People Explain Which Animals Many Believe Are Harmless But Are Actually Quite Dangerous
Chickens. Are. Terrifying.
If you think "chickens" and think of flighty, cowardly animals, it's clear you've never actually met them.
They're mean. They're bloodthirsty. They've killed people.
Nature made them small and delicious so we'd eat them and give ourselves a fighting chance against these New World Velociraptors.
Reddit user Click-bayt1025 assked:
"What’s an animal everyone thinks is harmless but in reality is very dangerous?"
... we should probably be very afraid.
Bye-Son
"Bison, every year someone gets hurt or killed in Yellowstone because they think the bison are slow and dumb and you can take selfies with them."
"Really they are quick and powerful, but have poor eyesight. As you approach a bison it may not see you until you are close, then it can panic and gore you."
- Riverrat423
"People really treat Yellowstone like a petting zoo. Seen many videos of people being flipped into the air like ragdolls."
"Also the kid who got his chin gored because the family had the windows down"
- chiefs_fan37
"I legit cannot fathom seeing an animal as massive as a bison and assuming it’s safe to approach."
- aliceroyal
"It seems like there’s more stories coming out from Yellowstone about people getting killed or critically injured by Buffalo because they’re getting to close to them."
- shrimpsauce91
"The stupidest sh*t I ever saw in my life was the tourist I saw in Yellowstone tiptoeing through a thermal area (where the earth/crust is really thin and barely covers deep pools of boiling hot acidic water) with his camera to get closer to a bison and its calf to take a photo."
"Dude must have had a death wish."
- g-a-r-n-e-t
GiphyCone Snail
"Cone snails."
"You see their shells decorating bathrooms all the time. But find a live one and make the mistake handling it and it will lance you with a venomous harpoon."
"For several species, such as the geography cone, this venom is sufficent to swiftly kill a human."
- Trips-Over-Tail
"Definitely snails. Certain fresh water snails carry parasitic worms that in turn carry a deadly disease known as schistosomiasis. When humans come into contact with water where these snails live they can become infected and die of organ failure."
"In sub-Saharan Africa, schistosomiasis is the second leading cause of death after malaria, with more than 200,000"
- elizletcher
"There's one species of cone snail nicknamed "cigarette snail" because the time their venom takes to kill you is about as much as it takes to smoke a cigarette."
- WeirdStray
"This is the answer I was looking for. I'll never forget reading about this as a kid and being surprised they can harpoon people and kill them while they collect shells."
- Rhodri_Suojelija
GiphyDonkey
"Donkeys although they look innocent but they have nasty kicks and bites"
- musanifshah3010
"Anybody that thinks donkeys aren't terrifying should see what happens when they get a hold of a coyote."
- mgj6818
"They have wild donkeys near Lake Pleasant. I camped there one time and I just heard this mean ass beast in the bushes—we were scared. I got up some courage and went to go look and it was just a really mean donkey."
- xXSpaceturdXx
"And even if you somehow defeat one, you'll have to fight its pissed off dragon wife next"
- P1SSY3LL0W
"Used to work near wild Burros. A lot of those Burros had scars on their backs from when a mountain lions attempted to take them down."
"Attempted, being the key word there. Saw one with a bad eye, one ear, scarred up back, and no fear in its one good eye. Of me or my SUV."
- 2DamnBig
"Donkeys are smart tho, really just don’t get on their territory unless you live their or they allow it."
"We had few and they all had different jobs. Those that moved stuff from the farm to the sorting room knew the way around the farm. We load them up and they go drop it and come back and eat a treat."
"They knew when guests are coming and would guide our herd of sheep to the other side of the farm."
"Kept our sheep protected at night.""
"Just take care of them, feed them, shelter them, and clean them. That’s all they ask for and they are loyal."
"Also let them be them. They like to run around or just lay down and do nothing, they got amazing personalities."
- momo88852
GiphyBig Big Birds
"Not everyone but I see a few people get dangerously close to big birds like hawks and eagles. I'm like, people, those birds almost got bigger claws than bears, leave them alone."
- TheShadowOfKaos
"I work with them quite often and yeah, if you don’t know what you are doing and how to properly handle them it can be very very dangerous."
"Also people letting their little tiny rabbit sized dogs walk off leash in areas where I know there are raptors drives me mad. There’s no way you’d be able to save your dog if one decided they looked like a good meal."
