A Reddit user asked:
Who is the scariest person you’ve ever met?
And the question immediately made me think of my oldest kid... which I'm sure we will address later with a qualified professional.
But let me explain...
She was the first thing that came to mind, but my little one is spooky - not scary.
I was going to tell you guys all about how my family calls her "Spooky McPsychicpants" and how she has weirdly predicted lots of pregnancies ... but that's honestly just neat. It's not scary.
These Reddit users have met scary, and it isn't cute. It isn't an adorable kid with a cool little quirk.
It's heartbreaking. It's world changing. It can be the kind of thing you are never the same after.
Or maybe it's just a terribly mundane movie night with an axe murderer.
Read ahead with caution. There are some serious atrocities and triggers touched on here.
The Nice Library Guy
Probably this dude who worked at my local library around the time I was 17-18.
He was my age. I worked with his older brother at the local grocery store when I was 16 and had his dad as a teacher in 5th grade.
He was a nice guy, quiet, helpful. We'd chat whenever I had a research paper for school or a project.
He murdered them both - as well as his brothers girlfriend. He was sent to prison and was shot trying to escape.
Megacharm
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The pastor at a local megachurch goes to a doctor's office I used to work at. The church is basically a cult at this point, and everyone outside of it knows it.
He walked in the door while I was at the front desk, and right away all of my higher faculties just... got hijacked. I don't know how to explain it. In that moment, I wanted to be the most fantastic receptionist he had ever met in his life. I wanted to impress him so badly it hurt.
The second he walked out, I came back to myself like what the hell just happened?
A few months later the same exact thing happened again.
He didn't scare me, at least not as far as I was aware. But I'm open to the possibility that it was a fawning response. I do have a tendency to do that to …a lot of people.
This just felt sort of different; like pheromones in movies or something. I want to stay very far away from that man.
Poor Buck Taylor
When I was really young we were at a rodeo and met Buck Taylor. He was one of the actors who played a bad guy on Tombstone.
I was TERRIFIED of him.
I couldn't understand why my parents were chatting with a murderer.
The actor was a lovely guy, I just wasn't old enough to know movies weren't real yet.
My Brother's Mental Health Monster
Honestly, my brother.
He has severe mental illness that's incredibly unpredictable. Months go by with him seeming fine, and then there's a day that he just completely shifts. Having dealt with it for over a decade now you'd think you'd get used to it, but you don't, you just get smarter about seeing a break coming.
There's no countdown timer though and half the time it doesn't end up being anything, but saying something about it can trigger that break. The reason it's terrifying is because he's almost always around either myself, my mom, or my dad, and it goes from 0-200 in the blink of an eye.
The first violent episode it was just me, we just fought intensely for a while, and then he went around smashing everything he could find until cops came and had to tackle him. People joke about "crazy-strength", but it's no joke.
Since then, he's been stun-gunned, tased, flash banged, and bean-bagged by police. Mostly separate incidents, some multiple times.
He violently threw my mid-60s mom to the ground. He cornered my dad with a knife when he came to check on him at his apartment, which my dad did because someone who knew my brother called him to let him know that he was sitting in a public park in the city repeatedly stabbing a knife into the ground. That fiasco ended with my brother taken down by SWAT.
He's been involuntarily admitted to mental health facilities more than a dozen times, but they have a catch and release policy unless you've got insane money, which neither he nor us do.
I've learned a frightening amount about both our legal system and mental health system throughout these years. There are holes big enough to drive a bus through. He needs help and those around him deserve to be safe.
At this point, my dad has moved out of the country so the only option was for my brother was to move in with my mom or be homeless. She couldn't even begin to entertain the idea of making her son homeless.
After years of never owning a firearm, I do now - and I have a different perspective on why it might be necessary for some people. Some people just love guns; but some people have a legitimate reason for needing one...
Thankfully, for now, he's not a threat to either of us. Our relationships with him seemed to be going better, but then he got it in his head that we were part of a conspiracy that was seeking to kill him. So he went to the police station to report it.
They know both myself and my mom (at this point they've met us several times) so they called EMTs, but that spooked him. So he pulled out a knife and stabbed one of the cops (went through the Kevlar).
Thankfully the cop was okay after some stitches.
Because of that incident, my brother now meets the requirements to be kept in a mental health facility for a while. No idea how long though. And once he's out, he'll be going back to my mom's.
