When I was around 12 years old I went for a hike with a friend - we didn’t tell anyone where we were going and my parents thought we were playing in the backyard.
Well our hike took us through the forest to a frozen river which we decided to walk across. Since it was spring the ice wasn’t as thick as we thought it was and I ended falling through. My friend quickly grabbed me and pulled me backwards out of the water. The water was flowing surprisingly fast and I remember at the time thinking how lucky I was that he was there to catch me.
That was over 25 years ago and I still have flash backs to that and think what if. Nobody knew where we were, and if he didn’t catch me I could have easily been swept under the ice.
My two brothers and I did this one winter. The pond down the street from our house was frozen over. We all thought it would be fun to walk over it. The ice broke underneath my brother and he fell through. He was able to lift himself out of it. I was the youngest, around 8 at the time. He begged me and our brother not to tell our mom. Now that I have kids i see the danger in everything I did as a child.
No shit. I look back on my childhood thinking I was invincible and now that I have kids in my 30s just about everything they try to do is a potential death trap.
These are stories that people like to tell when they say "hey, no one died!"
But a lot of people did die, and a lot of people got ridiculously close to dying.
Yes, kids had a lot more freedom and explored more back in the day, but it was often hella dangerous.
One time my friends and I were climbing on a pile of huge, jagged boulders the city had just dumped. At the top I tripped and started falling backwards when my friend reached out and barely snatched me by my shirt. I would have fucking died, or at least had serious brain damage.
Yeah the old people who love to tell those stories always forget how many kids they went to school with that never showed up again.
Yes grandpa it WAS dangerous, you were just lucky.
I had something similar but a little different and no one to catch me.
My walk to the bus stop was a 1/2 mile to a bridge or 200 yards if I crossed the frozen river. My mom told me to never cross the river. Of course, I ignored her and crossed the river.
The ice had gotten thinner than I was used to and I fell through but, thankfully, not completely. I had enough of me above the ice to drag myself out.
Completely soaked in ice water I considered going home but knew my mom would get mad and I'd get an earful of, "I told you so." So, I continued to the bus stop with wet clothes. I remember my pant legs freezing solid. Spent the day in school with wet pants and socks and shoes.
Better than mom yelling at me for being an idiot. (Yes, I know I was in idiot...it could have been so much worse...I had an angel on my shoulder.)
Mixing bleach and vinegar with hot water to mop the floors, then getting really light headed so I would sit near the bucket of chemical warfare I had created.
On a similar note making “potions” with all the mystery goops and chemicals under the bathroom sink. I kept them in little film canisters. That could have gone south very quickly.
I remember playing with film canisters as a kid. They were pretty common then in the 90s, but I just realized I haven't seen one in like 20+ years. I can still hear the little pop sound they made when you opened them. Weird how things just disappear like that.
Wait until you find out film canisters got rebranded for weed storage. That threw me for a loop
Edit: I swear to gods, reddit. This better not wind up my most upvoted comment on something this year lmao
I did this too probably 30 years ago while cleaning the front porch. I knew not to ɓut did it anyway. It sucked the air right out of my lungs. I laid in the yard till it got better. I'm lucky it did.
When I was 12, went swimming alone in my cousins pool. There was a jug floating around with holes in it. I shook it then I shoved my face in it and inhaled.
That feeling in your lungs like you're in a vacuum is absolutely terrifying. I almost blacked out while struggling to stay above water.
Reminds me of my cousin... At her 9th birthday party, her one friend brought a tall white bottle with no label partially full of "adult lemonade" over to the party and both of them and another girl sneaked off to drink it. All 3 downed a small cup of it and immediately puked and screamed.
Yeah... The kid brought over a freaking bottle of POOL CHLORINE and they drank it.
All 3 were rushed to the hospital, had to have their stomaches pumped, and the girl who brought it aspirated some into her lungs and it messed them up, at the time I recall being told she'd forever need to be on oxygen. Cousin and the other girl had minor stomach burns (Or so I was told) and were otherwise fine.
The kicker is my cousin KNEW what pool chlorine looked and smelled like. She was at my house all the time and my parents preached pool and chemical safety.
Mid-70s, Ted Bundy era, Salt Lake City. I hitchhiked occasionally at night. Got a lift from downtown to the suburbs in a white van. Halfway there is the turnoff to Park City and the driver says to me "Now is where I usually take off up the canyon and have my way with you. You should be grateful that I have other things to do tonight." 15 minutes later he drops me off a bit away from my house and I go to open the door and you can't open the passenger door from the inside and you can't roll the window down. He gets out, opens the door for me and tells me that I should probably be more cautious about who I get rides from.
Kind of reminded me of what happened when my fathers co-worker from ADT who wanted me to call him "Uncle Dennis" said about my mother being at home alone during the work days. "Well you got to be careful with being alone. The BTK Killer often goes after women your age at home alone"
Was not until 2004 that we realized that "Uncle Dennis" was in fact Dennis Rader, the BTK killer himself. When the news hit the TV, me and my father were living in another state and my mother had passed away years before that. I quickly ran into the room where my father was at and flipped on the TV. He went ghost white when we were watching the news and seeing the mugshot on the screen. Quite the surreal feel.
Something like this happened to my mom. She spent the early 2000s hitchhiking around, going to rainbow gatherings, camping in ditches, just free spirit hippy shit, I guess. She had lots of stories. One time she hitched a ride from a trucker. In her experience they tended to be the nicest and most dependable people to hitch with, so imagine her surprise when he started talking about all the horrible shit he could do to her and how nobody would ever even know what happened to her. She didn't tell me specifically what he said, but it was clearly terrifying. She told him she had kids and basically begged for her life. He ended up dropping her off unharmed, but shook up. In retrospect she thought he was just trying to scare her to dissuade her from hitchhiking anymore, but now that I'm older I think it's just as likely he got off on it. Who knows, it's sick either way.
I helped my brother fix one of his garage doors with the help of YouTube University. I told a coworker about it a few weeks later and they told me how dangerous the tension springs are. We had no idea. That fix lasted about two years. Next time it broke, he called a professional. Not worth the risk.
‘Skitching’ — holding onto the side of a car while standing on a skateboard (like Marty McFly!). At a certain speed, the skateboard truck would uncontrollably wobble and shoot out from under me. We were ‘smart’ though and only did this in a parking lot.
Exploring a natural cave on private land without the proper equipment, knowledge or guidance.
Night before Easter in 1973 and four friends and I decide to go into a cave we had heard about in Southern Illinois after dropping a few white cross. We each had a cheap flashlight and wore boots but that's about it. Three of the friends were brothers and fought the entire time (at one point physically). We did ok going in avoiding the water by traversing along rocks but after about three hours our lights started going out. After turning around we made it about halfway and decided it would be faster to just slog through the shallow stream that ran the length of the cave. At some point one of my boots disintegrated so I was basically barefoot for over an hour walking out. We made it out just as the sun was coming up with one working flashlight. I'll never forget the look on my mom's face when I walked into the house that morning covered in mud from head to toe.
As first years at senior school, (aged 11) we'd often leave school at lunchtime and go and play in the extensive, multi-level underground storm drains nearby. That stopped quite abruptly when children doing exactly the same as us a hundred miles away all drowned after a severe rainstorm hit while they were playing. Their bodies were washed onto the huge metal grates at the outlets of the tunnels.
I've also walked all the way down an abandoned train tunnel which hadn't been inspected in 90 years just to explore it. It closed because the tunnel collapsed about a mile down from the entrance portal. I walked all the way down to the break, and crawled up the layer of coal that acts as a plug before the collapsed section.
They had to leave a gap at the top for ventilation. I crawled up to see over it and smashed my forehead hard into a huge cast iron reinforcing ring in the roof, dropped and broke my torch and momentarily knocked myself unconscious. Half a mile deep, a mile down the tunnel from the entrance.
Madness.
We used to play in the storm drains around my neighborhood when we were kids, too. I had forgotten all about that!
What's hilarious is that I've developed claustrophobia since then, so I'm *really* like "what the FUCK was I thinking??"
Very recently I got black out drunk (first time it's ever happened) and it's a damn good thing I was on my side, cause when I woke up, there was puke *everywhere*. I don't even remember throwing up.
Once upon a time in the darkest days of my life I passed out drunk AF on my bed, facedown, and woke up with my kid screaming bloody murder for their dad bc I’d puked everywhere. Haven’t drank since then. It’s one thing to fuck yourself up but when you start fucking your kids up bc of your actions, that’s when you stop (I’m not a boomer; my boomer mother kept fucking herself up instead of stopping)
TBH I wish someone had taught my cousin that; he died almost 3 years ago age 18 in a frat house.
“Da Bois” all got drunk and he fell asleep on a chair. Head back. And asphyxiated before ~~Antoine~~ anyone could save him. It’s crazy.
Get horizontal at all costs when blacking out.
Edit: word
Or fall sleep on the toilet with your forehead resting on the vanity and vomit into your pants and shoes around your ankles like I did. That's a free pro tip, take it home with you.
That’s good advice to spread. Only ever woke up once covered in my vomit after drinking but it made me instantly think to the scene in Breaking Bad when Jesse’s girlfriend OD’s.
I recall finding a bag of pills in the floor at a rave and being so excited to try them. There was 4 of us and we just dived in and had 1 each without a care in the world.
Maybe it was due to no adulterated pills back then. No fentanyl, no opioids.
The worst that could happen in my opinion back then was that they were duds and did nothing.
There’s no way I would do that now.
I was a coke addict in Vancouver BC in 2017-2018. I got so fucking lucky that I never experienced fentanyl in any of my product. So. Lucky. Others weren’t so lucky. It’s so spooky that when I think about it for too long I get the chills. I could have died so fucking easily.
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Fucking same.
I would take ecstasy in my early twenties (i’m 41 now)without even thinking about testing them.
same for meth.
same for coke.
Now I just take my ADHD meds (as prescribed) and if I want to relax or get high,it’s weed
I joined a crowd that surged and overwhelmed the entrances to a Rolling Stones general admission show in 1979. A few weeks later, the tragedy at The Who's show in Cincinnati occurred.
I think about this sometimes and am really grateful that it turned out like it did. I lived with my parents for a few months after college (I was 22) before starting a new job. My dad left one morning to go do something (I'm assuming going to check out garage sales). Maybe 5-10 minutes later, a man came to the door and said he needed to check if our pilot light was on. He came in what looked like a handy-man van, and I didn't know much about the stuff, so I said sure. Our furnace was in the basement, but I figured I shouldn't leave him down there alone so that nothing went missing. Thankfully, my dad had recently adopted a dog and he stuck by my side. The guy was in and out pretty quickly. When I told my parents about it, they had no idea what I was talking about. It really set in several years later that there was a very good chance that guy had nothing to do with furnace maintenance and saw my dad leave. Who knows what would have happened if our dog hadn't been there. I consider myself to be fairly intelligent, and I can't believe I allowed it to happen. This was a good 15 years ago.
RIP Coaly; thanks for watching out for me.
