If we're being honest with ourselves, it's totally normal to feel like the hero of your own story sometimes. Especially after navigating the slim chances and fortunate twists of fate during the pandemic, and with superhero narratives woven into our daily entertainment more than ever before, it's only fitting to occasionally embrace that Truman Show-like sensation of being the main protagonist. However, not until the point where this notion begins to consume us.
Continuing on the #maincharacter trend that took the internet by the storm in 2021, one user asked the Ask Reddit community, "What is the worst case of 'main character syndrome' you've ever encountered?" Ranging from self-absorbed local celebrities to narcissists who treat others like NPCs from a video game, there's a lot of fascinating answers to pick from.
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At my brother's wedding, his MIL showed up in a floor-length ball gown covered head to toe with sequins and with a band of giant bling around the waist. To a simple 20-person backyard wedding where the bride wore a simple knee-length sheath dress. She was also drunk and spent the whole day showing off her new boob job. They were C's, but she'd gone up from AA and was proudly brandishing them at everyone, including elderly relatives and kids, commenting that the bride would look so much better if she got hers done.
I bided my time until she came up to me and dramatically sighed about how sore her boobs were and said, "Oh good for you! When I got mine reduced, the doctor told me not to go down under a D. I wish I'd had the courage to get them reduced as small as yours." She cried in the bathroom for 2 hours, and my SIL hugged me so hard I got bruises.
In an era dominated by social media and self-expression, a peculiar phenomenon has emerged, capturing the attention of psychologists and sociologists alike. Dubbed "Main Character Syndrome," this cultural phenomenon and a lovechild of TikTok and self-isolation requirements, sheds light on the growing prevalence of narcissistic tendencies among individuals who exhibit an overwhelming desire for attention, validation, and the belief that they are the focal point of their own narrative. In simple terms, people who perceive themselves as the main protagonist of the movie that represents their everyday lives.
The emergence of the main character syndrome, meanwhile, has been attributed to the increasing influence of social media. According to psychologist Dr. Michael G. Wetter, main character syndrome is an “inevitable consequence of the natural human desire to be recognized and validated merging with the rapidly evolving technology that allows for immediate and widespread self-promotion.”
I was in Japan back in April. We climbed up to a viewing point to see Mt Fuji. A “famous” American Tik Toker and her “ entourage” started physically pushing people out of the way so that they didn’t ruin her shot. And then she yelled “i need an Asian in the shot to make it authentic”. So they grabbed an old man and got him to take photos with her.
It was gross and disgusting
That's the moment when you accidentally knock her phone out of the Mt Fuji
"Digital communication platforms make it easier for people to fall into the trap of main character syndrome. The anonymity afforded by digital communication allows people to reinvent themselves, or, in extreme and potentially dangerous cases, to present entirely false versions of themselves, much more easily," Phil Reed, a professor of psychology at Swansea University, explained in her blog.
And she's absolutely right. If not for the alter egos, it's unlikely that we would have celebrities like Dr Disrespect, one of the most popular streamers living today, or Andy Kaufman, the legendary late-night comedian known for his stunts and uncanny personas. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that these characters can swiftly veer into self-obsession and perplexity, which may strain relationships with those closest to the individuals affected by main character syndrome.
I was a shiftmanager at Starbucks, and an elderly woman had a heart attack in the middle of the store. I had to call emergency services and provide first aid. While doing that a barista came to me to ask if she could get another position to work at. Because she was bored of standing at the counter. This was while I was giving cpr to the woman on the floor. Then she got mad that I ignored her.
In general, check insta, tiktok, and snap.
In terms of my real life? My mum. Holy s**t... To hear her tell it, an overweight 77 year old woman is the most desirable partner in the world. Every damn man she finds even marginally attractive and has spoken to her has been "after her for years", and if they're dating someone else then "that b***h is a real piece of work, let me tell you". She has basically told me that world leaders are watching her because she is very important, and "I just don't know".
I can't barely spend time with her at this point, because it's got so much worse as she's aged... Thankfully she has dogs that she loves so I just get her talking about them.
According to Dr. Kristy Lee Parkin, a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology who specializes in narcissism, taking a temporary detour from real life can be a way to cope with life's hardships - which explains why the phenomenon was born in the midst of the pandemic. "Taken to extremes, main character syndrome can also become a method of dissociating from painful life experiences. They literally see their life as a story or a movie (think 'plot twist!' explanations) and that’s how they cope," Parkin explained to Bored Panda in an email.
