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People Share The Terrifying Moments Their Gut Feeling Turned Out To Be Completely True

People Share The Terrifying Moments Their Gut Feeling Turned Out To Be Completely True
Photo by Jaclyn Moy on Unsplash

Trust the gut reaction. Sometimes this is easier said than done. But, sometimes, it can be the most important decision you ever make. When it happens, it's best to do what is hardest, go against the grain, and trust the intuition rumbling around your insides. Just to be safe. Need some inspiration? Well, here are stories from the internet about people who followed their gut—and thanked their lucky stars that they did.

1. Don't Ignore Other People's Guts

I'll throw out an opposite one. This was in the late 1990s. Boarding a flight from Dallas to Denver (TWA) on a MD-80. It's evening. The women behind me are clearly worried about flying and it's annoying me, so I grab a book and read to distract myself—no electronics on take off then, remember? Anyway, we take off and pretty quickly after we take off the plane slows down and the flight attendant gets up from the back and scurries to the front.

The ladies behind me are again panicking "That's not normal!!!" and I'm just rolling my eyes, you always slow down a bit after take off! My gut says we're cool. THEN, after about two minutes, the plane executes a really sharp turn and the pilot comes on the announcer. Ok, this isn't normal now. "Ladies & Gentlemen, we're returning to the airport, please ensure your seatbelts are fastened."

Quiet for a bit and then he comes on again to tell us what happened "We lost an engine, this happens all the time, oh, and you may notice a few emergency vehicles on the runway, but that's just normal procedure." As we land I see what looks like every single fire truck at DFW lined up beside the runway. We land without major issue, people clap, and then the pilot breaks us the real news: "Uh, so I've trained for that many times in a simulator, but it's a once in a career experience for a commercial airline pilot."

So my gut was wrong, I was sure there was nothing wrong and there was.

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2. Watching The Ones Who Do Not Smile

I was at a party when I was in college when two older dudes showed up. The place was packed and most people were loaded. I noticed something was a bit off about them. They never smiled and weren’t really talking to anyone. Finally, someone accused them of feeling around in their back pocket and it turned out they were lifting wallets from blackout college kids.

Once confronted, one of the guys got the kid in the stomach with a smallish blade. They left slowly and were never caught. It was pretty surreal. The kid was fine, though, thankfully.

Z_witha_ZED

3. Bouldering Is Dangerous

group of people in white long sleeve shirt and green pants standing on rocky ground Photo by Mark McGregor on Unsplash

Went for a weekend away with a group from my local Scouting area, back in the ‘80s. I didn't know them all, went to make up the numbers and get some climbing/canoeing/caving done. We stayed in a rented house in the Peak District (UK). One evening, a few guys went out to try "bouldering"—climbing boulders 10 to 15 meters high.

I got there, took one look and said no, we have no climbing gear, that's high enough to die if you fall. I got the mickey taken, called "chicken," etc., so I left them to it and walked back. An hour later one guy fell 10 meters and split his skull open on the rocks below. He was gone instantly.

Stooby2

4. Stranger Danger!

This happened almost 30 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I was probably 8 or 9 at the time and had been at the store buying candy for the weekend with the girl from next door, she was one year younger than me. A car stopped and the man inside opened the passenger door and asked me and my friend to get in the car. He was picking us up for our parents, he told us.

I could not shake the feeling that something was wrong and remember thinking "this is what my parents were talking about!" I grabbed my friend’s hand, said that we lived in that house "right over there" and pulled my friend with me. Went to their door, rang the bell, went straight in and told the people living there what had happened.

Turned out I was right, we were about to be kidnapped.

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5. Crazy Cocker Spaniel Got Yo Back

This was about 15 years ago. My parents went out for a nice dinner for their anniversary and decided that I was old enough and responsible enough to be left alone for a few hours on a weeknight. I was almost 9 and we owned a fairly protective dog at the time so it all seemed fine. They leave, tell me to lock up and to call if anything happens.

I do so and proceed to party around the house like a rockstar, cause dude I had the WHOLE dang house myself and I could do whatever I wanted, HECK to the YEAH! Halfway through a Sailor Moon marathon, I get a knock on the door. I'm confused as all get out cause it's only been about two hours and they said they probably wouldn't be back till around 10 anyway.

I guess mama has left something she needed AGAIN and swung by to grab it. My front door is a system of two doors, a super old, thick wooden door (the house was originally built in the 30's and this door is still the original piece) and then outside of that (at the time) a screen door. My dog is raising heck at the front door, but I just pull her back to calm down, cause she had a tendency to be reactive to most noises.

Well, it's not my mom at the door, some middle-aged man I've never met before in my life. Puppo is now basically feral so I keep the screen door firmly closed and a hand on her collar as I ask the many what he wants. He starts in on this weird convoluted story about how he has two young twin daughters and how they got into a fight and that one of them ran away.

Now, this man then claims that he believes his daughter is hiding in my house and would like to come look for her. I tell him no such girl is here and why does he think she would be here in the first place. He goes on into a long story about how this was the house they first lived in and how it's the one she was born in, and how it was like a safe place for her and would be the most likely place she would run away to as it was really the only other place she knows.

So I felt kinda weird since I opened the door and this dude's story hasn't been helping his cause, but now I KNOW something awful is going down. I, in no uncertain terms, inform the guy that he must have the wrong house because THIS house was built and has been lived in by my family since its construction. My dad was born in that house and after my mom and dad told his parents that they were pregnant with my older sister they gave it to them as a present to begin their family. He must be mistaken cause I know all this to be fact.

Heck, there were pictures less than 10 feet away from me on the wall of my dad and uncle playing in the front yard in the late ‘70s. By now my dog is growling like crazy and dude is getting kinda agitated. He insists that I don't know what I'm talking about and that if I would just give him a few minutes to search for his daughter he could be on his way.

The latch on the screen door was broken and I was putting all my strength at the time in holding my dog from the door. He opens the screen door with one hand and with the other reaches for my closest arm. My crazy cocker goes ballistic! Uses all her strength to lunge at him, gets a hold of his hand, and bites down. Now man is yelling and confused.

He pushes back against the screen door and slams it shut to get my dog off of him. Sadie gets pushed back indoors but is still raging. I quickly slam the front door, lock it, and chain it shut. Run around the house and make sure all other doors and windows are locked and then hunker down in the bathroom hyperventilating and wait about 15 minutes until Sadie's growling has calmed some. Check outside, no man or his car. Both long gone.

