When your baby is no longer a baby

I get it; it must be tough to realize you can't influence your child's life like you used to. I don't think at eighteen years of age you should be allowed to do anything you want, even though you're technically legally able to. Still, at some point, as a parent, you have to let go of control a little and assume your child will make their own mistakes. I think this is what this mother is struggling with: the need to control her child because she is still young and lives under her roof, and the fact that she is old enough now and she is probably living what we all lived at some point in our youth: our first love. The question is, should she step aside this time, or should she put even more boundaries in place?

When you are so great that nobody notices it

Sometimes being good at something doesn't guarantee people will notice it. You might be the best at what you do, but people are definitely more likely to see what's overtly shown to them. It might not even be that they take you for granted; it's just that people tend to interpret things they don't know who's doing as something that happens naturally. The employee who shared this story experienced it firsthand, and I think he still has time to get everyone to appreciate his work; he has to amp up his strategy.

Entitled people, comped food, annoying customers —is that a nightmare? No, just a normal day as a server.
 

​Customer service is probably the most stressful job in the world. Because the worst part of it is actually the main thing you have to do: treat customers. People are awful, especially when you give them a little bit of power. They go from being normal to entitled beings that cannot stand being incorrect or being told no. Customer service representatives get all the confrontation and mistreatment without being able to respond or even complain. They have to smile and pretend that they aren't hurt by the awful things they are hearing. And even though this should be regulated by the companies so that employees have some kind of procedure to avoid being mistreated, the main issue is with the customer directly. People need to start learning how to treat employees nicely. They don't owe you anything, and there is no reason whatsoever to treat someone as badly as they do.
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In this Reddit story, the server was attending the last table of the night, so she wanted everything to go as smoothly as possible to avoid going home with an awful headache. Everything started nicely until the steak the customer ordered arrived. It wasn't cooked as he asked. She apologized and offered to change it, but he denied, so she just added some free dessert for the inconvenience. Till then, everything was fine. The situation had escalated, and the customer was happy with the service. When the bill came, they complained they were being billed for the steak as it was not cooked as he asked. He had already eaten the steak at this point. This is where the server decided to just breathe and applied a 10% discount to avoid issues, but she shouldn't have to do that.
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She had already offered to change the steak, and it was denied. If they eat the whole steak, they cannot complain after. Silly of me to think that was common knowledge. She complied not because they deserve it or because they were nice to her. She did because she was tired and wanted to avoid confrontation. These customers just took advantage of that so they could have a cheaper bill, which is just so entitled. You decide to go out to dinner. Pay for it. Stop expecting people to comp your food just because. Nobody owes you free food, and trying to take advantage of a restaurant in every thing you can is tacky and disrespectful.  

Weddings and their sentimental value

Big events have a way of bringing everything into light. Those days, when our feelings are exacerbated and expectations are high, old dynamics we've gotten so used to that we stopped noticing them show themselves again at full force. The resulting feeling is bittersweet; we see something clearly now- which is in itself a blessing- but what we see isn't beautiful at all.

This woman became a wife the same day she lost a long-time friend; talk about roller coasters. The more I scroll through Reddit, the more I see weddings as this catalyst event; do you notice this as well?.

How many people do you know with issues of instant memory loss? 

Remembering things when you're tired becomes a pain in the neck and twice as hard. So it's not a surprise that sometimes we forget all the basic stuff that we put on autopilot. It's a corporate world survival mechanism. That information just gets lost inside the brain if it's not 100% necessary. 

Reddit user u/WinterRevolutionary6 has an autopilot memory that works in mysterious ways. He drove to work, even though he usually uses public transport, since finding a parking spot is crazy hard, and then forgot. He absentmindedly left his car in an expensive parking lot and went home by bus. An unknown amount of days later he realizes his car is still in that parking lot. After doing the math, he probably is going to have to pay a bill of over$100. Yikes! That's a lot for parking. 

Isn't it amazing that he forgot about an entire car? Keys? Sure, all the time. Wallet? Yes, I can't count how many times I forgot where that thing was. The stove on in the kitchen? Also yes, and considerably more dangerous, but so far so good. But I can't understand how he got to the point of forgetting an entire car. Sure, he usually takes the bus or train or whatever; he's used to that. But how is it that you forget about the morning traffic you had to get through? All I complain about is traffic; it gets on my nerves in ways I can't explain, and I never seem to forget it. Apparently, he's not so bothered by the ridiculous number of cars in the city as I am. Well, to each their own, I guess. 

Poor guy, his wallet is gonna suffer for it, but at least we get to laugh at the silliness of the entire situation. 

