Truck Drivers Share The Creepiest Thing They've Experienced In The Middle Of Nowhere

There's something soothing about hitting the road and driving, driving, driving, sometimes to parts unknown, the wind in your hair and the sun in your eyes. Long haul truckers know the roads best and they're used to an often solitary lifestyle. They often seem very self-assured, always knowing where they're going at any given moment. But what happens when you see something while on the road that you think you shouldn't have?
After Redditor lukasday88 asked the online community,
"Truck drivers, what's a creepy story you've got from the middle of nowhere?"
"I then hear someone..."
Trucker here. I think the best "creepy" thing that ever happened to me was I was heading from Tucson, AZ up into Saltlake City, UT. Well this was a few years ago and the main highway had been taken out in a flash flood, was under construction so I had to take a wierd detour through the mountains in lower Utah.
Well it was getting late and I was getting tired so I pulled off onto the shoulder and went to sleep in my bunk. Now this was in the middle of nowhere, closest town was like 40 miles away, so it is complelty pitch black outside once I turn the lights off. Any way around 4 am I wake up because I'm hearing something messing with my truck, like playing with the air and power cables between my cab and the trailer, which is literally 6 inches from where my head is at but on the outside of the cab. Then I feel something climb onto the landing that's on the back of my truck and it shakes my whole truck, so I'm guessing something around 2 to 3 hundred pounds was climbing around back there, I'm thinking like a mountain lion or a bear. At this point I'm wide awake and I want to get this thing away from me, so I slam my hand into my cab wall trying to scare what ever is out there, SLAM Hard enough to really make it loud.
I then hear someone, a male, scream bloody murder and I hear them fall off the back of my truck. I then hear about 15 other people all around my truck yelling. I climb up front, turn on my lights and illuminate a squad of Army Reserves doing their midnight ruck march and capture drills.
Turns out these guys were supposed to go find an "abandoned" truck and "secure" it for their midnight drills. That truck was 3 miles back down the road. They were not expecting me to be sleeping there, and thought I was part of the drill. I'm ex-military so after explaining I was not part of their test and legit was just there out of coincidence we laughed it off. They had to radio to their C.O. and tell him I was there and not have the other squads bother me.
"I decided not to back up..."
I used to deliver hotshot freight across the great plains/Minnesota area. One night around 2am I was hauling across North Dakota trying to reach Montana by morning. I was delivering a particularly valuable tractor part that a farm desperately needed for the following day. I began to notice some highway hypnosis sneaking up on me, but it didn't really bother me because I'd been through it hundreds of times before. Anyone who has driven across North Dakota knows that it is incredibly flat. Like, really flat. There also tends to be very straight and long roads. It's somewhat easy to see things on the road that are far away, even at night.
I noticed something long on the road, spanning my entire lane, approximately half a mile in front of me. I slowed down a little and prepared to move into the opposite lane, thinking it was some re-tread off a blown tire. As I got closer I noticed it was two people, laying head to toe across the entire lane. I swerved into the other lane, successfully avoiding them and came to an almost complete stop. But they didn't move. Not an inch.
I was just about to back up and check on them when I remembered a story that an old greybeard colleague of mine told me. He told me that in certain remote areas, people will lie down in the middle of the road and wait for a car or truck to stop and see what's going on. At that point, the road-layers along with whoever else is hiding in the nearby bushes will beat the the driver and steal his vehicle, leaving him in the middle of nowhere.
I decided not to back up, and when the two people in the road saw me put my truck back in gear and drive away, they both got up and walked toward the shoulder. I called the police and explained what happened, but we were so far away from civilization that I doubt anything came of it.
Thanks to that old greybeard, I got to keep my truck, my job, and my teeth.
"Driving through an abandoned section..."
Driving through an abandoned section of Baltimore at 3 in the morning, my CB radio turned itself on and crackled for a bit. Out of nowhere some voice over the radio said in a deep southern drawl, "I ain't got no panties on."
I could see up and down the interstate for miles and saw not one set of headlights...
"Every so often..."
Driving through a national park in the middle of the night going through a slow stretch at about 30km/h.
Every so often I think I see something out the window and beside me. Just a glimpse of movement. When I Iook though I don't catch it. Finally on about the third time I whip my head around and this time I recognize its a huge black wolf following alongside my truck just off the highway. I only saw it for a few seconds before I had to focus back on the road but it was absolutely lovely yet unsettling.
