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Police Officers Break Down How Stupid Calls Became Serious In An Instant

Police Officers Break Down How Stupid Calls Became Serious In An Instant
Photo by R.D. Smith on Unsplash

911 is not a joke people! Calling in the police is something you must be sure about. Once those in blue are involved, the game changes. However, it can be surprising how small incidents can turn into mayhem and tragedy. Life can flip in an instant, so just be competent as a person.

Redditor TurdNugget6952 wanted law enforcement to speak up about the consequences when dialing 911 without purpose by asking...

Police of reddit, what dumb call turned serious very quickly?

The Hulk Vehicle....

Giphy

"When I graduated high school, I got hired by my pd as a community service officer (CSO). We handled minor calls, transported prisoners and served arrest warrants."

"One day I was dispatched to go investigate a hulk vehicle. A hulk vehicle for those who don't know is a vehicle that has been abandoned on someones property and the property owner, who doesn't have the title, wants it gone. Law enforcement can come out and issue what is known as a hulk vehicle permit which allows the property owner to have the vehicle towed. So I get on scene of this large, wooded property (i'm guessing a couple hundred acres). The property owner is a management company and they want to build houses on the property and they discovered several hulk vehicles during their site visit."

"So I go about walking through the woods and investigating the vehicles as I came to them. They had been abandoned for at least 20 years so it wasn't much of an issue. I finally reach the last vehicle which was pretty far into the wood and as I'm checking it I realized there was an active meth lab operation next to me. I couldn't see anyone around and I backed out the same way I came in fearing booby traps. Got back to my car and called for immediate back up. Officers surrounded the scene and SWAT got called out to clear the woods. The found 4 suspects hiding, all were armed and they discovered a pipe bomb booby trap less than 50 feet from the car I was inspecting. Had I gone out a different way or approached the lab I would have been killed."

"Fortunately I listened to my gut and didn't touch anything and went out the same way I came in." techguru69

Tased Out...

"Not a cop, but the son of one. Lots of stories i could tell, but one has always stood out in particular. Police were called one night due to noise complaint at someones house. When police arrive, it's discovered that there is meth and the person in the house (we'll call him Jerry) is on it like no tomorrow."

"More cops eventually show up and none of them can keep Jerry down. They try using a taser, but it's ineffective on it's own. As taser is getting a new battery, eight cops tackle Jerry all at once and are still struggling to keep him down. Dude with taser then shoves taser against Jerry's testicles and says "Put your hands behind your back or your testicles are getting electrocuted." Jerry then magically complies with police officers."Destroyerpete95

Back to the 80s....

"Not me, but my dad who was a cop and is still a firefighter had one that I still laugh at. He was working a shift on the police department back in the early to mid 80s and got a call late one night for smoke showing from a residence. His assistant chief shows up first, I should preface by saying he was a fat and lazy fool and didn't properly check and radioed dispatch that there wasn't smoke showing and to disregard the fire department."

"My dad shows up and his AC tells him that it was a false alarm and my said he was going to check anyway. He said he smelled smoke as he got out of his cruiser and said he was going to check for himself."

"He opens the backyard fence and down the small hill to the back. As he walked to the back of the house he saw smoke pouring out of the soffits and saw flames in the back windows. He radios dispatch to have the fire department remain in route, and that smoke and flames visible and then asks for mutual aid from a neighboring department."

"Fire department shows up and was able to knock down the fire before it got too out of hand besides some serious smoke damage, but the house was eventually refinished and still stands to this day." fightinscot

SMH....

Giphy

"Drunk driving turned into man slaughter when he drove onto a side walk with OUTDOOR DINING."Wolf-man-420

He didn't make it.

"Not a cop, I'm a nurse but I was a vet tech at this time. I went to our main clinic for a meeting which was next to a liquor store. Watched a guy get out of his car, staggering all over the place, we just thought he was just another drunk getting more juice. Then he collapsed on the ground. My coworkers ran over to him and immediately started CPR. Turned out he had been sober for a year but had felt bad all day, he decided he had enough of feeling bad and was going to get a drink. Turned out he felt bad because he had had a heart attack and was in heart failure. He didn't make it."babyrn1

Frozen in Spot. 

