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People Break Down The Creepiest Thing That Ever Happened To Them That They Still Think About

Unfortunately, not every scary tale is just a movie. Sometimes it happened to someone you know.

These are the things that seem like near misses. They haunt us years later. They show up in our nightmares and in our daily lives.


Redditor devdevo1919 asked:

What's something creepy that has happened to you that you still occasionally think about to this day?

Here were some of those answers.

Stranger Danger

When I was around 11 I was at softball practice and for whatever reason the practice ended early so I had to wait at the park for my grandpa to come and pick me up. I ended up having to wait alone for about 30 minutes because I didn't have a cell phone to call and tell my grandpa that practice ended early.

I remember sitting on the swings when an adult man, in his 30s or 40s, came and sat down next to me. He asked if he knew me and I said no and he told me that I must just have "one of those pretty faces" that feel recognizable to anybody. I remember feeling happy about the compliment and I kept talking to him. Eventually, he told me that he had his car with him and that he could drive me home to my grandparents house so that they didn't have to worry about picking me up and I wouldn't have to wait any longer.

Being 11, I didn't think anything of this and proceeded to get into this strangers car. Luckily, my grandpa showed up just in time and I remember seeing his car and jumping out to meet him. The stranger sped off without talking to my grandpa and that was the last I ever heard about it.

This is such a vivid memory for me and I often find myself thinking about what would have happened to me and what a different person I would be today if my grandpa hadn't shown up when he did.

maopi

Can You Just Go Away?

Pretty sure I almost got kidnapped when I was a kid. I was 10 years old walking home from school and an elderly couple driving by stopped and asked me for directions.

They were looking for the street I was walking towards, so I pointed them in that direction. Even though my directions were very clear, both were acting confused and asked if I can get in the car and guide them there and then they would drive me home.

I told them it was fine, my house was right here (I lied). They were pressuring/guilting me a lot and being TOO nice about wanting to drive me home. It gave me a really weird feeling in my stomach. So I pretended to walk towards a house that wasn't mine and they drove off.

ivantoldmeboutdis

Never Wander In The Countryside

When I was 10 years old I lived in the middle of rural alabama.. we had some odd neighbors. Being curious kids, my friend and I followed my neighbor and his son and daughter one day when they left their house and walked into the woods.

I was very familiar with the area because it was back when kids could roam free until the street lights came on. Anyway, we trailed them for about 2 miles, through the woods, across an old cemetery, and down a railroad. They stopped at a clearing beside the tracks and my friend and I hid opposite of them and watched.....

They started digging and kept pulling up bones and putting them in a bucket. We got scared and bolted. I immediately told my parents but they didn't believe me.

I'm 32 and remember that day clearly.

Chad003

These experiences are traumatic in their own way.

Not The Beginning Of A Horror Movie

When I was about 13, my self and a friend were walking to a middle school dance. I lived right across the street from the school. From my house there was about a 50m sidewalk to it from the main road. Anyways, as were standing at the traffic light, waiting for our turn, I noticed a man in a van and a person in another car yelling at each other. I'm 100% sure I saw the man in the van wave a gun at the person. So he pulls up to the light and is waiting. He calls to me and my friend, says he needs directions. Who tf ask 13 year olds for directions?

I pull my friends arm and tell her we need to leave. We start walking back towards my house away from the guy and he got out! Left the van right there at the light. My friend and I take off, full tilt. Make it half way down the path before ducking into some side bushes. Were sitting there with our hands pressed over our mouths while trying to be as still and small as possible. I'm trembling and can hear my heart pounding in my ear.

The man stands at the end of the walk way staring down towards my house. Luckily there's quite a few houses along the block, so it would have been impossible to tell which one we ducked into.

Clear as day, in his hand at his hip is a gun.

He finally leaves and my friend and I run back to my house to call my mom and the cops.

I refused to walk to school after that.

klpcap

Stalk-A-Walk

I had a stalker in college. Had to move dorm rooms and building 4 times in the middle of the night. Friends would help me get to my dorm by pretending we were going to theirs and making sure no one was around when I'd go into mine. He found 2 of the dorms and left notes in my room. It's been over 11 years and I live in a completely different state but every once in awhile I get the feeling I'm being watched and panic.

