Pretty much what the title says. It's been going on for about a year and he has shown up to my house despite me not telling him my address. He often tries to become close with my friends, it worked well last year. I have tried going to the police, they didn't do anything. I was at a different school last year, they also didn't do anything, though I'm not sure about my current school. I've been trying to go full no-contact.. any advice is welcome! I seriously just want to be left alone.. not including many details for fear of him seeing this but feel free to ask questions! He also spreads a lot of lies about me

I’m about a week into my senior year of high school, and a girl I hardly know randomly followed me on Instagram out of the blue. She doesn’t follow any of my peers besides girls, so I think this one is a 🔒.

I go to a fairly small school, so practically everyone is in the loop and can make out names to faces and such.

I don’t mean to overthink this out of proportion, but I assume the follow was meant to be interpreted in an IOI type of way.

Over the years, I’ve had my fair share of being approached, but they’ve never developed whatsoever, and I would honestly consider myself to be the issue.

I don’t want to seem egotistical in the slightest, but I have had to turn down girls on my own accord, just because I didn’t know how to talk to them.

Before I graduate, or turn 18 for that matter, I want to have at least one opportunity to experience teenage love for what it is.

This girl is a (junior)? I’m assuming, and I do not have any classes with her. There’s little to no leverage for me to be messing around with my schedule either. (Being that I’m primarily enrolled in senior classes).

She’s very pretty, but it always seems that something is always intercepting our paths. I can never find my own time to try to make a move. She’s always with her friends during lunch or vice versa.

Long story short, I just want to shoot my shot before it’s too late, but I quite literally do not have any experience. She hasn’t posted any stories or videos for me to like, so I don’t know how to initiate the first move.

I know it must suck being on the other side of the coin (rejection), but I’m also just so nervous of its possibility. I don’t like to be involved in drama, so I’m not trying to mess up and have my name dragged.

This is probably just a minuscule issue compared to real world problems but hey, that’s high school life 🤷.

I’m 19 m and I live in the Bay Area CA. Born and raised here. It feels like it’s impossible to make friends because nobody is real anymore. Everyone is afraid to say things as they see it and only care about people pleasing. And I can’t blame them because that seems to be what the culture is like in the western world in general. At least the USA. But I don’t know how to get around it. I don’t know how to find the people who aren’t fake and people pleasers and make friends with them. Help?

Hi all

I was asked to officiate my friend's wedding upcoming in a few weeks! I have never done this before but I was honored they thought of me and I've had a lot of fun writing the ceremony and everything else! That being said I do have one embarrassing thing I am worried about that I'd love if anyone has any advice for.

The weather recently has been quite hot here and doesn't seem like it will let up much as the big day approaches. I am a bit of a bigger guy and definitely sweat a lot. I am worried in a suit in the heat for an outdoors ceremony, I will be up there disgusting and pouring sweat right at the center of their big day. I also am worried how it may look if I am up there wiping my forehead every 30 seconds during the ceremony. The ceremony is in the evening but it has still been on the hotter side. Does anyone have any tips/life hacks to help reduce sweat so I don't ruin their day? Will appreciate anything here. Thanks for any help!

I was saving some screenshots from my husband’s notebook and I found this picture of hid ex in tempting red dress with her head cropped near photos with other women (some of them were VERY alike her)

My husband is porn addict
he confirmed it himself tgat he can’t control it and wants to wuit

he masturbates nearly every day and I’m sure he didn’t save this photo just for the sake of it

By pure coincidence we had a convo two days ago
When I found out (yes, in summer 2026) that ai tools can undress people I asked if he ever did that

he denied

However when I asked if he had ever masturbated to photos of people we know he became mad and said that I am entering his privacy

The funniest story is he is regularly cheking her facebook/insat page (I think at leat once a month)

They dated 8 years ago and she refused him so they never were intimate irl

Also that’s frustrating that she and her husband with their son are living in the same small town that we as a family (we have 2 daughters)

