Freaked Out People Share The Most Disturbing Things That've Happened To Them
Maybe it's paranormal, maybe it's trauma, but something has at some point shaken you deeply to your core. You know what I'm talking about. Even the thought of it makes your hair stand on end.
u/dontgetsaltyplease wanted to collect some of these stories:
What's the scariest/most disturbing thing that's ever happened to you?
Here were some of the most hair raising.
Two Weeks Gone
An accident in which I lost 2 full weeks of memory. I have seen pictures where I'm in a wheelchair being pushed around the hospital by my parents and brother, I have my eyes open, I'm laughing, but I remember literally zero of it. Nothing. It's a void.
A Horrible Wreck
I had my back turned to the road when an extremely drunk person jaywalking got hit by a drunk girl in a Jeep Cherokee (it was Halloween in a party town, no one was sober). He was still in the air when I turned around, landed roughly 50 feet from where he was hit. I had never heard that sound before but I knew what it was as soon as I heard it. The kid survived, but his body was pretty mangled. I think the fact that he was drunk and didn't tense up before impact is what saved him. The girl driving was 17 and wasn't charged as an adult. Don't drive drunk, and don't jaywalk in night when you're shirtless in dark green body paint.
Close Call
I was partially ejected from a car crash in December 2008. I fractured my spine, compression fractures. I was asleep in the back seat of a truck that flipped.
I woke up in horrible pain. I thought I was going to die. I was pleading with the EMS to not let me die. When I got to the hospital they thought I was internally bleeding and had to do an emergency exploratory surgery. I didn't know if I would come out of the surgery or not. I did :)
Twist Ending
A group of friends and I were hiking in the mountains near my home one evening and we, being stupid high schoolers, and also stupid stoners, lost track of time. As we were about a mile from the trailhead the sun was already set and it was starting to get dark. If anyone has ever been hiking in the forest at night you know how unnerving it can be. It was especially unnerving after having smoked a bowl.
Well there were four of us and as we rounded a bend in the trail we we're stopped by probably the worst luck possible. Standing in the middle of the trail, about a quarter mile from the cars was a HUGE grizzly bear. Of the four of us, my close buddy and I were probably the least pants sh-ttingly terrified. We hiked here a lot and the trails where I grew up are famous for their bear population and we saw them pretty regularly. But there was something f-cked about this bear.
The way it sat there staring at us was uncommon and to this day I've never seen a predator stand so stock still and loom over me like that. It felt like ages before someone finally realized it's already dark we need to do something and picked up a stick and waved it above his head. Goddamn if bear was fazed at all. Asshole didn't move an inch. Which turned out to be the most telling part of the story. Since it was a dead tree wrapped around a boulder and we were all sh-tting our pants over nothing in the moonlight. We still laugh about that today.
No Words
Seeing a women hit by a train and getting splatted was pretty disturbing. Not so much for the aftermath but the noise and the way she looked at me before she jumped has stuck with me
The Shoe's Not Important, Linda
Was on a date with my fiancé a few years ago, and had just gotten these shoes I had been eying. About to hop off the top of the escalator when lord knows how the heel of my shoe gets caught in the teeth of the escalator and begins to absolutely tear through these leather shoes with a hard-a** rubber sole like butter.
Thank god my first instinct was to yank my foot out instead of worry about that shoe or my foot would be mangled to this day, probably would never walk right again. She was so sad I had just lost my new shoe, I was frankly ecstatic that i went home with a normal leg that day.
Narrow Escape
Directly behind my house is a huge recreation area with miles and miles of hiking trails. People have gone missing there in recent years and they've found bodies there too. One day about two years ago I fell asleep on the couch accidentally and at like two AM, my dogs went absolutely crazy barking at the front door and they wouldn't shut up so I got up to see what it was. There was a man standing in my doorway with the screen door already opened in his hand- like I caught him the second between opening my screen door and opening the door to my house, which I had accidentally left unlocked because like I said, I accidentally fell asleep. I was totally out of it and still half asleep so the situation didn't really dawn on me and the first thing out of my mouth was "Oh, hey. What do you need?" Then I woke up and realized what the hell was going on and slammed my door shut in his face and locked it and called 911. The dude left and the police never found anyone. I obviously don't know why that man was on my doorstep but the fact that he could have taken me into that park very easily and no one would have known until it was too late shakes me up every time I think about it.
Rag Doll
When I was crossing a road and a car came screaming around the corner didn't see me and hit me. This happened right outside my sons school. He saw the accident but didn't know it was me ( I was in all black gym clothes ). Concision, head trauma, obliterated my left shoulder ACL and tore my ACL in my left knee. Huge bruise from hip to lower calf.
Hospital said they only thing that saved me was I didn't see it coming so was not expecting it and was basically a rag doll. Turns out the driver was not insured, suspended license and the car wasn't his.
Near Miss
As a child, around 12, I was walking back to school, from a tennis lesson. The route was around a km and some.
I just started on my way back, and this car soon comes by and pulls over. A senior, possibly in his late 60s is the only occupant.
