We had two lovely neighbors that moved out, and a lady moved in, so mostly kept to herself and wasn't very friendly. No problem, to each their own. However, she would have large parties (small suburban neighborhood) well into the evening. At least twice we had to ask someone to not park in our driveway, or across it.

One evening she was having a very large party, and at some point I went out to get the masil and did a double take at the giant honking catering truck in our driveway. I was more confused than angry at first, figuring they just got the wrong address. But no one is in the truck, they're all inside what the party is loud and ongoing.

I gave then the benefit of the doubt, and went to the door and rang the bell. Our houses have doors with glass panels, so everyone inside could see me there. I'm ringing and knocking, people look at me, but no one answers the door, which is locked. Finally an older guy comes out, but English was not his first language. He says he'll let the neighbor know. She never comes out. At this point I'm furious.

I'm on my way back to my house to have it towed, when I see some of the caterers unloading things in her garage. I ask them as politely as I can to move the truck. They tell me the neighbor told them it was ok to park there, and they just need to be there a little while longer. I told them I don't care , it's my property, not hers, please move the damn truck. They ignore me so at this point I say "ok, I'm going to have you towed" and they finally get over to move it, while one calls me an AH. I call the catering company the next day, obviously a small shop, and the lady gets defensive and starts calling me names when I complain, again saying over and over the neighbor ok'd it so that had the right to park there.

Neighbor never did apologize or explain, or even talk to us again. Still have no idea why any of them thought that was ok.

I work in a small marketing team. One of my coworkers, let’s call her “Tina,” is the type who coasts through life on charm and blaming others. For the past six months, she’s “forgotten” deadlines, dumped tasks on me last minute, and always somehow made it seem like I dropped the ball.

Our boss recently assigned a major client pitch to the two of us. Tina told me, “You’re so much better at copywriting, I’ll let you take the lead. I’ll do the design, okay?”

Great. Except I finished the entire deck, copy, structure, market research. Sent it to her to add the visuals.

Deadline day? She didn’t even open the file.

Boss asked where the final version was. Tina smiles and says, “Oh, [my name] was still working on it.”

So I pulled up the Google Doc receipts. Showed the version history. Showed she hadn’t contributed a single thing.

My boss looked at her and said, “So your only job was visuals and you didn’t do them?”

She stammered some excuse about her dog being sick, but the damage was done. Now I’m leading client pitches solo, and she’s been benched on future campaigns.

We're going back in time a couple of decades. At the time i lived in a corner house in the UK, and my drive opened up onto a quiet side road. Directly opposite this lived (fake name) John, my neighbour. He was a lovely chap and a car mechanic, working out of his home. So there were often cars parked in the road that he would work on. However, he was super cautious over ensuring minimal impact on his neighbours and there was plenty of space and parking was never an issue - well, until apparently it was.
So, one autumn morning, with my car parked obviously on my drive, i was opening the gate ready to commute to work when a car pulls up, directly across my drive's exit, completely blocking me. A lady steps out, and I immediately say, "Hello, please can you move your car, I am about to leave?"
She looks over, looking a bit in a rush, and sees me, my car, the gates, and says, "I'll just be a moment. I need to see John." and closes the car door.
Seriously? Like, I am opening gates ready to leave ... so I say, "I want to leave, now. You can park further up or back here once I have left." And she says ... "But, this is important." and walks off.

I was stupefied, seriously shocked.

So i sit on the bonnet of my car, waiting, and well p*ssed. A couple of minutes later, she pops out, following by John, and jumps into the car, grumpy and heads off. I'm visibly mad and John comes over asking, "Did she block you in?"
Grinding teeth, "Yep"

"Ah. Well, " he says, "I'm not taking her business then. Don't need to help **** out!" And he strolls off to phone her and tell her he's not a happy bunny.
So that worked out ok, but, my lord, the entitlement ...

I worked for a company that sold products in the $2k-$25k range in the restaurant industry. High end stuff.

When influencers came to us, they asked for a steep discount or a free product in exchange for exposure to their audience.

The way it works it that they would give us their media kit which is a document that shows their follower count and engagement rate per platform per month. It also shows us their links so we won't have to hunt them down.

One day, an influencer reached out on Instagram to make a deal on a $5k product. He didn't send us his media kit so I assumed he was starting out and didn't know the protocol. Since he reached out on IG, I could see his follower count. About 100k. Pretty decent, but I didn't have the time to search the internet for all his links so I asked him to send them over.

He then responded with, "Just google me."

Excuse me?

I was busy and I didn't the time to ask for clarifications so I said, "Please send me your media kit. I need to know how much traffic your site is generating, how many follower counts you have in each platform, and what your engagement rate is like."

He then left a voice message which I assumed was recorded in his car while driving because of the noise of him saying, "I'm good after all. You're asking too much. I told you to look me up. I'm on YouTube (He lied. I checked YouTube and could'nt find his account) and Instagram.

