Any engaged couple looks forward to the big day when after months of planning, they get to tie the knot and declare their love in front of family and friends.
What could possibly go wrong?
It turns out there are so many variables that can contribute to making the bride and groom's celebration a major matrimonial miss.
Curious to hear examples of weddings gone wrong, Redditor lolf**kno asked:
"Those who have been to a ruined wedding, what happened?"
Dramatic brawls and speeches plagued these weddings.
Catty Attendees And Booze
"Very beautiful wedding in a huge barn at this apple orchard. They must have spent a ton of money on the decorations and catering because it looked like something out of a magazine. The ceremony was great, the flower girl did her thing, the vows got everyone choked up. Everything seemed to be going well. Not even 15 minutes into the reception the mothers of the bride and groom getting into a full out brawl, hair pulling, red wine being thrown. Their sons jump in to defend their honor, chairs start being throw, tables are flipped, parents are grabbing children and running for their lives."
"The bride and groom are horrified and leave immediately and head back their honeymoon suite. My fiancé and I left after this as well but we heard from some other friends that most people ended up staying and getting wasted at the open bar on the bride and groom's dime. Apparently, the fight started because one of the groom's sister complimented the bride's grandmother's dress. The bride's mom thought she was being sarcastic and called her a b*tch, then the drama ensued. Mind you they had all been pregaming the wedding pretty hard."
Playing For The Drunk Uncle
"I played a wedding where as we started playing the set, everyone ran outside and nobody was to be seen for the rest of the night."
"I originally assumed it was because nobody liked us but the bride came in afterwards and said there was a huge fight involving multiple members of both families and everyone basically went home upset, injured or in a police van."
"We couldn't stop playing since we were payed and it was our job, and the only person watching was the drunk uncle dancing on his own asking for requests we didn't know."
Maid Of Honor Speech Goes Off The Rails
"Was a guest of friend of the bride, did not know anyone attending. Very expensive over the top place, several hundred guests of this very Italian wedding. Maid of honor grabs mic at the cocktail hour begins her speech, rambling, drunk. Quickly devolves to stating the recently deceased mother of the bride was against this wedding and that's basically what killed her. Plus Vinny will never give up sex workers. She is tackled by several people and dragged away."
"The happy couple is separated and divorced within a year."
Truth Comes To Light
"It was a big wedding, over 300 people. Turns out the bride had been having an affair with her cousin's husband. The cousin had known for a little bit, but waited until the wedding to go table to table letting everyone know the bride was sleeping with her husband. Poor groom was blindsided. Worst part was his father in law was well off and opened up a restaurant for him. Well, he lost his wife and his restaurant."
– admx14
A Roast Becomes A Scorcher
"Maybe not 'ruined' but it definitely got tense."
"Started with the best man/groom's brother just absolutely roasting the bride and her parents. Basically called them gold diggers and stuff in front of several hundred family and friends."
"Then they cut the cake. Apparently, the groom was told under no uncertain terms not to shove cake in her face. Well, he did it anyway and she stormed off, not to be seen for 20 minutes."
"Reception went on as planned, she got wasted and I'm told she passed out that night in the middle of the street while still in her wedding dress. Pure class."
"They're divorced now."
A Hotel Brawl Leads To Jail Time
"A fight broke out between father of the bride, brother of the bride and some guy that just happened to be staying at the hotel. In reality I don't know how much of a 'fight' it was, more just the Dad and Brother assaulting some man. So anyway they were both arrested. Cut to the bride sobbing at breakfast because her Dad and Brother spent the evening of her wedding in jail and now face assault charges for what they did to this poor man."
This is what happens when bad luck crashes weddings.
Tumbling Into The Sunset
"I work at a golf course with a lot of history behind it. We do wedding venues inside the clubhouse and the actual ceremony is held outside by the historic water fountain and large pond."
"First problem was the weather. I live in the high desert and it was very warm. A solid 90 degrees that day and it was also pretty windy. So everyone's outside, no umbrellas, no ezups."
"The next problem, and probably the worst, was the golf cart incident. The bride and groom wanted to 'ride into the sunset' on one of our golf carts. Drive around a little bit on the golf course. To be fair, it is beautiful on the course during sunset. However the cart had somehow gotten a nail in the tire, tire went flat, battery on the cart went crazy and the cart ended up freaking out. It came to an complete stop from 15mph to zero. The wheels and mechanisms locked up, almost seizing. Both the bride and groom (fairly overweight mind you) both fell out and rolled over a few times. They were totally okay, just a few bruises and perhaps a bruised ego or two. So retrieving that cart was fun."
"And last but not least, the power inside the clubhouse went out to do the high winds. There was no after party available. Only the cake was cut, hardly any food was given out. Yeah, not a great day to cover for someone on your day off."
People Share The Most Selfless Thing They've Ever Secretly Done | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Foggy Memory
"I was not born yet, but my parents rented the observation deck on the Hancock building in Boston for their reception. Tallest building in the city, beautiful view. My dad pored over historic weather charts to figure out what day was statistically most likely to be nice out. Day of the wedding comes and of course, thick fog unlike anything they'd ever seen before. Couldn't see a thing out the windows of the room they had picked specifically for the view."
"Worked out well though, they were happily married for nearly 30 years before cancer took my dad's life a few years ago."
"There's one other funny anecdote from that wedding: The wedding was held in Kings Chapel, which is an incredibly historic church here in downtown Boston that's somewhat of a major tourist attraction. To close that on a weekend afternoon for a wedding, it turns out, was not very expensive. The tourists waiting outside to see the church didn't know that, though, and someone started the rumor that my parents were incredibly wealthy, maybe even Kennedys. As a result, there were tons of people taking photos of them when they left the ceremony. Not sure if any of them ever figured out that my parents were most certainly not rich or famous."
Playlist Fail
"Best friend's mom got remarried and had an expensive, beautiful wedding, but for some reason didn't hire a DJ. Last minute her mom asked me to manage the CD and gave me a list along with verbal instructions of when to play each. I tried to warn her that I simply did not follow, but she told me she had confidence in me."
"Apparently all her life she wanted to walk down the aisle to some specific song, but I just couldn't figure it out. They had to get walking to match the sunset, so she went ahead down the aisle while I flipped through a series of incorrect songs too the horror/amusement of the crowd."
