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People Explain The Closest They've Ever Been To Killing Someone

It's a dark feeling deep in your gut. Someone has said something incredibly offensive or just said did something that upends all the work you and your team might have been doing for the last 6 months. You're angry. Not just "angry," furious beyond compare with unlimited rage. You want to end this person's existence.

But you don't, obviously. In that moment, though, you certainly feel like it.


Reddit user, u/Atka_XD, wanted to know how close you've come to the brink when they asked:

[serious] What was the closest you've ever been to killing someone?

A Little Preview Of Parenting

When I was fifteen, I carried my two-year-old cousin down a flight of stairs, when I tripped and we fell down three steps. She fell on the back of her head and I on top of her. It took a split second before she started crying and I thought she was dead. Thankfully, she was fine, but I'm so glad she didn't fell harder or over the handrail, or else she would have fallen at least three meters and would probably be dead.

AnxiousVersion

Every parent could probably answer the main prompt about their own kids. Every moment from birth to toddlerhood is just constant vigilance trying to keep a tiny human from accidentally killing itself. When I was in extreme sleep deprivation the first few months I fell asleep with my infant on my stomach, or next to me on the couch, or next to me on an air mattress, etc. All situations that can kill a baby in seconds.

Humans were never meant to raise babies alone and trying to leads to over 2000 babies per year just in the US dying from SIDS, accidents, and unsafe sleep practices.

wheatgrass_feetgrass

10 Seconds

One of my coworkers didn't wrap a pallet of 24pk 7up good with plastic wrap so when I came in the next day my jack bumped into the steel frame and a 24pk of 7up fell from almost 3 stories and exploded a foot away from me. I really could've died that day. The coworker got fired immediately. He didn't want to spend the extra 10 seconds.

nomnomnom90210

Boiling Blood

In my city there is a very beautiful Holocaust memorial. It consists of 4 towers with the numbers of all of the victims and it has smoke coming through the floor to represent the gas. I came upon some tourists taking photos in front of it obviously for the gram they where smiling and laughing it up. They where right in-front of the sign saying no photos too Ps I'm on mobile

Bjejrijrkejrjrjej

Bees?!

I was on a date with someone a few years ago, and my dumb 17 year old self had bought this 'bee venom' lip plumper that actually had active bee venom in it.

Madeout with the guy and it turned out he was pretty allergic to bees. Had an allergic reaction, thank god he had his epi pen. I apologized PROFUSELY because I didn't know he was allergic and I guess I really should've considered the possibility, but he acted as if I was some evil seductress assassin that was sent to kill him with my kisses- never got another date.

mrose9999

Parents Are The True Heroes

This is kinda lame compared to the others...

When I was roughly 10 or maybe 9, our family decided to go to the beach.

We were relaxing our feet in the waves and I was holding my hand with my younger brother, around 3 or 4 at the time.

Then I sprinted to our spot, and the propulsion knocked my brother into the water, If my parents were a second late he would've drowned.

aWaterSpring

ALWAYS Take The Keys Out

I was about 19 at the time and driving from VA to IL in heavy rain. I pulled over to sleep at a rest stop and woke up driving on the wrong side of the highway, in a construction zone. I remember wondering if they had installed the overhead signs backward when I realized the gravity of the situation. Fortunately it was a flat grass median in the mid-west, around 3am, and an empty highway. I slowed tf down and gently got over to the correct side of the road, into the shoulder, turned off the car and shook for a few mins.

I now take my keys out of the ignition and put them under the seat when I pull over to nap.

loriann14

We Put A Lot Of Pressure On Exhausted Doctors

I was a nutrition tech at my local hospital and I gave someone the wrong tray. I had a post-surgical patient on a bariatric diet and patients on a bariatric cannot eat solids. I gave a bariatric patient a regular tray for their breakfast; pancakes and eggs, bacon and potatoes, oatmeal and red fruit. Bariatric patients can't have anything red. It was early, I was running on no sleep on my fifth straight day, 50 hours, and the patient was sleeping so I didn't double-check the name and the tray. I got onto another ward and saw my mistake and ran as fast as I could. The patient was still asleep, thank God, and never knew.

But had he woken and ate that food, he'd have probably died.

carmelacorleone

Bend It! BEND IT!

