People Who Went Missing When They Were Young Reveal What Happened To Them
[rebelmouse-image 18358162 is_animated_gif=It's every parent's worst fear. Heck it's every person's worst fear regardless of age. To discover you have a Missing loved one or to BE the missing loved one. There are countless tv shows, movies and books covering the topic. Whose heart doesn't sick at the sight of a missing child poster? Some see it as a fear greater than death. At least with death there is a knowing and a closure, not a happy one but a closure none the less. And to be a missing or to be lost and not be able to find your way to safety is a nightmare come to life.
Redditor _u/PrimarilyMarten wanted to know... Redditors who have gone missing but were found. What happened? Pay attention people this could be any one of us.
DON'T BE SPITEFUL, JUST WALK HOME!
My mom reported me missing one midnight. We were staying at a hotel a few miles from home (long story), we got into an argument and she kicked me out and told me to walk back to the house. I was 15. Instead of doing as I was asked, I said f*** this and messaged my theatre director, one of the only adults I knew, and said I was outside at night and that I wasn't safe. I spent the night at her house and the police were looking for me. I made sure my older brother knew where I was, and went to school the next day. Police took me home after I went to her house a second time.
WAITING FOR DEATH AT THE LOG...
[rebelmouse-image 18355673 is_animated_gif=Back when I was around 7 or 8, I was at this family camp during the summer. I would hang with this group of boys who were all a few years older than me and always thought "OH BOY, I get to hang with the big boys." So anyways there was this place people called "the secret hideout," where it was just a little hut made of sticks and a fireplace that you could find by going into the forest a little bit. Me and these dudes go to the secret hideout place and for some reason decide to find another. So we just walk deeper into the forest until we find a place and we're like _"cool, this is the second secret hideout, let's go find another." _Once we find the third secret hideout we decide to go back to camp and had no trouble finding our way. But as soon as we got back, I went to my cousin and was like _"Dude you got to come with me, there's like 2 more secret hideouts" _So me and my cousin go to the secret hideout, then I proceeded to lead the way to the second secret hideout. On our way to the third secret hideout I get completely lost and start crying and the both of start going mental. We're just two little kids frantically running through the forest having no idea where we are. Eventually I'm just like _"okay, let's just sit on this log and wait until we die" _and my cousin was like _"that sounds good."_ Apparently, that's actually what you're supposed to do if you get lost, you're supposed to stay in one place and wait for help. So me and my cousin have possibly the most intimate conversation about all the things we'll miss when we're dead. Eventually my family notices were gone and my dad eventually finds us. But yeah I essentially welcomed and accepted death at the ripe age of seven.
WHERE'VE YOU BEEN?
[rebelmouse-image 18358163 is_animated_gif=Happened twice. First time was comical second was quite serious.
When I was 5 or 6 my best friend lived a few houses down. We would see each other every day and do normal kid stuff. I guess he went on vacation one week and me being 6 didn't quite understand that... I took off on my trike and was determined to find him. I pedaled at least two miles before a concerned adult saw me and called the police. My parents were quite relieved!!! And took away my bike. Still friends with that neighbor and it's a joke that comes up every now and again.
So now for the not so funny part.
This happened when I was 22. I'll spare all the details, but my life literally fell apart. My father died and we were very close. My girlfriend dumped me because I was having trouble getting over the loss. I failed a bunch of classes in college and was told not to come back. My life was crumbling. I wasn't suicidal, but I felt this urge to leave. I hopped in my car and drove until the gas ran out. I found a cheap motel and spent the night. Then I kept driving the next day, and the next. I turned my phone off. No contact with anyone. Not quite sure what I was thinking, but it felt good to just keep moving. I was in a Waffle House one morning around 4am. Met a fellow traveler and we exchanged stories. I spilled my heart out to this random stranger. He gave me a hug and just listened for hours. He bought my breakfast and just said, _"Go home, kid. This too will pass." _I had a good cry and drove home. A lot of people were very worried about me. My mom was convinced I killed myself. It was extremely selfish. But whatever happened in those 5 days I was off the grid seemed to set me straight.
BLESS YOU REDDIT!!
[rebelmouse-image 18358164 is_animated_gif=Not me but my brother, and Reddit found him for us.
