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Men's Health

Men share ridiculous ways their masculinity was questioned

Reading isn't manly, seriously?

Photo by Yogendra Singh on Unsplash

Is it manly enough to cradle a puppy?

Okay, we’ve come a long way in terms of rethinking gender norms. Fashion is less rigidly conforming (you’ve seen the man who rocks pencil skirts and stilettos, right?). More men are flourishing in jobs traditionally performed by women. And perhaps most importantly, there is a growing number of male support groups that encourage heartfelt communication and emotional well-being. That said, there still remain quite a few outdated belief systems when it comes to how we define masculinity.

Case in point, a recent Reddit thread sparked by the question: “Men of Reddit, what was the most ridiculous reason why someone questioned your masculinity?” Some of these answers are indeed head scratchers. Others are flat-out offensive. Here are 10 of the most egregious accounts:

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1. Reading

Photo by Dollar Gill on Unsplash

“I was reading a book on my lunch break while I was working construction, and got a bunch of sh*t about reading being for women.” – Middle-Eye2129

“Went from women not being allowed to read to reading being only for women... what a world.” – Comprehensive-Ad4566

2. Practicing the most basic of safety measures

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One person wrote that their masculinity was questioned for “wearing gloves while welding.”

Because having all fingers intact makes you less of a man? Um … what?

Wear your gloves and fasten your safety belts, gentlemen. It’s okay. I'm pretty sure The Rock does.

3. Not eating the right foods

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“Had a friend give another friend shit because he wanted to eat a corn dog. He said grown ass men don’t eat corn dogs. Any man should understand.” – mondayortampa

It’s not just because of the distinct shape of certain foods garnering the “unmanly” label, either. See below:

“My dad got sh*t from a guy he was working with because he was eating a plain bagel with butter on it and drinking chocolate milk because the guy said it’s childish. Dad never cared and just laughed at the guy for being an idiot. Who wouldn’t like that combo? It’s a great thing to eat!” – WhatsUpFishes

“My husband bought some of our homegrown raspberries into work to share and a guy he works with said they were ‘girl food.’ It must be so exhausting to have to gender your food.” – Pepperfig_clover

4. Or drinking the right drinks

Photo by Atikh Bana on Unsplash

“Went to a Mexican restaurant and we waited at the bar before we could get a table. This place has awesome strawberry blended margaritas so I got one. Apparently lime = straight, strawberry = gay.” – Thirty_Helens_Agree

5. Appreciating cleanliness

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“I've had both women I just started dating, and male acquaintances who have thought my clean apartment was an indication I was gay.” – NorCalDustin

6. Using pink … anything

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“At work I gave a guy a report and it had a pink paperclip on it.

He asked me why I gave him a pink paperclip. I told him I just grabbed one. He then asked why I had a pink paperclip - I told him I had a rainbow pack.

Then he wanted to know why, when I saw it was pink, I didn't throw it away. He told me I shouldn't use pink paperclips [because] ‘people might have questions.’” – Everyday_Im_Stedelen

“About 30 years ago, they came out with neon string lines. As I work construction, I am constantly using string to ensure things are straight. By far, the brightest of the strings was a pink one.

So, I was constantly chided by the crew for having a pink string. This only happened until it started getting closer to dusk, at which point they all wanted to borrow my string.” – Dioscouri

7. Not applying deodorant in a ‘manly way’

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“Somebody once told me I wasn't applying deodorant manly enough.” – PearSB

“How do you apply deodorant in a manly manner?” – The_One_True_Disease

“You set fire to the can and let it explode behind you as you look epically to the camera.” – Astrophobia42

8. Being kind

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“Got accused of being gay for being nice to people in the dive bar I go to... I guess it's not masculine to be nice to people.” – pgh613

9. Having daughters

Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash

“When I was pregnant, with a girl, someone said to me, in front of my husband, ‘a real man would’ve given you a boy.’” – badmamathree

“Someone should have said that to Henry VIII.” – BaldingMonk

“Why do you think there was a protestant movement?” – ArthurBonesly

10. Allowing a woman to do manly things

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“I was taking a break from driving a forklift and a woman asked if she could drive it (she was qualified to drive it so this wasn't just a random question from a random person.) I agreed and this one guy got so offended that I let a woman take over driving the forklift from me. This was back when ‘mancard’ was a thing so he of course said I needed to turn in my mancard for that.