"Not an officer, but witness to a accident which turned into a drug and gun bust."

"Back when I was 18 I got into a bit of a blackjack habit at the local casino (Canada so only need to be 18). I walked out of there one night around 2:00 am, and was having a smoke outside my truck when I see this semi-old man walk across the street to the parking lot. He wasn't on the crosswalk, but like 20 meters or so from intersection. A vehicle came straight through the intersection (not speeding, driving perfectly normal) and this guy just froze like a deer in headlights. I imagine he was thinking that the car would swerve and avoid him. It was late at night so no one else was on the road, but with all the snow on the ground you simply cant break and steer the vehicle. It just locks up, and slides while turning sideways."

"The car hit the man, but relatively minor impact for a car hitting you. The side of the car hit the guy and the snow kind of helped soften the impact to the ground. I immediately called 911, the driver got out and started helping the man. After I run over, he says he needs to go call someone and goes to his car. No biggie, the man is shaken but no major injuries and I thought the driver was just really shook up from hitting someone. Police and ambulance get there a couple minutes later, tend to the man and the driver and I both give statements to different officers. I painted the guy in a good light, said he wasn't speeding and tried to break but the snow and ice made him slide. I'm waiting to be told that I'm good to go when an officer finds a fucking gun in a snow covered planter."

"The idiot driver took it out of his car, went and dropped it in a planter on the sidewalk and walked back over to his car on the road. Smart idea, but there's only one set of tracks that go from his car to this planter and then back, and an obvious hole in the fresh snow that's been piling up. He's arrested and they search the car. So yeah, he gets put in cuffs and into the cruiser. They search the car and I found out later they also convicted him for drug possession."

"Little did the cops know I also had a quarter ounce of weed in my truck."Syrinx16

arrest them all....

"Not a police officer, but have a story:"

"Once my dad was dating this woman who had a teenage son. The kid did not like my dad at all."

"One day, dad and his girlfriend got into a fight and my dad slept in the garage. He woke up to her son and two of his friends holding baseball bats around him. The kids beat up my dad and ran off.""

"My dad called the police to report the incident, but when the cops realized who my dad was, they arrested my dad on the spot for not paying child support to my mom.

"TL;DR, my dad called the cops on his girlfriend's son, ended up getting arrested."shaingel_sle

From the ELEVENTH floor.

"Not a cop but I guarantee the ones involved remember this one. They were originally there to arrest a guy selling drugs on campus. They passed me in the stairwell (on their way up) while I was going to borrow some notes from a classmate. A few minutes go by and I'm back in the stairwell and get passed by the same cops (on their way down and moving quick). Turns out they handcuffed the guy, sat him down, did God only knows what, while homeboy Superman out the window head first. From the ELEVENTH floor. So that was an interesting day. He lived and he's somehow not a vegetable."LilJamiLouWho

Don't be unruly at McDs! 

"Not a cop... but as a McDs worker, we called 911 on a group of teens who came in drunk and unruly. We called because one of them was a little more drunk and tipsy and sat down, put his head down and passed out. His friends thought is was hilarious. Cops showed up with a smirk at first figuring it was just retarded teens. When they poured a little cold water on mr passed out and he did not flinch, they stopped smiling. When they looked at his medic alert bracelet they got REAL serious. Paramedics came and worked in the kid. He survived but nearly died. He was diabetic, and suffering alcohol poisoning, his blood sugar was WAY off. Cops said he would have died if we dod not call them. Seeing the cops go from smirks to serious like that was scary."Gouranga56

Sad Times. 

"Not me but my dad. Also wasn't a police officer at the time, but a constable. He was going to a guys house to serve him a summons, as is usual and routine. He got there and went up to the house and the guy answered. As he was talking to him and serving him the summons, the guy pulled out a gun. My dad pulled out his and told him to drop the gun. Instead, the guy then turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger, blowing his own brains out. My dad was a cop before this though so it wasn't the first time seeing something like this."nilgoc

Turkey Butt....

