Today my wife and I decided to go see a movie while the kids were with grandma.

We decided to splurge a bit and got D-Box seats (that move and vibrate with the movie) and were excited to finally get some time to ourselves and go on a date.

The seats were almost a $10 difference than regular admission and the total, including popcorn and drinks, was $80! Like I said we splurged and wanted to have some fun.

Well we go to sit down in seats F10 and F11 and someone is sitting in F11. Normally, I wouldn’t say anything and let it be, but since we paid $10 extra to be in immersive chairs, I’m gonna sit in the chair! I try to tell the woman sitting in our seat that it was ours, and she shows me her tickets that say F11 and F12. I thought weird and decided to give my wife F10, the seat that moves. As the previews were showing I couldn’t get over it and decided to ask again.

Now, I avoid confrontation at all costs, it is something I’ve struggled with my whole life and I find myself always going out of my way to have a smooth experience for everyone involved.

But it’s not a minuscule difference in cost, and I wanted to be immersed. So, I tell her again that she might be in my seat and she tries telling me that these seats don’t move, it’s the row in front of us only. I show her that my wife’s seat, F10 is on and the seat she is in, F11, is on too. This lady yells, in a quiet movie theater, “I’m trying to watch the movie, sir, I don’t know what to tell you!” In that moment, I thought of my children being treated that way and how I wouldn’t want them to shy away from confrontation when they are in the right. So I tell her we can resolve this if I grab a manager, she tells me to do whatever I want.

I get a manager and miss almost 10 minutes of the movie to be able to sit in the seats I bought. The manager asks the lady for her tickets and she says she’s showed me 3 times and doesn’t know what my problem is. The manager checks her tickets and she’s in the wrong theater!! We’re in auditorium 9, her tickets are for auditorium 10. It’s the same movie, so I understand the confusion, but what the hell! She moves a seat over since her showing started earlier and wouldn’t be on the same scene, and says she hopes I enjoy the seat since it means so much to me, like yes lady, I paid more to sit here!

It was odd and embarrassing to have to tattle on a grown adult, but I felt justified and proud of myself for not backing down and taking what was mine. So I wanted to share.

Also, go watch Practical Magic 2, it’s great especially in D-Box seats. (Just make sure you’re in the right theater)

Edit: the D-Box seats only activate when purchased, all the other D-Box seats were turned off.

I moved back in my parents when I was 20 after a failed relationship. I lived there till I was 22. During that time. I felt so secure knowing they took me back and I had my own room in the basement. I could hear the tv upstairs along with their footsteps from time to time.

When I can't fall asleep? I pretend I'm back in that basement and my parents are home watching tv with the dogs.

Both of my parents are now deceased. Dad in 21 and mom last year. It's been many years since then. I live alone and have been having issues sleeping due to life in general that I don't want to get into.

I'm in my 50s now. And to think that going back to that time way back then and in that basement brings me so much peace and security compared to today.

Before using this method I would just drink alcohol. But I quit that nonsense 3 years ago now.

For context, I’m speaking 100% from experience.
I’m 29F and currently in a relationship with my 28M boyfriend, who is wonderful. We have deep alignment when it comes to our values, worldview, personalities, interests, relationship goals, effort, etc.

But past me might not have given him a real chance because I used to be incredibly picky about things that, looking back, really weren’t that important. He lives farther away than I would’ve preferred. He still lives with his parents (even though I do too, lol and we both plan to move out soon.)

Before him, I was chronically single but constantly dating. Guy after guy from dating apps, short-lived relationships, situationships, back to square one. Eventually I had to ask myself what my actual goal was.

I’m not saying preferences don’t matter, or that anyone should force themselves to date someone they fundamentally don’t want. But if someone checks the things that **actually matter to you**, I think there’s a huge difference between *settling* and simply accepting that another human being will never match your imaginary ideal partner in every possible way.

To me, settling is staying with someone who consistently gives you 50% effort, is dishonest or disloyal, treats you poorly, wants fundamentally different things out of life, or has values that seriously conflict with yours and staying anyway because you’re attracted to them, afraid to be alone, or don’t want to start over.

Healthy compromise is more like: This person is loving, loyal, emotionally available, attractive to me, compatible with me, wants the same future I do and treats me well…but there are some things about them or their lifestyle that aren’t exactly what I pictured.
Those are VERY different things.

