Top Stories

People Share The Worst Cases Of Someone Playing The Victim When It Was Their Own Fault

People Share The Worst Cases Of Someone Playing The Victim When It Was Their Own Fault
Free-Photos/Pixabay

Some people really like to play things up for sympathy. Most of the time, something bad really did happen, and sympathizing with someone definitely isn't a bad thing.

Sometimes it is super obvious that whatever happened to them was entirely of their own doing, though. This often comes out pretty quickly during conversation.

Below you'll find stories of the most obviously self-made disasters ever, and their after effects.


Redditor Penguin__Farts asked:

"What's the worst case you've seen of someone trying to play the victim when it was all their own fault?"

Organ Failure

During a Sunday liturgy, I gave the priest the proper intonation for the Gloria in Excelsis, but he started chanting the "Sanctus" instead (which comes much later in the Mass).

No one knew how (or if) to respond, so the place fell silent.

Afterward, the priest blamed me (the organist) for giving him "the wrong intonation" instead of simply admitting that he wasn't infallible and had made a simple mistake.

-Back2Bach

Walk On

My ex wife loves to do this.

She had an affair, left me and our kid for the guy, got a DWI and the car I cosigned for was repossessed.

Every time I hear from her I get to listen to her complain about how she has to walk to work and how she has to borrow lunch money because child support took $129 out of her check and our son never calls her and she hasn't seen him in over a year.

-r4x

Free Ride

A former friend and housemate—who I stupidly let live at my place rent free and who I gave some pretty significant help towards lawyer fees—lost her mind when I started voicing my concerns over her new boyfriend. She was still technically married to another man, and the new boyfriend was into all sorts of cultish, New Age, Spirit Science craziness.

Oh, and they would do things like make these lavish meals in the kitchen and not clean up, or block my car in the driveway. Then she went on a rant in which she compared me to her abusive soon-to-be-ex-husband—because I hadn't put away a container of cinnamon immediately after using it.

When I served an eviction notice to the b-bomb, she gave Academy Award-level performance for melodrama of her own making.

-VeronicaS2018

Cat Logic

My cat plays with the closet door and sometimes shuts himself in. Then I get an angry cat yowling to get let out and acts like I'm the one that locked him in there.

-CluelessSerena

Guilt Trip

My mom consistently tries to play the victim when we (her kids) don't want to see her.

She'll post on Facebook about how her kids don't love her, call extended family members to complain, and just make stuff up so that people think we don't love her or something.

In reality she makes it so unbearable to visit her we don't want too. She tries to treat us like we're still toddlers. First time I brought my wife (yep I'm married) to see her i was going to book a hotel. My mom threw a fit because I wasn't staying at her place. So my wife convinces me to give my moms place a chance, because at this point she doesn't know.

My mom said she'd have the guest bedroom ready for us. In reality it was a twin bed with toy story bedding and a princess sleeping bag on the ground. Well I can barely fit into a twin bed so my wife took it while I slept on the ground. We got a hotel the next night.

During the next couple days my mom:

  • Tried to convince us to give her a grandchild
  • Bought my wife lingerie (presumably to make her a grandchild)
  • Tried to put me in timeout
  • Threatened to spank and mouthsoap my wife
  • Tried to sleep in our hotel room
  • Took us to babies r us to try to convince us to have a kid

And a bunch of other things.

Yet in all this she's the victim of kids who don't love her. I've literally gotten calls from extended family telling me how I have to see my mom more.

-john8214

I was in line in my car to enter an amusement park. All of a sudden the car in front of me threw on their reverse lights and backed into me hard.

I got out and was talking to the driver, a 17 year old girl, about what I needed—her driver license and insurance info. She kept trying to delay giving me the info because she wanted to call her parents first. Fine, no problem..... she calls her dad and as they were talking she calms down and her face lights up.

She turns to me and says loudly and in a snarky tone while holding the phone towards me to get my reaction:

"Did I hit you, or did you hit me? Because before I backed up, I checked my mirror and my passenger checked hers and you weren't there and then all of a sudden we felt a hit....."