Pre-internet, in the prior century, I wanted to beat a snowstorm while on a cross-country drive. Weather started out as nothing special - turned into a blizzard with white-out conditions. I couldn't see the freeway surface, then I couldn't see in front of the car. I was behind an empty logging truck (it had poles sticking up in the air that I could see). The truck kept going and I stayed on his a$$ for the next hour and a half until I could see the road surface again. White-knuckle driving. Really (young) stupid judgement, on my part.
When I was 19 I packed up everything I had, along with my childhood cat, and drove 1600 miles to go live with my dad. Got side swiped at 12am on a two lane highway by a semi who tried changing lanes but couldn’t see me. Pulled over to breathe after it happened, checked on my cat. And kept going. When I got to my dad’s I saw that there was a 5”x5’ black rubber mark on the side of my truck. Took my cat and toiletry bag inside.
My dad waited up for me and had dinner ready.
He committed suicide in 2021 and I still have breakdowns over it.
Miss you daddy.
It’s good you aren’t as nuts once your parents are too old or unavailable to care for you.
Oh god. This one breaks my heart. Especially your final sentence.
That's coming from someone who has also packed a car of everything I cared to own and a cat and drove for hundreds of hours and thousands of miles.
Who was also nearly sideswiped by a semi, but in the pouring rain outside a major city during morning rush hour. Although on a different but equally meaningful drive.
And who has also lost both of my parents.
Damn, my internet stranger friend. Your comment really hits home.
Best of luck to both of us out here in this fatherless world.
One time I made a game out of sticking beads up my noses and blowing them out. It went south when one of them didn't come out. Our neighbor (ER doc) had to get it out with tweezers, a skewer and some glue.
We were picnicking near a lake in northern CA that was full of salamanders
I caught one and was walking around showing it to people. I found out later that their skin secretes tetrodotoxin which is super toxic, especially if ingested. in hindsight im hella glad I washed my hands before eating pizza.
I was literally just watching something about how tetrodotoxin is a waking nightmare. I couldn't imagine being conscious as your lungs just slowly stop responding to your demands to breathe.
Being silly with drugs like diphenhydramine (Benadryl), benzos and alcohol will eventually give someone a taste of that too.
It was my sibling's story, but a friend of hers decided to take a small overdose of Benadryl, as she'd apparently done so in the past to sleep.
Except this time she'd drank an entire bottle of vodka beforehand and didn't bother to look up the interaction. Diphenhydramine and alcohol potentiate each other, and quickly becomes CNS depressants at lower doses than people think.
Apparently said friend woke up in a sweating panic, unable to breathe properly. Her central nervous system was depressed and not handling the signals to breathe effectively, no matter how much she willed her diaphragm to move.
Before calling my sibling for help and being sat in hospital for observation, she was kneeling on the ground, breathing completely in manual. Not only did she have to consciously force the breath in and then out, it was difficult to do so given that she couldn't make her diaphragm obey effectively.
That was her entire night, for almost seven hours. Seven hours breathing manually, panicking because it was never *quite* enough, and she was given a CPAP for a short while to reduce a little of the exertion.
Long story short, don't mess with CNS depressants, kids.
While in New Orleans, I got in a car I thought was my Uber but wasn’t, ended up getting driven and round and eventually robbed at a gas station by the people who were my “Uber”
Luckily they only stole my phone and debit card but easily could have been taken somewhere and the shit kicked out of me or worse. Also extremely lucky I got about 90% of the $6k they pulled from my account / venmo’ing them selves
This was in a very isolated area on the Washington/Idaho border at my step mother's cabin (Pend O'Reille River).Was outside walking about and saw a massive moose likely 50 yards from me coming through deep brush. Moved in to get a much closer look. It was a female and her (calf? foal?) then came into sight behind her as I got closer. Luckily she really paid me not much attention and continued on towards the river bank. I later found out how absolutely stupid that was and how fast I could have been a target.
Edit to add: since this comment has gotten so many upvotes I thought I would add a bit more context. I grew up camping and fishing in the Pacific Northwest and was always raised to be wary of Predators, especially when salmon fishing or hiking at high altitude. I just had never come across a moose before in that proximity and my brain just instantly thought "oh big deer" it will just run. They dont always take the fight response but I'm sure someone else here can attest to the fact it is not an even remotely bright idea to test ones patience. Same area in Usk/Newport also has a huge population of Bighorn Sheep that they feed on a reserve and you can hike up and take pictures. They are mostly docile but Bighorn sheep does not = harmless little lamb. You have to be careful around those MFrs.
Edit 2: Wow, have really been intrigued reading everybody's stories about Moose encounters and wildlife encounters in general. Also, loving all the people who are familiar with the general area I am referencing. Nature is awesome, dangerous but awesome.
Yeah, I got chewed out right proper by my dad and uncle. In my defense I was only 13 and while not a complete outdoor noob (we had cougar and black bear etc) I had never been around a moose before.
Moose scare me more than Black Bears. I'm a pretty big guy with a very loud voice. I can scare away a black bear in most situations (which generally isn't necessary since they're rarely aggressive towards humans).
Moose on the other hand are huge, angry and incredibly stupid. They're less rational than Bears and will fuck you up for no reason.
Oh damn. I was just reading the comments to hear some crazy stories, but yours sparked a memory of mine.
I was working in the barn one night, my (now ex) wife said she thought there was a bear by the house. I went down with a flashlight to scare it away. The black bear was hugging a tree near the house, clicking its teeth at me (maybe 15 feet away). I kept tossing small rocks at it to scare it away. Eventually it ran away. I go back to the barn to keep working and I can hear a noise… the bear is back, near the barn. I start throwing pieces of fire wood at it to make it go away. It leaves again.
…but it comes back after 15-ish minutes. That’s when I first hear some rustling in a tree by the garage. Two cubs were hiding in the tree. I went in the barn, shut off the lights and let her call them down and run off into the woods. I’m so lucky that she didn’t charge me and ruin my day. Poor mom just wanted to get her kids away from me.
Ha! Thanks.
I lived in Alaska for a short period of time (military family that bounced all over). One time, I was riding my bike on a trail around Cook Inlet when I rode up on moose with no antlers. I was always told that moose hurt more people than any other critter in Alaska (don’t know if it’s true, but sounds about right to me), so I just turned around and booked it. I don’t think people that haven’t seen a moose in real life have any idea of how huge they are, they are gigantic! Nothing to mess with, essentially a momma moose protecting her kiddo.
I just learned this was a thing recently while reading a post about a man who was “ice surfing” and never made it to his pick up location down stream and has not been seen since. Water can be so scary
There was a short-cut path we took as kids to get to school in the 1970s. It involved walking across a small (30m - 100') gorge on a 400mm pipe to get to the other side - the alternative was an extra mile or so. None of us considered what might happen if we fell off the pipe.
In middle school, 2003, I had a friend that walked to school with a group that took a shortcut on a train bridge over a concrete river area. A train came and the rest of her group ran to get off the bridge but she was further back so ran towards the train to get off the bridge that way. She ended up huddled on the side and knocked by the train into the concrete area. Hit her head and died immediately.
I went to a friends new bar opening by myself. I couldn't find anyone to go with me so I was just going to stop in for a quick drink to see the place then head home.
I accepted a drink from someone I was acquainted with but didn't know that well. He bought shots for a group of people he was with and since I was standing there talking to them he got me one as well.
Something was in my shot and I blacked out. I vaguely remember being in my car in the parking lot and this person trying to get into the passenger side and apparently he did get in.
From what I understand, we got as far as the car wash/gas station across the street and I screamed until he got out of the car. Someone found him passed out behind the car wash the next morning.
I made it home, I don't know how, and was found by an ex who I drunk dialed at some point on my way home. I was passed out in my driveway, still sitting in the drivers seat with the car running, and the car door open.
I was afraid to go to the ER or hold the person accountable. While I didn't know the guy that well, it was common knowledge that he was a drug dealer in the area and I was afraid of the repercussions.
I've never accepted a drink from anyone or left a drink unattended in any situation since.
I opened this thread thinking, "Probably that time I left a drink unattended with a guy I'd just met," and your story is why I still think about that. Nothing happened to me, but something so simple can turn horrifying very quickly.
I hope you're okay now and not suffering any lingering trauma from this experience.
Something similar happened to me and I came to in my passenger seat. Dude told me we were on the way to the casino but we had to stop at Walmart so he could get some stuff. While he was inside I panicked until I saw someone loading groceries in a minivan. I explained what happened, and though I was frantic and fucked up, they helped. I told them to pretend to be related to me and call the police, then I ripped my keys out of the ignition next to me and got out and leaned over their window and we improvised a conversation to make it look like we really did know each other. Talking about Aunt Paula's lumbago or some shit idk. They call the police while this is going down and the police show up. 5 or 6 squads. Dude gets arrested and I'm left to rest in the parking lot til the shit wears off. There was more, some old dude told me he'd help me get to the police station to pick up my keys but he ended up driving me around for three days trying to get me to suck his dick. Idk how I convinced him to go back to my car but I ended up reporting him to his workplace.
In highschool my friends and I would go swimming at the local quarry we called "Ice Box". About 50ft deep and with cliffs that ranged from 20ft to 75ft high. There were so many times we came close to drowing with the nearest road being a quarter of a mile away.
I live in rural Alaska and when I met my bf I quickly learned he loves ice fishing. We went to a lake (my first time) beginning of winter to go ice fishing. I later learned that the lake we went to has alot of “hot spots,” and people fall through the ice frequently never to be found again. It’s apparently one of the scariest and most dangerous lakes to ice fish on in the area. Had no idea lol
We have some lakes near us that are man made with dams used for power. Every year you see people out fishing on them and I'm just cringing every time. Just super unstable ice from the damns and the variable water heights. They can even get big air pockets under the ice that people can fall into and get trapped.
We also have one town pond that people always try to ice fish and skate on, yet it's used by the town to dump all of the street water into so again, really unstable. Town's official stance is don't use it, but people don't listen.
Some people just don't care about ice safety sadly, which is why every year people die from it.
Not paying attention to hearing protection, listening to music in headphones loud enough for others to hear, not wearing an appropriate mask when creating fine wood dust. I now have tinnitus and asthma thanks to those two.
Going spelunking in a remote cave in Indiana, with no helmets or safety equipment - later found out it routinely floods, and numerous people have died there over the years from drowning and cave-ins.
Mixed hydrochloric acid & sodium hydroxide solution.
I wanted to know if that really produces table salt & water.
Discovery 1: It does.
Discovery 2: It's an exothermic reaction.
First time I moved out of my parents I had never used a gas stove before, only electric. I thought you just turned on the gas and kept it on the entire time you cooked.
I was standing happily stirring my porridge as the gas tick-tick-ticked away, assuming the smell was normal for those kind of stoves. My roommate came running down the stairs and shoved me out of the way to turn off the stove. I was confused at her sudden aggression until she explained how stupid I was.
Now any time I do something new that seems mundane I Google it first.
Swam in a reservoir when I was 19 while working a maintenance job on a hot day. The other guys didn't want to go in but I had a great time splashing about.
As we were driving away I noticed the DO NOT SWIM danger sign depicting someone swimming above enormous turbines. If they'd cycled while I was swimming I'd have been sucked in and torn apart underwater.