Unsurprisingly, it turns out this guy got offended at all kinds of things all the time though. If he thought someone wasn't doing something the "right" way, he would rant and whine about it.” – BrickFlock

This article originally appeared two years ago.

From Your Site Articles

15 hard truths that once people accepted them, their lives got so much better

"Not all friendships last."

via Liza Summer/Pexels

A woman learns a harsh truth about her friends.

A significant part of adulthood is realizing that many uncomfortable truths are indeed real, even if we wish they weren’t. At first, these harsh truths may dampen our spirits and make us feel that the world is a bit colder. However, understanding some of life's hard lessons opens us up to greater possibilities and can help us overcome the obstacles holding us back.

Harsh truths help us realize when relationships aren’t as great as they can be. They also prevent us from having too much faith in people and institutions that will ultimately disappoint us. Knowing dark truths can also help us appreciate the things that are truly beautiful, honest and good. A Redditor named Rare_Can_5418 asked the AskReddit forum, “What difficult truths, the sooner you accept them, the better your life will be?” and received over 6,500 responses. Many of them were centered around harsh truths about relationships and the fact that even if we do our best in life, we can still end up with the short end of the stick.

The key is to keep going and never let failure get you down.

Here are 15 of the “difficult truths” that made people’s lives a lot better.

1. Stop comparing yourself

"There will always be someone better looking, better educated, younger, more experienced, more intelligent or wealthier than you. Do your best, live without regret, have empathy and kindness, give when you can, expecting nothing in return. Focus on your heart value more than what others have."

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

2. Some people won't like you

"You can be sweetest, juiciest peach on the tree. But some people don't like peaches."

"In Spanish, there's a saying: 'Nadie es moneda de oro para que lo quiera todo el mundo,' which translates to something like nobody is a gold coin to be liked/wanted by everyone else."

3. Things are just things

"They don’t have feelings. They don’t care if you give them away or sell them or throw them out. If a thing is useful, keep it. If not, get rid of it."

Psychologists refer to perceiving that inanimate objects have feelings as anthropomorphizing. Psych Central says that humans project feelings onto objects to relate to them more deeply. "People generally anthropomorphize to make sense of events and behaviors they experience. Further, attributing emotions, attitudes, mental states, faces, and values to non-human things can help you feel connected to something," Sarah Barkley writes in a PhD-reviewed article.

4. Not all friendships last

"Surprisingly though, the ones that last are not necessarily the best (or even good) ones."

"Most friendships are based on convenience, I've found. Unless two people are willing to put in a lot of effort, time and distance will do more to end a friendship than any disagreement."

5. You may be the bad guy

"You can do your best with someone and still be the villain in their story."

"One of my current favourite memes is: I don't care if I'm the villain in your story, you're the clown in mine."

6. You can't change people

"You can only help people who actually want it. If they’re not ready to change or put in the effort, there’s not much you can do. Realizing this can save you a lot of frustration and help you focus on people who actually appreciate your help."

"It’s always tough having those friends who are constantly complaining but doing nothing to address what they are complaining about. But as an adult, you just have to sit there and listen. No point in offering help to someone who isn’t asking for it. Kinda like how it’s really tough to teach someone who isn’t interested in being taught."

7. How we judge

"We judge ourselves by our intentions. We judge others by their actions."

"In psychology, this is called fundamental attribution error."

The Fundamental Attribution Error is a psychological phenomenon where we assume someone's actions reflect their personality without considering the situation. It's like when we blame someone's driving skills for being in an accident instead of the curvy road.

8. Depending on people

"Once you're an adult, there really isn't anyone you can 100% depend on except yourself. There will still be people in your life to lean on, but everyone has their limits in how they can help you."

9. Nice doesn't equal good

"Nice people aren't always good people."

"One of my bosses doesn't greet/make small talk and is known for being quite firm. He's been the most helpful throughout my most difficult period dealing with tragedy. Some people with that personality type simply get things done when you need them done without the chattering."

10. Everything is temporary

"You can suddenly lose anything and anyone at any time...and maybe all at once or in quick succession without so much warning."

11. Nobody is thinking about you

"In general, people in the real world are oblivious to you. You're not even a blip on their radar. If you're insecure about something you wear or how you look, remember: nobody cares."

