Category: life

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Parents Share the Advice They Want Teenagers to Hear and Remember About Life

There are actually a lot of parents out there that just want to make sure that teenagers know they’re not alone in this crazy world.

The question asked was this: Parents of reddit, what’s something that you think teenagers need to hear?

If you’re a teenager or a parent, take a read. There’s some great advice in here.

1. College dayzzz…

You don’t HAVE to go to college. And you also don’t have to NOT go if you don’t know what to do with your life. You’ll figure it out, maybe get inspired by your classes.

And, as long as it will not launch you into a huge debt, it IS ok to Major in something you might not end up getting a career in. (To an extent).

College is more than career training. It’s a much bigger learning experience about… everything! People, the world, yourself. Don’t dig a debt, work very hard, have lots of fun, and try to keep your eyes on a career path, but also absorb everything like a sponge.

2. Social media tips

If social media makes you feel shitty, just stop.

It makes everyone feel shitty — even the people whose lives seem so much better and glamorous than yours. Chances are, they’re posting that stuff to not feel shitty too.

Remember, everyone is posting their Greatest Hits. Remember, everybody poops — even the girl posting glam pics from Greece, she probably pooped right before or after the pic. Point is, don’t get wrapped up in that.

Take a month or two break from social media and see how you feel.

3. High school really isn’t a big deal

I hated when people told me, “you won’t even miss high school when you’re older.”

I did, for a little bit. And now, I really don’t.

As important as it is as a state of your pre-adulthood, in the big scheme of things, it’s just a tiny chapter. So don’t get hung up on the mistakes you made or the drama you had.

Appreciate the experience for what it gave you, and move on.

4. No phones when driving. Seriously.

Please put your phone away in the car. Even at stoplights. Just wait until you arrive. You may be super used to it, but it only takes one second of inattention to become potentially fatal.

Someone just died in my neighborhood for this very reason.

Sending a snap.

It can wait.

5. Money, money, money

Teach yourself personal finance basics.

Your school and maybe parents probably neglected this, if times haven’t changed all that much. But… The internet is wonderful! You can teach yourself. Take an edX or Kahn or iTunesU course. Learn the basics and start saving. Really truly understand student loans before taking them.

And save. Saving sounds like something you have plenty of time for later… when you make more money… but tomorrow never comes. Learn and save now.

6. Those pesky social skills…

There’s nothing wrong with not liking to talk to people as long as you’re friendly.

Don’t force yourself to be talkative just because others want you to be. You’ll still need to learn social skills like gauging trustworthiness, effective communication, and helpfulness.

However, you don’t need to force yourself to be talkative to be socially adept; you just have to be mindful.

7. Drama

Your emotions won’t be this intense forever. But they are real and valid.

My parents always invalidated my feelings — too dramatic, it’s just your hormones, you’ll grow out of it, you don’t know how good you have it — while on some base level they possibly were right, it didn’t mean my feelings weren’t real and intense in that moment.

Allow yourself to feel what you feel. But don’t wallow or feed the Depression Kitty.

It DOES get better.

8. You’ll always be our child…

That we miss you & we actually want to spend time with you, not because of how you were (our little boy/girl) but because we are in awe of who you are and want to get to know you better. So you know we love you unconditionally but also that it’s ok and fun to hang out sometimes.

Soon you’ll be leaving home, time passes quickly, and we want to create as many good memories as we can for you so you can use them for when the world is not so kind and I’m not around to give you a hug.

You’re amazing, you’ve always been and I know your life will be filled with ups and downs but I hope the love we share reminds you that you’ll always have a soft spot to land

9. Making babies…

Just because you pop out a baby doesn’t mean it’ll keep your SO around and at times it’ll make them break up with you. To that part, just because you have the kid doesn’t mean it’ll unconditionally love you, especially when you’re a shitty parent.

These are things my idiotic friends had made when we were young, choosing to get knocked up at a wrong time in life has shaken lives to rubble at points.

10. Take care of your health

Build good health habits now. If you’re not already active, find a simple active hobby you can do.

Take up Pokemon Go or take up bike riding or something. Also, learn how to cook some basic and healthy meals like chicken pesto pasta or fried rice.

The healthier you are as a teen the easier it is to stay healthy as an adult.

11. Rebel, rebel…

Go ahead and be rebellious, it’s part of growing up.

But please be safe while you are doing it! Use the condom, don’t depend on your date for transportation until you know them, tell someone where you are so we know how to get to you in an emergency, keep your phone charged, ask for help if needed.

12. The social scene…

None of social-structure/drama shit is going to matter once you’re out of school so don’t worry about what others think.

You just do you.

13. Beer?

It’s completely legal for a teenager to buy all the equipment and ingredients to make beer.

Just saying.

My two cents… personal finance is huge. They more you save now, the more you’ll have down the road.

Money won’t buy happiness, but it can sure buy a lot of therapy. And everybody needs somebody to talk to now and then.

The post Parents Share the Advice They Want Teenagers to Hear and Remember About Life appeared first on UberFacts.

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This Is What the “Guilty” Expression on Your Dog’s Face Really Means

Humans keep trying to explain and understand our pets in terms of human thoughts and emotions. Even though they’re, ya know, dogs and cats and birds and stuff.

So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the look your dog gives you when they’re in trouble for doing something they know they shouldn’t have isn’t what you think.

Like this guy who’s clearly guilty AF!

