Tigerscroll

30. THE NO NEIGHBOR ZONE

A while back, there was this wild drama over a shared fence between my family and our new neighbors in our HOA neighborhood. We had just moved in from an apartment and were super excited about our new backyard.

My dad went all out and got these rows of plants, spent like a thousand bucks, and had them professionally planted along the backyard fence. We loved that space, family gatherings, playing around, you name it.

Then one day, we stepped out to find our fence-high plants chopped and shredded, a real mess. Dad was FURIOUS. Those plants weren’t cheap. He stormed over to the neighbor’s, demanding an explanation. The neighbor simply said our plants were crossing his property line. So, Dad got them replanted, costing him another few hundred, but this time, he made sure they stayed well within our fences.

But, surprise surprise, one night, Dad caught the neighbor in the act again! That was it. He called the cops for destruction of property. After some heated discussions, they agreed to bring in a professional to mark the property line.

I remember the next day clearly as a day. Orange tape everywhere, showing that the neighbor’s fence was 11 inches into our space. The professional said their fence had to be taken down and moved 11 inches in. 

The whole thing blew up in the neighbor’s face when we got to re-plant our plants and enjoy a much larger yard area, while he had to cut down his property by area and also pay $10,000 as a fine.

29. ON THE ACCOUNT OF MY FATHER’S ASHES

My dad passed away on Father’s Day in 2012. Being his only child, I had to take care of all his affairs, pay all due bills, and also cancel his utilities account.

When I called the utility company to cancel, the lady on the phone asked for a copy of his official death certificate. I sent it in promptly, but the next month, we got another bill. When I called again, a new woman insisted on speaking with the account holder, despite me explaining that he had passed away and that they had a copy of his death certificate.

Frustrated, I made an appointment with a supervisor. Not only was I in mourning, I was furious at their customer service. I arrived at the board of public utilities with the original death certificate and along with it, my dad’s ashes in a clear plastic bag.

I asked for the same lady as the one on the phone, went over to her desk, and politely placed them on her desk, and I asked her to tell my dad’s remains I loved him when she spoke to them.

Her jaw? DROPPED! She called the cops, accusing me of assault. The police questioned me, and I explained the situation. I acknowledged it was extreme to bring human remains in public, but the lady on the phone insisted on speaking to my deceased dad in person. No actions were taken against me because there were no laws broken.

After this, the lady’s supervisor and the supervisor’s boss had a private discussion. They apologized over and over, and I calmly stated, “It was an extreme measure, but sometimes, extreme situations call for extreme actions.”

28. PRIDE AND PRANKS

I am 31 M, and gay, and work at a grocery store, where my boyfriend and I often cross paths as he shops for his groceries almost daily. Sometimes, he’d wave or say hi, but we kept our convos brief unless I was on break.

One day, my department manager, who was apparently clueless about my sexual orientation, noticed my boyfriend’s friendly gestures and asked about the guy waving and smiling at me. His reaction was, well, strange. Not necessarily a disgusted face, but it clearly hinted at his realization.

From then on, whenever my boyfriend visited, my manager watched him like a hawk. If my boyfriend waved, my manager would jump on me, accusing me of slacking off, even though I was just doing my job with a smile.

After a week of this scrutiny, my manager called me aside for a chat. He claimed my boyfriend was too distracting and shouldn’t shop there while I was working. He even threw the word “termination’ around, if things didn’t change.

I was infuriated and wanted to take serious action. But my boyfriend had a different plan in mind. So, instead of taking legal or corporate action, we decided to get creative and decided to prank him.

We got about 15 of our gay friends together. They all came into the store, dressed in the most ridiculously colorful clothes. Well, you could clearly tell these people were part of LGBTQ.

My manager tried to hide in the back, but every gay customer needed “the manager’s” assistance and they had the most hilarious questions. Like, will these carrots improve my vision? Or, do you have any left-handed scissors? I will never forget my manager’s face. HE WAS SO CONFUSED!

After that evening, you could clearly see a change in my manager’s behavior. Though he never really acknowledged it, he stopped berating me, and the work environment became more pleasant and inclusive.

Some may say that this was really unnecessary. It just goes to show that sometimes, a little creativity is all it takes to make a statement and bring a change.

27. A DANGEROUS DECISION

Okay, So I have been a mechanic my whole adult life. One day, a lady with the tallest heels and the pointiest nails came in complaining of a rattling noise in her car. I put the car on the lift and inspected it, only to find a nearly broken tie rod and a faulty rack and pinion. Her steering system and front wheel were on the verge of breaking. This car was just moments away from the wheels  being disconnected from the steering wheel!

I clearly explained the situation to her, but she insisted that I temporarily fix it somehow, because she was in a rush. I obviously denied the service because if her car were to be in a crash, I would be the one blamed for it. But she kept insisting, saying that I must do a rushed job. She had a meeting that she had to get to, so I suggested she take a cab and leave her car with me while I properly fixed it. 

But she then accused me of robbing her and overcharging her. I kept denying to just glue it back together, but then she started threatening me by saying she would get the cops involved. Knowing that I was right in this situation and hadn’t done anything wrong, I insisted that she go ahead and call the cops. 

A few minutes later, 2 young police officers showed up, they heard her side and my side of the story and quickly deemed that she was the one being unreasonable. 

They asked the lady if she understood the safety concern, she said yes and was let go, but not without signing a statement declining crucial safety repairs. I will never forget the smugness on her face with the most “hah told you” expression ever. 

Despite multiple warnings, the lady decided to rush to her meeting in her car, believing she could make it in time. However, as she sped down the road, the faulty tie rod finally gave way, causing her to lose control of the vehicle. Fortunately, she escaped with minor injuries, but her car was impounded, and she was fined for reckless driving. 

26. A SCOOP OF SURPRISE

Yesterday, I decided to treat my kids to dinner at an international chain restaurant. We were super excited, especially because the kid’s meal came with ice cream. The only thing is, you have to serve the ice cream yourself, at the ice cream station.

So I went to fill it up, three bowls—one tooty-fruity, one choco chip, and one cookie cream with sprinkles. But there were no bowls by the stand. So I asked the employee behind the counter for three kid’s meal ice cream bowls. 

Now this guy might’ve been new because he looked at the stack of bowls of different sizes behind him and gave me a look of confusion, as if I was supposed to know which size to give.

He asked me to wait a moment, and went to who seemed like the manager of the place. “Hey boss, what do we put the kids’ ice cream in?”

Without missing a beat, the boss replied, “A freaking bowl, what do you think?”

We chuckled nervously. “Yes, but what size?” the employee replied.

With a hint of impatience, the boss said, “JUST GIVE HIM A FRICKIN’ BOWL.”

The employee, clearly amused by the situation, handed me three of the largest bowls they had, grinning from ear to ear.

“Sorry about that, sir. I think these will do,” he said, practically giggling. 

My kids were thrilled with their oversized ice cream bowls, and we had a good laugh about it. As we were halfway through our ice creams, the manager walked by, and was kind of stunned at the three jumbo sized bowls at our table. 

He was clearly shocked and just stood by our table in disbelief for a second, probably realizing what had happened. The employee and I shared a glance, knowing what we knew. And I decided that I was definitely taking the kids back there again!

25. SHOWDOWN OF THE SEATS

A few years back, I found myself on a long flight from LA to Singapore. Now, I’m a tall guy, standing at about 6 ‘3, and let me tell you, squeezing into those economy seats is not a joke. 

On most flights, my knees are practically kissing the seat in front of me. Usually, it’s not a big deal, especially when the person in the front sees just how crammed I am.

But, oh boy, not this time. The guy in front of me was determined to recline his seat, even though my legs were in the way. He turned around and asked if I could move. I told him, “I wish I could, but my legs won’t budge. I’ll try to shift a bit, but don’t expect a whole lot of space.”

I shrugged and mouthed a sincere “sorry!”

He didn’t take it well. Instead of understanding, he decided to push back on his seat as hard as he could. I just found his behavior so childish, but he just could not recline all the way because I really was just that crammed up!

Frustrated, he called a flight attendant, demanding a new seat. The attendant,  without entertaining this irrational man, told him there were no available seats.

Still unsatisfied, the man demanded to speak to the pilot. The attendant said that it’s not possible for the pilots to get involved in such situations, but she will ask the chief of crew to handle this.

The chief came in asking the guy what was the issue, and after hearing him and also looking at my situation, asked, “Sir, would you like a seat in the business class?” It was initially unclear who the chief was talking to. “Finally”, the man in front of me said. But here’s the kicker: he wasn’t talking to the man; he was talking to me!