12. No one is coming to save you

"No one is coming to save you, so you have to do it all yourself."

"And once you internalize this and do it, your self-esteem will be through the roof."

13. Nobody knows what they're doing

"Before i graduated high school I thought, thank god, I finally won’t have to deal with annoying obnoxious kids and I’ll be treated like an adult, I come to find out 95% of adults are worse then the actual kids, nobody knows what they’re actually doing and life is actually a big joke."

14. Love is reciprocal

"If a romantic interest is not giving you the same attention/respect you give them, they don't really care about or want you, and you're in for a world of hurt if you keep telling yourself otherwise."

15. Who's good for you?

"People who are good for you will make you feel happy, joyful, accepted, cared for, and filled with fun times, despite any differences. People who are not good for you will make you feel anxious, sad, down, slighted, judged, and never check in on you if you're not okay, and won't even bother noticing when you're not okay. Genuine people will never let you suffer in silence or watch you suffer. Stay away from those who make you feel negative emotions and thoughts."

This article originally appeared in August.

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life lessons

Culture

People shared the small changes they made that improved their lives in big ways

Real advice from real people.

Photo by Isabella and Zsa Fischer on Unsplash, Marcus Ng on Unsplash, Sarah Brown on Unsplash

Isabella and Zsa Fischer , Marcus Ng, Sarah Brown

In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear notes that “your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits … you get what you repeat.” Basically, if you want to predict where your life is leading, take a look at your daily choices. And Clear is certainly not the first or last motivational speaker to promote this wisdom. Pick up any self-help book, and it will most likely tout the message of how small, incremental changes can have an enormous impact on our lives.

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A recent thread on AskReddit posed the question: What improved your quality of life so much you wished you did it sooner? For those of us who still can’t seem to tick off things like “drink more water” from the to-do list (despite knowing full well all the benefits) it might help hearing success stories from real, everyday people.

Here are some of the highlights:

Swimming for back pain

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“Drugs, bed rest for weeks, chiro, deep massage, electroshock. Then I swam some laps and over a three day period months of decrepitude vanished. I couldn’t believe and am now obsessed with swimming." – DontShootTheFood

“Most people who have back pain (especially lower back pain) have it as a result of sedentary lifestyle (exacerbated by sitting in office chairs for a long period of time). Swimming is a fantastic total body and core workout which just builds and balances strength to reduce back pain. If you have pain due to an injury, it may not be as effective." – hanksredditname

Managing road rage

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“Someone wants to pass me when I'm in the left lane? Move over and let them pass. Someone wants in my lane? That's ok, I don't consider the gap ahead of me to be my real estate. Semi puts on their blinkers when I'm intending to pass? Let off the speed and flick my high beams to let them know there's enough room to enter my lane. All of this helps traffic flow better, makes things safer, and actually feels good to do. And all it required was to stop feeling like all of those things were a personal attack on me and my desire to get to my destination." – Buddahrific

Setting boundaries … even with family

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“I used to feel like I had to hang out with people when they asked, and as an introvert would resent losing my ‘me’ time. Now I'm just honest with people and say I'm tired, or that I had a long weekend of Great British Bakeoff and dog snuggles that I was really looking forward to. Might sound lame but I'm 150% happier.” – Acceptable-Place0872

“…I'm in my late twenties and talk to neither of my parents. I forgive them for what they did, but I don't want a relationship of any kind with them and have made that very clear. I just stopped picking up the phone, texting back, messaging back at all. My brother still talks to one, but he suffers for it. I know I made the right decision.” – thekindwillinherit

Exercising for more than just your body

exercise, exercise and mental health, mental health

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“I wish more people knew exactly how helpful exercise really is for both mental and physical health! Throughout high school I was seeing psychologists for anxiety and other issues and they repeatedly told me to eat healthy and exercise to improve my mental state. It's pretty easy when you are in a bad place to dismiss that and say 'a chemical imbalance in my brain isn't going to fix itself if I go for a run' so I never followed their advice. When I was around 20 I got a gym membership and actually started exercising for unrelated reasons and WOW does it help a lot! If you have mental health issues, a healthy lifestyle might not totally fix you but it will DEFINITELY help.” – vindaflyfox

