Forrest Gump was right, life really is like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re going to get. Most often, it’s a mixed bag: there’s a lot of bad with the good and good with the bad. However, some days are pretty one-sided.
One day might be full of optimism, sunshine, and enough motivation to move mountains. Another day might be full to the brim with exhausting challenges while you’re losing your faith in humanity, desperately trying to hold the tears back. It’s those days that leave us thoroughly defeated and sad to the core, disappointed not just in ourselves but in others as well.
The r/sadcringe subreddit is an online community of nearly 1.2 million members that has been documenting some of the most awkward and embarrassing situations since 2013. We’ve collected their best recent posts to share with you, Pandas. But keep in mind—some are so awkward and cringey, they might just throw your day out of whack.
Meanwhile, read on for We’s interview with Psychologist and Wellbeing Consultant Lee Chambers about accepting and embracing flaws, and why not running away from our vulnerabilities makes people respect us more. When you’re done with this article, you might want to take a peek at our earlier posts about r/sadcringe here: Part 1 and Part 2.
#1 Somebody Hurt Her….
#2 I Salute This Cringe
#3 That Feeling Is Contagious
Psychologist Lee, the Founder of Essentialise Workplace Wellbeing and PhenomGames, told We that it’s important to accept that people—from ourselves and our friends to complete strangers—are not perfect. In fact, they’re far from perfect. However, our flaws make us who we are as individuals.
“As humans, we are a wonderfully unique mix that is personal to each one of us. It can always be difficult to find peace with our flaws,” he told us.
#4 It’s My Wedding, I’m Missing My Wedding
#5 How Pathetic Is That?
#6 I Cooked Dinner For My GF Last Night And Thought I Did A Good Job
“Whether they [the flaws] be physical, mental, intellectual, or social, many of us will at some point in our childhood been bullied or singled out for our differences,” Lee said that people’s vulnerabilities can mean that others make fun of them. Being different is hard.
#7 I Was Not In His Story
#8 Instagram Questions Aren’t Anonymous
#9 Incels Online Are Cringe. In Person? Even Worse
#10 Maybe Don’t Do This
#11 Say You’re Insecure Without Saying You’re Insecure
#12 Can You Guess Who The Fourth Boy Is
“It can be easy to ignore them [the flaws], and pretend they don’t exist, but the real power comes in accepting them, embracing them, and realizing that some flaws we can change, and others might not be flexible,” Lee told us.
#13 Savage
#14 Oof
#15 We Live In A Society
Having a growth mindset is very rewarding and can lead to a higher quality of life. The psychologist told We that we have to draw our attention to the areas where “we will have developed in other ways and have amazing strengths as a result” despite our other flaws.
#16 No One Came To His Party
#17 Is This How Jesus Was Born?
#18 F**k Boi
According to the mental health expert, what really helps in our journey through life is to realize that nothing and nobody is ever perfect. Nobody is immune to embarrassment. Nobody has avoided sadness. And absolutely nobody hasn’t ever made a fool of themselves in some awkward way. They’re all part and parcel of being human.
#19 If You Can’t Convince Him, Surely Everyone Else Can! /S
#20 Realization
#21 Sheesh
Instead of shying away from our mistakes, embracing them is the healthy way to react. By acknowledging our vulnerabilities, we become stronger and more resilient. We also become more respected by our peers.
#22 Fs In The Chat
#23 Someone Tell Me This Is Fake Please
#24 The Balls On This Guy
“The beauty is that sharing our flaws helps us to become more human and connect with others, as we all have weaknesses, and being vulnerable and open will have others seeing you as authentic, honest, and courageous,” Lee said that there are definite upsides to honesty.
#25 Text I Got From My Friend After We Already Called And Talked The Previous Night
#26 When You Have Run Out Of Attention And Need Others To Acknowledge Things That Didn’t Happen
#27 At Least I Asked
“The process of taking ownership of your flaws is powerful as it also makes us more accepting of the flaws of others and less worried about fitting in. For as long as we don’t embrace our flaws, we will be running from them and be more judgemental of others, less tolerant of differences, and more controlling,” he said.
#28 One Way Friendship
#29 Betty (Bet He) Regrets Telling Her That
#30 Well That One Hurt
Earlier, one of the moderators running the r/sadcringe subreddit, u/Niceboihappy, told We that their community has been growing bigger and stronger since the start of the pandemic.
According to the moderator, it’s best to own up to any embarrassment or mistakes if things don’t go your way. “I would say be confident, but not too confident. And, especially, for an unexpected response, it is probably best to just own it and make light of it,” they said.
