We all meet thousands of people throughout our lives, and many of them will quickly fade into distant memory shortly after we do. Some, though, manage to affect us so profoundly from a single meeting that we remember them for the rest of our lives.
Whether it's a stranger who was there to help in a time of need, a kind word during a really hard time, or someone who just happened to say exactly the right thing at the right time—sometimes the memory just sticks.
10.
<p>I was about 16 and getting the bus home from school. It was always super crowded and and you'd be really lucky to get a spot on before the driver closed the doors and drove off. You could wait 4 or 5 buses before one came along that you could get on. </p><p>Anyway, me and my friends had been really lucky that day and managed to squeeze on to the first one, just about. The lady behind us started begging to be let on, saying she had a job interview. The bus driver said he was sorry, but the legally couldn't because of how many people were on. He kept asking us to move down but there wasn't any room and people were starting to get mad and telling him to just go. The woman started sobbing. It was about 2010 so we'd all been hit really hard with the economic crash, and jobs were hard to come by.</p>9.
<p>I was on my way back from Disneyland Paris, sat in the airport and a guy beside me was typing away on his laptop. A little curious at what he was writing I peeked over and saw the title "the last letter I'll ever write". I was frozen for a few minutes, im 24 and I had absolutely no idea what to do. I thought maybe he was a writer and if I ask ill look stupid. Eventually though I turned round to him and said, "Look man, I really hope I'm making a fool of myself, but are you OK?".</p><p>Turns out he and his long term partner had broken up, and they were meant to be coming on this holiday, that he'd now come on with his dad. He blamed himself, and he'd been going to therapy for a while to get out of a a pretty dark place but some days were better than others, and writing the letters was an exercise from his therapist. </p>8.
<p>When I was a kid, I flew by myself for the first time. At the airport, when I was about to check in, I spotted an elderly lady looking at me. Deeply. At first I thought I accidentally hit her or something, so I asked if she needed anything. She nodded. Didn't give it much importance so I just checked in and headed to my plane. Later, already on the plane, I see the very same lady, looking for her seat. Of course I helped her and asked her what number her seat was. She handed me her ticket. "B37". I'll never forget it because I was the C37. She sat right next to me. I was scared. I was a kid, and I wasn't used to coincidences. Anyway, long flight. </p><p>When we arrived and were waiting for the plane to land for us to head out, she finally says "You know, you really look like my daughter, I even thought you were her! But she passed away 5 years ago, silly me. Here, this is her with my grandkids". She handed me her phone with a zoomed in picture. I was paralyzed when I saw her. </p>7.
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzIxNTY5Ny9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDY1OTYwNH0.CfSLwaxtk8LjcfgWPvTXPYNkK3Pjbg8Z9fWDFWAzImk/img.gif?width=980" id="5d33d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c8978d109ab8c9576fe15d4043606499" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Giphy<p>A stranger I interacted with at Wall-Mart about 4 years ago is still engraved in my brain.</p><p>I was with my mom shopping, and we found ourselves at the yogurt section. I love this stuff, so I was looking around at all the flavors pretty carefully. Well, after a little while a searching, a older man came up and started also searching through as well. He was maybe mid 40s or early 50s. I remember him being really tall, and he had a resemblance to my features. He had my build, same skin complexion, same hair color, you name it.</p><p>As we're searching through, he chuckles and says how he's gotta find the perfect flavor, and I agree with him. It's like our little mission to find the best kind - it was a lighthearted feeling just searching through the brands and flavors with him. He asks what my favorite flavor is, and turns out we had the same favorite. I thought that was pretty cool. </p>6.
<p>When I was fresh out of college I drove over two hours away for a job interview and got into a car accident like a block away from the building. My car was completely totaled. A woman who was stopped at the stop sign near my accident pulled over and got out to make sure I was okay. I was completely fine physically but have very bad anxiety and immediately had a panic attack. I was sobbing and couldn’t catch my breath and this complete stranger sat with me the entire time telling me to breathe and just being so caring and supportive. She waited with me for the police to come, she helped me talk them through what happened, she called my mom for me, she even called the office I was on my way to so she could let them know about the accident and that I would call them to reschedule my interview. As if that wasn’t enough, once she found out that I was that far away from home and it was going to take my mom two hours to get to me, she CANCELLED HER MEETING THAT SHE WAS ALREADY LATE TO SO SHE COULD DRIVE ME HALFWAY. </p>5.
