Life can be freaky and we all see and experience things from time to time that we have no rational explanation for.
Today's burning question from Redditor Angellic_Reaper: "Skeptics of Reddit, what's something you have seen that you cannot explain?"
Buckle up, kids. Things are about to get weird.
"I was hiking in Yosemite..."
I was hiking in Yosemite and one night while stargazing I saw a light that slowly moved across the sky in a reasonably straight line. I thought it was a satellite as those are incredibly common when you get out into place that shows the night sky clearly. The light then stopped and started moving in every direction in these erratic jumps and bursts of speed. It did this for maybe 20 minutes before it started moving in its original direction. I have never seen anything like it before or since.
Shooting stars or satellites don't just stop and zip around in random directions like that. It couldn't have been a drone because it seemed to be too high and you couldn't hear anything, and besides, most drones can't move like that anyway. Everyone in our group saw it but we didn't really talk about it much, other than my buddy referring to it as the "drunk driving alien". I don't know what it was but I have seen nothing like it before or since.
"It wasn't seen..."
It wasn't seen, but years ago I thought of my best friend's mother, who I hadn't seen or thought of in ages, and a few minutes later my friend called to tell me her mother had just died. Still freaks me out.
"About a week after she died..."
My mom died of cancer and during the final months, she was living with us and we took care of her until her last breath in our house. Four events have happened that were not easy to explain.
First, in her last week, I was trying to help her relax so I played a playlist I keep on my phone called "bedtime". It has some very relaxing music. Her breathing was getting loud and it was difficult to be there with her. At one point I was crying because of watching her this way. Her brother, Leo, had passed away before her so I closed my eyes and thought "Leo. Please take her. It's so hard for her. She's ready." Ten seconds later she took her last breath. It wasn't until later the next day that we realized she passed away on the exact same day that Leo did, ten years later.
About a week after she died, I was sitting on the couch and I thought to myself, "mom, if you're ok give me a sign". My phone started playing that bedtime playlist all by itself.
A few months later, we were moving out of that house. We had loaded the last box and I was doing my final walkthrough of the house. In my head, I said "mom, we're going to a new house. I hope you're coming with us." And I sh!t you not, my phones started playing that playlist again.
Two weeks ago, we were in Cancun on vacation. It's been a couple years since she's passed away. We were having a romantic dinner on the beach and I knew my mom would have really enjoyed it where we were and I thought, "mom, if you're still with me give me a sign" and about 5 seconds later a huge shooting star shot across the sky. It was actually a meteor. Like it flamed out in the sky.
"I have no idea what I saw."
I was 14 and vacationing with my family on a beach in Eastern Europe. Our balcony had a view of the beach and I would sit out there every night. One night, there was a man and a woman(?) walking on the beach. She would walk a few paces and then he would catch up to her. Except for she wasn't really walking like a human, but more like a horse if that makes sense. She would raise her knee, extend her leg (toes pointed), and then gracefully plop her foot down on the ground. She was super thin and looked bald. She also looked like a human mannequin made out out of fabric and stitched up. He was watching her walk and almost studying her.
She would walk 5-10 steps and then robotically turn around and walk the other way. The only plausible explanation I can fathom is that she was some sort of robot/sex doll/etc., but her movements seemed too fluid to be a robot and too robotic to be a human. Since then, I've tried researching different illnesses (maybe she was sick?) and looked at photos of the newest robots and no dice. I have no idea what I saw.
"I told her that I had just been at Ida's house..."
I'm a skeptic of basically everything, but my mom actually has a story about me as a kid she always tells that scares the hell out of people.
When I was 3 her aunt died, who she was very close to, Ida. A few months later her friends took her to a psychic as a birthday gag. The psychic told her not to worry about herself or me because a woman who was like a mother to her and who had died was watching over us both. It freaked her out, but she ignored it.
A few months later she was walking to bed past my bedroom door, which was open a little. She heard talking and she looked in. I was sitting at the end of my bed staring at the wall having a conversation in the dark. She turned the light on and shook me and asked me what I was doing and who I was talking to.
