The lives of every person you meet are as varied and vivid as your own.
Everyone you meet has a life that you will likely never know about. Fears and dreams and day-jobs that occupy their time just as your activities occupy your own.
Of course, that also means that the barista might be your child's school teacher, or that the pretty girl at the end of the bar is the Hiring Manager at the firm you just applied to.
That was the issue facing Redditor and Original Poster (OP) PhysicalBuffalo5055 when she came to the "Am I the A**hole" (AITA) subReddit for judgment.
She asked:
"AITA for telling my boss not to hire a guy, because he was once rude to me at a party?"
OP began with some background.
"About half a year ago, I went to friend's friend's party."
"There was a guy there 'Kevin', who was studying the same thing I did in university (computer science)."
"He and I started to chat and when I told him I studied the same thing he does, he told me he doesn't believe me."
"I must be a teacher, I look like an elementary school teacher. I was patient, because he was clearly drunk."
"When he finally believed me, he asked me where I work and what language do we use."
Everything was fine, until...
"He then proceeded to talk sh*t about my workplace."
"How he could never work at a company like that and how C# is sh*t, Java is so much better, etc."
"I went to talk to someone else at that point, but later in the evening, he came back to me even drunker, saying he still doesn't believe that I'm a software developer, he is sure I'm a teacher."
"Women are not good at jobs like that, their 'strength' is at taking care of children and teaching them. I just let him be, thinking I will never meet him again."
Later,
"Well, fast forward to now, he applied to our company for his internship."
"I saw my team manager and him coming out of his interview."
"My boss told me that he was promising and might become our new intern."
"I told my boss I was surprised considering I met the guy before and he talked sh*t about the company and said he would never work here."
"As a direct result, my boss decided against him."
"When I told this story to my friends, a few told me he deserved it, but a few told me I was wrong for holding a grudge against a kid based on one drunken interaction."
"That he probably just wanted to do his uni mandated 8 weeks internship at our company and I was vindictive."
OP was left to wonder,
"I personally don't think I did anything wrong. AITA?"
Having explained the situation, OP turned to Reddit for judgment.
Redditors weighed in by declaring:
- NTA - Not The A**hole
- YTA - You're The A**hole
- NAH - No A**holes Here
- ESH - Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors decided: NTA
Some felt that Kevin was a problem regardless of the situation.
"NTA."
"Alcohol doesn't turn you into someone who rants about how women can't program if you're not already someone who thinks women can't program." ~ mm172
"Totally agree with you. NTA"
"OP please tell your friends that it's not about Kevin being rude."
"Kevin is an outright misogynist that will probably cause an incident that HR will need to clean up."
"You were saving your company from something that could have blown up on SM." ~ MooseTek
"Yeah... they stress stuff like this a lot in my field (legal) but I think it should be talked about more in other industries too."
"There's no magic switch that gets flipped when you're 'off the clock' that insulates you from the professional consequences of your actions in a public setting."
"The example they like to use in training is that, for all you know, the guy in the bar that you just sh*t-talked your boss to is his nephew."
"This guy is even worse than that."
"He knew full well that he was bashing a company that he might end up working for someday to a current employee. No way in hell I'd ever want a guy like that associated with my firm." ~ Vilnius_Nastavnik
Others felt that OP had protected herself by coming forward.
"His behaviour at the party showed how he truly thought."
"It is like posting sh*t in the internet."
"He told sh*t to someone that works there, he also behaved sh*tty to their."
"It was just half a year ago. His view of the company didn't change."
"He also talked bad about this company in public."
"He will mostly do it again. OP did him a favor. He never wanted to work in s company like this and now his wish comes true!"
"NTA It seems some friends don't know how it works in work-life."
"And if OP didn't say something, he works awful and makes mistakes that costs the company lots of money...."
"And then comes out that OP knew that he didn't want to work there and could have warned them, it could fall back negative on them." ~ EvilFinch
"NTA, he is probably not a good coworker if he thinks that poorly of women, at some point his misogyny would have been a problem. I think you dodged a bullet with him" ~ eguz666
"Yeah, plus he wasn't going to be a good coworker anyway because of his disdain for the primary programming language used by the company."
