Top Stories

People Share Their Best 'You Picked A Fight With The Wrong Person' Stories

People Share Their Best 'You Picked A Fight With The Wrong Person' Stories
Photo by Chris Sabor on Unsplash

People can be like those Kinder Eggs they used to ban in the United States (for some unknown reason). On the outside, you're getting something you think you know. A person might be small, appear timid, or made out of chocolate. It's the inside, however, you need to be wary of. Sometimes a person might be more talented or dangerous than you realize, and the other times they'll probably just embarrass someone who deserves it with those hidden talents.

These are those stories!


Quora posed a question to its users:

What is the best case of "You just picked a fight with the wrong person" that you've witnessed

Samoan Superman

"I was a very young man eating pizza in a small restaurant in the Marina District in San Francisco. It was 1987 the summer time, late at night, and most in the crowd were pretty drunk. Two yuppies with their navy blue shirts and red power ties walk into the restaurant and cut in front of a Samoan and his girlfriend. When the Samoan said something, instead of just saying "I'm sorry," one of them made a smart remark."

"Then I stopped eating my pizza. I knew something bad was going to happen. I have always had good experiences with Samoans. They always treated me with more respect than most people do. But I never met a Samoan who would back down or suffer BS. I had a Samoan friend of mine literally pick me up and throw me into a bar fight, because I told him took martial arts classes, and he wanted to see if they were working."

"The yuppie smart mouthed the Samoan patron some more and threatened to call the police if he did anything. Faster than I could stuff another pizza slice into my mouth the Samoan gentleman did something I did not think was physically possible. He picked the yuppie vertically off his feet then turned him horizontally superman style. He held the yuppie's face over a pizza pie then literally dropped him straight down face first into the pizza."

"The amount of strength it took to literally turn the Yuppie's body side ways seemed amazing. The Samoan turned to me staring at him and said "You one of them?" Shook my head no and went back to eating my pizza. He left with his lady friend."

"The police shortly arrived. No one saw anything. The yuppie's smart suit and tie and big paycheck did not shield him from his big mouth. Be careful what you say, smile and always be respectful."

James Dal Bon

Never Cross A Man That Can Double Check All The Forms

"Once upon a time, my parents hired a company to redo their kitchen. They were basically supposed to change the marble countertops."

"The company was formed by husband, wife and three employees."

"They set up the countertops and soon realized a minor part of the marble did not fit exactly. They had to take the small bit that didn't fit back to their headquarters to redo the work."

"At that point, my parents had already paid 90% of the price."

"One week later they came back without prior notice and gained access to their apartment through the maid, who opened the door to let them finish the job."

"My parents were out on an errand."

"After the contractors finished their job, the owner called my father on his mobile and told him the job was completed."

"Since there had been problems with the execution before, my father told the man that he would come back home in about an hour, check the quality of the final touches and promptly pay the remaining 10% of the price."

"The man went ape and told my father that payment was due on the spot."

"My parents interrupted what they were doing and hurried back home."

"But at this point the contractor was already mad at them and took out every single bit of marble he had put in place and put it all in his van. Never mind the fact that, as I said, 90% was already paid for."

"Upon arriving home, my father noticed that all the stuff he paid for was in the van and being taken away."

"He is a man of action, and promptly put himself in front of the van to impede its exit."

"The contractor did not back down and just ran over my father, who was 65 at the time."

"His bruises were not grave, but he filed criminal suit against the man."

"The problem is that he hired a company, so he didn't know the contractor's name. And to file suit against someone, you must indicate his name, of course."

"The police weren't very eager to determine the identity of the perpetrator. And that's when my parents called me."

"I dived into the matter and found out not only his name and address, but several lawsuits against this guy and his wife. They took several loans and had not repaid them, they sold real estate and did not deliver, they crossed many people in business deals. In short, they owed a lot of people and banks in consequence of morally doubtful behaviour."

"And they had empty apartments in Copacabana, a very prized area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil."

"I gave the Police the name of the guy and, on the side, purchased some of the credits against them owned by financial institutions."

"I represented my parents in the criminal lawsuit against these people and got them sentenced to jail (the husband) and reparation (the wife)."

