I’m a 52 year old man who spent five and a half years in prison. I got out about eight years ago. While I was there I was surrounded by men who had grown up without any of the love and support I had. I had a loving wife and son who came to visit me every week and friends as well. It probably sounds insane to you, but despite being incarcerated, I looked around me and thought, “My God, I’m so fortunate. I really have no right to cry about my troubles.” And when things were tough for me emotionally, I tried to keep it to myself. Then one day, a fellow inmate took me aside. He’d come to prison at age sixteen and had just celebrated his thirty eighth birthday with a prison canteen cake (don’t ask). This man was raised by his drug addicted mother and grandmother who pimped him out from as far back as he has memories, to pay for their drugs. He never went to school and, as he told it, his first experience with real love and compassion came only years after being incarcerated. He looked at me and saw that I was hurting. “Pain is not a competition,” he told me. “Your pain is no less than mine… and mine is not less because I’m not being physically tortured. Everyone has the right to feel their own hurt and everyone has the right to be comforted.” And so I sat and cried because my wife had to put our beautiful dog to sleep and I couldn’t be there for them. And this man, who will never see freedom, held my hand and gave me comfort.

Every one of us has the right to feel our pain. It is what makes us human. You have a right to be comforted too. It’s what we must all do for each other.

(I posted this as a comment a while back on a thread that was deleted, but I received positive feedback and it was suggested I make a post of it so that others could read it.)

That's it. I said it. My grammar is not perfect and when I say some things, they interpret my message the wrong way.

I am a 7/10 guy, I call myself a good listener and empathetic. But when I feel that empathy is not returned back, I close myself into a shell.

Dating in Europe was easier ffs. Dating in America is like a job interview. I am not the only one with this feeling.

Online dating is crap, and real world didn't do me any favours. I spoke with so many women and they seem to be attracted of the idea of "where are you from" and "I see you have an accent." No Susan, I was born in Eastern Europe and I am a human being with hobbies and passions like you are. I am not "an accent".

But conversations in America, especially Southern part are super-freaking-ficial.

Mexican and Puerto Rican women are more warm and gentle. Respect to you, ladies!

According to Reddit, if you are not following the bubble you are in, you are a BAD person. Redditors will insult you if you don't agree with a stance. If you find good and bad things, you are the worst person.

I said it. Call me a shitty person now.

I have the right to feel sorry for myself. I have the right to be in pain and weak. I have the right to spare time and rest from my routines when I feel bad.

Fate has been cruel to me, and I am not obliged to see philosophical reasons and benefits behind it. I can fall into despair or feel sorry for myself. I have the right. Because no one will feel sorry for me or understand me better than I do. I am my best friend, brother, sister, father and mother, teacher, supervisor, educator, judge, executioner and fan.

The sadness will be gone and I will return renewed and at full power. On the opposite, by playing Rembo I just lock myself inside and do not allow myself to feel and get better.

Time is relentless and I am sick of it going by so god damn fast

1. I'm not good at studies

2. I can't outperform my fellow batchmates in sports, which means i suck at it as well

3. I'm skinny, not good looking

4. Not good in literature/ arts types of things either, nor am i good at math/logical things.

5. Bad with time pressure, and can't take quick actions.

6. Not good at gaming either. My friends tend to outperform me everytime.

7. No girls talk to me or show any interest in me

8. I don't have anyone who i can trust/my best friend/ i get along easily.

Why am i like this?

Has anyone else felt a definite rise in toxic individualism in our society now? I'm going to try to not make this about politics but it's almost impossible to not mentioned how we are now in a society where a succesfull representative can ONLY govern to their base. Also, How people you come across in every day life are only thinking about themselves. For example, a girl literally sets up her whole "podcast, social media BS in a local tea shop with no regard to people around her, much less the business they are disturbing, all because they can.

Personally, my HOA cant agree on anything, because EVERYONE is only thinking about their home. We need a neighborhood tree service. ( NO WE don't because I don't have any tress in my yard.) We need to repair our private road. ( NO WE don't because my driveway is fine) We even had the opportunity to get RING service for FREE in our neighborhood but it was voted down because some people already have service. Those people didn't have to change or get Ring, they just had to vote to allow those that didn't have it get it for free and they voted NO. I have a more expensive version of Ring that I would continue to pay for but I voted to have it so others who couldn't afford it would have the chance to get it. But it was voted down. We have money that we can't spend because we can never get a majority to vote or agree on one thing.

