Episode 35
· 43:59
Yapping!
Erika:Hello, this is Erika.
Edgar:And Edgar.
Erika:And we are the Yapping Snowsers. We entertain you with the app worthy stories we find around the web. Today's theme is Unseen Consequences.
Edgar:Our first story is Am I the Asshole If I Left My Husband at the ER Overnight? I, 29 female, and my husband, 31 male, were visiting his family in another state for a cousin's wedding. We've been married for three years, no kids yet. My husband likes to drink. And at the reception, he definitely overdid it.
Edgar:Taking shots from his cousin, ignoring the facts, I asked him to slow down because we had to drive back to our Airbnb. Long story short, he ended up tripping over the curb outside the venue while we were waiting for our Uber and cut his forehead pretty badly. He was super drunk, so he didn't feel it, but he was also belligerent, cussing at the paramedics and refusing stitches. At the hospital, he kept yelling at nurses and trying to take off his IV so security had to come in. They eventually sedated him so they could clean him up.
Edgar:At that point, it was already 2AM and I was exhausted, embarrassed, and honestly mad. I asked the nurse if I could leave since they aren't admitting him overnight for observation and she said yes. I called an Uber, went back to the Airbnb, showered, and went to bed. His mom and sister started blowing up my phone around 7AM calling me heartless for leaving him alone and saying I should have stayed in case something happened. He's fine now and just has a bandage on his forehead and a big hangover, but everyone's treating me like the villain.
Edgar:Am I the asshole for leaving him there overnight instead of staying with him in the hospital?
Erika:Yeah, I don't think she's the asshole. He completely ignored what she said to calm down with the drinks. And they would have to go back to the Airbnb and he continued to ignore her. So, the fact that he was so drunk, he literally couldn't stand by himself and hurt himself is just unacceptable.
Edgar:Yeah, I mean, Obi's husband, or whoever he is, did this to himself. It's not like the damages or what he was hospitalized for was fatal. So, I don't really see the side of the family who say, Oh, he should have stayed. What if something happened? I think he was fine on his own.
Edgar:He's a good, epic guy and he could take care of himself. If this was something more serious, like he had some sort of terminal illness, maybe he it makes sense for her to want to stay there overnight. If it's something like, oh, he's just hungover, has like a concussion or some sort of cut, that's something that's livable. As And someone who's slept over a hospital, it's not really the most comfortable place. So I wouldn't want to be there if I didn't have to, which is what OP indecided in this case.
Erika:I mean, yeah, she had to deal with him and the embarrassment she had to go through seeing how he treated all the staff and the medical staff actually. And then on top of that, she was exhausted, so I wouldn't blame her for leaving at all.
Edgar:I know.
Erika:And then the top comment really is just how did they find out? Did he call them playing the victim, not the asshole?
Edgar:I know, exactly. He probably woke up in a daze and he's like, Oh my gosh, where am I? And then he told him to run down. Probably he had the shock of not having your wife next to you during those moments, like how you got to him. But I mean, what did he expect from just dumb?
Erika:He completely As a grown adult. Exactly, he messed up. I mean, right now he has no kids, no responsibility I guess. I mean, if he acts like this, what makes you think that he'll stop once he has kids? You know what mean?
Erika:I feel like people that are like this, especially as adult, like you're at 31, you're not a kid anymore. You should know your limits. You should know when to stop. And if you decide to have kids with him, I don't know if he'll stop. So you really have to think about it.
Edgar:Yeah, good point. I mean, he probably didn't want someone to be there with him, but also, like he's in a different like state, they have like an Airbnb and all that stuff and it's just like, I don't know, I don't see how he expects for his wife to be like there in that exact moment.
Erika:Yeah, mean, don't condemn having fun and drinking.
Edgar:I do.
Erika:They're so funny.
Edgar:No fun.
Erika:Yeah, no. I think it's having a good time, but it doesn't mean getting overly drunk and forgetting where you are or not able to stand up. It's not necessary. You don't need to get that drunk to have fun.
Edgar:I know. We don't know the psyche of this guy, I mean, to get blackout drunk when you have someone that you're with who has to take care of you, feel like it speaks to a lack of care about who had to be with Funk before.
Erika:Yeah, and he should be the one taking care of her, not the other way around. So, I mean, if you want to continue taking care of him for the rest of your life OP, I would say break up with him.
Edgar:Yeah. So you think this is a break up worthy?
