You wake up one day and you're not feeling well, so you decide to Google your symptoms and browse through WebMD to figure out what might be going on. And then your worst fears come true, your tummy ache is a sign of impending death. But that's according to the internet, not a doctor, which is why matching symptoms with info on the internet is no substitute for a doctor visit.
Wakanda4eva4eva asked doctors of Reddit: Who has been your worst "but I looked it up on WebMD" patient?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
16. Good Luck With That, Mama
So does Pinterest count too? I had an odd experience recently. I'm a recovery room nurse and while discharging a patient, her daughter told me this: "All diseases and medical conditions can be cured by eating specific foods. I have done my research. there is a lot of information on Facebook and Pinterest. My mother shouldn't be here-she just needs to eat more sweet potato." For context, the patient had a double mastectomy and lymph nodes removed where unfortunately the cancer had spread.
15. Diving Board To Conclusions
The person who refused to tell me what symptoms they were actually having.
They had decided that they had pneumonia and any time I tried to ask what they were experiencing they just said "I have pneumonia! Don't you know what the symptoms of pneumonia are?!" Pretty sure they looked it up, decided they had, but couldn't remember the exact symptoms...
14. You Just Don't Fit The Bill
Nurse here. I have a lot of WebMD stories, but my favorite is the 57 year old woman who came in for routine visit and a request to try a new medication that she saw advertised on TV. Her visit was for a complaint of increasing urinary retention over the past three weeks. Most urinary retention in women is due to a mild bladder infection... very common in women that age.
When we asked her about the medication she wanted to try, she said the TV ad said it was for urinary retention, so we listened. She took out a scrap of paper with the name of the medication scribbled on it: Flomax. Well. That's not what'll work for her and the doctor quickly said he could not prescribe it for her. She was a little offended at the refusal and asked why not. The doctor said, "Flomax is for benign prostatic hypertrophy and you don't need it." She demanded an explanation. The doctor bluntly explained, "This is treating an enlarged prostate. Women don't have prostates."
13. Should Believe The Professional
Giphy
I've worked in a pharmacy on and off for the last ten years so I've heard quite a few doctors stories about patients. One I recall is about a patient who was suffering from severe migraines and was adamant they had a blood clot in the brain. Quite an assumption to make, doctor assured them it wasn't anything so sinister and was most likely sinusitis. Of course the patient didn't believe him because Google told him otherwise so he decides to go private and spend close to £500 on tests and private care only to be told you've got a sinusitis infection...
12. Unexpected Turn Of Events
How about a best? Dude comes in after looking up chest pain on WebMD and it tells him he's having a heart attack. He actually was.
11. Even In Los Angeles
Nursing student here. Woman age 55 told me she was impregnated by the holy spirit because her periods went away and she hasn't been with a man in 2 years since her husband died. She wasn't pregnant. But she's never heard of menopause.
They also had us doing flu shots and a girl comes in looking really apprehensive. I asked are you pregnant? She said "Well, my girlfriend fingered me and I'm scared I might be pregnant and I don't want my mom and dad to find out I'm gay." This is why we need proper sex ed.
And after these stories y'all might be thinking. Oh he is somewhere in the south. In Hicksville. Nope. Los Angeles.
10. Granny should read the labels!
I'm not a doctor, but I did take my very elderly Nana to the hospital after I showed up to her house and found her slurring her words and behaving very strange overall. Now, my Nana is a major hypochondriac and when she was admitted the first thing she told the doctor is that she believed she was experiencing the beginning signs of Parkinson's.
It turned out that she had mixed up a bottle of non-alcoholic wine with a bottle of regular wine, had drank the entire bottle, and was completely hammered.
Honestly though the sensation of being drunk would be so disconcerting if you weren't expecting it
Yeah, the symptoms of being drunk are similar to the symptoms of being roofied—that's why people in bars usually don't notice if someone's slipped something into their drink until it's too late. It's super freaky.
9. Come on people...
Serious answer: I try to ask my patients if they have Googled their symptoms. It gives me a lot of information about what they are worried about. I then try to stay humble about their findings, and try to not be a jerk about that. Trust is not built by telling people they are stupid. However, it is hard to keep a straight face when a 50-year old male walks in and says "I think I have caught the Down's syndrome," or when a young women thought she had testicular cancer.
I actually had pretty advanced serum sickness from strep/penicillin and the nurses told me I was not having any problems. The doc in the ER said he didnt know what it was but looked it up himself and said, "yup! You do have serum sickness!"
It felt nice to be listened to.
