Human beings are social animals. Most of us crave acceptance, connection, love, and respect. An 85-year Harvard study found that our positive relationships empower us, make us resilient, and actually lead to healthier, happier, and longer lives. But social isolation is horrible for our physical and mental health. When somebody is ostracized from their social circle or society, it takes a toll and can even put them on a warpath in life.

In a viral thread started by user u/WANACWaac, the r/AskReddit online community shared stories of what happened to the social outcasts they knew and how they got revenge against their communities after growing up. We’ve picked out some of the most powerful and emotional stories, which you’ll find as you scroll down. Though, keep in mind, some of them are very sensitive.

Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the candid discussion, Isaiah Taylor, aka u/WANACWaac, and he shared his perspective on outcasts, tolerance, and people judging one another. Read on for our full interview with him.

#1

One kid at my old school was relentlessly bullied for being gay. One day she had enough, went up to her main bully during lunch one day and beat the ever living sh*te out of him (for context she was a very short and skinny girl while he was the typical jock). No one ever bothered her again after that and she was forever known as the 'Nut-Smasher'. I actually ran into her a while back while visiting family in my home town and we chatted for a bit. Turns out she is married and adopted a kid with her wife and all around looked a lot happier than she was in school.

Image credits: Author_Story_Teller

According to Psychologist Rick Hanson, Ph.D., accepting other people doesn’t necessarily mean that you agree with them or approve of them. However, as he explains, “you can simply let people be” and accept that they exist as they are, not as you’d like them to be.

“You may not like it, you may not prefer it, you may feel sad or angry about it, but at a deeper level, you are at peace with it. That alone is a blessing. And sometimes, your shift to acceptance can help things get better,” Hanson explains.

Meanwhile, Psychologist Kipling D. Williams claims that ostracism is an invisible form of abuse. Ostracized individuals tend to go through three stages. They first feel pain, then they enter the ‘coping’ stage, which is followed by ‘resignation.’ The latter is when someone gives up after becoming depressed and feels helpless to change anything.

#2

There was that nuclear revenge post about a guy ostracized by the entire town, i think cause he was born out of wedlock, and after getting out of there became an inspector of some kind. Eventually he was given a list of factories that needed reviewing and one needed to close. The factory in his home town was on the list. He goes there, inspects, they act all buddy buddy thinking they're safe from closure. Boy were they wrong! Every infraction, breach of safety, incorrect anything went into his report. The whole town basically was built around that factory and when it shut down the town was desolate and dead within a few years.

Image credits: foreverafanofmany

#3

I have a very positive spin on this!
I was a bit of an outcast growing up in my neighborhood. Grew up in a weird sad neighborhood that was all ex gang members or dirt poor pill poppers. I never really fit in with any of my peers because I was just not interested in a lot of the same things. I was made fun of a lot by classmates, some teachers and a LOT of adults in my neighborhood. Definitely pushed out. But I had a huge passion for education, specifically food education. Where I grew up was the poster for food desert. After I graduated college, I moved back and volunteered at the library in the middle of that hellhole. I will spare you a lot of the details and minor (but important to me) stories, but I started a bustling community garden that got involved with a lot of charities because of my college connections and helped create a ton of resources to help my community. Food banks, job assistance, adult education assistance and community gardens for the children so they could have fresh food and actually learn it. It still has a good handful of problems, but I know for a fact I helped out people who were really s****y to me. And I do genuinely smile knowing they got their s**t together. There is .05% of smugness knowing they have to thank me after mocking me for being more interested in the plants than their own interests. Didn’t burn down the village, per se, but I guess I burnt down the mindset some. Got the hell out of there, though! Still nice to drive through and see the garden still kickin :).

People are often paradoxical. On the one hand, they’re often warm, kind, friendly, and welcoming. On the other hand, they’re extremely quick to judge others based on initial impressions. Not only that, but they might push someone away because they’re slightly different than them.

Ostracism can happen due to a variety of reasons. Broadly speaking, people tend to judge others when there’s a mismatch in values, behavior, status, or even appearance. Someone who was born out of wedlock or lives in a poorer household might be pushed away in their community, which can breed resentment, frustration, and anger over the long term.

#4

A kid who was relentlessly bullied at my school for years sued the district and got an upper 6 figure settlement.

I mean, that's the short version of how it went down.

He had years of documentation of going to the principal, teachers, counselors, even the super intendant. They all either did nothing or made empty promises that they didn't keep. He had documentation for it all.

The highlight was when the lacrosse team jammed a lacrosse stick up his butt not once, but twice and the only consequence was one of the kids being suspended for 2 days.

I should also add that this isn't a rural school in the deep south. It's a suburban school located in a liberal part of New York.

Image credits: spoilerdudegetrekt

#5

This one actually happened to me with help from Reddit! I went to an extremely conservative (i.e. culty) Christian school from pre-k to 8th grade. When I told my class I thought it was wrong to pray for the death of gay people and that I stood up for gay rights, the entire school turned against me. My friends made up lies about me being a lesbian trying to assault them, and the teachers believed it, threatening me physically. It was terrifying, but I pushed through my last year there holding my values.

