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This Group Is Dedicated To People Posting Really Expensive Accidents And Mistakes, And Here Are 45 Of The Worst Ones
Mistakes are just lessons waiting to be learned! Unfortunately, some of those mistakes can be very, very expensive. They hit your wallet with the force of a charging rhino, leaving you clutching your head in agony and letting out incomprehensible bleats about how much money just went down the drain.
That’s where the ‘That Looked Expensive’ subreddit comes in. It’s an internet community that’s dedicated to documenting all the hilarious (not to mention painful) times that people made expensive mistakes. Like wrecking their cars. Or planes. (Or presidential campaigns. Sorry, Mike Bloomberg.)
Bored Panda spoke about the best way for people to deal with mistakes and how important a role emotions play in learning from them with researcher and Assistant Professor of Marketing Noelle Nelson from the University of Oregon. She told us that people vary in how much they tend to justify their mistakes. "Some learn early that it's important to accept when you've done something wrong while others get in a habit of justifying/deflecting/making excuses. Everyone, though, has done this to some degree." Scroll down for our in-depth interview with Noelle and for our chat with the founder of the 'That Looked Expensive' subreddit, Approx-, dear Pandas. Remember to upvote your fave expensive blunders and to let us know in the comments what the most expensive thing that you wrecked was and how you did it.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
No Matter How Much You Screw Up, You'll Never Ever Have To Tell Your Boss: Sir, I Toppled That 290 Million Dollar Noaa-N Prime Satellite Right Onto The Shop Floor.
Daniela Botella 5 years ago
And then you see the two people in the back thinking I think we should pack our bags already
RELATED:
#2
When The Fire Suppression Foam Is Accidentally Released
#3
When You Forget You Parked On Top Of The Self-Hiding Garage
The car at the bottom was flooded. Car at the top was crushed
Noelle told Bored Panda that there are a lot of reasons why we justify our mistakes and she told us a couple of the main ones. "We don't like feeling negative emotion and the goal is very often to 'get back' to a positive state. If we can justify something we did wrong, we don't have to feel bad about it anymore."
She continued with the second reasons: "We want to protect our positive self image. Justifying a mistake means that I didn't do anything wrong or whatever went wrong wasn't my fault. That means I can still feel like I'm 'good.'"
Noelle said that her research suggests that taking the time to stop and feel the negative emotions associated with the mistake helps a person learn from that mistake. "We find that it's not enough to just think about the mistake and why it happened. Our brains are designed to be guided by emotion, so actually feeling that negative emotion is important," she said.
#4
Don't Tailgate A School Bus When Your Car Is Shaped Like A Door Stop
#5
Florida House Split Via Crane Mishap
#6
Parking On The Beach
"In our experiments, people who were asked to feel those negative emotions corrected their behavior on a similar task later on. This happened even though they didn't know the tasks were connected! That suggests that the emotional learning doesn't have to be consciously done by a person; simply making sure to allow oneself to feel those negative emotions leads to learning."
Noelle revealed to us that lately she's been working on research that addresses why people have a hard time changing their minds about important topics and how we might be able to communicate in a way that would help them absorb new information that they don't necessarily agree with. "Generally, how people process emotions and thoughts is important in how they learn, function and interact with their environment."
#7
Your Internet Access Will Be Restored Between January And December 2020
#9
Technician 'Accidentally' Fires Vulcan Cannon & Obliterates F-16 Sitting On The Runway
Reddit user Approx- told Bored Panda that they started the subreddit back in March 2018, as a result of a comment made by another user, Deathtastic.
According to Approx-, the subreddit grew steadily and naturally gained users since it was first created. "We haven't really done anything in particular to make it grow, other than ensuring content is well moderated," they said.
"I think the appeal of expensive mistakes is twofold. First, it's just straight-up entertainment to see expensive things destroyed. But I think it also gives folks a bit of a sense of relief that maybe their screw-ups aren't all that bad after seeing a multi-million dollar mistake," Aprrox- said.
#10
$5000 Canadian After Someone Using The Microwave To Disinfect It
Nagawa (Cofa) Kishiki 5 years ago
There is a reason why they call it money laundering and not money microwaving.
#11
Landslide On Highway
#12
If Insurance Companies Had Nightmares...
Russell Ellwardt 5 years ago
Insurance? If this was an illegal car race indeed, and very likely it was, they ought to refuse to pay.
The ‘That Looked Expensive’ subreddit has more than 416k members and the community has been going strong since it was first founded.