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzIxNTcwOC9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMjM0NDMxNX0.G8i14ekXh3ERRnFOA5OgZ5fTbAg6quzhjllSQbZMMZI/img.gif?width=980" id="b00a6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3f981c49f2b36421aed33a2cb3821f9e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Giphy<p>I was having a rough day and I thought I'd get an ice cream to cheer myself up. I was standing in the line and this old lady looked at me and asked if I was okay. I said I was fine and just had a rough day. I got up to the front to get my ice cream and she tells the cashier, "I've got this young man, he's had a rough day". She smiles at me and says enjoy your ice cream. I still think of her whenever I have a rough day. I send her my good vibes.</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/gbxneq/who_is_the_stranger_that_you_have_only_seenmeet/fp8opxb?context=3" target="_blank">sfmanatarms</a></p>4.
<p>An old man I overheard telling his grandkids that if their dad got accepted to the job he was interviewing for in town, they would move there and then they could visit each other all the time. I never even saw the guy interviewing for the job but I really hope he got it</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/gbxneq/who_is_the_stranger_that_you_have_only_seenmeet/fp8bi14?context=3" target="_blank">hypo-osmotic</a></p>3.
<p>A year after graduating from a tiny college on Idaho, I was at Disneyland with a high school buddy. I was totally convinced that I saw a college friend, Adam, in line at Pirates of the Caribbean. I kept waving at him, but he looked at me like I was out of my mind. My high school friend tried to talk me down, saying that "Adam" clearly had no idea who I was...it's not him...everyone has a twin...yada, yada, yada.</p><p>The line finally snakes around to where I am standing right next to "Adam" so I tap him on the shoulder and ask "hey, aren't you Adam M?" And he says "no, I'm his twin brother Aaron"</p><p>34 years later and I still tell that story at parties. I only met Aaron once, in 1986, in line at Pirates, but I do wish him...and Adam...a very happy birthday on Facebook.<br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/gbxneq/who_is_the_stranger_that_you_have_only_seenmeet/fp8irjy?context=3" target="_blank">sfn81</a></p>2.
<p>I met my husband's doppelganger once. The man looked EXACTLY like my husband. I was eith someone at the hospital waiting for their medical transport to pick us up and I saw who I thought was my husband across the street. My husband was supposed to be at work so I was confused. I called out to him but he didnt respond. My patient and I walked over to him but I stopped short a few feet away because I started to realize maybe it wasnt actually him. His clothes were different and this man was assisting someone in care giving type role -my husband absolutely would not do that. </p><p>The guy noticed me staring at him and so I explained why and even showed him a picture of my husband. He swore that was a picture of him and this was all some practical joke. I had to show him pictures of my husband and I together for him to realize the pictures were not of him. This man could have been his identical twin. I often think of that encounter and how insane it was. I also think of the astronomical chances that not only did my husband have a doppelganger but that we lived in the same city for a while and I happened to cross paths with him.</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/gbxneq/who_is_the_stranger_that_you_have_only_seenmeet/fp8i1oq?context=3" target="_blank">invisible_for_this</a></p>1.
<p>Once I was walking to work past a homeless shelter pickup spot. It was a sunny day, middle of summer. A small lady was standing on the sidewalk wearing rain boots, a yellow raincoat, and wrapped completely in a blue vinyl tarp. As I walked by her, she leaned into me, looked me in the eye and said, "...fish monster...?"</p><p>I still think about her. Did she think I was a fish monster? Was she concerned that I had seen a fish monster? Perhaps she felt I was unprepared, and her questioning tone was more about if I'd heard about the potential of fish monsters.</p><p>Such a surreally complex interaction in just two words. One thing I know for certain is that whatever the fish monster status was, she was clearly the best prepared of everyone present.<br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/gbxneq/who_is_the_stranger_that_you_have_only_seenmeet/fp8hkxb?context=3" target="_blank">mister_sleepy</a></p>Staying in someone else's house can be a bit unsettling in any situation, but Airbnb rentals are often more so because of the fact that you don't know the owner.