- chamomilehoneywhisk
"I once rescued an adult redtail hawk with a broken wing. Having to catch her up was very scary - she flopped on her back, talons up, ready to grab me."
"Luckily I was able to cover her head and grab her legs."
"Most people, if they have the sense to be afraid of raptors, fear being bitten. Nah, the beak isn't the primary weapon, those talons are!"
- sainsa
"I went on a falconry experience once, had a golden eagle on my arm which was super tame and chill, and it was still terrifying. When it jumped off my arm to take off the force sent my arm downwards about 45 degrees."
- godoflemmings
GiphyTimon
"My uncle is a zoologist and the only animal he was ever attacked by was a meerkat."
- doej0
"I’m a zoo volunteer, got bitten by a meerkat a few months ago. It just darted up and bit my finger for no reason, little jerk. They are FAST."
- Sleeplesshelley
"Small animals like that come preprogrammed with the rage of 1,000 demons."
- kendrahf
"Meerkats also have the highest environmental risk factor of any potentially escaped animal. They'll breed and dig until theyve reached carrying capacity, destroying root systems and creating deserts wherever they go."
"If you wanna cripple a nation's food supply, just drop in a few horny meerkats."
- fuckasssss
"The only scar I got from working with animals was from a meerkat, didn’t give her her chicken fast enough 🥲"
- tribblemethis
GiphyBeavers
"Beware of Beavers!"
"Beavers will stand their ground and confront a threat. If trapped, cornered, or ensnatched, a beaver will attack a human."
"The rodents' sharp teeth may cause serious injury as well as infection. Beavers carry tularemia, parasites, and rabies, which can transfer through bites, body fluids, or infected water."
"Before beavers attack humans or other animals, they send a warning by growling and hissing. On land, the animal rises to its hind legs to face a threat. In the water, a startled beaver slaps its tail against the surface to alert others in the colony before diving to safety."
- Back2Bach
"I've heard a beaver slap its tail in the water before. You'd think someone just fired a shotgun at you!"
- mikeybab123
"I had a beaver shadow me for about a half mile while I was wade fishing a small river. Whenever I stopped to fish, it swam within about 15 feet from me and slapped its tail against the water."
"So I would move farther downstream, but it would just repeat the process. It was probably protecting little ones, but finally I got so unnerved I decided that was enough fishing for one day."
- twisted_stepsister
"Nickelodeon was right. Those beavers are Angry Beavers."
- FM1091
"When I was in highschool, me and my buddies were walking along the river bank one night and I heard rustling in the tall grass up the bank. Being a very stupid teenager, I pulled the grass to the sides like a cartoon character and put my face right in there."
"I saw two large, shiny, black marbles and a yellow coffee mug. When my eyes adjusted to the light, I made out a toaster oven-sized beaver with MASSIVE yellow teeth."
"We started at each other, frozen in fear for what felt like a lifetime when I slowly closed the opening in the grass and backed out before strolling away. It was a total Scooby Doo moment."
"I didn't tell my friends until we were well away so they didn't go back and disturb it because I didn't how dangerous a beaver could be."
- Broosevelt
GiphyAll-around MVPredator
"dragon flies, but not to people. I went off the beaten path hiking around an old slate town and there was a lot of horse/deer flies buzzing around attacking me. I Came across the edge of a huge beaver pond that hasn't really been touched by humans in 100+ years."
"As soon as I get to the marshy beach all the sudden i see these little flashes of black zooming around my head and all of the flies are gone these fuckin dragon flies came in and took them all out in a matter of seconds mid god damn flight."
- Outnabout3535325
"Dragonflies are really good predators. They are the perfect flying machines"
- gandalfium225
"Dragonflies actually have the highest kill ratio of any animal"
"I don't remember the exact stat, but its over 90% of the time they hit their target."
- Gasp32
"Dragonflies are vicious, vicious predators. Something like 95% success rate at hunting, they can fly up to 30 mph, and are ridiculously agile, about to fly up, down, left, right, forwards and backwards, and can hover."
- Dorgamund
"Yeah, they will pick them right off your skin while in mid-bite. When I was working in a forest we used to go to bridge over a water way in the evening to get some relief from the bugs. The relief was an airforce of dragon flies feasting on those bastards."
- socialism-scientific
"As an avid outdoorsman, I regularly plan trips to certain areas based upon predictions and reports about whether dragonflies are out yet that year."