Walking past the fuming guy, I settled into my new business class seat, complete with free drinks. Safe to say, that drink tasted better with a side of karma served!

24. THE FINE, FINE PRINT

I work in an office where before every holiday season we have this crazy 8-week period where we’re swamped with work and have to put in 12-14 hour days. To make things a bit easier, the company reimburses us for dinner, up to $13 per meal. All we have to do is submit a claim with our receipts at the end of the busy season.

Now, the food options around my work aren’t the best, so most days, I brought my dinner from home. However, some days I just didn’t have the energy to bring a full home-cooked meal. So, during those 8 weeks, I ended up buying maybe 10 meals through the span of 8 weeks.

Here’s the kicker: three of those meals cost me $13.50 each, going 50 cents over the limit a total of three times. I thought, “No biggie, right?” My manager agreed and said I could include the overage on my expense claim. So, I did, and he even signed off on it.

Fast forward a few days after I submitted my report, and I got an email from the Head Office saying they rejected my claim because of that pesky $1.50 overage. They wanted me to resubmit the claim without it. I was baffled—I mean, my manager was okay with it, right?

I explained to them that my manager had signed off on it and had no issues. But they wouldn’t budge. Their email basically ended with a “read the company policy next time” note.

I took their advice to heart and dove right into the policy. If they wanna be petty, I wasn’t going to back down either. And get this, not only did the company policy state the $13 maximum for purchased meals, but it also mentioned a $10 per diem for meals brought from home. I never knew that I qualified for having my home cooked meals reimbursed!

You can imagine my delight when they removed the $1.50 overage and added an additional $300 for the 30 meals I brought from home.

Lesson learned: always, always read the fine print, folks!

23. CHANGE FOR A CHANGE

I work in a store where our policy of breaking large bills for customers has caused some unintended consequences. Despite the clear sign indicating our limited ability to break big bills, many customers still expect us to accommodate them.

When the corporation responded to our depleted tills by instructing us to carry more $20s and $10s, we decided to have a little fun with their request. Instead of stocking up on larger bills, we went to the bank and exchanged our money for an abundance of $5s and $1s.

The next time a customer came in with a $100 bill for a small purchase, we gave them their change in $5s, counting out each bill with exaggerated enthusiasm. It didn’t take long for them to realize that we were out of $20s and $10s due to customers paying with larger bills.

Some customers caught on quickly, while others needed a more direct explanation. But eventually, the message of our bill breaking limitations finally got through, and our situation improved. It was a small victory, but it made our days at the shop a little more entertaining.

22. THE TIME I QUITTED MY JOB

I quit my job… for about 15 minutes. Working for a medical transport company with Medicaid rules was like navigating a maze of regulations. One such rule stood out – assisting patients inside their homes was forbidden. INSIDE THEIR HOMES.

There was this elderly lady, her quaint home posed a challenge. A small foyer led to three steps up to the main floor.  She also had a back door entrance which consisted of two and a half flights of flimsy steps to a bedroom upstairs. Keep in mind, she was wheelchair-bound.

Logically, one would use the front door to avoid the hassle of going up many stairs. But Medicaid insisted on the back stairs, leaving her to navigate the rest.

Ignoring the policy, we headed for the front door entrance. An unexpected inspector caught us in the act. We told him how difficult it would be to go through the back, but he didn’t seem to care.  

However, I wasn’t going to back down on pleading my case. We unloaded the elderly lady onto the sidewalk, and I declared my resignation over the radio. I then happily escorted her in through the front door. Moments later, once we were done, I returned, within 15 minutes and requested my job back.

My boss, to his credit, understood why I did what I did. He took me back, noting the 15-minute gap in my employment records to stay compliant. It was a small victory, but it felt good to stand up for what I believed was right, even if just for a few minutes.

21. A BANKING BLUNDER

I used to manage a large national chain restaurant, and one day, I was asked to oversee a location in a city about an hour away. They put me up in a hotel, and everything seemed fine until the first weekend when I discovered a major problem.

The GM had forgotten to order any change (small bills/rolls of coins) for the safe, and to make matters worse, the local branch of our bank was closing soon. Knowing that time was tight, I quickly grabbed $800 and drove to the bank.

When I got there, I waited in line and then asked the teller to make change ($400 in $5 bills, $300 in $1 bills, and $100 in assorted rolled coins). To my surprise, she told me that the bank didn’t make any changes at all. I was taken aback but didn’t give up.

I went back to my car, grabbed my personal checkbook, and returned to the bank. This time, I told the teller that I wanted to close my account since the bank was no longer customer service-oriented. She seemed unimpressed but processed my request.

20. A DISPATCHED DILEMMA.

Oh man, let me tell you about the time I worked as a 911 dispatcher. I once got a call from a woman who was complaining about a black man just walking down the street. Can you believe it? She was upset just because he was black and walking down the street, doing nothing wrong.

Now, here’s the kicker. We had this policy that we had to dispatch an officer whenever someone requested it, no matter how ridiculous the reason. So, guess what I did? I sent the only black officer we had on duty to respond to the call. It was a bit out of his area, but I figured it was worth it.

When the officer arrived, the woman went absolutely nuts. She called again, screaming that there was now a black man knocking on her door. I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit when I told her, “Yes, this is the police officer you requested.”

But she wasn’t having it. She refused to open the door and was throwing a huge fit on the phone. And guess what? SHe just had to settle and take her complaint back. It was worth every minute of my time, just to sit back and watch the change of events.

19. THE COST OF BEING CHEAP

So, I am not exactly who you’d call a cheap person. I believe in appreciating the service of others, especially when it comes to tipping. But my company seemed to have a different opinion when they saw I tipped 20% for a $15 lunch.

They told me it was too much, but come on, I just took up a good chunk of my server’s time. Leaving $3 seemed fair to me.

It’s not like I’m breaking the bank here, especially since my company gives me $75 a day for food, which I never max out anyway. But you know what? That’s about to change.

Today, instead of my usual salad or sandwich, I went all out and got myself a lobster grilled cheese. And you bet I upgraded my fries to the duck fat ones. Let’s see them try to save that 5% on the rest of my meals while I’m on the road.

18. I GOT PROMOTED!!!

Let me tell you about the time I worked at a Subway with no managers, just a couple of us on minimum wage. This one customer was giving me grief over something—I can’t even remember what it was. She demanded to speak to the manager, and since there wasn’t one, I decided to promote myself on the spot.

With a straight face, I told her, “Manager speaking, how can I help you?” Well, that didn’t sit well with her. She realized she wasn’t going to get a different answer from me and asked for a phone number to call.

Now, the owner had warned us never to give out his cell number, so I gave her the store number instead. She had this smug look, thinking about the trouble she’d cause me. But as she smirked, the phone behind me started ringing.

I’ll never forget the look on her face as I picked up the phone, met her gaze, and asked, “How may I help you?” She didn’t say a word and just stormed out. It was a priceless moment.

17. A TEST OF RIDICULOUS RULES

So, I remember a few years ago, my dad was attending a several-day course to earn some additional qualifications for his job. The final day was going to be the ultimate test, a multiple-choice exam to be precise.

On test day, as everyone settled into place, the teacher laid down the law: “I will NOT tolerate any cheating. You all have ONE strike, but that’s IT! If I catch you a second time, you will be immediately expelled, and your score will be invalidated.”

The teacher’s old-school strictness, treating professionals like school kids, didn’t sit well with my dad. But he played along.

The test went smoothly for my dad until he reached the last question, which he wasn’t sure about. But hey, he had that free strike, right?

So, like a boss, he called out to the class, “What’s the answer to question 14?” Without missing a beat, a fellow participant yelled back the answer. My dad quickly filled in the last question, handed in his test, and calmly left the room.

Afterwards, the teacher approached my dad with a mix of surprise and begrudging respect. Perhaps he changed his policy or softened his approach, but the incident surely left a mark.

16. THE CALL CENTER CONUNDRUM

Alright, so I used to work at this call center for an electricity retailer, and let me tell you, it was something else. The place was highly unionized, but management had this crazy policy where they’d dock your pay by the minute if you were late. I mean, come on, a minute or two late and they’d start cutting into your paycheck! It was such a stingy move.

The union found out about this little trick and boy, were they mad. They demanded to see everyone’s log-on and log-off times, and that’s when things got interesting.

Turns out, most of us would stay back after our shifts to finish up calls and clear the queue. Sometimes we’d be stuck there for 15-20 minutes, but usually just a few minutes. And guess what? Management never factored that in.

The union made management recalculate everyone’s pay based on actual clock-on and clock-off times. They also reminded them about penalty rates for staying past the end of the shift. And get this! It turned out that pretty much everyone had spent more time wrapping up calls than they had been late clocking on.