Breaking free from phone addiction

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“Disable your push notifications in tandem with uninstalling all social media apps. It's quite fascinating how much better you feel when social media isn't installed. Bye bye FB/Meta, Insta, Twitter, all of it gone. Talk about liberating. Took me about a month of "training", but now I hardly ever look at my phone, and I no longer feel phantom vibrations while it's in my pocket. It's disgusting how we've become slaves to our devices.” – dj92wa

Improving sleep

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“I’ve been using my CPAP for a few weeks now and I actually know what it’s like to have energy and motivation and not be a zombie by 2 pm. If anyone else feels like that, I heavily recommend talking to your doctor about having a sleep study done.” – whomikehidden

“Sunrise Alarm Clock. I wake up so much better during the dark winter months.” – herbstavore

Decluttering

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“...A consistently clean home is amazing and doesn’t take a ton of time. 10-15 minutes a day I can keep things fairly tidy.” – unwinagainstable

“Nothing feels so relaxing when everything is in its place, organized and uncluttered. This obviously goes for at home, but also a clean car, clean desk, clean and organized computer and filing. Taking notes and reminders and deleting them when the task is done really relieves the mind. You can relax and focus better when your brain isn't cluttered and overwhelmed.” – KanataCitizen

Walking for an hour

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“This literally saved my life. A lot of people think just going out for a walk has minimal benefits, but it has both great physical and mental ones. Highly underrated (and free).” – grittypitty

Journaling affirmations

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“…it helps remind me of my values, which helps me make better decisions each day, and having done it for three years now, I can see the progress I’ve made in learning not to sweat the small stuff. It’s encouraging. I’m figuring myself out.” – babblewocky

Dropping sarcasm

better attitudes, self improvement, mindset

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"I thought this gave me sharp, dry wit but really it was one step up from a teenager's whiney voice making fun of people. It really was a low form of humor and, indeed, the perfect analog to the pseudo-intellectualism of the cynical act. It's so easy to be sarcastic and nasty and it gets old REALLY fast.” – zazzlekdazzle

Opting for positive content

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“I stopped consuming true crime content this past summer. It overall made me a more fearful, less empathetic, and more judgemental person by nature. The content encouraged my negative thought spirals and called it awareness. Never going back.” – notwest94

Practicing gratitude

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“It is small but it genuinely makes a big impact. I had an assignment for a university course last year where we had to spend one week noting down something positive/good each day and then the next week negative things and I hadn’t realized just how much my life has improved until the week where I focused on negative things, it really solidified how much of a difference it made on my mood, how I felt about myself, and even how much I accomplished.” – supersaurus65

millennial-grind.com

There were some other great contenders: daily dancing, seeing a therapist, stretching before bed and at waking … just to name a few. But no matter the habit, they planted seeds for not only a new life, but for a new identity. As Clear would put it, “every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”

Let authors like Clear help guide you—and stories like the ones above help inspire you—as you forge a better path for yourself, one small step at a time.

This article originally appeared on 12.8.21

From Your Site Articles

daily wellness

Pop Culture

Teen leaves his tardy parents behind when they refuse to get back to cruise ship on time

Can we really blame him?

Photo credit: Canva

What else was he supposed to do?

Parents, not kids, are the ones making sure that deadlines are met, that everyone gets to important appointments on time, and that things generally run smoothly for the family.

At least…that’s how it’s supposed to work. But many kids find themselves in the precarious situation of having a bit more savviness than their parents. This can be particularly frustrating for young adults when their parents refuse to see them as anything more than a know-nothing child.

For one recent high school grad, that dilemma happened during a cruise to the Caribbean Islands with his punctually challenged mom and dad.

According to his viral Reddit story, the vacation was meant to celebrate his 18th birthday. This would be the family’s first cruise together, and the teenager warned his parents that it would be different than the all inclusive resorts they’re used to going to. That if they went on excursion, they’d have to “follow the schedule no matter what.”

Apparently mom and dad didn’t take the warning to heart, and got “busy shopping and bargaining with the locals.”At a loss, the son said he was heading back to the ship, and his mother waved him off.

AITA for abandoning my parents at an island in the Caribbean so I could get back to our cruise in time?
byu/ProfessionalTax7753 inAmItheAsshole

A good 45 minutes after the departure, the boy’s parents messaged him on WhatsApp, upset that he didn’t get the ship to somehow wait for them.

“I wanted to scream that they were not going to inconvenience 3,998 people because two could not understand what a schedule was,” he lamented in his post.