Erika:Yeah, it's so inexcusable. There's no reason to be 31 and doing that.
Edgar:Don't think so? I think it kind of depends how much you like the person. But I mean, also, Oprah not being with his husband's side when he's at the hospital overnight, it does kind of say something about her as well. Not that she's a bad person, but that she doesn't care about him that much.
Erika:I don't think so.
Edgar:That or she's like a little bit too logical, it's like, Oh, he's going be fine too, I don't have to be there.
Erika:I feel like it's just for him to learn his lesson, that this was not acceptable for him to be doing this and she wanted him to learn a lesson that she's not gonna be tolerating this if he continues. I think that's what it was. Think she didn't care because if she didn't care, she wouldn't have taken him to the hospital, she wouldn't have stayed with him with all the drama when he was making all that fuzz. She stayed with him when she knew that he was okay and that he was sedated.
Edgar:So
Erika:he should be fine.
Edgar:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then do you feel like the parents are justified at all? Like from how they're acting at the situation?
Erika:No, they should out of the relationship. They should butt out of the relationship because it's their situation right now. Just because she wasn't there overnight doesn't mean that she doesn't care. She just wanted him to teach him a lesson.
Edgar:Yeah, among other things. But I mean, they are painting her currently as the bad guy, so I imagine it's like a mixture of just their beliefs of like, oh, you should be there by your partner's side no matter what. But maybe also OP's husband probably says something to make the situation worse.
Erika:Yeah, I mean, I don't think so. Just wouldn't tolerate that behavior. I would not be happy with my husband. And if they want to pamper him or make it okay for him to continue doing that, then that's on them, but that would not be me. It's just inexcusable.
Edgar:So final verdict?
Erika:I would say she's not the asshole. She did what she had to do and hopefully he learned his lesson and never do that again. She really has to think about it. If he does this one more time, then I would say OP, count your blessings and leave that man. I mean, you don't want to be with someone that you have to take care of them all the rest of your life like this.
Erika:It's exhausting. And it seems like he has some type of aggression too. He treated the medical staff if he's overly drunk and stuff like that. You don't know. Maybe it'll be her next.
Edgar:Yeah, agreed.
Erika:All right, so the next story is My Entire Life Was a Lie and I'm Going to Confront My Mother. I'm 26 now. Growing up, I was always told my father abandoned me when I was five. My mother said he wanted nothing to do with me, that he was drunk, a bum, and that he never paid a cent in my child support. Well, twenty one years later, I finally reached out to him.
Erika:Turns out, he did try to contact my mom a few times, but could never get through. And the biggest shock? He actually paid child support until I turned 18. I even verified it myself with local child support office. They confirmed he paid the entire time.
Erika:That adds up to $60,000 that I never saw. Meanwhile, I spent my childhood couch surfing with my mother while she bounced from guy to guy for support. She never had a job. I paid the bills, took care of myself, and looked after my younger brother too. There's so much more I could say, but I'm honestly overwhelmed.
Erika:I'm confronting her tomorrow, and I don't even know where to start. I feel like half of my life has been stolen from me, and I'm stuck with so many what ifs. If anyone's been through something like this or has any advice, I really appreciate it. And there's a little small update. It says, I'm not worried about getting any money.
Erika:I'm more upset that she got some each month and never used it on me. Plus, he was active in paying it for thirteen years and my mother told me that he didn't.
Edgar:Yeah, so obviously the mother is at a big fault with this because it seems like she was never responsible or even a good mother during this period of time. Like just couch serving, having her children kind of experience and just be there when she's just going from guy to guy. Just get that, had that kind of exposure that I imagine is damaging for both children and psyches. And then finally, your original dad was a deadbeat when he wasn't. I don't know what he's doing now, but was trying to at least support them financially when most people don't even care or even try like that.
Edgar:I can see how OP is so messed up about the situation.
Erika:Yeah, definitely. And the fact that he tried to contact her and he was denied. So it's not that he didn't want a relationship with her, it's just that her mother didn't allow it. And it's so frustrating because meanwhile she had to take care of herself and her sibling when she just continued to sleep or whatever, be with other men. It's, ugh.
Erika:Like I always say, some people should never be parents.
Edgar:And then those people usually have like 10 to 20 children.
Erika:I know, it's insane.