"And him being a sexist a**hole would have made it so much worse."
"OP or another employee would likely have to babysit him constantly to make sure his code was up to snuff since he likely is poor at it due to hating it, and if it was OP or another female employee, then boy howdy is that a lawsuit waiting to happen." ~ calliatom
Commenters made particular mention of the importance of soft-skills.
"I hire people for my company, and while certain skills for X job are super important, so is workplace culture."
"If someone on my team has experienced a potential hire and brings up concerns to me about this person, it's an instant no."
"Employee morale is everything, so if someone is not happy, and I can potentially squash an uncomfortable situation, I'm going to."
"You're NTA for bringing this up to your boss. They ultimately made the final say." ~ andreaak88
"Forget workplace culture, if this dirtbag ever moves up to a hiring position he'll probably exclude women just for being women because he's a misogynistic low life."
"Or he'll prevent females subordinates from moving up etc. She should see where he ends up and warn them too." ~ MissKatieMaam77
There were also personal stories.
"Nope, NTA."
"He talked sh*t and it came back and slapped him in the face. Live and learn."
"Side note: I used to be an admin assistant and this guy sent in his resume."
"When I called to schedule an interview, he was allll kinds of too cool and kept asking me questions that I didn't have the answers to (job related) and telling me he was 'walking into a meeting and too busy to do this right now.'"
"When it finally clicked WHERE I worked, he called back, sweet as pie, blah. blah."
"I told my boss what an a**hole he was and my boss said, 'we'll look elsewhere'. He kept calling back to schedule an interview and I kept ignoring the calls."
"Moral of the story?"
"Watch your attitude and do NOT give support staff sh*t - you have to go through THEM to get to the big guns." ~ Feisty_Brunette
Some commenters expressed hope that Kevin would learn from this.
"First off, NTA."
"The ideal outcome of this is that somebody tells 'Kevin' exactly why he did not receive the internship: because he got drunk and spouted off rude and sexist things to someone."
"He has a long life ahead of him, and if he makes a habit of telling those above him on the corporate ladder that they are wrong and that their company sucks, he is going to hit a lot of walls." ~ bobledrew
"I'd like to believe somebody like this can change their ways, but the realistic side of me thinks otherwise."
"Most likely, Kevin has been grass-fed into believing that women cannot be computer engineers, but teachers and judges people based on their appearance and gender."
"This reeks of the kind of entitlement and chauvinism you get from living in an echo chamber of conservative values that haven't changed since the 1950's."
"I'll not be surprised that he is also a narcissist who lacks empathy and compassion."
"The problem with giving him a second chance is the highly likely risk that he doesn't learn his lesson, double downs on his flaws and once he gets enough power or status, adopts the final piece of the trifecta, machivelism."
"Manipulating others to get his way, or in the professional world, hiring others who look and act like him into positions of power so that they can continue imposing their conservative values on others and reinforcing their self importance."
"I rather the Kevins in the world out in the open completely unaware of themselves and powerless than have them hide behind their power and privilege." ~ yvrangel
The lives of every person you meet are as varied and vivid as your own.
Remember that the barista is the hero of his own story and that the girl at the end of the bar has her own stressful day behind her.
Be kind whenever possible.















Woman Breaks Up With Boyfriend Who Worried People Would Think She Was Trans For Using Stand-To-Pee Device
Content Warning: Transphobia, Transphobic Comments
There are countless different reasons that a relationship might end, and a red flag could arise at any time. Some of these might have been learned in childhood and could improve over time.
Transphobia is absolutely a red flag that should be acted on immediately; however, with no option to fly again, pointed out the members of the "Am I the A**hole?" (AITA) subReddit.
Redditor funnelfuss was in the car with her boyfriend when they got stuck in a traffic jam.
She really needed to use the restroom, so since she had a device with her to make the process easier, she decided she'd step out of the car.
But when her boyfriend panicked and thought people might mistake her for a man, the Original Poster (OP) realized that her boyfriend was not who she thought he was.
