"I Still Have Dreams About It": People Are Revealing How They Watched Someone Completely Destroy Their Life With Just One Wrong Decision

Content warning: Discussions of home violence, intersexual assault, and kid abuse.  

Recently, idiosyncratic connected Reddit asked: "Have you ever witnessed idiosyncratic ruin their ain beingness successful a mode that DIDN’T impact drugs oregon alcohol? What’s the story?"

Being the nosy (and anxious) nelly that I am, I couldn't defy scrolling through. Because if there's 1 happening I know, it's that I privation to debar immoderate life-altering, unsafe determination astatine each costs. I was near a small speechless astatine conscionable however easy 1 — oregon sometimes aggregate — incorrect decisions tin wholly derail someone's life. Here are the stories:

1. "I worked for a feline who was precise entrepreneurial but precise stubborn. At 1 point, helium realized helium had astir $2 cardinal successful assets, including his house, and I said, 'Hey, you should retire; you're already 55, truthful bask it.' Nope. Dude sunk each of his wealth into a caller task instead. It was an arcade."

2. "When I was successful college, I worked astatine a large-ish market store arsenic a cashier and past a nighttime packer. The front-of-store time supervisor, who'd worked determination for a decade, got caught stealing implicit $100k from the assorted currency registers. All the cashiers utilized to person to number their interval to guarantee it balanced astatine the extremity of their shift, and past recount it to marque definite they were correct. What she utilized to bash was thenar tiny bills truthful the tills were somewhat out, but it didn't get noticed."

(Cont'd) "If the cashier peculiarly annoyed her, she'd instrumentality larger notes retired until the cashier got fired. They were each teenagers, truthful it was conscionable attributed to them making mistakes erstwhile giving change. The crushed she yet got caught was that she got into a long-running combat with the front-of-store nighttime supervisor and tried to pinch portion of their interval to get her accused of stealing and fired."

3. "I had a household subordinate walk her and her husband's full savings and status connected her crab treatment. She didn't enactment it done security due to the fact that she didn't privation her hubby to find retired that she had crab and interest astir her. He ended up processing his ain wellness issues and not being capable to enactment anymore, truthful they're present financially wholly babelike upon their big children."

—Peg_Leg_The_Pirate

4. "When I was successful the Army, a feline successful our portion was caught molesting his preschool-aged daughter. He jumped retired of a 4th-floor model and lived. He ended up a paraplegic successful prison."

5. "In 2023, I was pulling retired of a Wendy's with my young kid successful the backseat. In the McDonald's parking batch adjacent door, I heard what I thought was fireworks. I look implicit and spot a young guy, baby-faced, holding a pistol implicit a woman's body. He changeable her again, possibly much than once; I can't remember. My lad asked, 'Daddy, what was that?' I said: 'It was fireworks, kid.' And past the dude locked eyes with me."

"He looked similar a small kid playing fell and spell seek. Haunting face. Then helium started moving towards me. I floored the pedal. We went to a adjacent market store and ate. I had to fake calm and say, 'These brainsick kids with their fireworks…I thought they'd deed our car!' That dude ruined his beingness by taking the beingness of his manager. He's successful jail. I work the quality communicative aboriginal that day. I inactive person dreams astir it."

—JamponyForever

6. "I had 3 buddies caller retired of precocious schoolhouse who decided to physique homemade bombs and stroke up port-a-potties. All of them were precise astute and college-bound. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) recovered them aft the 3rd oregon 4th explosion. One buddy turned connected the different 2 and got to pb a bully life. The different 2 went to situation for a mates of years. Absolute discarded of potential."

7. "She trusted the incorrect person, nary substance however overmuch grounds we presented arsenic to wherefore helium couldn’t beryllium trusted. She mislaid her money, her home, her narration with her children, her relationships with family, and mislaid her clasp connected reality. He became her satellite arsenic helium stripped her of everything."

—stickylarue

8. "My brother. He was adopted from foster attraction arsenic a babe and was the beloved lone lad successful our family. We lived successful a tiny municipality wherever helium was treated similar a small king. I'm not exaggerating; each the small aged ladies connected our thoroughfare would support his favourite snacks connected manus for erstwhile helium rode up connected his motorcycle to accidental hello. He was truthful empathetic and saccharine arsenic a kid, but the infinitesimal helium deed puberty, helium changed."

9. "My ex. He fell into right-wing spaces during COVID erstwhile we had recurring gestation losses. He ended up successful Telegram and 4chan echo chambers. Suddenly, helium hates women, LGBT communities, and everyone who's not a achromatic man. I didn't cognize astir this until the national constabulary showed up with a warrant for him."

10. "My dada refused to get a colonoscopy and is present dying of colon cancer. Colon crab is 1 of the more preventable cancers acknowledgment to colonoscopy."

—toosickto

11. "My parent is presently dying of crab that was treatable for years. Why? Because she believed rightwing conspiracy BS that told her doctors were evil and she could cure it herself with veggie shakes and Jesus."

—disorderincosmos

12. "This one's a doozy, arsenic it's not conscionable 1 beingness ruined, but 3 with collateral damage. I worked with a antheral astatine my retail occupation who utilized to beryllium a aesculapian technician, taking attraction of patients successful semipermanent comas. The antheral coiled up quitting that occupation due to the fact that of an incidental that messed him up truthful atrocious mentally that helium couldn't instrumentality to work. He was assigned to a 21-year-old antheral diligent with monolithic caput trauma who wasn't expected to aftermath up anytime soon, if ever. What had happened was that his diligent was chatting with a miss helium met online who told him she was twenty."

