We all have that inner voice, that small and most auspicious person that knows when we as a whole are about to head into some hazardous situation. Most of the time we tend to ignore that voice. Those signals trigger our greatest asset, our gut instinct. Which is connected to that voice. Listen closely, it can save your life.
Redditor u/OddAmbassador4 wanted everyone to share.... When has your gut instinct saved your life, or helped you avoid something horrible?
Pooper Scooper....
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Quite literally a gut feeling actually. I was on the bus commuting to my university and began to feel extremely bloated. So I decided to get off. Turns out it was a (relatively) good move, because as soon as I got off the bus I began furiously crapping myself. And I mean like full on butt blasting diarrhea. Of course it didn't really help me avoid crapping myself but it helped me not embarrass myself by turning the bus into an butt bomb that day. _Twas_Ere_
Never talk to Strangers....
I was about 11, and this neighborhood man started kind of hanging around my friends and me sometimes. He was friendly and would buy us junk food from 7-11. My little friend crowd was mostly boys and it wasn't unusual for me to be the only girl with them. This man started inviting them over for snacks, would give them money for 7-11, etc, and they thought he was the greatest thing. I got a creepy feel and didn't like how he seemed to look at me more than the boys, so I never went to his house.
Creep started bringing gifts to my house for me until my mom answered the door one day and told him to hit the road and never come back. The next we heard of him was in the newspaper because he was serving time for "interfering with a minor" He sent his victim a Valentine's card from there.
I'm grown up now and I really hope that piece of crap is long dead. I escaped him ruining my childhood, but some other little girl didn't. I think about that sometimes. DogsNotHumans
Sip Slowly....
I pulled up to the corner of Audubon Blvd. and Fountainbleau Drive, a four-way stop. I'm reading towards the river, and I look to my left and right, after coming to a full stop, and see no one. But, instead of going, I like almost heard a voice in my head say, "Stop and take a drink of your drink." I didn't hear a voice, but I felt this oddly strong prompting in my mind's inner dialogue to take a drink of my drink. As I'm reaching down to grab it, a car flies through that intersection going as fast as you possibly could on that street. It would've crashed right into me on my side, and likely killed me or F-ed me and my toddler daughter in the car seat behind me up for good. wuapinmon
The Fix?
When we ran out of screw-in fuses for the fuse box, I was told it was okay to insert a copper penny as a "temporary fix" until some replacement fuses could be purchased.
When I smelled insulation melting on overheated wires in the wall, I knew that the advice I'd been given was wrong and dangerous. So I immediately pull the "main" fuse for the entire house until new screw-in fuses could be bought.
That simple act likely saved burning down the house due to a potential electrical fire. Back2Bach
Slow Down!
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My ex-girlfriend and I were driving home late at night from a concert. It was about a three hour drive, so it was probably somewhere around 2AM. It was mid-January and was snowing pretty heavily. She was going around 70mph. I don't know why, but I asked her to slow down. She slowed to around 35mph and not a minute or two later we had to slam on our brakes because there was a semi jack-knifed across both lanes. The brakes locked up and we slid through the slush and only stopped about 15 feet short of the trailer. If I hadn't asked her to slow or if she hadn't listened, I would have likely been a head shorter. explodeder
The Dark Knight....
I'd asked for days off to see The Dark Knight in theaters. I had the seniority at my retail job to get the days off and asked 3 weeks in advance for the days. The scheduling manager hated me and didn't give me the days off. I'd really wanted to say screw it and go anyway and just go to work on 4 hours or less of sleep. The say rolled around and my gut instinct told me to just go to bed and to see the movie the next week.
Had I gone that night I would have been in the Aurora theater James Holmes had been in. I'd had 3 friends in the theater that all lived but multiple coworkers lost friends or family. My dad heard the news break when it happened (he worked nights out of his truck and heard it on the radio) and called my mom frantic to check I was in bed and hadn't gone to the theater since he knew I loved Batman and wouldn't shut up about the movie. I'm glad I went to bed. I saw the movie when it was released to DVD. I couldn't bring myself to see it in a theater. gothiclg
Stairs Only!
So it was during the Easter holidays, me and my family live in a block of flats, I was 10, and we were the last ones to leave so we were all lone in the building. We were going to the garage to get the car and my family all 4 of them took the elevator, I however decided to take the stairs cause I had this fear in the back of my head that I might get stuck in there. And while I was walking down the stairs I hear a voice from the elevator shaft. It was stuck and all my family was in it. Long story short they managed to fill me up with courage and I went out asking strangers for help, me a 10 year old, thankfully a lady helped me and called 911 and were able to get my family out of the elevator. I still take the stairs whenever we are leaving for a family trip. Mike_The_Greek_Guy
Louder and louder....
I was walking home from work one night last week and I could hear footsteps behind me. I was on the phone to my partner at the time like I do when I have to walk home alone at night. The footsteps start getting louder and when I crossed the road I could hear this person running and saw them out of the corner of my eye, seemingly towards me. So I turn around and look right at them which seems to startle them and they ran in front of me and kept walking.
I slow right down at this point and just watch them, describing very loudly to my partner what this man looks like and what he was doing. He was acting very shifty, crossing the road over and over when he didn't need to and constantly looking back at me. I hid behind some bushes and waited for him to go out of sight after that then carried on home. Pretty sure he was planning on mugging/attacking me. I saw him again when I walked home last night but I wasn't alone this time. Still pretty freaked out tbh. Missy_Strange
Not today Satan!
