People Who've Been Tortured Share Their Experiences
Somethings are just too much to process...
Life can be a harrowing experience. Sadly, we have to be careful everyday of people. Some true evil walks among us and hopefully most of us will never have to be on the rage end of certain lost souls or soulless bags of flesh.
Redditor u/TheShadiestPillow wanted to ask survivors of darkness if they could share some tough experiences by asking.... [Serious] People who have been tortured, what happened, what was your experience like and what impact did it have on your life?
1.
I was never tortured but I used to work as a SWAT medic and we had a case where there was a child about 15 years old that had been chained to their bed and tortured for about 5 years. The parents were very violent and barricaded themselves in the house which is why SWAT was called in. I was the 4th man in a 6 man entry team and when we got into that room none of us could fathom the evil that had been done to that child.
Those guys were some of the hardest people I have ever known and they all just recoiled when they saw that kid chained to his bed lying in filth. He had been beaten, starved, drugged, cut, and I don't know what else. The entry team leader went and threw up outside later. I was one of the few guys on the team that didn't have kids so it was a little bit easier for me. I started to administer care to the victim and after that everything is just image after image of pain seared into my mind.
The kid made it 2 years into foster care and then committed suicide. The team never talked about it again. We thought we were tough and stuff but torturing kids is a whole different level.
And if anyone is wondering, the parents tried to shoot us on the way in, so we smoked them. Only time I have had zero remorse having to shoot someone. PaleGazelle
2.
Not torture in the classic sense of being tied up and beaten. But in a way, enduring years of chemo and radiation as a young child was bad enough.
You have those things (embarrassing and painful) inflicted over and over on yourself and at the same time you have to watch it happen to your friends - almost all of whom died in agonizing ways. You can't learn properly because you can't go to school very much. And then the lasting damage continues to hurt you for the rest of your life - both psychological and physical.
In the end, you're left stripped of everything. Dunno what to do or say about it. You just try and pretend it never happened and it doesn't hurt anymore. TheRainbowsEnd
3.
I grew up in a very volatile household - mother was bipolar that refused treatment, my older sister was a hellish child that would literally have fist fights with my mom.
Through the summer when my parents worked, we stayed home by ourselves (roughly 10, sister 15). She called her boyfriend over since no one would know and they'd lock me in a small closet (mobile home) for hours at a time. I was told that if I ever told my parents about anything, they'd kill my pets and I loved animals, so that terrified me.
I've never told anyone about that except my current boyfriend. I think I repressed it for a long time, but was/am uncomfortable with signs of affected or being overly touched... it's like a light switched flipped and I get overly upset. Also not a fan of small places or feeling confined.
My mom was constantly angry at the littlest things, so I grew up always apologizing for things that weren't my fault, but trying to appease everyone. She never thought about the things she said; calling me a fat, ugly whore (lost virginity at 19) that would never amount up to anything, no man would ever love me.
The emotional toll was severe. I've struggled with depression, anxiety, self-loathing, and completely devoid of confidence. At 35, I'm just now starting to find myself and love who I've become despite all the BS.
My mother died eight years ago and I was her primary care giver in her last 6 months. I dealt with the guilt of wanting her dead so many times in my life because of the horrible things she did and said to me, but watching cancer destroy her is nothing I'd wish on anyone. It broke me for many more years.
So yeah, life's been fun. Ms_Madam_Meow
4.
Like most people here, we shouldn't have had to go through a lot of it, my most hated was the "submission" game where my old boy would fold me in half, twist my arms or legs or trap me underneath covers so I couldn't breathe with the aim for me to tap out or say submit, but if I DID submit he would hurt me that much more so I learnt all giving up done was cos more pain. I'm 40 years old with a fear of authority and speaking up for myself but I gotta say. I can fight like a crazy person with no fear of pain. If my Dad wanted to raise a right S.O.B he succeeded but see if I ever saw ANYONE raise their hands to my sons, I'll kill them and no crap I will drop them where they stand no one should go through what I did. Scotchrain
5.
Don't want to get into specifics. The nastiest filth on the planet was imported to the country unfortunately. Was subjected to drawn out torture by the nasty filth (which will hopefully be erased at some point). It gave me severe ptsd, anxiety issues, took years off of my life, a huge life loss on many levels, vast resulting financial losses etc. Perhaps the biggest loss is a personality contortion, going from being kind and loving to being hateful and angry. There is very real evil out there, make no mistake. acutepresence
6.
A therapist decided the best way to cure my needle phobia was with "exposures". Under her guidance my parents bought some medical lance things (the things you use to prick your finger to test your blood), and would routinely make me stab myself with them.