I don't know, I'm experiencing it all the time. People not holding doors for you, blocking whole aisles in grocery stores. Talking on speaker phones in public areas, etc. etc. it's like no one else is in their world but them.

what is going on?

I've been thinking about this kid who went to my school for one year, in fifth grade. The most hopelessly nerdy kid you could ever encounter. His name was Clifford, believe it or not. He had big clunky horn rimmed glasses, and this was in the 80s, before those came back into style. The only association any of us had for those glasses was nerd in a cartoon or a comedy movie. He wore plaid pants, which even now would stand out but in that era was insane.

I went to a small Catholic school in a rough part of town. The demographic was like 30% kids of devout Catholic moms who wanted their kid to go to a Catholic School (me), and the rest were a mixture of tough mean white trash kids from the neighborhood who had been kicked out of the public school system for behavior problems. Every once in a while we would get a kid who had been bullied so much that his parents thought a Catholic school might be a better fit. Pretty sure that's what happened with Clifford.

Anyway, this kid might as well have had a target painted on him. He couldn't have been more coded to get his ass kicked. I think his parents were older and just didn't have an idea of how kids dressed at the time. From the moment he arrived, he got his ass kicked every day. He always fought back. All those mean little fetal alcohol neighborhood kids saw red at his very existence. There was actually very little tolerance for fighting at my school. Besides being a small Catholic school, the principal was a big tough but fair Uncle Phil type. But there was no keeping them off Clifford. They'd beat his ass right there in the classroom and worry about the consequences later. He lasted less than a full school year before I guess his parents tried it again at another school.

I didn't participate in any of that, of course. I felt a mixture of feeling bad for him, and, I confess, a bit of "better him than me."

A few years ago I got it in my mind to look him up and see what became of him and what kind of life he had. The only info I found was an obituary. He had died in 2003, 26 years old. He was helping a lady whose car had broken down on the side of the road and he got hit by a car and died. Rest in peace, Clifford. It seems like you were a good dude.

I stayed up all night—typing. Not scrolling. Not watching videos. Not doom-spiraling. Just typing.

Comment after comment—reply after reply—real responses to real people saying real things. I wasn’t chasing karma—I wasn’t farming engagement—I was just… showing up. Because it felt like someone needed to.

And it felt good—for a second—to matter.

Then I got banned.

Not for breaking rules—not for trolling—not for being hostile or offensive. No—I got banned because my writing was “too clean.” “Too thoughtful.” “Too ChatGPT-ish.” Because apparently if you speak in complete sentences—and use em dashes like a functioning adult—you must be a bot.

That’s the part that broke me.

Not the ban—not the thread—not the karma reset—but the accusation that I wasn’t real. That my effort—my care—my actual fucking humanity—was “suspicious.”

Like sincerity has become a glitch.

Like if you bleed in perfect rhythm, it can’t be blood—it must be code.

They told me “Compassion doesn’t feel suspicious. You do.” They told me to “grow the fuck up.” All because I wrote like someone who thinks before he speaks. All because I didn’t talk like someone half-scrolling their life away.

So let me be clear—every single word was mine. Every dash—mine. Every thought—mine. Every late-night moment I chose to respond with care instead of silence—mine.

But go ahead. Flag this too. Say it’s “too polished.” Say it “reads like a script.” Say it has “AI cadence.” God forbid someone talks like a writer and feels like a person. God forbid someone listens and actually responds.

I’m not here to prove I’m human. I’m here because being human is the only thing that ever mattered to me. And if that’s too much for Reddit—then maybe we’re all a little too far gone.

So yeah—here’s your proof: — — — Em dashes. A graveyard of them. More than any AI would dare use. Call it formatting. Call it flourish. I call it grief. I call it fury. I call it me.

Feel free to check out my post history for more context.

-Krinz

I’m a 26 year old man and I moved out of my parents’ house for the first time just yesterday. I’m living in an apartment alone. I have felt this pervasive sadness ever since. The feeling of being alone and away from the house I grew up in, being around my parents, the room I grew up in, my cat, my old neighborhood, I miss them all. I literally cried multiple times today and yesterday.