Anyways, a year later, at a new secular school, I wrote up a summary of what happened, sharing it with my family and friends on Facebook. A friend of mine saw it and posted the story to r/atheism and all hell (lol) broke loose. Despite censoring names, the subreddit found out the name of the school and started a campaign to shame them for their actions. There were so many calls to their administration they had to change their number.

All the bad press made virtually every family pull their kids out of the school. A year later, the school shut down due to lack of students. No other kid would get hurt. Thanks, Reddit ❤️.

#6

Someone I used to have in a support group I once helped run for sexually victimized and abused young men shared with us what happened to him.

I'm not going into the finer details of it but the broadstroke is he was being victimized by a TA. He went to other teachers, school admins, and even police. No one believed him and he even got punished for "making it up to get a staff member in trouble".

It destroyed his personality. He became bitter, resentful, spiteful, and generally hateful of other people. He was improving his demeanor in the group but from what he tells us he just "wanted to watch the world die" at the time.

A couple years later that same TA tripped down the stair well in one of the side hallways of the school and he happened to be nearby. He saw she was badly injured and likely had broken bones and was bleeding from her head. Instead of helping her he literally stepped over her and pretended she wasn't there. Security footage showed he wasn't the one to push her but when asked why he didn't say anything or get help he simply said that last time he tried to tell people about something involving her no one helped so why would they this time?

Social isolation increases the risk of serious health problems. It increases the risk of dementia by a whopping 50%, heart disease by 29%, and stroke by 32%. Not only that, but socially isolated individuals are more prone to developing depression and anxiety, diabetes, and issues with substance abuse.

The CDC reports that more than 1 in 3 American adults who are aged 45 and over feel lonely. People more at risk of social isolation tend to have lower income and physical or mental health problems. They also often live alone, have disabilities, and have been the victims of abuse. The emotional toll is immense. But in financial terms, loneliness costs the US economy around $406 billion per year, while social isolation costs it another $6.7 billion annually. 

#7

I'm friends with this kid who during senior year took some dynamite he had managed to obtain and blew up some local rich families vehicles. The kid did this all because the families had his home forcibly foreclosed on to build a country club. This kids family had lived on that land since the 1820s and those rich a******s f****d em over. Dude did get some minor legal troubles but last I heard he was a demolition expert in the army.

Image credits: USMCJohnnyReb

#8

Growing up, our neighbors had a couple boys (10 & 14 +/- at the time of this story). The younger son had a good friend that would stay at their house VERY frequently. He was always pretty quiet and kept to himself, except when he was with his friend, the 10 y/o, which was when he could be himself. One day we find out that he was permanently moving in with my neighbors due to an “unsafe situation” at home. Apparently this poor kid got to watch his mother be murdered by her boyfriend, all because d***s. Right. In. Front. Of. Him. The 10 year old. Luckily my neighbors stepped up and offered to take him in, which was actually great for everyone. He really started to blossom and became pretty stable, with a caveat: he just didn’t take any s**t. From anyone. Which leads us to our terrific act of rebellion. Like everyone else in our neighborhood, we rode the bus home. This kid is riding home from elementary school when the bus driver started going off on the kids for real, or imagined indiscretions. Well, this kid takes offense to this and speaks up on behalf of the rest of the kids. Bus driver, now royally pissed (angry, for our non us crowd) tells this kid “one more word and I’m kicking you off the bus!” Well, you are correct in your assumption of what transpired next. Kid gets kicked off the bus, which royally pisses HIM off, so cue MC. Kid walks off the bus, and immediately walks in front of the bus. We were about a mile from his normal stop at our street, and this was a 2 lane road with sporadic oncoming traffic. No way the driver could get away with trying to pass, so he drove at a walking pace until the kid got to our street. Parents were wondering where their children were, as everyone was now 30+ minutes late, and were overall very amused when they discovered the cause. Still about the most proud of a 10 year old I’ve ever been, and I have 2 of my own! Anyway, I gotta look that guy up. Hope he’s well….

#9

A pastor I lived next to constantly berated a kid in my class about everything from his hair length to him not fully embracing the "word of the lord".

The kid routinely went into the pastors backyard and would s**t in his pool along with several of his friends all at once. They would also throw dead animals they found in there as well ranging from a squirrel to a opossum.

Honestly, don't even blame the kid. That pastor was judgmental as f**k and no one liked him.

Image credits: anon

“I have experienced feelings of loneliness and moments in which I’m alone, and there is a definite difference between the two,” Isaiah, who created the viral thread, opened up to Bored Panda.

“For example, have you wanted to be within proximity of a company while maintaining your choice of personal space? My answer to that question would be yes, a hundred times yes! And that, to me at least, is the difference between being alone and being lonely. A person who is lonely is too alone, yet they are on a spiritual, mental, and physical spectrum.

We asked Isaiah for his perspective as to why so many of us are so quick to judge each other. “The reason people are so quick to judge the next person's difference is usually due to a seemingly endless search to find the difference within self or they have recognized the difference within themselves and have not learned to appreciate it,” he shared his point of view.