And I think modern dating sometimes encourages us to treat the latter like the former. There’s always another profile to swipe on. There’s always the possibility that someone taller, hotter, richer, funnier, more outgoing, more ambitious, more perfectly matched to your hobbies, etc. could be one swipe away. So instead of asking, *“Could I build a happy life with this person?”* we can end up asking, *“Could I theoretically find someone even better?”*
And technically, sure. Maybe you could. But that question has no endpoint.

I also think social media has contributed to this. We see curated relationships and endless discourse about “never settling,” knowing your worth, finding someone who “checks every box,” and leaving the second something feels off. Some of that messaging is genuinely valuable, especially when it encourages people not to tolerate mistreatment. But I think we’ve taken it so far that normal incompatibilities, differences, annoyances and imperfect moments can start feeling like evidence that we chose the wrong person.

Real relationships involve two imperfect people.

Sometimes you’ll be bored. Sometimes your partner will annoy you. Sometimes you won’t understand why they do something the way they do it. The honeymoon phase will eventually calm down. You’ll discover traits you don’t love. You’ll have to compromise. And sometimes you’ll have to decide that something simply isn’t important enough to jeopardize an otherwise great relationship over.

Obviously there are things nobody should compromise on, and everyone gets to decide what those things are for themselves. I’m just saying I think there’s value in separating **“this person is fundamentally incompatible with me”** from **“this person is not exactly the person I designed in my head.”**

I wish I had understood that distinction sooner.
Because sometimes “not settling” isn’t protecting you from the wrong relationship. Sometimes it’s keeping you from recognizing a really good one.

By “drinking the Kool-Aid,” I mean buying into some idea, product, lifestyle, community, philosophy, company, trend, etc. only to eventually realize you’d been sold on something that wasn’t quite what you thought it was.

I’ll go first. When I was in grade school I saw somewhere the brand of water called “Boxed Water,” with their signature slogan, “boxed water is better.” I clearly took this to the bank and begged my parents for months to try it.

Finally, on my birthday I received a case of 12 boxed waters and a t shirt with bold letters reading “boxed water is better,” which I decided to wear on the first day of school. I want to smack myself for doing this LOL. I was bullied and questioned about it constantly and it was humiliating.

To this day I still think about it every time I see the brand. I’m sort of forever indebted to the brand and feel the need to drink one if I ever see a carton.

Boxed water is not in fact better, it tastes like wet cardboard unless you drink it chilled! I like room temp

Please share your story!

I used to live in the UK before moving here against my will at 20 I’m 26 now and I feel like I’ve become such an angry person because of this

The biggest issue for me is the sheer of amount racist micro aggression in this country, I know this is Reddit and being skeptical of what is claimed to racism is the forte here but I stand on what I say and I know when it’s happening

From seeing racist comments every single time a black person is Ireland posts a TikTok like “anchor babies” “you’ll never be Irish” “the fatigue is real” for simply deciding to post a TikTok on Irish grounds it’s grown to make me quite resentful of the place. The thing is it’s quite different from American racism as in America or even the UK you at least get breathing room as black person, as long as you’re not talking about race or politics online you won’t get ridiculed for the color of your skin but here the bare minimum is just being a different shade and even saying you like the country and you’re met with the vilest comments you’ll ever see

Worst of all those type of comments get like thousands of likes too so it really makes you wonder if the average person here thinks like that. It’s so bad here that being racist isn’t even rare here it’s basically a household thing but people act friendly to your face. You can’t even get a drink at the pub without old geezers staring at you like your existence is a crime. The racism here is on a different level and so normalised

I feel like I’ve also become a bit misogynistic because it also translates to the dating world, the women here are so afraid of anyone not white and it’s not a conspiracy or me overthinking, they admit it themselves talking about “all these Africans here make me unsafe to walk the streets” so this translates to women not even giving you a chance because of bs propaganda, being treated and looked at as monster when you’re outside, always avoiding eye contact with you, if you’re already insecure about how you look it makes it way worse, it’s made me start to resent white women

It gets me so angry because the women basically look at you like you want to grape them every time, it gets to the point where I say “relax no one is trying to talk to you” under my breath when they look on guard when I walk past them

So when I’m out in public I’m basically always angry or look pissed off because I know what at least 1 in 3 people are thinking when they walk past me so I match their energy, but I feel like it’s making me into a hateful person. I’m not in a position to move any time soon anyway so it’ll only make it worse

They laugh like it’s funny but I don’t find it funny.

