As Hannah Montana once said, everybody makes mistakes . Life isn’t always pretty and perfect, and when we mess up , the best we can do is hope it won’t follow us for the rest of our lives.
But some mistakes are hard to bounce back from. And it can be just as sad or frustrating to watch someone else go through it. The Reddit users in this list watched others make horrible mistakes , and shared those cautionary tales with us.
“One of my best friends walked out on his wife and two kids because a girl at the gym and him were having a relationship.” – Enough-Ad3818

“As it actually turned out, she was just being friendly and chatting to him. No relationship, no mutual decision to be together, nothing. He misunderstood polite friendliness for flirting, and destroyed his own family for it.”
“My uncle got himself a mistress. Lent her $10,000 he never got back and lost his job defending her at work.” – threekingsmisery

“He gave up his house to his wife. So he ended up jobless and homeless, sleeping on our couch at the ripe age of 60.”
“Ugh, my uncle got himself [a mistress] at 70. Seventy! Put all the assets in her name and then filed for divorce.” – fu_ben

“Claimed he had nothing. My aunt had to go back to work at 67. The 19-year-old mistress ran off with all the money and was never found. She had a super common name as well and was from another country.”
“We got the news via Christmas card.”
“One of my students was offered a 95% scholarship to Juilliard.” – VanishXZone

“They turned it down because they felt a 95% scholarship was a slap to the face, and instead decided not to go to school. Last I heard they weren’t playing, and were working minimum wage, but talking about how good they used to be.”
“My high school philosophy teacher cheated on his wife with my classmate.” – HelmutMelmoth

“His daughter was in the year below us. She transferred schools out of embarrassment when her dad finally left the family to pursue a relationship with the 18-year old. Yuck.”
“A buddy that live with me for a while got a car he couldn’t afford because he was obsessed with image.” – UserUsingUsed

“Stopped making payments, tried to part out the car and report as stolen since he had the bright idea that would bring more money than just giving it back to the bank. Then got into check fraud, which landed him in jail. Been in and out of the system ever since, from stories I hear.”
“Have kids under the hope they’ll fix their marriage. Children are not accessories.” – KaiJonez

A user in the replies added, “I literally can’t fathom the logic that having children might mend or repair a deteriorating spousal relationship. Both of us need to be wholly there for each other in order to make it work.”
“Dump all of their savings ($30k or so) into random crypto at the height of the market.” – Jasper_Beardly_

“They were trying to get more money to put towards a house but lost a majority of it when things crashed. When their significant other found out they left.”
“Friend retired with a full pension 15 years ago.” – AgathaWoosmoss

“At the time he kept bragging about how he was starting a business with some random guy he knew. He legit said, ‘He’s the idea guy. I have the savings and the good credit score.'”
“Took out a huge loan, bought a bunch of expensive equipment.”

“Shocker: business folded within 6 months, ‘partner’ vanished with all the equipment.
And now this guy, who should be enjoying his golden years, will be working retail until he drops.”
“My sister lost her 3 kids due to an addiction to methamphetamine about 5 years ago.” – TenderTendiez

“She complains nonstop about how the system stole her babies… while smoking meth to this day.”
Drug addiction is no joke. If you believe someone you know might have substance abuse issues, there are plenty of resources out there that can help them.
“A close family member who has the attitude of I’m an adult now, I can do whatever I want…” – Whatinthejicima

“He’s barely an adult and wrecked his car twice, recently been in jail, getting kicked out of his apt in the next few days if he doesn’t comply with rules, can’t keep a relationship for more than a week. It’s sad that he can’t see how much his attitude/choices effects his life.”
“It’s waaay better to stay single and lonely, than be in a relationship for relationship’s sake.” – hhh1234566

“I’ve seen several people become less of themselves and completely devoid of their personality because they chose to be with the wrong partners.”
“Hoarding. I have a friend who jammed her condo so full of useless [expletive] she bought and bought and bought.” – femsci-nerd

“The place is 1500 sq ft but she only has about 6 sq ft of space to live. It’s frightening.”
“My friend married a man who proposed after he cheated on her.” – Hopefulkitty

“Within a few years he flipped a table at her baby nephew’s birthday party and the divorce was finalized a few months ago. We all knew the marriage was bad, but we couldn’t do anything but be there for her.”
“Grandma eventually losing several hundred thousand on the stock market based on astrology. This was in 2007…” – cellocaster

Basing important life decisions on astrology really isn’t a good idea. It’s fun to read horoscopes and stuff, but try not to take it too seriously.
“Used to work security at a concert venue. Big enough place to require a couple cops outside the front door for insurance purposes.” – vtfb79

“Had to ask someone to leave for drinking underage. He got mouthy on the way out and started to fight me.”
“Was near the front door and the cops jumped in to help.”

“He punched the cop and his nose bled. Went from a ‘hey man, don’t drink underage in here next time you come back’ to a Felony.”
“A guy in his mid 50s always worked under the table. Never filed a tax return.” – mrmitchs

“Didn’t understand that he wouldn’t qualify for social security. When I showed him the requirements on the [Social Security] website, I thought he was going to cry.”
“Drop out of college. They were smart too.” – AIM9SidewinderChan

“Now they sit at home and play video games and do nothing.”
When asked, the user said that the friend doesn’t even have a job. Sounds like they have no ambition, which is just sad.