"I was driving through eastern Washington..."
I was driving through eastern Washington on some state roads. There were no rest stops or cities but I had done the route enough to know there were these massive dirt areas every ~40 miles where you could park safely away from the road. I decided to call it a night and closed my blinds and laid down to watch something on my phone.
After roughly an hour I hear someone try to open the driver's side door. I haven't heard any vehicles on the road the whole time I'm parked but I get up to peek out the curtains. As I'm looking out into the blackness of the drivers side window I hear them try the passenger side door. I peek down from the top of the curtain but can't see anything so I start the truck and kick on the lights.
I'm fairly freaked out at this point so I'm still not opening the curtains but peeking through gaps. Nothing, nobody is standing near either of my doors or parked within sight line. I take a deep breath and close the sleeper curtains too, because for some reason that's going to make things better right?
After laying back down and convincing myself that something blew against the truck and it only sounded like the doors (it was fairly windy outside and a lot of flat ground) I hear what sounds like someone trying to pry open the vents on the sleeper. The door handles start clicking again and the truck starts shifting like someone is climbing on it. I hit the little alarm button in the sleeper hoping to spook them off but it does nothing but add to the noise of door handles, fingers tapping on windows and chassis, and the hiss of air coming out of the suspension.
Then suddenly it stops. A few moments where I can only hear myself breathing and my heart pounding before I hear another truck approach and then drive by. I spent the next few hours waiting for whatever it was to come back but it never did. In the morning I couldn't find any footprints or damage to my truck but on every window were tiny human looking handprints, like a toddler had licked their hand and stuck it to my window over and over.
"I also experienced..."
I work for a railroad. Not necessarily "remote" but sometimes its just a conductor and engineer cruising along +/-10mph on very isolated, fairly wooded track. I've heard a few older guys mention something about a family (or a man with a suitcase, something along those lines dont really remember) walking down the track with no concerns. Constant blowing of the horn, flashing of the lights etc just kept walking down the track. Then disappearing. Near Weatherly, PA.
I also experienced a pretty intense trip myself one night coming home from New Jersey. Saw my 1st dead body laying along the rail which in itself was kinda interesting.
Then the only other part of my trip where we were required to run at a slow speed, I heard the craziest blood curdling scream I have ever heard in my entire life. One of the nights I will probably remember until I retire.
"So I went to sleep..."
Reno, NV.
A place on the north side of town, way off the freeway towards an old "military" road. I got there early at like 1am, they didn't open till 6am. The facility was closed so no one around and I just pulled into the lot and parked off to the side. So I went to sleep and was woken shortly after to someone knocking on the door/window, firmly to the point the truck shook. I jump out of bed thinking they are there already and want to offload me early. I get to the door and no one is there, so I step down thinking they are behind the trailer looking at the door seal or something. No one around, I look under the truck and around absolutely no one. No wind or bad weather, not another person around. I jump in the truck and pull out of there as fast as I could and went and parked in a nearby truck stop. Still can't explain it, I mean I guess I can justify I could have imagined the sound but the truck shaking was definitely real so I dont know.
"I had parked for the night..."
US-6 in Golden, CO. At a K-Mart parking lot.
This one isn't very long, but, it goes a long way to show just how big a target we truckers are for thieves and people looking to kill someone.
I had parked for the night and popped into the K-Mart before it closed. Presumably forever. Got the wife and I something to eat and some drinks. Got back to my truck and fired up the microwave. Got the TV and Xbox going. I'm off-duty and goddamn it, I'm hungry. I had just put disc 3 of Season 3 of Game of Thrones in. Not 5 minutes later, someone knocked on my tractor door.
First thought is "A lot lizard? At K-Mart? Bitch must be desperate."
I grab my K-Bar and get in the driver seat and roll the window down a little. Not a woman. Great...a pickler. Gross.
Me: Whatcha need man? Trying to eat dinner and catch up on my show. Him: I was wondering if you could give me a ride to Denver. My brother is a trucker too and wants me to drive with him. Me: Going the other way and I don't have a 3rd seatbelt for you to use. Him: I'm a trucker too. Me: Ok...why doesn't your brother come get you? Him: He's busy. Me: Considering it's after 23:00, if he's busy, I'm sure it isn't with driving.
He goes to reach for something.