He asks where I'm going, and if I need a lift. I politely decline, then he started asking other questions. Being oblivious, I answer him, discussing my father's work, what my mother did with her time, and how many siblings I had. Didn't think anything of it for so many years, till around 2 years ago, the memory popped up in my head.
Only then did the gravity of what was happening at the time come home. He was trying to familiarize himself with me, and in some way grooming me to see him as a friend.
I'm still glad to this day that I never got into that car.
A Helmet, PLEASE
About two years back, I saw a live road accident involving a bike and a truck. The biker's head was squished like a water melon. This was too disturbing to see. A human body in a shape like that. I will never forget that sight.
ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET GUYS!
Black Mamba
Not as morbid as some of the others in this thread but probably getting stuck in the shower ( technically a wet room) with a black mamba while on holiday aged 8. That was pretty terrifying.
Not The Instrument I Had In Mind
I was going through a hard time and needed money. I saw an ad in a local paper that said "buying musical instruments. Any condition. Call ####." So, I called to sell my guitar. I talked to a man on the phone, and he seemed nice enough. He asked about the condition and what model it was and what not. He said he wanted to buy it and agreed to meet me at a guitar center near by.
So, I meet this guy in the parking lot and I show him my guitar. He asks, "why are you trying to sell your guitar?" I tell him that I am going through a hard time. He then says, "well, you could stay with me if you want." I say, "um, no sir. Are you still going to buy my guitar?" So he asks, "How about you watch me pleasure myself in my car and I'll give you $50." To which I replied, "No! What the F-CK?!" I grabbed my guitar, went into the store and waited inside until he left.
He stayed in that parking lot for a bit too. So dang creepy. I called that paper and got his ad removed.
Seatbelts Are Important
My friend was driving 45 mph and hit black ice which led us swirling off into a ditch flipping once.
Stupid me didn't put on a seatbelt. Luckily I came out with just glass in my hands and a sore back.
Grateful now and I always remember to put on my seatbelt.
An Invisible Stalker
When I was about 10 years old my family lived in this old rent house. My parents were in the process of buying a house from my moms family. One night we came home and there was a bag of candy with a picture of us in our car at McDonald's. We were pretty creeped out but figured it might be some kind of prank from my older sister's friends. We forgot all about it. Then we moved into our new house. It was in the middle of summer. We live in Louisiana so it was also the middle of hurricane season. In late July we came home from school shopping and found a ziplock bag filled with stuff that would have gone unnoticed but we knew was ours. Each item came from a room in our house. Whoever did it went through every room collecting one item and then left it in plain view for us to find. And in that bag was also a picture of us in the front yard. It was a picture that had been obviously taken from far away and without our knowledge. At this point we realized this wasn't a joke and my mom reported it. August came around and a hurricane passed knocking out all the power. To alleviate some of the heat we opened the windows in the house. During the calm part of the storm my sister and I both woke up to someone whispering our names outside of our windows. We went check our parents' bedroom and they were still sleeping. We huddled up together and didn't sleep that night. We still have no idea who was terrorizing us and the cops never found the person. I'm now 28 and my sister is 32. Sometimes we still talk about those creepy months and it still scares me that the person is out there watching us and now our own kids.
Cuckoo's Nest Revisited
I ended up involuntary committed to a mental hospital because of two small superficial cuts on my arms. My first night I meet my psychiatrist who had complete control over when I left and what I could do. Still I figured I could trust her. I was upset about being committed and didn't believe it should have happened. Because I trusted her and felt that she could and would help me out I loudly vented my frustration to her. She was across the room from me. I stayed where I was. I never made a move towards her or a threat against her or anyone. She tells me that she was going to figure something it why I was there and see if she could get me out. I was so relieved. She avoided me the rest of the night.
The next day when it was time for her to see me. She is sit out in the main area for people to be and told me she was afraid of being alone with me. She then decided to change my meds and put me on one that I would take twice a day that I had taken before to help me sleep. I told her I wasn't comfortable with changing my meds. I told her I really only trusted my actual doctor that I saw every two weeks. Still she changed my meds. Now when it comes to taking your meds you have the choice to take the full dosage prescribed or not taking the drug at all. She had me over medicated and so I had to stop taking my meds.
Now hospitals have a place where you can make a complaint and also request a change in doctor. My complaint about it her was ignored and my request to change doctors was denied.
They also have times to let the patients outside. When I tried to go I was told my doctor had ordered that I not be allowed outside.
It was a disturbing experience because I had no rights in that week. I was at the will of a doctor I didn't trust and that I felt had a vendetta against me. My stay there taught me to lie. I was in the care of this place that was supposed to help me and all I got was a hellish experience I couldn't get out of.
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People Break Down The First Thing They Do When Entering A Hotel Room
Reddit user BlundeRuss asked: 'What’s the first thing you do when you get into a hotel room?'
My family went on a lot trips when I was young, and we always stayed in hotel rooms. Around the time my brother and I were old enough to stay in a room by ourselves (our parents would stay in another one, usually across the hall), he also became a bit of a germaphobe.