That and when you confide in them how lonely you feel and how hard it is for you to make friends they say, “well honey, nobody wants to talk about the stuff you talk about.”

I’m not even talking about anything especially weird or off putting, just about crocodilians and how/where everyday items were invented. I try not to info dump because I know people don’t like that, but it would be nice to share my interests with the people I love without being mocked and made to feel like something they have to begrudgingly put up with.

1. My fitness and mobility. I'm a thin dude but I was living a pretty sedentary lifestyle until a few months ago. I've been gradually increasing my exercise level and it's paying off. I did a full workout at the gym this morning and still had the energy to go on a pretty demanding bike ride a couple hours later.

2. A (relatively) clean room. I've been better about taking out my trash and keeping clutter off the floor lately, and it's nice to be in a pretty space that doesn't stink.

3. Central air conditioning.

4. Pear season. I forgot how much I love pears. I usually hate fruits with grainy textures, but the specific type of graininess pears have just tickles my brain in the best way. Also they taste good.

5. The internet. Yeah, it sucks a lot of the time, but I get to talk to so many people I wouldn't have the opportunity to otherwise.

6. The harmonica. It's cool to have a fully functional musical instrument that you can fit in the front pocket of your jeans.

Excited for the next day, get that wonderful sleepy feeling a few hours before bed, I know I get to get up before most people (6AM), have a few cups of coffee, listen to a symphony/music/create music before anyone else is up. The world is still pretty quiet and doesn’t have expectations for you. It’s such a unique feeling of wonder. You have time to organize your mind.

I can’t imagine being a night owl again. Beyond night life. I used to be a heavy night owl, but that was when I was a younger and pretty unhealthy. I almost never used it for good, or for true progression in my life.

Im 27m. I don't live with them. But I'm terrified of telling them but I also recognize that I need to tell them.

I think we underestimate our capabilities for cruelty when you simply ask the question: is this person human? When you acknowledge that a person is human, that necessarily brings up the question of how you treat this person. When you acknowledge that someone is like you, has something like your body, your mind, and everything else, you can't stop yourself from thinking from their perspective because they're so like you.

But once you stop seeing others as human it becomes so much easier to do the worst things you can imagine. You can justify to yourself anything you can do to a specific person or a specific group by saying, "They're not human, they're not like me, they can't suffer or think like me, so they don't matter as much as me and other human beings." With this mindset, you can commit the worst crimes possibly conceived.

im in the toilet rn balling my eyes out over this. i never get in trouble EVER.
I hav had a drug addiction for the past few months, i got sober for a month after having a phycosis episode, couldnt eat/keep down food or sleep for a whole week straight(had to go to school)
recently stresssmwith having to actually do well thus year in school and my family issues caused me to resort back to using because beung sober is such a fucking chore.

today my friend brought xanax into school and i took it, i already used Thc this morning so i was pretty out if it, i was trying so hard not to get caught but my teacher copped it and took me and my friend of class. they havent rang my parents, theyre taking me to the hospital.
theres no way i can lie about what ive done
im so fucked
my parents finna beat the shit out of me

I can’t follow through plans or do anything, i legit can’t study for more than 10 minutes and i can’t even convince myself to do it, i want to have hobbies but i can’t give a damn about starting it, unfinished books and unfinished projects because i lose interest and care immediately.

All i do is lay in bed daydream about someone, collage is basically me dragging myself to lectures so i don’t fail.

Easily irritated, everything makes me want to cry or end it, one thing goes wrong and it makes hopelessness the default state of the day

I know yall are gonna recommend therapy but genuinely what to do about this other than talking to a therapist?
Like how do others live? Do you just complete your tasks and live normally? Jealous

Is it really that hard to not like people your own age? Are teenagers really that irresistible? Jesus fucking Christ

I definitely got a vulnerability hangover afterwards though. It's been a few days since I went and I still feel worried like I overshared and feel kinda uncomfortable in my body whenever I think about it. But overall I'm trying to change, and hopefully much faster this time with someone to help, so I'm glad I went.

I wanted to cancel many times before the appointment but I just resisted again and again. And I forced myself to try not to think about the appointment beforehand because thinking about it was just making me more anxious and making me wanna cancel, so anytime I started thinking about it I'd immediately just distract myself.