I call my parents and tell them they need to come home RIGHT NOW PLEASE. When they get home I recount the whole story. Dad goes the check the front door and sure enough on the screen door jam and siding of the house is a large smear of blood. Sadie was treated like a queen and got a whole steak for her to eat on that weekend.

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."—Mark Twain.

Thyme_of_my_life

6. Seriously, Don’t Drink and Drive

laughing people in party Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash

Not so much something very wrong here but a bunch of my friends wanted to go to this party when I was like 20. I was just sort of like "I don’t know, I really don't want to go to this place with these people." Turns out two of my friends got into an argument with people who lived there, got kicked out, were super hammered, and drove home angry.

Their car flipped three or four times and wrecked about another four cars. My one friend leaves with a small concussion the other leaves with like eight broken bones and walking therapy for about two years. The best part is, the emergency responders said if anyone was in the back seat they wouldn't be here today. That's where I would have been sitting.

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7. Granny Senses

Not mine but my grandma's. We went camping at this one spot in the woods by a small creek every summer. One summer she gets this bad feeling and makes us pack up and we leave. Couple days later they end up finding a body right near our then-campsite.

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8. Mom Knows When Something Is Wrong

My mom had one. I was there with my brother but we didn't believe her at the time. Three years ago, my brother, my sister and I were supposed to meet at mom's place for dinner at 7. My mom and sister are very close; her being the firstborn, the only girl and us being a Lebanese family. Anyway, they talk throughout the day quite a bit, daily.

Around 6:30 pm, my sister is not answering phone calls or texts. My brother and I think she's asleep or just doing whatever and it's nothing to worry about. By 7:15, still nothing from my sister and my Mom at this point is pretty much saying "Something is wrong here, I can just feel it." We still don't believe her but it's not her style to worry and she is really now worrying.

I call up her now ex-husband who was at a conference saying we haven't heard from my sister. It turns out neither has he. I asked if he knew her iTunes credentials so I could track her phone. Turns out she was at home. We called a friend, sent someone knocking at her door, and no answer. My mom started driving there and made the decision that we need to break into the house.

She texted her friends to kick the door down. They did and found my sister unconscious. She had a major stroke and a concussion. The aftermath was very, very difficult. I won't write a novel and be brief. Major stroke, concussion and required open heart surgery. Was told she may never talk and would likely be a vegetable and if we actually wanted to proceed with the surgeries.

We did. She's alive, she talks, she can walk with a cane and will at some point, walk without a cane. She lost everything on the left side of her body. The only part of her that may never come back is her left arm.

MrCarlEdwardsSagan

9. There Are Some Sick, Sick People Out There

two women hugging each other Photo by Eye for Ebony on Unsplash

Not me but my mom. When I was about ten years old I got invited to spend the night at my really good friend’s home. My mom said no. I begged her to let me go but she was adamant that I couldn't. She said she just didn't feel right about it and that no amount of pleading was going to change her mind. A few weeks later my friend’s dad was busted for inappropriate child imagery.

After he went to trial it was found that he had also touched several young girls. He would have his daughter invite them over for a slumber party and then touch them when they went to sleep. If my mom hadn't trusted her gut feeling I could have been one of his victims.

MuttyAndMalarka

10. Some Devastatingly Flawed Logic

I worked at a daycare. One of the mothers gave me the heebie jeebies. She would show up randomly and be like "my baaaaaaby, I neeeed my baaaaby." Like, moms love their kids and miss them, but her obsession with her daughter really made me feel weird. She ended up killing her daughter so that she could be an angel. It really messed me up when I found out.

ZombieBoobies

11. Trusting The Spidey Sense In The Rain

It was 1:30 am, raining, I was riding my motorcycle down a four-lane road with two lanes in each direction and a middle turn lane. I saw a car approach a stop sign, perpendicular to me, in the parking lot of a bar and though to myself "He's going to turn left in front of me." I was going 45mph, let off the throttle, and about 200 to 250 feet from him, he did exactly what I thought he was going to do.

Grabbed my front and rear brakes, back tire locked up and kicked out to the left. I had maybe 40 to 50 feet in which I would either high-side in front of the car and likely be run over, slam into the driver door or rear driver door or jump off to the right in a tuck and roll fashion. I jumped and my motorcycle slammed into the rear driver side of his car.

I had a couple scratches, bruises, and a sore tailbone. But I wasn't run over or hanging out in his back seat via glass window. Thank God for spidey senses.

ReallyNotRoot

12. That's So Raven

christmas village wallpaper Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash

Christmas Day 2016. My family and I had packed the car with all the goods and were about to be on our way to my grandparent's house. The car wouldn't start. Let's back up: The whole day I felt I was in a trance or a dream. I kept feeling off and the night before I had a dream that we were driving on a bridge—our tire popped, we slid and a car slammed into my side of the vehicle.

I remembered it so vividly because I see the headlights coming at me in my head still. I get prophetic dreams a lot, but I really didn't think much of it because I also suffer from nightmares. Anyway, we call AAA. Meanwhile, I'm refusing to get in the car because everything feels OFF. The guy gets there, tells us it was our battery, so he charged it.

I still felt very off but seeing as he fixed the problem I get in, he turns around and says to my mom, "I just wanna check your tire pressure for some reason." Not kidding—he said one of the front tires was EXTREMELY high, was, and I quote from AAA dude, "About to pop if we were to drive, especially on a highway or turnpike." He fixed that too, free of charge.

The feeling of being uneasy and dream-like faded and I felt fine. Made it to grandparents house—awesome mashed potatoes. I know when to trust my gut.

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13. Giving Pastors A Bad Name

I used to be a lifeguard in a very small gated community with a lot of wealthy people. I also used to sing at the local church services. I met the pastor in that context and something about him just seemed...off. It wasn't anything I'd be able to articulate. I just didn't like him. He just made my gut drop. Later, I noticed that the local pastor was spending a lot of time at the pool watching the little kids swim—one little boy in particular.

He would have a towel ready for him, he'd have the kid sit on his lap to dry off. As far as I knew, he wasn't babysitting him. He was just there, watching and touching. It made my hackles rise. I told his parents that the way the pastor was interacting with their son made me uncomfortable. They investigated and it turns out the pastor was going to their home when they weren't there and "spending time" with that little boy in his bedroom.

