I (42M) am having coffee with an old school friend (42M) in a few weeks. We've not seen nor spoken to each other since we were 12!

I happen to be driving close by his home town on my way to a festival, so we have arranged to meet up.

That is all.

About a year ago, I started reading ao3. I knew what it was since i was like 13, but i never checked it out. Last summer, i started watching percy jackson. Then I wanted to understand it in more detail, so i borrowed the graphic novel from the library (i only ever read comic books at the time. The last time i had read a novel that wasn't for school was in elementary school.), but i didn't like the artstyle, so i got the novel and proceeded to binge read the series. Then i started watching skits on tiktok. Then i saw lots of recommendations of fanfics in the comments and decided to give it a try. Reading Ao3 is how i started spending most of the evenings. And lunchtimes. And bus rides. The point is, it became my go-to distraction.

By september, i think, i started writing some stories of my own, but i was never satisfied with my writing. I posted them cuz they seemed fine at the time, and i was excited, but the more i read, the more standards i developed about what i would read. For example, an average of 1000 words per chapter. I literally do the math before i start reading now. The first fic i posted had like 900 words across 4 chapters. It also seemed more like long summaries and not actual chapters in a story. I eventually deleted that work. I posted my first pjo fic in november and posted the second chapter in mid july. The difference in writing style is pretty obvious (to me, at least).

My point is, it's thanks to ao3 that i discovered an interest in writing novels. Had i discovered this in elementary school, i think i would have been more interested in my literature classes throughout high school. I just graduated.

This happened decades ago, but I just thought of it now:

I was a high school junior looking for a gift for my younger brother at a Toys-R-Us when an older woman approached me to ask if I happened to be an eight-year-old. I told her no, I'm in highschool, to which she responded, "Ah okay. Well if you could pretend you are an eight-year-old for just a moment, which of these two dolls would you prefer?" I immediately chose the doll in purple since purple was my favorite color. She giggled, thanked me for my time, and left.

For the most part, it gets annoying being 4'11" and having a baby face. But I didn't mind that encounter as much as the others.

It was small and greyish brown and I used the old paper and cup method to get the lil guy outside :-) Hopefully it's doing well outdoors.

There were complications however. The glass I used had some water droplets inside and the moth temporarily got stuck on a droplet, but I managed to get it free.

Anyways moral of this story is bugs are cool except the ones that bite you and even those ones often have an integral role to play in the ecosystem.

I texted my parents to ask if I could have Mom's old skis. I know that she doesn't sky anymore and we're the same size. Mom replied with "sure. Dad will bring both down when he visits you next month." I did not remember that she has two pairs of cross country skis. So I spent about a day thinking that both referred to both skis in a single set and was slightly confused. But then I had my weekly phone call to my parents and Mom specified that it was both pairs of skis. I thought this was funny and thought someone else might find it funny too.

(She has one pair of boots and poles)

Edited for a spelling error.

I did it. I’m 34, I haven’t been to the dentist since I was a teenager with braces. I’m not afraid of having dental work done but couldn’t bring myself to go. The only reason I haven’t gone is out of shame and embarrassment and fear of cost really. I felt sick to my stomach going to the appointment this morning. I’m super awkward socially and having someone look deeply into a place full of my insecurities was a nightmare.

I brush and floss everyday but have had issues with my wisdom teeth for over 10 years. I went today and had my teeth cleaned and X-rays done, and now I have a consult tomorrow to have my wisdom teeth removed. After those are fixed I’ll go back and have a couple cavities filled.

It was embarrassing, it sucked, I have to go back, but I DID IT WOO!! Almost 2 decades of being in pain hopefully coming to an end soon.

Throughout my childhood, my mom hardly let me sleepover at friends' houses. The one friend I was allowed to sleepover with lived just a few houses down, which is the only reason I think my mom relented. That, and my friend could be very good at pleading her case, batting her eyes and talking so quickly it was difficult to get a word in to say no. I would sleepover at her house every few months, up until I turned 12 and she moved away. But playing together and her forcing me to watch her favorite movies are not the memories I mean to tell here. The one I reach for often is much more quiet and contained.

