Usually, questions about superlatives are difficult to answer. “What's the best," “What's the most," “Who's your favorite," etc. are all so tough to come up with because too many possible options makes narrowing down to one nearly impossible.
But answering which is the worst experience of one's life is dreadfully simple: the event is unparalleled and the answer is obvious.
But it's difficult all the while, for a different reason. The moment was
rockonyou717 asked, "Redditors, what is the worst thing you've ever had to experience?"
Professional Opinions
"I was stung by a Tarantula Hawk once and it was 5 minutes of the most excruciating pain I've ever felt.”
“Like, it sucks so bad the official medical advice for getting stung is to lie down and scream until it's over so you don't accidentally hurt yourself."
-- TheSorge
When a Child Mourns it’s as Confusing as it is Sad
"Good friend of mine committed suicide. We were 13. Just walked into a dead quiet school. Seat next to me was empty in 5th period. Nobody sat there the rest of the year."
"Still have the sticker she gave me a few weeks before she passed. I miss her so bad still."
-- BeeboIsHigh
A Gradual Slipping Away
"Taking care of my wife as she suffered from Alzheimer's. She was beautiful to the very end." -- OldGeezer
"Your answer broke me." -- _i_want_to_go_home
"That's one of the most beautiful statements I have heard in my life.
"As an older guy myself, who has struggled w the thoughts of 'poor me, poor me,' it's uplifting to know there are people like you and relationships that exist, where love or commitment or compassion, last until the end." -- norfolk-gentlemen
First Sadness, Then Rage
"My best friend was murdered when I was a kid. He had a twin sister. We were like the 3 amigos."
"After he was killed I fell into a deep depression and started having sleep paralysis. Killer was caught and felt zero remorse at trial. I wanted to kill the guy."
"His sister and me never recovered our friendship."
-- dbeey270
Pragmatic, Often Unmentioned Details
"Pulling my grandpa's life support 2 days after Christmas. He gagged for air for 30 minutes until he died. My whole family was there."
"He had a massive brain hemorrhage in his sleep the night before. Brain dead on arrival at the hospital. Totally healthy until then."
"I had a shot of whiskey with him 2 days earlier."
-- westdan2
Plugged In and Powerless
"I woke up during an upper endoscopy while intubated. I didn't fully wake up, I just became conscious. Couldn't move or open my eyes."
"Had about 2 hours of feeling like I was suffocating while they finished the procedure."
"Had nightmares for a month and still don't sleep well."
“Well I’ve Had Quite Enough of That.”
"I was on a fire department for a few years after high school."
"A decapitated 3yr old at a car accident, dad through the windshield, basically eviscerated, and the mother with barely a scratch but screaming bloody murder."
"It broke me and I quit a few weeks later."
-- KingBrinell
The Great Scism
"In 2016 I had a tooth removed in the back of my mouth and the hole got infected causing an abscess that pushed my teeth apart."
"When I went to the hospital they told me if I had waited a few more days it would have split my face and broken my jaw."
Dinner for Two
"5th grade, had a parasite for 9 months. Didn't know I had it or what it was, but it was just awful. I skipped nearly that entire school year."
"I didn't eat anything except an applesauce every other day or so. Barely any water. Always had an upset stomach but nothing to throw up, so I often threw up bile which made my throat and mouth feel all burnt."
"I didn't do anything but puke and try to sleep. Didn't talk, didn't watch TV, nothing like that. It hurt way too damn much."
The Poison Cure
"Being diagnosed with cancer and going through chemotherapy during this pandemic. I am young, and was healthy and extremely active before all this. I never got sick."
"The cancer was tough enough, but now I can't even see my friends or family who kept my spirits up."
"I'm terrified I won't make it out of this mentally the same, if at all. Each chemo decimates my immune system. Even a regular cut that gets infected could be life threatening."
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk to him about it.
Of course, most of the time, it was “just a phase". And looking back, those phases are regrettable, to say the least. Here are some prime examples of that.
