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People Who Have Encountered True Evil Share What Happened

People Who Have Encountered True Evil Share What Happened
Paul Bradbury/Getty Images

Who knows what true evil really looks like when they see it? It feels like more of a feeling, something in your gut crying at you, "Run. Flee. Hide." Unfortunately, sometimes it doesn't register with you until after something unfortunate happens.

TRIGGER WARNING: Many stories involve grisly deaths.



Reddit user, KeasMe, wanted the gates of Hades to open up and to see the worst of the worst when they asked:

Have you ever encountered true evil? How?



"All we got in return..."

"Back in 2011 my uncle down in Mexico had got [kidnapped] by one of the cartels. They gave my entire family on my dad's side a [ransom]: $10000 and we would get him back."

"My dad called in people who owed him money and managed to get the 10k. He sent it down to the family down south and they paid the ransom for my uncle. All we got in return was my uncle's lifeless body.

– mojo_cranky

"He had a look of pure joy on his face..."

"There was a kid in my 6th grade class who loved designing his own custom shanks and then stabbing people in the arm or back with them."

"He had a look of pure joy on his face when he saw that he drew blood and caused suffering to another human. He was only suspended for a week the first two times he did this before they finally kicked him out of school after the third time."

– Trunky_Coastal_Kid

"Guess he just didn't have good luck with animals. "

"I worked with a guy in Ontario who was always posting on Facebook that he just adopted new puppy like every 4 or 5 months. He adopted them from all different shelters and people. Had to have about 8 or 9 at one point. We went to his house for some reason and there were no dogs. No signs of dogs, no toys, no food bowls etc. We asked about the puppies and he just off-handedly pointed to the backyard, which we noticed was full of little mounds and said they all were sick and died. Guess he just didn't have good luck with animals."

"The way he said it was cold."

"The CSPCA investigated him and tested the remains. He was putting small amounts of his own homemade poison in the dogfood and conducting his own little LD-50 test."

– Morbido

"...she was a kindergarten teacher no less."

"I felt like my aunt was pretty evil, and she was a kindergarten teacher no less. She pulled my arm out of its socket one time when I was four and she was "helping me cross the road". I visited her when I was sixteen and every opportunity she got she would whisper in my ear "you are worthless. You are nothing." and just keep walking. The visit ended with her trying to strangle me after I took issue with her trying to force feed my brother ginger, and that was the last time my family spoke to her. I remember fantasizing about getting back at her in some way for a while, but then moved on with my life and grew up."

"Years later, she was being her typical self with my uncle (her brother) and berating him calling him worthless and he shot her in the head, killing her. It was a real tragedy for the family as he shot himself afterwards as well, but I certainly have not missed my aunt."

– golden_death

"How do you get expelled from a pre-school??"

"I havent, but I think my GF has."

"She works at a pre-school/daycare. Ages of children vary from infant to ~5. She teaches the 3 yr olds in her part of the building. She told me that there is this one 3 year old girl that is just a heathen. She literally only wants to hurt people. One day she got in trouble for hitting kids on the head with pots and pans (they use these in the sand pit for fun). She brought the little girl inside to talk to her and the entire time she is just not listening."

"Mid sentence the little girl looks at my GF dead in the eyes and says "Can you let me go outside so I can hit more people?" The next day she was expelled because she just kept hitting kids in the head with pots and pans.. laughing about it. How do you get expelled from a pre-school??"

– xJBr3w

"They justify, minimize, blame others."

"In my job I have to interview convicted criminals for court purposes. They have committed all kinds of crimes: murder, domestic violence, child abuse. Some don't talk about their conduct but some do."

"Most have no concept, or show no understanding or acceptance of how evil they are, which is pretty scary. They justify, minimize, blame others. I have an easy time putting them out of my mind after all these years at my job. But I also have to talk to the victims of their heinous crimes and that is the worst part of my job. Hard to erase their pain from my brain."

– Toasteroven515

"...not allowed to have firearms but he has a sniper rifle..."