#10

Not a village but a woman’s marriage. When I was in elementary I was forced to be in the “normal” music class instead of the “special ed” class (I’m going to the proper terms, mainstreamed and assisted cuz I like them more) for years. Even after my mom and both of my therapists requested I get put in the assisted class for sensory reasons (I’m autistic and had sensory overloads daily in this class) the teacher said I was lying to them and always did quiet activities when someone sat in on the class. So I suffered every Monday and Wednesday I had school from when I was four to when I was ten.

But then I went to middle school and life moved on. I still loved music so I tried to join choir. I was denied for two years but got in when I was 12. I’m a pretty good singer and had no other extracurricular activities so I began helping the choir director. Eventually he asks me if his daughter, who’s also autistic, could be good with music like I was. He says her music teacher in elementary school says she’s terrible with music and throws tantrums in class. I say she’s most likely not having tantrum instead having a sensory overload because 30 eight year olds playing the recorder at once is hell. Other than a few other questions about his daughter it’s the last I hear of this elementary school music class.

A couple years later I’m bringing my mom lunch in my old high school (she works there as an assisted class teacher) and I see my old choir director and his daughter. We catch up and eventually they leave to get lunch together and I chat with my mom. She says “you know, you’re one of the reasons he divorced his wife.” I’m like “What?!?” And she explains that his ex wife was the elementary school music teacher and when i said elementary school music class is sensory hell he found out she doesn’t believe autism exists and thinks you can fix neurodivergent kids by making them so uncomfortable they “become normal”. Not a good attitude for the mom of an autistic kid. She also refused to take a course on how to teach mainstreamed special needs kids so she also lost her job. No regrets.

#11

I’m a lesbian and was pretty much outcasted by my family when I came out. They were all pretty abusive. I still babysat my sisters a lot because I wanted a relationship. For reference I’m 22 and they’re 6 months and 4.

Recently, my girlfriend and I were able to get custody. My Mom is pretty much out of the picture at this point.

That whole side of the family that ousted me. Either wants custody or visitation with the babies. They get nothing. The last grandchild, the baby of the family, the cute little princess they all want to hold and dress up. But god forbid she has an opinion. They get nothing now.

Image credits: anon

#12

Back in the 80s as a kid, I was on a town swim team. There were older (3-4 years mostly) kids that bullied me relentlessly. Wet towel snapping, tripping, slamming into lockers, everything you could think of. Adults never believed me when I complained, nor would they even bother to have someone supervise the area.

One day they were pulling their usual s**t in the locker room. About 2 dozen boys were in the room, and of course no adults around. After getting shoved multiple times I made it to a bathroom stall. I locked the door and stood on the toilet so they couldn't reach me. Everyone was hooting it up and egging the bullies on.

At this point, I snapped. I knew there was only one thing I could do.

I pissed on him.

With great deliberation I dropped trou, aimed my prepubescent pea shooter at the crack between the door and divider and let loose like a fire hose on the bully. I don't know how long I manage to shoot off, but the cheering quickly turned to screams and swears as they realized what I just did.

Of course they ran off to find the coaches and claim to be the victims. Thankfully there were a few others that corroborated my story.

My punishment was that for 2 weeks I had to change in a separate locker room by myself.

The bullies? Kicked off the team. Never saw them again.

That was the last time anyone bullied me there.

“We are all books whose stories cannot and should not be plagiarized! Our differences are all various shades of various colors splattered across this blank canvas we call EXISTENCE, and those differences are what make us unique masterpieces to be admired in the gallery of LIFE.”

In the meantime, the author of the viral thread shared his thoughts on how everyone can become more tolerant and understanding. “The only way I see us becoming more tolerant of one another would be to show more concern toward our fellow human and to show more compassion for our fellow human,” he told Bored Panda.

“We are all trying—some harder than others—but nevertheless, we are all trying. Whether it is trying to fit in, trying to stand out, trying to be the best version of ourselves, or maybe just trying to be better than we were a second, minute, hour, day, week, month, or year ago…WE ARE ALL TRYING!”

#13

One of my friends in high school was a major over achiever. Stayed at school or work as much as possible, to the point where he may have spent an hour or less at home a day. He would always deflect questions about his home life, but confided in me that it was bad. Calling him the black sheep of the family would be a major understatement. His family had some money, not millionaire or billionaire but better off than most, and they told him from elementary school he would always be useless and never amount to anything.

He is making bank after getting through college and finding a bomb job with a big pharmaceutical company. Meanwhile his fathers company, that has been in the family for a few generations, got picked apart by the government. “Someone” tipped them off that he was lying on taxes, hiring immigrants for next to nothing, hiding osha violations, and much more. As the dust was settling and the damage was really being seen, my buddy drove to his former family home and dropped of a file. The same file he gave an attorney that gave it to the government, and only said, “who won’t amount to anything?”.

