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People Explain The Weirdest Thing They've Ever Been Falsely Accused Of

People Explain The Weirdest Thing They've Ever Been Falsely Accused Of
Tim Robberts / Getty Images

Being accused of things you didn't do is annoying and can be infuriating even in the best of situations. Sometimes, though, the thing you're accused of is so ridiculous that you can't even be mad.


For example, I had a group of friends I would chat with online. One day, the elderly father of one of those friends got a phone call from Florida saying the friend was in trouble and needed bail money.

Dad knew it was a scam because he had heard about it on the news and just spoken to his son. Dad brushed it off, but did tell son about it. Son mentioned it to a few of those friends.

One of them decided that *I* must have been behind the scam since I live in Florida - along with like 18.5 million other people, but that's not the point. As far as this person was concerned, it was totally me who tried to scam an old man (who I didn't even know was alive and would have no way to contact) out of some money.

Amazingly they managed to convince a few other people that I was a nefarious phone scammer, too. Extra amazingly, that's not even the strangest thing I've been accused of. Let's not even talk about the Nigerian Illuminati incident...

Reddit user Memerdreemurr_Unrl asked:

What's the weirdest thing you've been falsely accused of?

The responses honestly made us laugh pretty hard in most cases. Some were sad since you can tell mental illness played a roll. All of them were outright odd.

Drug-Free Brownies

A long time ago: In exchange for housing, I took care of my best friend's 2 y/o niece and 3 y/o nephew. One day, their insane mom showed up and insisted that I'd given her children pot brownies - not regular brownies - since they were running all over the place (like children sometimes do.) She even called the cops on me, who confirmed that I gave the kids normal, drug-free brownies. She was admitted to a mental hospital not long after. It was so dramatic.

I took care of them for about another 3 years after (until someone else was awarded custody) and still travel back home to see them when I can. Their mom never showed up again - it's been 7 years now. I also lost both parents to mental issues, no way I could just duck out.

- M31K_

You Can't Fit A Dumpster In An Impala

Giphy

My boyfriend got pulled over by the police in his super tiny Impala car, because apparently some shop owner accused him of trying to steal a whole dumpster with said vehicle.

- LeluWater

We Can't Afford A Coke Habit

Doing drugs every morning before work.

It's called coffee people, I work at the same low paying company as you all. None of us could afford that coke habit.

- Majik9

That's Not How Alcoholism Works

Freshman year of college I had a super sheltered roommate. One Friday, I illegally bought a bottle of vodka, had a shot, thought it was gross, and put it in the freezer. Never drank again the rest of the semester. She accused me of being an alcoholic a month later.

She was ungodly stupid. If I were an alcoholic that bottle of vodka wouldn't have stayed there the entire semester, practically full. She opened the freezer a lot for food, the alcohol was always at the same level. It's unlikely she thought I was replacing the bottle. Unless she thought I drank an entire bottle a day.

- Handmade_Dragon

Hill Letters

Some places in the US have big white letters on the side of the hill to signify the name of the town, the name of local schools, etc. I grew up in between 2 towns like this.

Both of the "hill letter" towns were "cross town rivals" and were always playing (lame) pranks on each other. One time, a bunch of kids from my school went up to the rivals letter and changed it around to their letter. It required hiking up a large hill and rearranging boulders for hours. A couple of the kids were football players and there were about 6 kids doing the work.

Because my car was seen in town, I was accused of doing it. Just me. I wouldn't have even climbed up the hill, let alone spent hours lifting rocks plus this was a task that was literally impossible for a single person.

There are still people that remember it happening and ask if it was me.

- Gekokujo

Rewards Program Identity Theft

I have to ask every customer if they'd like to join our rewards program. It's the retail equivalent of "would you like fries with that?" To complete the enrollment I need a phone number and an email address.

Being accused of trying to steal someone's identity to sell it to the Russians (or some equally paranoid rant) is a dramatic event that happens a handful of times per year.


One lady went on a fifteen minute rampage about how she doesn't trust anyone with her phone number because banking can be done over the phone and she never knows when she'll be tapped, etc. Then she has the nerve to go off on me because she's not getting any reward coupons...

Once in a while I'll drop the hint that they can, in fact, give me a fake number or email and I'll never know, and they look at me dumbfounded like someone just told them Santa Claus isn't real.