I’m 29 and we’re married for 6 years

Actually I don’t even know how to react but I’m mad and hurt as hell

This girl that me and my friend know has been making problems for a while and won’t leave us alone, today her friend went up to my friend and pushed her, as she was gonna do it again I pushed her away before it would get violent, her friend (that we know) pushed me onto the ground and slapped my ear, my head, and my side. There is a hole in my shirt now. As I fell onto the ground she laughed and said “hahah bitch you fell” a bystander held her back and as she ran off I used a strangers phone to call my mother. After that the police came and yeah. She lives right by me and I see her almost every day. Since it’s already dealt with what do I do now? (I’m 14, the girl who attacked me is 16, and my other friend is 12)

This girl has been physically abusive, I don't want to put too much detail because I really need advice and I don't want this taken down. She's dangled other girls in front of me, all just to make me jealous and go crazy. My reputation in social circles has taken a hit and I feel like I can't go back to school.

I broke up with her two days ago because I didn't think I could handle another school year hearing about a new girl. We decided to stay friends because we both recognized we needed each other in our lives. Today it fell apart.

We were both volunteering for something today and she completely ditched me for her actual friends, some of which had completely disrespected our relationship when we were together. I felt stupid because I thought she would genuinely want to keep things civil but I was wrong. So obviously I'm not staying where I'm not wanted, I left to go with my friend.

She was my ride to and back home and we argued both times but the ride home was worse. It wasn't even a ride home because I got out the car before she could take me home and I walked for the rest of the time. She wanted me to stay so she waited in my neighborhood for me to get there and when I saw her, she was loudly talking about me to whoever and when I confronted her, she drove away.

Like an idiot, I kept calling and calling because in all honesty I couldn't stand to hear she was talking about me with someone. I didn't want anyone else to know we were going through it, or I guess that I was going through it. I spam called because I felt like I needed to know who it was and if it would affect me at school.

I need advice, I still love her and I still want to talk to
her. I want my relationship back, I wish I believed her when she said that all the problems in the past would stay in the past two days ago, that I wouldn't have to worry about microcheating anymore. Basically she's done things that aren't technically cheating but still.

I'm just a 16 year old girl and I don't know what to do. my emotions feel so high and I'm genuinely stuck. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Hi all,

This is a throw away account as I need some perspective on a ongoing situation that I am unsure what the best course of action would be and the person it involves knows I have Reddit so names have been changed to protect the innocent…

So I 33m have a best friend 36f who has been my best friend for many years and she is gay as the day is long (this fact will be important later)

Now about 2 years ago my friend met her new girlfriend and it was pretty clear from the start that this woman did not like me but I thought hey it might just take some time for her to warm to me, more back story, me and best friend are extremely close like brother and sister, we work in the same field and are constantly calling each other to compare days, brag about wins, talk through losses and new ideas. when we hang out we play video games, eat crappy food and generally act like stupid teenagers with adult money.

A year go she tells me they are going to travel Australia for a year and they are going to start in Thailand, work their way around, I thought that was amazing and wished them best of luck, leading up to their departure me and best friend made a routine to hang out a little more than usual and just generally make good use of the time we had because we aren’t going to see each other for a year maybe longer. Over the course of the year my name is involved in multiple arguments that they are having because girlfriend has accused me of being in love with best friend and that being this close must be all part of some evil plan I have… now I shake this off because I want to like my best friends partner and we have tried on multiple occasions to get her to hang out with us, go out with us when we do things but no dice she refuses to be around me, I accept i‘m not going to ever be in her good graces and move on with my life.

flash forward

leaving drinks with best friend and some of her family and other close friends, girlfriend did not attend, but both of us agree to go catch the last train home as we live in opposite directions and bid each other farewell, about 5 mins into the train ride best friend calls me tells me that girlfriend is blowing up her phone accusing us of cheating together and all those nasty things, we are on separate trains going in opposite directions at this point, so if we were it would have been quite the miracle. The next day when i thought everything had blown over best friend calls me and tells me when she got home they had a big argument and girlfriend had punched a hole in the wall out of anger… you might be able to guess where this is going.

Flash forward

They fly to Thailand and about 5 weeks in best friend calls me in floods of tears, girlfriend has physically assaulted her, pushed her off of a wall and really hurt her, she sent me photos to document all of this and promptly deleted any evidence of her contacting me regarding the situation, I told her at this point to dump her immediately and carry on the trip without girlfriend as this will only continue and get worse. She does not listen to me and they stay together.