Me: Yo, hands where I can see them. I'm now reaching for my gun in the door pouch Him: Sorry. I just wanted to show you my CDL. Me: Bud, I'm gonna be honest with ya. I'm trying to enjoy my dinner and show. I'm not taking you anywhere. Best I can suggest is call your brother and have him come get you. Him: My phone doesn't work. Me: Thems the breaks man. There's probably the last payphone on earth next to the entrance. Him: Can you just open the door for a minute? Me: No, and if you don't leave, I'm calling the police. Him: I'm just asking for some help. Me: I gave you the help I'm willing to offer. I'm rolling up the window now. Good luck getting to Denver.
I roll up the window and get in the bunk. Thought nothing more of it. When I get out to do my pre-trip in the morning, I discover that little bastard tried to cut the lock off my trailer and open the doors. He'd have been pissed if he managed to open it. I lock up even when I deadhead. That trailer was empty. Real glad I didn't get the urge to open the door. God knows what he was planning. Kill me, steal my truck, rape and kill my wife was probably on the agenda. Not the last time some s*** like that happened, but, that's for another post.
"In early October 2014..."
in early October 2014 I was on holiday in a remote luxury safari ranch in the Samburu region of Kenya. The ranch had about 20 guests and maybe 20 staff, and was situated in an extremely remote wilderness area. The nearest settlement was approximately 50km away, with staff living on site.
We ate meals communally outside in a central patio area with a view over the landscape. There was a large mountain to one side that could be seen from where we were sitting.
One night we were having a collective dinner with the other guests, and it was early evening, so people were pretty sober. It was dark and the night sky phenomenally clear – you could easily see the milky way and it was some of the clearest, most unpolluted skies I have ever seen.
During the meal there was a hubbub and people stopped and stared, including the staff. We looked up and hovering roughly over the mountain was a large round green black circle, that seemed to be pulsating. It was static for a few moments and seemed to swirl with green tendrils seeming to suck light in. It then began to move right to left across the mountain before suddenly fading out and disappearing. It was completely silent.
All the guests and local staff had no idea what we saw – bear in mind we're talking 20 plus people who saw this thing. Then as we walked out for our evening safari activity (a night drive), we could hear the radio network used by local lodges and the nearest settlement going bezerk with everyone saying 'what the hell was that thing' – it was seen 50km away.
The guides (local natives in their 20s) told us that they had never seen anything like it in their entire lives and were utterly spooked out by it. We all went to bed a bit spooked out to put it mildly!
I'm a military man and have served in a lot of odd places and seen a lot of odd things. I can assure you that this was not a military aviation asset, there were no navigation lights and the colour was fundamentally not normal.
I don't know what I saw, but when I got back I spoke to a colleague who was a lifelong astronomer – and he couldn't tell me either. It's the only time in my life I'm prepared to say that I saw a UFO as it genuinely was an 'unidentified flying object.'
"This was 2008."
This was 2008. I was working security at a Casino at the time and my buddy who had recently got out the army had got a job working for Armaguard driving the armored truck for bank pick ups. After he had been working there for a while an opportunity came up to work with him and he recommended me for the job. 3 years Casino security with robbery training and former territorials (national guard) with my buddy before he joined regular forces was enough qualification apparently.
The job was based in Queenstown New Zealand but also serviced a lot of the small towns in the area as well. So we spent a lot of our time driving around the region on mountain country roads. We had been working together for a while by now and were used to the roads and enjoyed cruising around. Very low crime part of the world so was no issue about getting held up.
Anyone who knows the area will know what the Kawarau Gorge road between Queenstown and Cromwell is like. It is about an hour drive total but about half of that is through the Gorge which is a very narrow and windy stretch of road that is basically a cliff on one side of you the entire way. So it was middle of winter and some pretty bad weather was predicted. Not a big deal as it was only an hour there and back and we would get it done well before the bad weather turned up right?
Nope. By the time everyone gets organised for the timing of everything we end up doing the run a couple of hours later than we wanted. Still only early afternoon but by now it had started to snow. As we start our drive it isn't too bad but by the time we are halfway through the Gorge on the way back it had turned into a full on blizzard. My buddy is driving and I am riding shotgun. We can see about 10metres in front of us at best and are crawling through the Gorge hoping to get back before it gets really bad. My buddy is a very good driver who spent several years driving Pinzgauer APCs for the army. He knows what he is doing.
