Look, when you let kids go off on their own to hide with the sole purpose of staying hidden, no matter what, things...happen.
Like these things.
Reddit user, u/reddwings, wanted to hear:
When did a game of hide and seek go horribly wrong?
Let's Start Big!
We had just recently moved into our neighborhood and my sister (5 at the time) was playing hide and seek with a neighbor kid. Long story short, kid couldn't find her, all the adults started going around the neighborhood shouting for her, it was getting dark, after awhile my parents called the police....
Someone eventually found her and she said she did hear everyone looking for her but she was playing hide and seek so duh she wasn't coming out until someone found her! Parents called the police back and told them not to come. That's how we met most of our neighbors.
This Is Why You Have The Buddy System At The Beach
That one time I played hide and seek with my elementary school class at the beach.
I thought they never found me because I hid so well, Turns out they actually left me where I was while they played other games without me for the rest of the day.
When I finally asked what happened it was time to leave and no parent believed me when I said they abandoned me.
This Is Why You Don't Watch Ice Age
I know I'm late to this, but still remembered this. Me and my parents went to a family friends house out in the country side. There were about 10 or 15 other kids there, and I was the youngest (maybe about 7).
We decided to play hide and seek. I was found the first 2 rounds, but then up in the games room in the attic I realized the cupboards weren't locked (low down, ground level). I was able to fit in one full of workout stuff (dumbbells, etc). I couldn't close the door fully, so I thought I was gonna be caught quick.
I'd say about... an hour passed? An hour and a half? I had heard ppl moving around the game room looking for hiders. Eventually I hadn't heard anything for a while. I crept out and went downstairs to the kitchen for a drink.
And I found everyone else. Watching Ice Age. They had straight up forgotten about me. If I hadn't gotten out for a drink, god knows when they would have realized I was still missing..
This Is Why You Don't Play In The Dark
It was summer time, and I would've been about 12 or 13. All of the neighborhood kids got together to play hide & seek/ tag in the dark, with one of the swing sets being the safe zone.
Now mind you, it was one of those big a-- wooden swing sets. I was hauling ass to the safe zone, and did not see the big wooden beam in front. I ran into it, full speed. Got my first nose bleed and a minor concussion that night.
10/10 recommend.
This Is Why You Don't Mess With The Babysitter
I was 5 or so and I hid in a laundry basket in a closet and put down towels on top of me. My babysitter couldn't find me and I went all-in and didn't say a thing. I was too embarrassed. He ended up calling my parents and they came home and panicked. I came out and everything was fine. I did notice how his voice increased in panic as I kept doing this
This Is Why You Probably...Should Have Just Left...
Well...wife isn't happy this happened.
Wife & I and a big group of friends were at a friends parents farm for a 4th of July barbecue.
We had been out on the lake water skiing, now it was getting dark, and drinking and music was happening. Someone suggested we play hide and seek like we were all kids at camp again...well...I ended up under a tree that my ex girlfriend was under...we laid down and held still...nothing major happened...except they never found us and gave up looking...we didn't know how the game was progressing, so we stayed hidden for almost an hour.
We SHOULD have just come back and not told anyone we were hidden in the same place...but we had no idea the problems. Her new boyfriend made a stink and my wife waited until we got in the car to let me know she wasn't pleased. She calmed down eventually, but ex girlfriend just ended their relationship...
Oh, did I mention ex girlfriend was still in short shorts and bikini top since the lake...so the group was ruthless...
This Is Why You Don't Call The Cops At Birthday Parties
At my 8th bday party I was playing hide and seek with my friends while the adults sat in the living room. We were running and shutting and opening doors whilst also screaming for some f-cking reason.
Well the neighbor's thought that all this door slamming and screaming of children meant child abuse so they called the cops. So my bday party was interrupted by the police who checked every room and interviewed every kid to make sure they were ok. Lmao the look on my moms face when she opened the door.
This Is Why You Never Hide In A Place You Yourself Can't Get Out Of
About 7 years ago my friend had a bed, you can lift the frame under the matress for storage but it locks down and can only be opened from outside.