I remember one time scream crying on the bed with both of my parents in the room while they tried to make me do it. I had to pee so badly that I though I was going to wet the bed in front of them, but they wouldn't let me go until I did it. They just kept saying "Just do it quick. It'll be over and then you can go to the bathroom." I was so terrified I kept trying to slowly push it into my finger instead of just pricking it. I finally did, and the let me go to the bathroom. That was the worst panic attack i had over it, but making me stab myself happened many other times.
I now suffer a very sever and crippling phobia. I can no longer get flu shots or update my vaccines. I couldn't get the birth control shot that would help my endometriosis. I will attack people or huddle up rocking back and forth hyperventilating in corners when doctors bring them into the room because they didn't take my phobia seriously. When I had to have some surgeries (many do to the Endo mentioned above), special accommodations had to be made to put me under, or to get IVs in. And even then, it always ends in tears, hyperventilating, and sometimes passing out.
It was truly traumatic, and looking back on it, probably torture. They were mentally abusive, and though not usually physically, I suppose this would count. I still have nightmares where people come after me with forks made of needles, or where people attack me with a needle of drugs to kill me. I have to close my eyes if I see one on TV.
I still haven't gotten over it, and I don't think I ever will. I don't trust therapists, which sucks because I need one for my anxiety, depression, and possibly PTSD. But how can I? Zero_Minus_One
7.
Idk if this counts, but between the ages of approximately 2-10 my dad would spend his nights drunkenly torturing my younger brother and I. He'd do stuff like pin us against the wall by our throat, smash his face into ours and scream into it; leave the room then come charging back in with no warning, grab one of us and start beating; throw heavy objects like frying pans really hard at us; drag us out of bed by the leg if we fell asleep during a beating session etc. There's a lot more but those are the most typical events I can recall.
He'd be screaming all kinds of verbal abuse the whole time. He'd chase and hunt us down if we tried to hide, even if we got out of the house and tried to run away. He'd also make my brother and I fight each other, like actually fight. Full force hitting and we'd be pulled out and beaten by him if we refused to cooperate, so we'd obey and beat each other since it was less painful than a beating from a grown man.
My mom had had split custody and took us on weekends since our dad's house was zoned for our school. Since my dad was very sneaky about it and left as little evidence as possible, my mom never knew the extent of the trauma. She knew he was on the mean side, but we never told her about how bad it was in fear that we'd have to go back and it would be worse. If we had marks or were bleeding when she picked us up, he'd give her a story about how we got into a fight with neighborhood kids or one of us fell out of a tree. We'd always agree to the story out of fear.
On top of severe anxiety, I also have very handicapped social skills and aggression triggers. I don't act on them (unless I'm asleep, but I'm unconscious and unable to control it at that point) but I can't begin to explain the amount of rage that fills my soul when I am triggered. If someone taps my shoulder, pokes me, knocks on my head, boops my nose, puts their face right up to mine or throws something at me (especially if it hits my head) I literally fantasize about clawing their face off of their skull. If I'm asleep and someone starts tapping or grabbing me to wake me up, I'll wake up enough to swing at them until they leave me alone.
I'm also very easily startled, I enjoy haunted houses and scary movies and stuff because I'm expecting the thrill, but if someone pops out and scares me as a joke it will jump start my heart and give me an adrenaline rush large enough to beat a grown man's ass to the ground in 3 seconds. Even sudden loud noises do it for me, especially metallic clangs/crashes. It physically hurts me; my chest hurts, my heart races, I lose all focus of reality for a minute and get tunnel vision for a fight or flight response. SlytherinAhri
8.
not really torture but when i had a pretty messed up childhood and when i was about 11 or 12 i found pro-ana communities online who made me think that if i developed anorexia i'd finally be loved and stop being a 'bad person' (which i believed i was). i tried to give myself an eating disorder by acting exactly like someone who had one, researching and watching films then copying what they did etc. obviously you cannot give yourself a mental illness though and i never developed disordered thoughts because it doesn't work that way. kept forcing the treatment on me.
anyway i was taken to therapy and i kept it up for a while but being there kind of shocked me out of it so i admitted what i was doing to them and was so relieved and ready to accept help for the issues i had. except they didn't believe me. i was forced through anorexia treatment despite not having stuff wrong with me and the more i tried to explain the situation the more i was told i was lying, trying to avoid treatment etc. was weighed twice a week, couldn't make friends because i was constantly supervised eating so couldn't really go out and see people etc.
my life from 12-15 was completely taken up by this and there was no escape. i have a high metabolism so i physically couldn't gain the weight they wanted me to no matter what i did, was accused of lying and the issues i actually did have just got worse and worse as they were ignored. i think somewhere along the line the psychs realized they got it wrong but it was kind of too late to admit that so they just kept forcing the treatment on me.