Edgar:That's crazy to me. But also, it just doesn't really make sense why, like from my perspective it just makes sense why the mother would forbid the father from wanting to at least contact the children other than just she just doesn't like him that much, enough to be at a detriment of her children?
Erika:I feel like if you really look into it, my guess is that she didn't want her children having contact with him because they would probably tell him that she's being with another guy and another guy and that they didn't feel comfortable in that home so he would wanna get full custody and then all that money he was giving will be non existent. So she didn't want the child support to stop that he was giving for thirteen years. So she wanted to cut that support but keep the money.
Edgar:Yeah, I mean that makes sense actually.
Erika:Unfortunately, That's my guess. Yeah. Was, like I said, she didn't have a job. The poor daughter had to pay the bills on top of the money that she apparently wasn't receiving. So she's just such a liar.
Erika:Terrible mother. So the top comment is, Dude, I just feel bad. I don't know what to say. But you were strong throughout and I know you will be strong going forward. So, I mean, it's just, it's so, that type of childhood where it's difficult for you to really go through or rise above.
Erika:You need a lot of, I would say therapy, but a lot of people don't choose that option, but a lot of inner strength to go through something like that and be a better version of yourself and not be like your mom.
Edgar:Yeah. I mean, definitely it's like an inner strength thing. I think the one good thing that came out of this is that she has the grit and tenacity to just like just basically survive no matter what. Yeah. And it can only, like for her, life can only really go up unless she messes up as bad as her mother did.
Erika:Yeah, I mean she, depending, well, it doesn't matter what card she was dealt, she still did the best she could.
Edgar:Yeah. Do you think this is like breakup poetry between OP and her mother's relationship?
Erika:I mean, she will always be her mother. Now, if she wants to have a deep relationship, it's up to her. You know, there's always, you could always have a relationship with people that have hurt you. However, you have the option to put a restriction or have, you know, okay, that's too much for me then. This is how far our relationship goes.
Erika:And that's it, an invisible line with her mom because, I mean, if she was toxic then, I don't think Just stop now, yeah.
Edgar:I wonder how she'll react to mother when she finds out that OP knows the whole truth.
Erika:I feel like she's gonna lie. I feel like she's gonna be like, No, that's a lie. And then she's gonna show the proof and still she will lie, saying that that's not true. She'll die on the hill.
Edgar:The most likely outcome. So if Opie was on the movie with us now, what would you tell her, like as parting words slash what is our final verdict?
Erika:I would say, OP, you can always try to confront her, but regardless of what happened in the past, you can still continue doing your best. Of course, those years you will never get back, but you are who you are today for the hardships you faced and that you can just continue being resilient. Don't let this stop you and your choice to have that relationship with your mom is up to you.
Edgar:And I just say forgive but never forget.
Erika:I don't actually I had somebody tell me that the other day, but honestly it really hurts you. Because if you don't, you forgive, but you don't forget, you're always gonna have that in the back of your mind and it's gonna hurt you. It's not gonna hurt the other person. So it's more beneficial for you to forget and forgive. So you, that person hurt you, all right?
Erika:And then forget about it. Because, I'm not saying because you forgot, you're gonna let that person hurt you again, but you want your inner peace and you want to not have that in the back of your head or reminder what that person did. So just let it go completely because that way your inner self is gonna be rid of that. And if that person wants to hold that against you, then so be it. But for you, you're a clean slate and you're done.
Edgar:I would disagree because imagine I get hit by a car, I'm gonna forgive the car, but I'm not gonna forget how hard that hurts. And I'm going always remember that and I'm going to take that with me. It's not going to be a huge weight on me, but
Erika:Yes, it is, because you're never going to forget it.
Edgar:Yeah. I'm going to never forget it so I can always avoid it. That's like a part of my pattern recognition I added to the database that is my mind.
Erika:That doesn't mean that you're going to allow that person to hurt you again just because you're going to forget it. You're just not going to let that affect you because that takes a lot of work for you to forgive and forget.
Edgar:Not really.
Erika:Yes, does. I'm built different. So you say, but
Edgar:It's like a single neuron in my head to do all that processing?
Erika:It's not just processing intellectually, it's also emotional.
Edgar:So
Erika:you just don't work about it intellectually but you also have to work it with your emotions, which a lot of people don't have that.
Edgar:Yeah.
Erika:So it's really a lot of inner work there. You can't just be like, Oh yeah, I'm gonna forgive but I'm never gonna forget. It's just, you're always gonna hold onto that. You're never gonna let it go regardless of what you're saying. It's always gonna be there.