They didn't give me any more details than that but it was implied that something sexual had been going on. I don't know what happened to him after that but he was obviously removed as pastor from the church. It's so important to trust your gut on these things.

why_renaissance

14. Just Say No, Mmmkay

At a research institute, I walked into a mouse procedure/surgery room for a quick moment to grab something and leave. After walking out I felt, well to be honest, like I was a little high. There were three other people in that room, including 2 undergraduates so I got worried and went back inside to check things out. When I got back inside I asked if they were feeling ok, one of the undergrads turned to me and said she was fine, but was flushed and looked a little out of it.

So I went around to all the isoflurane chambers (odorless volatile liquid that KOs mammals at low doses and kills them at higher) looking for leaks. Sure enough, the gasket at the bottom of one of the chambers had failed and it was leaking out and immediately boiling into a gas, and filling the room. I told them their isoflurane was leaking, and the postdoc told me they were fine and that he uses that machine all the time.

He also pointed out that the isoflurane was in an air curtained biosafety cabinet and so even with the leak, they were protected. I called him an idiot because a biosafety cabinet recirculates air and doesn't evacuate it like a fume hood—which is what he should have been using. So I ignored him, propped open the door, and ordered the undergrads to get out of the room.

I then went to their lab manager and told her what I had found. Their lab manager came down like the wrath of God.

Chagroth

15. Crazy Step Mother

a woman with grey hair wearing a brown cardigan Photo by Foto Sushi on Unsplash

My father started publicly dating a woman shortly after my mother passed—I later learned she's likely the woman he'd been having an affair with. I liked her. One evening my father took me to one side and asked how I'd feel about him asking her to marry him. I got an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach and felt nauseated.

I told my father I didn't want him to and he asked why as he thought I liked her. I explained that I did like her but had a bad feeling and he said: "that's just a feeling, they don't mean anything." He already had the ring and proposed straight away. I got really excited about the engagement, the wedding, moving house, and my impending little sister.

After the wedding, she changed. And when my half-sister was born, she went crazy. She abused me, my sister (my mother's child), and later, my half-sister (her own child). He only left her when my doctor told him something was clearly going on with her that was affecting my health. She was putting a substance that I'm intolerant to in my food and my father wouldn't believe me and would force me to eat whatever she made.

However, I couldn't get a doctor alone without her to tell them. My maternal grandmother told him if he didn't leave her she'd go for custody that he finally left her. He accused me of lying for the entire time leading up to that and has never asked me about any of my attempts to get help since.

PhDOH

16. Saving Yourself From The Chicken Dance

The one I best remember was about ten years back. I was a groomsman at a friend's wedding. Partway through the reception, I was suddenly struck with a feeling of impending doom. THEY ARE GOING TO PLAY THE CHICKEN DANCE NEXT! Frantically I started searching for someone, crying, "Let's go smoke! Who wants to go smoke?" I don't even smoke, but it wasn't hard to get a group together.

When I came back, sure enough, The Chicken Dance had been danced, and I was the only member of the wedding party to escape its embarrassing talons.

totalperspec

17. A Bad Gut Feeling Is A Rational Deduction From An Observation

Got off the subway at night, there was one other person about half a block behind me on my route home. This is a totally normal thing, has happened thousands of times. Totally normal-looking dude, not even following me closely. I had a bad feeling. Such a bad feeling that, when I turned the corner on my way home, I broke into a sprint and hid behind a dumpster in the shadows partway down the street.

By the time he came around the corner, I was well hidden and could see him from my hiding place. As soon as I saw his reaction to the fact that I wasn't there, I knew I had been right to hide. He started LOOKING FOR ME, muttering to himself, he went up and down the street, looked around corners, I hid and held my breath until he was gone. It was terrifying. I am so glad I had that sudden, inexplicable impulse to hide, and listened to it.

MissPerdicament

18. Baby Sis Fall For The Wrong Dude

brown horse with silver round pendant necklace Photo by Luisa Peter on Unsplash

My sister was 18 years old and bought a horse from a guy who was married and 47. My parents liked the guy and became friends with him and his wife. I knew something was up because he and my sister would talk constantly on the phone. My mom actually asked his wife if that was cool and she said it was totally fine and he did this a lot with other kids who needed “horse advice.”

Yeah.

My parents wanted to send my sister to stay with this guy for a whole summer so she could ride and show horses. I told them the relationship was clearly inappropriate and not to do it. They were like, if the wife doesn’t mind, then who cares?!? Within two months he had left his wife. Within four months they were engaged.

Four months after that they got married, and one week after that, my sister was pregnant. This guy has had many parents accuse him of being a pedophile and coming on to their underage daughters. His own son has nothing to do with him. And he’s not even good looking or rich. Just a gross, hideous hillbilly with leather for skin and three teeth.

Good job, baby sis.

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19. It’s Not Your Fault

Two years ago, I was on my way back home on my bike. I had to go over a bridge and on one side of the bridge, there was a girl, crying. On the bridge, there were two 14-year-olds (one pretty tall, one pretty small), head to head, seemingly about to get into a fight. When I went by, they stood back. I thought something was off, but I told myself fighting among 14-year-olds over what I thought was a girlfriend, is normal and not dangerous, right? Turns out, the taller one of the boys jumped off the bridge to end it all only minutes after I passed, the smaller one couldn't physically hold him back.

Had I stopped and listened to my gut feeling, I might have been able to help and talk him out of it.

KIMDOTCOM

20. Hiding Something Under It All

On a recent date with my girlfriend. I couldn't place it, at all. She was herself, if not a little more playful. She looked like herself, in jeans and a hoodie. I just couldn't quite place it...until we got home and it turned out she was wearing an adult toy harness all night...I have no idea how that was comfortable.

21. Just In Time

yellow and white van on road during daytime Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash

Not me, but my coworker. She got a call last week that her sister-in-law didn't show up for work and didn't call or anything. She's been working three jobs recently and was complaining she needed a good night's sleep. Coworker said she probably slept through the alarm clock, but her husband insisted that she go home and check on her because it wasn't like the SIL to just not show up for work. Coworker was annoyed but did it since her house was only 20 minutes away.

Coworker gets there and it turns out she had overdosed on some sort of opioid and then had a heart attack. Oxygen levels were extremely low, and paramedics said that if coworker hadn't gotten home when she did, SIL would have been gone within minutes. Thank god her husband had felt that something was wrong. Always go with your gut.

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22. Uncle Comes Home

A guy came to the door one day, looking for my mom. I was probably 13 at the time. Immediately, I had most of my body behind the door, ready to shut it. I just had this awful feeling about him. He said he hadn't seen her in a long time, and that he was just coming from church and was in the neighborhood. Ok, so this guy is trying to communicate that he's a good person, and that and his weird smile just made me trust him less.

