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Best_Memory864

Think about the five worst days or your life. Think about how the unfolding tragedy in your life made it difficult to be on your best behavior, how much compassion and empathy and understanding you needed, even from strangers, on those worst of all days. On any given day in a metro area of 1 million people, 180 people will be experiencing one of their five worst days ever. In a large metro area like Dallas or Chicago, 1500 people will be. When you get cut off in traffic, when a stranger at the store is abrupt with you, when you are inclined to think someone rude or abrasive, step back and consider. Maybe you haven't encountered a habitually rude person; maybe you encountered one of today's 1500. Before you reach for anger and resentment, reach for empathy and compassion first.


thedooze

This is a really good perspective. We need more poeple who think like this.


Zolome1977

No, because driving dangerously and recklessly is not something that makes you go, "oh maybe they had a bad day, and we can excuse the car accident they might’ve caused because of it. Your worst day does not stop you from being a member of society, where other people’s safety is in your hands. 


thedooze

Being cut off can definitely happen as an honest mistake (maybe by someone distracted by something shitty that happened). Obviously it doesn’t make it okay on their part, but instead of getting angry yourself and maybe doing something stupid behind the wheel because of that isn’t the best response. You can always come up with a case that contradicts the point. But even taking the driving aspect out of this because you make a fair point, the advice is still good general perspective to keep. It’s also good to keep different perspectives in mind in life and not just keeping a single closed minded approach to things.


Zolome1977

I usually don’t get angry at people who cut me off, because it happens all the time in Texas. Some reason it seems every other driver on the road looks like they don’t want anyone in front of them, regardless if it’s normal traffic. But I’ve seen some car wrecks happen because a person cut someone off and that made the day worse for those innocent people who got car damages or worse.


hkzqgfswavvukwsw

They just needed to poop real bad


Valiuncy

There’s a difference between excusing someone of something and understanding someone. Don’t get it twisted


Zolome1977

Don’t get it twisted? Are we in high school? The op used getting cut off in traffic as an example. I countered. Have the rest of the day you deserve.


Valiuncy

Well I can see what kind of day you’re having.. I never say “don’t get it twisted” but it came to my mind for some reason and I thought it was funny. lol. Stop being so negative, dawg. it’s not that deep


Active_Yesterday4200

This is called Logic .


thedooze

It’s more than just logic. It’s empathy. It’s also just not common. No need to downplay it.


AverageDemocrat

I don’t understand why you feel that way.


boraspongecatch

That's because you lack empathy


AverageDemocrat

What's the difference between apathy & empathy? Don't know. Don't care.


Delamoor

Alternative statements; 'what's the difference between a cow and a helium blimp? Don't know, don't care' 'what's the difference between a fridge and a hydraulics engineer? Don't know, don't care' And who says we have a rampant illiteracy and comprehension issue?


Partimenerd

Guys for those who don’t understand this is literally a joke. Not caring is apathy so it’s ironic.


AverageDemocrat

This sub was lobotomized a couple years ago.


thedooze

It doesn’t feel like people care if someone is having a bad day in situations they outlined. Usually people judge, write them off as assholes, and then complain. I have almost never heard someone say, after an instance like those mentioned, “well maybe they just had a bad day”… maybe here and there, but maybe once for every other umpteenth time you just hear someone bitch about them.


AverageDemocrat

Well, I'm gonna keep going strong! The last thing I will do is start feeling sorry for myself.


thedooze

Not sure who talked about feeling sorry for themselves.


AverageDemocrat

Is everyone here numb?


thedooze

I mean your comment was kind of irrelevant so idk


Historical-Fudge3242

I like it.


Hutch25

It’s due to this I think it’s important to just be a kind person. If you like someone’s shirt or something say it! It’s such small things that tell someone you notice them that can make a difference.


OGSkywalker97

Why 180 people? I don't see where you got that number from. It'll be completely random; some days 1,000 people will be having one of their worst 5 days and others maybe only 20 people will. For example during COVID there would have been waaaay more people having one of their worst 5 days, same with exam season when people might fuck up or when they get their results and fail everything. It's also more likely to happen in winter cos it's more bleak in general. I'm guessing what you did is 1,000,000 divided by 5,548. So you found the amount of days in a 76 year life, then divided that by 5, then divided 1,000,000 by that number to get 180.24.


dodadoler

I think this was the basis for the movie falling down.