- piscimancy

Rural Chinese Stairs

I was staying at my girlfriends hometown in rural China.

Little old lady fell up stairs and she started accusing me of pushing her... I was a good 10 meters away. A security guard saw what happened and he told me to just ignore her and walk away.

- Drpancakes88

I Don't Work Here

Being late for work/skipping out on work by not being in uniform (this was at a grocery store.)

It started with a foreign employee yelling at me in broken English as I entered the store. I understood about 1/3 of what she was saying and tried explaining (in vain) that I didn't work there. Later, when I was doing my shopping she came back and started yelling at me again and started trying to pull me towards the employee area. Luckily I was bigger and stronger so I stood my ground and yelled for help.


Another employee who spoke better English and could communicate with her arrived and I yelled at him about his crazy coworker. The store owner was called in and gave me a gift card for my troubles and a lot of harsh words for the female employee.

I saw the new employee I was presumably mistaken for a few weeks later. I have to admit, we were very similar except for our height, weight, skin tone, hair color, facial hair and race. Anyone could've gotten us mixed up.

- FictionWeavile

Terrorism

Another student in elementary school once accused me of "terrorism" by claiming I blinded her with a so called "weapon I snuck into school."

It was a little light for a diary that would reveal UV ink; I forgot it was in my pocket and took it to school accidentally. I pulled it out because the light was on and this girl across hall starts flailing and saying that I blinded her. I lost recess for a week even though it was just a light, they called it "directed aggression" or something.

- r4zrbl4de

Making It In New York

I had just moved to New York for a job at a mid-size company.

One of my co-workers threw a house party to welcome me and another woman who also just started. (I didn't really know this other woman, she worked in a different department and we only talked once during a benefits orientation thing.) It was a Friday night, and I stayed and partied into the next morning, while the other woman left around 10:30PM or so.


Next Monday morning at work, that woman messages me and says she needs to talk to me immediately. We go to the empty break room downstairs and she is furious. She's doing the red-face/angry crying thing.

"I heard you were talking about me after I left. You were telling everyone that there is no way I can make it in New York. How dare you talk about me behind my back. F*ck. You. I hate drama and I will not let you get me involved in it." (I don't think I'm explaining this well enough, she had veins popping out of her neck, she looked like she wanted to fight me.)

I'm absolutely shocked and confused and I'm looking around the room like that John Travolta GIF.

Giphy

"Are you sure it was me? I have no opinion on your ability to live in New York. I hardly even know your name, to be honest."

That pissed her off more, she cusses at me a bit more, and threatens to report me to HR if I don't stop talking about her behind her back.

The situation kinda worked itself out because it turned out she couldn't in fact "make it" in New York and quit about a week and a half later.

I ended up being good friends with the people who were at the original house party and I asked them about that night, if anyone was talking about her after she left. They all swear that her name was never mentioned and she just made the whole thing up. Friggin crazy.

- PeteIsNeat

Gang Banger

Being a "gang banger" at my old job. What actually happened was a coworker that didn't like me found a box cutter in the staff bathroom. This coworker took it to our department head and said it was definitely mine and she knew that because I was a gang member. Spoiler alert: it wasn't my box cutter. It was the maintenance guy's.

- Satanshonda

"It's A Shank!" 

When I was 13 years old, my friends sister got in an argument with a old lady in McDonald's. My friends 9 year old brother had climbed over the booth to get to his seat, as kids sometimes do. The lady yelled at us that we all belong in a zoo and then called the cops.

The police showed up and accused me of being a local gangbanger with the moniker "Lil Joker."


This wasn't even in my city. I'm definitely not a gangbanger and I have no idea who "Lil Joker" is. The fact that I wasn't from that city wasn't enough for the cops. They then searched our car and came out with a small phillips head screw driver. When I say small i mean TINY. It was the ones used for tightening the screws on a pair of glasses.

The cops came out aggressively shouting "What is this?!?!?" We told them it was a screw driver.

"Its a shank!" was their response. All in all a pretty ridiculous interaction with the police when I was a kid.

- Handofthelemur

People Reveal How Things Ended With Their First Love

Reddit user xgc_promathia asked: 'How did your first love end? Do you still think of them?'