You can already see what 8yo me was thinking. My dumbass figured that if they found me, they'd have to lift the matress up to catch me, ultimately freeing me when I was found. Well this didn't happen. I was feeling claustrophobic and wanted to get out. So there is me now crying bc I'm stuck in the best hiding place EVER. My friend's mum comes into the room to see what the fuss is about. I was leftvin there bc it was funny to them. Never played hide and seek since that day
This Is Why You Make Sure Everyone Knows It's Your Birthday
If you ask me, when they started a new round because "everyone had been found" (except me) at MY birthday party.
This Is Why You Think Through Potentially Good Ideas
I thought I would be clever and hide underneath an abandoned vehicle in somebody's yard
it was covered with hornets nests underneath...
I was the first one found......
got 63 stings,the f-ckers chased me for a block, just like in a cartoon....cloud of bees behind me
This Is Why You--Ouch. Ouch. OUCH.
Before I was born my brothers and sisters played a game at my aunt's house down by the river. My eldest brother decided to hang by his fingertips inside the water well. Meanwhile and unknowing of that fact my other brother thought about hiding up inside the little steeple cover of the well and to get to it needed to slam shut the well cover. LMAO.
SLAM... blood curdling scream... Splash... Cries for help...
Between fits of unadulterated anger interspersed with disbelief and worry my aunt, grandmother and mom managed to get him pulled up which wasn't easy because with all of those smashed fingers of his he couldn't hold tight to a rope.
This Is Why You Enjoy Your Onion Volcano When You Can
I was a waiter and some kids from a party I was serving played hide and seek and about five minutes later they had to come back because the chef came to cook (tepanyaki restaurant).
There were two guardians looking after the children and one of them realised that a child was missing and freaked out it was like a mini man hunt in the restaurant (this was all done by the guardians since they didn't tell anyone, I just overheard them and decided to watch what they would do) , after about 5-10 min of searching the girl comes out crying 'they forgot about me' she was in the bathroom the whole time and she was quiet when they called for her because she thought they were still playing.
This Is Why You Don't Pick On The Younger Sibling
When I was a kid my two older brothers would always make me be "it". One time the both hid in a trunk full of clothes. I was probably 6 or 7. So I decided to lock them in. Only I didn't have a key, they panicked like crazy and were having trouble breathing. The babysitter was going crazy. I think she broke the lock eventually. But it was some scary moments.
This Is Why You Don't Take Your Children To Lowe's
I managed to send an entire store on lockdown and freak out my entire family when I was maybe 5 years old.
My family was at Lowe's, and I decided to take my Kirby plushie with me and hide behind some shelves or boxes, and see if they could find me. Turns out they couldn't, and ran around outside because they thought someone kidnapped me. The entire store went on lockdown for a missing child, all the while I'm sitting, giggling and waiting for them to find me.
I eventually came out of hiding after my mom passed me, and got in huge trouble afterwards... I never hid in public again as a kid.
This Is Why You Stay Out Of The Forest
When I was about 8 years old my little brother who was 6 at the time and my little sister who was 3 years old, were playing some type of easy hide and seek in my grandparents' back yard. Well there are woods behind their house. Our sister being a defiant toddler ran into the woods and my brother just saw her run in and ran in after her. They were in the woods for hours because she ran in so deep and they both got turned around. Our brother found a hunting post, climbed up it into the tree, and found a way out.
They then knocked on doors, covered in dirt and scratched up, until someone answered. A woman gave them a ride back because our brother was able to point out landmarks to get back to our grandmother's house. They got back while my mother was on the phone with the cops. They were discussing a helicopter to find them. We were 'this' close to a search party. They walked a collective two to three miles. They could have gone miles deeper into rural woods if they didn't keep going one way and find the post.
So yeah watch your damn kids lol. Telling them "Don't go into the woods" does not guarantee they will listen.
This Is Why You Don't Go Near COFFINS
So when I was a wee kid and a scout, we played hide and seek in the dark. We usually played something like this every time the last 15 minutes.
It was a medium sized cabin, essentially. There was a lot of places to hide, lots of stuff just lying around. For some reason there was a coffin there and nobody, as far as I know, ever hid inside. Because it's a coffin, and that's just creepy.
