Redditor BBQPancake wanted to hear about the times people almost let the devil win, so they asked:
"What was the closest you've gotten to killing someone?"
Everytime someone CHOOSES not to use a turn signal, I roll the dice if this is the moment.
No Hazards
lauren conrad car GIF by The HillsGiphy"Dude was changing his tire on the side of the freeway about half past midnight, dressed in dark clothes, no hazards on, and sitting halfway into the right lane. Almost splattered that dude."
Flooded_Strand
Totally Weird Experience
"11:30 pm Remote country road with no streetlights. There’s a tiny traffic island in the middle of the road and I see what looks like a slightly different-colored silhouette standing there. By all rights, I should not have seen him there but something in my brain clicked and swore there was a figure standing there so I slammed on my brakes as the figure jumped out in front of me, car stopped about 2m away."
"He smiled really sinisterly and started walking towards the car, I reversed and made to move around him slowly and he jumped in front again, I managed to drive on the wrong side of the road to escape him."
"A minute down the road I stop to flash my lights at every passing car to warn them and I sh*t you not the second car that passed was a cop and I explained what happened. I circled back a minute later and saw the dude on the side of the road in cuffs. Totally weird experience."
HeyMrCow
SLAM!
"When I passed my driving test many years ago, I asked the instructor if he had any advice for a new driver. He warned me that if I ever saw a ball roll into the street to immediately hit the brakes because there was a good chance a kid will follow. I never forgot that and have religiously followed it ever since."
"A couple of years ago I was driving down a residential street and it happened again and something in my mind told me to SLAM on my brakes and so I did. I came to a stop just feet from a really little kid who was completely frozen in terror."
"That driving instructor is probably dead of old age by now, but wherever he is, I hope he understands that he saved that little kid's life and saved me a lifetime of guilt and heartache."
MaybeADumbass
The potatoes were stuck
"Pneumatic potato cannon. My friends and I were shooting it in my backyard. Must have launched off dozens of potatoes at this point. We decided to stuff 3 potatoes in the barrel. When we open the valve to shoot it nothing happened. We were sitting around 60 psi and had no launch."
"The potatoes were stuck. My friend went to look down the barrel. I saw what was going to happen and lifted the back forcing the barrel into the ground. At that time the potatoes shot out and left a small crater in the ground."
ELONGATEDSNAIL
I Shudder
shooting breaking glass GIF by PhazedGiphy"I was fermenting homemade kombucha in a tightly closed bottle. Which I forgot to burp. One day a bottle exploded, while my mother-in-law was in the kitchen. Luckily, she was far from the bottle at the moment and got only a scratch on her hand, but we had to dislodge glass shards from the walls. I still shudder from a thought of what would happen if she were closer."
nazanar
Closed bottles and pressure, that is a toxic mess.
Take shelter.
Avengers Unite
the avengers GIFGiphy"Every time I drive in Sydney on a weekend 4000 people either wanna walk out into traffic without looking or cycle onto main roads without pausing or merge into my lane without indicating/checking. By staying in defensive driving mode I've saved more lives than the Avengers."
RGH81
6 Inches
"Was on a film set working when a mentally unstable person with a knife approached me and another crew member."
"Was forced to take a swing at him with a gobo arm (it's essentially a metal rod with a metal knuckle on the end of it). Swung hard enough that if it connected, would have caved in this dude's temple."
"Just missed, and it coming so close must have jolted the guy back to reality and he took off. So closest I came to killing someone was about 6 inches."
Ringlovo
A Few feet from the Girl
"Used to work a delivery job. One afternoon, I'm driving back to work in the old POS delivery van and some girl bolts across the road (presumably to catch a bus that had pulled over up ahead)."
"Slammed on the brakes and came to a sliding stop completely sideways in the middle of the road no more than 2 or 3 feet from the girl. I still think about it sometimes, it was a heavy old Ford van, with no ABS. If I'd been speeding even slightly I think I would've hit her."
ZatyDaddy
Madre de Dios
"Driving a loaded truck, probably about 10,000 lb or so, at the speed limit. Traffic in the oncoming lane is at a standstill. Some [censored] decided he was too important to wait with everyone else and pulls out, face to face with me, at very short range. I swerved hard right, didn't really expect to miss him but somehow did."
"Then swerved hard left to avoid the people on the sidewalk, somehow missed them too. Didn't think you could make a truck do that. Apparently, my passenger (the owner of the truck I was driving for) didn't think it was possible either. I learned some new swear words in Spanish and what sounded like the prayer of thanks to Madre de Dios."
philzar
Fired
New Girl Facepalm GIF by HULUGiphy"High school friend's dad wanted to teach us how to shoot. Went to the range and when he wasn't looking I grabbed the pistol and tried the John Woo sideways grip shot. It flew out of my hand and the bullet ricocheted off the side wall. That was my last time to ever fire a gun."
eguez780
We really need to be vigilant.
Do you have any similar experiences? Let us know in the comments below.
People who've had bad encounters with someone they've never met shared their experiences when Redditor Jemuzu8304 asked:
"Whats the most f'ked up thing a complete stranger has done to you?"
