These Redditors saw things they were never meant to see. From horrific accidents to awkward moments, these sorry bystanders were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whether they walked away with a traumatizing memory or a delightful story, these cautionary tales are here to remind you that you can't control what life throws into your line of vision.
1. Playing Dress Up
In 1968, I was 11. My mom's brother had just retired and been divorced. He and my five cousins—three boys and two girls—moved in with us for a few months while he looked for work and a place to live. I have one brother, so it's a pretty full house. One day, the adults were all out, so I thought the kids were out too. I hung out in my room and decided to go downstairs.
I left my bedroom and noticed that my parent’s bedroom door was closed, which struck me as unusual. So, I opened it. There standing in my mother’s underwear in front of the mirror was my teenage male cousin. There was an awkward pause, and then I just closed the door. I never mentioned the incident to him or anyone else until very recently.
2. Bad Working Conditions
I used to be an exterminator. One time, I had to go to an apartment for a monthly treatment. I knocked on the door. A guy yelled to come through the back door, so I did. Well, the guy’s house was hoarded. And he was just lying on his back on a table looking at the ceiling and eating canned cat food with his bare hands.
I got out of there so fast and then called my boss to tell them that I couldn't treat his apartment. It scarred me for life.
3. Way Out Of Left Field
woman wearing brown Easton baseball mitt playing baseballPhoto by Rachel Barkdoll on UnsplashMy ex-wife played on a lady’s softball team in our little city. I drove and watched her play from the bleachers. The husbands made their own team and sometimes played on the adjacent ball field. After the games ended, husbands and wives said their goodbyes then went home. She was only on that team for less than a year.
One night, one of her teammates invited us and another couple to their home. I didn’t know any of them but went along with my wife. The three wives were chatting up a storm in the little dining room while I sat on their couch playing with their pet waiting for my wife to go home. The other husbands were somewhere else.
They played on the same softball team so they were already friends. I decided to wander from the living room. I found myself in the foyer looking out the front door for a few minutes. Then I turned and meandered my way into the kitchen. It was like I hit a brick wall, but the picture of the two men is etched into my memory.
Still in their team uniforms, they were in a tight embrace sharing the most passionate kiss that I had ever seen. The man facing me noticed me then instantly shoved the other man away. I just turned on my heel and walked back to the front door to resume my staring at the street thinking they were going to hurt me. They never did.
I just stared out the front door until my wife was ready to leave. I can’t remember if we said goodbye, but I never said a word to my wife. I definitely was not supposed to see that.
4. Delivering The Sad News
I delivered newspapers when I was 14. I had the route for the blocks around my house, so it was easy for me to do without a car. One day, I was walking down my street on my route when I saw sawdust on the road soaking up the large and long puddle of liquid on the road. I just assumed that there had been a car accident.
I thought it was probably there to soak up gasoline or something, so I continued. A few neighbors were out talking about a block down, and they asked me if I heard what had happened. I handed them their newspaper and told them that I hadn’t. They told me that something happened to my elderly neighbor across the street.
This sweet kind woman was in her nineties and had been showing signs of memory issues. Everyone knew she shouldn’t have been living on her own. Her husband had passed a few years earlier, and she had just met a new man around her age who picked her up and took her out to dinner and to church. It was the sweetest thing.
And she was very happy again. So, that day, she was late trying to catch the bus and about to miss it. She was on the wrong side of the street for the bus stop, so while the bus was paused at the stop sign, she grabbed the side rearview mirror to get the driver’s attention. But the driver didn’t have to look that way.
He didn’t notice her and hit the acceleration. She was dragged along the asphalt until the driver heard her screaming. That's when all the horrible puzzle pieces clicked into place. It hadn't been gasoline that the sawdust was there to absorb; it was her blood. I had to walk by it going home and realizing what she went through left me hyperventilating behind my house sobbing.
5. Bittersweet Realization
When I was a kid close to Christmas, I’d spent the year being good and asking for an electric toy guitar. I was playing hide and seek with my brother and hid in a refrigerator box in my mom's room. As soon I got in, I knew I messed up. There it was—the guitar that I’d dreamed of all year. My mom heard me and came in.
