Summer Lovin' | Reading Reddit Stories

21:55Courtney Miller:Now, several times in June, the little girl next door has seen either my husband or myself outside, and she has asked when we are opening the pool. We first told her maybe later, but the last time, yesterday, she asked, and I said we are probably just not going to open it this year, and she started crying. Now, we have never had any of the neighbors over to use our pool, so I didn't understand why she was crying over us not opening our pool. Well, I spoke with the neighbor on the left later, and apparently our neighbors on the right have been having a small family party at our pool every 4th of July when we are gone.

22:27Courtney Miller:They have always cleaned up really well afterwards and because we have scheduled pool maintenance and weekly yard service occasionally, things are moved around in our yard and we never thought much about it. The neighbor on the left thought we had given the other neighbors permission to use our pool. We did give them permission to retrieve any balls or toys that ended up in our yard, but never permission to use our pool, especially when we are not at home. We have a special latch on the gate and my husband did show the neighbor how to open the gate to retrieve kids' toys. So now my husband, who loves gadgets, is going to have several more cameras installed around the exterior of our house, covering the gate and pool area, and have the gate latch made where we can grant remote access for the pool service and yard men.

23:05Courtney Miller:Luckily, we have a friend who does cameras and home automation systems. I'm annoyed our neighbors have been using our pool without permission, but my husband is happy I am letting him get more gadgets around the house. Now, do we confront the neighbors and let them know we know they have been using our pool or just wait and see if they say anything about our new security cameras? See, I think at this stage, I would want to confront them before they use it again. I don't want them to enter my house. We don't need to wait for a situation. Yeah, it's like, hey, if I know you're doing this, I'm going to confront you.

23:40Courtney Miller:And then if I say, hey, you can't do that and then they do it, you have extra. It's so crazy too because I feel like it's already crossing a boundary if it was just the family. If it was just the parents taking their kid over to be like, hey, you want to swim in the pool for a bit? And just them hanging out. Throwing an entire 4th of July party in someone else's yard is like, that is really crazy. It's pretty bold. It's pretty stupid. I would not set foot in anyone's property in America or anywhere, obviously out of respect. But in America, it's so dangerous to like step foot because you don't know people.

24:19Yeah. Dude, I had, when I was a kid, we had like a basketball hoop in our backyard and my ball would go over the fence sometimes and our neighbors had like these two dogs and they were like loud barkers. I don't, I'm sure they were like very nice but they would bark and normally if a ball went over, I'd like go knock on their door and like just, they would go get it for me and they were like very nice about that and I never really like tried to like went in their backyard without permission but then like one time a ball went over and they weren't home and I was like knocking on the door and their dogs were like running to the door and barking.

24:49And then I like looked in the backyard and I was like, okay, their dogs are inside. They're not home. I'll just run back there really quick and get it. Cause they had given me permission before. They were like, oh, like our dogs are inside. You can just like run around and get it. So I was like, okay, it's fine. Their dogs are inside. I'm sure it'll be okay. And I went and their like back door was open or something or like they, so I like, yeah. So I like grabbed the ball and I hear this barking and I'm like moving back towards the fence and it's like coming at me. And I swear, I was like sprinting for the gate.

25:20And I was like, I didn't even want to like work the latch. So I threw the ball over and like jumped up on the fence and like had to hop the fence because I was so terrified of this dog like chasing after me. Bro, you were the sandlot. Yeah, no, it was so scary.

25:35Courtney Miller:I was terrified. Oh my God. I've talked to, I did the same thing when I was a kid. I had a boomerang and it went into my neighbor's yard and they had a big German shepherd. and I just straight up hopped into their fence and the German Shepherd was, I was like, hey, what's up, dude? And like, he was chill and I was like, oh my God. He was outside all day, every day. So I was like, he has no loyalty to them. Yeah. That's crazy. We're chill, we're cool. We have, so obviously every house has a house on each side or typically. One side, we had this old couple that if a ball went over, we would just hop over.

26:08It was always so scary. Hop over our little brick wall because the brick wall had like broken bits off. So there was like a lower point where we could hop over and then hop back really quick. But then the other house at the time had a hoarder and their backyard was like weeds this high. And they had a dog that they were not taking great care of that like we were like, that's a coyote. We're pretty sure that's a coyote. And I remember it being like the most scary excursion me and my siblings would like try and go get that ball because, but we couldn't hop over. It was just, it was so much going on, but it was like thrilling as a child.