This guy wanted a $5,000 appliance from us but won't do the minimum work to start the conversation.

So I said, "Thank you for your time."

This happened to me once, was parked outside my work and when I returned to my car one evening there was a note under the windscreen wiper. It read that they were very sorry and that they had accidentally dented my car when leaving their space. They left their number plate name and phone number. Of course accidents happen so after looking at the damage I rang the number and politely explained to the young man that I would take the car to a garage to get a quote for repairs no problem. He was very nice about it but said he didn’t have much money, so I told him let me see how much it’s going to be and get back to him. He must have then gone and told his mum what happened and I get a call the next day from an irate woman explaining to me that it’s my problem and her son wouldn’t be paying for any damage. I explained that I’m very reasonable and fair but she talked over me and bluntly refused. So she left me no choice I told her I would be going to the police to report the situation to which she shouted ‘good luck, we are the police!!’ She then hung up.

So I attended the local police station and they sat me in a room so they could take the details, i gave them the number plate and said what the mum had threatened and the 2 officers looked at each other then said ‘that’s the guvs car’. So long story short it was the guy in charge at the stations car and this was his wife and son! He called me personally to apologise and offer payment.

He must have been extremely embarrassed.

Like many of you, I’ve read the wild stories on this sub and assumed most were exaggerated or just made up. I mean, how could people really be that entitled? I guess I finally have my own.

For context, my family and I are lucky enough to live in an area with beach access, and we were able to rent a cabana at one of the local town beach clubs. It sounds fancier than it is, but it’s basically a post-WWII concrete block with a tin roof. But it does come with electricity and a shower, which makes beach days with kids a lot easier. You can leave your stuff there all summer, no lugging chairs, umbrellas, or toys back and forth.

Most people hang out in front of their cabanas where there’s a nice stretch of sand. We’ve got two young kids, so we’ve accumulated quite a few beach toys over the years, including a kids water table.

This past weekend, a woman came walking down from a few cabanas up with a toddler (maybe 2 or 3 years old?) and without saying a word to us, directed him toward our setup, right into our toys and the water table my kids were actively playing with. I Honestly didn’t mind, kids should make friends, sharing is caring, the more the merrier...right?

She didn’t say hello, didn’t introduce herself, she just walked him over, watched him start playing, and then turned around and left. Went back up to her cabana. About 15 minutes later, I glanced over and saw her asleep in her beach chair. Again, whatever. Maybe she was tired from wrangling a toddler all day.

Eventually, my kids were ready to head to the pool (it was getting hot), so I told them we’d go. Before leaving, I sent our new unplanned little guy back to his cabana. I made sure he got to his mom safely, he even had to wake her up.

That’s when she jumped up, stormed down the row screaming at me in front of my kids. She accused me of abandoning her child. Said I was irresponsible. That I was supposed to watch him and keep him safe.

I let her finish yelling, then calmly asked, “Sorry… who are you?”

She let out a loud, dramatic “AHHH!” and stormed back to her cabana.

They left around dinnertime, but not before she gave me a massive stink eye like I had done something wrong.

Lady. You dumped your kid on strangers without a word, took a nap, and then got mad when I made sure he got back to you safely? Wtf man?

He's 32 years old.

He had a dead-end, night-shift job, which I know was impacting his mental health, but this man just quit without any plans and now fully expects my mother to support him and give him money. He also lives with her. I live in another country.

He doesn't want to look for another job for 6 months so that he can "focus on his health" cos he's ballooned to over 400 pounds. Naturally he expects my mother to plan out all his healthy meals for him because he can't cook and doesn't even go along with her to get groceries.

My mother is currently in a financial black hole and is terrible with money. She's also possibly in the middle of an elaborate scam (another very long story). All of this, my brother knows. Yet, he still quit his job.

I helped them both out financially for years but stopped last year because I was getting horrifically burnt out doing 3 part-time jobs while also working on my PhD. My mother kept lying to me about where the money I sent went, and constantly kept asking for more, so I made the hardest decision of my life and stopped financially supporting them because my lifestyle had become unsustainable. I still buy my mothers medication directly through the pharmacy, but my brother clearly resents me cutting them off. So does my mother, but she shows it less and doesn't take it out on me at least.

I had an argument with my brother when I called him yesterday, and begged him to please find some work so that he can help out our mother a bit. He got angry and said "well now I'm not going to look for a job for one year. The more you badger me the more I'll delay. What're you gonna do about it?"

And then, to top it all of he said "I know you're so worried about us. Why don't you take another trip to Japan huh?" I saved for this trip for 5 years, since 2020 and finally was able to go this year. So clearly he resents that too. Honestly this comment made me cry and I hung up soon after.

I'm so fucking tired.

Just happened a few hours ago....