"They are true friends of the outdoors enthusiast."
"But they do, in fact, pack a nasty bite if they so choose to use it. Usually they don't, but I've been bitten by them before and it hurts like f*cking hell. I still love them."
- flargenhargen
"The real heroes."
- Dark_Vengence
GiphyFlippin Flipper
"Dolphins. Those things can be little psychopaths."
- AgentAwesome2008
"Came here for this. The biggest rapists and druggies on the planet"
- LordChaos404
"Little meat torpedoes that can weigh over half a ton, bite like crocodiles and sometimes find humans sexually attractive."
- Nephilims_Dagger
"YES!! One bit me at Sea World, I thought it was an accident because it was a feeding tank but he turned around and BIT ME AGAIN."
"Tons of other kids were standing there, that bottle nosed bastard targeted me!"
"I don’t blame it though, poor guy living in captivity."
- Fishbate333
GiphyCareful With The Fedora
"Platypus. The males have a big venom spike on their back legs, which is intensely painful."
"This sounds like a joke, but it’s absolutely true."
- IncredulousPulp
"Platypus is an animal that makes so little sense the first person to send one back to Europe was labeled a fraud."
"Like other monotremes, it senses prey through electrolocation. It is one of the few species of venomous mammals, as the male platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom, capable of causing severe pain to humans. The unusual appearance of this egg-laying, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal baffled European naturalists when they first encountered it, and the first scientists to examine a preserved platypus body (in 1799) judged it a fake, made of several animals sewn together.[5]" -Wikipedia"
- shwaga
"They are also surprisingly fast at chasing you on land, and it's looks hilarious until they catch you"
- Deadlybutterknife
"I also heard they make for a great secret agent…"
- Mecha106
"Their venom is so painful infact morphine can't even touch it. You have to pinch off the nerves thus fully numbing the area to find relief from the pain."
- The_Book-JDP
"HE’S A SEMI-AQUATIC EGG-LAYING MAMMAL OF ACTION!"
- FinniboiXD
"I saw a segment from a documentary series about stings and bites once. This guy grabbed a platypus by accident because he was trying to grab hold of a log. It spurred his hand and caused him excruciating pain. At the hospital, the doctors had to figure out how to stop the pain because they had given him so much morphine that anymore would have been dangerous, and it had little to no effect on the pain."
"They were able to figure something out, but it took several months for the guy to be able to fully use that hand again."
- CelticGaelic
"The platypus is nature's way of saying "I made this thing out of spare parts I found lying around the workshop and it can still f*cking cripple you."
- Hypersapien
"But the females can sweat milk"
- Easthwestnorth
GiphyPigs
"Pigs, people thinks they are harmless packs of bacon but in reality they can easily kill you if annoyed"
- clari_man
"There's a reason everyone on the farm in Wizard of Oz freaked out when Dorothy fell into the pigpen in the beginning."
- WineAndDogs2020
"And they are omnivorous. They will eat you, if they have the chance."
- Apotak
"My grandparents always kept animals and my grandmother grew up on a farm. She was always the most afraid of the pigs and always said as much. Pigs are dangerous and can be quiet a bit larger then people imagine."
- thiswilltakeamiracle
"My aunt tripped one day feeding her pig, he was on her in a second. She managed to drag herself partially upright while he tried to get a good grip on her legs and grab the ballpeen hammer hanging on the side of the barn. She ended up having to smash his skull in while he was trying to crush/eat her."
"I can't imagine how terrified she was and I'm so happy she was able to pull herself up enough to grab the hammer"
- MossyDwarf
GiphyAre you feeling suddenly uncomfortable in the food chain?
Us too.
Just about everyone has made a sizable effort to make themselves appear smart.
Be it to impress a potential boss, a prospective client, a first date, or the parents of your significant other, people often will use big words, make bizarre references that only a select few would understand, or simply nod along and laugh even though they haven't the foggiest idea what's going on.
Surprisingly, people also pretend to be less intelligent than they are almost just as frequently.
What's more, people usually tend to "play dumb" for the same reasons they try to appear smarter than they actually are, as a way to impress or climb up a social ladder.
Of course, people also play dumb for many other, sometimes bizarre reasons.
"Have you ever pretended to be stupid or not as smart as you are? Why?"
Coming Off As Over Qualified
"It was quite common practice in my home country to hide the fact you have a masters degree to get certain jobs."
