People Share Their Best 'It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time' Stories

Bustin' Through

In high school, my friend discovered that he was particularly agile at running toward a wall and kicking off of it into a backflip. He would do this all day, every day, before school, at lunch, etc.

One day we were inside a classroom and the teacher had stepped out for a moment. Of course he took this opportunity to try his little trick. He didn't, however, take into account the fact that drywall might not support his weight as well as the brick and concrete walls he'd tried before.

His leg ended up busting straight through the wall to the other side, into a classroom full of students taking an exam. So I wasn't actually in the class taking the exam, but to this day, I still imagine how strange and hilarious it would be to be sitting in that class then suddenly see a leg burst through the wall. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

- ToughPack88

Roommates

Being roommates with someone I had a huge crush on. It didn't end well.

That person turned out to be an abusive manipulator who had complete disregard for my feelings, well being, and possessions. I thought they were my best friend, and I eventually figured out the hard way they were not. It wasn't just me - this individual pretty much used people as playthings and disposed of them when they weren't getting any more entertainment or validation from them. They were super toxic. It took me a long time to heal from what I went through. In the end though, I'm grateful for the lessons I learned.

- ShowMeYourNachos

Sled Dog

Playing "Sled Dog" with my newly rescued husky and a long board on the hilly streets near my house in college. Snapped my right forearm in half and had to walk a mile back home to get a ride to the hospital. The dog was fine. I let go of her leash and when I cracked my arm she freaked out and chaperoned me back to the house. She could tell I was in a lot of pain.

- Travtheguy

Fun With Fire 1

So back in the day my brothers and I were shooting a bow and arrow behind our house.

We had a proper backstop and a nice target on a bale of hay. After about an hour we were getting bored and one of my brothers had a stroke of genius.

So there we are wiring rags to arrows and soaking them in gas and shooting stuff. Didn't take long and half the yard was on fire. We'd shot pretty much every flammable thing we could burn in the yard.

Since we were running short on stuff to shoot my brother decided to launch one in a 45° arc over the woods behind the house. We all watched soar laughing and giggling.

When it hit the apex was when it dawned on us that this was in fact a really stupid fucking idea.

All 6 of us sprinted off into the woods in the direction it'd been shot. Wasn't hard to find it'd lite an entire little meadow on fire. So we ran around stomping out fires for an hour. When we finally got the fire put out we were sitting by the crick and my oldest brother looks at us all and says,"Dad never hears a word about this."

- LittleRedHoodlum

Fun With Fire 2

A kid I knew growing up was hanging out with his friends at his dad's hunting camp (they were around 17/18 at the time) and they were playing around with fire like this.

Ended up setting fire to the woods surrounding the camp, burning it and many acres surrounding it to the ground.

His dad was, less than pleased. He took money from the kid's college fund to pay the fines from the fire department and pay to rebuild the hunting camp lodge and there was practically nothing left after that.

Last I heard he had to live at home for a handful of years after highschool to save money for post-secondary while his friends all went off and got degrees and stuff.

Severely impacted his life, all from a bit of "fun" with fire.

- putin_my_mass

Holding Mom At Gunpoint

When I was 15 (so in the late 90's) my best friend and I just got new bb pistols. They we're the Walther CP99. Looked identical to the real Walther CP9 with a removable magazine and no orange tip. We were playing with them in the back seat of his moms car. They weren't loaded, we were just excited and wanted to take them out of the box. She knew we had them out and didn't think anything of it. Before going back to his house she went thru the drive thru at Burger King. You know where this is going. She's ordering food with 2 large 15-year-olds holding guns and pointing them at everything.

Fast forward 30 minutes, we are pulling into there driveway and his dad comes running out of the house yelling historically. One of his friends just called and said he heard on the police scanner that they were looking for his vehicle with 2 white males holding a female hostage at gunpoint. Few minutes later several police cars pull in the driveway, jump out with guns out making everyone get on the ground. It took some explaining on his dads part about us being a bunch of dumb asses. 15 year old me couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about but 34 year old me looks back and realises that might be the dumbest thing I have ever done.

- DCxMiLK

Wheee! Thud.

In fifth grade I invented a game, where you get the swing as high and fast as you can, then at the bottom you run off it really fast.

Miss-timed it, landed on my head on asphalt, got a serious concussion.

Here's a carefully-drawn and highly realistic depiction of what happened.

- suddenly_satire

Ugandan Mud Wasps

So I was in Uganda with my family, and we see a large (about 5ft tall), curled up leaf hanging about 8ft off the ground. We're told that these leaves curl up and fall out the trees, and they're pretty heavy, so it can be dangerous to have it fall on you. My dad and I think 'wont it be helpful of us to get this thing down'.