I was on the varsity soccer team at my highschool and we would often play a casual indoor soccer on a covered concrete basketball court with small metal goals. My coaches son, 5-6 at the time was a very little guy but he would play with us sometimes just for fun.

One time I had a completely open shot at the goal, and it's pretty fun to kick the ball with all you got and make the goal move from the impact, so I brought my leg back for a strong kick, and my coach's son, who was actually done playing with us at that time, ran UNDER my leg as I brought it back, and I kicked him so hard, swiping his legs, and he hit his head hard on the concrete. Knocked out, cracked skull and bleeding. I thought I killed him.

Fortunately he came to shortly after and cried as we took him to the ER, but that was a scary 10 seconds when he was out cold.

xtreme_mango

How High Can I Throw This?

When I was about 10 years old, I found this cool looking rock. It was really big, probably weighed 25 pounds. I picked it up and tossed it up to see how it would look when it hit the pavement. It went behind me and landed on a 6 year old's head and knocked him out. He is fine now, years later, but I still remember thinking I killed someone, and I can still remember hearing him scream in pain as his parents got him. I never got caught because my 10 year old self literally ran to get an adult and told them he did it to himself.

C_Johnson5614

Waiting...Waiting...

When my ex told me she was cheating with a close friend of ours.

I'd known this kid since highschool so he was more my friend than hers. Eventually we all ended up in the same company together and got closer. We were together 2 and a half years before this happened. I never thought anything of them hanging cause honestly, he wasn't that great looking of a guy and he was intelligent, but at the same time such a bullsh-tter.

Anyways, the day I found out I literally tried hunting him down. I was waiting outside his house, I was furious I just wanted to hurt him. Later that night I found out she was actually driving around with him, keeping him away from home to be safe.

Later in time, I got to punch him in the mouth, but I was much calmer than that first day I found out.

Sw33t__T00th

This Isn't London

Driving tired once, had a microsleep and woke up driving down the wrong side of the road. Fortunately it was late at night, no traffic around, but could easily have killed myself and my passenger.

Never driven tired since.

TheWrongFusebox

Burn, Baby, Burn

I had started a grease fire in a pot on the stove while cooking for a date. Panic set in as it was kind of big fire, only thing I could think of was baking soda would be the only thing to put it out because that's what they taught us in school right? Ransacked my cupboards, couldn't find it. Next best thing that came to mind? Dirt from outside, ran outside to get some dirt, told her not to pour water on it that I'll be right back. As I'm out there I hear her scream and a flash of orange. My heart sank and I froze for a second, did I just kill my date?

Back inside, she's fine, fire is smaller but still going, my walls and ceiling are scorched, I ask her what happened? She replied, she poured milk on the fire because milk is thicker than water... ok

Anyway, no one was harmed in all this thankfully. Except my bank account when my security deposit didn't cover the damages done when I moved out later. Oh well.

I do have more fire stories from that apartment. Pretty sure my landlord thought I was an arsonist. Or a dumb kid on his first time living alone, pretending to be an adult.

atlas-777

Playground? More Like Deathground.

When I was like 14 or so I was on a swing at a park. I was going about as high and fast as that swing could possibly go. A kid who couldn't be older than 2 wandered directly in front of me as I was coming down. I slammed my feet on the ground and stopped myself about an inch away from her. My hands started to bleed from the chain but at least I didn't drop kick a two year old all the way across the park.

The mother saw the thing happen but she was too far away from us to do anything in the moment but she ran over crying and thanking me for stopping.

watermelonscantelope

Why Would You Say Something Like That With So Many Knives Around?

My boss asked me why I wasnt doing any work after working a 70 hour work week and taking 1 lunch break for the week

I was so mad and work a job where we carry knives on our person I had to throw it across the room and I just picked up my bag and walked out.

This was all before my actual start time after I had been working almost half an hour and still wasnt supposed to start for a other half hour.

frownytheclown

Peanut Butter Death Cups

Working at a fast food shop, my friend who was very allergic to peanuts asked for our shops version of the blizzard, I joked "you want that with peanut butter cup right? hahah" we both chuckled, he said no and asked for cookie dough.