SirGergoyFriendman asked:
What was your biggest/most regrettable "It's not a phase, mom. It's my life." that, in fact, turned out to be just a phase and not your life?
The enthusiasm of a young person can lead to some unexpected changes that parents are just not ready for.
Hi, Wheeljack!
I was VERY into The Transformers when I was a wee lad in the 1980s. One day, I decided to change my name to the name of my favorite Autobot. My name was lame, and I wanted an awesome Transformer name. And I was VERY insistent that my parents only call me by my new name. Calling me by my 'old' name would cause a big fat tantrum on my part.
So for the better part of a week, my poor parents had to call me Wheeljack.
Very 2008.
Ariana Grande Shrug GIFGiphyMy cat-ear phase. I wore cat ears every single day. Everywhere. I had like 20 pairs of them. Now everyone thinks I'm a furry.
I find that very cute and wouldn't have thought you'd be furry. Even if you'd had cat mittens. I think my suspicions would have started if you moved a bit like a cat, displayed catlike grooming habits or got a cat mask.
Not gonna lie, that car sounds cool.
I went to a car show once as a teen, and the only newer car there was some chick's PT cruiser. It was hot glittery pink, and at the time I was obsessed. I insisted that one day I would have a hot pink car, with pink seats, pink dash, pink carpets, etc. I was pretty heavily goth at the time, so my parents just rolled their eyes.
These phases can often lead to some very strange fashion choices.
That’s commitment.
When I was a teenager (early 00s), I was waiting for my mother to pick me up and was wearing one of those sh!tty sports wristwatches. It was itching me so I took it off for a second, but then she arrived and because I was struggling to get it back on my wrist, I looped it around the equally sh!tty chain I had around my neck in a rush to get out the door.
My mom asked me about it in the car, and I told her this was my new style and I planned to wear it like that every day. She rolled her eyes.
I wore that watch on a chain around my neck every single day for 3 years or so. There are even professional family photos where I'm wearing it because I refused to take it off.
One day, the chain broke and I lost the watch. I was in high school at that point anyway and it was a major lady repellent, so... phase over.
Not everyone can be Eminem.
slim shady eminem GIFGiphyBaggy pants, being a rapper someday and being a professional skater.
When I was about 14 and Eminem was starting to blow up I bought myself a keyboard with a synthesizer. It cost like $200 which was all the money I had saved up. It finally came (this was way before amazon prime and such) and I tried rapping.
My sister told me "you're effing horrible" and I gave up right then and there.
This should be a sin.
I used to button the top buttons of polo shirts.
I must say, this is probably the worst one I've read.
Looking back at our regrettable choices, all we can do is cringe.
An optimistic look at bad tattoos.
check me out season 3 GIF by PortlandiaGiphyBeing a tattooer. Regrettable because of those poor people who have my awful doodles on their bodies.
Take heart! My favorite tattoo is the one I drunkenly got my buddy to do in his living room one year during March Madness! It's dumb and frankly mediocre? But such a good story and has such good associations I smile every time I see it.
RIP Fredro’s.
My friend and I decided we were going to open a bar in Jamaica with exotic snakes in glass cages in the walls at each booth. We convinced ourselves it would be amazing for at least two years in college. It was going to be called Fredro's.
My entire family made fun of me for it. Once we got out of college, we realized it was not feasible and joined the office grind. We're also two white guys with no ties to Jamaica.
Talk about cringey.
I wore a top hat with an anime pin on it for around a year. Met one of my current best friends while wearing it, idk how he could bear to speak to me after that.
My weirdest phase was probably when I insisted on wearing knee-high rainbow socks to school every day. But honestly, I don't regret it. I rocked those socks, and I wish I still have a pair.
To all the people out there cringing over their past selves, remember that you were just a kid, and to be easy on yourselves. After all, we've all been there
Yet, too often, manufacturers who oversell their products fail to deliver what is promised and are inevitably left with angry customers who want their money back.
Whether the merchandise was defective or ridiculously overpriced, strangers online shared some of their worst purchases when Redditor BooksMcGee asked:
"What is the worst product you ever paid money for?"