I told him my mom was napping. She wasn't. She was at work. So, he left a note for her with his name and number on it. I took it & closed & locked the door. Then I looked at the note & immediately recognized the name. It was my uncle. I hadn't seen him since I was five when he got locked up for offing my aunt and cousin.

phridoo

23. Nick of Time

I was at a bar in October of 2013 or 2014, if I recall. Anywho, I lived in a particularly rough neighborhood at the time, and I was enjoying a few drinks. I had this horrible feeling of uneasiness looming in the back of my mind, so I told my buddies I'm turning in for the night. They called me the following morning and informed me that the bar had gotten shot up and like three people were injured. It was about two hours after I left if I recall.

Saberaltersan

24. Mom, Something Is Up With The Dog

short-coated beige puppy Photo by Andrew Schultz on Unsplash

A couple years ago we had a young dog, about one and a half, who had epilepsy. Of course, we had to give him meds multiple times a day to help with it. One day he basically just stopped eating. After a day or two I told my parents that we should take him to a vet. Cue "No, he'll get over it." About a week later, he's still not eating and we take him into the vet for a periodic checkup.

Turns out he has liver failure that is almost guaranteed to progress into heart failure. We ended up having to put him down a couple of days later, simply because we didn't want him to suffer. I told you, mom.

FuzzyCollie2000

25. No One Knows You Better Than You

Not so much a bad "feeling" but I think it feels appropriate. I was a freshmen in high school going out for football for the first time. I'm pretty average, probably on the scrawny side. About two weeks into practice I started having terrible back pain. I told my mom, who said "you’re just sore, suck it up," so I did for a while.

I kept going to practice for another week before I finally had to tell my mom she had to take me to the hospital or I’d go without her. So she sets up an appointment and...it turns out I had slightly broken a vertebrae. Tiny cracks on each side of the same vertebrae. Safe to say I don't take her advice much anymore.

BrobaFett26

26. Epic Party Turns Into Epic Arrests

Pretty simple one. Went to a party that was just shoulder-to-shoulder packed from the moment I arrived. I could barely move through the house. People were spilling out onto the lawn and everybody was acting a fool. Way too many people there and I figured it was about to go downhill fast. So I grabbed my friend and we bounced.

As we were leaving about 10 to 12 squad cars passed us on the road headed towards the party. City, county, and state officers—it was a small town so they probably asked for help. Found out later the party got shut down, obviously, and the officers painstakingly ID-ed everybody there, busted everybody involved with throwing the party because of underage drinking, everybody that was underage, found a load of drugs and busted people for that, and ended up towing a boatload of cars because nobody was sober enough to drive.

Even people that were fine to leave didn’t get to leave for hours. We just took our asses to a bar and drank like normal adults.

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27. Knowing Your Own Appendix

woman leans on wall in white fur jacket docking her head while holding it using her leaf hand Photo by Carolina Heza on Unsplash

A couple of years back, I got a stomach ache. I'm not normally prone to them, so it felt a little strange. When the pain moved to my side, I knew something was wrong, so I called the doctor, who called me in for an emergency appointment—I was worried it might be appendicitis, he agreed. I got there, got prodded and poked and told there was nothing wrong with me—“if it was really your appendix, you wouldn't be able to sit there and talk to me.” Fair enough, so I went home.

Later that night, I start throwing up, so I knew something was wrong, so off to the hospital. The complete idiot of a doctor prodded and poked around again and declared it was just a stomach bug, or maybe a urine infection. Told me to drink some flat Coke(!) and go to the doctor in the morning—bear in mind, I'm so pale as to be actually grey by this point and can barely hold down any more than a couple of sips of water.

Later in the morning, I'm still not feeling right so I get my SO to take me to the doctor again. More of the usual prodding and a “well it's probably an infection, but I'm going to refer you to the hospital, just in case.” So I get to the hospital—long story short, I have a whole bunch of tests, but they're still not convinced it was appendicitis. I was, by this point.

They eventually agree to do an appendectomy, using keyhole surgery. So I go down for the operation, which they reckon will take an hour or so “and don't be surprised if you still have an appendix when you wake up, we're going to have a look first.” I woke up about six hours later with a 4-inch incision on my side.

Rather than the three small holes I'd been told to expect, there was a tube sticking out of it. I asked the nurse what the heck happened, and got “oh yes, your appendix was really bad, apparently. I think it burst as they were removing it.” So yeah; not only did I have appendicitis like I thought, but I had it really bad. I ended up in the hospital for another week being treated for sepsis.

TheAngryBad

28. Unsung Hero

I got to the airport early, got something to eat at the restaurant, and boarded the plane. Everyone is on and I suddenly get a feeling of panic. Nothing else, just panic. I was used to traveling back and forth every week, so no problems flying, but in this case I had to get off that plane. I grabbed my stuff, ran past the flight attendant and said don't wait for me I will get another flight and sat down trying to calm down.

Announcement comes over the speaker that they are looking for me, my flight is leaving. It leaves. I watch the flight start to take off. This was in Detroit. Then it happened. The worst cramps I ever had, and I ran to the bathroom. Some seriously bad food from the restaurant. I would have been on a two-hour flight stinking up the plane while ejecting the contents of my stomach from both ends. I am sure the entire passenger compartment thanks me, though they do not know...

TheRealOneTwo

29. Expertise

Airline pilot here—warning, do not continue reading if flying makes you uneasy. One day we loaded up passengers and cargo and everything and we were ready to taxi. I noticed that the nose of the airplane seemed to be higher up than usual while we were sitting on the ground. I told my first officer about it and he agreed.

We double checked the weight and balance and everything seemed to be right. I decided to just taxi out towards the runway and see if the wheel struts would go back to their normal positions during taxi. Still felt weird to me. Something wasn't right. I told ground control we needed to go back to the gate. Called Ops and told them we're headed back because I think something isn't right with the weight and balance.

After we get back, I ask them to check how much ballast we have in the aircraft. It's verified on my sheet as 500lbs., but I have a feeling...Turns out, yep, they forgot to put it in the plane. So had we taken off, the center of gravity would have been out of whack—way past limits. It could have resulted in an airplane that was impossible to control.

Just like that 747 that took off and had the load slide to the back. That was a day that I was really pleased that I had so much experience flying to give me that feeling & that feeling could very well have saved my life along with others.

