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.
Being horny can lead to some questionable decision-making.
Something happens to the brain when blood is flowing to other regions of the body.
They should discuss this in health class.
It's perfectly normal, but we have to learn how to deal.
Redditor Sir_Baconstrips wanted to see who was willing to discuss actions made while randy, so they asked:
"What's the biggest mistake you've made because you were horny?"
I can't tell you mine, because my mom might read this. But Reddit was more than happy to share.
History Help
"I browsed porn and then I asked my mom how to delete the history."
Ramon80589
What was that?
"Probably my most embarrassing moment. Was on my work computer (family business so nothing locked) and it was a super slow day and I was alone. Anyways was doing a classic 3 min facebook check and scrolled down for a second and saw the news post about Adriana Chechik injuring her back in a foam pool. Figured top comments on that would be golden. Read one funny one that said 'her and her scene with [performer I can’t remember] is still goat.'"
"Never heard of said performer so I got curious and google her. Of course photos never do justice, had to see the performance ya know? So I clicked a random video, quick glance and thought 'meh' and was about to close the tab before I noticed my mouse twitch on the screen… What was that? No.. that wasn’t mouse error, that was someone… then within seconds I realized the accountant who taps in remotely to finish work came in at that exact moment that I had a browser open for less than 60 sec."
"The worst wart was I could have sworn I had all those remote services off, but she tried to tap in for over an hour and must of did something to wake splashtop (probably had it on some type of standby mode). She even called earlier but I saw a random number and was speaking with a client and ignored it."
"Anyways, decision time, do I call her and play it off as nothing or apologize? Naturally as a fearful 28 year old I play off as nothing. I call, no answer… then a few minutes later i get the call back and her words after exchanging 'hellos … are you finished with whatever you were doing…' still burns me."
Satmatzi
Years Later
"Let my (ex) boyfriend dry-hump me for an hour on a bench outside after summer school."
"The bad news: this bench behind our school was also beside a swimming pool. Where parents were taking their children for swim lessons. Eventually a staff member came out and yelled at us for being inappropriate."
"I still have shame flashbacks today, over 10 years later."
hannlouiseols
Size Issues
"I had a one night stand with a guy who was, in retrospect, seriously self-conscious about his penis size and kept going on about how if it was on the small size it was just because he has to have sex with it a few times and it would gradually get bigger until it was it’s 'true' size. I really didn’t care."
"But then to make himself feel better he turned it around and started talking about how big and wide my vagina was but kept reassuring me that it was ok because he liked the challenge. I wish I had snapped my legs shut and given him the boot right then and there."
bewarethes0ckm0nster
In San Diego
"Lost my entire tax refund and got my phone stolen at a strip club in San Diego."
BigFatPapaBear
Always check your pockets on the way out.
The Reward
"Hooked up with a girl at a party. Just kind of bored, drunk, and horny. Having to go to the doctor for a case of pubic lice was my reward for poor self-control."
No_External7289
Dedicated...
"I got my first serious gf in high school. She was two grades below me. So when I finished third year and moved 500 km south we was still a couple. I was so in love (and most of all horny) I commuted every. Single. Weekend. And I was poor. So I took the bus to the nearest station after school. Waited for the long distance bus for 4-5 hours."
"Went to a larger city to hitchhike my way there. I was there Friday night or Saturday morning. Locked ourselves in her bedroom and went at it until Sunday morning. I made my way down to school again and went to class straight from the bus Monday morning. This went on for almost a year…"
pelo_ensortijado
I'm Out
"Was trying to get with a girl in college. We were texting and I asked her what she was up to, she said she was training for a marathon and going to the gym and asked if I wanted to come."
"I ended up running 9 miles before I tagged out. So now I know how far I'd go to have sex it's up to 9 miles."
euesquecimeunome
Lord the things people will do when slightly turned on.
People Who Accidentally Sent A Family Member A Nude Picture Describe The Aftermath
Why in this day and age are people still taking nudie pics without triple-checking the recipient?
Why take the gamble?
And half of the time we hit send, mistakes get made.
One minute you're feeling sexy, the next minute grandpa is having a stroke.
Be careful.