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When I was studying abroad in Nicaragua, on my very first night walking down the main road with my classmates, a man ran past me and ripped my purse off my body. I had it diagonally across my chest so he literally had to rip it yanking me backwards. My first reaction was to lean into the drag to turn myself around and immediately take off chasing this guy. I am a young white female, so he probably didn't expect any resistance. He saw me following him, got startled, and tripped. He threw the purse back in my direction, got up, and ran away.
That purse had my phone, passport, and much of my money in it, I was so glad I got it back. I was also well-respected by my classmates who saw it happen, so that was cool. sexy_toaster
The Poo-Po is watching....
Every once in a while on my dicey commute home from traffic I get a spidey-sense like sensation that I should drive less aggressively and more often than not as soon as I tone it down I pass a cop. Sometimes it's just gas. Metalfriends
Don't Play with health!
I don't usually get sick except between December and January I fall extremely ill, probably flu. I puke and it just kills me. It happened this year but I felt like something was wrong this time and wanted to go to an Urgent Care. They told me I needed to go to the hospital. Turns out on top of the sickness I had large clots in my lungs and leg and spent two weeks in the hospital. ToastedPeanutss
Blessed poo....
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Not as dramatic, but walking to uni I halted at some random point and one second later seagull poop lands right in front of me. Felt blessed at that moment. QuestWithAmbition
The Voices....
When my best friend's mom was young (high school I think) her parents were evangelical Christians who felt called to do all they could to help the less fortunate. They were very active and outgoing in doing this. One day, her sister (my friend's aunt) came across an elderly homeless woman and asked if she needed help. She ended up driving the woman to their home so she could do her laundry. After the homeless woman had done her laundry and went on her way, my friend's aunt's dad (my friend's grandfather) told her not to bring that lady to the house anymore and to not have any more interaction with her. He couldn't explain it but he had a bad feeling about her. The very next week the family saw a story in the newspaper and learned that that same elderly homeless woman had stabbed someone else who was helping her because the voices in her head told her to. cprdvdcrr
Turn Here....
One time in Iraq, we were in a convoy going towards a reported HVT (a bomb maker) and en route, the first vehicle took a wild ass left turn down a sand road we didn't even know was there. We asked the lead vehicle what the hell he was doing. He replied "It just didn't feel right." and we were all okay with it.
Don't know why he did it. Maybe there was an IED in the road ahead. But I'm sure glad we took that turn. TheOrangeBanana007
Quick Reflexes....
I was away on World Challenge in Nicaragua with my school and I was staying in a room with 4 other girls. One of the girls was sleeping in a bed parallel to these huge french doors. Anyway, I had a dream that one of the doors fell onto this girl and I woke up and sat up and looked at the doors. I noticed that it was leaning slightly and as I watched it started to fall.
I have never moved so fast in my life, but I got across the room basically in one huge bound and caught the door a couple of inches from her face. (She was unhurt, just a bit shocked as to why I was suddenly next to her holding up a door)
I still think about it sometimes. slh259
Pull a U-turn...
Was standing on the side of a highway trying to get my bearings, and noticed a car backing up towards me. Something told me I needed to get the hell away, so I hit the crosswalk button and got the green light right away. I ran across the road and the car pulled a U-turn and started following me, I grabbed the license plate and ran into a nearby hotel. Peaked out the front doors and noticed the car had parked nearby. Called the cops, they came to talk to me, I gave them the info and it turned out they'd been after this guy for a while. w0rstwitch
He Shifty!
There was a dodgy bloke outside the block of flats where I stayed down south England. I didn't like the look of him whatsoever, so I stayed where I was and just watched for an hour. This was about a year before mobiles were a thing, so I had no way to call a pal down the phone or owt like that.
Anyway, bloke leaves and I gan on home. Couple of days later one of the prostitutes who lived opposite me told me about the bloke. He'd been arrested on two counts of kidnapping two girls. One for three hours and one for four. He got a few other charges, but it was 22 years ago so the details are fuzzy.
He was proper shifty, though. Arlessa
Dumb Luck...
While on a convoy in the middle east, I got a gut feeling that something was behind me (sole turret gunner on a convoy, before the time of CROWS systems)
I rotated my turret, saw a guy leveling an AK at me in a 2nd floor window and he fired. I returned fire and smoked the guy and his three buddies in the windows next to him. one of the guys had a RPG and i think the guy who fired at me fired prematurely when he saw that i saw him. Didn't give the guy with the rpg enough time to set up his shot before he fired.
Thank God for belt fed weapons and sheer dumb luck. BlackFrost92
Hit the Spot...
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This just happened today. Every Wednesday I have the same errand to run and I always park in this one tiny parking lot in the middle of downtown. Today I thought to myself "no, I really need to park on street somewhere this time." No real reason why. Found a spot even though it was farther away and parked there. When I was done with my errand and going back to my car I passed by the parking lot and it was surrounded by emergency vehicles. Apparently there was a fire. Good thing I didn't park there today. ndhlpplse
No Safety Net....
I had an opportunity to move to the West Coast all expenses paid. It seemed like a great opportunity. I was deep into planning and I said to my wife "you know what, let's wait 6 months and be really sure it's what we want." Four months later, everyone at that site was laid off. I would have been in a new State with no job and no safety net. zerbey
Who else has heard that sage inner voice?
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.