Breakups hurt. While many people might cry, block their ex, eat an unreasonable amount of ice cream, and eventually move on, that’s certainly not the only way people deal with heartbreak. Some decide that if their relationship is over, they might as well make sure their ex remembers it—and that’s where things can get seriously petty.
Today’s story is all about those moments. When someone on Threads asked, “What’s the pettiest thing you did after a breakup? And don’t say ‘I blocked their number.’ BORING. I’m talking borderline insanity,” the answers came pouring in. From ridiculous revenge moves to decisions that probably seemed like a good idea at the time, people shared just how far they went after getting their hearts broken. Keep reading to see some of the pettiest (and most ridiculous) things people did after a breakup.
#1
Not me, but my insane mom scattered sardines all over a man’s yard and every cat in the neighborhood came to feast. She left a note “you wanted pussy, you got it.” It was unhinged.
Image source: hotchecksforpizza, Yusuf Kaya / Pexels
#2
I’m finally leaving my ex-husband and my cat catches mice and leaves them at the back door. I’ve been throwing them up in the roof above his bedroom so his room is filled with smell.
Image source: penny.de.vries, Nikolett Emmert / Pexels
#3
He cheated on me with our mutual hairdresser. I made an appointment and after she finished I stood up and said “Kaitlyn it looks amazing. You know if you weren’t [sleeping with] my husband, I’d come back!” Very very loudly. One woman clapped. Deliberately and steadily as I walked out without paying.
Image source: ellisnewport, Sergey Makashin / Pexels
When a relationship falls apart, it’s pretty normal to feel like your entire world has suddenly been turned upside down. That feeling can be especially intense when the breakup involves cheating, betrayal, or a partner leaving without giving you the answers you wanted. In the moment, it can feel dramatic and overwhelming, but heartbreak really can take a serious emotional toll. Research has found that experiencing a breakup is associated with increased psychological distress, showing that the pain of losing a relationship is more than just a temporary bad mood.
#4
My husband had an affair. My coworker thought I wasn’t good enough for him, so she hooked him up. She got pregnant while we were trying to get pregnant. When I found out, I drove to his parents house with a congratulatory bouquet of flowers and broke the ‘you’re going to be grandparents’ news because he hadn’t told them.
Image source: im_theresa_too, RDNE Stock project / Pexels
#5
Sold about 10k of truck parts that he had purchased and was coming back for, and I sold everything for a total of 1000. One guy who bought a pair of headers was like, “These are like a 1000 bucks. I can’t, in good conscience, only give you a dollar.” When i told him why so cheap he gave me 500 and i kept all the money.
Image source: brittgainesauthor, Mikhail Nilov / Pexels
#6
He was overweight. Massively. But he would make comments about my weight postpartum constantly. It seemed very unfair to me.
I went to the store and bought the exact same underwear that he wore, only a size or two smaller. One size smaller when I was packing my stuff, two sizes smaller when I left. I came to get something that I had forgotten and saw that he bought a scale for the bathroom.
It worked.
Image source: ohgodshenandoah, Fellipe Ditadi / Unsplash
The same research found that breakups were also associated with a decline in overall life satisfaction, although the extent of that decline varied from person to person. People who had been living with their partner or had made plans to get married tended to experience a larger drop in life satisfaction. That makes sense when you think about how much of their daily lives and future plans were built around the relationship. A breakup in those situations isn’t just losing a partner; t can also mean losing a shared home, routines, plans, and the future someone had imagined for themselves. Interestingly, people who had started dating someone new tended to experience a smaller decline in life satisfaction, suggesting that forming a new romantic connection may help some people adjust to the end of a previous relationship.
#7
I canceled all his classes the day before registration closed.
Image source: gwendolyndruyor, Gülşah Aydoğan / Pexels
#8
He told me I would never write a book. We broke up. I published a book of poems who’s running theme was how much of a [jerk] my ex was.