#31 Anon’s Rejection
#32 Everytime I See This It Makes Me Cringe. I Present, A Poster At An Anime Convention
#33 Huh???
#34 This Poor Guy’s Got Some Big Issues
#35 Why Was This Necessary?
#36 Oof
#37 Jeez
#38 Ick
#39 When Being Antivaxx Is Your Only Hope
#40 Self Report: Spent About $200 On Food, Drink And Decorations For My 30th Birthday Party. Nobody Showed Up (Either Ghosted, Cancelled Last Minute, Or Couldn’t Come Until Late)
#41 Controlling “Wifey”
#42 Nft Bro
#43 My Friend Who Ive Known For Around A Month
#44 I Am Now “Ethnic Ted Bundy”
#45 Do Not Talk To His Girl
#46 Up There With Hitler And Club Penguin
#47 No One Showed Up To The Speeding Dating Event
#48 He Bought Tinder Gold To Improve His Chances But Still
#49 Sounds Like A Good Deal
#50 Cucked Jpeg Owner
#51 Sorry Robert
#52 Oof
#53 Caption Was “My Wife Made Donuts”
#54 Millennial Birthday Card…
#55 I Felt That One, Ouch
#56 This Is Sad
#57 Saw This Posted On Snapchat
#58 Homie Just Kept Going
#59 Ohh
#60 Jane Is At The Zoo
#61 This Is Something Else, Poor Guy Didn’t Knew The Most Basic Steam Feature
#62 It’s Kinda Sad Honestly
#63 He’ll Never Show His Face In That Place Again
#64 Girl Pretends To Be A Hospital To Get Her Man Back
#65 How Rude…
#66 He Really Be Educating Women Damn
#67 Poor Dad
#68 I Literally Uploaded An Image Of Myself To Imgur For A Computer Science Project
#69 My Girlfriend And My Best Guy Friend Going On A Trip Alone For 3 Weeks (I Was Not Invited)
#70 F
#71 Why Would You Say This
#72 Just Go To The Prom, Dude
#73 Travis Scott All But Begging To Play Coachella
#74 Must’ve Wanted A Different Game
#75 A Short Story
#76 Society
#77 My Crush Just Sent Me This A Day After I Confessed To Them
#78 When I Tried To Breakup With My Ex, He Sent Me A Picture Of Myself Eating Steak
#79 Found This Tell Me If It’s A Repost
#80 Posting This
#81 In A Prison Too…
#82 Fake Neckbeard Story To Make Him And Others Look Good
#83 Poor Guy 🙁
#84 Did Ian Mean Anything To You?
#85 Sad Cause People Died , Cringe Because Of The Lack Of Basic Sympathy And Respect
#86 It Was Me. I Did The Sad Cringe
#87 Hello Darkness…
#88 Poor Guy
#89 Early Facebook Is A Goldmine
#90 Sent Out A Drunk Text To My Project Peer Last Night And Just Found Out Whatsapp Won’t Let You Delete Messages Older Than An Hour
#91 Pls No
#92 Guy Acts Like A Pig On Facebook Dating. Gets Posted On Reddit. Gets Defensive About The Comments Calling Him Out
#93 Huh, Life Is S**t
#94 Why Is It Their First Thought Is To Post About It
#95 I Really Hope This Is Not Real
#96 My Friend Suggested To His Bro To Find A Hobby And Cut Back On Just Smoking A Ton Of Weed All Day Everyday
#97 Got A Text From Her After The Date… It Was Accidental. Disclaimer: I Didn’t Actually Just Talk About Drugs Smh
#98 I Hope She’s Ok
#99 Couldn’t Bear To Complete Even Half The Video
#100 Be Careful Giving Out Your Number In Public!
#101 Why Would You Go Out Like That, Sent To My Friend
#102 On Post Abt Losing Virginity.
#103 Sad
#104 Fantasising About A Cute Girl You Saw In A Queue And Larping About It Online
#105 Like Did She Mean To Send Me That?
#106 Advice For The Unobtainable
#107 Cringeman, Equipped With The Power To Disappoint His Children
#108 What I Got When I Asked A Coworker If He Could Take My Closing Shift
#109 Not All Pictures Are Mean To Be Online
#110 👀
#111 Twitter
#112 Could Be Fake, But Fits Well Here Anyway
#113 Poor Kid…
#114 Yiii I I K E S S Ss S S
#115 Movie Date Ended With Her Getting Back Together With Her Ex
#116 Has A Child, Jumped To A Subreddit
#117 🚩🚩🚩
#118 “Relationship”
#119 I’m On Tinder After 3 Years
#120 Jesus Christ
