospital stay. Later that day, my nephew called and said, well, you're not going to believe this, but uncle R (my bro) dropped dead an hour ago in his front yard of a heart attack. He was relatively young and healthy, and 3000 miles away. It was 2 days before xmas, which I spent totally alone in my childhood home, 2000 miles from my young kids, that year, trying to finish my mom's unfiled taxes.

6points

#41

I once had to tell a friend that the 'homemade' cookies she proudly brought to a party were just re-packaged store-bought ones we all recognized... The look on her face was priceless, but we still love her! 🍪😅.

ChicGirlVibes Report

Final score:

79points

POST

Roxy222uk 1 month ago

I have no idea why people do this? If you don't have the time, skill, or inclination to make something from scratch - so what?

16points

#42

Hate to break it to you, but you have been on the spectrum your whole life and nobody told you…..enjoy your 30s!

foolishdrunk211 Report

Final score:

74points

POST

Heffalump 1 month ago

It was a huge relief to me. So much was explained.

49points

#43

I was at a tech entrepreneurial meetup back in 2012. I spoke with one guy who was enthusiastically describing his billion dollar idea: an app that people at the gym could use to track their workouts and do challenges. He said there was even a social media potential because people could share their progress.

"You mean like Strava?" I asked, thinking he had perhaps identified a niche market not covered by Strava, Endomondo, and others.

I got a confused "What?" in response. He'd never heard of it. The look on his face when I showed him the app and he saw that his idea had been thoroughly realized for some time was tragic. How he had gotten as far with his idea as he had without finding any existing apps is a mystery to me.

khendron Report

Final score:

73points

POST

Roxy222uk 1 month ago

He didn't go looking because he didn't want to find anything

45points

"I Didn't Start The Dryer": Karen Gets Taught A Lesson After Throwing Out Neighbor's Wet Clothes

See Also on Bored Panda

Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

#44

I had to tell my friend that the girl he had been sexting was actually a guy friend of hers who was sharing screenshots with everyone on campus.

Top-Cryptographer304 Report

Final score:

72points

POST

Ava Lemar 1 month ago

People are mean. Why trick him like that?

75points

#45

It's always telling parents that their kid sucks at the sport they're doing.

The parents drop and run and never see what the kids are doing at workouts and then when the kid gets cut from the top team they complain with s**t like "but I dropped them off 6 times a week for the whole season" and I hit them with the "I hate to break it to you but turning up is not the same as actually working out'.

Zporadik Report

Final score:

72points

POST

Bay Bo 1 month ago

Just maybe the kids didn't want to do these sports... listen to what they wanna do w their extra time

45points

Sensitive-Chemical83 Report

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#46

I had been working on a project for about 10 months. It was finally done. I got to present it to my departments leadership. They loved it. I did a great job. They wanted to flow it up.

I ended up presenting to the president of the company. A highlight in my early career for sure.

I went and did the presentation, all 5 people in the chain of command between me and the president were there. Along with a lot of the other senior leadership in the company. The president seemed pleased with the presentation. I thought it was great.

We were apparently the last thing in the meeting so everyone was dismissed, then he asked me, my boss's boss, and our Sr. Director to stay behind. He told us we did some great work on this, but to not continue any work, there was going to be a strategic shift and this project would not be finished.

Kinda stung, almost a year of my labor, a total waste.

Maybe unsurprisingly, about a month later there were layoffs. I took the buyout. I wasn't feeling super secure in my position anymore.

Final score:

35points

POST

Schmebulock 1 month ago (edited)

Worked on a project for about 5 years. The company got bought and they canceled the whole thing. Millions of dollars and thousands of hours were wasted, but the severance package was very good.

5points

“All Three Shot Out Pink”: Triplets' Baby Shower Turns Sour, Pregnant Wife Wants A Divorce

See Also on Bored Panda

College Student Does Exactly As Told After Roommates Demand They Keep Their Stuff In Their Room

#47

Had to be the one to tell my wife that her favorite uncle died about 90 minutes before we walked down the aisle. She took it extremely well in the moment, but then it all sunk in a few hours later.

clearthezone15 Report

Final score:

32points

POST

René Sauer 1 month ago

why not tell her afterwards? Let her enjoy her own wedding without that weighing on her.

33points

#48

A co-worker of mine doesn't know the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. My child has type 1, and he's upset that "it's a disease we created" and "will she grow out of it"

1. Type 2 is one that "*we created*" because people eat too much sugar (over simplifying)
2. No she won't grow out of her pancreas not making insulin.

Lankgren Report

Final score:

30points

POST

Heras buddy 1 month ago

Type 2 can be inherited. If 1 parent has it you have I believe a40% chance of it. Your diet can contribute to your chance. We didn't create it. Some women develop it during pregnancy. Also you never outgrow type 2 either. 35 years with type 2.

