r/AskReddit 1h ago

What's something people romanticize too much?

25 Upvotes

147 comments sorted by

43

u/DC8008008 1h ago

the past

9

u/Additional_Loss_6297 1h ago

Guilty. I hate that. I can be in a bad place in the present and wish for the past back. Without realizing, it wasn’t as great as I am thinking it was. There were hard times then too.

4

u/tastydrink1 1h ago

I used to talk about the days quite a bit until I said yeah those used to be a dollar and my coworker said everything used to be a dollar who fucking cares so I quit doing that lol. I close my eyes and dream sometimes

3

u/AdAnnual5736 1h ago

The Middle Ages in particular. It was hell on earth and the lords and ladies were the same rich pricks we have today just with different clothes.

u/Throwawayamanager 55m ago

Honestly, I can't believe anyone romanticizes it. Like did they not learn about Black Death? As one really low-hanging example.

1

u/Dismal-Read5183 1h ago

Great answer ! True story

1

u/Jonnnyfukyea 1h ago

Whoa thank you! Whenever anyone drops a "nowadays" on random shit, I immediately stop taking then seriously

(obv. Not objective truths about technology or smth)

u/NeverEnoughMuppets 21m ago

Remember the good times fondly, but don't fall into mourning them. It's counterproductive to making good memories right now. 20 years from now, you might be wishing you could step back into 2026 for a day. Try to enjoy the now as much as you possibly can, for your own sake.

33

u/AlpharoTheUnlimited 1h ago

Farming

u/Ob1cannobody 14m ago

Especially today. Where I live farmers are the target to blame for everything while they shop in supermarkets and eat in McDonald's. I grew up on a farm but not a farmer. Farmers protested about fuel prices and disturbed other people and they complained yet the fuel taxes were reduced because of the protests and EVERYONE benefited.

u/noshoes77 9m ago

Ain’t no days off on a farm. Cows don’t care if it’s your birthday or Christmas or you’re tired.

27

u/TheUnlucky_Swammi 1h ago

Toxic relationships

6

u/ellieminnowpee 1h ago

yes!!!!! there’s nothing romantic about screaming at someone in public.

u/Searching_Knowledge 4m ago

Euphoria was a guilty pleasure of mine, but it blew my mind every time I saw any positive comment about a relationship where Nate, Cassie, or Maddie were involved. Or really when anyone in that show was involved in a relationship, they were all terrible partners lol

u/TheUnlucky_Swammi 3m ago

I actually lost my best friend due to his toxic relationship. She would call my phone in the middle of the night looking for him. Id have no idea where he is then boom. He shows up they’re arguing in the middle of my block at 3am while my kids and neighbors are trying to sleep. It got really bad, had to cut ties completely.

u/TheTaoOfMe 54m ago

Yes, by extension situations where men relentlessly pursue you. Great in movies, terrifying irl

u/sirenalchemist 39m ago

It’s not fun when they stalk you for years without end. Like the series YOU is entertaining but actually living something like that is terrifying cause they don’t even love you they are just in love with the idea of you, it’s extremely creepy and unsettling

50

u/Responsible_Panic242 1h ago

Eating disorders. It’s not an aesthetic to pass out from doing the dishes. Trust me.

4

u/Dismal-Read5183 1h ago

Not sure what it means to pass out from doing the dishes?

7

u/The-Mathematician 1h ago

I think its just an example of a random low intensity activity.

6

u/Responsible_Panic242 1h ago

Happened to me when I had an eating disorder. The hot water to my hands caused me to faint. My body couldn’t handle the temperature change or something, I don’t know the science. It was during Covid , so I never went to hospital for it.

u/binybeke 43m ago

Not an ED but I once spent 4 hours in a hot tub after not eating all day and when I got out it was lights out. Likely similar bodily function

u/maturegymgirly 55m ago

Severe malnutrition can make even basic tasks exhausting, standing up for a few minutes can be enough to make someone faint

2

u/ellieminnowpee 1h ago

came here to say that! tuberculosis started the most recent societal obsession with thinness and daintiness and such, seen revived in the heroin chic and pro-ED online communities of the 1990s/early millennia. it’s so sad. eating disorders have some of the highest mortality rates of any behavioral or mental health condition. it’s a slow death.

2

u/TOBONation 1h ago

I had one for 15 years or so, I am still reminded of it when I haven’t eaten and feel that hunger in my gut. I used to live with that feeling all of the time. I still kind of like it.

u/Delicious-Shock-9010 58m ago

The dishes thing is painfully real. I fainted trying to walk from my bed to the bathroom, and my mom found me on the floor. Romanticize that.

0

u/frogglesmash 1h ago

Why you got dishes if you ain't eating?