26:43Yeah. All that to say, I can't imagine just throwing a party in a neighbor's yard without their permission. I was like, what are we talking about?

26:51Courtney Miller:Oh yeah, this is Reddit stories, right? No, this is infuriating. Yeah. Comments. Lawyer here, though not yours. You need to put up no trespassing signs. Tell your neighbors they are not allowed on your property without explicit permission and change the lock on the gate. Now that you know you are on notice and could be held liable if they are injured visiting your pool. Right. Sucks, but it would be much less trouble than a lawsuit. 5 ,000 upvotes. That's crazy. Yeah, no. That's nuts. They're lucky that nothing bad has happened because like my family had a pool and they had a gate and like we'd have family gatherings and the gate was broken.

27:29So all these little kids who couldn't swim would be able to get through this gate and like, yeah, like bad things happen. Like it's really unsafe. Could you imagine as a kid falling into a pool? Like truly.

27:45Courtney Miller:At least it was my own pool. At least I didn't trespass as an 18-month-old. These people are entitled enough that if they did get injured at their pool, they would sue. Yeah. You can tell. Yeah. Someone said, Question. Why in America must one place no trespassing signs to stop people accessing private property uninvited? In Australia, a private property is private and unauthorized access is a crime. No additional steps required. Lots of people were saying to call the cops in the comments. I also think it's different state by state. Yeah. Depending on the state in America, I feel like the rules are probably completely different.

28:24Yeah, I mean, a no trespassing sign feels like you shouldn't have to do that in the US.

28:29Courtney Miller:You shouldn't have to, but if the lawyer's saying you should, like, take those steps. You did everything you could. Do those steps to be clear, but it's like, yeah, It should be a no-brainer. I guess it's maybe in court that they could say, well, no, you did give us permission. You told us once. And it's like, how do you prove that wrong? Someone said, I'm so petty, I'd open the pool, hide the cars so they'd think I was gone, then lurk hidden near the pool, ready to step, and ask what the hell they think they're doing when they stroll in for their party. Yes, and then wear your see-through bikini.

28:59Imagine you just emerge from the pool in scuba gear, just...

29:03Courtney Miller:I'd have still team six there with harpoon guns. Someone's, okay. I'm so petty, I'd open the pool, hide the cars so they'd think I was gone, then lurk hidden near the pool, ready to step, and ask what the hell they think they're doing when they stroll in for their party. I'd embarrass them in front of their guests so hard, but you have to live next door to these people, so probably best not to do that. Right. Yeah, right, right. Update. Okay. Yay. For free? Three days later. I don't know how to link the original post or if it is even possible. I didn't expect this to blow up like it has. Certainly didn't expect over a thousand comments.

29:40Courtney Miller:I have tried to read them all and some were very creative and amusing to read. First of all, we don't want to hurt anyone or alienate our neighbors. We just don't want people using our pool without permission and we don't want the liability associated with this activity. A few things I feel I need to clarify. Yes, our backyard is fully fenced in with two gates. One in back is double locked from the inside. The side gate on the side of the garage nearest the neighbors in question has a double latch. They have to reach over the top and find not one, but two releases to open the gate. There is also an auto-close that automatically closes the gate and latches it.

30:12Courtney Miller:I personally can't open the gate from the outside of the fence because I can't reach over that far to reach the two latches. The previous owner put this in, and it has worked well for our yard crew and the pool maintenance people. We do have some cameras, a doorbell camera, and a camera over our garage area. The garage cameras picks up if someone goes towards the gate from the front, but we didn't want to invade our neighbor's privacy by recording their side garage door and gate to their backyard. We even shared the camera angle with them because we didn't want them to be concerned about us recording their children or their coming and going.

30:42Courtney Miller:I guess we were more concerned about their privacy than they were about ours. Yeah, you like helped them. You helped their pool heist. They're like, great, so the camera face is there, which means if we hug the line, we can get right back. And here's where we keep our safe with all of our gold bars. Anyway, the update, Thursday, July 4th morning. I was loading a few things in my vehicle to take my cousin who just got out of the hospital. Neighbor slash husband, who has been gone a lot for work recently, saw me and came over and asked if I was getting a late start going to the lake. I let him know that we were staying home because we were helping my cousin who just got out of the hospital.

31:17Courtney Miller:He asked if we were going to be home all weekend. I said yes, one or both of us would be around all weekend. He quickly wished me a happy 4th and went home.