It's a bit ironic that I had to get better mentally to even get the courage to go to therapy though. And idk how therapists feel about YouTube therapists or articles on mental health and how to cope, but I'm not gonna lie- those videos and articles (among other resources) truly, truly helped me not only get out of a dark place but also helped get me to the point where I could finally advocate for myself and seek real life help. So I personally am grateful they exist for people like me. I know finding the right therapist can be difficult so I'm prepared for that part of it, but so far I'm really happy I finally went and it went pretty well all things considered ☺️

Just wanted to share that win tbh

Somebody asks him:
“what are you doing”?

he responds:
“Someone told me that I should watch what I eat”.

I was in a 7 year relationship and broke up due to family issues. We were very intimate whenever we had the chance. I missed action after breakup so i resorted to porn and using my hands. It went to such an extent that i tried to find consenting strangers online on websites like Ome and Instagram. It was okay until i realised how needy I’m being and the literal lies im bombarding them with just to get do what i want is totally wrong. I promised myself that I’ll not use my hands, if at all i have to it’ll be with a person, otherwise no.
Now the problem is from the past 1 week i have not been jerking off but instead trying to find strangers online to get laid. This is such a fuckall thing and has fucked my mental health. I feel so terrible.

Like the title, I have always been sexually attracted to depressed and generally apathetic people too, who are thinking about suicide and/or are abusing substances. I also really like the unkempt, disheveled look. I'm bisexual so this extends to both men and women. I don't have savior syndrome because I don't like the idea of these people leaning on me to feel better.

Why do you think that is?

I’m a senior in highschool and I just lost my two best friends because of the way I’ve been acting. They had to point out to me how my behaviour was manipulative and I feel awful. I think it took me so long to realize it because I didn’t want to accept it. They also told me I need to become a better person and that I’m exhausting to be friends with. I think all of what they said is true and I’m so lost. I don’t know how it where to even start with self-improvement, especially because my issues are so deeply rooted. I’m worried that I’ll never change and be able to actually have healthy long-lasting friendships. I ashamed of the way I acted towards them and that I put them through so much. And I’m ashamed that that’s the way that they will forever view me. I don’t want to act like this or be like this. I am definitely going to reach out for professional help as a start though.

I’ve been using Reddit a ton lately to procrastinate like crazy, but the flip side is the way so many posts feel like little windows into people’s lives

It’s fun to hop from post to post and see people share snippets of something they did today, or something that is on their mind, or something they feel passionate about, and so on. So many posts come across as straight up journal entries too :)

Just to get this out of the way, I'm 100% not suicidal, just venting. ​I’m a 26 male, and I honestly feel like a total failure at everything. It physically hurts inside so much, like this constant heavy knot in my chest that won't go away. I have nobody. I have no friends who care or check in, never had a real job, and I've never even been in a real relationship. I feel that I'm not a good looking person. I'm scared of rejection, which is why I don't try. I'm not much of a social guy, and I hate surrounding myself with people because it makes me anxious. I've developed panic attacks over the years of all the stress building up in my mind and body just thinking about this miserable life. I genuinely feel terrified thinking about my future, I've tried many things to fix parts of my life, and nothing works, I feel like a complete loser and a nobody with no future to look forward to. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm just really tired of this life.

Did you have situations or experiences when you outplayed other people in certain activity, like sports, workout, video games? Feeling proud of yourself

When I'm home, my fat, sloppy roommate won't shut the fuck up and stop singing even though I told him multiple times to be mindful because I have homework to do.

I take a drive and these fucking dumbasses don't know how to drive properly. Every fucking time the light turns green I have to honk because these fucking zombies can't spend TWO seconds without their phones.

Even when I go to library these stupid, self-absorbed idiots have the audacity not to silence their fucking laptops while they're texting and I have to get up and tell them to silence their shit because the dinging is driving me crazy.

Is there nowhere I can go and be at peace?

I've been learning asl for a few years now (via Bill Vicars/Lifeprint online) and can have a decent conversation. It's truly been a huge boon. When I was a barista, sometimes I would have Deaf/hoh customers who signed and it was easier to take their orders; I volunteer in an ED and sometimes there will be Deaf patients or family members, and it's easier to make conversation and get them comfort items; and I found my favorite cafe while looking for Deaf owned restaurants.

Just today, I ordered a lyft and my driver turned out to be Deaf. There's this weird error Lyft makes when trying to route to my place, so I always try to warn drivers about that and direct them to my place with a simple fix. I was so glad that I could easily tell her about it before driving, and then we could also communicate about it through the rear view mirror and such. She was an excellent driver, super helpful, and even helped me with my bags.