"But I also pursued the exaction of the debts I bought and, six years later, I got one of their apartments as repayment of one of the debts."

"Now I am still waiting for judicial decision on the second apartment. It seems I will also take this one."

"The best part is that I paid only 25 thousand reais to buy the credit and the apartments are worth, together, a little under 1 million reais."

"This guy should not have run over my dear father… I bet this is one decision he regrets every day."

Victor Wolszczak

You Never Know Who Might've Won A Boxing Competition Before

"Actually didn't witness the fight, but the results were quite interesting."

"Was just thinking about this call yesterday, while driving by a skateboard park. It was near the end of my career, but a rather unique call. Not really sure why we even responded as it was a pretty simple medical call. Perhaps the ambulances were all delayed? We got called to a skate board park for an injury, expecting a broken bone or scrapes and bruises we found instead a big kid over 6 feet with a broken nose. The RCMP officer on scene was having a good chuckle when he introduced the patient, saying this guy likes to start fights with girls."

"There were about half a dozen other people hanging around both friends of the guy and this young girl on scene. As my guys were treating the patient I was getting some information on what happened. The girl was visiting from California with some friends here in British Columbia and they went down to the local skate board park for some fun and exercise. The girl was around 5 ft. 5 in. as best I recall and not very big, but a rather attractive young lady in her late teens."

"Seems that this guy is a bit of a bully and takes a liking to this cute gal visiting her local friends. The girl is however not impressed by his rather crude advances. They have a bit of a discussion and the guy winds up grabbing her and saying something along the lines of, "Why don't you suck my --?" as he goes to lay his hands on her. The next thing he knows he is on the ground with a broken nose."

"So in the conversation with the girl and her friends it comes out that she is here to participate in a boxing competition tomorrow. Well it seems she certainly has the skills for it, I wished her luck."

Dan Cook

Reddit Users Share Their Best 'It's A Small World After All' Experience

Never Cross The Nana...

"...What you have to understand about my "Nana" is she strived to weigh more than a 100 pounds all her life, only weighed 102 pounds when she was pregnant with my mom, but she was relatively tall for a lady, so she looked like a rail! People mistook her size, later her age, as weakness, what they didn't realize is- she had grown up on a 98 acre working farm, had worked alongside share-croppers on the next farm over (she swore her Daddy worked the family harder), had 9 brothers and sisters, and could out eat me any day of the week, she was not a wilting flower!"

"When I was in school my "Nana" was always the first car in the pick-up line, she never wanted to be late to anything! I was in junior high, probably the middle of 8th grade, I always had my book bag ready and rushed out the door when the bell rang, because I knew she was waiting. One afternoon, I got to her car and realized that I had left a book in the school, so I turned around and ran back in. When I came out the side door of the school, I was met by the assistant principal."

"He was a big, burly, gruff man and he grabbed my arm (fatal error), so he could fuss at me. I immediately thought, "oh, crap, you've screwed up!" About the time I finished my thought, I heard her car door slam, I tried to hurry him up, because I knew this was about to get ugly! Then, I see a little bony finger with pink fingernail polish come over his shoulder, tap, tap, tap, and these weren't the kind of taps you use at church, I'm pretty sure she was going for blood!"

"He spun around there stood my "Nana" standing with her arms folded, foot tapping, and a look that would give Satan chills. In a fury and missing the obvious clues that were in front of him, he started telling her about my "misdeed" of going back in the building and complaining about her being the first person there and how I should hurry up since she was blocking the pick up lane. At this point, she put her finger up in his face and said, "shut up, little man!" He straightened up like he was going to correct her, he didn't realize that she was just giving him time to pray, "YOU put your hands on my grandbaby, her momma, her daddy, her poppy, and me don't put our hands on her and YOU SURE AS HELL AIN'T… AND another thing, I'll park where ever and for however long I want to in this school parking lot and she can go in and out of this building as many times as she wants to, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?????"

"This very large man was now trembling and repeating "yes, ma'am, I do," in a near catatonic state. She looked at me and nodded towards the car, needless to say I ran and got in because this was not the first, nor the last time I'd seen "Nana" in action. She got in the car, still mumbling under her breath, "just who the hell does he think he is???"