31:29Courtney Miller:Oh, happy fourth, happy fourth. I have to return some videotapes. I went back in to grab my purse and tell my husband about the conversation with the neighbor before I left. When I got home, our friend Mike was there. Mike does security cameras and home automation systems, gadgets, and my husband loves gadgets. We've picked up on that. Yes, yes. Mike and my husband have a plan for multiple cameras and several gadgets, some of which involve us going ahead and having the pool opened. I agreed to all but one of the new cameras and almost all of the gadgets. I think husband put some in plan, knowing he would have to give up a few of them.

32:05Courtney Miller:Mike also suggested talking to our homeowner's insurance agent because we might be able to get some discounts with the security upgrades.

32:20Courtney Miller:So on Friday the 5th, Tom, our insurance guy, comes over and Mike is back and he has a drone to help him find the best camera position. Really, I think he just wanted to show off his gadget. So husband... Gadget buddies. I love it. I love it. You guys all have your gadgets out. So husband, Mike, and Tom are outside and all around the house and occasionally inside. I look outside every so often and at different times, other neighbors have come outside and down to our end of the street. So neighbors want to know what is going on. So husband tells them, we are concerned that someone or several people may have used our pool without our permission while we were not home.

32:58Courtney Miller:It turns out that two different neighbors had witnessed some friends of the neighbor children come over last year, and they and the neighbor twins had gone into our backyard. One neighbor even asked the girls, and they claimed that we let them come over all the time and use our pool. So at this point, husband and Tom discussed this, and Tom says we should send a registered letter to the neighbors rescinding our permission from entering our fenced-in backyard. So before Mike and Tom left, the neighbors on the right, pool party neighbors, come home, both husband and wife. My husband asked to talk to them, and with Mike and Tom as witnesses, he tells them that for insurance reasons, we are rescinding our permission for them or any member of their family or guests to enter our fenced-in backyard, and we will be sending a registered letter stating this as requested by our insurance.

33:42Courtney Miller:My husband never accused them or their children of using our pool, but said we had reason to believe that in the past, our pool had been used without our permission. He did say that we had reason to believe that their older children might be friends with someone who has been in our pool. Husband also told them that we are changing the gate to have an automated lock and cameras will be installed around the pool area. He also assured them that we avoid the cameras pointed at their windows or backyard. Husband indicated that we are taking these measures to hopefully lower our homeowners insurance rates.

34:11Courtney Miller:Husband said that they exchanged a few looks between them, but they said they understood and appreciated the heads up. So hopefully the saga is over, but if there are any other updates, I will try and post them. I think that's really, that was really well done. They went the sophisticated way. Sophisticated, non-confrontational and like, you know, talking about the health, the home insurance rates going down, like that is all so valid and like, you know, maybe in future years, OP, they can have a 4th of July party and invite the neighbors, you know? Absolutely. My favorite part is all this getting uncovered because just like a little kid was like, are you going to open your pool?

34:48because they just like don't know. You know the parents probably went up to her and like you fucking blew our kid. Yeah. The fuck. They just like the kid doesn't know that they're not using it with that permission so it's like are you going to open your pool? Like we got to have our party.

35:02Courtney Miller:It's once again I'm always pissed at this type of like shady shit because I'm like if you went and asked they might have said no but like then they get to say yes and you don't have to worry about it. I hate like especially when I was younger like I don't do this as an adult But when I was younger, when you're like, you know when you're like, you sneak into a place you're not supposed to be or you're doing something, it's like, oh, we're kind of like going around the rules here, you know? And I'm like, I don't have fun then. Yeah. Because then I'm like, what if we get caught? Like, I don't like that.

35:29Courtney Miller:I can't relax. Yeah, the anxiety. Like, if I was having that 4th of July party and I'm like, yeah, so the neighbors don't know we're here, I'd be like, what if they come home? Yeah. That could happen. And I'm going to be thinking about that all night. Yeah. Just doesn't sound fun. But anyways, good on them and all their gadgets. Yeah. All them gadgets. I knew a drone was going to show up. I knew a drone was going to show up. He went about it so smart by not accusing them to, because if you know if these people are entitled enough to use your pool without asking permission, they're going to lie to your face.

36:00It's very likely. It's safe to assume. Yeah, but yeah, husband did amazing. I'm like, you're such a great communicator, and you were honest with them, protecting yourself, and you gave them the opportunity to volunteer or admit their wrongdoings, and they didn't, which is interesting and notable, you know, but well done.