#14

"Jim". Not his real name, of course. Anyway, Jim moved to my school in 5th grade. He was socially awkward but you could tell that he wanted to have friends. But for some reason, he was a complete social pariah. Was it because of his weight? I honestly don't know. It's not like he was the only big boy in the school. But for some reason, Jim got singled out. He was tormented mercilessly. I'll give Jim credit. He took it. But how could that not get to him? Still, he took it. For years. Finally, one kid went too far. In the 8th grade, some a*****e "accidentally" spilled his lunch all over Jim. Jim was sitting by himself, of course. And "Randy" thought it would be funny to humiliate Jim in the cafeteria. That particular day, the school had served something messy like chicken fried steak or spaghetti or something like that for lunch. Something that gets everywhere if you spill it. And spill it, Randy did. All over Jim. And Jim... snapped. I mentioned that Jim was heavy. What that translated to (apparently) was immense physical strength. Nobody had been paying attention all those times in PE when Jim would climb the little rope thing WITHOUT using his legs to pull himself up. He was a powerhouse. And Randy poked the bear one time too many. Randy's face was a mess of blood and bruises. Jim gave Randy exactly as much mercy as everyone had given him. Which is to say, absolutely zero. Randy's parents filed a lawsuit against the school district, but I have no idea what came out of that. All I know is that Jim and Randy were never seen at the school again. The teachers and principals all understood what Jim was up against. There's no way they didn't know how miserable he was. But school is a lot like prison. The people in authority don't actually care what happens to you. All they want is for your s**t to stay off of them. As long as you don't make your problems their problems, they're fine with whatever. So, Jim was left to twist in the wind. As victims always are. A few years after graduation, Jim was in the news. He had robbed a convenience store and then gotten shot to death by the cops. The news coverage mentioned a "troubled childhood filled with violence". But I was around for a good bit of his childhood. And on my watch, except for one occasion, the "trouble" and "violence" were completely one-sided. Jim couldn't get a fair deal even in death. Even the news media had to pile on. 

#15

Couple of my collegemates used to haze me and bully me. We had to go to a mutual friends' wedding, and we rented a car and drove there. On the way back, we took a bit of a detour and went through a more scenic route, I left them in the middle of the road near nowhere when they went out to pee, they didn't have their phones with them either.

Image credits: Aggravating_Boy3873

#16

“Barry” was new to our school in upper East Tennessee back in 2005. Barry was a talented and athletic boy who was quickly recruited to play every sport the school offered. The only problem was that Barry was black in an area where such “offenses” out ruled his physical talent. Barry and I became quick friends as we shared a majority of our classes, and we would often talk in excitement about the upcoming sports seasons.

He planned to play all three sports (football, basketball, and baseball) where I only played baseball. After a few weeks of football practice, however, his demeanor changed, and he began to share about the racist happenings of his time at our school. I was privileged in the fact that up to this point I had never directly witnessed racism or would have thought my classmates capable of such actions.

Raccoons were hung gutted and bleeding over the contents of his locker. Dead animals were removed daily from the windshield of his car, and threatening notes were found placed on his gear before each practice. He played exactly 1 game for our school. While my friends and I were cheering for our team, my heart sank when I heard chants of n***** and c*** coming from our stands directed toward a teenager on the field wearing our jersey. His team mates would blindside him after a play to the delight of the “adults” in the stands, and after the game he wasn’t allowed to shower until the other boys had finished.

Barry called me that night to tell me he was transferring to a rival school who had a more diverse population. I was heartbroken and disappointed in my town and my school. I told him that he would be missed by those of us who got to know him, but we understood that this was a necessary change.

Barry was allowed to transfer schools and, due to the location of his home, continue the season without sitting out the remainder of the year. He returned to our town wearing a different jersey, surrounded by team mates who protected him, and proceeded to hand our school the worst defeat we had suffered in years. Following the game he didn’t speak to anyone, didn’t grandstand, didn’t celebrate. He simply walked off the field. What he did on the football field that night spoke volumes.

I kept up with Barry for a few years after, but we have since lost contact. Last we spoke around 2009 , he was on a small university football team working toward a degree in business. I hope to one day see his name as the CEO of a very successful company.

#17

Personal story.

I grew up on a farm, nearest neighbor was a mile away. My village was my family, but I was the one that wasn't wanted. My father wanted me to be a mold of what he wanted. My mother was abused by him emotionally and mentally. My oldest brother watched as my father and other brother abused me physically and sexually. After I escaped, I told everyone what happened. I told the farming coop and local church community how horrible my father is and how my brother is a monster. I ruined them to the people they tried for years to impress. They ruined their daughter, I ruined them.

Image credits: DogmaKeeper

#18

As a kid who was beaten for years by mother and stepfather and dad knew this but wouldnt help me in the slightest way and treated me horribly, i can honestly say that as the kid who would take care of an ailing parent, i will now, as an adult, tell that now ailing parent that they are on their own to fend for himself.

Image credits: chickinthenicehouse

#19

A guy I went to highschool with burned the bridge with his entire family.

