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The All-Time Scariest True Stories People Have Ever Heard

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People Who Were Kidnapped Explain How They Escaped With Their Lives

People Who Were Kidnapped Explain How They Escaped With Their Lives

Kidnapping is one of the things we're trained to fear from a young age.

Don't talk to strangers. Don't go to unknown places by yourself. If someone you don't know is offering you something? They're trying to kidnap you. It can't happen as often as you've been trained to think, right?

What about when it does?

u/mado_134 asked:

Has any Redditor been kidnapped? If yes, what is your story?

Here were some of those stories.


Fun For You, Not For Me

My old teammate got kinda kidnapped. Nicest guy you'll ever meet. Told me a story about when he got kidnapped. Mind you he was a 190 lbs college athlete at the time.

Essentially he got car jacked and shoved in his own trunk. But the perpetrators just wanted to use his car for a joy ride. So after a night of speeding, smoking blunts in his car, and doing whatever else, they got pulled over by the police. He said the looks on the cops was something else thinking they were coming up on a routine traffic stop only to find the owner was in the trunk of the car.

JediRugger

Prison Forever

I lived in Cambodia. I was at the local market with my then 2 year old daughter. I turn around and she was gone.

I was in a complete panic, rushing around searching for her.

I had to pay to local police $200 to do their job. Thats how it was back then.

My daughter turned up around the border, the person who took her was trying to take her out of the country.

The only reason she was noticed was because she had a distinctive yellow t-shirt on.

This was 13 years ago. She wasn't traumatized by the event. Thankfully, she was too young to remember.

The man who took her got sent to prison for 15 years. Thats the last we heard of him.

MeRikeyBukuDong

This Could Have Been Bad

When I was around 7-8 years old, my Mom took me to a karate lesson for the first time. The "dojo" was in a strip mall. The lesson ended and as I was leaving the room (for whatever reason I was the last one out), a man approached me asking if I enjoyed the lesson. I told him I did and asked if he was a friend of my Mom. He was dressed normally (not an instructor) and didn't have a kid with him, so I was confused as to his interest in me. He told me he was not a friend of my Mom's, but that He and I would be friends. He put his arm around my shoulder and started walking towards the front door.


As we approached the exit, I saw my Mom chatting with the instructor in his office through the small window on the door. The office was right next to the exit and the handle within reaching distance. I quickly reached for the door handle, turned, and pushed. The man left my side and walked out the front door before the door to the office fully swung open.

I walked in and the instructor/my Mom start asking about the lesson, if I enjoyed it, etc. As we talked, I asked about the man. Neither the instructor or my Mom seemed to know who I was talking about and shrugged it off. After we left, I told my Mom it wasn't for me and never went back.

It wasn't until a decade later when I finally grasped the possibility of the situation.

thelittlestviking

A New Installment In "Taken"

I've posted this story before, but here goes:

I was in Turkey for a while in my early twenties with two friends. We had made quite a few friends in the coffee shops. They were mostly Kurdish and I was pretty oblivious to the racial tension there.

One day walking through the market, 5 men walked up to us. The four beefiest surrounded us while the fifth told us we were invited to tea at his place and to come. He was all smiles but the beefy dudes and general posture of them all made it clear what the score was.

We were escorted back to a shop with a few more scary guys and the patriarch of the family. The doors were closed and bolted, and the window shades drawn down.

For the next 5 hours we were "guests." It started mostly outwardly polite and utterly terrifying with polite veiled threats. When they served us tea, we were sure it would be drugged, but couldn't refuse and escalate the situation.

It culminated with them trying to hand the three of us swords, while the rest of them stood around us with swords in hand smiling and talking about how some of them had been in the family for generations and been used to take the heads off of Western Europeans in the crusades (BS I'm sure, but the point was taken).

I was absolutely sure if we took the swords they offered, we'd be cut down and they'd have plausible deniability and could claim we attacked them or tried to rob the place.