36:22Courtney Miller:But he does have guns with drones. Yeah. Drones with guns. Drones with guns. Patrolling the house now. And guns with drones. And guns that also have drones. Yeah. Little did they know, they could just hire me. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Relax! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Relax! Relax! Stay out of our pool! Don't do it! Don't! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Get him! Get him! I'm unarmed! I'm unarmed! Ah! Ah! Okay, I'm done. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

37:07I hit the real citrus tree. I almost knocked one of our real oranges off. Don't ruin the oranges!

37:13Courtney Miller:You literally cannot get past this defense.

37:20I just bite a piece off. Hey! Ha! Oh, no, no, no, no! Oh, God! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! Anybody want a beer? Yes! Yeah.

37:33Courtney Miller:For people listening, Courtney just beat the fuck out of me. Yeah. No, I didn't. Courtney threatened us with a garden hose, and then we had a pool noodle fight. Yeah. And I know what you're thinking. It's like, it's not anything weird. Like there's actual... The whole set is summer themed right now. There's beach balls and pool noodles everywhere. I probably should ask this now, Marcus. We did get permission to film here, right? Uh-oh. Don't answer. A drone! I don't want to know. Yeah, we're actually in someone's backyard. A drone shows up. I'm like, ah! We're in this guy's backyard. He comes back like, what are you doing?

38:13Courtney Miller:Pretty funny. This next story comes from relationships. Posted. Oh, yeah. Posted August of 2016. I looked at eight and I for some reason went October. Dude. Well, that's valid. Octagon. Octagon. Octopus. August 2016. I was a different person then. I know. I don't know. You were like 10. Yeah. 10 years old, man. This is, dude, Obama. Obama It was still Obama It was still Obama Just barely Just barely still Obama Just barely Obama Alright The summer of Obama Dude we're gonna have ourselves In Obama summer Forget about hot girl summer It's Obama summer Alright This comes from relationships They write My boyfriend Who's 24 Despises when I 22 year old woman Go surfing But it's a big part of my life What do I do?

39:10What?

39:11Courtney Miller:Her boyfriend, Jonah Hill. I was going to say. What the heck? I won't give out too many details, but I'm an avid surfer, and I've been in a few championships throughout my life. Yet nothing too major. Mostly small tournaments held in my country. I began surfing when I was just 12 years old, when my father bought me my first board, and we've been surfing together ever since. Though in the last few years, he's decided to stop due to a back injury. I surf mostly with my cousins now, and sometimes with a group of friends I met through surfing. Basically, I don't know what my life would be like if I didn't surf.

39:40Courtney Miller:I'm in no way addicted to it, and I can undoubtedly go weeks without it, but I do start to miss it after some time. I enjoy being able to go at least once every month, but I won't complain nor become unbearable to be around if I don't. I've met some great people down at the beaches, and it's a great culture if it's what you're interested in, and I've recently become a kite surfer instructor down at the beach. So four days a week, I work from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. while I'm in between jobs. Let's get to the issues now. I've been with Mark for seven months, so it's a fairly new relationship. And up until last week, I've been really happy and there haven't been many problems.

40:17Courtney Miller:Last week, he admitted to me he has a huge problem with me going surfing and he asked me to stop. He's told me the major issue is his mother drowned when he was just a little boy. And he says he's freaking out thinking he'll lose me to the ocean as well. I told him I understand his concerns but these are risks I'm willing to take and so he should trust in me and allow me to carry on doing what I love doing I'm not stupid I don't go anywhere near the sea when it's not in a good state I know about undercurrents I know when not to swim but he doesn't trust that I do I understand his worries but I feel like he isn't trusting me another major issue is he doesn't like my group of friends who come with me and he says they make him feel small and emasculated just because they can surf and he cannot I've told him that it's ridiculous and I've never even thought of them as attractive or appealing to me as more than just a friend but he still tells me he feels jealous and insecure when they're around he never comes to the beach with us anymore so I don't think he's even seen them in a while I don't know what to do I don't want him to feel jealous or worried about me but I also can't stop doing what I love to do it's a fun sport and I know I'm good at it it feels strange to give it up because my boyfriend doesn't like it I've thought about it and I'm not sure if he just feels insecure because he's slightly overweight and doesn't enjoy working out, but that would be so silly.