However, it is hard to keep a straight face when a 50-year old male walks in and says "I think I have caught the Down's syndrome", or when a young women thought she had testicular cancer.
This totally reminds me of something that would happen on House, like this lady and her inhaler.
8. That's... not how it works.
The other day I had a guy come into the ED in tears because he had wrist pain and the nurse at his work's occupational health looked it up and told him he has multiple sclerosis.
I love good nurses but there's areas that they are not trained in. We did an appendectomy on a patient who was like, maybe 4 weeks pregnant. After the surgery the nurse called me saying she couldn't hear the fetus's heart anymore...after telling the patient that maybe she had a miscarriage during the surgery.
Turns out the nurse used a Doppler preop and mistook the Iliac artery for the fetal heart rate...and then couldn't find the artery post op.
Several levels of wtf in that one.
Edit: you cannot hear a fetal heart at 4wks with...anything, ever.
7. So close.
This will make my friend sound stupid, and she really isn't. When she had her first baby and was in that woozy/sleepless/new mom phase, she took the baby for her checkup and completely misheard when the doctor told her the baby had eczema. She got home and started Googling what she thought he had said, and called me in a panic, saying, "The doctor said the baby has emphysema!"
Why, that infant never smoked a day in her life . . .
This reminds me of when I was getting married and my husband and I were looking for a hotel to stay at on our wedding night. He called me and said he found one that had a honeymoon suite and included in the package was "strawberries and shampoo." We still laugh, almost 30 years later, at the thought of toasting our new marriage with shampoo and not champagne.
6. Some things should be obvious...
In this day and age of the internet, I'm still surprised people don't use web MD more....
Just this week I was in our workroom when a senior physician sitting next to be was on the phone and suddenly grabbed my arm while desperately trying to keep a straight face. The senior physician was talking to a 24-year-old female patient and the conversation was going:
"No Ma'am... You can get absolutely get pregnant even if you don't orgasm... No Ma'am, just because he's feeling nauseated the morning after doesn't mean you're pregnant..."
I mean the Web MD page on this is pretty darn good....
just because he's feeling nauseated the morning after
WTF.
It's actually horrifying how little humans know about our own bodies.
Especially since everything can be found on the internet. At 24 there is no excuse for not being able to Google.
There's also a LOT of misinformation on the internet, particularly when it comes to health. A big reason that there are so many pseudoscientific health movements today is because bullshit health blogs are often the first thing to come up when you type things into google. Not only that, but "real" science is often inaccessible to those outside of the field, and behind journal paywalls.
Source: am med student, used to google things when I forgot stuff, led myself into way too many rabbit holes and now I just use UpToDate (~legit WebMD). If an article doesn't credit any sources, smash that back button.
5. Yes, by all means, breathe water.
RN, but my favorite was when a patients family member rudely insisted we give her mother who had a major stroke (resulting in nearly zero swallowing capability) as much water as she could drink because "I read a study online that said you can't aspirate on water because your lungs just absorb it back into your bloodstream." I looked her dead in the eyes and said "Ok, then explain drowning to me."
Oh gosh. Save us from the daughters that read stuff online.
I did home health care and took care of a lovely lady in her nineties. She had very bad diabetes, and even though she was constantly monitored and checking in with her doc multiple times a week, it still was not unusual for her to run between 250-300 after dinner, a carefully measured and balanced dinner. It freaked me out every time I saw it.
Anyway, her daughter kept telling my about this juice cleanse she heard about. I kept telling her that it was a really, really bad idea, but she kept bringing it up because her chiropractor talked about it all the time.
I went on vacation for a week, came back and my lady is gone. Hospitalized. You guessed it, as soon as I was out the door her daughter started the juice cleanse. She was going to prove me wrong. Amazingly, this little tiny 97 yo lady managed to do well enough for 3 days. 3 days until the evening nurse clocked her blood sugar at over 700!!!
The EMTs couldn't believe it. She was groggy and nauseated, but still conscious and her sweet self.
She was in the hospital for over 2 weeks because they just couldn't get her sugars to balance.
She came home, but had even more problems than before. Her daughter wouldn't even look at me. She nearly killed her mom to prove herself right.
The icing on the cake, a week after she went home, she gets admitted to the ICU for...you guessed it...aspiration pneumonia caused by the daughter trying to feed her solid foods.
4. People should at least know what parts they have.
I had a woman come to see me because of abdominal pain. I spent a good 10-15 minutes of asking her questions to get a better understanding of what could be happening. I ended up ordering an ultrasound to assess for an ovarian cysts and some blood work. As she's leaving she goes "are you doing lab work for my prostate?" I had to bite my tongue so as not to laugh and said "no, because you're not a male and you don't have one." She just said "oh." and left.
