People Share Their Best 'It Won't Happen To Me' Until It Did Stories

Standards Of Living

Poverty. It hits you fast, and hard. Both my parents were off work most of last summer. We still haven't recovered and it's just getting worse.

BeanByte12

Oh man this one is too real. All of a sudden dad has no money and I didn't know until our power outage was actually the company turning the lights off. Mom got laid off maybe four years later, aka Dec 31st. Right now, out of 6 people of working age in my family, I'm the only one with a job. It's so surreal to me bc I grew up a pretty healthy lower middle class. I had to learn to be poor as an adult. I help with what I can but I help support my gf through her upper education on a $26k a year salary in California. I can only do so much when I wish I could do everything.

LynnisaMystery

The Bottle Down

Alcoholism. After a breakup a year-ish ago, I wanted to feel numb and now I drink too much too often.

L_S_Morningstar

I feel this. It wasn't a break up for me, it's been my anxiety over the past year, maybe just under a full year now. About half way through last year I just decided drinking whenever I felt like that was just the easiest way to take the edge off.

Spoiler alert - I was wrong.

I spiraled, acted self destructive and now I am just trying to get my sh*t together again.

Please see someone, a counsellor, family/friends or AA (or the likes) because honestly that was the most important step for me and as hard as it was (and how shameful I felt beforehand) I am so glad I took the steps.

I wish you all the best! :)

_catappleinktea

Survivor; Don't Give Up; Don't Stop

My mom getting shot during a robbery/ gang initiation.

This is the story. About 8 years ago my mother was working for a family owned pawn shop with another worker and around closing time just as they had put up the jewelry and other valuables the suspect barged in shot the co-worker dead and preceded to have my mother get into the safe they had put everything in. Once he was done he had her kneel facing forward and planned to shoot her execution style.

However she happened to turn her head towards him as he fired causing the bullet to instead hit her in the eye, it ricocheted and ended up next to her carotid artery. She played dead, he tried to fire a couple of more times but the gun jammed and he left. After my mother felt like she waited long enough she found the phone and dialed 911 and she was rushed to the hospital. They had to put her in a chemically induced coma and got most of the shrapnel during the surgery. She was in a coma for about a month or 2. They did end up catching the guy he was put on trial and my mom testified, he was given life for murder, 30 years for attempted murder and a few other things. My mother is still alive today and is well. I'm very grateful she's still around even after everything that happened.

Germanreaper217

A Chef's Nightmare

My husband was helping cut up carrots for stir fry using a mandolin (super sharp). His mom was telling him to be careful because he could take his finger off with it, and not a few seconds after he says "I'll be fine" I hear "oh crap".

We (his mom and I) were both like "are you joking?" Until he drops the carrot and goes for paper towel.

It was just a sliver of thumb, but it was taking forever to stop bleeding even with good pressure so we went to the ER. When I signed him in I wrote "mistook finger for carrot" in the "Reason for Visit" line.

TheRoseByAnotherName

Poorly Trained Pit

My dog and me getting attacked by two pit bulls. You always hear stories about this, and I never ever thought it would happen. We're both okay thankfully, but, if you'd have seen or heard it, you would have thought someone was surely dying.

jaygunn77

Against All Odds

Having a kid. Years of skateboard and unfortunate freak accidents basically ruined my nads, with doctors telling me I was 95% sterile. My SO was told she was infertile, and on birth control. We are expecting our first child in October.

ac_thepenguin

Favourable New Points Of View

Marriage.

I was heavily against it as a kid and teen since when my parents split up dad ended up getting pretty much all property and paid us a pittance (he transferred cars etc to his relatives etc) and the judge was absolutely fine with him getting super low child support (roughly $50 a month for a kid, in late 90s Czech Republic) etc and we got kicked out of a flat my mother's parents bought for us and so on.

But then you meet the one and you know it is the one.

That was the point when I realised there is a marginal difference when the marriage is because you knocked someone up during a one night stand but her dad is pretty high up in law enforcement and freaking scary dude (father left after my grandfather's funeral, he could not make it more obvious that he was scared shitless by grandpa) vs when the marriage is because you met someone absolutely amazing, caring, understanding and overall the exact right match for you. And suddenly I found myself looking up differences between diamond and moissanite, asking her parents if she has like any rare metals allergy (never seen her wearing gold or silver, only high grade stainless steel, titanium etc) and measuring her favourite ring when she's shaving her legs.

TheTeaSpoon

Luck Is The Only Reason I Got Through This

Car accident. I don't know anybody who was ever in one, and I've only witnessed like 2 or 3 in my life.

Ended up flipping my truck because I was being an idiot. Both me and the person in the truck walked away without a scratch, but the guilt of putting someone else in harms way has haunted me for years.

CarterMT099

Bringing Down The House

This summer the lightning struck my house and started a fire. The walls are still standing but they had to tear down almost every bit of interior and most of the things we owned are now gone. Luckily neither me, my parents or my sister was home, but we had left our German Shepherd so that he didn't have to be in a hot car all day.

It's just something that happens to others, because why would it ever happen to you?

havawastaken

Catfishing Is WILD

My 'best friend' catfishing me.

This was last year and I'm still kind of shaken up about it now. I wasn't into him (I'm a woman btw) but I told him both my dream guy / girl. He then created this completely fabricated person who fit those profiles and tricked me into falling in love with them.

He was my best friend so I trusted everything he told me, he even created fake friends and bullies for them it was insane. That 'Girl' who we're going to call L tried to pressure me into having my first kiss with my best friend at the time. I jokingly said 'oh maybe Haha' but i still made it clear that i didn't want to. A few days before he went away on holiday he attempted to kiss me and it escalated. A few days later I found out he had been lying about all this and he's now not allowed to be near me, talk to me or even make eye contact with me. Safe to say it was a nuts situation.

forwardbackbone