I replied:

"Are you implying I rear ended you?"

"I'm not sure, but I think you might have."

I point to my car:

"Do you see that little thing beside my rear view mirror, that's a dash cam and it's been recording since I left my house and is currently recording our conversation. Now, if you want to go this route, we can, but the police are going to be notified....."

Now she starts crying and says on the phone:

"No dad, he has a dashcam and it's recording everything."

Then come the waterworks, she starts trying to get me to talk to her dad, that he will take care of it etc. etc..... Finally I got the info out of her and had to get the front end of my car fixed.

A dashcam saved my butt. Get one.

-Cruel_Hand_Luke_

Liar, Liar

My best friend's ex-girlfriend. Basically her ex was kicked out of her parent's house when she told them she was a lesbian. She moved in with my best friend since they were dating at the time.

At first she told my bf that she was too depressed to find a job. My best friend was okay with that even if it meant she'd have to work more, which she did. She even found a second part time job.

For the next six months, whenever my best friend asked her if she found a job she'd always get the "I'm too depressed" response. Eventually my best friend finds out her girlfriend cheated on her. Her excuse for cheating was "you're always at work and never have time for me. I need someone who will be there for me."

My best friend kicks her out and then her ex blames her for having to move back in with her parents. The kicker: turns out her parents never really kicked her out, she was just tired of them telling her to get a job.

-Lo-Fi_Kuzco

False Witness

I once witnessed a car accident where a lady blew a red light and another car (whose light had clearly turned green) didn't see her and hit her broadside. (The innocent driver had her view obscured by my vehicle also entering the intersection—I was able to stop, but she couldn't.) After the impact, witnesses stopped to help, and the lady who ran the red light tried to argue she was going through on a yellow and that her neck hurt.

Apparently she had the nerve to attempt a lawsuit over it, because I was later interviewed (deposed?) over the phone by crazy lady's lawyer who tried to trip me up by saying another witness claimed to be the same place I was. Too bad, man. I was right there, and there's no way in heck you can paint me as an unreliable witness for your client to steal money from an innocent for her own stupid mistake.

-THofTheShire

Customer Disservice

An employee was being fired for a multitude of infractions at a coffee shop. He had been caught by management calling customers things like 'dumb *ss' and 'stupid f**k' under his breath and several customers had also reported the behavior.

He was constantly late or would leave early or beg others to cover his shift. Instead of restocking or cleaning the area during down times he would take out his drumsticks and 'practice', which annoyed the other employees and customers.

During inventory counts we noticed whole pallets of sandwiches or baked goods were 'missing' as well as bottled drinks, etc... We were mysteriously out of huge 5 lbs bags of the espresso roast. The numbers were not adding up.

He was subsequently fired after being caught bad mouthing a customer while a visiting manager was also in the cafe (the guy didn't know it). The guy blamed all the issues on everyone else:

- late to work turned into 'I missed the bus' or 'my roommate forgot to wake me up in time'

- leaving early turned into 'well I got a call for a gig/there was a concert I wanted to see'

- food missing turned into 'I didn't have money to eat and it's the companies responsibility to ensure I'm fed while on the clock'

- calling customers names turned into 'they misunderstood me' Management said 'what part of calling a customer a dumb f**k is a misunderstanding?' followed by 'not my fault they're so sensitive'.

All this dudes problems were blamed on everyone else and all his issues and situation in life was blamed on everyone else.

Us employees stopped inviting him out because at bars he would order drinks and tell the bartender one of us was covering and skip out or leave rapidly before check was presented to us. He would also walk around tables when people got up to dance or talk in a group and guzzle down their drinks. He was an all over sh*tty person.

Found out after he was fired from our store he was hired by a Starbucks in the mall—who failed to call for a reference or check even though our store was listed as previous place of employment. He was caught stealing money and food from there too.

-Gemutich7

Best Excuses For Late Assignments That Were Actually True | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

Teachers have heard every excuse in the book from students who were trying to pull a fast one. We all know the classics: 'dog ate my homework,' 'my car burst...