"For years after when I called my friend's house and her stepdad answered, he'd say, 'Is this the guy who f'ked up my wedding? How are ya?'"
Morbid Surprise
"I was best man at my sister in laws wedding (stepped in for the brother of the groom, that's another story entirely)."
"For a whole year of planning all the bride (SIL) wanted was a dove release while they said handwritten vows to each other. Very small, non denominational (most of the family are atheist anyway) wedding."
"Day arrives (early summer) and something is off with the bird handlers. They show up a bit late and are sourcing help from the wedding party to get everything in line. When the time comes to say their vows I help the handler carry the chest with the doves in it over to what is to be the altar where the bride and groom are standing."
"Vows are just about wrapping up and the handler gives ME the signal to open the chest. I open it and see 20-30 DEAD DOVES IN THE CRATE!!!! I immediately close it to try and limit who knows what happened. Too late. The look of horror on the bride's was all that was needed. We spent the next few hours trying to cheer everyone up but by the end of the reception the entire wedding party had organized and filed animal cruelty complaints on the handler. It was all anyone could focus on."
A Really Bad Landing
"This was one I worked at. After the ceremony, right at the start of the reception - photographer was taking 'jumping' photos of the bride and bridesmaids, so they were all jumping in the air while wearing heels. Bride landed and dislocated her knee, then passed out and kept going in and out of consciousness. We called an ambulance who turned up and fixed her knee etc, but she wanted to continue with the wedding. She then had the first course of the meal and threw up down her dress, and had to sit with her mum in another room while everyone else danced etc. Felt so bad for her as she spent the rest of the evening crying."
Tragic losses unfortunately took place leading up to or at a couple's nuptials.
The Wedding Guest Who Left Too Soon
"When I was 6 or 7 I went to a cousin's wedding. Everything was fabulous for little me, so much sugar everywhere, basically heaven. The reception was in a big community center that was reserved for the occasion. Went to the girls' bathroom, passing by the men's room to see my uncle on the floor. Went back to the main room to tell my dad my uncle was looking weird. Well, uncle had a stroke and had died."
"The bride spent the rest of the afternoon crying, and everyone except close family left."
"Bright side is the mariage is still going strong 20 years later, despite what happened that day."
A Terminal Diagnosis
"Leading up to my friends wedding his father had been battling cancer after a terminal diagnosis. And it was touch and go whether he would be well enough to attend the wedding, in the end he was too unwell to attend despite wishing that he could."
"Just as we got to the wedding reception my friend was informed that his father had just passed away. It was devastating."
Wedding Crashers
"Happened to my classmate. He is successful middle level manager, divorced, about 35yo or so. Found a girl of his dreams but from a provincial poor town. The girl insisted to have the wedding in her town to show off her 'success.' The wedding is crashed by her old friends including male friends who are not that sophisticated and have some tense feelings towards the successful groom from the city. Somebody starts a fight in the middle of wedding, groom is trying to stop it and got stabbed in the back. Died right there. And he was my classmate."
An Unfortunate Trespassing
"The wedding was at a state park that's famous for its giant gorge/waterfall. I don't know whose idea this was, but someone suggested a photo overlooking this gorge and everybody was game. The wedding party went around a stone security barrier and the maid of honor literally fell off the cliff to her death. It was like 500+ feet."
With a lot riding on a wedding to go off without a hitch, the mounting pressure is one where something is surely to buckle.
And because wedding guests are usually inebriated and high on the buzz of celebration, they throw caution to the wind and make some choices they wouldn't make under normal circumstances.
People's ill-advised actions can have regretful consequences, but no one expects death to be an outcome.
Fortunately, the weddings I've attended or heard about from friends were not as catastrophic as the anecdotes mentioned above.
While the Redditors' stories are sorrowful, it gives me a sense of relief these devastating examples are rare occurrences.
Men can be a mystery.
They like to hide as much as they can about themselves.
In truth, the rest of the world already suspects most of whatever behaviors they're trying to bury.
But often, it's so healthy to unburden yourself whenever you can.
Isn't it also comforting to know we aren't alone on this?
You do that? ME TOO!
Redditor Miguenzo wanted all the men out there to make some confessions, so they asked:
"What is something all guys do but will never admit to doing?"
Going to the bathroom sitting down more often than you think.
That's a guy truth I'll admit to.
I like to be comfortable.
Playtime
U Know Flirt GIF by WimbledonGiphy"I play with my penis more than any other object, by far."
killsafety
"And not even in a sexual way. Sometimes just flopping it from left to right while watching TV."
OneMorePotion
"This is what my wife had a hard time understanding. Just cause I'm messing with it, doesn't mean I'm aroused. I'm just fidgeting and that's my object."
Cigarettelegs
HER
"Imagine your entire life with a girl you just met."
Old_Situation4990
"Did this this weekend. The most beautiful woman working as a barmaid I have ever seen."
"However, I know it's annoying having someone hit on you while working and working in a bar she must get it all the time. so I kept quiet ordered my drinks and didn't bother her. She remembered what I was drinking by the 3rd drink. that was enough for me. LMAO."
EngineersMasterPlan
Think About It
"Daydream about insane scenarios that will never happen where you're the main hero that swoops in to save the day. Common examples include things like thinking you could figure out how to land an entire airplane in an emergency, thinking about 'What happens if there's a robbery and I stop the bad guy,' thinking about saving someone from a burning building, thinking you could save someone's life if there's a random medical emergency, etc."
bbbbbthatsfivebees
Spoons and Forks
"Not sure if this is for all guys, but my BF will never ever admit that he prefers to be the little spoon 😭."
raviolixx
"I’m over a foot taller than my wife, so I often joke that 'she’s my better third.' But I HATE being a big spoon. Nothing makes me happier in my marriage like being a little spoon, curled up, while she runs her fingers through my hair… Just thinking about is releasing the endorphins. We will hit 29 years together in a couple of months, and it not only never gets old, it gets better with age."
ZacInStl
Pick Away
jason clarke flirting GIF by OriginalsGiphy"Nose picking is more common than anyone will admit."
oldwhitch
"Nose picking is probably the most efficient way to get uncomfortable buggers out of your nose."
AllDressedJalapenos
Ugh. Nose pickers. Stop it. Just stop it!
Whoops
Uh Oh Oops GIF by 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentGiphy"Morning pees sometimes go sideways and there's annoying cleaning up to do."