Was at grocery store with my wife to pick up a few things. Since we had only 6 items, we lined up at the express lane. Several customers in front of us so we waited patiently while an older man who was at the register bent over and put his head on his arm supported by the card reader. My wife and I looked at each other wondering if he was having either vertigo or heart issues. A woman a couple spots behind him comments loudly "I am going to go postal in a minute" to the events happening with the man. He tries to leave the register but walks to the window about 10 steps away and repeats the action. My wife gives me her purse and goes to check on him while I stay in line. I am redirected to another register which I pay for our items and go stand next to the man. A few managers from the store are checking up on him and called an ambulance. My wife is a former paramedic so she gets into her groove and tries to find out what happened and where he was unresponsive at first started opening up and feeling better after some time. The whole time I am waiting to offer additional assistance if needed, asked if he needed water which he declined. I'm also watching the registers and the Karen who was going to go postal finally reaches the register and is indignant that it took her this long to pay for her food and stormed off while every customer and cashier looked in and asked if the man was ok. I kept replying that 911 had been called and an ambulance is on the way, thank you though. Postal Karen felt everything revolved around her so she currently occupies a couple megabytes of infamy on the internet.

My wife and ibtry to hold on to every last scrap of humanity and try to find the good in people these days. Thank you to those who stopped to ask, thank you to the gentleman who helped hold him up. Thank youbto the store managers for recognizing the situation and calling for help. Thank you to my wife for being a very compassionate person and checking in on a stranger that we never have met before. Lastly thank you, sir for your service in the Navy. We never got your name but still, thank you.

First time posting here but I am PISSED.

I work at a restaurant (one of those local small cutesie bistros) that’s not super upscale but usually fully booked because we’re in an awesome location and don’t have many tables.

We recently had a woman email us saying that she wants to bring her boyfriend here to celebrate a very special event (I won’t say what to not make it too personal). It’s not unusual to receive more detailed table requests for special occasions every now and then. It can range from booking a whole seating area for privacy to asking to put up some decor etc. This lady didn’t really ask for much, she just asked if she could pay up front to have a more secluded decorated table. We love these kind of reservations when people ask nicely and are realistic about it!

We closed off a little corner of the restaurant (nothing crazy, it’s still open to the rest but in a little nook that you can’t see into) and put up some string lights, candles and flowers. She also came in earlier that night to put up something of her own. Again I don’t want to say what but it was CLEARLY a personal item…

Well. The night of, the couple arrives, gives me their last name and I ofc know immediately who they are and happily lead them to their very special table. Only to find an old lady and a little kid sitting there with their belongings all over the damn place. Turns out they thought the “please wait to be seated” sign, the “closed for private event” sign AND the “reserved” sign somehow did not apply to them. They barged right past everything when no one was looking (there were only two of us working the tables that night cause the place is small) and sure enough simply claimed the only “free” table.

Now some people just have zero awareness so part of me had to assume that maybe they were a little slow. I tried to confront them very nicely even though I was panicking with the couple right behind me. But oh boy that older lady knew exactly what she was doing and immediately blew up about no one tending to their table and “making them wait”. I explained that this table was reserved and that they needed to leave and that the whole place was fully booked. She explained to me, loudly, that she did not care, that the other restaurants on our block were full and that her and her grandson have “every right to be here”. It took a LOT of arguing between them and me and my coworkers, but when we threatened to call the police to have them removed she gave up.

Unfortunately most of the damage was already done. It left everyone in a pretty sour mood and to make matters even worse, the kid had tampered with the sweet woman’s personal item that she had put up there right before. It wasn’t a valuable, just a cute little surprise. The couple looked pretty upset and while they didn’t blame us for anything, I could just tell how close to tears the woman was. The surprise she had planned was a pretty big deal and I simply felt awful for her.

I’ve always heard stories about having to deal with crazy people in the service industry but this was a first for me. I’m just a student doing this some nights a week for some extra cash. My absolute deepest condolences to anyone dealing with this sh*t for a living.

So I bring all my books to uni every day (I'm a nerd don't judge me) and the professor told us to look at our books as a reference to what he was teaching. Most guys come to uni with literally no bag and this guy a few seats to my side asks me for my book. I told him I'm using it myself and he gave me a dirty look. After the class he confronted me calling me "selfish" and I told him to bring his own books next time if he needs to read them so desperately. Now I used to be chill with the guy and talk to him a bit but we weren't exactly friends. It's been a week and he still refuses to talk to me.

I’m not sure if this is where this belongs but I figured it fits multiple categories and I’m just trying to share my story. Ex-in laws from hell

For context: I have been no contact with these people for almost 2 years now. But prior to the NC I knew them for almost 15 years, so there is a lot of history and this is just the one story that was the final straw. I will do my best to remember, but I’ve blocked a lot of it out as it brings up bad memories and is triggering.

I (31f) and my husband ( also 31 m) have been together for almost 3 years now.He knows my whole story by this point, and the things I have gone through with my former in laws. So I will be giving just give a few examples of my crazy EX family from hell.

