Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down The Craziest Small Town Drama They've Ever Experienced

As Adele sings it... "In my hometown..." we appreciate our towns more.

I grew up in New York City so small town USA is not my wheelhouse.

But I've been told plenty of tales, stories, and scandals that come out of the heartland.

(Mostly thanks to Dateline NBC)

Much of the craziest in life happens in towns with only a handful of stoplights.

Let's hear some...

Redditor jvniper666wanted to hear all the mess and drama about small town USA. So they asked:

"What’s your small town drama?"

When I was growing up in Astoria one summer. We had a kidnapper on the loose. That was intense.

"Trips"

gay men GIFGiphy

"Several prominent men were caught having gay orgies during 'hunting trips.'"

REDDIT

Drained

"I lived in a smallish town (about 5000) in the 90s. We had one of those big water towers in the middle of town. Sometime in the 80s a town worker, who was unsatisfied with his job and life, decided to take his own life. One May night he jimmied himself up to the ladder that was 12 ft from the ground, climbed to the top, unscrewed the man hole at the top, and jumped in."

"Subsequently he drowned and wasn’t found for a few months. I wasn’t living in the town during the event, so I don’t know of any funny tasting or discoloured water from the taps, but the town assures the people that the filtration system had down its job and very minimal human waste made it through the filters. Everything was drained and disinfected."

dazedNdizorientated

Punched

"In the span of 4 months in a town of 800 someone was murdered and someone broke into the undersheriff’s house (presumably to rob the place) but his daughter was home the guy punched her in the face and ran. According to his daughter the guy 'punched like a little *itch."

birdofswag2

Rich Kid

"Rich kid son of local Chamber of Commerce president tries to burn down a homeless encampment, fire ends up burning right up to an expensive neighborhood. Gets arrested, released on bail, charges brought for trying to kill homeless, charges dropped, charged again with lesser crimes, eventually judge gently slaps his wrist and says he isn’t a criminal because he is mentally ill. Whole community is miffed, but not enough to get out pitchforks because only homeless people got hurt."

ThisIsDen

And Recliners?

Season 17 Television GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy

"The city government is trying to outlaw burning couches on your front lawn. I didn’t know this happened often enough to be an issue, but it’s getting a ton of push back."

handsthefram

Burning couches. That has to have an even more interesting story.

Manhunt

money run GIF by Juan BillyGiphy

"I also should probably mention in the city, there’s a guy stealing catalytic converters all over the city and it’s having a city wide manhunt for this man that’s just ripping them off of anything he can get away with."

Link_hunter9

Crazy Year

"Our mayor got killed and it's possible to hear the gunshots on a local radio recording. He was being interviewed on that radio, left to his car and got shot seconds after leaving, it seems that he owed a lot of money to someone and got killed, it became news on the whole country, that was a crazy year."

Regular-Attorney-310

Vote on It

"City had a vote on whether to change the school mascot (a Native American with headdress). People who wanted to keep it rallied behind the son of the Native American man who initially created the mascot years ago. Then census evidence came out casting doubt on whether that guy was actually Native American."

scrotdust

The Spiller

"At one point in my hometown a Domino's manager was arrested for arson after burning down a Papa John's in an attempt to increase revenue."


Realistic-Cheetah-14

Rivals

Angela Bassett Burn GIFGiphy

"At one point in my hometown, a Domino's manager was arrested for arson after burning down a Papa John's in an attempt to increase revenue."

Grentain

Any place you live holds secrets. And you place you live (big or small) has history. So embrace it all and spill that tea.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Screenshots of Justin Bieber being hounded by paparazzi
X17OnlineVideo

Fans Defend Justin Bieber After He Confronts Paparazzi For Constantly Hounding Him

Fans defended Justin Bieber after he berated the relentless paparazzi and accused them of only being concerned with turning a profit over valuing people's lives.

According to X17, the "Intentions" singer's retreat to Palm Springs, days before the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, was anything but relaxing as he clashed with the paparazzi for a third day in a row.

Keep ReadingShow less
RFK Jr.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

RFK Jr. Slammed After Claiming HHS Will Discover The Cause Of 'Autism Epidemic' By September

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared that scientists would determine the cause of the "autism epidemic" by September, even though scientists haven't discovered a breakthrough despite decades of research.

In a cabinet meeting with Republican President Donald Trump on Thursday, RFK Jr. stated:

Keep ReadingShow less
J.D. Vance and Usha Vance listen to Susan Meyers during his Greenland visit
Jim Watson/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Space Force Commander Fired Over Email Criticizing Vance's Greenland Comments

Vice President J.D. Vance and the wider Trump administration are facing criticism now that Colonel Susan Meyers was removed from her post as commander at Greenland's Pituffik Space Base after breaking with Vance in an email she wrote following his controversial visit to the island territory.

Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, alongside the Faroe Islands, the only other autonomous territory within the Kingdom. Citizens of both Greenland and the Faroe Islands are full citizens of Denmark. As one of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union, Greenland’s citizens are also recognized as EU citizens.

Keep ReadingShow less
Karoline Leavitt and Scott Bessent
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Karoline Leavitt Dragged After Making Mind-Numbing Claim About Trump's Tariffs Reversal

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is getting called out after she attempted to justify President Donald Trump's sudden reversal on his proposed tariffs, telling reporters that his actions make sense because he has a master plan to make the world bend the knee.

Trump declared a full 90-day suspension of all the “reciprocal” tariffs that took effect at midnight April 10—except for those on China—in a dramatic about-face from a president who had long championed his historically high tariff rates as permanent.

Keep ReadingShow less
religion signs
Noah Holm on Unsplash

People Explain What Stopped Them From Going To Church Anymore

There's been a perception of a bit of an exodus from religion for the last several decades. But humanity has gone from no organized religions to oppressive religious regimes to rebellion and back again over the last several millennia.

But is the 21st century when religion finally fails to bounce back?

Keep ReadingShow less