Sometimes that feeling of being unsettled can quickly become being creeped all the way out when something particularly off happens. Whether it's discovering that the owner is actually kind of creepy, or never even interacting with them at all because they send someone else to deal with you, things can go downhill fast.
10.
<p>My fiance and I were staying at an AirBnB in Helsinki to visit family. When we got there and got settled, we were chatting about things we thought were missing in the apartment, specifically I remember saying I wished there was another towel hook in the bathroom (there was only 1 and obviously 2 towels being used). The next day we went out and were out pretty much all day, and when we got back that night there was another towel hook in the bathroom...</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g7apbc/whats_your_creepy_airbnb_story/fohme47?context=3" target="_blank">15sunflowers</a></p>9.
<p>My sister and I were staying in a cute little detached house in a wealthy part of San Diego. It was right by the beach, but the house was super hippy and relaxed, the man who lived there was out of town, so some of his stuff was out, he was literally making his own kombucha. He had a bathroom attached to his little house that had a door that led to outside. He shared this bathroom with a tenant in another house who didn't have one. Around 4am she comes home drunk, goes into the bathroom, and starting banging on the door to our room viciously. She's screaming about how he stole her phone yesterday...this man has been out of town for a week. It was scary to wake up to in the middle of the night, but our stay was still great.</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g7apbc/whats_your_creepy_airbnb_story/fog2pnp?context=3" target="_blank">gmbunny</a></p>8.
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzE2OTcxOS9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNDc5MjcwOH0.BPEEgiFkKD-cXoJKTa2PWw1JhU_c690S1GBCYcXbA7g/img.gif?width=980" id="2c972" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d8fa553a8498569316f04c479487bbf" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Giphy<p>I got to an airbnb in the middle of nowhere in Kansas, at about midnight. The airbnb was 12 dollars for a night. The property was a quaint little house on some farmland, and I had passed the nearest house about a half a mile down the road. The host was already asleep when I got there so I let myself in and made my way to the couch where I was supposed to sleep. It was eerily quiet and pitch black outside, and I was already nervous so I couldn't get to sleep. The living room was decorated with all kinds of random artifacts and treasures, I was looking around and taking everything in. </p><p>There were cool rocks and souvenirs, but most curiously there were weird religious objects and books with cultish symbolism. I googled a word I saw on a tapestry, which turned out to be the name of the religion the host followed. The religion revolves around UFO's, the 'bible' they follow is basically just a categorization of hundreds of types of space ships. I was a bit on edge after reading that, but after MUCH research, I concluded that it wasn't a murderous death cult, just super weird. </p>7.
<p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">A few years ago, some friends and I rented an AirBnB flat in London for a convention. We'd been corresponding with the owner, who had told us that she would meet us in front of the building to give us the keys and show us around. We messaged her when we got to London, and got a message back confirming the building address and flat number, and telling us the keys were in a lock-box on the front of the building. Weird, but fine.</span><br></p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">When we got to the building, there was no lock-box, so we messaged her again. Got a message back saying something like "oops, wrong flat, on my way". (Which was weird considering she'd confirmed the address in the same message?) We waited 30 minutes and then messaged her again, asking how much longer she'd be. It was around 10pm and raining, and we were all tired. She messaged back about 10 minutes later that she was sending someone else, and to wait inside the building. Which we couldn't, because the door was only accessible by key/buzzer. </span><br></p>6.
<p>Stayed at one in Rome. The door had 5 deadbolt locks on it. The windows were barred. Found out why. Randomly though the day people would try to open the door and look through the windows. </p><p>Multiple times we would turn around and see people peeking though cracks between the curtains. </p><p>We weren't even there a lot. Usually a quick meal or drop stuff off then back out to see the sites. Really nice place though.<br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g7apbc/whats_your_creepy_airbnb_story/fog9q7b?context=3" target="_blank">Varvatos_Vex</a></p>5.
