Don't Plug In That Hair Dryer!

When I was on Birthright, we spent one night in an old hotel by the beach in Tel-Aviv. We arrived in the late afternoon and were extremely tired, hungry, and sweaty from the long trip. We ate our food pretty quickly and were told that in two hours we would be going for a night on the town. Since there were about 40 of us, with 2–3 people to a room, you can imagine how many electronics we needed to charge while we got ready. Well, needless to say, we caused a hotel blackout. That’s right, the power went out! I ran downstairs to the front desk staff to inquire, but they didn’t care. I got the feeling this wasn’t the first time a large group did this. At the very end of the trip, we were going in a circle talking about highlights of the trip, and two girls said they had a confession to make. They plugged in a hair dryer which I guess was heavy duty, because the second it was plugged in, the power went out. They turned red from the embarrassment but now we will never know if the entire floor caused the blackout or their hair dryer.

SARA FELCHER

Collection Only

Many years ago I was on a tour and our first stop was London. I met the other people in the group and we decided to order food for delivery since we had to turn in early. I believe it was a pizza place we called and when we asked about delivery, they said “collection only”. We had no idea what this meant so we asked if that was a special form of payment. After a few minutes of back and forth, we found out they meant “pick up only”. Someone ended up walking over to the place to pick up our order and when they got back, we had a great laugh. It was a wonderful bonding moment.

ALEX SULEYMANOV

Love Lols (1)

In 2015 my college boyfriend and I broke up and it was hard on both of us. We had dated for four years and tried to live together in a small studio on the UES and after that summer, we ended things. I was a wreck but a couple months later, met Eric (Spoiler Alert: Eric and I are married now).

A couple months into dating Eric, I ran into College Boyfriend and told him that I was seeing someone. He responded with how happy he was for me and that he was in a new relationship, too. He proceeded to send me the Instagram account for his new gf, Danielle Haim of the band Haim. I believed this story for a week and found I was constantly comparing myself to this iconic girl-band guitarist. My friends were skeptics.

About a week after the IG account was shared and I had gone full spiral into every interview on the internet and photo on Instagram, College Boyfriend reached out to say he had been joking. He was not dating anyone, he’d just felt sad when I told him about my life update and felt the need to share something, too.

Feeling good about the decision to break up. We’re both married now and I bet he would deny this story. People are so strange.

Night at the Coliseum

In 2006, I was traveling around Europe with my Argentinian girlfriend. We stopped in Rome for a week, and among all the architectural destinations we planned to visit the Coliseum. After a few attempts to get in, and always finding an enormous line, we decided to postpone it until the last day.

Last day arrived and it was our last chance to see it. As everyone else, we did the line for an hour and a half when right at the entry point, the admissions girl said to the couple in front of us the magical word, “you're the last ones."

I felt guilty and desperate at the same time, since I didn’t know if my girlfriend would have the opportunity to come to Rome ever again.

I approached silently to the girl, explained the situation, and begged her if there was a possibility for us to get in. She said very silently that in 30 minutes we could wait at the hidden back door and that she would show us around quickly.

We both trusted her, and waited for more than an hour, but she never open that back door. We were a bit frustrated with the situation but wanted to wait for 5 more minutes. Then, the back door opened, and two old ladies showed up leaving the premises.

It was an old door, and the closing speed of the door was very slow so I ran like the world was ending to stop it from closing. I kept it open. My girlfriend looked at me with freaked out eyes and came straight with a smile/fear face.

We got in. The door closed and suddenly we were completely in the darkness. After a few blind steps I found another door. It was the entry door to the locker rooms. The girl from the entry saw us, and she couldn’t believe it. She asked us how we were able to get in, and we responded that someone else gave us access. She was then completely stunned by the situation, and recognized she wasn’t planning to let us in, but since we were already in there, she would do it.

Funny part is that before the door access to the outside, I saw on a table a delicious chocolate cake. My eyes were expressing desire for it, and before I asked, a woman came and offered us a piece. It was probably the best cake ever. So we ended up getting a private tour around the magnificent Coliseum, eating that incredible chocolate cake.

