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People Describe The Biggest Bullet They've Ever Dodged

People Describe The Biggest Bullet They've Ever Dodged
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

You know the thing about bullets? They move too fast for you to see.


Hard to know when a situation is going south when you're in it. To your point-of-view, it'll just feel like you're moving. Only when you sense that the situation is heading in a wrong direction can you hop off, look back later after the fact, and think, "Phew, dodged that one."
*The following article contains discussion of sexual assault.

Reddit user, u/EdibleArroyo26, wanted to hear how you escaped a terrible fate when they asked:

What is the biggest bullet you've ever dodged? Why?

To dodge a bullet means you get out of the way right as it passes by, where it's so close to hitting you that you can still smell the trail. These people can still smell the bullet that passed by them.

Got Out Before It Got Too Serious

"Dated this girl for 3 months, then broke up. Found out later that she was pregnant the whole time and was going to try and convince me it was mine. Fortunately, we never had sex."

Upper-Job5130

Seems Like A Good Place To nap

"When I had just turned 21, I went to a bar with some friends, and wound up drinking more than I had intended to. I realized I wasn't okay to drive home so I just decided to sleep in the passenger seat of my car. About 4 AM I woke up to a cop shining a flashlight in my face. He asked to see my license and registration, and then told me he was just checking to make sure it was my car, because sometimes vagrants sleep in unlocked cars. I had no idea at the time that you could get a DUI for sleeping in a car drunk. Apparently if you do that you're supposed to put the keys in the trunk or something so maybe you can say you didn't have a way to drive the vehicle but they were in my pocket, and he didn't even ask if I'd been drinking, even though I was parked in an area with a bunch of bars."

ElToberino

Become Rich In 6 To 10 Months! Easy!

"I almost fell for a pyramid scheme (ACN) in high school. My parents talked me out of it, thankfully. Who knows how my life would be if I went all in."

CaptainPlummet

"I almost fell for one of these disguised as a job as an investment advisor. $800 "certification" you pay to them, then you gotta try and sell to people you personally know."

"My roommate was a recruiter for an engineering firm and told me he'd heard about it being a scam from some colleagues. When I called them to turn the job down, the lady cussed me out lol."

"Group interviews are for scams disguised as jobs."

smanchwhich

Follow What Your Heart Says

"Refusing to get an arranged marriage despite pressure and emotional blackmail from parents. I was told I would be lonely and sad and no one would want me if I didn't get married before 30. I'm now on my late 40's, with a great SO and living my best life"

RelevantFault1

There was lie before COVID and there's now life after COVID, where it feels like all the decisions we made before then were done with little foresight into what's to come. Thankfully, some people made it through the threshold okay.

Just Before The World Fell Apart

"Left my healthcare related job just as covid was starting. God bless those people but I'm glad I'm not dealing with that kind of stress on a daily basis."

Less-Pen1270

Getting A Head Start On The End

"My company went under in Feb 2020. Filed for unemployment & started collecting about the 2nd week of March. Local lockdowns & layoffs started about a week later. Got a jump on prepping my resume & applying, got that extra Fed money, and could take my time finding the right job. My field has exploded in the pandemic—making better money and have a better title now too."

"My partner is a chef. He & another chef left a bougie hotel restaurant in our tourist city to open a pizzeria in late 2019. Their place is the only permanent restaurant in a food truck lot, with a ton of outdoor seating and a big outdoor bar. Our climate is perfect for outdoor eating 3/4ths of the year. Theirs is one of the few local spots that not only made it, but got VERY busy during the takeout & outdoor dining phases. The hotel and restaurant have both shut down."

"I was locked down for a long time but had already worked remotely since about 2017. I also spent ~7 years close to bedridden at one point of my life, so I know how to do lockdown without losing my mind."

"I feel like we dodged an entire munitions factory."

tijde

HR Recruiters Break Down The Biggest Resume Red Flags | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

Getting Out Of The Game Early

"Sold my bar and grill business in August 2019"

MrKotoulas

"Wow Right before covid. Now thats what i call a pro move"

Mcdonaldswrongorder

Keeping Tabs On The Terrible

"My ex boyfriend lol. At the time he was the love of my life and the ending of the relationship hit me hard, but from what I've heard recently from people I know who know/know of him hes on his third divorce (under 40 y/o) and he's been accused of physical and mental abuse and possibly child abuse. So yeah. Definitely dodged that one."