We werent best friends, more of a friend of a friend type of situation, so my info is a lot of hearsay. But I do know some things for certain. He was the middle child, with an older sister and a younger brother. His parents had owned a diner and it had been in his family for a few generations. It was an unspoken rule that the kids of each generation would help out when they were little, and eventually take it over to keep it in the family. The problem was none of them wanted anything to do with it. It was the easiest way to set him off, even mentioning it would have him go from 0-100 real quick. This didnt stop either of his parents though, they would "joke" about how the kids didnt need to worry about college, or moving away, all of that would be "taken care of" when they would run the diner. The sister being the oldest, was the first really pressured into it, but he and his brother told her to get out and dont look back, and dont let them guilt trip you. So she did, and goes to college on a sports scholarship and then moves a few states away. She occasionally visits but more or less left the town in her rearview mirror. Then it was his turn, but unfortunately he didnt have the money to get away, so his parents tell him to go to community college and work at the diner to save money. This is where the issues started. The younger brother doesnt go to college, and decides to go couch surfing and backpacking across the country for a few years. Occasionally coming back to work for a few weeks when he needed the money, only to take off again. So my friend gets left running the place, despite swearing he never would. Id see him around sometimes at bars, and he was a bitter shell of his former self with a bad drinking problem and a series of failed relationships. His parents didnt seem to care that their son was a depressed alcoholic, so long as their family legacy stayed the same. He confided in me how they were pushing him to get married and give them grandkids, to settle down and let go of this silly dream of starting over when he has the diner. Which, given how shitfaced he was in nearly every interaction I had with him, its impressive he was able to run it. His sister and brother couldn't be bothered to come down and help, and in fact they started to agree with the parents that he should just cut his losses and make this life work for him.

One day, he drops off the face of the earth. Nobody sees or hears from him for 3 weeks. His parents say he went on a vacation, and they also hadn't heard from him. Then suddenly he's back in town, seemingly in much better spirits, looking healthier than we had seen him in years. About two months, later the diner is torn down and replaced with some other business.

As it turns out, his girlfriend at the time gave him an ultimatum. Quit the drinking and go to therapy or we're done. So he does, and the therapist points out the obvious things linking his depression and says he should take a vacation and figure out what else he wants to do with his life. He went to vegas, partied for 2 weeks and admittedly thought about killing himself. After getting it out of his system, he devises a plan to sell the diner and pocket the money for himself. Everything was in his name as the owner anyway, so it was pretty easy. He took the best offer he could, and used that money to leave town. The brother and sister didn't get a dime, and the parents were already retired. He moved to the other side of the country with his now wife, and we follow each other on social media but he seems much happier. Apparently he hasn't spoken a word to his family in years, nor they to him, and does not intend to start.

#20

Long story made very short: S****y, awful professors who spent more time bullying and humiliating their students than they spent actually teaching. Mocking and belittling were the classroom norm, and many students (myself included) suffered psychologically from it.

I got a job at the university's HR department where I did a ton of research that completely f****d them all over when it came time to renegotiate their union contract. Their pay and benefits were horrendously slashed, and they knew exactly who was responsible for it.

#21

My family was very abusive when I was a kid and so was my church. It was unsafe to be home at one point so I called my aunt to (awkwardly) ask for help. She laughed at me and I ended up homeless, staying at a hostel and on the floors of people's dorm rooms (not randoms, friends of friends to be clear). After a couple weeks, a friend's mom offered to let me stay in her basement if I promised to get a job. So I did. I got a job the first morning I was there, I walked into town and got hired as a cashier. My aunt & other family members acted scandalized because my friend's mom was divorced and the idea of working in retail is shameful to them. Retail is uncouth or something I guess.

My aunt is a super-Catholic, doesn't work, and has a lot of kids, she used to write a 3-page letter about their 'accomplishments' every Xmas and mail it to everyone. I was really, really mad at them. These are people who soaked up free childcare and eldercare from me for years, they would not help me at all. Not a suggestion for a job, not a couch to sleep on, no advice, wouldn't meet me for coffee in a public place to talk for 15 minutes. They *laughed* at me and I was young and very vulnerable.

So the retail job I found was at Staples. I wrote a 3-page letter about their defects and 'thanked' them for not helping, printed it using my discount, then mailed that to everyone I could think of who knew them. Including, like, their random neighbors. Their house # was 50, so I sent it to like #46, #52, whatever on their same street or next street over. Just to be an a*****e.

They don't talk to me anymore. I hope they don't mail that awful f*****g braggy newsletter out anymore, either. No one cares about your kids except you, people. Especially if you're a family of insufferable snots.

#22

As an affair child I was treated harshly by my parents. My goal and plans will take about 3 months to finish. I'm going to expose my parents for the abusive treatment I received as a child. This I will do in front of everyone at their church. My parents present themselves as good church people and I look forward to exposing my mother as a serial cheater and exposing my father as a draft dodging coward.

Image credits: bonzai113

#23

One of my friends from elementary school, he's the typical middle child, his brother is 11 years older and his sister is 5 years younger. So of course he faces all the actual consequences for his other siblings actions. Rules he didn't like were because of stuff his brother did when his brother was a kid; if his sister did something stupid, it was his fault because he should've stopped her.

His wants and needs were never the priority. If he wanted money, no because it went to his brother in college; if he wanted friends to come over, no because sister already had people coming over. He had to wear his brothers old clothes, but of course his sister got new clothes. Yadda yadda you get the picture.

When he was 16 he went out on a late night food run, and while waiting in the drive thru someone rear ends him pretty hard. Does a not insignificant amount of damage to his parents car. The other driver takes full responsibility, offers to pay for the repairs. Just an unfortunate accident.

Well his parents revoke his car privileges. Because he got in an accident, and they had a no accidents policy - didn't matter than it wasn't his fault.