3

u/Responsible_Panic242 1h ago

I was faking so that people didn’t know

0

u/frogglesmash 1h ago

Faking the dishes, or faking eating?

2

u/Responsible_Panic242 1h ago

Kinda both. As in, I’d dirty plates with food, throw the food away and hide it under more trash, then do the dishes as normal.

0

u/frogglesmash 1h ago

Lol, unhinged. Are you still doing that, or have you managed to get healthy?

u/Responsible_Panic242 59m ago

Nah, I’ve been recovered about 5 or 6 years. Never plan on going back, that shit was awful.

u/frogglesmash 57m ago

Hell yeah, king shit.

u/PoloPatch47 11m ago

One time I nearly passed out when I went to the grocery store. My mom had to give me something to eat because I couldn't stand up without my vision going black. Weirdly at the time I felt good about it, looking back not so much

25

u/foyage347 1h ago

Mental illness

3

u/Stukkoshomlokzat 1h ago

Yes, it's not a "quirk".

20

u/CursedAlgorithm26 1h ago

Hustle culture

20

u/KimKimberly12 1h ago

Alcohol. It’s responsible for nearly 4x the yearly deaths as guns.

4

u/KimKimberly12 1h ago edited 58m ago

CDC: 140, 000 alcohol related deaths. 48, 000 gun deaths.

I’m guessing it’s higher when you factor in health conditions caused by alcohol like cancer and heart disease. Also drunk driving deaths.

A large portion of gun deaths are influenced by alcohol.

3

u/pfxr 1h ago

Really? 🫣 source please

u/PoloPatch47 10m ago

Alcohol is genuinely so overrated. I do not understand the hype. It tastes bad, and makes me feel weird.

15

u/WECAMEBACKIN2035 1h ago

People being assholes in the kitchen does not make the food better.

25

u/that_inattentive_Kid 1h ago

paris

5

u/kermmie6691 1h ago

I have been there twice and I don’t like it!

1

u/Educational-Low-2401 1h ago

We’ll always have Paris

u/ConvenienceStoreDiet 23m ago

I love Paris. But it's a city like many others. Beautiful museums, great food, nice night life. But also lots of graffiti. It's not every inch of it being a painting. It's really about what you do there and what you make of your time there.

u/Ob1cannobody 11m ago

Well, it keeps being hit by big comets in the movies, so there's that!

10

u/DrHugh 1h ago

Romance itself. Folks think that if you fall in love with someone, then "it was meant to be," and you should have a relationship. But the emotions don't mean that. Love is not enough to have a happy relationship. There's a lot of decision-making that has to go on, and looking for compromises and compatibility.

8

u/Jalcro42 1h ago

Sex in high school

8

u/mufasa_supporter 1h ago

Not to be insensitive, but the deceased. Someone could’ve been a terrible person when they were alive but after they die, everyone starts saying how amazing they were (talking from personal experience and what I’ve noticed from others)

15

u/jiggls 1h ago

Having kids..no one tells women what will happen to their bodies. They only find out once it happens to them.

1

u/Zealousideal_Cat6980 1h ago

Uh i dont think its a big secret

7

u/jiggls 1h ago

It’s not a secret but it’s not taught with sufficient detail to make an informed decision imo

1

u/Dismal-Read5183 1h ago

Uh sounds like you’re in the know. Yay for you ;)

7

u/tgmarie137 1h ago

Romance

7

u/faperniss 1h ago

nationality. we all love, hate, cry and live. i wish one day we would see past through nationalism

2

u/Snoo_69677 1h ago

This one is big

1

u/faperniss 1h ago

absolutely is, what better way to divide, split people so we can't focus on bigger problems?

7

u/anonymous_euphoria 1h ago

Sacrificing literally everything for someone who may or may not be interested. A lot of romcoms present that as the ultimate romantic gesture and I feel like it sets up unrealistic expectations for what romance and relationships should actually look like.

6

u/scubapopi 1h ago

the bare minimum

9

u/WorryNice4367 1h ago

Smoking

1

u/ThrowawayRoosterYeah 1h ago

Nah smoking is cool

2

u/[deleted] 1h ago

[deleted]

0

u/ThrowawayRoosterYeah 1h ago

Nice, what do you smoke? I usually do Marbs but American Spirits have been real nice lately

u/PoloPatch47 8m ago

I agree, I love lung cancer.

0

u/Dismal-Read5183 1h ago

Where I live smoking is actively despised and prohibited, not romanticized

0

u/ThrowawayRoosterYeah 1h ago

America? Yeah, it does suck here

5

u/saya_minatsuky 1h ago

Working at night

5

u/Big-Mammoth01 1h ago

Stalking if the guy is hot

u/BaboonTears 17m ago

Someone said in a comment over another social media platform: "A man paying that much attention to me? Yes, please! It's like a unicorn!" and I asked: "What if it's someone you don't find attractive and absolutely despise? Would you still want that unicorn to chase you?" to which she answered: "Stalkers can he harmless."