"Because either you were 'overqualified' and they couldn't afford you or they instantly knew you will only be temporary asset until you find something matching your education."- Reddit
season 1 sonograms and tube tops GIF by momGiphyConflict Resolution And Ego Massaging
"Has helped me out of sticky spots."
"And people seem to like it when they feel superior to me."- NecessaryImmediate93
Language Barriers
"I live in Germany and I speak C2-level fluent German, until one of those people on the street try to start handing me a bible or some charity pamphlet then i'm all like 'I no deutsch verstehe' lmao."- Zack1018
"I pretended to be less fluent in a language than I am before, if that counts."
"Anyone who’s lived in Japan is familiar with the NHK man, who comes to your door and pesters you to pay the NHK fee."
"NHK is the national public TV station, and everyone who owns a device capable of receiving it is supposed to pay a monthly fee to fund it, but there’s no penalty for not paying, and quite a lot of people just don’t."
"The representatives can be veeeeery pushy though."
"Well, I didn’t even own a TV, but when I first started living here I somehow got pressured into signing up to pay the fee."
"Though after that I just ignored the bills until eventually they sent an angry one saying you’d better pay or legal action blah blah."
"So I called them and used my best foreigner voice to explain I didn’t understand what I signed up for and the lady was very nice and said, 'Of course, you couldn’t have known, I’ll cancel that for you'.”
"Problem solved!"- lygerzero0zero
confused one more time GIF by Paramount NetworkGiphyOh, To Be The Ringmaster...
"When you realize your family is a Circus, you tend to be the clown."- B-Town-MusicMan
Know Your Audience...
"In all aspects of life I've found reading (and playing to) the room is the best way to get by."- gosog28052·
As Long As You Don't Mind Never Being Promoted...
"It comes with benefits at work."
"Meaning less work."- doofusdoomed
Bored Season 3 GIF by The OfficeGiphySaves A Lot Of Trouble
"All the time because I don’t feel like arguing."- goodfaceman
"Yes, because I don’t always feel like arguing. Many people are closed minded."
"They won’t even entertain a new to them idea."- Errol-Flynns-Ghost
"Yes, because i think its a waste of time to argue with people who are very narrow-minded."- Separate-Trash2375
Christian Bale Nodding GIFGiphyThe Element of Surprise
"Yes."
"People like to feel more clever than others."
"It can also come in handy to be underrated."- Aluanne
Keeps The Peace
"All the time, it makes people more comfortable."- khamelean
"Often."
"Especially when dealing with police, or other authority figures."
"Also in general life so as not to alienate people."- captain_jeremiah
good witch flirting GIF by Hallmark ChannelGiphyWanting People To Like You
"The line is just too thin between being smart and seeming a know-it-all."
"The others will feel belittled."- kapaj55687
It's understandable that people feel inclined to play dumb to avoid conflict, or perhaps make others feel better about themselves.
Though it's important to remember that everyone should be proud of who they are, and no one should play dumb in hopes of making someone else like them.
Such people probably aren't worth having as friends.
Sex in the workplace is a problem.
Everybody sees it. Eventually.
The glances.
The stolen moments.
It's all on display.
And the one lesson I've learned most assuredly is... you can't hide the attraction for long.
My best advice... be cool. Ignore one another.
And even that can be a sign.
Redditor IndependentSwimmer67 wanted to discuss the times we've all suspected the scandalous relations of coworkers, so they asked:
"What are the subtle clues that indicate two coworkers may be involved in a secret sexual relationship?"
The number of co-workers I've witnessed have flings?
I could write books.
Scandal
Season 1 Lol GIF by NBCGiphy"They laugh just a little too much and a little too loud at each other’s jokes."
GetOffMyLawnFFS
"They stare just a little too long…"
Meta_My_Data
Rimshot
"The new 17 year old kid where I work was overheard saying 'there's no way that Rimshot and the kitchen manager don't have something going on. You see the way they act around each other?' Me and the kitchen manager have been married for 12 years."
rimshot101
"My wife had that moment at her work. Patient transporter always stopped by and chatted up the unit clerk. Only 3 people in the department knew they had been married for decades."
DrunksInSpace
Disappear
"Always going to lunch together. Both call in sick or on vacation at the same time. Disappearing at the same time during team building or company functions. Both are working late. Leave work at the same time. None of these are conclusive but should create suspicions."