For some unspeakable reason, no a single clue why, I made it with cookie dough AND peanut butter cups. Handed it to him without a second thought. He brought it back like a minute later and said he thinks he saw peanut butter cup in it, and sure enough, my dumb teenage ass put this mans literal death poison in his ice cream.

I apologized 100 times, He said it wasn't a big deal. I lived with that anxiety causing thought for a while.

Welp this is the most Karma I've ever gotten. uh, what do I do with my hands at this point?

Dudsidabe

The Power Of Reading

Nurse here. Unit was very very busy and I mentioned to a patient we needed to start her on antibiotics. Patient consented. I hung penicillin, only to find out our computer said she's anaphylactic allergic to penicillin. Incredibly, she must have outgrown her childhood allergy.

Beat myself up for a long time for that near miss. Won't make that mistake again.

NolinNa

So Close

I was a little kid and my cousins and siblings (all a few years younger) were in the bathtub and I used the hair dryer to dry my hair (well, obviously). Then I wanted to make waves for them so I held the hair dryer very close to the water.

My mother and aunt lost it, will always remember this how they, for obvious reasons, yelled at me for hours. Never got anything electric close to water again.

Paju_mit-ue

...What A Terrible Sister-in-Law.

Right after suffering a miscarriage, my SIL told me that I don't know what being a family is like since it was just me and my husband, and that kids make a family

I had to be dragged away by my husband

Was ready to go to prison over that b-tch

Lethal_bizzle94

Another Inch Or Two To The Left...

This unattended kid ran into the street as I turned into it. Didn't even see him at all because of how tiny he was. Just heard something hit my side view mirror and that's when I saw him rubbing his head

unopdr

When All You Can Do Is Watch

Had a patient who was essentially a vegetable. I had to wrestle with him and keep him pinned to the bed(most of his muscles had contactions but he was still shaking and stuff due to the pain we were probably inflicting on him) while the nurse pumped fluids out of his lung through a hole in his neck. This guy's entire existnce was just lying in bed being in pain semi choking on the fluids his body was producing inside his lungs only to be pinned down have us remove the worst parts of it and the cycle to begin anew every hour or so. It was heart breaking.

This was not healthcare this was torture. It would have been more humane to let him die. I felt ashamed and still do because I could not bring myself to kill the man.

MrDantastic4269

Two identical goats stare into the camera while standing in a field.
Photo by Jørgen Håland

When discussing love and relationships, the motto is usually less is more.

But what if there is more of one partner?

Being involved with identical twins can be quite the experience.

Can you really tell them apart?

Is everything identical?

If you're attracted to one, aren't you automatically attracted to the other?

So many questions.

Now we need some answers.

Redditor nicknamesofdaveryder wanted to hear about love and the twin experience, so they asked:

"Redditors who married someone with an identical twin sibling, why are you glad you're not with the other twin instead?"

I've never met a lot of twins, let alone gotten involved with a pair.

I have questions.

Hopefully I get some answers.

Saved

Comedy Central Wink GIF by Drunk HistoryGiphy

"My late husband's twin was a non-functioning alcoholic and my husband wasn’t. My husband says joining the navy was what saved him from going down that road."

iteachag5

Falling Asleep

"Story time! I am an identical twin (we still look so much alike!) and one night I spent the night at her house. She and I fell asleep in the same bed because we were up late talking, etc. Her husband slept on the couch. The next morning my twin went to take a shower and her husband laid down on the bed with me (thinking it was her of course). I jokingly said 'Hey sailor, looking for a little variety?' He shot off the bed and said 'If I was looking for variety, do you think I'd choose you??'"

tanyagal2

The Good Guy And The Other One

"I didn't marry him but I dated an identical twin. His twin's girlfriend and I used to joke around that she got the evil twin. He was just a selfish, messed-up person. One of the benefits of breaking up with my boyfriend was no longer having his twin in my life. Plus, his ex gf and I are still great friends! The good guy was just the lesser evil. She wanted to get as far away from that family as I did. The best thing to come out of those relationships was our friendship."

super-ro

Love Wins

"My dad's an identical twin. People have a hard time distinguishing them, but to my mom and me, they look like two completely different people because of the way they walk/talk/etc. Obviously, my mom only fell in love with this one person. When you love someone it's actually pretty easy to tell identical twins apart."

michaelsgavin

Issues

Threaten Ashley Olsen GIFGiphy

"The other twin has the same personality as I do. We argue readily and are super competitive with each other. We butt heads on a lot of issues."

why_not_send_a_nude

Personality clashes aren't just a twin thing.