TangoFoxtrotSierra

30. Not Walking on Sunshine

woman wearing white sheer lace wedding gown Photo by Thomas AE on Unsplash

I came home to my mom supposedly being out for a walk and my little brother seeming worried that she hadn’t come back yet. I noticed that her keys were hanging up. I just had a sinking feeling that something wasn’t right. Why not take your keys? She hadn’t gone for a walk. She had put on her wedding dress, locked herself in a back room that you can only unlock from the inside, and had taken a whole heap of pills to kill herself. She survived.

This was over 15 years ago but still haunts us.

trontrontronmega

31. Suspicious Minds

After my mother went to bed each night, my dad would go out to his car beside the driveway & talk on the phone for about 15 minutes. I never heard what he had been saying or who he was talking to, but I felt that something wasn’t right. I outed him. He had been having an affair for about ten years.

The_Withheld_Name

32. Off a Cliff

As I climbed out onto a cliff to get a picture of a cave in the middle of a waterfall, something felt weird. I then began sliding down the cliff. I barely caught myself on a fracture in the rock, and eventually got my feet back on solid ground. The next day, my sister had the news on and they found a body under that same cliff. He'd been missing for a few days.

Texan_Greyback

33. Rookie Initiation

a row of old trucks sitting on top of a grass covered field Photo by Documerica on Unsplash

We had this regular customer who was very weird indeed. I worked in an auto wrecking yard and he always came in and bought random, off the wall things. Anyway, me and a new guy load some stuff into the back of this guy’s van. He gets in to leave and the new guy is standing behind the van, next to the building. I say: "Hey, I wouldn't stand there if I were you." New guy looks at me puzzled, but moves anyway. Sure enough, weird customer puts it in reverse and punches the gas. Backs his van right through the wall of our office, right where the new guy had been standing…

CrookedSmileUte

34. Threat On The Docks

A former co-worker, Jason, told me this story. Jason was working at a dock in China and unloaded shipping containers from huge international cargo ships. A typhoon had just passed, and many of the inbound ships had been delayed for days due to the extreme weather. Once the weather cleared, there was a backlog of ships waiting to be docked and unloaded.

To make matters worse, a tropical depression had just been upgraded to a tropical storm and was expected to make landfall within 48 hours. It was organized chaos as the dock workers frantically tried to unload three times the volume of shipping containers in half the time. Jason was a Senior Cargo Agent, and his job was to verify that the information on the offloaded shipping containers matched the information on the manifest, and to visually inspect shipping containers for damage.

A cargo agent had to sign off on all cargo before an unloaded ship could disembark. As there were a limited number of spaces for ships to dock, it was crucial that the cargo agents verify the unloaded shipments as quickly as possible so that another ship could dock immediately. Everyone at the dock had walkie-talkies (hand-held portable two-way radios), and Jason heard Dock Manager 1 going absolutely crazy because an unloaded ship had been waiting in the dock for nearly two hours, and no cargo agent had verified their delivery.

Jason radioed Cargo Agent 1 assigned to that area, but there was no answer. He then radioed Cargo Agent 2, and still received no response. He then radioed the next closest Senior Cargo Agent 1 and asked him to drop everything and verify the cargo immediately. After thirty minutes, Dock Manager 2 radioed that the ship was STILL docked.

Jason then radioed Senior Cargo Agent 1 who he had sent over there and did not receive a response. He then radioed Dock Manager 1 who had been screaming into the radio and again received no response. Jason was now the only Senior Cargo Agent in the area, and it now fell to him to verify the unloaded shipment and get the delayed ship out of port ASAP.

As he got into his truck to drive over, a nagging feeling of dread kept telling him not to go. He ignored the feeling and drove there anyway, all the while trying and failing to radio anyone else in the area. When he arrived at the unloading zone, he couldn't bring himself to get out of the truck, and later said that it felt as if he was being physically pushed back into his seat.

Jason then picked up his radio with a shaking hand and broadcast, "Unknown threat near unloading section four. All workers evacuate immediately. This is not a drill." And just like that, a multi-billion dollar port was shut down. A HazMat team was soon dispatched and found that a shipping container damaged in transit had been carrying a heavier-than-air type of inert gas.

The gas leaked and displaced the air, then became trapped between several rows of closely stacked shipping containers. Every person that approached immediately lost consciousness. Five people were found lifeless near the damaged container, and Jason was later fired because he did not actually have the authority to shut down the port.

Jason filed the Chinese equivalent of a wrongful termination lawsuit, but was strongly encouraged to settle, or else the Chinese government might find him partially responsible. As a white foreigner in China, this was a very real possibility, and he ended up settling for a modest amount. Jason still blames himself for what happened to Senior Cargo Agent 1 and gave the settlement amount to the man's widow.

Forgive_My_Cowardice

35. Father Knows Best

My dad was driving our whole family in the car, zipping along as he was prone to doing. Then, just before a blind corner, he started to slow down for no apparent reason. Like, slowed down a lot more than was really necessary. A second or two later, another car comes speeding around the corner on our side of the road. It would have been a head-on collision had dad not felt the uncanny urge to ease up.

Minifig_Monkey

36. Physical Reaction

man in black jacket and black pants standing beside graffiti wall during daytime Photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash

In 2014, when that year's X-Men movie came out, I went to go see it with my best friend. Two thirds of the way through, I felt the most off I've ever felt. Sick, chills, feverish, gut drop, time warped, the works. I peeked at my phone & had dozens of texts, missed calls, & voicemails. My dad had passed.

samdramayhem

37. Second Opinion

I hadn't been feeling well for a few weeks. I was having shortness of breath despite being pretty athletic and could feel my heart pounding. I saw my doctor, who diagnosed it as anxiety, prescribed some meds, and sent me on my way. But I just...had this feeling. A few days later, I woke up and had trouble walking to the bathroom without losing my breath.

I don't know why it even came to mind but all I could think was, "Something is wrong. This isn't anxiety. I need to go to the ER right away." So I walked myself to the hospital and asked if it was possible I had a blood clot. I was reassured that if it was a clot in my lung, there was no way I could have walked to the hospital. I convinced them to test me anyway annnnnnd it was a pulmonary embolism. Listen to your instincts, friends!

KikiTheArtTeacher

38. Nightmare is an Understatement

Things have been rough lately, but last Wednesday I woke up extremely sick to my stomach and very anxious. I felt like crying the whole day. My best friend's brother called later in the afternoon to tell me that my friend had taken his own life the night before. It has been a nightmare ever since.

HighDingyDoo

39. Seeking an Explanation

white enclosed vehicle trailer Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

I was with a large group of friends including my brother, and we were playing hide and seek outside at night. My brother and his friend decide to go into a snowmobile trailer to hide, and I told them I’d hide under the trailer. Little did I know, the trailer was balancing on two wheels. As I was hiding under the trailer, I suddenly got the worst feeling.

