He’s Got His Priorities Straight
“I was fresh out of prison. I was released early on parole which meant I had a curfew of 10 pm every single night unless I was at work. The parole officer would come to my house. He was allowed to show up whenever he wanted and had the power to search my house or anyone I was with at any time.
I also got tested randomly for illegal substances and the DMV had suspended my license for five years so I had no ability to drive either.
Needless to say, I didn’t get out much, and any woman I talked to in their early 20’s (which is how old I was at the time) was the most beautiful woman on earth.
About seven months after I got out, I went to the local St Patrick’s Day Parade in my city – a huge event – and met some friends I hadn’t seen in years. Afterward, everyone went barhopping. I tagged along and I ordered Redbull and a glass of ice at the bar and fit right in.
Amazingly, I hit it off with this girl and we were tearing up on the dance floor. She and her friend were finally ready to leave, but that was when I realized I had a problem.
It was almost 8 pm.
They lived about 40 minutes north of the city, so that would mean there would be no way for me to get home in time to make my curfew if I went home with them. When I told her ‘No,’ she lost it, and started begging me to hook up with her. I explained my situation as best I could, but that didn’t make it any easier.
In the end, I passed up a chance to hook up when it had been years and years but didn’t want to risk going back to jail for not being home if my parole officer happened to show up at 10:04 pm to see if I was there.”
Doing The Right Thing
“A super hot woman came to my birthday party. We were making out for most of the night. She tries to lead me to the bedroom for a good time. But she was so blasted she could barely walk.
I wasn’t doing anything with someone this wasted, no matter how smoking hot she was.
I picked her up, took her to the bedroom and put her in the bed. I told her I would be back in a minute and I needed to do something. I came back five minutes later to check on her and she was out cold. She thanked me in the morning for not taking advantage of her.
I wish more guys would do the same thing.”
Not The Job For Him
“I was offered a job with double my salary doing something interesting that would have been good on my CV but I knew the company wasn’t a nice environment. The only reason the department that I’d be working for would be tolerable was that the head of it worked hard to shield his people from the company’s general horrible environment and incompetence. I decided not to go for it.
Six months to a year later, he resigned when a new managing director took over (the wife of the old one, who is the founder and owner) and made it even worse. Basically, everyone else from the department resigned soon afterward because as soon as he left, they were left having to deal with the company’s incompetent management. The company depends on them to operate at a profit but, has very little understanding of how important what they do has become. The rest of the company started to have increasing difficulty. They hired three replacements for the head of the department in three months and they all left within two weeks of starting. Apparently over half of the positions in the company are unfilled and it is circling the drain. I expect it to go under before the end of the financial year.”
Honesty Is The Best Policy
“I was perhaps 15 or 16 when this happened. At my first job, I got a paycheck that the bank fudged a decimal on. It was a ton more than I should have been paid. I totally could have cashed it and it would have been the bank’s fault.
It wasn’t even anything to do with my work, but I gave it back to my boss and waited to get another one. On the plus side, I received a substantial raise a couple of months later with one of the reasons cited being my honesty.”
Who Will She Choose?
“I was head over heels in love with a girl for two years in high school (junior/senior years). She had a boyfriend who was a bit rude and she finally left him in senior year.
Her best friend (a guy) grew up across the street from her. The two of them were extremely close. We were hanging out, having a fantastic time, and she asked me if she should consider him.
I could have said that’d be silly and it would ruin their friendship. I could have swooped right in since there were strong feelings between us. But I decided to do the right thing. I told her she should go for it. They were just too perfect together. They’re married now with two children.
Possibly the most unselfish thing I’ve ever done.”
Every Man’s Dream, His Nightmare
“I walked away from two beautiful women in another city (while traveling for work) who wanted to have a threesome. I was engaged at the time, but there was practically zero chance I would have been caught. No regrets, but whew it was not easy.”
The Best Choice Possible
“I saw two full bags of smack outside my apartment about 4 or 5 months after getting clean.
I kept walking. That’s not who I am anymore.”
He Probably Should Have Said Yes
“I was trapped in a somewhat intimacy free marriage (maybe twice a month… the awful, ‘Are you done yet?’ type). I was a young, good-looking guy. No kids.
I went on a trip to Vegas with the boys. We went to an exotic dance club. I hit it off with a dancer. She does all the usual ‘I’m flirting with you to take as much money as I can from you’ stuff.