It's a human thing.

We can't help ourselves.

Different People

Triplets GIF by RuPaul's Drag RaceGiphy

"I work with a guy who married an identical triplet, one of the triplets also works with us. I asked him one day if it was weird working with someone who looked just like his wife. He got a little pissed and basically said they are all very different people and he doesn't see much of his wife in her."

LeafMeAlone_99

He's Evil

"We’re not married but known each other since we were 12 and have been together 3 and a half years. His twin is a massive di**head who tried to break us up multiple times, was madly in love with me in his own words, and after 2 years of pursuing me declared I was a terrible person and put him through hell. Because I didn’t break up with his TWIN BROTHER to date him."

xMollyP

Life Choices

"My husband and his twin brother look very different to me, although they are identical and get mistaken for one another all the time. They couldn’t be more different in terms of personality. They have different values and life goals, hobbies, one is introverted and the other is extroverted. If they were two people who didn’t look alike, I would automatically not be attracted to my brother-in-law simply because we are not remotely compatible personality-wise."

"Also they have very different styles. I do not find the way my husband’s twin dresses/grooms his hair attractive. It’s so wild to me when people can’t tell them apart because they couldn’t be more different in my eyes."

lanieeeeeeee

Opposites

"Well, my wife and I have been together for 30 years. She has a 'mirror' twin. Even now, if you don’t know them well or interact frequently you will not be able to tell them apart. They are complete opposites. I married the extrovert, she has never met a stranger, will try anything at least once, and can find a positive aspect in almost everything she encounters, they are also best friends, my wife drags her sister along all the time."

"Once she’s out she enjoys our activities. I love my SIL, all three of them, but so glad I married the one like me. The mirror part even goes for looks, when I see my wife’s reflection I see my SIL, it’s weird sometimes. Also, attitude and personality are everything, I have never been 'attracted' to her twin."

redbonecouchhound

The Look

Sexy Damon Wayans Jr GIF by Global TVGiphy

"I used to date an identical twin. Although I found his brother objectively handsome, I wasn't attracted to him at all. It was cool to directly experience how attraction goes far beyond just the looks."

Liatessa

I've never been intrigued by twins, and now I never will be.

confused man in blue t-shirt

Sander Sammy on Unsplash

My Father was considered a genius.

At 16 he graduated high school as Valedictorian, joined the United States Navy as soon as he turned 17 then was promptly recruited by Admiral Hyman Rickover's team converting the Navy from diesel to nuclear power.

He served as a nuclear and electrical engineer on naval vessels after the conversion project ended, then as a reactor inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after retiring from the Navy.

He also needed a full time babysitter in order to survive. Things like paying bills, buying groceries, feeding himself all escaped him. He lacked any semblance of common sense.

Really smart people doing very unsmart things isn't uncommon.

And sometimes a person is labeled a genius who's really an idiot with good brand marketing.

Keep reading...Show less

Corporations don't get big overnight.

A lot of tough decisions, big wins, and sometimes even bigger losses, go into their growth.

But sometimes companies make mistakes that the public simply cannot let slide, and it can be hard to imagine how the company could stay afloat after the backlash.

Redditor Astro_Shogun asked:

"What decision by a company received the most amount of backlash from the public?"

Dang It, Photobucket

"When Photobucket decided to take the whole internet hostage by asking for 400 dollars a year for what was previously a free image storage solution. The move broke years of forum posting and erased a significant portion of the web collective knowledge."

- denpo

"Yup. And now they're holding almost all of my son's childhood photos (some of which I managed to save in other places) hostage."

- KnockMeYourLobes

"Browse any forum thread from the early 2000s and practically all the images are gone because everyone used Photobucket back then. It will be the same way with Reddit whenever Imgur goes under."

- NothingOld7527

So Salesy

"JCPenny doing away with sales and trying to present itself as a more upscale store. Sales immediately plummeted, and they reversed course quickly."