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I may look guilty right? That’s because I am, I chewed mummy’s trainer up, thought I may get away with it but as soon as she shouted ‘who did this Tink?’ My face automatically did this……? need more practice ???? Happy Friyay ? Tink xx #guiltydogface#happyfriyay#bettyboobeagle#tinkerbelle#justbeagles#beagleloveit#instagrambeagles#beagle#beaglesofinstagram#dogsofinstagram#dogs_of_instagram#beaglecentral#beagleworld_feature#beagleluvofficial#beaglevillage#boopmynose#dailybarker#worldofcutepets#dogsofinstagram#sendadogphoto #worldofcutepets#dog_features#dogsofinstaworld#mydogiscutest#igwoofs#dogmilk#beaglefaction#beagleloverz#beagles_petsagram#beaglepluss#beagle_us#doggytheworld @beagledream @beagle_top @boopmynose @beagleworld @beagle_loveit @beaglecentral @bestfriends_dogs @dogsofinstagram @beaglevillage @beagleloverz @beaglefaction @beagle_corner @dog.tagram @thekennelclubuk @beagleoftheday @beagle_top @beagles.gram @beaglemasters @sendadogphoto @justbeagles @mydogiscutest @beaglesplanet @thebeaglesparents @beagle_lovers @beagles_petsagram @beagles_all_day @instagrambeagles @beagle_society @beagledaily @beaglescorner @beaglestagrams @beagleig @beagle.boo @beaglesmile @beagle_corner @beaglezada @beagleloversfc @beaglecute @beagle.ins.gram @beagle_me @dogs @worldofbeagles @doglove @dogs_of_world_

A post shared by B e t t y B o o (@bettyboobeagle) on

Actually, what we categorize as an adorable attempt to convey the complicated emotion of guilt is actually much more simple (and less cute) – fear.

A 2009 study ran by scientist Dr. Alexandra Horowitz called “Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know” and “Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell,” addresses how we misinterpret fear as guilt in those moments when we’re upset with our dogs for disobeying.

“I look at a dog showing the guilty look and it feels guilty to me. It does! We’re kind of wired to see it this way, so it’s nobody’s fault.”

She describes the look as when the dog cowers, showing the whites of its eyes while looking up at you, possibly pinning it’s ears back in the process – all classic signs of fear in dogs.

They’re responding to your scolding and disapproval, basically, not to any higher thought process where they were aware they were doing the wrong thing when they were doing it, and are now feeling badly that they were caught.

“It seems unlikely that they have the same types of thinking about thinking that we do, because of their really different brains, but in most ways dogs brains are more similar to ours than dissimilar,” Dr. Horowitz told IFLScience.

The “thinking about thinking” bit refers to executive function, meaning the ability to reflect on past actions and feel a certain way about them in the present.

“There is some work showing that some animals are planning for the future and remember specific episodes in the past. With dogs, there’s not as much evidence yet. Which isn’t to say that they don’t, but it’s to say that it’s really hard to design experiments around it.”

Without solid evidence when it comes to how dogs experience emotion and memory, anthropomorphizing them is easy – and it’s essential to us, as humans, as a way to make sense of this creature now living alongside us in our home.

“When you adopted your dog, and suddenly you’re living with a dog, within a week we have opinions about the dog’s personality, what they’re like and what they’re thinking. It’s a way to try to predict what’s gonna happen next with an organism that we don’t really know. So we use the language of human explanation, and we just put it on the dog.”

Which is fine, of course, as long as you’re not expecting more from your dog that they’re really able to give.

It’s best to just love them for who and what they are – nosed-through trash bins and chewed-up shoes and all.

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This Couple Thinks $500,000 a Year Makes Them ‘Average’, so the Internet Took Them to School

These folks think they’re just “average”. If this is average then a lot of us are in big trouble. This story comes from an anonymous New York City couple. They have two children and make a combined $500,00 a year, and they broke down their expenses for all to see.

Oh yeah, and they feel “average”.

Here is the breakdown for you to mull over (and likely be jealous of).

Those numbers, to most people out there, are pretty insane and totally unrealistic. The  actual average household income in the United States in 2017 was $61,372, just to give you an idea of what we’re talking about here.

Predictably, people on the Internet mocked these “average” people relentlessly.

This is an excellent point.

This was a big point of contention, too.

And finally, this guy put the cherry on top of the whole thing.

If they’re average, I guess I must be a peasant…now I’m depressed.

The post This Couple Thinks $500,000 a Year Makes Them ‘Average’, so the Internet Took Them to School appeared first on UberFacts.

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A Man Offered ‘Free Dad Hugs’ at a Pride Parade and People Loved It

Scott “Howie” Dittman decided to attend the recent Pride Parade in Pittsburgh but didn’t give much thought beyond having a good time that day.

Dittman’s friend Denna was going to the parade with an organization called Free Mom Hugs and Dittman said, “‘well I’m going to go,’ and I hopped on Amazon and grabbed a ‘free dad hugs’ T-shirt. I just thought it would put a smile on people’s faces.”

Just got sent this picture from Sunday ❤ #freedadhugs #freemomhugs #prideparade #dadhugs #momhugs

Posted by Howie Dittman on Tuesday, June 11, 2019

It’s no surprise that many LGBTQ people are ostracized by their families because of their lifestyle. And, as Dittman realized, a hug goes a long way for people whose parents are no longer in their lives through no fault of their own.

He said, “You could tell they hadn’t had something as simple as a hug from their dad in a long time. That broke my heart.”

Dittman hugged a lot of people at the Pride Parade, and he shared this post on Facebook detailing two of his more moving encounters that day.