A feeling that I needed to get out of there right away. I can’t even describe the feeling but I got out quick. Seconds after I got up, they made the trailer unbalanced by getting inside and it crashed exactly where I just was. There’s no doubt it would’ve ended me in seconds. I stood there in complete shock. I couldn’t believe I was so close to never seeing my family again.

relatee

40. Til I’m Blue in the Face

My siblings and I were swimming at a neighbor’s house with their kid, while the adults were inside. Randomly, a thought came into my head of "Where’s my sister at?" She easily could’ve gone inside or have walked home across the street, but I felt like I needed to find her ASAP. I got all of us kids to search and we discovered she was at the bottom of the pool, completely blue. She made a complete recovery and is now one of the best parts of my life.

intergalacticsnack

41. Dog Days

I was letting my dog back inside. She walked right past me with no tail wagging or happy smile, walked right through the kitchen without wanting a treat, and went straight to her doggy bed. I knew something wasn't right, and within ten minutes we were in the car to the emergency vet. She had a tumor rupture apparently, and it was clear what needed to be done. Still breaks my heart.

marry_me_sarah_palin

42. Bail On Out of There

Robert Pickton | Court TV interview in 2002 about Robert Pic… | Flickr www.flickr.com

I had a coworker who used to go to parties in high school. Several of the parties in her senior year were at some guy’s farm. She went to one and bailed right away saying it felt weird. The guy who owned the farm turned out to be Robert Pickton (if you know, you know).

rustyshacklefordrsw

43. With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies?

Came home very late one night. My parents and sister were already asleep. House felt funny. Dogs were barking in a strange way. I looked around and noticed that my stepmother's car was not in the driveway, but her purse was in the kitchen. My dad's wallet was not on its usual place. I then caught someone creeping around in the backyard, and the commotion woke everyone up.

The creeper was one of my sister's friends. Turns out, her friends decided to break in due to the fact that my parents never lock the doors and the dogs all knew them. They planned to steal my dad's cash and credit cards and take my stepmother's car for a joyride. We found the car in the next subdivision. Why was creeper-boy not with his other buddies?

He figured he could zip back over and spend some "quality time" with my sister, and my timing was just about perfect. He ended up ratting on his buddies and getting a reduced sentence. His parents were mad at me more for injuring their little boy than they were at him for breaking into people's houses and stealing cars.

Cabalagent1

44. New Rule: Always Pick up the Phone

My mom called me in the middle of the day on a Sunday. I was going to ignore it and just call her back later like I tend to do, but something just didn’t feel right. So, I picked up. She was calling to tell me an emergency squad was working on my brother and I needed to get a hold of my dad right away.

wildthingsroam

45. You’ve Got a Friend in Me

man in black t-shirt and black shorts sitting on bed Photo by Ramiro Pianarosa on Unsplash

I was walking back to my dorm from class and had a gut feeling that I needed to see my friend right away. I walked into his dorm room and found him on the floor seizing. He is fine now, but it was still weird that I just knew something was wrong before I had seen him at all that day.

ASuds_65

46. Changing the Course of Family History

When I was little, my cousin who lived 30 minutes away was my best friend. Our parents used to meet up at my grandmother’s house every week just so that we could play together. Occasionally, I would go on sleepovers to her house. One weekend when I was staying over with them, it was coming up to bed time and I had a really weird feeling and just wanted to go home.

I was crying hysterically and my uncle eventually brought me home. This year, I found out that my dad had planned on leaving my mother that night, and me crying saying that I wanted "Mammy and Daddy" made him change his mind. My mother doesn't know this, nor do any of my siblings. My dad told me one night while we were out at a bar and he had a few too many.

caithamach13

47. First and Last Day on the Job

I used to clean vacant houses for a living. One day, I was working at a house near the end of a dead-end street. There were maybe six or seven houses on the one side of the street before an intersection with a stoplight, so it was a pretty heavy traffic area. I was cleaning out the property just fine when my Spidey-Sense suddenly went off the charts.

I was inside the house but I pretty much dropped everything, got in my car, and started to drive outta there. On the corner, I saw a weird looking guy and had a nasty feeling about him. When I got home, it was all over the news—that guy was wanted for offing an officer, making the start of his career right on that street corner about 15 minutes after I hoofed it. I told my boss that I wasn't going to go back to that property. He understood.

LightHouseMaster

48. Off the Road Again

car dashboard Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

I was driving home late one evening and I had the strongest feeling that something was wrong. At the time, this meant that I took the long way home because I thought my subconscious knew there'd be some speed traps on the turnpike. Next morning, it turns out an impaired driver had caused a huge multi-car accident in the exact stretch of road I would've been driving on. The driver and two others lost their lives, and another 5+ people were injured. I'm not a superstitious person by any stretch, but this is always something that's made me wonder.

Yung-Thick

49. A Horrible Event

I once went to an event with an ex and I was in a bit of a crummy mood all day for various reasons. The whole time, I felt like something really bad had happened to someone close or that a generally bad thing happened. The next day, I learned that just a few hours before I went to the event, a classmate of mine washed up on the beach.

Permalink

50. I’m Having a Reaction to This One

About ten years ago, my mom said she had a really tiring day. When she was going upstairs, she said “Goodbye” instead of “Goodnight” and it just really sat wrong with me. I checked on her a little later and she wasn’t waking up, so we called 9-1-1. Turned out she had taken a bottle of pills. I was terrified I was going to end up alone with my horrible stepdad. When paramedics arrived, they asked him if she had any allergies and he said no, and it still frustrates me that I had to be the one who told them about her allergies.

SlootyLooty

People Describe The Creepiest Things They Ever Witnessed As A Kid

"Reddit user -2sweetcaramel- asked: 'What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?'"

Four mistreated baby dolls are hung by barb wire
Photo by J Lopez

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.

Woman stressed at work
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

When we hear about other people's jobs, we've surely all done that thing where we make assumptions about the work they do and maybe even judge them for having such an easy or unimportant job.

But some jobs are much harder than they look.

Redditor CeleryLover4U asked:

"What's a job or profession that seems easy but is incredibly challenging?"

Customer Service

"Anything customer-facing. The public is dumb and horrendous."

- gwarrior5

"My go-to explanation is, 'Anyone can do it, but few can do it for long.'"