"I had befriended a coworker, before I figured out that he was a total sociopath, psychopath, whateverpath, the guy was pure evil. He killed a yard dog we had at work after throwing it by the hind legs at a wall, I immediately reported him and he began to stalk me. He confessed to me to killing his wife, after her body had been cremated, he would call or text me in the middle of the night, asking me if I knew where my daughter was (He knew), or he would tell me to look out the window, and he would flash a laser at me."

"He is a felon not allowed to have firearms but he has a sniper rifle (with a red laser) anyway. He said to me "What do I have to do, for you to hang out with me again? Kill someone for you?" Police were notified, interviews held, I moved my family out of the state, and for two years after I still got cryptic texts that could only have come from him. He is still out there. Free."

– iMacYouPC

"These are the high points!"

"Sadly....Yes. My ex-husband was a preacher. IMHO...I believe he was a narcissistic psychopath. I endured extreme abuse during the 9 years of marriage. My life was threatened on numerous occasions. I had a butch knife pulled on me. A gun pointed at my head. He threatened to beat me to death with a night stick. After our child was born he put a hot iron in my face after a C-section a week earlier and it got all infected. He didn't like what I cooked one day and threw it literally across the entire kitchen floor and left the house for me to clean up. He literally grabbed my breast and ripped my shirt."

"These are the high points! Feel free to AMA!"

– beachiepeachie2

"...literally scream at me in front of the principal about how I was trash..."

"My 4th and 5th grade teacher sent me to the principal's office for sneezing, TWICE. No reason, she just hated me. Some kid and I were fooling around during recess."

"Kid falls and gets a microscopic scratch. Blames it on me. The teacher literally grabs me by the arm and PULLS me to the principal's office. She then proceeds to literally scream at me in front of the principal about how I was trash and useless and was a disruption to the class."

"She called me a piece of sh*t in front of the principal. I was 10."

– -wat80-

"...I was cautious around, for a lot of reasons."

"When I was young, there was a kid in my neighborhood that I was cautious around, for a lot of reasons. One day, a few of us were hanging out, and he found a dead, run-over squirrel."

"He started running the tire of his bike over the head, and he took a lot of pleasure in it. When we were in high school, he shot and killed both his grandparents."

– rock1ngch41r

"At some point, this should have been the first red flag."

"Yes, I believe so."

"The last place I lived, was rented from what seemed like a nice elderly couple. The man was very soft spoken, with a timid and pleasant demeanor, while we didn't see much or ever talk to the wife. At some point, this should have been the first red flag."

"When I moved in, it was 3 other people sharing the apartment, for a total of four. All tenants then and later were students. I'd expected everybody to sign a new contract as a previous tenant had moved out, but was informed I'd just sign a contract for my part alone, as everyone else had. No worries."

"A few years pass, every original tenant but me moved. Suddenly and without warning, we're informed the lease is over, and we had 30 days to move (unheard of where i am from, 2 months plus is common). Additionally, I learnt the wife was a retired lawyer, and she was mean. They had worded the contract cleverly, and hid behind the mans timid personality, so as to not raise suspicions, and lull us into a false sense of safety."

"So everyone signing on the contract, was accepting that for this apartment there was no concept of "expected wear and tear", and that once the lease was over, it'd have to be made sure the apartment was in the same condition as when the lease (very first contract, many many years ago) was signed."

"And they hammered down hard on this point. They hired contractors to come inspect the house, and compare to 15 year old photos and expected average wear and tear that we'd be reimbursing on top of actual damages of 15 years of student parties etc. And on top of that they billed us the hourly charge of the inspectors."

"So yes, the evil here is consciously preying on poor students for the ease of access by offering up a malicious lease. Some part of the fault is on us for not taking the contract at face value, but something something nice elderly couple."

– Alarinth

"He gaslighted her so bad that she was institutionalized..."

"My dad. Before he had me he was with a girl who he got pregnant. He wanted her to have an abortion but she did not."

"His solution? He gaslighted her so bad that she was institutionalized by her family and over here, when someone was institutionalized whilst pregnant they were forced to have an abortion."

