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Life works in mysterious ways, and sometimes we learn what was in store for us only after it happened. So Reddit user TheUncleAwesome07 asked people to share stories about the biggest bullets they have ever dodged. From total financial ruin to grave physical danger, their experiences show just how close we can come to disaster and still walk away (relatively) fine. Call it luck, intuition, or destiny, the important part is that nothing is lost until it is actually, truly lost.
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#1
Driving to my girlfriend's parents place in Montana for Thanksgiving...
Crossing a mountain pass in my 1984 Toyota Tercel, it was a beautiful, sunny winter day, but coming around a bend I hit an ice patch and immediately started sliding off the road. It was next to a cliff, with no guardrail, and it was a slow-motion freak out. The car came to a stop just before going over. My girlfriend didn't even have room to get out on her side.
We slowly and carefully slid out my side and both got out safely, but then our previous freakout turned quickly into some real concern about what the hell we were going to do next, and how we were going to get out of there in the middle of nowhere. And, it was cold.
Not two minutes later a pickup truck with two guys in the cab and three in the bed came around the bend toward us. They pulled over in front of my car, and they all hopped out like a pit crew. One guy with a tow strap hooked it under the front axle, hooked it on the back of the truck and they pulled my car off the cliff and back onto the the shoulder of the highway.
I thanked them PROFUSELY, and asked them what in the hell they were doing out in the middle of nowhere like this. One guy said that "there wasn't much to do around here" and helping people on the highway was kind of a fun activity.
The entire event took a total of about ten minutes.
David Houde 4 days ago
Growing up in rural Michigan I used to drive around in my truck with a shovel and tow strap during winter storms. It was fun and gave me a good feeling to help people that needed it. Though if someone drove right back into the drift that I just pulled them out of, I'd just keep driving and pretend I didn't see them get stuck again.
Crystalwitch60 4 days ago
Now that’s what you need when in those places ,locals with a decent lot of humanity ❤️
Bill Walker 3 days ago
As a Montanan, I can verify that this is a real thing. Bored with a pick-up!
Mr. Robinson 3 days ago
In 1985, I was 16 years old and my 71 dodge duster broke down in the middle of nowhere in the Arizona desert. A motorhome pulled in a few hours later and there was an elderly couple driving around the country. He was a former master mechanic and he fixed my car. I asked for his card because my parents would want to thank him. He gave me his card and his wife fed me and I went on my way. I got to my destination and they were all just about to go looking for me. I told them what happened and we take my car to the shop the next day and the mechanic asked if we were joking. The issue had been with my radiator. The guy said my radiator looked like it had been removed from my car and flushed and thoroughly cleaned. Then told me I was lying when I said that one man did that because he said it was impossible. My parents called the number on his car and were told the number didn't exist. I don't know what happened that day buy mother believed it was an angel.
Bewitched One 3 days ago
Must be something that happened there often so they knew to be prepared. May have even just been bored and “patrolling” waiting for someone to need help lol now that I read the last paragraph, sounds like that’s exactly what was going on 😂
BeesEelsAndPups 3 days ago
I had a 1988 Tercel. My favorite thing about that car was you should switch from FWD to 4WD. Very useful on icy roads.
RELATED:
#2
Not having a kid at 17 in high school.
Ended up going to my dream university and am 18 years into a meaningful, fascinating career. Realized in my early 30s I actually don't want kids ever and I'm so so so thankful i didn't end up as a teen mom.
I'm writing Planned Parenthood into my will.
sturmwesen 4 days ago
Somewhere there is a woman that got to have it easier (or at least not as bad) because I donated the cost of an abortion when the dump got reelected. I encourage everyone who can to do the same.
Laserleader 3 days ago
I dont think I ever wanted kids, after helping raise my three sisters. My body said no, and I agreed, but it wasn't until I was 40 with three abortions that they even suggested an ablasion to take care of my serious period issues. Now I never have to worry about it with an IUD and only 10 years to menopause.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 2 days ago
IUDs are great—I loved mine. And menopause has been good to me.