In one moment, I ruined my surprise and found out Santa didn't exist.
6. Big Show Off
two men riding on jetskiPhoto by Ludovic Gauthier on UnsplashMy friend and I lived on an island and were out on his little boat going for a ride. One guy on the island had just bought a Jet Ski and had purposely splashed us as we were leaving the dock. There’s a line of big rocks piled up to shield the boats from big waves by the dock that also blocks people from the open water.
On the other side of the rocks was where our ferry came in to dock. We saw the guy on the jet ski riding at a high speed to the dock. He was trying to get between two rock piles, but there was a cable running between them just below the surface. He hit it, and the cable ran up the front of his jet ski, decapitating him.
7. Poking Around
When I worked for my dad, I’d meet him at the station in the morning. One time, there was a man there begging who came over to us. Luckily, my dad handled him well. He looked like a homeless man and gave off a weird vibe. We’re just about to leave the station but looked back one more time to make sure the man was okay.
He was talking to a young woman still begging. We were listening to their conversation, and the woman aggressively refused to “help” him. After this, the man pulled out a knife and attacked the woman. Fortunately, she was wearing a big jacket, so the wound wasn’t severe, but we immediately called for emergency services.
8. On The Inside
I was little at a children's festival where the big show starred the Bananas in Pyjamas. I was too short to watch but decided to follow them at the end. I peeked in to see if they were still there. That's when I learned that bananas may have been in those pyjamas, but inside those bananas were bored, annoyed teenagers.
9. Where’s The Party?
boy riding bicycle beside India gatePhoto by Dewang Gupta on UnsplashBack in middle school, my friends and I always went to my best friend's house to hang out. One time, they texted me to come over, so I just assumed that was where they were. I went to my best friend's house very often, so it was quite normal for me to walk into their house without knocking or even ringing the doorbell.
We lived in the same neighborhood, so I quickly biked over to his house. I casually walked in assuming everyone would be in the basement gaming. As I walked to the stairs, I passed the bathroom. The door was open, and inside was my best friend's dad taking a dump. Needless to say, my friends were at a different house.
10. Turning A New Leaf
One New Year’s Eve just after all my parent’s friends had gone home, we heard rapid knocking at the door. There was a woman in a pink and white coat who was shivering and stammering in Spanish. My dad, who’s fluent, began calming her down while taking her into the house. My mom came to his side, and then reached out to touch the woman's jacket.
When she lifted her hand, she had a horrifying revelation...She realized that the jacket wasn't actually multi-colored. The pink was blood, and she was shivering from the shock of a broken arm. My dad had calmed her down enough to get her to tell us what happened while my mom called the emergency number. She said that she and her brother had hit an ice patch.
It happened a mile away on a steep hill, and they went over the bank to the bottom. My dad and I grabbed our coats to go find the car. When we found it, my dad went down the hill first after firmly telling me to stay where I was. Being a stupid teen, I went down after a few minutes and when the car came into view, I learned why he’d told me to wait.
The car was wrapped around a tree, and the poor guy’s head was twisted all the way around. That sight still haunts me to this day whenever I drive on cold nights.
11. Surprise Staring Contest
I was a sales rep and looking for a meeting room in a rural hospital’s pathology department. I got lost. I was opening doors to find someone who could help me. I opened a door and saw a non-human primate suspended by its wrists with all its skin flayed off. Presumably, it was a primate cadaver used for anatomy lessons.
But it was still terrifying for me to see. The skull had no skin, but the eyeballs were still there. It appeared to be staring at me when I entered the room.
12. We Have Company
white and red wooden house miniature on brown tablePhoto by Tierra Mallorca on UnsplashWhen I was growing up, my parents were looking to buy a new house. There was this new neighborhood under construction nearby, and my mom had seen a model that she liked. So, the realtor said that one was halfway through its construction, but she could bring us to take a look around so we could get an idea of the space.
We all hopped into the realtor’s car to go see the house. She showed us the first floor then brought us upstairs. Then, in one of the bedrooms, we happened upon something that scarred my mother for life: A man without a stitch of clothes on going at it. It was impossible for him to not have heard us coming up since the house was echoey already.