We remained calm and kept declining the swords politely as they got angrier and angrier. They finally let us go with a warning to mind who we associated with because "sometimes people disappear."

Scariest five hours of my life and I have no idea how it ended well for us.

goffstock

Divorce Does Awful Things

I was kidnapped when I was younger, but I didn't realize it at the time. My uncle and my aunt were going through a divorce, and he was staying at our house with my cousin. One day he said we were "going on a trip." I was young, and I loved going on trips, so I didn't think anything of it. He took us from Connecticut to Minnesota, and we stayed there for a few days. What I didn't know was he was about to lose custody of my cousin, so he took us and ran. I think he also took me just because I was there and he didn't want to leave me home alone. He was arrested shortly afterwards and sadly he killed himself in jail.

Dr_King_Schultz

Oof Yikes

Not me but my room mate at the time.

We lived in Johannesburg, and studied at the local university. One day I'm at class and he is at home. He steps outside to get something from his car (it's a typical SA block of flats with tall walls and a motorized steel gate)

Some guy climbs over the gate, runs up to him and throws him inside the house, demands he gets the keys and drags him outside to his car that was waiting on the street. He then takes my friend on a trip around Johannesburg, collecting debts owed to him (can only imagine he is a drug dealer)

After a good 6 hours of driving around, my friend is now terrified, the guy takes him home, drives into the driveway, strolls into the house and locks him in his room while he casually takes a shower. He comes back out and steals everything from my friend, clothes and all. Makes himself a sandwich and leaves like nothing happened.

My friend is still traumatized and this happened around 5 years go.

Lesson to learn, always keep your house locked, even if you have fancy security, electric fences and all that jazz. Sometimes this country amazes me.

PregoRoll

Vicious

I was almost kidnapped once.

I was visiting the mall with some others and left alone to go to the bathroom, which was down a long isolated hallway.

When I came out of the women's bathroom, a dirty old man rushed out of the men's and pinned me up against the wall.

There was an emergency exit at the end of the hallway, and he was dragging me toward it when another dude came out of the bathroom. He was big and bald and looked like a biker, complete with vest.

He yelled "HEY!" and the old man dropped me and ran.

I was 15 at the time.

SuddenTerrible_Haiku

Mania

When I was like 10, a friend's mother abandoned me in another state while she kidnapped her own children.

I was spending the weekend at a friend's house. The friend's mother had a manic episode and decided to leave her husband and move in with her recently deceased sister's widower. He lived in Vermont, we lived in Georgia. She packed us into the minivan at five AM and took off. Her two oldest children (13 and 15)got pretty upset so she left the three of us with an aunt in Pennsylvania.

It was pretty terrifying for my parents.

LeapingMouse

Casual Kidnapping

A friend of mine, not me.

So my pal goes to Bolivia every year and always tries to convince us to come with him. We never do, because he casually mentions to bring kidnap money with us.

Long story short, drugs are dirt cheap in the rural area his family lives. (A big round of drinks at certain bars will come with two/three grams of complimentary coke). And he loves the white stuff.

Anyway, every year he goes he gets kidnapped. They treat him good, no harm, gets a semi decent meal etc. And the ransom is like £150 or something equally irrelevant, apparently they once accepted £50 for his release.

PI3M3I

After A Stunt Like That???

I was 10 and (half)sister 8, stationed with (Step)father and Mother in Europe at the time (military from the USA). I was told by my father that we would eventually be going on a Sunday school trip. My sister and I had pictures taken weeks before, and were told they were for the same trip. Turns out my mother had hidden our passports and the pictures were for new passports...

Sunday rolled around. As we were driving my Dad had us guess where we were going. We kept guessing tourist attractions in Europe. "farther!" he would say until we guessed correctly. It was to my grandmother's house in the USA.

At this point I still did not realize we were being kidnapped. In fact I didn't realize it until days after our arrival, when I kept seeing our picture in the papers (the front page in many cases). "CUSTODY BATTLE TURNS OVERSEAS". A reporter had showed up shortly after our arrival to grandmas house and I couldn't understand what the fuss was about.