PARENTS.A handful of us went to the Pittsburgh Pride Parade today, sporting our FREE DAD HUGS and FREE MOM HUGS…

Posted by Howie Dittman on Sunday, June 9, 2019

Dittman’s post went viral and he said he’s received more than 1,500 messages from strangers who were incredibly moved by the story, including some parents. He said, “I’ve had so many parents reach out to me saying they’ve been crying for days, saying they’ve been those parents, and they’ve reached out to their children they haven’t talked to in years. How do even describe that?” he said. “How do you even describe the feeling that gives you?”

Dittman added, “It’s humbling, but it’s sad. It’s sad that these people needed a stupid social media post to have eyes opened and to feel welcomed. It’s sad that some guy in some small town western Pennsylvania is having that much of an impact when that impact should’ve been made and when they shouldn’t have even needed it because they weren’t abandoned in the first place.”

The post A Man Offered ‘Free Dad Hugs’ at a Pride Parade and People Loved It appeared first on UberFacts.

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A Guy Compared Scraped Knees to Period Pain, Gets Obliterated

There are plenty of sympathetic men who do their best to put themselves in the shoes of the ladies in their lives, and who would never, ever trivialize the pain a woman feels once a month, every month, for decades.

And that’s not even mentioning childbirth.

Even less “woke” men are aware that dismissing period pain is off-limits – at least, if you want to stay in your wife or girlfriend’s good graces – which means it takes a special kind of insensitivity to try to convince all of Twitter that your skinned knees are as bad as the cramps your monthly visitor brings along in her suitcase.

But that’s exactly what @_sargee tweeted, accompanied by a soccer player (presumably not him) sliding on his knees on turf..

He had to know what he was in for, right? And he was looking to ruffle feathers or start a fight?

That’s my story, because I just don’t see how anyone could be this un-ironically obtuse.

Also…women athletes experience skinned knees all the time? And so does every child who plays outside in the summer?

I mean. Yeah. Boom.

Sorry not sorry.

It wasn’t just women blasting him, either.

Yeah, something like that.

Sarcasm warranted.

An undisputed fact.

And we can just leave this last little observation right here.

Please tweet responsibly, my friends. You don’t want to find yourself in the crosshairs.

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These Things Have No Reason to Exist, and yet Somehow They Do

I’m talking about those little annoying things you run into on a daily basis and think, “Why, in this day and age, am I still dealing with this sh*t?”

Below are 15 perfect examples of stuff we just shouldn’t have to face anymore.

#15. Whyyyyy!!

“For Christmas my dad got me a bluetooth frisbee that’s supposed to connect to your phone and play music. It doesn’t make any sense to me why this thing seemed like a good idea to make. Its heavy, it sounds like crap, you’re supposed to throw this speaker that supposedly playing music you like away from you when you get it + it’s limited on how far you can throw it because it’s connected to your phone. Also it’s hard to carry because it’s so big so it wouldn’t even be fun to bring anywhere even if you need a bluetooth speaker. Whyyy!!

*edits *Thank you kind stranger for the silver *edited first sentence for clarity (it plays whatever you tell it to not just Christmas music) *For those who asked for a link, here it is they must have known it was terrible because it’s marketed as a flying sound disc instead of a frisbee. *RIP my inbox TIL frisbee is a trademark of Wham-O?”

#14. False advertising.

“Fake Youtube Pranks and Youtube Video Clickbait

These videos are monetized so the creators are making $$$ off of False Advertising.”

#13. Brains, man.

“Depression.

My brain: “hate yourself”

Me: “but why?”

My brain: “just do it.”

Edit: oh wow my first silver. Cool!

Edit 2: now I’ve got 1 of everything! Can’t wait to pass these onto others! Thank you!”

#12. Nope.

“sushi at gas stations.”

#11. Koala rant incoming

“Koalas.

Here’s the copypasta:

Koalas are fucking horrible animals. They have one of the smallest brain to body ratios of any mammal, additionally – their brains are smooth. A brain is folded to increase the surface area for neurons. If you present a koala with leaves plucked from a branch, laid on a flat surface, the koala will not recognise it as food. They are too thick to adapt their feeding behaviour to cope with change. In a room full of potential food, they can literally starve to death. This is not the token of an animal that is winning at life.

Speaking of stupidity and food, one of the likely reasons for their primitive brains is the fact that additionally to being poisonous, eucalyptus leaves (the only thing they eat) have almost no nutritional value. They can’t afford the extra energy to think, they sleep more than 80% of their fucking lives.

When they are awake all they do is eat, shit and occasionally scream like fucking satan. Because eucalyptus leaves hold such little nutritional value, koalas have to ferment the leaves in their guts for days on end. Unlike their brains, they have the largest hind gut to body ratio of any mammal.

Many herbivorous mammals have adaptations to cope with harsh plant life taking its toll on their teeth, rodents for instance have teeth that never stop growing, some animals only have teeth on their lower jaw, grinding plant matter on bony plates in the tops of their mouths, others have enlarged molars that distribute the wear and break down plant matter more efficiently…

Koalas are no exception, when their teeth erode down to nothing, they resolve the situation by starving to death, because they’re fucking terrible animals. Being mammals, koalas raise their joeys on milk (admittedly, one of the lowest milk yields to body ratio… There’s a trend here). When the young joey needs to transition from rich, nourishing substances like milk, to eucalyptus (a plant that seems to be making it abundantly clear that it doesn’t want to be eaten), it finds it does not have the necessary gut flora to digest the leaves. To remedy this, the young joey begins nuzzling its mother’s anus until she leaks a little diarrhoea (actually fecal pap, slightly less digested), which he then proceeds to slurp on. This partially digested plant matter gives him just what he needs to start developing his digestive system. Of course, he may not even have needed to bother nuzzling his mother.

