Peak Points
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Peak Points
Can't believe this is real life! TRIGGER WARNING
Ever wonder what lurks in the darkest corners of Reddit? This episode takes you there, with no punches pulled.
We begin our journey with the stomach-turning tale of a husband whose hygiene has deteriorated to unimaginable levels. What starts as skipped showers and fast food evolves into something far more disturbing, raising important questions about mental health, relationship boundaries, and when to recognize that love alone can't fix certain problems. When does patience become enabling? At what point should you prioritize your own wellbeing over trying to help someone who refuses help?
The horror continues with the discovery of an uninvited houseguest who'd been secretly living in a woman's attic for months, helping himself to her food and amenities. But this story takes an unexpected turn when compassion replaces fear, challenging our assumptions about strangers and second chances.
We then explore the dangerous intersection of workplace safety and extreme religious beliefs through the story of a diabetic mechanic whose cult-like church has convinced him that his medical hallucinations are divine visions. Should someone experiencing regular hallucinations be responsible for the safety of vehicles on the road?
Our final stories from prison environments reveal the cognitive dissonance of meeting genuinely pleasant people who have committed heinous acts, including a memorable account of softball games with inmates and a bird-feeding prisoner with surprising culinary skills.
Throughout these tales of the bizarre and disturbing, we find threads of humanity, mental health struggles, and important conversations about boundaries, help-seeking, and the complex psychology behind extreme behaviors.
Subscribe now for more deep dives into fascinating internet subcultures, relationship dilemmas, and the strange complexities of human behavior that make you question everything you thought you knew about the people around you.
Welcome, dear listeners to Peak Points. This week we have for you a special reddit only episode. This one ran long and so it was worthy of its own episode. So here you go. I hope it is enjoyable for you, as it was, for us to talk about. Don't worry, we will be coming back with more ufc talk next episode. For this it was just too big, too juicy, too horrifying to have to cram into one episode combined with UFC talk.
Alan:Let's get on with the show let the horror begin.
Harley:Well, say something I'm scared I didn't think that that intro would be too scary.
Alan:I'm horrified.
Harley:Well, this comes from Am I Overreacting by Embarrassed Horror 946. And the title is Am I Overreacting? Husband Poops His Pants. Says it's no big deal. I told you you were not prepared for this.
Alan:Mr poopy Pants.
Harley:I am 30 years old female and he is 32, male. I honestly didn't know what to title this post so I just went straight for it. Husband got promoted at work but it's not a paid promotion, it's mostly pro bono red flag anyway. But he says he could lead to a higher pay position anyways. He is tired all of the time lately with these extra duties at work so he's been less consistent with his hygiene. He has stopped showering as often. His diet is awful, so I think that is contributing to these issues as well. He won't touch a vegetable. He eats lots of gas station food and a lot of fast food. Lots of gas station food and a lot of fast food.
Harley:It used to be that he would have really bad gas like curl your hair bad, open every window in the house and wait outside for it to dissipate bad. He started taking gas pills for it and that helped. But lately when I do the laundry I have been noticing huge stains in his underwear. It's so disgusting. It smells awful. Sometimes I can smell it when he walks around the house or sits on something. So I stopped doing his laundry. I told him it was unacceptable and foul to walk around with so much poop on your underwear.
Harley:I didn't feel comfortable sharing a bed, so he's been sleeping on the couch for two months. He doesn't care about showering. He doesn't seem to care about his smell. He tries to guilt me about not sleeping on the couch for two months. He doesn't care about showering. He doesn't seem to care about his smell. He tries to guilt me about not sleeping in the bed. But I told him it's his own fault If he would just shower when he gets home. Okay, just random aside for myself, I shower every day. Oh man, dude, pooping your pants and not showering after is horrifying.
Alan:Maybe that's his hobby, god.
Harley:Let's get back to the story, because we're not even halfway through yet. I tried to explain how unsanitary it is. I told him I'm lonely from lack of intimacy and not even being able to share a bed or space with him. I offered to go to the doctor with him. I asked him if he was feeling depressed. I even asked him if he would try therapy or counseling. I tried to get him to use a bidet. I asked him if I could help with his paperwork at home so he would feel less burdened at work. Everything I could think of. He just brushed me off. He is insisting that I'm overreacting and that it's normal for grown men to have skid marks. He blames me for shutting him out, but I physically feel sick when I catch a whiff of him sometimes. Oh wow. The nail in the coffin was when he told me Sometimes, when I fart, I press my underwear against my butt to check and see if it feels wet.
Alan:Just sit and marinate with that thought for a second, marinating in his own filth, that pig Ugh.
Harley:Anyway, I told him that was it. I was done. The line has been drawn and crossed. I told him I don't see how we can be intimate again, because I am so disgusted by all of this. I mean seriously, this is so childish I can't even believe it's happening to me. I'm too embarrassed to tell a soul outside of my home about this. That's why I'm venting it out here on Reddit.
Harley:I feel like this is not real life right now, but I'm so lost over this. I truly care for him. I don't want to leave him. He's my husband. We have built a life together and I can tell he is struggling with something. But if he makes absolutely no effort to fix the issue and it's affecting both of us, it's not really fair to me.
Harley:How long am I supposed to sit by while this continues? I don't even want to go home half the time because of the smell as soon as I walk in the door. Oh wow. The worst part is him gaslighting me about it, saying I'm imagining things, that it doesn't smell as bad as I think, that I'm making out to be a big deal when it's not. Normally he is very receptive to my feelings, but lately he's just acting so defensive. We have been married eight years, so it's just crazy to me that things can change so suddenly, and it seems like he has stopped trying altogether. I have heard that depression can do this to people, but he doesn't seem to be in bad spirits at all, just more fatigued than usual. And that was the end.
Alan:I think there's definitely a deeper thing going on, rather than just being tired about work, than just being tired about work. I think because yeah, she's definitely right where depression can sometimes stop you from doing certain things it absolutely can have that effect.
Harley:Yeah, absolutely.