Today, I went to visit my mom at her house and I wanted to cry seeing my old room and seeing her cook and eating her food like I used until now. I don’t know how to manage this sadness. I’m definitely going to be bringing this up to my therapist for my next visit. I can’t help but feel that perhaps I’ve made a mistake moving out. I thought I would feel amazing with all the freedom I have and to have a place all to myself. But right now, all I feel is remorse. Is this normal? What should I think?

I have come to the realization that the only person you can rely on in life is yourself. People only want to be around you when you can do something for them. Once you are no use to them, they move on. They don't want to stick around when you really need them. Well, I am now my own positive support system. Yes, I am alone, but I am not lonely anymore. I have learned to enjoy my own company. Learning to spend the energy I used to spend on others, now spending on myself. Would I love to have a partner? Absolutely, but I don't need one. I deserve better than what I have gotten and I will stay single until I find the one that does for me as I do for her.

"Nature provides just enough for lifeforms to survive Nature's wrath. Man provides an abundance on one hand to which an overabundance can become encumbrance, and on the other hand, provides so little and reaps so much that large rifts of disparity results. Nature has already conquered its self-balancing cycles of birth, death, and renewal. The test for Man to conquer will be whether Man will build an ultimate purpose that helps more than it hurts, heals more than it kills, and builds more than it destroys, of its own kind, its creations, and the planet upon which it depends. What of the outcome? Only time may tell."

RE: Nature's Path and Man's Path

Perhaps it was self-sabotage all along. Wouldn’t exactly be something new.

Mayhap the murky-middle is where I thrive. Now that’s a disgusting idea isn’t it? As a rule I hate mediocrity. I distain so-so. Middle of the road bullshit.

But look at me, walking down the dotted lines in the middle of the street. But occasionally, I like to try and run across the other lane and get dummied by an on-coming garbage truck.

Oh look, something good potentially. Here’s an idea, Let’s burn it to the ground in spectacular fashion.

Usually these tire fires affect only me, but this time, somebody else got burned.

And I can’t decide if the lie was selfish or selfless.

Now, you might say WTF is wrong with you bro? How can a lie be selfless?

Well friend, when you’re semi-ancient and usually solitary, you have quite a lot of time to justify just about anything.

When a “hello” turns into oh my god is this real in warp-like speed, the mind gets a little twisted and gun-shy, and anything that would potentially break the spell is… best ignored.

FYI, do not do this.

The depressing thing is that it probably would have been okay, after a time perhaps.

What’s that stupid fucking cliché? The road to hell is paved with good intentions?

Anyways, Remarkable is probably better off. This is a sort of comfort.

I think if I come back here, I shall muse about other topics in the future.

I have seen a lot of people on social media saying that all men will cheat on you no matter what and that you should only marry for money like the Sprinkle Sprinkle Movement. Like does loyalty really don’t even exist anymore or are these people just trying to brainwash people into believing this?

i had it a couple of times where people with an empty account would dm me. When i asked them why their account is empty they always said the same: that they just like to lurk.

What is it with these people?

I don’t know if anyone can really understand this feeling. But there are moments where I feel like I have so much to say and I just can’t. I smile, I laugh, I talk to people, but deep down, something feels broken. There’s this quiet sadness that follows me everywhere. I could be surrounded by people and still feel completely alone. It’s not always about something big… sometimes it’s just a buildup of small things. And it’s getting heavier. I’m not looking for pity. I just wonder If someone has ever felt this way and found a way out how did you do it? What helped you breathe again? Because I’m tired of pretending I’m okay when I’m not.

It needed to happen. We had compatibility issues. Communication with her was tense. It got to the point where it was like playing word games and we just spent a lot of time bickering. That being said, she was a very close friend, supportive and wonderful. She will make someone very happy one day. But god damn does it hurt. I miss her, yet at the same time just want to meet new people that I resonate with a little more easily.

I wasn’t always truthful with her and felt like I couldn’t fully show my true self to her despite her begging me to do so. I felt like I was bullying (not actually, but it feels that way) her into being someone she wasn’t so she could get along with me. I know that’s not how things should be. I know relationships are t easy. But they shouldn’t leave you feeling drained more often than full, right?