I keep cool and say no… she dances anyway. She buys me drinks. I get dances and drinks for free all night. At the end of the night, she says that if I wait for her, she can go change and come back to my hotel with me.
I say no. ‘I’m sorry…I can’t.’
‘It’s free,’ she said, ‘Because I really like you.’
I refused again and went back to the hotel.
‘Are you out of your mind?!’ my friends said. Sorry, guys. I couldn’t live with myself. I’m married. I love my wife.
Fast forward 10 years and my wife is caught having an affair. Probably not her first.”
Not What You Want To See On The Jumbotron
“I refused a marriage proposal in front of a crowd at a sporting event. But it’s not what you’re thinking.
She liked me and was under the false impression that I liked her.
We weren’t even dating at the time! She had just invited me to go to a basketball game with her. I was never trying to lead her on, so I don’t know how she came to think that I was somehow secretly in love with her.
But it was tough to say no like that in front of everyone. I felt guilty for weeks, as though I must have done something wrong.”
That’s Some Good Karma
“I was out for my nightly walk and was strolling right through the Boston Public Gardens in front of the Four Seasons hotel. Well, I found a wallet with well over $1,000 and multiple credit cards.
Being a broke college student, for a brief moment, this looked like a gold mine. In the end, I decided to bring it into the hotel and leave it at the front desk.
I’m not sure how the guy found me honestly, but later that week he sent me a very nice thank you text message. I felt good about that one.”
His Choice Was Hard For 10,000 Reasons
“I used to be a slot machine attendant in a casino. I was the person who would hand-pay jackpots that were above $250. One time, a guy who had just won $150,000 made me a tempting offer.
He told me he wanted to give me $10,000 as a tip.
Unfortunately, the casino that I worked at was owned by the government and I was not allowed to take tips. It was so difficult to decline. $10,000 was more than I made in three months at that time.”
The Whole Thing Stunk To High Heavens
“A shady friend in college knew I needed money. So, he offered to set me up with a friend who needed a car driven up from Florida. I’m thinking I might make a few hundred if they’re so well-heeled that they can’t be bothered to drive up themselves.
The job pays $10,000. And don’t look in the trunk. Pass.
Oddly, if they’d offered me less money, I might have done it, as I’d have been less certain what was in the trunk.”
So close, yet so far.
Raisa Kanareva/Shutterstock
“I had just joined the Marine Corps and had finished boot camp. I was flying from Minnesota back to California for combat training, with a layover in Phoenix.
It was the year the Super Bowl was there, and the Patriots were playing. My flight out of Phoenix got delayed, but they set it up so I could leave my bags at the USO and they’d call me right before boarding so I could go check stuff out around the airport.
These smoking hot women from New England overheard that.
Their flight back to New England was canceled and they had a hotel room. So the three of us went back there. They were both blonde, and about 20 years old.
We started fooling around. I’m kissing both of them, beginning to take our clothes off, when my phone rings. It’s the USO telling me I have about 15 minutes because the flight is already boarding. I had to leave. I was on official orders and would have been in serious trouble for missing my flight. I never got any contact information and never saw them again.
But they will forever be remembered.”
That’s What Friends Are For
“An attractive female friend of mine got really sloppy and was hanging all over me. Kissed my cheek a few times and even licked my beard once. She was desperate.
Some guy came over and asked if he could buy her a drink; I told him to go away and called him a scumbag and told her that we were leaving.
I don’t know if she even remembers it, but I took her home, made sure she drank some water and got to bed. Then I left. It was the right thing to do.”
Sometimes It’s The Little Victories
“I had been clean for about eight or so months and I was feeling really good in general. I had relapsed before but I had the kind of happiness at this point that makes you smile in the car, just driving down the road. And what’s even better is that happiness kept getting better and reinforcing itself as it drove me to make good decisions. Life was, and still is, good.
Anyway, this co-worker with whom I’d become friends learned that I was no stranger to illegal substances and told me that she had some pills left over from a surgery. They were mine if I wanted them, free of charge (this girl was always out to please people, even in extreme ways. Daddy issues out the wazoo)! Now, for those of you who have never been fully immersed in the underworld, these pain pills are highly sought after and is, in my estimation, only a stone’s throw away from being as intense as smack. There, now you understand, all I had to do was hop over to her place and bam! I’m in business in less than a half hour. Again, unless you have direct experience with such things, you can’t know how insatiable an addict’s appetite is, even one that has been clean a while.