HarleyQuinn78

There's no joking around here. These people are lucky to be where they are, safe where they are, healthy where they are, all because luck and the universe intervened.

Not The Kind Of Life You'd Want

"We tried for a long time to have a baby. It was heartbreaking to not be pregnant again every month. Then we got pregnant, but at 24 weeks discovered the baby had passed. Fast forward several years and I became a pediatric home health nurse. Babies who pass in utero often do so because they are incompatible with life. Had we found out a week earlier, we could have saved my baby, and that child could have survived with very little chance of being anything close to normal."

"I wouldn't have understood what a lifetime of potentially severe disability would mean for the baby, my family, subsequent children, etc. What I do for a living now makes my heart break for some of the families. They'll never have life again. They are home bound forever, and marriages do not tend to survive. It is tragic."

"Some families truly love their children, others love but feel the burden, others are disconnected and bitter. None of them really knew what they were getting into at first. I have two healthy kids, and I am now grateful for that first loss, painful as it was."

nurse_researcher

Have A Phone Ready To Go

"A van followed me in Chula Vista when I was 18. I was walking my bike to the bike shop because something was wrong with the chains. They kept circling the block to keep up with me. At some point I tried to run away from them to the business district near by but I forgot it was a saturday and the whole area was abandoned. I ended up ditching the bike and hiding under some bushes."

"They kept circling but they were in a van so they couldnt find me. At some point I left and the found me just as I was walking towards a busy Target. They still tried to approach me when i pulled out my phone and pretended to take pictures of the license plate. They ended up driving away. But they were definitely a abduction van because we have them in that area."

PranceronCloudz

That's One Way To Vent Your Frustrations...

"My friend and I are on our way to a party in an apartment. I don't know anyone except my friend. Are guy comes behind us in the elevator. Walks into the party with us and we don't think any thing of it because we don't know many people at the party."

"I was nineteen and drinking for the first time and I was drinking to get drunk. I do shots with several people, including the guy. Eventually I'm too drunk to stand so I go lay down in the bedroom."

"Now, I can't remember if my friend was always in the room with me or if she came in later but I remember flashes of the guy say he was in the army. That he could do anything he wanted to me. At some point my friend calls for help. The guys at the party chase the guy out."

"Apparently everyone thought someone else knew him. Nope. He just listened to our conversation and followed us into the party. The next day I'm puking my guts out at home. My friend calls. She just saw the guy on the news. Arrested for stabbing a cop. Guess he was mad he got kicked out of the party."

"If it weren't for my friend, I shudder to think of what would've happened to me."

roboghostly

The Kindness Of Strangers

"Years ago I lived in Vancouver and liked to go for long walks (beautiful city to do so). I was heading to a friends first to drop something off and and cut through a neighbourhood with a lot of south east asian immigrants ( the ones I got to talk to were mostly from Vietnam). I was aware of a van behind me but it was mid day and there were people out, so it was only a passing thought."

"A lady was working in her garden and as i approached her house she started to look behind me. Then she came out onto the side walk and started talking to me in her native language. I understood none of it but her body language was adgitated. She kept jestering to me to come with her up their walkway. As I looked behind me I see three men getting out of the van, which is now parked just behind me."

"By this point the woman has a good grip on my arm and has me dragged almost to her porch. She kept talking to me and pointing to stuff in her garden and i just listened, nodded, and kept a good eye on the men and van. I dont remember how long we were there but the men finally left. Both myself and the woman let out huge sighs of relief. She then patted me on the arm, said something, and then went back to her gardening. I booted it to my friends house."

"On the news the next day was the story of a woman who was kidnapped. The victim was grabbed on the next street over from the woman's house, not long after my encounter with her, by 5 men in a van. The men were distinctive and the description of the men and van fit the ones I had see."

"That woman saved me from something horrible and I am forever thankful."

femerem962

Life is a random potluck that will dish out tragedies and successes with little care of who gets what. Hope you dodge as many tragedies as you can.

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People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.