Apprehensive_Sky9062
Sniffed
"Sniff our armpits to be sure they don't stink or we enjoy the smell."
Individual-Option514
"This one is def gender neutral. I've had several girlfriends be embarrassed that I 'caught them' smell-checking themselves. As if they thought it was some secret weird thing they do and nobody else did. LOL."
Zeallust
"When I get nervous I stick my hands under my arms and then I sniff my armpit smell off my fingers and it calms me back down."
Papaya_flight
Inch by Inch
"Measuring their penis. Yeah, some will admit it. But some refuse to admit it."
Just4TheSpamAndEggs
"I don’t need a tape measure to know what disappointment looks like."
flightlessf**kbucket
Haven't done it in a while. At this point, I'm too afraid it's gotten smaller. If that's possible."
Double_Win_9405
"I have honestly never measured my d*ck. Girls I dated did. The numbers really mean nothing to me. I only cared if it was too small. Once girls told me it wasn't, I was satisfied."
esoteric_enigma
I Feel Pretty
"Being friendlier to attractive women."
JoeSchmoe314159
"Attractive women are scarier for many, so a lot of us probably come off as aloof or rude whatever towards them because we just kind of ignore them (actually are just too nervous to address them directly)."
"This isn't such a thing for me now that I'm in my 30s and have a long-time committed partner. No pressure... lol. But I know when I was a younger guy in the dating pool, the very attractive women were terrifying... lol."
bossmcsauce
"Attractive people actually get treated better in most areas of life in general. It’s called Pretty Privilege. Attractive people are trusted more easily, looked up to more, invited to more things, talked to more, can get a raise easier, and obviously can date easier."
Ur_Fav_Step-Redditor
At least once
"If you're single; Having feelings/Attraction to almost every female friend you've got. Doesn't have to be strong feelings. Doesn't have to be romantic. But you've thought about it. At least once. Maybe three times."
TA2556
"Definitely not universal. This stopped happening to me after I started and finished one major relationship."
"You develop a sense for what you actually want -- and how much more valuable friendship can be than any random romance."
"Also, as a straight guy, having uncomplicated friendships with multiple women is a great way to just get out in life, meet people and situations you never would've otherwise, and not bog down your own psyche. Really elevated my 20s."
MRIchalk
Underneath
wicked GIF by Ice CubeGiphy"Kicking ice cube under the fridge when falls."
Subject-Inflation805
"Gotta feed those shadow critters."
UnRealmCorp
I love the ice cube kick.
I think it's gender universal.
Never underestimate the power of intuition. When these people felt something was odd, they trusted their gut feelings—and ended up saving lives. When they didn't, the consequences were disastrous. If you just can't help but feel like something isn't right, listen to the little voice in the back of your mind. It could change everything.
The Mugging
woman holding clutch bag standing beside white bridgePhoto by Zeny Rosalina on UnsplashI had a gut feeling I should pull my wallet and phone out of my purse. Not even 20 seconds later, I get mugged. The man dragged me across the sidewalk and grabbed my purse BUT all he ended up getting was a juice box.
The Welcome Mat
I woke up from a deep sleep at like 2 am during a winter storm; something wasn't right...I immediately went looking for my senior dog and couldn't find her anywhere in the house. My roommates had a tendency to let her out for a walk and forget about her, closing the door. I ran to the front of the house and found her laying on the welcome mat, she was hardly breathing and covered in snow.
She had been outside alone for at the very least five hours. I got her inside and warmed her up. Thankfully, she was okay, but if she'd been out all night, she would have been terribly hurt if not worse. I moved out shortly after.
Now We’re Cooking With Grease
I went shopping to prep for my long-distance girlfriend that was staying over, and I saw boxes of baking soda in the market. I thought, "Oh yeah, it's smart to keep baking soda around in the kitchen in case you have a grease fire". So, I grab a box. She's cooking breakfast the next morning while I'm in the shower when I hear her yelling for help.
I come out and the stove is on fire. Like a champ I yell, "I'm ready for this"! I grab the baking soda and put out the fire. Always keep baking soda in the fridge, kids.
Perfect Timing
My aunt told me a story about my dad (who greatly dislikes his sister and is an all-around jerk 98% of the time) calling her out of the blue one night while she was in college. She answered, he said he didn't know why but he had this urge to call her, to make sure she was okay. She told him she was fine and thanked him for calling to check on her. He didn't know what she was hiding.
She never told anyone else except me, and hopefully a therapist or two, but she was holding the bottle of pills and she was planning to take them all right when he called her. Twenty-some years later and she's very happy with her decision to live.
Intrusive Company
My mom had a really bad encounter in the early 90s. She and her best friend had gone out drinking one night. While they were at the bar two strangers were trying to flirt with them, but just came off as creepy. The creeps wouldn't leave mom and her friend alone so they decided to leave. They went back to the friend's place who lived in a trailer park then and my mom stayed the night.
Some time after they got back, they heard a small noise at the door. What happened next is so terrifying I can’t believe it. They looked out the window and saw the two men from the bar at the front door quietly trying to break into the trailer—but it gets worse. The friend grabbed the phone to call 9-1-1 and the line was dead.
If I remember correctly, they grabbed large kitchen knives, banged on the window, showed they were armed, and let them know they would kill them if they came in. The men took off and neither mom nor friend slept that night. The next day they found out the phone wasn't working because the men had cut the phone line to the trailer before they tried to break in.
Identification
white, red, and gray concrete buildingPhoto by Mehluli Hikwa on UnsplashWhen I was 20 years old, I worked at a gas station. They had just changed the law to if the customer looked 40 and under, you had to ID them if they were buying smokes. I was by myself and a lady came in and ordered a pack of Camels. She looked roughly 45, so I didn't ask. However, I had this nagging feeling throughout the transaction that it would be a VERY good idea to ask.
So, before I took her money I kind of laughed and said, "Mind if I see your ID really quick? I'm really sorry, you're clearly old enough but they changed the law recently on who we have to ID". She just looks at me and said, "I'm so glad you asked"! and flashed her work card at me. She was a freaking inspector. If I didn't ask her, I would have been detained and fined.
That was the day I learned to trust my gut. And that I also suck at telling people's ages. She was 35.