My brother moved to Hawaii and from there Iceland. One day we stopped hearing from him, like he vanished off the face of the Earth. He had stopped posting on social media, he had stopped contacting all his friends (even the ones his family didn't know). It was always a possibility that he was going off the grid for some reason, but last we spoke everything was fine and normal. Still, we thought he would pop up somewhere, as he was an extensive world traveler and often went incommunicado for periods of time. A year goes by, we are more worried. What if something happened to him? Why wouldn't he be on social media anymore? Why would he cut contact with his entire network of friends and family? He had never done that before. There was no fight or drama. The last conversation he had with my mom was about Christmas presents. We start looking for him. We message everyone we know he knows. We message his best friend, who gives a VERY cryptic response neither denying or confirming anything. This gets us worried, why is this guy being shady? Last we knew these two were travel the world together. My mom email bombs his best friend, who refuses to respond. We wait another year. Nothing. We are starting to think he might be dead. My mom files a missing persons report, and the police find no trace of him. I start posting missing persons reports. We scour the internet. We find nothing. Another year. I haven't seen him in 5 years now. I think ill never see him again. Half my family is convinced he died somewhere abroad. He hasn't filed any W2s or Pplied for government services oranything in the US in 5 years. Another year. My mom hires a private detective for 10k. The guy can't find much, he is worthless. I start posting on Scandanavian subreddits, because that was the region my brother was last seen in. I basically make a missing persons poster with his pic and all his info. A week later someone sends me a message, they had seen my brother!
We are freaking out. The person explains that he was in Norway, and had worked with my brother doing construction. This Gentleman was from Michigan, but owned a business in Norway, so could kind of weed out the BS in my brothers story. My brother was telling people that he was adopted (he wasn't) and that his family had stolen him as a baby. (We didn't.) He said my brother seemed kind of mentally off, with a lot of conspiracy theories and rambling thoughts. I thanked this guy PROFUSELY. It was so nice to know my brother was alive.
Still, this isn't proof positive. There is no picture of my brother, and by the time this guy messaged us my brother had moved on. Reddit dude told us where he my brother had said he was going next. We contact our local police with this new info. They message the police force in Upsalla, where my brother had said he was going. The police there know where he is! They go to his door and let him know his family is looking for him. He tells them he knows, and doesn't want to talk to us. They check his passport to make sure he is actually my brother. This is the best/worst news we have had. It was now 7 years since we had talked to him at all.
A couple months later my brother sends me a Facebook message! He hasn't directly contacted me in almost 8 years. He wants me to remove my Reddit post about him being missing, it was showing up when you Google searchd his name. I say I will and try and start a conversation with him. Slowly we being talking again. He agrees to taken to the rest of the family. We keep in contact for the next 2 years and I go visit him in Sweden. The year after that he moved home.
So thank you Reddit, for finding my brother :)
HI HOE SILVER!!
[rebelmouse-image 18358165 is_animated_gif=My brother (when he was a toddler) got put down for bed at night. My dad worked nights and I guess my brother decided he missed dad... grabbed his hobby horse and let himself out the door. Some neighborhood people called the police because this little kid wearing only a diaper was "galloping" down the street on his horse on a stick.
THE WICKED WITCH LIVES!!!
[rebelmouse-image 18979639 is_animated_gif=My stepdad was really sick when I was 4. We lived next door to his mom, my evil step grandma. While my sisters went to school I had to stay with her because my mom stayed at the hospital with my step dad. Evil Grammie was mean as a snake and haaaated me. She refused to turn cartoons on and I didn't have any toys with me, so when she went to take a shower I escaped from her house and broke into my house next door. To this day I cannot remember how I got into my house, but I hid in the bathroom cabinet behind the towels. I'm guessing hours pass, I hear people in the house calling for me. My step-Aunt says _"If I was her momma I would whoop her!" _So I stayed in the cabinet until I heard everyone leave. Including cops. Once it was quiet I called for my mom to come help me out of the cabinet. I ended up not being in trouble because my mom was sooo pissed at Evil Grammie and Auntie because I was missing for a while before they called her.
DON'T BE TOO LITERAL...