The parents ended up taking an expensive flight to the next port, and the rest of the trip they took their anger out on the son.

Looking to Reddit for answers, the teens concluded, “I don't know what I was supposed to do. They literally told me that they knew what they were doing.I wish I had never asked for this. They are making me miserable because I left without them.”

Hopefully the overwhelming response in support of the son’s decision made him feel better.

Photo credit: Canva

"Do they think if they arrive late to the airport the plane will wait around for a couple hours? This is not rocket science. It's a mode of transport, you get there on time,” one person commented.

Meanwhile, another reasoned, “This is the bit that baffles me - even if OP had tried/asked, I highly doubt the staff would have even considered delaying departure. Did OP’s parents expect him to kick down the door to the bridge and commandeer the ship until they finished shopping?”

“And if op gave up and stayed behind with them that would have been an extra plane ticket, so even more money down the drain. They should be relieved that their kid has a good head on their shoulders but no, they'd Rather blame them," another person wrote.

One astutely suspected that the boy’s parents were simply projecting their own shame about the situation onto their son, writing “I expect they are just very embarrassed that an 18 year old was smarter than them and are taking it out on them.”

Another person agreed, “Yep, projection is a major defense mechanism for people who never learned emotional regulation skills as children. ‘I messed up and can’t handle/process these feelings of anxiety, so it’s actually all YOUR fault.’”

Seems like the role of adults and child got reversed here, but hopefully this kid can take solace in knowing he made the right decision. And hopefully his parents won’t miss the boat to apologize.

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community

Joy

Woman 'deeply hurt' her wealthy friend wouldn't lend her 5 dollars. Is she wrong to be upset?

Do friends and money mix?

via Liza Summer/Pexels

Two women in a fight over money.

There are many different theories about friends and money. Some say they shouldn’t mix. Others give freely to their friends without the expectation of being paid back. A lot of this depends on your financial situation and who you choose as friends.

A recent story posted to Reddit poses an interesting debate on friendship, boundaries and the almighty dollar. It begs the question: Do we owe our friends financial assistance?

A user named Stupidinlovelesigh asked the AITH forum if she was in the wrong for being “deeply hurt” that she asked her wealthy friend for $5 and was turned down. A big reason she’s so upset is that when her friend needed help years ago, she was there for her and asked for nothing in return.

“My best friend and I have been friends for nearly 7 years. When we first met, she was struggling financially and lived paycheck to paycheck,” Stupidinlovelesigh wrote. “At one point, her car broke down and she had no transportation to work, so I would let her borrow my car and never asked her for gas money or anything in return. At the time, I was financially secure and was happy to help her out.”

Two women in a fight over money

via Liza Summer/Pexels

Over time, their financial situations reversed. Stupidinlovelesigh was living paycheck to paycheck, and her friend, who married a millionaire, was flush with cash. In this new dynamic, Stupidinlovelesigh occasionally borrowed small amounts of money from her friend, no more than $25 and always paid her back.

However, things changed again.

“The last couple of times I asked to borrow money, she said she didn't have it, which I found odd,” Stupidinlovelesigh wrote. “But then I asked to borrow $5, and she said the same thing, and I thought it was odd that she told me she didn't have $5 to spare.”

The friend told her she had lent money to her brothers and other friends who didn’t pay her back, so she stopped lending money to people. “I replied and said that it was not fair for her to lump me in with her brothers as I have never done anything to take advantage of her,” Stupidinlovelesigh wrote. She also reminded her friend that they had a long history, and she was once the person asking for help.

“I am deeply hurt that she feels I was in the wrong, but I do not think I was the a**hole here. I understand that I am not entitled to anyone's money, borrowed or not, but when she was in my shoes, I did everything I could to help her out. I could understand if I had asked to borrow a large amount of money, but I literally asked for $5,” Stupidinlovelesigh concluded her post.

Two women fight over money.

via Liza Summer/Pexels

The commenters were divided over who was wrong in this situation.

Some thought Stupidinlovelesigh was right to be hurt.

"The girl was driving around in her damn car for goodness sakes. I’d be hurt too if my friend, who I helped support through a very difficult time, started treating me like a beggar,” RandomDerpBot wrote. "I would 100% understand her boundary if you would take advantage of her in some way before. But you didn’t. I honestly hope I never get rich enough to be this stingy with the people I love. At least if this is truly causing a problem in her relationship she could tell you why," No_Inspection_2977 added.

