I want DRAMA
July 7, 2021 4:48 AM
I've recently gotten into reading short-form anecdotes and dramatic stories like you find on AmITheAsshole or similar, and am looking for other good places to find this kind of thing. Details within.
Basically I love second-hand drama of reading about terrible people or amazing situations or weird things or basically just good stories. This is the latest thing that I fill blocks of downtime with, so I don't want anything longer than a five-minute read, and nothing difficult.
Essentially, I'm looking for the reading equivalent of junk food in unlimited bite-size quantities, like the written version of shelves of mini packs of Doritos.
Things that have scratched the itch, to give you an idea:
1. The aforementioned AmITheAsshole
2. Some of the questions on AskReddit, like asking for stories from doctors or front line workers or teachers or people about terrible neighbours or the like.
3. TalesFromTheFrontDesk, where hotel desk clerks write about awful or amusing experiences
All of these examples are from Reddit and I'm certainly very interested in other suggestions along the same lines, but non-Reddit sources are also welcome; I just don't know of any. The main thing is they have to be written stories, with drama, fairly fast reading. Gross or disgusting or upsetting or NSFW is fine. So is uplifting or inspiring or great. Doesn't necessarily have to be true. I just want entertaining.
Basically I love second-hand drama of reading about terrible people or amazing situations or weird things or basically just good stories. This is the latest thing that I fill blocks of downtime with, so I don't want anything longer than a five-minute read, and nothing difficult.
Essentially, I'm looking for the reading equivalent of junk food in unlimited bite-size quantities, like the written version of shelves of mini packs of Doritos.
Things that have scratched the itch, to give you an idea:
1. The aforementioned AmITheAsshole
2. Some of the questions on AskReddit, like asking for stories from doctors or front line workers or teachers or people about terrible neighbours or the like.
3. TalesFromTheFrontDesk, where hotel desk clerks write about awful or amusing experiences
All of these examples are from Reddit and I'm certainly very interested in other suggestions along the same lines, but non-Reddit sources are also welcome; I just don't know of any. The main thing is they have to be written stories, with drama, fairly fast reading. Gross or disgusting or upsetting or NSFW is fine. So is uplifting or inspiring or great. Doesn't necessarily have to be true. I just want entertaining.
Maybe the best posts on AskAManager? There’s A LOT of it, but she seems to do annual summaries of the best posts, e.g. 2020. There are some crazy workplaces and colleagues out there.
posted by fabius at 5:19 AM on July 7, 2021
posted by fabius at 5:19 AM on July 7, 2021
You're most likely already familiar with Dan Savage, but his Savage Love archive goes back years. His style and readers have evolved over time. You may enjoy the earlier Savage Love columns more.
posted by cursed at 6:15 AM on July 7, 2021
posted by cursed at 6:15 AM on July 7, 2021
One more suggestion: Emily Yoffe embraced a sassier, more judgmental vibe, which I loved, during her run as Slate's Prudie.
posted by cursed at 6:27 AM on July 7, 2021
posted by cursed at 6:27 AM on July 7, 2021
r/bestoflegaladvive curates interesting and drama-filled stories from r/legaladvice (which is not a subreddit I’d recommend on its own).
posted by skewed at 6:46 AM on July 7, 2021
posted by skewed at 6:46 AM on July 7, 2021
Another vote for Ask a Manager. It's mostly, as the name suggests, people asking workplace questions, but some of them are incredible. Also look for the thread "I Work on a Hellmouth." It started as a question but then the person who asked the original question started posting updates in the comments, over more than a year. It became weekly Friday entertainment for everyone in the comments section. This is the original post. I don't have it right now, but there is a comment on the site that links all of the updates in the thread.
posted by Meldanthral at 7:08 AM on July 7, 2021
posted by Meldanthral at 7:08 AM on July 7, 2021
I was coming in to recommend "Not Always Right", so this is a "moved-and-seconded". That's more like vignettes from the service industry, presented as conversations.
"Not always right" deals with the employees' stories about wacky customers. They also have subsets on that site called "Not always working" (where it's the customer reporting in about a dim-bulb employee, or someone reporting in about one of their co-workers), "Not Always Romantic" (stories from the realm of relationships and dating), "Not Always Related" (stories about inter-family incidents), "Not Always Learning" (students reporting on teachers or other students, teachers reporting in about students or fellow teachers), "Not Always Friendly" (friends-and-neighbors stories), "Not Always Healthy" (medically-related stories), and "Not Always Legal" (stories that deal with crime, law, law enforcement, etc.).
And finally, there is a subset called "Inspirational", where they cross-post the occasional feel-good stories they get as a palate cleanser.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:57 AM on July 7, 2021
"Not always right" deals with the employees' stories about wacky customers. They also have subsets on that site called "Not always working" (where it's the customer reporting in about a dim-bulb employee, or someone reporting in about one of their co-workers), "Not Always Romantic" (stories from the realm of relationships and dating), "Not Always Related" (stories about inter-family incidents), "Not Always Learning" (students reporting on teachers or other students, teachers reporting in about students or fellow teachers), "Not Always Friendly" (friends-and-neighbors stories), "Not Always Healthy" (medically-related stories), and "Not Always Legal" (stories that deal with crime, law, law enforcement, etc.).