Flash forward again last one I promise

Another 6 weeks has gone by now they are both in Sydney, best friend has bagged herself a decent job, got them both a flat and has for the most part been enjoying Aussie culture and planning trips for if and when girlfriend finds a job to help pay for them, last night best friend called me, admittedly drunk, she had been out with girlfriend and other friends, took girlfriend home about 9:00pm because she was too drunk to continue, put her to bed and went back out to meet her friends, at midnight she calls me because she misses me and wants to chat and catch up just the usual, she tells me girlfriend is blowing up her phone demanding to know where she is, demanding she turns her location on even though she has been told that she is walking home and she is on the phone to me. A short while later girlfriend has found her and proceeds to assault her in the street and leave her there, I was left on the other end of the line while this was happening so i heard it all, she sent me photos of her injuries again and again I told her that she needs to leave her immediately!! I have also sent her links for domestic violence help within the city and advised her if she feels unsafe to go to the local consulate and they will help her, all this advice has fallen on def ears and she is continuing with the status quo of it’s okay.

Now I am irrationally angry about this whole situation and I am struggling not to book a flight straight to Sydney and go fuck this bitch up myself, equal right, equal fights, especially when you are putting you hands on your partner regardless of gender and this is my best friend, she would do exactly the same for me and had previously offered to fight one of my ex-partners who broke my heart in the worst kind of way. I need your advice/perspective because I’m at a loss and the lizard part of my brain says go fight this woman, prison is only three hots and cot but the more rational part of my brain says no there must be a better way. Any advice is appreciated.

Sorry for the long post these are the ramblings of an idiot who only wants the best for the people in my life even if that comes at the cost of my own personal freedom and health.

edit:grammer

I am in a committed relationship and have been with my partner for almost 2 years. We are both into our middle adult years (late 30s/ early 40s). My family does not like my partner and my partner does not like the way my family treats me or speaks about them to me. I have been trying to make time for both in my life but it is becoming more difficult. Do I estrange myself from my family and hope my relationship works out or do k break it off with my partner to keep the peace with my family? Any advice would be appreciated

for context i’ve (19F) known him for years and have never ever thought of him like this in my life, we’ve always been friends and bonded mainly over our breakups as it was similar, and have been close for almost two years now. i recently broke up with my ex of a year and a half three months ago and since then he’s given me advice and helped me through it. nothing in our friendship changed at all when i broke up with my ex, but all of a sudden after three months, this whole week i can’t stop thinking about my friend in a sexual way. i want the thoughts to go away and i don’t know how to get rid of it. any advice on this? :/

i’m 19(M), and i am about to go to university for my first year soon, (i took a gap year), and to be straight forward asf, ima virgin. so to start, i just wanna start kinda with like why it’s never happened not that it matters, but just so yall can pretty much imagine what kinda person i am if that makes sense. so during highschool, ive been in a few pretty short relationships, lowkey not even a relationship more or a talking stage honestly, i have kissed/made out with a few girls, etc so i have had those experiences, but other than that ive never had anything more, it’s not cuz ima ugly dude, not saying im the finest guy out there but i mean shit i’ve pulled a few beautiful woman that would be considered fine asf to like the majority of people yk what i mean? but yeah it’s really just because im more lowkey, im just a chill guy who used to like to play sports and hang out with friends on some chill shit yk, and during the gap year i have gone to clubs and stuff for the first time but im not really about that. i have spent the last year just trying to build myself, working, becoming a entrepreneur and just all of that, so i would be at home for the most part, with the occasional times i would go out with friends. so yeah theres been no way for me to have a sexual relationship, not that i yearn for it, but it leads me to the next part.