She may have been suffering from incontinence. Why? Because koalas are riddled with chlamydia. In some areas the infection rate is 80% or higher. This statistic isn’t helped by the fact that one of the few other activities koalas will spend their precious energy on is rape. Despite being seasonal breeders, males seem to either not know or care, and will simply overpower a female regardless of whether she is ovulating.

If she fights back, he may drag them both out of the tree, which brings us full circle back to the brain: Koalas have a higher than average quantity of cerebrospinal fluid in their brains. This is to protect their brains from injury… should they fall from a tree. An animal so thick it has its own little built in special ed helmet. I fucking hate them.

Tldr; Koalas are stupid, leaky, STI riddled sex offenders. But, hey. They look cute. If you ignore the terrifying snake eyes and terrifying feet.”

#10. More harm than good.

“ticks. those fuckers carry around lyme disease and only a select few animals sometimes eat them. they cause much more harm than good.”

#9. Anything Gwyneth Paltrow sells.

“Pretty much anything Gwyneth Paltrow sells on her website.”

#8. California’s largest lake.

“The Salton Sea, California’s largest lake.

The most recent inflow of water from the now heavily controlled Colorado River was accidentally created by the engineers of the California Development Company in 1905. In an effort to increase water flow into the area for farming, irrigation canals were dug from the Colorado River into the valley. The canals suffered silt buildup, so a cut was made in the bank of the Colorado River to further increase the water flow. The resulting outflow overwhelmed the engineered canal, and the river flowed into the Salton Basin for two years, filling the historic dry lake bed and creating the modern sea, before repairs were completed.

The sea has occurred naturally several times in the past, but its current iteration is an accident.”

#7. Another way.

“Periods/Vaginal Bleeding. The universe could have figured out another way. It could only bleed when going pee, that would be awesome.”

#6. By a child.

“That weird font in android phones that looks like its drawn by a child.”

#5. Impossible to peel off.

“Cheap ass paper stickers on new products that are impossible to peel off.”

#4. Why did they even have that lever?

“That lever Kronk pulls when Yzma tells him to “pull the lever!” Why did they even have that lever?”

#3. Awful.

“Those super bright headlights that temporarily blind you if you’re going opposite ways or continuously blind you if they are driving behind you. Awful.”

#2. Oddly specific.

“Velvet Pumpkins with real stems

Just…why?”

#1. Big drama queens.

“Allergies. Fuck em. Biggest over reaction by the human body ever.”

Get on it, science!

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15 People Reveal What Happened to the Mean Girls from High School. Karma Is Real.

High school girls can be TERRIBLE. Boys are bad too, but there’s something particularly cruel and frightening about a mean teenage girl.

But do you ever stop to ponder what becomes of those people? Here are some good stories from AskReddit users about what happened to the mean girls in the years after high school ended.

1. Stardom

“One of the popular girls from my brother’s high school ended up being Chelsea on Teen Mom.

Lmao he went to Vermillion high school. Our town’s team was the tanagers and her dad was our dentist.

As someone who’s guilty pleasure was this show, I always wondered what her dad did to be able to keep bailing her out and caring for her financially. It’s not every day you have some small irrelevant question answered haha.”

2. A bit hypocritical

“Our nasty head cheerleader who preached sex only through marriage got knocked up at 16 by a guy she met at a party and is now 20 and has 3 kids and 3 different baby daddies. Irony is a b**ch! “

3. Fat and old

“I actually just ran into a bunch of them. A high school friend got cancer at 40 and passed away. Had kids and a wife, what a terrible shame.

Everyone from high school looked like a bunch of old people. I mean, I know that’s Mike under there, but he looks like an old man that looks like Mike. Same for the woman.

I was surprised how many of them got fat – men and women. Pretty much everybody got fat. Fat and old. It’s a shame.”

4. A nice one

“There was this particular girl who was always making fun of me and my group of friends and calling us nerds and losers. The other day I went to the supermarket and saw her for the first time after graduating, she was the cashier and she was clearly embarrassed that I saw her there.

But you know what, good for her for having a job. There is no reason to be embarrassed for being a cashier and I was kind of sad to see her ashamed. I wish her nothing but happiness.”

5. Two categories

“I also think they should be divided into two groups:

popular girls because they dressed questionably and were obnoxious party groupies
popular girls because they were friendly to everyone, intelligent, and going places
The 2’s are getting good educations at good schools, working good jobs etc. The 1’s are now single mothers selling multi-level marketing wraps and shakes, trying to pretend that they know more about health and medicine than the other girls who got real educations.”

6. Plain Jane no more

“I haven’t kept in touch with anybody from high school.

I did go to my 10th HS reunion, though, and have a story that kind of fits.

At our reunion, everybody looked and acted pretty much as expected, except for one girl, who was always really shy and kind of a “Plain Jane.” Apparently, she was a late bloomer, because in those 10 years since graduation, she’d become an honest to goodness fitness model. She was easily the hottest woman there, and it was kind of amusing to see all the husbands paying attention to her while their “popular girl” wives pretended it was OK. (Well, all of them except me. I, of course, was simply being polite, and not staring at her smoking hot body.)

I think a lot of gym memberships were bought and diets started the following Monday.”

7. A bunch of meanies

“One of ’em sings for a punk band now. She’s not very good, neither is the band.

Most others were pregnant before high school even finished, one became a volleyball player for some religious college, and the model tried to follow her modeling dreams and I think she’s like a D- tier celebrity now.”