Oops...

An older lady walked into a construction area where she knew she wasn't supposed to go just to snoop around when the workers weren't there and then sued because she slipped on a plastic floor covering. She worked there. She knew the area was off limits. Did it anyway.

-black_flag_4ever

Wedding Bell Blues

My mom ruined my courthouse wedding, called me selfish and made fun of my shoes on my wedding day, and made me swear to her that I wouldn't tell our family I was getting married until we had a big ceremony.

Then proceeded to go behind my back and tell people anyway. She is now genuinely surprised that I am upset and going around crying to all my aunts and uncles about how her only daughter will not speak to her.

-twoplustw0equalsfive

🎵 At The Car Wash...🎶

A woman rear-ended my car in the car wash of all places. She failed to put her car in Neutral and rolled right into me.

She then proceed to yell at me and insist that it was my fault for "not going fast enough".

After we finally convinced her that the track always goes the same speed, she decided to blame the CAR WASH EMPLOYEE for making the track too slow.

-cmmayfield

Too Late

Sometimes my children ask me why they've met my mother but never met my father, I tell them he died a long time ago when I was a kid. In reality, my dad used to be an abusive drunk, and my mother had to kick him out because he used to beat on us kids.

We used to spend weekends at his new house but around the time I turned 10 he told my mother to stop dropping us off, and gave her a shoe box full of all the pictures he had of us. We tried calling him on holidays every now and again, but he finally just told us to stop contacting him altogether.


Last year my mother passed away, and he decided to reach out to me and expressed he had changed and wanted to make things up to me. I told him it was ok, I filled him in on how I was doing in life and sent him pictures of my children...but I expressed I was already a man, and don't need a father anymore, but he was forgiven for the 20 year absence.

He then proceeded to tell me that I'm horrible for pushing him away and abandoning him, that he was dying and just wanted to fix things. So I just explained to him, it's already forgiven but he abandoned me and I had no time for his foolishness. I wish things would have been different, but he's too much of a bad influence to allow in my children's lives.

-oldcoffee

Friends Don't Let Friends...

Facebook drama from a few years ago, this girl was leaving a bar drunk, and she backed her car into the car of someone she was an acquaintance with while exiting the parking lot, then the next day went off on him for telling the police he saw her do it, when he knew she was poor and could have just said he didn't see it and had his insurance pay.

She kept digging a deeper hole and all the replies were like "don't drive drunk", it was glorious.

-ElToberino

Competition

I quit my job and set up my own competing business with my ex-employer after he failed to pay me for 2 months claiming non payment from the clients.

He had a massive go at me after I confronted him with receipts from the clients to show payment and he accused me of making him look bad in front of his clients and that he didn't owe me the money because "some people are bosses and some people are employees" hence why I quit the job and set up for myself because last time I checked, slavery is illegal in the UK.

I also warned a few of my ex coworkers to be careful and not let him rack up debt with them because of what he did to me (they are nice people with young families and don't deserve to be taken advantage of, like he did to me).

I take him to court to try to recoup the money he owed me for the work I completed and the judge ruled in my favour for the full amount of just over £4000. He then plays the victim card with everyone he knows and says that I made him and his family homeless despite the fact that he never paid me a penny of the money owed.

£4000 is like 5-6 months rent in a decent neighborhood in my city. Honestly blows my mind every time I think about it.

Short story: The dude stole over £4000 from me, never pays me back, blames me for making his family homeless.

-Trumanhazzacatface

Creeper

This guy got upset saying we were always talking about him behind his back. He would creep up to the door in our apartment and stand there listening to our conversations. Of course we would talk about him!

He owed 2 of us over 600 dollars and refused to pay it. And then WE were the bad people because we would talk about it, in our own apartment, not knowing he is creeping around the door.

-PolarPanda86

You Can't Handle The Truth

My crazy college girlfriend cheated on me and then blamed me for causing problems in our relationship by being "obsessed with the truth" as I figured out what had happened.