I told her that I had just been at Ida's house and we were eating cheesecake and playing Hi-ho Cherry-oh (both my mom's favorite).
I've never been to Ida's house and I was 3 and didn't know what those things were. And we lived across the street from a giant cemetery. And that's where Ida was buried.
"I didn't think anything of it..."
GiphyMe and my girlfriend stayed at a very old Hotel in Boston recently. I was going to take a picture of the staircase as we were staying on the top floor and it looked like a cool shot. Instead I realized it was on Video and immediately stopped it after 1 second.
I didn't think anything of it, but I went to play it the other day and there is a voice that says "Are you taking a picture of me ?" No one else was in the staircase; it's neither of our voices and it absolutely freaked us out.
"I went for my after work run one night..."
I went for my after work run one night around 11pm back in 2010 in my neighborhood. I was 18 and just about out of high school. I was headed home and I felt this weird buzzing electricity in my body. Ya know, that feeling when the hair on your body just stands up and you get cold chills? This weird feeling of fear draped over me and I for some reason thought I needed to stop to shake it out. Thought maybe I was just starting to feel tired or just...something. As I stood there getting my bearings straight and removing my headphones I was caught off guard by some sort of movement in front of me. I turned my eyes and I watched as a green orb, about 20 to 25ft away came up out of the ground. Almost like it had been in the Earth and just moved up out of the ground effortlessly.
It whirled around for about 5 to 6 seconds like it was getting a view of the area. I immediately became petrified. I'd never encountered anything otherworldly or supernatural-like in my life. I watched this thing shoot off like some sort of rocket, but faster. Like lightning. Idk how to describe how fast it went, but it shot into some trees a ways off. It was still out there, but was pulsating light in these trees. I ran home as fast as I humanly could. Walked in the door and parent's said "you are so flushed. It looks like you've seen a ghost or something?!" I immediately burst into tears from all the fear that was bottled up.
I'll never forget that.
"I was out on my boat with my dad..."
I was out on my boat with my dad, coming back from an island for lunch. There's this lighthouse really far away on a huge rock that sticks out and would ruin ships, and they were getting ready to do construction on it, and to replace the current bulb with a solar powered LED one to save money. Nobody was out there at this point in time. We were close enough to it that we could see the features of the rock and lighthouse but also relatively far away. I look to the left of it and there's this dark black square. I start thinking, 'I'm so tired.' And then ask me dad if he can see that black square. He said yes. I was super confused and freaked, it was a bright sunny day, and the square was half the size of this already huge lighthouse. I thought to myself it was surely some scaffolding tarp that had been caught in the wind, but the thing didn't flap and stood perfectly still. It got thinner and thinner and then poof. Vanished. I still have no idea what it was.
"As he was doing it, I saw something walk out of a corridor..."
There was the time when I was young.
My parents took me into the underground city in Edinburgh for a tour. The tour guide was giving the "don't get lost or we'll never find you" spiel.
As he was doing it, I saw something walk out of a corridor behind him. I'm gonna save text here because I could go all melodramatic and wax lyrical about it for ages - it was basically what we'd now call a grim reaper - skeletal head and hands, carrying an hourglass in the hand I could see, with what looked like smoke or shadows around it for clothes.
No one else even twitched. When I was clear that no one else was seeing this thing in the corridor, I freaked out to the point my parents had to take us off the tour.
The thing that still makes my skin crawl about that - I didn't have my love of sci fi, fantasy or actual science when I was that young. I didn't really get that until I read the hobbit a year later. So I didn't know what a grim reaper was. I didn't know the anatomy of a human hand's bones or the association of the hourglass with death. Yet I saw all those things and some of my drawings from that age have details I wouldn't have known at that age (like the fact the carpus at the base of the hand being seven bones in a cluster, not a single knob of bone).