So, in the end, each of us got paid for those lost wages, at overtime rates no less. It cost the company a fortune, and let me tell you, they never docked anyone’s pay for being late again.

15. FI-HIRED? SERIOUSLY?

A few years back, I was in a job that felt like a dead end, with a boss who rarely appreciated the hard work we put in. One morning, I arrived a little late, thinking it wasn’t a big deal since I had worked late the night before. Like late late at night.

As I collected my tasks for the day, I couldn’t help but let out a big “UGHH”. It was going to be another long, long day, I thought to myself. My boss, seizing the opportunity, scolded and started yelling at me in front of my colleagues, for being late and complaining about the work, announcing that I was fired. I found his behavior super unprofessional and petty.

Instead of pleading for my job, I decided to call his bluff. I handed in my work materials and walked out, confident I could find another job in no time.

However, my boss quickly realized he didn’t have anyone else who could do what I did, especially with the current labor market challenges. He called me back, claiming he had meant to say I was “FiHired” rather than fired. It was the most ridiculous excuse EVER! But well, at least I still had my job along with a $2/hour raise, proving that sometimes standing up for yourself can lead to unexpected rewards.

14. TWO SCOOPS TOO MUCH.

Last summer, I landed this awesome gig selling ice cream on my hometown beach. It was the best job ever. People were cool, I got to soak up some sun, and hey, I even got paid! Plus, the best part? We could snack on the ice cream during our breaks.

One day, this dad and his kid came up to my stand. Dad orders a cone with two scoops for himself and one scoop for the kid. But the kid, he’s not having it. He wants two scoops too.

Dad tries to explain that the scoops are huge and one is enough. I jump in, trying to help out, even offering to make the scoop extra big. But nope, kid’s not having it. He starts throwing a fit, almost crying, demanding two scoops.

Dad, probably not wanting to deal with a meltdown, gives in and says fine, the kid can have two scoops. But then he lays down the law: if the kid can’t finish the ice cream, no TV for the rest of the vacation.

Now, I’m not one to pass up a chance to teach a lesson. I scoop up one of the biggest scoops I’ve ever scooped, plop it on the cone. The kid’s eyes go wide. I scoop up an even bigger scoop, add it to the first one.

I hand over this towering ice cream cone, and you can see the kid realizing he’s in trouble. Dad, surprisingly chill about the whole thing, even gives me a tip, which hardly ever happens.

All in all, it was a pretty good day at the beach.

13. LOOKING A BIT ASHEN THERE.

A few years back, my buddy Talon found himself in a peculiar situation involving his late father’s ashes. See, Talon’s dad had passed away about five years ago, and they had him cremated, so Talon had his father’s urn at home.

Now, there was this teacher, Mr. McJerk (not his real name, but it fits), who for some reason was upset with Talon. Maybe Talon forgot to turn in an assignment or something trivial like that. But Mr. McJerk, being the stubborn person he was, demanded to meet Talon’s father.

Despite Talon’s attempts to explain that his father had passed away, Mr. McJerk wouldn’t believe him.

So, the next day, Talon decided to prove his point. He brought his dad’s urn to school and, with a mix of frustration and humor, placed it right on Mr. McJerk’s desk. “You wanted to meet my dad,” Talon said, “so here he is.”

12. TIRED OF THE DRAMA. 

I work as an emergency dispatcher and 911 operator, and one night, a call came in about a pickup truck parked at a tire store, and there was a mysterious man loading tires into the back. Deputies responded, confirming a theft, and asked me to call the owner to see if he wanted to file a report.

When I called, the owner was clearly annoyed at being woken up at 1:30 in the morning. But after I explained the situation, his tone softened, and he seemed grateful. However, as soon as I mentioned who I was, he snapped, “YOU DON’T CALL ME AT THIS TIME OF THE MORNING!” and hung up. It was clear he didn’t care much about the theft after all.

I informed the deputies, who were surprised by his reaction. A few days later, I learned that the owner had filed a report for the stolen tires but complained that we should have contacted him when the theft occurred.

The complaint made its way to my supervisor, who forwarded the notes and a recording of the 45-second phone call back up the chain. To sum it up for you, the owner was basically told where he could shove his complaint. 

11. FEELING ICY, ARE WE?

A few years ago, my dad, one of the three partners in a medium-sized company, attended a drinking party with his team. It wasn’t an official company event, but more of a casual get-together. The bar was serving appetizers, and when my dad requested it without ice (he just can’t stand ice diluting his drink), the landlord behind the bar insisted that ice was mandatory.

Despite his dislike for ice, my dad accepted the drink, removed the ice, and placed it on the drain rack under the beer taps. The owner of the bar, unhappy with this, ordered my dad to leave.

My dad, somewhat expecting this reaction, asked the owner to repeat himself. Once again, he was told to leave. Without making a fuss, my dad said, “Alright,” and began to exit.

To everyone’s surprise, his entire team began to follow him out. The owner, taken aback, protested, saying they didn’t all have to leave, only my dad had to.

One of my dad’s colleagues spoke up, saying, “Sorry, mate. He’s the big boss. Where he goes, we all go.”

So, they left and went to another bar. They had made a reservation at the first bar, but they hadn’t put down a deposit or purchased any drinks yet. Since the aperitifs were complimentary, the landlord didn’t even earn anything from their visit.

It was a small act of solidarity, but it spoke volumes about the respect and loyalty my dad’s team had for him.

10. THE LAVATORY LIMBO

Let me give you a bit of background before we jump in – I’ve been studying abroad in India for the last two weeks. Just a day before I flew out, I must’ve eaten something that didn’t sit well with me because I got hit with the infamous “Delhi Belly.”

Now, I’m the type who likes to plan ahead, so I made sure to book aisle seats for all my flights, knowing full well I’d probably be making multiple trips to the bathroom.

As I made my way to my seat, I noticed that an older woman had taken it for herself. I pointed at the number above, but instead of moving to her middle seat, she got up and motioned for me to sit in it.

At that moment, I thought about explaining my situation, but I decided to just let my actions do the talking instead.

As soon as the seat belt sign went off after takeoff, I got up to make my first visit to the restroom. She had actually fallen asleep at this point, so I had to gently wake her up so she could move (she wasn’t too thrilled about it).

Twenty minutes later, I had to go again.

After a total of four trips to the restroom, and with still 1.5 hours to go before landing, she was starting to get visibly irritated. Finally, after my fifth and final defecation, she offered to swap seats.

To top it all off, I didn’t even need to get up again until we landed.

9. TIME FOR A PIZZA!

Okay, so I am a pizza delivery boy and I am good at what I do, so while most customers are pleasant, there are a few who just love to test me..

This one time, a customer specified 5:30 PM as the delivery time. I left the store at 5:20 PM, but unexpected traffic delayed me, and I arrived at 5:34 PM.

The customer exploded with anger, insisting that if she ordered for a specific time, it must arrive exactly then, not a minute sooner or later. No tip, of course.

The next week, she ordered again for 5:30 PM. This time, with extra help, I managed to get the order out earlier and even took a break to eat. I delivered her food precisely at 5:30 PM, but she didn’t acknowledge me, too engrossed in her phone. No tip, yet again.

This routine continued, and I began to savor the brief moments of peace while eating, despite the lack of tips. One day, feeling mischievous, I decided to park right outside her driveway and enjoy my lunch before ringing the doorbell at exactly 5:30 PM.

When she opened the door, she screamed- “HAVE YOU BEEN OUT THERE WITH MY PIZZA ALL THIS WHILE?” Oh so she noticed. I calmly explained that since she wanted her order at 5:30, I didn’t want to bring it too early. Surprise surprise, no tip, but the satisfaction was sooo worth it.

8. THE TWO-HOUR WINDOW

Years ago, I worked as a furniture delivery driver. My helper and I had a fantastic working relationship, but our warehouse manager was a bit of a stickler for the rules, always serious and seemingly allergic to fun.

He introduced a new policy called the “Two Hour Window” for deliveries, where he would schedule our route and call customers to let them know when we’d arrive, giving them a two-hour timeframe.

The first day of this new policy, we were so efficient that we often arrived earlier than expected. I started calling ahead to ask if we could come early, and customers loved it. But instead of praise, we were reprimanded by our boss for breaking the rules by coming early.

Despite this, we kept up our hard work and efficiency. When we finished deliveries early, we’d take a break for an hour or two. Living in New Jersey, there was always something to do, so we visited arcades, museums, and even the beach. And since we were technically on the clock, it was all paid time.

We didn’t want to get in trouble for breaking the rules, but sometimes, you just have to bend them a little to keep things running smoothly.