13points

#49

Daughter of my mom's closest friend. When she floated the idea of owning a dog, I told her that since she has dog allergy, she should not get any dogs. She proceeded to ignore the advice and get 3 dogs just because they are cute, one of them love to climb into her bed every night. After 3 years of complaining about headache, fatigue, constant runny nose and skin problems, I finally have a "I hate to break it to you moment" with her and she finally believed me and decided to give the dogs to her maid (it was a longer story than that, she first tested it by banishing that dog from her bedroom, then eventually restricting them to just the ground floor, and her symptoms keep improving after each attempt). Her symptoms vanished within 3 months.

VivaVoceVignette Report

Final score:

26points

POST

Pandarosa 1 month ago

Poor dogs!

37points

#50

When I had to tell my dad his cancer returned.

schlomo31 Report

Final score:

26points

POST

Roxy222uk 1 month ago

What? Why was a medical professional sharing confidential information with someone else?

9points

#51

3 friends and I applied to the same university. I remember that the day the results came out one of my friends was traveling and had no internet access. But we still communicated by pager. It was hard to tell my friend on his trip that he did not get into the university.

jelly_cute165 Report

Final score:

24points

POST

René Sauer 1 month ago

Tell him after his return, then.

10points

classy_portuguesa445 Report

#52

Oof, I had to tell my friend her "designer" bag was a fake after she spent way too much on it. She had no clue, and I felt so bad breaking it to her, but I didn’t want her to keep bragging about it 😬. Definitely an awkward moment!

Final score:

21points

POST

Patricia Steward 1 month ago

Designer bags are a waste of money and are frequently fugly.

28points

#53

Telling a girl, that was a friend of mine, that her new boyfriend, who was also a friend of mine.

Wasn't attracted to her until she would lose weight. And his goal is to get you to lose weight. Cause he said he knows you'll be knock out then.

She didn't believe me.

A month later, she said she can't believe it's true, and wished she would have believed me. He left her cause he told her she wasn't losing weight.

LordHelmet47 Report

Final score:

20points

POST

Annik Perrot 1 month ago

Good riddance. Sounds like an abusive j*erk.

37points

#54

My current Project manager

We'd been selecting a new software for almost a year and was in the meantime assorted to a more boring project.

After a year we'd finally kicked off and about a week in she took me into a meeting room apart.

"There's been a merge, the project is called off".

SpidermanBread Report

Final score:

19points

POST

Schmebulock 1 month ago

Been there, done that.

2points

Mean_Amphibian1496 Report

#55

I was the one being "breaked" to.

In university, I was with a group of classmates and briefly ranted about how annoying it was when people recorded and posted countless, seemingly infinitely long video clips of concerts they attended.

Awkward silence, then two of the people there "jokingly" said they felt a bit personally attacked, chuckled and said something like "I want my friends to be able to see many different parts of the concerts."

But I don't regret anything. Stand for what I said and weren't close to anyone there.

Final score:

-3points

POST

LB 1 month ago

Meh, that's not a "breaking to" moment, just awkward

21points

Howdy, I'm Adelaide! I'm originally from Texas, but after graduating from university with an acting degree, I relocated to sunny Los Angeles for a while. I then got a serious bite from the travel bug and found myself moving to Sweden and England before settling in Lithuania about two years ago. I'm passionate about animal welfare, sustainability and eating delicious food. But as you can see, I cover a wide range of topics including drama, internet trends and hilarious memes. I can easily be won over with a Seinfeld reference, vegan pastry or glass of fresh cold brew. And during my free time, I can usually be seen strolling through a park, playing tennis or baking something tasty.

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I'm a visual editor at Bored Panda. I kickstart my day with a mug of coffee bigger than my head, ready to tackle Photoshop. I navigate through the digital jungle with finesse, fueled by bamboo breaks and caffeine kicks. When the workday winds down, you might catch me devouring bamboo snacks while binging on the latest TV show, gaming or I could be out in nature, soaking up the tranquility and communing with my inner panda.

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What do you think ?

POST

ThisIsMe 1 month ago

I told the husband of one of my dearest friends that his wife was sneaking out at night to go to bars alone to drink, and that two other of our "friends" were covering for her. I then wrote her a letter saying how much I loved her and worried about her, but understood if she never spoke to me again. She called me the night before she left for rehab, still hurt and angry but acknowledging that her mother had pointed out how much I must care to put myself in that position. When she got back from rehab, she was a new person and thanked me for saving her life. Unfortunately the damage was done to her marriage, but she eventually met another man and led her best, sober life. Several years later, COVID took her, but I swear I feel her with me every day.

22points

XenoMurph 1 month ago

My brother and his fiancee were planning their wedding. They decided to delay the wedding for about 6 months until my mother had finished her chemo treatment and was feeling better. I had to let them know that if they wanted her at the wedding, they needed to move the wedding forward.