Been over 20 years and I've still not quite figured out how I knew things like that for those drawings. If I didn't know better, I'd think I'd been the victim of a practical joke, but I freaked out enough that there's no way my parents would have kept it going.
"My friends and I camped out..."
My friends and I camped out in this abandoned island off the coast of my country once. The history is that British soldiers used to be based on this island during the age of imperialism and no one ever lived there again because they say either the souls of those British soldiers dwelled or the place is inhabited by "djinn" (Arabic for genies; sort of the Islamic ghost).
Anyway, we camped there when my friend went to go pee. He came running back freaking out saying he saw something. Keep in mind, we were the only people on the whole island as it is uninhabited. Later on, I needed to pee myself, so I went to a different secluded part and saw this shape... it was the silhouette of a very big cat. Feeling scared, I finished off and went back to my group and asked if there are any animals known to live there - everyone was adamant that nothing could survive on this island, and our region as a whole doesn't have that much wildlife.
The next morning, we went to inspect the rest of the island. It's not big... about a mile in diameter. We couldn't find any evidence of anything living there amongst the ruins. Still freaks me out to this day.
"An old house I rented..."
Not seen, but heard. An old house I rented was the home to a former whiskey-maker and county-wide notorious a-hole. One night, about 3-4am, I heard what sounded like an old-time radio show. Like a trio or duo of women singing old gospel style music, then an announcer speaking with them, all in that old times midwestern meter. I searched the house but could find nothing. I bailed and slept at a friends. A few nights later, several friends were over for a party, and by around 3am, it had died down, we were just vegging in the living room. One of my friends just asked "Does anyone else hear that old radio?" He described hearing practically the same thing I heard previously. I didn't stay at this house long.
"I came across a deer..."
GiphyA while ago I took a road trip to the southwest US. I was in northern Arizona, near the border of new Mexico on some back roads outside a reservation looking for a place to park and camp for the night. The sun had just went down and it was getting dark quickly. There was still a band of light across the horizon from the setting sun.
I came across a deer that appeared to be hit by a large vehicle, a semi or box truck or something like that. There was flesh and bits of fur in the road and a blood stain spiraling across the road that lead to a fresh deer carcass on the shoulder. It looked gruesome. Naturally I slow down and rubberneck. The deer was still alive and looked into the headlights. As I pass it, I swear it sits up straight like someone getting out of bed and starts to stand on it's back legs.
I punch the gas and didn't slow down until I got to Flagstaff. F**k that.
"My dad and I were in Montana..."
My dad and I were in Montana deer hunting on our friend's private property, and we came across what we believe were Sasquatch tracks in a large patch of snow. My father has been hunting his entire life- he's seen pretty much every animal and their tracks. I'll never forget the wide-eyed look on his face when he said, "That's not from a bear."
The tracks looked almost identical to a human's, but they were massive and at least 3 feet apart. I remember the toes were long and the soles wide. I don't think it could have been a person, since we were several miles into private property and our friend was out of town. I'm not sure what those tracks belonged to, but the fact that my dad was stunned and couldn't identify them leads me to believe that they were something very, very unique.
"I once had a dream where my grandmother..."
I once had a dream where my grandmother (still living) told me she was in heaven. It's unusual for me to remember any details of my dreams, but this one stuck with me. While having breakfast the next morning, my father called to tell me she had died during the night.
I don't believe in ghosts or anything like that, and I'm agnostic at best about the notion of an afterlife. I've had other people who were close to me die since, and nothing like that has ever happened again. The dream could have been triggered by simple unspoken realities; she was 93 and in the hospital, although she was not at death's door, so it wasn't like I was expecting it.
The one thing I come back to is the thought that Grandma and I were always very close. I was her first grandchild, and I think I was her favorite. So if there was any way she could reassure me from beyond the grave, she would. The logical side of me says it's all just happenstance. But the whole experience left me with a small flame of hope that I don't expect will ever get blown out.
"Was home totally alone..."