7. LOST IN LINGUISTICS

So, I remember the time when my roommate’s sister, let’s call her Sarah, had some interesting rules about language. She was what you might call a stickler for religious purity, and she didn’t allow her kids to say common phrases like “oh my God,” “oh my gosh/goodness,” “awesome,” “good,” or “great.”

According to her, only God could be described in such “holy” terms.

Now I thought, why not have some fun with this? One day, my roommate and I went to Sarah’s house to drop off something, and I made it my mission to use the most elaborate and obscure words I could think of for the most ordinary things.

Instead of saying “good,” I’d say “venerated.” Instead of “great,” I’d say “sublime.” And instead of “awesome,” I’d say “sacrosanct.” You get the idea.

And well, let’s just say it was a bit awkward. Sarah would give me these half-smiles, clearly trying to be polite but also clearly having no idea what I was talking about. Can’t wait to visit Sarah again!

6. CAN I GET YOUR DIGITS?

So, I remember the time when my employer decided to go digital with our records, transitioning from paper-based files. It was a massive project, and there were three immediate problems staring us in the face. First, our company didn’t want a generic system; they wanted a custom, unique one.

Second, it had to be done cost-effectively, with net savings from Year 1. And lastly, the guy leading the charge (let’s call him Genius) always thought he was the smartest person in the room, even though, trust me, he wasn’t.

One of my colleagues took on the project with one condition: she wanted the next July off for her wedding and honeymoon. She was putting in the hard work, and the project was actually moving forward. Part of her job was managing passwords, which couldn’t be written down anywhere because, according to Genius, it was ‘bad practice.’ She kept reminding Genius about her upcoming wedding, but he kept assuring her it would be fine, without ever signing off the paperwork.

Fast forward to mid-May, and the project was way behind schedule. This was mainly because Genius had convinced management that it could all be done in-house at minimal cost. But he kept changing the design every time he came across a new article on IT.

Then, just six weeks before her wedding, my friend was told that her leave was canceled. The project took priority, and she was expected to reschedule her wedding and honeymoon. Genius couldn’t comprehend why this might be an issue. So, she continued doing her job, updating passwords as required, never recording them anywhere as per the rules… and on the last day of June, she resigned without notice.

While she was on her honeymoon, she received a frantic call from Genius demanding all the passwords. “Sorry, I don’t work there anymore,” she calmly replied before hanging up.

And that’s why, even a decade later, our company still has a few hundred electronic case files we can’t access.

5. WHO’S GOT A FOUR PACK NOW?

Working the cash register doesn’t usually offer many chances for malicious compliance but well, here’s one!

So I remember this one day, a customer approached the counter and casually tossed a round battery onto the surface. “Hey! Do you guys sell this battery?” I checked the size and confirmed that we indeed stocked exactly 2032 batteries of the same kind.

“Great, can you grab one for me?” I headed over to the battery display, picked one out, and returned to the register.

Just as I was about to step back, the customer chimed in: “Actually, I need four of those!”

I went back to the display, but this time, instead of grabbing a four-pack, I picked out three more single batteries. Returning to the counter, I placed all four singles in front of the customer. Although the total cost was about double what a four-pack would have been, you can’t really put a price on saving ten extra steps during a shopping trip.

4. TECHNICAL TANTRUM

So, there’s a bit of drama unfolding at home. My younger brother was helping Dad with his computer, but like always, things got heated, and my brother decided he’d had enough and stormed off. Dad, feeling a bit spiteful, told him to turn off everything in his room. 

Fair enough, I guess, if he won’t fix Dad’s computer, he can’t use his own. 

But here’s the twist—Dad forgot that the router is in my brother’s room. It’s been a good ten minutes, and Dad’s still in the study, probably wondering why his laptop isn’t connecting to the internet. My brother? Well…

3. BATHROOM BATTLES

I’m back home for spring break, and on a Saturday night, after we finished watching a movie, I turned on the shower, ready to relax, when suddenly it sounded like the KGB was about to storm the bathroom door.

Expecting my dad to burst in for some reason, I opened the door, only to find my teenage sister screaming at me, demanding to use the bathroom.

Surprised, I stepped out, letting her use it, and I could still hear her rant on and on about it. “Ugh, great to be back home!” I grunted to myself.

She came out and continued yelling about how I should have informed her before taking a shower, then stormed into her room and slammed the door shut.

Ignoring her, I took my shower and went to bed around 1 am, keeping my college sleep schedule. The next night, as I was getting ready for bed around midnight, I remembered her high school routine and decided to give her a taste of her own medicine.

Before showering, I knocked on her door and loudly announced that I would be taking a shower. The look of annoyance on her face was priceless, but she got the message loud and clear.

2. CHEST HAIR CHRONICLES

So my tyrant of a boss has since been fired, which adds a satisfying twist to this tale. During his tenure, he was the epitome of a Grade-A jerk.

His favorite pastime? Reminding everyone who was boss. He’d assign absurd tasks and shut down any questions by asserting his dominance. Threats of termination for the slightest hint of “disobedience” were his go-to.

One day, he called a meeting about the dress code, alleging some employees weren’t tucking in their shirts. Feeling secure with my neatly tucked shirt, polished shoes, and well-gelled hair, I thought I was in the clear.

Boy was I wrong!

Approaching me, he waved the dress code, pointing out my light gray undershirt, apparently a violation of the rule mandating white or navy blue undershirts.

I was incredulous. Upon checking the rulebook myself, I discovered that if an undershirt was worn, it must be white or blue. The key word: “if.”

The following day, I arrived without an undershirt, with the top two buttons of my shirt undone. And, by the way, I’m a rather hairy guy. I fluffed up my chest hair, channeling serious Italian mobster vibes.

During the meeting, I positioned myself directly across from him, leaning forward strategically. He appeared visibly uneasy, and later, I observed him frantically scouring the rulebook.

He must not have found anything, because the matter was never mentioned again.

1. A FIVE STAR REVIEW

I was in the process of purchasing a car from a small used car dealership. The dealer and I had agreed on a price and a meeting day. However, on the morning of our scheduled meeting, the dealer sold the car without informing me, no courtesy call or text.

Disappointed by this experience, I left an honest review about my terrible experience with the dealership. A few days later, I received a call from the dealer, threatening me with a lawsuit, claiming my review was slanderous. He went on to mention that others who had left one-star reviews were sued for slander and had to pay court fees and remove their reviews.

He proposed that if I edited my review, all would be well, and he wouldn’t take legal action against me.

Sure!

So, I compiled and edited my review, adding a note that he had threatened me over the phone with a lawsuit because of my negative review, and that my review was entirely truthful based on my experiences.

And just to spite him more, immediately after editing the review, I texted him, saying, “Hey, I’ve edited the review as you requested. I hope there are no hard feelings.” Ironically, it seemed he hadn’t read my edit before responding with, “Thanks, man. I appreciate it. No hard feelings!”

44 STORIES OF PEOPLE WHOSE FAMILIES HAVE BEEN RUINED BY DNA TEST WEBSITES

44. Girl Next Door

My best friend and I met when we were little kids and she just happened to be my next door  neighbor. This meant that we were inseparable and we experienced all of life’s big moments together: our first kiss, prom, and graduating high school.

Even though kids would sometimes tease us for being so close we didn’t care. We supported each other through thick and thin always making sure to attend each other’s sports games and activities. 

One weekend after graduation we hooked up accidentally and ended up starting a relationship. Both of us were staying in the area for college so it was perfect we could continue to see each other. 

A couple of years later we decided to try a DNA test since we’d never done one before. We would’ve never guessed what was coming next. She was my half-sister on my dad’s side. Turns out her mom and my dad had an affair back in the day and she had gotten pregnant. 

Now both our parents are in the midst of nasty divorces and things between us haven’t been the same since. 

43. The Day After Thanksgiving

Who doesn’t love Black Friday? It means the holidays are here and there are always amazing deals. I was looking to get a new blender when I stumbled upon an ad for Ancestry.com

I had never done a test like this before so I decided to purchase one. My mom had died over a decade ago and my dad passed during the beginning of the pandemic. With no other siblings I was interested in seeing if I had any other family out there. 

I was shocked when I received the test results. Someone in a neighboring state was my biological father. I wasn’t sure what I should do. But after a few days I decided I wanted to contact him.

What should I say? Would he even want to know me? All these questions raced through my head. I ended up calling him and found out that he was my mom’s boyfriend before she had met my father. I had no idea and my biological father had no idea that his then girlfriend had gotten pregnant. I wonder what type of conversations are going on in heaven! 