Well, my mom screamed, the realtor screamed, my dad shouted, and I just started to hysterically laugh. The guy grabbed his clothes and ran past us out of the house.
13. Road Rage
I was driving to a concert years ago with my brother and two friends. We’re driving along and noticed this sedan in the right-hand lane about half a mile in front of us swerving. We figured that maybe they were also going to the concert and pre-gamed too much. So, my brother drove next to them to see what we could see.
As we approached, handfuls of papers were being thrown out the passenger window. Confused, we sped up and were just about to pass them on the left. We saw it’s a couple in their 50’s inside. The husband who was driving was just throwing major punches at his wife right to her face in the passenger seat while he steered.
Time felt like it stood still for a minute. We drove alongside them with me in the passenger seat window rolled down flailing my arms around and yelling trying to get the guy’s attention. Both of our cars were going over 50. Another car came, and together we managed to box the sedan in and get him down to a slow crawl.
Meanwhile, my friend was calling for officers who showed up within what seemed like an instant. They took our statements and brought the guy in. The rest of the ride to the concert was very quiet.
14. Surprise Viewing
I’m a guy and once had to deliver a note to the girl’s gym teacher in high school. She was in her office, which was connected to the girl’s locker room by a window. I knocked, and she told me to come in, which meant that nobody was in the locker room. I gave her the note, and she began typing something on her computer.
Just then, my best friend, who she somehow didn't notice, walked right in front of the window. My jaw dropped. She wasn't wearing a shirt. Instead of the expected course of action of covering up and running, she just smiled and waved, and then walked off seductively. When I met her after school, she wasn't even bothered.
15. Spot On Casing
white and black short coat dog running on water during daytimePhoto by Angelo CARNIATO on UnsplashOnce, our dog was barking viciously when it was close to midnight. The dog could only move around in the backyard and normally barked at cats in the front yard. But this time, something about his bark sounded different. So, I walked to the window to see what was going on. When I looked outside, I saw a strange man looking back at me.
We both froze, and after a few seconds, he ran off. A few weeks later, when we came home after work, all our electronics and expensive stuff was gone.
16. Pest Control
I was on a trail backpacking and stayed at a multi-story shelter, which was like a barn. These shelters were notoriously overrun by rodents, so things have to be stored in trees. Most times, it’s a group of strangers sharing the barn, which made it a great way to make new friends. One morning, I woke up to a huge thud.
I thought it was my imagination but kept hearing it. I peeked my head down the ladder and saw a guy sitting really still with a headlamp pointed at some peanut butter crackers. What I saw next was absolutely gruesome: A rat approached the crackers, and he slammed a knife into it. Then he took it and piled it onto a stack of other rats who’d met the same fate.
It creeped me out a lot, but the guy was rather chill for what he did and made everyone coffee the next morning. He had totaled over a dozen rats, and then we had a funeral pyre for them.
17. Street Smarts
One day, I was coming home from my school, and there, in between two buildings, were three big guys beating up another guy. The guy was on the ground and had blood all around his head. One of them noticed me and walked over. He was wearing an orange ski mask and pulled it off. He got on one knee, so he was on my level.
This massive guy stared me straight in the eyes and said, “this is a bad guy. We’re teaching him a lesson, ok?” I nodded very fast; I was so scared. He smiled at me then said to keep it a secret and not to tell anyone what I saw. I nodded again, and he told me to go home. I obeyed and took off running all the way home.
When I got there, I just sat on my porch shaking. I realize now that the fact he took off his mask was to make me feel less scared. But if he was a different person, he could have taken off his mask because he didn’t care if I saw his face. He would have made sure I didn’t live to remember.
18. What To Do
a couple of men standing next to an ambulancePhoto by Mat Napo on UnsplashI’m a medic. There was a woman in the middle of nowhere on the roadway who called for emergency with her phone. We got there, and she’s totally out of it. All she knew was her name; she didn’t even know what state she was in—she thought she was in Florida. There was snow on the ground. We called the only number on the phone.
The guy who answered said he didn’t know her but would come pick her up. We thought something felt off. So, we took her back but didn’t know what to do with her after treatment. Putting two and two together, we realized that this girl had probably been trafficked and whoever had been in charge of her was done with her.