Giphy

"Deputy friend of mine ended up getting hospitalized after responding to a call of a home intruder."

"There wasn't a home intruder, but there was a very large, aggressive turkey that bit him in the butt hard enough he needed stitches."slice_of_pi

​Sheriff Deputy here.

"Sheriff Deputy here."

"During patrol I started noticing at one house that their packages being delivered at their front door weren't being taken inside. A lot of these packages were groceries. I also noticed their mail wasn't being brought in. Usually the postal service mentions something when they see this but I brought it upon myself to do a welfare check."

"I arrived at the door and knocked. No answer. I knocked a few more times, no answer. I started thinking maybe the person that lives there maybe gone for a while. I decided to take one peek through the front window and I saw an elderly woman laying on the ground."

"I announced to dispatch what I saw and I'm entering the house immediately. Luckily I didn't have to kick the front door down and instead discovered the back door was unlocked."

"I entered the house and the lady was alive but due to her older age, she wasn't able to stand back up on her own strength after falling and has been laying on the ground for 2 days. I got paramedics to arrive and take her to a nearby hospital. I found her phone book with personal numbers in her kitchen and called her adult children and notified them of what happened. They were very relieved and drove to the hospital to help care for her."FrankTheTank369

Damn January. 

"Police here,"

"Got a call of some lady refused to get out of the bathroom. It's around 2AM and the cleaning crew of a restaurant let her inside, but she didn't want to leave. It's raining and cold outside, I think it was January. We get there and another set of officers from a nearby precinct respond because it's boring when it's cold and raining."

"The lady comes out dressed in simple pajamas, no shoes or socks, holding an infant wrapped in a baby blanket. No jacket. No coat. No warm anything. Just button-down pajamas and her tiny infant. All of us are like/holdup. They aren't dressed for this weather at all. The mom looks pretty normal, as in she's not a transient. We learn later she's a brain surgeon and lives in a very swank condo. Turns out she walked 6-8 blocks down the street in the rain dressed like this."

"Then the mother displays behavior attributed to mental health disorders. Starts screaming "They" are trying to kill her, gets incredibly manic. Hunches down and her eyes go wild. But, she's holding that baby tight. We know she needs to go to a psych hospital, but we have to get the baby away first. We plead we want to help her, just let us hold the baby. She won't of course, because in her mind we're all trying to kill her."

"At one point she whispers (kind of spooky), "Give me a gun and I'll do it myself." We swarm her. Two for the baby and two on her and she's screaming bloody murder. It was unnerving to say the least."

"My partner and I took the call (report). We get a hold of dad and take the baby back to him. He didn't realize she had left. He's a doctor too. He mentioned she didn't want to take her psych meds anymore and hadn't taken them in about a week."

"Lesson learned: If you need psych meds, please TAKE your meds! Don't ever think you're all better without them."

"We took the mother to a psych hospital for a 72-hour eval. Hope she got back on her feet, but we don't know."No_Im_Random_Coffee

Saturday Crazy....

"Deputy here,"

"It was a Saturday night and I had a call for an erratic vehicle (unable to stay in lane, speeding, etc.) Everyone assumed it was a routine dwi because it was Saturday night and started looking."

"Well she passed me on a main road so I turned around and conducted a traffic stop. She stopped her car in a terrible place so I approached on the passenger side. She was very angry and disrespectful and she wouldn't turn to look at me, just looked forward. I could smell alcohol, wasn't sure if it was coming from her or the vehicle. I asked for her license and registration to run her information. I decided I was going to talk to her more on the driver side to see if I could find signs of impairment."

"When I walked over to her side I saw the entire left side of her face was bruised and blood was coming out of her mouth, also a bruise on her neck in the shape of a hand and fingers. I had her step out to ask about it."

"She informed me her boyfriend got drunk and thought she was cheating on him and decided to hold her down by the neck and punch her approx 10 times. She had major swelling and the blood was a cut from her cheek against her teeth."