At the time, I actually believed hotels changed the sheets on the beds daily, so when my brother fretted about the cleanliness of the hotels, I reassured him they were fine. He believed me at first, since I was his big sister, but by the time he was 12, he got suspicious.
During one of our trips, he decided to test this by making a mark on his pillow cover with a pen and turning the pillow cover inside out before we left for sightseeing the next morning. When we returned, he turned the pillow cover back, and his mark was still there, proving that the sheets hadn't been changed. He only had to do this one more time, during our next trip, for me to realize this wasn't a one-off.
Ever since, and even now in adulthood, my brother and I always intentionally spill something on our sheets during our first night in order to get clean sheets, at least for the duration of our stay. This, in fact, is the first thing we do.
I'm not the only person who does something a bit quirky like this when they first enter a hotel rooms. Plenty or Redditors have stories about this and are ready to share.
It all started when Redditor BlundeRuss asked:
"What’s the first thing you do when you get into a hotel room?"
Preparing For Sights
"Go to the balcony to see if it's going to be public nudity or private nudity during my morning coffee."
– hoffarmy
"I love that this doesn’t change your plans, just prepares your mind. Excellence."
– sewahyelah
Show Me The Truth
"Put my bags up on something and check the mattress. I also bought a UV flashlight but after using it at home I’ve decided that bringing it to a hotel would be unnecessary torture. Nothing is clean when you shine the thing on it. And I mean nothing."
– Fatguy73
Temperature Check
"One of my close friends travels a ton for business. She also loves to sleep in a f**king ice box."
"She has found some resource for how to basically jailbreak hotel thermostats. Each hotel thermostat has a specific key sequence that unlocks the lower temps that the hotel normally doesn’t allow guests to set because, you know, money."
– Sp4ceh0rse
"I do this in every hotel."
– jubilee__
Sweet Relief
"Set bags down."
"Look at room for cleanliness."
"Take a dump."
– PuzzledCitron8728
"I showed up early to a hotel after 12 hours straight of driving. Took forever for them to get me in the room (really it was probably only 30 minutes and they were super accommodating)."
"Anyways, I had been feeling the tyrannical gouging of a sh*t demon trying to claw it's way out for about half an hour beforehand. I ran down the hall, opened the door, threw my bag at something, and was kinda hovering over the toilet just in time. Hadn't put cheek to rim yet and my darling baby began his exit."
"It wasn't until after I looked up that I realized neither door was the self-closing kind and you could see all the way in from the hallway."
– coreylahe
"You’ve unlocked a childhood memory. I stayed in a lot of hotels while growing up and I saw someone in your position once, trail of belongings leading to the toilet. So I went and shut the door for him."
– scarfknitter
Disney Magic
"Find the bible and flip through it. When my sister and I were kids, we went to Disney, and I think she asked why is there always a bible in the drawer, waved it by the spine and 20 bucks fell out. So I always check now."
– TyWiggly
"I found $100 that way. 5 crisp 20's,. I was pretty broke at the time too."
– weisblattsnut
Always Check
"First, I look at the area between the mattress and headboard for any signs of bed bugs, then under the sheets. I’ve never encountered them, but I’ve heard so many horror stories that I’m paranoid about them."
– triceraquake
"As someone who worked in hotels, I always double check the door locks and then inspect for bed bugs."
– Chatterbxer
Yikes!
"Look for cameras. I'm a paranoid f**k."
– Gubble_Buppie
"If anyone wants to see an overweight guy in his mid-40s eat pringles in his underwear while reading Stephen King novels, then they have my flabby white blessing."
– oppernaR
"They sell surprisingly easy to use scanners on Amazon. I found a camera in an air bb bedroom alarm clock, threw a towel over it and got the whole stay for free. Some will detect signals but the best way is there’s a looking glass that’s red and it emits a light and you turn off all the lights and look around the room. Any active camera will shine like a cats eyes when you skim over it."
– Vacation_Kinkycouple
The Things We Find
"I check in odd places to see if anyone stashed drugs or money. You would be surprised at all the sh*t I’ve found over the years!"
– Deathbot-420
"We found an axe under the bed once."
– Punkstarbabe
Ick.
"Yank the comforter off the bed and throw it in the corner. they rarely wash those things."
– whatever32657
"I discovered this recently while calling home to say good night to everyone. Dried food stuck to the comforter. Threw that bad boy off the bed."
– DuchessofSquee
"I cleaned an air BnB for a little while and I was so disturbed when they told me they didn't wash the comforter because hotels don't.... Like I guess I get it because they're heavy and they're trying to save water on the washes but yuck dude... Cleaning that air Bnb made me NEVER want to book one because of the sh*t the owners wouldn't LET me clean... I don't think I'd ever survive as a maid for a hotel, I could never travel again lol."
– ModestMeeshka
It's A Process
"Make a condom for the TV remote control. Take the ice bag from the ice bucket and put the remote in it. Now I never have to touch the remote."