18points

Stephanie Did It 1 month ago (edited)

After finding my four missing half sisters which took all of 40 years (1982-2022), my next-youngest sister told us she had been told by her adoptive parents that our mother had to give her up because she was struggling to feed her and had been arrested for writing bad checks just to care for her. I had to be the one to tell her that she was taken away because our mother had shaken her nearly to death.

15points

Pandarosa 1 month ago

Ooof, I can somewhat relate, my younger siblings missed a lot of the shittier behaviour of my father because they were too young too understand. One is now asking questions, I'll be honest but very careful of their feelings. It's hard to be the knowledge keeper sometimes x

7points

Westend Revolver 1 month ago

I finally have time to do what I've always wanted: write the great American novel. Mine is about a futuristic amusement park where dinosaurs are brought to life through advanced cloning techniques. I call it "Billy and the Cloneasaurus."

10points

XenoMurph 1 month ago

I hate to break it to you....

15points

Daisy1355 1 month ago

I have a similar thing. I was writing a novel and I was telling my best friend the plot... and he was like "dude you're just describing Nightmare on Elm Street". I had never seen it, knew nothing about it beyond what Freddy looked like. We watched them together and although it wasn't an exact rip off, it was similar enough for me to have to go back to the drawing board.

1point

Stephanie Did It 1 month ago

Methinks you have the wrong post here.

0points

Cee Cee 1 month ago

I used to manage a homeless hostel. One of the staff a pretty naive young woman came to me for advice. A colleague also female was spending a lot of time at the young girl's home. She just kept going there, staying late etc. I had to explain that she was being stalked/groomed. If it continued I said she should note everything and call the police. She didn't believe me. Sure enough it escalated and the police had to intervene.

7points

Sergio Bicerra 1 month ago

Have a friend, very very nice guy, the one who doesn't drink a saturday night just to drive your drunken a*s home. I had to tell him the girl he was seeing wasn't actually sick those same saturdays she wouldn't hang with us, but f**ing a guy she had a crush on. A few weeks later had to tell him she didn't actually wanted to hang with him again cause she felt for him but because the other guy didn't wanted nothing serious with her.

5points

Amber White 1 month ago

I’m not sure what’s going on, for years I’ve come on boredpanda to feel better and learn interesting things happening- now there’s more and more stories that are downers like this one, gadgets and gizmos to buy and celebrity gossip.

3points

B Jones 1 month ago

Click bait exists because it works and people love drama. And someone has to pay the bills. At least the product articles I know are ads and can choose to view or not.

0points

Tele Avision 1 month ago

I had to tell my best friend that the woman he had just met was really a man. He told me he is Bi-Sexual and now he has the best of both worlds.

2points

FrogMan 1 month ago

My next door neighbor is 95 and has severe dementia. Every day, he comes over and asks if I’ve seen his wife, that he can’t find her and it’s time for lunch. And every day, I have to tell him that his wife passed away a few years ago. I used to feel terrible about this, but it’s all worth it when I see the huge smile on his face.—Anthony Jeselnick

1point

BookFanatic 1 month ago

Freshman year of college, our friend group had to tell one of the girls that her boyfriend had been cheating on her...with another friend in our group...and we all knew about it for a couple months. It's been decades...and I still feel terrible.

1point

Catherine Hutt 1 month ago

I was the Music Director at a parish church, which meant coordinating and directing two choirs, organizing music for weddings, funerals, and special services, etc. One morning at 7:00 I got a call from a woman I knew, telling me that her son had been killed in an accident a few hours before and would I please look after the music for his funeral. I could tell by her voice that she was barely hanging on, doing the simple things she could do for his funeral so she wouldn’t have to think about his death. I assured and reassured her that I would make certain that the music was perfect. When I called the organist later that day, I completely lost it on the phone.

0points

Mary 1 month ago

At Ob/Gyn clinic. Had a woman coming in for her pregnancy. She came for the check-up and had an ultrasound. The moment the doctor put the ultrasound head on her belly I froze... There was no heartbeat... Telling her was one of the hardest things I ever experienced... She completely broke down and we had to call a psychiatrist to support her on her loss.

0points

duckie 1 month ago

I once phoned HR because my boss had said something weird about me not being able to take as many vacation days as I had arranged with her. HR said, "yes, because of your termination". When I asked what termination, she was mortified. My boss literally hadn't told me. The termination arrived by letter the day after.

0points

POST

ThisIsMe 1 month ago

22points

XenoMurph 1 month ago

18points

Stephanie Did It 1 month ago (edited)

15points

Pandarosa 1 month ago

7points

Westend Revolver 1 month ago

10points

XenoMurph 1 month ago

I hate to break it to you....

15points

Daisy1355 1 month ago

1point

Stephanie Did It 1 month ago

Methinks you have the wrong post here.

0points

Cee Cee 1 month ago

7points

Sergio Bicerra 1 month ago

5points

Amber White 1 month ago

3points

B Jones 1 month ago

Click bait exists because it works and people love drama. And someone has to pay the bills. At least the product articles I know are ads and can choose to view or not.

0points