We arte pretty confident and relaxed until all of a sudden the drivers side windshield wiper just flys off into the blizzard. My buddy does the right thing and comes to a fairly safe stop but now we are stuck halfway through the Gorge with no way to see where he is driving. We jump out and have a look and can see that the arm itself has snapped. Most likely a combination of it being old and also the cold making it brittle. We think we will be sitting there a couple of hours freezing our asses off while they organise a tow truck and transport and all the s*** that goes with getting us back to base.
Then we notice that there is a basic nut hold the other end of the wiper arm on. Lucky for me I have my multi tool on me and manage to get it off with a lot of struggle before my fingers freeze too much and we manage to swap the passenger side one on to the drivers side. Great we are up and running again. Then as we go to take off I of course realise this means I as the passenger can't see a damn thing and have to spend the next 45minutes s****** my pants as we slide our way back to town hoping my buddy isn't driving us off the cliff.
Not the most fun I have ever had for sure but nothing a couple of whiskeys didn't fix later that day.
People Share The Best Examples Of 'The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions'
"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."
An aged old proverb reflecting on when people perform what they think are well-meaning, helpful acts, but in reality, only worsen a bad situation.
A day seldom goes by when people won't notice an example of this, either on the news, in the book they're reading, or simply walking down the street.
This could be anything from someone making promises to help out, but never delivering on them, to saving money for a less expensive cleaner, which turns out to radiate toxic fumes, resulting in the building being closed for an indefinite length of time.
Ideas which might seem good in theory, but are impractical, illogical, or even harmful, in practice.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," what is a real life example of this?"
Controlling Erosion By Causing Erosion...
"The introduction of Kudzu for erosion control."
"It has become invasive and girdles and kills plant life above ground without establishing proper roots, therefore causing soil erosion."- Aldous_Hoaxley
When Honesty Is NOT The Best Policy...
"Once upon a time, I found a wallet on the beach."
"Having lost my own more than once, and not having it returned to me, I am aware that it is a stressful life event."
"So, my first thought was how to return it quickly."
"Looking through the contents, the owner was from out of state and there was no contact information other than the drivers license."
"Aside from that, only a few credit cards and some cash."
"Not knowing how long ago the owner had left, I thought let's just sit here for a while and maybe he will return looking for it since it is the first thing I would do."
"After a couple hours of fun and sun we needed to move on."
"My next best idea was to turn it into the local police station which we found easily enough just down the street."
"What I thought would be a quick in and out turned into a full on interrogation session during which I was, at one point, accused of theft/robbery."
"It was a bizarre experience, to say the least, which wasted an hour of our day."- notawhingymillenial
Think Carefully About Where You Donate...
"The Unexpected Consequences of your donations."
"TOMS Shoes, a company that pledged to donate a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased."
"Turns out that the company's donations disrupted local shoe markets in developing countries, putting local shoe makers out of business and creating a dependency on foreign donations."
"Additionally, the shoes donated by TOMS were not always appropriate for the local climate or culture and were not always of the same quality as the shoes being sold."
"Reportedly, they have ended up in landfills."- EditorNo2545
Not Helping Anyone If You Can't Adequately Care For THem
"Trying to rescue too many cats."- Tackybabe
When One Crisis Leads To Another
"Haiti did not have cholera."
"A disastrous earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, after the earthquake humanitarian forces from the UN arrived to help, and the Nepalese contingent reintroduced Cholera to Haiti."
"This epidemic has since infected approximately 850,000 people and killed over 10,000."- scootarded
It's The Only Way They'll Learn How To Solve Them
"Sheltering your kid from every possible problem."- Easywood
"Those parents who solve all their kids issues and don't make them 'stress' about consequences of their own actions."
"Their kids just turn into inept and entitled adults who still act 15 for decades and not only have a harder life for themselves but make life miserable for everyone around them too."
"Yes it's bad to go too far the other way, raising a child is a balancing act."
"I get that, but ignoring a child isn't usually from good intentions while spoiling them often is and that was the prompt."
"If this sounds like it happened to you, I promise you that you can get yourself out of the cycle."
"It sucks and it hurts and it's unpleasant, but you can do it if you want to."
"Get ready to fail, and then keep trying anyway."
"Persistence will be a new skill, and you will be bad at it."
"And that's okay."
"You didn't do this to yourself, you don't need to feel shame."
"Digging yourself out however is something you'll be doing yourself, and you can take pride in every step you make it the right direction."- EisConfused
When Some People Just Can't Be Helped
"My neighbor who is supposedly getting evicted soon."