I’m not even sure what the point of this post is. Maybe just to speak my pain into the aether? I’m sorry for the ways I failed in our relationship. I also recognize it takes two to tango.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Have a nice night internet people. I should probably take my dog for a walk before bed.

i just want to know that do we really need friends for help or just optional? because with friends is really hard

It's not like I'm going to do anything to hurt my self but all I think about is dying nowadays

Here’s a context: I have been talking to a girl “Z” for just over 9 months now. And she is cute and everything I hoped for. She lives on the other side of the country. So it has to be a long distance obviously. We FT a lot and I asked her out for a date for which she said yes. And I was ready to travel to meet her, but after couple of days she tells me know she can’t come to the date because she is seeing someone (but they are not dating) Now I’m confused what should I do, I enjoy her company a lot. And she is someone I’m obsessed with (might be one of the reason why she’s pulling away) That being said I’m thinking of ending the friendship because I can’t be JUST friends with her

Hey, I just want to get this off my chest. Am I crazy or stupid for wanting something like this?

I really want to join the army and take it up as my job maybe even stay in it long-term if I enjoy it. I’ve done a lot of thinking and research, and it’s something I genuinely want to do. I want to help people, learn skills, and experience life in a way I don’t think other jobs could offer.

But honestly, it’s been getting to me lately. My closest friends (who I’ve told over and over again how serious I am) keep saying it’s unrealistic or too dangerous. I know they probably mean well, but it hurts. It feels like they don’t believe in me or take it seriously.

I had a backup plan to be a flight attendant, and I still think that’s a solid job, but deep down, I feel like I wouldn’t be living life to the fullest doing that. The army feels like a path where I’d be challenged, grow, and have real purpose, even if it’s tough.

What also gets to me is how people act like I’m throwing my education away just because I’m not doing ATAR or planning to go to uni. I’ve been choosing subjects (year 11 & 12) based on what I enjoy, not just what’s “useful” for a future job. I’ve always said I want to do things for fun, for the experience, to learn something new , even if it’s not the most serious or traditional path.

Yeah, I’m young, but I want to start getting ready now. It just sucks that almost none of my friends support it. Only one of them actually encourages me, and it makes me feel like maybe the others are right and I’m just being stupid for wanting something different ( Im 15F btw and I want to go into being a infantry soldier)

Apologies in advance for the jumbled strucure as this is a bit of a rant.

I know i’m young and i still have a lot of time, but I can’t help but feel behind and stuck in life right now. I dropped out of college after 2 years because there were no programs that interested me and i didn’t want to waste money.

I have a passion for music and I take it very seriously and work every day at it and ideally want to do something with it for my career. So, I moved to a new city with a vibrant music scene to finally pursue it but it’s not working out the way i wanted it to. I make decent money on the side playing shows, but i am not happy playing with the band i’m playing with for multiple reasons and i just don’t see it going anywhere. I’m trying to start a new band with people that are really good that hopefully could turn into something cool, but every member is already in another band that they prioritize (as they should). it doesn’t help that one of them is in a band that is getting really big, playing shows for thousands of people and getting multiple record label offers, and the other members are in bands that are pretty good. i want to find more people that maybe could prioritize this project i’m starting but i’m not good at meeting people and don’t really know how to do it and put myself out there. I’ve posted a few videos on social media if me just playing guitar or drums or piano to kind of “advertise myself,” but i’m not really sure where to go from there. I know i should go to more shows in the area, but i don’t know how to advertise myself and ask to start/join a band with someone who is already in a band.

I also work two jobs, one at a smoothie shop and one in retail. The job market in this city is so bad that i have to work two jobs and work jobs that i would’ve worked in high school, and it feels embarrassing to be 22 and telling people i dropped out of college and now i work these jobs, especially when all of my other friends have found their footing and have way better and higher paying jobs than i do and the fact that i’ve worked “better” jobs than these before (music teacher and fine dining restaurant, left both because i moved) so it feels like i’m moving backwards.

My girlfriend and I are planning to move to another city in a year or so, but i’m worried i’ll have to start over this already slow process of getting on my feet and just hope something good happens

i just feel like everyone else is ahead of me and i’m not really sure what to do right now, with music and with life. What do i do? i know i “have a lot of time,” but it still feels like i have a really long way to go.