"He tried pulling the same crap on my mum when she was having me but when he realized it ain't gonna work he just waited until the day I was born when my mum went to the hospital to grab all our life savings and disappear permanently."

"I'd say that was pretty evil."

– YoungDiscord

"Where do you think her remains are?"

"Met a guy who had killed his wife. He owned a local restaurant, and when asked at his trial where she thought her step mother's remains were, his daughter responded "he's a chef and owns a restaurant. Where do you think her remains are?"

"It was a cute little place and I'd always planned on eating there, especially because the daughter was a friend of mine... But I'm glad I never did."

– vegeterin

"I see a lot of crazy stuff with my job..."

"I see a lot of crazy stuff with my job, also go through a lot of court files and because I'm weird I can't help but read them (sorta like this thread!)""

"Two off the top of my head - parents starved two of their three kids, nearly to the point of death. The two they starved were girls, they took good care of the boy.

"Man killed grandparents and their grandson, stuffed their bodies in barrels of acid, then put what was left through a wood chipper."

– AW2007

"...she went on the run with them..."

"My kids went to visit their mom in the UK on a court ordered visit. I knew what was going to happen, but couldn't prevent the visit. Sure enough, rather than put them on a plane back to me in the USA, she went on the run with them & her boyfriend. I got a lot of help from the center for missing & exploited children, the US State Department, and the Scottish Government paid all my legal fees over there."

"During the 5 months she had the kids, she tried to brainwash them. She told them if they came back to me, I would kill them. This was relentless. My son was incredibly strong and refused to believe her or cooperate ( they were 13 at the time), but my daughter was much easier to manipulate. I really don't know for certain that they weren't physically abused, but a lot or the stuff she accused me of, was things she and her then boyfriend ( now husband) did to the children. I had to fly to Scotland to appear in a trial. I walked out of the courthouse at 9pm on a Friday night with the children."

"Normal process for these cases is to have a designated handover 2 or 3 days later, but the child psychologist who interviewed us all was positive that my ex wife would kill the children, and the judge agreed. I got them back in the clothes they stood in. I have no doubt she would indeed have killed them rather than hand them over to me. Five years later, she has no contact with the children ( their choice). they have anxiety and depression, but are doing remarkably well. They are high school seniors now, and they make me proud every day."

– debunkerFL

"I chalked it up to the divorce..."

"A few years ago a friend of mine was going through a nasty divorce. Like really bad. He came to visit me one evening as I was getting off of work. When I sat down with him he just seemed off, like a completely different person than the man I had known before. Blank stare in his eyes, no smiling, anger behind everything he said. I chalked it up to the divorce and just thought to myself that he would get better when everything calmed down. I told my wife when I got home about seeing him and she agreed with my assessment."

"I bumped into his ex-wife and some friends a few days later at another work event. She was actually out celebrating their divorce being finalized I think and she invited my wife and I over to a house party. That would be the last time I saw her. My wife and I ended up not going to the house party but the ex-husband did show up. He killed 9 people, including his ex-wife."

– totspur1982

You Can Look Them Straight In The Eye...

"I've told this story before - about meeting a murderer. Was a journalist on weekend duty. Got called out to a story - guy claims his car was hi-jacked with his 2 year old son in it. I met him at the police station, he seemed devastated. I was devastated - I mean, I'd done plenty of grisly crime stories, but a missing kid is next level awful."

"Next day I had my day off, the regular crime reporter called me - they'd arrested the dad and found the little boy's body at a rubbish dump. He did it out of revenge for his wife cheating. It still bothers me to this day how I could have felt so much sympathy for this man, I shook his hand, I cried with him. I'm usually very good at picking up when someone is "off". Just goes to show you, true evil disguises itself very well."

– NauntyNienel

They Don't Deserve To Be Parents

"My mother sexually abused me for ten years. And my dad watched. And sometimes participated. When I tried to speak out or cry for help, I was strangled, forced to eat feces, had my nose broken against a refrigerator and I was forced to stay home from school while being starved for days. I’ve been in therapy for 5 years now and it’s not much easier."

