Getty / Serge Krouglikoff
We've all had those moments in life where we've walked into a situation and gotten an eye full. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it's funny for everyone but you. And sometimes it's horrifying.
Reddit user MakeYourMarks asked people to share their stories.
"What was something you saw you were definitely not supposed to see?"
Of Sound Mind and Body
I found my dad's will. I was on his computer while he was at work and ended up finding a strangely titled word document. At first it didn't seem like a big deal. It contained a note to each of his kids. It wasn't until I got to the last one, my youngest brother, that I realized it wasn't just a will. The start of that line read something along the lines of "If anything is going to make me change my mind now it's writing this part". I realized I had found my dad's suicide note. I was about 14 or 15 at the time and I had no idea how to go about talking to him about it. I decided to just keep it to myself. He started buying us gifts and stuff and I would get really scared and I still just kept it to myself. I remember one day on the weekend I woke up in my bed to a loud bang coming from my dad's room. I laid there in bed for probably half an hour frozen. Once I worked up the strength I went to his room and opened the door. He wasn't in the bedroom. I was so confused until I saw that the bedroom window was open. What had happened is that there was a gust and the wind had slammed the door shut, but my paranoid brain had heard a gunshot. After that I was laughing hysterically and I don't have much memory of the day past that.
Shortly after this incident my dad had returned most of the gifts he bought us kids and I slowly started to believe that he had changed his mind. I never confronted him about it until last year, about 14 years or so later, but I never fully accepted that he was ok now. I called him distraught about a separate matter and he started talking to me about depression. He told me on his own about he had considered taking his life, and went in to detail about it, and all I could do was cry and tell him "I know." We talked a lot longer after that and we were finally able to put it all to rest. arckalocal
Vacation Video
When I was 8 or so my old nanny was showing me a video of her time with her boyfriend in Paris. After it blacks out for a few seconds it then suddenly cuts to her lying on her hotel bed completely naked, telling her boyfriend to 'come get it'. She jumped out of her seat tried to cover my eyes and told me to never tell anyone. I have now told potentially thousands of random strangers. Winnie-the-Broo
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Sacrifices
Growing up with my little brother and single Mom we never had a lot, but she made sure we always had a safe and decent place to live and there was always food on the table. She never really ate much, I remember dinners of baked chicken, beef stew, salmon (it was a lot cheaper a million years ago)... good food, nothing terribly extravagant, but always nutritious, yet she barely ever ate. When I was 10 I saw her eating pb&j; on crackers in her room after dinner. That's when I realized there was never enough food for all 3 of us, she would cook what we had for my brother and I and she would eat the bare minimum, always out of sight, so that my brother and I wouldn't worry about the actual level of poverty we were at. I never asked for another material thing from her after that night. superfly355
Owwwww...
Was getting a vasectomy and the doctor told me not to look down.
I looked down.
...I shouldn't have looked down. xoidbiox
BFFs
My mom was helping her BFF and BFF's husband move, and when she lifted the mattress off the bed frame there was a small box labelled with my mom's name. She had never seen this box before, so she went and asked BFF about it.
Apparently BFF and her husband had started "spicing things up" in the bedroom. The box in question was filled with adult toys, and they labelled it with my mom's name just in case something happened to the two of them; if their parents or children had to go through their things, they'd think the contents of the box belonged to my mom.
And now my (single, early 50s) mother has a cardboard box in her closet labelled with BFF's name. nanna_mouse
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Cold War
I was driving from West Berlin to West Germany in the late 1980's. My bf gives me wrong instructions so I have to take an exit off the Autobahn to turn back and get back to the correct exit.
On the small country road on which we found ourselves, we see a large truck with a missile on it, surrounded by Russian soldiers.
