Nate
There’s always that one person who steps up so everyone else doesn’t have to suffer. The designated driver. The fake date. The brave soul who sits next to the talkative uncle at Thanksgiving.
Reddit asked:
“What’s your ‘gotta take one for the team’ story?”
And the answers? A mix of hilarious, heroic, and surprisingly heartwarming. One guy ended up drinking something that had been spiked, meant for his girlfriend, and blacked out to keep her safe.
Another covered a $40,000 workplace mistake to protect a new hire. And yes, someone even helped save a wedding by convincing the bride to change a bridesmaid dress that was… bold, to say the least.
Some sacrifices are big. Some are quiet. And some involve unflattering fashion choices. But they all deserve a little appreciation.
Here are the top stories people shared when they had no choice but to take one for the team.
1.
“My grandmother was getting older & struggling to get to the bathroom everytime. Well one time she didn’t make it & someone had to help her take a bath. I jumped at the opportunity. Got her all cleaned & pretty & smelling great, brushed her hair just before bed too.
Why ?
Because she raised me from 2-5. The learning years, the potty training, the reading/ writing, teaching me to tie my shoes, add & subtract, letters & numbers …. all her. She was patient & kind & understanding & loving & immensely wise. So me giving her a bath ….. s**t, I’d do it again tomorrow. I miss her ….”
2.
“My friend picked out terrible bridesmaid dresses. If you can picture it: Structured goldenrod cheap transparent chiffon with a body clinging tank top slip the size of a napkin underneath. Sort of that twee shabby chic prairie style that was en vogue a decade ago. My husband called me an, and I quote, ‘Amish s**t’.
All the bridesmaids hated them but bride friend was type A and no one wanted to complain. I fell on my sword and begged her to let me pick something different because of my weight, as I was the chunkiest one in the party. I absolutely refused to stand in front of people in that handkerchief.
She wanted everyone to match so she switched to a much more flattering one. I got a group hug from all the bridesmaids in secret. It’s been a decade and she still brings it up occasionally that the first dress was fine and everyone else liked it”
3.
“Kind of a ‘gotta take one for the team’ but it’s a pretty s****y one. I was a freshman in high school and it was homecoming. Our class pulled a s****y prank on this girl who had a learning disability and voted for her to be the freshman rep. as a joke and she won.
Well the guy that got voted to walk with her backed out the day before and I was 2nd in line. Being a freshman, knowing it was a joke and knowing I’d have to walk her down with everyone watching I was mortified but I did it. I remember my step brother giving me s**t and laughing at me and then my step father found out what I was going to do… He chewed my step brother out and was immensely proud of me.
I don’t think she ever figured out it was a joke and she was so happy that night. It was probably the highlight of her high school years honestly. Some 25 years later my dad ran into her parents and they still thanked me to him. You just never know whose life you might touch, be kind.”
4.
5.
“My ex girlfriend and I worked at a bar in Montreal. she was a waitress and I was Bartender. One in a while a bunch of rich dudes from the states would come up and flaunt their money to the girls we worked with. Buying champagne and such.
One night she was serving them and I got cut early and was waiting until she was done and those dude insisted on giving her drinks. She was coming down with a cold and didn’t want to drink so she kept feeding me drinks intended for her.
Long story short there ended being roofies in the drink and I blacked out and I woke up on my apartment floor and my gf on the couch.
I’m glad I took that one for her..”
6.
“Took a class in college that I didn’t want to take but if I didn’t, the class couldn’t be run and two other people would not be able to graduate.”
7.
8.
9.
“I had a junior developer on my team that made a mistake. He had only been there a few months and although the mistake was easy to make, it would end up costing the company $40k. I was a senior dev and relatively untouchable due to a lot of fixed mistakes that others had made. For two days management was talking about who made the mistake and what they would need to do. As soon as I realized who it was (he was unaware at that point that he had done it wrong) I said I did it. Nobody said another word about it except me who quietly explained the correct way to push code changes to the junior dev.”
10.