– Middle-Earthling-

Those Who Fail Should Not Teach

"I guess the teachers on my way through college who would just fail you for fun, just because they could. I hated that. They didn't only make us repeat certain exams but also made us like studying less and less and getting pissed about it. I'm this kinda guy who don't really accept everything without asking questions so I went a few times to meet teachers to tell me what I wrote so badly that I couldn't even pass with a shitty mark but at least positive. Usually the answer was shallow, they pointed out one question I didn't know the answer at (from at least a few questions, sometimes >10) and that was it, they didn't want to tell anything more or even look at the whole thing. It was nowhere near failing usually, it was one unanswered question out of many. Hated those pricks. And somehow most of the time you could say that someone is a prick even before something like this happened. For me this was evil."

– Tango1777

Good Thing She's Gone

"My ex. After a relationship where we were both parasites she assaulted me and spread rumours about me and gotten my friend to hate me. Not as bad as some things on here but she's pure evil to me."

– Dragonist777

She Didn't Learn From Her Mistakes

"Not nearly as bad as most of these, but my older cousin stole my mom's credit card to pay for her wedding when I was 12. No remorse, even when we took her to court (she never paid). Flash forward 16 years and she was just arrested by the FBI for scamming perspective adoptive parents. She pled guilty this week and is looking at only 8 years. What a despicable human."

– hausishome

Those Siblings, Though

"Little brother."

– Oh-Cude

"My sister"

– deadmemesaregood666

Absolutely Evil!

"The default browser at my school was internet explorer. I left that school."

– Alpha_Voyager

"Once someone put pineapple on pizza"

– talentedbilldill

"Does watching and reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Count as I saw Voldemort and Umbridge"

– BraeDrizzt23

"I walked into someone eating Nutella, straight out of a jar. Ever since then I lost faith in humanity"

– HARSNOR

"You know, reading this thread makes me think that maybe Ultron and Thanos had a point"

– Cbrick98

Whew! After all that, we needed something lighthearted!

Infamous Internet Rumors That Ended Up Being True

Reddit user strakerak asked: 'What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?'

boy playing at laptop inside room
Photo by Ludovic Toinel on Unsplash

In 2017, I returned to my office after my lunch break to hear my supervisors discussing Tom Petty. This seemed like a random topic to me until one of my supervisors told me Tom Petty had passed away. He was a huge fan of Petty and spent the next hour or so combing through the internet to get more information.

He came back into the room my other supervisor and I were working in and announced that Tom Petty wasn't dead after all. News outlets had jumped the gun to announce his death, but he was actually still alive.

The next day, I came in to find out that Tom Petty was dead; the news may have been premature, but true.

This is a classic example of the rumor being started on the internet. Sometimes, like with the news of Tom Petty's death, the rumor can run wild and appear everywhere. Other times, the rumor can be seen by just a few people and dismissed. However, a lot of times, these rumors turn out to be true.

Redditors know a lot of internet rumors that turned out to be true, and are eager to share.

It all started when Redditor strakerak asked:

"What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?"

The King Of Pop

"Michael Jackson writing the music for Sonic 3."

"He actually did, but was never credited on the game because it would breach his contract with his record label."

– -WigglyLine-

"He did the same when he appeared on The Simpsons. He appeared under a pseudonym, and the Producers said it was an impersonator."

"Only years later they confirmed it really was Michael."

"His singing voice was actually done by an impersonator, though."

– given2fly_

The Truth Comes Out

"In 1998, US Men’s National Team captain John Harkes was shockingly cut from the team right before the World Cup. The coach claimed it was because Harkes wouldn’t fit into his new preferred formation, but rumors flew on the early internet that it was actually because he had slept with his teammate Eric Wynalda’s wife. The rumor was so well-known in soccer circles that Harkes expressly denied it in his autobiography the next year."