Redditor Im_A_Freakin_Joke wanted to hear about the times people have sent photos to the family that left everyone SHOOK, so they asked:
"Redditors who accidental sent a family member a nude, what was the aftermath?"
I have done many things, but I never allow a snapshot.
Gross
"'You should clean your room before you take that.'"
Emergency_faceplant
What's What?!
"I meant to send it to someone on WhatsApp that I was dating at the time and didn’t realize I accidentally sent it to my brother, their names were next to each other in my chat list and I chose the wrong one. I frantically called my sister in law and told her what happened and begged her to go into his phone and delete the message with the photo."
"This is before WhatsApp added the functionality to delete your own messages. She was so sweet and understanding and deleted the message. I was so embarrassed. To this day she has kept my secret, this happened five years ago."
room_temp_butter
Bad Pics
"For context, my mom had some life-threatening medical issues when I was a kid, so there were a few month+ long periods where we rarely saw her. One night, I got a text from her that says 'send me a pic of u in bed."
"I thought she wanted a picture of me and my dog snuggling, as he slept with me and was the cutest sleeper. I usually sent her one every few days, even when she was home. It also doubled as her way to make sure I was following my bedtime."
"I was taking the picture, and I get a follow-up 'ignore that' text. At the same time, my dad opens my door so hard the hinges break. He says 'you get a text from mama?' I say yeah, and he says, 'it wasn't meant for you.' And leaves. I felt weird about it for days, even though it was years before I figured it out."
bleeding_inkheart
Leave it there...
"I happened to live across the street at the time and a dirty message meant for my now wife was sent to my mother! Luckily for me my mom is notorious for ignoring her phone so I sprinted across the street and said 'hey where is your phone' she told me it was on her desk so I calmly walked over unlocked it and deleted the message. In response to the look of confusion I told her 'deleted a message that was meant for now wife...' And left it at that."
Twandle_D-Vorago
AHHHH!!!! NO!
"One time my dad accidentally texted me 'sex if the Patriots win' and I still don’t believe I have recovered."
ayepeyday
Mom and dad have their own lives.
Disconnect
"I didn't accidentally send a nude, but my phone did auto upload ALL my pictures when I connected it to my mom's computer. I'm no longer allowed to connect hardware to my mom's computer."
teethalarm
Hey Sis...
"I gave my sister my old Iphone (I’m 25, she’s 22). She didn’t realize that her photos were uploading to my cloud and when I went to send a photo to a coworker, at work mind you, I see her pasty a**. I immediately text her and was like STOP TAKING PHOTOS. She called me and asked if I was okay and I told her what was happening. She responded with 'My a** look good though,' and I died laughing. Love my sis, but Christ."
PushingPepperoni
Shower Scene
"I didn’t sent a nude. I was in the shower, about age 15, and I heard the phone ring. My best friend had a habit of calling while I was showering. So, I bolted out naked as the day I was born to grab the phone before she hung up. I didn’t realize pretty much my entire dad’s side of the family was visiting my terminally ill mother."
"They saw it all. My aunt jokingly said, 'Well, dang, I didn’t know there was gonna be a show.' And someone said, 'we were just joking when we said you’d grow up to be a stripper.' I had to do a walk of shame back to the bathroom as well."
"It was laughed off and it hasn’t been brought up since."
TheSaltyMelon
Let me see...
"Sent a pic of my boobs to my mom. Managed to convince her I was trying to take a pic of what I thought was a lump but ended up dropping my phone and sent it while fumbling. Which has happened before. But then she made me show her where I thought the lump was so that was very awkward."
3milyBlazze
Recover Mode
"I once sent a pic to a GF in college when we were home for break… only I searched her contact by last name and accidentally sent it to her mom!"
"Thankfully it was late and she was able to sneak into her parents’ room and delete it before they saw."
BleekerTheBard
What have we learned?
At the very least, triple-check who you are sending it to one whichever app you use for that sort of thing.
People Share The Things They Learned Embarrassingly Late In Life
There is so much to learn in the world, it's impossible for one person to know absolutely everything there is to know.
But there are certain things, like common phrases and idioms, that everyone seems to use that might be a little embarrassing to not understand until later in life.