Alan:Sometimes it's even debilitating, and I think that depression takes many forms, not just the I'm sad guy, you know.
Harley:Oh yeah, Not just I'm sad.
Alan:Sometimes you don't even know that that person is depressed, and a lot of the times that's the case where you don't know, and sometimes the person themselves don't realize they're depressed.
Harley:I've been through that Right, I was just meandering through life for a couple weeks. And then I realized holy shit, I'm being depressed right now. I can work around that and I can work through it, but because I couldn't identify it, I was just kind of stuck in a haze, if you will.
Alan:Right, and I'm not too sure what this person's husband is going through, but it seems like, yeah, they're taking all the steps to move forward. You know, telling him to. We should do something. You know about it go to therapy, see someone or talk to someone about it. That's a very interesting scenario, though maybe he likes to be stinky god, I would hope, or maybe he realizes and oh, this just dawned on me, harley, maybe he's a genius. No, no, no, no, do not, do not try to explore.
Harley:Hear me out, sir no, no, no, I will not condone such conversations.
Alan:Fine, then hear me out. Listener, you're the one I can talk to right now. I'm talking right to you. Listener, what if this is his stay six feet away from me tactic? You should see Harley's face right now. What if this is like he basically created a toxic shield around his body?
Harley:Were that true, that would be at work and not at home with his wife, oh my god, what if he's like secretly showering before he gets to work? And then when he gets home, he's like hell yeah, I'm going to be stank ass.
Alan:Whatever the case may be A very unfortunate scenario for OP. Yeah, and I hope I don't know. I really don't know what to tell her to do about her stinky men.
Harley:I mean you got to start setting some serious boundaries.
Alan:She has, I mean she has, he's been on the couch for two months.
Harley:Yeah, I mean damn, that's a good point.
Alan:He doesn't care.
Harley:Damn. That's a good point. He doesn't care. If you've already been banished to the couch for that long and you can't realize that maybe what you're doing is problematic during that time, then it's beyond boundaries. Realistically.
Alan:That's insane.
Harley:I don't even know where to go with that it's pretty horrific, but I'm gonna read the top comment by tal tal 99, and it says you're not overreacting. This isn't about a few skid marks or some laziness. This is an ongoing issue that is impacting your physical health, mental well-being, your home environment and your marriage. Wow, very true. Yes, hygiene is a basic level of self-care and partnership. Refusing to address it when a loved one is clearly upset and affected isn't normal behavior. It's neglectful, dismissive and honestly disrespectful. And no, it's not normal for grown men to walk around with soiled underwear. That makes the house smell. That's not unclean. It's potentially a sign of medical or mental health issues, whether that's depression, burnout or something else entirely. The gaslighting telling you you're the one imagining yes, wow.
Harley:Very poignant comment and and op responded to that and she said right, this is how I feel I understand he's having a hard time. He's clearly struggling with something. I've offered numerous ways, I can think, to help him. If he doesn't want to talk to me, fine, talk to a therapist, talk to a doctor, talk to anyone. Just address the issue and get help. However, he doesn't see it as an issue and that's where I feel disrespected.
Harley:If you are okay, sleeping on the couch for two months away from your wife, that's obviously an issue to take seriously, wife, that's obviously an issue to take seriously and yeah, it's god. At this stage, it realistically is that if, if he's, if she's being as communicative with him as she says, she is to be fair, she she does. She would have had to have actually been as communicative with him as she implies in her post. But if you can't, if the person you're with doesn't care enough to shower, when you're grossed out by them being a certain way, that's a red flag, frankly, because that shows how little care you have, little respect you have for your partner care you have, little respect you have for your partner.
Harley:If I walk in the house and my wife tells me I'm stinky, please go shower. I can't stand that smell. You can bet your ass. I'm going to shower, not because she told me to, not because I'm whipped or because of some other inane reason. It's because, objectively, I care about this person, I respect her. I mean, it really just boils down to that. I respect her as a person and I see no reason to subject her to something that she finds objectionable.
Alan:Yes.
Harley:I mean, it's just caring and if he can't take? That step, then either he was flawed from the beginning, which it doesn't, doesn't really sound like it eight years of marriage and he's now going. It sounds like after this, promote this half-ass, fakeass promotion, which is a huge red flag. By the way, you don't take on extra work and not get paid extra. That's not okay, but it sounds like whatever he's having to deal with at work, it has just taken way too much out of him.
Alan:Maybe, or maybe it's like killing him, burning him out, or something like, like that.
Harley:One comment said burnout yes, exactly I've I've been on the receiving end of burnout both uh, in a relationship sense, and then having been burned out myself right and yeah it, it takes everything out. Maybe he's burnt out by everything burnt.
Alan:Maybe he's burnt out by everything, burnt out by work, burnt out by life, burnt out by wife. Yeah, it could be many things. I do have the same take, though I'll put it in the aspect if you're cohabitating with someone that you love enough to marry them, you should be considerate of some of the things that they feel absolutely it's kind of like, for example, it's it's different.
Alan:But what about if someone was like smoking cigarettes in your house, you know, and you tell them like dude, don't smoke cigarettes in the house smoke outside like you're really gonna be, like, no, I'm gonna keep smoking in here, and you tell them it smells, it smells up the furniture and everything they be like, no, I'm gonna keep smoking in here. And you tell me it smells, it smells up the furniture and everything. They're like, no, I'm gonna keep on smoking in here. Then that's clear disrespect to you and what you're asking of them, you know. And also I don't really relate with the stinky part because I don't like being stinky, so something's definitely wrong.
Harley:Yeah, I can't identify with that.
Alan:I can't identify with that.
Harley:With well waste stink Like I can understand being outside and working with stuff and you just end up picking up smells when you're working outside or you're working in the basement, whatever. Sometimes you have to work in an area that doesn't smell good.
Alan:You just have to. It's inevitable.
Harley:But you don't have to ruminate in it, you don't have to wear it as a badge of honor and then try to pretend like it's totally okay, and no one should be upset that you smell that way, completely aside from the hygiene things.