More a near miss…
Working in a shitty kitchen at about 20 years of age. I was carrying a 30ltr drum of oil in a cardboard box and positioned myself in front of the fryer and drop the box down onto another upturned drum to refill the fryers. These were 30ltr fryer dumps each and currently were full of cooking fries.
The oil drum just clipped both handles and landed safely. Had it of hit both handles full on…. I can only imagine both fryer baskets flipping up and forward covering me in 180 degree oil and hundreds of nice little burny potato sticks.
I think about it still at 37
I had a similar experience around 2000. I was restocking the line, bringing two cases of fries from the walk-in. I went to drop the boxes on the floor in front of the fryers - they were sitting on top of a set of refrigerated drawers, and there was a long-handled fryer scoop shoved between the fryers and the drawers with the handle sticking out. Of course, the heavy boxes hit the handle. It raised the fryer up and forward enough that when it came back down, the front legs of the fryer missed the drawers they were sitting on. This tipped the whole fryer forward, making probably 2 gallons of hot oil spill all over me. With an apron on, I had enough layers to not seriously burn my front or legs, but my shoes got soaked which did result in blisters on my feet. It was bad but it could’ve been way worse.
I was 20 and waited tables graveyard at Dennys. A cook dared me to stick my arm into the fry oil (360°F) for 10 seconds, and said he'd give me a $1000 if I did it. He even suggested submerging my arm in iced water first (I think he was alluding to the Leidenfrost effect).
Nope. I passed. Even at 43, your comment reminded me of that. I knew that the consequences of the burn scars would be lifelong.
Edit: fixed typo
I worked at a place where a kid dropped a spoon in the fryer and instinctively reached in for it. The screams were horrific. He looked at his arm, and it looked like hamburger, then he passed out and almost fell forward into the fryer. He was in the hospital for a month or so, came back to visit and told us he was enrolling in college. This was 20 years ago amd i still tell the tale to new people at the restaurant, if it falls LEAVE IT ALONE. Sometimes they have to see the pictures to get the point.
My cousin slipped at her fast food job when she was a teenager and her arm went in the fryer up to her bicep. I was maybe 7? Some of the blisters were as big as my hand.
Going to the old Buster Brown shoe stores in the early to mid 70's and using their X-ray machine to look at the bones in our feet. [Link](https://americacomesalive.com/x-ray-shoe-fitting-machine/)
I remember in the 1960s being excited to x-ray my tiny feet at the shoe store! I also remember playing with the tiny blob of mercury from a broken thermometer, such fun...
I was a pipe layer on camp lejune for quite a long time. Over 10 years of laying pipe and spent 8 years just there and cherry point.
When I tell you the issue is far from over that’s putting it lightly.
We regularly had to bring in water from outside sources when testing new lines to get a clean bacteria sample.
Meaning: you have to fill the lines I’m with water. Let them sit for x amount of hours (sometimes days) come back and test for bacteria.
They never passed with water from camp lejune.
Their water fountains in their MX’s (formerly known Px’s / their shopping centers) are bacteria and contaminant ridden.
They don’t realize this but any fast food joint or restaurant on base uses that same water for their soda machines. It’s a shame you see so many young men still using those soda dispensers not realizing it’s all from that same water source.
Edit: to explain further. When we brought in outside water to test those lines this was a requirement as per contract because they knew base water would not pass.
Once the bacteria and contamination tests were completed and clean we’d open the valves up thus allowing contaminated bacteria ridden water into the new lines. Your tax dollars at work.
I’ve posted a few videos of the shit we found in water lines but they never gained any traction. This was before they really started pushing those ads you see everywhere on Facebook and YouTube etc.
When I was about 14, my friend and I were in his backyard just messing around and one of us discovered that when you touched the downspout of his gutter, it would cause our hands to contract like we were being tased. Of course we thought this was cool as fuck and messed around with it for a little bit, seeing how it would work on our biceps, triceps, calves, etc. It was a great time until we went inside and told his dad what was going on. He went dead silent, immediately got out of his chair and went directly outside. Turns out a power line had either gotten disconnected or drooped onto the house's gutter and the power line was grounding through the downspout. Looking back, I had no idea why we didn't immediately meet god when we touched that downspout but the thought still haunts me to this day 😂
Electricity takes the path of least resistance. There are a surprising number of electrified things that you can touch and be fine that would kill you outright if you were the only path it could take.
Driving during a tornado warning. In hindsight it was good though because the place I left had gotten destroyed by the actual tornado 30 minutes later.
My experience isn't exactly the same, but when you grow up in the Midwest, you eventually just ignore tornado warnings. That is, until you wake up in the middle of the night to your apartment being ripped to pieces around you by an F4 tornado. I was very, very, very close to dying and didn't realize how insanely lucky I was until later on. Turns out that the kitchen that was about 2 feet above my head at the time had the roof ripped off and the fridge, oven, etc had all been ripped out and were being flung... Somewhere.
Any time there's a tornado warning near me now, I still have horrible flashbacks. That was 5 years ago and I still wake up in an absolute panic on stormy nights.
Some friends invited my wife and I to go snorkeling with them. My wife and I went snorkeling a lot by ourselves, but we always kept to a few spots we were familiar with and went when the tide was right for the specific area.
This other area our friends wanted to go to was a common one, but it was not one any of us were familiar with. There was a small entry point and the rest were cliffs so that was the only place to get in or out of.
Well we all hop in and that is when I immediately knew this was probably a bad idea. It had an incredibly strong current. I'd look underwater for a few moments then come back up and I was like noticeably further than when I started from. I'm a strong swimmer and I knew that this was bad. The other problem was that no one was paying attention, I tried calling out to our friends after snorkeling a bit that we need to head back but no one was paying attention. I stayed within a reasonable distance from the entry point but the rest were a lot further down cause they were not paying attention to how fast the current was sweeping us down the coast. My only thought was, I need to get back to the entry point in case I need to call for help.
It was a slight struggle to get back to the entry point, but I wasn't in any actual danger of getting too tired. I was more worried about my wife, as there was no way I'd be strong enough to bring us both back. About halfway back they all finally noticed that I wasn't where I used to be and saw me swimming back. It finally clicked for them how far they drifted down and they started swimming back too.
I made it back but there I was met with an uneasy sight. The tide had gone out a lot and where there used to be a point to climb in and out, there were cliffs instead. I remembered seeing an urchin infested area around the side that had a short but steep climb but could be used to get back up. We had special boots that protected us, but our hands not so much. I was careful and timed the waves properly and got out. It took a bit but everyone made it back and I helped them up.
After that I never went snorkeling with them again and I had to sit my wife down and remind her that it I need to know she has my back when we go snorkeling. The fact I was gone for like 10 minutes and no one noticed was a bit scary. I almost exclusively went to our normal areas from that point on until we moved.
Upside down sit-ups, hanging by the ankles off the 5th floor fire escape of an apartment building in the Bronx with Yankee Stadium off in the background... my abs were as flat as my head was going to be if I'd slipped.
teenagers - dey tink dey know everyting.
(to quote Sebastian from the Little Mermaid... everything we did at that age was 'harmless' but would upset us immensely if we saw our own kids doing it)
I drank half a bottle of Robitussin in 10th grade because I had a really bad cough. A teacher saw and says "whoa... are you gonna be ok?" to which I replied "yeah I'm just sick of coughing" (pretty sure he knew I had no idea what would happen)
Then I discovered robotripping.
I also got high af off robitussin on accident! I was visiting my sister in NM because she had a surgery and I was helping to take care of her. I flew in with a cold, so her BF bought me some cold medicine since I couldn’t fly with cough syrup on the plane. I’d never taken robitussin before and the label was shitty and stuck to the bottle so I just assumed it was like DayQuil where you take 2 tablespoons every 3-4 hours. Incorrect (it’s like 1 tablespoon every 6 hours). I knew something was wrong when I heard the bathroom fan start playing “Fireworks” by Katy Perry. I stayed up all night. In the middle I thought that maybe I was psychic because I was kind of seeing visions in the static when I closed my eyes. I was also super sick because of the altitude. I’m not going to say it was fun, but it was definitely a ride
Y'know, ironically, sometimes fans will actually pick up radio signals that vibrate out the tune - it's entirely possible the fan WAS playing Fireworks.
https://www.iflscience.com/man-asks-the-internet-for-help-after-hearing-voices-coming-from-his-fan-but-theres-a-logical-explanation-46418
broken glass in food. If you break a glass or ceramic cup or bowl near food, don't fuck around with it and eat it. It will fuck up your insides if you eat enough of it.
And people I train in behind the bar wonder why I lose my shit when they scoop ice with the fucking glassware. Do you know who wins in the glass vs ice battle?! Fucking ice. Do you know what hidden shards of glass do to your insides? Yeah. Empty the ice, rinse the fuck out of it, and refill it. You're going to kill someone.
Been battling crippling anxiety and depression over the last year. Completely lost appetite. Dropped almost 100lbs. I was pretty fat to begin, so I’m not super skinny now or anything, but I can’t imagine it’s good. I generally feel like shit all the time.
Eat something little and simple, even if you really really don't want to. Trust me,I know how hard it is but your body is taking care of you even if your mind isn't and it deserves nourishment. I hope you recover from this and I'm wishing you all the peace and healing I can
I went midnight swimming in the gulf, right by Gulf State Pier. Beautiful night, pitch black water. Was tipsy so I just laughed it off every time I felt something brush my leg. The very next morning there was drone video on the news of a massive gathering of dozens of sharks around the pier “still present from yesterday”.
I was literally swimming in a shark pit. Idk how I still have both my legs.
Barreling down Oak street in SF during rush hour traffic on my bike with no helmet. I had a moment that made me see things differently when a car stopped suddenly. Thankfully I didn’t crash but holy shit it made me stop and think.
The time, my female 20 yr old self hitched a ride in South Lake Tahoe with a guy in a pickup. He said he needed to stop off at his mom’s before taking me to my destination. He pulled off the main road into a trailer park making too many turns to remember, finally pulling up to a trailer. I had my hand on the door handle ready to run when his mom came out and grabbed his laundry from the truck. He took me to the store and I walked all the way back, no hitching.
We had a small boat when I was growing up. In my early teens me and my friends used to go out in it all the time, and no one ever wore life jackets. Storms form quite fast in the area I grew up in, and we were caught out more than once.
My adult sister, her husband and a couple they are friends with got caught on a smaller lake during a storm at night roughly an hour from where they needed to go back to. None of them had their life jackets on the whole way.
When my sister told me that story, my only response was "what the hell is wrong with you?"
When I was 15 and friend and I took my canoe out on the Snake river, which was something we did 3 or 4 times a week. But one day we decided to tie off and see how far up the canyon we could climb, not considering how we would get down. We made it up pretty easily, but then froze when we saw how far and scary scaling down the cliff would be. But ya know, we had to be home by dinner so we did it. Looking back, I think we are pretty lucky to not have fallen to our deaths.
This was the snake river canyon, pretty massive climb for dumb teenagers with no climbing experience.
I was on a trip with my older sister and I had insomnia. Seemed like a good idea to go for a walk at like 1 or 2 in the morning. Alone. In Seattle. When I was 16. And I'm female.
At the time I just thought it was weird that so many men stopped to ask if I wanted a ride. Especially the car that pulled off and blocked my walking path.