About a year ago. Trying to board a flight and a couple held us up so that Main Character could get a series of photos in a series of poses standing at the top of the boarding stairs like some 1960s JetSet starlet in St Tropez.
This was not First Class transcontinental glamour flight, this was a 4 hour Budget Ryanair flight from the Canaries to the UK.
After being forced into the plane by the cabin staff who kept standing in the shot trying to get the plan boarded (Ryanair do not mess around with their fast turnaround) and also by angry people trying to squeeze past boyfriend/cameraman and getting in the shot. She then proceeded to stand in the aisle during taxi for take off just after the safety brief to get more photos. After threats of returning to the terminal and being put off the flight she sat down.
Nothing says a classy instagram model like the Ryanair colour scheme.
Shame they couldn't have confiscated the camera and wiped all the photos. Maybe the cabin crew could have made an announcement when they landed that the "ego has landed"
My sister. She’s two years younger than me. She’s done many Main Character Syndrome-driven things, but one particular highlight was when she announced that she had brain cancer. At my high school graduation. (Spoiler alert- she did not have and has never had any type of cancer, and our aunt had died from brain cancer two years ago. That upset quite a few relatives)
I can see why, I'm not spiteful but I don't think I'd talk to her again in a long while, specially if my relative had just died from the same thing
It's no surprise, then, that main character syndrome is "an offshoot of narcissism," something that most of us microdose with the help of social media. "Everyone has narcissistic traits. The major factor is if one can make choices that also benefit other people and not just oneself," Parkin argued. It's natural to occasionally experience moments of envy or desire to be in the limelight. But when these behaviors permeate daily life and intentionally cause harm to others, it transcends being a mere negative trait and becomes a full-fledged personality disorder.
My MIL and SIL who cried and HOWLED during our wedding ceremony acting like it was a funeral
My irritating asf sister She can't be at anything even her own kids celebrations without attention seeking, being loud and annoying. Must have all eyes on her at all times. Exhausting
On the other hand, there are instances, especially during our developmental years, when the main character syndrome is considered normal, Parkin said. "It could also be a sign of normal growth and maturation, such as we see in preschoolers or toddlers or teens/tweens." Also, for those who are making their first steps into the uncharted territory of adulthood or a new industry, it can be a great way to deal with the highs and lows of the journey. "For example, higher self-esteem and self-worth can guide you into having better boundaries or the confidence to be and feel respected," she explained.
My dad, all day long. He wasn't evil, but he was always right, every time. And he knew everything. Never mind anyone's education or lived experience of a situation, he knew all about it. Every time. He tolerated no criticism, especially from my brother or me, nor did he respect boundaries. He was our father and that trumped everything.
A former coworker had her disabled dad quit his really recently found new job that he truly enjoyed (he had a really hard time found one du to his handicap) because he couldn't miss a day of work for her birthday. She was 23 at the time, going 24.
She got mad when he explained to her that he couldn't miss a day so soon after being hired.
The man is in his late 50 with really heavy arms handicap. And he miraculously found a gardener job in his hometown (no drive car needed)
She didn't care about anything he said and cut short to the discussion: if he wasn't going to take a day off for her birthday, she didn't want to talk to him anymore.
The poor guy quit. He loves this ungrateful brat so much, it's painful to watch... really
And when he did, she wasn't even grateful, she clearly thought it was the bare, decent, minimum from his part
"Clinical narcissism is a formal diagnosis when an individual exhibits five of the nine hallmarks of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (or NPD)," Parkin explained, noting that the main character syndrome can be a big indicator of NPD. These traits encompass an inflated ego, a constant need for admiration and attention, a lack of empathy, envy towards others while considering oneself as enviable, manipulative behaviors towards people and relationships, and an excessive preoccupation with power, physical attractiveness, and achievement. According to the newest data, approximately 0.5% of the United States population, or 1 in 200 people, mostly men, has NPD.
A mother at school demanded that the break for the whole school should be postponed because her daughter is not hungry yet at the set time
One of my exes thought he was the main character of some cringy Garden State-type movie and that I was supposed to be his manic pixie dream girl. I'll never forget one of the arguments we had in which he was frustrated with me for not being more ~*~*quirky*~*~. He said, "You're supposed to take me by the hand and show me the world!" which sounds like a bad joke, but trust me when I say he was being serious.