Alan:Like I said, toxic shield God.
Harley:But yeah, there's, there's honest. I think, honestly, in this situation, first seek medical help, yes, to ensure that there isn't. Well, I mean honestly, that's, that's a huge potential for infection. It's huge potential. I mean frankly, honestly, honestly, there's so many things that could be contributing to this yes it could even be parasites that are in that have altered the chemistry in his brain and he genuinely doesn't smell it or turning into a zombie can't, can't, doesn't register it. Whatever I'm not saying, it is that and it's it's rather unlikely.
Harley:But I'm saying something there's so many mind relatively minor things, or what most people consider minor. That could be heavily contributing to this. That's why I'm saying initially medical, because he's clearly well. I mean, if his gas is that bad and if he's having to fart that often and all that I mean. Yes, clearly he's eating gas station food and fast food that's nasty effectively exclusively, which, when you're really, really busy, I fully understand resorting to that. Sure, however, there is a step that op could take in that you she could prepare lunches for him I'm not saying she has to.
Harley:I'm not saying it's a a woman's job or anything like that. I'm simply saying that that is a step that you could make to help alleviate stress. Introduce better nutritional choices.
Alan:Right.
Harley:And all of that, I mean granted, he would still have to eat it. He would still have to make the choice to not go to the gas station or the fast food because it tastes better.
Alan:And we don't know their dynamic at all.
Harley:Yeah, we don't know, we don't know their dynamic, but I'm just saying that that is an option. Sure, because she cares for him. Absolutely, and I'm not going to diss her for caring for him, because they've been together for eight years and it's only the last few months. I think it was months. It's crazy that that this has been an issue.
Alan:Yes, and I'm just as surprised. Well, the comment that she put in the beginning, like how she's so. It's crazy how how the change can happen so fast. However, maybe there was little signs in the beginning of something amiss, because there definitely is something amiss here, oh yeah. Yeah, you know, and, like you said, it can be many contributing factors and seek help is the ultimate takeaway. If you're depressed and you don't want to do anything, seek help for that. Talk to someone about that. If you're getting burnt out at work, it helps to talk to someone about that and be open, especially with your partner. I know we've talked about this in past episodes. Being with your partner should be an open forum for discussion. It should be open for you to tell them whatever you're feeling.
Alan:You have to communicate you have to communicate and I hope that things do improve and, uh, they get past this bump in the road. An interesting bump in the road, it is.
Harley:Oh, I should continue. My thought. First response would be medical attention and then mental attention, mental health and all that and kind of well, not really all that right. Um, and kind of well, not really in. And I should continue with a, the next top comment, and op's response to that, because it also fills in a little bit of information. Nice. So here we go, the comments by no camp 8007. Yeah, I don't think you're overreacting.
Harley:People have issues like this, but you make the effort to be clean and manage it. It seems like you've been as gentle and as understanding as you can be, but I'm not sure what good it would do if you continue. You could bring other people into it, like friends or family. That may motivate him out of embarrassment, or you could give him an ultimatum he needs to see a doctor and make an effort to be hygienic. Hmm. And OP responded with he passed away several years ago. He is estranged from his father, no other family to speak of that he is close to. I've suggested numerous ways he might get help and try to be accommodating and reasonable when I can. But I feel like there's a deeper issue at work here, but he's avoiding it. I am willing to work with him on it, but if he is flat out refusing and in turn being disrespectful to me, and I'm not sure what more I can do, an ultimatum probably might be my only option.
Harley:Wow, now, actually, before I jump into that, the next comment also is deep and comes into this, and the op responded to that as well. This is by goose interrupted. This is definitely mental illness related. I recently ended a four-year relationship with someone who I begged for almost eight months to get help because of how horrible they were being to me and not taking care of themselves. They would always tell me I was being too sensitive and wouldn't try to fix anything. It was conflicting for me because I recognized they were going through a medical issue mental health but I chose to leave. But we also weren't married. All you can do is continue to support them and try to convince them to get help, but if they won't, you're going to hit your limit at some point, if you haven't already, and that's okay.
Harley:Frankly, his behavior is bad for your physical health. I wish you the best and do what's best for you, not overreacting. And she responded with thank you for sharing your own experiences. I'm sorry that you had to go through that. We have been together eight years. We have been through difficult times in the past and always worked through our problems together as a team, but lately he's been less reciprocal to my feelings and I just don't know how to get through to him. So, in response to that and the previous one, there's two things to add. One there's two things to add, and one is yes, you, you need, you're gonna have I hate to use definites because not every situation is as I see it sure especially with such relatively little information and this is a deep thing for sure and everyone's different and react different ways.
Harley:blah, blah, blah. There's clearly a mental disconnect in his mind, right?
Alan:now Just what I was thinking.
Harley:I mean it's there. It's not really a subjective thing. There's a mental disconnect. He can't truly love and respect her as a person, as his partner, as his wife. I don't think they said anything about kids. But you can't, you can't respect and love and appreciate someone and dismiss them. Now if you already know that they're overreacting in one certain way, then in that specific lane you can kind of dismiss them, but still it's not okay to fully dismiss them, because it is something they're feeling, yes, and you need to address that. It might not be something you can or are willing to change in some respects, but in this it's definitely not something you shouldn't be unwilling to change yes, um, I get, I get your point.
Alan:There's things, you, that are out of your control and there are things that are definitely in your control that you can change. You know ie like cheating. You know you can stop yourself from cheating. Ie drinking. You can stop yourself from cheating, ie drinking. You can stop yourself from drinking. It becomes an addiction. Basic hygiene Basic hygiene.
Harley:There's a reason why it's called basic hygiene A thing that he can definitely do.
Alan:But I will say, given the comments that OP has replied to, it does seem that she has identified that this is a mental issue and there is a deeper thing to it. And that's just one of the steps to move forward. Whether or not he identifies it remains to be seen, and I hope that he does eventually identify it.