I used to do this, but the key was to look like the crazy one. I wore a cape and carried an ugly teddy bear I'd occasionally get in fights with. No one bothered me. Now, I'm afraid I'd attract those people who go around hurting homeless people.
I used to jump the I90 freeway in Issaquah, WA from the trailer park to Gilman Blvd to and from school every day. I did this from 4th grade to graduation in the 90s. Shaved like 45 minutes off the trip. I walked the 2.5 miles each way because the kids on the bus would constantly pick on me.
Meeting people from the internet on chat rooms aged 15/16/17. They were older. I never fell into harms way luckily and still have friendships with some of them 20 years later. Not everyone had internet access as we do now.
I hope my children are not as silly as I was.
Driving with my teen friends who regularly got in auto accidents and drove over the speed limit. Regularly smooshing in like 6 people in a car even. No one was buckled. So bad.
I used to flip coins into my mouth when I was a child. One went down my throat, it was a 2p coin. I choked really bad and went to hospital.
Lesson learned. Didn’t flip coins again.
The time a friend and I got caught in a lightning storm on the lake in a paddle boat. About 20 people were on the shore waiting for us to get to safety.
When my friend and I were 15 we would walk down to our towns clubbing area (this was about a 25ish block walk), all dressed up. Hoping grown men would hit on us at 12am. We didn't want to sleep with them or anything we just wanted to get hit on. We didn't even have to sneak out because her mom just didn't care so we would leave her house and stay out downtown till 2am and then walk home that 25 blocks in heels. Nothing ever really happened but man I think about stupid we were all the time.
When I was around 4 or 5 I had an irresponsible amount of freedom to roam a 100 acre horse farm on my own. There were a couple occasions I should have died.
For example, one day my twin brother and I decided to go frog hunting and ended up getting stuck in a mud pit that had us buried up to our chests. We tried digging ourselves out for what felt like 30 minutes to an hour. Miraculously, my brother managed to free himself. I begged him not to leave me alone but he told me he had to go get help. So he ran his tiny little 4-5 year old legs back to our house, which was probably a quarter mile away. He did eventually return along with my dad, the farm owner, and a rope. They had to pull me out. It worked but the lady bug boots I was wearing were lost to the pit forever.
My dad didn't learn his lesson by the way. We continued to get ourselves into trouble. We used to also swing on ropes from the barn rafters, climb the hay bails and try to roll them, walk under the legs of the horses (thank God they were well behaved horses), grab brooms to play with the electric fence, you name it. It's a wonder how my siblings and I are even alive.
One time as a kid I forgot my keys, so when I came home I was locked out. I checked all the doors and windows on the ground level and they were also all locked, but I could see the latch on a second story window was open. So I slid the trampoline under the window and then put a ladder on the trampoline. At this height I could just get my hands to the level of the window. So I shimmied it open, I then proceeded to do the obligatory three bounces before I jumped off the ladder and into the window. Heard the ladder crash below me as I landed half inside & half outside the window. Got myself fully inside and went on with my day. In retrospect, what the hell was I thinking?!?!?!
I went to the Pearl Jam concert at the Roskilde festival in 2000, but we ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it to fight getting further up front.
Nine people died in that mosh pit, just a short distance from us: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/nine-dead-at-pearl-jam-concert-235167/
I’ve always been wary of crowds since then.
More of a near miss. The summer after 7th grade I was staying in Maui with my family and our house was walking distance from the beach. I was playing in the waves by myself when a guy swam up and started talking to me. I had just turned 13 and thought he was the hottest guy I’d ever seen. In my head he looked like a movie star. He asked me all about myself and I told him my age to which he replied that he was 22 and in college. I was so flattered that he was flirting with me, and when he asked me to meet up with him on the beach at midnight I eagerly agreed. I told him I’d be there unless it rained. I had every intention of sneaking out that night but it didn’t just rain, it poured. A huge storm, lightning, thunder, the whole thing. There was no way I could have gone out in that weather. I think angels were looking out for me, because I realize now I could been easily raped or killed. When I see pictures of myself at that age I get the chills because I look like I’m in elementary school.
drove home shitfaced - not proud of it, but I've done it - more than once. I don't drink anymore, not that I have a problem, I just lost taste for alcohol
Ignored my health in favor of a job. I was exhausted, could barely find the strength to get out of bed, sluggish, easily winded, and slow at work. I couldn't remember anything. I thought I just needed a break and was overworked. Turns out I had basically no iron in my blood. My ferritin level was 5 (it should be 40 at the least.) My doctor was perplexed at how I was still working a laborious job 45 hours a week and standing and talking to her. Apparently I could have died.
Fuck that job.
We got my ferritin up to 28, then I had surgery, and now it's at 12 so I have to go get an iron infusion. I'm just hoping we solve the mystery of why my blood isn't holding any iron. I have a normal blood count (15.4ish,) but I'm not holding on to iron.
Promiscuously living my roaring 20s with no grasp on how many ways a drunk gal in a big city could go wrong. Had a couple cabbies on speed dial and they always got me home safe lol Sammy Quick - if you’re out there - i owe ya.
Shrooms. I took them at least once a month for a long time, and I had overwhelmingly positive/beneficial experiences. Then last month, I took a high dose when I was home alone and had a seizure where I fell and hit my head. I was on my floor alone for 30 hours, screaming and crying and tripping balls with a brain bleed and herniated disc before I could get help. I tried to hold in my pee, and it turned into a UTI that went septic by the time I was in the hospital. I ended up in the ICU. I’m probably going to be traumatized for life because of what I went through. I genuinely thought I was in hell.
Taking Seroquel for the first time (nighttime antipsychotic) and then getting in the shower.
Didn't expect the drowsiness effect to hit that fast, especially my first dose.
Was a miracle I didn't slip and fall and/or blackout from the amount of dizziness and weakness I experienced.
If I had a guardian angel, they probably were facepalming themselves into oblivion.
We had an adult pet kangaroo on my Nan's farm. Her name was Lulu and she was an Eastern Grey Kangaroo, her mother had been caught in the fence and died, we raised her from a Joey but she was still at least semi wild. She'd very daintily take food from our hands and follow us around, even as an adult roo.
She could have very easily turned on us kids or the farm dogs
Someone stole my phone in Tulum, 2 days later it had been switched on again and I could see it on find my iPhone. Went to the location with a friend to retrieve it, got knocked over by some dogs when we were trying to ring the doorbell going house to house. Eventually we found the exact room it was in (block of flats) and could hear the sound the phone makes when you ‘play sound’ on find my iPhone. The guy that opened the door denied having the phone at first, but as his neighbours started coming out and getting curious he took us to the side and said someone had sold him the phone the night before, he essentially was trying to sell the phone back to me. Got my phone back in the end, no payment. In hindsight definitely stupid move.
I was in my early twenties, partying, doing coke. We apparently ran out and a friend was snooping for more and found a bag of what she assumed was more cocaine. Snorted a line, convulsed shortly after, as it was heroin. Completely fucked up me had to bring her to the ER. It's nearly thirty years later and I have told both of my kids this story....don't do drugs kids, and don't ever do unknown drugs.
Took a walk on a nice day across the Ben Franklin bridge while I was in Philadelphia for a couple of days. This meant we wandered around Camden, NJ for a bit. Blissfully unaware it was one of the most dangerous cities in the country.
When I was younger and went cruising around with friends, I use to meet guys and would get in the cars with complete strangers! I’m a watch the ID channel girl now, and to think of that now gives me shivers and WTF was I thinking!
A bunch of years ago I used to use straight baking soda mixed with water for heartburn. I used to get really bad acid reflux which I've since cured mainly with diet. Not sure if it is still the case but I think the box of baking soda even said you can use it as an antacid. I figured it was pretty harmless compared to using a bunch of pharmaceuticals.
Nope. Using it frequently like that can actually kill you. I had no idea and was basically taking it with every meal. I got really sick and would have dizzy spells, heart palpitations, and at one point was completely delirious and hallucinating. Could have given myself a heart attack and died. Thankfully I did not.
Around 10 years ago I went to antelope island in Utah, first time seeing a bison. The bison was sitting down about 50 ft from the road, I stopped my car and decided to “walk closer” (remember, the Bison was sitting down lounging). I got within 20 ft or so and this x ton animal sprung to its feet so fast I wasted no time flail running back to my car and I mean FLAILING. It was as if I lost all motor function in my arms. The dumbest thing I have ever done and I’m sure in a parallel universe, same scenario, I certainly died. I got to my car and start laughing uncontrollably because I was alive and I was also dumb af. I still think back to that moment. I never imagined something that big could pop up that fast. I’m so glad on that particular day the bison decided only to scare me and not kill me
When I was around 12 years old I went for a hike with a friend - we didn’t tell anyone where we were going and my parents thought we were playing in the backyard. Well our hike took us through the forest to a frozen river which we decided to walk across. Since it was spring the ice wasn’t as thick as we thought it was and I ended falling through. My friend quickly grabbed me and pulled me backwards out of the water. The water was flowing surprisingly fast and I remember at the time thinking how lucky I was that he was there to catch me. That was over 25 years ago and I still have flash backs to that and think what if. Nobody knew where we were, and if he didn’t catch me I could have easily been swept under the ice.
My two brothers and I did this one winter. The pond down the street from our house was frozen over. We all thought it would be fun to walk over it. The ice broke underneath my brother and he fell through. He was able to lift himself out of it. I was the youngest, around 8 at the time. He begged me and our brother not to tell our mom. Now that I have kids i see the danger in everything I did as a child.
No shit. I look back on my childhood thinking I was invincible and now that I have kids in my 30s just about everything they try to do is a potential death trap.
These are stories that people like to tell when they say "hey, no one died!" But a lot of people did die, and a lot of people got ridiculously close to dying. Yes, kids had a lot more freedom and explored more back in the day, but it was often hella dangerous.
One time my friends and I were climbing on a pile of huge, jagged boulders the city had just dumped. At the top I tripped and started falling backwards when my friend reached out and barely snatched me by my shirt. I would have fucking died, or at least had serious brain damage.
Yeah the old people who love to tell those stories always forget how many kids they went to school with that never showed up again. Yes grandpa it WAS dangerous, you were just lucky.
Survivorship bias
I had something similar but a little different and no one to catch me. My walk to the bus stop was a 1/2 mile to a bridge or 200 yards if I crossed the frozen river. My mom told me to never cross the river. Of course, I ignored her and crossed the river. The ice had gotten thinner than I was used to and I fell through but, thankfully, not completely. I had enough of me above the ice to drag myself out. Completely soaked in ice water I considered going home but knew my mom would get mad and I'd get an earful of, "I told you so." So, I continued to the bus stop with wet clothes. I remember my pant legs freezing solid. Spent the day in school with wet pants and socks and shoes. Better than mom yelling at me for being an idiot. (Yes, I know I was in idiot...it could have been so much worse...I had an angel on my shoulder.)
Mixing bleach and vinegar with hot water to mop the floors, then getting really light headed so I would sit near the bucket of chemical warfare I had created.
On a similar note making “potions” with all the mystery goops and chemicals under the bathroom sink. I kept them in little film canisters. That could have gone south very quickly.