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#3
My anorexia was so severe that the doctors didn’t think I would make it. Hospitalized for over a year, and now 9 years later, I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been and am currently in Grad school to be a therapist that specializes in eating disorders. Pay it forward.
Rodriquez 3 days ago
Great but this was copied from Reddit and they won't see that you're proud of them.
Load More Replies... Mimi M 3 days ago (edited)
Anorexia (if you'll pardon the expression) feeds on itself. As long as one is below a certain weight, the body and mind get stuck in a self-reinforcing starvation loop. Hospitalization - to bring someone up out of that loop, by giving them enough calories to break that threshold, even by tube - is often necessary to save their life. I.e., it's not just a 'therapy' thing, it's a physiological condition.
#4
Around 2019, we were struggling financially and as a result, our gas was shut off. After months of struggling, we were finally able to get the bill down and have the gas turned back on. When the worker came out, he had to do a mandatory test for carbon monoxide. Turns out our furnace was absolutely leaking carbon monoxide and we had no idea! I can’t help but think it’s entirely possible that we could’ve got carbon monoxide poisoning if we had not had our gas shut off in the first place. We got a new furnace and loaded up on carbon monoxide detectors. What was a huge misfortune of having our gas shut off due to not being able to afford the bill, actually ended up saving our lives in the end.
Jesse 4 days ago
Please, for the love of all that's sacred, improve your grammar.
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CD Mills 3 days ago
Well yeah, homeowners' insurance can cover that. That's why you get homeowners Insurance coverage when you buy a home.
Load More Replies... #5
When I was about 8 years old, we went on a family vacation to the mountains in western North Carolina. While we were there, we went tubing on a river. At one point there were some rapids and I fell off my tube and got caught in the undercurrent created by the big boulders in the river. I was stuck there for what felt like minutes and was unable to get to the surface.
My parents didn’t see it happen, but some stranger did and he yanked me out. I doubt I’d be here today if it wasn’t for that man, I wish I knew who he was so I could say thank you.
Eroe Infinito 4 days ago (edited)
My Dad saved me from drowning at around 12 years old at a friends birthday party. I had slipped off the edge to the deep end. Another younger party member slipped off with me and was dragging me down while I fought for air. Well we both were struggling technically. He saw it, threw his wallet on the ground and jumped in, saving us both. Thanks Dad, love you.
Lady Eowyn 4 days ago
A random stranger saved me from being stung by a jellyfish back in the 70s, I was so zoned out watching the waves I didn't even see it. If he hadn't pushed me, I would have been stung.
BrownEyedGrrl 3 days ago
My mom once told me that the most alive she's ever felt was after being stung by a jellyfish.
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hannahbahngswife 3 days ago (edited)
My dad saved my best friend from drowning when we were kids. Thanks God he was looking after both of us, not just me.
Trillian 3 days ago
Who takes his 8 year old tubing on a river and doesn't watch them every second?
Bewitched One 3 days ago
Agree. I even watch my 11 & 13 year olds super closely while in or near water. I’m paranoid about it really
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Julia Mckinney 3 days ago
Waayyy back in the early 70s, I was 7 or 8 and swimming at the local pool. I'd just gone off the diving board and some older boy didn't wait until i was by the side of the pool before he jumped off and landed right on top of me. Luckily, multiple people saw what happened, the lifeguard got me out and got me breathing again. The only things I remember were watching him come down on top of me then waking up on the cement at the side of the pool and seeing my mom in the little huddle around me. I remembered thinking that something bad must have happened if she'd left the tennis court.
#6
Quit smoking cigarettes when I was in nursing school. I saw a COPD patient bent over in the tripod position in order to breath better, and in that moment, something in my brain clicked. I told myself "This is you, if you do not stop" and after some back and forth... I've quit 10+ years strong!
Daisydaisy 4 days ago
I have huge admiration for everyone who quits smoking. After heavy smoking for three decades, it took me two years of trying REALLY HARD every single day before I managed it. Way the hardest thing I've ever done. 13 years ago. I love and admire ex-smokers!!