-refreshing_username

Self-Made Man

Local business owner/friend asked a lot of his regular customers to invest in his new business in Atlanta, by buying shares. I bought in, knowing we wouldn't break even for at least three years, but that he could sell religion to the Pope. Had losses for two years, break even at three as predicted.

Four years in, he closes the Atlanta store and opens in another town, but this time he's doing it all with "his own money". Bullsh*t, he's doing it with the inventory and proceeds from the Atlanta store. Even has a shiny new house, cars, the works for his new venture.

He's shocked to the core, and hurt, I tell you, hurt and disappointed! when all the share holders took him to court.

-Flahdagal

2.

When I was teaching, I had a student I adored who had some behavior problems. I did everything I could to support him. One day, we were taking a test and he was talking. I reminded him several times that talking during a test is not allowed, and I would have him go in the hallway if he continued.

He continued talking, so I told him to go into the hall. He called me autistic on his way out (His favorite insult) and so I wrote him a referral. I called his parents and they didn't answer, so I sent an e mail explaining what happened, that he got a referral, and that I hope we can work together to help him manage his reactions.

His mother responded saying that My behavior is UNACCEPTABLE and that she is done speaking with me and I will hear from her lawyer. She went all the way up to the district level to complain about me, telling all sorts of lies and making me look like a horrible person. I don't teach anymore.

-inkishworks

Reversal Of Fortune

I was in a crowded parking lot, driving around looking for a space. There was one car ahead of me. The car ahead of me stopped, so I stopped as well. (I'm not sure why she stopped because there were no empty spaces and no one was pulling out, but whatever).

Then, before I even had time to react, her reverse lights came on and she came flying backwards towards me. I didn't even have time to honk. She slammed into the front of my car, got out of her car, and started screaming that I hit her.

When officers arrived, she was crying and shaking and complaining that her neck hurt. And cursing me for slamming into the back of her car.

Thankfully, two people had been walking through the parking lot when this occurred and told the officer what really happened. Later, the driver of the car that hit me, tried to tell her insurance company that I knew the witnesses and that's why they lied. I didn't know the witnesses by the way.

At any rate, if the witnesses hadn't stuck around to give statements, I'd have been screwed.

-super_nice_shark

Infamous Internet Rumors That Ended Up Being True

Reddit user strakerak asked: 'What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?'

boy playing at laptop inside room
Photo by Ludovic Toinel on Unsplash

In 2017, I returned to my office after my lunch break to hear my supervisors discussing Tom Petty. This seemed like a random topic to me until one of my supervisors told me Tom Petty had passed away. He was a huge fan of Petty and spent the next hour or so combing through the internet to get more information.

He came back into the room my other supervisor and I were working in and announced that Tom Petty wasn't dead after all. News outlets had jumped the gun to announce his death, but he was actually still alive.

The next day, I came in to find out that Tom Petty was dead; the news may have been premature, but true.

This is a classic example of the rumor being started on the internet. Sometimes, like with the news of Tom Petty's death, the rumor can run wild and appear everywhere. Other times, the rumor can be seen by just a few people and dismissed. However, a lot of times, these rumors turn out to be true.

Redditors know a lot of internet rumors that turned out to be true, and are eager to share.

It all started when Redditor strakerak asked:

"What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?"

The King Of Pop

"Michael Jackson writing the music for Sonic 3."

"He actually did, but was never credited on the game because it would breach his contract with his record label."

– -WigglyLine-

"He did the same when he appeared on The Simpsons. He appeared under a pseudonym, and the Producers said it was an impersonator."

"Only years later they confirmed it really was Michael."

"His singing voice was actually done by an impersonator, though."

– given2fly_

The Truth Comes Out

"In 1998, US Men’s National Team captain John Harkes was shockingly cut from the team right before the World Cup. The coach claimed it was because Harkes wouldn’t fit into his new preferred formation, but rumors flew on the early internet that it was actually because he had slept with his teammate Eric Wynalda’s wife. The rumor was so well-known in soccer circles that Harkes expressly denied it in his autobiography the next year."