was eventually sent inpatient and one of the psychs there would compare me to the other girls, say something to me then claim she never said that, call me names and tell i was a bad person, a liar etc etc, encourage me to take PRN medication when i was panicked then make fun of me when i took it, told my parents and the other staff (the only people i ever got to see) that if i tried to speak about my "delusion" of being falsely diagnose, i was to be punished. she withheld an autism assessment i was supposed to have and told my parents i had been assessed when i hadn't.
eventually got out of there and was finally allowed to leave services at 15, am now about to turn 17 and my parents deny this ever happened, would probably believe them if i didn't know someone else it also happened to. i am now severely depressed, have a phobia of medical professionals and haven't seen a doctor since then, and developed binge eating disorder as i was so used to being forced to eat ungodly amounts of food that i don't remember what it was like to not do that. have no education or skills as i was never at school due to constantly being kept home to eat or at therapy. i just lie in bed all day. i'm finally free but have no idea what to do with myself since i never learned anything during my vital developmental years. not as bad as people on here but felt like torture to young me. still does. just horrible. tsukimishin
9.
I've read quite a few of these and too many of them start with "not real torture but" and then go on to describe very real torture.
It's not because it's done by your boyfriend or parents that it's not torture. Not all torture is done by the government. My heart is with all of you. Guilty_Coconut
10.
My neighbor was tortured to death almost two years ago. They pushed in an air conditioner to wait for him to get home, they tied him with duct tape, put a laundry bag over his head, and cut him with broken bottles and kitchen knives. They then stole his stuff and left him to die.
I can only guess that the lesson that he would have learned is the lesson that I surely did learn: Don't ever let someone tie you up. Make them kill you trying. Once you are bound they can do much worse than if they killed you while you were free.
Edited to Add: Link here -> https://www.lowellsun.com/ci_32038689/second-man-arrested-lowell-killing. Sort of doxxed myself but whatever. BigBobby2016
11.
Some back story, My dad was in the military, I have two sisters, one older and a twin. Our babysitter was "a good christian" lady. Anyways, my twin and I be would separated by our babysitter and she would lock us in different areas of the house. Such as a hallway closet, basement, or furnace room. She also made sure we couldn't turn on the lights by holding her hand over the switch or taping it down. She would then proceed to say that she was calling monsters to come get me and make noises like they were actually in the room/closet.
Of course being five and not being able to see well in the dark I believed her. She would then leave and go off to do the same thing to my sister leaving me in the dark alone. To keep from telling our parents she would threaten to kill us and even put a knife to my sister's throat one day. This happened five days a week for about six months because our dad was TBY in Korea, and our mom worked full time so no one was home to watch us until our older sister got home from school. (She got out 2 hrs. later than us cuz she was in high school and did afterschool activities).
Eventually, after our dad returned home we told our parents because we never wanted to be babysat by her again but they didn't believe us saying that she wouldn't do those things since she was a good christian. Our older sister did believe us, thank goodness, and quite her school activities to watch us after that. To this day, I'm scared of dark places, very claustrophobic, and have trust issues. wolfgirl2243
12.
Well, I was not tortured in the most strict sense of the word, like a prisoner would be.
But I grew up with a higly abusive, very violent step father. His beatings were way out of proportion to a kid. He would punch me and throw me around until I peed myself and couldn't barely move, and on a daily basis for any reason at all.
It really leaves a mark on you, the psychological impact is huge. I lived there from ages 13 to 17 when I finally was old enough to run away.
For years I had repeated dreams about being killed in many ways. So I never got proper rest during the night, that made me have issues to be productive during the day, it can lead to depression, anxiety, PTSD... It's really a sh!t scenario, cuz you escape but in a way are still not free.
Anyways, I hope that's not too depressing, it was a long time ago, I'm 30 years old now, things changed for better, I got the help I needed, I only have like some insomnia. I managed to don't become a violent person neither a toxic partner to my SO. So...Maybe I talked too much, sorry hahaha. EmotionalMeltdown
13.
I grew up with an abusive brother who used to duct tape me and beat me and literally harass me all day. I used to tell my mother and she did nothing pretty much stop crying. It made me a lot less trusting of people. I don't expect help from anyone. EarlyBirdTheNightOwl
14.
I went through emotional abuse at the hands of narc friends and people who I thought were with me due to my kind nature—I was wrong.
This led me to lose my trust in people, develop social anxiety and I now have a few friends who I can trust.
I agree with the not expecting help from others—in today's society that's the reason why homeless people are homeless—the government doesn't do anything major, and people walking by on the streets are not going to help them for free.