Alexandra 4 days ago
Quitting smoking is so hard that I never started smoking at all. I watched my sister trying again and again and still not succeeding. She got to the point where she smokes 2 cigarettes a day instead of smoking the moment she wakes up, and to her that's a definite win and I get that, but it just reinforces my point.
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Vermonta 3 days ago
that is true. I don't know 1st hand but after working in behavioral health a few years. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( DSM-5) is almost 1,000 pages and yeah, just yeah
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Mook The Mediocre 3 days ago
I gave up because my new girlfriend was a non-smoker. It was hard, but I got through it. --- It turned out - about a month later - that my girlfriend DID smoke at times, but not when she was with me. --- Nearly screamed, but have been glad of my error for the past 25 years.
Lee Gilliland 3 days ago
I quit smoking the easy way, left my husband and was determined to keep SOMETHING I could control in my life. It worked.
Melinda Flick 2 days ago
My mother had lung issues by the time I was in high school. She died of a combination of emphysema and dementia when I was 60. It wrecked the last 10-15 years of her life.
Jane Doe-Doe 2 days ago (edited)
I smoked for about 30 years, I had given up ‘ giving up’, tried and failed so many times and then one day about 10 years ago my daughter in law let me try her vape and I haven’t had a cigarette since, I know vapes are bad too but not as bad as cigarettes
hannahbahngswife 3 days ago
They teach English in nursing school? Holy, I never knew! /j
Load More Replies... #7
Hurt my lower back last year and had to get surgery. During rehab I was still having balance and bowel problems that based on MRIs shouldn’t exist.
Due to bowel stuff I went and got a colonoscopy at 38 years old and they found a huge polyp that was about 6 months away from turning into colon cancer. The doctor mentioned how lucky I was. Got it taken care of and found out recently my issues are due to a different higher up back injury where my nerve was compressed affecting my bowel and getting it fixed now.
If I didn’t hurt my back, and it wasn’t misdiagnosed, I’d have colon cancer right now.
A misdiagnosed back injury potentially saved my life.
Celtic Pirate Queen 13 hours ago
I had to have my left hip replaced in 2008. After the MRI, the surgeon asked me when I'd had back surgery. The answer is never. Well, he says, you're completely missing the disc between L4 & L5. Apparently, one of the times my "back went out" it was a blown disc (which your body generally absorbs). I asked him to measure my height. Sure enough, I'm about 1/4 inch shorter than my normal 5'7.
#8
I was dating this girl for a while. I thought she was the one for me. Pretty, adventurous and fun. Then I discovered my at the time best friend and her were sleeping together for a few months. I was devastated. Went into a full spiral depression for about 4 months. When I came out of it I reached out to some friends who I had not talked to since. They chose the backstabber over me. My entire friend group abandoned me. I had no one. Then I hit up an old friend from a younger age who we drifted apart because of that friend group. We started hanging out again and he introduced me to some new people. Then a few years after that he introduced me to my now wife.
Though at the time I was crushed by what they did. That "best friend" did me a huge favor and showed me that girls true side. And now I'm happier then I have ever been.
#9
Was driving home with my then girlfriend down a normal road. We decided to go out for food and stopped at applebees. Food took forever. It was like 45-50 minutes between ordering and getting the food. We finished, paid and left kind of miffed. Continued driving home and the street lights were out at some point and a detour. Turns out a tornado ripped through that road just ahead of us. Probably would have been on the road if our food hadn't taken so long.
Nicola Mawson 3 days ago
I once missed being involved in a deadly accident because I stopped for one more smoke break than usual
Julia Mckinney 3 days ago
Twice in a month (this last august/sept.), i found out later that I had driven past a m****r/attempted m****r as it was happening. The first time, our local safety feed said when the 911 call happened & I realized I was driving by that house (about 2 blocks from my house) right around the time of the call. 4 weeks later, my husband, daughter & I were driving back back from visiting my FIL in memory care, hubby was driving so I was just looking out the window at an intersection with a bunch of grocery stores and fast food places. I heard a series of "pops" & rolled the window down asking hubby & daughter if they heard anything (they hadn't- hubbys half-deaf, kid had her earbuds in). I wondered about it the rest of the way home then learned about the shooting from the county safety feed. I NEVER have anything like that happen and twice in a month? wow.