RavenSkye86

Hiding In The Woods

I used to spend a lot of time walking through the woods/fields by my mums house, and noticed a path one day that I hadn't seen before. I was listening to music following down this path as the trees around became more dense, you could tell it wasn't often people walked down there anymore I remember it being more of mud/gravel trail.

At this point I was deep in the woods, hadn't seen another person for a long time and shaded by the leaves of the trees. I don't know what made me notice at first but I think I smelt the smoke.

I stopped on the path, and maybe 5 metres away to my left in the trees was a small fire that had obviously been stamped out in a hurry, still burning embers and smoke so it had been done only a few moments before. Cue me realising there wasn't anyone around that I'd seen, and that whoever had stamped out the fire was hiding in the trees somewhere.

I have never felt a gut feeling to run like I did in that moment , straight back the way I came and did not look behind me until I was back into the main woodland with people around. Will never know if I was paranoid and it was nothing, or if I avoided something bad that day haha

rchristinatt

Do you feel someone's eyes on you as you walk down the street? Or fear turning off the light?

A House Of Many Steps

When I was maybe 10 I was over at a friend's house hanging out. Her neighbor was out of town and my friend was feeding the cat while they were gone. So my friend and I went over to feed the cat. Immediately upon opening the door, we heard someone walking upstairs. They were loud, heavy, slowww footsteps - like didn't even sound human.

My friend and I just looked at each other and sprinted back to her house. The worst part was we told her mom and the mom didn't believe us and made us go back and finish feeding the cat alone! We were terrified but did it.

When the neighbor came back, they found that their house had been broken into.

ABakerIGuess

Party Stalker!

I was at an internal work event/party at a fancy hotel in a different state — it was 80s themed. I started talking to some dude, I barely knew anyone there so I was trying to network, and he tells me he doesn't work for my company. Okay, no worries, I make a joke about free food. He stares me straight in the eye and picks up one of my French Fries off my plate, dips it in ketchup and eats it without saying a word.

I kind of freaked out and dropped the food in the trash and just walked out of the room and decide not to think about it. A few minutes later, there he is, staring at me. I change rooms again; I'm short so I hid behind people and pretended to talk to people I kind of recognized from my home office. He follows me, every few minutes I see him.

I finally got the courage to approach a woman I knew the name of from some meetings and seeing her around the office. When I asked if the party had any kind of security she immediately asked if it was about the dude in the blue jacket and white hat. Apparently she'd noticed him staring at me creepily, so I didn't have to try and convince anyone.

Security took him away and everyone moved on but I was scared and paranoid for the rest of the business trip.

R3dIsMyFav

Who Does Things Like This?!

My mum used to start at work at like 3AM and she was up at about 2-230 having her coffee, I heard her up and went to see her. She joked that she heard something outside and me being a bit silly opened the blinds up wide as a joke and there was a guy just standing there staring into the lounge room.

That was creepy enough as it is, but what sticks with me is the fact he didn't run or really react for what felt an eternity. While I ran to get my old man and brother apparently he just stood there and then slowly walked off.

PoorTank

These are the tales that will have you lying awake in bed at night.

What is the creepiest thing you've ever experienced?

Group of people dining out at a restaurant
Dan Gold on Unsplash

When we think of the term "red flags," we're quick to think of red flags that might appear in a problematic or abusive relationship.

But red flags can appear in any place in our life, especially the workplace or places that consumers frequent, like big box stores and restaurants.

When it comes to restaurant red flags, these are important to note, as they could have a negative impact on a consumer's health.

Redditor FlintTheDad asked:

"What's an immediate red flag at a restaurant?"

Fair Enough

"When you see the owner breaking apart frozen chicken on the curb outback."

- Mourning-Poo

High Humidity

"High humidity inside."

- Presitigious_Gold_585

"Yes! The small that causes is unmistakable."

- TemperatureTop246

Sticky Furniture

"All of the furniture and menus are weirdly sticky..."

- Silver_Sunshine360

"I know what *some* of that is. Some furniture and cleaning solutions aren't compatible. The cleaning spray reacts with the finish on the table tops, and softens, it, which makes it feel a bit sticky, and dulls it super fast... but it's the sanitizer cleaner they use for *everything*, and they don't want to have to deal with a separate cleaner for certain surfaces."