<p>Stayed in an airbnb recently that was pretty insane. It was a shared space with several other people in it, but I had my own private room and small living room with a mini fridge and counter. I stayed in room and barely came out since covid-19 quarantine measures had just started to be enacted. Pretty soon after getting there I started having shortness of breath and vertigo. I started finding drawings in a sketchbook I had that I had no memory of drawing.</p><p> I didnt speak to anyone for days and started getting really paranoid that someone was going to try to come into my room while I slept. After about a week there I thought I had already died and everything I was seeing was a hallucination to get my mind ready for death. I lived with that and other weird thoughts for another week till I read something on reddit about carbon monoxide poisoning. Called the gas company and turns out, sure enough there was a natural gas leak in my room. Lucky to be alive. Took weeks to get the host and airbnb to even compensate me for my stay.</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g7apbc/whats_your_creepy_airbnb_story/foi349f?context=3" target="_blank">beanersalad</a></p>4.
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzE2OTcxMC9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDQ4NDc1N30.o4tRM5fD1WrgbQ8NcED4esrtdNRV3DKuUoGXghdQN74/img.gif?width=980" id="fb023" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a0f951b629aa57fb512dd5b5232c78ce" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Giphy<p>I messaged the host asking for towels. She told me they were under the bed in a drawer. They were in the second drawer that I opened. The first drawer was stuffed full of sex toys and bondage supplies. To each their own, that's her sexual expression. But you gotta put that somewhere else when you have guests staying over. I shouldn't have been surprised since she had about 30 framed photos on the wall in the tiny studio apartment. Photos of herself from various pole dancing competitions and boudoir shoots. </p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g7apbc/whats_your_creepy_airbnb_story/fogppnj?context=3" target="_blank">Spencjb24</a></p>3.
<p>A last minute long weekend to Montreal, my first trip to this incredible international city that is affordable and close for people up north in the US. My card was hacked during booking. I arrive and the address doesn't seem to exist. It was just northeast of mile end, I forget exactly where, but it was right near a freeway that split the road in two. Google maps showed the air bnb to be right where the highway was that divided the street. I almost gave up as scammed and returned home. On one last loop I found the address, tucked behind an iron stairwell. </p>2.
<p>I'm not sure if this applies,we ALMOST got the room but bailed out quickly. So, here's my story: </p><p>My parents and I were on vacation, and we were searching for a place to stay (yes, I am aware it was dumb of us not to make a reservation beforehand) as soon as we got out of the bus. It's normal for people renting rooms there to approach you and ask you if you'd like to rent a room,and soon enough we were approached by this bald guy. That's the only thing I remember about him, the fact that he was bald. And shady. I didn't have a good feeling about him, even though I was only a kid. So he comes towards us,and starts talking to my already exhausted dad (who probably wasn't thinking straight at the time) and tells him he has a nice apartment nearby. We agree to go. My dad is carrying our stuff, and walking parallel with the guy, and my mom and I are walking behind them. We enter this neighborhood and we pass a café. </p>1.
<p>My husband got us an AirBnB for our anniversary a couple of years ago in the mountains near a National Park. It was one of these where we just rented the room in a larger occupied house. </p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">Night 1: We arrive before the host does and had a hard tine finding the property. We actually drove past it several times and dismissed it due to the large gate blocking the driveway and multiple keep out signs. Once we drive down the driveway, we realize we are there before her and use the hidden key to go inside. </span><br></p><p>There is no real furniture inside. Some old particleboard stuff and couch in the living room, but it is sparsely furnished. There is nothing but a bag of apples in the fridge. </p><p>About that time the host shows up. She describes her long commute to a city multiple hours away everyday and describes how her boyfriend worries about her. She is sure to mention a few prople in the area have bothered her before, and she is armed because of it. And also, we must ALWAYS lock the driveway gate behind us. Overall, we get a distinct feeling she is lying or hiding something. We assume it is that she actually doesn't live at the AirBnB full time but doesn't want anyone to know, so she exaggerates to throw folks off. It would explain the weird furniture, too.<br></p>Near-death experiences are fascinating enough to have captured the attention of many people over the years. Television specials about them were fairly popular on the 90's and 00's.
Some people experience a feeling of euphoria, or extreme calm, or just don't remember anything at all.
10.