Oh, and the cop my brother stabbed is suing my mom and trying to go after her homeowners insurance. That could very well make them drop her, even if it doesn't go anywhere. She would have an extremely difficult time finding a new company that would cover her based on all of this. So there's that.
This newest episode almost broke my mom but she pushed forward, and I'll never forget the sound in her voice when she told me that she'd received that notice in the mail. It was like it finally broke her.
She's tried her best to help, but there's only so much she can do. The cop involved is close enough to retirement that I have to think he's trying to leverage this to make that date come sooner, but I don't think he realizes what effect that'll have. Or maybe the department is forcing him to go after her?
The system is f*cked, and it breaks my heart to think there's likely one of two outcomes in the future:
Either I'm around when he snaps next and I at least have a chance to defend her (she will never raise a finger against him, even in self-defense)
or
I'm not and I get the worst phone call of my life.
She doesn't even believe he's capable of such a thing because she sees him through rose-colored glasses (he is her son), but his consistent history makes it obvious to anyone else.
He literally tried to kill a cop but I don't think she understands that it very well could have been her. Psychosis overrides the person you know.
The only fitting comparison I've ever been able to make is if you'd had a dog that you loved for years and then all of a sudden, it got rabies. It's just not the same dog anymore. But it can be close to impossible to accept that when you're looking at the dog you've loved for so long.
We'll have to see what they decide in court due to the severity of this incident, but at this point we genuinely have no idea if he'll be out in a few months considering "time served" or if it'll be longer than that. The prosecutor also made the case that he's mentally fit to stand trial, which I think was done to increase any penalties against him, but that carries significant effects.
It means they can't force him to take his meds - which makes things worse the longer he goes without. It also means he'd be placed in gen pop if he's found guilty, which is dangerous both for him and anyone else he's locked in there with.
Either way he will get out eventually. He will go back to my mom's. Then it's just a matter of time until the consistent escalation of this reaches the next level. He's only gotten worse over the years, and I'm terrified of what the next manifestation will be.
- caangus
Escaped Only Because Of His Whims
I met a guy in a Parisian brothel who was 'security' - but in reality was there to pressure customers to buy the overpriced drinks and max out their credit cards on the 'ladies'.
I didn't know it was a brothel and as soon as I saw they were charging $25 for a small glass of beer and the place was full of young women who were all far too interested in my ugly @ss I started to nope out of there.
This intimidating muscular man in a suit, complete with facial scars, held my bicep and pulled me back inside. I told him I wanted to leave and I would call the police if he tried to stop me.
At that point he gave me a look ... and to this day I swear he looked like he was trying to decide whether to kill me or not - and it was a close thing.
He let me go with a face like thunder. I truly believe I was in mortal danger and I escaped only because of this guy's whims. Or perhaps he didn't think he could avoid problems with the police.
One scary mother f*cker. Definitely killed before and would again, in my opinion.
Human Traps
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Maybe 8 years ago now I was working at a local Subway with this really nice kid who always seemed eager to help.
I was watching the news one day and saw that he had gotten arrested for setting up traps for humans up the canyon.
Saturday Dinner
I work in a mental health facility. Every Saturday I watch a movie with a man who killed his step father with an axe.
"Cold blooded killer" right? Some of his family members absolutely hate him.
But he's kind. He loves movies and media. He helps the other guys. He listens....hell the other staff and I sometimes joke that he works there.
"Hey "Bob" you wanna go grab this room check?"
"Yea man I got you lol."
He's an inherently "good" person who committed a horrible crime because he was an undiagnosed schizophrenic. In situations like this all you can do is take it day by day and do your best to help these people.
"Of Course"
The leader who ordered a teenager to shoot into a truck full of girls on their way to school.
It was a big deal locally that these girls were starting school that day.
The man who ordered the attack was completely nonchalant when questioned about it. "Of course I told [teenager] to do this. He wanted his soul saved from evil, so I told him when and how."
"Of course they should die. [the girls] They were on their way to school to be made into whores for America. We had to stop them from being corrupted."
This went on and on. He acted like it was the most commonplace, banal thing he'd ever done.
Like tossing a piece of paper into a trashcan. Or cutting up vegetables. "Of course I cut up the carrots, how else do you put them in stew?"
It was insane. He was terrifying.
Most of the girls survived the attack. Every one of them had horrific injuries, though. Hope they eventually went to school, but I don't know.