Still, Dr. Parkin highlights the importance of understanding the difference between narcissism and being self-centered (which arguably is on the rise). "Narcissism is a catchall term but it is much deeper and dangerous than being self-centered. Narcissism can ruin lives and destroy relationships," she told. "Main character syndrome, while not as extreme, is a trait of narcissism and can still cause damage by alienating friends and family."
I worked with a woman Betty who was pregnant. Another coworker Tracy was pregnant at the same time and had a miscarriage. When Tracy was out recovering maybe a day after it happened, Betty found out she was having twins. Although Betty and Tracy weren’t really friends, Betty announced that she needed to be the one to tell Tracy her news and it needed to be done NOW. Betty called Tracy and it was just nauseating.
Betty also liked to tell everyone she tricked her husband into getting pregnant. They are divorced now.
I was downtown Vancouver, just walking a long smoking after a night out and across the street from us we saw two guys being loud as s**t and another group of about 7 guys just walking down the street towards them. The two drunk guys walk through the other group of dudes and bump into them.
The two guys instantly demand apologies, “ do know who I am? Bro I train MMA, I’ll knock your a*s out”
The bigger group is trying to avoid conflict but these two dudes are just being giga chads. One of the two dudes throws a punch (looks like it’s the first punch he’s ever thrown in his life), the other guy slips the punch and lays him out on his a*s. The second drunk guy goes into hero mode or something and also launches into an attack and gets his a*s kicked. The bigger group didn’t even go all out they just knocked each guy out and walked away
These two guys apparently thought they were tough s**t and got quick lessons handed to them. One of the best things I’ve ever seen in my life.
that annoys me people who watch boxing or MMA think they are bloody Bruce Lee or Mohamed Ali when in reality the only punch they could throw is the liquid kind
Local celebrities are pretty bad. Their spouses and families are even worse. The only time I’ve heard “Do you know who I am?” in the wild was when the wife of the local weatherman was arguing with a clerk at the grocery store.
Given that the weatherman is the only one of that couple with a visible public presence, she is obviously deluded into thinking anyone would even recognize her, let alone care who she is
Me from age 0 to 16/17.
Im convinced to have gained conscience just after that. Some s**t was justified but man i must have been exhausting to be around.
My soon-to-be ex-husband asking me how to flirt and date.
He doesn't move out until the 30th, *he wants the divorce*, and refuses to work on the relationship. He announced he was leaving only weeks ago, and is trying to get me to talk about dating experience with him while we cohabitate. He's already semi-stalking one poor woman who just changed her workplace and vocation suddenly (he used to show up at the bar she managed, now she left for a controlled childcare environment where he can't show up).
We have been together for ten years. What a POS. It's taking all my willpower not to Samwise Gamgee him with a frying pan
TEN YEARS. And HE was the one to initiate divorce? This looks strange
Not a specific instance, but working in college admissions, I deal with a worrying number of students who basically speak like they're trying to be edgy anime protagonists. And I mean general tone of voice, vocabulary, the whole "smirk while pushing their glasses up" thing, etc.
Like... it's not a lot of them. But it's more than you would expect.
Pick any of the people who started fights when I moonlit as a bouncer. Nothing says main character delusion like thinking you’re not going to get hurt fighting two dudes who have 60lbs on you.
My ex thought he came up with the idea for pop-up ads when he was 15 and was still telling people this at 33…
That was just one of the multiple things that convinced me that he was a narcissist with the biggest main character syndrome….
He also thought that women’s vaginas were permanently affected by any penis it came in contact with it, thought that men shouldn’t do housework because “the appliances are made specifically made for women” and I could probably write a book about him. I was so blind lol
It was weird when the Salt Bae guy inserted himself into the World Cup celebration immediately after the game.
My parents. They genuinely don't understand that other people are equal peers and that their children/grandchildren are separate, independent beings, and not accessory extensions.
Sounds a lot like mine. My dad is, in fact, incredibly intelligent, but it's led him to an "us versus them" mentality where the "them" (ie everyone else on the planet) are basically subhuman idiots. My mother goes along with it (and is a shrieking harpy, ready to go off at any moment with little to no provocation, but I've long thought that's the result of being married to a sociopath for several decades). I was simultaneously raised to believe that I was better than Literally Everyone (except them, of course), and also that I was utterly worthless. Deeply weird mentality to try to get out of.