Many thought the friend was correct for establishing healthy boundaries between her friends, family and money.

“People are losing perspective because of the friend’s ridiculously secure financial situation. But [Stupidinlovelesigh] isn't asking for a favor in an exceptional situation. She's using the friend as a crutch on a regular basis. Then they have the audacity to try and shame the friend for getting tired of the situation and trying to distance from it. [Stupidinlovelesigh] isn't entitled to the friend's money and certainly doesn't have the right to try and emotionally manipulate them for it,” PanserDragoon wrote.

“This isn’t over $5, though. This is over [Stupidinlovelesigh] frequently asking her friend for money. It doesn’t matter if [Stupidinlovelesigh] always pays her back. It’s that no one wants to be used for money. And the friend already has a bad taste in her mouth due to her brothers, so everyone is paying the consequences by the money well running dry to any and everyone,” Nina_Rae_____ added.

The story is an interesting study of how, when our lives change, it’s hard for our relationships to stay the same. For these two women, it seems that as their financial situations changed, they had a much harder time finding common ground. In situations like this, friends will either go their separate ways or work it out and have a stronger relationship. Let’s hope they can come to an agreement and focus on what really matters most: love and support rather than finances.

From Your Site Articles

friendship

Joy

Teacher asks teen daughter to mend a student's coat and gets it back with a funny surprise

“My student was grinning when he showed me the note. He kept looking at it in class and smiling..."

Canva

Sweetness stitched into every bit of this story.

Some stories are wholesome. Others are hilarious. Others still restore some faith in humanity. This one is a combination of all three.

A teacher shared on Reddit how he took his student’s torn coat home so that his crafty daughter could mend the pocket. As he explained in his post, the student didn't seem to have the funds to fix it on his own or replace the jacket.

His daughter didn’t only sew up the jacket, but left her own cheeky bit of “11th grade advice” in note hidden in the coat’s pocket.

“Hey child, it is me, the magical coat fixer. Hope it holds up and please send it back if it doesn’t. Sorry I couldn’t make it as invisible as I hoped, but I did my best,” the note read. “Also since you’re in 8th grade (I think — I’m not 100% sure what grade my dad teaches) I thought you could use some 11th grade advice.

The note then concluded with “MIDDLE SCHOOL SUCKS. YOU’RE ALMOST FREE. YOU CAN MAKE IT. GOOD LUCK," written in all caps.

I asked one of my students who is very poor to give me his torn coat so I could bring it home for my daughter to sew. He came to class and showed me that he found this in the pocket.
byu/thedeadwillwalk inMadeMeSmile

The teacher shared in the comments that even though his student was “embarrassed at first,” he kept pulling out the note and smiling through class.

Folks who read the story commended the daughter for not only helping the younger student through an act of service, but also with some encouraging words.

“Such a small act of kindness will probably be something this child carries with him for the rest of his life,” one person wrote.

“Your daughter has a HUGE heart. What a gift. ❤️” added another.

Another noted how this story hits on multiple emotional levels, writing:

“There are so many wonderful things about this. You thought to help out a kid in your class who didn't have the resources to help themselves/They weren't afraid of too proud to accept help when they need it/You know your child's skills well enough to know they could help/Not only did your kid go out of their way to help, they thought it might be nice to include a note, a word of wisdom, and a promise to keep helping in the future if needed/The kiddo who needed help recognized how special this note was and thought to share it with you/And now you share it with your internet friends!”

In an interview with TODAY.com, the teacher (who remained anonymous) shared that this kind of behavior was typical of Brianna—his daughter. And apparently, her creativity was contagious, as the little boy gave her his own handmade thank-you card.

Yep, something the biggest acts of generosity are small enough to find in a coat pocket.

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best of humanity

Joy

People are sharing 'what screams' someone has 'no life.' Here are 21 of the best responses.

No, this isn't about making fun of people.

via Pexels

An office worker can't handle his coworkers' gossip.

When someone says “get a life,” it’s usually a pejorative comment telling someone that they need to become more successful or build something for themselves. But in some circumstances, it’s a totally warranted reminder that someone needs to get their nose out of other people’s business and focus on themselves for a change.