[rebelmouse-image 18979640 is_animated_gif=When I was in second grade... so I was 6 years old I think, the teacher got mad at me for something I can't remember now. The teacher tells me to get out of the class. I go outside into the hallway but I was pretty upset and just left. I walked out of the school and walked straight home. We only lived about 1/2 mile from the school. I went straight into my bedroom and just started playing with star wars stuff. About three hours later my frantic mother came rushing in from wherever she had been... apparently there had been quite a ruckus kicked up looking for me. My defense at the time was that the teacher told me to leave. So I did. They made me go back to school the next day.
JUST ONE LAST CHAPTER....
[rebelmouse-image 18979641 is_animated_gif=In pre-K I loved to read. One day the teacher told us to line up to go to chapel (Christian school) but I was deep in a picture book and didn't hear. They left me and didn't notice I was gone until she was counting heads after lunch hours later! I got in soooo much trouble but never understood why it was my fault as a 4 year old that the teacher didn't check the room before leaving it.
WELL THERE'S A DATELINE EPISODE...
[rebelmouse-image 18979642 is_animated_gif=My dad had my uncle babysit my sister and I for the day when I was ~4 and sister was 2. It was awesome, we got to hang out on his boat and eat ice cream all day. When he took us home really late I remember my mom was hysterical and a cop was there. Dad had told mom that he got rid of us and she would never see her kids again and refused to tell her if we were dead, alive, or if he even knew. The cop took us away that night and ultimately mom's parents raised us for a few years while my parents got their shit together independently from each other.
FIND COFFEE...
[rebelmouse-image 18979643 is_animated_gif=Got really drunk, woke up face down in the snow in the woods in Montana. I'm not from Montana and this was my second night there. Found the lake that we were staying on and used the moon to find the house where we were staying. Walked in the door at around 2:30 am to a group of relieved friends.
STAY CLOSE...
[rebelmouse-image 18979644 is_animated_gif=When I was around 8-10 years old my mom would drop my dad, a few of his friends, and I off on a part of Oahu in Hawaii that was all jungle with no people/buildings. We'd hunt, fish, and surf all day every day with no communication to the outside. My mom would pick us up 5-7 days later at a pre-designated spot/time.
One of the times 2 days before pickup I wandered away from camp and got lost. I had my pack and surfboard with me. Ended up camping alone for a night and surfed a few times by myself. The next day my dad found me and we never told my mom.
I honestly had a blast, would do again if I was 10 still.
JUST SAY NO!
[rebelmouse-image 18352636 is_animated_gif=My best friend and I went to a party in Portland, Oregon on a Friday night. I lost track of him at around 10 and didn't hear from him all weekend. I receive a phone call on Monday afternoon from him saying he was in Chicago.
Moral of the story: don't do drugs.
UNDER THE PILE...
[rebelmouse-image 18979645 is_animated_gif=My parents were shopping with me when I was 4 or so years old. I disappeared from right next to them and they couldn't find me, had employees searching for me, yelling my name etc. My mom was frantic. They were about to file a report and do the whole Amber Alert business when I popped out from the middle of one of those round clothing racks, happy as could be because nobody found my hiding spot.
They were not pleased with me.
FULL CIRCLE...
[rebelmouse-image 18355673 is_animated_gif=Not technically missing but..
When I was about 10, I went to walk to my friends house for the very first time. I usually go with him or other friends and never really played close attention to the route, but thought I will just 'remember.'
As I got about 3/4 of the way there, I suddenly arrive on a street I have NEVER seen before, this was before I had a phone, and as English was my second language having arrived in England a year before, I couldn't even ask for instructions properly.
About an hour of walking around in circles, a woman with a push chair saw me and asked if I was lost, I wasn't able to ask her for directions, I had no idea what street my house was in, no idea about my house's phone number, so she just took me to the local supermarket and from there I knew the way home. - after that, my step-dad made me memorize his mobile number, home number and address
OH FATHER...
[rebelmouse-image 18979646 is_animated_gif=My father had kidnapped me from my mother when I was 6. She had kicked him out of the apartment and just told me he was staying with my grandmother for a bit.
He picked me up early from school and took me to the beach. I thought it was just a fun trip to the beach with my dad. He basically spent most of the time nodding off. Two police cars pulled up and my father just got on his knees with his hands up. He was handcuffed in put in one car and the cops in the other car just told me they were taking me to my mom.