So, we're there whacking it with sticks, trying to get it down, to no avail, when my dad says "Hey, climb up on that wall there, son, and jump! Grab it and then pull it down!"

Well, that sounds like a swell idea, dad! So I do just that... I don't manage to get it all the way down, but as soon as I hit the ground, I get this burning sensation in my elbow. Turns out there's a hive of Ugandan Mud Wasps living in this specific leaf, and they do not take kindly to young men trying to tug their home down.

So I'm just sprinting back to the office where the rest of my family is sheltered from the sun, and I practically have two elbows on one arm at this point while, as my dad described it later 'an army of large, black blots' give chase. I make it back inside and my arm is numb, except for the searing pain in my elbow. Thankfully, there was no further reaction, the pain lasted only around 3 hours and the swelling was down by the end of the day. That being said, it was the worst pain I've ever felt... Even worse than the time I broke my arm into three pieces while arm wrestling...

- sgste

The Bender

Going on a 4 day bender with no sleep. Ended up getting the crap kicked out of me and required 7 stitches in the back of my head. I also ended up spending 2 months wages, losing my brand new £1000 phone and pissing off numerous ex girlfriends by declaring my love for them. Oh and I was hungover for about a week.

Haven't had a drink for 3 months now because of my stupidity!

- DovakhiinsDad

Hitchhiker 

On a rainy day, I saw a hitchhiker near the university asking for a ride.

He "looked the part" of a student. Although I never pick up hitchhikers, I felt sorry for him standing in the rain and gave him a lift - it felt like the right thing to do at the time.

He told me where he was headed, so I went out of my way to drive him there. The guy just kept staring at me and said very little. When we arrived at his destination, he wouldn't get out of my car, no matter what.

Finally, when a police officer came along, I told him to hop out or I'd call the cop over for help. That ended it. (But if the officer hadn't come by, I have no idea what might have happened.)

- Back2Bach

"You Can't See Me, I'm Hiding" 

Many years ago, I became absolutely smitten with a young woman. She was friendly, intelligent, funny, and almost painfully attractive, with a list of interests and hobbies that seemed like they were a near-perfect match to my own. Within hours of our first conversation, I had decided that the two of us belonged together... and as a result of that decision, I launched myself into a series of increasingly stupid attempts at seduction.

There are any number of idiotic misadventures that I could describe here, but perhaps the most ridiculous of them happened on the evening before Valentine's Day. I had purchased my would-be paramour a small potted plant – something which I'd been told she'd appreciate more than flowers or chocolate – and I was intent on leaving it somewhere for her to discover (rather than handing it to her in person). While any sane person would have just placed the gift on her welcome mat, I opted for a much less wise approach, convincing the girl's flatmate to give me access to their kitchen. My hope was that I could position the present in such a way that it would remain unnoticed until the next morning, at which point it would seem to magically appear in the morning light.

Now, lest you think that I was a complete moron, I should mention that the young woman in question was supposed to be out of the house while I was making my clandestine delivery. Unfortunately for me, she had changed her schedule at the last minute, arriving back at home almost immediately after I had been let in. Her roommate and I exchanged hurried whispers as we discussed a place for me to hide, but since there were only a few seconds to spare, I had to settle for ducking down behind the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.

Had this been a scene in a romantic comedy, a slapstick series of mad dashes and near-misses would have ensued. Sadly, real life doesn't work like that, and I was found almost immediately: The girl walked into the living room, asked her roommate who she had been talking to, then made a move to approach the kitchen (which I assumed based on what I could hear). Knowing that I was about to be caught, I huddled as far back into a corner as I could, then held the potted plant up in front of my face.

"Uh... hi, Max," I heard the young woman say.

"You can't see me," I replied. "I'm hiding."

The good news is that my efforts – despite having thoroughly failed – were more or less appreciated. I semi-sheepishly presented the girl with her gift, wished her a happy Valentine's Day, then explained why I had been sneaking around in her apartment. She graciously accepted, but (quite reasonably) asked why I had tried such a convoluted way of giving her a present.

All I could say was that it seemed like a good idea at the time.

- RamsesThePigeon

3DS

My 3ds had trouble reading the cartridges, so I put water in the game slot.

I no longer have a 3ds.

- General_Pickett

Eastern European Yoga Psychopath

Decided to get high and go to a yoga class because i thought i would get a better mind muscle connection. Turns out the class i decided to go to was being taught by a eastern European yoga psychopath and had me bending my body in ways i have never done before. Never again.

- roryinnes