So he told them that if they took away his car privileges he will never lend them anything for the rest of his life. They grounded him for saying that.

That was about a decade ago, and he has never once given them anything. No money, no car, not even housing - he literally made his parents get a hotel once.

He said he would forgive them if they apologized. To my knowledge they have not apologized.

By the way his sister was involved in an accident a few years back where she *was* at fault. And her parents not only paid for the repairs to her car, but also are helping her pay for her car insurance now.

#24

Marvin Heemeyer: He moved to a rural village with like 500 residents. The municipal council proceeded to bully him because one of its members was also preying on the property Heemeyer had acquired. They sued and bullied him for years. In the end, he, a welder, built a custom bulldozer/TANK and literally went to town with it. Destroying the houses of his bullies. The nearest army station was 6 hours away.

SPOILER: >!all of the bullies declare that they are innocent, but the second Heemeyer gets in the bulldozer, they call each other and know exactly what houses he's going to be targetting...!<. src="https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/childhood-outcasts-adulthood-stories-8-6617ca439948c__700.jpg">

Image credits: Puckj

#25

This girl was bullied fiercely and wasn't allowed to bring a backpack to school (having swung hers to fight off her bullies). So she had to carry a canvas shopping bag with her books, which hypocritically allowed her to swing her heavy books easier.

She used that book bag like a morning star to attack her bullies during middle school, breaking one boy's arm. She didn't even get a detention because she had been the target of so much harassment.

She was suspected of attacking another bully after graduation. His attacker had used a tube sock with a rock in it, swinging it like a morning star, but there was insufficient evidence to even go forward with an arrest.

#26

For 53 years, my father gas lit me and always made me feel like one day he would be a real father.

Well, he's in his 80s and has Parkinson's and is married to a terrible woman and I no longer help him or my stepmother in their old age because they are such terrible people.

Now, they have to find other people to give them rides, to lift things, to listen to doctors, etc.

Oh, I also informed my stepmother that the day my father dies and while she is picking out a casket, I will march into the IRS to report her for committing tax fraud with my father. There is no statute of limitations and I want her to sweat every time she hears him cough, sneeze, or moan.

F*** them.

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#27

I knew a kid in high school who had all the makings of a school shooter. His main interest was martial arts and weapons and he drew a comic for the school newspaper that showed a character that was basically him going on a murder spree through the school. This was right before Columbine, so people didn't see this as a red flag. He also wrote a novel about a character who is basically him going on a rape/murder spree. Even though he wasn't interested, my friend group and I forcibly befriended him and made him hang out with us. My best friend was basically a mother hen and would quickly and firmly correct his antisocial habits when they popped up and explain why they were bad. We also gave him a ton of positive reinforcement for anything non-sociopathic he did.

#28

This happened to me, my dad, my brother, and my sister technically. But a massive ice storm happened in Oklahoma City when I was about 7, I think it was 2008 when it happened. An ice storm for anyone who hasn't had the luxury of experiencing one, is when it rains during a cold day, and overnight it freezes everything that got rained on. So everything was covered in an inch or more of ice.

So a gigantic tree in our backyard was weighed down so much by the tree that it fell straight through our house and destroyed it while we were inside. Miraculously no one was hurt, but we were instantly homeless because of it. So my dad asked our aunt(his sister) who lived in North Carolina if we could stay in one of her dozen rental properties, because she had 5 available. And she actually charged us more than the cost of the usual rent to stay there despite what we had just gone through and my dad trying to find a job.

Well cut to 2011, my dad finally had a good paying job and was doing great. Well there was a tornado that hit our town in 2011 and ripped the roof off my aunt's house and essentially destroyed it. Well my dad happened to have 2 rental properties and charged her about 3 times the amount of the rent that he'd usually charge just to stay in the house. So not me personally, but I got to see it first hand.

#29

When you look into the past of Aileen Wuornos, you understand why she became the first known woman serial killer to many. It definitely makes you consider the nurture part over nature in her case.

#30

My turn. I’m the only guy in my immediate and extended family(outside of the dads who weren’t around). Literally every “male” task was thrown at me at a young age. Take out the trash. Watch the kids. Fix the lawnmower. I kid you not. This was all before I hit puberty. And whenever I reached a stressful time it was always “man up” followed by a s****y chuckle.

By the time I made it to middle school and started to force my independence from my family I was labeled ungrateful, selfish, an AH. You name it. And I swore the moment I could leave I would. And never look back. One day I get in to it with my mom and she puts me out. At 15. I had to figure out how to get to school and provide for myself all while not giving up and going back. Within 5 years my family deteriorated to just people who share DNA.

I’m 31 now and I’m no contact with most of my family (excluding my sister she always understood how I felt). And tbh it feels good knowing that it fell apart without me because being a “man” to my family is being an absorber of everyone’s problems.

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#31

My friend at work had a rough childhood. Nevertheless he was always cool to me. He’d cover my shifts and sit with me at dinner break. Anyway, he stabbed his grandpa to death and burned down his house. It was so sudden.

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#32

In college my ex tried to turn everyone against me and claimed I was abusive and manipulative and some terrible s**t. She forgot I had access to her test cheat sheet and message logs where she said some stuff that her family was very sensitive to.