A Certain Smell
When I was 15, I smelled burning plastic early in the morning at my family cottage. I almost went back to sleep but in the end, I decided to get up to investigate. Thank God I listened to my gut feeling. A socket on the outside of the building had caught fire and flames were rising up the wall. The rest of my family was still sleeping and there wasn’t enough smoke for the alarms to go off.
I ran and got the fire extinguisher, got my dad up, put it in his hands, and pointed him towards the fire. He stopped it and called the fire department.
The Creepy Coworker
Years ago my partner at the time had a coworker that kept inviting us out to drink. I had never met the guy and was wondering why he seemed so eager to meet me, especially since I wasn’t even old enough to drink at the time. He eventually told my ex that we should come over to his place for drinks (in order for me to partake). I remember around this time creeping his Facebook and seeing the squirrelly guy posing in front of his Honda.
Something about it all made me laugh and wonder why this 20-something-year-old want to go to such lengths to hang out with a 17-year-old girl he knows is taken? A couple of years later, I learned the awful reason. He got detained on a multitude of assault charges. They seized several devices that proved he’d been doing stuff with children and animals since he was at least 13. Cherry on top? He was the local star cop’s son.
Canine Interception
In our mid-20s, my husband and I lived in a townhome without a yard in a pretty nice area of town. We knew we were purchasing a house soon, so we went ahead and got our first puppy! I’m a morning person, whilst my husband is not, so I would usually get up around 5 am and take the puppy out to the little patch of grass across the street from out townhome still inside the entire complex. I did this for several months, no big deal.
Well one morning while out waiting on the puppy, an old Ford van, all beat up with no windows, slowly drives by and goes back behind another building. A few minutes later as I’m getting ready to cross the street and go back inside, the van comes back up the road to where I was getting ready to cross, stops in the middle of the road and turns off its lights. I waved them on in front of me and at that point, both doors of the van started to open.
All I remember was seeing someone start to get out before both the dog and I felt the undeniable urge to run across the street and inside as fast as possible. Once inside, the van sped off and disappeared. But it gets even creepier. I went upstairs to wake my husband, only to find out he was in the middle of a dream where I’d been kidnapped. To this day, I refuse to run outside or go on walks alone, even on our quiet country roads. And big old vans still creep me out.
Lifesaver
I work as an ER nurse and had a patient with a little dizziness, a little nausea and a swollen abdomen. She was fairly bright, able to talk, and nothing seemed too horrific. But she was turning a grim gray color and breathing quickly. Our average wait time today was two hours. I could have put her back in the queue and moved on.
But I had a little dark feeling that there was something sinister happening here. So I called our most senior doctor out of a consultation and asked him to see her. Right now. Ever heard of your abdominal aorta? Enormous blood vessel that can pouch out, suddenly rupture, and make you bleed out internally in minutes?
It’s called a burst AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm). You’ve heard of it now. That’s what she had. I’ve never seen one before. But now I have. Within five minutes, she was barely responding. Within ten, her blood pressure had dropped to a barely sustainable level. Within twenty minutes, I was pouring blood into her and eight people were around the bed.
Within an hour, she was on an operating table clinging to life. But because I raised the alarm, and because my team worked their butts off, that woman is still, somehow, alive. Feels good, man.
Trip to the Store
girl covering her face with both handsPhoto by Caleb Woods on UnsplashWhen I was about 3 or 4, my parents were building a big house and the lead contractor was always extra friendly to me. My parents were always a little bit hands-off so I somehow ended up alone with the lead contractor in a half-finished house. I vaguely remember him and honestly don’t know how long I was alone with him. My family always refused to say.
Later, I learned the dark truth. My mom caught him right as he was loading me into his truck and snatched me up while screaming at him, all while he’s insisting, he “just wanted to buy your daughter candy at the store”! They never reported him. I still can’t understand why.
Until the Bell
I work primarily unsupervised and often finish my work 30 - 60 minutes before the end of the day. One day I was finished super early and had a lot to do outside work. I was about to leave when I got this funny feeling, so I stayed. Sure enough, 10 minutes before my scheduled finish, my boss's boss walks into my otherwise forgotten office.
For the record, I'm salaried and am usually in early. My boss wouldn't bat an eye as long as my work was honestly finished. His boss, on the other hand, would probably have fired me on the spot.
Creeper Gauge
I was heading home from my mom's and was at a light next to a gas station when the person next to me told me there was something wrong with my tire. I pulled into the gas station and when I saw the person follow me in, I felt something off, so I didn't get out. Instead I called my mom on my cellphone and when the guy pulled next to me, I gave him a thumbs up through the windshield.
I then drove back to my mom's, which I had just left and was only a few minutes away. I get there, get out, we look at my tires and they are just fine.
The Car Thief
When my husband and I were in college, we came home late one night after a long day and had to get up early the next day. We were both so tired, and he wanted to leave his backpack and computer in the car because we were going to be getting up and back into the car in a few hours. My gut feeling said absolutely not. I made him take his bag and computer.
When we came back down the next morning his car had been broken into.
The Sleeping Bag
I was driving halfway across the country to Austin, Texas to see a friend for a week. I threw a sleeping bag in my car, just in case. The week went fine and I didn't really use it until my way back home. An ice storm blew in and I had to sleep in my car in a hotel parking lot. All the hotels were full and the roads were getting bad. I was tired enough I would have wrecked my car.
It was below 30 outside and the heat in my car wasn't working. I put on all the clothes I had and slept in that sleeping bag. If it weren't for that bag, I likely would have frozen. I wasn't comfortable but I made it through the night. Several people passed on or were severely injured due to wrecks that night.
The Joker
two people riding in car on roadPhoto by Nick Brugioni on UnsplashWhenever I drive to my wife's grandma's house, I always play this little joke on my wife, acting like I don't remember which street to turn down. I'll either turn a street early or "accidentally" overshoot and pass it up and have to turn around. A few years back, we had moved across the country but were driving back home visiting family for Christmas.
Grandma said we could stay with her, so when we got into town late that night, I pulled the “ol' goof-em-up” joking like I had forgotten the street, turning one block early. Well, I noticed that a car had made the same turn as me, and just for the briefest of moments, I thought, "Hmm, that's strange. I'll keep an eye on them".