Was home totally alone, doors and windows all locked and double checked. I had our two dogs in my room with me watching a movie and snuggling round 2 am or so when I very distinctly heard my mums voice yelling for me from downstairs using my nickname no one else uses. My family was in Louisiana and I was in Texas at the time and so I just assumed I was overtired and my brain was short circuiting. Pretty quickly after that I heard it a second time and that time both dogs got up with hackles raised, got in front of me on the bed and started growling like the devil himself was at the door.
Of course I totally flipped out because they won't stop and won't even look at me as I'm calling them and petting their heads trying to get them to chill out. Heard something thud pretty heavily on the landing outside my bedroom. Both dogs loose their minds and vault off the to bed and starting barking and snarling at the door; I flew across the room locked the door and then booked it back to my bed .
Just about peed my pants and the dogs didn't chill out until the sun came up. They spent the entire night growling and sitting over me facing my bedroom door. They've never done it again and in the morning everything was still locked up and I couldn't find anything that might have fallen. Still gives me goosebumps to this day.
"So about a year ago..."
So about a year ago, I had a dream. I was playing a board game with my dad, which was fairly normal, as both of us love board games. I had never seen this game before. In the dream, my dad moved a piece (I won't elaborate on the actual game because that's kinda boring for most people) and he said "that piece is more powerful, so I'll take it out first." A couple months later, he got a new game. It was identical to the one in the dream. No differences whatsoever. The first time we played it, this event happened, word for word. Ever since then, I've had stuff like this happen every once in a while. I'll have a dream, or just be daydreaming, and then sometime from a day to half a year later, that exact same thing happens.
I have also been in the car with my parents going home, when we see some kind of plane (maybe 30 feet long) just hovering 10 meters above the ground. It wasn't moving at all. This wasn't a hallucination - my mom saw it too.
"This wasn't necessarily visible..."
This wasn't necessarily visible, but I still cannot explain this for the life of me
So I had a friend who lived in another town, about 1.5 hours from where I live, so we didn't talk often. At the time of this story (around 2011), we hadn't seen eachother in a good 8 months, or even conversed all that much since those 8 months. I decide it would be fun to hang out again, so I give him a call. Instead of him answering the phone, I get the message 'this person is already in a call' (paraphrased). I wait a minute and call again. Turns out on the exact moment I called him, he called me. I still don't have an explenation for this, except for chance of course.
"I saw a UFO..."
I saw a UFO outside my window when I was in high school. I was perplexed, and stared until it was out of sight.
I told people about it, but eventually I kind of just forgot about it.
Several years later I came across this documentary, and the UFO i had seen in high school was featured in the film. A guy from my hometown caught it all on camera, and many people from the area reported seeing it that evening. I saw it all over again, and still can't really believe what I saw...even though there is evidence. What the f*ck was it?
"When I was 4 years old..."
When I was 4 years old, I was asleep and my grandma came in to check on me before she went to bed. There was blood all over my blanket, sheets, and the wall. She woke me up and looked me over from head to toe but found no trace of a bloody nose or any cuts anywhere on my body.
"Was working as a floor nurse..."
Was working as a floor nurse on a busy med surg unit. One patient was going to have an open hysterectomy (1983 or so). Stated she had an identical twin sister living in Germany. Patient did not want to notify sister about surgery until it was over so she would not worry. On the afternoon of the surgery, about the time the patient returned from PACU, the twin sister called the patient 's home saying she had been having severe abdominal pains all day and a feeling that something was wrong with her sister. Patient in Tennessee. Sister in Germany.
Shocking as it may seem, there are still countless people all over the world who still don't follow the most basic rules of hygiene.
Up to and including covering your mouth when coughing, not double dipping amongst company, and washing your hands after using the bathroom (or just in general!)
However, those who scoff at people who don't follow certain hygiene protocols might want to think twice before scolding.
The truth is, all of us could do a little better when it comes to taking care of ourselves and others.
Particularly as we're still slowly emerging from a global pandemic.
"What are some hygiene tips you wish more people knew?"