8. Three paths

“Three I can think of off the top of my head:

One got addicted to heroine and became a stripper.

One had a kid and is a single mom now.

One I believe works in construction, and likes to run, seems like she stays pretty healthy (I see her jogging through our town a lot).”

9. Petty

“They seemed to plateau. They organized our 10-year reunion and were every bit as uncreative and obliviously petty as they were then. They weren’t/aren’t mean or catty like you see in the movies, just existed inside their own little bubble and the rest of the world might as well not have existed. They turned out exactly like you’d expect: Mommy bloggers, “photographers,” mid-level office managers, etc.

Our reunion was embarrassing. Despite putting out calls for requests for music, photos, etc. on the event’s Facebook page for months, there was no music whatsoever all night and the photos used in the slideshow were just of them and their friends from back in the day. No school colors, no school songs, no decorations of any kind, no group photo at the end of the night.

They then got up and gave a speech nobody could hear through a broken microphone and then posted pictures the next day essentially congratulating themselves for pulling off a “fantastic” night. My high school buddies who didn’t go, but saw pictures, all texted me asking if it was real.”

10. Driven

“Everyone seems to have put on weight and gone to grad school. The popular girls in middle school were mean as hell but the ones I recall from high school were just super driven. They were popular because they were the presidents of every club, star athletes of every sports team, etc.”

11. The truth

“They all went to college, got jobs ranging from school councilor to dental hygienist and got married, pumped out kids. Really boring answer but the truth.”

12. One exception…

“Speaking for the cheerleaders, all got undergraduate degrees, about half got masters degrees, virtually all got married, have kids and are stay at home moms still living in the bubble (University Park/Highland Park.) The one notable exception is one that I briefly dated, who went straight through undergrad into her MBA and went to work for one of the big consulting firms.

She’s a “senior manager” consultant/pretty face that gets to jet around the world for meetings. Honestly she seems the happiest of all of them. Tons of money, tons of time off, no kids weighing her down and 1st class travel all over the world.”

13. Drugs are no good

“Most of them have very normal lives. The popular girls at my school, save for a few, were generally nice people, and they continue to be nice people now and enjoy varying degrees of success.

There is one that wasn’t very nice back then, and whatever promise she had is shattered due to issues with prescription drugs. She’s lost her kids, looks well older than her 45 years, and is always in and out of jail. I feel sorry for her to a certain extent, but she’s done it to herself.”

14. More drugs…

“The girl voted Prettiest Girl spent years doing hard drugs. I ran into her at the DMV and she now looks older than my mother.

The actual prettiest girl in school is still stunningly beautiful… still looks almost exactly the way she did when she was 18. I thought she was her daughter when I saw her.”

15. Pretty normal stuff

“She went to more of a party college and joined a sorority where it seems like she made a lot of good friends. She put on a bit of weight, but she was very thin in high school and wears it really well. Then she graduated with an accounting degree and joined a firm a few states away. She’s not married yet, but she’s been with her current boyfriend for about a year and they seem good together.

I ran into her at a wedding a few months ago and she seems to really have chilled out since high school. She was overall friendly to everyone, but had her moments where she would be rude to the nerdier kids (i.e. me). She was a bit awkward at first, but after she realized that I had no hard feelings toward her, she loosened up a lot and we caught up on the past 5 years.

Overall, I’d say she’s doing very well, and I’m happy to say that I’ve come far enough as a person where I consider that a good thing.”

The post 15 People Reveal What Happened to the Mean Girls from High School. Karma Is Real. appeared first on UberFacts.

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15 People Reveal What Happened to the Mean Girls from High School. Karma Is Real.

High school girls can be TERRIBLE. Boys are bad too, but there’s something particularly cruel and frightening about a mean teenage girl.

But do you ever stop to ponder what becomes of those people? Here are some good stories from AskReddit users about what happened to the mean girls in the years after high school ended.

1. Stardom

“One of the popular girls from my brother’s high school ended up being Chelsea on Teen Mom.

Lmao he went to Vermillion high school. Our town’s team was the tanagers and her dad was our dentist.

As someone who’s guilty pleasure was this show, I always wondered what her dad did to be able to keep bailing her out and caring for her financially. It’s not every day you have some small irrelevant question answered haha.”

2. A bit hypocritical

“Our nasty head cheerleader who preached sex only through marriage got knocked up at 16 by a guy she met at a party and is now 20 and has 3 kids and 3 different baby daddies. Irony is a b**ch! “

3. Fat and old

“I actually just ran into a bunch of them. A high school friend got cancer at 40 and passed away. Had kids and a wife, what a terrible shame.

Everyone from high school looked like a bunch of old people. I mean, I know that’s Mike under there, but he looks like an old man that looks like Mike. Same for the woman.

I was surprised how many of them got fat – men and women. Pretty much everybody got fat. Fat and old. It’s a shame.”

4. A nice one

“There was this particular girl who was always making fun of me and my group of friends and calling us nerds and losers. The other day I went to the supermarket and saw her for the first time after graduating, she was the cashier and she was clearly embarrassed that I saw her there.

But you know what, good for her for having a job. There is no reason to be embarrassed for being a cashier and I was kind of sad to see her ashamed. I wish her nothing but happiness.”

5. Two categories

“I also think they should be divided into two groups:

popular girls because they dressed questionably and were obnoxious party groupies
popular girls because they were friendly to everyone, intelligent, and going places
The 2’s are getting good educations at good schools, working good jobs etc. The 1’s are now single mothers selling multi-level marketing wraps and shakes, trying to pretend that they know more about health and medicine than the other girls who got real educations.”