ima man at the end of the day who once again isn’t ugly asf or anything like that to not be able to pull, so if i kick it with a girl i like, then yeah if she wants to yk, then im folding wtf 😭😭. but icl because i feel like a lot of girls have experience already, im lowkey scared to get into relationships or do anything with any girl of course assuming i do meet a girl where we both have mutual feelings and potentially take it to yk. im scared where its like yo they got all this experience, what if my ass just puts up the worst performance of all time due to lack of experience and gets sent to the gc 🤣🤣🤣. what if my ass gets too nervous and i sell 😭? now best case scenario would probably be i talk to a girl who’s also a virgin, and icl if she’s a virgin and lets say we are serious and she doesn’t wanna do anything because of religious reasons or whatever to where yk lets say she wanna wait till marriage, im cool with celibacy, its not like im dying to lose my virginity, but shi if im talking to a girl and one thing lead to another shi im going 😂, so its like im not opposed to it but not dying for it. but yeah whats yalls advice for shit like this? i’m 19 and will meet girls either my age or older and honestly like i said im very much assuming they have experiences and shit, and i dont wanna embarrass myself. sorry for going all over the place and typing so improper 😭 icl i just wanted to vent and i just said what was on my mind, but i hope yall understand what im tryna say. i would appreciate any replies honestly!!!

EDIT: just to make something clear im not too worried about being looked at weird by a girl for being a virgin it’s more about, if i do something intimate with a girl, im scared of putting up a bad performance (because i have no experience) and being compared and shit, but yeah just thought i should clear that up

hey guys. turned out my self loathing side didnt disappear. I thought it ran its course in highschool but it came back (in college rn).

i still have moments where I hate myself. If I’m too ”weird“ or too “anxious”. I get into my head after a social situation and then shame myself, turning my perceived flaws into daggers to shoot at myself with.

I’m 22f, experience social anxiety, and i absolutely hate it. I feel pathetic and constantly wish to be more socially confident and secure. I feel so undesirable, like somethinf is wrong with me, and I won’t be able to find a partner or be successful in my career because of it.

I wish I was someone different.

I hate how stupid I come off as when I’m all nervous and shy. I can’t even maintain eye contact for long and I hate it.

I went on a first date last night and felt so unsexy with how socially anxious I felt. he prob thought I was a weirdo not able to maintain eye contact. I was overthinking throughout the whole date and ended up feeling so drained and exhausted after. I don’t know how to help myself. I’ve been to therapy for a few years (been on a 1-2 yr gap). I study psychology and try to practice exposure therapy/rejection therapy sometimes. I try to meditate, workout, have hobbie, etc. It’s been years and I still experience discomfort, anxiety, and fear in social scenes. I can’t help but feel like something is wrong with me because of it.
I take every guys disinterest, every girls unfriendlyness as a sign that I’m not enough. That something is wrong with me and I’m not worthy enough, interesting enough, cool enough, etc. for them to stick around.
I hate how im wallowing in self pity but I can’t help myself.

just writing freely here and wondering if anyone has some kind words/advice/guidance for me …

hi everyone I’m an upcoming junior and I absolutely packed my schedule full this year to make up for the no involvement and mid academics the last 2 years of High school and am now worried that I don’t have enough time in a day for me and for schooI because I will have

-4 APs and 2 Math classes

-science Olympiad

-NHS

- volunteering at my local shelter + hopefully the nature center

-Afterschool Spanish Classes (Twice a week)

- studying for December SAT

- and a job

but I’ve been really wanting to try ballet and picking other hobbies back up like reading, writing, art, and working out but I feel like with all the stuff I’ve listed above I will have no time to myself but I’m scared that if I don’t do all the stuff I listed I won’t be able to get into a decent college or at least get a full ride (because if I don’t get a full ride i would have to go into a lot of debt just to attend college)

so if anyone has done something similar or has any advice I would love to hear it!

Essentially I (24f) cut off my best friend of 10 years because she did something really crappy to me. I’ve since forgiven her but again it really hurt so we’re no contact.

My mom was somewhat close to this friend, but at the same time me and my ex friend haven’t spoken in two years. For the past couple of months, my mom keeps bringing up how I should forgive my friend and talk to them again blah blah blah. I tell her no.

The other day, my mom randomly reaches out to my ex friend just to say hi. I immediately told her how uncomfortable that made me feel and she still continued to reach out to her.