– dontknowafunnyname2
"I'm sure disinfectant wipes could do the job."
– Pheobe0228
Check For Monsters...People Monsters
"Make sure no one is hiding under the bed or in the bathroom 😂😅"
– HeadInTheClouds916
"I travel a lot for work…and I’m shocked no one else mentioned this. First I check the closet, under the bed, the bathroom for a hiding serial killer…then check the mattress for bedbugs…"
– pdxmikaela
Today I Learned
"Check for cleanliness and then take pictures Traffickcam."
"Traffickcam is an app where you take specific pictures of your room and then upload them to their database. They use these pictures to check on the location of human trafficking victims."
– slappymasterson
"Take a picture of the room and post it on the Trafickcam app so if the room or similar has been used by human traffickers maybe it will help find someone."
– CatsInTrenchCoat
And thanks to those last two stories, I'm a little scared to stay in another hotel.
Small acts of kindness that only a few know about can change the world.
You never know.
One smile can change one person's day.
And that person could carry it on.
So doing it ourselves may be the only answer.Redditor sashayingthru wanted to discuss the ways we know the world is still good, so they asked:
"What small act of kindness were you once shown that you will never forget?"
As someone who has waited on many tables, just tip properly.
You'll go to Heaven.
Strangers
"I once walked to a store to buy bags for my vacuum cleaner and I forgot to take my wallet. The shop owner gave me the bags, shook my hand, and told me to bring him to money tomorrow. He put his trust in a total stranger to do the right thing and I did."
Independent-Bike8810
In the Rain
"A man in a full business suit with a briefcase handed me an umbrella in a torrential rain storm and wouldn't take no for an answer. I still had to walk through Times Square to get to the train and I'm sure he got soaked going wherever he was going. A couple of weeks later, I gave the umbrella to a lost girl in my neighborhood when it started to rain and she didn't have one. Felt like the universe wanted it to happen."
"I'll never forget that man though."
im_not_bovvered
Leggo my Lego
"When I was maybe 4 or 5 years old, I made friends with another kid in an airport, and he was playing with a couple glued glued-together Lego cars. Me and that kid played for like an hour with those things and when it was time to go our separate ways and board the plane, the kid insisted I keep one of the cars, and while I insisted he should keep them, he said it was proof that we were friends, and to this day roughly 20 years later, I still have that car packed up with my childhood mementos box."
"That friend of mine was a good kid. Hope he’s doin' well."
givebooks
Don't Cry Tammy
"My husband and I were sitting on our porch holding hands and crying, just feeling overwhelmed because we were waiting to find out whether or not my tumor was cancerous. Our neighbor saw it when he was coming home. About half an hour later he came over with some freshly baked cookies. He didn't even say anything, just smiled, handed them to us, and then went back home."
"Just thinking about that moment has me crying again. From his kindness, not the fear. Tammy the Ti**y Tumor turned out benign!"
Reflection_Secure
Coasting...
"I literally coasted into a gas station out of gas on my motorcycle, then realized I didn't have my wallet. Some lady saw me patting all my pockets and I was upset and offered to fill up my tank. I only let her put $5 in, which on a bike is a lot. But it meant so much to me."
Twours1944
Give people gas as often as possible..
Pay it forward.
Generosity
"My realtor took less commission so that I could get my dream home. It was a rare find in a great neighborhood."
SheLight2
Egged Away
"Years ago my car got egged real badly overnight while parked on the driveway of our duplex. We had to go somewhere the next morning so took the wife’s car. Came back hours later and my car was shining like new on the driveway. The neighbor whose name I didn’t even know at that point had washed it for me while we were away."
Ceristimo
Are those still a thing?
"I was in maybe 4th grade and my parents just had my younger sister, so newborn focused. I went to my school lunch, opened my paper bag (are those still a thing?), and unwrapped the foil holding my sandwich. There was nothing inside. It was actually just 2 slices of dry white slice bread and I was sad."
"Literally, my table mates all chipped in various components and made me the most amazing ham and cheese sandwich I’ve ever had. I’ve been chasing that dragon of ham sandwich since but I’m sure it was the response and not the ingredients that I loved."
I_Am_The_Grapevine
Thanks guys...
"19 years old, first apartment, first winter, first winter utility bill. I smiled and told my coworker I'd just pay it, skip lunch, and eat cheap Mac and cheese for dinner. It'll be ok. All that month co-workers accidentally got extra chips from the vending machine. A wife packed an extra sandwich. A box of my favorite crackers would be on my desk when I came in. It was still hard but I didn't starve. Thanks, you guys."
alady12
Just Tears
"I was on the subway, sitting there crying because I had just ended a relationship. I wasn't making any noise, just tears, but the guy sitting next to me gave me some tissues. I'll never forget that."
screamingcupcakes
Some of the best people ride the subway.
Everyone has tissues.
The Exact Moment People Realized Their Significant Other Was Toxic
Content Warning: Toxic Behavior
As much as we might like to hope otherwise, not all relationships are meant to work out.