#10
I didn’t marry my ex. He’s still the same old loser who can’t hold down a job and lives with his parents ten years after we broke up. He also constantly told me I was “not smart” in a gentle voice and I just graduated law school and passed the bar on my first try.
Lazy Panda 2 3 days ago
Oof, I knew one like that. Constantly found minor ways to dig at me being "not very bright." At some point I clicked the only thing that wasn't bright was staying with them. Never looked back. What a p**s-weasel.
Michael Largey 3 days ago
The "not smart" was based on the fact that the OP went out with him for a while. Well, he may have something there.
#11
I worked with two nurses and had my eye on Linda, a pretty, vivacious, smart, flirtatious woman. Her friend, Deanna, was very pretty, but quiet, though she could hold conversations. I had concert tickets and went up to ask Linda out for the first time. She was wearing a wedding ring!! (Nurses don't wear rings, and Linda had forgotten to take hers off that evening.)
Deanna was in an isolation room, all gowned and masked. I put on a mask, went to the door, and asked her out. We've been married 47 years this month. The bullet I dodged was that Linda was a flake. She was on her second marriage, broke up with him, and married twice more. She always wanted younger, then much younger men ... pretty boys. She aged out and would accept a man near her age. Last we knew, she was living alone.
DC 4 days ago
If you don't fall in love with somebody's brain, it doesn't matter if you fall in love with their ... equipment, physical appearance, whatever. None of that is that important anyway. I have to say that, as a not-conventionally-attractive dude... But actually, I do think so, I just don't know if I would otherwise. I should anyway, everybody should value thoughts over appearance.
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#12
I was looking in a store window in San Francisco in 1973 when a couple girls handed me a flyer for a church. It sounded sketchy so I passed on it. Good thing because the pastor’s name was Jim Jones.
Hugo 4 days ago
He was head of a cult known as the Peoples Temple, and organized a mass m****r & s*****e that cost the lives of about 900 people.
cecilia kilian 2 days ago
November 18, 1978. It shook the San Francisco Bay Area because Jones' cult gathered a following there. Nine days later, San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated at City Hall.
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Purple Gurl 4 days ago
He is the origin of the phrase 'Don't drink the Kool-Aid' or 'They drank the Kool-Aid'
anacan 3 days ago (edited)
I used to live in his mom's old house in Redwood Valley, California, USA. His compound was next door and at the time was a CCC (California Conservation Corps) this was in the late '80s but I still remember that monkey cages were visible along the north border of the former compound. Edit to add Apparently Jim Jones had monkeys!
Beak Hookage 3 days ago
Yup, he started out as a pet monkey salesman! Wild.
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#13
I desperately needed a career change in my late 30s and was originally going to go into nursing. For one reason or another I decided against that and ended up getting a degree in IT. A few years later the pandemic hit and instead of having to work in healthcare during that circus, I got to start working from home and received a sizable raise.
Bewitched One 3 days ago
This is basically what I just did. Went to nursing school, had one term left. 2 years later I’ve got an associates and a bachelors degree in software development and no nursing license lol I’m 31 though so I guess not late 30s
Mimi M 3 days ago
Did you specialize in something? How's the job market for your tech area currently?
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Apatheist Account2 3 days ago
I was made redundant from a dead-end stats job. I had an interview with another stats department, but before it came through, I happened to give a lift home to the manager of the data processing department - after a chat, he pulled some strings and got me into his team. Salary went up significantly, got promoted several times, found a role I enjoyed and was good at, able to retire 5 years early.
