It's a feeling that fills up the average vehicle owner with anxiety: What is that note doing on my windshield? Is it a nice message from a stranger or something? Nah, that's never the case. Chances are someone backed into you and left you their insurance information. Or maybe they did and told you to 'eff off. Who even knows?
Someone asked the Quora community:
"What was the most unexpected personal note you ever found on your windshield?"
"This was in 2001."
"This was in 2001. I was 8 months pregnant and working at a large department store in an affluent part of town (this becomes relevant later) as a makeup artist on the closing shift. You can imagine I was extremely tired as I walked out of the door towards my small VW bug. As I drew closer towards my vehicle I thought I saw a brown piece of paper rolled up underneath my windshield wiper on the drivers side of the beetle. As I got closer I realized what it was but it did not register until I almost reached out and picked it up."
"It was a small severed deer leg from the knee down, hoof, hair and all! It looked like this."
"I immediately returned to the store to report the incident hoping it had been caught on camera. Unfortunately I was parked on the roof of the garage and alas no cameras. Security came out but were as baffled as I was, what type of person, in that area, would be driving around with a severed deer leg in their vehicle and why pick my car? The only reason I could come up with was the small "Darwin" like shaped decal I had on the back of my vehicle that looked like a carrot saying "Go Veg." Somebody must have taken it personally that I had a preference for vegetables."
"Since that incident I have never had any kind of decal or bumper sticker on my car."
"How can I not call someone who left a note like this?"
"The note was simple:"
"You seem to be getting me in trouble. I figure we should meet. Jack"
"His phone number was also appended."
"How can I not call someone who left a note like this? So I rang him up. Jack wasn't in, but I talked to his wife who seemed to be very nice. I told her about the note, which made her laugh, and left my name and number."
"Later that day I got my call back from Jack. He said he'd like to meet for coffee and named a place that I frequented. I agreed to see him there the next morning."
"When I arrived, I was deeply surprised to find a 1963 Porsche 356B Carrera II, in Heron Grey, with a red leather interior, and a VDM wood steering wheel. What made that surprising? I was driving pretty much exactly the identical vehicle. The only visible difference - even to a trained eye - was the license plates. His said "2000GS", mine said "4CAM". (note there were only 247 Carrera II's of any type made; two of which were identical, in the same smallish town??)"
"So, naturally, I parked alongside his car, and went in."
"Jack had a good 25 years on me, but he was very friendly, and active. We talked about our cars, our shared passion for the marque, and for the Fuhrmann four-cam engines in particular. I'd had mine about two years. He bought his new, in Germany."
"We talked about cars for a good hour and a half before I thought to mention the note. What was up with the "getting him in trouble" part??"
"It turned out that I had a dear friend who worked at a couple of adult entertainment establishments. And that from time to time I'd wind up taking her to work, or picking her up, and would be parked outside the club."
"And it turned out that on at least some of those occasions, I'd been in my Carrera II, and on at least some of those occasions, some of his wife's friends had noticed the car, and "ratted him out"
"Except it wasn't him."
"After a good laugh, we drove back to his house, where I got to see his workshop (he did insanely accurate recreations of the VDM wooden steering wheels, among other things) and took the opportunity to set things right with his wife."
"I offered to have my friend bake cookies and deliver them as a peace offering. His wife laughed, and declined."
"We remained friends for several years, even after I sold my car at Monterey."
"I was early in my pregnancy..."
Giphy
"I was early in my pregnancy and parked in one of those "expectant mother" parking spots. Granted I was fat at the time, wearing frumpy clothes and had zero makeup on and my hair was a sloppy bun and god do I love my flip flops…Besides the point. Anyways, I come out to my car and someone had written me a note saying: "you're too fat and ugly for anyone to ever want to sleep with you. Leave the expectant mother spots for the real expectant mothers." The real kicker? The guy who wrote the note was dumb enough to use company letterhead, I took the note to the company and told them that I was going to make sure that every news station and paper was going to see that letter."
"(I do get that it could have been written by someone not associated with that company, but where would they have gotten company letterhead paper?) I was floored! The manager went straight to the store I'd been shopping at to review the security footage, the man was fired right in front of me; I did feel a little bad, he had a pregnant wife but his boss said that he could not in good conscience employ someone stupid enough to do something like that on company letterhead. I still have that letter and am still fat."
"My wife and I went out to view a new apartment."
"My wife and I went out to view a new apartment. Turns out that we didn't really like the apartment. On our way out we found a note on the windshield."
"A side story, a few months back a family member had parked our neighbor in and she left them a long note explaining how rude it was to do that in the rain. Anyway not to get side tracked, I expected a similar story as I just parked in a parking that was I directed to which could possibly have belonged to someone else."
"I get in the car and start reading the note. Turns out that a stranger saw the wife and me going in to view a for-sale apartment and left a note to tell me that he was selling his apartment and emigrating. I called him up and we viewed his place."
"It has been 7 months since that fateful note was left and the kids have friends over the weekend enjoying the new place."
"When I was young..."