So, I made another turn—an awkward one since I was basically doubling-back due to my joke—and the other car made the same turn as well. This definitely caught my attention. I essentially went in a big circle, and the other car followed me every step—right up until I'd completed the circle, at which point they turned and sped off into the night. There was no question; they had been following us, and they drove away when they knew I had noticed it.
I told my wife what was going on, and the next morning, she found a news article about another family nearby being carjacked that night by someone who followed them home, pulled up behind them in their driveway, and pointed a firearm at them. If I hadn't been playing a goof on my wife and made the split-second decision to pay attention to the car behind me, that would have been us.
Double Down
I saved a receipt for a campus parking ticket I paid for during my freshman year of college. They do this thing where they double the ticket amount after a month of not paying. I paid it the week I got it, stuffed the receipt in my bag, and forgot about it. Apparently, whoever was in charge of clearing me didn’t, and I was told I had an unpaid, doubled parking ticket on my account after like three months when I tried to settle up tuition for the semester.
I disputed it and wore a smug look on my face as I directly reached in my bag and pulled the receipt out to show them. I mean otherwise, I would’ve had to essentially pay that ticket three times. Something tells me it’s not the first time that’s happened to students there.
Homeland Insecurity
When I was 15, I was regularly at home by myself since both of my parents worked full time and my brother had moved away to college. One day during the summer, I was just relaxing at home, when all of a sudden, someone knocks on the front door. I get up and check the peephole, and see two guys just standing in the driveway just off the porch.
One of them is wearing a suit, and the other is wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, but facing away from the house like he’s playing lookout. I decide to ignore them, because they’ll go away, right? Well, I was wrong. They continue knocking, knocking, knocking but getting progressively louder and more aggressive.
Finally, I decide to call the sheriff’s department and ask for a non-emergency check since they’re trespassing. My dumb brain decides to yell through the door that I had called, and before I can even realize how dumb it is, the guy starts kicking the front door. I freak out, run back toward the center of the house. That’s when I made a chilling realization. There’s a third guy trying to kick in the back door as well.
At this point, I call 9-1-1 and start screaming about these three guys trying to break into my house. The sheriff’s deputies came over and took care of things. Thank God I listened to my instincts.
Skateboarder’s Nightmare
In 2006, I had leg pain and it lasted for like four months. I was refusing to get it checked for fear that I would have to stop skateboarding for any amount of time. I was 15 years old. I had a math test I didn’t study for come up one day, and I used it as an excuse to leave and got my leg checked instead. If I hadn’t have done that, I don’t know what would have happened.
That day, I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer). 11 years later I’m still fighting it, but not a day passes where I don’t think how lucky I was to just pop over to the hospital. If I would’ve broken my leg (my femur was getting more brittle every day) the tumor would’ve broken and spread to my lungs—and there’s no way I would be sitting here typing this.
Adult Supervision
Back when I was in high school, my mom, dad, kid brother, and I went grocery shopping at Walmart. A teenage girl who was about my age at the time approached us and awkwardly said she thought some sketchy men had been following her around the store. I guess my family doesn't look very threatening, because she asked my dad if he would be willing to walk her out to her car.
She seemed embarrassed and kept saying she was probably overreacting, but my dad was quick to say that he would never want me, his teenage daughter, walking out alone if I suspected someone was following me. My mom, brother, and I stayed with our cart, and my dad went out into the parking lot with the girl. Several minutes later, they both came back inside and we knew something must've happened.
It turns out that an old van was parked and idling right next to her car. When the driver and passenger noticed the girl was with my dad, it sped away. The authorities were called, the girl's parents showed up, and my dad and the girl provided statements to the officer. The officer applauded the girl for going with her gut by asking my dad to walk her out, because based on the evidence, there very well could've been a much scarier ending to the story.
Always Be Prepared
black flashlightPhoto by amir shamsipur on UnsplashI went hiking in the middle of the day with a friend and his girlfriend. I brought flashlights for each of us. Well, the hike took a lot longer than expected and my buddy's girlfriend sprained her foot at the end. It took us nearly three times as long to get back and it was dark with relatively rocky terrain. Those flashlights saved our bacon. I can't even fathom how long it would have taken stumbling in the dark otherwise...
Clairvoyant Boss
It was any old day at work, the dinner rush was about to hit, and I was tired. As usual, I was going to go to the dollar store to get some Red Bull. I asked my manager if he wanted to split it because they were 2 for $5, and he said no but as soon as I reached the door, he said wait. I asked him what was wrong and he said I should go later.
He didn't give me a reason and we were pretty relaxed, so I told him to screw off and as soon as I pushed the door outwards, I hear a sound I can't even describe aside from just BREAKING. Whatever it was it was broken, that's all I knew. Turns out an SUV drove straight into that dollar store's front door and their Red Bull fridge. My manager has annoyed me like that a million times, but I'll never forget the time he saved my life.
Yank Rescue
I was walking out of a grocery store when I saw this kid about to cross the road. Something came over me and I yanked him back onto the sidewalk. Not even a second later a truck came flying past. He was probably around 7 years old.
Sweeney Todd Lives!
I was walking to the barbershop, and for some reason, everything felt off. I ignored the feeling, but every step I took just made me feel like something wasn't right, so I decided to go grab some food and come back. While I was eating, I saw squad cars and ambulances driving to around where I was before, it turns out there'd been a horrible slaying. Now I always listen to my gut feeling.
The Flirt
About 10 years ago when I was married, my wife's best friend kept on flirting with me. I had a really bad feeling about her. So, one time when she was being super aggressive, I recorded it on my cell phone. A few months later, she accused me of saying to her the very things that she said to me. One listen from my wife to my phone completely exonerated me and shut her down completely. She was trying to ruin my marriage because hers was terrible.
The Meds
a woman in a white shirt holding a stethoscopePhoto by Alexandr Podvalny on UnsplashI was in college and was having a bad time. I had started a new anti-depressant a week or so before but was also using sleep aids because without them, I had just been not sleeping at all. So, one night I’m lying in my dorm room after having taken my sleep aids, and sleepy me notices I have oddly shaped spots on my arm... and my legs... and my belly".
What the heck. Why am I a leopard"? Sleepy me thinks. I want to roll over and lay down, but for some reason, the fact that I looked spotty bothered me. So, just to be safe, I stumbled out of bed to talk to the RA. I remember very little of that part. She took me to the hospital, and not a moment too soon. It turns out I am VERY allergic to one of the ingredients in that new medication I was taking.