"Basically she saw young drug addicts (30 year olds) as people she could change for the better."
"She’d find them somewhere and bring them home."
"Evidently the idea was that she could show them a warm apartment and good food and they would realize the error of their ways and change for the better."
"That or a safe place to do their drugs."
"We had a door code so they could come in and knock on her door until she answered."
"It was a constant stream of strange people going in and out of her room all night long."
"I figured it wasn’t my problem, people can do what they want if they aren’t hurting anyone else."
"But then three of the men decided to take advantage of her because it’s not like she could physically kick them out herself, and she wouldn’t call the police."
"These are people who don’t want to change, they like their lifestyle and she gave them an upgrade."
"We are pretty sure they are doing meth in there."
"They come back at 1:30 am and either snort something or smoke something that from the hallway smells like cat pee or paint thinner."
"Then they scream bloody murder, throw things, and have domestics until 11 am, like clockwork."
"Police can’t actively go into the room and even people on the top floor are calling them."
"Landlord and management is doing his best to get them out but that’s a lengthy process."
"They disabled the door code but they are still getting in."
"Even the girl has been taken to the hospital for overdosing a few times."
"Anything not nailed down in the gym and lobby are getting trashed and stolen."
"Lobby bathroom is trashed constantly."
"Cars in the parking lot are being broken into and catalytic converters are being stolen."
"These men stalk around the parking lot watching people."
"We do have visitor rules, which are being broken."
"It’s going to get worse before it gets better."
"My goodwill is gone, we want her out."- RotaryMicrotome
Always Do Your Research
"The introduction of non-native species as a means of solving an environmental problem."- Addwon
Not All Issues Can Be Solved Surgically
"Lobotomy."
"Surgery to fix the mentally unwell."
"It sounds so good: no more reliance on medication, you’re good from now on."
"But it didn’t work."
"The outcomes were awful and it was frequently done without any sort of consent."
"It all could have been shut down fairly quickly if people were honest about what was happening, but careers and money was at stake."
"So many unnecessarily suffered."- raftsa
Ironic How Low The Success Rate Was
"Since the abysmal performance of American schools has been in the news recently, 'No Child Left Behind' and it's replacement 'Every Student Succeeds Act'."
"America has never had really good public education, but it used to be serviceable.'
"NCLB came in to try and create some milestones and accountability."
"Instead it made the problem worse.'
'ECSS came in and tried to address its problems, but changed the stuff that wasn't the problem and left the bad parts unscathed."
"Taken all together 57% of high school GRADUATES can't read at a 7th grade reading level and over a quarter are functionally illiterate."- Twokindsofpeople
We all want to help others, and make the world a better place.
But before we jump into action, it is important to stop and reflect who exactly we would be helping.
If anyone or anything at all.
Toys People Always Wanted Growing Up But Never Actually Received
Unless you grew up with the most doting parents on the planet, there's probably a toy or two that you really wanted as a kid, but never received.
Whether it was too expensive for your parents to afford, or something like a noisy toy that was going to be way too annoying for your parents, there are probably some toys that you really missed out on as a child.
Redditor Moist-Patience-4989 asked:
"What is a toy you always wanted growing up, but never got?"
Power Wheels
"The Barbie Jeep that you could actually ride in. But once I had kids, I bought them one (not the Barbie version, but still). And guess what? I was five pounds under the weight limit so I was able to ride in their battery-powered Jeep. I mean, it was a couple decades late, but I eventually got to do it."
- smugmisswoodhouse
"Lol I never got one of those as a kid either. It still haunts me till this day. I have no idea why but it still does. My mom bought me a car for my 16th birthday but I still bring up the freaking power wheel. I guess it really scarred me."
- Annonme123
Easy - Bake Oven
"Easy - Bake Oven"
- Antibara
"Me too. I wanted one so bad. When they came out with the real retro looking ones a while ago, I was sooo tempted. LOL"
- Real-Web8925
"I was a child of the 70s, and wanted the Holly Hobbie version. My parents were poor and/or didn't want me cooking in my bedroom, so they dodged by pointing out it was for ages 8 and up. By the time I was 8 I was cooking real food in an actual oven so the request was dropped. Still low-key want one though, entirely to indulge my inner child."
- pepperminticecream
"Easy bake oven. Parents didn’t think it was a toy for boys. I still became a baker anyways"
- Soggy-Juggernaut-569
Mini Bike
"A mini-bike like they advertised in the Sears Christmas catalog."