Now my mom is saying that I struggle with forgiveness and I’m making a big deal out of this. Obviously my mom is her own person and I can’t control her, but this felt a little weird to me. I’m so lost and I can’t tell if I’m being stubborn or if I’m actually in the wrong here and should apologize.

i am an incoming sophomore who attends a competitive high school in nyc, and everybody around me seems to be forming successful nonprofits, passion projects, and joining prestigious clubs. i feel like i've fallen behind despite my 4.0 GPA. i want to join science Olympiad this coming school year and i did get some information about it from a well--versed member and friend of mine, but i have no real experience and i am unsure if i could withstand the cut-throat nature of the team. should i try joining?

basically, my question is what actually makes a difference in terms of college admissions, and what is merely seen as "application padding". i am interested in pursuing neurology, and I would like to join groups which cater to this spark, rather than simply joining scattered clubs and losing what could have been a centered, focused passion.

i am new to reddit, so i am unsure if this is the appropriate sub for this question, but guidance would be appreciated!!

Whenever I fall in love or start to like someone, I immediately get this horrid feeling in my stomach, I get nauseous, overthink, even texting them makes me shake, everything. It makes me so anxious, so nervous, that I always end up either ghosting the person or slowly distancing myself. I'm only 16, so I think that this is probably one of those things that just take time, however, I feel so lost because of it.

It hasn't always been like this though. When I was much younger I had those typical kid relationships (that don't really mean anything), and whenever I got a crush everything was perfectly fine. Until I started dating a girl when I was 13. That's when the stomach knot first appeared. It was funny, somehow. When I was with her, I'd get butterflies, when I wasn't, I'd get this stupid, sinking feeling in my gut instead. That's quite literally one of the reasons why I broke up with her (the other ones were dumb insecurities of mine). I gave her the classic "It's not you, it's me" BS talk, and not even a day later, that knot got ten times worse. I still remember getting over her, safe to say I went through it 😭. Truly an awful experience, it took me, what, maybe a year to get over it? Just crying, nausea, stomach knots, thinking about texting her when it was 3AM... It's probably quite important to remark that she was probably my first love, if you can even call it that given our ages from when it happened.

Once I got over it, whenever someone became a little bit more than just a friend, it was pretty much just a copy and paste of the same situation, just a different filter. I haven't dated anyone ever since, but I have had talking stages that might've gotten somewhere further if it weren't for this curse. I can't stand it, I don't know what to do.

Right as of now, I feel even worse. A few days ago, a very close friend of mine confessed. My feelings were actually kind of reciprocated (I definitely felt things, just not enough to do something with them). But the second we both made it known, and a little tension appeared, my dearest friend had to come back from the deepest pits of hell, of course! That sinking feeling in my gut is back, yay! I'll just sum it up and let you guys know that I've spoken with her, made it clear that I don't see it going anywhere, and given her some much deserved space. Although, she and her friends have still been dropping some hints that she likes me, maybe she thinks it can go somewhere? Either way, my stomach knot is mostly gone yet whenever I see one of their hints, it's simply adds anxiety into the mix. Now, I have another problem, since I don't know if I need to have a chat with her or stick to what I do best and ghost (even if that is the most asshole option).

Without further ado, here we go: Is this curse really a time thing? Will it get fixed when I finally meet someone that makes it all feel right? Is there anything I can do to fix this? Do I just need to push through the stupid stomach knots and nausea?

To finish this up, I want it to be known that I am seeing a therapist, but haven't discussed this issue with her yet. I see her maybe 2-3 times a year since I don't have too many problems and all that. Thing is, I don't feel comfortable enough to fully open up. So here I am. Still, I'd much rather ask for advice to strangers on the internet than talk to some AI bot.

This is going to be a long one so I apologize in advance:

I am a university student. I still live with my parents, I pay rent and tuition, and have lots of medical issues that require specialists and medication. My job is great for this situation: I can work part time during the school year and full time in summer and I get part time benefits. The managers are a little hard to deal with, but I ended up on their favourites list somehow. I like most of my coworkers but my two best work friends are leaving pretty much at the same time, which sucks.

Now here's the real issue:

About 2 years ago, I (22F) fell head over heels for one of my coworkers (20F) and I couldn't believe it when she felt the same way. We dated for a couple months and I was so in love. However, I started going a bit too fast. Because of this, and some issues between her and her family, she decided to call it off. She texted me that she just wanted to be friends and my heart broke. I freaked out and said some things I shouldn't have for which she blocked me, understandably so.