Drivers and passengers recall their rude interactions.
The Prank
"One time I was in south Philly and a car pulled up with two guys in it. They called out to me asking for directions so I walked over. As I was explaining where to go the dude in the passenger seat spit in my face and they sped off."
– the_humbL_lion
Willing Victim
"You just reminded me of a similarly gross interaction:"
"Years ago after a doctor's appointment, I got into my car and turned it on, at which point a small child started leaning/sitting on the hood. His heavily pregnant mother stood by doing nothing, apparently distracted by her phone. I rolled down my window, and asked if she would mind getting her child off of my car, as I needed to leave, and was concerned he could get hurt."
"She asked if I had insurance. Confused, I answered '...yes?', to which she said 'Well I hope you DO hit him so I can get some MONEY!' She proceeded to lean in through my passenger window, and started spitting on me. The kid was no longer on my car, and I desperately wanted to get away from her, so I put my car in reverse. She then hurled her pregnant belly into my sideview mirror, and shrieked in such an exaggerated way, as if I had hit her."
"I eventually found a new doctor."
– TheHaydnPorter
Unwanted Car Wash
"Stopped at a red light one time. Someone from a building adjacent to the light threw a bag of ice and water on my car, from a few stories up. Dented the roof and shattered the windshield."
"Wasn't even a nice car, I was driving a Dodge neon sh*tbox."
– IAmPandaKerman
You never know the capabilities of strangers you encounter.
The Violent Thief
"I got held up at gun point 2 weeks ago in philly 10 feet from the door to my friends apartment. They stole both our watches. My watch was given to me by my dead uncle. https://imgur.com/a/V59aebW"
– xcpain93
Hit By A Hard Object
"Reminds me of something. Some a**hole tossed a lock, like the combination type out of a car at me and hit me in the knee. I had trouble walking correctly for damn near a month."
"I always thought if they'd have stopped at a light I'd have hurled that b*tch right back."
"Good thing they didn't. I wasn't in any condition for a fight."
– Ok_Relationship_705
Moving Targets
"I also have a drive-by experience but it was with a f'king paintball gun. My friend and I were in freshmen year, just walking to the park to play some ball and with no warning he suddenly recoils and shouts in pain. I had no clue what happened. He reaches at his back and when he turns around I see a bright red paint splat on his white shirt. I look up and see the car that just passed us turns around, pulls up next to us with the kid in the passenger seat hanging the gun out window saying 'Sorry bro, I’m just so surgical with this thing,' and speeds off. Pretty hilarious story in hindsight within our friend group now, but at the time we were pissed. Luckily we got their plates and the cops showed up at their house and they got in trouble. F'kers."
– zakxk
Wrong Target
"I was about 11 and me and some friends were standing on a small bridge over a lake. All of a sudden I was picked up and thrown over the railing into the lake below. I tried to grab onto anything I could as I fell and scrapped my arms up pretty good. I still have scars 30 years later. So I swim to the side and some older kid comes up to me and just say - sorry, I thought you were someone else."
– discostud1515
Attacks happen when you least expect it.
Random Attack
"Punched me, for no reason. I was standing. Waiting for the community bus. A stranger got out of the car and punched me. I filed the Police report but nothing happen."
– Hallo-Mapskollegen
Hitting The Elderly
"My grandmother was at the movies and a guy walking up the aisle punched her in the side of the head. He told the cops he was mad because he was on a bad blind date."
"Like...great excuse to wallop a 75-year-old woman minding her own business."
– BarracudaImpossible4
The Ferrari Guys
"Had a similar thing happen when I was in Downtown Los Angeles. I was crossing the street and just came up onto the sidewalk. Some dude in a Ferrari steps out of the car, walks up to me and tries to swing on me in broad daylight. I sidestepped this dude, and he then spun to try to hit me again, calling me a motherf**ker and not to dodge. I caught him with a nut shot with my foot and doubled him over."
"His buddy hops out of the car, and another of his buddies (I assume) gets up from the side of the sidewalk and both are yelling at me, and I'm like, 'ah, f'k, I'm not ready for this.'"
"These absolute legends who had been watching all this sh*t go down just appear out of nowhere and jump these guys for me. Like, six different people from out of the woodwork. Nutshot and Scrub (Ferrari guys) hop in the car and just take off, scraping the car and taking the right side view mirror off. Their (assumedly) other homeboy gets left behind, but he tries to stumblef'k his a** away after having taken a couple of hits to the head. One of the guys who helped me jogs up and punts this dude in the side right after he falls over, doubling him up. Meanwhile, everybody else is checking on me and making sure I'm good."
"Cops show up, detain us, figure out what's going on, let us go, and arrest homie that couldn't get away. Come to find out, these guys have been doing this for weeks, and the people who helped me were local residents who had been on the lookout for Nutshot. Arrested homie later squealed, and all the guys involved got a couple of years for aggravated assault."
– feronen
My bad interactions with strangers were all random but definitely premeditated assaults.