Harley:Yeah, and I understand from his side of things. When you're burnt out and you're not in a good headspace and everything, especially at that time, you are not interested in seeing a therapist for many reasons, and one of the biggest is a kind of societal norm to think that seeing a therapist is weak to, to see it's silly to say it as seeing the head shrinker for being whatever. There's so many negative attributes to it that have been permeated throughout our society, at least America. I'm speaking from America, so I'm just saying it that way that I understand the hesitancy to seek help in that way yes, and he already made that one comment that all a grown man this and that so he probably thinks that way and that's just a detriment to him and his mental health, you know, because obviously there's something wrong now a nuclear option that I just considered.
Alan:That's his nickname. We got to bring the nuclear option.
Harley:Would be to somehow convince him to go out in public with you to some sort of even just to the store, and you go up to three masculine individuals and you straight up ask them, is it? Normal and manly to shit your pants.
Alan:No, is it?
Harley:normally and manly to walk around with skid marks and to smell like shit and the sheer embarrassment and shock of it might get through to him. That's crazy. I'm not saying this is particularly the healthiest option. I'm not saying that this is the best option. I'm simply saying it is a nuclear option.
Alan:That's crazy that's a brutal uh. I don't know if I'd recommend that. It's hard to ignore the rating you're.
Harley:You're significant, but imagine if, but imagine if you were being obstinate on something and you were being obstinate saying that what you were doing was normal, okay and justified. Sure and your significant other brings you to whomever you think that's normal from, and every single person that you approach with that says hell no that is not normal or okay? Would you continue that behavior? After that level of embarrassment. Granted, it's not a very respected, respectful method of him, but at this point he's not doing anything to be respectful well, not anything but in this he's not being respectable.
Alan:Right, that's a crazy scenario, man, I still don't know how I feel about that one. You know some things, something like that especially. I would say before doing the nuclear option, let's find out where the state of his mental is at right now but how can you if he refuses to open up to you?
Alan:and refuses to seek professional help I mean shit, I never literally I never heard of this, brother, but I'm gonna mention a stink intervention, a stinkervention like with who, though? He don't got no family. Yeah, he doesn't have. He doesn't have close family I mean, maybe he has friends.
Harley:I don't know if he does, I'm betting they're they're pretty close to fully estranged, given that he's been doing this job that takes every iota of his attention and energy.
Alan:I mean, oh, there's so many things to take into account, there's a lot of things to unpack with this story, but I'll leave it at seek mental help if you need it and you know what. The things that she can do, besides all the things that she's already doing, which is very difficult to me, seems like, besides all the things that she's already doing, which is very difficult to me, seems like do more research into the mental health aspect.
Alan:Do more research into what steps you can take, like to maybe initiate more active listening, like, okay, you don't want to go into the shower, you don't want to take care of yourself.
Harley:Why is that? Yeah, there's definitely, definitely. What is that? I kind of skipped over that, admittedly. I I kind of assumed that she may have already done that but yeah, legitimately that's that's a step that should have been already taken well before now.
Alan:But if you haven't right, now is definitely the time that was the time before it gets any worse, because this kind of makes me think about how hoarders start?
Harley:It certainly can be.
Alan:You know like, oh, I'm keeping everything and I'm enclosing myself with all the things that I love. And that's kind of how hoarders start is by just letting it linger, you know, is by just letting it linger, you know.
Alan:And active listening is a good piece of advice that I will leave it at, you know, finding out why, listening to. Maybe they're not going to give you the full answer, but every little answer might have a small piece of truth. Yeah, so that's what I will leave it at, because there's a lot to unpack with that one.
Harley:And I just have one final thought, and I'm not saying it's the thought she needs to go with or anything like that, but several things she said in the constant reference to the eight years and everything like that and the fact that they're married. I fully understand and support when you've entered into that, those vows of marriage, living by them, abiding by them and doing your best to live by them. However, the constant reference to the eight years feels like she may be falling prey to the sunk cost fallacy, which is that you've spent so much time and energy on something and now, no matter if it's going to drag you to hell or not, you're sticking with it because you've spent so much time and energy on it.
Harley:It's now achieved a certain level of value in your mind, above and beyond what it can actually do for you, that you're going to sink to hell with it. And I'm not saying this is that situation, but I am saying that that is something to be aware of that if this person who you are married to refuses to get help in any way, and nothing you do can budge them on that, it is not okay for you to subject yourself to that. I fully understand and support trying to get him to get help and doing that for a fairly long, lengthy period of time, but at some point you need to know when you can't get through to someone. That's a crazy.
Alan:Sorry that.
Harley:That hit a little deep for me. That was amazing.
Alan:That was very, very poignant. That was very, very poignant and I never thought of that. But that is probably a lot of scenarios of what people fall into these days in their daily lives.
Alan:And that's a piece of advice they could take with them in any facet. It seems like it could also be work-related in this gentleman's case. If it's killing you, you know, get out, seek better opportunities, seek help. Absolutely. That was a great point, harley. I really liked that one, and that's a really great way to end something that's supposed to be horrifying, but I'm sure the smell of the gentleman is horrifying.
Harley:Okay, let's move on from that horror.
Alan:Let me bring it to a different kind of horror. Okay, it's under ask reddit. What is the scariest story you know is a hundred percent true, and this is my sagonic. It starts I would call it creepy more than scary. But my mom's friend had a small house and lived alone. She noticed weird things a batch of soup depleting faster than usual, missing eggs, damp towels in the hamper when she hadn't used any extra dishes in the dishwasher, etc. This went on for months. She thought she was just being forgetful and thought she was maybe losing her mind a little bit. One day she heard some thumping around in her attic and went to investigate.
Harley:Oh God, it's one of those.
Alan:She found some makeshift living quarters, a small radio, a hot plate, sleeping bag, pillow, food wrappers etc. A hot plate, sleeping bag, pillow, food wrappers, etc. She called the cops who came to keep an eye on the place and they ended up catching a homeless man climbing a tree, trying to sneak into her attic window. He had been doing this almost daily for a long while. He would wait for her to go to work, then go downstairs and help himself to food and amenities To end lightheartedly. The funny part about this story is they actually got to know each other throughout the ordeal and the guy was actually very respectful, just very down on his luck.