Spoiler alert - she had an ovarian cyst.
Our family doctor once asked my husband if he was pregnant as she went down a checklist. They had a good laugh.
I once told a woman she didn't have a prostate (when asking about the result of an ultrasound) and she was just appalled, I blame myself for a string of misscomunication that was like: Lady: so dr how is my ultrasound? Me (writting down the report on the note, totally distracted): oh it is fine, normal Lady: so everything is normal, even my prostate? Me (again suuper distracted): Oh, yes, you don't have a prostate Lady (freakout) WHAT? Why? Is that the reason for my pain? Me: no, you just never had one Lady: What? Wtf? It can't be Me: believe me you've never had one Lady: Oh really?? then, how am I still alive if I do not have one? Me (now full attention on this trying not to laugh): Excuse me ma'am, that is an all male organ, you don't need one to live, it produces fluid for the sperm Lady: Oh.
3. We have doctors for a reason.
Librarian here. Before Web MD/Dr. Google was (is) a medical textbook called 'The Merck Manual'. While intended for medical students/Doctors, it quickly fell into the hands of decades of self-diagnosers. I once heard it described as "Hypochondriac's handbook since 1899"
Still being published in print and available for free at https://www.merckmanuals.com
Keep in mind that this is a publication by a pharmaceutical company that profits from the sale of pharmaceuticals. I'm not saying it's not valuable, nor am I implying that there is anything unethical in pharmaceutical companies benefitting from more accurate diagnoses, but a self-service manual like this cannot and should not replace a medical professional's unbiased opinion. Check with your GP before you use even over-the-counter treatments.
2. They aren't remotely the same thing.
Sad and long story but to keep it very brief. Lady on 4 vasopressors including high dose epinephrine, was gonna die in the next few hours. Husband was convinced that epinephrine was causing the low bloodpressure and low heart rate. He kept going back and fourth from home to the hospital with online printouts despite myself, my fellow, and my attending, and the nurses all telling him that this medication is keeping her alive. We looked at his first printout, it said, "ephedrine" we're like uhhh first of all, thats not the same medication. Anyways, I actually tell him that if I was him, I'd stay with her and that she may only have minutes left. He's threatening to sue us and he's convinced he's right, he goes home again to get a new print out, and she ends up dying while he's at home.
1. WTAF.
I'm an RN in pediatric neurology. We frequently have families who refuse to put their kids on seizure medications regardless of the EEG findings and the fact that they, you know, have seizures and stuff.
One family "did the research" and attempted to cure the child's epilepsy with essential oils, over the counter CBD oil, yoga, metal ion wristbands (to "balance" the brain). They even went as far as having the kid's dental fillings removed and replaced with a non-metallic filling.
There was the time that someone told us she didn't need medication because if you opened a fizzy can of Pepsi and put it under her nose she would come out of a seizure. If that didn't work, you could whisper "Reese's Pieces" in her ear and she would stop seizing.
My least favorite visits are from parents who refuse to believe that their kid is twitching because they have motor tics and likely Tourette's instead of epilepsy. Like, if it was a choice between Tourette's and epilepsy, you should choose Tourette's all day long. Why these parents are hell bent on giving their kids a diagnosis of epilepsy is beyond me.
I just don't even know anymore.
Why these parents are hell bent on giving their kids a diagnosis of epilepsy is beyond me.
I'm thinking there's still a big stigma against Tourettes, while most lay people don't realize how bad epilepsy really is.
There really is, my mother has a form of epilepsy and her seizures make her weak for a day or two. Not to mention if gone unchecked it can have serious impacts on the brain. Tourettes though, which my cousin has, comes in many forms and doesn't harm the person. Learning to cope with tics is much easier and less jarring compared to epilepsy.
There was the time that someone told us she didn't need medication because if you opened a fizzy can of Pepsi and put it under her nose she would come out of a seizure. If that didn't work, you could whisper "Reese's Pieces" in her ear and she would stop seizing.
Wtf?
- Doctors Share Their Anti-Vax Patient Horror Stories - Knowable ›
- Professionals Reveal What Their Job Hides From Customers ... ›
- Doctors Share Their Funniest 'I Googled My Symptoms' Patient Experiences - George Takei ›
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
Giphy
Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
Giphy
See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
Giphy
Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
Giphy
Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
Giphy
The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
tsunami GIF
Giphy
"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
Giphy
"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
Giphy
"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.