Erika:And if you wanna continue carrying that on your back and on your memory and on your heart, then it's not gonna go anywhere. It's gonna continue hurting you. So that's the way I see it.
Edgar:So
Erika:what's the final verdict?
Edgar:I mean, final verdict on the story as a whole, I would say just to keep moving forward then, as well as forgive and forget.
Erika:I would say and forget. You just want to be happy.
Edgar:Okay. The next story is titled Am I the Asshole for Pulling My Daughter from Soccer Camp and Telling Her That She Can't See Her Ghetto Friends Anymore. So, my daughter is in soccer camp twice a week since the beginning of summer. She is 15. She has made two new friends and I do not like them.
Edgar:They have been over my house once and they were rude, loud, and obnoxious. So the typical teen. They made a mess of the house, gave me attitude when I asked them to quiet down, one rolled her eyes and started arguing with me, and they were blasting music and money went missing. OMG. That's crazy.
Edgar:Yes, and her evidence for her money going missing was that she said I had $40 on the counter and it disappeared. So I'm not their biggest fans of them and after that I didn't allow them to hang out at our house. My daughter was not a fan of this but still saw them at soccer camp. The soccer camp is next to a plaza and they allow the kids to get food from their fast food places. I got a call from the coach that my daughter and her two friends caused issues at Arby's.
Edgar:Bro, Arby's of all places? Isn't that fitting well to this friend group? Yeah, she recorded it on her phone. Her two friends were heckling the fat food workers and left after causing a mess, dumped the drinks all over the ground, and flipped off the worker. My daughter was recording this and laughing along.
Edgar:To be honest, I found it disgusting. I informed her that she was being pulled out of soccer camp because she can't behave by herself and that she won't be seeing those friends anymore. She was very unhappy and started an argument. She told me I don't like them because they are ghetto and I told her, Yep, she is correct. They are too ghetto, too loud, too rude, too respectful, too many 'toos' and I am not am not allowing her near them.
Edgar:She hasn't talked to me since, and I shared this with my sisters. And she basically told me, I forgot my roots and to let her see the friends.
Erika:Girl, please.
Edgar:Bro, you gotta take out those roots. You gotta get weed whacker. There is one more edit for this. For more context, I grew up in a horrible neighborhood and yeah, that kind of behavior was common where I grew up. Yes, I do find that behavior ghetto as hell.
Edgar:Also, I am black. My daughter is mixed. She thinks it is super ghetto. You're the asshole?
Erika:No, girl, you're parenting. You're doing the right thing. Even if you grew up in that type of environment doesn't mean that you want your daughter to be in that type of environment or have friends like that. So the sister telling her to don't forget your roots
Edgar:Yeah, has no some roots should be forgotten.
Erika:Exactly. So, no. I would say you're doing the right thing, you're not the asshole, you're parenting.
Edgar:Exactly. And it's so easy to have your kids be in the wrong friend group and then stuff like this happens. And right now it's just in Arby's, but maybe in the future it's like a bank.
Erika:Or shoplifting or fights or drugs or whatever it is. Can't just let her hang out with anybody she wants because friends actually do shape you. Friends either can make you better or can really take you in a wrong turn.
Edgar:Yeah. So, I remember hearing this quote where it's like, You are the sum of the five people you most hang out with. So, for me, it's me and my five mirrors. I think I'm fitting up pretty well, actually.
Erika:I can't. I thought you were gonna say me and other people? You're such something.
Edgar:You really got me on
Erika:that one. That is hilarious.
Edgar:Why would I lie?
Erika:Oh my gosh.
Edgar:Oh yeah, exactly in this case. Currently, she's like, if OP's daughter kept Sattas, it's not gonna shape her out to be a better person. It'll be detrimental with her character and honestly her future.
Erika:Sorry, that was too funny. So the tough comment is, not the asshole. You're doing what is called parenting. It's what you're supposed to do. If your daughter cannot control herself around these girls, then she shouldn't be hanging out with them.
Erika:Keep up the good job.
Edgar:Yeah, agreed. I mean, currently the daughter is probably not appreciating this at all, but
Erika:Of course not. She's probably pissed.
Edgar:Pissed as hell. But hopefully in the future she learns that this will, like, refer to better.
Erika:Yeah.