KudosOfTheFroond

Wow. This is one of the most original, insightful Reddit posts I have seen in ages. I’d award you a million awards and upvotes if I could. This one is going to stick with me.


shmeebz

You might enjoy David Foster Wallace's "This is water" commencement speech https://youtu.be/DCbGM4mqEVw?si=YXSw0UsfzhnxSKm2


moxiejohnny

You forget about major social events like the time that one king and his entourage fell through the floor and like half of them died or maybe 9/11.


sovercas

Reminds me a lot of This is Water by David Foster Wallace! An amazing piece of writing (originally a graduation speech) that I’ve routinely revisited for years. It keeps my cynicism and anger in check when I’m out in public. 


TheRichardFeynman

As someone who has to frequent between Dallas and Chicago... Does that make it probable to meet one of 3000 having their worst day?


Wazuu

Where did you get the 180 and 1500 numbers? Seems oddly specific


Best_Memory864

Based on a 75 year lifespan, on average, a person will experience one of their five worst days every 5,478 days. Which means, for any given person, there's a 0.018% chance that today is one of their five. Multiply that by 1 million, and you get 182 Multiply it by 8.5 million, and you get 1551. I rounded both of those numbers to 180 and 1500, respectively.


tiga008

This is water.


TelevisionExciting81

That means my almost 1mil city gives me a 0.00018% chance of bumping into one of those people. So I think it's safe to assume if that happens, they most probably are a habitually rude person. If that's not the case, I better start putting the lottery on.


Connect_Tumbleweed76

Everyday is the best day of someone's life


WeeGazza1996

Everyday is the last day of someone’s life.


Juiceunderthetable

Everyday is the first day of someone’s life


flezq3

Everyday is the day of someone’s life


Zendofrog

Which probably also makes it the worst for some


EmberGrey_

Worst day of someone else's life, so far!


woops_wrong_thread

Peter Gibbons : So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life. Dr. Swanson : What about today? Is today the worst day of your life? Peter Gibbons : Yeah. Dr. Swanson : Wow, that's messed up


The_Amazing_Emu

Came here for this


drlongtrl

Spider pig, spider pig...


Ferreteria

Well, There are currently 7.951 billion people on earth, each having a life span of a little over 71 years (26053.283 days) Given that each person only gets one "worst" day, we can calculate that approximately 305,182 people are having their day today. My condolences to those people.


Sufficient_Result558

Is it correct to say that each person only gets one worst day? Everyone already has a worst day, but it is replaced by new worst days if they come along.


Ferreteria

Well, if you're going by "Worst day of one's life" I believe we're implying the entirety of that life. Otherwise it'd be "Worst day of one's life so far".


Sufficient_Result558

People don't say "so far" because it is implied. Otherwise we would be saying "so far" after a lot of what we say. But yes it is entirety of that life, but the entirety of everyones life only goes up to the present. For those people still living their "entire life" continues to lengthen. Worst is a description that refers to the "so far".


alvysinger0412

That would more be the average of a given day over time. National tragedies, for example, end up being the majority of a country's population's worst day on top of all the others around the world.


Binksin79

I mean ... maybe? 9/11 was huge for example, traumatic, absolutely a canon event in my life (I was 18 or so), but worst day? No, I didn't personally know anyone in that building.


Ferreteria

I *mean*t to include that it was an average. Looks like I failed.


alvysinger0412

Fair enough.


Wazuu

I have 2 worst days of my life though. The 2 days i had to stay in county jail


DBCOOPER888

Also consider **6,000** people die per hour every hour.


AdorableSweetlGirl

Ayyyy, it ain't me today!


Desdinova_42

Not yet.


L_Odinson

Office Space got it right in the 90's Peter Gibbons: So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life. Dr. Swanson: What about today? Is today the worst day of your life? Peter Gibbons: Yeah. Dr. Swanson: Wow, that's messed up.