And finally, there is a subset called "Inspirational", where they cross-post the occasional feel-good stories they get as a palate cleanser.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:57 AM on July 7, 2021
If podcasts are of interest, "My Funeral Home Stories" and "Entry Level" might be worth a try. (The latter is a bit long and chatty, but you won't miss anything by skipping ahead.)
posted by eotvos at 9:35 AM on July 7, 2021
posted by eotvos at 9:35 AM on July 7, 2021
WaiterRant.net has archives that go back years, full of great drama that the author encountered as a waiter in a NYC restaurant.
posted by hydra77 at 9:56 AM on July 7, 2021
posted by hydra77 at 9:56 AM on July 7, 2021
C A Pinkham's various Tales From The Food Service Industry columns have scratched this itch perfectly for me. His columns have moved about a lot - Wonkette and Jezebel as well as the link above, and I think possibly one other which escapes me for the moment. Reliably satisfying and drama-filled.
posted by BlueNorther at 11:03 AM on July 7, 2021
posted by BlueNorther at 11:03 AM on July 7, 2021
/r/HobbyDrama is slightly more longform than most of the suggestions so far. But if you like detailed, comprehensive coverage? Worth it.
posted by gnomeloaf at 2:49 PM on July 7, 2021
posted by gnomeloaf at 2:49 PM on July 7, 2021
The wedding drama subreddits, r/weddingdrama and r/weddingshaming, tend to have stories of outrageous behavior around weddings.
posted by Lycaste at 3:00 PM on July 7, 2021
posted by Lycaste at 3:00 PM on July 7, 2021
Wow everyone, these are great! This will keep me busy for a while. :)
I also thought of two more: r/tifu and r/entitledparents.
posted by sir jective at 4:14 PM on July 7, 2021
I also thought of two more: r/tifu and r/entitledparents.
posted by sir jective at 4:14 PM on July 7, 2021
The movie Zola is based on a wild, drama-filled twitter thread, which you can read in all of its glory.
posted by BeBoth at 10:16 AM on July 8, 2021
posted by BeBoth at 10:16 AM on July 8, 2021
Etiquette Hell, which collects stories of rude/obnoxious people in all sorts of situations.
The archive that used to be the main page, where I spent many an hour way back when.
posted by current resident at 12:50 PM on July 8, 2021
The archive that used to be the main page, where I spent many an hour way back when.
posted by current resident at 12:50 PM on July 8, 2021
And if you read nothing else from Etiquette Hell, read this INCREDIBLE story which apparently was so popular it has moved out of the archive into its own apartment and taken on a life of its own.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:10 PM on July 9, 2021
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:10 PM on July 9, 2021
Yes!! Thank you for this post I live for the drama! Nthing r/HobbyDrama it's fabulous.
My only other recommendations that haven't been covered already are YouTube channels, half of my subscriptions are "drama" commentary channels.
posted by moons in june at 2:03 PM on July 10, 2021
My only other recommendations that haven't been covered already are YouTube channels, half of my subscriptions are "drama" commentary channels.
posted by moons in june at 2:03 PM on July 10, 2021
This one will overlap with a lot of the subreddits you have listed previously, but I like it because it grabs all the updates and puts it in one place, so you get a complete story.
/r/BestofRedditorUpdates
posted by Nerro at 3:57 PM on July 11, 2021
/r/BestofRedditorUpdates
posted by Nerro at 3:57 PM on July 11, 2021
miss lynnster has a great comment on MetaTalk about how they left their job at the Los Angeles House of Blues.
posted by chinesefood at 10:50 AM on July 14, 2021
posted by chinesefood at 10:50 AM on July 14, 2021
Late to the party, but years ago there was a blog kept by a woman working in a video store in IIRC Chicago which had a large porn section, and she wrote about those experiences under the title "True Porn Clerk Stories". I haven't read them in years but what I remember of the content sounds right up your street.
The blog was taken down when she published the material as a book. There is still an archive link to the old content.
posted by myotahapea at 5:08 AM on July 19, 2021
The blog was taken down when she published the material as a book. There is still an archive link to the old content.
Repeat offenders get a note on their file that says "LUBE WARNING". Management policy is that for $6.50 an hour, clerks should not have to deal with the bodily fluids of others. The first time we discreetly but firmly remind the customer that the tapes need to come back clean. The second time we hand him the tape, the Windex, and the paper towels and tell him to clean off the tape in full view of whoever else is at the counter.Much of the material is hilarious and cringeworthy, but the discussions of fluids/sanitiser/handwashing has a particular frisson post-COVID.
posted by myotahapea at 5:08 AM on July 19, 2021
Very Previously
(I did originally find it here, back in my lurking days ...)
posted by myotahapea at 5:15 AM on July 19, 2021
(I did originally find it here, back in my lurking days ...)
posted by myotahapea at 5:15 AM on July 19, 2021
This is a hole that Dave Secretary's TIME FOR SOME STORIES filled, although they weren't all very dramatic. They felt dramatic and I miss them, but that updates Reddit is also very good.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 7:45 PM on July 19, 2021
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 7:45 PM on July 19, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
r/SubredditDrama can sometimes be good but the posts are often loooooong and niche.
This is reminding me that I used to fill this need with fandom_wank, so maybe one of the iterations that are still running would be interesting, or going back and digging through the webarchive of the original.
posted by Nickel at 5:16 AM on July 7, 2021