"I used to sell commercial office furniture, and we'd run into this issue sometimes. The worst was when a company asked us to source some tables they found from a local craftsman (since we were already an approved vendor in their system, they often had us buy and deliver stuff for them). Beautiful, hand-made stuff."

"So we bought them and arranged for the delivery and placement. When we got to the site and saw where they wanted them, I cringed... I knew the tables were finished in shellac, and they were having us put them in their lounge area, where I knew they often had events with drinks."

"Shellac dissolves in alcohol. Spilling a drink on it can ruin the finish. Before we left, I left a note on the tables about being careful and emailed the client some care tips. The NEXT DAY they sent us pictures of the ruined finish, asking, 'What is wrong with our tables?!'"

- NecroJoe

Sounds Fishy

"A seafood restaurant should NOT smell fishy."

- turtyurt

"And conversely, a seafood MARKET that does not smell fishy is indeed fishy."

- FourMeterRabbit

A Specific Smell

"That *smell.*"

"You know the one. floors feel a little slippery/slimy underfoot and it smells like they've been mopping the place with the same dirty mop and bucket water for weeks."

"This isn't something you're likely to see in a nice place but I've encountered it in more fast-casual dining places than I care to remember."

- y2knole

"THAT smell. It always reminds me of yeast rolls. I guess it's bacteria in the mop water that has been setting in that bucket for three days."

- SpeelingChamp

Restroom Cleanliness

"Dirty restrooms."

- carboncanyondesign

"This is a dead giveaway. If they can't keep part of the restaurant that the public DOES see clean, you can imagine how the non-public facing parts look."

- OkaySureBye

"Health inspector here. The key is to look for build-up that looks like it's been there more than a day. Most places don't have bathroom attendants and it's unrealistic to expect public bathrooms to be spotless every minute of the day."

- Vives_solo_una_vez

The Right Audience

"Whenever I have friends come to visit me in Osaka and they're dying to try some authentic ramen. My goto line is:"

"'Look for the most run-down looking, back ally shack you can, the more run-down looking; the better. Guaranteed It'll be the best ramen you'll ever have!'"

"And to anyone who happens to read this, no, Ichiran is NOT the best reman joint. It's nice don't get me wrong but please ask around, research ramen in the area you're visiting, I guarantee you there's SO much better out there!"

- kevo998

"I look for people of that ethnicity eating there. Mexican restaurant with only white people? It might be good. Mexican restaurant with Mexicans wearing high-vis shirts? S**t's going be fire. Bonus points if there’s a grocery store attached."

"The same thing goes for Asian restaurants sans the high-vis shirts."

- PsychoticMessiah

Too Many Variables

"A huge menu."

- dnb_4eva

"A huge VARIED menu."

"Places like Chinese, Mexican, and Indian restaurants generally have large menus, but most items use the same base ingredients."

"It's the places that try to incorporate lots of wildly different dishes that you want to avoid."

- MagnusPI

Unexpected Restaurant Guests

"A raccoon falling through the ceiling tiles. 1:00 AM, drunk as h**l, looking for something to eat, and I found a dive that was still open. I ordered my food, and while waiting for my order, a raccoon fell from the ceiling."

"The waitress ran to the back screaming. The cook came out armed with a cleaver and chased it into the kitchen. The look on his face was like it had happened before. Other people eating there were in shock and got up and left."

"Mystery meat: the new special. Get me the f**k out of there."

- alwaystired707

That Wait Time

"I immediately look to see if there is anyone actually eating. If there are a half dozen tables with no food on them, and people looking anxiously to the kitchen, I'm out."

- scotttr3b

Cleaning Response Time

"Multiple dirty tables that haven’t been cleared. If the restaurant isn’t crowded, staff should have time to clean them. If it is crowded, staff should be trying to turn tables over quickly."

"Dirty tables mean they are either severely understaffed or the staff just doesn’t care. Either way, you will be waiting a long time."

- 787la57la47al

Inappropriate Smells

"Once went into a restaurant that boasted the biggest Cinnamon Rolls in the city/state... Only for there to be a pervasive smell of absolutely raw stagnate sewage throughout the dining room. Needless to say, did not return."

- nekroves

Construction Said It Best

"A green flag for a restaurant is when you see a lot of construction workers going there for lunch. You'll know it's cheap and good, hearty food."