- flyingcircusdog

Cheap Jewelry

"Gerald Ratner said the reason his jewelry company could sell stuff so cheap was because the products were crap. It destroyed the company overnight."

- simplemtbman

Front Wheel Drive

"Ford, in the '80s, tried to replace the aging Fox body Mustang with a front-wheel drive, Mazda-based car. This was pre-internet, but car people got UPSET and deluged Ford with a letter expressing their anger."

"Ford backtracked, kept the Fox body around, and released the vehicle that was going to be the new Mustang as the Probe. It lasted two generations, but the Mustang soldiers on."

- StillN0tATony

Online Only

"Microsoft got roasted when they announced Kinect and always-online were required for the Xbox One. Took all the momentum they had from the 360 era and put them miles behind Sony."

- Jerry_Williams89

Childhood: Destroyed

"Sonic having human teeth."

- LightDash

"I just immediately pictured teeth in a Sonic milkshake and had a horrified reaction before my brain caught up to you meaning the character."

- Rolizas

Questionable Upgrades

"Very recently, T-Mobile. A company that 10 years ago called itself the Uncarrier by making a series of pro-consumer changes to its plans and the previous CEO built almost a sort of cult of fans of the company. Then T-Mobile acquired Sprint and got a new CEO."

"A couple of weeks ago, T-Mobile internal documentation revealed it was going to automatically upgrade customers on old grandfathered plans up to new plans, which were more expensive. Customers would have to call in to opt out of the change. 'They weren’t raising customers’ rates, they were moving them to better plans.'"

"Well, major tech news got ahold of that, and then even some local news stations, and T-Mobile quietly 'clarified' a week later via internal communications that only one percent of their customers would be affected."

- artimaticus8

Coming Together in Hate

"Anyone remember the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad when she solved police brutality?"

- vernon3

"Those moments are precious. There are a few things these days that bring everyone on the Internet together. That was one of those things. We all hated the Pepsi ad that solved police brutality."

"That ad had it all. Pandering, ignorance, arrogance, and talking down to their audience."

- notwoutmyprob

"And a Kardashian."

- Kitchen_action

With Every Purchase

"I couple of years back a local Detroit area car dealership decided the best way to celebrate MLK day was to give away free car alarms with every purchase."

"Nobody liked that."

- graveybrains

A Sale Gone Too Well

"Hoover UK offering two free flights to America if you spend £100 on their products. They anticipated that people would spend a lot more than the minimum required which would cover the approximately £600 value of the tickets."

"When the company was deluged with purchases around the £100 mark, they reneged on the offer, which prompted a very expensive lawsuit. The fallout was so bad that the UK division of the firm was sold to a rival company."

- Live-Dance-2641

New Drink, Who Dis?

"New Coke."

- PeggyWithPhatA**

"After the relations disaster, the public clamored for the decision to be reversed, and Coca-Cola released 'Coke Classic.'"

"Coke Classic soon had an even higher market share than Coke did before the public relations fiasco, and a new theory made the rounds: that Coca-Cola deliberately made these decisions, simply to gain publicity, and increase market share."

"The reaction from Coca-Cola’s executives was, 'We aren’t that smart, and we aren’t that stupid.'"

- Malthus1

A Tweet Turned Sexist

"Burger King stating that 'Women Belong in the Kitchen.' What they were TRYING to say was that they wanted more diversity. People didn't see it that way, and in the end, they had to issue an apology."

- zerbey

The Downfall of an Incredible Publication

"Here’s one there should be a public outcry about."

"Disney bought National Geographic and controls everything it does. This is the last year the iconic magazine will be available. I’m incensed."

- redheadMInerd2

(The writer of this article is equally incensed.)

Predicting the Future

"I feel like whatever YouTube is cooking up lately will be the next one."

- Just_Aioli_1233

"Tech companies sure know how to kill off highly popular and profitable apps, super quick. It’s interesting to watch it happen in real-time. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, all losing tons of followers and destroying their own stock."

- Eleanor_of_Accutane

It's easy to see how all of these mistakes resulted in huge backlash, sometimes at the total expense and downfall of the business.

But some of these mistakes were made by companies that are still huge today, and to a certain extent, that's kind of surprising.