How are we treating our elders?

I didn't fully grasp the depth of this question. I used to put people into different categories: The elderly (those who already had all the time to build their lives) and the young (those who need opportunities to climb the ladder). Only lately have I begun to realize that that perspective is shortsighted. You can be old and really need an opportunity; life is just as precious to you as to the youngest. And you can be really young and not need opportunities because you have many. It's more complex than just your age; we need to look at each case individually and decide afterwards. Of course, the world keeps spinning, and most of the time it doesn't align with perfect ethical values, yet still one has to adapt to it, and that's precisely what this employee is trying to do, while also reflecting on what the motives are driving his company's actions.

"Do you know who I am?" The worst phrase to say ever as a customer.

Front desk employees at restaurants, hotels, and even theme parks are used to the phrase "Do you know who I am?" and 90% of the time they are no one important. Entitled customers like to use this phrase to get away with something that they did that was wrong, or to get free stuff. This almost never works because if the employee doesn't know who you are, then you are not that important. This is not only used by influencers and out-of-work actors nobody knows, but is also used by owners' supposed friends and family. This last one is funny because almost always the owner will explain that they in fact do not know those people. But sometimes this phrase is used by customers that are actually related to someone from the restaurant or hotel, but that doesn't always mean a good thing.

In this Reddit story, the front desk employee stops a couple of children who were playing in the hotel lobby and disturbing other customers with all the running and screaming. When he stopped them to check on which room they were in, he was hit with the famous "Do you know who I am?" He didn't, so he asked again, only to discover he was in fact related to someone in the hotel staff. The problem was that his last name was not in the room's check-in. When the family of the boy was called, they realized they had paid in cash for a room that wasn't available and to someone that was not really who they were supposed to pay. This kid, with his awful way to get out of stuff, made the staff realize the scam that had been going on for months, in which two hotel employees were renting out rooms to family and friends and pocketing the money.

If this kid behaved and answered correctly, or didn't even run in the lobby in the first place, no one would have realized the scam that was happening behind the scenes. I believe his family members weren't happy when they realized that if it wasn't for this incident, they would not only still have their jobs but also be able to continue with the scam. Anyway, the real fault is obviously in the hotel workers who tried to steal from their work.
 

A Fourth of July party turns into a debate over house rules and pet ownership responsibility after guests ask the host to put away her dogs, prompting her to tell them to leave instead.

As pets become increasingly viewed as family members, disagreements over whether hosts should accommodate guests or guests should adapt to the pets and the "rules" of the home are becoming more and more common.

People have different preferences and expectations and things that they are more or less comfortable with. These things between two people will never be the same. 

So how do we come together and enjoy time with each other?

They only notice your absence when you stop trying to reach out.

​It's so normal to see family feuds over not spending time with family, but it usually is not really the fault of who they think. It is common to see family members who were always trying to meet with the whole family and were turned down to stop trying, and then get blamed for not trying enough. Especially when they are moving out of the country or state. It's like only they have the obligation to reach out, and if they stop or they can't anymore, they are now bad people. I hate the phrase "the phone works both ways", but in these cases it really fits. Every family member can contact others to meet, or at least they can say yes when the other person proposes. If they always say no and never try to meet out with others, they should accept when they stop getting invited. Is the normal course of action. Nobody is going to wait for you forever just to see if you are in the mood to get together. That is how families stop being united.

In this Reddit story, that is exactly the case. A husband and wife who get blamed for moving out of the country, as now they are separating the family. Even though they were always reaching out to meet but always received no for an answer. To the family critics, they just respond, explaining that it will be the same, as they only meet 2 or 3 times a year because the other members of the family never can and use excuses to avoid meeting them.

The way this couple explained themselves is perfectly correct. They are telling the truth, and the fact that it bothers the other family members just proves the lack of responsibility they have. They are the ones who decided not to meet and reject the invites. If they are regretful now, then it is their problem. 

Being cordial with an ex doesn't mean being comfortable with giving them access to your home while you are away. Some boundaries need to be respected, especially after dealing with a difficult divorce.

The situation started as a dog-sitting problem. The ex-wife offered to babysit his dog and their friend's dog at his place so that the group could go on vacation together. It seems they had already tried this arrangement before, but every time this happened, it caused problems afterward. So this time he decided to say no. But his friends were not that happy with his decision. In fact, they were not happy at all. So much so that they decided to cancel the trip. 