Alexandra 4 days ago
I think you're taking this the wrong way. Granted, her us of the word 'circus' is ill-advised, I'm with you on that. The reality is that working in health care at the start of the pandemic increased risks very significantly so I understand that she is thankful that she did not run this extra risk of disease and possible death. She does not disparage the people who did work in health care during the start of the pandemic. Her choosing IT did not negatively impact someone or something else, so in that sense she's not selfish at all. Nowhere does she disparage hospital staff that did work during the pandemic.
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#14
I've given this story before. Twas a bed.
Years ago, when I was in middle school, my brother and I had bunk beds, and he had the top one, which was held up with metal bars. If you've seen Step Brothers, you can see where I'm going with this, except it's with metal bars instead of neat boxes.
Well, since we lived in an old house in a country neighborhood, we occasionally got bed bugs. My bed got them especially badly, and it was even worse during the summer.
Usually, I went to bed first, but since I was tired of getting bitten, I chose to stay up as long as I could, while my brother went to bed.
He jumped on his bed, which then fell onto mine. It did not fall flat. Rather, the side that fell was *where my head would be.* I slept in a chair that night.
TL;DR: Bedbugs saved my skull.
Bewitched One 3 days ago
Old houses in the country usually have less chance of bedbugs cause the people don’t go anywhere and no one comes there. Of course, not always. But everyone I know is like this lol
Mike F 3 days ago
That's certainly the case now days. When the critters became an issue again my mom told me about their beds on the farm having the bugs. They slept on a mattress that sat on a metal rack or frame. They used to pour lye water over the frames to get rid of the bugs and eggs. That was in the 30s.
Load More Replies... Mimi M 3 days ago (edited)
Tempo Dust and a puffer, baby. Works for roaches as well. Not toxic as long as puffer is used as directed (a thin film of dusty air on surfaces, not actual lumps of powder). Both can be gotten on Amaz, as well as supply stores online. Cheap and easy.
Bewitched One 2 days ago
I use boric acid around all the walls and doors (like under the baseboards, about once a year. I’m not sure if it’s toxic to animals honestly. I don’t think it is but I could be mistaken. It eventually all gets to where the kids and animals can’t get to it up under the baseboards or it’s all picked up by a broom, vacuum,etc. the only bugs we ever have issues with anymore are stupid stink bugs lol
Load More Replies... #15
Went to my gf's dorm after a date. Were snogging on the front porch of the dorm and I jokingly asked if I could drive her car back over to my dorm across campus because it was so late. Was about 3 in the morning at that time. I knew she'd say no which was fine because it was mostly a joke. I picked up a can of metal cleaner the staff had left next to the door and said I'd use it for self-defense if anyone tried anything. Gave her a quick kiss, put the cleaner back down and got about 100 feet away which I heard my name. Confused I stopped, turned around and she was running towards me with her keys. Told her I was joking and that'd I'd be fine. Turns out someone had just had their throat slit about 20 feet from my dorm window. The police were still on scene when I pulled into the parking lot. They ended up finding the guy hiding in the bushes next to our humanities building, a building, and bushes, I would have walked by about 2-3 minutes later, if my gf hadn't come running back out to give me her keys.
Eroe Infinito 4 days ago
Are you two married? She saved your life!! Also, more importantly, what's snogging?
#16
2 weeks from “I do,” found her secret phone: 400+ dudes, zero “work emails. Cancelled wedding, lost 30k, gained freedom + lifelong bragging rights, Best divorce I never paid for.
Michael Largey 3 days ago
"Oh yes, dear, that's how much I love you. I'm giving up 400+ dudes for you." (And do many women know 400+ men who are actually worth cheating with?)
Tyranamar Seuss 3 days ago
No. That would be exhausting and give you some major vag burn. I'm completely doubting this story.
Load More Replies... Nik Odongray 13 hours ago
30k?! I’ll never understand why people spend so much money on a wedding. I’d rather keep the wedding inexpensive (all in, I think we spent maaaybe 3k?) and spend the extra on a killer honeymoon or down payment on a house.
Tyranamar Seuss 3 days ago
Why is he assuming the 400 men are all s****l partners? W*F could even keep up with 400 partners. Either someone is exaggerating or maybe she really did have work contacts in there.