She got me in trouble with the school from her lies so I gave the school a copy of the cheat sheet and got her expelled and blacklisted from almost every college she could have gone to and released the messages to her family which stopped supporting her.

She coulda just broke up with me and not lied.

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#33

A kid I went to high school with pled guilty to attempted arson of his foster parents home in a desperate attempt to escape the household. I knew his brother well, he was the drummer in the band I was in and we always practiced at his house, and it always worried me that they had way too many foster kids, almost like a potentially malicious intent was there. Nothing followed after he got out of Juvie, he’s married now and works really hard but is having a much better time of life.

Image credits: SabotageFusion1

#34

My bio parents lost custody of me due to addictions and neglect. I was adopted as a teenager by a woman who ended up being emotionally abusive (and I was supposed to be thankful because she pulled me out of the gutter and gave me opportunities in her mind). She's an extravagant spender and has blown through TWO large inheritances and a divorce settlement, years of alimony, and refused to get a job, even though she holds multiple master's degrees in a desirable field (used the school loans to continue funding her lifestyle instead of working). She never saved for retirement despite having the means and opportunity to do so.

Growing up, she told me I would grow up to be a d**g addicted drop out. I suspect that her bio children were her retirement plan because she told them to marry rich and pushed them into what she thought would be lucrative degrees. It was a classic scape goat/golden children scenario. She never fathomed that of all her kids, it would be me that broke 6 figures having landed a great career. Too bad for her that I cut her off 7 years ago and never looked back. She's now in her 60s having to start over financially. Her children don't make enough to support her and I won't contribute.

#35

This kid I went to elementary school was a Foster Youth. He was extremely kind to everyone, despite the fact that his life was unbelievably hard. People delude themselves about the system and think it’s just a system that fixes kids’ lives. Talk to former foster youth and you will find that it’s almost never a good thing in a kid’s life. Anyway. The teachers at my WASPy as school genuinely bullied this kid. Like, they treated him completely unfairly. And it was fully classism - for reference, we both had “behaviour issues” and while the way I was treated was not okay at all, I was not *demonized* the way this kid was. I’d hit someone, I would get in no trouble. He would speak “out of turn” and get suspended for 2-3 weeks. It was RANCID how they treated this boy who was just there to learn.

Anyway, his teacher suddenly went on leave. She was approved to be a foster mom, and she got chosen to foster a baby. She was over the moon because she couldn’t make a baby on her own, and she figured she’d just adopt the baby through foster care. If anyone is unaware of this, this is something that unethical foster parents frequently do - they foster with the hopes of reunification never being able to happen, so they can adopt for free and without a waitlist. It’s gross. If you look at the stats, reunification comes out on top for best outcome for the whole family - praying for a family to break up so you can start one is disgusting. Long story short, her plan was to adopt the baby, but the baby’s ACTUAL mother was able to get her kid back, thankfully. The teacher was devastated and took a few months off. One of the teachers of our grade talked to us all and explained that she didn’t get to keep the kid, so she was very upset, and so we shouldn’t bring it up when she comes back.

My friend was happy she was gone, because she was his biggest bully. (This fact makes me irate because don’t be a f*****g foster parent if you’re not trauma informed enough to not bully a foster kid for showing normal signs of trauma…) unfortunately though, she did come back right before we graduated, so the first thing he said to her was “hey teacher! How’s the kids?”

And I’ve always respected him for it. He deserved the opportunity to throw her exploitation of a system that he never should have had to be subjected to in her face. Infertility does not give you a free license to pray on the downfall of a family.

#36

I'm the youngest child out of three. I have two older brothers. Oldest is the token 'golden child' who was a football quarterback in high school, got with his high school sweetheart, served in the U.S. Army, and then the National Guard, before finally joining the police. Two little girls from him and his wife. Oh, my parents love their granddaughters..

Middle brother was a troublemaker when he was young, but turned out alright, with a damn good work ethic, and a love of many of the same things my father loves. The two often spend a lot of time together to this day. He gets married. He and his wife have had a child recently. Little baby boy.

Then, there's me. I was the one often left alone. I was in the middle of my parents' rocky divorce. I grew up with a mental disorder that nobody understood, and nobody cared. I was expected to be "normal". I was expected to do good in school with no help. I was expected to be a "normal" child. If I cried, I was yelled at. If I did poorly in school, I was in trouble and had my television privilege taken away for a week, or more.

My parents treated me horribly. My father forced me away. My mother never cared. She cared more about what other people would think of her than what I needed as an autistic child. Every time I had trouble with something, it was always my fault, and I was punished. No matter what it was. Even if I just wanted help with homework, it was treated like I was asking for something unreasonable.

When I was abused by multiple girlfriends, it was my fault for not being a man. When I thought of self-termination, I was laughed at, up until I genuinely tried. Then, my mother tried to have me locked up in a mental asylum.

I wasn't allowed to have a childhood. I wasn't allowed to be myself. Then, when I moved out, I cut my parents out of my life. My mother had forced me to pay rent for her and my stepfather until then, so when I moved out, she was forced to get her act together. She left multiple threatening voicemails from multiple phones, and I blocked every number..