41:36Courtney Miller:I don't know how to approach this. He's been telling me he doesn't like it for several reasons. So now I'm not sure which one to believe. I want to ask him about this. Yesterday was the first time I've gone surfing in two weeks and he refuses to speak to me when I called him once I got home. He didn't return my calls nor messages and this morning he explained it was because he was disappointed in me for going surfing again. I'm getting sick of this attitude and I don't know what to do. Thanks in advance, and I'm sorry for quite a long post. Wow. You know what? After reading so many stories, you know it's a bad sign when they spend three paragraphs explaining something so normal.

42:13Explaining why they're not crazy.

42:14Courtney Miller:They're like, so I like surfing for, and here's all the reasons I like surfing. I'm like, you don't have to give me reasons, man. You're allowed to say, I like surfing. Yeah. When they were like, I was ready for them to be like, yeah, I like to go at least like three or four times a week. But they're like, I'm happy going once a month. I was like, what? Like, wow. Also, like, I don't know. You're also allowed to do whatever. Like, if you surf all day, every day, it's like, that's your life, man. And when someone's dating you, that's who you are. And if they're not into that, they're allowed to be like, I'm not into that.

42:46Yeah, like, it's like dating a firefighter and then being like, hey, I really don't like that you're a firefighter. Like, you chose to date this person knowing who they are. And now you're trying to, I mean, I don't want to jump to conclusions. it feels very controlling. Oh, yeah. And like, first of all, surfers, do you surf? No. You have to be a very strong swimmer. Like getting past the break and just getting out there is hell. You have to be a really strong swimmer just to get out there and do that. So trying to put your trauma of something, I mean, like it's valid, but you can't put that on somebody who's like, you don't know their experience and that's a completely separate life and person from you.

43:26And then being like, well, also I'm insecure because of other surfers and I can't surf. It's like, okay, what are we doing here? Yeah.

43:33Courtney Miller:No, I think it's funny that he started with the trauma. One of like his mom had passed away, which is horrible. It's still like, hey man, like that sounds awful. I understand that you have this fear. You have to work that out. You can't put boundaries on her life. Yeah, such is life. And then he follows it up with, he feels jealous of the people that she's surfing with. and that is interesting. Neither of them are reasoned enough. I think it's valid to talk about those things, to be like, hey, I feel emasculated, I feel jealous. You can talk about that. You can't be like, because I feel this way, you have to change your life.

44:12Courtney Miller:Exactly, yeah. I think it's really healthy to be honest about that and be like, hey, I do find myself getting a little bit jealous and maybe could use some extra reassurance or whatever. But trying to control what someone's doing and then not speaking to them after they go surfing is like so toxic. Yeah. It's okay to have like, like, you know, people have that of like, oh, I, some people I know would be like, I could never date someone who rides a motorcycle because it's just like, that's scary. Like, I would be scared. I know it's, but you can't then date someone who rides a motorcycle every day and then be like, oh, by the way, now that we're dating, you have to stop.

44:44Courtney Miller:It's like, no, that's who they are. Like, if that's a thing that you can't do, you can't date that person. Surfing has been such a big part of her life. It is like a part of who she is. Yeah. You're trying to literally remove a huge part of who she is. Surfing, it's an incredible sport, but it can be a spiritual thing for people. It was something that her dad got her into. She said she has competed. I think so. And then she's an instructor. Yeah. Kite surfing. Okay, then pay my wages. Yeah. That's her life. You can't give that to a person. No, especially it's clearly something that she's super passionate about.

45:22I'm sure if Raven, if my partner, asked me to stop playing basketball, that would be devastating. I'd be really sad. I'd be like, no, I really love this thing. I don't want to stop.

45:32Courtney Miller:If I was like, hey, stop being silly. Oh. Say, sorry. That's a boundary for me. Yeah. Start hitting you with a pool noodle again. Comments. Well, looks like he's giving you quite the ultimatum. Are you willing to give up your favorite hobby and a group of friends for a seven-month-long relationship with a guy who's insecure? Yeah. 2 ,000 upvotes. OP said, no, definitely not. I won't give up surfing. I just want him to become more understanding and less whatever he's being. But I'm not sure you can just force someone to change. Someone said, unfortunately, you can't make someone change. It's okay if that's a deal breaker for him.