Not only are some couples not meant to be, but sometimes there are super valid reasons for a relationship to end beyond simply not being compatible, like toxic behaviors.
But a significant other being toxic will not be obvious upon first meeting them or going on a first date with them. Otherwise, we never would have dated them in the first place.
Redditor BlackenSphinx asked:
"What did your partner say or do that made you realize that they were a toxic person?"
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
"When they kept apologizing for the same thing, then doing it anyway, never changing for the past 10 years."
- crunchy_soupp
"My wife got a quote from a teacher that we've tried to instill in our kids:"
"'Saying sorry means not doing it again.'"
"Obviously, accidents aren't included, but yeah when you hurt someone and apologize, don't do that thing again."
- JollySquatter
A New Kind of Arranged Marriage
"Lots of things, but I think probably the worst and most impactful was when she peed on a stick for her friend while she was pregnant."
"Her friend then convinced her boyfriend to marry her. They were divorced several years later, after what I can only assume was an absolutely awful marriage."
- conspirized
Emotional Abuse
"'Nobody as good looking as me will ever love your personality.'"
- MrNobody26501
"Ugh, that's the kind of s**t I'd think about and let eat me away for YEARS."
- SenorDangerw**k
In Sickness and In Health
"I was at a party with my ex-wife and someone brought out a newspaper with headlines about a local official being in an accident and being paralyzed."
"My ex-wife, without hesitation, said, 'If that happened to my husband, I would be out of here.'"
- nobody333254
"My biggest motivator of leaving an ex was that I couldn’t see him taking care of me if something were to happen to me."
- Puzzleheaded_Elk6243
Children Come First
"This one is minor, but I had an ex who wanted to buy her daughter some new shoes. We were at an outlet mall and they had a BOGO (Buy One, Get One Free) sale."
"She found a cute pair for herself but was having trouble finding a pair for her daughter."
"I love being helpful and found a pair that fit her daughter's personality to a T."
"But she wouldn't buy them because they were $5 more expensive than the pair she was getting for herself."
"Both were combined under $50, and she wasn't hurting for cash. She just refused to spend more on her daughter than on herself out of principle."
- Calm-and-worthy
"This one reallyyyyy irritates me. She sounds like the kind of 'parent' who wouldn't give up a meal to make sure their baby ate if it came down to it."
"As someone who has to make that decision nearly every day... my baby eats, even if I don't. Always."
- DakotaTheAtlas
The Silent Treatment
"We weren't living together, but he randomly cut me off for like a full week. He wouldn't answer my texts or anything. We were long-distance (different colleges halfway across the country) so I couldn't, like, go check on him."
"Anyway, he finally comes back and tells me it was a punishment for not being interesting enough. He liked me because I was an intellectual who would have Deep Conversations (tm) with him and I'd been talking too much about things he didn't find interesting."
"I dumped him shortly after and he acted like it came out of nowhere."
- baby_yaga
Overly Critical
"He criticized everybody. He was mean about his family, his friends, and his colleagues. It seemed very small at first, I knew he was depressed and so was naturally more cynical and had a low view of himself, but he'd laugh and joke with friends on the phone or in person for hours and then the minute they were gone... Awful."
"I rationalized it for too long and then realized it would be the same about me. Then convinced myself it wouldn't be because he always hyped me up... Until I heard it."
"He played the victim so, so well. Scary, really."
- Important_Sprinkles9
Ableism at Its Finest
"I had an ex say. 'What could you possibly be depressed about?'"
"I was an id**t and stayed with her for three more years after that."
- WhatIsAJahBone
Not Over Their Ex
"He slept with his ex frequently for six months... in the house that I bought us... in my childhood bed that I took with me from home... all whilst I was at work."
"He was changing over phones from an old school brick type to an iPhone. He went out to work and his old phone kept buzzing. I saw a very familiar name pop up…"
"He told me that she was crazy and they weren’t in contact as she was obsessed with him (Red flag, I know). There are some things I read that I wish I could erase from my memory."
"When everything was out in the open, she began bullying me online about it."
"We were engaged. as well. Lucky I found out before we got married!"
- MissQII
Different Definitions of "Cheating"
"She cheated on me with a Yankees player because I 'cheated on her first.'"
"How did I cheat? By going to her favorite burger spot without her while she was having sushi with her girlfriends."
"I found out she cheated with three other guys too."
- HawaiianSteak
"Somehow the most venom in this story came from 'a Yankee player,' lol (laughing out loud)."
- SoftcoverWand44
"I'm guessing he's either a Mets or Red Sox fan."
- ScorpionX-123
Gone with the Rose-Colored Glasses
"It wasn't so much what he was saying but the action he did about it."
"He used to tell me all the time that I should get contact lenses because he wanted to see what I looked like without glasses."
"I need glasses full time to see because I have an extremely bad prescription and astigmatism. They're both very high and it's impossible to see without glasses. If I take my glasses off, I can't even find them so I have to make sure I know exactly where I set them."
"One day out of town for a large event we had been planning to attend for over a year, he hid my glasses and acted like he couldn't find them."