It’s one thing to mess up as an individual but it’s a whole other ball game when companies or countries mess up. For example, back in 2000, Netflix approached Blockbuster with an idea to take care of the digital part of their company. Blockbuster said ‘no’ and, well, we don’t have to tell you how things worked out over the next two decades for both companies, do we? A ‘yes’ instead of a ‘no’ and we could still have a healthy version of Blockbuster!
#13
If You’re Having A Bad Day, Just Know That At Least You Didn’t Shatter A 16,000$ Bottle Of Victory In Europe, 1945 Château Mouton Rothschild
Orionpax75 5 years ago
That's nothing a wine merchant in the late 80's broke a 1787 Château Margaux that was valued at.... hold your hats.... half a million and was owned by Thomas Jefferson! True story
#14
The Slide Opened Inside The Aircraft
#15
Cement Truck Mishap
Another costly blunder happened when the so-called ‘Walkie-Talkie’ skyscraper was built in London. It took millions of pounds to fix a huge issue: the southern wall of the skyscraper was covered with reflective glass that was causing fires and melting cars. Yeah, you read the right—actually melting cars like a heat beam that some comic book villain would use.
We all know that failure’s a part of life and we can’t avoid it forever. So it’s important to learn how to handle it in the right way. Common sense tells us to let things go but that might not be what’s best for us.
#16
Big Oof
#17
A $5,000,000 Oops
#18
Renewable Energy Needs Renewing
#19
New Boeing 737 Fuselages Wrecked In Train Derailment In Montana (July 2014)
#20
Don’t Leave Your Malinois With Your Porsche
Little Wonder 5 years ago
I had to google, so to save other people googling - a Malinois is a breed of dog.
#22
The Alcoholic In Me Is In Tears!
#23
Should’ve Thought That Through...
#24
This Guy Sunk His Raptor And Jeep Trying To Save His $300,000 Boat That Was Sinking
#25
Two Carnival Cruise Ships Colliding
Marcellus the Third 5 years ago
"Cap's letting his mate park today! What a legend!!" is what's painted on the boat.
#26
Aston Martin That Was Worth £1.5m.
Mihran Hovnanian 5 years ago
full article: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/four-year-old-hurt-classic-9745468
#27
Stray Bullet Landed On A Solar Panel I Just Installed.
#28
It Will Hurt The Wallet
#29
Someone Forgot To Lower The Dump On The Truck
#30
See The Problem There Is That The Back Fell Off
#31
Tug Hit An A300
#32
Jim Bean Wearhouse Fire That Was Left To Burn Through 45 Thousand Barrels Of Whiskey To Avoid Runoff Into Nearby Water Sources
#33
Well, Not One But Two
#34
Flipped The Apc And Crashed A Truck That’s Gotta Be Expensive
#35
A Rock'n Boat
#36
70m Yacht Capsized In Greece
#37
Residential Homes Built In South Dakota Over Undisclosed Abandoned Gypsum Mine... Sinkhole Renders Entire Neighborhood’s Property Values Now Worthless.
#38
Rag Left In Engine After Repairs Turned To Shreds
#39
300,000$ Porsche Crashed During Test Drive
Rabbit Carrot 5 years ago (edited)
This happens far too often on test drives with powerful cars. If you’ve only ever driven a Focus you won’t be able to a handle a super car. Know your limits and use less gas.
#40
Trailer Full Of New 2020 Shelby Gt500s Tipped Over In Detroit Today.
#41
Suv Crashes Into Mclaren Dealer
#42
When You Want Your Insurance Adjuster To Pay More Attention To Your Claim
Demi Zwaan 5 years ago
Those are actually influencers that have nothing to do with the boat. They’re just using it as a prop.
#43
Hope Insurance Covers This
#44
What Happens When A Bandsaw Hits A Nail
#45
Porsche Panamera Hybrid vs. Tesla Model S
WilvanderHeijden 5 years ago
The one that rear ends is always at fault in my country. No discussions possible. Standard court ruling: You should have kept enough distance to stop before hitting the other vehicle. No matter what circumstances or what the other driver did.
#46
All Around View Of Your Car In A Single Image
#47
BMW Driver Tries To Drift
#48
Flooded Bitcoin Mining Farm
Kevin Donegan 5 years ago
I've read multiple articles on bitcoin and watched youtube videos ... I still don't understand it.
#49
Had A Leak Develop In Our Laboratory This Morning. Nobody Was On Campus To Catch It So There Was 4 Inches Of Standing Water And Countless Ruined Pieces Of Equipment.
#50
That's Not Where The Stairs Go...