But my smart-ss hid inside it. Unlucky for me, another guy also looking for a hiding spot saw me. He decided to lock the coffin I was inside of.
Yeah, I had clausrophobia for quite a while afterwards.
Ps. I have an intense hatred of the name Marcus since because that was the bastards name
This Is Why...Yeah. Got Nothing For This One.
In my family this is know as The Massacre at Aunt Amber's farm.
We were at a family reunion at my Aunt Amber's farm. There were 5 kids. 2 city kids, two military brats(me), and my Aunt's daughter Lisa. Being bored by the adults we decided to head out into the farm and play. We settled on hide and seek and Lisa was It first. City kid one hid between a hay bale and a cow pen, city kid 2 hid under a feeding trough in the pig pen that was just cleaned and leaned next to the barn to dry, I decided to hide with the goats in on of their little huts. But the best(worst) was my cousin Nick. He hid in and empty plastic barrel by the horses.
Before Lisa finished counting we all started yelling or screaming. Kid 1 tried to move the hay bale closer to the fence when it shifted and squished him against the fence and he got stuck trying to wiggle out, kid 2 had a large pig lay up against the trough trapping him, I was getting chased around by the goat I just pissed off trying to hide in his hut, and Nick was being dragged around by the horses in their barrel toy. Lisa panics and runs for her parents who then proceed to rescue us. Me and kids 1 and two just get laughed at.
But we were told Nick could have actually been killed if the horses had decided to kick the barrel around.
This Is Why You Learn About History
My grandma was Jewish and she was playing hide and seek with her brother as kids. She hid well and was very happy, the thrill of excitement from finding the perfect spot. Nobody would find her there. Then, out of nowhere, a group of Nazi soldiers break in the house. My grandma told me this story and at this point, she starts crying. She told me she couldn't see anything, but she could hear the screams of her own family as they were carried away. Her mother, her father, her brother and her sister were all taken that and she never saw them again. She was left alone in this world. It had truly traumatized her to this day and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. I was and still am horrified at this story.
She was lucky to be alive.
Hope you're at peace now grandma, rest in peace
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk him about it.
Curious to hear from those who lived to tell their distressing stories, Redditor mind_guardian asked:
"For survivors of attempted kidnapping. How did you escape?"
The following Redditor had very close calls.
Spontaneous Escape Plan
"Guy at a club and his mix of friends was insistent about coming back to a party, I politely declined. Didn't think much of it. They got increasingly aggressive about it, to a physical extent, and I left. Walking back home, I realized they were following me in their car."
"Dashed down the road through the mid-path of a packed apartment complex and just started yelling like crazy."
"No one actually responded or poked their head out or maybe they just didn't hear me. But it sparked the escape reflex of the creeps and I hid in a bush until my heart slowed down. Jumped the fence of someone's property -risky in its own right- wandered through a field, avoiding the main roads, and circled back to a side-street to home. Lucky I knew the area better than they did."
– Dangercakes13
Offering A Ride Home
"I don't know sure what this was, but i was riding my bike home alone, cutting through a deserted middle school and high school parking lots during the summer time. A man in a station wagon pulled up and offered me a ride home. I never stopped pedaling, just said no I'm fine."
"He pressed several times saying he could fit my bike in his car, it was no big deal. I kept saying no. He gave up and left. Don't know if it was just a genuinely helpful guy (this was the late 70s or early 80s so it wasn't yet completely extinct practice that strangers might offer each other rides) or a potential kidnapper."
– DiligentAdvantage475
Up In The Treehouse
"My mum was always paranoid someone would kidnap us kids from the yard. We used to play outside while she worked from home, we were 10, 8 and 6 at this time. She paid our neighbours teenage daughter to sit in the yard and watch us. Mostly she just ignored us and read a magazine with her headphones on and Walkman playing, but she was nice to us. I remember thinking this was stupid and mum was right there anyway so why did I 'basically a teenage' need to be babysat lol."
"One day we were all up in our tree house being jerks to our babysitter and unplugging her headset cord while she was trying to nap. A man and woman came into the yard via the side gate. They started talking to my youngest sibling trying to get her to climb down. The babysitter screamed for help but no one came. She ended up throwing the ladder from the treehouse over our back fence into her own yard and made us all climb into her yard with her dog who was going insane at the fence."