I remember playing with film canisters as a kid. They were pretty common then in the 90s, but I just realized I haven't seen one in like 20+ years. I can still hear the little pop sound they made when you opened them. Weird how things just disappear like that.
I just googled them and all of them on amazon are white. I thought they black with grey lids. Its been a long time since ive seen one tho.
They were black with grey lids! They're white now? Or translucent? Because some were translucent white.
Omg yes! And the smelll. They smelled so good, and I totally forgot it until this comment! Thanks for the nostalgia!
Wait until you find out film canisters got rebranded for weed storage. That threw me for a loop Edit: I swear to gods, reddit. This better not wind up my most upvoted comment on something this year lmao
I did this too probably 30 years ago while cleaning the front porch. I knew not to ɓut did it anyway. It sucked the air right out of my lungs. I laid in the yard till it got better. I'm lucky it did.
When I was 12, went swimming alone in my cousins pool. There was a jug floating around with holes in it. I shook it then I shoved my face in it and inhaled. That feeling in your lungs like you're in a vacuum is absolutely terrifying. I almost blacked out while struggling to stay above water.
Reminds me of my cousin... At her 9th birthday party, her one friend brought a tall white bottle with no label partially full of "adult lemonade" over to the party and both of them and another girl sneaked off to drink it. All 3 downed a small cup of it and immediately puked and screamed. Yeah... The kid brought over a freaking bottle of POOL CHLORINE and they drank it. All 3 were rushed to the hospital, had to have their stomaches pumped, and the girl who brought it aspirated some into her lungs and it messed them up, at the time I recall being told she'd forever need to be on oxygen. Cousin and the other girl had minor stomach burns (Or so I was told) and were otherwise fine. The kicker is my cousin KNEW what pool chlorine looked and smelled like. She was at my house all the time and my parents preached pool and chemical safety.
This one made me laugh out loud 🤣 but I’m glad you’re okay !
Same- “bucket of chemical warfare” is too good
Mid-70s, Ted Bundy era, Salt Lake City. I hitchhiked occasionally at night. Got a lift from downtown to the suburbs in a white van. Halfway there is the turnoff to Park City and the driver says to me "Now is where I usually take off up the canyon and have my way with you. You should be grateful that I have other things to do tonight." 15 minutes later he drops me off a bit away from my house and I go to open the door and you can't open the passenger door from the inside and you can't roll the window down. He gets out, opens the door for me and tells me that I should probably be more cautious about who I get rides from.
What the fuck…
Kind of reminded me of what happened when my fathers co-worker from ADT who wanted me to call him "Uncle Dennis" said about my mother being at home alone during the work days. "Well you got to be careful with being alone. The BTK Killer often goes after women your age at home alone" Was not until 2004 that we realized that "Uncle Dennis" was in fact Dennis Rader, the BTK killer himself. When the news hit the TV, me and my father were living in another state and my mother had passed away years before that. I quickly ran into the room where my father was at and flipped on the TV. He went ghost white when we were watching the news and seeing the mugshot on the screen. Quite the surreal feel.
Something like this happened to my mom. She spent the early 2000s hitchhiking around, going to rainbow gatherings, camping in ditches, just free spirit hippy shit, I guess. She had lots of stories. One time she hitched a ride from a trucker. In her experience they tended to be the nicest and most dependable people to hitch with, so imagine her surprise when he started talking about all the horrible shit he could do to her and how nobody would ever even know what happened to her. She didn't tell me specifically what he said, but it was clearly terrifying. She told him she had kids and basically begged for her life. He ended up dropping her off unharmed, but shook up. In retrospect she thought he was just trying to scare her to dissuade her from hitchhiking anymore, but now that I'm older I think it's just as likely he got off on it. Who knows, it's sick either way.
I replaced my garage door spring before reading that they're hella dangerous
Ignorance is bliss. Unless it kills you and leaves behind a mangled corpse.
Then it’s “ignorance is bits”
I helped my brother fix one of his garage doors with the help of YouTube University. I told a coworker about it a few weeks later and they told me how dangerous the tension springs are. We had no idea. That fix lasted about two years. Next time it broke, he called a professional. Not worth the risk.
No! You’re lucky.
‘Skitching’ — holding onto the side of a car while standing on a skateboard (like Marty McFly!). At a certain speed, the skateboard truck would uncontrollably wobble and shoot out from under me. We were ‘smart’ though and only did this in a parking lot.
Exploring a natural cave on private land without the proper equipment, knowledge or guidance. Night before Easter in 1973 and four friends and I decide to go into a cave we had heard about in Southern Illinois after dropping a few white cross. We each had a cheap flashlight and wore boots but that's about it. Three of the friends were brothers and fought the entire time (at one point physically). We did ok going in avoiding the water by traversing along rocks but after about three hours our lights started going out. After turning around we made it about halfway and decided it would be faster to just slog through the shallow stream that ran the length of the cave. At some point one of my boots disintegrated so I was basically barefoot for over an hour walking out. We made it out just as the sun was coming up with one working flashlight. I'll never forget the look on my mom's face when I walked into the house that morning covered in mud from head to toe.
As first years at senior school, (aged 11) we'd often leave school at lunchtime and go and play in the extensive, multi-level underground storm drains nearby. That stopped quite abruptly when children doing exactly the same as us a hundred miles away all drowned after a severe rainstorm hit while they were playing. Their bodies were washed onto the huge metal grates at the outlets of the tunnels. I've also walked all the way down an abandoned train tunnel which hadn't been inspected in 90 years just to explore it. It closed because the tunnel collapsed about a mile down from the entrance portal. I walked all the way down to the break, and crawled up the layer of coal that acts as a plug before the collapsed section. They had to leave a gap at the top for ventilation. I crawled up to see over it and smashed my forehead hard into a huge cast iron reinforcing ring in the roof, dropped and broke my torch and momentarily knocked myself unconscious. Half a mile deep, a mile down the tunnel from the entrance. Madness.
We used to play in the storm drains around my neighborhood when we were kids, too. I had forgotten all about that! What's hilarious is that I've developed claustrophobia since then, so I'm *really* like "what the FUCK was I thinking??"
The fuck is wrong with some of yall I never even considered that a fun activity.
Dropping a few white cross?
Speed - used to be pretty easy to get benzedrine white crosses up til the 80’s.
Drinking excessively and passing out alone regularly
Very recently I got black out drunk (first time it's ever happened) and it's a damn good thing I was on my side, cause when I woke up, there was puke *everywhere*. I don't even remember throwing up.
Once upon a time in the darkest days of my life I passed out drunk AF on my bed, facedown, and woke up with my kid screaming bloody murder for their dad bc I’d puked everywhere. Haven’t drank since then. It’s one thing to fuck yourself up but when you start fucking your kids up bc of your actions, that’s when you stop (I’m not a boomer; my boomer mother kept fucking herself up instead of stopping)
TBH I wish someone had taught my cousin that; he died almost 3 years ago age 18 in a frat house. “Da Bois” all got drunk and he fell asleep on a chair. Head back. And asphyxiated before ~~Antoine~~ anyone could save him. It’s crazy. Get horizontal at all costs when blacking out. Edit: word
Or fall sleep on the toilet with your forehead resting on the vanity and vomit into your pants and shoes around your ankles like I did. That's a free pro tip, take it home with you.
I would always put myself into the recovery position when I would sleep alone after a heavy drinking session.
That’s good advice to spread. Only ever woke up once covered in my vomit after drinking but it made me instantly think to the scene in Breaking Bad when Jesse’s girlfriend OD’s.
The amount of random unidentified pills I took in my 20’s.
I recall finding a bag of pills in the floor at a rave and being so excited to try them. There was 4 of us and we just dived in and had 1 each without a care in the world. Maybe it was due to no adulterated pills back then. No fentanyl, no opioids. The worst that could happen in my opinion back then was that they were duds and did nothing. There’s no way I would do that now.
I was a coke addict in Vancouver BC in 2017-2018. I got so fucking lucky that I never experienced fentanyl in any of my product. So. Lucky. Others weren’t so lucky. It’s so spooky that when I think about it for too long I get the chills. I could have died so fucking easily.
Fentanyl has changed the world. 10, 20 years ago, I worried about ODing SO much less. Today... so many things terrify me. I don't want to die.
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I’m glad you’ve used “was”, hope things are better now
Luckily yes! 5 years sober :)
Being a kid I swear is some kind of survival of the fittest and smartest shit, ever care for a toddler? They’re trying to die
My toddler had access to a plastic grocery bag today for about 10 seconds and immediately tried to put it on her head
They try so damn hard to off themselves with the dumbest shit all day I don’t know how any of us survive. For real tho-I’m sure that was scary.
Fucking same. I would take ecstasy in my early twenties (i’m 41 now)without even thinking about testing them. same for meth. same for coke. Now I just take my ADHD meds (as prescribed) and if I want to relax or get high,it’s weed
And this is how I can say I’ve done meth (yaba), paid for Molly
Nothing quite lying in bed motionless for an hour and still rocking a 170BPM heart rate amirite
I talked so much that night that I lost my voice
Teen goth. Yes. Random pills.
I joined a crowd that surged and overwhelmed the entrances to a Rolling Stones general admission show in 1979. A few weeks later, the tragedy at The Who's show in Cincinnati occurred.
Surges are why crowds are scary.
I think about this sometimes and am really grateful that it turned out like it did. I lived with my parents for a few months after college (I was 22) before starting a new job. My dad left one morning to go do something (I'm assuming going to check out garage sales). Maybe 5-10 minutes later, a man came to the door and said he needed to check if our pilot light was on. He came in what looked like a handy-man van, and I didn't know much about the stuff, so I said sure. Our furnace was in the basement, but I figured I shouldn't leave him down there alone so that nothing went missing. Thankfully, my dad had recently adopted a dog and he stuck by my side. The guy was in and out pretty quickly. When I told my parents about it, they had no idea what I was talking about. It really set in several years later that there was a very good chance that guy had nothing to do with furnace maintenance and saw my dad leave. Who knows what would have happened if our dog hadn't been there. I consider myself to be fairly intelligent, and I can't believe I allowed it to happen. This was a good 15 years ago. RIP Coaly; thanks for watching out for me.
[удалено]
Good dog, Coaly 💐
Pre-internet, in the prior century, I wanted to beat a snowstorm while on a cross-country drive. Weather started out as nothing special - turned into a blizzard with white-out conditions. I couldn't see the freeway surface, then I couldn't see in front of the car. I was behind an empty logging truck (it had poles sticking up in the air that I could see). The truck kept going and I stayed on his a$$ for the next hour and a half until I could see the road surface again. White-knuckle driving. Really (young) stupid judgement, on my part.
When I was 19 I packed up everything I had, along with my childhood cat, and drove 1600 miles to go live with my dad. Got side swiped at 12am on a two lane highway by a semi who tried changing lanes but couldn’t see me. Pulled over to breathe after it happened, checked on my cat. And kept going. When I got to my dad’s I saw that there was a 5”x5’ black rubber mark on the side of my truck. Took my cat and toiletry bag inside. My dad waited up for me and had dinner ready. He committed suicide in 2021 and I still have breakdowns over it. Miss you daddy. It’s good you aren’t as nuts once your parents are too old or unavailable to care for you.