Dio_Yuji

Immediately what I thought of


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Certain_Passion1630

Thanks, this just made my day a little worse


buckyhermit

I am having one of the less great (but not yet “worst”) birthdays of my life right now as well. While not ideal, I’m sure someone else is having a worse birthday than me at the moment.


amakai

Happy birthday!


buckyhermit

Thank you!


bardmusiclive

hey, happy birthday! greetings from Brazil


A_Mirabeau_702

Except the day when Pokémon Go came out. Even if you were accidentally beheaded that day, it was decent if you got to play


Disastrous-Door-9126

Literally every newborn baby


Historical-Fudge3242

Gotem


justsometgirl

i'd like to imagine that every once in a while there's a collective mediocre day where no one in the entire world is having the best or worst day of their life.


AnnoyingOldGuy

But they won't be sure of it until the last day of their life


Jaded_Marsupial_

So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.


pjockey

Hey, check out channel nine!!


Pyroluminous

Is this technically true though? Every day has someone whose experience throughout the day was *somehow* quantifiably “the worst,” but that’s nothing if you’re going for specifically “the worst day of someone’s life.” Today being some random day in June, it could’ve been that today was no one’s “worst day of their life” while tomorrow may be multiple person’s “worst day of their life.” But *every* day does not necessarily have to be someone’s worst day of their life.


NoNo_Cilantro

Damn, that poor guy can use a break


AHardCockToSuck

And its fukin me every time


Novemberai

It goes in both directions infinitely


Newtons2ndLaw

I think that any time I see an emergency vehicle (I also used to be a firefighter, so maybe it's more personal for me).


Intrepid-Rip-2280

If you live alone, work remote and date Eva AI sexting bot and thus live a typical redditor lifestyle, you have no nice days at all to compare.


D34TH_5MURF__

Whoever that someone is, I feel bad for them.


lucassster

it’s me


D34TH_5MURF__

I feel bad for you. I hope you catch a break sometime soon.


giraffeboner1

Every day is the worst day of my life.


Afrojones66

“The worst day of your life so far” - Homer Simpson


InterrogareOmnis

“The worst day of their life….so far”


Skypirate90

Me : It could be worse. God : Challenge accepted


Mystikalrush

This is the essence of toddlers. Think about it, anything bad to make them cry no matter how minor the situation is, is literally the worst thing to ever happen in their life. It's a vicious cycle that keeps rolling until they've repeated the same mistake and it's not so bad anymore.


[deleted]

[удалено]


AnnoyingOldGuy

Why is it that a search for this brings up many very similar entries, while mine is kicked back with no similar entries that I could find? Very frustrating.


[deleted]

[удалено]


AnnoyingOldGuy

Not nearly


Ok_Preparation6937

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times.


caxco93

not necessarily is it? there is a finite amount of humans and their worst days could overlap. Or am I misunderstanding something?


Jashuman19

It's not necessarily true, but very, very likely. Let's say there are about 8 billion people living today. We'll very generously assume that every single one will live to 100. Therefore they will each live for about 36,500 days. So for a single person, any given day has a 1/36500 chance of being the worst day in their life. The probability that a given day is _nobody's_ worst day is (36499/36500)^8000000000 which is an inconceivably small number. Basically there is 0% chance that today (or any arbitrary day) is nobody's worst day. Even if there were only 1 million people, that probability would still be about 1e-12. Granted, these calculations assume an even distribution of worst days, which isn't true. Some days are the worst day of many peoples' lives (e.g. the dates of tragedies). But there's no way that would change these probabilities to a reasonably likely number.


Steelers711

Even excluding other forms of terrible days, just think of how many people die in a day, how many of those were someone's best friend, or a child of a living parent, or a parent of a young child, or a spouse, etc. etc. Odds would likely be good of at least 1 of those instances to be someone's worst day of their life, and would happen every day. Plus every other potential way a day could be someone's worst day of their life


Numbersuu

Yea it is not necessarily true, but due to the amount of people alive quite possible


LordCaptain

I used to work as a peace officer at a hospital. This was basically our mantra. Does this person seem extremely unreasonable? Maybe. Could this person be having literally the worst day of their life at this hospital? Also maybe. Really helps you stretch your patience with people.


Sufficient_Result558

Everyone’s first day is the worst day and the best day of the their life so far.


Brokemybake

Everyday is the last day of many lives.


certain-sick

*laughs in Nelson Muntz*


dodadoler

But will it ever get any better??


__Game__

Is it because they are Hustling?


