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If you hear someone say, "I'm not scared of that," or, "I didn't want that promotion anyway," it doesn't necessarily mean they're mentally strong. In fact, there's a good chance it's just a facade.

To illustrate this, let's look at the subreddit which we at Bored Panda call "I Am Very Bad". From gun nuts to overly-protective boyfriends, this online community has plenty of examples to prove that overcompensation can be very, very obvious.

Here are the posts that got the most upvotes from the sub's 1.2 million members.

To learn more about "I Am Very Bad" we contacted its moderators and one of them, u/ergoegthatis, agreed to have a little chat.

"Some of the most popular ['tough' people on the subreddit are the ones who see] injustice in the news (e.g. someone being insulted or bear up), and say, 'If that happened to me I'd so and so and so and so!' With everyone on social media having a platform to air any opinion they have, this is incredibly common," u/ergoegthatis told Bored Panda.

"Also in the US, there are many intense political/social statements related to politics and guns. For some reason, Americans are religiously addicted to expressing their opinions on everything, in every possible way (including car decals)."

#2

And Murdered By Words Of Another Vet

And Murdered By Words Of Another Vet

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Demi Zwaan
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ah yes, the 'us' and 'them' mentality. Also the result of brainwashing. If someone cuts in line, say something. You don't immediately have to resort to violence like a little coward who can't communicate his feelings like a normal adult. (edited the bad word to coward)

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#3

Vaping In Front Of A Water Service Vehicle Thinking It's A Cop Car

Vaping In Front Of A Water Service Vehicle Thinking It's A Cop Car

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even though it's not a cop car, why would it matter if he was vaping in front of one. Is it coz he is possibly under-age or something?

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According to the moderator, the subreddit's 'characters' usually overcompensate due to their fear of a scary, unpredictable, and hostile world.

"It depends on society too: we rarely see these ... expressions coming from Europe, the Arab world, Southern and Central America, Russia, China, Japan, etc. America is witnessing social, political, and economic implosions, so this seems to be a way for them to cope with that," they added.

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The subreddit's community, on the other hand, is way more diverse. "It's heterogeneous, [and has] got all sorts of people," u/ergoegthatis said. "I don't think there's any common factor in our userbase, except the desire to have fun and laugh at people who take their purported [toughness] to comical levels in public."

#4

A Birthday Well Wish Escalates To ”there Will Be Consequences”

A Birthday Well Wish Escalates To ”there Will Be Consequences”

easycoasterr Report

#5

Even My Local Police Department Had To Call Out This Guy's Bulls**t

Even My Local Police Department Had To Call Out This Guy's Bulls**t

reddit.com Report

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Marcellus II
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm wondering in this scenario, what's the motivation of criminal nr 1000 to go test the door, when there's already a stack of 999 corpses festering in the spring sunshine?

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While acting tough may meet a person's needs in the short term by artificially boosting their ego or by getting others to back off, it's not a good long-term strategy. In fact, one study conducted by psychologists at Rutgers University found that guys who act tough may suffer serious consequences.

The paper, published in The Journal of Health Psychology, found that these men visit doctors less often. They're also less forthcoming about their medical symptoms when they see a male physician (interestingly, these same men were more likely to choose a male doctor because they believe male doctors are more competent than females).

#6

My Friend And His Wife Are Going Through A Mutual Divorce, Her New Boyfriend Is Wasting No Time Asserting Dominance

My Friend And His Wife Are Going Through A Mutual Divorce, Her New Boyfriend Is Wasting No Time Asserting Dominance

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#7

If You Have To Advertise It, It’s Probably Not True

If You Have To Advertise It, It’s Probably Not True

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Dee Hunter
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Doesn't "Alpha" mean a version that's full of bugs and not in a condition to be released to the public?

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#8

She Always Told Me He Was Jealous But Dang

She Always Told Me He Was Jealous But Dang

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Researchers suspect that delaying medical appointments and minimizing symptoms could be one of the reasons why men in the US die, on average, five years earlier than women.

If you want to see whether or not you have a tendency to act this way, this article by Inc. provides a 7-point checklist that could help in evaluating yourself.

If you're also putting up a fake exterior that helps you feel superior, consider the toll it may take on your life. Instead, try to invest in building mental strength, so the way you feel on the inside matches how others see you on the outside. As your mental strength increases, your need to act tough decreases.

#9

Comment On A Post About An Old Couple Having To Slowly Put Back Potatoes One At A Time At A Grocery Store Until The Price Was Low Enough Because They Are Poor

Comment On A Post About An Old Couple Having To Slowly Put Back Potatoes One At A Time At A Grocery Store Until The Price Was Low Enough Because They Are Poor

CaseyS447 Report

#10

If A Cop Is A D*ck You Are Legally Allowed To Beat Him Up Apparently

If A Cop Is A D*ck You Are Legally Allowed To Beat Him Up Apparently

reddit.com Report

#11

You Never Know What Will Go Down At A Subway Sandwich Shop

You Never Know What Will Go Down At A Subway Sandwich Shop

RichPaulsBurner Report

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Penny Fan
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's necessary because his masculinity is too fragile to survive without them.