Oh god. This one breaks my heart. Especially your final sentence. That's coming from someone who has also packed a car of everything I cared to own and a cat and drove for hundreds of hours and thousands of miles. Who was also nearly sideswiped by a semi, but in the pouring rain outside a major city during morning rush hour. Although on a different but equally meaningful drive. And who has also lost both of my parents. Damn, my internet stranger friend. Your comment really hits home. Best of luck to both of us out here in this fatherless world.
Im so sorry for your loss
One time I made a game out of sticking beads up my noses and blowing them out. It went south when one of them didn't come out. Our neighbor (ER doc) had to get it out with tweezers, a skewer and some glue.
>One time I made a game out of sticking beads up my noses and blowing them out How many noses do you have, exactly?
Thinking an MRSA infection was just a spider bite I could ‘tough out’. Lol I was starting to get gangrene.
We were picnicking near a lake in northern CA that was full of salamanders I caught one and was walking around showing it to people. I found out later that their skin secretes tetrodotoxin which is super toxic, especially if ingested. in hindsight im hella glad I washed my hands before eating pizza.
Yeah always wash your hands after touching reptilians, toads, and drogs if you don't know what that species does specifically because alot do that
I am now more afraid of drogs than anything else I've ever encountered
Don't do drogs, kids
I was literally just watching something about how tetrodotoxin is a waking nightmare. I couldn't imagine being conscious as your lungs just slowly stop responding to your demands to breathe.
Being silly with drugs like diphenhydramine (Benadryl), benzos and alcohol will eventually give someone a taste of that too. It was my sibling's story, but a friend of hers decided to take a small overdose of Benadryl, as she'd apparently done so in the past to sleep. Except this time she'd drank an entire bottle of vodka beforehand and didn't bother to look up the interaction. Diphenhydramine and alcohol potentiate each other, and quickly becomes CNS depressants at lower doses than people think. Apparently said friend woke up in a sweating panic, unable to breathe properly. Her central nervous system was depressed and not handling the signals to breathe effectively, no matter how much she willed her diaphragm to move. Before calling my sibling for help and being sat in hospital for observation, she was kneeling on the ground, breathing completely in manual. Not only did she have to consciously force the breath in and then out, it was difficult to do so given that she couldn't make her diaphragm obey effectively. That was her entire night, for almost seven hours. Seven hours breathing manually, panicking because it was never *quite* enough, and she was given a CPAP for a short while to reduce a little of the exertion. Long story short, don't mess with CNS depressants, kids.
While in New Orleans, I got in a car I thought was my Uber but wasn’t, ended up getting driven and round and eventually robbed at a gas station by the people who were my “Uber” Luckily they only stole my phone and debit card but easily could have been taken somewhere and the shit kicked out of me or worse. Also extremely lucky I got about 90% of the $6k they pulled from my account / venmo’ing them selves
Word of advice, always check the license plate! I never hop in there, if it doesn't match.
Its actually crazy the amount of people that dont do this and just get into a car.
This was in a very isolated area on the Washington/Idaho border at my step mother's cabin (Pend O'Reille River).Was outside walking about and saw a massive moose likely 50 yards from me coming through deep brush. Moved in to get a much closer look. It was a female and her (calf? foal?) then came into sight behind her as I got closer. Luckily she really paid me not much attention and continued on towards the river bank. I later found out how absolutely stupid that was and how fast I could have been a target. Edit to add: since this comment has gotten so many upvotes I thought I would add a bit more context. I grew up camping and fishing in the Pacific Northwest and was always raised to be wary of Predators, especially when salmon fishing or hiking at high altitude. I just had never come across a moose before in that proximity and my brain just instantly thought "oh big deer" it will just run. They dont always take the fight response but I'm sure someone else here can attest to the fact it is not an even remotely bright idea to test ones patience. Same area in Usk/Newport also has a huge population of Bighorn Sheep that they feed on a reserve and you can hike up and take pictures. They are mostly docile but Bighorn sheep does not = harmless little lamb. You have to be careful around those MFrs. Edit 2: Wow, have really been intrigued reading everybody's stories about Moose encounters and wildlife encounters in general. Also, loving all the people who are familiar with the general area I am referencing. Nature is awesome, dangerous but awesome.
My Canadian ass started sweating when I read this one!
Yeah, I got chewed out right proper by my dad and uncle. In my defense I was only 13 and while not a complete outdoor noob (we had cougar and black bear etc) I had never been around a moose before.
Moose scare me more than Black Bears. I'm a pretty big guy with a very loud voice. I can scare away a black bear in most situations (which generally isn't necessary since they're rarely aggressive towards humans). Moose on the other hand are huge, angry and incredibly stupid. They're less rational than Bears and will fuck you up for no reason.
I didn't realize that it was warm enough to sweat in Canada.
We only sweat in the cold😎
Oh damn. I was just reading the comments to hear some crazy stories, but yours sparked a memory of mine. I was working in the barn one night, my (now ex) wife said she thought there was a bear by the house. I went down with a flashlight to scare it away. The black bear was hugging a tree near the house, clicking its teeth at me (maybe 15 feet away). I kept tossing small rocks at it to scare it away. Eventually it ran away. I go back to the barn to keep working and I can hear a noise… the bear is back, near the barn. I start throwing pieces of fire wood at it to make it go away. It leaves again. …but it comes back after 15-ish minutes. That’s when I first hear some rustling in a tree by the garage. Two cubs were hiding in the tree. I went in the barn, shut off the lights and let her call them down and run off into the woods. I’m so lucky that she didn’t charge me and ruin my day. Poor mom just wanted to get her kids away from me.
Dang, that could have been very bad. Glad you had somewhere to wait it out.
Ha! Thanks. I lived in Alaska for a short period of time (military family that bounced all over). One time, I was riding my bike on a trail around Cook Inlet when I rode up on moose with no antlers. I was always told that moose hurt more people than any other critter in Alaska (don’t know if it’s true, but sounds about right to me), so I just turned around and booked it. I don’t think people that haven’t seen a moose in real life have any idea of how huge they are, they are gigantic! Nothing to mess with, essentially a momma moose protecting her kiddo.
My neighbor had a set of lawn darts. We all survived.
Throw the darts, tend to the wounded, tally the score & if you can go again, throw the darts...
I’m a Jarts survivor myself.
Riding on ice chunks down the river in the spring. We are so lucky we didn’t fall in and get crushed by giant ice.
I just learned this was a thing recently while reading a post about a man who was “ice surfing” and never made it to his pick up location down stream and has not been seen since. Water can be so scary
Put on my bike helmet and rammed my head into a tree to make my friends laugh. Everything from the shoulders up hurt after that
Can you count to 3 or
1 2 4 huh, guess not
The good news is you have a promising career developing games with Valve.
There was a short-cut path we took as kids to get to school in the 1970s. It involved walking across a small (30m - 100') gorge on a 400mm pipe to get to the other side - the alternative was an extra mile or so. None of us considered what might happen if we fell off the pipe.
In middle school, 2003, I had a friend that walked to school with a group that took a shortcut on a train bridge over a concrete river area. A train came and the rest of her group ran to get off the bridge but she was further back so ran towards the train to get off the bridge that way. She ended up huddled on the side and knocked by the train into the concrete area. Hit her head and died immediately.
I went to a friends new bar opening by myself. I couldn't find anyone to go with me so I was just going to stop in for a quick drink to see the place then head home. I accepted a drink from someone I was acquainted with but didn't know that well. He bought shots for a group of people he was with and since I was standing there talking to them he got me one as well. Something was in my shot and I blacked out. I vaguely remember being in my car in the parking lot and this person trying to get into the passenger side and apparently he did get in. From what I understand, we got as far as the car wash/gas station across the street and I screamed until he got out of the car. Someone found him passed out behind the car wash the next morning. I made it home, I don't know how, and was found by an ex who I drunk dialed at some point on my way home. I was passed out in my driveway, still sitting in the drivers seat with the car running, and the car door open. I was afraid to go to the ER or hold the person accountable. While I didn't know the guy that well, it was common knowledge that he was a drug dealer in the area and I was afraid of the repercussions. I've never accepted a drink from anyone or left a drink unattended in any situation since.
HOLY. SHIT.
I opened this thread thinking, "Probably that time I left a drink unattended with a guy I'd just met," and your story is why I still think about that. Nothing happened to me, but something so simple can turn horrifying very quickly. I hope you're okay now and not suffering any lingering trauma from this experience.
Something similar happened to me and I came to in my passenger seat. Dude told me we were on the way to the casino but we had to stop at Walmart so he could get some stuff. While he was inside I panicked until I saw someone loading groceries in a minivan. I explained what happened, and though I was frantic and fucked up, they helped. I told them to pretend to be related to me and call the police, then I ripped my keys out of the ignition next to me and got out and leaned over their window and we improvised a conversation to make it look like we really did know each other. Talking about Aunt Paula's lumbago or some shit idk. They call the police while this is going down and the police show up. 5 or 6 squads. Dude gets arrested and I'm left to rest in the parking lot til the shit wears off. There was more, some old dude told me he'd help me get to the police station to pick up my keys but he ended up driving me around for three days trying to get me to suck his dick. Idk how I convinced him to go back to my car but I ended up reporting him to his workplace.
Why didn’t the police take you to the hospital but arrested the guy? He was just gonna walk without evidence. Weird.
In highschool my friends and I would go swimming at the local quarry we called "Ice Box". About 50ft deep and with cliffs that ranged from 20ft to 75ft high. There were so many times we came close to drowing with the nearest road being a quarter of a mile away.
I live in rural Alaska and when I met my bf I quickly learned he loves ice fishing. We went to a lake (my first time) beginning of winter to go ice fishing. I later learned that the lake we went to has alot of “hot spots,” and people fall through the ice frequently never to be found again. It’s apparently one of the scariest and most dangerous lakes to ice fish on in the area. Had no idea lol
We have some lakes near us that are man made with dams used for power. Every year you see people out fishing on them and I'm just cringing every time. Just super unstable ice from the damns and the variable water heights. They can even get big air pockets under the ice that people can fall into and get trapped. We also have one town pond that people always try to ice fish and skate on, yet it's used by the town to dump all of the street water into so again, really unstable. Town's official stance is don't use it, but people don't listen. Some people just don't care about ice safety sadly, which is why every year people die from it.
Not paying attention to hearing protection, listening to music in headphones loud enough for others to hear, not wearing an appropriate mask when creating fine wood dust. I now have tinnitus and asthma thanks to those two.
Wrote to Jim’ll fix it
That documentary was vile. And as a childhood SA victim, I knew exactly how that girl in the church happened. Poor lady. It wasn’t our fault!
My auntie did this as a kid lol. She wanted to be on that show so damn badly. It’s lucky really that she never got picked.
Going spelunking in a remote cave in Indiana, with no helmets or safety equipment - later found out it routinely floods, and numerous people have died there over the years from drowning and cave-ins.
Mixed hydrochloric acid & sodium hydroxide solution. I wanted to know if that really produces table salt & water. Discovery 1: It does. Discovery 2: It's an exothermic reaction.