They had probably injected her assuming she would overdose and then dumped her on a rural road in the middle of winter. A woman later showed up claiming to be her friend and wanted to take her. Thankfully, the hospital did not allow that, and officers sat with the woman to keep an eye on her. It happened several times.
19. Hands Off
I witnessed a man beating on this woman. So, I went and grabbed my dog and my brother, and we chased him off. The saddest part was that the woman came back with three men who were aggressively trying to find the money she somehow got off the guy. Apparently, she’d thrown it into the bushes before we had chased him off.
They were super scary, and we did not get involved with the three guys who she knew or owed money even though they were rough with her. Luckily, I didn’t see any of them strike her, or I might have repeated my earlier behavior and ended up getting a bad beating.
20. Early To Arrive
My office contacted a co-worker’s apartment management when they hadn’t heard from him. The superintendent checked and found him gone from a heart attack. I had to get office equipment and files he had. When I got there, he was still in his recliner; the funeral home hadn't picked him up. I did not have a pleasant day.
21. Out Of the Woodwork
Things People Don't Think About Enough During A Zombie ApocalypsePhoto by Simon Wijers on UnsplashWhen I was little, my family lived outside a city in the woods. We had a nanny stay with us when our parents were away. One day, it was only me, my sister, and my nanny at home, and we were playing outside. Then, out of the forest near our house, a bunch of people came walking out slowly like zombies towards our house.
They tried climbing the fence, but they were too out of it to do so. The nanny called our mom who immediately came home from the city and took us all to our grandparents. What we found out later sent a chill down our spines. Apparently, there was some drug-infused party going on not too far from our home where two people overdosed and one was fatally attacked.
22. Behind Closed Doors
My uncle was babysitting me when I was a kid and brought me to work with him for the day. He was a landlord for some buildings in a city at the time and had received complaints from the neighbors that an elderly woman had not been seen for a while. She lived on the ground floor, and her door was locked from the inside.
So, he had me climb in through the window to open the door. I crawled through the window, and, being naturally curious, followed the awful smell instead of going straight to the front door. In the bedroom, I found this lady’s body face up on the ground. The place was a mess, so I’d assumed the smell was something else.
I bolted to the front door and watched them take her away in the ambulance. I don’t know anything else, and I never really talked about it. It was a weird day.
23. Dr. Jekyll Will See You Now
I was the first appointment of the morning at my dermatologist’s office and was sitting in the corner out of view of the receptionist’s desk. The doctor went to her behind the counter and started reaming her out about some situation I couldn’t understand. But he was screaming and was so nasty to her that it shocked me.
Then not ten seconds later, he opened the door and came out doing a jig whistling and all, “aw shucks, good morning, Miss,” as he usually did. I had whiplash from the complete turnaround. I stopped seeing him because the transformation was that scary.
24. Insides And Out
white and red helicopter flying near mountain terrain during daytimePhoto by Marc Wieland on UnsplashSome guy drinking and driving was hit by a car right in front of me in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. His condition was unstable, so the trauma helicopter was on its way. I was holding a sheet with another person so onlookers wouldn't see what was happening. And, well, it was nothing I wanted to see.
I heard his ribs crack from the CPR. Then something wrong happened, and the trauma doctor had to open his chest right there. I have no medical background at all and saw some things that I was never meant to.
25. Splash Works
I was driving a friend to the airport. There was a trail of motorcyclists out for a ride. One guy collided with the side of a truck, cracked his head wide open at highway speed, and went end over end brain exposed. Two motorcyclists were blocking his body, but it was hard to miss the reddish brain-stain on the highway.
26. Paying The Price
On my way home, I was looking at a busy street from the subway platform. And I saw this guy known well to be a scammer for throwing himself in front of cars for cash. But that day, he threw himself in front of an expensive car that struck him hard. He flew into the 4-way intersection with a look of shock from the pain.
A truck passing through couldn’t slow down in time, and I watched as it crushed his head driving over him. It looked like a watermelon exploding. It's crazy seeing an actual human who’d existed for decades just stop existing in a few seconds.