"Fast forward 12 years to 2010 and Wynalda admits it’s true. The coach then came out and admitted it was why he dropped Harkes, but that he’d planned to keep the secret as long as Wynalda did."

– guyfromsoccer

Video Evidence

"The Tim Burton Hansel and Gretel that aired once on halloween in the 80's."

"I heard for years that it was fake but I knew it was real because my dad recorded everything in the 80s and he recorded that. We let a good friend of ours borrow it and switch it over from VHS to DVD and soon after that it made its way on to the internet , and there it is now. I know it's our copy because the tracking in the beginning is screwed up. Still have the VHS."

– Frozenthickness

"There was a similar story with a Nickelodeon movie called Cry Baby Lane. It was supposed to be so scary that Nickelodeon got complaints and denied its existence for years. Someone uploaded a taped copy to youtube about a decade ago."

– PattiAllen

The Movie Business

"That North Korea hacked Sony Pictures because of The Interview movie."

"I worked in the movie business at the time and the account managers at Sony all basically needed to get new identities as all of their personal information got leaked online."

OldMastodon5363

"My partner worked on that movie and the production bought all the crew 1 year of an identity theft tracking service."

CMV_Viremia

Keep Away From The Ears Of Kids

"Some banned episodes or scenes of cartoons."

"For example, I remember there was a Dexter’s Lab cartoon where he clones evil versions of DeDe and himself and they swear like every other word (censored of course), and people debated whether it even existed cause they only aired it like once. Now it’s pretty accessible online."

– Spledidlife

Yes, It's True

"Echelon, a massive electronic espionage system by the US and allies to intercept all electronic messages, especially emails."

"In the mid-nineties it was a topic on conspiracy BBS boards. A lot of people in my bubble at the time (mainly uni students in Europe) were including fake threats to the US in the their email signatures as a way to "protest" and "fill the system with false alarms" (obviously useless)."

"Then, in 1999-2000 came out to be true and a lot of security service agencies from UK and other US allies started to admit they were part of the espionage network."

– latflickr

How The Mighty Fell

"John Edward’s love child."

– ACam574

"A reminder that he was cheating on his wife while she was hospitalized for cancer treatment."

– Fanclock314

Ugh...

"Carrie Fisher's heart attack. Some a**hole who was on the same flight was livetweeting the whole medical emergency and justified it by insisting she was just making sure the family was informed."

– everylastlight

It Actually Happened

"Every year around her birthday there was a rumor that Betty White died. When I heard she died, I scoffed, saying that dumb rumor is back.... then saw it on the news. I was in shock."

– Known-Committee8679

"The fact that Betty died literally right before she turned 100 is such a Betty White way to go out."

– Paganigsegg

Big Actor, Small Roles

"I distinctly remember some rumors about the reason why Bruce Willis was taking so many roles in sh*tty movies before it was announced he has dementia."

– KampferMann

"RedLetterMedia did a deep dive on his recent movie activity to try and work out why exactly he was taking part in basically scam-movies. They noticed he had an earpiece in one of the scenes and joked that the director was feeding him lines. I remember they even disclaimed over the rumours at the time, and possible made a follow-up vid when it was revealed to the public."

– CardinalCreepia

What To Do Next?

"That the writer of LOST were making it up as they went."

"Turned out to be absolutely true."

– homarjr

That last one was kind of obvious!

Do you have any to add? Let us know in the comment below.

Person holding large stack of books
Photo by Jay Lamm on Unsplash

Whether you're naturally interested in fun facts and trivia or not, it's always nice to know a few that you can pull out of your pocket at a moment's notice as a nice conversation starter.

But there are some fun facts out there that are so weird, people become more preoccupied with how the teller found out that information rather than the information itself.

Redditor Dry_Bus_935 asked:

"What is your 'don't ask me how I know' random fact?"

Nuclear Fail Safe

"You have quite a lot of time, certainly more than ten seconds, to turn back on the main pumps of a nuclear reactor once you have accidentally turned them off."