Impressive-Offer-404
"I worked in a place years ago with two co-workers who'd always disappear together for lunch and come back two hours later with McDonald's that they then ate at their desks. Not terribly subtle."
JimTheJerseyGuy
HR Ladies
"I had a boss who I was almost certain was having an affair with one of our HR ladies. They would always sneak off to go chat together, they'd go smoke together, they took lunch together every day, she'd go hang out in his office. They were both married."
"Her husband got offered a job at the company and I remember when my coworker learned about it he was like 'really?' And gave a wide-eyed glance and a nod over at our boss's office. So I wasn't the only one who thought this. As soon as her husband came to work there, all the visits stopped."
SweetCosmicPope
Restaurant Life
Tv Show Hulu GIF by The BearGiphy"Check to see if they have both significant others, if the answer is yes than they are probably doing it. Especially if it’s a restaurant."
NotGlumExamination
"If it's a restaurant, significant other or not, they're f**king. - 25 years working in restaurants."
sam_the_beagle
Oh, the restaurant life. Sex and food = Scandal.
Let's Play
Love Island Couple GIF by PeacockTVGiphy"They don't work in the same areas but are constantly together, looking at each other too much plus referencing conversations they had outside of work. They are a little too playful."
Shepard_of_fire_124
“AGAIN?”
"There was a rumor at my last job that I was sleeping with one of the cashiers. The rumor got started because she was my best friend and I would give her a hug every morning when I saw her. Most people assume men and women can’t be just friends, so obviously hugs equal sex."
"The moment I found out about the rumor I texted her fiancée and said 'Apparently Haylee and I are having an affair. It came as quite a shock to both of us, because we had no idea.' He though it was pretty funny. When I told my wife, she said 'AGAIN?' This isn’t the first time a rumor like that has been started about me."
DieHardAmerican95
Oh Emma...
"Frequent eye contact, conversations that revolve around flirting, slight touches."
Inside-Currency9002
"One time we were in a meeting with just the newbies doing training (no management) and one of the girls very lightly brushed the arm of the guy next to her while getting a pen or something and this girl Emma just stops and shouts 'WHEN DID YOU TWO START SHAGGING?!'
Wind_Yer_Neck_In
How Strange...
"My wife was pulled aside once by her religious boss who pointed out that he had noticed her leaving the building at lunch times with a strange man and that he didn't think that it was appropriate knowing that she was married."
"What he didn't know was that the 'strange man' was me. We happened to work for different companies on different floors of the same building. Some times it's best to keep out of other people's business."
MickSturbs
Hang Ups
"I worked at a law firm a while ago and one of the partners and the receptionist were having an affair. Both married and the receptionist became pregnant. I’m not entirely sure who the kid’s father is. But the way I could tell was that I was her backup coverage so any time she needed a break I would cover. The partner would call and either ask for his secretary and hang up before the transfer happened or say nothing and hang up. They both divorced their spouses and are now married."
naturalguy38
We Notice
Season Finale Moments GIF by Sweetbitter STARZGiphy"When it happened at my old job we started to notice when their lunch breaks started to align and they both walked out of a private room together everyday. They were both on their cell phones at the same time and refused to really talk to each other in person."
sunshineandcats21
The signs are there if you look closely enough, especially in certain jobs like restaurants.
Do you have any signs that we missed or funny stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.
Sometimes learning about us humans is downright scary.
The things we're capable of... or the things we're too stupid not to be aware of, is mind-boggling.
And the more we know, the better we can cope and maneuver.
Redditor rui_xox33 wanted to discuss some of the darker aspects about this mortal coil, so they asked:
"What are some creepy facts about human nature?"
Get Naked
csi miami GIFGiphy"On a recent date with a CSI agent I learned that a lot of people die naked on or near the toilet. Apparently people get very hot and try to strip down when close to death."
KingPnutticua
Like a Starfish
"We possess the genes for regeneration similar to starfish and salamanders. They are on the same chromosome as the genes for scar tissue formation. However they are not turned on whereas the scar tissue genes are."
"So technically, we could pull a Piccolo and regenerate limbs like a starfish."
"But we don't because it's waaay too metabolically demanding on energy. If we could do it, you'd likely shave years off of your life in exchange. Instead we make scar tissue to reinforce the injured area."
StopFool
Moving Parts
"After a back surgery, your organs might have been moved to perform certain parts of the surgery. The doctors don't move your organs back to their original place. This funny feeling you get after the surgery is your organs moving themselves back to their original place. Yes, they are capable of that."