13. "A section feline successful my municipality had a large life. He had aggregate children and a beauteous wife; helium was an ex-Olympian who had transitioned into a caller vocation aft retiring from sports. I knew his kids. In the aftermath of his Olympic career, helium had started an concern steadfast (mutual funds, I believe). He secured a decent fig of archetypal investors, including a precise adjacent puerility person and that friend's aging parents. Something went wrong, and helium mislaid a clump of money, and alternatively of coming clean, helium started fundamentally moving a Ponzi scheme."

"Years went by, perchance decades, and past I conjecture it each caught up to him. He wrote confession letters, sent them retired to each his victims, and past hopped connected his motorcycle and disappeared into the woods. At first, helium was conscionable missing, and everyone was confused and concerned, but past the confessions began to travel to light, and radical realized helium had tally away."

(Cont'd) "It was a monolithic ungraded successful specified a tiny town. Then, 2 years later, helium showed up again and turned himself in, served his time, and is present backmost out, surviving a comparatively mean life. It was a large spot of quality astatine the clip due to the fact that helium had fundamentally stolen/lost millions, and that wealth included the full status money of his erstwhile puerility person AND friend's aged retired parents. That feline was furious."

—madamevanessa98

14. "A dude successful my vicinity was a large sanction successful my town. He served connected our HOA board, coached his kids' shot team, and was progressive successful the PTA. When COVID happened and everything was connected lockdown, the feline got exposed. Turned retired helium had different full ass household successful different state. I person nary thought however the feline recovered the clip to juggle each of that."

—tizod

15. "Our institution takes the apical employees connected vacations each year. A fewer years ago, they went to Mexico. One feline thought helium was excessively chill and broke the rules astir leaving the resort. He went into the metropolis for prostitutes, past decided helium didn't privation to wage for them. Their employers disagreed. He ended up kidnapped successful the mediate of nowhere, the guys emptied each of his slope accounts, and held him for ransom. I deliberation the institution paid $10k to get him released, and helium had to beryllium fixed a constabulary escort to the airdrome to alert home. Obviously, helium got fired, and I heard his woman left."

16. "My relative joined a cult. He near his woman and 4 beauteous children due to the fact that she didn't privation to rise them connected a compound successful the mediate of obscurity surrounded by guns, truthful helium went connected his own. My family's made it wide we're 100% connected her side, and he's not invited to thing anymore, but I don't deliberation helium cares."

—Willowed-Wisp

17. "Someone I cognize mislaid everything helium had financially and went into indebtedness trying to marque wealth successful crypto. He was obsessed, truly obsessed. Like determination were times erstwhile I was astir him and helium would hardly admit my beingness due to the fact that helium was looking astatine the market."

18. "I cognize idiosyncratic who got successful precise heavy with an MLM. She wholly bought into the mendacious positivity, the 'fake it 'til you marque it' mentality, and portrayed a wholly mendacious relationship of what was going on. She earned trips, claimed to beryllium making thousands each period and surviving the dream, and said she would discontinue her hubby someday soon. Eventually, it each unraveled; she was profoundly successful debt, which she had been keeping from her husband."

"She had been ordering tons of merchandise to support her presumption and rank, and had rented a retention portion to store the product. She had besides gotten into her children’s savings accounts. Ended up divorced, destitute, and someway her hubby ended up with each her merchandise successful the divorce. I person nary thought what helium did with it."

—maefae

19. "My father. He was palmy successful his 20s arsenic a owe underwriter. He met my mom, and past came on me, my sister, and my brother. Things were going good until they weren’t. He and my ma had everything astatine the time, and contempt that, helium started gambling. It started disconnected small, but past it grew. Started from slot machines to betting connected equine races. In 2008, the lodging marketplace crashed, and it got highly worse. He kept chasing this precocious and got progressive with borrowing wealth from the incorrect people."

(Cont'd) "He became homeless. He was truthful addicted that helium started conning and scamming radical for money. He was relentless, to the constituent that erstwhile his begetter died, helium stole his individuality and racked up $30k successful debt. One time, helium adjacent stole his girlfriend's beingness savings and gambled it away. He someway ne'er went to jail, and I don't cognize how. I was the lone kid who spoke to him successful the end."

"I understood addiction, and tried to beryllium determination for him successful his last years, yet kept him astatine a region and distant from wealth and idiosyncratic information. I refused to fto him determination successful with maine due to the fact that each clip helium did, helium would find a mode to con someone. He did it to my member erstwhile who tried to find empathy and fto him determination in. You would deliberation that my father, who astatine the clip pretended to alteration and 'get clean,' would measurement up, but no, helium took the rent wealth my member gave him and gambled it away." 

(Cont'd) "They got evicted, but my ma made definite not to permission my member stateless and recovered a trailer for him. My dad, however, became stateless again, and nary 1 talked to him for years, including me. My dada was dying, though, from diabetes and bosom disease. It was a dilatory death. My father's parent decided to fto him determination in, adjacent aft stealing her precocious husband's identity, due to the fact that she felt atrocious for him. He was determination until the end. He died unsocial successful his sleep, begging for america (my mother, sister, and me) to sojourn him 1 past time."

Note: Some entries person been edited for magnitude and/or clarity.

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize is successful contiguous information arsenic a effect of home violence, telephone 911. For anonymous, confidential help, you tin telephone the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline astatine 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) oregon chat with an advocator via the website.

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize has experienced intersexual assault, you tin telephone the National Sexual Assault Hotline astatine 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest intersexual battle work provider. You tin besides hunt for your section halfway here.

If you are acrophobic that a kid is experiencing oregon whitethorn beryllium successful information of abuse, you tin telephone oregon substance the National Child Abuse Hotline astatine 1-800-422-4453(4.A.CHILD); work tin beryllium provided successful implicit 140 languages.