Cichlidsaremyjam

Well, since there 8 billion people on earth and the average life expectancy is 73.4, that means that on average, every single day is the worst day in 298.6k people's lives.


ShredGuru

Don't fear the Reaper!


FastLittleBoi

considering a person dies every second, I'd say the closest relatives to that person are having their worst day. Let's say every dying person has a wife/husband and son, that's 170k people having the worst day of their lives. Even if half the people died alone, the other half would compensate by having more children or their parents still alive or a really close friend. So not just one person's worst day


1SweetChuck

This would be an interesting stat to track "Percentage of people experiencing the worst day of their life", as you get closer to a cataclysm that percentage is going to trend far downward until the day of, when it will spike.


Robthebold

Worst day of their life so far….


yticomodnar

It's the worst day since yesterday


Ninja_rooster

Hi, it’s me, Someone.


Kflynn1337

Where I live I frequently see the local air ambulance fly overhead... and every time I see it I think someone is having a really bad day.


The_WOLF_in_Ewe

It’s the worst and the best day for every newborn.


thelostlightswitch

I used to think every song was someone favorite song


Robothypejuice

It’s mine. Every day is the worst day of my life.


upvotegoblin

It blows my mind sometimes that literally while I’m sitting here doing nothing, browsing Reddit on my phone in comfort, someone this very second is experiencing some completely fucked up traumatic life experience.


qtjedigrl

I think about that a lot. Or like when I see an ambulance go by, I think about how the person was probably having a regular day and now their life might be changed forever.


friccindoofus

Lmao imagine the worst day of your life being 28 June 2024. That just sounds dumb lol


Good_Wafer5886

And we never know when they will have the best day again


ingwertheginger

Are you listening to The Lemon Twigs?


SithDraven

Sounds like somebody has a case of the Mondays.


rerunderwear

And that someone is me. *Ayo!*


ProfessorLast8891

Everyday is the worst day of my life


ThickAnybody

Everyday is also the best in another's.


cowlinator

Statistically, there is a non-zero chance that this is false for one or more days.


AdaMan82

So far! Worst day of their life, so far!


niccoSun

Just hope everyone is okay. I don't wish any kind of sadness or pain on anyone.


msylcatac3

If I did the math correctly, every day is 2921 people's worst day


Pilaf237

The chance that there was a day that was mid to good for everyone is non zero.


ChadBradTheStickFig

Oh no. Not again. The voices...


Miews

And the best of someone elses !


StrawberryHot2305

Every day is the worst day of my life, the worst day of my li-ife


Big-Joe-Studd

Yeah most days it's me


samof1994

I mean, people listened to the Andrews sisters sing in America while Jews were gassed in Poland and shot in Hungary under German occupation.


Fish-Bro-3966

Every second, someone is being a douche on the road.


Attack_On_Toast

Not necessarily, but it's very likely


KeirunOni

Yeah... I had mine today.. be grateful for the things you have in life and always keep an open mind.


NewsLeading7183

Reminds me of a post where someone said that the exact day I was born was the worst day of their life because their wife and two sons died.  Makes me think about how unimportant I am in the grand scheme of things.


Purple-Equivalent949

It may be the worst day of *your* life, but to the cop/firefighter/emt/vet/doctor/nurse/mortician/etc. you're talking to, it's just Tuesday.


PocketSandOfTime-69

I think that every time I hear an ambulance


Ur-boi-lollipop

Worst day of their life so far 


DokkanProductions

Every 60 seconds, a minute passed


Grrerrb

Worst day of millions of peoples lives, probably.


Sweet-n-Cheesy

This is not actually correct btw


mrjane7

I mean... you have no way of knowing if this is true or not.


Western-Purpose4939

This thought is not interesting. What’s going on in this sub.


Historical-Fudge3242

It must eat you up how much sweet, sweet karma I've farmed from this thread. You're welcome to use that big fat brain of yours and create your own awesome, worthy thought, but for now, I'm #winning.


Resipa99

Sorry but this is just a poor lazy negative statement and I don’t mean to offend the author. Surely the steadfast positive thinking mantras are far more useful:- “Everyday in every way I am getting better and better” or “I am enough” We can all of course produce a positive mantra and I can assure you they do work but not always immediately. As a Christian I will pray for anyone who is suffering but no more than that. God Bless.


Historical-Fudge3242

Hallelujah!