"In my old city, there was this tiny little family-owned Chinese restaurant with delicious and cheap lunch specials. Every construction worker downtown sat at the counter at the front for lunch."

"Meanwhile, the waiters would be in this little back room watching TV and the chef must have been at least 70 years old. The food was genuinely so delicious and filling. Probably not good for your cholesterol but so tasty!"

- okaymoose

Atmosphere Matters

"Not a red flag about the food but if a place has their music up so loud I can’t hear the person I’m with, then I won’t eat there."

- Adro87

"Conversely, if it's TOO quiet; as in, not only is the sound system way too low, but if the customers are also weirdly quiet (barely having conversations, just sort of sitting there) and the atmosphere seems almost stifling."

"A couple of years ago we walked into a gastropub in Scotland just like this - very low music, the room was half full (and this was at peak lunch time), and everyone who was there were just sitting, looking sullen, barely speaking, waiting for their food. Just really... odd... vibes."

"After five minutes of sitting at the bar trying to get the attention of staff (who were all standing around looking at their phones), we left and went to a definitely *not fancy* cafe down the block that was the absolutely opposite: people just seemed happy to be there, staff were attentive, and the vibe was really welcoming."

- Good_Difference_2837

The Ultimate Red Flag

"Gordon Ramsey walking in with a camera crew."

- Tint-kicker

"One of the local restaurants we like was recently closed for a bit due to filming for 'Kitchen Nightmares.'"

"My husband still likes to get their food, but I'm waiting until the episode airs!"

- Lington

No restaurant is going to be perfect 100 percent of the time. They're going to have a slow night or poor response time or get some orders wrong from time to time.

But there are far more problematic behaviors and characteristics to find in a restaurant that are perfectly good reasons to never go back there again, no matter how good they may have been in the past.

Apple on a stack of textbooks
Element5 Digital/Unsplash

Teachers are not only educators, they're also inspiring leaders.

The most memorable teachers are those who genuinely encourage young students to do their best so they can be empowered to pursue their dreams.

However, we tend to revere them to such a degree, we forget that they're people too with real emotions.

Curious to hear from strangers who witnessed a vulnerable moment from someone they were inspired by at an early age, Redditor throwthrowwthrowwww asked:

"Students who've witnessed their teacher cry during class, what happened?"

There's no bigger heartbreak than people who are struggling with illnesses or know of someone facing medical challenges.

Ailing Teacher

"One of our music instructors 7th-12th grade. She had a long ongoing battle with stage three/four cancer. She always did her best to try to have fun during our classes, like it was an escape for her because she loved music so much. Over 85% of the entire high school joined choir because of her. Her chemo and radiation treatments left her exhausted some days, though, and she would occasionally break down. In 2012, when her condition worsened, she would have to take more days off because the cancer had become so debilitating."

"We continued to practice our songs while she was gone, and I swear we would sometimes spend an hour on one small section of a song, ripping every note apart, and repeating the same words over and over until we couldn't mess it up. One of the final days in class with her, I remember we were rehearsing for our upcoming state competition, and we sounded damn good. Mid-song, she stopped conducting, closed her eyes, folded her hands, and listened as we continued singing for her. The energy and sound was so profound throughout the room, I can't find the words to describe it."

"After the song finished, we stood in a long, complete silence before she opened her eyes with tears streaming down her face. She wasn't able to go to our state competition with us, but we ended up placing that year. It wasn't first like we were hoping, but it was the highest the school had ever placed. She later passed away that same year. She was one of the strongest women I had ever met in my life."

– Top-Box2372

Losing A Student

"My high school Spanish teacher also taught some homebound students with medical issues."

"One day the vice principal came into our class and told Ms J that one of her homebound students had passed away from his cancer. She couldn't hold back the tears."

– que_he_hecho

Wise Toddler

"I’m a teacher, I cried in front of my toddlers when I got a call from the hospital telling me it was time to make the call as to whether to pull my dads life support. One of my toddlers came up to me while I was crying, put her hand on my cheek and said 'it’s ok to feel sad, it’s ok to cry,' then gave me a hug. I love my job."

– Cheekygirl97

Students witnessed the following teachers get emotional.