CW: Eating disorder.

Everyone remembers the first time they were in love.

Or, at least, the first time they thought they were in love.

Some people might very well have a true "one and only," remaining with their first love for the rest of their life.

For the majority of people, however, the first love is, indeed, their first.

The person who shows them what it is to love and be loved so they know when they've truly found the person they were meant to be with later in life.

With this in mind, some people find ending relationships with their first love easier than they might expect, as deep down, they knew it was never going to last.

Others, however, remember ending things with their first love as the first time their heart was truly broken.

Redditor xgc_promathia was curious to hear how people ended things with their first love and the lasting effects it had on them, leading them to ask:

"How did your first love end? Do you still think of them?"

The Folly Of Youth

"I was a dumb, selfish 23-year-old who wanted more than I had."

"Yes, all the time."- grow4road

"Summer Lovin'..."

"We talking love or 'true love'?"

"My first love was a girl I met at summer camp."

"Shel lived and hour away and since we were both 13 we relied on our mothers to shuttle us back and forth, swapping weekends at each others house."

"The next summer at camp we decided that since we would both be going to high school the following fall that we should enjoy that summer camp time together then break up."

"The last night they had a farewell dance and we spent all night dancing to every slow song."

"I still think of her from time to time but haven't talked to her in over 35 years."

"I spent a hour or so looking her up online and I'm pretty sure I found her but it's been so long and age changes people so I can't be 100% sure."

"I do hope the woman I found is her because she has a beautiful family and from what I saw on FB she's doing really well for herself."- StuckInNov1999

What If...?

"My first true love, we were together for almost a year."

"I we lost our virginity to each other."

"We were making plans to elope after high school I broke up with her because I felt like she was hiding an eating disorder from me."

"She kept on losing weight and she started to look unhealthy, I kept on encouraging her to get help, I even offered to go with her and be there for support when she brought it up to her parents, she kept on refusing."

"I then broke up with her."

"I absolutely crushed her."

"She literally cried in school all day for a month straight."

"I felt really bad about it."

"Then she went NC with me for a few years and I stated to really resent her."

"We then reunited and buried the hatchet then remained friends."

"I haven't seen her in person for about 15 years."

"We are friends on Facebook."

"We comment on each other's posts."

"I think about her every now and then."

"Not so much the person she is now, but the fond memories."

"I have of 2 16 year olds intensely in love with each other."

"I wonder if we were really soul mates but we just met too early in life?"

"She has a nice husband and she seems happy."

"I'm happy for her."- Ill-Indication-7706

Forgive And Forget

"We were high school sweethearts, but we broke up shortly after high school because we were no longer good for one another."

"It was an ugly breakup, and we went several years without contact after I left the state."

"Five years later, my mother sent me a box of my stuff, and one of his old creative writing notebooks was mixed in with it."

"I reached out over fb to ask if he might want it back, and from there, we became friends again."

"Ten years later, we're still friends to this day."- Forward_Ad6168

Unable To Go The Distance

"Joined the military and long distance wasn’t working so I broke up with her."

"We tried to make it work but it was taking a toll on the both of us."

"Didn’t want to break up with her but I felt like it was the best decision for the both of us."

"This was over 3 years ago and yes I still think about her."

"I actually reached out to her for the first time since the break up last week lol."

"Was just curious to see how she was doing."- ReckSaber3664

Truly Love At First Sight

"Daily."

"I married him!"- Complex-Half8338

Ended Before It Could Truly Begin

"They died."

"All the time for last 20 years."- Deep_Ad_1874

Wrong Time, Wrong Place... Not Meant To Be...

"I was 18."

"He was 20."

"He was my first real boyfriend, my first sexual experience, and my first real love."

"We argued a lot all the time basically, I still thought we were good together."

"One day during an argument after he threw a plate of food at me I told him to get out."

"That was something I said a lot and it was a trigger for him because everyone in his life either died or abandoned him or kicked him out."

"He left, like actually called a cab took everything including his New flat screen TV and left."

"I spiraled."

"Eventually though after three years I moved on and met my daughter's dad."

"I have love for him and see that he’s now in recovery and having a baby with a new gf."

"This was over 12 years ago when we dated."