6. Plain Jane no more

“I haven’t kept in touch with anybody from high school.

I did go to my 10th HS reunion, though, and have a story that kind of fits.

At our reunion, everybody looked and acted pretty much as expected, except for one girl, who was always really shy and kind of a “Plain Jane.” Apparently, she was a late bloomer, because in those 10 years since graduation, she’d become an honest to goodness fitness model. She was easily the hottest woman there, and it was kind of amusing to see all the husbands paying attention to her while their “popular girl” wives pretended it was OK. (Well, all of them except me. I, of course, was simply being polite, and not staring at her smoking hot body.)

I think a lot of gym memberships were bought and diets started the following Monday.”

7. A bunch of meanies

“One of ’em sings for a punk band now. She’s not very good, neither is the band.

Most others were pregnant before high school even finished, one became a volleyball player for some religious college, and the model tried to follow her modeling dreams and I think she’s like a D- tier celebrity now.”

8. Three paths

“Three I can think of off the top of my head:

One got addicted to heroine and became a stripper.

One had a kid and is a single mom now.

One I believe works in construction, and likes to run, seems like she stays pretty healthy (I see her jogging through our town a lot).”

9. Petty

“They seemed to plateau. They organized our 10-year reunion and were every bit as uncreative and obliviously petty as they were then. They weren’t/aren’t mean or catty like you see in the movies, just existed inside their own little bubble and the rest of the world might as well not have existed. They turned out exactly like you’d expect: Mommy bloggers, “photographers,” mid-level office managers, etc.

Our reunion was embarrassing. Despite putting out calls for requests for music, photos, etc. on the event’s Facebook page for months, there was no music whatsoever all night and the photos used in the slideshow were just of them and their friends from back in the day. No school colors, no school songs, no decorations of any kind, no group photo at the end of the night.

They then got up and gave a speech nobody could hear through a broken microphone and then posted pictures the next day essentially congratulating themselves for pulling off a “fantastic” night. My high school buddies who didn’t go, but saw pictures, all texted me asking if it was real.”

10. Driven

“Everyone seems to have put on weight and gone to grad school. The popular girls in middle school were mean as hell but the ones I recall from high school were just super driven. They were popular because they were the presidents of every club, star athletes of every sports team, etc.”

11. The truth

“They all went to college, got jobs ranging from school councilor to dental hygienist and got married, pumped out kids. Really boring answer but the truth.”

12. One exception…

“Speaking for the cheerleaders, all got undergraduate degrees, about half got masters degrees, virtually all got married, have kids and are stay at home moms still living in the bubble (University Park/Highland Park.) The one notable exception is one that I briefly dated, who went straight through undergrad into her MBA and went to work for one of the big consulting firms.

She’s a “senior manager” consultant/pretty face that gets to jet around the world for meetings. Honestly she seems the happiest of all of them. Tons of money, tons of time off, no kids weighing her down and 1st class travel all over the world.”

13. Drugs are no good

“Most of them have very normal lives. The popular girls at my school, save for a few, were generally nice people, and they continue to be nice people now and enjoy varying degrees of success.

There is one that wasn’t very nice back then, and whatever promise she had is shattered due to issues with prescription drugs. She’s lost her kids, looks well older than her 45 years, and is always in and out of jail. I feel sorry for her to a certain extent, but she’s done it to herself.”

14. More drugs…

“The girl voted Prettiest Girl spent years doing hard drugs. I ran into her at the DMV and she now looks older than my mother.

The actual prettiest girl in school is still stunningly beautiful… still looks almost exactly the way she did when she was 18. I thought she was her daughter when I saw her.”

15. Pretty normal stuff

“She went to more of a party college and joined a sorority where it seems like she made a lot of good friends. She put on a bit of weight, but she was very thin in high school and wears it really well. Then she graduated with an accounting degree and joined a firm a few states away. She’s not married yet, but she’s been with her current boyfriend for about a year and they seem good together.

I ran into her at a wedding a few months ago and she seems to really have chilled out since high school. She was overall friendly to everyone, but had her moments where she would be rude to the nerdier kids (i.e. me). She was a bit awkward at first, but after she realized that I had no hard feelings toward her, she loosened up a lot and we caught up on the past 5 years.

Overall, I’d say she’s doing very well, and I’m happy to say that I’ve come far enough as a person where I consider that a good thing.”

The post 15 People Reveal What Happened to the Mean Girls from High School. Karma Is Real. appeared first on UberFacts.

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A Straight “Country Boy” from Oklahoma Decorated His Truck for Pride Month, and It’ll Put a Smile on Your Face

One of the great thing about Pride Month is that we get to hear about moving stories from unlikely people and places. A recent story is a wonderful example of this, and it comes to us from the state of Oklahoma.

Cody Barlow describes himself as a “country boy,” and he has friends and family in the LGBTQ community and doesn’t care who knows it.

Posted by Cody Barlow on Thursday, June 6, 2019

Barlow wanted to show his support for Pride Month, and he did it in a fabulous way – especially considering the fact that he lives in a small town in Oklahoma, which is maybe not the first place that comes to mind when thinking about Gay Pride Month.

Take a look at how Barlow showed his support.

Photo Credit: Facebook, Cody Barlow

Barlow’s Facebook post with that great photo of his truck says:

“Found a way to show my support for pride month.

I simply bought rolls of brightly colored duct tape and ran them across my tailgate in the design of the pride flag, and added some mailbox letters.

