Recently, Reddit user u/WaffleFryEscape asked the women of the Reddit community: "Where did you last run into your former partner, and what was the encounter like?" They didn't hold anything back, and revealed all of the awkward and gruesome encounters they've had with their exes.
So, here are some women who unfortunately bumped into their former partners:
Note: Some stories were pulled from this Reddit thread by user u/Yuenada4618.
Warning: Some stories include topics of verbal and domestic abuse. Please proceed with caution.
1. "Ran into my ex last week at a new club in town — it's a big city, so I was pretty surprised to see him there after not hearing from him for five to six years. He came to say hi and brought three of his coworkers to my table to 'introduce me' as his 'first ex.' Then, his boss came to my table later to shake my hand and complimented me on how beautiful I was…so basically, he was flexing me around the club as his ex, and it was honestly a little weird. 💀 (I used to be 'fat' and had low self-esteem). Then, when I left, he tried to call me on Instagram three times, and because I had notifications off, I didn't see them until I got home. I guess I had quite the glow-up since we dated as teenagers, so he was tryna hookup. He cheated on me and dumped me when I was 14 years old (I'm 22 now), and he was 18 at the time...so there was quite a power imbalance in our dynamic."
2. "I went to a show given by a friend's band, and in the opening act were three of my ex-boyfriends. I didn't even know that they all knew each other. I lived in a major city, so how the fuck did that even happen??? It was just all-around awkward AF, especially when each noticed me in the crowd. I literally turned to my friend I went with and said: 'I've slept with three out of four people in this band. Please kill me.'"
3. "My parents were moving out at the end of last summer, and I wasn't able to find a place in time. A friend of mine had his own house with some extra rooms, so he offered to let me stay there for free for a while. Right before I was set to move in, he informed me that he had started seeing my ex whom I had dated for two years in high school, and only broke up with a year ago. I ended up staying there for two months. To make things worse, one time he told me a story over breakfast about how he farted while she was giving him a blowjob."
4. "My last ex? At a wedding for a friend. It had been three years, and he ran up to me and my now husband (then boyfriend) full of glee with his small kid and girlfriend coming up from behind. He shouted my name and said: 'Look — look what I made!' He showed them off like a proud dad. He gave the kid to his girlfriend and hugged me before I knew what was happening. It was...surreal. I quickly introduced my husband, made small talk, then mingled."
"It was awkward because we'd been best friends for a long time. When we were together, it took me so long to realize he was an alcoholic and dragged me down with him. I was so depressed then. He'd get black-out drunk and become this scary (sometimes abusive) person.
He was a vet and drank his trauma away while ruining our friendship. I can see now we only got together because we were the only ones the other trusted, and were both broken for different reasons (his PTSD and my trauma from previous abusive relationships). It was odd that at the wedding, he acted like none of that ever happened. Then, I got a friend request from his girlfriend..."
5. "I was out at a bar with some friends, and I heard a familiar voice talking to my friend at the table. I saw my ex out of the corner of my eye. My ex was verbally and emotionally abusive toward me, so I just kept talking to my friends at the table — avoiding him. Then all of a sudden, my ex tapped me on the shoulder and said: 'You're not going to say hi to me?' being all friendly, which pissed me off. I was annoyed when he did that to me while I was in the middle of a conversation with my friend sitting next to me. He was all over me trying to kiss me when I kept telling him no. Awkward."
6. "I was a college senior, and I was supposed to go to the college military ball with my boyfriend when he ghosted me. It turned out he took the person he was cheating on me with instead — he never told me. I was out on the town drowning my sorrows when he walked in with his new girlfriend. He saw me, turned white, and ran, leaving his new girlfriend standing there confused. I never saw him again."
7. "About six months ago, I ran into my ex, and he made it PAINFULLY AWKWARD. I bumped into him at work (we work freelance in the film industry, so the people I work with varies from job to job). We did a solid job of avoiding each other for the first two days. Then, on day three (the last day), the shoot was over. I was starting to break down the camera and wrap everything up when I turned around to do something, and I saw him walking up to me. And, I shit you not, the ice breaker words out of his fucking mouth were: 'Hi! I'm Kyle!' YEA, BUDDY — I KNOW. I literally did not know how to respond to it, so I just laughed and walked passed him. I hadn't seen him since 2019 on a different job — we broke up in 2015."