An acquaintance of the family. She had a birth defect in her legs that made walking somewhat difficult. Not impossible at all. Just not something she could do a lot of.
She had the ability to walk and climb stairs. I've seen her do both. She was awkward at it, but she could do it.
I mention this because, apparently, at a niece's graduation she decided that her niece needed to help her to her seat. As in the niece was supposed to leave the ceremony part way through, come down off the stage in her robes, and escort this woman to her seat before going back.
Well, as you might imagine, the school didn't seem willing to accommodate this. So other family members offered to help her. But, as it wasn't the attention grabbing stunt she wanted, she decided that the best way to punish her family was to seat herself. By flopping down in the floor and moaning and groaning as she crawled on all fours. As I understand it, her family was running along beside her and trying to help her up but she ignored them. Just did a belly crawl up the stairs and made a big show of it.
At my wedding, one of our invites brought her roommate as her plus 1. They decided to pre party and she got s**t faced drunk and started yelling how she wanted the day to be about her. She was escorted out.
The husband of a friend of my told her he didn't really care for interacting with their two twin boys, and would just wait for them to grow older and would be able to talk about his pretty specific interests.
They're no longer together.
This reminds me of a story I read where a man refuses to interact with his two young daughters because ‘he’s got nothing in common with them’. Is being their parent not enough for some people?
Some guy took the microphone during the school talent show and said,"No one is here for this s**t. They're all here for me."
This woman I know actually refers to some people as NPCs. Obviously she doesn't believe it literally, but she does treat people accordingly. She has also referred to some of her behaviors as "hot girl s**t".
To anyone not familiar with gaming, like me, NPC is a Non-Player Character, "any character in a game that is not controlled by a player."
Just one example of her… my mother has said, more than once, “If I had been born in medieval times I’d have been royalty.” She has said it so seriously. She meant it. I think this was around the time she was watching The Tudors.
It doesn’t even make sense!! As if monarchies don’t exist anymore.
Have fun being married off to your cousin who's twice your age in order to secure a trade agreement with France, lady.
I was at MSP and I was waiting in line to get a pizza. Dude walks up asking about a pizza place on a different terminal and which terminal it’s in. They tell him and he’s trying to play it all cool that he was sorry he wasn’t going to eat at this one pizza spot.
So the guy walks away, and maybe 10 seconds later comes back and says, “you know what? I’m gonna hook you guys up” and then he pulls out his phone and goes on TikTok or whatever and starts recording himself and how this pizza place he wasn’t going to eat at was dope. Recording all of these workers. Then he walks away.
Then after he walks away, the worker just says, “what an a*****e” and I was laughing super hard cause that was such a douchebag thing to do
Id have reported him as a suspected terrorist filming the security set up in the terminal, then laughed my head off when he was taken away by security (no doubt shouting "dont you know who i am?" while the security are saying "thats what were gonna find out, after the cavity search".
I was briefly friends with a woman who could do no wrong. She was the victim 24/7 and everyone was out to get her. She saw other people as means to an end and would say whatever she wanted about them, accuse them of horrible s**t, “repeat” things they supposedly said about you to your face (she made it up or heavily exaggerated every time), and just in general use people.
She told me within the first two weeks of us knowing each other that she was telling everyone we were best friends. When she moved away, she forgot I existed.
My father won’t let my mother eat pizza on her own birthday because he doesn’t like it, won’t even let her eat it while he eats something else, she’s just not allowed to have it period.
My ex-wife. I could write a damn novel about her. Some highlights:
Dropping out of college repeatedly. Then claiming to be educated in psychology because she watches YouTube. Her major was geology.
Thinking businesses should be proud to serve her.
Claiming to be a filmmaker. She made a costume for 1 very bad horror movie. But she was an industry insider because she once dated a director.
Claims she "saved" Ryan Seacrest's career because she once insulted him in a bar.
Throwing a tantrum at any wedding/graduation/ birthday. Including her own. Side note. Our birthdays were days apart. I didn't get to celebrate mine until I divorced her.
This is getting long but one more. Her favorite saying. "Put me in charge of the world, I'll fix some s**t." Don't you dare ask her to elaborate.
If she wants to be the one to fix all the world's problems, she has to get in the queue behind You Know Who
Maybe it's not fair to include my sister-in-law because she has a number of medical and psychological issues. But...