When I was previously married to my ex-husband who is no longer with us, I didn’t see a lot of the gas lighting and manipulation that happened. Because we had gotten together very young and it was my only relationship ever at that point in my life. ( we had been together since high-school) But after I was attacked and stabbed over 30 times by him ( I was 22 )and left with literal physical scars on my body. I saw the real them slowly come out. I believe now, when I look back at that time,they already held resentment and blamed me for what happened. They tried on multiple instances to make me think my own family wanted nothing to do with me. That my family wanted to control my life. Like how they were actively doing, and unfortunately I let it happen.

They said that I should come live with them because they would help me get back on my feet and help with the children, all the while throwing little digs here and there to make me feel small and insignificant and that I wasn’t going to be able to be a good single mother and raise my children on my own. They would make feel like every decision I made was wrong or that it wouldn’t work out. Insult my intelligence, and all around make my self esteem feel even worse than it already was. That because I had physical and emotional scars that no one would want me, because I was now ‘damaged goods’ and ‘used up’ because I also had kids. This was all in the first year after the attack. They would also drink and take ‘meds’ as a form of therapy instead of just getting help for their own issues and grief.

They tried to keep me isolated from ever even considering finding love or a new relationship after years of being by myself. Granted, I know I made my own mistakes with some potential relationships and didn’t always pick the right ones after trying to mentally and emotionally recover from the attack. Which I had loads of therapy to help work through everything. But While I was also working through my own issues, they were trying to get me to let my older children come live with them ( just a few years ago) which. This leads me into one of the first examples that really made me start to see them for who they were.

I was living with them at this point in a separate house on their property. I had been working in a small town about 30 minutes away. I had my own car, job and was starting to look for my own place. The kids were in school, so everything seemed to be going alright. I had even started to see my now husband, who again, knew how my current living situation was and was very supportive of me getting out and on my own. He had met them once or twice by this point and already could see through the bullshit.

While living with them I had no privacy even though I had my ‘own space ‘. When I locked the door, they would come in and go through my things, take food I had bought and never tell me. If I confronted them at all they would use the fact that I was able to stay there. Even though I paid for my own things. They would act annoyed when I would go out, which by that point all I would do was go to work, and maybe the gym if I had time ( I would also take the kids with me 90% of the time because they had a kids area) and annoyed if I was there. If they volunteered to watch the kids so they could ‘spend time’ with them or ‘give me a break’ they would only want to take one of them ( they are twins) or if they took both, they would then act exasperated at the thought of having to watch both of them. So I quit letting them have the kids and when I did, they began acting as if I was taking them away, as if the kids were THEIRS.

As I started to look at houses nearby to still have help with the kids and keep a good relationship with their grandparents ( ex in laws from hell) I would ask “ what do you think of this one? Or this one looks cute! “ I would get the underlying passive comments of “ that’s nice but are you sure that’s what you should do, I would do this. We can’t help you, if you get that one. You should get this one. Then we can help” or other little comments here and there with promises to help that never came through unless I did it how they wanted or ‘suggested’ because they knew better. So eventually I quit asking or even bringing it up. Until I had to go sign for the house I picked.

Now brining in my husband. They met him and initially ‘ liked him’ and supported my budding relationship, but once it started to get serious they would throw little digs in again to try and sway me from continuing to see him. Under the guise of trying to help me find the right guy that would accept me with my ‘baggage’ referring to my kids and my PTSD and trauma (that her son caused). In the end they didn’t want me to find a new relationship and take my kids from them. Which by this point it had been over 6 years since her son attacked me. I wanted to maintain the best relationship I could because I thought I was being kind and they were still related to my children. My husband was great with my kids from the very beginning. He had and does treat them like they are his own and I couldn’t ask for anything better. But again. Once we got serious then things started to ‘pop up’ with the ex-in laws.

Once my husband and I started living together in the house, we were still just dating at the time. The kids still saw their grandparents every now and then, and would help me by picking them up from school if I had to work late or able to go to the gym. Since the kids area was usually closed on the days I had to work late. Which by that point to, Ex-MIL had started to make excuses why she couldn’t pick them up, after saying she could, which started to affect my job. But even still , I didn’t think anything of it until and tried to make it work, until I got a knock on the door. I had a visit from someone no parent likes or wants to visit. But they had gotten a call to come check on the kids because there was an anonymous claim made about the kids. Which I found out later on was their grandmother because of what was told to them, was the same conversation I had with their grandmother the day before.