"Fast forward 12 years to 2010 and Wynalda admits it’s true. The coach then came out and admitted it was why he dropped Harkes, but that he’d planned to keep the secret as long as Wynalda did."

– guyfromsoccer

Video Evidence

"The Tim Burton Hansel and Gretel that aired once on halloween in the 80's."

"I heard for years that it was fake but I knew it was real because my dad recorded everything in the 80s and he recorded that. We let a good friend of ours borrow it and switch it over from VHS to DVD and soon after that it made its way on to the internet , and there it is now. I know it's our copy because the tracking in the beginning is screwed up. Still have the VHS."

– Frozenthickness

"There was a similar story with a Nickelodeon movie called Cry Baby Lane. It was supposed to be so scary that Nickelodeon got complaints and denied its existence for years. Someone uploaded a taped copy to youtube about a decade ago."

– PattiAllen

The Movie Business

"That North Korea hacked Sony Pictures because of The Interview movie."

"I worked in the movie business at the time and the account managers at Sony all basically needed to get new identities as all of their personal information got leaked online."

OldMastodon5363

"My partner worked on that movie and the production bought all the crew 1 year of an identity theft tracking service."

CMV_Viremia

Keep Away From The Ears Of Kids

"Some banned episodes or scenes of cartoons."

"For example, I remember there was a Dexter’s Lab cartoon where he clones evil versions of DeDe and himself and they swear like every other word (censored of course), and people debated whether it even existed cause they only aired it like once. Now it’s pretty accessible online."

– Spledidlife

Yes, It's True

"Echelon, a massive electronic espionage system by the US and allies to intercept all electronic messages, especially emails."

"In the mid-nineties it was a topic on conspiracy BBS boards. A lot of people in my bubble at the time (mainly uni students in Europe) were including fake threats to the US in the their email signatures as a way to "protest" and "fill the system with false alarms" (obviously useless)."

"Then, in 1999-2000 came out to be true and a lot of security service agencies from UK and other US allies started to admit they were part of the espionage network."

– latflickr

How The Mighty Fell

"John Edward’s love child."

– ACam574

"A reminder that he was cheating on his wife while she was hospitalized for cancer treatment."

– Fanclock314

Ugh...

"Carrie Fisher's heart attack. Some a**hole who was on the same flight was livetweeting the whole medical emergency and justified it by insisting she was just making sure the family was informed."

– everylastlight

It Actually Happened

"Every year around her birthday there was a rumor that Betty White died. When I heard she died, I scoffed, saying that dumb rumor is back.... then saw it on the news. I was in shock."

– Known-Committee8679

"The fact that Betty died literally right before she turned 100 is such a Betty White way to go out."

– Paganigsegg

Big Actor, Small Roles

"I distinctly remember some rumors about the reason why Bruce Willis was taking so many roles in sh*tty movies before it was announced he has dementia."

– KampferMann

"RedLetterMedia did a deep dive on his recent movie activity to try and work out why exactly he was taking part in basically scam-movies. They noticed he had an earpiece in one of the scenes and joked that the director was feeding him lines. I remember they even disclaimed over the rumours at the time, and possible made a follow-up vid when it was revealed to the public."

– CardinalCreepia

What To Do Next?

"That the writer of LOST were making it up as they went."

"Turned out to be absolutely true."

– homarjr

That last one was kind of obvious!

Do you have any to add? Let us know in the comment below.

Person holding large stack of books
Photo by Jay Lamm on Unsplash

Whether you're naturally interested in fun facts and trivia or not, it's always nice to know a few that you can pull out of your pocket at a moment's notice as a nice conversation starter.

But there are some fun facts out there that are so weird, people become more preoccupied with how the teller found out that information rather than the information itself.

Redditor Dry_Bus_935 asked:

"What is your 'don't ask me how I know' random fact?"

Nuclear Fail Safe

"You have quite a lot of time, certainly more than ten seconds, to turn back on the main pumps of a nuclear reactor once you have accidentally turned them off."

- egorf

"I'm not surprised. The amount of fail safes, redundancies, and emergency scenario planning for nuclear power plants is insane."