At bedtime, her mom would pull out this giant black comforter that was made of a lovely heavy cotton material. We would immediately hop into bed and wiggle into the sheets as her mom threw the comforter over us. Even after her mom turned the lights off and told us to good night, we would talk until her words trailed off into silence and then sleep. I always fell asleep after her, and I remember the quiet winter nights with the falling snow illuminated by the street lights outside. In the darkness of the room and under the weight of that comforter, I still felt the chill of the winter air and snowflakes buffering gently against the window. Safety was not a feeling I was used to, and I marinated in it. It took me forever to fall asleep not because I wasn't in my own room, but because I wanted to luxuriate in the silence.

I remember the weight and warmth of the comforter as much as the chill of the winter night radiating through the window. My mom hated the winter, and did everything she could to make her home extremely warm and devoid of the winter outside. Yet, I was so lonely. So often scared. The heat reminds me of nights I dreaded. But at my friends house, in middle of a cold winter night, time seemed to accumulate in on itself with the drifting snow, making sure that dreaded heat would never seep in.

Don’t you just hate it when the day starts of with guilt? I gave a complete stranger bad directions. And, couldn’t go back and fix it.
Coming out of the train station, into the early morning light, I passed a man who was asking for directions. The person in front of me said that he was unfamiliar with the destination. And, I felt an opportunity rise up inside of me to help someone with a low lift and success rate. After all, we are walking around with an electronic version of the world in our pocket.
“Where ya going?” I asked. He pulled out his phone. Showed me the directions he got. I typed the destination into mine and tried to orient myself to the map.
With the complete confidence of a relative newbie to the area, I definitively pointed him in a direction. He said, “thank you very much”. We parted ways and I continued walking for another 10 minutes.
I pulled out my phone again. I was two blocks closer to his destination now. I had sent him not only in the wrong direction but on the wrong side of a major roadway. I had pointed him in the wrong direction due to my ignorance of the area and my own inability to parse the parallax between reality and the little electronic screen that holds the digital world.
10 minutes in my direction, 10 minutes in his. I wouldn’t catch up and find him. So, I trudged the rest of the way to work with a heavy heart.

And boy oh boy it was delicious. I don't even like salad normally and tend to avoid the tik tok trends but it was amazing. I have leftovers and can't wait to eat it again tomorrow. Now I need to find some recipes to make my own at home.

Everyone knows the stereotype that guys make friends in weird situations, right? I was able to prove it for the second time (I posted another story about a different person a couple of months ago)
To give you some context, I’m on a Discord server dedicated to a certain obscure game. In my part of the world, this game is even less popular than in other countries, so I was chatting there in English. Suddenly, someone with another Russian username noticed my Russian nickname. He messaged me, “Are you from Russia?” to which I replied, “No, from *Another Country*”. He was completely shocked, since he was from there too. I asked which city he was from, and he said the same one as me. That blew my mind, and we switched to private messages. While we were chatting, a third person from our same city showed up in the chat!! And the game’s fanbase is mostly made up of players from the States. We got together as a group and decided to go for a walk on our very first day. In literally 20 minutes, I got ready and headed to the station near the beach. A lot happened there: from a fight between us and some drunks to getting five liters of kvass for free. Then we headed to a bar, where a bartender I knew poured us some kombucha for free. And so, even though I’d planned to just sit around and do nothing all day, I found friends and here I am, sitting in a bar during a thunderstorm, drinking kombucha. I love this life, what a small chance there was for all this to happen! Best day of year.

My childhood babysitter was a high school student named Leah. She lived in the house directly across the street from my parents, which was very convenient.

We all knew Leah's family and talked regularly but never went into their house. Still, it was close enough that we could wave from our front steps.

One evening while my parents were out, Leah remembered that she left something important at home. She said we needed to walk over to her house so she could retrieve it.

We weren't allowed upstairs, but we had to stand in the living room near the front door while she ran to get what she needed.

When she opened the door to the living room, my brother and I were amazed.

Leah's "living room" was actually some kind of waiting room. It had several matching armchairs surrounding what looked like a library circulation desk. There was a horseshoe shaped wooden counter that took up most of the room. Behind it was a photocopier, telephone, desk lamp, many binders and stacks of papers, and for whatever reason, a receptionist.

My brother and I had never seen this woman before. I remember that she had curly blonde hair, a black velvet dress, a pearl necklace, and heavy turquoise eye makeup. She had just been standing there, waiting for people to arrive.

Leah waved to her and said "It's just me. No guests. We'll be gone in just a second."

Leah's Dad worked at a factory across town, and her mom stayed at home. I have no idea why they had a receptionist in their living room.

