Teaching your kids that they're not always going to have everything handed to them when (and how) they want it is an important lesson to share. It helps prepare them for the reality that things aren't always going to be exactly to their liking; different people do things differently and have different ideas about what is "good" and how things should be done, so learning to work with that as early as possible will only make their life easier and ensure that they don't grow up to be a micromanagi…

These vacations to Italy and Hawaii sound incredible, so it's a shame it didn't work out as the vacationers planned. Traveling with your friends always seems like a good idea until it's actually time to go. You really find out who people are when they're under stress, and if you've ever traveled at all, you know that things never go completely as planned. Vacationing, as relaxing as it is, involves a lot of moving parts and planning things in advance. Depending on what you do, the planner has t…

One thing's for sure in this story… This guy needs to drink a glass of milk and cool off. It's important to remember that things aren't always about you ; you need to let other people in your life have their moment in the limelight, especially during times when it is literally all about them. These times include (but aren't limited to) weddings, birthdays, and funerals—any time that your job is to be there for someone else. Taking it upon yourself to claim the spotlight will only ensure that yo…

When it comes to names, this man is not playing around. Nicknames come naturally to some people, especially if you have a formal name that's common to shorten, like how many Williams go by Billy. Other people gain nicknames that match their career, hobbies, or personality instead. The man in this story from r/AmItheA**hole actually really hates the nickname he's been given by his coworker , and he finally snapped one day. The workplace tale, told by u/notmyd***name, highlights the importance of…

When asking someone to be a reference for you, you'd better be darn sure they're willing to say positive things about you. Although it can be awkward to ask, having someone who will testify to your character and work ethic is really important as you're job searching. Lots of companies won't ask for references until you're already deep into the interview process. By that point, a reference can absolutely make or break your prospects of working for that company. While I've never done so myself, q…

There's nothing like an upcoming wedding to cause family members to pass judgment.

If you change a plan, especially at the last minute, you need to take responsibility for the increased workload that you've made for everyone. This principle holds true even when you suddenly decide to cancel a catering service because you'd rather cook for 20 people yourself. If you have the ability and time and would like to take on that task, more power to you, but don't expect others to give up their time and energy to help out when they were quite happy with the original option in the firs…

This friend really believes in calling dibs, also known as the rule of the land in most situations. If you run to the car faster than anyone else, you get dibs on where you sit, or if you call dibs first on movie night, you get to pick the film. But this friend is calling dibs on something else entirely — the room she's choosing to sleep in during a vacation with her friends . U/yayabanana17 wrote to r/AmItheA**hole to settle an argument. As she explained, the group was planning to travel with…

Birthday obsessives are the bane of everyone's existence and we all have that one friend who can't stand it when people don't worship them once a year. Some random childhood trauma created the birthday-obsessed adults that we see today and, even though it's just a regular day marked on the regular calendar, folks get a little crazy about the anniversary of their birth. Like Disney adults, birthday obsessives tend to be emotionally immature...

This sister came with receipts when trying to expose the truth that her gentle-parenting sibling was concealing behind a social media pity party spun into a web of lies. Sure, we're all for being nice to people, and there's no argument that this should extend to your kids so you can avoid passing your generational trauma onto them as much as possible. However, if you want your kids to grow up into fine young adults, it's probably important that you don't also teach them to be woefully entitled…

Wrestling student debt after you graduate college is a lot like taking on a polar bear in a 1v1, mano-a-mano fist fight. The odds are certainly against you and even if you manage to beat the bear, you'll likely freeze out in the cold arctic tundra afterwards. You may have hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans that you owe the Feds, but at least you took home a piece of paper that says that you know how to shotgun a beer before writing a 10 page research paper on gender studies.

This guy is unbelievable — he doesn't even know his neighbor's name , yet he wants her to cook for him? On the r/AmItheA**hole subreddit, there are dozens of posts each day where people try to ascertain if they're a jerk or not. While there's usually some nuance to these scenarios, this guy is just a massive jerk, and he ended up getting told as much by a bajillion commenters. As u/AwayPerformer wrote, he's a single 31 year old living in an apartment complex, and he recently got a new neighbor…

Should you really have to “ pay your dues ” in a company before moving up to a new job? This person, u/Jessicasd12, is trying to wrap her head around the concept of accepting low pay in order to rise up the ranks of her organization. In a story shared to r/AmItheA**hole, the OP writes that after working at a company for a year, her supervisor is planning to leave. That would leave the OP to fill her shoes, which she was excited to hear. However, the title doesn't come without a few caveats. Tho…

The beauty about finally getting your own place is that you're a master of your own destiny, free to choose and do whatever you'd like… until your mother comes to visit. What is it with mothers rearranging their adult children's homes? It turns out (based on the sheer number of responses to this thread) this is a common occurrence. Many readers responded to the original story with stories of their own about their mothers doing the same (or similar) thing. Maybe this shouldn't be too surprising—…

A college student really didn't want to recommend her colleague for a job. As the co-lead of a software research lab, this college student enjoys her job, all except for one specific colleague. It's an unfortunate truth that you won't always get along with 100% of your colleagues, but just because you don't care for someone personally, doesn't mean they're not great at their work. However, the OP of this story, u/UsualAd1535, shared that her colleague constantly tries to one-up everyone around…

When something happens in a small town, everyone is going to hear about it. So when this couple chose to let their toddler roam unsupervised around an open house , they'd be crazy to think the whole town wouldn't know what happened by the next day. The OP, u/open852, wrote to the r/AmItheA**hole subreddit with their rather intriguing etiquette question. In the post, they describe how they and their husband brought their 4 year old kid to an open house . While the parents were strolling the prop…