Redditor Curious-2577 asked:
"What's something you learned 'embarrassingly late' in life?"
Addictive Personality
"My sister was in her fifties when she found out the meaning of, 'You have an addictive personality.'"
"She thought after all these years of therapy that it meant that people were addicted to her personality."
"We laughed hysterically when we talked about this (in a very sad way)."
- casper02127
Horse Toes
"I thought that horses had toes until I was 22. I thought the hoof was a 'horseshoe' and the toes were tucked inside."
"How did I learn how wrong I was, you ask?"
"I was walking past a cavalry museum and saw a horse statue and loudly remarked, 'It must hurt so bad when they fold a horse’s toes to put them into the shoe!'"
"Dozens of horse enthusiasts turned and looked at me with wild bewilderment in their eyes."
- BronNatsPulisic
Referencing Flowers
"The saying is, in fact, 'Nip it in the bud' and not 'Nip it in the butt.'"
- too_sharp
Pastures New
"A few months ago, two of my colleagues both handed in their notice at around the same time."
"I kept reading/hearing the sentence, 'They’re both moving on to pastures new’ being thrown about the office in the weeks leading up to them leaving, and I hadn’t heard this phrase before and thought that was the name of the rival company that they were going to, like, 'Pastures New.'"
"I thought it was weird that nobody was talking about how they were both leaving for the same company."
"I was in the car with one of the two people who were leaving and said, 'So where is it that you and X are going to be working? Is it...’"
"And just before I could embarrass myself and say ‘Pastures New,' they interrupted me and said they’re not going to the same place and asked me where I had heard that."
"I think at that moment, I realized I was stupid and didn’t mention it again."
- WorriedSoft
Mario Brothers
"I think I was in college when I realized that Mario and Luigi are plumbers. I thought they just went and up down these tubes just because that was the theme of the game."
- dontbemystalker
Bonsai Trees
"That Bonsai are not a species of tree, but a way to grow them. Any tree can be a bonsai."
- ixent
Houston, We Have a Problem
"Houston is not the name of the guy astronauts talk to."
- vienna_versailles
Cowboy Beans
"I learned that pork and beans are not called 'cowboy beans.' I was 18 and asked a grocery store clerk to help me find the 'cowboy beans.'"
"We were looking everywhere and I was getting frustrated because I know that every store carries these beans. After a while, I picked up a pork and beans can with a picture and said, 'See, they look just like this!'"
"He said, 'You mean pork and beans?'"
"Then I realized that my mom called them that so that I would eat them."
"The look of disappointment from that grocery store clerk haunts me to this day."
- whyunoletmepost
The Pulitzer
"Let me tell you about how I thought you were awarded a 'Pullet Surprise.'"
- BendyBrains
Rum and Coke
"Not too late in life, but I thought my parents were making 'Roman Cokes' until I went to college."
"Which, I think is a much better name for the drink (Rum and Coke) anyway."
- Th3seViolentDelights
Oh No, Not Acoma!
"That a coma was 'A' coma. Until I was probably 19 or so, I thought it was 'acoma.'"
"I thought you fell into acoma."
- FightWithBrickWalls
It Must Have Been a One-Way Trip
"My parents were divorced the whole time and my mom was not, in fact, taking a vacation, lmao (laughing my a** off)."
- artemus_who
Multitasking
"I live near the Hospital for Joint Diseases… when I was a kid, I thought was a special hospital for people who had two or more different diseases at the same time."
- Baffhy_Duck
Ore-Ida Fries
"Moving cross-country, driving east to west, and crossing from Idaho to Oregon, I noticed huge fields with signs for the Ore-Ida Potato company."
"So I was in my early 20s when I figured out Ore-Ida wasn’t just a brand name but was because their potatoes came from Oregon and Idaho."
- Deadhawk142
Kid Logic
"When I was really young, my sister told me she threw her guts up. So I was really afraid of vomiting my entire insides up for years."
- Presitigious_Sweet_50
Some of these really had us laughing as we realized the revelations some of these Redditors were having.
But when we're really honest with ourselves, we probably didn't figure out some of these until later, too.