Edgar:Yeah. She'll probably see these, like, these chicks that she's hanging out with, like, in ten, twenty years, maybe, like, with multiple, like, babies from different fathers or
Erika:Jail.
Edgar:Jail or even dead. And she'd be like, yeah,
Erika:Okay, definitely.
Edgar:Good thing my mom told me not to hang out with them anymore.
Erika:Yeah, I mean, she's not doing the wrong thing at all. This just needs a wake up call. Maybe because it's not her daughter, she doesn't see it, But you definitely not, I don't think she's an asshole. She's doing the best she can and that's it. I think she did good.
Edgar:But even if it isn't your daughter, like as a nephew or niece, you want them to be steered toward the correct direction. And the sisters use it as like, Oh, this is just our culture. Like, no, the culture is bad then.
Erika:Yeah, mean, you
Edgar:don't want them to be going because these people are just hoodlums. And you don't want your family, or you don't want people that you actually care about to go down that route and just get in trouble. Because that worsens their life and also worsens the family's life because then that one hurt them is a burden to the rest of them.
Erika:Yeah, I mean, you just have to really think it through. One, this could be just, like you mentioned earlier, a small mistake but it can grow bigger. And it's better to cut it right now than have more dire consequences in the future.
Edgar:Exactly. Final verdict?
Erika:I'm not the asshole, mama. You're doing the right thing.
Edgar:Mia agreed.
Erika:Alright, so the next story is, Am I the asshole for taking back my tip after the waitress humiliated me in front of everyone. Alright, this occurred a few minutes ago and I just can't believe it happened the way that it did. My partner, 29 female, and I, 32 male, dined out at this Italian restaurant. We've been to several times. It's not highly sophisticated, but pleasant enough that you get to sit down, order wine, and have a relaxed evening.
Erika:Our server, let's name her Samantha, was kind of faced throughout. She lost my drink twice, served the wrong starter, and vanished for what seemed like an eternity when it arrived time to order dessert. It wasn't the end of the world. I worked customer service myself and I get the hectic nights go wild. However, service was really poor.
Erika:When the check came, I paid and left a 10% cash tip. Not excessive, but not nothing either. I thought it was reasonable given the circumstances. We were just standing up to leave when Samantha came over, took the cash and said, Seriously? This is it?
Erika:She had said it adamantly. A few people at some nearby tables turned around and stared. I was taken aback. I didn't even know what's safe first. Then she added, You know servers can't pay their rent because people like you.
Erika:If you can't tip properly, don't dine out. The restaurant became totally silent. Like a sitcom silence, my girlfriend was wincing. I just remained calm and said, Okay, sorry you feel that way, and started to leave. Then, no kidding, she murdered whatever cheapskates, but loudly enough that it was not only for us.
Erika:So I went back over, walked over the table, took the tip, and left without another word. My girlfriend later informed me that I did fine with it, but one of my friends feels like I had overstepped by insisting on getting the tip back, that no matter what, you just leave it and move on. I felt like to be scolded and humiliated on account of a 10% tip, I actually did leave is away out of bounds. So Reddit, am I the asshole for retrieving the tip after she yelled at us in front of everyone in the restaurant?
Edgar:Not at all. That chick deserved several percent. Yeah, she actually deserved to have paid them for her services. So yeah, she's just, you know, alone and basically greedy for terrible service.
Erika:Yeah, I mean, when we go out we always tip good. I just think sometimes when servers literally ignore us, don't even ask for anything if we need anything, we would have to like look for them, get help from other servers. You know, that's just negligence. I mean, if you're trying to do a good job and get a good tip, gotta do good service. I mean, I understand that there's a lot of people or if it's full, I get it.
Erika:But you get what you give and if you're not doing good with your servings, well with serving, then you can't expect a great tip.
Edgar:Exactly. Latest chick gave the bare minimum and wanted to get paid like $20.40 dollars like a few seconds of work. So I think yeah, server is very like just, yeah, I wouldn't like her at all. And for her to say that, I feel like they should fire her.
Erika:I would've done what he'd done. Actually, know what, I would have not taken the tip back. I would just
Edgar:I would've taken the tip and then would've said something to the manager probably.
Erika:I would have said something It's to the
Edgar:very inappropriate.
Erika:Yeah, I wouldn't have taken a tip, I would have said something to the manager.
Edgar:Yeah, because right now OP is definitely not coming back to the restaurant, but worst case as well, everyone else who heard the altercation wouldn't want to come back either. So this employee, this waitress is a liability for that restaurant.