Just Because He Could
My ex. Dear God...
Women fawn over him, just like I once did. He is the most masterfully manipulative person I have ever met. An expert at reading people, and a most accomplished gaslighter.
Physically, mentally/emotionally, financially toward relationship partners.
You're either 100% with him or you're his enemy, there is no in between. It's all black and white. A thief and a liar and he actually just thought it was fun to fight people.
He'd just beat the sh*t out of someone because he could.
Impulsive and reckless, a loose cannon. And he was enormous, a giant block of muscle.
Grim
Probably the night I saw the grim reaper.
It was 3am and me and my friend decided to walk to get some fast food. The walk was on a well lit long street, no way on or off for a good long stretch on the way there. It was a very flat road we could see a good distance ahead. There was no one around. No cars, no pedestrians.
All of a sudden we see a guy ahead of us. He came out of nowhere. He was just there. We hadn't seen coming even though we had an insane and clear field of view.
We noticed him when he was about 10 meters away. Way too close. My senses told me to cross the road and avoid this guy, but instead we go quiet and pass him.
He is wearing all black - but not normal looking clothes. Like nothing I've seen before. He looks quite aged and he has a long black beard and a long walking cane that looks like it has a skull on it and its made out of wood, but like crazy wood like a staff or something. He was creepy AF.
After he passed us, I didn't look back right away for fear of our lives, but after a while we turned and looked. He was gone. We should have been able to see him still. There is no way he walked that far in that amount of time.
Every now and then I ask my friend about that night. We can't explain it. I've never been more terrified.
- HazzyP
Dad Was Usually Angry And Scared Us
Growing up my best friend's neighbors were a family with two boys, both younger than us. We didn't hang out with them that much, but would swim in their pool in the summer and their mom would bring us snacks.
She was really nice, but their dad was usually angry and scared us.
Their dad ended up killing their mom in the house, dismembering her body and dumping the parts in different dumpsters around the area.
He only ended up getting 11 years and tried to move near his kids once he was out, their grandparents had adopted them and had to get a court order for their dad to stay away.
The Reason There's No Cutlery
There was this kid at my elementary school who constantly got into fights. He was just outright aggressive.
He stared at people while hunching like an animal about to strike, made himself vomit on people he didn't like, slammed his head into the brick wall on more than one occasion, and stabbed people with the silverware so many times that the school ended up getting rid of metal cutlery entirely in favor of plastic.
A Sociopath Looking For A Place To Happen
I did administrative work at a local residential drug and alcohol treatment facility in my early 20s (I'm 35 now), paper pushing, filing and the like. The scariest dude I've ever met was this guy who was there for alcohol and some kind of narcotic.
I was delivering something urgent and unrelated to his counselor and he just happened to be in her office when I knocked on the door frame (door was open) and he looked straight at me a continued describing how he liked to get f*cked up, mutilate small animals (especially squirrels and cats) and masturbate over their eviscerated remains.
The way he said it was so matter of fact, like how a person describes how they like their coffee, and there was NOTHING behind his eyes. It was like they were dead and glazed over. It was like looking into the face of every serial killer mugshot I've ever seen all at once.
Looking at him was like getting hit with a low voltage electrical current. I dropped the message on the counselor's desk and avoided the hell out of that guy for the rest of his stay.
I still think about him a lot and to this day I hope that man is either dead or in prison because that man was a sociopath looking for a place to happen.
The Really Big Big Show
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When I was bout five I went to see a WWE match.
When it ended, I got the chance to meet The Big Show. While he was really nice to me, it was his shear size that scared me. The Big Show is really big.
The Pigeon Was Just The Beginning
When I was 5, my friend and I found a pigeon that was either sick or injured since it wasn't flying away. My mom has nursed animals back to health before, including a squirrel and a different pigeon.
My neighbor and his friend came out (teenagers) and wondered what we were doing. We told them and they said to wait right there and they will take care of it.
They returned with aluminum baseball bats and just start beating the sh*t out of this unfortunate creature like Glenn from The Walking Dead. My neighbor's friend said "You're welcome" and they just left.
We were horrified and left with a destroyed corpse.
A couple years later, I saw my neighbor's friend in a newspaper article. He killed a girl with an axe on Christmas or New Years eve, I forget. Decapitated her.
That f*cked me up a little bit.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
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Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
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See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
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Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
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Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
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The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.