8. "I hadn't talked to my ex in 12 YEARS — I was included in a group text, and he got my number. He proceeded to text me really weird shit that I just didn't respond to, hoping he would get the hint and just stop. I woke up one morning to another text from him that read: 'Too afraid to answer? Don't worry — if I want to see you, all I have to do is dream about you.' Nope. Nope. Nope. I blocked him immediately. I'm glad he doesn’t know where I live — he gave me the creeps."
9. "My ex is a close friend of one of my friends, so I always see him around. We ended things amicably (so I thought), but he's just super awkward and quiet whenever he's around me. The reason I broke up with him came down to money and him feeling inadequate because he didn't have as much as me. So, the most awkward run-in happened over the Christmas holidays when my friend had a little get-together. I brought my current boyfriend, and my ex had a bit too much to drink. He was constantly making comments about how I left him because he didn't have money, and the only reason I'm with my current boyfriend is because he does."
10. "My ex showed up at my now-husband's house with a friend to start shit, and they both ended up in an ambulance. I got a criminal permanent restraining order put on him as a result, which was a blessing in disguise. This was a little over four years ago now. I did see him at a red light once last year, but he didn't know it was me next to him. Illegal tint for the win."
11. "When my mum died, my ex's mum came to the funeral. She insisted on taking a selfie with me, and then sent it to him. We'd been broken up for six years at that point and were not in contact. So, not a direct run-in, but definitely the most awkward moment of my life so far."
12. "I had just left the gym — I was sweaty and gross, and had to stop at the grocery store on my way home. He was there with his girlfriend who saw me first and called my name. She was also my ex-best friend, and was pregnant with his baby at the time — so that was awkward."
13. "I was working in the mall at one of those novelty restaurants where they drop the lights and all of the servers start dancing and singing. I was in the middle of the routine when I look up to see TWO ex-boyfriends walk by and make direct eye contact. GREAAAT. Just great. I'm just glad this was before camera phones."
14. "I ran into an ex about three weeks ago at a grocery store. It was fine — I was just like: 'Hey,' and he was like: 'How are ya?' and that was pretty much it. Like, it was just a casual greeting I'd give anyone — UNTIL I WENT HOME and had a follower request on Instagram. I accepted, but didn't follow him back because I didn't want to lol. He said: 'Hey, how have you been? You looked great today,' and I didn't reply. He also liked a bunch of my pictures — even old ones. He then blocked me, like, a week later (probably because I didn't respond)."
15. "I was out to dinner with my family at a restaurant a few months ago. Our waiter took our order, then another employee stopped by to fill our wine glasses. I looked up, and it was my ex from high school from 20 years ago. He wouldn't make eye-contact or say anything to me, and it felt awkward (as if we had just broken up). Afterwards, I heard through the grapevine that he allegedly had trauma from the high school teenage drama that surrounded our breakup. We dated for seven months when we were 16 and 17. The drama involved him dating my best friend in secret, and constantly hanging out with my friends instead of his after we broke up. I retaliated by telling him he had a 'small penis,' and that's what allegedly got to him. We haven’t spoken in 20 years, and we are both in serious long-term relationships."
16. "A climbing center — he avoided me like the plague. He gave me snide looks and wouldn't talk to mutual friends while I was there (this was four years ago). I would like to think if I ever saw him again now, I would make it clear that what he did was abuse and I didn't deserve it. Him being a jerk that I moved on from after he dumped me was just another layer to that abuse. Most likely, though, I would just ignore him."
17. And: "I ran into my ex at the mall while Christmas shopping. I was pregnant with my son, the ex walked up and placed his hands on my quite pregnant bump, and proceeded to congratulate me. We had been trying to get pregnant when he cheated on me. I controlled myself and told him to get his hands off my body, and walked away."
Note: Some stories have been edited for length and/or clarity.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger as a result of domestic violence, call 911. For anonymous, confidential help, you can call the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or chat with an advocate via the website.