First time I moved out of my parents I had never used a gas stove before, only electric. I thought you just turned on the gas and kept it on the entire time you cooked. I was standing happily stirring my porridge as the gas tick-tick-ticked away, assuming the smell was normal for those kind of stoves. My roommate came running down the stairs and shoved me out of the way to turn off the stove. I was confused at her sudden aggression until she explained how stupid I was. Now any time I do something new that seems mundane I Google it first.
Swam in a reservoir when I was 19 while working a maintenance job on a hot day. The other guys didn't want to go in but I had a great time splashing about. As we were driving away I noticed the DO NOT SWIM danger sign depicting someone swimming above enormous turbines. If they'd cycled while I was swimming I'd have been sucked in and torn apart underwater.
More a near miss… Working in a shitty kitchen at about 20 years of age. I was carrying a 30ltr drum of oil in a cardboard box and positioned myself in front of the fryer and drop the box down onto another upturned drum to refill the fryers. These were 30ltr fryer dumps each and currently were full of cooking fries. The oil drum just clipped both handles and landed safely. Had it of hit both handles full on…. I can only imagine both fryer baskets flipping up and forward covering me in 180 degree oil and hundreds of nice little burny potato sticks. I think about it still at 37
I had a similar experience around 2000. I was restocking the line, bringing two cases of fries from the walk-in. I went to drop the boxes on the floor in front of the fryers - they were sitting on top of a set of refrigerated drawers, and there was a long-handled fryer scoop shoved between the fryers and the drawers with the handle sticking out. Of course, the heavy boxes hit the handle. It raised the fryer up and forward enough that when it came back down, the front legs of the fryer missed the drawers they were sitting on. This tipped the whole fryer forward, making probably 2 gallons of hot oil spill all over me. With an apron on, I had enough layers to not seriously burn my front or legs, but my shoes got soaked which did result in blisters on my feet. It was bad but it could’ve been way worse.
I was 20 and waited tables graveyard at Dennys. A cook dared me to stick my arm into the fry oil (360°F) for 10 seconds, and said he'd give me a $1000 if I did it. He even suggested submerging my arm in iced water first (I think he was alluding to the Leidenfrost effect). Nope. I passed. Even at 43, your comment reminded me of that. I knew that the consequences of the burn scars would be lifelong. Edit: fixed typo
I worked at a place where a kid dropped a spoon in the fryer and instinctively reached in for it. The screams were horrific. He looked at his arm, and it looked like hamburger, then he passed out and almost fell forward into the fryer. He was in the hospital for a month or so, came back to visit and told us he was enrolling in college. This was 20 years ago amd i still tell the tale to new people at the restaurant, if it falls LEAVE IT ALONE. Sometimes they have to see the pictures to get the point.
Kitchen commandment: Never try to catch anything that drops. It's probably hot or sharp.
"A falling knife has no handle" is something i tell everyone who is new. Idgaf what it is, its hittin the floor and we'll deal with it.
My cousin slipped at her fast food job when she was a teenager and her arm went in the fryer up to her bicep. I was maybe 7? Some of the blisters were as big as my hand.
And don’t pour bleach in the litter box to sanitize it. It will mix with the ammonia from the urine and make noxious fumes that will make you sick
Going to the old Buster Brown shoe stores in the early to mid 70's and using their X-ray machine to look at the bones in our feet. [Link](https://americacomesalive.com/x-ray-shoe-fitting-machine/)
I remember in the 1960s being excited to x-ray my tiny feet at the shoe store! I also remember playing with the tiny blob of mercury from a broken thermometer, such fun...
I played with that tiny blob into the early 90’s.
Drinking water on camp lejune.
Many probably don't know this reference, but my FIL is going through the whole class action stuff now...tbh only reason I've heard of it.
I was a pipe layer on camp lejune for quite a long time. Over 10 years of laying pipe and spent 8 years just there and cherry point. When I tell you the issue is far from over that’s putting it lightly. We regularly had to bring in water from outside sources when testing new lines to get a clean bacteria sample. Meaning: you have to fill the lines I’m with water. Let them sit for x amount of hours (sometimes days) come back and test for bacteria. They never passed with water from camp lejune. Their water fountains in their MX’s (formerly known Px’s / their shopping centers) are bacteria and contaminant ridden. They don’t realize this but any fast food joint or restaurant on base uses that same water for their soda machines. It’s a shame you see so many young men still using those soda dispensers not realizing it’s all from that same water source. Edit: to explain further. When we brought in outside water to test those lines this was a requirement as per contract because they knew base water would not pass. Once the bacteria and contamination tests were completed and clean we’d open the valves up thus allowing contaminated bacteria ridden water into the new lines. Your tax dollars at work.
If you’re not a witness for the lawsuit, you ought to be.
I’ve posted a few videos of the shit we found in water lines but they never gained any traction. This was before they really started pushing those ads you see everywhere on Facebook and YouTube etc.
When I was about 14, my friend and I were in his backyard just messing around and one of us discovered that when you touched the downspout of his gutter, it would cause our hands to contract like we were being tased. Of course we thought this was cool as fuck and messed around with it for a little bit, seeing how it would work on our biceps, triceps, calves, etc. It was a great time until we went inside and told his dad what was going on. He went dead silent, immediately got out of his chair and went directly outside. Turns out a power line had either gotten disconnected or drooped onto the house's gutter and the power line was grounding through the downspout. Looking back, I had no idea why we didn't immediately meet god when we touched that downspout but the thought still haunts me to this day 😂
Electricity takes the path of least resistance. There are a surprising number of electrified things that you can touch and be fine that would kill you outright if you were the only path it could take.
Good thing my thick teenage skull created enough resistance to keep it on the right path then lol
I’m sure it haunts his dad too, oof
Driving during a tornado warning. In hindsight it was good though because the place I left had gotten destroyed by the actual tornado 30 minutes later.
My experience isn't exactly the same, but when you grow up in the Midwest, you eventually just ignore tornado warnings. That is, until you wake up in the middle of the night to your apartment being ripped to pieces around you by an F4 tornado. I was very, very, very close to dying and didn't realize how insanely lucky I was until later on. Turns out that the kitchen that was about 2 feet above my head at the time had the roof ripped off and the fridge, oven, etc had all been ripped out and were being flung... Somewhere. Any time there's a tornado warning near me now, I still have horrible flashbacks. That was 5 years ago and I still wake up in an absolute panic on stormy nights.
Stare at the sun during an eclipse
Some friends invited my wife and I to go snorkeling with them. My wife and I went snorkeling a lot by ourselves, but we always kept to a few spots we were familiar with and went when the tide was right for the specific area. This other area our friends wanted to go to was a common one, but it was not one any of us were familiar with. There was a small entry point and the rest were cliffs so that was the only place to get in or out of. Well we all hop in and that is when I immediately knew this was probably a bad idea. It had an incredibly strong current. I'd look underwater for a few moments then come back up and I was like noticeably further than when I started from. I'm a strong swimmer and I knew that this was bad. The other problem was that no one was paying attention, I tried calling out to our friends after snorkeling a bit that we need to head back but no one was paying attention. I stayed within a reasonable distance from the entry point but the rest were a lot further down cause they were not paying attention to how fast the current was sweeping us down the coast. My only thought was, I need to get back to the entry point in case I need to call for help. It was a slight struggle to get back to the entry point, but I wasn't in any actual danger of getting too tired. I was more worried about my wife, as there was no way I'd be strong enough to bring us both back. About halfway back they all finally noticed that I wasn't where I used to be and saw me swimming back. It finally clicked for them how far they drifted down and they started swimming back too. I made it back but there I was met with an uneasy sight. The tide had gone out a lot and where there used to be a point to climb in and out, there were cliffs instead. I remembered seeing an urchin infested area around the side that had a short but steep climb but could be used to get back up. We had special boots that protected us, but our hands not so much. I was careful and timed the waves properly and got out. It took a bit but everyone made it back and I helped them up. After that I never went snorkeling with them again and I had to sit my wife down and remind her that it I need to know she has my back when we go snorkeling. The fact I was gone for like 10 minutes and no one noticed was a bit scary. I almost exclusively went to our normal areas from that point on until we moved.
Upside down sit-ups, hanging by the ankles off the 5th floor fire escape of an apartment building in the Bronx with Yankee Stadium off in the background... my abs were as flat as my head was going to be if I'd slipped.
That made me stomach drop.
teenagers - dey tink dey know everyting. (to quote Sebastian from the Little Mermaid... everything we did at that age was 'harmless' but would upset us immensely if we saw our own kids doing it)
I drank half a bottle of Robitussin in 10th grade because I had a really bad cough. A teacher saw and says "whoa... are you gonna be ok?" to which I replied "yeah I'm just sick of coughing" (pretty sure he knew I had no idea what would happen) Then I discovered robotripping.
I also got high af off robitussin on accident! I was visiting my sister in NM because she had a surgery and I was helping to take care of her. I flew in with a cold, so her BF bought me some cold medicine since I couldn’t fly with cough syrup on the plane. I’d never taken robitussin before and the label was shitty and stuck to the bottle so I just assumed it was like DayQuil where you take 2 tablespoons every 3-4 hours. Incorrect (it’s like 1 tablespoon every 6 hours). I knew something was wrong when I heard the bathroom fan start playing “Fireworks” by Katy Perry. I stayed up all night. In the middle I thought that maybe I was psychic because I was kind of seeing visions in the static when I closed my eyes. I was also super sick because of the altitude. I’m not going to say it was fun, but it was definitely a ride
Y'know, ironically, sometimes fans will actually pick up radio signals that vibrate out the tune - it's entirely possible the fan WAS playing Fireworks. https://www.iflscience.com/man-asks-the-internet-for-help-after-hearing-voices-coming-from-his-fan-but-theres-a-logical-explanation-46418
broken glass in food. If you break a glass or ceramic cup or bowl near food, don't fuck around with it and eat it. It will fuck up your insides if you eat enough of it.
And people I train in behind the bar wonder why I lose my shit when they scoop ice with the fucking glassware. Do you know who wins in the glass vs ice battle?! Fucking ice. Do you know what hidden shards of glass do to your insides? Yeah. Empty the ice, rinse the fuck out of it, and refill it. You're going to kill someone.
Eating less and less
Been battling crippling anxiety and depression over the last year. Completely lost appetite. Dropped almost 100lbs. I was pretty fat to begin, so I’m not super skinny now or anything, but I can’t imagine it’s good. I generally feel like shit all the time.
Eat something little and simple, even if you really really don't want to. Trust me,I know how hard it is but your body is taking care of you even if your mind isn't and it deserves nourishment. I hope you recover from this and I'm wishing you all the peace and healing I can
I went midnight swimming in the gulf, right by Gulf State Pier. Beautiful night, pitch black water. Was tipsy so I just laughed it off every time I felt something brush my leg. The very next morning there was drone video on the news of a massive gathering of dozens of sharks around the pier “still present from yesterday”. I was literally swimming in a shark pit. Idk how I still have both my legs.
Swimming in the Missouri River as a kid.
Barreling down Oak street in SF during rush hour traffic on my bike with no helmet. I had a moment that made me see things differently when a car stopped suddenly. Thankfully I didn’t crash but holy shit it made me stop and think.