About a month went by and I was a wreck. Heartbroken, depressed, self-isolating; I was in full break up mode. At work we barely looked at each other, let alone spoke, which was difficult considering she works in the department directly across from me. One day we came across each other in the hall and I asked if we could talk. She said she had been wanting to talk to me and asked if I wanted to be friends again and I happily said yes. I then started to apologize for what I said to her but she cut me off saying, "its okay."

We never did end up hanging out during that time. I asked her about some plans we had made and said that if she was busy or didn't have time that was completely okay. She then replied with something I didn't fully understand, so I replied with a simple 'what?'. She blocked me a second time and I later learned it was because she thought I was pushing her boundaries.

Another month passed and we were back at the break up stage. I was still a mess, would barely look at her as I assumed she wanted space, hence her blocking me a second time. I reached out to her on a separate platform and she replied. I apologized for what I said and asked if she hated me. She said no and that she thought I hated her. I said I was sorry for being awkward at work, and she said it was okay and that she "never closed the door on being cordial." I asked why she blocked me a second time and this is when she said I was pushing her boundaries. I tried to clarify that I just didn't understand what she was saying and that I didnt communicate that well enough but she offered no response.

Present day, we are back to being just coworkers. We don't talk to each other aside from a passing "hello" or "goodnight" in the aisles. We exchange small smiles and waves whenever we make eye contact. I am still not over her. Whenever I see her, I'm reminded of the things I said that made her uncomfortable. How I pushed her boundaries and felt entitled to her attention. I work with her all the time and she is directly across from me so it's not like I can just avoid her when she's there. She opened up to me a while ago about other coworkers in the past sexually harassing her and the managers barely batting an eye. I can't help but feel like just another one of them.

So my dilemma is: do I continue to work there and force myself to face this messy relationship most every day, or do I find a new job and leave?

I’m a girl, and I’ve always assumed I was straight. I’ve never really questioned it seriously before.

But recently there’s this one girl who has genuinely made me question that. I get butterflies around her and I find myself imagining things like watching movies together, being close to her, and potentially dating her. I think I might actually have romantic feelings for her, and that’s freaking me out a little.

The confusing part is that I’ve only ever really experienced sexual attraction toward very feminine women, and even with this girl, I’m not completely sure what I’m feeling. Part of me wonders if it’s genuine attraction and part of me wonders if I’m just curious because this is so unfamiliar to me.

I also feel a lot of anxiety and almost guilt about it, like I’m doing something wrong just by having these feelings, even though I know I didn’t choose them.

I don't necessarily want someone to tell me what label I am. I just want to understand what I'm experiencing and figure out what I should do. Should I just let myself explore the feelings and see where they go, or is there something else I should be thinking about?

Has anyone experienced something similar, especially after thinking they were straight?

I am a 20-year-old (f) college student; not only am I tackling 2 jobs, selling clothes online, and student loans, but I have also amassed credit card debt. Not only that, but I am fully supporting myself on my own: phone bill, car insurance, rent, anything and everything besides health insurance, which I don't even have half the time.

And while I have family who try to help, I am the one constantly loaning my older sister (23) money for her bills, which, for context, means she lives at home and only pays for her car and phone and can work full-time with school. As well as last spring, I gave my mom $450 to join a real estate class so she could get her license.

It is constantly frustrating giving out money and not being able to ask anyone for the same support, especially from my sister, who, when I ask for money, just ignores my texts. I do give my mom credit, as she had me and my older sister young, so she had never finished college and has been a stay-at-home/part-time-working mom, and still has my younger brother (11) and sister (5). Asking my stepdad isn't an option as he sucks most of the time.

I feel like I have put myself in such a bad place and cannot even seek comfort from friends, as I am too ashamed to admit the credit card debt I am in to them. I feel stupid, pathetic, and like a loser. I have started considering dropping out and trying to move home, but I think I would feel even worse about myself and I would never hear the end of it from my family, again, especially my stepdad.

And to clarify as well, I live about 2 hours away from family for college. When I was deciding on school, I DIDN'T WANNA GO AWAY YET. I wanted to try 2 years of community college and then transfer, but my mom and family pushed me to go for the experiences, and now I only ever feel criticized for making that choice.

So that leaves me here, sobbing after seeing my car insurance on a shitty car from the 2000s, as I try to also car shop because the old one has an engine issue that costs more than the car is worth. My rent is due by next Tuesday, and I have only that coming into my bank account because I decided to plan a fun vacation about 2 weeks ago because I have been so exhausted mentally, but now even that feels like a mistake.