Image source: the_mr_messy, Ron Lach / Pexels
#9
Went to a gay club with some of my friend and paid them to leave his number in the stalls and take pics- 6 clubs later I say it was money well spent!
Image source: ariykah_sv, cottonbro studio / Pexels
There’s also a fascinating explanation for why heartbreak can feel so overwhelming in the first place. In his book How to Fix a Broken Heart, psychologist Dr. Guy Winch explores the psychological and even physical effects of losing someone you love. He points to research showing that romantic rejection can activate some of the same brain regions involved in physical pain and reward processing. That helps explain why people can experience heartbreak almost like a withdrawal: you may desperately miss your ex, replay old conversations, check their social media, or find yourself thinking about them even when you desperately want to stop. Your brain has become accustomed to the relationship, so suddenly losing that source of emotional reward can leave you craving something that you know isn’t good for you anymore.
#10
This was not me but a creative friend – 100 degree weather, she went and covered his black car with marshmallows. They melted. Everywhere, bugs and birds. He was at work for a twelve hour shift.
Image source: mela_sauruss, Content Pixie / Unsplash
#11
He cheated on me for the entire relationship (including when I was pregnant) made fun of me for having a miscarriage, and started physically [hurting] me before I left. He had a best friend that he’d known for more than 20 years. I slept with that friend, wrapped him so far up in pleasing me that the best friend burnt the bridge between them. Then I left and never looked back. They still haven’t made up and I’m married (and happier than ever) and the best friend still tries to hit me up.
Image source: kaliloveskhaos, Mikhail Nilov / Pexels
#12
He cheated on me so I signed him up for Scientology.
Image source: paige_hanno, Alexey Taktarov / Unsplash
Breakups can also leave the brain desperate for an explanation. When something feels incredibly important and painful, we naturally want to understand why it happened. If an ex gives a vague explanation like “You deserve better” or “I just need to find myself,” it can leave you searching for clues and replaying every conversation to figure out what you missed. Dr. Winch argues that constantly waiting for an ex to provide the perfect explanation can keep you emotionally stuck. Sometimes, moving forward means accepting that you may never get the satisfying answer you wanted and creating your own sense of closure instead.
#13
I took all the remotes. I’d randomly drive by and turn the tv off.
Image source: ajebaanieral, kaboompics / Pexels
#14
I ditched him at a gas station when we stopped to use the bathroom. It was six and a half hours from home.
Image source: just_me6810, Efdal YILDIZ / Pexels
#15
Sliced the pockets on every pair of pants/shorts he owned… I didn’t destroy the clothing & make it unwearable, just annoying. Oh & poked lil teeny holes in the tips of his socks and underarms of the shirts… not noticeable at first.
Image source: tiff.greendragon, cottonbro studio / Pexels
Of course, knowing all of this doesn’t magically make a breakup easier. Healing can take time, and moving on doesn’t mean waking up one morning and suddenly feeling completely fine. Sometimes it looks much less dramatic: getting out of bed, meeting a friend for coffee, going for a walk, trying a new hobby, or simply making it through a day without checking your ex’s social media. Taking care of yourself matters, too. Spend time with people who make you feel loved, give yourself permission to enjoy little things again, and don’t be afraid to talk to a therapist if the pain starts feeling too difficult to handle alone. There’s no prize for recovering the fastest.
#16
I had online access to the TiVo we once shared. I erased all her programmed shows and scheduled recordings of 11 hour blocks of religious programming randomly over like 6 months.
Image source: thetarpo, Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels
#17
We’d been living together for nearly three years when he decided to move back to the homeland, with the dogs and without me. A germophobic hypochondriac, he’d also cheated on me with multiple people.
Forged his STD results with positive for EVERYTHING, sent his folks stateside a copy. Can only imagine his despair but he had already left.
Image source: ricvazoli, Elina Fairytale / Pexels
#18
I sold my wedding ring and engagement ring and used the money to go towards my wedding to my now husband.