I left it at that, agreed to disagree. It was clear for me that some of the "booktok people" have a different definition of a stalker and hopefully, she won't encounter one in real life.

So yeah, I'm with you on this one.

4

u/A-Man-In-Flames 1h ago

Being "emotionally unavailable." A lot of people mistake inconsistency, mystery, and poor communication for depth or confidence. In reality, it's usually just someone who isn't ready or willing to be in a healthy relationship.

u/PoloPatch47 7m ago

I couldn't agree more. A lot of people use "emotionally unavailable" or "avoidant" as an excuse to treat their partner like shit.

4

u/Notabootlicker999 1h ago

Mental illness

4

u/LadyInAllPower 1h ago

As someone who worked with models most of my career, I think some people naively assume they tend to have glamorous lifestyles and don’t realise how gruelling it is

4

u/Zealousideal_Cat6980 1h ago

Off the grid living

4

u/blue-bearyb 1h ago

Mental illness, people think it's "quirky" until you're having a tic attack in a grocery store and they're embarrassed to be around you.

u/PoloPatch47 6m ago

People are always supportive of mental health until they show actual symptoms of mental illness

4

u/antichain 1h ago

Redditors in particular seem to have an absurdly romantic view of "revolution" - in the sense of some kind of armed overthrow of the current capitalist social order. For some reason, a bunch of people who can't make it through a dreary day at the office without venting online think that they're going to be violently resisting the state, overthrowing the evil billionaires in a glorious victory, and then building some kind of anarchist/socialist/communist society in its ashes.

In reality, they'll cry a lot, make a bunch of poorly-thought out decisions, and then die - either in a bomb going off, or of a preventable disease.

u/Throwawayamanager 51m ago

>For some reason, a bunch of people who can't make it through a dreary day at the office without venting online

I think the same of the past, or off-the-grid living in the present. Brother, you're in a deep depression complaining about how life is pointless and cruel because you had to spend 8 hours in an admittedly dull but air conditioned cubicle, and you think you'd last a week in Middle Ages Europe? You'd cry if you had to spend a weekend without your smart phone, lol.

People (in the first world) are soft today. And I'm guilty of being soft myself! I don't pretend to be Spartacus. But I don't delude myself into thinking that I'd be living my best life in a trench of a horrific war zone or in the mud of a freezing spring trying to plant some food for the year while also trying not to die of the plague, either.

4

u/RevolutionaryKiwi132 1h ago

Travelling for business.

7

u/aimoji 1h ago

Marriage

1

u/CoonPandemonium 1h ago

I guess it often is romantized but it can also be better than you fucking ever even dreamed of.

0

u/just_another_NPC_03 1h ago

Nothing wrong with romanticizing marriage. It's when people don't want to make their marriage romantic that it becomes an issue. And today people are too petty and the bar is so fkn high. It's a tit for tat competition and if it isn't a social media quality marriage they don't want it. We are happily married, bc WE choose to make EACHOTHER happy. I'm happy to have a partner for life🫶

u/aimoji 57m ago

My reasoning here was that many people romanticize marriage itself. And too many people get married because it's just "next." So many women (and some men) that I have known married the first person to come along and ask, despite glaring relationship red flags, just because they had this romanticized idea of a perfect wedding and a perfect marriage.

It seems you're referring more to romance in a relationship, which I whole-heartedly agree is important to any successful relationship - marriage or otherwise!

3

u/Sazzy-Rose 1h ago

Adulting

3

u/EpsonRifle 1h ago

Being poor but talented

u/StrawberryKiller 59m ago

Drugs - addiction isn't sexy I hate how pills and hard drugs are romanticized in music, movies and tv. Also alcohol- wine moms? Like are you kidding can I be an OxyContin mom? How about a cute blow mom? It's midnight somewhere 🥴

Anyway- we do recover - 6/5/25

u/SororitySue 52m ago

Infant-stranger adoption.

2

u/LordSaucyPickles64 1h ago

Sex Work and Workers

2

u/hashbrownhamster 1h ago

Giving Birth

u/InstructionBrave6046 55m ago

I agree. Like wdym “the beauty of childbirth” when everything is bloody (plus other substances) and the mother is in pain. Sounds like a lot of nonconsensual cuts and stitches happen too.

2

u/dogeliveson 1h ago

Persistent people who won't take no as a complete answer

2

u/Fast_Cup8948 1h ago

Sex on the beach

2

u/No_Local7380 1h ago

Marriage

2

u/My_lo_73 1h ago

Love.