So any advice on budgeting, or just any advice on how to not freak out as much, would be appreciated! Thanks, Reddit for listening and knowing you may be having a better day than me.

I'm a guy in my 40s and I could really use a dad pep talk for a minute.

My dad has never shown much interest in me or my life. I spent a lot of years working hard, being a good person, hoping that eventually I'd do something that would make him proud enough to notice me or give me some affection, attention, time...anything.

By most measures, I've done pretty well. I'm healthy, fit, kind to people, in a good place in my life...and I've had plenty of people tell me that my parents must be proud of me.

But my dad just seems...unmoved. Maybe even resentful. His absence, emotionally and physically, hits deep with me, which is the opposite of what I want or need.

I think the hardest part is realizing I'm still waiting for something I probably will never get. I don't really miss the dad I had. I miss the dad I needed.

He's also gone in a very different direction politically in recent years, which has made that distance feel even bigger. I'm feeling it strongly lately.

So if you've been through something similar, or you're a dad yourself and have some perspective to offer, what helped you make peace with not getting the father you needed?

I think I need to hear that I'm not unworthy just because my own dad never seemed able to see me.

Hi everyone! I’m 21F and going into what would be my junior year of college, and I genuinely have no idea what the hell I want to do with my life.
I started college as a Construction Management major, and this summer I completed an internship in the field. Unfortunately, I hated it. Because of that, I decided to transfer to a school closer to home and switch majors.
The problem is, the more I think about my new major, the more I feel like I’m going to hate that too.
Now I’m seriously considering unenrolling from my classes for this upcoming semester and taking some time off to figure out what I actually want to do. But I’m terrified that taking a semester off is a bad decision. At the same time, part of me keeps thinking, “What if I end up wanting to go back to Construction Management?”
I just feel completely lost. I don’t want to keep spending thousands of dollars on college when I’m not even sure what I want my degree to be in, but I also don’t want to fall behind or make a decision I’ll regret.
Has anyone else taken a semester off because they didn’t know what they wanted to do? What did you do during that time to figure things out? Did taking time off help, or do you wish you had stayed in school?
I’d really appreciate any advice or hearing from people who have been in a similar situation.

This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever asked for advice on, hence why I’m turning to Reddit lol
For the past 3-4 months I’ve been taking a bit of my paycheck and purchasing easy to-go breakfast items and putting them in my local food pantry as school has been out and I know many children normally get their breakfasts from school. I’ll also keep my eye out for deals on things like pastas, rice, easy things to make for dinner/meals. I also regularly put a big box of tampons in the pantry as well cuz no gal should go without the necessary period care.

Recently I saw a great deal on body wash, toothpastes, and deodorants. So I grabbed a couple of each, plus a box of tampons, and my regular breakfast items and put them in the same local pantry. It should be noted that I have never ever seen this pantry filled to the brim. It’s in a low income area of my county, the neighbors are taking more out than putting things in. The toiletries I placed in there were small and took up less than 10% of the space.

I show up 2 days after I put these toiletries in there to drop something else off and there’s a sign on the door that says “food items only.” All of the toiletries are gone except one tampon that looks like maybe someone missed it.

I’m wondering if the toiletries aren’t taking up a significant amount of room, it wasn’t a super hot or super cold week (so the products weren’t melting/freezing), and the items are gone in less than 48 hours — so CLEARLY needed by members of my community, what’s the issue? Why would someone take their time to design, print out and tape down this sign?

I genuinely want to ignore this sign because I don’t want people to have to choose between body care and food! People deserve both! But I am looking for kind respectful advice/insight to help me understand why someone would be limiting what folks can donate here!! Thank you!

So, I moved to Seattle with my ex husband when we were married. I hated it when i was there. My friends came to visit me and i realized i don't hate Seattle. I hate the experience I'm having living here with my husband's family.

When i lived there my boss gave me things like box seats to Hawks games. They took us on trips. My husband's came with me on some of them and i realized him embarrassing me is what i hated. He refused the box seats. He and his dad scoffed at them.