Short Life Span
"This NERF gun that's supposed to shoot tennis balls for your dog. I bought it cause I thought you could load 3 at a time and shoot them far, but it's just one and it's super loud and the gun broke after like 4 shots (reading reviews later, this was a common issue)."
Lame Pets
"There were these toys called squiggles when I was a kid and the commercials made it seem like the toy was alive. It looked like you would get this crazy little fuzzy worms as pets that would follow you around an so sick tricks and listen to your every command. It was really just a piece of fluffy string tied to another piece of string with googly eyes on it. People may say that it was supposed to be a magic trick but they should also explain that to a 5 year old who really wanted a pet."
Card Value
"Not their fault, but I paid $70 for a Yugioh card hours before it was limited to one copy. Probably dropped to $20 by the end of the day."
These purchases were bad for your bum.
"A bicycle that literally fell apart before I made it out of the parking lot."
Not Worth Sitting On
"Joybird brand couch. Was so terrible, we returned it. Still hard to believe, we returned a freaking couch."
Going Nowhere Fast
"A 2000 VW Beetle (used)."
"Biggest piece of sh*t that literally had to have just about everything replaced before 100k miles and would still break down every time you left the driveway to the point where the tow-truck driver knew us on a first-name basis."
Expensive Lemon
"An Oldsmobile Achieva from one of those buy here pay here places. I should have known better, but I was young and thought I was getting a good deal. I had the thing for about 5 months, I drove it for maybe 3 weeks. The rest of the time it was either in the shop, or in my driveway waiting until pay day so I could afford to fix whatever broke on it this week. Eventually told the dealer just take it, I'm not paying for it any more. He said nope, and I will make sure your credit is ruined. I said well you sold me a lemon, do you really want to go this route? He came and took it. Never reported anything to credit. I heard he got sued by several other people who sold sh**ty cars too and eventually went out of business."
"Always amazes me when I see them driving around still, I can only assume there's enthusiasts who just love repairing horribly designed cars."
– zerbey
These Redditors were not convinced what they ingested was edible.
Bad Cereal
"A box of plain Cheerios. Thought they were honey nut, poured a bowl, was very disappointed."
"If I wanted to taste cardboard, I'd just eat the box."
– gor8884
Space Pizza
"A burnt frozen pizza at the air and space museum cafe in DC. I Don't wish that experience on anyone. There are some amazing restaurants in DC, don't settle."
– Alseids
The following electronics just gave off a bad charge.
"Asus Transformer Pad TF700"
"This was one of those early 'high end' Android tablets that was grossly underpowered, and it showed. Thing was slow as sh!t in no time flat. Rookie mistake investing into shiny new tech while they were still working all the bugs out. Think I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $350-400 for it..."
– Luke5119
Bad Apple
"macbook pro 2018 13" touchbar. 2 years old and dead (battery). they're asking $300-$400 to change the battery. malfunctioning keyboard with double presses and missing presses. that's a lot of money for bad design."
Chilly Reception
"Past winter my old room heater broke down and I had to buy a new one. Went to a store nearby and somehow got convinced to buy a very costly heating device.. It's also my fault, since there were some sligthly cheaper options around, but nope. I wanted the expensive one thinking it will make my small room a volcano with little to no effort/cost (that's also what the seller told me). Long story short the device wasn't doing ANYTHING. No significant temperature changes, too much space, a weird noise, and was doubling my previous device in utility cost. I still gloom over those 80 euros.."
Some of my disappointing purchases was clothing, but only because I purchased them online. Unless they are a brand I'm familiar with, I'm usually fine with buying new jeans off of their websites.
But when it comes to graphic tees only available on specialty shops, an M-size shirt is not necessarily the same size as those found in other reputable stores.
I bought a medium sized T-shirt from a boutique store online because I loved the look of the design. But when it arrived, the supposed medium fit me like an XL.
At least I gained a fierce cleaning rag from this impulsive purchase.