- Conscious_Camel4830

"The further I get in my corporate career, the less I believe I will ever again be capable of working a public-facing job. I don’t know how I did it in the past. I couldn’t handle it in the present."

"I know people are only getting worse about how they treat workers. It is disturbing, embarrassing, and draining for everyone."

- First-Combination-12

High Stakes

"A pharmacist."

"You face the public. Your mistake can literally kill someone."

- VaeSapiens

"Yes, Pharmacist. So many people think their job is essentially the same as any other kind of retail worker and they just prepare prescriptions written by a doctor without having to know anything about them."

"They are very highly trained in, well, pharmacology; and it's not uncommon for a pharmacist to notice things like potentially dangerous drug interactions that the doctor hadn't."

- Worth_University_884

Teaching Woes

"Two nuggets of wisdom from my mentor teacher when I was younger:"

"'Teaching is the easiest job to do poorly and the hardest job to do well,' and 'You get to choose two of the following three: Friends, family, or being a good teacher. You don't have enough time to do all three.'"

"We all know colleagues or remember teachers who were lazy and chose the easy route, but any teacher who is trying to be a good teacher has probably sacrificed their friends and their sleep for little pay and a stressful work environment. There's a reason something like half quit the profession within the first five years."

- bq87

Creativity Is "Easy"

"Some creative professions, such as designers, are often perceived as 'easy' due to their creative nature. However, they may face the constant need to find inspiration, deal with criticism, and meet deadlines."

- rubberduckyis

"EVERYBODY thinks they are a designer, up until the point of having to do the work. But come critique time, mysteriously, EVERYBODY IS A F**KING DESIGNER AGAIN."

"The most important skill to have as a designer is THICK SKIN."

- whitepepper

Care Fatigue Is Real

"Care work."

"I wish it could be taken for granted that no one thinks it's easy. But unfortunately, many people still see it as an unskilled job and have no idea of the many emotional complexities, or of how much empathy, all the time, is needed to form the sorts of relationships with service users that they really need."

- MangoMatiLemonMelon

Physical Labor Generally Wins

"I’m going to say most types of unskilled labor and that’s because there’s such little (visible) reward and such a huge amount of bulls**t. I’ve done customer service, barista, sales, serving, etc; and it was all much harder than my cushy desk job that actually can be considered life or death."

- anachronistika

Their Memory Banks Must Be Wild

"I don't know if I'd call it incredibly challenging, but being one of those old school taxi drivers who know the city like the back of his hand and can literally just drive wherever being told nothing but an address is pretty impressively skilled."

"Not sure if it's still like this, but British cabbies used to be legendary for this. I'm 40 and I don't think most young people appreciate how much the quality of cab service has gone down since the advent of things like Uber."

"Nowadays it's just kind of expected that a rideshare/cab driver doesn't know exactly where you're trying to get and has to rely on GPS directions that they often f up. Back when I was in college, cabbies were complete experts on their city."

"More even than knowing how to get somewhere, they could also give you advice. You could just generally describe a type of bar/club/business you're looking for, and they'll take you right to one that was spot on. Especially in really big cities like NYC."

- Yak-Mak-5000

Professional Cooking

"Being a chef."

- Canadian_bro7

"I would love to meet the person who thinks being a chef is easy! I cook my own food and it’s not only OK to eat but I make a batch of it so I have some for later. So, to make food that is above good and portion it correctly many times a day and do it consistently with minimal wastage (so they make a profit), strikes me as extremely difficult."

- ChuckDeBongo

Team Leading, Oof

"Anything that involves a lot of people skills and socializing. I thought these positions were just the bulls**t of sitting in meetings all day and not a lot of work happening but having to be the one leading those meetings and doing public speaking is taxing in a way I didn’t realize."

- Counterboudd

Not a Pet Sitter At All

"Veterinary Technician."

"Do the job of an RN, anesthesiology tech, dental hygienist, radiology tech, phlebotomist, lab tech, and CNA, but probably don’t make a living wage and have people undervalue your career because you 'play with puppies and kittens all day.'"

- forthegoddessathena

Harder Than It Looks!

"Sometimes, when my brain is fried from thinking and my ego is shot from not fixing the problem, I want to be a garbage man... not a ton of thinking, just put the trash in the truck, and a lot of them have trucks that do it for you!"

"But if the robot either doesn't work or you don't have one on your truck, it smells really bad, the pay isn't what it used to be, you might find a dead body and certainly find dead animal carcasses... and people are id**ts, overfilling their bags, just to have them fall apart before you get to the truck, not putting their trash out and then blaming you, making you come back out."

"Your body probably is sore every day, and you have to take two baths before you can kiss your wife..."

"Ehh, maybe things are not so bad where I am."

- Joebroni1414

Twiddling Thumbs and Listening

"Therapist here. I’ve always said that it’s pretty easy to be an okay therapist—as in, it’s not that hard to listen to people’s problems and say, 'Oh wow, that’s so hard, poor you.'"

"But to be a good therapist? To know when your client is getting stuck in the same patterns, or to notice what your client isn’t saying? To realize that they’re only ever saying how amazing their spouse is, and to think, 'Hmm, nobody’s marriage is perfect, something’s going on there'?"

"To be able to ask questions like, 'Hey, we’ve been talking a lot about your job, but what’s going on with your family?' And then to be able to call them on their s**t, but with kindness and empathy? Balancing that s**t is hard."

"Anybody can have empathy, but knowing when to use empathy and when and how to challenge someone is so much harder. And that’s only one dimension of what makes being a therapist challenging."

- mylovelanguageiswine

Constant Updates

​"For the most part, my job is really easy (marketing tech). But having to constantly stay on top of new platforms, new tech, updates, etc etc is exhausting and overwhelming and I really hate it."

"Also, the constant responsibility to locate and execute opportunities to optimize things and increase value for higher-ups. Nobody in corporate roles can ever just reach a point of being 'good enough.' More and better is always required."

"Just some of the big reasons I’m considering a career change."

- GlizzyMcGuire_

Performing Is Not Easy

"Performing arts and other types of art. People think it’s a cakewalk or 'not a real job,' not realizing the literal lifetime of training, rejection, and perseverance that it takes to reach a professional level and how insanely competitive those spaces are."

- ThrowRA1r3a5

All About Perception

"I suspect everything fits this. Consider that someone whose job is stacking boxes in a warehouse has to know how to lift boxes, how many can be stacked, know if certain ones must be easily accessible, know how to use any equipment that is used to move boxes around."

"Not to mention if some have hazardous or fragile materials inside, if some HAVE to be stacked on the bottom, if a mistake is made and all the boxes have to be restacked, etc."