#17
Was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma and given a year to live. 30 years later, still here. i’ve truly tried to make the most of every minute since. Life is precious, don’t go through what I did to realise that.
Nik Odongray 13 hours ago
That’s amazing! Was the diagnosis wrong, or did you just manage to beat the odds? Either way, good for you!
#18
My ex-husband was a huge man child. Pretty much incapable of acting like an adult and probably had Peter Pan syndrome. Long and short, we divorced and I found out about a year and a half later he was arrested for “dating“ a 15-year-old. He was 24.
Bartlet for world domination 4 days ago (edited)
I haven't expected mature behavior from 22 - 23 year-olds since the pandemic. I have been pleasantly surprised: once.
hannahbahngswife 3 days ago
Peter Pan syndrome: Adults who are socially and emotionally immature and have difficulty accepting the responsibilities of adulthood.
#19
I was with a woman in my early twenties that I'd had a crush on for most of high school. At the time I was tending bar and a raging alcoholic but she stayed nonetheless. We ended up getting pregnant and I just could not get my life together. We lost the baby and she ghosted me a few weeks later. We had known each other for a decade and been on and off for five of those years so the ghosting was like being stabbed in the heart. In the span of a few weeks I'd lost my first child and the only woman I had ever loved. She did reach out a few weeks later and apologized for ghosting me and we parted somewhat amicably.
It took me a few years to bounce back from that but eventually I went to community college, moved across the country to transfer to a very prestigious college, found my niche in anthropology, and met my soul mate who I am celebrating 6 months of marriage with today. My ex met a good man she's super compatible with. She always wanted to be a mom. She now has 2 kids with him and loves being a Mom and I'm happily married and about to get my bachelors next month.
So I guess we both dodged a bullet!
Robert Cosgrove 4 days ago
Big credit for 'we' when talking about pregnancy and the baby. Credit as well for the absence of bitterness seen in other posts
Samantha H 4 days ago
Robert Cosgrove - I agree and you said it very well.
Load More Replies... #20
Was offered an opportunity to move from my still current job to a director role of a department at a non-profit. 4-day work week, hybrid schedule. Minimal nights, weekends, travel. The money would've been great. I would've reconnected with an old boss that would've been above me that I liked working for previously...
I let my current boss know what was going on and that I intended to put in my resignation when offered. She asked me what it'd take to help me stay (which she is a great boss to work for, very pro work/life balance). The 4-day work week and hybrid was a big thing about the other job... but i just had a feeling that I should give them an opportunity to keep me. They gave me a good offer and ability to earn a promotion (which i since have)...
I decided not to make the move to the other job. Stayed where I am with some better benefits.
Two months later, got a message from the person I would've worked for letting me know that they've been completely shut down as the board dissolved their program and everyone was let go immediately.
#21
Not taking out $150k+ of private loans for a bachelor's degree in nursing at a private school. waited an extra year to fatten up my resume and experience to apply to the cheaper (more competitive) nursing programs and got into an accelerated 15 month program that only costs $45k. on the trajectory to walk and take the nclex next may. no regrets.
Cyndi Hafele 3 days ago
I went to community college and paid a fraction of that. Took me 24 months.
Panda Kicki 3 days ago
ONLY 45K.... Dear god. Here you get paid for those programs. I even got free lunches.
#22
I was jogging on a path in the woods and an enormous tree limb fell, crashing on the path ten feet behind me. If I was just a second or two slower it would have been gruesome.
Beak Hookage 3 days ago
I knew someone who had this happen except it was the opposite. If she had been just a second faster or slower when that branch came down in exactly the right spot, I wouldn't be saying "knew" in the past tense. :(
Captain Panda 2 days ago
Just had this happen last week. Crazy winds, rain, and 15+ years of my neighbors not trimming their palm tree....about 200lbs of fronds fell right where I was standing, 30 seconds before. I have the video of it all falling on my security cam!
#23
Ran for public office and lost thank goodness. Forced me to reevaluate my priorities. I’m a better man today than if I had won.