"We ended up locked in her house and she called the police. My mum didn't hear any of the commotion from inside the house and she won't speak about it even now that we are all adults. Never complained about my babysitter after that though."
– Dark_Valefor
The Creepy Customer
"I don’t remember how old I was, just that I was small enough to fit into the kids seat on a grocery cart. This was the early 90s and my mom had taken me grocery shopping with her. I was sitting in the grocery cart while my mom was focused on picking out produce only a few feet away when an older woman swooped in between us and started pushing the cart away quickly. I recall her smiling at me and trying to make me feel comfortable while also making the 'shh' gesture with her hand."
"I did not feel comfortable and started making enough noise to alert my mom. She ran over and loudly yelled at this stranger that this child was hers. The most chilling part that I still remember was that she didn’t flee the scene and instead made a comment about how cute I was and calmly walked away. Before she disappeared down an aisle she took one last look at me and winked."
– gnophy
People who were actually abducted talked about how they got out of their situation.
The Elderly Hero
"It was the 90s in SE Asia. I wasn’t old enough to go to school yet so my grandma took care of me while my parents were at work. My grandma had a little convenience store and one day 2 men approached her. One was in his 30s and the other was an old short man with white hair. They were carrying those hand weave basket pig cage."
"They asked my grandma if I was for sale. She told them to bugger off. While my grandma was distracted, they snatched me and I was carried away. I was kicking and screaming until they knocked me out. One of the neighbors saw me and alerted my grandma. My grandma rode her bicycle down the main street looking for me. She argued and threatened them to get me back."
"If it wasn’t for my grandma and her stubborn fierceness, I wouldn’t be here. She passed away in 2016. Love you and miss you grandma."
– Sir_Blinklot
Dumb Cabbie
"My wife told me that when she was just a teenager, she got in a cab and the cab driver just abducted her. He didn't take her to her destination, instead he took her to a hotel room. She was really scared but she kind of started playing along a little and pretended that she was interested and into it. Then he lay down on the bed, and she said something like 'Oh, I'm hungry. Can we order a pizza first?' and the cab driver said okay."
"So she picked up the phone, while she was dialing he wasn't paying attention so she disconnected the cable. Then she said, you know, I think the phone is broken. Let me go to the front desk to tell them, and I'll order the pizza while I'm there. So he says, okay sure."
"She went to the front desk and told them what was happening, they called the cops, the cops came and hauled him away."
– humanefly
Fighting For Life
"Was drugged at a small town bar, went to the bartender and asked what drink she had given me. She recited what I had ordered. I told her I asked because I'm not feeling well suddenly and it was like the world was spinning on its head. I sat at my seat because she said she hadn't seen anyone near my table/drink. Cool, whatever."
"It's getting worse and I feeling the worst I've ever felt in my life. I don't really remember what happened but a guy had led me outside and we were getting in a car. I remember hearing 'bracele' and seeing handcuff clink on my tiny a** wrist. My first response was scream, kick, anything. I already felt like vomiting and pooping so in my panic of scream and writhing around (drawing a LOT of attention from a closed car apparently) I stopped for a second and hear 'finally you b*tch' before I vomited all of the back seat, myself, and I threw myself forward to cover him as well."
"At this point I had no control between vomiting and screaming as loud I as could to vomit more, my drugged self was like 'it can't get worse for me' and I literally pulled my pants down and shat as my body saw fit. Guy never left the parking lot because of the commotion I raised."
"I remember hearing people banging on the windows and the guy freaking out, so I started screaming 'help' the best I could. The guy was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping and drugging me with meth and fet that they found on his person. Blessed be the big man 'mike' who carried my vomit poop cover self to the gym (next to the bar) where they let me shower and change."
– totallyoriginalacct
The Ultimate Betrayal
"My best friend tricked me into hanging out with her after I moved to another coast to be closer to her. Once I got there she introduced me to her 'friend' then slipped out of the house. When i asked about it he laughed and said 'you really thought she was your friend? She owes me money and you’re her payment. I’ve known about you for months. None of this was coincidental' then proceeded to pull up pics of me and conversations between them two."
