Latest news with #MildlyInfuriating
Newsweek
5 days ago
- General
- Newsweek
Mom Picks Up Son From First Day of Middle School—Makes Unforgivable Mistake
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A mom's well-intentioned plan to make her son's first day of middle school smooth and stress-free took an unexpected turn when she found herself trapped in the school's bus lane—just as dozens of yellow buses began to arrive. Julie Robertson, who shared her experience on Reddit under the handle u/Amazing_Bluebird, was eager to help her 12-year-old navigate a big transition. She told Newsweek: "I knew going to a new school—especially a large middle school was already going to be intimidating, I wanted him to at least be relieved that he wouldn't also have to find his bus on the first day. "Like normal, everything was a bit chaotic in the morning. I looked at the map that the school provided and drove to the area where his group was supposed to go, I noticed that all the cars were dropping their kids off in a particular line that the buses were also using. 'Great! I'm glad I followed the cars,' I thought." Robertson's story struck a chord online, racking up over 12,000 upvotes on the subreddit "Mildly Infuriating." She explained that when pickup time rolled around later that day, she wasn't sure when to arrive or where exactly to line up. Given the hectic morning traffic, Robertson—a single mom, full-time college student, and newcomer to the city—decided to go early to make sure she didn't miss her son. "I wanted him to be proud of me and feel secure that his mom would always be there," she said. Robertson, who is studying kinesiology with hopes of pursuing a doctorate in occupational therapy, accidentally pulled into the same loop she had used for drop-off—only to realize, too late, that she was in the middle of the bus lane. "I circled around the curve, and by the time I reach the end I noticed buses... I started to panic because there was no way to go around them," she said. "I thought, 'Oh no! I'm trapped, quick, ask the man standing outside of a bus!'" When she asked the staff member if it was the pickup lane, he replied, "Nope!" and had just begun to suggest a way out when the buses began arriving en masse. "A holy hell amount of buses piled up behind me. I'd never seen anything like it!" she recalled. "It was at that moment, I knew I'd f***** up." To make matters worse, Robertson began worrying that her son wouldn't know where to find her—or worse, think she had forgotten him. Students aren't allowed to use phones, leaving her with no way to communicate. An image showing driver Julie Robertson stuck in a long line of school buses when trying to pick up her son. An image showing driver Julie Robertson stuck in a long line of school buses when trying to pick up her son. Julie Robertson/Julie Robertson Soon, another staff member approached the car. "She asked me who I was, where I lived, and several questions in rapid succession," Robertson said, noting that the timing of the interrogation only intensified her embarrassment as dozens of middle schoolers began flooding out of the building. "I thought for sure as soon as he saw me he would freeze, a giant orange car in the middle of a hundred yellow buses isn't exactly something you could easily hide." But to her surprise, the students took notice of her car—and they were impressed. "Hey, nice car, can I get a ride?" one student yelled. "Cool car!" shouted another. "As the buses started moving out the boys hung out the window and shouted, 'Rev it! Rev it!' I knew then that I was probably saved from my shame," Robertson said. Eventually, the staff member returned to inform her that her son had been found and she could collect him once the buses cleared. "I pulled into the parking lot to pick up my son and yes, he already found out about my blunder. And miraculously he found it hilarious. I had never been so relieved in my life." Reddit Reacts Many Reddit users related to the chaos of school drop-offs and pickups. "Drop off and pickup at my very large high school were both like this, it was absolute insanity every morning and afternoon despite all attempts to divert traffic, and parents, bus drivers, and students would all be total d**** to each other bc of the traffic," one user wrote. "This was why it became my habit to hang out with friends for like 15–30 minutes every day after school when I got my license," shared u/LilPotatoAri. "My school was deeply over crowded and it was just way too much of a risk to my car to be on the road right after school." Another chimed in: "Holy busses Batman! How many kids go to this school?!?" "Seems normal for the high school I went to. My graduating class had 2,000 kids in it. The school had over 5,000," one person noted. "This blows my mind, in the small town I graduated high school in, we had maybe 11,000 people living there. Your school had half my town's whole population wtf," added another. Do you have any viral videos or pictures that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@ and they could appear on our site.