Keep Those Supplies Clean
"Clean your hairbrushes, especially if you have oily hair/scalp."
"'Clean your glasses' includes the frames and nose pads."- PM_ME_BREAD_PICS_
Wash Your Waterbottle!
"PLEASE wash your reusable water bottle!"
"i know i know refilling your water bottle is super eco friendly but you gotta make sure you're washing it regularly to avoid any gross bacteria buildup."- linlindindin
As Do Your Sheets
"Pillows cases need to be washed often."
Design Pillows GIF by R Marine CrawleyGiphyOne Door To Always Leave Open...
"Maybe this is hygiene-adjacent but to stop that old laundry smell you have to leave your washing machine open to dry out."
"Every time!"- plantsplantsplaaants
It Can't Disguise Filth
"Perfume is not a substitute for washing and deoderant."- ReplicatedSun
Wiping Doesn't Always Suffice
"Washing your a**."- Professor_Lowbrow
"Washing your a** in the shower."
"Crack and hole my friends."
"Crack. And. Hole."- Watch-The-Time
season 1 friends GIFGiphyThink Of Every Place You Used It...
"Cleaning/ disinfecting your phone."
"It has so much bacteria and I hate when someone shows me to look at their phone and that shits crusty."- Permission_Beginning
Learn Something New Every Day
"I wish I had known that the natural Ph of vaginal secretions was acidic enough to stain clothing and such."
"It would’ve saved me a lot of anxiety of wondering what was wrong with me."
"Yes, it IS NORMAL for this to happen."- Ok-Consideration2676
Remember Every Crevice
"Wash behind your ears and inside deep of your belly button."- WarSlow5450
Adam Sandler Bath GIFGiphyNot Just For The Armpits
"Deodorant works on under boob and cleavage."- PresentationNice7043
Not The Aroma People Are Looking For
"If you can smell you, we all could smell you two days ago."- Lord_Cabbage_64
WHY DO PEOPLE NEED REMINDING?!?!?!
"Nobody realizes the amt of pee, blood and feces are on the stall latch."
"Wash your hands."- coreysgal
Wash Hands Nicksplat GIF by Hey ArnoldGiphyIt Doesn't KEEP Things clean...
"If you leave your washing in the machine for over a day, please wash it again before you dry it."
"There is few things worse than being stuck in a room with someone who smells like a sewer dog."- krumpettrumpet
The Deserve Extra Care
"Wash your feet, including the bottoms."
"I had a pedicure once where the nail technician remarked that he could tell I washed my feet well."
"I said, 'doesn’t everyone wash their feet?'"
"He said 'no' and that he can definitely tell when people don’t."
"I guess people assume the soap running down is sufficient, but it really isn’t."- theithe916
If there's anything worth putting in even the tiniest amount of extra effort for, it's hygiene and cleanliness.
And no, using hand sanitizer is NOT the same thing as washing your hands!!!
It doesn't take much to ruin the party mood.
Anything can tank a good time.
Usually, it's a guest who has decided to act a fool who brings down the atmosphere.
But it can also be the menu, the music, the neighbors... the list is endless.
A party is a fragile experiment.
Play it fun.
Redditor Joeyniles9 wanted to discuss all the things people have done that destroy the good time, so they asked:
"What instantly kills the vibe at a party?"
Anything. Anything can kill a vibe at a party.
Especially with perfect timing.
Lights Out
"Someone putting the big light on."
templewater
"Used to work at a bowling alley. On the weekends we had cosmic bowling (dark, black lights, fog machine, disco lights). At midnight we would turn the music off and the big fluorescent lights on so people would go home. The vibe kill was instantaneous."
roguescience
GiphyElden RIng
"If the hosts are a couple, and they get into a fight."
MightyMCY
"For real, I was at a couple of friend's places for a chill party once and the guy started getting angry at his GF for asking him something while we took turns playing Elden Ring. It became increasingly awkward and they moved their argument into the kitchen, then it turned into a real fight with screaming and dishes thrown on the floor."
