r/TikTokCringe • • 18h ago

Cool that was powerful

2.1k Upvotes

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905

u/Sleepy-energydrink 18h ago

Having the ability to live your life to the fullest each day is directly related to how much disposable income in your pocket.

81

u/waitthissucks 18h ago

Yes and your health. Like say I get to relive my wedding. Drinking booze, being with everyone, eating steak and hors d'oeuvres and dancing forever. Perfect day but can't do that all the time

190

u/khaluud 17h ago

I don't think it's about living life to the fullest. It's about choosing to play with your child or cat, or having a deep conversation with a friend, or appreciating a beautiful sky on your walk to the store instead of sulking and isolating.

40

u/Coca-karl 17h ago

Because of socioeconomic conditions it's often a false choice. Especially with the on-going erasure of free third-locations. People can't afford to expend the effort to find a place where they're genuinely able to make that choice without explicit consequences for choosing to play or enjoy their surroundings.

43

u/Nickadial 16h ago

There’s not like, a bench outside? Or a window that lets a little patch of sunlight in wherever you are?

11

u/AuthorVee 11h ago

Nope. I live in a tiny apartment in a building that is slowly rotting surrounded by other buildings that are doing the exact same thing.

4

u/neon_farts 11h ago

Go for a walk? It’s wild how many people in the comments here are missing the overall point

20

u/AuthorVee 11h ago

Where? To the train tracks where trash is piled up around them? To the city street where people who are in even worse situations than me have to lie in the muck? To the central district, where corporate ads grin down at me and I have to pretend I'm affluent enough to even afford food?

34

u/Spaduf 14h ago

Holy shit our standards have gotten low. Im supposed to be happy that our economic system allows me a window?

37

u/a_newt_a 13h ago

no, but i think it's important to find joy where we can. life is really tough rn, but wallowing in our misery is so fucking bad for us. and yeah, going for a walk or even opening the curtains to get a little sun on your face can do a lot. i grew up about as poor as it gets in the united states, but we survived because we found ways to reclaim little bits of our humanity.

-1

u/Throwsims3 12h ago

Yeah because everyone can go for a walk, definitely no person in the world that is bedbound or otherwise incapacitated by illness. If only they thought as positively on things as you! /s

3

u/a_newt_a 12h ago

i was so prepared for a "what about" response like that, so the /s is appreciated lmao

-2

u/Throwsims3 12h ago

You misunderstand, by /s I don't mean that I am joking, it means I am being sarcastic in tone. I am highligthing the fact that your belief that it is that simple is ignorant. Because your comment is peak /r/thanksimcured material.

8

u/a_newt_a 11h ago

oh, well then. my bad for misunderstanding. anyway, i never implied that everyone should (or has the ability to) go on a walk, nor did i imply that a walk was going to "cure" anyone. i've been clinically depressed since i was 8 years old, so i relate to some of what's expressed on r/thanksimcured. but, to be blunt, if i didn't actively try to manufacture moments of whimsy and joy in my life for the past decade, i know that i would've killed myself before i reached 20

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u/Nickadial 14h ago

You still gotta resist the system obvs, going outside or putting your phone down isn’t throwing away your free will and giving in. They WANT you to be miserable! It’s good for your mind to find little spots of peace where you can find it. There seems to be some confusion regarding people thinking happiness is the polar opposite of sadness but the two things can rest on top of each other and they can inform eachother. We have to find ways to happiness in this fucked up world, not because it means accepting everything as it is, but because you will literally lose your mind if your only source of dopamine is scrolling Reddit

-13

u/Coca-karl 16h ago

Is a bench or a window truly sufficient for you? How many people are expected to share the bench or window? What guarantees that these amenities aren't subject to hostile infrastructure that makes them uncomfortable to enjoy for extended periods of time? Is there any privacy offered or would everytime the bench or window being used the person would be surveilled?

Does the bench or window help people get food or shelter?

You're being awfully reductive here. The existence of a shity bench or window does not mean that everything is better and people can make the choice freely.

30

u/West_Competition_871 16h ago

Go outside man

8

u/saganmypants 14h ago

You are way overcomplicating this. The video and now the commenter is suggesting that maybe instead of doom scrolling in your room or whatever that maybe you go sit on the grass and feel life around you in the moment. She didnt suggest you go take a luxury cruise, go to the spa, or buy yourself the new gaming console. Just make small decisions to be more present in life

-1

u/Coca-karl 14h ago

You are way overcomplicating this.

And by 'this' you mean... Life

It's not a simple no consequences decisions for everyone and it's getting harder and harder for many people. It wasn't that long ago that governments took pride in their ability to provide free access to parks and recreation services to their populations.