“I work for a small mental health charity when lockdown hit in 2020 I stopped being paid and took on all the administration as we had to make the admin furloughed. Hard times but we managed to continue supporting people for free during the hardest of times”
11.
“I was on a cruise, and they were doing auditions for the ‘end of trip’ show where you’re impersonating a well known performer/song. We were over an hour into the karaoke time and no one had auditioned yet. I’d had a few drinks and figured ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’
That’s how I found myself performing on stage as Ricky Martin with backup dancers”
12.
“I was at Universal in FL with my best friend and our two boyfriends, waiting in the line for the hulk roller coaster. It was 97 degrees Fahrenheit and the air was like soup, and we had already waited in line for an hour.
I was feeling a little overheated but was ready to wait it out when I took a look at my best friend who looked white as a sheet, like she was about to faint. I finally called it and said “hey guys I’m not feeling it, Steph do you want to go grab food and shop in that store with the good HP stuff?” I could sense the immediate relief from her as we walked out of the line. Her bf is a Florida native and she was trying to put on a brave face, but I knew two more minutes and that chick would have passed the heck out.
We ate ice cream and shopped while we waited ANOTHER HOUR for the guys to get through the line to ride the 2 minute roller coaster. Totally worth it to take the ‘weak’ title for myself to bail.”
13.
“We were 15 hours in our 2-event shift. Lots of clients, set up, moving around, etc, my watch recorded 14 miles of walking. It was also snowing.
My 7 team members were barely walking straight and had knee pain, had to lie on the floor, by the end.
Anyway, both events were over and it’s time for cleanup. The leader says “only one person needs to stay to sweep, so the rest can go home”.
I’m in the military so I volunteered. My joints hurt but not as bad. They all hugged me on their way out and I stayed an extra 90 minutes to clean up.”
14.
“I was out with a bunch of my friends and the designated driver f****d off and left us about 10 minutes into the party. I did not have my license but I knew the people I was with and I knew they would drive drunk, so I didn’t drink and I drove them home.
Got pulled over by the RCMP, he asked for license and registration, I gave him the registration but said I didn’t have a license (I had let my beginners lapse and didn’t get it because I didn’t have regular access to a car).
He started in on me asking me why I was driving without a license and I said pointed to each person in the car and said, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk and I didn’t drink. He gave me back the registration and said carry on.
This was 35 years ago. Life was different then.
This was rural Canada, no transit, cabs would not take you from where we were to where we were going, too long a drive to make the trip back empty maybe?
The RCMP officer may have known me or recognized me. I didn’t recognize him, but I was being respectful. He pulled me over for a burned out taillight originally, not for my driving skills, I had already gone 20+ miles safely.”
15.
“Was in a car ride with my GF and some family, my GF lets out a nasty fart, and my uncle starts complaining about the smell.
It was the first time my GF met these people, and I figured it would be super awkward if they figured it was her, so I took responsibility for the fart. Besides some more complaints directed at me, nothing else happened.
The fart was hella stinky so I don’t blame them for complaining at all”
16.
“I was an early employee at a game studio and we had fallen on hard times. Myself and the other founders all went to 25% salary for a few months to keep from letting people go. It was VERY hard as I didn’t have much slack in my budget. We made it through. Some of the best times of my life.”
17.
“Calling this a ‘take one for the team’ moment feels insensitive because I gained a wonderful friendship but… here goes.
I work at a big company and in a local team of about 90. One of my direct reports lost a long battle with cancer. I was close with him and gave a eulogy at his funeral. Horribly sad. He had a wife and two daughters.