Newsweek
01-08-2025
- Newsweek
Fury as Writer's Mom Decides To Become an 'Author'—but There's a Twist
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A Reddit post has ignited fierce debate online after a user expressed frustration that their mother wrote an entire book using AI—and is now calling herself an "author." The post, made by /u/Royal-Average8115 in the subreddit "Mildly Infuriating," quickly gained traction with more than 7,700 upvotes. According to the poster, it all began when their mom started using ChatGPT to write polished posts for her LinkedIn profile. "At first it was just for her LinkedIn and she posted it there," they wrote. "It got thousands of views, people are commenting and reposting and they're all talking about how insightful the posts are but really the words are not her own not in the slightest, not even the idea is hers." Newsweek has contacted to /u/Royal-Average8115 for comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case. At first, the poster tolerated it, believing someone would eventually call it out. According to the poster, only one person did, and their mother chose to ignore it. Things escalated when she decided to publish an AI-written eBook on Amazon. The poster wrote that their mom justified the decision by saying "everyone uses AI" and insisting that it was perfectly acceptable. "Now she's calling herself an author," the poster added. "You can't be author if AI is the writer!!" What especially rankled the poster was that their mother planned to continue using AI to generate more content for future books, seeking to build a self-sustaining writing business. As a lifelong writer, the poster described the situation as deeply frustrating. They recounted their own creative struggles—such as pacing a room to perfect character dialogue or losing pages of hard-won inspiration—and found it disheartening that their mother could simply prompt a chatbot and claim the title of "author" without putting in the same effort. The situation has sparked a broader discussion about AI's role in publishing and whether using tools such as ChatGPT undermines the integrity of authorship. A stock image of someone typing on a laptop. A stock image of someone typing on a laptop. Antonio_Diaz/iStock / Getty Images Plus Author Chris Mannino weighed in with Newsweek, saying the flood of AI-generated books "saturates and dilutes an already heavily oversaturated market and cheapens the work of those of us who put in hours and years of effort." "That said, I do use AI as a tool in my fundraising job, and I also use AI as a tool for marketing my books. Trying to pretend AI doesn't exist is foolish, but there are definite lines," he said. Maryann Karinch, a co-author of How to Spot a Liar and publisher at Armin Lear Press, also voiced concern. "I see AI as a great help in organizing material and exploring alternate ways of phrasing something—not 'creating.' As long as the material is identified as AI generated, I have no problem with it being available for sale, but my company would never publish it," she told Newsweek. Karinch said she ran submissions through AI and plagiarism detectors. In one case, she returned a section of a manuscript to an author after discovering 74 percent of it was AI-generated. The author admitted that the section had come from an AI tool. Colin Cooper, an AI and education strategist, offered a more nuanced take. Cooper, who works globally with schools and startups and also runs a personalized children's book company, drew a comparison between AI and ghostwriting. He argued that if someone has genuine expertise and uses AI as a productivity enhancer—like a calculator or an editor—they shouldn't be discredited. "The ethical dilemma arises not from the use of AI but from its misuse," Cooper told Newsweek. The real concern, he added, lies with "overnight experts" who pump out AI-generated content on topics they barely understand while posing as authorities. In his view, authorship in the AI era should be defined by "expertise, intent, and transparency—not just keystrokes." Meanwhile, commenters across Reddit were equally outraged. "I see c**p like this all the time on LinkedIn," one user wrote. "People posting these long, clearly AI-written commentaries. What annoys me even more is that the people commenting on them seem like bots too?" Another added: "Jokes aside, I really dislike what AI is doing to art. The same thing is happening with music. There was a case with a moderately popular rock band (~1M monthly listeners on Spotify) that was AI generated." One user shared their own workplace experience, writing: "AI is being used where I work, in accounting, to make some tasks easier by suggesting options." They went on to say they believed AI-generated work should come with clear labeling. "I think there should be an 'AI generated' label on everything that is published that way," the user wrote, adding, "There need to be a lot more regulations." Do you have any viral videos or pictures that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@ and they could appear on our site.
Newsweek
27-05-2025
- General
- Newsweek
Couple Hire College Student as Dogsitter—Shock at What They Later Discover
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A couple have received widespread support online after discovering that her dogsitter had added several expensive streaming subscriptions to her home account—without asking first. Reddit user u/Upstairs-Storm1006 shared the incident in a now-viral post on the subreddit Mildly Infuriating, where it garnered over 12,000 upvotes. According to the post, the original poster and their wife had hired a friend's daughter to stay in their home for four days and care for their dog. The sitter was paid and even given an extra $200 specifically for food delivery each night. But not long after returning home, they got a bad surprise. "I got a text yesterday from Xfinity thanking me for making my monthly auto-payment, and noticed the dollar amount was over $50 higher than normal. I looked on my bill and saw Max, Starz, Paramount+ w/Showtime, and Apple TV+ were now on my account, we don't subscribe to any of those. I called Xfinity which confirmed all were added via settop purchase during the dates she was staying with us," they wrote. After cancelling the subscriptions, the poster informed their friend, who reimbursed them immediately. The daughter then called in tears to apologize. "I'm glad it worked out for me but the chutzpah for her to do this in the first place they added. Expert Insight