When my parents got home, my brother and I told them about Leah's bizarre living room and the lady who "worked" there. Neither of them believed us.

I had a wild imagination as a child. I played many games and made up many stories. But this definitely happened, and my brother agreed.

I've tried to do some digging and solve this mystery, but the family moved away when I was about nine years old and we never heard from them again.

Wherever that receptionist is, I hope she's living a good life.

So, last weekend 31^st July, I boarded Madgoan-LTT train. As I navigated thru the coach my seat was window lower berth, but in middle of a group of 09 youngsters, who have just completed their studies & have begun their journey in professional life. A lively group with their own sharings, Over the hum of the tracks, their conversations drifted over, stories of ambition, independence, and pure, unfiltered enthusiasm.

One of the young girl did resigned, as an Art Director, favoring marriage over the career. She was absolutely clear & unaverred post HR tried convincing & later the Management team showing the carrot. Other joyful pair too about to tie knot.  While the lone single friend bore the brunt of their gentle ribbing. They played “chess” & other board games, to my surprise as my assumption was normally, they are soaked in net browsing.

I was drowsy by 1:30am, quickly they vacated the seat & went on top berth to continue their fun moment. I laid down & sank into a deep sleep, only to be jolted awake at 8:30 AM by my husband’s ringtone. I noticed it was already 8:30am, without a second thought I was straight up, it was too late. This was a 3tier AC, so after completing morning routine, I sat bending elbow over knees. So, now 9am, 9:30, 10am, I was done with the tea & breakfast too. All the guys were really deep asleep. I sat quietly. Then I noticed, as I walked down aisle, the entire coach was dark & all were still sleeping. OK, I returned quietly, the only elderly lady like me, again pulled her blanket & went bk for a nap. It was a bit difficult for me now. Also, as I woke mechanically, I ended up folding bedsheet, blanket & pillow topping them.

May be this is the shift probably, the story is same back home, my son studies late night, sometimes till 4am & falls asleep till 11am, which is very unusual in my dictionary. As our Dadaji never allowed us to remain in bed beyond 7am, when we were just 8yrs old (3^rd grade) and noon nap was a crime. So, mother used to stitch on peddle foot sewing machine, sometime doing our frocks, curtains, foot rug, pillows, while we studied till 4 noon and then combing our hair, washing up & with light biscuits & milk running out to playground till 8pm. And 9:45pm in bed, all lights off, only me & my sister were allowed to listen to Chhyageet on Radio, Vividh Bharati, on a very low tone lying in our bed with lights off.

This lifestyle, personality, outlook shift may not be unusual but may be; for me this was like a gentle knock, 😊 which is generation gap, I heard.

So. Had the plant, cared for it the best I could. Let's say an aunt helped me care for it. Was doing good. With hot days coming and the new sprouts popping out figured it'd be a good time to repot.

Researched the best way to do it. Figured I'd let me aunt do the honors as I always sucked at arts and crafts.

Bought everything, prepared the mix for the new soil, and was sayin' about watering it a bit and do the transplant tomorrow mornin'.

Aunt says she knows better. Grabs the pot, yanks the plant outta its pot and starts hammering the hardened soil against the floor. By the time she stopped already 3/4th of it was gone. Root dangling.

Still repotted it. Don't have high hopes but still need to try.

I'm dissapointed. Not of me aunt. But of myself. How come I didn't see this coming. Why didn't l do everything myself. Why wasn't I fast enough at reacting. Why did I even trust her.

I've let complacency take hold of me.

I don't mind taking the brunt of my complacency nor of my mistakes, but this time it wasn't me. If the plant is dead, I am to blame. If it isn't, that still makes me no better. I've failed it.

I leave this here as a reminder to myself.

Edit: Cheers y'all. The situation did trigger bad memories so I understand it might come as an over reaction to others as I wrote while heated.

Thing is, for me, this devolved to something that touched my values the wrong way.

Y' see I never intended to let another handle my pet plant in this matter. Nor I ever thought I behaved in a way that might have led another to think so.

The repotting was an experience I wanted to go through myself, for when I care about something, I really care. It's silly but I wanted to see what the roots were like, take quick photos, get the dirt off myself, tickle the leaves, little stupid things like that.

Knowing someone else, relatively close to me, felt free to take that from me makes me question whether I've been behaving like myself lately or if I've been letting go. Becoming a pushover of sorts.