He had a friend who I didn’t know beyond her name, but I knew they were tight because they always took breaks together. She happened to be off continent when he died (it was somewhat sudden) and missed his funeral. She wasn’t a particularly warm person and was a bit stand off-ish when I’d see her in communal office spaces. I have a busy life and had trouble with the idea of supporting what might become an obligatory friendship… but she seemed different after his death and so after about a month I sent her an email and said something to the effect of “I know we don’t know each other well but we both knew well. I don’t want to be presumptuous so feel free to ignore me entirely, but if you ever need a friend, I’m here”. She responded and we became casual friends, and she ended up telling me that, in her words, she “reached out to the universe” that week for a reason not to take her own life. I guess my email arriving the next day was the sign. She has never said this but I think she was pretty in love with our mutual friend and he was her main social connection. She is a wonderful person and very kind and very committed to her relationships despite having only a few. She is fiercely loyal and defensive of her friends. I admire her greatly. We’re not a match in terms of our interests or personality, and somehow I feel like a stand in, there to get her through week after week until she decides on her next direction. I am happy to be there for her and she teaches me a lot about myself, and she listens to me when I’m sad too. It’s been a while… I should check in on her.
**Update**
Checked in on my friend. I told her I was cleaning my garage and remembering our snowshoe adventure from a few years ago. She said “thanks for thinking of me” and that she was doing well. I found out while we were all working from home she moved to a place that is a 5 minute walk away from my place. We’re going to go for a stroll and I’ll introduce her to my 1 year old!”
18.
“When my loving and dear mother went to the hospital last month due to terminal brain cancer. Only two people could visit for her entire stay due to covid security. My father was one of the two and the last spot was between my sister and me.
I let my sister have the last spot without debating or arguing. After two days of not being able to visit, they were able to convince the hospital management to make an amendment and let me in. Unfortunately I missed out on two of the last five days she had left..”
19.
“Buddy was married with two young children, who was unable to get away from his job, wife and kids. His wife is also a bit of a helicopter wife if that makes sense. My buddy and I have a bond over baseball, hadn’t seen him in a long time so we went to a Blue Jays game. During the game his wife constantly texted him reminding he had to come straight home, when was the game going to be over. My buddy stated “it’s a Saturday afternoon, i haven’t seen you in ages or been out in a while, I want to go to a pub after for drinks but need an excuse that will give me an extra hour or two.
On Saturdays , the Jays would have Jr. Jays Saturdays, where 45 minutes after the game , if you were 12 and under, you could wait in a long line and run the bases. I told my buddy to tell his wife that I was trying to hit on a hot single mom who had a baby but also a 4 year old who wanted to the run bases and offered to take the 4 year old around the bases with the intent to get her number. Mision accomplished as we headed after the game for a couple beers. A month later I was at his house and the first thing his wife says to me, “you are such a pathetic f#%k’n sleezeball!”
20.
“my best friend convinced me have a ‘couple of drinks’ together, next thing you know im carrying him on my back at 1 am to his house,( we were 16 at the time), police came and arrested us,( it was when quarantine first started in greece, nothing really happened with the cops, they just phoned our parents and waited, both our parents came to the police station, they asked whose idea was it, i knew that if i told it was my friends idea he would be f****d, so i just told them that it was mine, i got grounded for 2 weeks and he got for 1, i actualy told my father a while ago that it was his idea and i took the blame for him, he laughed and said “my son is a loyal friend”.”
21.
“The first year of the pandemic, I stayed on as one of the junior doctors on the COVID ward because I’m lucky enough not to have any medical conditions (and I live alone). Some of my colleagues would have had to make drastic life changes. I remember walking into the tea room and a nurse was crying because her son had severe asthma so her family were temporarily living with the neighbours. She hadn’t hugged her kids in a month.”
22.
“A friend of a friend that I didn’t particularly know got stuck without a ride home (3 hours away) while she was visiting my city. I had to drive her all the way home and then drive back to my house(6 hours total) after working 14 hours that day. got to wake up and go to work the next morning still pretty tired, but my buddy was happy and I would hope if I got stuck in an unfamiliar city like that somebody would help me out too.”
23.
“Friend of mine got on a late night fight at a bar and was sent to the closest police station, everyone left and I was left with him, rode the police car with him and called our lawyer and helped through all the legal procedures to pay bail and get him out. Still had to get to work by 8:00 a.m.”
24.
“In high school Spanish class we all had to write a story in Spanish outlining our summer vacation. When it was time to present to the class, no one wanted to go first.