27. Give Me A Hand
person grinding pipe steel wool photographyPhoto by Karan Bhatia on UnsplashOne morning, someone using an angle grinder woke me up. I knew it was my younger brother who usually used it to cut stuff. A few minutes later, I heard a noise of liquid splashing just like in the horror movies. I wasn't sure if it was a dream or not because I was half asleep. Seconds later, my brother came into the room.
He held his right hand with his other hand to keep it on his arm. He looked at me and told me to help him stay alive. I was in shock and then grabbed something to put around his arm and called the emergency number. But I was so shocked that I could barely talk. I put myself together and told the operator what happened.
So, we waited for the ambulance. I don't know how long it took them to arrive, but all that time, I sat there with my brother trying to keep him awake. I watched how slowly the light in his eyes faded. He passed out a few times. When the ambulance came, I got out of the house to get some air while they did their stuff.
The first thing that I saw was the angle grinder with the power cable cut off and a long line of blood. There was no time for them to get him to the hospital fast enough, so a helicopter came. My brother survived. He can move his arm and carry things but lost most of its dexterity which sucks because he’s right-handed.
28. House Rules
When I was younger, I worked at a hospital delivering food to patients. I walked into a psych room unknowingly, and there was a crazy lady sitting in a chair holding a bedpan full of poop. And let me tell you when I say crazy, this woman had a look in her eye that I have never seen and don't ever want to see again. She said, "if you don't get out of my dwelling, I'm gonna throw this on you, little boy!"
I'd have never been so freaked out in my life! So, I dropped the tray and ran out.
29. Symbolic Gesture
I watched a show that described a tattoo located on a specific part of the body that identified the person’s gang and time served. I thought nothing of it. The next Monday, I was offloading equipment for a job, and as I passed a piece of gear to a new freelancer, I saw the exact tattoo in the exact place from the show.
He saw me recognize it, and for a short chilling moment, we paused. Then I grabbed the next piece of gear and decided to stop watching gangland shows.
30. Hard-Hitting
low-angle photo of blue buildingPhoto by Cytonn Photography on UnsplashI was working in an office at the bottom of an apartment building. I was out having a smoke between phone calls and heard a noise from above. I looked to see a middle-aged woman coming straight down. I put my back against the wall then just watched the impact as it made a sound that I'll never forget. I slowly approached her body.
I thought that there might be something I could have done to help. But her color and pool of blood told me right away that there was nothing to be done. I ran inside and called emergency. Officers arrived to file a report, and I closed up and went home.
31. Mother Nature
My family had dogs since I was a kid, so when I saw a stray cat with her kitten, I knew not to approach her. I was observing mama licking the baby’s head from afar when suddenly I heard crunching noises. I wasn’t sure what happened at first then I saw that the baby no longer had a head. I was afraid of cats after that.
32. Up-Skirting Justice
My friend and I were at an anime convention when a guy behind her bent down and took a close-up picture of her butt. I chased after him and made him delete the picture. But I knew deleted photos are saved to another folder and told him to also delete it from there. He had hundreds of non-consensual photos on his phone.
I could tell; They were all taken from inappropriate angles of girls who weren’t looking. He left quickly after that and reported him and his friends to security. Hopefully, they were found and kicked out but probably not.
33. Shaken To The Core
low angle photo of high rise apartment buildingPhoto by Marla Prusik on UnsplashOur first apartment was on the ground level with windows looking out to the brick-paved courtyard. I used my home as a daycare and was in the living room watching two toddlers. That was when I heard a loud sound from outside. I felt the thud through the floor. It sounded like someone had dropped a heavy box from above.
I looked out the living room window to see what junk got tossed out a window. I couldn't really see anything so stepped out into the lobby. After opening the door leading to the courtyard, I saw the body of the man who had just jumped off the roof.
34. Friendly Neighborhood
When I was little, I lived out in the middle of nowhere in a town that had a population of about 30 who all lived several miles apart. My dad and I were out walking the gravel roads. I was wearing my Spiderman costume, which I insisted on always wearing. We approached this old overgrown road that was only just visible.