My father did eventually come around and apologized, and we've rekindled some sort of relationship, but I've cut my mother out. Lo-and-behold, my mother ends up kicked out by her partner for sleeping with another guy, and ends up in a homeless shelter. She calls me, begging me to help her.

I told her to pay the rent. I hung up. She's never called back. I avoid her at every family event. I've made it obvious to other family members. She's been cut off by many other people, all because she was a horrible c**t to her autistic child, until they finally had enough. She keeps trying to contact me through my father, but those have gotten less and less frequent.

I'll let her in when she acts like a goddamn adult and apologizes to me for the years of torture she put me through..

#37

Knew a kid in highschool who was bisexual; his mother was a super-fundie assume who made his life hell. He tried to kill himself by lighting his room on fire, but apparently didn't know other people were in the house. Ended up getting arrested, tried as an adult, and convicted for arson and attempted murder. Killed himself in prison a few years later.

#38

Became deaf when I was a child, learned sign language but family was adamant not to learn, they said its my problem not theirs so I have to be the one to learn how to communicate. Learned as an adult that I was a native american and mothers white LDS family decided never to tell me. Met my father on Facebook about 10 years ago, that family is the opposite on every point. Yeah, villages can be good when the people in them reciprocate, are honest, and not afraid of learning. That kind of village is the one you want to join.

I've learned that generational ideals and biases should not be taught, they need to be recognized and owned as a part of who you are. I wanted a big family when I was a kid but as an adult with 2 kids, I love them but absolutely no more damage. No more kids, and my current ones have full disclosure and decision-making in this house.

#39

I blew up my family by no longer being the black sheep they piled everything on. I went to court and let it all rip when a uncle asked me to testify for them. My family has a history of narssicitc behavior and I just guess they thought I'd be meek about it. Nope. I watched it all burn as every family member got ripped through.

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#40

I joined a sorority in college. It was super toxic. Everyone was mean to me. Fake friends. Yada yada. When I was in my second year being in the sorority, the class above me decided to fake a school shooting during an event. They all laughed it off as a big joke and I was the only one who was not cool with what had happened. Insert gaslighting and bullying here for me being very vocal about not being ok with what had happened. I decided at this point to transfer to a different university due to the bullying

I decided to call the sorority headquarters and report what had happened. The sorority got five year’s suspension from the university. It was at the end of the school year so I peaced out before the decision was made by the headquarters.

Lots and lots and lots of angry texts and messages from everyone in the sorority. I laughed all the way to my new school where people didn’t f*****g suck.

#41

30 years of emotional and physical abuse from my mother and I finally went no contact *shocked pikachu face*.

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#42

I met this kid while in Jr. High. Knew him his first year in high school. Back in 78/79.

Remember the movie "Carrie?" He had that for a mother. He was super religious and had to pray multiple times a day. Carried a large Bible with his school books. Wore old-fashioned formal clothes, 1950s style haircut, and horned rim glasses.

His mother punished him because she saw us talking when he got off the school bus. I guess I didn't pass the "friend standard."

He was so unsocialized and awkward. He was grateful to speak with anyone. And I didn't make fun of him.

I guess it got to be too much. He didn't come back to school for the Sophomore year. I later learned that while his mother was sleeping, he doused her with gasoline and set her and the bed on fire.

She lived. And they just disappeared. I never heard of him again.

#43

My family treated me and my mom like s**t. Let my mom die of liver cirrhosis and then tried to steal her house that was going to go to me during probate by making a bunch of bs claims. Anyways I paid the money and eventually sold the house for double what I paid for it (I didn’t get that much it was in s**t condition) I know for a fact several members of that family wanted that house as it belonged to my Nana (grandma on my moms side) so I am glad to have made some money off of depriving those sh**holes some sentimental value as they robbed my mom of ever seeing me graduate highschool or seeing any future kids I might have.

#44

My father is a narcissist with schizoaffective disorder. He abused me until I was 22 and cut contact. I'm 31 now. My Grandmother (his mother) tried to guilt me the other day into speaking to him because he got worms (I doubt this is real, he has paranoid delusions) and was oh so sick.

If the worms are real, I'm rooting for the worms. F**k him.

#45

Quite a literal version.

Had a kid come to my 9th grade classroom with 4 felony arson counts.

We knew before he got there that he had four felonies just not in what and his other three teachers and the principal called an emergency meeting where they didn’t want him in their rooms at all. Principal wanted us to either give up our planning or teach him after regular hours.

I Adamantly told them to get f****d that I wouldn’t give my planning up for God himself and least restrictive environment said he was in the classroom. Tbf, I already had a room full of gang members so what was another kid with felonies?

Turns out this kid has never met his dad and his mom worked 3-4 jobs. Only got to see her like maaaaybe once a week. He was breaking into homes for food and then burning them down for attention. It was really just a cry for help.

I liked the kid and he had me first period. Would come in high as a f*****g kite and is give him cherry coke and bagels to eat. Never skipped my class. Never misbehaved after the first week with me.

Everyone hated on him and he lashed out accordingly. Started reading a porn mag and drinking a fifth of vodka in math class, etc.

Ended up getting expelled despite my intervention.

Few months later he was arrested and charged as an adult after a stri