The whole situation felt like it was more than just about the dogs. There's also an important detail in this story: the friend's wife is still friends with the divorced friend's ex-wife. So being in the middle of friends might feel a bit conflicted. And it certainly affected their choices, because the friends wanted only her to pet-sit their dogs. Not any other trusted pet-sitter. So that's where the whole "dog argument" falls apart. It's reasonable that your friend doesn't want his ex in his house; then why wouldn't you accept another pet sitter? The thing is, it's not only about the dogs. 

Going through a divorce is going through a process of separating lives, routines, and emotional bonds. If you're a good friend, you'll understand that your friend is just trying to move on with his life and trying to be healthy. You won't try to keep him involved with his ex-wife when he clearly doesn't want that. 

So the divorced dog owner didn't ruin the trip by setting a boundary. He even came up with a different solution. But his friends didn't like it, and his friends were the ones who decided to cancel the trip because they didn't like the boundary he set.

A woman opens her home to a younger relative who needs a temporary place to stay, only to discover that her perfectly normal, quiet house has somehow been reclassified as an unbearable noise zone requiring emergency hotel stays.

The "noise" in question is not late-night parties or blasting music. It is cooking at 9pm, a dishwasher running, a TV at low volume, the kind of background sounds most people would describe as living indoors. This is a new, well-insulated home with one person in it. The idea that it is unlivable raises two possibilities, neither of them flattering to reality.

The typical fake philanthropist

Sometimes doing a good deed can get out of hand. At first, you do it because you can and because it has a positive impact on the other person; then you begin to wonder whether a positive impact would be to let that same person become aware of their reality and where they stand, even though it can hurt a little at first. Often, by allowing someone to fail or succeed on their own, we also allow them to do better with time. By helping them through every step, we end up paralyzing them. Still, there is a fine line between not helping at all and helping too much (to the point that it becomes counterproductive). This brother is approaching precisely that fine line, and we are here for it. How will he get out of this mess?

Family favoritism between sisters can be hurtful, especially when children are old enough to notice how differently they are being treated. Adults may think they are being subtle, but kids know. 

Kids notice who gets praised more, who gets more thoughtful birthday gifts, and who receives just a low-effort gift card. That's what happened here. The favoritism was so blatant that one family member felt the need to overcompensate by giving the overlooked teenager the attention everyone else had failed to give her.

Ellie is the golden child of the family. She is social and talented, and everyone in the family loves her. None of that is her fault, of course. She is just a teenager being herself. The problem is the adults' behavior towards Ellie, which is very different from Ivy's. 

For Ellie's birthday, family members gave her gifts based on her interests and her hobbies. That kind of gift that says, "I see you, I know what you like, I chose this for you". And that's a lovely gesture. We all appreciate it when we realize someone actually listens and is there for you. But then the difference was crystal clear when Ivy's birthday came around. Everyone gave her only gift cards. It's not that I'm against gift cards, but in this context, the difference was obvious. Ellie got effort, and Ivy got convenience. And Ivy noticed. 

So that's why this relative stepped in and took Ivy shopping. The thing is, even though he tried to do something nice, he's adding to the problem of unequal treatment. And we don't want to turn this into a competition between sisters. Anyway, if the family is worried about the sisters' relationship, they should stop blaming the relative who tried to make Ivy feel better and start looking at their favoritism toward Ellie that made this gesture feel necessary in the first place.   

Why do cooking disasters make the best kitchen stories?

There's nothing that I love more than feeling related to any type of cooking fail memes. Since I'm not a professional cook and I barely know how to prepare decent pasta, these memes speak to me very clearly. Although I'll say that, whenever I cook at home, I put my best effort into the recipes to see if I somehow mastered the art of cooking… and most of the time life proves me the contrary.

Over the years, and after the realization that I do not have the gift of cooking, I learned how to cope with the disappointment and to move on with my life. At first, I used to get very angry at myself for not being able to successfully put together a fancy dinner for my boyfriend. 'How hard could it be?' I thought to myself. Needless to say, of course, recipes are indeed more complicated than I anticipated, and I failed massively at the attempt of cooking a lamb chop with a crazy cranberry sauce. 

Anyways, the best comfort has been, since then, scrolling through these cooking fail memes that represent exactly how I feel: the huge mess I made of my kitchen, always forgetting one ingredient, and the strong willpower to keep trying. So, in case any of these sound familiar to you, you'll most likely enjoy the memes that I selected for you.

10 years is not forever

A huge building can fall due to a minor accident; it's not that the accident caused the fall; it just catapulted something that was bound to happen after years of minor incidents adding up. The same thing happens with our relationships, and by the time that tall building falls, we can be just as surprised as we would be if a building fell just because a kid jumped too hard on top of it. The time after the fall can be especially difficult because we're left to analyze what had been going wrong for a long time without us noticing.