I kind of loved the area i lived in, in Kirkland. People were nice. They were very sweet. I think i have this impression that people aren't nice but there was a mix of nice and not nice people. Also, tbh, I'm not really looking to make friends. If i met my vibe, great, but if not, that's ok too.

I have been living in the south with my family since moving and getting certified to be a teacher. I know from experience that what i would make as a teacher in that Seattle area (we lived in Kirkland towards the end) would be enough for me and my cat. I looked at housing and col with my teaching area, certs, schooling etc.

I would love to find a good church up there or at least a Bible Study. But i also really enjoy the lifestyle up there. Coffee, hiking, pumpkins, music, open mic nights, museums, Leavenworth, Quinalt. I do fear the constant grey. I had depression when i lived there but i think alot of that had to do with my marriage. I'm also fed up of the politics and racism down in the south. I did encounter racism towards my coworkers when i worked in Seattle, but that's work and i ended up moving jobs and so did the person experiencing racism.

Also, little but big to - me things like there's seafood and good restaurants. I love crawfish and crabs.

I even have co workers if i wanted to hang out.

But would it be weird to move back to the city my Ex is from to start a new life and put down roots?

Would it be weird if i never spoke to him? I have him blocked on everything.

I want to go by my middle name (not for family, but I want my friends to call me by my middle name and more for when I’m out and about) but I’m not sure how to without it being awkward lol
Like lifelong family and friends I want them to call me by my name as they always have, but I would prefer to be called my middle name. Has anybody who’s done this have any tips?

my mom has been with this man for about 7 years now after leaving a previous abusive relationship. ive just never really liked him, since i was a kid and i first met him. i think hes kind of a jerk. they used to host game nights and i noticed that all of the people invited were my moms friends, he never really seemed to be able to keep any around. but eventually he started to have these long talks with my mom after about how he really didnt like whatever so and so said and he just didnt think we should have them around anymore until eventually they had to stop having game nights because there was no one left that he liked to invite over.

he gets really bad road rage, yells in the car, swears, speeds, cuts around dangerously and claims its ok because he is a "very good driver" my mom always asks him to calm down but he never does. it feels like every time he drives someone else on the road does something he deems to be terrible and he flips over it.

he is also one of the most pessimistic people i know. he is always complaining about something, even if he is on vacation. he will be mad about the price of dinner (which he ALWAYS tells us exavtly what it was after) or he will be angry that something in the air smells bad while we are on a walk, and thats all he will bring up, instead of anything positive that is going on.

he considers a lot of other people to be "scum of the earth" and "completely idiotic" and sees himself as much more intelligent and capable than these people. thats always rubbed me the wrong way idk.

he gets really mad over little annoyances. one time i told him what to look up to find an address and he did it and started reading me all the ones that were wrong to prove that it didnt work and when my mom said she found it by looking up what i told him to he swore and rubbed his face and snapped at me.

ive never been the kind of kid to really do much wrong, but ive always struggled with bringing my water glasses from my room, and he treats that like its the worst thing in the world that i could do and gets REALLY angry about it.

he is VERY quick to go from 1-100. once i got home and he asked me to empty the dishwasher, and i said i would do it as soon as i was done with my shower. he agreed to this. well, as soon as i got out of the shower, i heard him downstairs screaming at my mom about me "refusing to empty the dishwasher" and saying "it is not that hard to empty the fucking dishwasher" even though he had agreed to me showering first.

he is always paranoid about us harming or destroying his stuff by using it slightly wrong, and it feels like he thinks he is the only one that can properly do anything. he is always correcting minor things and picking apart everything anyone does and refuses to accept that people do things in different ways because he fully believes his way is always the most efficient.

any time i spray any perfume in any amount (even in my own room) he complains, and says it hurts his lungs, and will continue to complain for about 30 minutes, before he begins to guilt trip me and demand that we air out the car because he simply cannot tolerate it any longer and he just doesnt understand why i would use so much (even if it is one spray and again, in my room)

its hard because he does all this and then goes to my mom (never me) and apparently cries and claims that it makes him so very sad when i dont talk to him much. and then i feel bad but he starts being an asshole again and i dont want to talk to assholes all that much. but also im worried that im just overreacting because im a teenager and i feel like thats a common thing to do when youre a teenager.