46:07Courtney Miller:It's also okay that you don't want to give up something that's a huge part of your life. The only problem I see here is the fact that he's known you're a surfer for this long and is now only saying something. That seems a little red flag to me. I mean, if you guys had been going out for a month and this popped up. That makes sense, but it's been a good bit of time and now he's all like, my mom drowned and it's just now traumatizing. Right. Someone said, Surf on out of that relationship. Someone replied saying, OP uses Surf. It's super effective. Pokemon reference. That's awesome. Yeah, you fucking nerds.

46:37That's fucking nerds.

46:39Courtney Miller:That's really fucking awesome. Pokemon. Pokemon, dude. Hey, hey, hey, stop it. Stop it. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh. I turn into Chance. Oh, I like it.

46:55Ooh, sexy way. Sexy way. Surfing way. Oh, man.

47:01Courtney Miller:If Chance was here, he would have done that. Yeah. Okay. Well, you did it, bro. Well, you did it. Yeah, but I did it. But I was channeling. Oh, but you did it as a bit. You did it as a bit. But actually, I was joking. But I was joking, dude. I was joking. Actually, guys, I was just joking. Someone said, get a new boyfriend. you are not compatible. Even if he does not surf, he needs to accept that you do. If he has anxieties over his childhood, those are his to deal with and master, not yours. If he feels emasculated, then it's his problem to solve. Get rid of him. He will not make you happy. Update.

47:33Courtney Miller:Yeah! Summertime. Update, yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no. Update, my husband hit me.

47:49Oh, hey, she got you there. Yeah, sorry, checkmate. Oh, but it was a bit. Oh, it was a bit. Just joking.

48:00Courtney Miller:Update from OP in the comments. I must say, guys, I am so overwhelmed at how helpful you've all been. I've read all your comments on this post. I'm so grateful for all the advice and kind words. As for an update, I haven't spoken to him much at all in the past few days as I've been too busy surfing. In all seriousness, I do want to have a chat with him about how I will most definitely not be giving surfing up. And if that isn't okay with him, I wish him the best of luck in finding a new girl who's just as much of a couch potato as he is. I've got a life to live. Nothing wrong with being a couch potato.

48:31Courtney Miller:Also pretty sick. Also pretty sick. Channel surfing. Couch surfing. Channel surfing. Pretty cool. I'll be bringing you a new post as an update within the week after I finally do return his calls. I might be acting immature or silly, but the last conversation we had was an awful one. He admitted to me he lied about his mother's death and how it happened and told me the real reason was he was jealous of me and my friends and how I'm much more attractive than him. That was never an issue nor something that would ever have bothered me, but the lying and the trying to make me feel bad because my male friends are fit, that's not okay.

49:08Courtney Miller:I'll speak to you all soon. Thanks so much again. Yeah, that's an immediate. That's crazy. Yeah. I don't know if his mom is alive or if he's lied about how she died. He's like, no, she actually died dirt biking. Oh my God. Fuck. So don't ever ride a dirt bike. Oh my God. She actually died on the couch. Oh no. Oh no. So it scares me every time I'm on a couch. Damn. All right. Huge loser behavior. Super toxic. Good on her. Huge loser. Yeah. She keep riding them waves, girlfriend. Hope you catch a tube. Hang ten. Paddle. Pitted. Get so pitted. Woppa! I was like, woppa! Greatest video of all time.

49:56Courtney Miller:So awesome. All right, our next story. Am I the asshole? Summer of 2023, again. Am I the asshole for not letting this random kid use my pool noodle?

50:10No, no, no, no.

50:18Okay, okay.

50:21Courtney Miller:I'm at my parents' I'm at my apartment's pool laying in one of those chairs and I brought my pool noodle with me that's actually pretty heavy duty. I got it from Sam's Club. It's made out of fucking metal. the pool has their own noodles but they've all been chewed up and ripped up but there are still a couple in semi-okay condition i know what he means yeah yeah when they're like there's chunks taken out of them yeah delicious anyway this little kid comes over and is like excuse me can i use this and i said very gently no sorry it's mine then he runs away and tells his brother and the next thing i know he's coming over to me saying if you're not using it why can't you let him use it.

51:05Courtney Miller:To which I replied after a moment of being stunned that he even came over to me in the first place. Bro, this is literally my noodle. I paid for it. I'm not giving it to some random kid I don't know just to get it back with bite marks on it. Then he literally calls me a bitch and walks away. I don't think I'm the asshole, but edit. Thanks for all the responses, everyone. I feel like I should add one. I didn't say the second response in a nasty tone. It started out with like a nervous laugh on, bro, I paid for it. And then the last part, it morphed into a sort of incredulous inflection, which I guess could be bitchy depending on how you take it.