Etiquette expert Genevieve "Jenny" Dreizen, COO and co-founder of Fresh Starts Registry, described the situation as "frustrating and layered." "The OP handled things with admirable clarity and grace. They reached out directly to the parent, which may not have been everyone's first instinct, but it was likely the most effective and emotionally grounded route given the family connection," she told Newsweek. Dreizen emphasized that even in casual arrangements, there are unspoken rules that should be followed when staying in someone else's home: use only what's been offered, never purchase or sign up for anything without clear permission, and treat the space like a guest room, not a hotel. She noted that with the prevalence of smart devices and streaming services, clarifying boundaries ahead of time is more crucial than ever. She added that homeowners should feel empowered to leave a simple guide outlining expectations—including which services are OK to use, food policies, delivery boundaries, and emergency contacts. "Clarity is kindness for everyone," she said, also pointing out that while mistakes like these aren't uncommon among inexperienced sitters, that doesn't excuse them. Both parties can treat this as a learning experience. A stock image showing a woman holding a white dog. A stock image showing a woman holding a white dog. Halfpoint/iStock / Getty Images Plus Adrienne Alexander, a conflict resolution and etiquette expert and owner of public relations firm IPY Agency LLC, echoed that sentiment. She said the OP handled the situation well overall—taking quick action, contacting the parent, and resolving the charges without escalating. However, she pointed to one missed opportunity: "The OP could have spoken directly to the sitter before involving the parent. As a basic conflict principle, address the issue at the lowest appropriate level. Going through the parent first might've made the apology feel more coerced than sincere." "This isn't just about a $50 charge; it's about trust. When someone watches your pet, they're stepping into a role that demands maturity, respect, and responsibility. They shouldn't be in the role if they can't handle that," she added. Ivan Petersel, the founder of Dog Virtuoso, told Newsweek: "Pet care isn't just a side gig—it requires trust, professionalism, and accountability. "In general, people don't take Pet Sitting seriously enough. That goes for the pet sitters as well as the pet owners. "Many people think that anybody can take care of their dog but to find somebody that is responsible and truly understands Dogs is hard to find." Reddit Reacts Reddit users didn't hold back in the comments. "If a person can't take care of themselves, they can't take care of my dog," wrote one user. "Extra $200 for food? I'll dogsit for you!" joked another. "$200 for the person looking after the dog to eat food, s*** in this economy I'll start barking, sounds like a good home to me," someone quipped. Another commenter added: "If they aren't even capable of making a sandwich, then it is entirely possible that they aren't smart enough to figure out that adding channels means someone has to pay for them." Newsweek reached out to u/Upstairs-Storm1006 for comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case. Newsweek's "What Should I Do?" offers expert advice to readers. If you have a personal dilemma, let us know via life@ We can ask experts for advice on relationships, family, friends, money and work and your story could be featured on WSID at Newsweek.
Newsweek
09-05-2025
- Newsweek
Mom Thinks She's Bought a New iPhone, Shows Daughter—but There's a Problem
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. A mother who had switched from an Android to her first iPhone was excited to show the new device off, only to quickly realize there was something very wrong. A Reddit user Tobias Tawanda, who posts under the username u/Tobias-Tawanda, shared a photograph of a touch-screen phone to the r/MildlyInfuriating subreddit on May 8. He wrote: "My friend's mom proudly showing off her new 'iPhone 16 Pro Max' to me and her daughter." A second photo showed the "about phone" info, where the model was listed as an iPhone 16 Pro Max, but was followed by "Android Version 12." Some people may be able to tell at first glance that the device was not an iPhone, and certainly not the 16 Pro Max, which was released in 2024 and retails for $1,199 on the Apple website. However, Tawanda told Newsweek that his friend's mother is in her late 50s and "not very tech-savvy." She had never owned an iPhone before, instead using an old Samsung "for years" until it eventually stopped working. The mom bought the phone on Facebook Marketplace, and it "came in a box and looked convincing enough at first glance, which is likely why she trusted it," Tawanda said—and she had paid "close to $600 for the phone, which is a significant amount for her. The poster added in a Reddit comment that when she described the phone as an iPhone 16 Pro Max Mini, Tawanda instantly saw a red flag, as "that model doesn't exist." He and his friend had to break the news that it was fake, and he told Newsweek "she was understandably very upset when we told her." While it is unclear whether the mom will be able to get her money back, Tawanda said they "messaged the seller immediately, but they haven't responded." "Her oldest son is now helping her get a proper new phone. We'll also be filing a police report—even if we're not sure how much it will actually help, it feels like the right thing to do." Stock image: A woman holds a smartphone with a blank screen. Stock image: A woman holds a smartphone with a blank post had a huge reaction, racking up more than 90,000 upvotes. Commenters worried about whether there could be even more sinister things at play, as one wrote: "God forbid she tries to access a credit card or bank on it." "There could be anything installed on it and she 100 percent should not be using it," another agreed, as a third said: "If there wasn't some kind of spyware or something else on that phone I would be shocked." Others suggested it was unlikely the person who sold it to her would refund her, as one user put it: "This was not an accident." Another agreed: "The scammer isn't going to respond. Their account will probably be blank or deleted soon. Just consider the money gone and this to be a lesson learned." E-commerce fraud, relating to things bought and sold online, is massive: in 2025 alone, losses to online payment fraud were estimated at $44 billion, according to Statista.