Erika:Yeah, and OP could have gone to all the restaurants commenting and saying this would happen with the server and I felt completely unfair. Could just, with something like that, it could go big. A lot of people read, for example for us, when we go to a new restaurant, we always read the comments or we always see the stars and we always see, is this a good place to eat, relaxing or whatever, good service. If I see comments like that, I'd be like, maybe we shouldn't go eat somewhere else. You know what mean?
Edgar:I mean, it really depends, but yeah, we have reviews for a lot of restaurants. The owners and whoever manages it tends to want to have it as high as possible. And they try to do right when it is low or when there's a one star or two star review. It really affects them because
Erika:A lot of people don't comment either. You see like five comments and you have one review, like it literally ticks out a lot.
Edgar:I know, yeah. It really kinks it.
Erika:So the top comment is not the asshole. She expected and then demanded a good tip for a crappy job. You were nice enough to leave her something but she wanted to be ungrateful. And I mean, I don't know, is tipping required here?
Edgar:No, you don't have to tip.
Erika:I feel like depending on the restaurant too, they already take it out in their service.
Edgar:Yeah, some of the restaurants we've been to, they automatically take 20% tip, which is, I I always thought 20% tip was way too large, but now it's the standard. Because growing up I definitely remember it being 15%, because I used to calculate it all the time for my family.
Erika:That was
Edgar:just a simple math trick.
Erika:Yeah, I definitely think that too. But I mean, the living cost now, it's insane, so I get it why it went to 20%.
Edgar:Yeah, you can also get a real job.
Erika:Well a lot of people have, when they do serving, that's not the only job. A lot of people have three jobs or two jobs or have the serving job as a side job. So it's not, you know?
Edgar:Yeah, just excuse the background noise if you can hear it. I might have filtered it out, but yeah, it's raining.
Erika:It's gonna be thundering too.
Edgar:It's going be ambient, guys. At least when it's GERD service and you have the funds and means to do it, I do like tipping our servers. We have a few people we always tip a lot because we're not best friends, but when we go there that's a good experience and they make
Erika:And it welcoming for they know us or they'll be like, How you doing? It's good to see you. And it's just you have really good people that know how to do customer service that deserve that tip.
Edgar:Yeah, yeah, exactly. I wouldn't mind giving them 25% tip.
Erika:Exactly. So yeah, what's the final verdict?
Edgar:Yeah, final verdict, OP was not in the wrong. This is negative levels of customer service, wages was of nothing Yeah. At
Erika:I mean, I wonder what restaurant it was, but I honestly think that he was not in the wrong there was no need to humiliate your customer, especially if you did a crappy job. Like, come on.
Edgar:Exactly. You're just telling yourself. So our next story is I went to the wrong chenro and I stayed. And now her grandma sends me birthday cards. I was in a new city.
Edgar:On weekend I got a text from a number I didn't recognize. Hey, the service is at three. Wear something dark. She hated bright colors. I know you didn't know her well, but it would mean a lot if you came.
Edgar:And I stared at it and I wasn't sure who it was meant for, but it felt urgent. Like maybe they really needed someone there and I had nothing else to do. So I went. I pulled up to the church a few minutes early, sat in the back, no one questioned me, and I figured maybe it was a distant coworker or a college friend. I kept waiting for someone to say, Wait, who are you?
Edgar:But they didn't. The woman who had passed her name was Marion, had the kindest smile I've ever seen. I learned about her love for jazz, her cat name Newton, and how she never let anyone leave her house without taking a cookie. And I sat through every eulogy like I'd known her forever. Afterwards, during a gathering her grandma approached me.
Edgar:You were her friend from our class, weren't you? She asked. And I froze. No, think I got the wrong text. She laughed.
Edgar:I actually laughed. So you're just here? For a stranger? I nodded. Didn't want her to have an empty room.
Edgar:And she grabbed my hand and said, Then you are exactly the kind of person she would have liked. And we sat together for hours, talking about Marion, about grief, about weird coincidences. And before I left, her grandma gave me a small velvet pouch. Take this, she said. Mary Anne would have insisted you didn't leave empty handed.
Edgar:Well, it should have been a cookie. Oh, inside it was a single sugar cookie shaped like a heart. A year later, her grandmother still sends me a birthday card. Always with a cookie recipe inside. And I send her a handwritten thank you every time.