"Eventually when someone suggested that they calmed down and the guy became hysterical, threw everyone out including his GF, and said it was her fault the party was ruined. I took pity on her so I drove her to her place, and ended up consoling her until 3 AM. Turns out they'd been fighting before about cheating on one another.
"They're due to get married at the end of the year but I'd be surprised their relationship lasts that long."
SaliktheCruel
Nesting
"I was at a staff party with an open bar, and it reached the time when the first clusters of guests were leaving. When they went to get their coats from the closet, they discovered a young new team member who we thought had left hours ago. He had stripped off all his clothes, made a nest of jackets, soiled everything, and passed out. Killed the vibe for sure."
MistaLuvcraft
Damn Kids
"When someone gets extremely wasted and too out of control (starts to pick fights, has drunk fits, will sprawl on the ground, needs 100% supervision, has to be carried around). You just wanna chill and enjoy the party but you can't cuz you're stuck babysitting them."
Akai_Sakita
"Uggggh yeah been there, had to babysit a drunk Belgium kid (he was like 18/19) and watch half my group make out with each other in Amsterdam, killed my night hard."
NevrAsk
"I think the S is needed. A single, aggressive drunk can be headed off. The party can pinball them around the place and make them feel special...and, if not, push them into a ditch."
"Multiple aggressive drunks? GTFO. Now."
fishsticklovematters
Time for some coffee darlings.
Song Killer
"When someone changes a song before the best part... I've done this and got my dumba** ex-communicated... rightfully."
Employee-Number-9
Golden Girls Dancing GIF by TV LandGiphyThe Pooper
"A friend of mine announced she had to fart to the entire kitchen while she was intoxicated. She proceeded to sh*t liquid diarrhea on herself. It hit the floor, and it smelled terrible. Party ended before it really ever began. Guess she had some stomach bug or IBS or something. She ended up getting diapers for any gift-giving occasion after. No clue where she ended up, we lost touch a year or so later."
Guerrin_TR
It was Him
"One time, my brother (14 at the time) wanted to see how hard it would be to dig out a 1 meter x 1-meter square hole out of the ground (Minecraft inspired.) He spent a good amount of time over a weekend digging, until he got bored. It was mostly finished."
"Fast forward a couple of months. I throw a party at my dad's house and we're having a blast. A bonfire out back and everything."
"A kind-hearted attendee noticed the pit in the ground and made it his duty to guard the pit, for he did not want anyone to get hurt."
"Someone got hurt. Spoiler alert: it was him. HE fell into the pit - our brave guard. Thankfully, we had a sober person there and they drove him to the hospital, but that instantly killed the vibe at the party."
coolbrys
But Damn
"An overdose."
eatafetus632"
I witnessed this. The host and two friends went to a room to do a little booger sugar, but it must have been laced with fentanyl or something. They were found unresponsive - Party over, paramedics, cops, etc. Narcan definitely saved them and they made a full recovery, but damn. What a horrible night."
KurzBadger
Bar Fail
"Shortage of drinks when everything is closed."
ads5531
"Ah yes, time for the Adventure (gathers the folks for the quest to the closest gas station to buy more alcohol, gets lost twice, changes destination several times, 3 people go missing, somebody passes out, drink entire booze before they make their way back home)."
CatOfCosmos
Season 6 Trailer GIFGiphyAlways have the bar stocked!
That is party 101!!
People Explain Which Things They've Done 'Just To Be Safe' That Totally Saved Their Butt
We gotta do what we gotta do.
That is a serious life mantra.
Staying alive is not an easy task.
Sometimes we save ourselves without every realizing we're doing it.
The small, inconsequential actions we complete every hour, have the power to keep us all going.
WHo knew?
LIfe is so frgaile.
Thankfully our subconscious is looking out.