In this society, people make friends to gain a connection to further themselves in one facet of their life. Artistic-Result
15.
Joe vs. Elan.School <----read
The webcomic above is a completely insane, and true, story about being psychologically and physically tortured by a "troubled-teen" cult in Maine. Everyone should read it. It is extremely eye-opening on multiple levels.
It would be dismissed as unbelievable if not for the crazy amount of proof that this place actually existed.
Believe me, clear your schedule if you start reading this. It is very addictive and puts you into that head-space of going through a very messed up and unique type of torture that apparently happened to thousands of American teenagers. dwightornado
16.
This one was run out of Georgia and was not for teens but for adults and was fronted as a drug/alcohol rehabilitation house. It's an absolute mind-screw. I ran away 10 years ago and I'm just now getting help. I was held against my will, psychologically abused, my family was financially out a lot of money. It works because the people who go are 'troubled' so family doesn't believe the crazy stories they tell. LauraB6789
17.
Only one person apart from those involved know about this.
Forgive my spelling.
When I was 10 my friend had a sleep over for his birthday, 3 of us in the party. All was going fantastic until my friend found his eldest brother's stash, including a Co2 pistol, booze and marijuana. My friends brothers were little psychopaths who could do no wrong in his mothers or fathers eyes. Anyway my friend took the stash to his mum and she instantly grounded the eldest brother. The sleepover continued without any problems.
A few months pass and I'm invited again to the same house by the same friend for another sleepover. His brothers were also allowed a friend each to stay, the brothers (13 and 16) were left in charge because their parents were staying away for a night. As soon the parents left the torture began. We were blind folded and we were subjected to lashings, force fed vinegar, knives held against our throats and beaten with phone books.
Just when I thought it was over I overheard one of them say "I'm coming up, they're good pills" my 10 year old brain didn't know what they were talking about. What followed was more cruelty then a mock execution. They tied a noose around my neck and stood me on a balcony, I peed my pants and started to cry, then they started laughing. They pulled me down and said "we are going to kill you but not yet".
I was then put in stress positions while they raved and poured beer over me and slapped me about, knives to my throat again.
Then we're both dragged to their parents allotment, their dad had a chopping block and axe there. Then began mock execution 2. My head was the chopping block and I heard them counting down from 3 then chop right next to me then laughter again.
They got bored eventually and left us in a room bound and gagged, I remember getting that airplane sleep feeling for an hour so, only to be awoken by the youngest brother, he untied us and told us "that's what you get for being little grasses, breath a word of this and we will kill you".
That was it over, they never touched me again.
I'm 32 now and I don't feel particularly scarred by what happened but I do think about every day. Newtons_Cradle87
18.
Lived in an abusive household growing up and worst abuse came from my mom. If something goes wrong it was always my fault. Worse thing that ever happened was when she had someone stay over with her 2 kids who never got along with me and one night they blamed me for destroying a paper plane that they made which in truth they were mad that the ones I've made always looked good and they wanted to get me in trouble. They're mom didn't like what was going on and that caused my mom to get mad at me and took me into my room tied me to my bed post and kept hitting me with a belt until i admit that i did what the kids said.
I don't remember when but i passed out and was in the emergency room being treated for my wounds. To this day i still have a scarred lip, no feeling near my left eye, a removed rib, and half of my face is drooped. Things like this got me diagnosed with borderline personality disorder which I've been trying to overcome. Its the memories that will stick with you, haunting you in the darkest part of your mind. odagled86
19.
A guy i used to be friends with owed some dealer (also his cousin) £15000. No one had seen him for weeks, turns out the kidnapped him, tied him up in a old warehouse, they beat him with poles, pulled ALL of his nails off, snapped all his fingers, burnt him everywhere among many many other things.
Yeah he survived, he definitely wasn't the same after that. He was always on edge, never really left the house and gained loads of weight but never told the police what happened. His cousin moved country shortly after and 'found God' then come back a few years later, he volunteers at homeless shelters and runs a anti-violence charity apparently. crazypepsicat
People Break Down Which Incorrect Things Their Elementary School Teachers Told Them
While school was everyone's favorite activity growing up, something that inevitably made the experience worse was an indignant teacher.
Occasionally a student might have a question the teacher can't answer, or they might know something the teacher doesn't. While it would make sense for the teacher to be the life-long learner they urge their students to be, and to address the new information, sometimes the new information leads to disaster.
Redditor VandyThrowaway21 asked:
"What's something an elementary school teacher told you that was totally incorrect?"
Plethora of Knowledge
"I got sent to the principal's office for using the word 'plethora.' The teacher thought it was a swear word. So did the principal."