* She got mad at the ER staff for not taking her first, because she's sick
* She expects my wife (her sister) and me to research how to manage her latest disease
* She can't do said research because she's too busy (watching cat videos on YouTube)
* After any social event we (wife and I) attend, she asks what people said about her
* She threw us out of her house (because we were upsetting her) and got mad that we didn't take the trash out
* She recently said that next time, we'll have to visit her when it's convenient for her, even if it's inconvenient for us
I'm not sure how much of a psychological issue being an a$$hole is, but as long as she's not working on it, I wouldn't want to inconvenience her with my presence.
My ex-boyfriend definitely had main character syndrome. He always came up with grandiose stories to try to make himself look more important than he actually was.
Example: He liked to tell people that he only ever tried cocaine once, and it was because Lady Gaga offered it to him in a bathroom at some event he was working at. Sure, Jan.
Was college roommates with this girl who only had a wall of selfies as her photo wall. Would be very self-absorbed and would constantly pretend she didn’t know how to do things if she didn’t want to do a task, even something as simple as opening a window. Would constantly comment on how pretty she was and how girls must be jealous because of her beauty, to a weird point. We went on a two week trip a few years after college and that’s really where things took a turn for the worst.
I did the majority of the driving and she refused to even let me listen to the music I wanted because she thought her music was better. Played a car game just based on facts about her when we were driving. Refused to take any photos of me unless I explicitly asked to, even after I took photos of her, and any photos together was the ultimate no-no because god forbid anyone steal her limelight. She admitted she would just blank when approached with a task she didn’t want to do and expected others to do them for her, but if I spoke to her like she was a child because she would also throw temper tantrums like one, she got upset. Was just constantly in her own world and thought her s**t didn’t stink and that everyone was really jealous of her while she didn’t care to ask about my life, my interests, or my feelings for the majority of the trip. Also, had no problems doing goofy things like speaking in a British accent at a fancy dinner but got annoyed when I did it and told me to stop. Because obviously speaking is a main character trait, not an NPC one
Id love to slap the arrogance out of people like that. (I dont condone violence by the way, just cos id like to do it, doesnt mean i ever would)
An old friend had a severe case of Munchausen’s Syndrome. She was insufferable and would go on and on at lengths about her life-threatening illnesses, always making sure that everyone knew she was dying. Anytime someone would try to start a conversation with her present, she would find a way to re-direct it back to herself. We could be talking about sandwiches and she would be like, “well… speaking of sandwiches, I had the worst sandwich while I was in the ICU yesterday…”
Speaking of hospitals, she would go from hospital to hospital seeking as many diagnoses as she could. She would go into a rage anytime she was told that she was perfectly healthy - which was 98% of the time, claiming all doctors are useless and uneducated, and even putting them on blast on her dog’s instagram account, which is an account about her illnesses, not her dogs. The saddest point, and the moment I saw her for who she truly was, was when her own sister was in the ICU with Covid. She went into a jealous rage, blaming her sister for “faking it” and throwing actual tantrums with tears about why everyone cared about her sister instead of her. And when she doesn’t receive the attention she hopes for, she would injure herself and induce specific symptoms purposefully. She spends fortunes on scammy doctors in the Chronic Lyme community that she’s now a proud advocate of, all while her husband foots the bills since she quit her career and claimed disability status. Oh. And Chronic Lyme does not actually exist, by the way (not to be confused with Lyme, which is very much treatable).
Before I ended that friendship, I had counted 16 chronic illnesses that she told me she was “suffering” from and had a gofundme up where she was collecting money from vulnerable and unsuspecting friends who hadn’t yet realized the truth. But from what I saw firsthand, she was suffering from nothing but toxic entitlement and a desperate need for attention.
These are the folk that make the lives of people like me who are genuinely chronically ill much harder. Getting disability benefits is harder as they assume everyone is lying and you have to jump through hoops to show you aren't, finding doctors who believe you is impossibly hard at times and it's exhausting.
A friend of mine had his sister completely lose her s**t at him for saying he doesn't plan on having kids.
Why did she freak out? Because she'd just had a baby. And in the 34 years they've been siblings, she never once asked her brother if he planned on procreating, until she was worried about whether her only child would have cousins.
But she was certain his decision MUST have been made right then when meeting his niece, and therefore he MUST hate his niece.
He's never wanted kids, it's pretty common knowledge in our friend group, but his sister just never thought to ask until she stood to benefit.