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#12

Bad**s Boomer Responds To Being Ok'ed By A Journalist He Yelled At About Climate Change

Bad**s Boomer Responds To Being Ok'ed By A Journalist He Yelled At About Climate Change

FreezeSPreston Report

#13

High School Is A Hell Of A Drug

High School Is A Hell Of A Drug

Loof27 Report

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#14

His Daughter Took A Laptop Home From School To Message A Boy. So He Decides To Shoot The Laptop That Wasn’t Even His Property

His Daughter Took A Laptop Home From School To Message A Boy. So He Decides To Shoot The Laptop That Wasn’t Even His Property

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Ivo H
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's what happens when people are allowed to have more guns than IQ.

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#15

A Challenge From A Bad**s

A Challenge From A Bad**s

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#17

Oh Man... Stay Away From This Guy!

Oh Man... Stay Away From This Guy!

whippedcreamcheese Report

#18

Shooting A Target From A Mile Away? Light Work

Shooting A Target From A Mile Away? Light Work

ANailBlaster Report

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KJ
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The (approximate) equivalent to the 13th furthest recorded sniper kill according to wiki.

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#19

Do Not Underestimate People With Multiple Font Tattoos

Do Not Underestimate People With Multiple Font Tattoos

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#20

Coronavirus Is Scared Of Catching Me

Coronavirus Is Scared Of Catching Me

irich Report

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Vic
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We have a saying here: You throw a knife on a watermelon or a watermelon on a knife, it's the watermelon that ultimately gets cut..

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A B C
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's stuff a 16-year old should be ashamed to try to flex with, but a grown-ass man? Phew.

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Watching
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

By the way this is Florida. Where the diseased and predators go to die. The literal asshole of our country.

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Yort
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Diseased and predators die in every state, Florida just has looser criminal privacy laws so it’s easier to get news about this stuff.

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Michelle M
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Covid: I should stay away from this guy. I don't want to catch his stupidity.

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Mark Melton
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, no virus or disease wants to be associated with a Republican, they really need intelligence and human compassion to really be good diseases.

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Skara Brae
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The virus literally survives by catching people, and has no brain cells to care what he thinks.

ivoh avatar
Ivo H
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeeeah, I bet the virus is crazy scared with all of his advanced neural system. They are basically just small brains full of fear of people like this one.

llsewer avatar
Jaguarundi
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yay....another "Florida Man" running for office...(sound of a wet kazoo being blown....)

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Mazer
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This Florida Congressman is know for going deep into the idiocy pool https://floridapolitics.com/archives/346428-kw-miller-florida-congressional-candidate-goes-on-bizarre-twitter-rant-referencing-beyonce-and-patti-labelle/

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cory harrison
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He lost his election in FL getting 2% of the vote and is now trying to run against Liz Cheney, who is a rep in WY.

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Erika
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Looked this guy up. He also says Patti LaBelle is an Illuminati globalist puppet. Florida isn't sending their best, are they?

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Sue Grigg
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The fact that morons like this get elected by their fellow morons should scare us all.

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Kayla J
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pretty sure he was in the hospital a few months and is still dealing with the after effects including lung damage. His Twitter account is suspended cause he has a lot of insane theories and you may have also heard of him as he believes Beyonce is an Italian woman who is part of the deep state for....reasons?

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Serial pacifist
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah. "Stupidity doesn't scare me. I scare stupidity 'cause I'm too much of an idiot to handle for plain stupidity."

leavehere avatar
Trish Smith
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You'll be singing a different tune right before they hook you up to a ventilator in an "attempt" to save your stupid ass !

dheppel121 avatar
Damien Heppel
Community Member
5 days ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Only time this would have been acceptable is if it came from Chuck Norris.

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Stro Bro
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OP just learned how the dark is scared of Chuck Norris and tried to translate that into his anti-vaxx agenda.

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Patrick Wilson
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ummmm...... that would be THIS KW Miller? The one on a Covid deathbed? https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1438538136414523393?lang=en

takirosh avatar
Takirosh
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"When you talk about damage radius, even atomic weapons pale before that of an unfettered idiot in a position of power." ~ Sam Starfall, Freefall Strip #1704

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Jackie Nettleton
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You know I hope he either never gets elected or if he does he gets Covid and lives so he knows how stupid he is

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Timothy Leung
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is proof that one can infer a nation's collective IQ from the politicians they voted for.

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Rene Simons
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe he should go campaigning at the ICU at his local hospital. Without a mask.

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Marilyn Ransberry
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Viruses don’t have feelings but I have a feeling that he skipped too many science classes.