"It took 25 min to convince her to give me his information. She told me he lives in a neighboring state and the incident occurred there. I called the neighboring state police and informed them."

"Found out the guy had 3 felony warrants and they have been looking for him."SpikeFury47

He wasn't quick enough one time.

Giphy

"It was dumb and routine BEFORE we got there...."

"It was a local, well-known, drunken criminal (jack of all trades) who was playing with fireworks."

"Not an uncommon thing."

"However, he was in his living room. And they were very powerful and illegal. He was entertaining himself by lighting the wick and putting it out."

"He wasn't quick enough one time. The mortar went through his roof. Blasted the storm door off the hinges into the front yard. His torso lacerated. Intestines needed to be pushed back in and sewn up."

"About a year later (almost to the day) he got in a fight with his girlfriend on the interstate highway. At some point they pulled over, he got out, doors were locked, so he climbed on the hood. She started driving and he fell off. Wasn't even in very bad shape. He was shirtless, of course, and I saw the surgery scars from the year prior."UFC_blackbelt

I got the opposite response here.....

"I got the opposite response here. Got a call that a woman was giving birth so me and a rookie head on over to the address. Rookie was super excited to get to help with this since he hadn't gotten the opportunity yet. So we pull up and his face drops. It's a 50 year old meth-ed up woman rolling and screaming in her grass saying that she's giving birth to a dog. Anyways, I tell my partner to heck on outta here and go help the woman deliver that dog. That call went from serious to pretty dumb very quickly."Fokouttahere

Where's My Sword?

"Dude broke into house, pretty standard burglary. Dude takes the home owner's katana and is playing with it as the guy returns home. The guy doesn't leave or call the police and proceeds to fight the guy who has his sword in a brawl. No one died but the burglar got a number done to him so he wasn't very good at sword skills ig."OriginSport

North Carolina Tales....

"There was this house she and her partner had to visit frequently for domestic disputes between a grown son and his wheelchair-bound father. It was never that bad, mostly just yelling and the neighbors would call the police to check on them. No charges were ever pressed, so they'd usually just check in and be on their way."

"They got another one of those calls one day thinking it'd be the same as usual, this time the son is waiting outside for them. The partner is still questioning the son, and thinking the old man wasn't gonna be a threat she goes inside to deal with him on her own. She announced herself and approached him to talk, he doesn't say anything but suddenly grabs for her gun. She pinned the gun and his hands to her side and tried punching him, pepper-spraying, anything she could think of to get him to let go. Eventually her partner heard her screaming and ran in to disarm him, and he was taken away. He later admitted he was gonna shoot her and then his son, and she was pretty shaken up after that."AllyMarie93

Slow Talk....

"I had a call on 911 from this guy who was very meandering and then it got really real."

"Hi, so like...I'm calling because there's this caaarrrr... I think it's a Taurus? Ford Taurus, I guess? Anyway, it's got one headlight on...I guess the other one's burnt out. And it's just...it's just running, with that one headlight on. Annnnnd it's in this parking lot for a commuuuunity center, y'know, but it's...it's...I think it's closed? So I guess it's like, what's this car, doing in this parking lot, right? Just one car in the parking lot...and it's on, and like, one headlight....oh yeah, and there'stwoguysinsideslumpedoverandthey'renotmoving"

"WHAT!"

"Turned out they were overdosing pretty hard."lazarus870

Public Issues....

Giphy

"Paramedic here."

"The police and I were called to a public intoxication. No idea why medics were called but anyway..."

"The guy was hammered and had been stranded by his drinking buddies because he didn't want to get into the car (good for him). He was on the phone when I got there and he handed it to me and said "I can't talk to her", so I took the phone from him and hung it up and handed it back. Turns out he wanted me to talk to her for him (whoops)..."

"He went ballistic and threw a punch at me, and as he was punching the cop put a boot in his back (great reaction time, still don't know how he did it)."

"The guy ended up smashing his face on the road and suffered a concussion plus some other stuff. This was years ago and I still remember because I felt so guilty at the time."MapleDanish

These are some crazy stories! Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.

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.