"I’m happy for him but also moved on and grateful for that."- SubstantialLove8330

"The Course Of True Love Never Did Run Smooth..."

"Long story short, my first 'real' love ended when she left to a different state."

"We were best friends for a long time but after she left, friendship ended too."

"We were young and I was too immature for a relationship."

"I was the one pursuing it and she wanted to just be friends which was one of the reasons it pushed her away."

"Like I said immature of me because I didn't consider her feelings and respect her answer at the time."

"Many many years later, I reached out and apologized for everything."

"Because I was the problem."

"She was in a broken relationship at the time and I didn't want anything but to say I'm sorry and become friends again."

"A few years later, she brought it up about a possible relationship with me and I agreed (and no I wasn't thinking about a relationship at the time because in my mind, that ship sailed LONG ago)."

"That caught me off guard."

"Years later after this conversation, we are married and have children."

"Not saying everyone's relationship will turn out this way but this was my experience."- VailStampede

As Nat King Cole once famously said, "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return."

Sometimes, to know what it is to truly love, we have to have our hearts truly broken.

Making the chance to have a "first love," be it at age 15 or 75, a right of passage everyone deserves.


white and blue kanji print card
Photo by Slidebean on Unsplash

Everyone has those brands that they love and will stay loyal to until their dying day.

For me, that brand is Bryers. Whenever I go to the store for ice cream, I first check to see if Bryers has the flavor I want on sale before I settle for anything else. If it's been a while, I sometimes splurge and just buy it at full price. That's because, to me, Bryers is the gold standard when it comes to ice cream.

Redditors have those brands that have their undying loyalty are ready to share which brands those are.

It all started when Redditor Loesser asked:

"Which brand are you actually loyal to and why?"

Life Changing

"Scrub Daddy makes one hell of a sponge."

– kbups53

"I'd been aware of them forever. "Just a sponge," I thought."

"Tried them last month and my mind is blown."

– gehanna1

Sparkling Dishes

"Dawn dishwashing liquid cuts through grease like crazy. Mix it equal parts with white vinegar for an excellent bath rub soap scum remover."

– Aunt-jobiska

"I used to wash dishes in a restaurant. A LOT of dishes. They rotated through a few food service-grade dish soaps for a while, which I always assumed would be a little stronger because they're commercial-grade, and they aided in destroying my hands every night (steel scrubbers and hot water certainly played a major role, of course."

"Then we switched to Dawn. It wasn't some special food service formula, just regular Dawn. Same exact blue one you get at any grocery or convenience store. That was the first time I would soak the hardest-baked-on crap and practically be able to wipe it off after 15 minutes. I have never found a soap even close."

– Lothar_Ecklord

Q's Way Or The Highway

"Q-Tips."

"Every other cotton swab is inferior, and I think I've tried them all. Either there isn't enough cotton, or the stick is too flimsy. Only Q-tips get it right."

– CA1900

Strong And Sturdy

"Osprey. Super comfortable hiking backpacks, and their lifetime warranty is actually legit. They will repair or replace any damage or defect for any reason on any model ever made."

– RustyPickles

"I beat the sh*t out of mine and it’s in perfect shape. All the zippers work, no rips… amazingly constructed bags."

– CurtMoney

"My company gifted me one this year and I am in awe! I love useful backpacks and i always saw them and never went for it….so glad I have one now because I take it everywhere and I’m so confused how the little guy fits so much."

– imhereforthemeta

Quick Facts

"Not sure if this counts but Wikipedia - I've been donating since given the option and I appreciate that it's remained generally unchanged unlike most modern platforms/services."

– TaalKheru

"Yesterday while chatting with my wife I mentioned how I donate Wikipedia every year. She had no idea and it blew her mind a little bit, she asked me why and I tried to explain just how frequently I use that site. Any time I remember some random historical event or criminal case or famous scientist etc. etc. I'm straight to Wiki. It's an absolute treasure trove of useful and useless information alike and I f**king love it."

– thewokestlocust

All Intents And Purposes

"Victorinox - cuz Swiss Army knives rock, and they make great watches too. Add top-notch customer service, and they've made me a happy customer for life."

"Edit: forgot about my awesome Swiss Army card that a friend brought back for me from Geneva. I keep it in my car, and it's pretty fantastic too."