#51
This Was A Fun Conversation To Have With My Boss
#52
Told My Manager My Crane Wouldnt Pick Up A 70,000 Lb Was Told I Could, Minutes Later This Happened
#53
A Regional Passenger Train After Hitting A Liquid Gas Train. You Can See The Buckled Roof. The Tanker Car Hit Was Essentially Undamaged. No One Died.
#54
Tank Barrel Miss Fire
#55
Insane Storms In Australia Are Flooding What’s Left Of The Country After Millions Of Hectares Have Been Burnt
#56
Underground Parking - Inside Cam
#57
That Can’t Be Cheap
Little Wonder 5 years ago
This is how I look when I try to bring all the groceries in with one trip...
#58
There Are Load Charts For A Reason!
WilvanderHeijden 5 years ago
Load charts are like manuals. You only read them when the fan has been hit.
#59
They're Gonna Need A Lot Of Hot Glue To Stick It Back On
#60
Plane Lands So Heavily The Landing Gear Comes Through The Floor
#61
Remember Kids: Unused Airliners Can Still Make An Airline Some Money If Someone Crashes Into Them Because Insurance
WilvanderHeijden 5 years ago
No, they'll get the repair costs refunded, but it's not like they are going to make a profit out of this accident.
#62
Let’s Hope The Damage Is Just Cosmetic
#63
Lightning Hitting A Boat
#64
That’s One Way To Finish Your Camping Trip Early
Paul Scott 5 years ago
Australia, never ever camp under nice big shady River Red Gum trees. People die.
#65
Of All The Cars The Deer Had To Pick...
#66
Tank Flipped From A Landslide Into The Woods.
#67
Customer Ignored The Pressure Rating Of His Cylinder And Shot Oil Out At Such A High Pressure It Cut 1 Inch Thick Steel
#68
Text While Driving And You Might Smack Into Some Dude's $1,450,000 Mclaren Senna.
#69
A Rocky Day On The Water
#70
The Tree Fell On My House Today...
#71
The Complete Overhaul On Sonic Must’ve Been Pretty Expensive, Definitely Welcomed Though
#72
Shopper Knocks Over 4 TV's Worth $7,000
#73
Ferrari F40 Burns In Monte Carlo Today
Phil DeBlanc 5 years ago
Yeah, buddy, I know you gotta TRY, but that hose is too little, too late.
#74
Each One Of Those Blades Is About $2000.
#75
Lhc Magnet Quench Back In 2009, Damaging A Total Of 53 Superconducting Magnets And Their Mountings, And Contaminating The Vacuum Pipe, Which Also Lost Vacuum Conditions.
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Marlowe Fitzpatrik 5 years ago
True story: A friend of mine works in worldwide-shipping of things. Lots of different things. Once, they had to ship some fossils from I think the USA (or somewhere in South America) which had been painstakingly dug out, collected, recorded, cleaned, celebrated over and were on their way to Europe to a museum. Cutting a long story short: because the boss of the dig decided to save some money, they packed the stuff themselves and delivered them to a container. Guess what? Ships on the ocean do not travel all smoothly over the sea. When the container was opened in port for customs, there was nothing left but piles of rubble and dust. The whole dig was destroyed (maybe some small bones were left?) because they used the wrong straps to tie it down, which broke during the travel. I saw the pictures. I nearly wept for the poor museum and all the faithful paleontologists on site (and I'm still hoping the guy who stupidly decided to save money hasn't killed himself out of devastation)
Oskar vanZandt 5 years ago
That's an actual tragedy... loss of irreplaceable artifacts.
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Marlowe Fitzpatrik 5 years ago
True story: A friend of mine works in worldwide-shipping of things. Lots of different things. Once, they had to ship some fossils from I think the USA (or somewhere in South America) which had been painstakingly dug out, collected, recorded, cleaned, celebrated over and were on their way to Europe to a museum. Cutting a long story short: because the boss of the dig decided to save some money, they packed the stuff themselves and delivered them to a container. Guess what? Ships on the ocean do not travel all smoothly over the sea. When the container was opened in port for customs, there was nothing left but piles of rubble and dust. The whole dig was destroyed (maybe some small bones were left?) because they used the wrong straps to tie it down, which broke during the travel. I saw the pictures. I nearly wept for the poor museum and all the faithful paleontologists on site (and I'm still hoping the guy who stupidly decided to save money hasn't killed himself out of devastation)
Oskar vanZandt 5 years ago
That's an actual tragedy... loss of irreplaceable artifacts.
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