51:39Courtney Miller:I don't know. Two, my noodle is vastly different to the ones at the pool. They have the skinny foam ones with the hole in the center. Mine is a solid foam and very thick. There's really no reason to think that the complex owns it. Yeah. That's really funny. I don't think it's... No, he's not the... Like, it's his own property. He's allowed to have it. Yeah, I wish I knew how old the brother was. I know. It's not like he was being a dick to it. Because I picture a brother being like, it was the adult supervision to this kid at the pool, maybe. So they were both adults. Because, like, even what he said wasn't inherently rude.

52:15He established a boundary with the child. The child left. And then he, I mean, yeah, he really picked the woman ass off.

52:21Courtney Miller:And then he now walks up an older child. Yeah. Older child. I'm picturing 12 to 14. If he called him a bitch, that's a 12 to 14 woman. Or that's an adult who has a 12-year-old mind. The interaction of like, hey, why don't you let me use your pool noodle? Dude, I bought it. It's mine. Bitch. That's just so funny. It's extremely funny. That's hilarious. Oh, okay. Well, you're a bitch. Like, oh, fuck.

52:49Courtney Miller:The verdict is not the asshole. Comments, agree not the asshole, but it could have been handled more maturely. Speak to people as if you're giving them the benefit of the doubt. i.e. as if you have higher expectations for their good intentions than you actually do and be calm and rational. This will not always result in someone being less rude to you, but sometimes it does. And if it doesn't, then it still does a better job of highlighting their overreaction. I think the problem is like, we don't know how he said it. From what he's described, I guess the bite marks in it is like - Accusing his kid of being a biter.

53:21Courtney Miller:Yeah, your brother's gonna bite, your brother's gonna eat this noodle. Yeah. It's like, whoa. Hey man, what? Someone said, not the asshole. I love a good low stakes. Am I the asshole? I'm surprised it wasn't the parents coming over to tell you that they're teaching their son about sharing. And it would be great if you could share. The entitlement is real. Someone replied, a parent pulled that on me when their child wanted my child's toy. I smiled and said, that's great. What does your child want to share? Got a stunned look, but we want your child to share. Said, I will teach my child to share, but you want your child to be able to take my child's stuff.

53:54Courtney Miller:No thanks. They just stood there while I ignored them and then wandered off. Their child wanted the new bike my child rode to the park. I walked. No, not sharing new bike with people I've never seen in the neighborhood. Lastly, someone said, not the asshole, 100%. That kid was going to bite the shit out of that noodle. He's like, I really want to bite that noodle. That's tough. He's like, I don't want that noodle coming back with bite marks. And the kid's just like side eyeing like, uh-oh.

54:25Oh, man. I just, like, I'm totally believe that it's totally okay to go up and ask someone, like, hey, could I use that thing? Like, depending on what it is, obviously. Like, ask, like, hey, do you mind if I use that? But if someone says no and it's their property, just, like, end of conversation. That's the end of it. Like, all right. Thanks. No worries. Like, I just can't imagine, like, going up to someone and being like, I want to use that thing you own. And then being like, no, sorry. And being like, what do you mean? Like, why can't? Give me that.

54:52Courtney Miller:Give me that. Give me your noodle. It's crazy. Me at an Italian restaurant walking up to someone else's table. Give me your noodle. Give me that noodle, man. All right. This comes from True Off My Chest, summer of 2023. Technically, it was posted in spring, so. Whoa. Not really a summer story. Okay. Marcus and Emily. Oh, my God. Everyone just said it involves a bitch. What the fuck? Whoa. Emily, whoa. Whoa. Oh, Emily. It's summertime. Guys. Come on. All right. My best friend of 11 years kissed me while we went for a walk on the beach, and now my life is complete. Whoa! I, an 18-year-old boy, and my friend, a 19-year-old girl, went for a walk on the beach together.

55:42Courtney Miller:This happened today, and I'm still smiling with so much joy and happiness. I never thought this day would come. Around 6 o 'clock, I asked her to go out for a walk on the beach, and she replied yes. So she came to pick me up and we drove to the beach that also had an ice cream place across the street. We got to the beach in about five minutes, which is a very short drive. We saw that there were only three other people on the beach. We took our shoes off and got our feet wet a bit and we took pictures of the sunset. They were very breathtaking and it hits different because of those videos I watch on TikTok and YouTube shorts.