She asked the sub:
The OP had to use the restroom while stuck in a traffic jam.
"My (26 Female) boyfriend (25 Male) and I got stuck in an insane traffic jam. My boyfriend was driving."
"We were at a standstill. Found out later on, they had closed the highway."
"I had to pee really bad, like bad bad bad. I saw that a couple guys had run to the side of the road to pee, and I decided to do the same."
"It was super open, with a few bushes by the side of the road, really not much cover."
The OP's boyfriend became uncomfortable when he realized she had a pee-to-stand device.
"I have a stand-to-pee device in my car, but when I grabbed it, my boyfriend got all weird."
"He said people would see me pee standing up and think I was Trans."
"I said no one would think that, plenty of women have pee funnels, and that also I didn't care. I have no beef with Trans people!"
"He said I should squat, just to put his mind at ease."
"I said I didn't want to get my butt and c**ch out on the highway in front of everyone, or get pee on my shoes, and I just wanted to be quick and clean."
"He said he didn't want people to look at the girl he was dating and think she was Trans and that I should squat, like GIRLS do."
The OP decided she was over it.
"I was dying by this point. I couldn't hold it anymore, and I really didn't want to show the world my butt, so I ran to the side of the road and slipped the device into my jeans and just peed standing up with my back to traffic."
"No one could see anything; it just slides through the zipper. But I guess maybe if someone was looking, they would be confused? But also, who's LOOKING?!"
"When I got back to the car, my boyfriend wouldn't talk to me. He says I disrespected his feelings. But it was 100% an emergency, and I don't get what his problem was."
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
Some reassured the OP that there was nothing wrong with using the restroom how she wanted.
"OP, don't think for one more second about this. Your boyfriend is being ridiculous."
"As if you will ever see any of those people again! Plus, holding it in for too long can cause a whole host of issues."
"It's actually genius that you have something like that in your car, just in case. I'm going to order one too now! NTA." - m_alice88
"'Honey, please show all these strangers your c**ch and a** so they know I'm not gay, mmmm'kay?'"
"A weak man, a very weak man." - lefteyedcrow
"You must have a she-wee! Those are so great for women."
"Tell your boyfriend to get over himself. You had to pee. He does not understand that squatting can suck and leave you exposed."
"If he is that upset you did this, rethink this relationship. I would find it hysterical."
"NTA." - Oktodayithink
"NTA, OP. You just needed a makeshift restroom."
"Your boyfriend apparently thought that it was normal for people to stare at strangers who are trying to pee to evaluate who they are, who they're with, and what the status of their relationship is."
"You know, to pass the time while in gridlock traffic." - Pixichixi
"You did nothing wrong, OP! When you have to go, you have to go. It's healthier to go."
"And don't apologize! We're so wired to reduce conflict, even to the point of downplaying how we feel to keep the peace or end the silence. Don't do it."
"It's a him issue. He thinks his feelings on this are more important than your discomfort about showing your naked body on the side of the road. If he can't figure that out for himself and apologize, it would be a dealbreaker for me." - lelawes
Others agreed and pointed out that the ex-boyfriend was very transphobic.
"NTA. Your boyfriend is clearly transphobic. That is 100% on him. And who cares if people think you are Trans?"
"'He said he didn't want people to look at the girl he was dating and think she was Trans.' And you don't want people to think you're dating someone bigoted and hateful." - GreekAmericanDom
"He may not consider himself transphobic ('I don't hate Trans people! I just don't want to be associated with them or have anyone think I'm with a Trans person!'), but he absolutely is, probably with a healthy side helping of homophobia."
"Why would he care, unless a) Trans women are not women in his eyes, or b) it somehow would be emasculating or embarrassing to his ego to be with a Trans woman."
"Also, you're in a traffic jam. Who the f**k is even watching close enough to care, and who of those people matters enough to give two s**ts about what they think."