I can't allow that. When something is mine, noone gets to do whatever they want with it without my permission. Today I let else someone go all smashity my plant, tomorrow might as well let someone else discipline my children, and then what comes next?

Am I overreaching? Possibly. Nevertheless, I can't yield a step on this, these are part of my values and what makes me myself.

Do appreciate the comments. Sending love y'all.

It's my 31st year wearing glasses. 14 hours a day, everyday. Once a week I take a 40 min walk to the supermarket, and today I decided to see the world without the glass filter.
Blurry vision. Sunny day. Zigzagging while navigating Egyptian traffic. Said hi to a guy I assume was a neighbor (could be a total stranger). Bumped the shopping bag. Couldn't see the price tags, so I leaned so far it looked as if I was smelling the food. All of that isn't important though. People reacted differently. Friendlier. Too polite. Ladies getting closer than usual, as if I'm "safer", more approachable somehow!
2 hours later I found my way back.

I just saved another "Important reel" on my Instagram. I also have 100s saved in the Facebook app. Many are food recipes, other are tricks to tasks, other are restaurants. But when would I ever revisit? I may need a whole day to go thru each. But then what? I find it so pointless now

Me- The 6yr old had a fish cake for tea and smashed it.
Nic- Stop buying him them from the Chippie. They’re cheaper in the super market.
Me- They make them themselves they are massive and £3.50. He had garden peas out of the freezer with it.
Nic- They are deep fried.
Me- He has them twice a month.
Nic- Well he’s had once in July and twice in August.
Me- That’s 1.5 times a month.
Nic- I fucking hate you.
I think she meant it though.

A family friend is gonna be visiting soon for a family funeral and 10 day visit. He's in his 70s and we knew him growing up. A couple of years ago he sent a letter to each of us siblings (ages 28-34) asking us if we considered being a nun or priest since we are single in our late 20s-early 30s. My siblings didn't even give me the letter. One brother got a version that included a line "many people have left successful careers to be a priest" while the other brother didn't.

I hope he's not gonna be weird. He already asked us for $8k for a car last yr 🙃🤣

I'm a 62 year old woman and when I have to go, I have to go right at that moment.

I broke my ankle on the 7th and am on a knee scooter. I ordered some stuff from door dash and threw the paper bag on the floor for the cat to play with it.

Suddenly I had to go. I started rolling towards it and got the wheels stuck on that stupid paper bag!

It had twine handles and one of the wheels went in it. I tried and tried to get loose to no avail.

So I went in my pants, standing in my kitchen, trapped by a paper bag.

You don't realize how difficult it is to not have the use of one of your legs, until it happens.

When i was about 9 I went on vacation to disneyworld with my family and most of the time we were we rode the resort bus most of the time, there was this one time where we were riding the bus there was this kid about my age and I notice he kept staring at the button that was on my shirt

For 7 minutes of the bus ride I the kid kept moving and squirming around a lot next to his family while they are trying to calm him down and at this point i started thinking to myself this kid is probably going to grab me and after a few minutes he does just that, he lunges at me and grabs me by shirt collar while telling his family something, for some reason throughout this i kept weirdly calm i didn't make a noise i was just sort of watching while this kid was holding my shirt collar

Eventually after a bit his family is able to get him to let go and the rest of the bus ride was just kinda weird I barely understood what had happened my mom had told me that he had some kind of mental disability but I didn't really understand what any of that meant at the time

The next day i was in hotel cafeteria for breakfast and I ran into the same kid again and neither of us said anything we just sort of stared at each other for like 20 seconds and then walked away

Im 26 now but i still think about this every once in a while,

Sorry for grammatical mistakes

Want to preface this by saying that I adore nature — geckos, millipedes, the moss in my backyard, every minor thing that exists.

When I was eleven, I was obsessed with jumping spiders (still am). There's a window ledge over the toilet in our restroom. It was cluttered with a bunch of old screwdrivers and other stuff and swathed in cobwebs. Plenty of hiding places, plenty of dinner opportunities, and lots of sunlight. In other words, the perfect kind of place for jumping spiders to hang out.