"After a lot of initial crying and begging I told him I needed to go to her house to get my stuff and my phone. He told me he would get me all new stuff and I didn’t need it. Why would I go back to her. I immediately told him that he was right. I didn’t wanna go back to her. That he really saved me from her cause what kind of friend would sell me to someone. I told him that he was gonna take care of me and I knew that. I just needed my phone to let my parents know I was okay and wouldn’t see them for a bit or they’d get worried and file a report."
"After much convincing he agreed to let me go to her house around the corner to grab my stuff and come back. I took off running once I got around the corner. Had to take 2 busses and 2 trains to get home. I haven’t had a close friend since."
– [deleted]
These Redditors recalled making a run for it before anything bad could happen.
Declining An Invitation
"When I was 8 years old (f) I had just moved to a new house that was directly across the street from the school I would be starting in just a month or two. I would sometimes go to the school and play by myself for a bit. One time I was headed back home when I was approached and surrounded by a group of boys in their early teens. They told me to come hang out at their house. I shook my head and tried to run home but was blocked. The second oldest pulls out a $20 and tells me that I can have it once we get to their house. I think for a moment and decline again but am blocked again from leaving. My heart is racing and I keep looking longingly at my house."
"The boy with the money holds it out to me and says to take it and he'll give me another $20 at the house, it's in his wallet, he forgot it. The oldest chimes in telling me I would be able to buy a LOT of candy with that money. I hesitate, and start to reach my hand out to take the money and then see my chance to run between two of the boys and escape. They yelled and tried to grab me but I made it home."
"I saw some of them on occasion but I always stayed far away and they seemed to have forgotten about me. I later learned that the house they were trying to take me to belonged to a drug addicted mother who was rarely home and her son's just did whatever they wanted."
– CMaya2006
Teacher "Dad"
"I was 12 and some guy was walking towards me after school. He said, 'Hey there kiddo, You remember me, don't you!? Mom told me to take you home!' I thought, 'B*tch, that's the oldest trick in the book!' My parents told me if this ever happened, one thing I could do was run to the nearest adult and yell 'Mom, Mom' or 'Dad, Dad' So that's what I did."
"A teacher was walking into the school and I said, 'Oh Dad, there you are!' The guy got TF outta there. I explained to the teacher why I did what I did. We didn't get his plate number sadly enough."
– SMG4-Is-My-God
"It Only Takes A Second"
"When I was very little my dad took my sister and I on a river camping trip for a few days. We got to the little rural town at the end of the river where a buddy left our truck and trailer at the boat launch for us. My sister was old enough to sort of help dad with loading the boat (hold rope so it doesn’t float away while we back up etc) but I was too little to really do much so I started wandering around looking for stuff. I found a dead bumblebee and I really loved bumblebees so I decided to bury it in a little grave to pay respects. I found a patch of flowers near the edge of the boat launch, by the woods. I’m crouched down, completely absorbed by my trying to make a little cross for a headstone out of two twigs and a bit of grass, when suddenly I hear my dad’s deep, booming voice scream."
“HEY!!!”
"He was a good ten yards away from me but it was so loud I could feel it in my chest and I jump and spun around towards him. He is already halfway to me, running. His face looks scary. He looks so mad, so focused, and he’s looking over my shoulder instead of at me. I run over to him, no idea what’s happening but scared that I’d at least get in trouble if I didn’t go over to him right away. He picks me up and puts both me and my sister into the truck to finish loading by himself."
"Apparently a man tried to take me. I never even knew he was there. Dad caught sight of him just as he began lunging towards me and scared him off. I wouldn’t have known until I was already gone if he hadn’t been so aware."
"Watch your kids, it only takes a second."
– CopsaLau
A Convenient Tool
"I was about 7 at the time, and at that time i thought it was cool to carry a pocket knife, well, one day i was riding my bike, and a man knocked me over covering my mouth, i grabbed my knife and stabbed him in the side and ran inside crying."
– Toaster_Ruler
Listen To Your Gut
"I was 19 walking to work in the early hours of the morning in winter. I knew someone was following me for a little while and I was just praying I was making it up. Suddenly all the sh*t I have even been taught about self defence came forward. He grabbed me and pulled me."