– ISmellElderberries

Created To Last

"Fiskars. Everything they do is top quality. That brand is like a national treasure to Finnish people. They do plenty of products with metal and plastic and pretty much everyone around here has had a pair of Fiskars scissors for up to 20 years. Sure, their products are more expensive but they're made to work and last for an eternity."

– hiemanturha

"Everyone else always complained about their "house scissors," how horribly dull and awkward to use they were, and I never understood -- my "house scissors" were indestructible and so sharp I wasn't allowed to touch them until I was 10. A few decades later I realized why: they're Fiskars. Those scissors are older than I am, and they're still going strong."

– ClearBrightLight

None Other

"Ain’t no cream cheese like Philadelphia cream cheese."

– shavemejesus

"In Brazil cream cheese is just basically called "Philadelphia.""

– mrubuto22

Just Easier

"Brother Printers, especially the laser variant. It just keeps working and there is no cartridge nonsense like that other brand."

"I would recommend it to everyone, always. Nobody ever has issues with them."

– mahade

"Their software is also far less obnoxious. Pretty solid brand for <$500 printers."

– AlmostRandomName

The Best Store

"Costco. It's not too expensive of a membership, and you get some great savings on gas (pretty big here in California) and buy in bulk items. Of course, I probably buy a bit more than I need to for my family, but the 3 month hassle-free return policy is very generous. It's kind of a game changer for expensive devices like laptops since we can always return them if they suddenly break within the first few weeks or were defective."

"Not to mention the $1.50 hot dogs, average but affordable clothes (esp. socks & underwear), and Costco Travel isn't half bad with some of the discounts when it comes to rental car & hotel packages. Sure there's cheaper ways to get stuff out there, but, generally speaking, Costco delivers pretty good value for the price."

– imbearnanas

Saving Me Money

"Aldi. They were there for me when I was broke and currently keep me from going broke with grocery prices these days. Some of their brands are superior in my opinion eg. salsa."

– gomez1608

​Inactive Choosing

"OXO. Most of their kitchen stuff is fantastic. I don't deliberately set out to buy OXO, but it winds up being the best choice on a lot of things."

– VinLeesel

Everything Else Pales In Comparision

"Heinz Ketchup. Not Hunts, nor Red Gold, especially not Sir Kensington."

– rich-lol

Old Faithful

"Honda, both cars and motorcycles. That sh*t just does not break."

– Adddicus

Honda is the definition of reliable. Those are the kinds of brands to stand behind!

A young man stands on a hill and waves a smoke signal
Photo by Chinh Le Duc

Nobody is perfect.

That is lesson number one when looking for love.

No one person is going to check off every box.

So that means that every red flag or warning is not life-altering.

That is called compromise.

But as long as they aren't buying bodies and storing organs... there is a lot that people can handle.

Redditor Cerseiriously wanted to hear about what warning signs people can live with when courting romance, so they asked:

"What’s a red flag you don’t mind so much in a potential SO?"

I can handle cheap.

Well, frugal.

Cheap to waiters? No.

But frugal for the future? Yes.

I Get It

Stop Motion Yes GIF by MouseGiphy

"Someone who isn't close to their own family. I'm not close with mine, either. I'd actually think it was refreshing to be with someone who understood and felt the same way."

JoeyTepes

Can't Commit

"A certain type of dating history. Everyone has their own style of dating. For example, Person A has a history of 3-4 year LTR but has never married while Person B doesn't have any relationships beyond 6 months. Person A thinks it's a red flag that Person B 'can't commit' when the reality is they simply end a relationship they don't see going long-term."

"On the other side, Person B thinks it is Person A who can't commit based on the fact they have years-long relationships but don't progress. It's all relative to how you compare the person's history to your own style of dating."

FunctionCreepy2096

As an older person...

"Not having a lot of prior relationships (as an older person). When I met my husband, he was 34 and had had only one serious relationship up until that point which was 15 years prior."

"Now I know a lot of people would see that as a waving red flag and think there was something 'wrong' with him, but the reality was he was in a male-heavy specialty (engineering college to an engineering job), had a job where he traveled about 90% of the time and, when I met him, had just moved back to the area where he had grown up after being away for over 10 years."