Image source: hazel.fraser.0478, roni onie / Pexels
For some people, though, moving on isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. When someone feels deeply wronged—especially after being cheated on, lied to, or left without the explanation they wanted—it can be tempting to make the other person hurt too. That desire for revenge can feel strangely comforting in the moment, as though getting even might somehow balance the scales. Psychology Today explains that revenge is deeply personal and often driven by powerful emotions. While anger may spark the desire to retaliate, the idea of finally feeling satisfied or getting some emotional release can keep that desire going.
And honestly, it’s easy to understand why revenge can feel appealing when you’re hurting. If someone has broken your heart, embarrassing them, exposing them, or making them regret what they did might seem like a way to take back some of the power you feel you’ve lost. But research suggests that the satisfaction is often short-lived. Revenge can actually keep you mentally tied to the original offense, because every new act of retaliation gives you another reason to think about what happened. Instead of closing the chapter, it can turn the breakup into an ongoing cycle where anger keeps finding new reasons to stick around.
#19
Prawn heads in his golf bag, he didn’t play often but thought he was pretty good. Also, butyric acid in his shoes. Has a smell resembling rancid butter, parmesan cheese, or vomit.
Image source: dillonpete, Christelle Wehbe / Pexels
#20
Maybe there was a little accident with a mix of milk and japanese fish sauce and the opening to the aircondition of his car. You can never get rid of the smell.
Image source: aglaija, omid bonyadian / Unsplash
#21
Not me, but after a friend of mine. During the divorce while picking up her stuff from the house, she also took every single lamp in the house. Every one.
Image source: jennirussell, Marcella Soáres / Pexels
There’s another problem with becoming consumed by revenge: it can distract you from actually dealing with the hurt underneath it. Spending hours imagining what you’ll say, checking what your ex is doing, or planning the perfect way to get even keeps your attention focused on them rather than on your own recovery. It can feel productive because you’re doing something, but emotionally, you’re still living inside the original pain. At some point, healing requires turning your attention back toward yourself—acknowledging that you’re hurt, figuring out what you need, and slowly rebuilding a life that isn’t centred around what your ex did.
#22
Not me, but back in the day I broke up with my ex and he went on Craigslist and posted my number about giving away an iPhone after a break up and I was getting hundreds of calls and texts and emails.
Image source: _justkris_
#23
Your local pet stores sell CRICKETS for food for reptiles..if one was to buy about 500 and set them loose in someone’s apartment, said apt owner may NEVER sleep again…just sayin without sayin….
Image source: ohbeachywhereareyou, Wolfgang Hasselmann / Unsplash
#24
He forged a grant deed, and I found the original notarized one. I put it in a safe deposit box at my bank and he showed up in his sheriff’s uniform stating he needed to get into my safe deposit box. He was denied, but promised to come back. I took that deed home and promptly went out and caught a rattlesnake. I put it in her tank, under the substrate. He broke into my house (at least twice) looking for that deed. That glorious snake was laying on it the whole time.
Image source: kimberlyrkellysar, Siglinde Luise / Pexels
Ultimately, there’s nothing wrong with feeling angry after someone hurts you. You don’t have to pretend that everything is fine, forgive someone immediately, or suddenly stop caring just because the relationship has ended. What matters is what you choose to do with those feelings. Revenge might offer a quick sense of satisfaction, but healing gives you something much more valuable: the chance to stop letting someone who hurt you control your emotions long after they’ve left your life. Sometimes, the most satisfying ending isn’t making your ex regret losing you; it’s reaching a point where you genuinely don’t care what they’re doing anymore.
#25
When I moved out, I organized a posse to come get my stuff. Those women left him one plate, one fork, one cup, one knife, and one spoon. One towel (wet) in the bed. All the shower curtains, bath mats, every spare linen in the house came with me. Pots and pans were all gifts to me- didn’t leave one. All the toilet paper, toothpaste, cleaning supplies, OTC beds, window treatments and first floor furniture EXCEPT the marital bed. We didn’t touch that. He made it. He could lie in it.