People Break Down The Absolute Worst Parts About Having A Child
While starting a family and having children is a goal that many people have, some do not realize that it's not easy, fun, and loving one-hundred percent of the time. Rather, it's expensive, exhausting, and hard, though it might be worth it in the end.
With this in mind, people shared what they felt were the hardest hurdles of their parenting.
Redditor ApprehensiveShock655 asked:
"What's the worst part of having a child?"
Fear of Not Doing Enough
"The constant anxiety that you’re doing enough to shape them to make good choices, a good life, be a good person and for them to have the life they deserve."
- nakedreturnsthe1st
Like the Energizer Bunny
"It's incessant. It never stops. You never get a day off."
"Going from having two days per week to relax and do whatever to literally never having a moment free from responsibility."
- mrbuh
No Break In Sight
"I’ve always wanted kids and still do, but this is the only thing that has come close to giving me pause."
"Both my siblings have young kids and I cannot get over how CONSTANT it is."
"From the second the kids wake up to when they finally shut their eyes, it’s non-stop. Then they get maybe an hour or two to themselves, which is mostly spent tidying up, etc., before the nighttime stuff starts with the baby crying, the toddler coming into bed, nightmares, etc."
"It requires years of not getting a full night's rest. You can never just go out whenever you want. No sleeping in, even on weekends because someone has to be up with them at 6 AM."
"Raising human children is an insane task."
- GirlisNo1
Mom's Body After Baby and Dad Bods
"The weight gain is the worst! During the pregnancy, I gained 35 pounds. My belly has stretch marks. My boobs are all saggy."
"And it’s not even fair because my wife only gained like 15."
- Wise-Reaction-7526
The Meal Planning
"Coming up with three meals to eat per day EVERY DAY stresses me out so bad."
"This sounds like such a small thing, but it really wears on you over time. You can’t just make something for yourself or something you and your spouse feel like eating: You have to constantly be thinking about if the kid is hungry and what they might be willing to eat."
- Ravenclaw79
Keeping Them Safe
"When people ask me this I say, 'do you know those video games where you have to escort a character to a destination without them being attacked?' That's parenting. Those missions are a pain in the a**."
- Infiniski_Gaming
Seriously, Keep Them Safe
"Having to deal with their total lack of self-preservation. They are creative and come up with all kinds of ways to try and kill themselves. Keeping ahead of the game is exhausting."
- Quizzical_Chimp
Constant Contact
"They’re just always there. On you, behind you, in front of you, just a little speed bump impeding every task."
- Tangboy500000
Letting Them Live Their Life Their Way
"Having a kid is like having a little piece of your heart running around in the world. When they're sick or get disappointed or just feel sad, it's worse than having it happen to you."
"Yet at the same time, you need to let your kids work through those things to learn to handle them. If you give into the worry and try to shield them from everything, you risk creating harmful co-dependence."
"So it's a constant struggle. But worth it!"
- um_chili
What Is "Sleep" Again?
"I'm only nine years in, but so far, it's been the sleep deprivation. Hands down."
- tessiegamgee
And What Are These "Sick Days" You Speak Of?
"Having to take care of a sick child when you are also sick. For me that has been the most challenging part so far."
- MrsLouisaMercury
Another Full-Time Job
"It's like taking a second job that lasts 18+ years with a 24/7 schedule with no holidays or sick days."
"…And no second paycheck. It's actually like YOU are paying your second salary instead of getting one."
- mouse_rat
Personal Freedom
"The loss of freedom. I can't just... go somewhere. Even with older kids, there's so much planning and thinking and getting ready."
"I miss being able to just decide to go somewhere, and go there."
- poetris
The Time Flies
"The best advice I got was from an ancient hospital security guard in an elevator. 'The days are long, the years are short, cherish them while you can.'"
- WayOfTheHouseHusband
So Unexpected
"The phrase I hate is, 'You don't know it, but one day you pick your kid up for the last time.'"
- 3_pac
There are all kinds of troubles that come from being a parent, many of which people don't necessarily think about until they already have a baby in the house.
But reassuringly, many people in the subReddit pointed out that no matter how hard some of these hurdles are to get over, it's still worth it in the end, and it goes by far too fast.