"None of that was conducive to meeting people or a relationship and, beyond that, he's not a particularly social person or someone who really revels in the company of others, which didn't help."

"We met online, we clicked, we started dating, we got married 2 years later, and are still married 18 years later."

Sniffy73

In Person

"Not being very communicative or chatty through text. Some people simply aren’t into texting. I dated a guy who was like that. At first, I took his lack of communication and short answers as not being interested… when in reality, he simply wasn’t much of a texter. I just accepted that’s how he was. In person he was great."

sweet_dream515

Dear Mama

Hocus Pocus Halloween GIFGiphy

"'How a man treats his mother is a sign of how he'll treat you so be careful.'"

"Or if he dislikes his mom, doesn't want to help her, be there for her, talks bad about her. It could be because she's horrible and it's just a sign of how she treated him."

Prestigious-Phase131

Oh the mommy issues never end,

Love her. Hate her.

It'll all get covered in therapy.

The Socials

Social Media Facebook GIFGiphy

"I’ve been told my lack of social media is a major turn-off and a major red flag. But I find a guy that doesn’t have any social media or very little attractive. It’s all about perspective."

asterbluesapphire

I blame all the Wattpad stories...

"I don't mind some mild (MILD) possessiveness. In fact, I think it's kind of hot. I blame all the Wattpad stories I consumed during my formative years."

_hootyowlscissors

"Same! My husband and I joke that we're both stage 5 clingers to each other 😂 not really that bad as we don't control each other but we're best friends, have all the same hobbies, and love spending all of our free time together. There's nothing better than a hard day's work and coming home to someone who is excited to see you, even if it's just a Monday."

Buffyfanatic1

No Mingle

"Someone who’s been single for a long time! I find jumping from partner to partner more concerning. Some people never figure out who they are on their own."

geminibaby

"You just described me, I got to a point where I am not just going to jump into a relationship with someone not compatible like I used to do before I knew who I was, I’d rather be single, but when people find out how long I’ve been single they think it’s a massive red flag."

Just_improvise

Tell Me More

"Absorbed in their hobbies/their work. I love that. Go buck wild, even if it’s obsessive. Also because bruh I have a terrible rest/production ratio. I need someone who understands. LOL."

Probablyawerewolf

"I see you've met my partner. Well, he's a grad student, so he doesn't have much of a choice in his workoholism. I'm trying to get him to balance it out a little bit, but I love his passion. He could spend hours telling me about his research, about a conference, or just about a paper he read once, and I love listening to that."

smallangrynerd

Let Go

friends cling GIF by Nick At NiteGiphy

"Clinginess. I like it when she always wants to be around me and up under me."

​FruitSnackEater

Cling. In love. Dependent. Co-Dependent. In love.

Is there really a difference?

Person taking picture of the clouds from their seat on flight
Photo by Leo on Unsplash

For some people, flying is the epitome of great travel and adventure. The thought of entering the air is exhilarating.

For others, however, flying is to be avoided unless totally necessary. There's an underwater highway connecting the continents, right? Or an impossibly strong bridge?

But as laughable as it might seem to see someone dread flying, sometimes there's a key experience that can explain all of those negative feelings they have connected to buckling up and locking their tray tables.

Curious about others' experiences, Redditor prettyKaitlynn asked:

"What's the most horrifying thing you've experienced on a flight?"

The Sudden Loss of a Loved One

"On a red-eye flight, everyone was asleep, but I can't sleep on planes. A few rows behind me, a girl started screaming, 'Mama!? MAMA!?'"

"The flight attendants walked over and then ran back. Then ran over holding a defibrillator. Then they walked the hysterical girl, who looked to be about a teenager, to the front of the plane. Then they walked back with blankets."

"When the plane landed, no one was allowed to move. A stretcher came on board and wheeled the blanket-covered body out. The sobbing girl followed behind."

"I can't imagine losing a parent on a flight, with nowhere to go and no way to contact anyone else for help, surrounded by nosy strangers in tight quarters."

- KnittinAndB***hin

"Oh my god, that poor girl. I traveled a lot with my mom when I was her age, visiting my big brother at college. I can’t even imagine the horror of this situation and how traumatic that must have been. I hope she is happy and thriving somewhere now…"

- doodle_d**ks3000

Fallen Flight 4184

"On Halloween night in 1994, I was on a United flight from Vancouver to Chicago."