"I toured a nuclear plant and wrote my high school senior thesis on the plans put in place to ensure the Fukushima disaster would not happen at that plant."

"I'm sure the secondary pumps are plenty capable of handling the reactor until the main pumps are repaired or just turned back on."

- Borderlandsman

Happy Cat

"If your cat chews on fresh eucalyptus, they might start hallucinating and fall over repeatedly, leading to a $400 emergency vet bill just to be told she’s just kinda high."

- oddidealstronghold

"And, that's part of why koalas love it. Little stoners."

- littlebluefoxy

Archaeology: Do Not Lick

"Old human bones are very porous, so if you lick them, they’ll stick to your tongue."

- clanculcarius

Sharing is Caring

"A pigeon will only eat a Starburst if you chew it up a little bit first. Just to clarify: chew the Starburst, not the pigeon."

- OhTheHueManatee

"Instructions unclear. Pigeon unhappy."

- Wild-Lychee-3312

Intriguing Anatomy

"Everyone is here with the creepy crime stuff, and I'm just like, 'A soft fur rat has 22 nipples.'"

- horroscoblue

"Okay, so either they have really small nipples, their nipples overlap, or they have nipples in places where there shouldn't be nipples."

"(I've never written the word 'nipples' so many times in a singular sentence before.)"

- GdeGraaf

'Don't Ask Me,' Indeed!

"Turmeric can be used as clothes dye. It is capable of permanently dyeing cotton cloth even after it has passed through the digestive tract of an adult male."

- SlefeMcDichael

"You s**t your pants, didn't you?"

- PMmecrossstitch

"I'd prefer not to answer that question."

- SlefeMcDichael

High-Risk Survival Skills

"If you ever trying to survive in the Arctic, don’t eat polar bear liver. It is so high in vitamin A, it will kill you."

- WrongWayCorrigan-361

"It's also surrounded by a lethal amount of angry polar bear."

- horanc2

Real-Life Spies

"TV shows and movies go out of their way to make military/intelligence officers look bada**."

"But real-life 'spies,' by design and training, are boring. They have regular houses and standard second-hand cars, they dress down, and they have vague, boring job titles (accounts receivable) as cover, and they do not draw attention to themselves. Most come from specialized academia."

- Ok_Worth_1093

Haunting Reality

"Your muscles can keep twitching for several hours after you die."

- JustDave62

"Also, beards can appear to grow. This is however not because the beard itself grows but because the skin shrinks."

- RRautamaa

"I worked at a morgue for over eight years. If you grasp the hand of a dead body to move the arm, the hand will grasp back, but that's just muscles and tendons reacting to the tension."

- goneferalinid

The Sneakiness of Drowning

"When a drowning victim is revived, get them to a hospital as soon as possible. Drowning is the leading cause of death of kids from the age of one to seven and is ruled as accidental drowning when it comes to secondary drowning or dry drowning."

"Basically, your lungs are full of water despite being revived. Your lungs will absorb the liquid, but not before your body acidifies from high levels of carbon dioxide. The only chance to survive is to have the lungs pumped with oxygen via CPAP machine and time."

"Also, drowning is extremely quiet. You don’t hear the victim go under. And if you see flailing, do not attempt to save the victim otherwise you’ll become another drowning victim. Throw them a lifeline and hope their amygdala realizes that a rope or something is floating near them and grabs on it."

- Dfiggsmeister

Not Everyone's Favorite Chocolate

"Hershey’s chocolate has the strong smell of vomit or feces to some people (me), and that’s because they use butyric acid as a preservative. Butyric acid is the compound that makes vomit smell so bad."

"Edit: Digging further into it, there are some claims that they may not be “adding” the butyric acid, but rather it is occurring from essentially spoiling the milk in their milk chocolate. Either way, the butyric acid and putrid smell remains a part of their product."

- hefewiseman1

"That explains the weird aftertaste I always get! I don’t smell it but their chocolate always has this super unpleasant sharp/acidic aftertaste that I find repulsive. I assume this is why!!"