<p>I had one just yesterday. For context, I work at a car dealership. I had just picked up a car from a local auction house and was doing about 80 in a 75 down the highway. As I was going over a bridge in the lane closest to the edge of the bridge, a huge and also dead/dried up Christmas tree flies out of this truck ahead of me.</p><p>I obviously swerve very quickly into the shoulder and one of my back tires is in the air with the whole car about to flip. I somehow managed to reel it back in and gain control of the car again. If I had lost it and the car had flipped like it almost did, I would've gone over the edge of that bridge and I don't want to think about what would've happened to me.<br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g5ykl5/what_are_some_of_the_neardeath_experience_you/fo6th9w?context=3" target="_blank">GodOfBeverages</a></p>9.
<p>Last summer i went camping in a small island in Greece with some friends. Some time after we landed we met a group of girls, but didn't meet again for a couple of days. One night we decide to go to a club so we change things up, since we were stuck to mainstream camping stuff. I got pretty f***ed up and on the way back to our tends i pass out, fall on a parked motorcycle, and the glass bottle i was holding breaks in my hands cutting 2 arteries. </p><p>My friends were stunned and couldn't act at their best, since they were drunk as well (not as much as me though). Out of nowhere the group of girls we met at the beginning recognize us and start helping me. It was like some trained drill. Apparently most of them were training for these type of cases. I eventually went to an underfunded hospital, after an ambulance arrived 1 hour later. I think its safe to say it could've been much worse.</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g5ykl5/what_are_some_of_the_neardeath_experience_you/fo6d89y?context=3" target="_blank">loukasTGK</a></p>8.
<p>I had a rock thrown at me, split my skull open, lost enough blood that it put me in hospital for half a year. Had to learn how to walk properly again as my muscles had wasted away from being in a bed for so long. </p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">According to my mother, she knew exactly where I got hit because you could follow the trail of blood to where I got hit to my front door. The worst part? I was an "indoors kid", so my mum was so thankful for me being outside that when i banged on the door to be let in, i got a hearty "f**k off". I collapsed against the door and that's why she opened it.</span><br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g5ykl5/what_are_some_of_the_neardeath_experience_you/fo6gssn?context=3" target="_blank">Dogstile</a> </p>7.
<p>I was diagnosed with a rare cancer that was connected to my lung and chest. When they did surgery to remove it, i flatlined twice on the operation table and again after the procedure was done. But to me it felt like i was in a dream. I was talking to someone about my life and what he said to me was 'i know you're tired but it's time to go back'. When i woke up it was a few days later and i found out i was put in a medicine induced coma to keep me from flatlining again. To this day, that man and our conversation still creeps me out.</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g5ykl5/what_are_some_of_the_neardeath_experience_you/fo6ewoc?context=3" target="_blank">whyhedi</a></p>6.
<p>It was more what I felt than what I saw. I almost drowned my first time white water rafting. I started out panicked, as is expected, until I realized I was truly stuck in a rapid with a raft and 4 other people on top of me that wasn't moving. At that point I honestly just gave up and started to taking on water, eventually starting to black out. My world got quiet and peaceful and my whole body got really warm. I was almost out completely when somebody jumped into the water and frantically kicked me out from under the raft.</p><p>I've spent a lot of time trying to get back to that level of serenity I experienced that day through meditation, but have never been able to feel that since then.<br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g5ykl5/what_are_some_of_the_neardeath_experience_you/fo6dxdm?context=3" target="_blank">alkhyioin</a></p>5.
<p>I was walking in the yard with my dad when I was like 10 years old. It was raining like hell but we had to get something from the shed, I don't remember what. </p><p>Lightning struck the grass maybe 5 meters in front of us.</p><p>Safe to say I don't like lightening anymore.<br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g5ykl5/what_are_some_of_the_neardeath_experience_you/fo68yqe?context=3" target="_blank">0l1verTheH0verVan</a></p>4.