"I'm going to write an answer (true story) and really everybody doesn't have to write in and tell me how lousy it was to do it (I already know) but I DID do it, so "Nuff said".
"When I was young (REAL young) I had my first car (a VW) and was really trying to show my parents that I could handle it. But one evening, my friends and I went to a IDK Taco Bell, Burger King, or etc…."
"When we left we were laughing and kidding around-as 16–17yr old kids will do-and when I backed up out of the parking lot, I backed into a parked car. Everybody is like "Oh, wow, dude! You gotta leave a note or sumthin" (of course, THEY had no cars, THEY had no parents who would crack them over the head)."
"So I said, "Oh yeah, no kidding. Hey, give me a sheet of paper and a pen and I'll leave a note on their windshield". THEY are all, "Oh cool, dude".
"But what I wrote on this note was NOT my name, NOT my phone number. I wrote "Everyone thinks I'm writing down my information. I'm real sorry but I just can't do that. Sorry to leave you this way. Good luck."
"And I DID put it on their windshield, and I DID drive away. And I DO know that "what goes around, comes around."
"I parked my car..."
"I parked my car and there was a note telling me to ring a door bell. It was a nice neighborhood, daylight and my car was parked right in front of the house. I rang the door bell out comes a little woman that tells me I park my car in front of her house all the time and the hours that I worked and my profession. Okayyy???!!!! She told me not to park there anymore because she liked to come out her house and park there. I walked away after ripping the note to little pieces and leaving it on her lawn like confetti. Immature yes, but she had a driveway!!! "
About 4 years ago the same town implemented a bunch of speed humps while driving over one of them down that street guess whose house they put one in front of…wait for it….mean old lady. I bet she didn't give the Mayor the same speech that she gave me and several other coworkers. She no longer parks in front of her own home."
JessCia Patterson"I used to have a blue car..."
"I used to have a blue car (don't remember make, model or year) and one day I decided to buy and put a bumper sticker on it. The bumper sticker read, "Politicians are like diapers. They need to be changed often and for the same reasons". Sometime later, I was with my parents at a store and I saw a bumper sticker that I got my mom to buy me. This one read, "Don't steal. The government hates competition". Fast forward a few months later. I'm at the mall just browsing around and after an hour or two, I head out to my car. As I get close to it, I see a piece of paper that had been placed under the driver side windshield wiper. At first, I thought I got a ticket but when I looked at the paper, I read, "Congratulations! I love your bumper stickers." To whoever put that note under my windshield wiper, glad I could make your day."
"It happened a few weeks ago."
"It happened a few weeks ago. My mom was in the hospital dying. I was in the cars with my two cousins. They are the greatest boys ever. I see them more like my big brothers that look out for me. Anyways we were going to go get something to eat. I got a call from my sister or my dad. Sorry I don't remember. It's still all a blur. We reached the hospital. And found a parking space finally. Now when your loved one is dying on their death bed in the hospital the last thing that you care about is how you park. We didn't even take two parking place. They left a note on a brown paper napkin. Which they wrote something like. " We learned to color into the lines in kindergarten, sadly didn't learn when parking into the car lines." Or something like that. I mean you don't know what that person is going through. It's a hospital parking lot. Some asshole only cared about how a person was parked and not if the driver had a love one dying. I was going to shame the a-hole on social media. I decided to just let it go. I had to be there for my mom for her final hours. And I believe God will take care of the jerk on judgement day. The jerk is not worth my time."
"Hello there..."
"Hello there,"
"I parked beside your car and when I returned after shopping and noticed your license plate right beside mine. I wish I'd had a camera to preserve the moment, but I didn't."
"I've always felt bad that the other driver didn't have a chance to take that photo. My license plate was REDHED. Hers was FRECKLES."
-Judy Gill
"It was not on my window."
"It was not on my window. I had a pickup truck with a camper shell some one had left a note on the window on the shell."""
"I read the note" There is a rattle snake underneath your truck on the drivers side.
"So I open the passenger door crawl over and drove off. They never left a number but I thank them for looking out for me."
-John Edwards
"I never had a note on my windshield, only a ticket. But I leave notes on people's windshields saying "you park like an ahole" when their horrible parking job takes up two or more spaces. One time someone parked right where four parking spots meet, taking up FOUR spots. I don't leave a note if I see a handicapped sticker though because I feel like they have an excuse. One time I waited in my car for the driver to come out and find the note. They just crumpled it up and threw it on the ground. They will probably park like that again."
-Cee Em
"I was in a hurry..."
"I was in a hurry and ran out the door. Then ran back in to give hubby his valentines gift and a kiss goodbye. I ran back outside to find my vehicle plastered in sticky notes with each of them having a personal message from my hubby. Best Valentine's Day ever. Kept them around my inside of my vehicle for years afterwards. My mechanic saw them and asked about them and decided to do just the same thing for his wife the following year."
-KennaJeanHamaker
Thankfully, I don't have a car... but I do have the subway which is it's own beast.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
Giphy
Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
Giphy
See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
Giphy
Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
Giphy
Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
Giphy
The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.