- PomegranateNo975

Do Not Lick the Asbestos

"Asbestos tastes like chalk. And if you lick it, it has the texture of extremely gritty sandpaper. Which is actually the feeling of microscopic asbestos needles piercing your flesh!"

- TooYoungToBeThisOld1

Mapping Out the War

"Beginning in 1911 in anticipation of the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, two statesmen, one from England and one from France, began visiting locations in France that they believed would be the settings for a number of major battles that would occur during the great war."

"Long bike rides through these future battle zones in the countryside and weeks spent building a foundation for a French-Anglo codebook that would later prove important in helping win the war."

- fjordperfect123

Avoiding Lawsuits > Protecting Patients

"Doctors, or surgeons more specifically, that make too many mistakes during surgery, ie, leaving instruments in patients, frequently gets ‘quietly traded’ to other hospitals where they continue their path of destruction with the patients not being aware of their past record. Hospitals tend to keep quiet about the matter to avoid lawsuits."

- Kittytigris

Bonus Points: Do This While Having Lunch in Your Car

"If you overfill a fast food gravy cup and then put a lid on, it will create a pressurized gravy stream that sprays all over your face and uniform while your coworker looks on in horror."

- thechaosjester776

This subReddit thread was so a roller-coaster of random facts, we've surely all walked away learning something.

But the biggest takeaway might just be: Maybe don't lick so many things.

Shocked woman covering her mouth
vaitheeswaran Nataraj/Unsplash

When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.

But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.

Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.

It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.

Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:

"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"

These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.

Bleeding Out

"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."

"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."

– DongLaiCha

Tragic News

"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."

– accountnameredacted

Bottom Of The Barrel

"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."

– Crotch-Monster

A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.

Like Father, Like Son

"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."

– psycospaz

Busted

"Flashing blue lights."

– FiddleOfGold

"This sobered me up just thinking about it."

– redmaple_syrup

Losing Sight

"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."

– MissHibernia

Quitting The Bottle

"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."

– omgtater

These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.

Unplanned House Guests

"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."

– Oneinsevenbillion75

Serious Health Warning

"Elevated liver enzymes."

"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."

"So I opted for recovery, instead."

"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."

– Far_Meal8674

The Joyride

"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."

– foxfood9116

The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?

How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.

But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.

Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.

Woman holding multiple shopping bags
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.

Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.

These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.

From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.

Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:

"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"

"Tale As Old As Time..."

"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","

"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."

"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."

"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."

"Lol!"

"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom

"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."

"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."

"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."

"I think he was a germaphobe."

"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."

"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."

"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.

"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."

"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."

"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000

Money Burn GIF by nog Giphy

Who Wore It Better?

"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."

"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."

"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."

"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'

"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"

"No."- mertsey627

Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...

"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."

"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."

"It was very low key."

"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."

"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."

"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."

"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."

"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa

south park wedding GIF Giphy

See You In Court!

"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."

'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."

"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."

"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."

"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."

"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin

It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!

"I work in a public library."

"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."

"A popular book that just came out."

"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."

"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten

A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!

"My own."

"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"

"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."

"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"

"Unacceptable!"

"This shall not stand!"

"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."

"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."

"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."

"I got over it."- DeathGrover

homer simpson episode 23 GIF Giphy

Holy Matrimony!

"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."

"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."

"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."

"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."

"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."

"It's just a party."

"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree

When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...

"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore

In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...

"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."

"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."

"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."

"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."

"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."

"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."

"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."

"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."

"We don’t offer wrapping services."

"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."

'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae

Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso Giphy

Happiest Place On Earth!

"I used to work for Disney."

"That in itself should tell you everything."

"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."

"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."

"Suddenly got worse huh?"

"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."

"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."

"I'm not kidding."

"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."

"My wife worked booking."

"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."

"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."

"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."

"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."

"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."

"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong

Disney World GIF Giphy

The horror!

Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!

It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...

Said absolutely no one.