<p>I almost drowned twice. Not super fun. Not much to say other than river + me + not able to keep head above water consistently = a bit traumatic. </p><p>The second time was as an adult river rafting. I fell out in a dangerous stretch of river. Couldn't seem to get any progress away from the rapids. I had resigned that I was likely going to die before the main boat caught up to me and got a paddle for me to grab on. I hadn't properly adjusted my life jacket so every time I got up for air my head was a floating a few inches lower than it should have and my gasps were met with the top of a wave. </p><p>Anyways I get back to the raft, humbled by the river and frankly terrified to get back in. We got to a big slow moving stretch and the boat captain(?) said, "I'm not going to pressure you to get back in, but if you don't do it now you will probably be too scared to swim for the rest of your life" and so against my better judgement I hopped back in. <br><br>I still swim on occasion but if even the slightest drop of water gets in my snorkel while snorkeling its pretty much an instant anxiety attack.<br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g5ykl5/what_are_some_of_the_neardeath_experience_you/fo6adw5?context=3" target="_blank">lucy_throwaway</a></p>3.
<p>I burned in a gas explosion in August 2014. When I woke up 4 months later in hospital, I knew without anyone telling me that I crossed the boundary between life and death. The doc later confirmed that they did in fact, lose me during one of the operations, but I resurfaced. </p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">I have recovered almost completely, against all odds, but I can no longer smell or taste much, and my eyesight and hearing are not great anymore, and I can no longer be in the sun.</span><br></p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">I still wonder about my experience when I "died".</span><br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g5ykl5/what_are_some_of_the_neardeath_experience_you/fo6c9s9?context=3" target="_blank">awake_alive</a> </p>2.
<p>Ex and I were chilling in the lounge at her parent's house in winter and had the gas heater on. both fell asleep and when the movie ended she said we must go to bed and I wanted to just sleep down there with her (weren't allowed to sleep in the same bed you see so I thought I could get away with the couch) and she said we cant and pushed me upstairs.</p><p>I woke up the next morning to the house smelling like gas cause we had closed the lounge door without turning the heater off and it had burnt off all the oxygen and gone out so filled the room with propane. <br>would have never woken up if she hadn't told me to go to bed.<br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g5ykl5/what_are_some_of_the_neardeath_experience_you/fo6at5w?context=3" target="_blank">KingHoboe</a></p>1.
<p>A few years ago I was in a workplace accident that nearly killed me by a slow crushing. Time just seemed to slow down, all my senses seemed to get a lot sharper all of a sudden, lights were brighter, sound was louder, smells were stronger and a sense of hopelessness overcame me because there was nothing I could do to escape the situation, I thought I was either going to die or was going to be snapped in half and left a paraplegic, all I could think about was my daughter. Luckily neither of those things happened as the person operating the peice of machinery that was crushing me noticed that it was going at a slower rate then usual and stopped it to check why. It left me unable to walk properly without pain for about 6 months but I'm fine now.</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g5ykl5/what_are_some_of_the_neardeath_experience_you/fo6dyhn?context=3" target="_blank">alrdykkkk</a></p>College Professors Recall The Most Genius Things Students Have Ever Done In Their Class
College is a formative time in many people's lives. It's usually the first taste of real freedom, and real accountability, many people get as young adults.
Some choose to coast through the experience with as little effort as possible, while others struggle with the extra responsibility and expectations. Still others find their calling in education and really apply themselves to the whole experience.
20.
<p>I had one student who recorded my class and sold the recordings!! </p><p><span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo1dkrc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x" target="_blank">TelescopiumHerscheli</a></p>19.
<p>I'm a student, and On our exams we are able to have an index card we can write notes on to use as a reference during the test. Most kids just write super small, but this genius wrote some notes in red ink, and others that overlapped in blue ink. They then used 3d glasses to be able to read the jumbled mess. I sat there in astonishment. <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo220x8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x" target="_blank">m1234321p</a><span></span></p>18.
<p>I was a TA, we had a statistics course at our university that was unnecessarily hard to get through our undergrad business program. Anyways we had a student who recorded himself using doing the homework and uploading it on YouTube for the other students to understand (it was genuinely helpful). He even used different numbers and examples and what not to not give ya the answer. </p>17.
<p>While teaching an algorithm class, I prefer giving assignments that require no code. Instead, I ask them to write pseudocodes.</p><p>Nevertheless, most of them try to convert a piece of code into pseudocode. However, one of the students handed me in almost a full technical paper using LaTeX. I admired that student. Talked to him after grading, and told him that I wish I was that smart when I was in college.</p><p>Nobody topped him yet. <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo1ancp?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x" target="_blank">PisEqualToNP</a></p>16.