Harley:That's beyond just down on your luck, but okay down on his luck.
Alan:That's beyond just down on your luck. But okay, the nice lady that she is, she didn't press any charges and instead let him move in, even helped him get a job, and he lived in her attic until he got back on his feet. And this is funny, creepy shit, but with a happy ending.
Harley:Oh my god, wow, that could have turned out so so horrifically, oh wow.
Alan:I thought it would be perfect to end with some lighthearted horror. And one of the comments is by StormTreader1. It says damp towels in the hamper when she hadn't used any Extra dishes in the dishwasher and that's when she knew she found a keeper of a housemate. And another comment. And another comment, the Nardog13,. Right, I'd be happy if the people I live with did these things. At least he cleaned up with a smiley face. Oh, I mean that's true, that is true.
Alan:Another comment, very true by Sandy Beach Feet. Wow, what an amazingly kind lady.
Harley:I hope good karma came back at her and hugged her with big open arms. Absolutely, man, I mean. Granted, it does say that they got to know each other through the ordeal, but holy shit, like I can't imagine being in her shoes. You're living, it says.
Harley:She's living alone, right lived alone in a small house, all right so living alone and all these random things that are clearly not you right, that, frankly, could lead to all kinds of different things. And then you figured. You finally figured out by finding a makeshift living area in your attic.
Alan:Yes.
Harley:And clearly her first response was not to press charges. Like most people, they're wanting to press charges before they even know what the hell is actually happening, and she clearly wasn't that sort of person. No, she's a different breed which is awesome for him, awesome for him, awesome for him, yeah, and and frankly it's, it's really sweet of her and it shows that she is an awesome, trusting person awesome person I just hope that that doesn't get taken advantage.
Alan:Advantage of it most definitely that was one of the first things I thought about when reading this was whether or not. Uh, she's very nice, maybe a little too nice. However, maybe she has gone through this situation before. Maybe she knew somebody, or was somebody that was down on their luck and lost everything you know.
Harley:Yeah, who knows? And, admittedly, upon reaching beyond initial reactions, which clearly she did as well, yes, this person was clearly being pretty damn respectful in the situation, like some. Some of it is definitely just clear-cut basics of what you'll need to do if you want to stay under the radar. But he could have picked up old towels that were in the damper, in the hamper, I mean, and cleaned up with those or whatever. There's so many different things he could have done if he was really really trying to stay completely under the radar, and there's also tons of things he could have been doing if he wasn't trying to be respectful of her.
Alan:He could have bodied her a long time ago, could?
Harley:have bodied her could have left huge messes, and all that yeah and so she probably saw that he was being a reasonable person, given the situation. Not that being in that well, being homeless can be reasonable, but sneaking into someone's house and creating your own space within their house is a little unreasonable yes, that's scary, uh, anyway, now I'm gonna go check my attic.
Alan:I'm like oh my god but uh, I mean that's. It's awesome that she was able to help him and that he was someone who could be helped right and wanted to be helped yeah, because those, those, those several things don't always align, but I'm very glad that these aligned this time I would have said, I would say man, I would have bodied them, but not because of the towels or the space, or making space in my attic.
Harley:The eggs, the eggs.
Alan:Taking my eggs, Sir. Do you know the price of these eggs right now?
Harley:It's 2025. This was probably a little while ago and they probably weren't quite as expensive, given that they've already been. He's already been. They've already been through the whole system.
Alan:I never forgive him, though. You better go get some eggs at the farm right now.
Harley:He probably did pay her back reasonably well, who knows? Given that he didn't move in and all that.
Alan:Right, Amazing person with an amazing heart and I sincerely hope that she does not get it taken advantage of those people should be cherished, and I'll leave it at that I'll leave it at that
Harley:all right. So my next horror story is from co-worker stories and it's not. It's not what you're expecting by Magnetic Violet. My co-worker is in a religious cult and I've been watching it slowly get worse. I'm a service manager at a mechanic shop. I'm in my early 20s and work with other men in their 50s and 60s or a few teenage kids in high school, so already I feel alienated. My coworker, early 60s male, who I'll call Tim in this story, is a mechanic originally born in Chile. He had an accident and died for minutes and then found the Lord after years of drinking.
Alan:Oh, wow.
Harley:Being an asshole doing drugs. Hmm, I've worked here for three years now. Oh wow, seen or heard before? Not only do his pastors call him up and beg for Zell payments, but he tells us all about his church and what kinds of things they do. People in the church aren't allowed to talk to the different sects alone.
Harley:Tim is a severe diabetic and also is a far-right conspiracy theorist, anti-medicine type of dude. His diet is absolutely strange. Strange, he will say. He fasts for a week at a time. He drinks a pint of heavy cream a day with multiple cups of coffee. He will drink pine needles, tea and other things he thinks will regulate his diabetes. I saw a video from his church on youtube where they encouraged a woman with schizophrenia to throw her meds in the witchcraft pile and chant while she shakes the evil spirits out of herself. He tries to regulate his blood sugar on his own. He doesn't trust doctors. He is a pompous, arrogant man to begin with, but the church has made him believe that his diabetic hallucinations are visions from Christ. Oh Lord, he's told me he would stay up until 3 am to pray. He talks about witchcraft all of the time, how his church fights it, and he won't eat chicken because they're used for witchcraft.
Alan:Chicken.
Harley:Chicken I guess KFC's so good and how he can see these spirits and demons in people. Ooh, constantine. He believes demons come in the form of animals gorillas, apes, bugs and will see people's faces morph into them. He's accused his daughter of using witchcraft because she's apparently woke and he said god gave him a dream of wasps and read about it in the bible. And then when he saw his daughter, he said he saw her face morph and grow swollen, like she was stung by a million bees. What the hell. This dude is everything people stereotype about conservatives, but it's with religion. He will take off of work for deliverances across the country. He came back saying that he had four demons in him. The other week he ditched work to drive down south to save a church friend's daughter from in parentheses being kidnapped, which, come to find out, was in a spiritual sense.