I was mugged twice in New York City while I was typically minding my own business.
Also, while I was in Barcelona, I had a team of youths pick-pocket me and run off with my wallet containing my passport and credit cards. Fortunately, the friend I was with saw what happened and ran off after them. She sucker-punched the young lady who had my wallet, causing her to drop it.
Be careful out there, folks!
Redditor DynastyLoops asked:
"What is the most f**ked up thing your parents said or did to you?"
When I was a waiter, the things I heard parents say... like, where is CPS?!
Broken Trust
Look Around Ok GIF by BounceGiphy"I haven't trusted you since the day you were born.' Not even sure what I did as an infant to lose her trust."
chesterlola2014
"I mean frankly small children aren’t very trustworthy in general but other than that yeah jeez."
Airsofter599
Not Much
"When you graduate high school, you’re either going to start paying rent or move out. I was working at freaking McDonald’s at the time so I’d be essentially homeless. I joined the navy the next day."
DakotaLazlo
No Harmony
"When I was 12 my dad took me to New Harmony State park to go fishing. He got drunk and passed out on a picnic table. After 5-6 hours he came to but was still trashed and he forced me to drive home. 1st ever driving experience. When I managed to help him into the car he passed out again within a few minutes. About 20 miles or so into the trip home we woke up. He looked over at me and kinda growled 'you little mother f*****' then he just started hitting me."
"He started crying as he was hitting me which made it even worse. I was scared to death. 12 years old driving down a highway, getting beaten while driving, and really hurting to see my dad in that condition. Idk if it’s the most messed up thing him or mom did but it definitely made the top ten list."
ProstheticNipples84
Unsettled
"My dad looked me in the eyes, said he settled for my mom, and that he would rather get drunk than be my father."
"My mom I'm conflicted on which it is, it would either be the time she hit me so much and so hard with a wooden spoon it broke, or the time I was excited about a book and tried to tell her and she said 'you're saying this like you actually think I care.'"
cloudysasquatch
For You
"My parents were not abusive or alcoholics by any measure. They were as caring as anyone could be. But the thing that f**ked me up was that they looked at us to pick sides between their arguments. And say stuff like 'we are together only for you etc.'"
"'Dude, we didn't tell you to marry each other. How is it my responsibility to maintain peace between you?' Ironically, my brother and I live in foreign countries and my parents have to take care of each other."
lawaythrow
This is too depressing.
How are people like this?
Brutal
"When I was 12, my father got really drunk, and told me that I was born to save his marriage, and that I was a failure for not doing so."
DamonSing
A Bad Spiral
"I was living with my parents at 16 years old and my older siblings were away at college/out of the country. My dad told my mom he was leaving her, and my mom went into a downward spiral of depression. My dad left the house leaving me with a very depressed mother to look after."
"I remember she locked herself in her room for 3 days, I begged her to open the door. I went in and fed her. My dad would come back occasionally to the house to get something for his new place. They told me to not tell a soul about their marriage falling apart, not even my siblings."
"One day I got home from school to an empty house. The police came saying they had a call from a counsellor saying that my mom is in danger and may hurt herself. I completely broke down. Luckily she didn't do that but she got checked into the hospital for a while. My dad stopped by that night and I told him about it, he kind of just shrugged."
"I was completely alone. It was a horrible time. We are all okay now though, thankfully."
Stunning_Attention82
Whoops...
"My mom lit something on fire and threw it on my shoulder. I still have a faint scar on my shoulder. She claims she didn't do it on purpose but didn't have any remorse. I was either 6 or 7 at the time."
Brave_Witness6834
"The Narcissist's Prayer. That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did, you deserved it."
Peircedprince
His Loss
"Parents are divorced. When I was 14 my dad told me he really only wanted one child. I'm the youngest of 3. It’s been 10 years since I’ve spoken to my dad. He’s a narcissist. Long story short, my dad never forgave any of us for basically forgiving our mom in the divorce, which we were all children at the time."
"It’s taken me a long time to deal with it all but my mom remarried 25 years ago and I feel very fortunate that my step-dad is the person I consider my dad. I got lucky. I used to feel sad for my dad but it really is his loss."
litt3lli0n
I Wanna Stay
"At 16 my mother took me out of school, made me get my GED so I would not be better than she was. They had to put the school on lockdown, because I was no longer a student and a threat to the school. All because I kept trying to fight it and trying to stay in school. My teacher walked me out and cried with me."
"I was a threat to the school Because I technically wasn’t a student anymore and I was still on school property. I thought if I kept going I could fight it so she couldn’t make me quit... but nope. She was my mother, I was a minor.. I lost. So I took my GED test, passed with A’s but in the late 90’s a GED was looked down on."
CinnamonMajesty
Gas Station Hero
My Hero Reaction GIF by MaytagGiphy"My dad kidnapped me and my brother and sister when we were little but my sister told a gas station employee and they locked us up and called my mom who was one state over and my dad had to drive to California without us."
olivetroubl3
Well I have never been more grateful for my mother. I will tell her.
Do you have any similar parental stories? Let us know in the comments below.