"I had NEVER had glasses just disappear. It might take me a while to find them, but if I have someone else around me, it's usually somewhere obvious."
"I figured, 'Oh, that's okay, I have prescription sunglasses on me, as well; I'll just wear sunglasses for the event.' I asked him to pull them out of my bag as they were in a zip glass case, I know for a fact they are in there because I switched them out after arriving at the hotel."
"He pulled out the case and tried to tell me they weren't in there and that I must have dropped them somewhere."
"I begged him to help me search the hotel, I called downstairs, I had staff members helping me search, and I was in the lobby on my hands and knees feeling around trying to find them."
"He was busy getting ready upstairs and told me to just go to the event without them; I'll be fine."
"I absolutely refuse to leave without my glasses. I told him to go have a good time but I'm not leaving the hotel room and going into a crowded strange place in a strange city being unable to see."
"Well suddenly, right before we're about to leave, he pretended he found my glasses and they were just sitting on the bathroom counter the whole time. As if I didn't search every single inch and feel around every inch of that vanity."
"After some crying, he admitted that he hid both of my glasses because he just wanted me to see that it's not so bad and that if I just go without them for a little while my eyes will adjust and I'll be able to see fine."
- ConceptAggravating95
Silence to the Extreme
"I had a girlfriend who got mad at me, and I had no idea why. For three days, she would call, say nothing, and if I hung up, she would call back."
"I turned off my phone, and she'd call my parents or show up at my house (in high school still living with my parents). This went on for three days. I basically didn't sleep."
"I was a senior and still in school, and she had graduated the year before. On the third night, she yelled at me for keeping her up, and it was the end of the fight."
"The next day, I asked what I did. She said nothing she was just angry and wanted to fight."
"It took me going to college and her finding some other poor sap to torture to finally get away from her. I was young and naive, and now know I should have involved a court order and police."
"It was h**l. But from it, I ended up with my now wife, and without that h**l, I would not be where I am today, which is something I would never change."
- FineSL
The Most Controlling of the Controlling
"She yelled at me for wanting to talk to my family after she and my dad had a minor argument. She also blocked my old friends, family, and coworkers in my phone while I slept."
- Arcane_booty_Magic
"Throw the whole girl away."
- BlackenSphinx
"I did that a month ago, and this has been the best month I've had in three years."
- Arcane_booty_Magic
These accounts were terribly eye-opening, and they're a great reminder that a toxic relationship may not be identifiable until it's made glaringly obvious to us.
Fortunately, all of these Redditors were talking about exes, which means that they were able to move beyond these tough situations.
Notorious Frauds Who Somehow Still Have A Following Despite Being Exposed
Cognitive dissonance is when one learns new information that challenges a deeply held belief that seems to undercut a favorable self-image, that person may feel motivated to somehow resolve the negative feeling that results—to restore cognitive consonance—by ignoring the challenging source.
This isn't the only response to cognitive dissonance, but it's the one most people are familiar with.
This behavior explains people believing something—or following a leader—despite all the contradictory facts. Outsiders look at the situation and are amazed that their adherents can't see the absurdity of the fraud.
But it's a common occurrence.
Just spend some time watching documentaries about cults and you'll see all the proof you need.
Reddit user Ninac4116 asked:
"Who are some exposed frauds that still have a following despite being debunked?"
Playing With Fyre
"That dude that went to prison for fraud for Fyre Festival, Billy McFarland. He is out now and wants to try again."
~ Can_Not_Double_Dutch
"Grifters gonna grift. His sleaziness was already well documented with that credit card/access card BS before the Fyre."
~ mcburloak
"The justice system certainly failed on this one. A long running pattern of documented fraud even before he committed the massive Fyre Festival wire fraud in the amount of millions of dollars and guy is out within a few years."
"What a f*cking joke. There are thousands of people serving more time for drug offenses and stealing 1/100th as much."
~ perfektstranger
* Billy McFarland is an American con artist and convicted felon who co-founded the ill-fated Fyre Festival as well as several other fraudulent businesses.
The New MLM
"All of those YouTube 'financial freedom' classes/courses/programs."
~ TiaMaeLove
"I consider those to be Gen-Z pyramid schemes."
"'Learn how to get passive income by teaching people how to get passive income by teaching people how to get passive income!'."
"'Something, something grind mindset...'."
~ Kurt0690
Totally Not A Cult
"Keith Raniere who started NXIVM too."
"There's still a bunch of women that hang out outside of the prison he's in singing his praises every day."
"It's weird man."
~ HotGarbage
* Keith Raniere is an American cult leader who was convicted of a pattern of racketeering activity, including human trafficking, sex offenses and fraud."
Also Totally Not A Cult
"Warren Jeffs and Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS)."
"Dude is literally in prison and still has a significant amount of devout followers."
~ alienwitchkitty
"To be fair, the FLDS is very isolated from the outside world (think no internet). It's possible that they genuinely don't understand the severity and overwhelming evidence of his crimes."
"Though you'd still think that watching your prophet marry children as his brides would set off some red flags."