Edgar:I don't know why I went that day, but I'm glad I did. Sometimes the wrong funeral is exactly where you're meant to be. Am I the asshole?
Erika:No, it's not! Give me something else. It is not Am I the asshole story. It's just one of the stories.
Edgar:Yeah. I guess you wanted to end this section of our show on a good note. But, yeah, I think it's a cute story.
Erika:It is.
Edgar:I wonder who sent the heck so.
Erika:It was I think it was her, the grandmama. Yeah. But she thought it was one of her friends and probably got the phone number wrong.
Edgar:Oh, I see, I see.
Erika:But that's so sweet. The fact that she stayed there and listened to every single eulogy is amazing. And the little recipe and the cookie was so heartwarming. Yeah, so I think OP is an amazing human being. That's what pretty much the top comment is.
Edgar:The final verdict on this?
Erika:I think she's a human being and people should be like this more often.
Edgar:Yeah, agreed. For our final section, we're gonna be going rapid fire through multiple mini stories and we're just going to read it and then give our quick opinions and then go to the next one. So all these stories center around the thread titled What's the most terrifying, unexplainable encounter you've had with a stranger that still haunts you? The first story is my first time in Mexico City, I didn't realize what a bad neighborhood my hotel was in. I had just stepped out of the hotel and three men noticed me and started walking right over to me really fast and surrounded me on three sides.
Edgar:I literally jumped into what turned out to be a tiny bookstore because I sensed I was about to get grabbed. The only people working in there were two young girls, maybe eight and nine. One of the guys followed me and stayed right next to me blocking my exit. And then, as of by magic, I hadn't even noticed in the back of the store opened an adult male, probably the girl's dads, emerged. The man left the store and after lingering a few more minutes and buying some books out of gratitude for him, probably saving my life, I went back to the hotel.
Erika:That was a close one, right?
Edgar:Exactly, yeah. I like how she had to have, she or he had to have three big guys surrounding her or him in order for them to be like, oh, I'm in danger.
Erika:Yeah, mean like, you just never know. Mean, they came out of nowhere. It's not like she planned it. But she had good thinking and went into a bookstore.
Edgar:Yeah. And it's like pretty lucky that the store owner was there when he was.
Erika:I think when she said that he wasn't there, he only saw two girls, maybe he had a camera, he watches his girls, and he saw that there was this random guy there.
Edgar:Exactly. I yeah, I know it's not their fault, but they went to a bookstore and it had just two children there. He put their lives on danger too.
Erika:Yeah, I'm sure he didn't go far. Maybe he could just step down and use a bath or something, but you never know. So, I'm glad he just came back
Edgar:in No, no. I yeah. I mean, like, OP.
Erika:Oh, yes. Yeah, she was definitely lucky. She was able to go in there. I mean, definitely always follows your instinct and your gut feeling.
Edgar:Alright,
Erika:so the next story is, Walking home late one night in a large town, not a soul was out, no cars either, a hurt feet running from directly behind me, quickly and quietly. My instincts took over and I turned around and talked to the guy as if I knew him. I giggled and told him he scared the shit out of me. I think I caught him off guard because he stopped running and looked confused. He started chatting with me, obviously was on drugs, and told me he was a carny in town for an affair.
Erika:I bummed a cigarette off of me and left. Pretty sure he had something unpleasant planned for me but surprised him with my lack of fear.
Edgar:Yeah, that's like a good survival technique. I heard that like when you feel like a bad vibe from somebody, and they're coming your way, usually giving them direct eye contact kind of humanizes you to them so then they just get intimidated or they just look for someone else. Because they're hoping you don't notice them. That they can surprise attack you like this.
Erika:Yeah, no definitely. Even if you get kidnapped, it's always important to make yourself human. You know, that's not the main thing to do, so.
Edgar:I should've talked though.
Erika:What do you mean? Oh yeah, because you and your, you will get yourself in trouble.
Edgar:Me and my opinions. My mannerisms, which is, they would have no sympathy.
Erika:Yeah, you'll probably be dead within seconds.
Edgar:My opinion. So the next story is, I was walking my dog at 2AM after work. I walked outside the gated community and this huge man covered in tattoos and only wearing jean shorts walked up to me. I started crying cause I was scared but he started apologizing for scaring me. Turns out he was walking his dog off leash and wanted to warn me about walking alone in a gang area.