42. My Life Was Ruined

My older brother and I got DNA tests from his girlfriend as a Christmas gift. I had never done one before so I was super excited. My mom was skeptical and she said that she doesn’t believe in all that science mumbo jumbo. 

I wish I had listened to my mom and just threw it out. Those test results messed everything up. A few months later my brother said to take the test and see if we have any relatives. He even said we may be related to someone famous. 

After a few weeks we got the results. My brother told me to come over to his place and that it was very urgent. It turns out we were half-brothers. Our mother was the same but we had different fathers.

I was in utter disbelief.

After I took a few moments to process we called our mother to get to the bottom of things. She told us that my father was a longtime family friend who she had an affair with. He passed a few years ago.

The father who raised me from birth has no idea I’m not his and I don’t think I can ever tell him. He’s been through so much since having his stroke that I’m not sure how he would handle it.

I can’t even look at my mother anymore. The thought of what she did makes me sick. I now only go over to the house to see my dad when mom is at work. That DNA test destroyed my relationship with my mom. 

41. My Scummy Father-In-Law

DNA tests have been all the rage lately so my wife decided to take one. She got a match that didn’t make sense to either of us. She reached out and found that she has a long-lost brother that she never knew about. 

Her father had cheated on her mother when my wife was only a child and had an illegitimate son.

This honestly wasn’t super surprising since my wife’s parents ended up getting a divorce because her father was cheating. Turns out he was a serial cheater. My wife actually has reached out to her half brother to see if they can form a relationship. 

Since her parents have been divorced for decades there hasn’t been any weirdness or awkward moments. In fact, we’re actually having him over for Thanksgiving dinner this year. Since my wife didn’t have any siblings it is really nice for her to have found him. 

40. Deep Dark Secrets

I recently discovered that I had a half-brother that I knew nothing about. Turns out my dad who has been dead for 15 years had a son when he was 19 that he never knew about. Out of the blue someone reached out on Facebook claiming he was my half brother. 

Although I was skeptical at first, after he showed me the results of the DNA test I knew he was telling the truth. Even though he’s 40 and I’m only 20 we’ve still managed to form a good relationship. 

After I found out about my half-brother my mom decided to do a DNA test as well. She found out that her father (my grandfather) was not actually her biological father. This has been a tough pill to swallow as my grandfather passed away a few years ago and she can’t talk to him about it.

She decided that she still wanted to try and see if her biological father is around and has reached out to his family for more information.

My grandma on the other hand is absolutely embarrassed. I now know why she had always told my mom that DNA tests were a scam and unreliable. She didn’t want her dirty little secret. You know what they say the truth always comes to the light. 

39. Not So Merry Christmas

My brother and his wife are a family of 5 with three teenage kids. They decided it would be fun to try out 23 and Me. The results were supposed to come around Christmas. Normally the kids would rush down to the tree to open their presents but today one of them decided to check their email for the results. 

They were completely shocked to find out that their older sister only was a match on their mom’s side. 

It was revealed that my sister-in-law had an affair with another man during her engagement to my brother. I never knew why she had canceled the wedding in order to elope. It finally made sense. She knew she was pregnant and didn’t want to be pregnant as she walked down the aisle. 

Instead of a merry Christmas my nieces and nephews don’t even want to speak to their mother. My brother also decided to file for a divorce. Christmas will never ever be the same. 

38. Is that my uncle or aunt?

My dad decided to do an Ancestry.com test for fun. He didn’t expect anything weird and just wanted to try it because all his friends were doing it. He decided to check the box that allowed “close matches” to reach out to him but didn’t expect anything to happen. 

A couple days later he gets a message from some lady who lives across the country and said that they were cousins.

She also told my dad that three of her siblings didn’t have the same DNA results as her. Unfortunately, her parents had passed away so there was no way for more to get any clarity on the situation. 

They kept in touch via email and eventually discovered that they were actually born in the exact same city. Then she sent my dad a photo and he showed it to me. I said, “Is that Uncle Ralph?”. My dad replied “No, that’s your aunt”. I burst out laughing. She looked exactly like Uncle Ralph but with a wig.

37. In The Future 

I grew up in the same neighborhood as my uncle on my dad’s side. We each had four kids in the family and all were about the same age. It was awesome to have our cousins so close. We played and hung out together all the time. 

Eventually, both my parents and my uncle and his wife ended up getting divorced. However, what was really strange is that my dad and my uncle just mysteriously stopped talking to each other out of the blue. 

We (the cousins) all stayed in contact and still made plans together from time to time. One random day we decided to just do the 23 and Me test just for fun. The results came back and everything seemed to make sense. 

I told my dad about it and he was surprised. He said, “Johnnie’s test results showed that he is your first cousin.” I said “Yeah why wouldn’t he be dad”. 

Turns out his brother had accused him of sleeping with his wife and that’s why they stopped speaking and everyone got a divorce. If only they had just done a DNA test earlier all of this could’ve been avoided. 

36. Divorced Cousin

I seemingly have the perfect life. I’ve been married to my amazing wife for over two decades and have two incredible daughters who are excelling in college. We decided to research our family ancestry and what we found left my wife bewildered. 

It turns out that we are sixth cousins and even have a common grandparent. My wife freaked out and immediately ran to the bathroom and started throwing up. She was inconsolable.

She didn’t even want to look at me or talk to me. She packed a bag and said she’s going to stay with her sister for a while. 

I told her that we should go to therapy and work through this but she refuses to listen to me. I tried to reassure that being sixth cousins doesn’t matter because the degree of separation is so large. 

Even though we’ve had an amazing marriage and family life up to this point I don’t think things will ever go back to normal. I wish we had never done that stupid DNA test. 

35. Truth Potion 

One night at 2AM my dad calls me crying hysterically telling me that there was important news that he had to share, and my brother and I should come to the house right now. Even though it was the middle of the night, my brother and I drove over as we’d never heard our dad so panicked. 

He had done an Ancestry.com test and found out that my brother and I weren’t his biological children. We sat there stunned. How could this be? My parents had divorced a while back and neither had remarried. 

This made it clear that my mother had to have been cheating on my father when they were married. 

After taking some time to process the magnitude of the situation, my brother and I decided to confront our mom. She initially denied everything saying that the test results must be bogus and the company must’ve made a mistake. 

We called the company and they ran the test again and assured us that if there was a mistake they would’ve caught it the second time around. This confirmed that there was no mistake.

With this newfound evidence our mom finally broke down and confessed that she had been sleeping with her boss all those years ago. She said she thought our dad was the biological father but she’d always been too scared and embarrassed to check.

While we don’t know if we can ever forgive our mom we still love our dad and don’t have any interest seeking out our biological father. 

34. The Hospital Did It

A couple years back one of my friends found out that the parents who had raised him from birth weren’t actually his biological parents. The family did a DNA test and they were all shocked when they got the results. 

His parents had wanted to see who their ancestors were and possibly even find some distant relatives. He was enraged that his parents never told him he was adopted. The more shocking thing was that his parents didn’t know he was adopted. 

They said that there had to be a mix up because he was their biological son. 

His parents were going to get to the bottom of this. They thought the company must’ve mixed up the test results. However, after checking with the company the test results were 100% accurate. 

When he was born there was a massive mix up at the hospital and they ended up taking him home instead of their biological son who was raised by someone else. This news was heartbreaking and shocking to all parties involved. 

In a surprising twist, the two families got together and eventually formed a good relationship. They also made sure to sue the hospital for every penny they were worth. 

33. I Don’t Believe It

My mother’s adopted coworker decided to do a DNA test to find more of her blood family. She ended up finding 4 siblings and one who was a 100% match. She reached out to her siblings to learn more but wasn’t able to piece together all the details. 

The sibling who was a full match passed on her biological parents info to my mom’s coworker so she could reach out and learn why they put her up for adoption. However, her biological parents claimed that she wasn’t theirs. 

However, her biological father finally admitted that she was theirs but they were super young at the time and not ready to raise a child. 

They decided to put her up for adoption in order to give her a better life. It was easier for us to pretend like it never happened. So after the day we gave you up we just decided to move on and live our lives. 

However, while her biological father is accepting and acknowledges her, her biological mother is adamant that this stranger isn’t her daughter. Due to a psychotic break earlier in her life there is little hope that she will ever accept or acknowledge her has her biological daughter. 

32. Who’s Your Daddy?

Two of my cousins decided to try Ancestry.com to learn more about their family and found out that their fathers were different. On top of this neither of them were a match to the father who raised them.

Both my cousins are older with one being in their 40s and the other in their 50s. Their whole lives they had thought they were half Italian.