The crazy part is that my (step)Dad ended up with custody of both me and my sister.

fritzguye

Non-Sexual Things Married People Look Foward To Doing When Their Partner's Away

Reddit user shaka_sulu asked: 'Married folks, what's a non-sexual thing you look forward doing at home only when your spouse is away?'

Man enjoying sangria solo
Sangria Señorial/Unsplash

When the cat's away, the mice will play.

That scenario could apply to many situations, but it generally refers to an individual enjoying temporary freedom to do as they please in the absence of a foe or constant companion.

In romantic couplings, this may involve a spouse or significant other finally engaging in private activity that could be frowned upon in the presence of the other person.

Curious to hear examples, Redditor shaka_sulu asked:

"Married folks, what's a non-sexual thing you look forward doing at home only when your spouse is away?"

Some people are happy to take up extra space.

Spacious Parking

"Parking my car in the middle of the garage."

– starkpaella

"Genius answer. It always brings joy."

– Heynicejobtoday

Hush

"The quiet. My husband constantly has the TV on, even if he’s not watching, and I enjoy silence."

– 2workigo

"This. My wife lived alone for many years and always has the TV on, even uses the one in the bedroom as noise to fall asleep to. The first thing I do when she’s gone is make sure all the noisemakers are shut off around the house. Well, except the cats. They don’t have off buttons."

– jaybeeg

Bed Positions

"Sleeping on the diagonal."

– snogweasel

"When you're there, I sleep lengthwise And when you're gone I sleep diagonal in my bed."

– downvotingprofile

Quiet Viewing

"I had a day off work today. Husband was at work, kids at school, so after I did the school run I came home, wrapped myself in our softest heated blanket, lay on the sofa and watched 3 movies with no interruptions. It was bliss."

– PheonixKernow

These Redditors can finally revel in their respective indulgences when they finally have the place to themselves.

Taste In The Finer Things

"The wife is a picky eater. When she is away, I either make a meal that she doesn’t like or I go to a restaurant that she doesn’t care for."

"It’s the little things. 😂"

– aizzo4

All Mine

"I cook almost all the meals. Almost being that we occasionally get take out. When I have a day off and my husband is working and my kids are at school/daycare, I go get breakfast and Waffle House. By myself. I sit there and eat a waffle, two scrambled eggs and bacon and I DONT HAVE TO F'KING SHARE! My husband despises Waffle House, but f'k I love those waffles. My parents used to have a waffle iron that made the traditional style waffles with the tiny squares until the cord shorted out. I miss them."

– missag_2490

Cheers

"My wife is in recovery, six years sober, and I support her in every way possible including, obviously, no alcohol in the house. If she’s away for a few days, I’ll grill me some steak tacos and wash them down with a really good Cabernet."

– Tom__mm

"I’m a recovering addict and I think you’re a great husband."

– JLHuston

Screen Time

"Watching TV shows he'd never watch, on the big TV."

– sexrockandroll

"There isn't an ancient aliens, shows from the early 80s (chuck Norris and Jack klugman), or horror movies that he won't watch - pausing every 3 seconds in case I miss something - that WE have to watch. When he travels for work I relish the quiet. Even the weather channel is enjoyable."

"My love for my husband has no end but he has the stupidest taste in shows yet whines if I would rather deep clean the basement than deal with any of it."

"But I can only deep clean the basement so many times..."

– Big-Mine9790

To each his/her/their own.

The Organizer

"Deep cleaning and reorganizing. I know, I'm a real party."

– Dependent_Top_4425

"You are my people. The garage door is hardly down before I'm getting busy!"

"There is not one thing better in this whole world than having some alone time in my spotless house."

– Individual-Army811

Everything But The Kitchen Sink

"Hike all day, get the sh**ty chinese takeout that she hates and I love despite knowing full well it’s objectively not good, and drink some nice beer while watching movies all night."