"Back then, 'Channel 9' on the inflight entertainment system let you listen to air traffic control. That night as we approached Chicago, I was listening to Channel 9 when suddenly ATC told all the other planes to quiet down."

"Then they started calling over and over for another flight, American 4184, and asking the other planes if anyone else could see an ATR."

"This went on for a few minutes and then, CLICK, channel 9 was switched off. I felt a chill go down my spine."

"When I got to my hotel, I switched on CNN."

"Flight 4184 had gone down in a field in Indiana and everyone was dead."

- CohibaVancouver

Worthy of 'Final Destination'

​"Just after takeoff from Ixtapa Mexico, we were climbing out over the ocean at about 1000 feet when I looked out my window. Headed directly at me about 500 feet away was a twin-engine Beechcraft (I think). I would guess it was three to four seconds from impact."

"Fortunately, the pilot of the aircraft saw us and pulled up sharply just in time, missing us by maybe 25 feet."

"My wife, who's deathly afraid of flying, asked me, 'What was that?' I said, 'Nothing,' and pretended nothing had happened until we were on the ground in the US, and then I told her."

"Without question, if that pilot had pulled up even a second or two later, everyone on board both planes would have been dead."

- lobeams

Fear of Flying

"As soon as the engines revved up for take-off, a woman started screaming like she was dying."

"The flight attendants couldn’t get up to go to her until the pilot rang the bell, about five to ten minutes. She was screaming the entire time."

"Turns out her daughter put her on the flight even though she was terrified of flying. An attendant held her hand the entire flight, walked her all the way to meet the other daughter, and told her to never put mom on an airplane ever again."

- zenos_dog

"Just so everyone knows, if you are afraid of flying, tell the stewards when getting on the plane."

"They will make sure you are checked in and will pay special attention to you to make it easier."

- DeezNeezuts

What Dreams Are Made Of

"Flying out of Chengdu China in the early 80s on an old Russian turboprop, It was a wicked snowstorm, and I thought there was no way we were taking off in that mess. Visibility was only a few hundred feet."

"I looked around in panic and I realized the guy sitting across the aisle from me was the spitting image of Buddy Holly. I recall thinking that if this guy pulled a guitar out of the overhead bin and started singing 'Peggy Sue,' we were all f**ked."

- WeekendDesigner4734

"Oh sweet, you're a Steven King character."

- moslof_flosom

Allergic to... Flying?

"This was in 2015 (luckily not during the pandemic as I probably would have been kicked off the flight). But suddenly I felt a tickle in my throat, so I started coughing."

"But I COULD NOT STOP COUGHING. No matter what I did, I could not get that tickle out. The people around me were understanding, but I decided to go to the back of the plane just to be courteous."

"The flight attendants gave me ice and that was the only thing that would give me any sort of relief."

"We finally landed. That night, I went to bed and woke up at 5:00 AM with a swollen shut eye, huge f**king lips, hives ALL over my body, and a tightness in my chest."

"Turns out I was having a severe allergic reaction to something I ate (?) at the airport or something on the plane. My throat was literally CLOSING on the plane. That’s why the ice was helping because it was bringing down the swelling."

"But here’s the weird f**king thing. I’ve never been allergic to anything in my life before OR since that incident. So it’s a huge freaking mystery. The hives also showed up in different places on my body each morning for two weeks after."

- TheReinsOfFullNight

Take Off Mysteries

"On a flight from San Francisco to Denver. The plane was loaded and it was time to take off, but we just sat at the gate. The pilot announced we would be leaving soon and that we were late taking off because they had to balance out the luggage."

"Finally around 30 minutes after we were supposed to take off, the plane backed out and went to the runway. Once again, we just sat on the tarmac, this time for another 30 minutes. The pilot got on the PA again and said we had to return to the gate because the plane was low on fuel from all the idling."

"Back at the gate, three armed law enforcement officers entered the plane and escorted a man off. After that, the pilot announced that we were finally ready to take off and that the previous wait was actually due to a security issue."