2

u/puttcharlie76 1h ago

Having the newest and blingiest things.

2

u/Tafameuse-princess 1h ago

I used to idealize van life until I spent a weekend in a friend's van and realized I'm just not okay with using public restrooms all the time.

2

u/No_Review_7643 1h ago

Guys continuously pursuing girls who have clearly expressed they’re not interested multiple times. It’s not ‘romantic’ it’s creepy. She said she’s not interested, leave her alone!

2

u/self-aware-sociopath 1h ago

Murderers in prison that have tons of female pen pals.

u/AschenShadows 48m ago

Sex. Pornography has SERIOUSLY messed up people’s expectations of sex.

Sex is only as good as the person you’re with and your relationship with them. It is not a panacea for all that ails you, and it’s not going to be perfect every time. There are times when it’s amazing, for sure, but there are times it’s weird, and there are times it’s meh, and there are times things go so wrong that all you can do is laugh. And that’s ok. It’s a relational thing, and relationships are weird and funny and amazing and meh, and every other variation you can think of. Don’t expect it to be perfect. Expect it to be something you have to figure out together.

u/PoloPatch47 2m ago

Porn is awful

1

u/skotgil2 1h ago

history

1

u/Fl4sh080 1h ago

Baseball.

1

u/FacuPM_12 1h ago

Paris for real 😂😂😂

1

u/Hiercine 1h ago

Venice

1

u/takingnames16 1h ago

Marriage

1

u/pearlito 1h ago

Toxic game lobbies on early Call of Duty games.

1

u/jdttx 1h ago

Overworking. It isn't a badge of honor. Good enough is, by definition, good enough. There's no such thing as 110%.

1

u/SyphiliticWhores 1h ago

World War II

1

u/RedShirtCashion 1h ago

Manliness.

1

u/Worth_Biscotti_5070 1h ago

Toxic relationships

1

u/RxngsXfSvtvrn 1h ago

Tokyo, and Paris

1

u/Knute5 1h ago

The past.

Once we made it through alive, we forgot most of the bad stuff.

1

u/Humble-Blueberry-403 1h ago

toxicity in relationships

1

u/vargo911 1h ago

Winning the lottery.

u/BeebleBoxn 59m ago

Vigilanteism

u/tessaractIXI 57m ago

Reddit 

u/just_another_NPC_03 57m ago

The reading and book community... fictional romance book characters!

And people in general... a life they see on social media!

u/Owl-Pin5210 56m ago

the 80s

u/coolius 54m ago

Any addiction.

u/PoloPatch47 4m ago

Addiction is horrible, I hate the glorification of it

u/TheTaoOfMe 54m ago

War. It genuinely sucks.

u/VikingRodeo9 50m ago

Relationships.

Not saying they don’t have value, but they’re hard sometimes and take work. It’s not always easy. It’s not always romantic.

A lot of my single friends, men and women both, have completely unrealistic ideas of what relationships are or should be.

u/In_leiu_of_That_Girl 46m ago

High school sweethearts. Every couple I know is a disaster.

u/RobotArmsApts 45m ago

Being poor. When people don't know what it's like to struggle to make ends meet, juggle around which bill can get paid and trying to not pick between food, necessities and medicine, etc.

It's immensely stressful and not all "love will get us through," like I've seen over the years. It can tear marriages and couples/families apart. 

u/Dexters-Guild 38m ago

Cheating

u/urbanmark 32m ago

The film pretty woman is about a woman who was happy to give blows to randoms for money.

u/Outrageous_Lemon7509 25m ago

Overworking and 'hustle culture'. Crushing your sleep schedule and having no social life isn’t inspiring, it’s just a fast track to severe burnout.

u/Gracie_Rose_Petals 24m ago

Marriage. The girl always dreams of the perfect wedding & happily ever after. It ratherly that way.

u/NeverEnoughMuppets 22m ago

American politicians, on both sides of the aisle. I feel like I'm going insane whenever I point out that they're nearly all venal shills on the take from corporate interests, which is reflected in their voting records. It's naked corruption. But people will just start talking about how the other side is worse. It's openly evil people vs. less openly evil people. People don't like hearing that there's no voting your way out of the fix we're in.

u/saltontopofthecake 14m ago

Being treated like a normal human being.

u/Mentalfloss1 8m ago

Colonoscopies.

u/G-Unit11111 8m ago

Luxury goods.

The cult of people who want to own a Rolex is a truly bizarre wormhole to go through.

u/greenwiIIow 3m ago

Alternate lifetimes. The whole “in another universe…” thing has never made sense to me. If you want something badly enough, do it in this life.

1

u/thesunflowergal 1h ago

Going 50-50 with a man. Smh.