– holographoc

Establishing Order

"Putting things down and having them still be there when I want them."

"Having a clean house that stays that way for more than 30 seconds. I love him, but he's just a whirlwind of plates and seltzer cans some days."

– Lyeta1_1

When my husband's away, I watch all the horror films that have been stacking up in the queues of my streaming platforms.

He has a weak stomach for gore and violence, so we often avoid home invasion movies or slasher flicks and instead stick to comedy, drama, or dramedies, and documentaries.

Which is all well and good.

But when I have the place all to myself, I bust out the wine and Doritos and watch the latest Halloween or Scream movies I've been missing out on.

marriage

People Reveal The Stupidest Thing They've Ever Heard Someone Say

Woman covering her mouth laughing
Photo by Leighann Blackwood on Unsplash

We've all had a conversation with someone where they say something where they've said something incorrect or inaccurate.

Sometimes, our gut reaction is just to laugh, as it was an honest mistake, such as mixing up a pair of celebrities or misusing or mispronouncing a word.

Other times, we might feel the need to put them in their place and not only correct them but educate them.

Then there are the times when we have just heard something so shockingly inane that we are left completely and utterly speechless.

Redditor Moo1124 was eager to hear all the dumb things the Reddit community heard which left them dumbfounded, leading them to ask:

"What's the stupidest thing you've ever heard anyone say?"

Before You Denounce Something, Make Sure You Know What It Is

"'I don't believe in astronomy'."

"We asked her if she meant astrology, and she asked, 'which is the one where like, you can tell what stars are made of?''

"We confirmed that was astronomy'."

"'Yeah, I don't believe in that'."- octohog

That Explains All The Traffic Jams?

"That when you press on the horn of your car, it lowers the amount of air in your front right tire due to it helping make that horn sound."- Boomstick123456

Oh, Dear...

"I was walking around the ruins of the ancient cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde just outside of Mancos, Colorado, (where the Ancient Puebloans lived from approximately 550 A.D. to 1300 A.D.) when a visitor asked the tour guide:"

"'Why did they build their homes so far from the highway?'"- badwolf1013

driving los angeles GIF by HOLLYWOOD LOVE STORYGiphy

Ribbet...

“'I can shoot with my left hand, I can shoot with my right hand, I'm amphibious'."- Master_Grape5931

Racist No Matter What...

"Apparently when my daughter was first born she looked vaguely East Asian."

"Enough, at least, for the nurses to ask if I was sure it was my baby."

"Now that was an incredibly weird thing to say to a new dad meeting his daughter for the first time, but it wasn't the stupidest thing someone said about this situation."

"That happened when I was retelling the above story to a client in a meeting."

"He asked to see a photo of my kid as a newborn, remarked how she really did 'look Asian', and then proceeded to ask if I thought my child might end up having an Asian accent when she got older."- JoeyCalamaro

"Where are you from, China or Asia?"- SonaPen22

Cbs No GIF by HULUGiphy

When Life Gives You Lemons

"Asked someone if they drove a stick."

"They responded, 'no, I drive a car'."

"Now I have a dad joke I’ll remember forever."- 99problemsbut

ID Please...

"I once found a big bulldog in my back yard."

"I don't own a bulldog."

"He was a big friendly, but slow witted guy."

"He look healthy and had a collar but no tags so I knew he was a local."

"I made sure he had water and went to the front yard to start knocking on doors."

"As soon as I stepped outside I saw the family three houses down all gathered in their front yard."

"So another case closed for our young detective."

"I walked over to them and said, 'You guys missing a bulldog?'"

"The mother looked at me and said, 'Is his name Tyson?'"

"The question took me aback."

"I mean, he didn't have tags."

"They knew he didn't have tags."

"So all I could think to say was, 'He didn't say'."

"'But I'm pretty sure he's yours'."