- XploringTheWorld
"Same. I wanted one so bad. All the guys on my street had one and to get into the woods they drove their bikes between my house and the neighbors. On our lawn! I was so pissed off they got to do it but my dad didn’t think it was safe for a girl (in 1968)."
- SnowinMiami
Tamagotchi
"Always wanted a Tamagotchi"
- DuracellCosmonaut
"They were banned at my school. I think there was a bit of controversy with them at the time."
- Maso_TGN
"I have mine! Just put fresh batteries in it a couple weeks ago and I still can’t keep the dumb thing alive 😅"
- IJustWantWaffles_87
TMNT Pizza Shooter
"The ninja turtle pizza thrower van."
- Ph33r-Enigma
"My friend brought his TMNT Pizza Shooter over. We then spent the next 2 hours shooting my older sister. I asked for one and my parents (for very good reason) told me absolutely not."
- HoopOnPoop
"I just used it to shoot pizzas at my little brother. Thing was amazing
- MrJimBusiness18
American Girl Dolls
"An American Girl doll. Loved the books so much. I've been tempted to buy myself a Samantha now that she's out again, but I like the original outfit better."
- horseruth
"I read that catalogue cover to cover every time I got it (which is back when there were only three dolls and nothing ever changed). I was convinced when I grew up and had kids, my daughter would have all three dolls, each in its own room so that the historical eras didn't get mixed up. Spoiler alert: that did not happen. No kids, and my house doesn't have three extra bedrooms to devote to dolls."
- jleebeane
Castle Greyskull
"Castle Grayskull, from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe."
- Maso_TGN
"My brother had it and I played with my strawberry shortcake dolls in it."
- GlamSpam
"By The Power Of Grayskull, sacrilege!"
- Maso_TGN
"They actually made a new one recently, and it’s identical to the original 80’s one, just with modern details. You can get it here."
- IncreaseWestern6097
Rock Tumbler
"A rock tumbler"
- Picklesgal111
"I was looking for this one. We are two rocks in the tumbler together."
- Independent_Cut8651
"Not really a toy, but I’ve wanted a rock polishing kit for as long as I can remember and would ask for one every Christmas and birthday."
- awesquirrel
Pokédex
"a pokedex. I wanted one so bad, but NoOoOo, mom and dad thought pokemon was annoying"
- CptJaxxParrow
The Big Box of Crayons
"The Crayola 64-pack with the three metallic colors."
- wholewheatscythe
You may have missed out on these toys as a child, but the great thing about being an adult is that you can do what you want. If the toy you desperately wanted as a kid is still available, you are totally allowed to just go out and buy yourself one.
When it comes to fast food places, no two places are the same. Wendy's spicy chicken nuggets are far superior to those from McDonald's, while no one does milkshakes quite like Dairy Queen.
I have always preferred burgers from In-N-Out, but my brother will always go for Five Guys.
There will always be debates when it comes to which establishment does fast food the best.
The biggest debate surrounds the ultimate side dish: french fries.
No one can ever seem to agree on which fast food chain has the best french fries, but that doesn't stop the debate. Redditors are engaged in that very debate as we speak!
It all started when Redditor Seraphicly329 asked:
"Which fast food chain restaurant has the best fries?"
Perfect Sauce
"In and Out. Watching them slice up them fresh potatoes makes me feel something special. Especially when dipped in that thousand island special sauce mmmmm"
– bathofknives
Don't Know What You're Missing
"Checkers!!! My current pregnancy craving. Thanks alot for reminding me to get the fry lovers size on my way home from work."
– jerri89
"Anyone who doesn't say checkers has never had checkers' fries."
"But to expand on this... anyone notice how all of their other foods suck?"
– murrepe321
"I haven’t had these fries since I was a kid vacationing in Florida. I’m from the great white north and I totally came here to say that checkers fries are the bomb!!"
– bluerodeosexshow
Fries Of Yore
"I've had this debate with my dad a lot."
"He says it's McDonalds."
"I don't have a definitive favorite, but if I had to choose, I pick the old Wendy's fries, before they did this Crispy version. I just loved the Sea Salt flavor they used."
"(I don't dislike the new fries, but I vastly prefer the older ones)"
– F19AGhostrider
"Wendy's sh*t the bed with their new fries. Now it's McDonald's."