Harley:Hmm being kidnapped, which, come to find out, was in a spiritual sense he calls women Jezebels. Claims that dozens of women, some even as young as 20, in his church throw themselves at him, which I highly doubt. Every week another woman in his church is having issues and beef with him. That was the end.
Alan:Maybe he is getting um, I don't know, but they're. They're asking for money to be zilled to them yeah definitely cult. Something is shady going on for sure.
Harley:Yeah, now this is where my mind was going reading all this, but I'll just read it as one of the top comments by SugarMama76. These kinds of hallucinations can happen when your blood sugar hits 500 and you're at the edge of a diabetic coma. Unfortunately, people are allowed to make stupid decisions that indirectly cause death. But as service manager, it's your responsibility to make sure he doesn't do something that endangers the lives of others, especially since he has to drive cars. Start documenting unsafe behaviors In parentheses no judgment on health or religious beliefs and unprofessional conversations, ie making people uncomfortable. Then you can start disciplinary processes, keep you and others safe. That's all you can do when someone goes off the deep end. I feel for you. It does suck.
Alan:Yeah, that sounds a little nerve wracking. Yeah, yeah, that sounds a little nerve-wracking when someone tells you yeah.
Harley:Especially since OP specifically commented that his church has told him that his diabetic hallucinations are visions from Christ.
Alan:Yes, Aye, aye, aye. The main thing, the main red flag that you see with a lot of these cults, is they prey on certain people that have those kind of already things in their mind and they basically just push you and push you and push you to make you see their part of reality and how they see it.
Harley:And that's almost exactly what Reasonable Cranberry commented.
Alan:Oh, wow.
Harley:Says he is exactly the kind of person cults exists exist to cannibalize exactly he can make. He can make money to give them, but isn't smart enough to maintain boundaries or escape them wow, exactly.
Alan:Uh, man, that's how you definitely get sucked into those kind of things and if you feel any sort of way, if you feel like they, these people, don't have my best interest in mind, and then definitely seek other places, don't, don't go to that place that is trying to force you to do things, force you to give them money force you to uproot your life and in in this case, they're even asking people with diagnosed psychological issues to throw away their medicine.
Alan:clearly, just to take advantage of them, and that's what it is is to have them not in the right state of mind to prey on them. As the commenter said, yeah. Yes, exactly.
Harley:Now this person, chocolate Chip Wizard, commented, and they added a few other options, it says, upon layer of damage and dysfunction going on from mental health problems could be paranoid schizophrenia or cluster b personality compounded by alcoholism. I had a brother who is a paranoid schizophrenic and he bounced from church to church, medical fad to medical fad, mess to mess. You can't help him, and not only that, you need to minimize contact with him because he could fixate on you and that could really mess up your life. Even loaning him money until next payday or giving him a ride could lead to him deciding you like him and you don't want to start down that road, sheesh.
Harley:I very much doubt OP will go down that road because it sounds like they want nothing to do with.
Alan:Mr Tim.
Harley:But yeah, that's solid advice. You genuinely have to keep people like that at arm's length, aside from steering them into getting help, and that's very much like what Witty Clever Login says Call Adult Protective services for your area. He can't care for himself. As others mentioned, keep a dispassionate log of events, especially medical and mental health events yes and I think that's, that's pretty much the only real option you have.
Alan:I agree.
Harley:In this situation, when you come across someone who has this many issues and is actively hurting themselves.
Alan:And that is what I would recommend.
Harley:When you're diabetic, you can't. I'm sorry to use this language, but you can't around no, you can't when you had that serious of medical condition.
Alan:You cannot screw around with it you have to be weary, for sure, and I think that that is her main, uh op's main recourse is, yes, definitely taking note of those kind of things, because she is the service manager. You are in charge of a team, not just in charge of their efficiency, but in charge of a team not just in charge of their efficiency, but in charge of their safety.
Harley:Yeah.
Alan:And those are the things that they had to think about is are my team members safe with this individual who sees gorilla faces on people and who's actively hallucinating?
Harley:And, ironically, the next comment I wanted to read touches on that oh, my word, I'm on the ball today.
Alan:You are, I'm on a roll by illustrious mind 683.
Harley:He works on people's cars and he has hallucinations. That is not safe. I certainly would not want him touching my car in any way. I wouldn't trust him to put air in my tire. Then he thinks all women are Jezebels. How can you be sure he's even doing the same quality of work on cars belonging to women as he does to?
Alan:ones belonging to men Did not think of that.
Harley:What you have is a major liability. The religious part doesn't even factor into that.
Alan:Yes.
Harley:And that was the end of the comment. But legitimately, yeah, yes, the religious, the nutcase-ery, the nutty things he does is finding good for him. Whatever, do what makes you happy as long as it doesn't hurt people. Be as long as it doesn't hurt people. But when you are being a mechanic and you are literally caring for and fixing someone's mode of transportation, that's usually between 1200 and two and not many are over 2000 pounds, but usually over 1200 pounds. That's a weapon if used incorrectly.
Harley:If someone can't stop in time, that becomes a battering ram.
Alan:Or you go over a cliff. He's hallucinating that he put the lug nuts back on the tire and he didn't.
Harley:How can you trust someone who's literally hallucinating at work?
Alan:for whatever reason.
Harley:Whatever the cause of the hallucination, if they're hallucinating at work you cannot trust what they're doing dude imagine a surgeon riled up about that imagine a surgeon hallucinating, then like oh, I thought it was.
Alan:I thought, I was supposed to take this out? Yes, oh wow, I didn't think of that. And how definitely, how important it is to be a mechanic in the right state of mind, dealing with people's lives yeah uh, you know just how you were saying, saying and thinking of that. Now I am very concerned and I hope to not go to that shop Vet your mechanic, people Vet your mechanic. I'm going to be like do you see hallucinations. I'm going to walk up to the mechanic. Do I look like a monkey?