It just took a few days to build up in my system. By the time we got to the hospital my throat was closing and I could hardly breathe—but because of the sleep aid, this seemed like no big deal to me. I remember like five doctors/nurses around me. They had oxygen on my face and were rubbing my chest trying to help me breathe. I got like seven shots in the hip.
Eventually, they let me rest. When I woke up, they made it very clear that had I gone to sleep in my dorm, I would not have woken up again.
Creepy Dad
When I was 10, I went to the beach with my older sister, her friends, and their parents. They had a van that was open in the back (think white creepy van), no seats. The other friends of my sister’s friends took turns sitting on the father's lap when he asked if they wanted to steer the van. He then asked me and my gut said, "No! This man is creepy as heck". The look in his eyes sent shivers down my spine.
Once we got to the beach, I forgot all about the creepy dad and focused on fun. Fast forward several months later, and my sister's friends asked if my sister wanted to sleepover. She refused and my mom and I were baffled as to why she didn't want to go. We kept encouraging her to. Soon she broke down in tears and told us that one night their father had touched her.
The van incident and feelings came flying back to me. I wish I had not forgotten my gut feeling and shared it with my mother and sister before anything happened to my sister. Sometimes I still feel guilty over it. That was over 30 years ago. I don't remember what happened to the guy. I just remember a state vehicle at my house a lot afterwards. No one ever talked about it again and I never asked.
Dream Job
I was offered a dream job at almost double my salary in a different city. It was only 2 hours away, but something told me not to take it. I had a number of people tell me I would never have another opportunity like this, and my fear of leaving my hometown was holding me back. Two months after I turned it down, that division of the company was sold, and everyone in that department lost their job. I’d have been stuck in a new city with no friends or family nearby, and no job prospects.
Bear Bag
I was out solo hiking/camping. It was the end of a long day and I really didn't feel like taking the time to tie up a bear bag—the bag with all your food tied up in a tree far away from your camp. I said, "You know what, just to be safe...I'll go set one up". Cut to the middle of the night, I'm woken up to the sound of a black bear walking 30 feet away from my hammock and heading straight to where I tied up my food.
Raised By Wolves? Try Saved By One
I would visit my aunt in Ft. Lauderdale who had three adorable dogs she had rescued from crazy circumstances, and they were all awesome. Chico the hilarious Chihuahua, Patrick the lab mix who absolutely adored me despite coming from an extremely abusive home, and Zach, my grandpa’s favorite wolf/husky/shepherd gentle but very protective giant, who liked to dig holes under the house and lay in the dirt and get his white fur all covered.
Anyway, I LOVED to take them all walking around the neighborhood, usually separately. I was probably around 8 years old. Well one day I happened to be walking Zach. As he was in the little ditch on the side of the road Florida has to collect water, a white utility truck pulled up and the passenger door flew open and this mean creepy guy says, “Get. In". as he throws the car in park.
I froze, and within the span of a second, Zach, who was otherwise not visible from where this guy was standing, LUNGED like a cheetah out of the ditch. The guy hadn’t even reached for me but Zach was snarling like nothing I had ever seen before. The guy pulled off so fast I couldn’t even process what just happened.
I’ll never ever forget it. I didn’t totally grasp what had happened. I know when I got to my aunt’s and told everyone what happened they were sort of panicked about it. But that good boy saved my life. I’ll never forget it and I’ll always be thankful to Zach, the gentle protective giant.
Spidey-Sense
man holding hands of woman walks on concrete roadPhoto by Vladimir Kudinov on UnsplashFour students of mine won the first prize for a project they did and we all got a free trip to London. We had spent the day sightseeing and were exhausted, so we got ice cream and sat on a bench in a park to relax. A couple of minutes later I notice this couple walk by slowly, staring at us. My Spidey-senses go mental. I do not like these people for some reason.
She walks by and sits on the bench next to ours and he sits on the bench across from hers. They aren't talking, just looking at each other. And that is when I notice her reaching into her pockets. I jump up, grab my students, and run out of the park. My poor students are confused as heck and wondering what is wrong with me, when all of a sudden, we hear screaming.
It turns out she came at a couple walking through the park, trying to rob them. It scares the ever-loving heck out of me, knowing had I not gotten my students out of there, we would have been hurt and robbed.
In Case Of Emergency
I had a guest speaker who was in the trade centers when they were hit in 2001. He said that he took the stairs all the way down 74 floors because he didn't trust the elevators. He was in a meeting with 55 other people, and he was one of four to survive. He said as he was heading down the hall to escape, he turned around and noticed everyone cramming in the elevators from the meeting.
Only the people in the meeting that took the stairs made it out alive.
I Couldn’t Capture What Was Wrong
When I first started dating my ex-boyfriend, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was sending racy photos to someone else. I brushed it off as just being insecure. Two years later, I got a call from his ex-girlfriend. She explained to me that since the start of our relationship, they had been exchanging pics. She also sent me screenshots of him sending racy photos—while we were still together—to a bunch of other girls, even guys.
I wasn’t mad at her or any of the other people that he sent them to. I wasn’t even angry that some of them sent stuff back. Of course, when I confronted him about this, he lied through his teeth, trying to get me to stay. He eventually caved and told me everything, and I will never ignore a gut feeling again.
A Shady Character
I was president of a club, and a guy who'd recently joined just set off my alarm bells, but he never did anything wrong. I still couldn't shake the feeling that he was off. I asked my best friend, a pretty burly guy, to just keep an eye on him during a conference we went to. Most of the club (minus me) went to a party at the conference, my best friend kept an eye on the weird guy for most of the night, and ended up stopping him from touching a passed-out girl.
I pretty much always trust my gut feelings now.
Dental Defraud
I saved a receipt from my dentist. They charged me, then delayed the procedure I paid for. When I asked for a refund, they changed my entire bill and told me I owed them another $300 when all they actually did was a cleaning and x-rays. I submitted both copies of the invoices to my dental insurance company and told them what happened.
Three weeks later the insurance company resolved the issue with the dentist and I got a refund. Despite the dentist attempting to defraud me, they still regularly call me asking me to come back in. Recently they changed their name and moved a block down the road to try and hide from the plethora of negative reviews on Yelp. They're scam artists, through and through. Thank goodness I saved that receipt, or else I would had been one of their many victims.