"And yes, they looked it up. And there is some obscure, arcane definition that means a swelling of a body part. This, of course, is the only definition my teacher knew, not the extremely common one."
- DenL4242
That's Not How That Works
"My fifth-grade teacher once said, 'The higher you go up on a mountain, the hotter it gets because you're getting closer to the sun.'"
- Major-Panda-1775
Moon or Sun
"That the moon emits light, just like the sun. As a nerdy kid interested in space, I told her that it’s actually reflecting the light of the sun, but she did not believe me."
- Mandys14
Legally Speaking
"That in a court of law, we are guilty until proven innocent. She confidently told us that multiple times, pretty sure she got it backwards."
- Kainerobins
Wrong Equation
"6th Grade Me: But what happens when you subtract a negative number from a negative number?"
"Teacher: You... can't do that."
- I_Code_Stunned
Vampire Bats
"Teacher asked us to name as many types of bats as we could once, and I had a bit of an obsession, so I rattled off: Common pipistrelle, Greater horseshoe, Greater mouse-eared bat, and Vampire."
"I mentioned vampire last as I thought it would have an impact, and the class did not disappoint."
"But the teacher was forced to close off the discussion by claiming that Vampire Bats don't really exist. I then whipped out my bat book and held up the page, and got sent to the principal's office."
"YOU CANNOT WIN!"
- ramriot
Maybe in a Workday
"I had a primary school teacher ask the class how many hours were in a day. I proudly put up my hand and said '24.' She said no. So someone else said 12. She said no."
"Her answer was eight. There are eight hours in a day. I still don't know whether she was trying to ask about a work/school day, but asking eight-year-olds doesn't really clarify that, especially when she said in a day."
- moisiebug
How Family Drama Starts
"That I couldn't have blue eyes if my mom had brown eyes. Thus began a lifelong obsession with genetics so I could prove her an absolute f**king fool."
"Bless my mom's single recessive gene she passed to me. I missed the blonde, but I'll take the blue eyes."
- PeppermintNya
It's a Plane
"Middle school not elementary, but my sixth-grade science teacher told the class that sound travels faster than light because 'if a plane is flying overhead, you hear it before you see it!'"
- gain_glowsack_sun
Art is Personal
"That there was no such thing as a black flower. She put a big X through my painting."
- Splattacus
Good Handwriting
"You will need to write in cursive once you get to middle school and beyond."
"Seventh-grade teachers explicitly prohibited kids turning essays in written in cursive. Don't think I ever saw it in high school, college, or throughout my career except from older people." - Leeroy74
A Wholesome Apology
"I had a teacher try to tell the class that Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus were the only planets known to have rings."
"I raised my hand and added that Jupiter had rings too, but that they were so faint they were hard to see."
"She vehemently denied it."
"When I politely (yes, really) told her that I had just seen it in a book, she gave me detention for trying to correct her in front of the class."
"The next day, before class began, she approached me with an encyclopedia opened to a page about Jupiter, and apologized."
"She told the class I was indeed right, and that it's important to listen and learn from people even when we think we are 100% right. One of the more wholesome moments I can remember from school in my youth."
- PocketBuckle
Can't Get the Time Back
"When I was in kindergarten, we had a punishment system that was basically at recess, you had to stand along the fence at recess while the other kids played."
"A minor infraction was just like five minutes and then you could go. Something more was 10 minutes. And so on, including standing there the whole time. And you couldn’t talk while standing on the fence (even to the teacher especially to ask how much longer) or you’d have time added."
"One time I got five minutes for talking in class. But the teacher forgot and didn’t realize I was still there until the end of recess. And I couldn’t say anything because you couldn’t talk."
"And she apologized, but it is a bit like, you can’t get time back, even if you want to."
- PhiloPhocion
Behind-the-Scenes Moment
"I was a pre-service elementary teacher years ago, and our science instructor was teaching us how you can only see when there is light present. A large cohort of my classmates argued she was wrong because they could see when it was dark outside."
"The purpose of the lesson was to learn how students form misconceptions about scientific facts based on their personal observations of the natural world... flew over their heads a bit."
- banjho
About Those Methods Classes...
"So I teach pre-service elementary teachers in their science methods class and as an astrophysicist, it baffles me how much my soon-to-be-teachers just don’t know about our world and just science in general."
"Like last semester, I had to convince several students that the moon was not a star. And since we can only spend one week on astronomy topics, I can guarantee that a few of them will forget and go back to thinking the moon is a star…"
- astrobre
These examples left making people shaking their heads, wondering what else might have been incorrect in the classroom.
But in most of these cases, the worst part was the teacher being unwilling to listen or to double-check their facts.