"My "Nana" was active right up until the end of her 90 years on this earth..."

Autumn Cole

"Have yee got a problem with me food, pal?"

"I was serving in the Reserves (Territorial Army as it was back then), and was getting some breakfast in the mess at Grantham. Some Americans were on the base, and a trio of them were eating, poking around at some black pudding (blood pudding). They weren't quite sure what it was, so I explained."

"They blew their top. "It's pig what? That's terrible!" they exclaimed, and one of them stormed off to the counter. "I wanna speak to the chef" he spouted. The server replied, "are you sure?". Clearly, he didn't relish the thought of disturbing the chef. "Of course I'm goddamed sure, the chef is trying to poison us with his barbarian food" the American spat. The server disappeared into the kitchen, and the American sat down."

"Shortly afterwards, the Chef came storming out of the kitchen."

"He was 6 foot 5, built like a brick sh*thouse, and bore a Scots Guards tattoo on his forearm. He spied the Yanks."

"Striding over to the table, he growled in the thickest and most menacing Glaswegian accent, "have yee got a problem with me food, pal?" The American all decided to look at their boots."

"He put his face inches from the nearest soldier. "I said, have YEE got a problem with me FOOD, pal?". The table all shook their heads and muttered about the weather. The chef turned about, and headed back to the kitchen. The 3 Americans all lost their appetites and left the mess."

"Breakfast with a slice of humble pie."

Thomas Anderson

...Batman?

"My friend whom everyone calls Doc, has 2 Ph.D's and is a very low key person, entered a convenient store wth me one afternoon. Doc is 57 years old and average build. He later told me he saw these 2 early 20's jitterbugs casing him in the store. As we left, we each went to our own vehicle. He said he saw them following him to his truck. As he went to get in, one pulled a gun from his pocket and said I'll take your money. Doc's back was to the guy at this time."

"He immediately spun around, side kicked the guy and sent him over the curb whereupon he hit his head and was out. We later found out the guy got 3 broken ribs as well."

"I saw what happened and asked him, where did you learn that ? He said I'll tell you later. Having to know I followed him home whereupon he showed me he held 4 black belts in 4 different styles of martial arts. That wasn't the best of it as he was always careful for no one to see him shirtless. I always wondered why until this moment."

"He pulled back his shirt, he was a Yakuza. These guys definitely picked the wrong guy on this day. The other guy, well he ran off. Funny thing was I heard several people harass the kid that he let an older man kick his a--. Doc told the observers not to call the cops. He said I'm sure the kid is embarrassed enough."

George Sachs

Never Bother A Kid Reading

"I've been teaching anger management classes for a decade. Many people in the classes are there because they've done something legally notable but have never offended before and show little to no likelihood of offending again. From these classes I have so many stories to share, but one in particular stands out."

"A 16-year-old tall slender boy showed up one day for class. He was polite, quiet, committed to paying attention and did a great job earning his certificate. He didn't really want to share his story during introductions. He generally shared that he got in a fight at school."

"Later in the day after a lot of vulnerability was demonstrated by many of the participants, the boy raised his hand and asked if he could talk. Of course, I gave him the floor."

"He explained he had been bullied at school for as long as he could remember. He was beaten up often by the same groups and this lasted for years throughout elementary school and high school."

"I'm assuming he had changed a lot as he grew because the boy in my class seemed gentle but not necessarily an "easy target." Kids can be cruel, of course, but it's often the case that bullies choose targets that wouldn't stand a chance at defending themselves. In my mind, this boy was once an easy target, but no more! Even though he grew up, sprouted tall, somehow he kept the target image even though he was developing into a strapping young man."

"One day in the cafeteria he was reading a book and a neighbouring table of boys started picking on him. He ignored them until it was no longer possible. Then he got up to walk away. They pursued him and were throwing pennies and trash at him. They called him worthless, and garbage, and other demeaning things."

"At one point one of the bullies said something that the boy couldn't ignore. At this point the boy stopped walking away and turned to face the group of bullies. He walked towards them and asked who had said the one specific comment. Proudly and immediately one of the bullies claimed responsibility. Without another word, the boy punched the bully in the face. It was one shot but it shattered the bully's jaw and knocked him out. The boy was suspended and mandated to take anger management classes."