Tough Cook
hospital bed near couchPhoto by Martha Dominguez de Gouveia on UnsplashLast year, on December 1. I had slept for almost a week trying to fight what I thought was the flu. I woke up and had a gut feeling telling me that something wasn't right with me. I called my parents to tell them, and then cabbed myself to the emergency room. The staff took blood and ran tests on me for 8 hours, then discharged me and sent me home.
I got a call the next morning asking me to come back because they found something in my blood: Bacteremia and Endocarditis. I was put on penicillin immediately, for two months. But I kept feeling like there was something wrong. I went for a specialized test on December 21, and woke up to the doctors telling me I need surgery as soon as possible. They’re trying to find a surgical team, earliest is the 24.
I go in and while they’re operating, I have an ascending aortic aneurysm and it caused an aortic dissection. They’re able to fix it. I’ve got a synthetic valve in there now. But that's not even the scariest part: I work in a restaurant kitchen, just before the start of the holiday season. Normally, cooks will tough it out and just work. Most think they'll get better soon.
I’m told that if I had done that, I more than likely wouldn't have made it before my birthday and they would have found out about the aneurysm during the autopsy. That still sends freaking chills down my spine.
Defying Evil
I worked downtown Houston for 9-1-1 on the overnight shift. On a break I went out to my car. While sitting in there a homeless guy came and knocked on my window, which wasn't at all unusual. He rolled his fingers like “roll down your window". I cannot explain what came over me but all of a sudden, my hair stood on end and I was flooded with the strangest feeling.
I felt fight or flight come over me. I didn't know where it came from, didn't even feel like my voice, but I yelled no! And I was pointing my finger at him. I sat there shaking all over, but his face was seared into my mind. So, a few days later on my day off was watching the news and the SAME homeless dude had been detained that morning because he was the suspect for this horrific case that they had been searching for.
There had been a string of strangulations of mostly homeless women downtown. I could not believe it when his mugshot popped up on my TV. I just went cold. I'm so grateful though for what I assume was my intuition or guardian angel alerting me to danger.
The Station Wagon
I was 15 and my mom dropped me off at McDonald’s to get breakfast while she went across the street to get Starbucks. It was a shopping mall in suburbia and we were on the way to pick up a new kitten a few hours away. Instead of walking the 100 yards to my mom, I sat outside waiting for her to pick me up. Teenagers, I guess.
As I’m standing there a guy in an old station wagon with two kids in the back starts talking to me. He asks me where I’m going and I say whatever town it was. He says he’s going there too with his kids and asks if I want to come. I tell him no, that my mom is across the street and he comes closer. My gut is saying something is off. I see a random woman walk out of Starbucks and I point to her and say that’s my mom right there. He freaked out and left really quick. I still remember those two kids in the backseat. They looked so off. I wonder to this day if they are okay.
Wear Your Seatbelt
My friends and I were always trash-talking another friend because he would never wear his seatbelt while driving. One night, he and another friend drove me home. it was pretty late and we were all tired, and when they dropped me off, I told him, "Use the freaking seatbelt, you idiot". The next day, around lunchtime, I got a call that made my blood run cold.
My two friends had been in a car accident. The idiot fell asleep while driving my other friend's car. They hit a parked car, which hit the car in front of it and got stuck into a wall. The parked car acted as a ramp for their car, and they flipped over—sliding like 20 meters while upside down. For some reason, the idiot had his seatbelt on for the first time ever and he didn't get injured.
Both of them crawled outside the car without a single scratch. If I'm not wrong my friend in the passenger seat broke his finger. My friend learned his lesson and his seatbelt is always on now, even when he's in the passenger seat.
Final Destination
I was driving on the highway headed back to college and I see a flatbed semi coming in the opposite direction that looked to be carrying railroad ties—big square logs, basically. I think to myself, "Huh, it sure would be bad if one of those things fell off". I hold my gaze on the semi and you can guess what immediately fell off and started tumbling right down the center of my lane...
I'm convinced I wouldn't have been able to react to it properly if I hadn't JUST thought of that exact circumstance.
Bloody Trail
yellow and white van on road during daytimePhoto by Ian Taylor on UnsplashMe and my boyfriend came back at like 2 am from a night out. We had both been drinking and stumbled into the hallway to the elevator when we see drops of something on the floor—and when I realized what it was, I felt ice in my veins. It definitely was blood. Fresh and wet. The elevator button and door were covered in bloody hand prints as well.
My boyfriend called the elevator, pushing me aside not knowing what would be in it. Luckily there was nothing except for a puddle of blood. The elevator came from the fifth floor. So, we went investigating. The trail of blood ended at a door with huge hand smears of blood on the door. It took all our courage to ring. But I am so glad we did.
An elderly man opened the door. He looked like straight out of a horror movie covered in blood from head to toe. His grey sweater was red. His hair was wet. His shoes were filled with blood. We immediately sobered up. I called an ambulance which arrived in two minutes. My boyfriend went inside the flat helping the man sit down. There was so much blood, I had never seen anything like that in my life.
We didn't know what happened to him until we met him properly for the first time. He recognized my boyfriend’s glasses. He was buzzed, wanted to ride his bike home, crashed somehow, and got a huge cut on his head. He takes heart medicine which thins his blood that's why he lost so much. If we wouldn't have rung the doorbell, he wouldn't have made it. He actually gave us money and a super expensive bottle of champagne to thank us for investigating and saving his life.
Photo Evidence
When I was 12, my family and I went to Sam's Club. Being a little jerk, I decided that I didn't want to walk with my family, so I wandered around looking at clothes and books. An employee kept watching me like staring really bad. I figured he thought I was going to take something, so I smiled at him so he knew I wasn't Bad™. He smiled back.
He kept checking me out though, and asked me how old I was. We talked about my favorite books and video games. I remember being uncomfortable but couldn't figure out why, because he was super nice to me. I remember wondering if he was flirting with me, but reasoned that he couldn't be, because I'm a boy. Really weird conclusion to come to, but I was 12.
I genuinely thought he was just interested in my favorite video games. The conversation quieted down and I decided I needed to pee, so I went into the bathroom. Less than ten seconds later and the restroom door opens. The guy stands in front of my stall, even though there were empty ones. I recognized the guy's shoes as the employee's.