After much internal debate, I politely text her no thank you. I had expected a rush of regret at turning down such a score, but instead, I was treated to a rush of self-love, finally achieving a small victory toward true remission from such a deadly, soul ensnaring pill. And since that day, each week has been better and better in my life. I think I could say no again if I found myself in a similar situation.”
It’s What Anyone Would Do
“Some guy dropped a wad of $100’s at a taco stand while paying. I pointed it out to him; he picked it up, didn’t even say thanks. The guy behind me paid for my tacos and said I should have taken it. But I still feel good that I did the right thing.”
An Awkward, Yet Lucrative, Request
“I had my boss’s wife approach me at the annual office Christmas party and asked me if I wanted to have a threesome with them.
I politely declined and figured that would be that. But she didn’t stop there.
When I turned her down, she offered me $1,000. I still said no, so she upped it to $5,000!
I politely declined again. I know I should have been offended that someone offered me money for that, but I was dying on the inside. He was hot, and his wife was hotter. Plus who among us couldn’t use an extra $5,000?
I thought he’d be awkward as could be afterward, but it was never mentioned between us and we carried, on as usual.
I wound up working for him for 5 more years, and when I left, they threw me a huge baby shower and purchased all of the baby furniture I had registered for. We still keep in touch 15 years later.”
“I Wish I Didn’t Have Morals”
“I had a friend in college who was a math genius. Passed his actuarial exams as a sophomore. He called me a couple years later and offered me a job as his partner laundering money. Told me I would get a 50% cut. He made $250,000. in a year, whereas I made $30,000.
Sometimes I wish I didn’t have morals.”
Lost And Found
“I found a brand new Galaxy S5 at work one day. It was stuck between the wall and the booth. I accidentally found it after a freak accident landed me underneath the table. I took it home to charge it to contact someone in their contact list. I went through their messages and recent calls. Nothing was older than three months old, and all contact ended after about a week of them trying to call and text. The phone was even still in service.
We were having big money problems and I really thought about selling the phone for a little extra cash, but my conscience (and my husband) convinced me to contact the owner.
I texted one of the mainly contacted numbers to let them know that I had the phone and we agreed to meet up at my work the next day.
She told me that she lost it not long after getting it, and was just about to give up on finding it and get a new phone. Then she said that not many people would return it, and gave me $50.”
Family First, Always
“When I was 20 and my brother was 15, my whole family went to a Coldplay concert in my hometown. This was during their Mylo Xyloto tour. I was a huge Coldplay fan at that point, listening to all their albums nonstop and considering their music the soundtrack to my life at the time. My brother had helped me discover them and had gotten me hooked. It was his band (mine was and still is The Killers).
At the time, there was a girl I had fallen head over heels for who also loved Coldplay. As luck had it, she was also attending that same concert. So after many months of anticipation, the day of the event finally came. I separated from my family’s balcony seats during the opening acts (The Pierces and Metronomy, both great bands by the way) and found her. She was sitting on the other side of the stadium and she was there with one of her friends. We started talking and after a few minutes, a random guy came up to us wearing a Coldplay tour shirt and asked us where we were sitting. I noticed he had a VIP badge. We told him, and he looked around for a second.
Then he asked quietly, ‘How would you like to sit in the front row?’ Our eyes popped out of our faces. Right there, he pulled out three tickets that said ‘ROW 1, SEAT 1’, ‘ROW 1, SEAT 2’, and ‘ROW 1, SEAT 3’. He told us that they hadn’t been able to sell them and that Chris Martin would have been disappointed if those seats weren’t filled. Unable to process this information, we handed over our existing tickets, and he gave us the new ones. They were legit indeed.
Suddenly, I remembered my brother and how much it would mean to him to be able to see Coldplay from the front row. I asked the guy if he had an extra one of those tickets. He kind of seemed annoyed and said no.
Now I had a choice: either spend the concert in the front row of a Coldplay concert with the girl of my dreams, or give it to my little brother who was the really the first and bigger Coldplay fan. I chose the latter.
The concert was amazing from the side balcony, and my brother had the time of his life standing six feet away from Chris Martin watching him play for two hours.”