The DNA test results were eye opening. My cousin in her 40s was half European & Cuban while my cousin in her 50s was West European, British, and Irish.

They decided to confront their mother (my aunt) and this is when things got messy. The father who had raised them had been away fighting the war in Vietnam during the 1960s. During this time my aunt had two affairs with two different men.

This initially caused shockwaves throughout the entire family, but after a while things went back to normal. I felt like I was on an episode of Jerry Springer. Also, in case I forgot to tell you, my uncle and aunt have a 3rd daughter as well. So all 3 of my cousins have 3 different fathers. Talk about wild stuff. 

31. No One Would Listen

When my aunt was 18 (she’s in her 60s now) she said she was assaulted by her uncle and that he got her pregnant. No one in the family believed her and after she made her declaration she felt totally isolated. She decided to move away and cut off all contact with the rest of the family. 

She is my mom’s half-sister as they share the same father but have different mothers and therefore doesn’t share any blood with my maternal grandmother’s side of the family. 

My aunt decided to keep the baby and ended up having a daughter. When she was old enough she decided to take a DNA test to learn more about her extended family.

You can probably guess what happened next. She’s related to my grandmother who had also happened to take a DNA test. 

All these years later my aunt was finally validated. She had been telling the truth all along. Her uncle did actually assault her and get her pregnant. The proof was in the pudding. 

30. 13 Kids!

I grew up with three other siblings and thought I had a big family. Boy was I wrong! Turns out that I had twelve other siblings. That makes thirteen of us in total. All of them are related to me through my father.

My dad even named four of them with his exact name even though two of those that he named are girls. 

Through further discovery I found that many of the siblings are close to my three siblings and I in age so there must’ve been a lot of affairs behind the scenes.

There was also a daughter he had who was even older than my mom. This was absolute madness. 

I wanted to meet all of them and eventually I did. Some of them even grew in different countries which means they had completely different upbringings and even sometimes spoke completely different languages. 

Some things were the same though. For instance, we had similar laughs, mannerisms and the same taste in food too. Even though my dad is a horrible person for cheating on my mom it was nice to meet other people out in the world who shared the same DNA as me. 

29. Can You Keep A Secret

My grandmother who is nearly 80 recently got some extremely shocking news. The father who raised her from birth was not her biological father.

Her mother had an affair with the family’s physician and never told a single person. 

The family doctor was not only her biological father but he also delivered her and all her other siblings. 

Through more thorough investigation it was found that he had gotten many of his patients pregnant. My grandmother found out that she had a number of half brothers and sisters all of whom she had no idea about until just recently. This came as a surprise to her and many of her newfound siblings. 

Man my great grandmother sure could keep a secret. 

28. You’ve Got Some Explaining To Do 

My husband recently discovered that his dad wasn’t biological father. The test he took showed that there was no DNA overlap between him and his dad. His mother had always presented herself as a devout Catholic who followed and abided by the principles in the bible.

Because of this the news was shocking to say the least. My husband called his mom a hypocrite and because of that their relationship will never be the same. His biological father tried to reach out to him but my husband wants nothing to do with him. 

We also found out that my husband’s mother still talks to the man she had an affair with over 40 years ago. My husband is so fed up that he has severely limited his contact with his mother. 

He doesn’t have the heart to tell the father who raised him about what he found out. He still continues to love his father and their relationship remains strong to this day. 

27. Bad Omen

DNA tests have become so popular recently because people want to find out who they’re descended from. I hope my kids never get the itch to take one of these tests. 

I’ve been hiding a big secret and I don’t want anyone to find out. One of my sons is not my biological son. His father assaulted many women before he died and his mother is one of the victims of his abuse. 

For over 10 years we’ve successfully hidden this secret. However, anytime I see a commercial for Ancestry.com I begin to get emotional and start to cry a little. 

This is especially pronounced around the holidays where I see ads about families taking DNA tests around Christmas and sharing the results with one another. Even though we’re not a DNA match, he’s my son and I am his father. It’s as simple as that.

I treat him just like his sibling and I love them both equally. I would take a bullet for him in a heartbeat. I’m so afraid of losing our relationship if he ever finds out the truth. 

26. She Gets Around 

Recently my mom took a DNA test and found out who her actual biological father is. My grandmother had been married and divorced so many times that her children didn’t know who their actual father was.

She did this in order to force the kids to be dependent on her since none of them had a father figure in her life. Yes, my grandmother is quite manipulative. 

My grandmother had gotten around back then. Even the men who she claimed were the father of her children said that she was sleeping with so many men that how would she know who the real fathers were. 

My whole life I thought my grandfather was my biological grandfather. After my mom’s DNA test my mom found some cousins who shed some light on the situation. With new evidence she confronted her mother (my grandmother) about the whole situation. 

My biological grandfather had actually passed away 10 years ago. Sadly, neither I nor my mother will ever get a chance to meet him. He actually helped make special effects widespread throughout Hollywood.

Seems like a really cool guy. I now understand where I got my love for films and movies.

25.  LinkedIn

My father knew from an early age that his dad was not his actual biological father but never wanted to find out any details.

Later in life he decided that he was finally ready to learn more about the possibility of having other family members. He tried a 23 & Me test about five years ago and found that has over 40 half-siblings. 

His biological father was a urologist who was doing research on artificial insemination in the 1950s and many women were impregnated through this method. Most of those children had no idea their dad wasn’t their biological father.

It definitely shocked many of his half-siblings when they eventually got the news. 

Now all 40 of them stay in touch and have even had a couple of family reunions. They use a Facebook group so they can still communicate even though people are busy with their separate lives.

Each one of these siblings has the exact same jawline and all are extremely successful in their given professions. Lawyers, engineers, doctors you name it and this group of half-siblings has it. 

The job that I currently have was actually found through a referral from my new half aunt. While most people use LinkedIn to find a job I had better success with 23 & Me. 

24. German Background 

My friend’s mother recently told her that she thinks her dad is not her biological father. Her mother was in the military and slept with a man in Germany during the 1990s when she was posted overseas. A month later she had come home and slept with her father. 

It was unclear who her biological father was since the timelines were so close. She decided to get an ancestry kit to get to the bottom of things. The results shook her to her core. Her father was not her biological father. 

She decided that she wanted to find her biological father even though it was against her mother’s wishes. Her mother wants to keep everything under wraps so her father won’t find out as that could ruin the marriage and the family. 

Her younger siblings also don’t want her to find her biological father because they fear it could tear apart the family. However, she’s determined to find her father because she’s curious to see if she has any other siblings or relatives out there. 

23. Was There An Affair 

I recently received some life changing news. My dad was not my biological father. My dad died a couple of months ago and it really got me thinking about family and how important it was. I decided to take a DNA test to learn more about the possibilities of other relatives.

I found out from my mom that my dad knew he wasn’t my biological father and he never wanted me to find out. I never got the chance to tell him that I wouldn’t have cared and that he would forever and always be my dad. 

My mother told me she doesn’t even know the name of my biological father since it was a one night stand that occurred 30+ years ago. 

A month after the one night stand she met my dad. I am conflicted about what I should do next. 23 & Me says i have three close family connections all from my father’s side. 

I wonder if I should check the box and allow them to contact me. 

22. No Going Back

I wanted to try 23 & Me to learn more about how I descended from, not to find any long lost relatives or anything like that. I already knew that the father who raised me wasn’t my biological father since I was a teenager. 

I always thought I was adopted because I bore no resemblance to anyone in the family. My mother is full Irish and my dad is Caucasian but I look ambiguous.

Dark skin and hair with green eyes I was an outlier in the family. I learned the truth from my mom when I was a teenager but when I got the report back it said I was mostly of European descent. 

It showed I had some cousins but I didn’t have interest in contacting them so I didn’t bother. One day I got a message that I had a new close connection: a half-sister. 

I was curious and wanted to know more so I decided to message her. I didn’t tell anyone else that I had reached out as I eagerly awaited a reply.

She never replied to me and it made me kind of sad, but I figured that it may have shook up her family life if she decided to reply to me. Once you pull back the curtain things are never the same. 

A second cousin appeared a few months later and she was labeled as a first cousin of my half-sister which was puzzling. How could she be my second cousin and my half-sister’s first cousin?

She (my second cousin) reached out because she thought I may be able to answer her questions but I told her that I have no information for her. I let her know that I reached out to my half-sister but she never replied.

She had also reached out to her first cousin and they communicated for a little while until I was mentioned. As soon as I was brought up she stopped talking to her. 

I soon was able to piece together that the three of us had a connection. We all were connected through my half-sister’s maternal bloodline. Since I knew my mother was my biological mother I thought how was this possible. 