- egorf

"I'm not surprised. The amount of fail safes, redundancies, and emergency scenario planning for nuclear power plants is insane."

"I toured a nuclear plant and wrote my high school senior thesis on the plans put in place to ensure the Fukushima disaster would not happen at that plant."

"I'm sure the secondary pumps are plenty capable of handling the reactor until the main pumps are repaired or just turned back on."

- Borderlandsman

Happy Cat

"If your cat chews on fresh eucalyptus, they might start hallucinating and fall over repeatedly, leading to a $400 emergency vet bill just to be told she’s just kinda high."

- oddidealstronghold

"And, that's part of why koalas love it. Little stoners."

- littlebluefoxy

Archaeology: Do Not Lick

"Old human bones are very porous, so if you lick them, they’ll stick to your tongue."

- clanculcarius

Sharing is Caring

"A pigeon will only eat a Starburst if you chew it up a little bit first. Just to clarify: chew the Starburst, not the pigeon."

- OhTheHueManatee

"Instructions unclear. Pigeon unhappy."

- Wild-Lychee-3312

Intriguing Anatomy

"Everyone is here with the creepy crime stuff, and I'm just like, 'A soft fur rat has 22 nipples.'"

- horroscoblue

"Okay, so either they have really small nipples, their nipples overlap, or they have nipples in places where there shouldn't be nipples."

"(I've never written the word 'nipples' so many times in a singular sentence before.)"

- GdeGraaf

'Don't Ask Me,' Indeed!

"Turmeric can be used as clothes dye. It is capable of permanently dyeing cotton cloth even after it has passed through the digestive tract of an adult male."

- SlefeMcDichael

"You s**t your pants, didn't you?"

- PMmecrossstitch

"I'd prefer not to answer that question."

- SlefeMcDichael

High-Risk Survival Skills

"If you ever trying to survive in the Arctic, don’t eat polar bear liver. It is so high in vitamin A, it will kill you."

- WrongWayCorrigan-361

"It's also surrounded by a lethal amount of angry polar bear."

- horanc2

Real-Life Spies

"TV shows and movies go out of their way to make military/intelligence officers look bada**."

"But real-life 'spies,' by design and training, are boring. They have regular houses and standard second-hand cars, they dress down, and they have vague, boring job titles (accounts receivable) as cover, and they do not draw attention to themselves. Most come from specialized academia."

- Ok_Worth_1093

Haunting Reality

"Your muscles can keep twitching for several hours after you die."

- JustDave62

"Also, beards can appear to grow. This is however not because the beard itself grows but because the skin shrinks."

- RRautamaa

"I worked at a morgue for over eight years. If you grasp the hand of a dead body to move the arm, the hand will grasp back, but that's just muscles and tendons reacting to the tension."

- goneferalinid

The Sneakiness of Drowning

"When a drowning victim is revived, get them to a hospital as soon as possible. Drowning is the leading cause of death of kids from the age of one to seven and is ruled as accidental drowning when it comes to secondary drowning or dry drowning."

"Basically, your lungs are full of water despite being revived. Your lungs will absorb the liquid, but not before your body acidifies from high levels of carbon dioxide. The only chance to survive is to have the lungs pumped with oxygen via CPAP machine and time."

"Also, drowning is extremely quiet. You don’t hear the victim go under. And if you see flailing, do not attempt to save the victim otherwise you’ll become another drowning victim. Throw them a lifeline and hope their amygdala realizes that a rope or something is floating near them and grabs on it."

- Dfiggsmeister

Not Everyone's Favorite Chocolate

"Hershey’s chocolate has the strong smell of vomit or feces to some people (me), and that’s because they use butyric acid as a preservative. Butyric acid is the compound that makes vomit smell so bad."

"Edit: Digging further into it, there are some claims that they may not be “adding” the butyric acid, but rather it is occurring from essentially spoiling the milk in their milk chocolate. Either way, the butyric acid and putrid smell remains a part of their product."

- hefewiseman1

"That explains the weird aftertaste I always get! I don’t smell it but their chocolate always has this super unpleasant sharp/acidic aftertaste that I find repulsive. I assume this is why!!"