I didn't find out what actually happened until I was 17. My mom kicked my father out because he was abusive and on some drug (Thinking back on it was probably Heroin). He picked me up early from school then called my mom from a payphone (It was the early 90s) saying if she didn't let him back in the apartment he would sell me and she would never see me again.
WHEN YOU'RE EXHAUSTED...
[rebelmouse-image 18979647 is_animated_gif=So I fell asleep on a cot inside of a display tent in a sports supply store when I was about three or four...
It didn't help that I was my parents first kid.
WHAT DID WE DO BEFORE CELLPHONES?
[rebelmouse-image 18979648 is_animated_gif=Not me but my uncle.
Where he went to college there was a few train tracks that ran near campus. Trains would roll by pretty slowly, one night him and a friend drunkenly jumped on a train fully intending on jumping off close to their house. They passed out and woke up in a train yard 2 hours away from their college.
This was 25 years ago so no cellphones, took them 2 days to hitchhike back, they called their parents but friends thought they got abducted on the wrong side of town.
WHERE'S TARZAN?
[rebelmouse-image 18979649 is_animated_gif=Got lost in the jungle for 2 days. Had the national guard find me. 6/10, would do again.
IT'S WINTER... SHUT THE DOOR!
[rebelmouse-image 18979650 is_animated_gif=I was a baby and it was winter. My mom left our front door open and I crawled out.
She freaked out, but a few hours later the mailman brought me home.
People are required to have a license to drive, fish, and have certain jobs.
So it boggles my mind that people aren't required to have a license to have kids.
Some of the cruelest and most vicious things I've ever heard were words uttered by a parent to a child.
As an adult, I was haunted by a few thigs.
I can't imagine the scaring of an adolescent.
Redditor Tight_Anywhere6794 wanted to hear about the things parents have said in the past that haunts everyone still, so they asked:
"What insult have your parents said, that is stuck in your head as an adult?"
I've been blessed with the mother I had.
So I can't speak from experience.
But I've heard parenting horror stories.
Bad Expressions
Sad Kid GIF by 1tvGiphy“'You’re so annoying.' Said to me as a young kid while I was expressing enthusiasm over some new interest. Later my father complains I never tell him anything."
foppishyyy
Mean Spirited
"What did I do to deserve a fat kid?"
Silosolo
"My parents also mocked me for being fat, and outright physically abused me as in forcefully grabbed my fat child manboobs or slapped me while calling me fat-related names."
"A lot of people at school did it too, so obviously I have a lot of self-image issues like I never let anyone see me without clothes these days. The worst part is that I legitimately internalized a lot of hate, I could never care for myself enough to actually get fit."
FoeWithBenefits
What's My Name?
"My parents divorced when I was young and they hate each other. My mom would call me my dad's name when she was really upset. What makes it worse is that I confided in her that I never wanted to be like my dad. She used that ammunition against me."
Discarded_Pariah
"That's awful. You are your own person. You aren't your father."
blksmnr
Unfunny
"'You can't even laugh right.'"
"My mom in a weird moment I thought we were bonding. There's something inherently extra evil when someone tells you your joy is wrong. Told her I'm engaged and hoped she could at least be happy I'm happy and she ghosted everyone to the point the family thought died. She's a mess."
BlindEditor
"I'll never understand parents that are so hard on their own children that they can't even be happy for them. So their sole function is to bring misery to their offspring?"
macabre_irony
Evil
Oh My God Wow GIF by The Roku ChannelGiphy"My little brother was drowning, I tried to save him but also almost drowned, we got rescued by a neighbor. My mom told me that they should've left me in the pond. I haven't spoken to her in many years."
Ilookbetterthanyou
Good Lord. How do people like this exist?
Tragic.
HIM
"She told me I was acting just like my father when I would get upset. I would just get kinda pissy and sulk. He would go on rampages and scream and hit and throw things. He pushed her down the stairs once. I would never lay a finger on my current partner. The worst part is I look just like him. I was wondering if my mother always expected me to turn into my dad. I prove her wrong every day."
rot_grl
10 Years Old
"When I was ~10 years old, my mum once said 'If I could go back in time and make sure I never gave birth to you, I would in a heartbeat.'"
"Never forgot it. Talked to her about it a couple of times years later and her responses ranged from 'That never happened' to 'Oh yeah and I suppose I’m just the worst mother ever' and finally 'Yeah but I didn’t mean it, you know that.'"
