
We have all experienced varying levels of fear in our lives and survived to talk about them.
When I was in college, I was at a Tower Records store perusing the show tunes section looking for CDs.
All of a sudden I heard something that sounded like someone set off fireworks inside the store. I looked over and witnessed a robbery happening in front of my eyes – with a masked gunman pointing a gun at the cashier and ordering her to empty the cash drawer.
The sound we all heard were the warning shots he fired into the ceiling.
Everyone hit the floor, including myself, and I did my best to hide from view.
Fortunately, the thief got what he wanted and ran out the store and nobody was hurt.
I still count my blessings I survived what could have been a tragedy. It didn't stop me later from continuing to see what was in the show tunes section.
Wondering about near-traumatic experiences people have experienced, K4gl asked strangers on askReddit:
"[Serious] People of Reddit what is scariest thing that happened to you that was not paranormal?"
Almost Kidnapped
"I (F[emale]) was travelling in Egypt with two male friends, all of us 17/18 at the time (1989). We were walking down the street in Alexandria and two men got out of a black car, grabbed me and threw me inside. My friends jumped onto the car and held on while it tried to drive away, then other people started crowding around it and shouting, so they opened the door and shoved me back out and just drove away."
Dog Attack
"I was badly bitten by a dog when I was 10. I lost a lot of blood."
"But I was under my grandmother supervision, and that poor lady panic at the slightest bit of something being maybe not okay. I mean I saw her panick for a bee looking like it might enter the house. Or Because she had heard someone brake hard down the street."
"So when she saw me with half of my upper lip falling-off, and blood everywhere, she screamed and screamed, and screamed, and panicked."
"So, I panicked even more as well, not really because she panicked, I already knew that my grandmother reactions weren't really telling of the situation's gravity, but because I thought I was f'ked because there was no one to help and care for me, now."
"This was the scariest part of it all actually. I mean the bite, and the blood were scary. But thinking that I was on my own with a severe injury, with no idea of what to do, and unable to communicate was downright frightening."
"However, our screams alerted my neighbor who was a very calm man, and kept his head and took care of me, until EMT came in. (I've been told that he did have a panic attack afterward, the poor man)."
– Marawal
Gunpoint
"I got robbed at gunpoint when I was 17. A ghost would have been much nicer."
Exploding Pimple
"I woke up feeling sticky and gross. I thought to myself 'gross, did I drool all over myself while sleeping?' So I go to the bathroom to wash up and look in the mirror. I'm covered from my lower lip to upper chest in blood! I head out of the bathroom toward the kitchen and tell my mother to call a doctor, she nearly faints upon seeing me but I tell her i'm ok and ima wash up."
"I clean myself up and after washing most of it away I see the wound dead center on my neck where a pimple was. It is doing the thing you see in movies where blood squirts out with each heartbeat. A bandaid does the trick for now and they cauterize my neck as a longer solution."
"What I had thought was a pimple was in fact a blood vessel that decided to make a Y branch except the new branch was straight out my neck. A simple surgery fixed it but damn was that scary."
Crying Blood
"Yooo this happened under my eye when I was like 8. Not quite as dramatic or life threatening as yours, but I had a small red dot get slowly bigger under my eye. Went to the doctor and he said it was a blood vessel trying to escape, and would have to be removed. We made an appointment for it to be lasered off (turns out it was too close to my eye for lasers anyway), but before that could happen it just sort of burst one day and it looked like I was crying blood. Pretty traumatising for an 8 yr old. Went to hospital and after they stopped the bleeding, and then they numbed my face and froze it off. I have another one on my ear, but it's been there for years and not caused an issue. Scratched it a few times accidentally and it's not bled, so I'll just let it be."
Rolling SUV
"Dozing off for a split second while driving which led to a panicked overreaction to my tires moving into the gravel on the shoulder of the roadway. My overreaction jerked the SUV back onto the roadway so fast that it turned a 40+ degree angle and then flipped 4.5 times, rolling down the interstate about a quarter of a mile. I was conscious through it all, including the 2 'bounces' of my head against the asphalt. Vehicle came to rest in the ditch and I climbed out in a panic over what just happened."
Footsteps
"When I was in college, I had gone to a classmate's apartment for a group study session. The area was crowded with cars parked along the curve. Took me awhile to find parking and it was about two blocks away. By the time I left to go home, it was around 1am. As I was walking back to my car, I heard footsteps behind me. I looked back and saw someone in a big coat and wearing a hat. It was dark, so I couldn't see their face. I got a little creeped out, so I quickened my pace. Again, I heard their pace quicken as well. I began to feel scared, but I didn't want to convey that to him, so I just kept walking and occasionally would look back and see him about 10 feet behind, following. As I approached my car, I took out my keys and got ready to unlock just the driver door, instead of using the remote. I quickly got in and locked the door. And he stood right in front of the passenger door just looking at me. I turned the car on and right when I was about to leave, he waved, but in a very slow, creepy way."