They were as surprised as we were, but just laughed and waved at us, as we got the hell out of there as quickly as possible. mischimischi
Email Chain
My boss forwarded me an email telling me to do something. I noticed the email chain had his bosses on it so I read through the chain. They had asked him to rate all my co-workers and I from best to worst earlier in the conversation. DtownAndOut
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Mafia Golf
When I was in college I worked at an arcade/minigolf joint that seemed to give zero f**ks about actually making money, but was never in any kind of financial trouble. When I got hired, the owner literally said "I pay minimum wage and I expect to get minimum work for it." I worked the front counter, and collected money for the mini-golf and sold cups of coins (or you could just use the coin changer). The till was completely busted and would be off by $50 or more in either direction no matter what you did. I realized very quickly that I could just pretend to ring up golf fees and cups of tokens and pocket the cash, so I'd pocket $30-40 every shift, and nobody seemed to give a shit. One of the assistant mangers let me take a break twenty minutes after I'd just taken a break because some of my friends had shown up and wanted to smoke a bowl with me. He was like "That is totally more important than your job." It was awesome.
Then one day I walked into the owners office while his secretary was recording figures in the ledger. I can read upside down pretty well and it was very obvious that the figures she was recording had nothing to do with the business we were doing. We sold maybe $60 of golf fees a night, and maybe $100 in coin cups, but she was recording $600 and $1000 for each. I commented on the discrepancy and quipped about how someone would think we were in the laundry business and she got really squirrely and told me to leave the office. The next day the owner called me into his office and we had a very circumspect conversation about how much I was enjoying working there and enjoying the perks of the job, and I very much got the sense that he was trying to decide if I was going to tell anyone anything. Apparently he decided I wasn't (and I wasn't), and so I kept working there. About a year later the owner was arrested for money laundering and we all got fired. Still the best job I ever had. The mob is an A+ employer. Blood_and_Brass
Liquid Courage
My teacher shoving a flask into his desk drawer when I came in unexpectedly. kaizack
Infidelity
I once walked into my dad's van while he was with a woman who was not my mom. Dad had a drinking problem. Mom took me and my brother to go looking for him because he was supposed to be buying Christmas presents. Found his van at a bar. Mom sent me to look inside the van to see if there were presents in there. He turned over his shoulder and looked right at me and said in the most evil voice, "Get out." This was 20+ years ago now and I still get emotional thinking about it. I still remember the entire thing so clearly. IndyDude11
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Unknown Sibling
The other day I was looking for my old passport, when I found a few of my Dad's old visitor's passports. Now, my Dad is older than most (he's 70 while i'm a teen), so imagine my surprise when, listed under "children" in the passport, there's the name of a kid born in the 1970s. The best part is that the name isn't on later passports of his, so I guess I accidentally found out I have a (dead?) half brother. well___-_then
Use Two Cameras Next Time
Not me but a coworker several months before I started at the company. Big boss man comes back from a site visit/weekend at his cabin not too far from site. Has someone burn all photos from his camera to a CD and makes a couple of copies. One copy is with my coworker and another guy looking at photos from site. Suddenly the photos of the site trip ends and there are topless photos of big boss man's wife at their cabin on the disc.
But wait, there's a twist: Another copy of the same set of photos was currently in the boardroom PC where big boss man is showing photos to the client. My coworker doesn't know what to do, tells our lead administrative assistant. She confidently marches into the boardroom and ejects the disc interrupting the meeting. Big boss man asks, "what are you doing?" She simply says, "there's a problem with the disc." and leaves. bigalfry
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Multi-Tasking
Back in middle school we had this really strange gym teacher about 6'2 and ripped. Me and my friend were going to the bathroom and thought that the locker room toilets would be clean since no one used them throughout the day. When we walked in to our left was one big shower room and there was our gym teacher showering while eating spaghetti out of a Tupperware container. Thank god he was wearing swim trunks but he turned around and said you guys aren't supposed to be here so we left. stuffn_cannolis
Home Business
I was about 8 or 9 and my parents were going to be out of town so they had me and siblings stay with a family from our church. Once we got to the house (which was really nice BTW) they had one rule, you can play wherever you want but the basement is off limits. Me being the little jerk that I was snuck down there first chance I got and was supremely disappointed to only find rows and rows of plants growing under lights. Low_town_tall_order
When You Don't Have a Photocopier
Went to a co-workers house to help get the scanner to work, which hasn't worked since her daughter had tried to use it a few days earlier. I tried to load the software, which would hang while trying to connect to the scanner.