"To my knowledge he had never been violent before or since. In that moment, however, it was as if he was standing up against all the years of abuse and all the bullies."

"It wasn't a "fight" per se, but I would definitely say that the bully "picked on" the wrong person at the wrong time. This one bully certainly wasn't every bully in the boy's past, but he most certainly received the boy's wrath as if he was."

"I can't say what the boy did was right. But I understand what drove him to react the way he did. Insofar as he was defending himself, I'm glad he was done being a victim. Often the trouble with being passive in the face of threats is that you'll explode at some point. And he did..."

Juliana Trichilo Cina

Never Think You're Too Big For Your Britches

"...I worked at GT for awhile. We had this Chinese fellow there who was a graduate assistant. This guy was the most stereotypical "Chinese graduate student" you've ever seen. Google "Chinese graduate student" and I'm pretty sure his picture would come up. I'll call him Li"

"Except"

"This guy could fight."

"Really, really fight."

"The school had their athletic complex, and there was a guy that taught kung fu."

"I'm pretty sure you have seen the type. Arrogant, has to be the center of attention, couldn't stand anyone calling him on anything."

"Well I see Li walk past and he's going to attend the class. Since the weight machines I want to use are over there, I follow. I'm on the leg press and the guy starts his class."

"Five minutes in an Li points out something that the instructor says is wrong."

"Instructor asks:"

"How would you do it?""

"Li gets up and demonstrates. The guy doesn't like getting showed up."

"Well in a fight that would never work."

"Li points out again, he's wrong."

"The instructor gets mad and tells Li to put up or shut up."

"At this point, I want to reflect that maybe, just maybe, when the Chinese student who muddles his way through English who's already shown you up once already says something, challenging him is a bad idea, but I digress..."

"Li gets up and takes off his sweatshirt. I've always seen him in long sleeved dress shirts. This guy is cut. He's solid muscle."

"They start sparring. It's at this point I realize that Li has this guy licked. Not just licked, but Li isn't even trying. The "instructor" is throwing everything he has at him. Nothing is connecting."

"Finally the instructor says "come on and hit me if you can" because at this point, Li's just been dodging and blocking."

"There's a slap as Li catches the guy's right ear."

"Now the instructor is mad. He goes at him again."

"Another two slaps, and the instructor is holding both his ears."

"Li isn't even sweating."

"Holy crap."

"Li "plays" with him for about another minute. Somehow the "instructor" gets close enough to try to lift him off the ground."

"This is a mistake."

"He drives an elbow down hard into this guy's back. There's a yell. Li explodes on this guy. The whole time I'm thinking about Jet Li or Anyone I've seen in Chinese action movies."

"Guy is knocked off the mats. He's hurt. Li isn't even sweating. After that. He just turns, grabs his top and walked off."

"He stuck around school for another year, got his PhD and went back to China. I really wish I could find him today."

Ryan Fernandez

These were some surprising stories.

Do you have a similar experience you'd like to share? Let us know in the comments.

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

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

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

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

– Practical_Eye_3600

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

– bikergirlr7

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

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

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

– KingBooRadley

Remember

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

– AquamarineCheetah

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

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

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

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

– OhhGoood

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

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

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

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

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

– RandomSharinganUser

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

– Kolkeia

If Only

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

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

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

– drummerskillit

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

– Isitjustmedownhere

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

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

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

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

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

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

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

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

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

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

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

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

– We-R-Doomed

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

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

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

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

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

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

– LesPaltaX

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

– MoonlightKayla

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

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

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

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

PeachesnPain

Recovery

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

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

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

good_golly99

Take Me Back

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

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

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

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

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

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

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

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

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

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

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

Hannah_LL7

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

huntokarrr

The Fog

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

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

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

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

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

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

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

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

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

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

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

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

– r7ndom

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

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

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

– dee-fondy

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

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

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

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

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

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

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

– KatMagic1977

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

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

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

– WaySavvyD

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

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

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

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

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

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

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

– LiZZygsu

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

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

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

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

– Princess-Pancake-97

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

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

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

– snic2030

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

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

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

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

– dma1965

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

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

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