~ lo_profundo
* Warren Jeffs is an American polygamous cult religious leader who was convicted of several sex crimes and two assisted sex crimes involving children.
"I’m a long time postal worker and I once did an intake at the plant of a pallet of letters from Warren Jeffs. They have to provide us a sample for this kind of mass mailing for billing purposes so I read the letter."
"He was sending it to every church of every denomination within our province (Canada). I imagine other plants got similar pallets."
"The letter was a demand that they give all properties and tithing money over to Warren Jeffs and the board of the FLDS. He wanted every priest/pastor to tell their congregation that they were wrong and would now be following Heavenly Father’s wishes to completely turn over everything to the FLDS and every member was to write letters and make calls demanding Warren’s immediate release."
"This mailing cost was in the thousands of dollars and I suspect every church in Canada received one, potentially tens of thousands in cost. That’s all money from his followers, terrible waste."
"For months afterwards we saw so many of these letters come back through the plant labeled return to sender. I would be completely shocked if they got even one positive reply. Massive waste."
~ janesfilms
Absolutely, Totally Not A Cult
"L Ron Hubbard. My uncle is Scientology level OT8."
"I'll never understand why he buys into it (literally and figuratively)."
~ thatoneguy889
"L. Ron pulled a ‘hold my beer’ before it was even a thing with saying the Ringling brothers (circus guys) were about to be upstaged by the biggest scam in history, then proceeded to write the Scientology books."
"Even knowing Hubbard was a failed sci-fi author, and that he had a history of failed scam attempts, people still believed the Scientology books were educational/historic documents and a guide to a wonderful life/afterlife. Mind blowing."
"Equally if not more of a scam than Joseph Smith reading the gold tablets from a hat, that only he could see and decipher because that is what God wanted. The level of gullibility of mankind throughout history is impressive in all the worst ways."
~ _calmer_than_you_r_
* Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was an American pulp science fiction author and the founder of Scientology.
Sleight Of Hand
"Uri Geller."
"He still to this day claims he has mystical powers and won't admit he's just doing magic tricks, despite being exposed by James Randi."
~ agent_x_75228
"The crazy part to me is that he is actually quite talented as a magician."
"He could make a good living just doing magic tricks and billing himself as such."
"He didn't even have to lie to be successful."
~ starmartyr
"His exposure on The Tonight Show with Carson is so fun to watch."
"You almost feel bad for him. Almost."
~ BulljiveBots
* Uri Geller is an Israeli-British television personality and self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other illusions to simulate the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy.
Oh, Oprah... 😞
"Dr Phil and Dr Oz."
~ 335i_lyfe
"Oprah has pushed so many terrible people and I feel like it really should be discussed more.
"My mom's been in a cult for years because of her pushing Gwen Shamblin and the Weigh Down diet on her show."
~ _angesaurus
"She propelled so many charlatans and their mumbo jumbo into the mainstream."
~ Dangerpuffins
* Phillip "Dr. Phil" McGraw is an unlicensed clinical psychologist and TV personality who appeared as a relationship and life strategy expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show whose methods have been called "exploitative" and "appallingly cruel."
* Dr. Mehmet Oz is a television presenter and physician who appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and his own program which drew criticism from the medical community for false medical claims and pseudoscience including faith healing and various paranormal beliefs.
Body By...
"The Liver King guy, Brian Johnson, not sure if he still claims to be natural though."
~ RegularEmbarrassed36
"Dudes got a physique that is pretty much impossible to achieve natural."
"Like it's still hard work even if you're not natty. But don't give other kids the idea it's achievable."
~ herroebauss
"It's not just him giving kids the idea, he's quite literally RIPPING THEM OFF, selling all these products, selling his lifestyle, taking their money pretending that he's helping them."
~ battleduck84
"He admitted he was using steroids, went clean for a bit, and unless there's been developments in the last few months he's back on steroids and claiming he's not."
~ blames_irrationally
* Brian "Liver King" Johnson is an American fitness social media influencer.
Who Profits From The "Prosperity Gospel"?
"Joel Osteen"
~ Blue_Period_89
"The guy just sells toxic positivity, begs for more money, and claims it under the Christian God. I'm a Christian and I can say with full confidence that what he teaches is NOT what Jesus is about."
~ cutiegirl88
"Pretty much all of the mega church leaders are frauds."
~ usedmotoroil
"I'd say 100% of them. It is anti-Christian. Any excess should be given back to the communities they are in."
"That's why they don't get taxed. But now it's just a grift."
"They don't give a f*ck about anything other than the size of their bank accounts."
~ theshane0314
"Absolutely 100% they are frauds and lying weasels."
"Osteen or Copeland or any of the others who unabashedly pound the pulpit, so to speak, on the 'prosperity gospel'—they have incorporated their sin as their strength in the eyes of their followers and those imbeciles eat it up."
~ Thunderhorse74
* Joel Osteen is an American televangelist, businessman based in Houston, Texas and one of the more prominent figures associated with "prosperity theology" and a focus of its critics.