VetreeleekYT
Separate Systems
"The eyes have a separate immune system than the rest of the body. If your body's immune system realizes your eyes exist, it'll attack the eyes and reject them from the body as it would a virus."
berripluscream
"I also have a fun (?) fact about the eyes: The retina isn’t really fixed in the eyes."
"The part where the nerves leave them is quite inflexible but towards the outside/lens the retina is staying because of osmotic pressure. I know because I had a blood vessel that somehow leaked and a couple of months later the retina in that eye detached in a big way. It’s not so funny when several doctors say something like, 'that doesn’t look good' when examining your eye."
Awkward_Volume5134
Object Around You...
drumming sub pop GIF by Sub Pop RecordsGiphy"If you happen to have brain injury, there is a condition that makes you unable to recognize objects around you. Like, you will see a fork, the colors and the shape of it, but you can’t know how to use it, if it’s edible or not, etc. Pretty scary thing to imagine."
Big-Bridge-6142
Brains and forks, not always a great combo.
From the Top
Fail Long Jump GIFGiphy"The call of the void. This occurs when humans are on high places, like rooftops or cliffs, and get the urge to jump. It’s actually pretty common."
jstclair08
'Clearly Remember'
"Learned memories, i.e. people 100% sure they remember things which actually never happened but were told many times by media/memes/others. I observed this for certain episode which happened less than 10 years ago and which everyone whom I asked witnessed themselves personally, but they all 'clearly remember' it in a way it was presented in memes and jokes and not how they actually saw it happen."
p17s82
Head Issues
"Risks during birth are abnormally high compared to other species. Because of our upright gait (mother's narrow pelvis) and big heads, fetuses cannot 'fully' gestate until being born. Humans have to be born prematurely while the head is still tiny and squishy. Otherwise, childbirth would not be survivable at all."
deepestfish
"Gives Out"
"Most people that die due to hypothermia get naked before dying."
"This is because, blood stops flowing to your extremities, so you don't lose body heat. Just before death, the brain kinda 'gives out' and allows blood flow to return to normal. This sends warm blood to your cold limbs, making you feel very hot and sweaty, so you strip."
diamondhound2509
Evil
Season 9 Phoebe GIF by FriendsGiphy"That pretty much everyone has the capacity for extreme evil given the right circumstances."
Affectionate-Goat896
Humans are weird. I wanna be a spider.
How about you? Do you have anything to add to this list? Let us know in the comments.
Friends Of People Who Won The Lottery Describe What Happened After They Got The Money
Most of us have had one of those fantasies about all the magical things we would do if we won the lottery, like starting an antique car collection, buying a mansion, or even more humbly paying off their or their family's debt.
But most of us have limited knowledge about what it's actually like to win the lottery or what their lives look like after winning.
Redditor RivalxGames asked:
"Have you ever actually met or known someone who has won the lottery? What happened to them?"
Cottage Core
"Friends of ours won 30 million dollars. They took a group of us on vacation. Then they bought a cottage and built a house."
"Not much really changed. They are doing great."
- Blondefarmgirl
Responsible Purchases
"My MIL (Mother-in-Law) won $33k on a scratch-off. She paid off some debt and got new windows installed on her house. The new windows in an 1890s farmhouse are amazing, don't think I've seen a happier woman!"
- CaseyBoogies
Spending Where It Matters
"I knew a welder who won a 30 million jackpot."
"He retired, bought two Ford GTs, and spends his time doing yard work, playing low-stakes poker tournaments, and raising his two young kids."
"His wife bought a crib from me used for their second child."
- PigStickerOnStone
Two Kinds of People
"I've known two people who won, actually."
"One was a friend of mine in high school who won $15k on a scratch-and-win. She rented a house downtown and threw a party."
"Somebody said I should stop by and check in on her, because they'd been down to the party and hardly recognized anybody."
"Sure enough, I got there, my friend met me at the door, put waaay too much money in my hands, and told me to go get a bottle of wine. She just partied with whoever was around until it was gone, which took about three weeks."
"Next was a friend of mine from Toronto who is mostly known for doing zombie walks. She won a 'cash for life' dealio and I think it's around ten thousand a month. She bought a theremin and started making 50s-style monster movies and is generally living a high-rolling rockabilly lifestyle."