"Messed me up tho tbh. Another one was '[older sibling] was the only child we actually planned for, the rest of you were accidents.' I don’t think it was intended as an insult, but being told your entire existence was an accident as a child kinda stung."
SpiderP*bes
Failures
“'You’re the biggest mistake I ever made.' - my mother when I was 5. I’m 32 now and it’s been the undercurrent for our relationship ever since, constantly wondering if anything I’ve achieved or struggled for is something she’s genuinely proud of or just relieved to say I wasn’t a total failure on her part."
thefaehost
Generational Issues
"Not a parent but a grandparent, I was adopted when I was 12 years old (my parents were both drug addicts so I was in and out of foster care most of my life) my adopted mother's father turned to me on Christmas Eve when no one else was around and said 'My daughter should have never adopted you, she should have let you stay on the streets where you belong'… he got nicer as he got older and sicker but I couldn’t find it in myself to forget what he said even almost 10 years later. Went to the funeral for moral support but was indifferent about his passing."
samweather227
Just Me
Sad Kids GIF by Cian DucrotGiphy"I was an only child and lonely. When I asked for a sibling, the response was 'If you want to know why we don't have more kids, go look in the mirror.'"
Responsible_Fly_3565
Some people should never have children.
Awful.
A tough realization that most of us have to process and accept at some point is the fact that our parents lied to us when we were kids.
But the tougher fact to process may not be the lying itself, but some of the lies that were told along the way.
Redditor Fearless-surfur-ee asked:
"What was the biggest lie you believed?"
Adulting 101
"That adults knew what they were doing."
- yukipurple
"Maybe not ALL adults, but I definitely thought that adults with responsible jobs have their s**t together. Then I realized they do not have their s**t together at all."
"Which in turn makes me feel somewhat better about being an adult with a responsible job who does not have their s**t together."
- kjhwkejhkhdsfkjhsdkf
Moving Violations
"It’s illegal to turn on the dome light while the vehicle is moving."
"Nope. Turns out it’s just annoying as h**l."
- OstrichMan975
A Lottery Trick
"When I was a kid, my cousin convinced me for, like, an hour that her mom had won the lottery. I can still feel the loss of millions of dollars two decades later, and that s**t hurts, bro."
"WHY, JESSICA, WHY?!"
- iforgotwhereiparked
That Truth Hurts
"I’ll fill up my car with gas before work tomorrow morning."
- hoangtudude
"I will do stuff like this for my fiancé in a heartbeat, but if I need to fill up my own gas tank to avoid doing it tomorrow? That sounds like a problem for future me."
- robbviously
When That Grief Hits Seven Years Later...
"My mom told me when I was five and my favorite dog died that it doesn't matter that dogs die, because in seven years, they respawn."
"So I was like, 'Oh, fine. See you then, bud, I will be older, and we will play again.'"
- josevilla7
Replacement Pets
"My hamster died while I was in school. Went back home, and I instantly saw he was a little bit different."
"My mum tricked me into thinking it was the same hamster and he hadn't changed a bit."
"Mom told me the truth a few years later. I was so p**sed off."
- changethename7
"My mom has done the same thing with my nephew’s parakeet. One day, Pickles #1 flew into the pantry, somehow got stuck in a case of Diet Coke, and got crushed by a can avalanche."
"He was immediately replaced by Pickles #2. My nephew asked why Pickles was so mean to him now. Pickles #2 is an a**hole."
"I’m suspicious that we are on Pickles #3 now but I don’t want to know for sure."
- Brotox123
"My mother's cousin did that with her little boy's rabbit."
"The new rabbit was a psychopath. Having his previously loving rabbit now hate him and repeatedly attack him was almost certainly more traumatizing than learning about death."
"I always wondered if stories like that were part of the inspiration for 'Pet Sematary.'"
- victoriaj
Just in Case
"The microwave will explode if I put my face too close to it while it’s heating food."
- ezzysalazar
A SUPER Secret Affair
"That my parents were married."
"The truth is, my father was, just not to my mother."
- left_over_croissant
A Creative Story
"That my dad moved out and rented a room in the house of a female friend for tax reasons."
- Eldhannas
Such Good Friends
"Outside of dumb lies your parents tell you as kids, my friend who worked at a gas station with a big food station that has some ground beef items told me they use kangaroo meat for their ground beef because it was cheaper than cow."
