“This was legitimately one of the best friends I’ve had in my entire life — he was in my wedding party, we vacationed together, our kids grew up together — and I didn’t know his name.”

I'm a Senior Staff Writer based in New York City, where I've been covering classic BuzzFeed-style content since 2020.

"I grew up playing pick up ball with close friends.  If you ever saw us playing, you would think we all hated each other. The cursing, the yelling, even sometimes fists being thrown. Always hilarious that two of us would almost come to blows, get broken up…and then two hours later we’re laughing and joking around while grabbing food together."

"If you are not attractive enough, you must be a creep."

"Being treated like a physical threat by someone you might not have even noticed is there (e.g. a woman crossing the street to avoid you). I'm not even saying women are unjustified in taking this precaution, but I'd bet most have never experienced it."

"I worked with a guy once and my boss told me to 'Get Dave' to show me how to do something. We had both been there about a year. He was standing right next to us. I talked to him every day….I said, 'Who the hell is Dave?' I was happy when he used this as an opportunity to ask me what my name was."

"I have gym bros I consider solid friends and I don’t even remember their names, and I know they don’t remember mine either. Doesn’t even matter."

"One of my best friends growing up was introduced to me by his last name but no one told me that was his last name, so for nearly a decade I called him by his last name. And then one day one of his old friends came along and called him John. I stopped and flat out asked him what his name was, and he told me it was John. This was legitimately one of the best friends I've had in my entire life — he was in my wedding party, we vacationed together, our kids grew up together — and I didn't know his name."

"Your old college friend Jason met the love of his life. Your wife/girlfriend asks you what she does for a living. what kind of family is she from, what does she like to eat/do, who is her eighth favorite 18th century author...Your wife has no understanding that you don't know and you don't care."

"I found out one of my best friends has a girlfriend when he asked if I can help him and his missus move. Apparently they’d been together for about two years and she was also six months pregnant."

"My friends know they can all come to me if things are really serious (and they often do), but you know what we talk about more often? Stupid guy banter. Dumb jokes or bits of historical trivia. What we think of the latest Marvel movie. JFK, aliens, sports drafts, car mods, shiny new guitars…pretty much anything except home or work, unless they volunteer that information. As the night wears on, depending on the crowd, things might get a little more political or philosophical or personal — but generally speaking, time with friends is a 'third space' away from home and work, and men tend to reserve that time for 'third space' topics. This is absolutely unfathomable to my wife."

"Had a cute coworker tell me I smelled good several years ago. I don't know what it was that she smelled so just to be safe I've been using the exact same deodorant, shampoo, body wash, beard wash, and face cream ever since."

"I was standing in line for Avengers: Infinity War and a random woman told me the shirt I was wearing looked nice. I went home and bought four more of them."

"I went for a long run on a day that got hot and humid REALLY fast. I overheated a mile from my house and started staggering a quarter mile from my house. I thought I was going to collapse when an older woman ran up to me. I seriously thought she saw that I was in distress, until she urgently asked. 'My orange cat escaped my house. Have you seen it?' I replied that I hadn’t and she shuffled away. I thought that her lack of awareness was so absurd that I started laughing to myself. That rush of emotion gave me the energy to get home and into a cold shower."

"I was single for 10+ years in my late 20s to early 30s. No physical contact the entire time from anyone, family included. Not one hug. I didn't realize how touch-starved I was. Started dating someone and broke down after the first time she hugged me."

"My GF is constantly worried that other women will flirt and hit on me, and I am like, 'honey, beside you, barely any women even look in my general direction.'"

"My brother's girlfriend always makes him promise not to hook up with any other women when we go out drinking or to gigs or whatever. In her mind, we walk into a bar and hordes of attractive women descend on us and we have to fight them off and use all our willpower not to try and fuck them all.

I can't remember the last time I spoke to a woman on a night out. Women are paying absolutely zero attention to a couple of out of shape guys in our mid-thirties."

"Some women are aware of this issue, but some women are shocked to learn that flirting for one woman looks identical to just being friendly for another woman. It makes it hard as hell to unravel the whole thing."

"I cried recently at the funeral of a close relative. It was the first time I’d cried since June 6, 2009."

"I see a gal who's got a great smile that posts every other week about how great life is going right now and is bombarded with love.

I post about a teacher that had a significant influence on me who passed away from cancer last week. She was my teacher for one year when I was 13 but she would see me every now and then in high school and just be a good supporting mentor. The teacher was 26 at the time, giving life advice to a kid. This realization made me even more sad because I'm 32 and succeeded in what I said I would do because of her. I wrote a letter to her about how much of a positive influence she was in my life, and I hope that was read to her. I was pretty sad for a couple of days when she passed away.

Nobody gave a shit. My wife was the only one who asked me if I was okay, which is what mattered to me the most."

"When my wife and I were in the airport last, a large group of Korean high school students had walked up as we went to use the restroom.

In the men's, it was silent. Among fifteen high school boys queued up for the stalls, there was occasional checking of phones and nods to other friends lining up.

My wife described the ladies' as the opening scene of Carrie. Clothes were flying up and down and being traded as half the girls changed. Excited conversations continued in, between and then simultaneously out from stalls while girls doing their makeup occasionally turned from the mirrors to comment. A leader-looking girl was doing knocking rounds of the stalls and passing through sanitary products. Another girl gave my wife a quick bow and apologized for the bustle.

I suddenly want to see a YouTube video of men acting that out in the men's room. It sounds amazing."

"Yep! 'What are you thinking, babe?' 'Nothing.' 'Yeah, but like, what thoughts are running through your head?' 'Yeah no, nothing at all. Absolutely nothing.'"

"Oof I have a story about this. I was the asshole. I had a female friend who would tease me occasionally, all in good fun. One time, though, I responded, saying something like, 'Yeah I bet that's hard to see with that Forest Whitaker eye of yours.' She laughed at the time, but about a week later she got surgery to correct her eyelid. I felt so fucking bad."

I was practicing some takedown moves with a woman. She’s serious about her fitness and is pretty strong. ... Granted so am I, but I still expected to have to put up a little fight.

When I tell you that I had to make conscious effort to put my body into the positions she was trying her hardest to force me into, I’m not exaggerating. I had to give myself up entirely and then some to allow her to practice the move.

I knew there was a difference, but that was the moment I truly understood it. It’s a little terrifying."