That awkward silence when the teacher asked ‘who wanted to go first’ was deafening. I decided to raise my hand and start everyone off. I was terrified (hate public speaking) and was horrible at Spanish, so going first was a huge stressor.
Anyway, after that class was over my teacher pulled me aside and thanked me for going first and gave me extra credit.”
25.
“Earlier this year, me and my band mates were at Seaworld and in the line for Mako and while we were getting in, we tried to put our stuff away in the containers that were to the left of the ride after waiting about half an hour in the line. We then discovered that only loose articles were allowed in the basket and that we would all have to get off the ride and go downstairs to get a locker then do the line again. I realized it’d be a waste of time since it was a school trip and time was limited, so I grabbed everyone’s items, stepped off of the ride and took one for the team so they could all go on the ride
Edit: First off, thanks for the upvotes, secondly, I might need more explanation. To put the stuff away I would’ve had to run down stairs, get a locker, and hope to god that all of the bags would fit but that would’ve taken forever and I didn’t want people to wait for so long just to do that, so instead I just sat down near the exit and held all the bags. Also to clarify, this wasn’t 100% an act of fear, only like 20-30% but it was mainly that it sucked to have waited so long and see some of my closest friends get so upset over a stupid policy. Also also, they are good friends, they offered to wait for me to go on again and to go in the line again later on but I said no since, we had like 2 more rides to do and around 2 hours left.”
26.
“I took one for the team when I kept my alcoholic ex out of the dating pool for a few years. You’re welcome, ladies.”
27.
“Having a sleep over at a friends house. Like 5-6 of us. We started what was a babysitting group in school and all became close friends. Regular sleep overs at one friend’s house.
We would all sleep in her parents bed since it was a king and would fit us all. Parents slept in the guest room.
We wake up and someone had wet the bed. We didn’t know who. It wasn’t me. My friend’s Mom is livid. She has all of us stand and tries to figure out who wet the bed. First she asked. No one said anything. Checked our pajamas and it was inconclusive.
So she gave us an ultimatum. If no one admits to it, no more sleep overs. After a couple seconds I say it was me.
I was punished pretty bad. Mostly for not owning up to it originally. Even though it wasn’t even me. And everytime I slept over after that I had to wear a diaper.
But we still got to have regular sleep overs which was worth it.”
28.
“Was at a house party, being the DD. Sloshed best friend told me he thought my mom was hot and then puked all over the table with all the ladie’s purses sitting on it. I saved them all from doom and then cleaned up the barf while everyone got mad at me for allowing it to happen. I remember apologizing profusely, but looking back, f**k all them, I saved the handbags.”
29.
“I was in Vegas with some friends, and we were at a rooftop club getting bottle service. One of my friends, Ed, hooks up with a girl—let’s call her Nancy. Ed and Nancy really hit it off, and they go back to his room together at the end of the night.
The next night, we’re hanging out again and having dinner, and Ed has invited Nancy to join us. She does. So does her angry lesbian friend/roommate Carol. (There’s a long backstory that I never really learned; something about how Carol was divorcing her husband, hated men, was living with Nancy for the time being, and probably had an unrequited crush on Nancy, but I never got the details.)
Nancy was obviously looking to continue the previous night’s activities with Ed, as was Ed. Carol, however, was bound and determined to prevent that from happening, so she’d invited herself along and wouldn’t leave Nancy’s side.
In order to give Ed an opening, I started talking with Carol. We got into an involved discussion about the on-going Winter Olympics and the suicidal nature of luge and skeleton. It was actually a fun conversation. But while we were talking, Ed and Nancy slipped away. When Carol noticed that they were gone, her demeanor immediately changed, she clammed up, and she left soon after.
Ed thanked me profusely the next morning.”
30.
“It’s not so much a ‘Gotta take one for the team’ story, but a classmate was really behind on the school work we had, and I mean it, REALLY behind, they had to stay late to finish the work, I didn’t want the classmate to be alone, so I decided to stay and told the teacher I could teach them a thing or two while they’re finishing their work
We graduated together, weren’t really friends, but I would like to think he’ll remember me in the future”