A viral thread on Reddit that received over 14,000 responses asked the online community, “What Screams ‘I Have No Life’?” and it was a rebuke of the people whose pettiness makes our lives unbearable.

Hopefully, a few people read the thread and decided to make some changes in their lives.

One of the major targets in the thread are the annoying coworkers who love to gossip and talk smack about fellow office mates behind their backs. There are few things worse than going out to lunch with coworkers and the only conversation they have is about the people who aren’t there.

As the old saying goes, small minds talk about people, medium minds talk about events and big minds talk about ideas.

The thread also calls out those who feel the need to air all of their dirty laundry on social media to get attention. It also mentions those who waste their time picking fights with total strangers, or worse, people they know on Facebook.

Finally, another group that got a lot of attention is those who are super judgmental, whether that means having a problem with other people’s hobbies or being overly invested in how they live their lives. If they’re not hurting anyone, why is it your concern?

The thread was an excellent reminder for us to be aware of the people in our lives who cause drama by acting like mean girls long after their high school expiration date.

Here are 21 of the best responses to “What Screams ‘I Have No Life’?”

1.

"Only ever talking badly about other people. Had some coworkers like this once and being around them 8 hours a day was f**king DRAINING." — SomeOtherThirdThing

Ruralist added:

"My coworkers are like this. The gossip begins even before they've clocked in. I've stopped talking to them about anything except what's necessary for work."

2.

"The guy in my office who monitors how long everyone has been away from their computer." — No-Review-2307

3.

"Calling cops on kids with a lemonade stand." — SuvenPan

4.

"Posting everything about your personal business and drama on social media." — UseYona

Sohcgt96 added:

"You know what is just the f**king worst? Vague, dramatic posts that clearly exist to bait people to ask what's wrong or what you're talking about."

5.

"As a parent with kids in school, definitely the Facebook Moms group." — Mean_Manufacturer_61

R0ttenbeauty added:

"Those Facebook mom groups are the worst! Nothing but drama and bashing on one another. Well, at least the one I used to be in."

6.

"Being a 'mean girl' ever but especially past high school." — bxbykayxxx

7.

"People who spend their days arguing with strangers on Facebook." — This-Wafer-841

8.

"Spending almost every day bugging and harassing others for choices they made that's not hurting them or anyone else, like damn, do they not have places to be elsewhere?" — ThanosWifeAkima-4848

9.

"Being way too invested into the life of reality TV stars." — oaracanthurusdory

Kwebber added:

"I'd also throw in Youtuber/streamer influencer in general to this as well."

10.

"Tracking someone on their phone, real story, my husband was sick one day and both his sister and mom started tracking his phone, started texting early Monday morning wondering why he was still at home." — LivntheDream430

ExCoCThrowaway added:

"My husband's family added me to their Apple family when we got married. Until about a month ago I had no idea they were using it to track me. I turned it off when I realized it and got a call from my sister-in-law asking me why I turned it off. Turns out they were calling my husband and telling him my every move. He didn’t care and told them it was my business but no one ever told me. Had to figure it out on my own. Sometimes I hate technology."

11.

"Making fun of other people's hobbies." — CLbandit38

12.

"Y'know I want to talk about the exact opposite of this: What screams 'I'm living life the way it's intended to'?

Well, I have a buddy who I think is a pretty great person. He never gets into any drama, always does what he has to do on time, and plays the games he enjoys in his spare time. Life throws shit at him sometimes, but he just deals with it and continues to just do whatever he does like nothing happened.

He just lives life, and as a result, he is able to extract a good amount of happiness from it. He says he is just happy. He has defined himself as a simple man, and I think that's how life should be lived. Like, just live your life, dude. For him, is just that simple." — GLnoG

13.

"All you talk about is your job." — Antique_Sense_7383

14.

"Working tons of hours and bragging about it. People at my job do this and it's pathetic." — spectreenjoyer

15.

"Your whole identity is your beard." — ReasonTraditional882

16.

"Being involved with a homeowners association." — chhrispybobispy

17.

"Talking and thinking about the gym 24/7." — AshamedRadish153

18.

"Having a loud vehicle. No one is impressed." — The-Plot-Twist13

19.

"You have literally nothing to talk about outside of your children or being a parent." — Oneofyrfencegrls

Notforthisworld0101 responded:

"It's possible to have a personality outside of being a parent."

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