I stand there for a couple minutes, done, but really confused and kind of scared. I thought he followed me because he thought I was shoplifting. What happened next was so disturbing it’s impossible to forget. Then the guy held a camera over the stall door and took a picture of me. Like really quick, one or two pictures of me just standing there looking up at the camera. I had all of my clothes on so he was just taking a picture of me in the bathroom.
Someone else came in and he immediately went to the sink and started washing his hands like he'd just finished using the bathroom. Then he left. It was really creepy. I didn't tell my mom anything except that "the Sam's Club guy thinks I'm shoplifting". And she laughed. I realized way later that he was a total creep.
Just In Time
My wife called me while I was at work just to say she was home from her night shift and planning to go to bed. She had worked the night shift for years and never called me just to say she was home and going to bed before. She also sounded weirdly detached on the call. I asked her if she was okay, she said yes—she just felt really sleepy.
I got a weird feeling and told her I was going to leave work and come home. She told me I didn’t need to, I said okay...and then I left work and rushed home anyway. I found a suicide note taped to the garage door. I got to her in time, rushed her to the ER, and got her the help she needed. This was about five months ago, and she is so much better now.
Barking Mad
When I was very visibly pregnant, I ran to the grocery store one evening. For some random reason, I took my dog with me. She wasn't big or intimidating, all black but short like a corgi and super sweet. She never growled at anybody. I guess I just thought she would enjoy the car trip, not something I usually did for a quick grocery run.
Anyways, I bought my groceries and noticed nothing unusual in the store. It was just after dusk and I rolled the cart full of groceries out to the car. As I walked out, I noticed a man sitting in the driver's seat of a car facing my vehicle, but one parking lane over. He looked as though he was waiting for someone, but something about it creeped me out.
To this day, I can't tell you what about him creeped me out specifically. I just unlocked the back of my Jeep and started putting my grocery bags in. I hear a car door and turn to see he is out of the car and asking if I need help. I said no thank you and just kept going, making sure to not turn my back to him.
But he keeps coming towards my car saying, "Are you sure? I can help". I keep saying no thanks, but he keeps coming. At this point, I am trying to check if anyone else is in the lot and even though it's full of cars, no one else is out there. He is almost at the back of my car and my sweet doggy, in what seemed instantly, left her spot on the front passenger seat and was over the back seat and standing on the back bumper, teeth bared and growling at this guy.
Even though it seemed like only a half beat, it seemed like he considered whether this short dog was a serious threat or not. He held up his hands and said "nevermind" and walked away back to his vehicle. I drove home with no trouble and told hubby what happened and gave my doggy extra treats and snuggles.
The rational part of my brain says it was probably nothing, but what if my dog hadn't been there?! He clearly had no regard for my no thanks answers. It still creeps me out, 15 years later.
An Electric Feeling
When my science teacher was a teenager, she was standing near some lights at a pedestrian crossing with her and her friend. Very chill, but out of nowhere, she had this gut feeling that both of them had to move. They moved just a couple of meters away, and the next moment a car had hit another car, which then hit one of the street electricity utility poles. It fell and exploded exactly where they were standing, just a moment ago.
That gut feeling of moving away saved both of their lives.
There's A Bad Co-Worker Then There's This
white van on gray asphalt road during daytimePhoto by Andrew Winkler on UnsplashA delivery driver I used to work with pointed a gun at my head as I was bending down to get something from the cooler I was working near. I cracked a joke about him and when I stood up, I felt it at my temple. He started laughing and I laughed it off too, got him his order as soon as possible, and when he left, I went home and called my boss, and didn’t go back until he was fired.
After a few years after the incident, he was involved in a horrifying crime where he took both his ex-wife’s life and his own soon after.
A Fuzzy Black Sock
I was about to put a new load of laundry into my washing machine in the dark, when I saw what looked to be a large sock still in the washing machine. I put my hand halfway into the washing machine then pulled my hand back up suddenly. I thought “Huh, I usually don't leave things in my washing machine". I’m so glad I stopped in my tracks. I turned on the light, and it was a bat sitting in there...
I never touched him, I just put him in some Tupperware and brought him outside. Left the container open with a bag of Doritos and he was gone in the morning.
Bad Feeling
I worked with this guy who was a hard partier. He seemed pretty cool when we were working, so when he mentioned a band that I liked was playing at a little country bar right outside of town, I agreed to go with him. We had a blast and I ended up wasted. He kept my drinks flowing all night which was fun for me because I was only 19.
We get back into town and he parks behind a bar that had a strict ID policy. He says he'll be right back. At this point, I'm not feeling good at all. Not inebriated sick, but something different. I got out and made my way to my usual bar hangout across the street. A regular noticed me and later said that I didn't look right.
He got a number for my friend from the phone book and called him to come get me. The last thing I remember was the guy came in looking for me and the guy helping me refused to let him take me home. He left pretty quickly. I remember nothing else until I woke up the next day tucked in on my friend’s couch. I felt like I'd been hit by a truck.
I’m pretty sure the original guy roofied me and my instincts kicked in before he could accomplish anything. I avoided him like the plague at work after that. The good thing was, the guy that helped me at the bar ended up becoming one of my best friends.
Sixth Sense
My boyfriend and I were visiting friends for a week in Phoenix. We girls were lounging at the pool while the guys were flexing their grilling skills. My boyfriend paused a moment, stood very still then told me to go get dressed, we had to go. Right now. I wanted to fuss but something told me not to. We drove straight through to San Antonio right to his parents very rural house (this was before cell phones and they didn’t have a landline within a half-mile).
Seconds before we arrived, his little sister had jumped off of a rain barrel and landed on a metal spike that went straight up through her foot and into her leg. His dad was at work so there was no car available there. She was bleeding like crazy and his mother had just walked out and found her. I don’t know what spoke to him in Phoenix, but it would have been all bad if we had not arrived exactly when we did.
For Good Measure
When I was 10, I was learning violin from an instructor at my local music shop. I got the weirdest feeling from him even though he didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. I wanted to vomit every time I looked at him, especially his hands. After four lessons I told my parents that I had a terrible feeling about him and I never wanted to go back.
Luckily, they listened and didn’t make me ever go to him again. A few years later, we learned the awful truth. I was right to be scared. He was detained for assaulting multiple students. I have no idea how I knew something was off. He never did or said anything but I just felt it.