For closeted individuals, coming out is a rite of passage in life that LGBTQ+ people never signed up for.
Why is it that anyone who inherently identifies a certain way has to explain themselves to those who are confused and unwavering in their socialized ignorance?
Times have changed and while there have been advances made for LGBTQ+ people to find more acceptance and feel less like an "other," there are still many challenges to overcome.
Even with gay role models prevalent in pop culture, it can still be difficult for gay youth today to come out to a parent who chooses to live in the past and align themselves to antiquated ideals in society that prevents them from loving their child as they are.
But sometimes, the response after opening up to a parent in a vulnerable moment can prove that unconditional love is the best thing in the entire world.
Curious to hear about positive responses, Redditor Expert_Recover3061 asked:
"What's the best response to 'Dad, I think I'm gay'?"
Even those who aren't fathers can give the best response.
Crisis Averted
"In the 90s, when my girlfriend finally told her traditional Italian mom and grandma at 19, they sighed in unison and grandma said, 'oh thank baby Jesus, I was worried that I was going to have to tell you.'"
– DifficultAccident9
What Gran Said
“'I thought you were about to give me bad news! Don’t scare me like that!' - My granny when my uncle came out (in the ‘70’s!). She was decades ahead of her time…"
– LongjumpingCake1924
They're still parents.
The Rules Don't Change
"You still have to wear a condom."
– Ginchy1971
Not The Only Outcome
"Pregnancy isn't the only STD."
– rhymes_with_snoop
Bracing For The Worst
"This was my literal response when my brother came out to me. He’d called me and said he had something urgent to tell me and it had to be face to face. I was a bus journey away and started to panic so I made him tell me over the phone."
“'I’m gay.' 'I know that! I thought someone had DIED.'"
– Suspicious-Brain-521
Protective Dad
"When I came out to my dad when I was 16 I thought he would disown me. He said: 'Son, If anyone ever hurts you for that, I’ll f'king kill them'. In that moment I realized that I had the best dad in the world."
– Winterpegs
These reactions raised eyebrows.
Cryptic
“'So that’s why you don’t like mushrooms'. At least that’s what my friends dad said to him when he came out. We still don’t know what he meant by that."
– narnababy
"One of my friends from high school was gay, and when he came out to his family his Dad literally didn’t look up from his newspaper & told him his sister didn’t need to tell him she was straight so why would he need to explain that he was gay? He’s known him his whole life and already knew that."
"It was cute because he was so worried."
– 0Diamond0
These Redditors realized they had nothing to fear.
Cheers To That
"Well... My dad said 'I know... And I don't care. As long as you are happy, I'm also happy for you.' And then asked me if I wanted a beer or scotch to celebrate that I finally had the confidence to tell him."
– OneMorePotion
The Best Parents
"Our son came out to us a month ago. We already suspected, so it wasn't a shock."
"When he told me I thanked him for telling me, told him that I loved him, then explained that who he wants to tell next and how he wants to tell them is 100% his choice and we will support him however he wants and needs. He gave us a list of people to tell, and by the end of the week he wanted everyone to know."
"Love and acknowledgement and support."
– Feetyoumeet
Most parents these days aren't given enough credit for being understanding–and also having good instincts about their closeted children–as the fear of being disowned weighs heavily on the mind of individuals who are apprehensive about coming out.
A friend of mine told me her 19-year-old son came out to her and her husband. They already suspected and were waiting on him to come out on his terms when he was ready.
Her husband had the best response.
He said:
"Son, I just hope I get to have the first dance with you at the wedding."
People Describe The Most Mysterious Thing That's Happened To Them That They Can't Explain
Everyone loves a good mystery or ghost story, particularly one with a massive twist regarding one of the main characters.
But surely, stories like this never happen in real life?
Such as finding yourself stuck on the side of the road, when a guardian angel of sorts comes and helps you, seemingly out of nowhere, then disappears just as mysteriously.
Or getting a call warning you about something which sounds far-fetched, then happens three weeks later?
Surely, these are the types of situations only found in the work of Shirley Jackson or Edgar Allen Poe.
Or are they?
"What's the most mysterious thing happened in your life that you can't find any explanation for?"
Mom Acting Weird
"My mum is a type 1 diabetic, has been since she was 11 years of age."
"When me and my little brother were very young, I was about 7 and he was 5 , I came into my mum's room to find she was acting extremely strange."
"She looked almost drunk, and wasn’t really responsive."
"I went to pick up her insulin needles to see if she would react to that and she didn’t."
"So I panicked and phoned my Nan who told me to put the phone down and dial 999."