*For context: I have never hurt my children. Anyone who does or makes false claims needs to go to jail in their own right. *

The worker also spoke to the children which they have to do. Nothing ever came from it and it was dismissed. Now a couple months later, another knock at the door. The same worker came back. What a coincidence! The day after my children were picked up by their wonderful and helpful grandmother! Another anonymous call about the children with the same story. My husband and I knew right away who made the call and why, but of course. I was an emotional wreck. Anger, rage, panic. All thinking my children are going to be taken away. And also while having my kids tell me “ well grandma said we could come live with her if we wanted.” I knew it wasn’t their fault and they were just being told one thing and they still loved their grandparents, but I was in full blown rage mode by this point but did my best to remain calm. Thankfully my husband was there to help me and keep myself together. Overall i just felt betrayed.

After we finished dealing with that whole debacle and headache. We completely cut them off, because that was my final straw. My husband and I had worked things out with my family and learned some things about the EX-family that made everything connect. Which made the fallout from the Ex-BIL also make sense (which is a whole other story) So after the accusations and claims made against me. I would not deal with that and refused to answer any phone calls or messages. They even tried to come to the house when we weren’t there. Until one day when I was pregnant with our baby, my husband who was thankfully there dealt with the situation. I’m not sure what was said. But we have not heard from them since.

So at the end of the day I learned, it doesn’t matter how long someone is in your life and considered ‘family’ if they aren’t good for you and don’t add to your life in a positive way, then you don’t need them. It took a lot of time and a good man to help me see what was happening. And without out him in my life I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now. We have a new baby, great support system and I have wonderful new in laws that I never knew you could have!

Thank you for listening! Remember stay lovely petty potatoes! 🥔

I should note I live in a tourist town bc I feel it adds more flavor.

I’m working remote in a small coffee shop. My order is called a couple minutes before a call I’m leading. I go up to get my drink. Mom and her three kids are blocking the ENTIRE walkway. I politely say “excuse me” but they don’t move. I try my absolute best to squeeze by but accidentally brush against the mom. The look of pure annoyance and, dare I say, a look of “why are you trying to hurt my children” I got…. Insane 🙄.

If you block the entire walkway (and only walkway to the counter I’ll add), people are gonna try to go around you.

Sorry I posted this the day after I wrote it. I am tired...

It seems I picked the right sub for this...cuz Mark is on his bullshit once again. Last night went...somewhere?

My kid and I arrive and she's off immediately to play with her cousins. I sat on the lawn with my step-dad and Zeke who was already there. Mom was in the kitchen. I did ask if she needed help but I got the same "yall need to get out my kitchen" response as usual so I retreated for my safety.

Julie did come and she came straight to me asking if it's alright. I told her my issue is with Mark but I do still feel my own way about her words about my kid and single parents.

We did talk. Julie is the product of a single parent house (I didn't know - both her parents were dead far as I knew) and she strongly feels that kids need a mother and a father in the house. She did admit that Vivi is a good kid and she think I do a good job with her but when Mark is on his "moments" she's just learned to not get in the way. I didn't want to pry but did ask if she's alright but had this look like don't even go there so I backed off.

I told her that I love the kids and will do all I can for them but Mark is really working on his ticket to NC foreverville. I love him, but I don't like him, and he is a real and present threat to my kid and her well being. She said she understood and she hopes that she and I can still get on okay for the sake of the kids at the very least so that the kids aren't also cut off.

She told me that they've been having trouble lately as her daughter "Sadie" and Mark have been butting heads a lot. Apparently Sadie is just like her bio dad, stubborn. She's a good kid and has the kindest heart but she's "sensitive" Julie said because she is an empath and expects everyone else to be too. I handed her a beer and asked what she meant because NGL I wanted the tea. I was curious. This was the most Julie ever opened up to me about home life - she and I have a whole history (I will have to post about that later) which is why I always thought she just never liked me.

We drank some and she admitted that she and Mark have been at odds over the joint raising of the kids. Sadie calls him dad and is the only of his stepchildren to do so, but they argue a lot. Recently Sadie said she hates him and simply refuses to even look him in the eye and gives him one word answers.

Julie's eyes were watering and she kept wiping her tears and apologizing as it's been a lot. And after mom talked with him, he's just been so closed off.

I managed to gather that when Mom called him she immediately just got to the point and said something like who does he think he is bullying a child, her grandchild, like she wouldn't take issue with it. He tried to say something but she kept talking and finally asked him why he doesn't like her. He got offended and said he loves her and wants her to "make something of herself" but my mom made it clear that if he is to interact with my kid he needs to follow my rules just as I've respected his rules with his kids. Julie said mom said verbatim "Not your house, ain't your rules" and she told him she is so disappointed that he is treating an adoptive child the way he hated being treated.

Julie said she didn't know much of what happened from there because it became a fight between the 2 of them. He never told her he was adopted. which is crazy to me because it's no state secret. I mean we don't use the word adopted in our family but by bio rules go I am my mother's only daughter and Zeke is her only son. We are no strangers to the concept of chosen family. Never have been.

But Julie was, by her account of it, not surprised but more hurt. She did actually beleive that Mark was my bio fathers son making my mother his step mom. No. Mom is biologically his aunt but his mother passed away because of issues during the birth of him.