We walked down it, and to my surprise, there was an old abandoned house that looked straight out of a horror movie. We went inside where my dad noticed fresh food and signs that someone had been living there. He said that we needed to leave, so we quickly headed back home where I had a warm bowl of macaroni and cheese.
My dad talked to the countless numbers of officers and found out that someone had escaped prison and had been squatting there. The mac and cheese was the best gift to give a young superhero.
35. Dirty Jobs
I used to work for an animal shelter. One year, there was a huge hoarding case with over a hundred dogs and twenty cats. All of which had been living inside a tiny little house. They were all also very inbred with dirty, matted fur covered in their own waste. I got a chance to see the binder with pictures of the house. It was one of the most disgusting things I had ever seen.
Every square inch of the house, save for a spot on the couch and bed where the owners sat, was literally covered in filth. There were holes torn in the walls by the cats to avoid the dogs. They lived there, so the walls were destroyed with cat poop spilling out. The floor was covered in over half a foot of poop urine, dirt, and other garbage. But that wasn't the worst part.
There were also pictures of the bodies of dogs and cats in all different stages of decomposition.
36. What’s The Deal
brown and white concrete buildingPhoto by Peter Herrmann on UnsplashI met up with my dealer who asked if I could pop inside his house while he dealt with something. We never hung outside our deals, but he was chill, so I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal. The yard was full of kid’s toys. I knocked on the door, and some girl answered and let me in. The smell and smoke hit me right away.
It was so thick that it was visible in the air. At first, I was uncomfortable with two little toddlers running around in their diapers and young people like myself, including my dealer, sitting on the couches obviously out of it. My guy took my money then told me to wait a bit longer. He went out a door to a staircase.
He was only gone for a couple of seconds before I heard shouting coming from upstairs. They were yelling in mixed English, so I could only make out, “who do you think you are” and “you a big man, ya?” There was an audible crashing around, so it was clear that a fight had broken out. But not one person in the room reacted.
I didn’t really know what to do. After a couple of more minutes, my dealer and two other slightly older guys came through the door. My guy had clearly been slapped around. There wasn’t any blood, but there were big red marks around his eyes that definitely became black. One of them gestured at me, and my dealer nodded.
He handed me a baggy and asked if I needed anything else. I thanked him and said there wasn’t, so he gestured towards the door. I walked to the door and gave my dealer a look. He smiled at me but was clearly stressed out. The other guy was standing behind him with his hand on his shoulder staring at me as I walked out.
37. Got You
I had gotten into it with my dad. I was 20 living at home, but I knew everything. My dad told me to leave. So, I did. At 3 AM, I was at my cousin’s door. Usually, he let me in right away no questions asked no matter the time or day of the week. This time, he opened the door, let me in, then told me to stay where I was.
He went down the hall of the apartment, and when he opened his bedroom door, I saw something that made my stomach drop: There was a beaten and battered woman sitting there. He gave me a wad of cash and told me to beat it. I turned to leave, and as I went to close the front door, I heard the person say to my cousin that she couldn’t talk anymore because of how bad her face hurt.
38. Bad Cellar Point
When I was younger, my family was going through a tough time. My parents and us four kids were living in our car. One day, my parents drove us somewhere where there were a lot of kids. We ran around and played with them. I sat down on the tornado shelter door for some rest, and the kids told me to stay away from there.
They told me that the basement was where the bad kids have to stay. I was freaked out, so I ran to find my mom. When I found her, she was talking to a lady. I waited for them to finish because I wasn't supposed to interrupt adults talking. My mom said something to her about my older brother and me coming to stay there.
It’d be only my older brother and me—not my younger brothers. She told her that we’d be back the next day. Then, as we’re driving away, I told my parents about the scary cellar, and my mom turned around and looked at me. She looked terrified. We never went back to that place, which I later found out was an orphanage.
If I hadn't told my parents about the cellar, they would have given me and my older brother up. About a year after that, we got into some income-based apartments, my dad found a job and my mom started nursing school. Still, decades later, storm cellars freak me out a bit.
39. Traffic Stop
man holding steering wheelPhoto by Maxwell Ridgeway on UnsplashOn a family vacation in Mexico, we were on an excursion tour on a school bus. The tour guides were handing out free drinks. We were having a great time being loud. Suddenly, there was a lot of traffic, and we stopped. Some of us started hooting and hollering and complaining about stopping and just being jerks about it.