I got giving out to by a friend for only having one kid, myself and husband are selfish only having 1, This woman has 4 kids for 4 different dads and they are all in foster care 🤯
I guess not the worst case, but it's the most recent one that sticks out in my head. Wife and I had a late flight from LAX to ATL. Finally got in, exhausted, and had to go to baggage claim. Everyone is standing there, tired AF, waiting for their bag, when one guy just starts hooting and hollering about how he "snatched his bag right up off of there!". Like, dude was so proud that he....picked up his bag? He just kept yelling at the top of his lungs that he got his bag, while standing there holding it for all to see. Not a single person paid him any attention, but that didn't stop him from parading around for a solid 2 minutes before finally walking out of the door.
My ex-step family as a whole. They live their lives as a narrative and everyone else is a player in their lives. My dad was their bank account (weird cause we were totally middle class and no where near rich anything), step mom was the matriarch and if you didn't live to her high standards well then youre just not worth her spit. The step sisters, fully college bound, don't want to lift a finger to help anyone cause they don't want to take the risk of distraction from their individual life plans in the medical field. Fully supported by their mother of course.
Me, the POS that they compared themselves to any time they wanted to feel good about themselves cause I'm just a weird guy that listens to weird music with no potential or direction in his life.
Yeah I have a successful military career, about to be promoted, have a loving wife with 2 sons and about to buy our first house with no current debt to our names. And my weird music was metal, still am a huge metalhead
Your actions will drown out their "All Talk, No Shock" chit-chat. Keep up the awesomeness, OP. Your ex-step family will soon be drowning in the sea of their empty words soon enough.
In my bar fly days, I used to know this other regular named Mitchell. Mitchell was one of those guys who thought every female bartender or waitress wanted him. This dude was pushing 50, dorky as hell and severely balding but the 22 year old bartender definitely wanted him because she'd entertain his long winded rambling for ten seconds longer than anyone else. He was also one of those people desperate to prove how much smarter he was than everyone else. Eventually, one of the older female bartenders absolutely laid into him about this behavior and he vanished. I learned that he started going to some other bar nearby. I'm sure he continues to believe he's god's gift to women. Self confidence is great. Extreme self delusion, not so much.
I agree with you on that. I admire confidence (if you’re good at something say that you’re good at it) but I loathe arrogance, people who think they’re the best at everything. No one can be good at everything
My a*****e neighbor. He lives in a world in which the never-ending noise he makes is perfectly fine, but the tiniest squeak out of someone else is grounds for a violent temper-tantrum.
If the sun is up, he has to be making noise.
8:00 AM - Mow the grass.
9:00 AM - Get out the LOUD leaf blower to blow even the tiniest particle of grass off the sidewalks and driveway.
10:00 AM - Get out the pressure washer to wash the sidewalks, driveway, siding on his house, his boat, his cars, the dog, whatever he can find.
11:00 AM - Break for lunch, but play talk radio in his garage at maximum volume while he eats.
12:00 PM - Fiddle with the engine on his motorcycle, revving it every 30 seconds to make sure it "sounds right."
1:00 PM - Get into a screaming match with his wife on the front lawn.
2:00 PM - Fiddle with the motorcycle again.
3:00 PM - Get out the table saw and randomly cut a pile of lumber that he will never build anything with.
4:00 PM - Get out the chainsaw to cut up wood for his fire pit.
5:00 PM - Dinner time...with loud talk radio blasting in the background.
6:00 PM - Pressure wash the sidewalks...again.
7:00 PM - Get out the weed eater (trimmer) and mercilessly destroy even the slightest hint of a blade of grass that is too tall.
8:00 PM - Guess what? Leaf blower time again!
9:00 PM - Last shouting match with the wife, with talk radio playing, until the sun goes down.
9:05 PM - Go apeshit on a neighbor (me) for coming home and parking my car too loudly after dark. (Yes, this is a real thing he yelled at me for.)
Record all the noise he makes in the day, and play it back very loud at night so he gets pissed off with it, then tell him its his own noise hes pissed off with.
In my 20s I worked with a girl around my age. One night she called me crying, her bf had gotten up and left her to move back home and she said she really needed a shoulder to cry on. I went over and we talked for several hours and she said she really appreciated it.
About a month later I was dealing with some depression and texted her around 9pm telling her how I was feeling and that I could really use a friend to talk to. She messaged me the next morning stating I need to appreciate we are co-workers and not to text her after working hours.