"I am gullible with my friends."
- _Goose_
The Lie That Keeps Going
"When I was 15, over my summer break, one day my mom called and said she was gonna pick me up and we were gonna go to my stepdad's for the weekend."
"I didn’t understand why I had to go when she would leave me at home by myself for the weekend all the time. I was old enough that I knew the rules and she could trust me."
"She told me there was a mixup at the electrical company and they seem to think we didn’t pay the bill and so the power was gonna be shut off, so we were gonna go to my stepdad's until that got sorted."
"That was a lie."
"A weekend turned into two weeks, which turned into a month, and then the entire summer. We hadn’t been home in over two months. I kept asking when we could go home and she’d always have an excuse."
"We reached September, she’s driving me from one city to my hometown to register for the following year of school, which started up in a week, and this was the closest I had been to home in two months! After I registered, we bypassed my house and started heading towards the highway to go back to my stepdad’s."
"It was at that moment I snapped and started freaking out! I knew something was wrong."
"She pulled the car over and started crying. Apparently, my brother had been helping her pay the bills and when he moved out, she could no longer afford the place on her own. So my stepdad was trying to help but he had his own house and kids he had to look after, and he couldn’t keep it up. We had been evicted."
"We stayed with my stepdad for the summer while my mom tried to work something out with the landlord, but they couldn’t come to an arrangement. Because she never told me, and in order to buy herself time to work something out, she had to be comfortable with potentially leaving EVERYTHING behind…"
"Well, she couldn’t work it out with the landlord and we lost EVERYTHING. The only thing I got out of that house was the shoes on my feet and a few outfits and pajamas enough for a weekend stay."
"My mother wanted to keep the lie going for as long as she could to buy herself time that she had to leave behind everything to keep it going. She never went back for anything, so eventually I can only assume it was all thrown away."
"So not only did I lose material belongings like my computer, my video games, and all my clothes, but I lost basic things like my own bedroom… and privacy as a teenager! I slept on my stepdad’s couch for almost two years until his daughters moved out and I took over their old room."
"But I also lost sentimental things like childhood pictures/videos, the memory box I started when I was seven, and the porcelain dolls my dad had given me over the years, he bought me two per year (birthday and Christmas,) and now that my dad is dead, those are things I wish I still had."
- Neikitia
An Elaborate Tale
"When I was very young, we had a pet hamster. He got out of his cage, so my dad put the cage in the basement, thinking he might get hungry and get back in."
"One morning I woke up and there was the hamster in his cage in the usual place. I asked my mom how they found him and she told me she opened the door to the cellar and there he was dragging his cage back upstairs."
"It wasn't until I was a teenager and remembered the exchange that it occurred to me she obviously made that up."
- censorized
Too Real
"That acne would only be a problem when I was a teenager."
- McGamers56
"I started breaking out in the third grade and haven't had clear skin since. I'll be 27 pretty soon. This one hits home."
- bayleenator
Part of the Family
"When I was like 16, I found out that one of my sisters wasn’t actually my sister. She was actually just best friends with my oldest sister growing up, and she lived with my family from when she was 12 or 13 through 18 (she and my oldest sister are 15 years older than me)."
"Unfortunately, her parents wouldn’t sign her over for adoption and didn’t contribute anything to my mom raising her for six years."
"The weirdest part is that my family is predominantly fair-skinned, blonde with blue eyes, but the girl I thought was my sister was traditional Hispanic with darker skin, dark hair, and brown eyes. My mom was always very tan and had darker skin and hair throughout my childhood, so I thought that my other two sisters and myself were the odd ones out."
- Schleeeeeem
The Deepest Betrayal of All
"On April Fool's while I was getting ready for school on a cold winter day, my mom told me, 'School is canceled! It's a snow day!'"
"I ran around for a good two minutes celebrating before she told me, 'April Fools!'"
"I've never felt so betrayed in my life."
- samivat
"You better be a mastermind supervillain by now."
- T_WREKX
"Thank you for sharing your Joker origin story, lol (laughing out loud)."
- JulienS2000
These lies have a wide range from the hilarious to the absolutely diabolical, maybe even with a few villain origin stories thrown in.