This is important to me, not only because I have family and friends that are LGBTQ+, but also because countless people have dealt with hatred and judgement simply for who they are, and/or who they love, for far too long. Obviously doing this isn’t going to change the minds of those who are intolerant, but hopefully it can help drown out the hatred with love.

I live in a rural area in Oklahoma, surrounded by small towns in every direction, and I’m sure this is not a very welcome message around here, but this is going to be displayed on my truck for the entire month of June in support of pride month.

I don’t think it is necessary to say, but for all intents and purposes I am a straight man that grew up here in Oklahoma. I love taking my truck mudding, going fishing, swimming at the lake, floating the river, and several other “country” activities.

It doesn’t matter what negativity I receive for supporting this. I hope that this can help even the slightest bit to encourage and support at least one person that needs it.

I hope everyone finds their inner strength to finally live life loud and proud without regard for the negativity of ignorant people.

Happy pride month!”

People who’ve never met Barlow commented on his post and told him how much it meant to them.

Photo Credit: Facebook

Photo Credit: Facebook

Photo Credit: Facebook

Barlow said there have been some negative comments online, but “it’s worth all of the negativity if it helps even just one person.”

As of this writing, Barlow’s post has been shared over 80,000 times on Facebook. Great work, Cody! We need more people out there like this young man.

The post A Straight “Country Boy” from Oklahoma Decorated His Truck for Pride Month, and It’ll Put a Smile on Your Face appeared first on UberFacts.

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15 Marriage Counselors Reveal the Most Common Mistakes That Couples Make

Marriage is really hard work. Just ask anyone who’s been there, and they’ll tell you all about the trials and tribulations, the ups and downs.

If you’re married and you want some good (FREE) advice, you’re in luck!

These AskReddit users who work as marriage counselors share the biggest, most common mistakes that couples make.

1. Very important…

“Expecting one person to be everything for them. You need friends, coworkers, a support system, and hobbies.

Keeping secrets or lies.

Failure to communicate effectively – this can be taught.

2. Don’t keep score

“Keeping score. A partnership is a team, not a competition. Whether a person keeps score of everything they have done, or everything their partner has done, it is a death knell for the relationship. This is one of the most common causes of resentment in a relationship, and you see it often when people use absolute terms to describe themselves or their partners (I.e: I always…, she never…). Remembering that each person has his/her own needs, abilities, skills, and boundaries is essential to a healthy couple.

Expecting that because your significant other knows you better than others and is around you most, that they are aware of all of your thoughts and feelings. Your partner is not psychic, and no matter how often they are around you or how well they know you, they cannot pick up on every nuance to determine how you are feeling and how they should respond. That is called emotional babysitting, and it cascades into a host of problems and unnecessary hurt.”

3. Listen up

“Not listening, most people listen to respond and don’t listen to hear. This is what I spend the most time teaching couples how to do!”

4. Some good points

“I have provided couples counseling at different points in my career. Some of the common mistakes I will often see are:

Expecting partners to be able to read their mind and anticipate needs and wants

Goes with the first one, lack of communication/comfort with discussing difficult topics. Or one partner being uncomfortable with discussion a topic which leaves both partners feeling frustrated or dissatisfied

Blaming their partner for all issues in the relationship and not taking ownership of their own role in dysfunction/issues

Not expressing gratitude towards your partner on a regular basis. Experiences and expressions of gratitude can have a really positive effect on psychological well being as well as relational strength.

Not giving intimacy in their relationship enough attention. This includes but is not limited to sex. Many relationships start with the “hot and heavy” phase where intimacy can come naturally. As this phase diminishes many couples do not spend the time and energy to consider how to maintain a healthy level of intimacy now that it doesn’t just come naturally.”

5. A bit of a different view

“Divorce lawyer here.

Talk. About. Money.

Talk. About. Sex.

If you’re marrying someone with a shitty credit score, you should know how and why they ended up with it, lest you find yourself in their shoes very quickly. A credit score can cost thousands and take Y E A R S to rebuild. Know if they have any tax liens or liability. Are they paying child support and do they have any kind of garnishment?

Who is going to be responsible for managing the finances? How many credit cards does the other person have and what are their balances? I’ve seen money kill a lot of marriages.

Another one a lot of people don’t think of is actually talking about sex, not just having it. Do you enjoy the sex you have? Would you like to have more of it? Less? Would you like to se it change? Do you or the other person have any weird kinks? Just have the talk. Different sexual wavelengths can be difficult to reconcile.”

6. Business talk

“Not a lawyer but a paralegal. I always tell people to never marry someone you wouldn’t go into business with.

Because marriage is a legal business. It is a marriage contract. Not like a contract you sign for internet service or to buy a car. But a legal contract nevertheless. One that creates a business relationship with the other person. And one that requires going to court and paying financial settlements to extricate yourself from. You have to get the court’s permission to dissolve the legal contract.

If you can’t imagine yourselves, I don’t know, opening a dry cleaning business together. Or starting the next great start up. Or running a B&B. Or opening a tire shop. Or running a multi million dollar media empire. Whatever it is.

If you think of that and think things like, “Oh god no, they’d drive me crazy. They’d have wacky ideas. We’d never agree. I’d have to make all the decisions and not tell them.” Or anything else that indicates fear and loathing of the idea of going into business together then DO NOT, I repeat in bold flashing lights DO NOT MARRY THIS PERSON. Because to marry them is to open a business enterprise with them.