<p>I was taking an easy elective class in college and my professor would give out 30-40 question test-like homework assignments. While googling to understand some of the concepts, I came across a site that had every question, word for word, and in order. I could tell that the questions were the same through the google search preview, but opening the page blurred everything except a subscription box in the middle. I think my teacher was trying to make extra money off of selling her own answers. Either that, or she was stealing the content.</p>15.
<p>Not a college professor, but I was in a 400+ student auditorium when a bizarre incident occurred during a final exam.</p><p>Barely five minutes after we started the test, a student gets up, hands in his paper to the proctor, yells "WE OUT!", and JUMPED OUT THE WINDOW.</p><p>It was the first floor, but still. <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo1kqxq?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x" target="_blank">dysenterychampion</a></p>14.
<p>My Dad is a chemistry professor. This means that he gets to filter all the students trying to get into medical school. A surprising amount of them are cheating morons, which doesn't bode well for medical school. You can't cheat your way through a surgery. Nevertheless, I've got stories.</p>13.
<p>There's always that story of the guy that showed up to class late, saw a problem on the board, and assumed it must be the homework for that week. He completed it and turned it in the week after.</p><p>Turns out it wasn't homework, but rather a famous unsolved mathematical principle that he just discovered a proof for.</p><p>EDIT: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig#Mathematical_statistics" target="_blank">Here's the full story</a> <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo1ri0r?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x" target="_blank">yottalogical</a></p>12.
<p>I <em>am</em> a professor, so... My students are very bright for undergrads, but there are no real Good Will Huntings. One clever thing I notice a student do now and then is instead of (or in addition to) copying a long-detailed timeline or diagram I spend writing an hour writing out on the board, they will pull out their phone and take a picture of the board. <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo1jkm2?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x" target="_blank">narwhal_</a></p>11.
<p>I once had a student who turned in an essay not in full sentences, but in bullet points. I was about to fail the student, except that all bullet points entailed one clear, concise point, every point clearly indicated its purpose for the overall argument, and the structure was more logical than most essays I had read before. </p>10.
<p>I watched one of my students write a crib sheet on a small piece of plastic and place it perfectly inside the label of her water bottle so that it was barely visible, but readable inside. Over the course of a two-hour lecture. It was magnificent. No I did not call her out on it or demand she throw her water bottle away. It's not my business what she chooses to do in another class. </p><p>Students cheat for a lot of reasons, but often times we find it's because the professor's expectations are ridiculously f*cked (it's usually this one), or because the student is dealing with far too much on their plate and cheating can alleviate at least some of that burden of stress for an underprivileged student. I'm not saying it's right, but I understand it.</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo1k2rn?context=3" target="_blank">TerpinOne</a></p>9.
<p>A friend of my brother's was doing a Bachelor in Pharmacology and the only elective that fit his schedule was Philosophy. He had no interest in it but had to pass with at least a C in his final year. When he got to the exam there was one question on the paper:</p><p>"Is this a question?"</p><p>After the 3 hour exam he was talking to fellow classmates and asking what they had come up with. They had discussed word etymology, structures of thought, ideas on different cultural elements of language, the impact of spiritualism on philosophical questioning and reasoning and so on. He said "Oh no" and got real worried. Then a fellow student said "What did you write?"</p><p>He said "I wrote "If that's a question then this is an answer" and then left the exam room after 5 minutes. To his astonishment he got an A+<br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo2mrk7?context=3" target="_blank">ziggiddy</a></p>8.
<p>I taught a lab that had a microscopy section back in the late 00s. Despite having a microscope camera for taking pictures of the field of view in my own high school labs and the technology being readily available, it was not something the university was willing to spring for the students of a 100 level class. One of my students just stuck his IPhone camera right up to the ocular lense of the scope and took a picture. I was floored. Now looking back I'm thinking "of course that would work why wouldn't it?" but at the time myself and my Blackberry were very impressed.</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo0km25?context=3" target="_blank">ccajunryder</a></p>7.