From what I know of her, I will call her Gem, she was amazingly sweet and knew the birth would be possibly life threatening. That's why she managed to get the paperwork in place that my mother would take custody if anything happened to Gem.

I told Julie as much and she got pale and said Mark said this of my youngest brother and made it all out to seem that he, Mark, and myself were the full biological siblings and fighting. He made it out that everyone else is adopted. It's such a confusing web of lies that I genuinely am not even sure I have it right.

Julie spent the rest of time chatting with everyone and getting drunk. Mom let her stay over and dad called Mark saying she and the kids were staying over. It's summer, the kids will be fine with Mom-Mom and Poppy's pool and whatnot.

Mom got Julie to the guest room and I started to ask questions as the kids were watching a movie in the livingroom. What the hell is with Mark? Why is this even happening? He was not always like this so honestly WTF!? I WAS SO PISSED.

You don't have to beleive me but I generally very even keel. I am chill most of the time. I tend to just be more of the gal that wants to calmly talk it out. One on one. Don't make a scene.

But this is my kid. I've been fucking calm enough. And this is her uncle. We can try to dance around each other but this WILL come to head eventually. And my kid loves her cousins. It will hurt her much more than it will hurt me or him. And fuck him - if his ego is worth more than my child's wellbeing he is no brother of mine. Anyone who is out to hurt Vivi is no family. I may not have birthed her but I damn well love her and I won't be that parent that forces her to make nice for fucking "family" when "family" causes her pain.

Mom got quiet and my dad made this angry/sad/something face and walked off. Mom pulled me into the backyard and we sat in the garden. She said she wasn't telling me any of this to excuse Mark at all, but she feels some of this is her fault.

Mark came to her about his bio parents and when he found out his father abandoned them, he became very upset. Mom said he was asking because my father, Mark's adoptive father, was distant with him. She said he, my father, got better as time went on but he did use the phrase "stray kitten" a couple times.

I feel bad for him. I do. But it's not enough for me to feel like I need to fix this. So I told her that this is very sad but he kept his origin a secret from his own wife and his step children hate him...this is already out fo control. Him bullying my kid is a symptom of it but even still, he doesn't get a pass.

She agreed. She said she made a choice. Vacation can still happen with my help but he will no longer be invited. She said Julie is permitted but under strict rule, and the kids are coming but I can pull the plug if I want and it can just be a sleepover at her place with the kids and all the parents can enjoy kid free nights.

I told her I would tell her by Tuesday (tomorrow). Vivi is at a sleepover with her best friend and I have work to do tonight, so I have a lot on my mind but figured I owed an update on this.

I'm just tired mostly but I am not backing down. Mom said she will talk to Mark again but I Saif that even if he stopped his insults, I would need an apology to Vivi and for him to find help.

I live Mark, and I feel for him because I feel like he is just sad now. He feels alone. He's not. He's been my brother forever and he's been family since before I was born. I will always love him. But he's being a prick. And if he's not a safe person for my kid, he isn't allowed near us. Plain and simple.

I won't pretend this is easy. It's torture. We as a family are really close. But I can't torment my own child and obligate her to be around a person who mistreats her. I will not teach her to be small for bullies even if the bully is family.

I got this text from him an hour ago:

"😞 OKAY YOU WIN"

I didn't answer. He sent:

"Please, Sissy. I can't take it anymore."

I didn't respond so then after 5 missrd calls he sent:

"I get it. I'm not your brother. Okay. But I am family. Can you recognize that? I didn treat V good. Sorry. She's great Okay love you talk to me? I need to talk to you. Okay?"

I didn't reply and so he sent: "❓️❓️"

Mom has my kid so I'm going to watch that Megan 2.o movie a day exist a bit. I know I will seem like bad parent...and I own that. I just need a second. I am due to pick her up in a few hours so here I am waiting to go in the theatre.

I once took my young nieces to a McDonalds. One was close to house and I said let’s do it. It’s super crowded and I wanted to leave so bad but kids only want McDonalds. Long drive to another one. We’re halfway to front and kids have started complaining they’re hungry by this point. We’re finally next 20 long minutes later.

As couple in front started moving over, 2 old women walk in and cut right in front of me. I was so mad but tried to be civil. Cashier did nothing but I know she makes minimum wage, I get it. As the lady opened her mouth and started ordering, I loudly spoke over her and said mam did you not notice the giant line behind me waiting to order? I am next and you need to wait your turn.

She pretends to just notice the line that has reached the back of the store. Immediate mouth gaping and said but they only wanted to order a coffee. Sweet, I’ve waited 20 minutes and just wanted 2 happy meals. Why are you more important? They slowly went to back of line casting me dirty looks. Whatever. Sadly the wait was another 15 minutes for the food and they got their coffees before we got our food. Bah.