Harley:I'm just imagining hundreds of different mechanics across the country suddenly being asked these questions, do you?
Alan:hallucinate. Are you hallucinating? Oh my god, dude, do I have an animal?
Harley:face. How cognitively functioning are you? How do you test them?
Alan:how many fingers am I holding up? I don't even know how to test that? Oh man, I mean, it makes me think of things.
Harley:All this laughter and all that aside, it's so sad. That's sad that, oh, in multiple ways in this spectrum, but it's so sad that cults exist at all, frankly, because of people like this. People like this need a firm foundation and community around them. They need a community of supportive people around them that can keep them going for what's good for them, not not freaking parasites leeching him for all this time and energy and money and encouraging him to continue down that destructive, self-destructive road. It's horrific. Yes, it pisses me off so bad. That people can organize and specifically target individuals like this is disgusting. Yes, it's just disgusting.
Alan:Right is disgusting. Yes, it's just disgusting, right and um, those are the things to really look out for is because people don't always have even your mental health in mind and they're definitely looking to take advantage of people like this, and it's very unfortunate and very horrifying, and it's very unfortunate and very horrifying and we'll go ahead and move forward from that story with another yeah, short form horrifying story and it got me thinking of some of the horrifying things that people see in the prison system not just prisoners, but the co's yeah so on.
Alan:Ask reddit I got on to correction off. Uh, ask reddit. Correction officers of reddit have you ever met an inmate that was actually a very nice person but did absolutely horrifying crimes? If so, what's their story? Oh boy uh, this one's not too long and the comments are kind of interesting. That's kind of why I picked this one naturally it's kind of targeted towards the comments and this is by l valco, former ceo.
Alan:Here I had two guys in my unit that had strangled their newborn babies when they wouldn't stop crying two different individuals that have done that one of them was drinking and trying to watch a hockey game. His daughter wouldn't stop crying. He got annoyed, walked over and just choked her until she stopped. I should have mentioned a freaking trigger warning with this story.
Harley:Oh my god, yeah, you probably should have.
Alan:Sorry, guys trigger warning late one.
Harley:We might need to insert one at the beginning.
Alan:The other guy's story was somewhat similar, but I can't remember the details. They were both porters in that housing unit. They were doing a lot of time. I can't remember exactly how much they were given, but one of the guys was already at year 16. Probably two of the nicest guys I met while on the job.
Harley:I mean to be fair. There's a lot of growth that can happen in 16 years. I don't know, man.
Alan:That's an interesting comment Super sad.
Harley:Yes, they didn't come off as crazy degenerates. I don't know, man, but that's an interesting comment super sad.
Alan:Yes, they didn't come off as crazy degenerates and seemed like genuinely nice guys. I used to stand in the day room and have some interesting conversations with them and their little crew of what they called trailer trash circle or something to that effect, and you would think that the comments would be a lot more horrified by what they just heard these two individuals do yeah right, generally speaking a lot of the comments after this were about what to do like, basically, when your baby's crying to be fair, if you're seeing that that might be the only time you've ever come across actual advice on how to actually deal with that.
Alan:And the first comment by Mergle McCurgle, had a kid a few years ago and went to all the classes. We were told probably a dozen times that it's okay to become frustrated with your baby and if you are at your limit, put them down in their crib gently and walk away for a few minutes, take a breather outside, etc. It seemed weird hearing it so many times but honestly it really helped knowing that that was an option. I did it a few times when I became really frustrated and cooling off for a few minutes made a world of difference.
Harley:Absolutely, really frustrated, and cooling off for a few minutes made a world of difference. Absolutely not reacting in an emotional state is, frankly, a must when raising a child. That that should be one of the like that I should be in a pamphlet that you get coming from the hospital or wherever it is it should come out.
Harley:It should come out with the baby, right, right don't react in the moment because you will almost always be amped up on some sort of emotion, pissed off, scared. No sleep, no sleep. A lot of it, especially as as a new parent, is out of fear. Right but you overreact in that fear.
Alan:Mm-hmm.
Harley:And you can damage your child with that. Anyway, we're getting too deep into ancillary comments on the comments.
Alan:Yeah, and another person does comment. Which OP does comment about it? By Extra Sour Cream, mm-hmm. I think this was literally the only advice my mother gave me when I was pregnant. She said look, extra sour cream. It's never excusable, but I kind of understand how babies get shaken. You're going to possibly want to hurt the baby. If it doesn't stop crying. You just put them in their crib and walk away. Nothing bad will happen if the baby cries for a few minutes, just walk away. She was forceful about it. It made me wonder how close I came to not growing up.
Harley:I don't want to laugh at this because it's absolutely horrifying, but it's true. It's something that I'm 100. Sure that parents understand this almost every parent at some point has had a fleeting moment of oh my god, can I even keep you alive? Should I even keep you alive? Something to that effect?
Alan:uh, so op. Comments like sometimes you just have to walk away, even if you feel bad, it's needed, sometimes even letting a family member take care of the baby just so you can get a few hours of sleep they'll make you feel like you're going crazy and I'm sure a lot of parents can relate to these comments. A lot to unpack, I mean. Obviously people do things in the heat of the moment.
Alan:Um you know, not everybody does these sort of horrifying things, true? Uh, definitely in relation to our kind of, to our theme that we're going on for this episode, um, I guess, I guess maybe there are good people that make bad mistakes, I don't know.
Harley:Oh yeah, especially when drunk.
Alan:Especially when drunk and watching a hockey game.
Harley:God, it shouldn't be funny, but it is.
Alan:And before we end the episode, I do have another story in this thread. It's by. You should want to know.
Harley:Interesting name that's a good name, uh, you should want to know.