- TXRichardCranium

Unforgettable Turbulence

"Just (but didn’t feel like 'just' at the time) really bad turbulence; people’s purses hit the ceiling of the cabin and I think some people who weren’t belted in injured themselves too. People were screaming, praying, and crying (I was in that last category)."

"I wasn’t crazy about flying before, but that experience put me into phobia territory and I didn’t fly after that for probably about ten years, and still weigh it as a cost-to-benefit thing whenever I travel. It’s helped a bit to learn that turbulence isn’t really a thing that causes plane crashes, as far as I now understand, but it can feel very different in that moment to the illogical mind."

- bottleglitch

Oh, the Humanity

"On an airplane, but not technically a flight."

"Sitting at the end of the runway, the pilot was doing his pre-flight or something. There was a fireball in one of the engines. Passengers panicked, flight attendants popped the emergency doors, and the emergency slides deployed."

"It was mayhem; people knocking others down, crawling over the seats, lots of screaming. Several people were injured."

"Of those I saw, one man fell off the wing; I found out later he broke his arm and collarbone. Another fell off the middle of the slide. She went away holding her wrist, not sure of what happened. The guy in front of me on the slide tumbled face-first at the bottom of the slide, and got up with a bloodied face."

"Emergency slides are not fun. It's not like in the movies."

"The ironic thing was, there was no danger to the aircraft or passengers."

- chileheadd

Not a Question You Want to Hear

"The scariest thing was being asked by the guy on the other side of the plane if there was oil spraying out of the engine on my side, too."

- cablemonkey604

Happily Ever After

"We took off after a seven-hour delay. The plane climbed for a little bit and went into a pretty tight bank turn."

"The Captain came on and said there was smoke in the cabin, and we were going in for an emergency landing. As we were coming in, there were the fire trucks and emergency vehicles waiting for us."

"Long story short... it was a wiring harness for the coffee maker. They swapped it out without even having to deplane. We got free drinks for the rest of the flight."

- Bigkid6666

No Small Talk Welcome

"We barely had our butts in the seat and a woman turned to us and said, 'Are you two teachers?' as an icebreaker."

"We responded with 'no,' and then she said, well, she was a teacher, and she then proceeded to talk THE ENTIRE nine-hour flight about herself."

"My husband pretended to fall asleep within the hour, and I find it painfully hard to stop conversations with friendly people, so all I could do was listen to her ramble."

"Ugh, AND we were seated right beside the toilets which smelt of old pee."

- No-Lack4969

"That would be my personal h**l. Just let me read my book, lady."

- Ninyu

Chaos Ensues

"Captain here. Two hours in on an early flight, and the in-charge Flight Attendant advises us we have run out of coffee."

- scooterjay2013

A Strange Turn of Events

"I had a woman next to me on a 15-hour flight, with two kids under the age of five. She sat next to me with the kids on the aisle, and the first thing she did was apologize for what was to come."

"It was terrible, stuff constantly knocked onto the floor, a drink spilled on my leg... but that was just the woman herself."

"She soon swapped seats, and the kids just did normal kid stuff. They were not so bad at all, aside from the occasional accidental bump when they squirmed, while she continued to drop stuff on the floor: food, drink, phone, basically anything on her tray table was going to be on the floor sooner or later."

- FrightenedOfSpoons

"This weirdly sounds like something out of a rom-com."

"Her: 'I'm sorry for the trouble that will be caused.'"

"Him: 'I understand, kids will be kids.'"

"'No, I mean me, I'm a super klutz when flying.'"

"Strangers to Lovers. Annoyance softens to Endearment."

"Instant love story."

- saruhime

A Fuzzy Passenger

"Flying in a small eight-seater from the mainland to an island, a kitten got loose, climbed over the pilot's shoulder, and generally was frantic."

"That's the type of scene that disaster movies start with!"

- GSVNoFixedAbode

"Something similar happened on a flight. It was kind of funny, though, because the pilot got on the P.A. to ask whoever was missing a kitten to please come to retrieve it, in a very official, somewhat annoyed, pilot-ey voice. Pure comedy."

- ljuko

While some of these stories were amusing in the end, most of these were absolutely chilling, and it's no wonder that these Redditors don't enjoy flying or refuse to travel by airplane ever again.

It's pretty safe to say, honestly, that most of us would choose the same thing if we experienced something like this.