ENRIC TURULL

Love Lols (2)

After a four-year relationship breakup, I spent a few days with my grandmother/best friend in Queens. There was a pool in her building community that all of the ladies would spend their afternoons at during the summertime. One day I joined them at the pool for lunch, post breakup, and found small notes with my phone number, profession, age, and eye color in the hands of Rose, Gloria, Jean and Roberta (my grandmother)… they were all going to be calling their grandsons that night to tell them to get in touch with me for a date. My grandmother and I had a conversation later that night and agreed to remove my name and info from the yellow pages of the ladies at the pool and that I would be "ok" to find a partner without the help of her posse. I still love her so much for doing this.

Foreclosure of

a Dream

Some of you may know me as a metal music fan, and in particular a huge Dave Mustaine super fan made later in life. I came to discover that he, like me, was kicked out of his own band (Metallica) after being told his antics were too intense, and being the persistent rat that he is, started his own thrash revolution through Megadeth. You could say he is the founding father of 2/4 of the Big 4 in metal, and a true rock n’ roll legend.

When I was kicked out of my own band—one that I had spent years cultivating a sound for, poured blood, sweat, tears, money into gear, touring, managing, rehearsing—I felt like the shock and disbelief from being expelled was most probably the greatest heartbreak of my life.

The real kick in the teeth came a year later when I found out they had been signed to Sony Records without me (b@$#&%!s!!). Fast-forward a decade or two, my life as a front woman for a prog-rock, shoe-gaze, stoner band was clearly not to be, but I love the RnB inspired electro-pop music I write now. Producing performances with spaceships and elaborate costumes consumes and invigorates my life outside of work. I love the work I do in my job and the people around me, and I find myself lucky enough that I can use that energy and money, so that I can conduct my artistic life on my own terms.

Many of those musicians who shunned and sneered back when I was at my lowest point, aren’t even playing music anymore. For me, success is in persistence and always striving to do better, trying something different every time if it doesn’t work. Even if it takes years, and even if sometimes, there is no tangible reward for it Without those failures, I wouldn’t be the person I am today, and I’m not sure the POD would have hired me if I had stayed so emo anyway.

KAZUMI KOYAMA

Life Advice PDF

Don’t let failure be the end of the story! by Charleston
DRIFT by Minna
La vie est belle by Lynsey

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Created on Editor X.

Years ago, my friends urged me to go out with this really nice guy they knew who had served time and was trying to rebuild his life. I definitely felt sympathy for his situation and have a lot of heart for second chances, so I decided to throw caution to the wind. Cut to me white knuckling my way through a stage production of Sweeney Todd, wishing I knew more about this Sondheim musical about a murderous barber, and less about how my date once attacked a girlfriend. With a knife.

Kristy

Oh! Well, the most recent fail would be the guy who cancelled on me, day of. So, I decided to go out with some friends instead. And we ran into him on a date with someone else. When we ran into him on a date with someone else, it was at the restaurant that I had suggested as a place for us to go. There is also the guy who said he was recently divorced, but when I googled him, (he is a lawyer, so easy enough to do) his firm’s website stated that he lives in New Jersey with his wife and two kids.

Vicki

Valentine’s Day 2011—The guy I was dating at the time had planned a date. That afternoon, he told me he had a few errands to run. I knew the prior week his aunt was terminally ill, so I figured one was to see his aunt. 4 hours had passed and I had not heard from him. I send a passive text not to worry about it because I was going out with my friends. Some hours later, while I was out with my friend, he calls me to apologize and says, “I hope you don’t like flowers on your doorstep.” I later texted my mom and asked if she could get my flowers from the porch.

Mom: yes, I already picked them up. Um, do you have something you need to tell me?

Me: huh?

Mom: We’ll talk when you get home.

I get home and I have a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I go to open my card and see it’s been open. The card reads, “Congratulations on your new baby boy".

Mom: Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that, is there something you need to tell me?

Me: No mom, I don't know why he got this card.

A few days later, dude and I are talking on the phone late at night. He told me he wanted to write a poem.

Me: About what?

Him: About the flowers you have and how bringing you joy brought me pain because...

Me: pain?

Him: Yeah, my aunt passed...

He didn't have to continue; it was then that I put it together that he gave me a flower arrangement from his aunts funeral.

Jessica

7 word story: dating one month, keeps asking for cash.

6 word story: first date, asked for my panties.

5 words: first date, he’s popping valtrex.

Nana