We finally got to the problem. Another tourist family on ATVs had crossed the train tracks, but the kid got stuck and was hit. We saw his body on the road partially covered by a stained sheet. His family around him was sobbing. He couldn’t have been more than nine years old. It got very quiet after that.
40. In For A Ride
When I was in fifth grade, my friend and I would stay up all night playing games, and then around sunrise, we'd go walk around town before everything woke up. One time, we took a shortcut behind an old abandoned theater that was overgrown and had a parking lot that was full of old abandoned cars from the '50s and '60s.
We were into old hot rods and stuff at the time, so we peered into the windows to see what kind of shape they were in. Surprisingly, for how faded and rusted the outsides were, the seats and dash of some of the cars were intact. We noticed one of them had the window halfway down, and we got excited to get a better view.
We both poked our heads in and saw movement. In the same instant, we heard a grizzled voice yell, "GET OUTTA HERE!" We realized it was a homeless man who'd been sleeping in the car. We ran as fast as we could, scared out of our minds.
41. Short Takeaway
My brother and I were staying at my grandma's house for the day. We were sitting in a room facing the street and saw a guy walking. Out of nowhere, four men jumped out of a white van that pulled up next to him. They grabbed him, closed the door, and sped off. Our grandma berated us for lying after we tried to tell her.
42. Seeing A Holy Ghost
brown 2-story buildingPhoto by Graham Ruttan on UnsplashWhen we lived in a rough neighborhood, my parents sent me to a Catholic high school. They thought sending me there would be better for me. It was the first week of school, and I asked to go to the washroom. I casually walked my way over there, and the first thing I saw was a girl holding a needle. I froze in my tracks.
When she looked up at me, she screamed at me to get out. So, I turned and walked straight to class stunned.
43. No Vacancy
When I was a kid, I needed to use the only restroom at a bookstore. I knocked, and no one responded, so I opened the door. There sat an older woman, completely frozen, staring right at me. I apologized and closed the door. I really had to go. Thankfully, an employee noticed that I was antsy and waiting for a long time.
So, he knocked but no answer. He asked a female employee to take me to the staff restroom, and I was happy. We were still there when the commotion started by the restroom. The woman had sadly passed while on the toilet. I had nightmares about it for a while and saw the school psychologist. I was definitely traumatized.
44. House Of Horrors
Back in middle school, there was an open secret that this small, shabby house down the road was where men could “have a good time.” Sometimes big men stood in front of it, and a friend who lived next door could see into the backyard and told me that there were often scantily clad women laying around, tanning in the sun.
One early winter morning, I was on my way to the bus stop for school. It was still dark and snowy. I always walked past the house and had never seen anyone around, but this morning, there was a fancy black car parked across the road from it. Two men in suits were next to it while a woman in a dress knocked on the door.
I crossed the road with my head down, figuring they wouldn't pay attention to 13-year-old me going to school, and they ignored me as I walked by. I heard one tell her to keep trying when the door didn’t open. She did not look happy. My heart was racing, but as soon as I was on the bus with my friends, I forgot about it.
45. Pop-Up Pastor
man in gray button up long sleeve shirt holding microphonePhoto by Matthew Ball on UnsplashI worked as an alarm technician and had a service job to set up a customer’s smartphone. Well, I had to use my work phone to do it because the internet browser on his phone was locked up with dirty adult sites. But that wasn't the worst part. While chatting, I found out that the man was actually the pastor of a church. He and his wife were very nice.
I felt more awkward than creeped out, but I don’t think I was supposed to see that. Why he gave me his phone, I’ll never know. He didn’t even seem to care.
46. Still Life Photography
I was taking photos through my window in my student apartment. I was looking at the yellow window lights from the building in front of me when I saw a male neighbor suddenly grabbing a woman and sitting her on a table making out with her and then opening her legs. But then, they saw me with my camera still in my hands.
He stared at me while he closed the blinds. I think they thought I was being a pervert.