– SteelTumbler
"Wendy's old ones 100% I love how the were thick cut and when they got all floppy they were the bomb."
– Rahtgooves
Curly Is Aways Better
"Ngl I’ve always been craving Jack in the Box curly fries. But that’s just me."
– SignalOk1538
"Arby's curly fries are GOATed."
– einherjar81
"I like my fries to have a crispy outside, and a soft fluffy inside. Arby's Curly Fries do meet that specification, when you get the big long curls, however every time I order them, I get 1-2 good curls on the top of the box, then 3/4 of the box is filled with all short hard bits. Ugh."
"And the Krinkly Fries are exactly the opposite, all soft and fluffy, with no crisp whatsoever."
"IF I could get a box of all long curls, they would be #1 on my list."
– Stormblade73
"McDonald’s for skinny"
"Jack in the Box for curly (which is a shame because I live 6 hours from the nearest jbox these days!)"
– Steph_Boyardee
KFC International
"KFC Australia. The UK KFC fries are horrific"
– stuloch
"Don’t know about either but the US KFC fries are delicious"
– Keyguin
"The KFC fries in the UK are actually nice now. They used to need 4 sachets of salt to make them edible."
– TheCubeOfDoom
Once You Go To Five Guys...
"Five guys. The fact that these fries haven't forced the entire industry to adapt is crazy to me."
"Going to any other fast food place, getting a large fry makes me laugh and wonder why the hell I didn't go to 5G."
– Hank___Scorpio
I Dare You To Argue
"Bojangles, if anyone disagrees I will fight you"
– chaosbones43
"Took me way too long to find this but 100%! Especially when they are fresh and seasoned just right. No other fast food restaurant even comes close IMO"
– TheSocialButterfly11
Cajun Is The Best
"Five Guys cajun fries. Those fries are some of the best GD fries you'll ever have in your life"
– Present_Rip7556
"overall? i think wendys [MA] but a close second is popeyes. Cajun fries are amazing"
– TJzzz
"It’s not fast food, but if you ever come across a restaurant called Hot N Juicy, get the Cajun fries. I don’t think it’s too big of a chain, but they set up shop in Cali, AZ, Florida, Vegas, idk which other states but good God it’s some good fries every time"
– double_decker_taco
Only One Right Answer
"It is funny to see all the people who have never been to Runza give answers that aren't Runza"
"The correct answer is Runza."
– elting44
God-Tier
"I don't care what anyone says, In N Out fries on a good day are God-tier. There is no better fast food french fry. Consider that they use Kennebec, the superior fry potato, and sunflower oil, which is top tier frying oil. They cut potatoes on site.
Of course there is going to be some variation compared to the mass factory-produced shake shack fries that are formed from a batter, but you can hardly call those fries."
– tornato7
Best For These Reasons
"Hear me out, I think Nacho Fries from Taco Bell are the best for 3 reasons:"
- "Crispy. If you get them fresh they are fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. They're on point."
- "Seasoning. Cajun seasoning is also pretty decent where you can get it, but nacho seasoning is better in my opinion."
- "Sauce. Comes with Nacho Cheese, which is perhaps the best pairing for spuds, followed closely by ranch variants. Chilli cheese fries are better, but in my opinion are a different category of food item."
– malik753
A Full Analysis
"I've found Wendy's fries are usually pretty good but I'm not a fan of their morning wedges or whatever they're called."
"Arby's are okay. The crinkle-cut fries are meh. The curly fries are slightly better but not as good as they used to be when the stores made their own in-house (a very long time ago)."
"Sonic fries are okay."
"I haven't been to an A&W or Long John Silver's in a while (they moved out some years ago) but I liked the fries okay."
"McDonald's are thin and often cold and sometimes quite greasy and over-salted."
"Burger King fries are no better than McDonald's."
"I despise Five Guys. They're usually soaking wet."
"Haven't had In-and-Out in a long time but I always felt they tasted a little better than cardboard. Even with salt on them."
"I haven't had KFC, Popeyes or Taco Bell in a while so I can't rate them. Haven't been to a White Castle in a long time either... I usually just went for the burgers."
"There are probably others but I don't remember or haven't tried."
– md724
Only When Fresh
"McDonald's fries when they're fresh and properly salted are no joke. We've all been eating them forever so we're just used to them I think."
– jew_biscuits
"I think McDonald's fries are the best if they're fresh and prepared correctly . . . which seems to be rare these days."