"To this day I wonder if that woman knew how dumb that question was."- Spodson

looks stupid english bulldog GIFGiphy

Under The Influence

"Stoned friend ."

"What year is February in?'"- IHave47Teeth

Woof Woof...

"My teacher told a class of 16-17 year olds about that super loyal dog in Japan who walked to the train station daily for nine years to wait for his owner, who died at work."

"After hearing that story, a girl raised her hand and asked 'Why didn't somebody just tell the dog?'"- Senator_Ruth_Martin

That's Why The FDA Warns Against It...

"When I was 12 years old a friend told me 'smoking is good for you because the smoke makes a shield around your heart when you breathe it in'."

"He argued that the smoke could prevent you from being stabbed or shot."

"Even at 12 I knew he was a moron."- ipondy

There's Denying Global Warming, And Then...

"Solar panels will cause a global ice age, because the law of thermodynamics states energy cannot be created or destroyed, so obviously they must be removing heat from the air."

"With no sense of irony of the scale nor efficiency (or lack thereof) of solar panels and their capacity to cool."- peptobiscuit

In Debt, Maybe...

"I knew a Finance major in college who thought he was worth $20k because he had two credit cards with $10k limit each."- alano134

No one loves a know-it-all.

Especially when they don't actually know anything at all...


stupid

People Who Shoplift Regularly Explain Why They Do It

A man with an ostentatious watch rifles through a wardrobe
Photo by charlesdeluvio

Shoplifting is a prevalent issue, but why do people do it?

Some reasons can be as banal as boredom, but other are far more intruiging.

Redditor WineOhCanada wanted to understand why people steal, so they asked:

"People who shoplift on the regular: why do you do it?"

I loved shoplifting.

Until I was caught, that is. I was a price tag switcher.

I apologize.

So Excited

Happy Thomas Lennon GIF by ABC NetworkGiphy

"It makes me feel alive. Jk I don't any more but as a kid, it was for sure a thrill thing."

silly-billy-goat

The Need

"I’m going to give an actual honest answer as someone who has not done this in many years… it becomes addicting."

anewchapteroflife

"Came here to say this. Back in my high school days, I would do it all the time. It's like a rush. Now my shoplifting days are when I forgot the can of soup on the bottom of the grocery cart and don't realize til I'm loading it in the car."

TheRumpleForesk1n

"I used to work in loss prevention. A lot of times we would let you go; especially teenagers. We knew you would be back and have pictures on the wall of you. We focused on shoplifting rings with a higher dollar amount and employees. Employees rob you blind."

taco_cop

The Hit

"I was greedy and had poor impulse control. While shoplifting was terrifying... having the shiny new thing after gave me a dopamine hit. I got caught three or four times and I thank Christ I was under 18 each and every time."

happyele

"It was less about greed for me I think, I've never been addicted to any drugs, whenever I got caught I would always test negative for anything, the custody sergeant who would take my fingerprints/DNA/drug swab would say 'Sean you're the only one that comes in regular that's not on any drugs, what's going on?' I explained that I was homeless, lost my job because the company I worked for folded, and life just kicked me in the butt."

"Flirty Chez I called her, and she would always give me extra food whenever I was brought in, I just thought that was how she was, then one day she said I need a girlfriend and I shot her down, no more flirty Chez. She was shooting her shot and I rejected her without even knowing it."

hardcoresean84

Exchanges

"Much to my mom’s embarrassment, I was a serial shoplifter as a baby. At least I had the presence of mind to take off my socks and shoes and leave them scattered around the store in exchange."

UsualFrogFriendship

"I was once on a camping trip with my parents. We left the campsite for a day and when we got back our soap had been stolen from the tent. Just our soap, nothing else was taken, but we did find the shoes of the perpetrator!"

"This kid left them right at the entrance of our tent, so it was not difficult to find out who did it. When we went to get the soap back and give him back his shoes, sadly the kid threw it over a fence, so we never got it back."

ptbroeke

Influences

Breaking Bad Crying GIFGiphy

"My easily influenced mind was corrupted by TV. If it's good enough for Marie Schrader then it's good enough for me."