Filipino Fraudsters
"Bongbong Marcos and his family."
"Their family literally stole billions from the Filipino people yet they are still out of prison. Their family matriarch, Imelda, was even sentenced to prison for graft, but no one dared to arrest her."
"Bongbong is now even president of the Philippines and has a huge cult following because of how they tried to distort history."
~ holyguacamole-
* Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is the second child and only son of former president, kleptocrat and dictator Ferdinand Marcos and former First Lady Imelda Marcos.
The Power Of Motorola Compels You!
"Faith healer and psychic Peter Popoff. The divine voices he heard were actually his wife using a radio."
"He’s still selling his 'Miracle Water'."
~ SnooChipmunks126
"Popoff was exposed in an investigation on a news show.
"He 'retired to a quiet life of contemplation' when it aired which everyone knew was horsesh*t."
"A couple years later he’s back grifting."
~ Renaissance_Slacker
* Peter George Popoff is a German-born American televangelist, charlatan, debunked clairvoyant and faith healer.
No, Vaccines Don't Cause Autism
"Andrew Wakefield, who was trying to get his own vaccine approved, so he tried to make it look like another vaccine was a problem."
"He did research without getting proper consent, falsified results, and so on."
"He's become the darling of the vaccines-cause-autism crowd, even though his behavior was so egregious that he lost his medical license."
~ DrHugh
"Oh it's so much worse. Wakefield's alternative vaccine (cofounded by a quack who didn't have a medical license, believed he could cure autism with his bone marrow, and had his name spelled wrong on the patent) was a cash-grab, to capitalise further on the greater scheme."
"He was paid to discredit the MMR vaccine by a lawyer who recognised the amount of money there was in suing the manufacturer on behalf of concerned parents, in collaboration with a then-small group of parents who believed it made their children autistic (called "JABS") who have since rocketed in popularity as a direct result of the whole debacle."
"Wakefield lost his license primarily because he did not receive informed consent for procedures. Not only did the handouts he gave to the parents not even mention all the procedures performed, but they did not mention risks. The handouts literally do not contain the word 'risk'."
"He also lied. A lot. Like, the results of his study were shaky at best, and half of them were just completely made up."
"Oh, and giving colonoscopies to children ended up being a horrible idea, because one of them got a perforated bowel. He f*cked up that kid's life forever. It's... disgusting."
"Autism isn't actually that bad. And it's kinda disgusting that it was being treated as something worth risking actual death to avoid.
"Also, the head of Andrew Wakefield's hospital at the time of his departure (when he got fired because his colleagues got sick of his sh*t) went on to describe him as, quote, 'a Wanker and a Fraud'."
~ Otherversian-Elite
How Is He—either one—Still A Thing?
"Logan Paul. This really annoys me. The dude has been called out for multiple crypto scams and yet I still see his sh*tty energy drink all over grocery stores and gas stations.
"I really hope he goes down for real."
~ Zelgon
"It's crazy that he even still has a following after everything he's said and done."
"People were actually cheering and rooting for him in his recent scammer vs scammer joke of a boxing match."
~ labwongames
"The world isn't running out of unattended 5-10 year olds with iPads anytime soon. That's why he still has a following."
"Or am I thinking of Jake Paul? Eh, two sh*ts, same a**hole."
~ The-Mighty-Caz
"When I taught middle school several of my students were huge fans of Logan or Jake Paul. They’d come to school in their merch and listen to their sh*tty music while they did class work."
~ SadandBougie
* Logan Paul—once called "the face of douchebag entitlement" and Jake Paul—known for prank videos—are brothers and American YouTubers who started out posting sketches on Vine.
"Multi-Level Marketing (MLMs). The vast majority of people who sign up for them make very little and a significant number lose money."
"And yet, they're everywhere."
~ LadyMageCOH
"99% of MLM sellers lose money. It’s only those at the very top that actually make anything at all."
"It’s such a scam and a fraud!"
~ greens_beans_queen
"That's why they used to be called pyramid schemes. They came up with the term MLM to make it sound better."
~ Bijorak
45
"Donald Trump/MAGA… the guy has over 50 felony charges and civil cases for fraud and rape and still has followers?"
"It’s cuckoo bananas."
"He is a con artist… and it’s so glaringly obvious!"
~ Acceptable-Bullfrog1
"I try not to be Trump this Trump that, but this is what immediately came to mind."
"He’s not good at business. He’s not good at being president. He’s oblivious to rules he doesn’t want to observe. They think he’s Christian and like, when have you seen him going to church even to fake it?
Everything he does is as obvious as his fake tan that makes him look like Magda (MAGAda? 😃) from Something About Mary.
"His MAGA minions claim they’re these shrewd people that show up on the car lot and get exactly what they want for less than it’s worth when really they’re the type to show up on the lot and leave with a Hummer they don’t need and can’t afford."
~ Orgasmic_interlude
In the words of Carl Sagan:
"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle."
"We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth."
"The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken."
"Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
~ Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
What proven frauds, scammers and grifters would you add to the list?