<p> We had assignments based on the daily lectures in class. Assignments were due at the end of the week, but this one student always turned his assignments in minutes after each class. I notice on his laptop, while everyone else was taking notes on theirs, he would be filling out the assignment as the professor went through his powerpoint. He would also ask the professor questions about the lecture that gave him the answers to the assignment. Not only was he learning from essentially taking notes, but he never had to do homework outside of class.</p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo0m1v1?context=3" target="_blank">littlebop33p</a></p>6.
<p>Not me, but I took and Intro To Accounting class that was required for all Business Majors where we had a teacher that was teaching his first college class ever. He said T Accounts were for nerdy accounting people and wanted to show everyone how to look at the P&L and Balance Sheet like a business does.</p><p>He would assign us things to do and if you couldn't figure out the answer he would tell you to re-read the chapter the answer was in there. As you could guess a ton of kids struggled or had to cheat to get by after the first test. </p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">But then there was some kid who had taken accounting before at a different university and the credits didnt transfer so he was forced into this class and he knew all the answers. He hosted a Homework Review in the library on a whiteboard and answered any questions and helped everyone study. I think we all just learned from that dude more than the teacher.</span><br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo16x05?context=3" target="_blank">13times5plus4</a> </p>5.
<p>I'm a TA for a chemistry class. Twice a week the students have to turn in a worksheet to me, and I require them to have them stapled because of the mess it turns into otherwise.</p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">Anyway, one student made it through the class without buying a stapler because they figured out some wierd oragami like way of folding the corners together in such a way that you physically could not get them unstuck without carefully undoing the folds. Now I teach it to my students and tell them if they don't own a stapler they can just do that.</span><br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo16dcw?context=3" target="_blank">SirWallaceIIofReddit</a></p>4.
<p>On an exam, a student answered a question about DNA topology with an answer that neither the prof nor I had ever seen...and it was correct. And neither of us had come up with it.</p><p>And that made us have to go back and re-grade the entire class's answers to that question.<br></p><p>-<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/g4yv0y/college_professors_of_reddit_what_is_the_most/fo1js40?context=3" target="_blank">MikeGinnyMD</a></p>3.
<p>This wasn't so much genius as it was ballsy, but in the last class I taught, students were required to give a 10 minute persuasive speech about a topic. I listed some common topics from previous classes like whether college athletes should be paid, legalizing marijuana, stuff like that. They were supposed to do a little bit of research and incorporate empirical evidence into their presentations. </p><p>This guy did a whole 10 minute speech, complete with a powerpoint presentation, on why one food item was better than another, similar food item. It was completely and totally irrelevant, subjective, and not related to anything the course discussed.</p>2.
<p>My math professor told the class a story about an incredible student he had. He liked having both calculation questions (solve the diffeq, etc) and proofs testing conceptual things in the class. Well one time, this incredible student managed to proof things that were well beyond the scope of the course. She would also ask questions that suggested incredible insight about the class.</p><p>He was impressed and had to see what her math background was. Well, it turned out she was a C and D student. In fact she failed Calc 3 and got a C (I think) the second time. Her first exam also suggested that she had a very difficult time solving and applying the kinds of things learned in the course. Yet she could prove the bonus question extremely well. </p>1.
<p><br></p><p>I was taking a Romantic era lit class in University, due to some quirk of scheduling it was twice a week, 6-9 pm. We all had to do presentations for a tiny part of our grade on whatever the topic of the day was throughout the term. We were encouraged to take a very wide ranging view of what could constitute a presentation. This prof was pretty great and actually managed to get a bunch of 20 year olds to dress up in period costumes to read poetry to the class, or to tell pulpy stories about all the banging the Byrons and/or Shellys got up to. </p><p>Buddy was a super friendly guy who had time for everybody. Imagine the personality of Jack Black in the body of a 24 year old Harry Potter. </p><p>His day to present comes up and the poem is Rime of the Ancient Mariner. At first he doesn't show. The Prof goes through the preliminary matters and then before she can ask where he is, Buddy KICKS down the door to the class and struts in with somebody dressed as a fisherman and a woman in a showy prom dress. These people are not in our class. </p>It's easy to see how the many unsolved mysteries of the world easily grab our attention and hold on to it once we learn about them. There was a whole long-running television series dedicated to the subject, after all.
It doesn't take much to get lost down the research rabbit hole on a slow afternoon researching your favorite mystery, trying to find the answer to what really happened.