Redditor Dawn_Cyborgzzz wanted everyone to share about times we made that one certain, simple decision, that turned out to be the best decision, so they asked:
"What 'you know what, just to be safe' thing you did end up saving your a** later"
I believe just turning the right corner can save a life.
We're defying death on the daily.
Life Saver
Cat Save GIFGiphy"Learned CPR and first aid. Had to give CPR to a family friend when she collapsed from a heart attack and thankfully she was brought back after being down for 15 minutes. She only had minor memory problems and mostly just couldn't remember that day. She is still here and kicking years later."
CompanionCarli3
$3.50 in quarters
"Was delivering pizza in a sketchy block of town late at night. Huge apartment complex with multiple buildings. Walking up to the front door I noticed a couple of guys wearing dark clothing about 100ft behind me walking in my direction. Delivery was on the second floor and by the time I reached her door I heard the main door of the apartment complex open and close."
"She used a CC for the order and tipped in cash so when I was putting the receipt into my bag (where I kept my cash) I actually pulled the rest of the cashout and stuffed it into my inner jacket pocket just to be safe leaving just the change I had that night in the bag. Started to head down the stairs back out to my car and two guys jumped out from behind the stairs, one had a gun pointed at me and told me to give them the money."
"I quickly handed them my bag filled with quarters and they took off towards the back entrance of the apartment complex. I never ran so fast in my life back to my car. I wanted to make sure I was as far away as possible before they realized they robbed me of $3.50 in quarters."
tjohnboy
End of the Night
"I was at a sleepover as a kid, I was a little worried because my mom had been oddly tired earlier that day. I went home early because I was worried. By the end of the night, I (14 at the time) had to call an ambulance for my mom, as she was having problems with her heart and I was the only one there with her. She was incapable of forming coherent sentences and would probably not have gotten the help she needed if I wasn't there. So, good thing I was."
boredwithhorns
Side by Side
"Was on a side-by-side vehicle mudding on some property a friend and I were visiting."
Mid-ride, I turn to my friend and say 'Hey, you should probably buckle your seat belt. Just in case.'"
"Not 1 min later did he lose control and slide front first into a tree going about as fast as this thing could go given the conditions."
"Both of us were okay but the side-by-side was completely ruined."
"He looked at me right after and his eyes were as big as dinner plates."
ajohndoe17
Locked and Ready
Top Gear Electric Cars GIF by BBC AmericaGiphy"I dropped my high school girlfriend off, then for some reason I locked the passenger door."
"Not 10 minutes later I was stopped at a red light and some scummy-looking dude tried to open up the door. I have no idea why I locked that door after she got out, I really didn't have a habit of that. No idea what would have happened if that guy got in my truck."
Fat_Ryan_Gosling
Lock the doors. Every door. Always.
Minutes Later
Surf Fail GIF by Red BullGiphy"$5 breakage insurance on a rental surfboard. Broke that f**ker clean in half in my first 10 minutes."
Jaboogaman
Going Blind
"My dad lost his glasses once. He was going to just use his old prescription but last minute decided to just go to the optometrist anyway in case something changed. Turns out he had a tear in his retina and was booked for surgery within 24 hours. It was bad enough they said he probably would have gone blind really soon had they not caught it when they did."
notallamawoman
Get it all checked...
"My stomach had some issues and my doctor sent me for a colonoscopy just to get things checked out. They found 1 polyp, no big deal, not related to the current problem, and told me to come back in 5 years just in case. I put in a Google reminder and forgot about it."
"5 years later, I went for a colonoscopy and they found a lot more and said I would have ended up with cancer in 5-20 years for sure had I not gone. Instead, they removed all polyps and now I’m regularly going to colonoscopies due to having a syndrome they identified."
"I’m far away from the age where you normally get a colonoscopy so I would definitely have got cancer. When you are eligible or if it is recommended, get a colonoscopy."
matttk
5 Minutes Later
"Not my a**, but I was getting ready for school whilst Mum was vomiting in the bathroom. She said it was just a stomach bug and to just go to school but mentioned her arm hurt. Something didn’t sit right so I called the ambulance from downstairs."