Thoughtful Sixth-Graders

"The class surprised him on teacher appreciation day. Someone brought pop, snacks etc. He was surprised. 6th grade teacher."

– Stephlynn1234

Appreciation Day

"Had a philosophy course in uni during covid. So the class was held on zoom. It wasn't teacher appreciation day, but it was the second to last lecture of the term and we all really enjoyed this prof (and because of him most of the class became friends). So we organized an appreciation thing for him."

"We all started class without our cameras on, which was unusual and made him question (he got sad actually). So one girl said 'before we start, we just really wanted to do something for YOU because you've done so much for us. I hope this is okay.' He gave us a confused look, and before he could say anything in response we all turned our cameras on and held up signs saying 'thank you professor [name]' and our green screen backgrounds were of his face lol. He laughed so hard but started crying. Told us how he wished we could do this in person and that he genuinely cared about all of us."

"He had a lot of health issues, the most prominent one being MS. Whenever he didn't start class on time we all got worried, and there were a few times where he cancelled altogether because he fell or something. He also had a cat, and we asked to see him just enough times that his cat learned what time our class was at and would climb up to see us and stay the whole class. It was cute. During the breaks he would email a link to play chess since he lived far from his family and couldn't visit and wanted the company. We organized a Christmas movie day with him over the Christmas break and he loved it. He retired after the following year because of his health, and I still wonder what he's doing now and if he's doing okay. I've been in uni for 5 years now and he is the only prof I've actually spoken to consistently and genuinely liked."

– Burnt_Your_Toast

Sad Literature

"5th grade teacher reading Where the Red Fern Grows out loud to the class. He shed some tears. He did every year."

– SnoBunny1982

"Our teacher read that book to us in 5th grade also. But when it got to that part, she elected me to read it and she left the room. Luckily I had read it before and knew what was coming, but it was still rough."

– MIBariSax81

The Private Life Of An English Teacher

"I forgot his name, but he was one of my favored teachers in high school. He taught English."

"During class, he was called out to talk to some members of the school administration and a few proctors. It took several minutes. But he returned, taught as much of the class as he could, and then just walked over to his desk and started crying. Whimpering. He then left."

"He just found out his wife, who had also been a teacher, was having an affair with one of the female students. We didn't find out that specific fact until later on though."

– Typical_Samaritan

Some students, however, can force a teacher to realize they're in the wrong profession.

Bad Attitude

"Student that had behavior issues and a hard time maintaining emotional regulation threw his recorder (the instrument) at the music teacher and it snapped in half. He then threw his desk in her direction and walked out. This was 3rd grade, and all she had asked him to do was listen to the song we were learning. She quit the next week after almost 30 years of teaching."

– Last_Tuesdays_Beans

Bullying The Substitute

"Ms. Hanlon... Substitute teacher, I still think about her and hope she's doing well. She was posted as the teacher when the usual teachers were off sick. Absolutely zero respect was given to her and the class knew if we had Ms. Hanlon it was just an extended lunch, we could just mess around and act like animals for the whole lesson."

"She had physical conditions like a dent in her forehead and a gravvely voice which prevented her from being able to raise her voice to tell us to be quiet. So the kids would all do Hunchback of Notre Dame impressions, spitballs through straws and do the 'coughing game' where they would just cough through whatever she was trying to say."

"Even as a kid I felt kinda awful after we'd essentially broken her and she'd just come in not even say hello and pull open a book for the hour and sometimes cry into it. I weirdly still think about her randomly once or twice a month, I hope she moved on to way better things. School children really have no filter at all."

– PNCL

Absolutely Zero Respect

"Substitute teacher in Jr High must be among the world's worse jobs. 8th grade we had a sub that demanded and got no respect. Kids would throw stuff at her etc. She left the classroom crying then the vice principal, who was not to be messed with, came in and took over."

– woolash

Major Mockery

"I had a substitute teacher named Mr. Crane who looked exactly like Ichabod Crane from the old cartoon. Some kids in the class bullied him relentlessly for this and he just kind of broke down one day. Poor guy."

– backflip10019

In seventh grade, I witnessed a classmate talk back to our homeroom teacher and saying very inappropriate, bullish things to her in front of the whole class.

But that didn't make her cry.

What made her tear up was when another student defended her and yelled at the bullying student for being out of line.