A quick power cycle of the scanner, and the software loaded. The software defaulted to the "recent scans" screen. The most recent scan was the genitalia of my co-worker, her daughter or I suppose it could have been a page from a XXX magazine.
My hotkey skills were fast, so I may have Alt+F4'd before she saw what I did, but once that software worked, I used a different program to perform a test scan.
Easy, but uncomfortable way to earn $20. essieecks
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Santa and Mommy Were Doing More Than Kissing
Saw a Homer Simpson keychain in my mom's desk drawer. Didn't say anything. Two weeks later its in my Christmas stocking and she goes "Wow, how did Santa know how much you like the Simpsons".
That's how I figured out Santa must've been sleeping with my mom. jay_bro
Kissing Cousins
Walking in on my cousins railing each other.....
Now I understand why they were close at Thanksgiving. Dooooly
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Read a Book
My dad once handed me his tablet and suggested I look at an ebook or something, while we were sitting around in a theater waiting for a play to start. I don't know if I misunderstood him or what, because when I brought up his amazon reader app, I saw that the last book he had been reading was "How to deal with a sexless marriage" or something along those lines. Dad was very embarrassed, quickly took the tablet back, and we did not speak of what had just transpired. EclectusInfectus
Overheard
More heard than seen, but... I was golfing with my mother's fiance when he got a phone call. He had his cell volume turned up really high, and I overheard a woman who wasn't my mother say some things, including the phrase "f_#$" in a seductive manner. I convinced myself that it wasn't my business, or that I'd misunderstood, and dropped it. A few years later, her now-husband was revealed to be a serial cheater, with active partners numbering in the dozens. Yes, I still feel like s*_t. Yes, they're divorced. thegawking
Close Your Browser
Dad handed me his phone and asked me to look up something for him, while we were sitting around the living room at a family get-together. When I opened his browser app, the last page open was porn. The video began autoplaying and I frantically tried to figure out how to close the tab, but all I really managed to do was look at the video for far longer than I wanted to. So I shoved the phone back at my dad and said
youneedtoclosethetabIcan'tfigureouthowI'msorry
and we once again did not speak of what had just transpired. EclectusInfectus
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Always Wipe the Hard Drive
When I started a new job, someone had left a bunch of HR files on the computer I was given. I opened one up, not sure what it was, and I got to see every employee's salary in the company. Even the CEO. The next day, it was gone. My boss realized his mistake and logged in to my system and deleted the files. It was a memorable experience. cartmancakes
Dinner Conversation
I was in the 7th grade so I was almost 12. I woke up in the middle of the night and I heard my mom screaming. I jump up and get ready to defend my mom. I open up my parents bedroom door and my mom was definitely not in trouble. I didn't understand it at the time, but I wanted to get out of there before they noticed me. However, I fainted instead.
That my friends is something I was definitely not supposed to see.
Forever scarred. I'm 25 now and my dad still likes to bring it up at Christmas dinner. Grkitaliaemt
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Equal Pay
I saw an employees check stub that he dropped.
He had been there for a month and was making what I made after my first year and was not a very good worker. I got a raise. rustyshackleford239
Birthday Surprise
When I was 14 a friend hosted a birthday party at his house with all the parents invited. Needed to use the restroom but the main one was occupied so my friend told me I can use the one in his moms bedroom. As I walked up to the door I could hear somebody in there so I decided to wait until whoever was in there was finished. A good 10 minutes later, my friends mom (who was hosting the party) and another good friends step-father walk out and see me standing there all confused. They asked what I was doing there and I just said I was waiting to use the bathroom. Surprisingly they played it cool and just said I can use it now and walked off. jawnteexbawx
True Confession?
I was bartending and it was slow. I was putting away glasses by the only two people sitting at the bar. They seemed a new couple, very touchy, etc. At some point I noticed that she was wearing a wedding ring and he was not. Right as the music died down between songs, he turned to her and said:
"You know, they're going to ask you where you were when he drowned." Noped out of there real quick. PurpleLotus46
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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
south park wedding GIF
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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.