- PomegranateNo975

Do Not Lick the Asbestos

"Asbestos tastes like chalk. And if you lick it, it has the texture of extremely gritty sandpaper. Which is actually the feeling of microscopic asbestos needles piercing your flesh!"

- TooYoungToBeThisOld1

Mapping Out the War

"Beginning in 1911 in anticipation of the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, two statesmen, one from England and one from France, began visiting locations in France that they believed would be the settings for a number of major battles that would occur during the great war."

"Long bike rides through these future battle zones in the countryside and weeks spent building a foundation for a French-Anglo codebook that would later prove important in helping win the war."

- fjordperfect123

Avoiding Lawsuits > Protecting Patients

"Doctors, or surgeons more specifically, that make too many mistakes during surgery, ie, leaving instruments in patients, frequently gets ‘quietly traded’ to other hospitals where they continue their path of destruction with the patients not being aware of their past record. Hospitals tend to keep quiet about the matter to avoid lawsuits."

- Kittytigris

Bonus Points: Do This While Having Lunch in Your Car

"If you overfill a fast food gravy cup and then put a lid on, it will create a pressurized gravy stream that sprays all over your face and uniform while your coworker looks on in horror."

- thechaosjester776

This subReddit thread was so a roller-coaster of random facts, we've surely all walked away learning something.

But the biggest takeaway might just be: Maybe don't lick so many things.

Shocked woman covering her mouth
vaitheeswaran Nataraj/Unsplash

When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.

But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.

Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.

It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.

Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:

"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"

These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.

Bleeding Out

"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."

"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."

– DongLaiCha

Tragic News

"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."

– accountnameredacted

Bottom Of The Barrel

"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."

– Crotch-Monster

A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.

Like Father, Like Son

"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."

– psycospaz

Busted

"Flashing blue lights."

– FiddleOfGold

"This sobered me up just thinking about it."

– redmaple_syrup

Losing Sight

"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."

– MissHibernia

Quitting The Bottle

"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."

– omgtater

These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.

Unplanned House Guests

"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."

– Oneinsevenbillion75

Serious Health Warning

"Elevated liver enzymes."

"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."

"So I opted for recovery, instead."

"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."

– Far_Meal8674

The Joyride

"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."

– foxfood9116

The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?

How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.

But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.

Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.

Woman holding multiple shopping bags
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.

Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.

These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.

From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.

Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:

"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"

"Tale As Old As Time..."

"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","

"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."

"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."

"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."

"Lol!"

"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom

"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."

"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."

"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."

"I think he was a germaphobe."

"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."

"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."

"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.

"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."

"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."

"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000

Money Burn GIF by nog Giphy

Who Wore It Better?

"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."

"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."

"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."

"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'

"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"

"No."- mertsey627

Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...

"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."

"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."

"It was very low key."

"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."

"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."

"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."

"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."

"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa

south park wedding GIF Giphy

See You In Court!

"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."

'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."

"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."

"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."

"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."

"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin

It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!

"I work in a public library."

"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."

"A popular book that just came out."

"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."

"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten

A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!

"My own."

"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"

"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."

"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"

"Unacceptable!"

"This shall not stand!"

"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."

"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."

"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."

"I got over it."- DeathGrover

homer simpson episode 23 GIF Giphy

Holy Matrimony!

"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."

"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."

"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."

"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."

"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."

"It's just a party."

"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree

When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...

"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore

In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...

"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."

"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."

"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."

"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."

"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."

"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."

"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."

"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."

"We don’t offer wrapping services."

"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."

'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae

Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso Giphy

Happiest Place On Earth!

"I used to work for Disney."

"That in itself should tell you everything."

"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."

"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."

"Suddenly got worse huh?"

"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."

"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."

"I'm not kidding."

"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."

"My wife worked booking."

"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."

"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."

"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."

"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."

"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."

"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong

Disney World GIF Giphy

The horror!

Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!

It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...

Said absolutely no one.