Image source: joytroupe, RDNE Stock project / Pexels
#26
I broke up with my ex, then later found out he cheated on me. We ended on good terms and he had invited me on a cruise with his family which he was paying for me to go and my parents were coming on the trip too. So instead of cutting him out of my life, I pretended to still be friends with him for five months so that I could go on this cruise with my parents. I haven’t talked to him since that cruise. Probably one of my proudest moments.
Image source: brayli_m, Ahmed / Pexels
#27
My ex was a bedroom DJ and was constantly sending tracks to his favourite producer. I bumped into the producer at a rave and got chatting, said my ex sent loads of tracks to you but never got a reply. He asked if he was a good boyfriend, I said no. He blocked him across all platforms.
Image source: loafieeon, MART PRODUCTION / Pexels
Coming back to today’s post, some of these petty revenge stories are truly wild. Reading them can be funny because there’s something oddly satisfying about seeing people come up with creative ways to deal with a broken heart—but behind the humor, many of these stories clearly came from people who were genuinely hurt. A little harmless pettiness might make for a good story, but hopefully, most of us eventually choose the kind of revenge that doesn’t involve our ex at all: moving on, feeling better, and living a life that no longer revolves around them. Which of these revenge stories surprised you the most, Pandas? And have you ever been tempted to get a little petty after a breakup?
#28
My best friends stuck maxi pads all over his car. He absolutely crashed out.
Image source: siobhan_vicious, Vitaly Gariev / Pexels
#29
I canceled my Internet and the Sirius radio in his car on the first day I moved out. Took the router with me. When he finally got Internet again, I’m assuming he figured out that he no longer had access to his PlayStation account. The one I paid for.
Image source: wonderadri7, cottonbro studio / Pexels
#30
Mine had been living with me and had a bunch of stuff on a trailer ready to move. My Irish temper got the best of me and I emptied the contents of the litter box and the vacuum cleaner into the drawers of his desk and file cabinet, then sprayed it down with the hose for good measure. It’s very hard to get on my list, but once you’re on it, you’re ON it.
Image source: laughwhileyoucanmonkeyboy, cottonbro studio / Pexels
#31
For about a month or longer, I would let the air out of one of his tires the same tire every single time because it would be on my way to the train to go to Work we lived in New New York so that should put him into a perspective how hard finding an air pump is and I’d let all the air out of that one specific tire every morning like clockwork because he would park in the same area and eventually he went and got four new tires thinking that it was the tire itself and then he replaced like the valve stems all that good stuff and then one day he had emotional breakdown one day and I helped him put air back into his tire because I had a Milwaukee air pump a small one and I helped him put the air back in his tire and then promptly took the air back out when I got home from work because that air belonged to me not to him like you don’t get to be a [jerk] and then cheat on me and think I’m gonna really help you. And the next morning I smoked my cigarette drank my coffee and listened to him.
Image source: angie_bandoo_
#32
I started dating his favorite rapper.
Image source: phyphy_world
#33
Pureed raw fish and poured it in his mailbox on a hot summer day.
Image source: notoddone
#34
Called the Navy and told them where [he] was staying.
Image source: pikklls
#35
He left a pair of dirty underwear in my trunk after I kicked him out. I had a few other items of his so I folded everything nicely, turned the dirty underwear inside out with the clearly dirty part facing up so whoever opened the box would see it. I dropped it off at his mom’s house. He blew me up saying that I was disrespectful (his mom is the one who found it). I never responded to him. What’s actually disrespectful is him cheating on me with various women the whole time we were together.
Image source: meganmarieparks
#36
Our cat had developed a habit of [marking] any towels left on the bathroom floor. I then used the towels to pack up his belongings.
Image source: avidly_605
#37
His mom wouldn’t stop calling me saying “so he cheated… go to counseling” after 6 years of marriage. He slept with his professor’s wife. I dug out “those” Polaroid young couples take (no cell phones, thank god). And sent them to her with a note, “my how your little boy has grown”. She stopped calling me.