"For some reason I was so frightened and confused I didn’t, and sent my little brother outside to get help while I tried to get my mum to respond to me."
"My brother came back in crying saying he couldn’t find anyone and then about five minuets later this woman just walked into my mum's bedroom, called me by my name, and my brothers, said she knew my mum and help is coming, she was calm, soft-spoken and had a warm feeling about her."
"I didn’t recognize this woman and neither did my brother."
"Shortly after the ambulance arrived and got my mum's sugar levels back up."
"And when I went to find the woman, she was gone."
"Like literally gone."
"When my mum came round I explained to her about this mysterious woman and what she looked like."
"And my mum had absolutely no idea who she was, and we never saw her again."
"If she didn’t help us my mum would have died eventually."
"Still gives me shivers now."- leeshouse90
Psychic, or lucky?
"When I was around 18 a friend and I were traveling in Europe."
"We were walking along a pleasant, quiet street in Rome one day and saw an elderly homeless man sitting on the street."
"He said to us if he could guess our date of birth could we give him some money?"
"Of course we said ok."
"He did it! "
"He told us both our correct dates of birth!"
"Never met him before and never saw him again."- robertodurian
Some Unfinished Work, Maybe?
"I was at my mother in law's flat in Hungary."
"Fyi I don't speak Hungarian, so I couldn't be aware of any of this."
"I tend to go to bed later that my wife, and for the first couple of nights, I had trouble falling asleep because around midnight I could hear the neighbor upstairs."
"It's an old block of flats made under the communist era, walls are incredibly thin."
"Walk in high heels, which was very annoying."
"I could also hear little objects fall on the floor, and I told my wife it sounded like the plastic buttons you have on some clothes."
"She looked at me funny and told me her niece hated to sleep in that room because she was scared by the noises coming from upstairs."
"I said that was a bit exaggerated, and I thought it was until my wife told me the flat upstairs had been empty for the past at least 4 years."
"Neighbor died years before that, and guess what?"
"She was a tailor, always nicely dressed and wearing high heels."- mimzou
Gone Without A Trace
"When I was a kid, I participated in Big Brothers Big Sisters, which if you don't know what that is it's pretty much just a mentorship program in the US."
"I basically just hung out with this dude Chris for a couple hours a week."
"We'd go to the movies, out to eat, he'd help me with my homework, that kinda thing."
"One day, he tells me that he's going to Baltimore for a couple weeks and when I should expect him back."
"The day rolls around and I give him a call to see if he's back yet."
"A man whose voice I didn't recognize answered and I asked if Chris was there."
"He said no."
"I asked him when Chris would be back just kinda thinking it was someone staying at his house or watching his dogs or something."
"But he said that I had the wrong number, that he and his wife had lived there for years, and there was never a Chris there."
"I double checked in the phonebook to see if it was the right number which it was because I had it circled."
"I was confused so I just said sorry and hung up, and I never heard from Chris ever again."- theautomemoriesdoll
A Clever Distraction?
"When I was 10 or so I was staying at my grandma's over the summer break and we were having breakfast."
"We barely started eating when the phone rang."
"She left the dining room and I followed her thinking that maybe they were my parents calling."
"When we returned most of the food was gone."
"She asked me if I ate while she was on the phone and I said 'no'."
"There was no one else home and there were no pets."
"My grandma just shook it off saying we might have eaten more than she remembered but I am absolutely positive that I had at most two bites of my toast by the time the phone rang."- queenliz2fr
Mystery Benefactor
"Every month around the 5th I get a letter with exactly 23 dollars."
"No note, no return address."
"I’ve asked family, relatives, friends, the two past occupants of this apartment."
"Nobody knows anything about it."
"It is not addressed to me, but to my unique postal address."
"The total is now exactly 1886, I have just stashed it all in a box."
"I do not want to spend it in case it is cursed."- Puzzleheaded_Ad928
A Comforting Sign
"My grandmother always loved roses and had them growing in her back yard."
"She died in a December and when we were gathered at her house for the funeral my father happened to look out the back window and saw a bright red rose had blossomed."
"It stood out brightly against the snow."
"He brought it in and put it in a vase on the kitchen table."
"We all left for the funeral and when we came back the rose was on the living room floor."
"No one had been in the house while we were gone."
"My father is the most hard-headed person alive but he was convinced it was his mothers way of telling him she was all right."- regular6drunk7
Mystery Portal?
"We have a built in wardrobe in our bedroom."
"About a month ago our cat had managed to get herself inside and I must have closed the door."
"I heard her meowing and I opened the door and she jumped out and walked off."
"Silly cat."
"I closed the wardrobe door."
"Less than five minutes later I hear a meow in the wardrobe, I open the door and to my surprise, our cat jumps out again and walks off."