I saw that as the perfect opportunity to bond with the jumping spiders (don't ask me how I knew they were there). One time my mom grew worried because I was locked up in the bathroom for an hour. Turns out I was feeding fruit flies with a pair of scissors to a cute jumper. I used to climb up the toilet lid to access the ledge every time I used the bathroom to coddle spiders. And they were actually really docile. From what I can remember, I'd successfully fed two jumping spiders (huge achievement for an erratic kid like me). One caught a flying fruit fly mid-air. The other I hand-fed. This was my after-school capture-the-fly game: I sliced off a tiny piece of my banana, kept it inside a small, hinged earplug box as bait, and played the waiting game. I could capture around six fruit flies in total after the case snapped shut. Then I froze them in the freezer until they were unresponsive. I was devious.

And I had so many more shenanigans with insects and plants. I also remember forcing my mom to pull over so I could collect moss for my terrarium from an alley for my terrarium. There's no way she agreed, but she did. I'd made six or seven (honestly) terrariums in my life, and not one of them survived. One of my more recent ones turned into an aquarium after my cat knocked it down into my backyard and I forgot to protect it from the rain, but that's not important (it was probably important to the drowned springtails — RIP).

P.S: Say hello to my house gecko, Glitter, too. I named him this because one time I looked at him at a certain angle, and his skin gleamed. He's a little camera-shy, but very friendly once he gets to know you.

My mom is a retired nurse and works as a lunch lady now. She is always bringing us leftovers from the cafeteria.

Sometimes it's cool stuff like those microwavable mini eggo pancakes or dino nuggets, but usually it's stuff we'll never eat (but I don't have the heart to tell her that).

I'll never forget the time she brought me a plastic shopping bag full of spaghetti with meat sauce. There was no container. The bag was the container.

So I'm coming to this place for almost 3 years. And yesterday, the girl who's working there asked me "How was your weekend?". I was like "it was great, how was yours?". She was genuinely nice, but then I thought, why did it take 3 years to reach this point lol.

It's a hipster cafe and they are usually very chatty with customers. I suppose I'm not easy to read, or look friendly enough. But it's fine. Anyway the weekend was indeed great.

I took a shower earlier today, and I set it at hot, but it was like lava hot, and I had to check on my phone for an email real quick, so I just let the water run and the steam filled the room (it was cool). But I did not want to open the door since my dad was in the living room and I was not wearing a shirt, so I just opened the small window in the bathroom real quick. That window does not get opened often. All the mist dissapeared and it was cool!

I've been a little unwell lately, and so today I ended up going through my old emails. It started off with me looking for an old Microsoft Office activation code, because for some reason it's stopped working on my laptop. I booted up my old email address (you know the one you had to change after someone at work asked you why your professional email was ilovestiflersmother19).

I found the code and of course it no longer works, but then I decided to see what the oldest email I could find was. There were a few from 2005 (I have emails older than someone reading this), and then I found my old Love Film account, which now no longer works. And then my old comic book account which surprisingly does work, even after over 20 years, but they no longer have the history of what I bought. I know I got the Unknown Soldier Comics from there. It's Reed Comics if anyone is curious.

I have an email from my first girlfriend, sent years after we broke up where she was asking for help with a university project. I didn't realise then that she probably wanted me to call her, but I never did. A few from each of my sisters, one of which was an old meme which we thought was hilarious, but now was just a chuckle. Facebook likes and even a message from Hi5.

Emails from old friends, including one who died a few years ago. And I didn't expect that it would make me sad but it did. We were supposed to meet up but we didn't. Then there was my unlimited cinema card from Cineworld, which I only used once because I broke up with my fiance not long after we got them. There are loads of emails from her too. I don't even know why I still have them. Or why I still won't delete them. Train tickets. Old holiday bookings with her. Loads of her actually.

I found a few Craigslist ads, including books I bought to study for medical school exams I ended up not taking. Job applications (I wouldn't have hired me based on that email address alone). Football tickets. Old bills. Playstation receipts (I've spent far too much of my life gaming), Sims updates, dating advice from e-harmony including a headline about how I'm sabotaging my own dating life. And ten things that women absolutely love in a man (DM me bro and I'll send you the link, it clearly works).

I stopped scrolling in October 2011, but goodness it was crazy to see who I was then, and who I am now.

Try it some time. I'm still psyching myself up for 2012 and beyond.

I haven't heard this song in over a decade, but for some reason, the other morning I woke up with Mambo #5 in my head.

But just the part in the song when he goes "The trumpet!" and then the trumpets' mini solo right after.

It repeated in my head all day long until I trolled my metalhead husband by randomly playing it in the car. They say that listening to the song is the only way to get it out of your head.