What happens when a landlord's business needs clash with a tenant's daily life?

What an awkward situation... This tenant made her best efforts to help her landlord rent the place she's leaving in July by being super accommodating when people came to check it out. In total, the apartment was shown 13 times. 13 times she had to leave her home with her dog so people wouldn't get frightened by it. However, there was one thing that struck her: nobody was interested in her apartment, but kept renting other units… that are the same. I don't want to spoil what happened and the landlord's excuse; I'll let you find out this information by yourself.

I'm a renter, and I live in a big building that belongs to the same landlord. I have a great relationship with him, and I would never want to ruin that bond by trying to make the place look bad or untidy whenever people are coming to see it. So, I'm totally with the OP here. As a consequence, I'd expect the landlord to be respectful of my time and my efforts, and try to rent the place as fast as possible, so I can stop receiving these visits.

If this is not the case, I'd most certainly confront him and demand an answer as to why he keeps arranging visits - sometimes with less than 24-hour notice - and not having a single offer. Without a doubt, there must be something fishy behind it. The community in r/Tenant supported the OP and shared some interesting advice. 

To memories that cling

We all have that friend who won't let go. It's borderline fascinating how, for some people, things that happened in high school are still relevant today. Relevant to the point that they would dedicate hours to ruminate about something somebody said ten years ago like it was yesterday. It's fascinating to me. It helps me understand how memory works and that we are prone to cling to some things because nothing else relevant is happening in our lives. Of course, when it's happening to us, it's much more difficult to see it, but when we see it happening to a friend, we can't unsee it.

Moving into a new place always feels like a fresh start. New keys, new routine, maybe even the illusion that things will be organized this time.Then you deal with a landlord and remember where you are.

Working is hard, but having to pretend you are being productive when there is absolutely nothing to do is insanely hard.

Corporate life is a strange place where completing your shift is more important than achieving your goals. Employees are paid hourly to sit at a desk, then sometimes they have to actually work, like entering data, sending emails, or talking to clients. It's kinda funny how these companies prefer having to pay people for 8 or 12 hours of work when they actually work 2. Working by goals is still something really new that only some companies are starting to do. In the meantime, we have some employees thinking about what they can do to seem busy.

That problem seems to be the one that the user in this Reddit story is going through. He has A LOT of spare time. He sits from 8:30 to 5 o'clock doing almost nothing. He has achieved almost 6 hours without anything to do. The problem is he can't just go home, or watch a movie, or even be on his phone. So he has to pretend to be busy, which can be as hard as working —if not more. He navigates the system, trying to learn new things and sift through his emails, looking to find something interesting. He gets so bored that his day starts to feel like 3, and the hours never seem to pass.

All of this made me think, isn't it easier to simply have him two hours a day to check for any work and do what he has? Instead of a shift of several hours, have a shift of goals. He has to respond to every work that comes by, but in his free time, he can be at home. There is no need to have someone for 8 and a half hours each day just so they can work for an hour. Maybe all these corporate ways are outdated and need to change, or maybe he just needs to start playing solitaire on the computer while he waits for work.
 

To take a lunch break or not to take, that is the question!

With all due respect to the work we all get paid to do every single day, lunch break is probably the most important part of an employee's day. It is the time to recharge, to socialize, and most importantly, to eat. It provides employees with a much-needed pause to the workday, which allows them to come back afterwards with newfound strength and energy.

Working a 9-5, you tend to find your favorite period of time to take your lunch break, unless your workplace has a set time in place. We assume most people like to take their break between 12 and 1 PM, allowing themselves to cut their workday exactly in half and eat their lunch at the right time. 

However, work is usually a dynamic thing, and sometimes your schedule has to adapt to the changes your job demands. If there is a certain work crisis, for example, you might decide that lunch has to be postponed for a few hours, so you can deal with the problems at hand and not leave your coworkers or clients with an issue you can fix. How can you drop everything and go enjoy your lunch when you know your help is needed?

If you're working for someone like the boss in the story below, you might not have a choice. An IT employee shared on Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance how they were late to take lunch one day because they were busy fixing an issue with a computer. After they were done and managed to grab lunch, their boss chastised them for going on a break outside the normal lunch hours and insisted it can't happen again. 

An odd request for an IT employee who's in charge of the company's entire tech support, but how are they to argue? The next day, even as the company's entire network was having problems, the employee complied with the lunch company policy and clocked out at the right time, leaving the issues to wait until their return. What was the boss's reaction this time? Scroll down to find out.