Unfortunately, there comes a time when friendships end for a multitude of reasons. I've experienced it firsthand so I found this thread where a redditor asked "What was the worst thing a friend did to you that just made you cut off all contact?" to be very relatable. Here are some people's friendship-ending experiences.
Note: Some of these responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
1. "My friend cheated with my fiancé."
2. "I came home, and my neighbor (who I befriended three months prior) started blowing up my phone saying she had an emergency. I responded and told her that it was late, I was tired and had just got back from work, and my boyfriend had a 101-degree fever so I just was not feeling it. She then proceeded to bang on my windows and door at 12:30 in the morning and texted my boyfriend and my roommate at the time to try and get ahold of me. Turns out the 'emergency' was one of her friends (haven’t even met this person) had gotten cheated on. Blocked her and never spoke to her again."
3. "Like most long-term friends, we knew a lot of each other’s secrets. Misdeeds, misadventures, and so forth. Nothing too criminal but also some youthful indiscretions that should stay in the 'we don’t talk about this with others' box."
"The friendship was waning. About a year prior, I had started questioning what I was getting out of it and if I should or shouldn't slowly break contact. Then I started dating my girlfriend. Naturally, my friend took that as me dropping him like a hot potato, which wasn’t true, but from his perspective, I get the suspicion.
After a few half-hearted attempts at getting together, we did, and apparently, he did not like the way it turned out. He sent me an e-mail threatening to tell my girlfriend all of the shit we’d got into over the years, going so far as to list out dates, times, and circumstances. I responded that he could if he wanted to, and that would likely be the end of the relationship with my girlfriend, but the threat of doing so definitely meant an end to our friendship. I also forwarded the e-mail to a couple of friends who were already in the know. They also ended up cooling things off with him.
In the end, nothing came of it. But when you start threatening your friends of 20+ years with misdemeanors committed when you were young, then I can never trust you again."
4. "We were running a used computer shop together. We had been running it for a few months, and I had not gotten any money yet while he had pocketed all of it. One day, he asked if the agreement I had signed between us did not say what I thought it said. He asked what I would do if the agreement said he could take the business over at any time with or without my consent. I walked away from the relationship and have not spoken to him since. This was over 20 years ago."
5. "My friend called me manipulative for rearranging our plans when I had just gotten out of the hospital and needed to rest. My 'flakiness' affected her anxiety disorder and made her feel unappreciated. I told her that it wasn't like I'd had an asthma attack on purpose. She called me manipulative, I called her selfish, and I haven't talked to her since."
6. "I asked a longtime friend to be at my wedding. He lived out of state. He blew it off. Said he couldn’t afford to make the trip. I had free transportation set up for him and a free hotel room. When I called him to tell him about my wedding, he blew it off again. So I just looked at my phone mid-conversation with him and hung up the phone. Never went back or communicated with him. He sent me a text asking if I was feeling ok. Didn’t respond. This set off a new standard for me with all my friends: If they don’t make an effort, then I just stop and leave it at that. If they ever communicate with me again, some haven’t, I just flat out tell them. If it’s an issue, I move on. I have fewer friends, but those are do-anything friends. If I need them, they are there, if only a conversation or a need. They are there and present. As an elder, I recommend all of you younger folks practice this method. It’s much healthier in the long run."
7. "She and her husband were living in my finished basement. I charged very little, and they were struggling financially. They asked me if they could skip a few months' rent to save for a security deposit for an apartment, and I agreed."
"I went on vacation, and a neighbor texted me complimenting my boat. I didn’t have a boat. Turns out my friend and her husband had financed a ski boat and were hiding it from me. I was gone so they brought it home to clean it and got caught. I called them out on it and gave them 30 days' notice. They and their possessions were gone before I got back from vacation. We were friends for over a decade before this."
8. "We had a bit of a falling out over some stupid, but ultimately harmless, things I said. Unfortunately, her reaction was to tell all of our mutual friends some very personal information I had shared with her in confidence. They started harassing me over social media, so I cut off all of them. I lost half of my friends because she was petty and spiteful. Teenagers are just awful."
9. "I was dealing with infertility issues that she was well aware of. She blindsided me and told me to my face that she was pregnant and didn’t know if she even wanted it. Uh, pick your audience."