DavosLostFingers

TV rots your brains and decision making capabilities.

Do the opposite of your favorite characters.

End of Times

Nbc Shoplifting GIF by SuperstoreGiphy

"When I was bedridden due to Covid, I had a friend who shoplifted a whole damn box worth of medicine from different drugstores."

"I was very impressed and confused, as I didn't ask for it. Great friend though!"

pepper-blu

Criminals

"As a former loss prevention officer, most of the people I stopped were stealing to resell the items. Many people were clearly drug addicts and many people I stopped had meth and other drugs on them. Not every shoplifter is stealing to buy drugs, but a ton of them are."

"A lot of other people just stole items they wanted, and some people just have a stealing problem and would take whatever random BS they came across and thought would be easy to steal. If I ever saw someone stealing food I'd usually look the other way, but that was pretty rare to see someone taking food, it was usually clothes, electronics, makeup, or tools."

BigBudZombie

The Rush

"Addiction. And that's addiction to shoplifting, not drugs. It's a rush. Confidence grows with each success. It becomes an obsession. It brings an amount of power when stealing from giant corporations. For me, this question is similar to asking an addict why they are addicted to drugs or alcohol."

"I haven't shoplifted in three years. I attended Shoplifters Anonymous and continue to go to therapy which are both very helpful. I'm very lucky I didn't lose everything."

tacoterrarium

Self-Control

"In high school, I dated this guy who would shoplift and I got influenced to start doing it. After we broke up I kept doing it all throughout college since I was a broke college student who had no self-control. I only shoplifted from big retail stores and told myself it was 'okay.' Post college I stopped because the possible consequences as an adult and to my career were not worth it."

isatacobelle

There was no good in it

"I used to do it as a means to support my drug habit. I wouldn't call what I was doing shoplifting though. I moved the volume and high-end merchandise. Honda generators from Home Depot or Lowe's. Shopping carts full of Tide pods, and Similac baby formula. I'd hit Nordstrom during the holidays for their perfumes and colognes. COACH, Burberry for purses."

"I made a good chunk of change from it, yet I was still homeless. Most of my money went to drugs, and hotel rooms at shi**y hotels. I'm no longer like this. I reached out and went to rehab this past July. I now have 132 days clean and sober, and work an honest job. My life's boring as hell now and I love it. Even though people on the street complimented and applauded my skills."

"I was never proud of myself for any of the stealing I was doing. There was no good in it. Now I feel good about myself and can be proud of what I do. It's a nice feeling to go into a store and not have to be aware of my surroundings and not tighten up when the greeters ask for a receipt. Because now, I can happily show them one. Lol."

Crotch-Monster

Think First

Steve Austin Wrestling GIF by WWEGiphy

"I work for a 3-letter retail store in NV and we have a ton of theft. I see a lot of random products for sale on the FB marketplace. If it adds up to over $1,200 it’s grand larceny and you get arrested."

"Walmart also allows up to a certain amount to be returned with no receipt and you get cash back."

samisalwaysmad

What have we learned kids?

Theft never really pays.

Do you have any experiences? Let us know in the comments below.

shoplift

The Absolute Weirdest Questions People Have Been Asked In A Job Interview

job interview
Van Tay Media on Unsplash

I once burst out laughing during a job interview.

It was for an internal position so I knew all of the interviewers well, but even if I hadn't I doubt I could have kept a straight face.

What cracked me up?

This interview question:

"If I attended a backyard BBQ with your last boss, what do you think they'd say about you?"

After I stopped laughing,

I told the interviewer—who happened to be my then boss' boss:

"I'm sorry, but that sounds like a question from the Miss America Pageant."

The interview panel got a laugh out of that. And yes, I did answer the question.

So what odd, absurd or just plain strange interview questions have people gotten?

Keep reading...Show less
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