Another reason why I'm pretty reluctant to view co-workers as anything more. Personally, I do work with some good people in the office but I am wary that going further will unearth a side I am not ready to see.
Old mayor of our 10k town rebuilt a corner of a road into a roundabout because he was tired of car lights shining on his property...
My BILs wife. This person will do anything to flip the script to make it all about her. You could be having a serious conversation and she would weasel her way into making it about her then she just won't. Stop. Talking.
I went to see my mother and other relatives for the first time since 2019. We had less than 24 hours before I had to leave again and had a lot of catching up to do. My bonus daughters boyfriend (that I met for the first time) made it all about him. My mother and I tried to talk about things that mattered to us and he'd insert himself no matter what. My heart surgery? All about him. My grandmother having a stroke? All about him. I love my bonus daughter and wish her all the best, but I hope I never have to deal with the boyfriend again.
My sister is absolutely this. She is the victim, blamed my parents for everything, probably still does. Talks about them paying for her life as "making up" for how they didn't turn over a house after they divorced to her and wouldn't fork over 6 digits for her to go to a private college.
She also throws fits when she's told no or no one cares to deal with her. She's 21.
My ex was a literal black hole. No matter how much you gave, she was always hungry for more. You could be drowning and she, your partner, is next to you in a lifeboat and she would say "survival of the fittest" and move on to her next prey
Had just started dating my now-wife and was going to a family get together for her uncles birthday. Uncle had divorced and was now dating someone who owned a pretty nice sit down restaurant, where the birthday dinner was being held. This is my first time meeting most of the fam so I didn’t know what to expect.
Get to the dinner and there are about 10 of us along with a number of other random families eating as well. Meal is really solid but I can tell from the conversations the uncle loves being the center of attention but it is his birthday so I figure everyone just goes with it.
Uncle’s gf is more or less a servant at this point as he is barking out orders to her wait staff and dominating every single story. Meal finishes and in walks a karaoke team (bunch of uncles friends) that set up right in the front of the restaurant.
He proceeds to put on a one man show for us and the other dining patrons for a half hour. He isn’t bad per se, but he certainly isn’t enjoyable to listen to for more than a minute or two. He then makes all of the family (including me) come on stage to sing his favorite song with him. The other diners looked soooo confused as their nice dinner was being interrupted by this 60 y/o manchild pretending to be a rockstar.
My son’s MIL. I feel so bad for my DiL. I love her dearly. And I really like her sister a lot. Lucky we don’t have to spend too much time with them. But the stories they tell me about her are so out there. And the things she comes up with. Every few months she is literally dying of something. When they were in high school their mom even told them she thought she had prostrate cancer. Yeah…her own daughters had to explain that one to her without laughing in her face. If I didn’t know her I wouldn’t have believed them. She’s on so many medications you could kill a horse. I truly believe her doctors give them to her just to shut her up.
Everything in her life is worse than everyone else’s. Yet on her social media page her life is perfect, except her illnesses and pains. Who brags about being sick and all their doctor appointments?!?! She does so she can say how she’s soldiering on through it all.
My ex-wife. A full-blown narcissist who constantly accused me of all kinds of s**t she ended up doing. Even after she left me for another man, she found out I was visiting my brother - a cancer survivor and we were at an event for leukemia patients and their bone marrow donors - and her first question about it was, “did you talk about ME???” Not to mention completely losing her s**t and having a racist meltdown when she found out I was dating again.
Oh an old friend of mine slowly built up this narrative where she lived with over 20 ghosts. A bunch of them came into the story when I'd hook up with someone in my early 20s, and a depressed ghost sex worker would show up and immediately see the family dynamic and leave their promiscuity behind to enjoy familial love. Basically, any time I interacted with someone other than her, I was being promiscuous.
Eventually she started telling people I was a sex addict and that they'd be harming my recovery by sleeping with me. She told me it was her job to parent me since my parents didn't do a good enough job (she was 4 months my senior). Probably the weirdest was when she pretended to be momentarily possessed by the spirit of God and touched me on my head to "heal" me of my wickedness.
She's a therapist who works with disabled kids now.
I wonder how many of those kids will need follow-up therapy. With another therapist.
When with my parents, my mum cannot bare it if a subject of conversation comes up that she can't input into. My dad and I read for example and I am telling him about a book I'm reading and my mum will just interrupt and be like "dad(his name) blah blah" and just completely change the subject whilst I'm mid sentence.