"There was a moment when I turned to look at him and he laughed and it was at this point I pissed my pants. I was walking as close to the road as I physically could without being on it and I pushed my head down and then threw it back as quickly as I could."
"He fell and I ran in the middle of the road with my armsout screaming. Flagged down to cars. It was a very scary moment in my life and taught me a harsh lesson. Listen to your gut, even if you've done something 100 times if you don't feel safe you're not safe."
– Ok_Talk_90
These and hundreds of other examples on this Reddit thread reflect the sad reality of the horrors of the crime that still happen to this day.
Hopefully, what the survivors did to flee from their traumatizing situations can be a useful reminder to always stay vigilant, whether it is for yourself or your children.
And when all else fails, always scream and fight for your life before the situation can get any worse.
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Interesting points were brought up when Redditor onegrayhair asked:
"What culinary hill are you willing to die on?"
People shared cooking tips and how some foods should be prepared a certain way.
Poor Construction
"Nachos should be built wide not tall."
– DBroncos515
"I hate when the chips at the bottom don’t have all the cheese and toppings, but the chips on top have too much. Balance is key to a great plate of nachos!"
– yo_kashlee
Jaws Have Limitations
"We need to make burgers wider not taller."
– John_Lives
"If I have to disassemble a burger to eat it, it’s missing the point, isn’t it?"
– JediTigger
Just Let It Stew
"Homemade chili is almost always better the next day."
– burritokiller1971
"And most soups and stews."
– wjglenn
Add Some Zap
"Worcestershire sauce can work magic."
– dberis
Resourcefulness
"Being poor isn’t a culinary crime. It takes talent to make cheap food taste as good as my mom did."
– urbancowgirl42
People had plenty to say about rating recipes.
Unfair Critique
"When you're baking from an online recipe, don't change three or four ingredients "to make it healthy" and then leave a one star review about how bad it is."
– cliff99
Inaccurate Reviews
"Don't leave a 5-star review on someone's recipe while saying 'This was a great recipe... after I made these 10 changes!' At that point, you're not rating that person's recipe, you are rating YOUR OWN recipe. That person's recipe must not have been so good if you had to make so many changes."
"Also, don't leave a 5-star review on someone's recipe while saying 'This recipe looks great, I can't wait to try it!' Why skew the ratings when you haven't even tried it yet?"
– randomentity1
Snobbery Is Tasteless
"Being snobby about food to the point where you're hindering someone else's enjoyment is not a positive personality trait."
– swordcowboy
Taste Buds Don't Lie
"If it tastes good it tastes good."
– Danielwols
Some questioned others' capabilities in the kitchen while others straight up forbade them from doing something that is unfavorable.
The Complaint
"People who hate cooking with stainless steel don’t know how to cook with stainless steel."
– 3Me20
There's A Dress Code
"DON’T WEAR YOUR APRON INTO THE BATHROOM."
– andre3kthegiant
"I've called people out for doing this. It's disgusting. This isn't a hill to die on, this should be common sense. People be dumb."
– Aldayne
Cross-Contamination–Bad
"I had to call a girl out again for putting a container of raw meat on a cold station."
"She complained that I 'always call her out on that.'"
"Yeah no sh*t, you're the only one tryna catch state health code write ups.'
"e/ she saw the post and I made her cry, oops."
– ChefBoredAreWe
Don't Interrupt The Cook
"Get out of the kitchen if I'm cooking. Out out out I don't want your help."
– Justice171
Not All Salads Are Good For You
"I live in the Midwest, I love the Midwest but just because you call something a salad does not mean it is healthy and an acceptable side dish to your main course. Snicker-marshmallow-mayo-whatever is not salad."
– ArachnesChallenge
I don't consider myself a cook, but I do pat myself on the back for some of the dishes I do know how to make well.
One of those is Japanese curry. And while I can't keep from serving and eating what takes at least an hour-and-a-half to make, I do find that my leftover tastes infinitely better the next day.
I make a HUGE batch of curry sauce so I can continue enjoying it for the next few days. There's something about leaving it in the fridge and heating up portions at a time that really activate the spices.
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