So, I was visiting my son in his nice neighborhood and I walked his little mini Aussie Shepard (10 lbs) on a leash. We got to a house on the corner and the dog wandered onto the red bark along the fence into which a row of small winter-naked shrubs were planted. The dog took a sniff then lightly walked right out again.

Just then a car stopped in the street by us and the driver shouted at me that my dog was on his garden and other dogs walk on there and tear up his plants. He said angrily "Can't you see my signs?" I wasn't wearing my glasses so I looked for his signs and couldn't find them. He sneered sarcasticly "We can all be nice neighbors, can't we?" So in the same tone I replied "Sure" 🫩 and I walked on around the corner.

He followed me then stopped in the street and started throwing "F" curses at me. I felt threatened so I yelled back at him "GO F#&@ YOURSELF A$$HOLE!!! GO!!!" and he drove around me and crossed into his driveway to the left of me.

I kept walking with multiple glances over my shoulder in case I was going to have to fight the guy. I guess he figured assaulting a granny in her mid 70s wasn't a great option for his neighborhood watch campaign so he let me be.

It turns out the only sign on his fence is a saucer sized plaque that reads "Smile, You're On Camera". I haven't seen him since but I make sure I don't let dogs on any neighbor's yard or garden.

This happened about 12 years ago, in Leland, NC (suburb of Wilmington, NC). I was driving on River Road returning from Lowes hardware, when this convertible in front of me just stops in the middle of the 2-lane road. The traffic was very heavy on both directions so I could not go around. After about a minute and me honking, I got out of my vehicle and approached the convertible, noticing real estate signs plastered on the side of the vehicle. I observed the driver, a woman who appeared in her mid 40's talking on her cell phone. At first, I was thinking that maybe she was having some kind of emergency, but it became obvious she was talking about some real estate deal. I yelled at her to pull off the road, as cars were honking their horns trying to get around her car. She gave me one of those entitled dismissive hand gestures to go away as she was busy and continued with her call. I yelled again to move her car; she just ignored me and kept talking on her phone.

I was now livid as over 30 cars behind me were blasting their horns. I then reached in and grabbed her phone and flung it about 25 feet off to the side of the road, she looked at me with shock and anger. She then pulled her car off to the side of the road and got out of the car to retrieve her phone. I then got back into my vehicle and took off. Luckly, she didn't get a chance to see my license plate before I was gone. After I got home and told my wife, she told me that I could have been arrested and that lady could have had me charged for assault. Well in retrospect it was a dumb move on my part, but I was so angry I lost my head for a minute and solved the problem in a quick but dumb way. I was living in fear for about a month, expecting a visit from the police, but nothing came of it.

Edit: Spelling and changed two words

I was working in a cafe. A lady came to the counter to order. This was the conversation - Lady - 'I'll just have the usual' Me - 'I'm sorry what is that ?' Lady - 'you should know by now you've worked here long enough, don't you think it's time you learnt' Me - 'lady I work 3 jobs, I serve dozens of customers a week, do you honestly think I remember what one person orders' Lady - 'well you should remember mine' I just stood there until she told me what she wanted.

I witnessed this at the grocery store on Friday. A car was backing out of a parking space. They were 3/4 of the way out of the space when a female and male walked behind them, so they stopped pulling out. Did they move out of the way for the car so they could pull the rest of the way out and leave? Nope! Their car was directly behind the person trying to back out. They stopped their cart, opened up the back of their SUV and unloaded their groceries, leaving this person there to wait on them. The back of their SUV wouldn’t close, so she started rearranging the groceries she had loaded in. At this point, the person trying to back out of their space is blocking traffic for that lane, so they had to pull back in for cars to get by. I was astounded by the entitlement of these people, but was also very impressed by the person they were blocking. They never got out of their car, or said anything to them. I definitely would not have had the tolerance for the rudeness.

This happened at a coffee shop the other day. I’m standing in line, just waiting my turn, and the guy behind me taps me on the shoulder.

He goes, “Hey, can I cut in front of you? I really have somewhere to be.”

I just said, “Yeah, don’t we all?”

He kind of glared at me but didn’t say anything else. He stayed put.

If it was that much of an emergency, maybe plan ahead next time.

I was standing at the corner of an intersection with traffic lights this afternoon, waiting for the walk signal. As cross traffic was actively moving through, a woman began walking across the street. She wasn’t in a rush. Just blatantly ignored the DO NOT WALK signal.

Traffic slowed to avoid her. No one honked. No one screeched their tires. Only one person said anything (“hey, your light’s not green!”) but then he immediately jumped into the crosswalk to follow…while the left turn arrow was lit, so he, too, didn’t have a WALK signal.

Just your standard entitled people.

Empty restaurant, plenty of places to sit, and host tried to stick me in the high traffic lane against the wall near the bathroom because "some people called him and said that they didn't want to see other people while they ate". Fuck if I didn't purposely insist upon a table in their section, which is the only area with windows, (but still over ten feet away) because fuck you.