"My partner and I were both stunned as there is no way into the wardrobe with the doors closed."
"Neither of us have any idea how this happened."- TorthOrc
Lost Time
"I had just picked up a coworker from her house heading to work.'
"We are just talking and chatting, "how'd your weekend go" type of stuff."
"We are maybe 5 miles away from her house, when all of a sudden, we realize we are in town pulling into works parking lot."
"We both kinda look at each other not sure what happened."
"We had gone near 20 miles in a blink of an eye."
"And what cemented this experience as something that I actually happened, and not just simply losing track of time, IS THE TIME!"
"It should have taken us almost half an hour to get to work."
"Instead the time from when I picked her up was 2:30."
"And the time when we got to the building was 2:40."
"There is no way in HELL!"
"We couldn't have gotten there that fast."
"From that point on we both called that experience the time when we Jumped, like from the movie Jumper."
"I have no explanation why."
"I'll also state, I don't believe in the paranormal or supernatural."
"So this experience is one of those things that makes me question my own sanity."- belac4862
There must be an explanation for these circumstances...
Even if it's not an explanation that will make any sense, otherworldly or not.
We've all made clumsy mistakes that we know could have been avoided had we used a little bit more good judgment and common sense.
Thankfully, these silly mistakes don't usually harm others or ourselves.
This is why it's hard to see people knowingly perform reckless or dangerous activities which they know might have serious consequences.
While we don't usually wish these people ill, we also have a hard time feeling bad for them, as they knew what they were getting themselves in for.
As some people might say, they "f*cked around and found out" or "play stupid games, win stupid prizes."
What is a great example of 'f*ck around and find out'"?
Never Be Afraid To Seek Help
"Hey remember how they said drugs can ruin your f*cking life?"
"Turns out that was true."- WowAPenguin
They Put Up Those Walls For A Reason
"People who die after going over the safety fence at zoo, or basically any safety fence."- Solid_Refrigerator16
They Can't Say They Weren't Warned...
"Those who go deep cave diving and ignore the warning signs."- somekindofmiracle
Never Stand Behind Them...
"Jacka**es who come to the stables I ride at and act weird around horses."
"Those animals play no games."- clem82
Is It Really Worth It?
"Running of the Bulls in Spain."
"The videos each year of the people getting completely annihilated by the bulls is a great example."- getagrooving
Never Get Too Big For Your Britches...
"When I was young I boxed and eventually got into golden gloves."
"I got a few wins under my belt and said I wanted to fight someone legit, someone who would be a real challenge."
"An opportunity came up to fight someone very good, a guy who'd eventually win regional and state and later go pro."
"At this point I'd not lost or even been knocked down, so my confidence was high, that is until he knocked me the hell out very early in the fight and taught me that there are BIG differences in the different talent levels of fighting."-Reddit
Sharks might be the least of your problems...
"Go swimming outside the flags in Australia."- d*ckflip1980
Clown Behavior
"When people were dressing up like clowns to scare people."
"It kinda stopped after one got shot."- BigMaraJeff2
Or With Anything Dangerous...
"Playing with electricity."- tlmega124
They Won't Harm You If You Won't Harm Them...
"People that approach wildlife in state parks."- Rider-of-Rohaan42
Best To Keep Hands And Feet Out Of Moving Vehicles...
"Your boss at the warehouse is constantly telling you to keep your feet within the confines of your vehicle, and not to hang them, and to stay clear when walking, because if you don't, a 6,000 pound+ vehicle impacting a fixed surface will turn your foot into spaghetti sauce."
"Do not f*ck around, ever, with industrial vehicles."
"Follow all guidelines, always."
"A powered ride-on pallet jack weighs as much as 2-3 small cars, when fully loaded."
"It will absolutely ruin you if you don't operate safely."- SpaceCorpse
Still Probably Best Not To Do It At All!
"My uncle was a high-profile defense attorney specializing in folks who were arrested for drug trafficking."
"The greatest advice he ever gave to me was, if you want to smuggle ANYTHING, you can do it one time."
"Just once."
"After that, you will be caught and you will be f*cked."- redoctober2021
Confusing On So Many Levels...
"Trying to armed rob a gun store."- VagabondTexan
You'd Think People Would Have Learned By Now...
"Taking Julius Caesar hostage."- EgoSenatus
No One Is Invincible...
"Ye saying he can’t be dropped by Adidas, then immediately getting dropped by Adidas."- Admin_Untold
It's one thing to make a mistake after being a bit too hasty, and not giving something enough thought.
But if you end up in the ER after being urged not to do something, and well aware of what might happen, don't expect too many flowers...