A common thread throughout most of these was someone telling a lie in order to avoid a tougher conversation, which only led the younger person to have a lot more to process later.
With theaters finally open to those wanting the ultimate entertainment experience that streaming movies at home can't provide, the pandemic that kept many venues closed now feels like a distant memory.
There's nothing like seeing a film up on the big screen the way Hollywood studios intended, and many would argue that experience is worth shelling out the cash for.
That being said, there is no assurance audiences will remain in their seats until the credits roll at the end.
Because not all movies are created equal. Some are just embarrassingly bad and not worth sticking around for.
Curious to hear from dissatisfied moviegoers, Redditor girlcalledmariaaria asked:
"If you have ever walked out of a cinema because the film was so bad, what one was it?"
These Redditors had no idea what they were in for.
Wrong Expectations
"I've not, but when I saw In Bruges, an elderly couple walked out after 20 minutes and I heard the man muttering that this wasn't a film about Belgium at all. It really tickled me."
– Reverend-JT
Regretful Decision
"Holmes & Watson, my family really enjoyed step Brothers and Talladega nights. So I shouted the 5 of us to the movies on Christmas day because for some reason the cinemas were open and it was showing and we don't really do big celebrations. 15 minutes into the movie we all looked at each other like.. wtf is this. I tried to leave.. I went to ask for a refund because their policy said you can get a refund 30 minutes into the movie... But we were 5 minutes late because of the 20 minute trailers.. I'm still seething about spending $100 to basically die of boredom for an hour and a half. I was sitting there embarrassed about suggesting the family outing. My family stuck it out because I'd paid for it and couldn't get a refund even though I told them I didnt care and begged to leave."
– jande425
Plan B
"I've got a story of a film my friends and I refused to leave, actually."
"In 2006 I was turning 14 and was obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean. My mom threw a pirates-themed birthday party where my friends and I were meant to go to see Dead Man's Chest, which was still in theaters in August when the party was. We dressed up for it and everything."
"Well for some reason the showing we were going to see was packed despite the movie having been out over a month, so there weren't 12 tickets available. My mother (and my friend's mom who came along) made a split second decision to see the next PG-13 rated movie available."
"Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."
"So a gaggle of 14 year old girls dressed as pirates walked into this theatre to a bunch of weird looks, but we sat down with our popcorn as normal. The next hour-and-a-halfish saw the moms be horrified at the crass nature of the film and keep asking if we wanted to leave. The answer was a HELL NO from the whole group. That movie proceeded to be the basis of our inside jokes for the next 4 years. To this day it's one of our collective favorite grade school memories, even if my mother continues to be embarrassed by it."
– fraxiiinus
Whether it was physical or emotional, these films didn't sit well with Redditors.
Saving Our Necks
"Oh, I remember vividly. It was Battlefield Earth."
"The shot angles kept being tilted this way and that for no reason and I started tilting my head so that things would be level. Then my friend joined in. Then we simultaneously were like 'are we going to cramp our necks for THIS?' And walked out."
– Ahlq802
Punishment For Sneaking In
"I walked out of 28 days later. Not because it was bad. I was 9 years old and snuck in and it was freaking me the f'k out.. watched it years later and enjoyed it."
– OMGi_hafta_poop
Oh, The Horror
"I saw Prometheus twice in theaters. At the second show, a group of 10-year-olds snuck in. The first R-rated scene, which features an alien worm/snake that crawls inside someone's shattered arm, caused these kids to flee the theater in an absolute panic. I imagine they will never forget that day."
– fleur_delyk
Sometimes, it's the theater's fault.
Failed Attempts
"I went to see Guardians of the Galaxy, and they played Rise of the Guardians."
"It took about five minutes to realize it was the wrong movie the first time. They tried to fix it, played Rise again, tried to fix it, played Rise a third time, and the whole theater walked out for refunds."
"Apparently it was a issue at a lot of theaters."
– MandolinMagi
Not A Prank
"I guess this technically counts but when I went to see deadpool 2, the cinema accidentally put the wrong film on and played some Amy Schumer film instead. Everyone in the screen thought it was some meta deadpool joke and out of nowhere he’d appear and shoot Amy Schumer so we were all waiting on that. After about 10 minutes of the film, the staff came into the screen and explained that they had put the wrong film on and couldn’t undo it because of their tight schedule etc but we would all get a refund and were welcome to stay and watch the rest of the Amy Schumer film. Everyone left."