Edgar:He lived in the same apartment community as I do. His wife and him always made sure I made it home because I was working nights. So yeah, nice person, yeah, to meet.
Erika:Yeah. But you know, she judged him by his appearance because he was a huge man with tattoos, but instead he was actually trying to, you know, protect her or warn her.
Edgar:Exactly, I mean, yeah, she was very, very okay.
Erika:Definitely. So next story is, I used to hitchhike on occasion around city when I was a teenager. Mostly things went okay, but the last time I caught a ride I hardly even looked at the guy driving and just got in, thinking about what I was going to do when I got home. I told him to drive straight down the street for a half mile, but then he made a turn to took us away from the street I lived on. He was going into an industrial area and I realized this was not good.
Erika:It occurred to me to find somebody on the street, anybody, and waved to them. They would see me in the truck with this guy, and it could come back to haunt him if he did anything bad. So I saw a teenager who was probably just a year or two older than me, and I waved and smiled and waved some more. I laughed and said, Oh no, that was my brother. Now he's gonna be asking who I was with in the truck.
Erika:The guy said, Made a change immediately. He looked deflated. All his original cockiness was gone. I told him to go down a few more blocks and drop me off. So nothing happened except that I never ever hitchhiked again.
Erika:It wasn't until much later that I realized how very lucky it had been to get away with what I did. Thankfully, I never saw him again.
Edgar:Yeah, very lucky in that regard. Also, hitchhiking, I believe was very popular decades and decades ago, but now you just really can't trust anybody. Mean, even before then, you couldn't trust them. And I imagine a lot of the missing people cases were due to hitchhiking. Yeah.
Erika:It's just that we had less social media, less ways to communicate everything. That's why people, a lot of people didn't realize that hitchhiking was actually not, you know, a very popular thing people should do. So, yeah.
Edgar:Yeah. I mean, that was quick thinking, like lying on the spot like that.
Erika:Thank God there was a stranger there. Imagine that like the whole street, everything was isolated and there was nobody there. She would've been screwed.
Edgar:Exactly. But adding more to the story, don't let your kids use Uber.
Erika:Oh, Uber? Yeah. Well, no, she was hitchhiking.
Edgar:Well, that too.
Erika:You should never hitchhike, but I mean, I feel bad when, I mean, you could barely see any hitchhikers now, but I see them randomly here and there.
Edgar:Yeah, we're
Erika:But I would never, yeah, would never pick anybody up. Unfortunately, it's we're not in that type of world right now.
Edgar:Yeah. And then the final story is, I went camping with a few friends at a national seashore when there was nobody around for miles. I had an old Coleman Dome tent that was all mesh on top and used the rain fly for coverage and privacy. We decided to leave it off due to it being a nice night. In the morning, I was looking around at all the animal tracks like crabs, etc.
Edgar:When I came across two large men's footprints in the sand right next to the tents on the back sides by the dunes. Like an inch or two away, he must have been standing almost touching the tent, looking down at us through the top while we slept. We had no idea. Still freaks me out. Yeah, this could have been either way, it could have just been a change of like what the hell?
Edgar:And then they just saw it and walked away. Or it could have been like someone lingering And there for
Erika:just watching you sleep. Like there's no reason for you to be watching anybody sleep. It doesn't matter, you know, maybe Not
Edgar:just lovingly.
Erika:No, like, okay, maybe if you thought they were dead or something, you know, like if you see people just laying in. But still, like you should just stay away from the situation, you don't wanna be near people like that, that's weird.
Edgar:Also, you don't wanna sleep outside in public?
Erika:No, I mean, remember when Chelsea wanted to do camping, and I was always iffy because you just never know.
Edgar:Yeah, I just don't like the idea of being not in an air conditioned and safe and bug free bed.
Erika:I just think about the safety, because it's not very safety at all. No safe outcomes, you never know, you just take it to chance.
Edgar:Yeah.
Erika:Alright, so that's all the stories we have today. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode. Check out our website, www.yappings.com, and join our mailing list for updates. If you love our podcast and want to support us, subscribe and share with your friends and family. We would appreciate it so much.
Edgar:Also, we have a Facebook group called AITA Relationship and Family Drama linked in the description. Join us so you can share and might ask for a post you like or share your own stories for us all to judge. We may even read a few posts in one of our episodes.
Erika:Thank you. Bye!
Listen to Yapping Schnauzers using one of many popular podcasting apps or directories.