"But everyone else is like, 'They're just stacking boxes.'"

- DrHugh

It's easy to make assumptions about someone else's work and responsibilities when we haven't lived with performing those tasks ourselves.

This gave us some things to think about, and it certainly reminded us that nothing good comes of making assumptions, especially when it minimizes someone else's experiences.

Left-handed person holding a Sharpie
Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Many of us who are right-handed never even think about how the world is designed to cater to us.

It probably doesn't even cross your mind that 10% of the world's population is left-handed.

Because of this, there tends to be a stigma for being left-handed since society tends to associate the left with negative things.

For example, the phrase "two left feet" applies to those who are clumsy and therefore, incapable of dancing.

Curious to hear more about the challenges facing those with the other dominant hand, Redditor johnnyportillo95 asked:

"What’s something left-handed people have to deal with that right-handed people wouldn’t even think about?"

If only manufacturers appealed to an ambidextrous world.

Furniture Obstacle

"Those desks or couch chairs that have a small desk attached. They do make left handed/sided ones but they are few and far between."

– Prussian__Princess

"And they’re only on one side of the lecture hall, and it’s never a good seat. There is ONE front row, lefty desk in the entire room and it’s in the far corner, obscured by an ancient overhead projector."

– earwighoney

Everyday Objects For Everyday People

"as a left-handed person myself, one thing we often deal with is finding left-handed tools or equipment. many everyday objects, like scissors or can openers, are designed with right-handed people in mind, which can make certain tasks a bit more challenging for us lefties. we also have to adapt to a right-handed world when it comes to writing on whiteboards or using certain computer mice."

– J0rdan_24

Dangerous Tools

"The biggest risk is power tools. I taught myself to use all power tools right handed because of risks using them left handed."

"Trivial, I love dry boards but they are super hard to write on."

– diegojones4

It's hard to play when you're born with a physical disadvantage.

Sports Disadvantage

"Allright, Sports when you are young. Every demonstration from PE teachers are right handed. You cant just copy the movements they teach you you need to flip them and your tiny brain struggoes to process it. As well, 98% of the cheap sports equipment the school uses is right handed."

– AjCheeze

No Future In Softball

"I tried to bat right handed for so long in gym class growing up because the gym teacher never asked me what my dominant side was and the thought never occurred to me as a child to mention it! Needless to say I never became a softball star."

– Leftover-Cheese

Find A Glove That Fits

"In softball and baseball we need a specific glove for our right hand that's often impossible to find unless you own one, and we have to bat on the other side of the plate."

– BowlerSea1569

"I was one of two left-handers in a 4-team Little League in the 1980s. Nobody could pitch to me. I got a lot of "hit by pitch" walks out of it."

– Jef_Wheaton

These examples are understandably annoying.

Shocking Observation

"Having right handed people make comments whenever they see us write, like we’re some kind of alien."

– UsefulIdiot85

"'Woah! You're left-handed????'"

"I find myself noticing when someone is a lefty, and sometimes I comment on it, but I try not to. I'm primarily left-handed (im a right handed wroter but do everything else left), and every single time I go to eat with my family, someone says, "Oh hey, give SilverGladiolus22 the left hand spot, they're left-handed," and inevitably someone says, 'Wait, really?' Lol."

– SilverGladiolus22

Can't Admire The Mug

"We never get to look at the cute graphics on coffee mugs while we’re drinking from them."

– vanetti

"I just realized…I always thought the graphics were made so someone else could read them while you drink. Hmmm."

– Bubbly-Anteater7345

"I'm right-handed and I often wondered why the graphics were turned towards the drinker instead of out for others to see."

– Material-Imagination

The Writing On The Wall

"Writing on whiteboards is a nightmare. I have to float my hand, which tires out my arm quickly, and I can't see what I've already written to keep the line straight."

– darkjedi39

"Also as a teacher, it means I'm standing to the left of where I'm writing, so I'm blocking everything I write. I have to frequently finish writing, then step out of the way so people can see, instead of just being able to stand on the right side the whole time."

– dancingbanana123

Immeasurable

"Rulers."

"How the f'k is no one talking about rulers? It's from 30cm to 0 cm to me, or I have to twist my arms to know the measure I want to trace over it."

– fourangers

Just Can't Win

"EVERYTHING. The world has always been based around people being right handed. As a Chef, my knife skills SUCKED until I worked with a Left Handed Chef. Then it all made sense."

"Literally, everything we do must be observed, then flipped around in our heads, then executed. This is why Lefties die sooner, on average, than Righties."

"I had to learn how to be ambidextrous, just to complete basic tasks (sports, driving a manual, using scissors, etc). I am used to it now, and do many things right handed out of necessity, as wall as parents and teachers 'forcing' it upon me."

"But, at least we are not put to death anymore, simply for using the wrong hand (look it up, it happened)."

"Ole Righty, always keeping us down."

– igenus44

The world doesn't need another demographic to feel "othered" for being different.

But if you're right-handed and tend to make assumptions about left-handed people, you may want to observe the following.

Ronald Yeo, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Texas-Austin told CNN:

"We shouldn’t assume much about people’s personalities or health just because of the hand they write with."
"And we certainly shouldn’t worry about lefties’ chances of success: After all (as of 2015), five of our last seven U.S. presidents have been either left- or mixed-handed."

Word.

Dog lying down on a bed
Photo by Conner Baker on Unsplash

Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.

While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.

Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.

Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.

For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.

Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:

"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"

The Tiny Issue Of Water...

"Absolutely not."

"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649

Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...

"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."

"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."

"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."

"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep

The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...

"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."

"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3

Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen Giphy

What Do You Mean Allow?

"I have no choice."

"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412

"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle

Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show

Hug GIF by The BarkPost Giphy

Who Needs An Alarm Clock?

"I let my two cats sleep with me."

"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."

"And so do I."

"We've all developed a lil routine."

"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_

Whose Bed Is It Anyway?

"Yes."

"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."

"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor

"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."

"Would not come out."

"Got some food and some water in dishes."

"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."

"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."

"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."

"She was too busy eating."

"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."

"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."

"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."

"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."

"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."

"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."

"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."

"She would not go."

"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."

"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588

sleepy kitten GIF Giphy

Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...

"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."

"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."

"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle

Saying No Just Isn't An Option...

"'Let'."

"Lol."

"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren

Felines Only!

"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz

Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official Giphy

Is That My Hair On That Pillow?

"My dog is perfect."

"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."

"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."

"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester

It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.

Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...