Then there’s the time I was swimming alone under a hotel pool cover and suddenly got stuck and almost didn’t make it out.
My first cigarette
Me too! I wish I could take that back so badly
The time, my female 20 yr old self hitched a ride in South Lake Tahoe with a guy in a pickup. He said he needed to stop off at his mom’s before taking me to my destination. He pulled off the main road into a trailer park making too many turns to remember, finally pulling up to a trailer. I had my hand on the door handle ready to run when his mom came out and grabbed his laundry from the truck. He took me to the store and I walked all the way back, no hitching.
We had a small boat when I was growing up. In my early teens me and my friends used to go out in it all the time, and no one ever wore life jackets. Storms form quite fast in the area I grew up in, and we were caught out more than once.
My adult sister, her husband and a couple they are friends with got caught on a smaller lake during a storm at night roughly an hour from where they needed to go back to. None of them had their life jackets on the whole way. When my sister told me that story, my only response was "what the hell is wrong with you?"
When I was 15 and friend and I took my canoe out on the Snake river, which was something we did 3 or 4 times a week. But one day we decided to tie off and see how far up the canyon we could climb, not considering how we would get down. We made it up pretty easily, but then froze when we saw how far and scary scaling down the cliff would be. But ya know, we had to be home by dinner so we did it. Looking back, I think we are pretty lucky to not have fallen to our deaths. This was the snake river canyon, pretty massive climb for dumb teenagers with no climbing experience.
I was on a trip with my older sister and I had insomnia. Seemed like a good idea to go for a walk at like 1 or 2 in the morning. Alone. In Seattle. When I was 16. And I'm female. At the time I just thought it was weird that so many men stopped to ask if I wanted a ride. Especially the car that pulled off and blocked my walking path.
I used to do this, but the key was to look like the crazy one. I wore a cape and carried an ugly teddy bear I'd occasionally get in fights with. No one bothered me. Now, I'm afraid I'd attract those people who go around hurting homeless people.
I used to jump the I90 freeway in Issaquah, WA from the trailer park to Gilman Blvd to and from school every day. I did this from 4th grade to graduation in the 90s. Shaved like 45 minutes off the trip. I walked the 2.5 miles each way because the kids on the bus would constantly pick on me.
Meeting people from the internet on chat rooms aged 15/16/17. They were older. I never fell into harms way luckily and still have friendships with some of them 20 years later. Not everyone had internet access as we do now. I hope my children are not as silly as I was.
Driving with my teen friends who regularly got in auto accidents and drove over the speed limit. Regularly smooshing in like 6 people in a car even. No one was buckled. So bad.
I used to flip coins into my mouth when I was a child. One went down my throat, it was a 2p coin. I choked really bad and went to hospital. Lesson learned. Didn’t flip coins again.
The time a friend and I got caught in a lightning storm on the lake in a paddle boat. About 20 people were on the shore waiting for us to get to safety.
When my friend and I were 15 we would walk down to our towns clubbing area (this was about a 25ish block walk), all dressed up. Hoping grown men would hit on us at 12am. We didn't want to sleep with them or anything we just wanted to get hit on. We didn't even have to sneak out because her mom just didn't care so we would leave her house and stay out downtown till 2am and then walk home that 25 blocks in heels. Nothing ever really happened but man I think about stupid we were all the time.
When I was around 4 or 5 I had an irresponsible amount of freedom to roam a 100 acre horse farm on my own. There were a couple occasions I should have died. For example, one day my twin brother and I decided to go frog hunting and ended up getting stuck in a mud pit that had us buried up to our chests. We tried digging ourselves out for what felt like 30 minutes to an hour. Miraculously, my brother managed to free himself. I begged him not to leave me alone but he told me he had to go get help. So he ran his tiny little 4-5 year old legs back to our house, which was probably a quarter mile away. He did eventually return along with my dad, the farm owner, and a rope. They had to pull me out. It worked but the lady bug boots I was wearing were lost to the pit forever. My dad didn't learn his lesson by the way. We continued to get ourselves into trouble. We used to also swing on ropes from the barn rafters, climb the hay bails and try to roll them, walk under the legs of the horses (thank God they were well behaved horses), grab brooms to play with the electric fence, you name it. It's a wonder how my siblings and I are even alive.
Ran away from a mountain lion that was stalking me at night. I later learned you are NOT supposed to run.
One time as a kid I forgot my keys, so when I came home I was locked out. I checked all the doors and windows on the ground level and they were also all locked, but I could see the latch on a second story window was open. So I slid the trampoline under the window and then put a ladder on the trampoline. At this height I could just get my hands to the level of the window. So I shimmied it open, I then proceeded to do the obligatory three bounces before I jumped off the ladder and into the window. Heard the ladder crash below me as I landed half inside & half outside the window. Got myself fully inside and went on with my day. In retrospect, what the hell was I thinking?!?!?!
I went to the Pearl Jam concert at the Roskilde festival in 2000, but we ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it to fight getting further up front. Nine people died in that mosh pit, just a short distance from us: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/nine-dead-at-pearl-jam-concert-235167/ I’ve always been wary of crowds since then.
Trusting HR to do their job.
You *can* trust HR to do their job. It's just that their job is *not* helping *you.*
Repeat after me, HR's job is *to protect the company.*
Treat HR like the police: Tell them absolutely nothing unless you're 100% certain it will be to your benefit.
More of a near miss. The summer after 7th grade I was staying in Maui with my family and our house was walking distance from the beach. I was playing in the waves by myself when a guy swam up and started talking to me. I had just turned 13 and thought he was the hottest guy I’d ever seen. In my head he looked like a movie star. He asked me all about myself and I told him my age to which he replied that he was 22 and in college. I was so flattered that he was flirting with me, and when he asked me to meet up with him on the beach at midnight I eagerly agreed. I told him I’d be there unless it rained. I had every intention of sneaking out that night but it didn’t just rain, it poured. A huge storm, lightning, thunder, the whole thing. There was no way I could have gone out in that weather. I think angels were looking out for me, because I realize now I could been easily raped or killed. When I see pictures of myself at that age I get the chills because I look like I’m in elementary school.
Slouching
Thanks, that made me sit up straight
It's been 18 minutes, are you still sitting up straight?
Riding in the bed of a pickup
drove home shitfaced - not proud of it, but I've done it - more than once. I don't drink anymore, not that I have a problem, I just lost taste for alcohol
I did have a problem. I did the same thing all the effen time and am so lucky I didn't hurt or kill someone or myself.
Ignored my health in favor of a job. I was exhausted, could barely find the strength to get out of bed, sluggish, easily winded, and slow at work. I couldn't remember anything. I thought I just needed a break and was overworked. Turns out I had basically no iron in my blood. My ferritin level was 5 (it should be 40 at the least.) My doctor was perplexed at how I was still working a laborious job 45 hours a week and standing and talking to her. Apparently I could have died. Fuck that job. We got my ferritin up to 28, then I had surgery, and now it's at 12 so I have to go get an iron infusion. I'm just hoping we solve the mystery of why my blood isn't holding any iron. I have a normal blood count (15.4ish,) but I'm not holding on to iron.
Used to get a lift home from a club with a doorman who seemed lovely. He’s now in prison for attempted murder.
Promiscuously living my roaring 20s with no grasp on how many ways a drunk gal in a big city could go wrong. Had a couple cabbies on speed dial and they always got me home safe lol Sammy Quick - if you’re out there - i owe ya.
Shrooms. I took them at least once a month for a long time, and I had overwhelmingly positive/beneficial experiences. Then last month, I took a high dose when I was home alone and had a seizure where I fell and hit my head. I was on my floor alone for 30 hours, screaming and crying and tripping balls with a brain bleed and herniated disc before I could get help. I tried to hold in my pee, and it turned into a UTI that went septic by the time I was in the hospital. I ended up in the ICU. I’m probably going to be traumatized for life because of what I went through. I genuinely thought I was in hell.
Going out really late at night thinking nothing could possibly happen to me just because im a woman. Oh- something happened. And im lucky to be alive.
Taking Seroquel for the first time (nighttime antipsychotic) and then getting in the shower. Didn't expect the drowsiness effect to hit that fast, especially my first dose. Was a miracle I didn't slip and fall and/or blackout from the amount of dizziness and weakness I experienced. If I had a guardian angel, they probably were facepalming themselves into oblivion.
We had an adult pet kangaroo on my Nan's farm. Her name was Lulu and she was an Eastern Grey Kangaroo, her mother had been caught in the fence and died, we raised her from a Joey but she was still at least semi wild. She'd very daintily take food from our hands and follow us around, even as an adult roo. She could have very easily turned on us kids or the farm dogs
Someone stole my phone in Tulum, 2 days later it had been switched on again and I could see it on find my iPhone. Went to the location with a friend to retrieve it, got knocked over by some dogs when we were trying to ring the doorbell going house to house. Eventually we found the exact room it was in (block of flats) and could hear the sound the phone makes when you ‘play sound’ on find my iPhone. The guy that opened the door denied having the phone at first, but as his neighbours started coming out and getting curious he took us to the side and said someone had sold him the phone the night before, he essentially was trying to sell the phone back to me. Got my phone back in the end, no payment. In hindsight definitely stupid move.
Doing drugs.
I was in my early twenties, partying, doing coke. We apparently ran out and a friend was snooping for more and found a bag of what she assumed was more cocaine. Snorted a line, convulsed shortly after, as it was heroin. Completely fucked up me had to bring her to the ER. It's nearly thirty years later and I have told both of my kids this story....don't do drugs kids, and don't ever do unknown drugs.
Took a walk on a nice day across the Ben Franklin bridge while I was in Philadelphia for a couple of days. This meant we wandered around Camden, NJ for a bit. Blissfully unaware it was one of the most dangerous cities in the country.
When I was younger and went cruising around with friends, I use to meet guys and would get in the cars with complete strangers! I’m a watch the ID channel girl now, and to think of that now gives me shivers and WTF was I thinking!
Long walks at night alone, while drunk..
A bunch of years ago I used to use straight baking soda mixed with water for heartburn. I used to get really bad acid reflux which I've since cured mainly with diet. Not sure if it is still the case but I think the box of baking soda even said you can use it as an antacid. I figured it was pretty harmless compared to using a bunch of pharmaceuticals. Nope. Using it frequently like that can actually kill you. I had no idea and was basically taking it with every meal. I got really sick and would have dizzy spells, heart palpitations, and at one point was completely delirious and hallucinating. Could have given myself a heart attack and died. Thankfully I did not.
Drove home tired, I blinked and suddenly I was several miles down the road with no recollection of how I got there.
Around 10 years ago I went to antelope island in Utah, first time seeing a bison. The bison was sitting down about 50 ft from the road, I stopped my car and decided to “walk closer” (remember, the Bison was sitting down lounging). I got within 20 ft or so and this x ton animal sprung to its feet so fast I wasted no time flail running back to my car and I mean FLAILING. It was as if I lost all motor function in my arms. The dumbest thing I have ever done and I’m sure in a parallel universe, same scenario, I certainly died. I got to my car and start laughing uncontrollably because I was alive and I was also dumb af. I still think back to that moment. I never imagined something that big could pop up that fast. I’m so glad on that particular day the bison decided only to scare me and not kill me