I had a sudden realization. My half-sister was actually my aunt. She was my biological father’s sister. Since we shared 25% of our DNA it was possible that she was my aunt. 

I reached out to her again and told her that I thought she may be my aunt. I told her about my birthday, where I was born and that if she had a brother that he would be my biological father.

She replied to me in a jiffy. My paternal grandfather had passed away a few years ago and when she saw the half-sibling connection she thought her father had a child that had been a secret all these years.

I’m much younger than her and her siblings. She told me she didn’t reply to me because she knew that it would hurt her mother and her siblings. 

I understood the position she was in. However, she surprised me when she said that maybe it’s time I meet the rest of the family. 

That next weekend I met the rest of my half-siblings and their mother. All of them were super warm and supportive which is something I didn’t expect.

It turns out my father had carried a picture of me in his wallet that he took with him everywhere and even started a college fund for me that he was never able to give me since he passed so suddenly. Maybe he did actually care about me. 

It was incredible to meet people who actually looked like me. I also looked just like my paternal grandmother which we all found astounding. 

The 23AndMe kit changed my life for the better and I can’t be more grateful. 

21. Heartless

My aunt’s blood type is AB+ which is only present in about 4% of the population. She’s super proud of her unique blood type and the fact that she is a universal recipient.

However, my grandparents have the blood types B and O which makes it impossible for her to be blood type AB+ if they are both her biological grandparents.

She was their caretaker later in their lives all the way up until the point of their deaths. Since she was so close with them and had a special bond, I just can’t tell her and shatter her world. I do really wonder about who her actual parents are. Could she be adopted? 

20. Support Through Tough Times

Roughly two years ago one of co-worker’s husbands bought her a 23AndMe kit as a birthday gift. Unfortunately, he died a few weeks later in a tragic car accident.

A couple of weeks later she got her results back and found that she had two other daughters with a woman who wasn’t her mom. 

She was in shock and if circumstances were normal she may not have reached out. But because she had just recently lost her husband she was feeling lonely and vulnerable and decided to reach out.

Not only did her two half-sisters respond but they ended up becoming quite close which helped get her through the difficult ordeal of losing her husband. They should really be in a 23AndMe commercial. 

19. Hit By Trauma 

Mine and my girlfriend’s life have just been absolutely rocked. A few hours ago we just got the results of a shocking DNA test. To give you some background information, my girlfriend (I’ll just call her Jenna) and I have been dating for almost a year and a half and our relationship has been absolutely amazing.

We both grew up in the same hometown but we never met until we were in college when a mutual friend of ours introduced us to each other. Last Thanksgiving Jenna decided to stay at my house for the holidays. 

I had also decided to not go home to see my family for the holidays in order to spend more time with Jenna. My roommates had left to spend time with their families so we would have the whole house to ourselves. 

There was a Black Friday special on 23AndMe kits and Jenna decided to buy one for each of us. We also both happened to have been conceived through IVF via donors. 

We both had fathers who were infertile so our parents had no choice but to do IVF via donors. We were looking to find out who our biological fathers were as we wanted to see where we came from. After a few weeks had passed it was finally time to check our results. 

Jenna and I decide to go through our results together and we open our laptops excited to learn more about our biological fathers. Everything seemed totally normal as we checked our ancestry and health reports. I was 7% Native American which was super cool. 

Everything was fine until we moved to the DNA relatives portion. Jenna squeezes my arm and says “Hopefully we find our biological fathers”. I open mine up and I see Jenna 35% DNA shared, half-sister.

I did a double take and checked again and the last name matched Jenna. I was flabbergasted. Jenna doesn’t believe me and tells me to cut it out and to stop joking.

I sit there frozen. I’m absolutely silent. I stare at my screen not wanting to believe what’s in front of me. I grab her laptop and check her DNA relatives section. I see my name there as a 35% DNA shared, half-brother. 

Then it finally hits me. I’ve been making out with my half-sister. I’m now in a state of shock and am on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. Why did this have to happen to us? Our relationship is surely ruined. 

It must be that our mothers were fertilized by the same seed. Growing up in the same town maybe it shouldn’t be such a huge shock. We are from a small town and there were only a few fertility doctors.

I looked over at Sarah and she looked completely disgusted. I was practically speechless and just sat there stunned in silence.

Even though I loved Jenna the realization hit me that our whole relationship was incest. I couldn’t shake the thought of it. Both of us feel horrible. We then promptly broke up and haven’t really talked since. I really thought she was going to be my soulmate. 

18. Seed Spreading

One day out of the blue my wife’s sister was reached out to by someone via Facebook who claimed that they shared a father. Funnily enough she had reached out to her on Mother’s Day. We started to comb through her Facebook profile to gather more details. 

They truly did look like they were sisters. We found out that my wife’s father had been donating his seed to BYU. He’s a Mormon and a huge supporter of the university and wanted to have his seed spread by the university. 

His wife just found that he’d been doing this. He has been donating for over 20+ years and has fathered a number of other children who are half-siblings to my wife and wife’s sister. 

All this time he hasn’t been a present father or husband and my wife’s family could never figure out why. He had been spending all his free time with his “other children” while completely ignoring his actual children and wife. I’m not surprised as this guy was always a creep. 

17. A Terrible Nightmare

I decided to take my sister out to dinner because I had to find out the truth. The results were in and I knew that something had gone on with a relative of ours and I needed to know the truth immediately because her daughter was going to find out soon. 

I manage my niece’s 23AndMe account and she has been constantly hounding me for updates since it has been nearly 2 months since she’s sent her saliva sample in. 

The results that came in made my jaw drop. It turns out my brother is the biological father of my niece. This is weird because I don’t even have a brother that I know of. 

I confronted my parents and they told me that when they were teenagers they had given up a son for adoption since they were too young to care for him properly.

When he had turned 21 he had looked up and found my parents and came to our house to look for them. My parents weren’t home but my sister was. 

My sister recognized him as they both went to the same college. He was a little nervous so he didn’t tell her why he had stopped by the house. He took my sister’s number and left. 

Shortly after he asked her out on a date. My sister accepted and they went on a couple of dates but things quickly fizzled out. However, shortly after they stopped dating my sister had gotten pregnant. 

She called him to tell him the news and he was mortified. He sent her some money to stop the pregnancy and never reached out to her again. 

My sister just recently found out her biological brother had tricked her and felt absolutely disgusted. My parents don’t know about the situation and I don’t know if my sister is going to tell them.

We finally decided to tell them together. The fact that their son is the father of their daughter’s child will rock the family to its core. This is certain to be an absolute nightmare. I hope my niece is going to be ok. 

16. The Truth Always Comes To The Light

My aunt had a child when she was a teenager and gave up the baby for adoption as she was too young to take care of her soon. Fast forward twenty years and my aunt and her son have gotten in touch and reconnected. She even told him about who his biological father is. 

After he met his biological father they decided to have a DNA test run in order to compare their family history and lineage. They found out that he wasn’t really the father. They didn’t share any DNA in common. 

There was a lot of commotion in my family because my aunt’s son felt deceived and hurt. He was building a relationship with someone he thought was his biological father but it turned out to be just a random guy.

The worst part is that my aunt is refusing to talk about the subject at all. She won’t tell him why she lied about his father and why he can’t know his real identity. I feel really bad because I don’t know if he’ll ever get closure.

15. Side Family 

My grandma’s father abandoned her mother when her youngest brother was only 3 years old. He just picked up one day and left his wife and his four children alone in their home in Ontario, Canada.

All that was known is that he was heading west. Other than that we had no idea where he was going. My grandma is now 90 years old and she decided to take a DNA test about a year ago. 

She found out her father ended up marrying someone new in British Columbia after he had headed west. He hadn’t even divorced her mother which meant that the wedding was technically illegal.

On top of this it turns out that he had four children with her. This piece of scum had left his family and went clear across the country to start another one. 

He had named one of his new sons Gordon which is coincidentally the same name as my grandma’s brother. I guess he must’ve liked the name if he gave it to two different sons who were in two different families.

I just hope he treats the new Gordon better than he did the original. 

14. Alive and Kicking

My mom just recently found out that her biological father was alive and well living in Minnesota. This was obviously very surprising as my mom had spent her fifty years on Earth believing that grandpa was her biological father.

My grandmother is saying that the tests are fraudulent and you shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet. We told grandma that DNA testing is very reliable and is used extensively by governments and organizations throughout the world.

A couple of weeks go by and we decide to go to Minnesota so we can meet him. Turns out he’s a super nice guy who never got married or had any children. The year I was born just happened to be the year I retired.