"Not to mention, he's being weirdly controlling about your behaviors and how they reflect on him in a scenario where arguably he's never going to interact with a single person he's worrying about." - maladicta228
"This post reminds me of the time I got dressed to go to a function. It was a casual gathering. My kid (this was solidly on their father, my ex, as he's gotten insanely bigoted as he's aged) said, 'Mom, you're dressed like a Lesbian.'"
"Me: 'Lesbians have great fashion sense, I'd love to be mistaken for one.'"
"They paused for a second and realized that I truly wasn't dressing for men (despite it being my husband's work function), and that being seen as a lesbian was a good thing. I'm so glad I raised them to think for themselves, and realize that one can be wrong, admit it, and work on being a better person every day. They've never said anything like that since." - baconbitsy
"He's so insecure (and transphobic) that he cares more about what some strangers in a traffic jam might wrongly assume about you (and thereby him) than YOUR needs, comfort, and health."
"He expected you to prioritize his insecurities (feelings) above that and then punished you when you prioritized your health."
"You sure you want to be with someone like that?? NTA." - molotovmerkin
"Your boyfriend is so transphobic that he wants you to expose your genitalia on the side of the road to prove that you're not a Trans woman because he can't stand the idea of a total stranger, in a neighboring car, whom he will never speak to or see ever again, thinking he MIGHT be SHARING A CAR (because the strangers in other cars have no idea that you're dating) with a Trans woman."
"You're NTA, but get a better boyfriend." - HighCsummer
"Literally, you have to be super transphobic to think people in traffic are gonna judge you if your girlfriend is standing to pee. Like come onnnnnn, this is some insane insecurity." - Responsible-Pickle-2
Some pointed out that not only was the ex-boyfriend transphobic, but also controlling.
"This won't be the last time he expects OP to sacrifice things or make her life worse so that she can conform to his ideal of feminine stereotypes and keep up appearances for his fragile masculine ego."
"And that he gave her the silent treatment for not obliging his transphobia and misogyny disguised as 'feelings' is also problematic." - blancamystiere
"He's insecure and transphobic. He also puts his insecurity and transphobia above your comfort."
"NTA, and honestly, you can do better than this specimen." - PetersMapProject
"NTA. Your boyfriend would have preferred for everyone to see your a** and vagina than have a random stranger think his girlfriend is Trans. He would rather you expose yourself for his personal gain."
"Get a better boyfriend." - Amaze-balls-trippen
"The transphobia? The insecurity? And the silent treatment when he doesn't get his way?"
"So many red flags!" - CarolynDesign
"He also puts his insecurity and transphobia above your comfort and safety."
"He would rather you invite unwanted attention and risk by exposing your private parts to the world than have people think he (who most of the onlookers couldn't even see) might be dating a Trans person."
"NTA. OP, he's too insecure, self-centered, and immature to be a good partner to you, given that he's willing to compromise your safety to avoid a single twinge of discomfort. Dump him." - Hari_om_tat_sat
After receiving feedback, the OP was reassured and shared some positive updates.
"UPDATE: Thank you, everyone, for helping me feel sane again!"
"I got quite a few questions about which device I use, and honestly, it's about what fits you best. There are a ton of options. It's what fits you. Check out pStyle, Freshette, and EllaPee."
"I tried peeing standing up in a toilet, and it worked fine. I think my aim was pretty good, but then I saw little droplets on the floor. No thanks, don't need that. Also, it's loud? Awkward."
"But for the outside, it's pretty fun! I drive a lot, that's why it was in my car. Lifesaver."
"Also, I guess in this case it brought out an ugly side of my (ex) boyfriend and clarified some stuff for me. A winner all around."
"And to all the commenters asking, YES, he is an ex-boyfriend now."
"And yes, there were other red flags."
"Ditched the man, kept the pee funnel. Gonna laugh at him every time I pee standing up."
There's no way to imagine just how awkward the rest of the car ride was after using the restroom and returning to the now-silent and very entitled boyfriend, still stuck in a traffic jam.
But fortunately for the OP, she learned something vital about her relationship during a moment that should have been a total non-issue.
By being concerned about this and expecting the OP to prioritize her ex's pride over her comfort, safety, and cleanliness, her ex told her everything she needed to know.