56:14Wait, what? This hits different because of the phone version. Wait, no, that's so funny. Wait, what year is this? did it? 2023. 2023, okay. 18, 19. Yeah, in 2023, that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. That's really funny.

56:28Courtney Miller:After about 15 minutes of walking, we stopped. She then told me how she felt and boy do I tell you when she told me her feelings, I was about to cry. Not cry sadness, but joy. I don't think anyone that I knew ever would actually say to me, I love you so much. You are my whole heart, my strength, my purpose. She then told me to get closer. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me on the lips. Woo-hoo! I yelled at the top of my lungs in joy as if just a couple of people while they were still kissing. Oh my God. After 11 years, on this day, me and my friend are now a couple. She giggled a bit, which was very cute, and I did too.

57:06Courtney Miller:We then ended up making out for another 10 seconds before we got some pics together. This is so fucking funny, dude. We even got a pic of her kissing me under the sunset. Whoa. Oh. Which hit different because of, it hit different because of all the Instagram, other pictures of people, TikToks kissing by the sunset. Of course, of course. This is a moment I will never forget. This has got to be the best moment of my life and I'm extremely thankful and happy this girl came into my life since 2011. Every story can have a happy ending and inspire some people to do what's best for them. Whether it's confessing your feelings or even asking someone out, just go for it.

57:41Courtney Miller:Either way, at the end of the day, you got it off your chest. Thanks for reading this again and I hope everyone that reads this finds love and happiness in their life. Aw. So sweet. That's so sweet. Come on, man. That's so cute. Wow. You're loving it. Oh my God, love is real. You're loving speech. I love when someone writes so just like openly and they're just like, yeah, it hits different because of the videos I watch on TikTok and YouTube shorts. I'm just like, they're including all this stuff. Yeah, that's what people, because we would have been like, because remember that one movie? Yeah. Yeah.

58:15Courtney Miller:Yeah. Remember that vine? That vine. That vine. This hits different than that vine. You can tell this person is just on cloud nine. Yeah. Sheer joy. I hope you all know that like happiness is coming your way. Yeah. The fact that they screamed after getting a kiss is like so adorable. I'm trying to picture genuinely like what that looked like. Like obviously it wasn't while they were kissing, but just going, ah! Yeah. I like, obviously it was probably like more of a woohoo. but I'm still laughing at the like, like, no,

58:51it's the kiss, and then it's, yay, sexy way. Shouting to the sea, like in Tamodachi, like, ah! Dipping my head in the water, so bubbles fly out. He walks off into the ocean, the end of breakfast club, just fist in the air.

59:08Courtney Miller:Some guy walks up, and he's like, can I use your pool noodle? Fuck you. bitch. Comments, someone said, finally some positive energy. Good for you, bro. Someone said, I remember this moment for my girlfriend and I. We have been best friends since seventh grade and came out to each other at the same time. We're about to hit one year of officially dating. Lastly, someone said, congratulations. Enjoy every moment. Life is short. Hey man, don't bring down the vibe. Hey, I'm really happy for you. You're going to die soon. Enjoy every moment because someday you will die. That's so cute for you. We're all dying.

59:44Courtney Miller:Yeah. Okay, it did involve a beach. That was very summery. That was very summery. Summertime kiss. Okay, you got us. Summer love. Oh my God, Emily just called us a bitch. Oh my God. That was crazy. Spreading lies. They all have pool noodles back there. Ready to go. Yeah, so anyways, summer's ending. Yeah. Summer's ending and we're all gonna die one day, so. We're all dying. Sucks. Sucks. That's how it goes. Wow. The sun is setting on the summer of our lives. Before we go, you should check out Smosh.com for some sick summer merch that we have. We have a cool tote bag and a nice koozie for drinks.

1:00:29Courtney Miller:Maybe a beer. I've become a tote guy. Yeah. I'm kind of a tote bag guy these days. And it's a pretty cool tote. I love totes, but you know what I struggle with? They do not stay on my shoulder. because your shoulders are so huge and mounded it's like I just can't I have to truly hold them but I love a tote bag and anyways but thank you for watching thank you both for being here let's get him guys stop ow ow ow

1:01:04oh yeah Yeah.

1:01:12Sorry, I just realized I was holding it like this. Anyways, we'll see you guys next time. See you next time.

1:01:20Courtney Miller:Thanks again to DoorDash for sponsoring this episode. Needed that? Delivered. DoorDash. Order now.