Have you ever been asked to take one for the team?
Or maybe you stepped up and volunteered to take one for the team?
Either way, most of us have to do it at least once or twice in our lives.
When did you do this?
Here’s what folks had to say on AskReddit.
1. Designated driver.
“I was out with a bunch of my friends and the designated driver f**ked 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 d**nk, 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 pointed to each person in the car and said, d**nk, d**nk, d**nk, d**nk and I didn’t drink. He gave me back the registration and said carry on.”
2. Good friend.
“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.
I rode in 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.”
3. Nice work.
“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, **ck all them, I saved the handbags.”
4. Did the right thing.
“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.”
5. Hiking.
“A bunch of friends and myself were going on an 8 mile hike during a group camping trip.
Before we left, one of our friends kept voicing his skepticism about being able to complete an 8 mile hike. His girlfriend kept urging him to go because she didn’t want to hang back with him, she wanted to hike. So, he ends up going.
About an hour and a half into the hike, we are going up a series of switchbacks and the dude just can’t do it anymore. He tells us that he is going back. We all kind of look to his girlfriend to see if she is going to accompany him back and she just turns around to keep moving forward.
A couple of us were in the back kind of looking back towards him and then up towards the others who are continuing on and then of of my other friends says, “should someone go with him?”, and we all kind of look at each other hesitantly.
I finally jump in and say I will go back with him so that everyone else can keep going. I catch up to him and he says I didn’t have to do that but I tell him that I don’t want him being alone all day.
We make it back to camp and he immediately goes to take a nap and I end up sitting at camp by myself for the next few hours until the rest of the people get back… I guess I should have listened to him when he said I didn’t have to come back with him…”
6. You guys go ahead.
“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.”
7. Extra credit.
“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 (h**e 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.”
8. He owes you one.
“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, h**ed 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.”
9. Ouch.
“I was 16 and working my first job at Wendy’s. One of the older guys there was Native American, had been in the Vietnam War and knew a lot of martial arts. We were friends, but horsed around a lot at work.
One day, knowing full well this dude could fight, I lurked around a corner, and when he walked by, I faked a jab at his head with a mop handle. He had me on the ground bleeding in under a second, I didn’t even see what he did!
He immediately started apologizing, the manager ran back to the dish room to see what happened. I flat out lied to the manager. Told him I slipped on the wet floor. My friend was trying to explain, and I just kept telling him to shut up every time he opened his mouth. Totally wasn’t his fault, I caused it, and he had a family to support.
The manager kept trying to get him to admit what happened, but I would not let him speak. I didn’t give a c**p about that job, they could fire me and it was no big deal.
We ended up going out for beers after work and laughing about it, but he had busted my nose and given me 2 black eyes so fast I never saw it coming.”
10. Now you’re brothers.
“Went to a huge house party when I wasn’t drinking just to hang out with friends and get anyone a ride if they needed.
Cops busted it, and while they were there, my buddy began showing signs of severe alcohol poisoning- lips turning blue, convulsions, etc.. As literally the only sober person there, I had to convince the cops to call an ambulance for him, then got them to trust me to leave with the ambulance to be there while he was in the ER.
Spent the night and the next morning sitting in a waiting room as he got iv drips all night. They only brought me in when he was finally sober enough to start freaking out about not knowing where he was. He settled in at that point, and, once he was good and ready for discharge, I took his goofy a** to breakfast. We were solid friends up till then, but we’ve basically been brothers since then.”
11. Road trip.
“Driving with my family from Texas to Kentucky to visit family.
All five of us and 3 cats in a 1994 suburban. I pick up one of the cats to pet him and he immediately starts pi**ing all over me. I held that little b**tard as tight as possible. Nothing worse that the back of the car being gross. I took one for all of us.
I ended up changing clothes in the car while parked at a Waffle House with my family laughing their a**es off outside the car.”
12. The fight.
“Was at a concert in Waco with a bunch of buddies back when I was stationed in Texas.
The music was pretty good, drinks were plentiful, and it was one of those strange days that good things kept happening. No traffic, awesome parking spot, got a few free drinks, managed to get a nice spot close to the stage, everyone was having a good time.
So as the show continues, a lady next to me started complaining that she couldn’t see the stage. Her friend told her to “ask that tall guy to put you on his shoulders”. To my surprise, this cute little 5 foot nothing girl turns around and asks if she could climb me. I laughed at how she asked and said sure, hop on.
So this chick is on my shoulders for what feels like forever, we have moved over to the side of the crowd because I’m 6’7″ and with this spider monkey on my back I knew people behind me would be pi**ed. I’m talking with my new backpack and her friend and we were hitting it off pretty nice, again, just one of those rare awesome days.
Fast forward a bit, now it’s between sets and I’m really hitting it off with both of these women. They are elementary school teachers, cute, funny, and for some damn reason interested in me. The next band starts coming out and I ask if she wants to hop back up on my shoulders.
She said no, she just really wanted to see the last band and that I can have a break. We keep getting further from the stage and talking the whole time. They ask where I’m staying and I tell them I live about an hour away. That’s when the short one says they have a room like 10 minutes away and I could stay there for the night.
Of course my mind starts going a mile a minute but I try to play it cool and hit her with a maybe. Without missing a beat she comes back with, “well maybe we’ll give you a back rub since I was sitting on your shoulders for an hour.”
Hold the f**k up. We?
I’m sure my efforts to play it cool were not effective but it didn’t seem to matter at that point. I’m gonna cross some s**t off the list tonight.
Cue my buddy Reggie. He runs over to inform me that my roommate is about to get his a** beat by more than enough guys to successfully complete the task. I look over and yeah, there’s his drunk a** trying to walk away from four douchebags surrounding him… F**k My Life
I begrudgingly ignore the devil on my shoulder and go help my friend. He gets hit, I punch one of them, I in turn get punched by someone else, Reggie is fighting another guy, it’s a good scrap. Security shows up and pulls everyone apart.
Nobody got seriously hurt but now we are being escorted out. I am literally pleading with security to let me stay, even just for a minute to let these girls know what was happening but they weren’t having any of it.
So there I was, in the parking lot, my face is sore, my drunk roommate is b**ching about what happened, and Reggie is laughing his a** off. Reggie asked me how things were going with those girls I was talking to and I tell him the whole story.
Now he’s in tears laughing at me and calling me a moron. I asked him what he thinks I should have done and he says ” I would have let him d**”.”
When did you take one for the team?
Share your stories with us in the comments.
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