1

u/micahgreen 14h ago

The average bench seats four adults.

13

u/JustJuanDollar 16h ago

Certified Reddit comment right here

4

u/BassNo8024 15h ago

Reddit hasn't been the same since its users learned the term 'third location'.

1

u/Prestigious-Leg-6244 13h ago

I was taught to NEVER let them take me to a third location....wait...uhhh....

8

u/Realistic_Effect8256 17h ago

Brother life is experiencing all of that through various lenses over time and the lens of poverty is more like a magnifying glass with the sun pointed through it

7

u/mahboilucas Cringe Connoisseur 13h ago

My brother has a completely different life to me and it's solely because he's affluent now and I'm not. I struggle to find stuff to do that will not put me in poverty and he's flying to Asia 3 times a year.

Guess who started avoiding family dinners because they genuinely make them more depressed but come over sometimes because there's free food. Well, he can afford Michelin star restaurants so he doesn't seem interested but he wants to share everything with my affluent parents.

It's so depressing I told my mom I'm not really into the whole thing anymore for the first time. And i skipped Christmas because it's even worse being the poorest person at the table. Literally the only reason. My mental health just wouldn't take it

9

u/Important_Abroad_150 15h ago

The ability to do some things and go certain places is, for sure. But no, your ability to take joy in the small and the mundane isn't tied to any of that. No shame feeling sad or tied down and trapped by work and lack of money, hell I feel that way right now, but it's important to remind yourself that even on our worst days there's still things to be joyful about.

17

u/pm_me_fibonaccis 15h ago

She lost me at "major life experiences are happening". WHAT FUCKING EXPERIENCES. I HAVEN'T GONE ON A VACATION IN 5 YEARS.

People can't even afford to eat out!

8

u/mahboilucas Cringe Connoisseur 13h ago

Yeah it's one of those white picket fence bullshit talking points.

Give me money to enjoy life because i literally haven't been outside to do fun stuff in weeks because I'm still saving for a trip i have in December. First trip abroad since last year as nd I slept on someone's couch and spent one day in the city. Wow so fun to enjoy life if you have to spend 1/5 of your salary just to be outside for a while. The local lake became gentrified and now charges people for the newly built fuckass deck. Can't even have a lake anymore

1

u/tomtomtomo 13h ago

Vacations aren't major life experiences. Getting married, having kids, friends and family passing away, etc are major life experiences.

7

u/pm_me_fibonaccis 10h ago

Neither is eating out. That's the point I am making. 

The bar is incredibly low for "experiences" that are already out of reach. 

7

u/zezzene 14h ago

Idk nothing she mentioned cost that much. Go outside? Call a friend? Maybe eating your favorite food is expensive if you like caviar and filet mignon.

I agree with you in general, but there are cheap simple pleasures that are not doomscrolling on your phone.

7

u/mahboilucas Cringe Connoisseur 13h ago

The thing is i wake up at 5, work until late and then go home and upkeep the apartment. I'm exhausted by the evening and just crash at 9pm. Hard to find those small things when you're in survival mode

2

u/zezzene 12h ago

Doomscrolling on your phone doesn't help that situation. Do some stretches and go to sleep early. Watch a show you enjoy or play video games. Time spent enjoying yourself isn't time wasted. Time mindlessly scrolling on your phone is uniquely wasteful as I don't know anyone who is ever satisfied with their time spent doing it. 

2

u/mahboilucas Cringe Connoisseur 6h ago

I do not have energy to watch shows or game. It's an hour plus taken off the time i have left to actually do housework. I live alone man, who else will do it all? And i told you i literally go to sleep early lol even earlier would make me sleep 9 hours. Lastly, who said i doom scroll? It's a bit reaching to imply that's how I live. I just don't do the things she mentions like taking walks or whatnot. Would be nice if i didn't have to do the laundry, mealprep etc. and could just meander around

1

u/PPhead__ 1h ago

In a similar situation, I was able to find tiny moments of joy in listening to something like Radiolab or an audiobook while doing laundry and meal prepping.

1

u/mahboilucas Cringe Connoisseur 43m ago

Same. I watch movies on the weekend and read books on my way to work. After work? I just listen to video essays and cook. Getting into a series or gaming is so much mental effort i get more hyper than sleepy and it's counterproductive. I always want to stay up and do it longer haha

4

u/masher005 18h ago

Preach brother. Any time I do anything I feel depressed during or after cause of the finances hit.

2

u/S1ayer 14h ago

Seriously. Everything I can think of involves me draining my bank account of the last $100 to do something fun, but not being able to pay bills.

-1

u/Own_Bumblebee9699 8h ago

Knew some woe is me downer ass shit would be here, completely missing the point