He also was a pilot which funnily enough is exactly the line of work that I am in. He’s so thrilled to find out he has a daughter. He has mentioned that it’s lonely in his old age without any wife, kids or grandkids to keep him company. 

I’m so glad my mom took the plunge and decided to find other members of our family.  

13. Grandma Did What

I felt very pleased with myself when I decided to buy my mother-in-law’s side of the family a 23andMe kit. I thought it would be nice for them to learn more about their family heritage and ancestry.

We ended up learning that my wife’s grandmother had an affair which meant that my wife’s mother’s biological father was not the father who raised her.  

Christmas dinner is going to be absolutely crazy this year. What I thought would be a nice gesture may end up ripping apart a family. Maybe we should all just stop buying 23andMe kits. 

12. A Nasty Surprise

This is one of the most interesting 23AndMe stories I had ever heard. I met this guy and he told me found out he was adopted after he took a DNA test a few years ago.

He was shocked when he found out that he had 10 half-siblings from his dad’s side scattered all across the country.

He reached out to them to learn more and the news couldn’t have been worse. They told him that their biological father is a serial criminal who was wanted in a number of states and was still on the loose.

He was absolutely horrified and decided this was a secret he wasn’t too keen on sharing with anyone. 

11. Mom or Sister

I went my whole life without knowing that my grandparents had adopted me. There was never any reason to think that I wasn’t their kid. I looked at old photographs of my mom (my actual grandmother) and we looked exactly alike.

I never in a million years would’ve guessed that she wasn’t my grandmother. 

One day while sitting in my college dorm my friends and I thought it would be cool to order DNA kits and try them out. The results left me floored. My older sister was not my older sister but instead my biological mother.

She had gotten pregnant at 14 and wasn’t going to be able to take care of me. My grandparents wanted her and me to have a normal life so they adopted me and decided to raise me as their own. 

10. A Shocking Twist

I had always known I was adopted. My birth mother was really young and wouldn’t be able to provide a safe and loving home for me so she put me up for adoption when I was born. One thing she never told them was who my birth father was. 

I love my parents wholeheartedly and couldn’t have asked for a better life, but I still wanted to see where I came from.

Maybe it would’ve been better if I wasn’t so curious. You’re never going to guess who my biological father was, it was my adopted dad. He had cheated on my adoptive mom with my biological mom and then decided to adopt me because they (adoptive mom and him) were having trouble getting pregnant. 

I don’t know if my mom will ever forgive my dad.

9. Grandpa The Sinner 

I have a friend whose grandfather is holier than thou and is a strict and devout Christian. The news I learned about him was so unexpected that I nearly spat out my drink. He had four children outside of his marriage with three different neighbors. Neither I or my friend could believe it.

The youngest child’s mother was only 17 years old and this occurred the year grandpa died which would make him 78. Everyone was totally blindsided.

There may even be more kids out there that we don’t know about. Unfortunately, with grandpa’s untimely passing we may never about the rest of our family. 

8. Seed Donors

Our family recently found that two of our family members have been seed donors for some time. One of them has a whopping 40+ children. He is currently unmarried and has had his most recent relationship end because his girlfriend found out and didn’t feel comfortable marrying someone who had that many children.

What really upset her is that he continued to donate even after he wasn’t a broke college student. She couldn’t wrap her head around why he continued to donate even after he got older. 

The other family member only has one donor child. He’s married and has a family. Even though his wife was unhappy when she found out it was over 30 years ago and he only had one child.  

7. Closed Doors 

One of my wife’s cousins is adopted. Recently he was able to not only find his biological parents but also multiple siblings who were a 100% DNA match with him. He was an only child so the only thing he longed for was to find family and especially siblings. He was super excited to reach out and connect with them.

However, he didn’t get the response he was expecting. They told him not to contact them and they wanted nothing to do with him.

He discovered that he was born shortly after his biological parents divorced and because no one wanted him (including his siblings) he was put up for adoption. He’s absolutely heartbroken as he had always wished for a big family with tons of brothers and sisters.

He’s slowly processing things and realizing that blood doesn’t make someone your family. This makes me happy as we all love him very much and want him to realize that we’re his family.  

6. Made For TV

I was adopted and always wanted to learn about the rest of my family. Through AncestryDNA I was able to find my biological brother. Not only did we go to the same college but we also did the same minor and major. In addition, we had a lot of other similarities. 

I also met my birth mother and birth father and many of my other relatives. The local TV news network got wind of our story and decided to run a story on us. 

AncestryDNA heard about this and decided to send us on an all expenses paid trip to Benin, Africa in order to meet the rest of the extended family. 

When we met my birth father’s extended family my grandfather decided to buy everyone in the family a DNA test kit. My brother’s wife took the test and she found out that her dad wasn’t her biological dad. 

Her mom confessed to her that she had a one night stand in Paris on vacation and had told no one about it. Everyone’s feelings have been hurt by the revelation but they’re looking to go to therapy to work through it because they want to keep the family together. 

5. Surprising Name Change

My family and I had always believed that our last name had come from Ellis Island. The real story is that my great grandfather changed his name when he married my great grandmother because he wanted to cover up the fact that he left his other wife and his eight children. 

This means that my grandfather has just discovered that he has eight half-siblings and we’re just finding this out now. It’s been over 80 years since my great grandfather’s deception and many of his initial 8 children have passed away.

However, it is cool to learn about all the new cousins I now have. Turns out one of them lives about an hour away and we’re going to meet up to have lunch soon. 

4. Lots of Donations

My aunt’s husband was unable to have kids because he had undergone a cancer treatment in his younger days that left him infertile. When they decided to start a family they had agreed upon using a seed donor in order to get my aunt pregnant. The same donor was used for both of my cousins. Let’s call them D & C.

My cousin D and I both decided to use 23AndMe to see if we had any other long lost family out there. When looking at D’s results I showed up as a first or second cousin which made total sense. 

But we also found that there were some people labeled as “first cousins or closer”. This meant that these people were more closely related to her than even I was. 

This meant that they may have even been siblings. 

D decided that she wanted to learn more. She initially thought that she may have a few half-siblings out there. She did not expect to find that she had hundreds of half-siblings!

The donor that her mother used was extremely popular in the 1990s and the donor company proceeded to use that donor to impregnate hundreds of women. 

There are so many siblings that there is even a Facebook group that has been created for this donor’s children. Some of the siblings even have meetups from time to time. They eventually found their biological father. Turns out he lives in Switzerland with a family of his own. 

3. Away In Korea

While my grandfather was deployed for the Korean War my grandmother had an affair back home in the states. Since my grandfather was deployed for multiple years, my grandmother was able to have the baby girl and put her up for adoption before my grandfather had even returned from the war. 

After he came back they wound up having five sons together. 

None of them were aware that they had an older sister. One of my dad’s cousins matched with my newly found aunt on Ancestry.com. We found out that she only lives about an hour away.

Since then she has begun to visit to get to know her brothers better. Unfortunately, her biological mother (my grandmother) passed away a few years ago and they’ll never have the opportunity to meet. 

2. Building New Bonds 

My father abandoned my mother and I when I was little and I have absolutely no relationship with him. I recently took the 23AndMe test to see if I had any other family out there. It turns out that the father who had left us wasn’t my biological father.

Fast forward a year and I get a message from a close connection on 23AndMe. A sister on my dad’s side had reached out to me.

Through her I was able to learn about my brother and my biological dad. I’ve met them a couple of times and we are starting to form a relationship.

They’re actually coming over in a couple of hours to meet my wife and daughter. They’ve never met my father so I’m super excited for them to meet. 

23AndMe absolutely changed my life. I already had a wonderful family but it has helped me connect with people I never would’ve met.

1. Just for Funsies

My best friend since birth went his whole life believing that he was ¾ white and ¼ Japanese. A couple of years ago he decided to take a DNA test to see if he was at risk for any hereditary diseases. 

The results said he is 0% Japanese and a whopping 47% Native American. His mother is a chemistry professor who had actually cheated on his dad with her old lab partner.

Her lab partner moved back to the US (we live in England) before she could ever tell him that she was pregnant with their child.

This caused his parents to get a divorce all these years later. He no longer speaks to his mother but is still close with the father who raised him. None of his Japanese relatives on his dad’s side know. 

His paternal great grandmother would always remark how much he looked like his father when he was young. Keeping the secret away from them was always a challenge. 

He eventually found his biological father in the states who hasn’t had any other children and has since married another man. With no other kids he was super excited to find out he had a son. 

My friend has also learned much more about his Native American roots and has become an official member of the tribe.

He also goes out to the states and spends summer with them. I’ve been watching this saga unfold from the sidelines and it has been crazy to say the least.