My ex called her out for it after she did it one time too many and she just pouts for half an hour and if you talk to her she is short. She doesn't apologise, she feels like a victim. It's so frustrating.
My mother narrates every single thing she does. All day, every day. She'll walk into whichever room I'm in, start talking to me while completely ignoring the fact that I've got my earphones in/watching something/very obviously working or even sat on the toilet with the door shut handling my business. I'll have to tell her I'm busy or walk out while she's talking. I've told her about this several times but she consistently ignores me. It's not even like she's telling me her fun plans for the day or week. That would've been more acceptable than this constant narration of the most mundane activities.
My ex friend went what I would call Ferris Bueller on me. Never keep their word, took advantage of every opportunity. Stole from me. Let themselves in to my job and abused the privileges of my workplace. Needed a place to stay so I was trying to help them out. I would catch them trying to sneak friends into my house through the back door during Covid. Always sneaking and taking taking taking and never responsible for their f**k ups. Delusional. I paid them to house sit once. We came home early and found a bunch of super wasted people in my house. They were having a brunch in my house, but it was like 4pm and nothing was made yet. They didn’t try close the party down, they finished the making food and left my place trashed. Husband tried helping the person giving them work, always a no show or several hours late. When the friendship had become unrepairable, I did a background check on the person. Theft, forgery, domestic assault, unpaid rent. I should have done that at the very beginning when I had a gut feeling this was going to end badly. Which it did. Edit to add the person is trying to be a life coach, so if you’re looking, I can set you up with a total psycho.
A former friend of mine and I say that as someone who used to work at a call center and retail/customer service for most of their working life. Dude would do so much mental gymnastics to justify committing fraud and to cheat and steal from other people on top of many other things that if it was an Olympic sport - he'd take home all 3 medals without technically competing.
Was just today at the gas station, there was about 10 of us in line and this lady walks in right to the front and asks for however much on her pump, this guy that was next loses his s**t and she just ignored him, payed, and walked back to her car
Mixture of main character syndrome, no social skills, and young and stupid.
At least there's hope for the young and stupid. We were all there once.
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I used to date a main character. He would tell the most ridiculous tall tales and would say things that were blatantly untrue. For example, he would tell everyone he was 6ft tall. Like, dude, we can literally *see* you're only 5' 10" 😅
Not all of these belong here; single incidents can happen to anyone, but people with Main Character Syndrome do make themselves the focus as often as possible, often reaching to absurdity to make it happen. It's not just about selfish behavior. For me, a subset of this are the people who absolutely insist on commenting on every single entry on a list, reaching for anything to add, either with the most obvious of "jokes"--as though the rest of us couldn't have made that connection on our own--or an observation that shows how clearly they didn't read the entry quite correctly.
My (ex) best friend faked having cancer. We started to catch on when her husband couldn't speak to what she had abd didn't seem concerned. She would also refuse to tell us when her treatments wete so that we could drive her and make sure she was safe. Always talked about how much she paid for things and would leave receipts lying out in the open (I'm opposite and brag about my thrift finds). She also started to single white female me, wearing the same outfit a couple of days after me, cutting her hair exactly like mine and flat out telling my husband that she wanted what I have.
Mixture of main character syndrome, no social skills, and young and stupid.
At least there's hope for the young and stupid. We were all there once.
Load More Replies... I used to date a main character. He would tell the most ridiculous tall tales and would say things that were blatantly untrue. For example, he would tell everyone he was 6ft tall. Like, dude, we can literally *see* you're only 5' 10" 😅
Not all of these belong here; single incidents can happen to anyone, but people with Main Character Syndrome do make themselves the focus as often as possible, often reaching to absurdity to make it happen. It's not just about selfish behavior. For me, a subset of this are the people who absolutely insist on commenting on every single entry on a list, reaching for anything to add, either with the most obvious of "jokes"--as though the rest of us couldn't have made that connection on our own--or an observation that shows how clearly they didn't read the entry quite correctly.
My (ex) best friend faked having cancer. We started to catch on when her husband couldn't speak to what she had abd didn't seem concerned. She would also refuse to tell us when her treatments wete so that we could drive her and make sure she was safe. Always talked about how much she paid for things and would leave receipts lying out in the open (I'm opposite and brag about my thrift finds). She also started to single white female me, wearing the same outfit a couple of days after me, cutting her hair exactly like mine and flat out telling my husband that she wanted what I have.