47. Scary Movies
Our town had a mom-and-pop video rental store. It was a nice small place where my dad sometimes took me on Tuesdays or Fridays to pick out a movie. Back then, I was obsessed with Back to The Future and almost always picked it when I had the chance. One time I got it and brought it home then went to my room to watch it. The only problem was, the video was not a movie at all.
Someone had recorded a snuff film over the tape. It took me several minutes of watching it to realize what I was seeing. I ran out screaming and crying and told my dad. He ended up fighting one of the weird guys that worked at the video store, and I think officers may have even taken the guy in.
48. The Headless Horseman
I was driving on a road in between fields on a cold autumn evening. It was dark, and there was mist in the air just like in a horror movie. Suddenly, this creature walked in front of my car. A huge creature with almost no recognizable features. My old car didn’t have very good headlights, but it had functioning brakes.
I managed to stop a meter in front of this monstrosity by approaching slowly. It had the shape of an animal, but it was enormous. Its head was higher than the roof of my SUV while standing on all fours. It had a huge chest, almost no stomach, an enormous moving neck, and the head...The head! It had NO EYES nor a mouth.
Even with the headlights, I couldn’t see any of its features. It was somehow absorbing most of the light. It was like most of the creature had no hair—just some solid plate-like skin. It moved its faceless head to look at me and then back. Then with two long steps, it walked into the field and then disappeared into the mist.
I immediately stepped on the gas to get into the safety of the city. I talked about this with many people, but they all just said I was making it up or had no idea what it could have been. But a few years later, I talked with my ex about it who lived close to where I saw the creature, and she finally shed some light on that disturbing night.
There was a farm where a horrible man lived. He was known for neglecting and mistreating animals. Before officers took him in, there were some incidents when his animals jumped over a broken fence in search of food and to get away from him. That day I had seen a horse. A hurt, suffering horse with incredibly long hair.
49. Team Reassemble
I was calibrating medical x-ray equipment in an emergency room of a level 1 trauma center. I heard the usual sounds—voices, doors opening, chairs shuffling—but then I heard this kid crying. He was actually screaming with what sounded like a very powerful set of lungs. I guessed he could’ve been around high school age.
Everyone was moving quickly as they normally did, but their faces showed grave concern. When one of the techs had a moment, I took the chance to ask if it was a kid who fell from his treehouse. He shook his head then said it was a full-grown man who came in, “some assembly required.” I could not resist and took a peek. Big mistake.
A man of over 6’ and 200lbs wearing a leather jacket lost his arm just above his elbow, and one of his legs was twisted in the opposite direction it was supposed to be in. It was a visual that I will never get out of my head. With that much blood, I can still smell the iron permeating the air. But that’s what I get for looking.
50. What's In The Bag?
I grew up in a house with woods and a bike trail behind it where I spent most of the time with the other neighborhood kids. We were all between 12-14, and each had our own fort in the woods that we built with our best friends. We did our best to keep our forts hidden, so even the other kids didn’t know where they were.
One day, we’re outside and watching who was coming through on the trail especially listening out for when we heard bike tires. A car recently fatally hit one of our friends, and we all thought that he’d just show up again on the trail on his bike. So, we always ran out of the woods to the trail whenever we heard tires.
We heard some pass by and ran out to see who it was. We saw this out-of-shape adult man without a shirt on with a bag slung over his shoulder. He was riding away from us so didn’t know we’re there. We noticed that he gave off a whole creepy vibe, so we kept watching. He went a little further and pulled off to the side.
He walked into the woods with his bag and then returned a few moments later without the bag. He grabbed his bike and got back on when my friend yelled, “What’s in the bag?” He looked down the trail and saw one or more of us. Then he started coming right for us, cycling down the trail in our direction at a much faster pace than he did before.
We all booked it into the woods, but because none of us were familiar with where each other’s forts were, we didn’t end up running to the same places to hide. We split up and hid in our respective forts. I cannot remember how long we hid for. I just remember hearing movement not too far away but not knowing who it was.
When we finally came out of our hiding places, the man was nowhere to be found. We eventually walked down the trail to where he’d ditched the bag but couldn’t find anything. We just assumed that he’d gone back and grabbed it when he left.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.