– Dr_Edge_ATX
"Properly salted McDonald's fries, they're literally heaven."
– chucked___cheeze
"McDonald’s for me and it’s not close"
– jewishMILFhunter2
In The Area
"Where I live, McDonalds first, Wendy’s second."
– ijeanofdreammie
There are a lot of different opinions here!
I think what I learned is that it's less about the establishment and more about the location. The fries from my Popeye's may be far superior to one in the next state over, but their Shake Shack may show up the one in my area.
One thing we can all agree on: the mission to find the perfect french fries will never end!
Some people will just believe anything.
And if you call a statement a fact long enough, many people take it as gospel.
Some facts are absolute truths, others can be malleable.
Science changes.
History evolves.
Lies are exposed.
And research is an actual art form.
Redditor OfficialVickiLuv wanted to share the truths we need to know, so they asked:
"What is a common 'fact' that you know is bulls**t?"
There is no such thing as an alternative fact.
So let's start there.
Not a Forest
"Shaving makes your hair grow back thicker."
Heavy_Educator9822
"I used to believe this one. I was very disappointed when I learned it was BS."
leebon427
Both Sides
"There are two kinds of thinkers: Right brain people are who are creative, and the people that use the left side who can do math."
Beaver_Buster
"Try telling that to psychologists/psychiatrists who do research/clinical studies/trials. I’ve been denied dozens of times to partake in research studies revolving around mental health, specifically depression, and anxiety."
"Why did they deny me [even tho I was a perfect candidate]? Because I write with my left hand. And apparently it would make their study 'invalid' because they 'don’t want to interfere with results.'"
"Please tell me how excluding a large amount of people from a research study would somehow give you the correct answer for treating mental health for everybody?"
asianstyleicecream
Find them...
"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."
Zatiebars
"Especially with children, the quicker the police can get to the 'crime' scene the fresher the evidence and easier to follow leads. I used crime in quotes because there could have been a crime or the kid might have just wandered off."
"But it's not just for kids though... If you know someone is a home body and never leaves home and you know something has happened, by all means call the police. Even if they like to take random trips, it never hurts to inform the law."
Zatiebars
Crackle... Pop
"Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis."
Famous-Background329
"Probably just normal. Cracks are just little bubbles of nitrogen that settle where there's space. They don't build up over time, once the space is occupied by a little bubble then no more can join it. A knuckle that hasn't been cracked in 50 years is the same as a knuckle that hasn't been cracked in a few hours."
ConstantSignal
Give a Howl
"Alpha wolves being real. The guy who did the original study disproved his one study and gets mad when people get it wrong now... lol."
Silverj0
"Came looking for this, also extrapolating this BS to human beings and 'sigma,' go read. The articles are all available. It's nonsense that people still believe s* like this with access to everything in their hands."
artemispock
The wolf pack is always ready.
Trivia
"A 'factoid' is an often repeated statement that isn't true, but is now believed to be true due to people saying it all the time. Its not a mini fact, or like, fun piece of trivia."
JackofScarlets
Breakfast Companies
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The quote was made by Kellogg's to make people buy more cereal. If you search up articles that say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, most are sponsored by Kellogg's."
Jazzlike-Caramel7103
"I’m not sure Kellogg’s made it up. In my country there’s a saying that’s been around forever that alludes to the importance of breakfast that goes 'have breakfast like a king and dinner like a poor person.' Kellogg’s might’ve simply exploited an existing popular belief."
kaleidoscopichazard
Hey Stumpy
"Caffeine makes you short."
CForey62
"This one makes me laugh. I've been drinking coffee since I was like 9 years old and turned out 190cm tall."
TurquoiseBeetle67
Spuds
"Potatoes absorb toxins. The amount of people that believe putting potato slices in your shoes or wear them around your neck as a holistic medical treatment is shockingly high. It’s just oxidation."
wheresmychin
"I recall seeing a antivaxx meme that said if you had to get a COVID shot to put a potato slice at the injection site to absorb all the toxins. I’m all for sharing that idea if it makes people get vaccinated."
OrangeTree81
Look Out
"Bats are blind."
IWantOneSpatula
"I remember getting into a really stupid argument shortly after high school with a friend over this who just couldn't believe that bats weren't actually blind."
__M-E-O-W__
"Fine. Bats are legally blind."
shifty_coder
Now I've learned more.
Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.