Alan:You should want to know sorry, not a co, but a correction nurse here never interacted with the same mate. I just see him out in the yard as I come into work. He collects bread crusts and I always see him feeding the birds, and the birds trust him and fly straight to his hand to eat. So he seems like a very gentle and nice enough guy from a distance. And birds only land on the hands of Disney princesses, right. Well, one day I caught him in a moment. A particularly fat pigeon landed on his hand and bent down to eat. He closed his fist on the pigeon's head and flicked his wrist to snap its neck. Its body was still flailing as he calmly put it into his pocket and then put out his hand again to feed more birds. I was so distraught about this and I was later told that he was going to cook it and eat it, which made me feel a little better, I guess. But still and that's what comes to my mind every time an inmate is nice to me, no.
Harley:I'm dead. Oh, I mean, that's honestly horrifying. Like to think about from a realistic standpoint that is horrifying, but the shock in the way that was presented was hilarious, that is horrifying, uh, especially if this nurse witnessed that, but I'm sure they witness all sorts of things in the in the prison system good yeah.
Alan:And that's just one of the things and one of the comments by Barb and Dor. Try and imagining having every hour of every day to work on something for a year or 10. Maybe you could learn to play piano, maybe you could read all the books, or perhaps how to yield and dress a pigeon and barbecue it with a bick liner. That's all the comments. Yep, that's pretty much it, I mean legitimately?
Harley:yeah, I mean he's depending on his interests. He wouldn't get a lot of time to actually practice anything remotely like cooking typically, but wow.
Alan:I don't know if Bobby Flay would accept that Cooking of the pigeon like that. Maybe he'll comment.
Harley:I mean I doubt it, but there's always a chance. I mean I'm sure there's plenty of ways you can prepare a pigeon to make it taste great.
Alan:I guess in prison, though, with whatever, what is he going to have? He's not going to have no barbecue sauce you looked so dubious, sir.
Harley:Bro, you just crush up a bag of flaming hot cheetos and you dust it on top after you get a nice caramelized skin on it. I mean there's all kinds of ways.
Alan:Or you could let it marinate in the toilet wine.
Harley:Bro, you just went the nasty route, you just had to go the nasty route.
Alan:That was the nasty route. Toilet water they drink their. What is it called Pruno? They drink their toilet wine. They say it's finer than any no, nobody says it's finer than anything.
Harley:I'll just leave everyone admits it's nasty, but when you're in prison that's all you get um, so I have one another one.
Alan:It's a short one and it's not as not as horrifying, but I thought I'd mention it might be a good and it's not as horrifying, but I thought I'd mention it. It might be a good end note it might be a good end note.
Alan:Okay, it's by SlapTac. And he said I got to play softball against the inmates at FedMed here in town. The first time in was pretty scary but it ended up being the best couple of hours of softball I've ever played. Everyone was real nice and funny just joking around the whole time just like playing with the guys. It was pretty hard to believe that they were all hardened criminals. When we were all out there enjoying a game together, they had guys with a PA system calling the game while we played, ribbing everyone that got within 10 feet of them. Inmates would come up to the dugout telling us they had bets on our team. So we better win or hit it to that guy. He sucks. I do remember when I was at bat the catcher told me to hit it to the center fielder who was a pedophile.
Alan:He used the prison slang for it. I can't remember and I had no idea what he meant. In the end everyone was super nice and fun. Again for those few hours I forgot I was in federal prison playing against people who did some horrible things. Edit, the guy calling the game noticed my bright red cleats and called me Dorothy for the rest of the game. So that was nice, nice. Edit to the edit. I remembered what the pedophile slang was. It was chomo.
Harley:I was wondering if that was what it was.
Alan:It was chomo Edit cubed. This is my most upvoted comment ever, neato. Feel free to ask me any questions about it. It was really quite the experience.
Harley:Yeah, I mean, I would imagine it would be, because in a moment like that, typically the inmates are on their absolute best behavior and, that said, they can still have fun and joke around and all that which they clearly were doing right they are still humans.
Harley:you know, sometimes it's hard to remember that when you, when your only exposure to people like that is what the crimes were, but a lot. I'm not going to even venture to say how many, but I know there's more than a few people in those situations that they've effectively come to terms and, at least in their own way, repented of what they've done, and people like that tend to be in those situations and are offered the chance you know typically to play with outsiders in the way that this guy was on the other end of it, obviously.
Harley:But it's it's good.
Alan:It's good to remind yourself every now and again that people in prison aren't always just horrific child murderers you know, they're still humans and I think this kind of gives people a perspective that anybody can make a mistake. It's just what you do with those mistakes and if you own up to them, and if you're in prison and own up to those mistakes, I think you do, like you said repent. You can, you know you can Not. Everyone does, not, everyone does. And you know, can not everyone does, not everyone does. And, uh, you know, we try to look at the brighter side of people. One of the comments I'm just gonna read one of the comments, because I've never heard this term for pedophile. I've heard of chomo, right, I've never heard. And it's by person who, uh, deleted their name. Oh, they said. Another term is diaper sniper oh, I have never heard of. And someone commented jesus christ that is.
Harley:That is a legitimate response to that. But yeah, I think you would know what diaper sniper meant. I don't think you could have any real confusion on that.
Alan:Never heard that term, though Diaper sniper. I hope to never to again I hope to never to again Just hearing back this episode, but we'll leave it at that note because that was still a pretty horrifying story at the end.
Harley:Yeah. With the people in the, but some good smiles, at least Some good smiles at least, and I think we'll go ahead and end the episode there, harley. Alrighty, well, in that note, thank you everyone for joining us on this special Reddit-only episode. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope the extra length didn't bother you too much.
Alan:I hope we didn't scare you off. I hope you're not well. I hope you're horrified, but not horrified enough to not listen to us.
Harley:I hope there's a few things you can take away from here. Yeah, I mean, everything has a lesson, I guess.
Alan:And basic hygiene Very important.
Harley:Yes, very, very important.
Alan:And keep those gloves up. Don't forget to like and subscribe, and we'll catch you on the next one.
Harley:Thank you so much for listening. Catch you next time.