- greihund
It's All About the Goats
"My neighbor won the lottery in his sixties, it was something like 1.2 million in the late '90s. We lived in a trailer park in a rural part of the US, a pretty low-cost-of-living area so the money stretched pretty far."
"He bought his trailer and land outright with the money and pretty much just spent every day drinking on his porch and yelling at his goats."
"If I remember correctly, he used a good chunk of what he won to put his son and grandkids through college. Died of liver failure at 85 or something. Not a terrible way to do it, all said and done."
- Kahazzarran
Oh, the Irony
"A neighbor won a few million, built an old folks home, named it after his mother, and she refused to live there."
- pascontent
People Letting Their True Colors Show
"Someone got 30k or something. Not too much, not too less. She got a lot of hate for not 'sharing her riches' whatever the f**k that means."
- Eveleyn
Family Matters
"I did see news footage before of someone in the US, I believe, who won a huge amount but somehow they worked it out that they could wear a 'Scream' mask or some sort of Halloween mask to the check pick up and photo session. And I can't blame that person at all."
"My favorite was I saw a legit story about an older woman who lived in a trailer park who won several million at least in the lottery."
"Her kids quietly moved her out of the trailer once they saw the ticket at her place and knew she won, they found her a new home in some retirement condo community that was nice with extra amenities and they packed all her stuff up for her. Whatever they didn't take from her trailer they just donated out and sold for her and sold the trailer off."
"Because they did not want her going back there after everybody found out she won all that money, especially when she was older and more likely to be manipulated with sob stories or demands."
"Some of the neighbors went on about how sad they were they never got to say goodbye and fair game, I can believe the odd one was sad. But I suspect most were sad they didn't get to see her to ask for a cut of that money or ask her if she could just help them all out."
- Dancingskeletonman86
Bragging Rights
"Technically, a kid from school's parents won a few hundred thousand. His parents were chill, and acted like they had the same money as before, but the kid was acting like a baller."
BaldEaglz1776
Romanticizing Life
"My aunt's husband won $36 million. They bought property and traveled. He liked to fish and drink and build stuff. He passed away three years ago, but he was an awesome dude."
Unable-Astronaut-677
Keeping It Simple
"I know two people who have won significant sums (well, significant for me)."
"The first guy won $100k back in the early 2000s. He and his wife agreed to split it between them. She bought a car. He slowly lost most of his half over the course of a couple of years playing in poker tournaments."
"The other people aren't friends, but I see them a few times a year. They won $61 million in 2013. They bought a home i my mom's neighborhood (lakeside property, but priced in the $200k - $500k range back in 2013, depending on which lot)."
"I'd met them several times before finding out that they were 'screw you' rich. You'd never know they were more than a regular retired couple who had enough money in the bank to take cruises and such. They are some of the most down-to-earth people I know; nice cars, but nothing fancy, etc."
- Nythoren
Blasts from the Past
"I had a patient, a hairdresser who owned her own shop, who won about 6 million. Her winnings were announced in the local newspaper."
"She consulted the right professionals, worked a plan to sell her salon, and mapped a way to retire on her winnings without a change in her lifestyle."
"But she told me that she had old boyfriends, and even guys that barely knew her in high school, who called her with some variation of, 'You know, I always loved you...'"
"She just laughed and blew them off."
- Earguy
An Epic Pizzy Party
"I worked with a guy who won like $3k/week for life on a scratch-off. He continued working for like six months before he bought a truck and went and lived the O/O life in the oil fields of North Dakota. He bought everyone pizza on his last day."
- 0100100012635
Keeping It Humble
"A friend won 1 million. They paid off their house. Saved for their kids' education and basically don’t live paycheque to paycheque anymore. Both of them still work full-time."
- hornblower_83
That Darn Pandemic
"I met a girl at a party shortly after the pandemic who won 1 million pounds. She won it about six months before the pandemic hit. Her parents are already millionaires and her dad convinced her to put more than half of it into reliable stocks."
"She also planned a huge family holiday all around Asia... Well, the pandemic hit, canceled the holiday and disintegrated all her shares."
"She said she bought a house for 200k, a new car for 20k and she has about 100k left, and still has her same job."
- TheBrazenBeast
While some of these were extravagant by everyday standards, most of them were heartwarming in how the person continued to lead a simple, if not also humble, life after winning a large cash prize.
It's a great reminder that while money can afford someone stability, that money doesn't necessarily equate with happiness.