Image source: lady_inkblot
#38
He wouldn’t give me back some of my stuff that I left at his place. His roommate left the door unlocked and I just walked in, while he was undressing the [woman] he cheated on me with, grabbed my [stuff], looked her dead in the eyes and said, “FYI, his other girlfriend comes over tomorrow.” There was no other girlfriend.
Image source: letmejust_scootchonby
#39
He HAD to have all the dishes match and be the same number. (He wasn’t diagnosed with anything.) I wasn’t allowed to have any of my non matching dishes in the cupboard so when I left I took a single mug from our set to throw the whole thing off. I still use that mug.
Image source: theaurorahwhite
#40
Sprinkled glitter and bleach while dancing in a circle all over all his team gear.
Image source: heyitstishab
#41
I threw away his grandma’s ring he gave to me.
Image source: johannamz888
#42
First- I came while he was at work to get all my things. I left him nothing but a half gallon of milk(that I spit in)…. Then a week later- I slashed three of his tires at like 3am. THEN – I didn’t even have to lift a finger, because the universe said HOLD ON. The girl he cheated with, got attacked by a racoon and had to be treated for rabies at the apartment I just moved from. AND THEN. His flight had to be diverted because he had a heart attack at 31.
Image source: _petty_mayonnaise
#43
I wrote a 3 page essay explaining the definition of coercion and the damages it can cause emotionally and emailed it to him and his mom:).
Image source: that_.demon
#44
He dumped me by leaving a message on my answering machine when I was at work – on my birthday. I took a bag of all the mementos of our relationship, dumped it on his porch and stomped all over it. Also left a note that I hoped he lived a long lonely life.
Image source: kirstenl4w
#45
I took his Jordan’s and sold them at a gas station.
Image source: mizzsylvibaby
#46
$4,000 in unwrapped pennies paid to her divorce lawyer.
Image source: syth007
#47
Took out the front end of his prized jeep that was sitting in our garage, with a 10 pound hand weight. I told him it was a substitute for his head and he should be happy.
Image source: dezzarray
#48
Sold all his [stuff] to a pawn shop and made him sign over his car to me and left.:)
Image source: thepuddingprophesy
#49
I sent the Jehovah’s Witnesses to his house.
Image source: h.hryu6
#50
Cut the backs out all his shirts and folded them up nice neat.
Image source: lilsetitoff
#51
I took the ice cube trays and shower head. I’m a menace.
Image source: mrs.steph13
#52
Changed all of his passwords…
Image source: linsiew1214
#53
I took ridiculous voicemails and had someone turn them into a dubstep song.
Image source: sardonicsloth_art
#54
My ex moved out on me with an agreement I’d move out in a month for good. Fair enough. I took care of the place. But the night before the move, I grabbed the wedding tape, taped over the tab, and pushed RECORD on the overnight weather channel. Whether or not she ever found out I do not know. It felt good.
Image source: colossi_memnon
#55
I told everyone we know all of the awful things he did during our relationship, all the secrets I’d been keeping for him. 10/10 would do again.
Image source: misskrissagain
#56
Keyed his motorcycle then broke his cars windshield.
Image source: tisacid524
#57
He liked his mugs lined up a certain way and freaked out when one broke and couldn’t find the replacement so when I left I took just one. He brought it up years later. He’s like I know you took my mug. Another one I sent all his evil texts to me to all of his family members with a goodbye note. They took my side, well almost all of them.
Image source: natashatashatach
#58
He lived with his parents, and I wrote them a letter saying sorry that their son was so arrogant and they would never see me again. Truly embarrassing.
Image source: balancingwithjamie
#59
I took his distributor cap off his truck.
Image source: smithcathybrown
#60
Friend broke up with them and sent every single screenshot I had of them lying about me; to their new gf and the head of the mutual activity club we shared. Their gf dumped them and they got banned from the mutual space.
Image source: honey.citrine.fashion
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