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LSR
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Funny, but the man in the picture does not look like Chuck Norris.

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Thomas Turnbull
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

K W Miller covid is not sentient and it doesn’t give a f**k about you

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Riley Quinn
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, viruses try to maintain a tough image, but deep down, they're scared.

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EJN
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What is this with all of America's brain-damaged joining the Republican Party?

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elfin
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You may not believe in Coronavirus, but it believes in you. And it really isn't scared of you.

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Ole Peder Amrud Hagen
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually, I'm pretty sure he's correct. Who'd want this yeast infection of a person?

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Jane Petersen
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Did he expire while gagging on a ventilator yet? These types of tweets never age well.

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Mia Hamsa
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Waiting for the headline on how he died in hospital gasping for air having caught covid. These people really need to be checked.

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Rijkærd
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He took the Chuck Norris meme too literally and quite seriously.

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Tarryn Louise
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Covid naysayers are like toddlers playing hide and seek. Covid will find them.

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Rannveig Ess
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wish people would realize - this ass not withstanding - that jokes and cartoons and "funny" quips about corona virus aren't funny to those of us who lost family members to it, or had it ourselves or know people who have what appears to be permanent damage from recovering. That's a lot of people, number-wise. Who decided Covid is appropriate joke and cartoon and flippant material?

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Christy Smith
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It wot be hilarious if he got it & died ... I love those stories about these assholes

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Elizabeth Molloy
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

From a cocky 12-year-old, okaaaaay; from an adult and a POLITICIAN no less, Jesus H fecking Christ!

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Lola
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is he actually saying that he is so bad that even a virus doesn’t want him?

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Mark Johansen
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'd guess that was a joke and not a serious threat to a non-sentient entity.

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David Beaulieu
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/346428-kw-miller-florida-congressional-candidate-goes-on-bizarre-twitter-rant-referencing-beyonce-and-patti-labelle/

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Yoinks!
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Georgia's Brian Kemp is a li'l tough guy too. (He's the clown who threatened his daughter's boyfriend with a shotgun in that "LOL" campaign ad.)

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Ryan Deschanel
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ok, we get it, you're a badass... But could you just shut the f**k up, please?

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#21

Accidentally Added The Wrong Guy On Facebook. Guess I'm A Coward Now

Accidentally Added The Wrong Guy On Facebook. Guess I'm A Coward Now

HodlMeNow Report

#22

He Doesnt Need A Bed Just Sleeps In A Holster

He Doesnt Need A Bed Just Sleeps In A Holster

AnonymousAnalAssasin Report

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KJ
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That doesn't translate well to Scottish, calling someone a weapon up here isn't a compliment.

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#23

I Love My Friend But I Get These Often

I Love My Friend But I Get These Often

friendlynood Report

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Otter
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I bet you threw your aluminum can in the trash instead of the recycling bin and jaywalked next, and everyone on the street begged you not to hurt them!

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#24

Vegans Can’t Even Make A Dent

Vegans Can’t Even Make A Dent

Sasha__fierce Report

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Iapetos
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"I'm an asshole and I can't stand it when people try to make things better for anyone."

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#25

A Warm Welcome Back From My “Bad**s” Roommate

A Warm Welcome Back From My “Bad**s” Roommate

poser-genocide Report

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Dorothy Parker
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Girlfriend is being held captive. Save that text and use it as reason to move out. . .

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#26

Dysfunctional Veteran Leave Me Alone!

Dysfunctional Veteran Leave Me Alone!

reddit.com Report

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Demi Zwaan
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sure, because no one would call the police if they actually believed these were bodies. No, they'd go about their business and be nice and polite to the psycho killer.

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#28

School Dropouts Are Very Bad**s

School Dropouts Are Very Bad**s

kenziiefox Report

#30

U Can Use Your Zip Ties To Make Sure Your Legs Stay Together In The New Wheelchair

U Can Use Your Zip Ties To Make Sure Your Legs Stay Together In The New Wheelchair

highvolkage Report

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Jihana
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Obviously he does park like a jerk and feels threatened now.

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#31

Walmart Patriot

Walmart Patriot

domsak Report

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Wonderful
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Let me translate “I was walking down the aisle when a guy wearing a mask passed by me and we briefly made eye contact. Then when I got home and went to take my daily poop I thought up this story to make me look like a bad ass.”

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#32

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later, I Guess

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later, I Guess

Birdie49 Report

#33

Going To The Gym Makes You Invincible

Going To The Gym Makes You Invincible

Here-For-The-Comment Report

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#34

A Comment: "I Bet You Spent More On This Than Your Kids Since They Were Born"

A Comment: "I Bet You Spent More On This Than Your Kids Since They Were Born"

Zorkonio Report

#35

Who Would Dare After That

Who Would Dare After That

barsby456 Report

Note: this post originally had 90 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.