Wrong Daughter
"When my husband and I lived at our old apartment, I would have the window cracked open during the summer because of how hot it was. Well one morning I woke up to my husband next to me covering me in the blankets. I was nude and didn't want blankets because of the heat."
"I heard a voice of a man I didn't recognize say 'Sorry. Sorry.' I was startled but without my glasses I couldn't see very well. I was terrified seeing the blurry figure of a man halfway in through our window. Like he would have made it all the way in if he turned towards us. My husband told him to shut up and get the f'k out or he'd get his gun. (We don't have one.) He left saying go back to sleep. Husband called the cops. It wasn't the first or last time we were bothered by that same man."
"For background: That man was abusive. His Daughter ran from home and he thought I was her because he never got a good look at my face. He tried calling the cops on my husband a few times for kidnapping. He would pound on our door and threaten my husband with knives saying that his Daughter needed to come home. He kept trying to get to me when my husband left for work."
"I still have issues over it. I work from home and even though we moved I'm still scared of loud knocking and sounds by the windows."
Alive To Tell The Story
"May 10th,2019. I was turning into the end of my street when a dump truck rear ended me pushing me head on into oncoming traffic where I hit another car. The dump driver was texting and never hit his brakes. He was going 60mph. Technically I was dead. A cop was 2 cars back. He pulled me from the wreckage and performed CPR, reviving me. I was medivact away. I remained in a coma for 42 days where I expired twice more. I awoke to be a parapleg."
Druids?
This one is a two for one. Out camping in black forest in germany with a friend. 16 or something at the time. We decided to set up our tents not to far from a castle somewhere on a hilltop. Mind you that area is pretty busy and not at all remote. But if you want to go camping/hiking in europe your options are limited. That day was rainy so we did not see that many people along the trails. After we put up our tents we went to check the castle. After about 10 min alot of people all dressed up in medieval outfits started showing up and looked at us funny. (Either because we did not belong or the smell of weed made em angry idk)
The entire evening we could see this orange hue come from the ruins prob from the campfires. But suddenly they start banging drums and howling like wolves. A bit later we hear people run through the forest left and right but could not see them. Def thought it was some weird cult. Later the same night when things seemed to have settled we hear footsteps. As they get closer they get faster and faster. I turn of our light cause im scared and hoping they would not see us. Suddenly something rushes past the tent and starts screaming like a pig. Turned out to be a hog that charged our tent but missed or something and ended up in our campfire embers. Sleepless night that one.
Sideways Flight
"737 I was on encountered a coincidence of air currents and jet wash from a plane ahead of us on approach. We were fairly close to the ground and the plane turned f*cking SIDEWAYS. One wing pointed at the ground, the other at the sky."
"Happily the pilot recovered and we were fine. But for a moment I had calmly accepted that this was how I was going to die."
– refreshing_usernameRather A B*tch Than Dead
"A group of guys approached me and my friend late at night at a fast food place, insisting we give them a ride to the nearby college and insisting they weren't going to try anything. Mind you, these grown men approached two obviously teenage girls at probably ten at night, and was adamant that we give them a ride. They proceeded to call us cold hearted b*tches when we ( more like I, as my friend just sat there) told them absolutely not. The college wasn't really that far away, maybe a ten minute walk, and it was the middle of summer. Friend disappeared once she ordered her food and I went to go get my fountain drink. The bigger of the dudes got up in my face once again and began hammering me for gas money. Again, told him no over and over. I was almost in tears. He proceeded to cuss me out some more before him and his group of guys left."
"I don't know if they had any ill intentions but as two petite teenage girls late at night, the dudes definitely gave me a weird vibe. Especially when they insisted they weren't going to try anything. My friend told me she felt bad in case they actually needed help but I told her I'd rather be seen as a cold hearted b*tch, then end up missing or dead."
What Happened In A Forest In Germany
"This one is a two for one. Out camping in black forest in germany with a friend. 16 or something at the time. We decided to set up our tents not to far from a castle somewhere on a hilltop. Mind you that area is pretty busy and not at all remote. But if you want to go camping/hiking in europe your options are limited. That day was rainy so we did not see that many people along the trails. After we put up our tents we went to check the castle. After about 10 min alot of people all dressed up in medieval outfits started showing up and looked at us funny. (Either because we did not belong or the smell of weed made em angry idk)
The entire evening we could see this orange hue come from the ruins prob from the campfires. But suddenly they start banging drums and howling like wolves. A bit later we hear people run through the forest left and right but could not see them. Def thought it was some weird cult. Later the same night when things seemed to have settled we hear footsteps. As they get closer they get faster and faster. I turn of our light cause im scared and hoping they would not see us. Suddenly something rushes past the tent and starts screaming like a pig. Turned out to be a hog that charged our tent but missed or something and ended up in our campfire embers. Sleepless night that one."
– Serukka
It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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