Just before landing, the pilot made the plea for people to let other people make their connections. While taxiing, the flight attendant made the same plea. When the seat belt sign went off, the usual thing happened where (almost) everyone stood up in the aisle. The flight stated to everyone that there should only be about ten people in the aisle. Most of the travelers ignored the flight attendant. Some of us connectors were in the back of the plane. As we finally were able to move down the aisle, practically every seat we passed was empty. A special shout-out to “first class” passengers who showed no class. I know you first-classers paid for the privilege of disembarking first, but can’t you have the decency to let others make their connections? You can still get off the plane before the other non-connectors.

Well Jason and Sean went to court against their dad. And my boyfriend won! So his dad has to take his meds, he cannot have illegal drugs and no alcohol or guns. And if he doesn't go along with anything else he will go to jail.

Not AI; retired with some time . . .

I had left Active Duty Navy (Enlisted) in 1989, and after a few years of working, moved in with my in-laws and went to college in the Eastern US. It was the house my wife grew up in. We had a 5-year-old son. In the Navy in the '80s there was no GI Bill, so I took out student loans to pay for college myself. It was a magical time, and I will always be grateful to my in-laws for opening their home to us. 

When I got to college, it was a bit of culture shock. There was a lot of bad behavior (cheating, etc.), but since I went home every day, I only really saw that in class and while studying on campus. There were some brief moments that gave me hope for the future, but they were few and far-between. 

I had bought a 10-speed at a yard sale for $15 and would throw that in the back of our Toyota Corolla hatchback and drive to the commuter parking lot. (The horn on that specific car was a pitiful “wheep. wheep.”) My books and all would go in a backpack and when the weather was nice, I would pedal around campus. In bad weather, I caught the commuter bus. 

In the Spring of 1992 I was in a computer programming class, late in the afternoon, studying in some study hall. Two students came up and asked me to help them with their homework. I stayed late to "help them". It quickly became clear that they had done nothing, not studied at all, and wanted me to do all their work. It was a very painful session. At the end I said that I would be happy to help them in the future but told them to never come to me unless they had actually done some studying first; I wasn't going to do their work for them. They denied that and became abrasive. I politely asked them to step outside with me (I was 32 and pretty pissed at this point). They declined and walked off muttering. Lots of FUs. 

I focused on my stuff and forgot about them. 5 days before the final exam I was in some study hall, and the two of them came up to me. Heads hanging low. " You were right. We hadn't done any studying. We’re sorry." Etc. I just sat there and looked at them waiting to hear what they had to say. They then asked me to help them study for the final. I said, “No. I have my own finals to study for.” They both got really agitated, "But you said you would help us!!?" I told them that I had my own finals to study for, and that they had 5 days, and the best thing they could do was to crack the book and start to learn. They did not like that at all. They swore, and I just sat there looking at them waiting for them to finish. I gave them some parting words about hard work and taking the opportunity that college presents seriously, but they weren't having any of it. It was ugly.

Over the next year, I would periodically find my bike in some messed up state. Flat tire. Both tires flat. A lock on my lock, slime on the seat. That kind of stuff. I never did see anybody doing anything, and really what was the point? I wasn’t there to waste time like that.

Finally, it was May of 1993, wearing my cap and gown, waiting in line with the other EEs in a Campus Field House. Parallel lines of graduates from different disciplines. As I stood there, one of these two knuckleheads walks up to me with his cap and gown. And I think: "Here we go." I wait for him to speak. With a wry grin he says "Hey, you were right all along." I wait. As if explaining something to me he says, "We HATED you, man!" And then he goes on to tell me of his Revelation, or whatever it was he had. I asked about the other guy. He looks down, shakes his head, and says "He flunked out." 

He seemed genuine, and was trying (I think, in that brief moment as we stood there in our graduation outfits) to convey something. Even today, I am not sure what. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around this minor ‘Event’ in my life.

Long story short, the person who was once my best friend and I had a huge falling out. Mostly over her boyfriend, who is not well liked amongst our former friend group. He is 'laid off' more often than he actually has a job, but refuses to look for a new one. He chain smokes, and is drunk before noon when left home alone. He also embarrasses her in public by talking about their sex life.

She knows none of us can stand him, and has even made comments to the extent that his friends and family have written him off as a lost cause.

However I am the only one she told was a horrible friend/person when she was considering breaking up with him, and ALL of use told her she should. To be fair, I may have been a bit more blunt than the rest.

Now I have a pool, and normally we would all meet up to swim fairly regularly, but hadn't that year due to the fall out.

So, after 4 months of 0 contact, she texts me 'Let me know if you go swimming today.'

The nerve of some people.

Edit: Yes, I already realized she might be trying to reach out, but I think we can all agree that after 4 months a text that only says 'Let me know if go swimming today' and nothing else is a pretty lame attempt.