"They arrived and took her into the ambulance - she then proceeded to have 3 cardiac arrests and needed defibrillating each time. A double bypass later and she was up and about within a month."
"Paramedics told me she would have died 5 mins after I left if I hadn’t called."
TheKr1tster
Weird Feelings
John Stamos Lol GIF by LifetimeGiphy"Had some weird achy symptoms and went to the doctor even though I figured I was probably overreacting. Turns out I had cancer."
Ok-Ad-2605
"I got really sick with what I thought was a virus or infection or something. turns out it might have been something like that, but whatever it was, it was made significantly worse by the fact that I had leukemia."
AHomicidalTelevision
When it comes to safety, refrain from taking chances.
The simple things save lives.
We all have to come from somewhere, but some of us are more willing to go back to visit our hometowns than others.
In all honesty, it's easier to put the past behind us than to reminisce.
Redditor drax3012 asked:
"What is your town infamous for?"
Segregated Schools
"Being one of the last cities in Texas to desegregate schools (1995). We also have a big bike race."
- Pie_Investor
101 Dalmatians Reference
"Mine has the largest working fire hydrant in Texas, but it is also a gift from the '101st Dalmation' movie being released."
- Inevitable_Cook2294
Rampant Racism
"The town I grew up in was infamous as the town the farthest north with an active KKK chapter. Secondary claims to fame: About 70% Polish immigrants and the fact that the leader of the American Nazi party was the Republican nominee for the house a few years ago."
"Those last two are kind of paradoxical if you think about the irony of Polish immigrants mainly supporting the Nazi party."
- pesky-pretzel
Trending Debt
"Being the first major metropolitan city to go into bankruptcy and receivership."
"Oh, and for a mayor who stole money from the taxpayers, cheated on his wife with strippers, and may have also killed a stripper."
"Oh, and we are also infamous for eight-mile, AKA the street that now has a bunch of weed dispensaries on it."
- BumpyDenny93
Terrible Traffic
"Infamous? It's generally thought of as racist with really bad traffic and hot weather."
"But in reality, it's not that racist, and the weather is OK, but yeah, the traffic is actually even worse than people think."
- Slimetusk
Those Fall Parties
"Oktoberfest... the Canadian version."
- HampsterGriffin
How Tragic
"A big ship that sank on her first go out."
- punkerster101
Myths Born Overnight
"Drunk hillbillies having a gunfight with aliens."
"No, seriously."
"I don't really have an inside scoop. It was 13 years before I was born, and 30 years before I lived here."
"Locally, it seems to be a humorously shameful anecdote. There is a 'festival' every year, but it serves as a showcase for small businesses/gospel singers/politicians/etc from the area."
"Personally, I'm a big fan of all things supernatural and cryptid. And I probably believe more than the average person... but this story."
"Probably horned owls and moonshine."
- darthjenkins
Random Shoes
"Well, not just the place I'm from, but random feet in sneakers washing up on shore. Has been happening for decades now."
"Thought to be a result of people who died in the ocean, their bodies eventually coming apart, and the buoyant sneakers keeping their feet afloat to wash up, but there are of course some much creepier theories."
- Youpunyhumans
Somewhere in the Midwest
"More cows than people."
- sleepyJoesBidet
An Introvert's Nightmare
"The happiest place on earth that packs you in like sardines."
- boopcorgi
An Extrovert's Nightmare
"It's so boring, even introverts are moving away."
- Omasrealaccount
About That...
"We kinda started the Civil War…"
- JDubya_Rx
A Haunting Education
"Our schools(allegedly) were modeled off of prisons in the 1960s, and a lot of ghost stories. So many that a book was made just listing all of them."
- Global_Box_7935
Dark Days
"Largest mass execution in US history."
- universeforinfinity3
Not every town has the darkest history, but it must be rough to have grown up in a town with an infamous past.
At least those who are aware of the history will be less likely to repeat it.