– KMeech1969
Other times, the movie itself doesn't screen well for the audience.
Far From Purr-fect
"I’ve never walked out of a movie and I saw Cats opening weekend."
– Man_Bear_Pig25
"I walked out on it, but then decided I wanted to be back inside. They let me back in, but then I walked out again."
– CatherineOfArrogance
I'm all for supporting the arts.
But if a movie I already paid a non-refundable admission for was absolutely terrible, I'd have no problem forfeiting the cash to spare my sanity and walking out of the theater.
The one time I did just that was when I went to see The Island of Doctor Moreau starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.
I was a kid and I was thrilled to go see a movie all by myself.
Unfortunately, the sci-fi horror film wasn't enough to captivate my short attention span.
I walked out and subsequently called my mom to pick me up from the mall where the movie theater was.
Those were the days...
If there was one good thing to come out of the pandemic, it was that it made us all the more appreciative of all that is good in our lives.
No one ever appreciated the importance of friends or family more, having to be kept apart from each other for months, or the little things which bring us joy, which we made sure to keep doing even as pandemic restrictions were lifted.
Of course, being alone with our thoughts for such a long time also resulted in our reflecting on things in our lives, or in the world in general, which we were less than happy about.
Not to mention the all-important realization that life is short and precious, and we don't have time to waste our thoughts on some things.
"What is something you no longer have patience for?"
Off The Clock Means OFF THE CLOCK!
"Working outside of work hours."
"I used to go above and beyond, now I only put in what is required."
"Life is too short to live only to work."- Chesterfieldcat
"The working world."
"My life doesn’t revolve around working here and it never will."
"It will never be a part of my identity."
"I come in, do the job, make money, go home."
"Don’t expect me to come to all the work happy hours so I can pretend how much I love working here."- nuclearsalt
Some Things Just Don't Get A Free Pass
"Sh*tty people getting a pass 'because they're family'."- cgulash
angry homer simpson GIFGiphySay What You Mean, Not What You Feel
"Having to guess what people REALLY mean by something they said."
"I take everything people say at face value now and don't replay conversations in my head to find out the real meaning anymore."
"Be passive-aggressive if you want to but talk to me like an adult if you really have a problem."- WateredDownSalt
EYES ON THE ROAD!
"People who text and drive."
"You're driving a giant piece of metal propelled by explosive liquid."
"Pay attention."- MasterfulNothasie
The Only Life That Should Concern You Is Your Own
"People and groups of people that only talk about other people."- Turf98
"People who can’t mind their fucking business and are always worried about what other people are doing."
"If it doesn’t effect you, f*ck off."
"It’s literally free."- wackwackwackjpg
GIF by WWEGiphySome People Didn't Mind Social Distancing
"People invading my personal space."- Mighty-Foreskin
Influence Can Be Dangerous
"Anything that has “influencer” in it."- chemistcarpenter
Indoor Voices People...
"Streamers screaming, losing their sh*t, breaking things, and having tantrums."
"I used to think this was so funny now I just can't stand it; I can't even watch a streamer if I notice they're not using their normal talking voice." - Reddit
Fail Oh No GIF by G2 EsportsGiphyTaking Responsibility Is A Sign Of Maturity
"People who constantly blame others for the situation they are in."- SuvenPan
Time Is Precious And Shouldn't Be Wasted
"Waiting on people who are constantly late to plans."
"I will wait 15 minutes then excuse myself."- Dabbles-In-Irony
There's Multi-Tasking, And Then There's Just Being Rude...
"People being on their phone while in a conversation with you."
"Seriously."
"Put your phone away!"- rosieblinkstime
Phone GIF by Poehlmann FitnessGiphyIt Takes So Much More Effort To Be Nasty...
"Bad manners, unkindness and general rudeness."
"It costs nothing to be a nice person and from someone who works in a customer-facing industry, attitudes, sadly, appear to be getting worse."
"It really makes me cross."- Bellamiles85
At Least They're Being Transparent
"Medicine commercials with worse side-effects than the thing being cured."- mrbbrj
Wasting our time and thoughts about things that we know can only bring us down is simply no way to get through life.
It's essential to live our lives by taking the present moment for what it is: a present.