People in the past knew that marriage was a business arrangement. They set people up with eligible singles from other families. They knew that it creates a legal and financial contract. And that people are more likely to be happy with other people who share their values around money and major life decisions. Yes sometimes people married for convenience or expectation rather than for love. But now we have people marrying for love in irresponsible ways. Not every love marriage is irresponsible, but enough of them are.

They say people divorce over money, but they don’t, they divorce over values. Because nothing brings out someone’s values like money, or lack thereof.

The decisions a person makes around money tell you more about who they are and what they value than anything else.

If you can’t agree with the person your partner is when it comes to money, if you can’t understand their priorities, their fears, their hopes, their dreams, their goals, and what drives them financially, or if you look down on them for any of that or think you can fix them, or if they hide any of it from you, then don’t marry them.”

7. Don’t lose sight

“Therapist here, have served couples.

Number one problem I see is overactive threat response creating anger and rigidity. People don’t stop to turn down their defense mode, and lose sight of love because all their energy is going towards being right or controlling the outcome. Of course that control comes from a place of fear, but fear and vulnerability feels too dangerous, so it typically gets expressed as anger, frustration, or rigidity.

Surrender to not having control, accept what’s in front of you, and cultivate compassion. Please. Because y’all rigid couples who just can’t prioritize empathizing with each other over your fear response are driving me nuts!”

8. Teammates

“As soon as couple stops being on the same team, fighting all the bullshit of life together, things fall apart. Get on the same team. Get behind each other’s goals. If you’re not on the same team, you’re just going to wind up annoying the fuck out of each other. All that bullshit of life is going to be beating you down and your life partner is just going to be part of it instead of a refuge.”

9. Don’t be harsh

“When your significant other brings something to your attention, that they need/want, don’t react harshly if it’s something they’ve refused to bring up sooner. Getting loud or defensive “Why didn’t you bring this up sooner!” will make them shy away from bringing things up again due to negative reinforcement/backlash.

This is especially true if they’ve been victims of any kind of abusive relationships.

Literally killed my marriage because I was an idiot and didn’t respond in an open, non-positive way.”

10. A unit

“One of the most toxic things I have found in doing marriage counseling is when couples think of themselves as individuals who happen to be together and not as a couple. (Not that I’m advocating enmeshment.)

That’s not really marriage. That’s having a roommate, or perhaps less than that even.

Marriage is a union of two people. That’s what the unity candle and sand and knots are all about. There is a bringing together of two lives that is inseparable.

If either member still conceptualizes themself as a solely autonomous individual whose actions and dispositions impact only themselves, things will go bad eventually.

They go bad because it results in a person caring more for themselves than their spouse. This is seen where couples spend money behind each other’s backs because “it’s my money, why does it matter?” When couples keep secrets from each other, which inevitably results in pain. This is seen when couples don’t stop to consider their spouse’s thoughts, feelings, desires, dreams, abilities, and strengths alongside their weaknesses.

The remedy to this is behaving as a unit in small ways and in large. If you’re getting something from the fridge, see if your spouse wants something. It even helps in arguments; no longer is it spouse against spouse but it’s the married couple against the issue causing stress to the unit.

When one person considers a course of action, their thoughts ought to be about how it impacts the unit.”

11. Challenges and speed bumps

“I work with couples and their relationships a lot, in my line of work, and do some forms of counselling though it is not my job or training.

But one of the common threads I see running in the midst of relationships/marriages that fall apart is a kind of selfishness.

People that don’t quite realize that marriage works best when you are both acting in the others’ best interest and seeking their happiness more than your own.

It crops up a lot, but not exclusively, in sex/intimacy: if your primary concern in sex is you, you are not going to build any kind of bond or intimate connection, and nor is it going to be much fun for your partner.

Marriage is a lot about sacrifice and the couples I see thriving are the ones who are each willing to make sacrifices for the other and for their family.

Couples who get married thinking that the coming decades of marriage are going to be exactly like the dating or the honeymoon phase, when they face major challenges or speed bumps in their life together, have a real hard time dealing with it, “But I thought I was supposed to be happy.” “

12. Unspoken rules

“Current Marriage, Couple and Family master’s counseling student here.

Unspoken family rules that you bring into relationship are HUGE.

Obviously you didn’t grow up together and depending on how you did you grow up you may have had completely different family of origin (FOO) experiences. It can be as simple as your FOO separated out laundry by color and your SO’s just threw everything in together so you have different family rules regarding laundry, to your FOO had the rule of “family problems stay in the family” and your SO’s family talked to people outside the family about all the problems freely.

Everybody has these rules, talking about them and uncovering them (without judgement) will go a very long way in maintaining and deepening connection. If you don’t talk about them it is easy to get into negative interactional patterns that are just rehearsals of how your FOO did things and not creating healthy, mutually safe patterns.”

13. Not just a utility

“Sexual incompatibility. Misunderstanding sex as a bonding activity. When one or the other believes sex is something one does to another as if it was just a utility.”

14. That’s not good

“Treating their pets better than their partners.”

15. Be mindful of the baggage

“Marriage counselor in TX:

Probably one of the biggest mistakes that couples make is forgetting that they’re on the same team, and they fight to win instead of fighting to resolve.

Focus on hearing and understanding each other, and engage in disagreements with an eye on coming together, and compromise will follow easily.

Also: sex is good, important, and okay to talk about. Couples make the mistake of thinking that sex is one of those things that they should just intuitively understand, but life doesn’t work like that.

Quick edit to add:

If you aren’t mindful of the baggage that you bring into a relationship, that baggage will make more decisions for you than you will probably realize. Talk about the skeletons in your closet!”

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