#24
I was driving on the highway at about 70mph to meet my now wife's mom for the first time. Suddenly a 10-20 lb arrowhead-shaped piece of broken asphalt was launched at my car in a huge arch from the wheels of the speeding semi ahead of me. I had enough time to calmly realize "that's going right at me." I didn't know if I should hit the brakes, speed up -- no idea. I think I just took my foot off the accelerator . It landed on the hood of my car right in front of the windshield, leaving a huge gouge on the metal hood. The hood absorbed a lot of the impact, but momentum kept the chunk moving and it bounced onto the windshield and cracked it. It then rolled onto the roof -- gouging that -- then the back window and the trunk lid, scraping everything it touched. If I had been going the most miniscule amount faster or was literally 1 foot closer to that truck I have no doubt that thing would have gone through the windshield and me.
I think everyone has some kind of similar story. Some of them we know about -- like this event -- but others we have no idea about because nothing happened.
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 3 days ago
If that's the case then the asphalt will come for him... eventually.
Load More Replies... BrownEyedGrrl 3 days ago
The daughter of a friend was k i l l e d when a tire came off a semi & came through her windshield. That was 40 years ago. I still stay away from big trucks while driving.
Deborah Brett 4 days ago
In this situation I say brake, every time. If its 50/50 which change in speed will let you avoid taking the hit, then assume you are going to get hit, and get hit at the slowest possible speed. Lower speed = less damage.
Apatheist Account2 3 days ago
*minuscule. One thing from a speed awareness course: if you're doing 80mph instead of 70, at the point where you would have stopped at 70, you're still doing 39mph. That can cause everyone a lot of damage; and of course, if something's coming your way, the relative velocity is that much higher.
Auntriarch 3 days ago
Speed awareness course is brilliant if you get awareness
Load More Replies... DC 4 days ago
A wheelblock on the leftmost lane on german Autobahn. Two times, actually, once with the Mini at about 150 km/h, once with the C-class I inherited from Grandpa, at 230 km/h. Just lying there in one case, fell of a truck and got thrown there by another car. Went by them by a few cm at best. If you've never seen a car run over a wheelblock at higher speeds, it may throw the side going over it up in the air and flip your car onto the roof. Nothing I wanna do at a speed of 65 meter per second, you know...
Edward Loopyderm 3 days ago
It's amazing how time seems to slow down when things like this happen.
#25
I left my baby daddy before he was able to break me into thinking I couldn't do better. When I got pregnant he said I'd get fat and ugly and he'd cheat. I dumped him, I never did get fat or ugly, but he sure did!
hannahbahngswife 3 days ago (edited)
Let me get this straight: His only contribution was shaking his protein shake, and told his partner (who have to, you know, carry the child for a whole 9 months) that he'd cheat if she gained weight? Some people makes no sense.
#26
Pulled over on the side of the highway when my car failed me (old 325CI). It was night time and drizzling. Told my GF at the time to get out of the car. She was confused and upset about it. Literally 2 min after she gets out a drunk driver plows into the back of my car. No airbags deployed and we wouldn’t have had our seatbelts on. The firemen who came were so surprised that we had gotten out and stood behind the barrier. Someone was watching over us that night.
Mimi M 3 days ago (edited)
OP and his gut feeling. Yes, it's in the code, but not everyone follows that. And also depends on the width of the shoulder - in some places you can come to a stop quite a distance from the road.
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Awenpotato 4 days ago
But that's what you're meant to do, get out and to a safe distance, it's in the highway code
#27
My ex husband leaving me felt like the end of the world (he groomed me starting at 15, I'm 30 now so I didn't really know love/life without him much) but it was the best thing he ever did for me. My life has been miserable and hard but as a person I'm very happy. Currently with the love of my life. Had no idea a relationship could be this easy and happy. I feel STUPID lucky to have my boyfriend.
#28
Marrying the wrong person. It would’ve been too easy to just go with the flow, he proposed and we had things in common, I liked his family and could see a life together. But I knew in my heart it was not the life I wanted and I’m so glad for both of us that I did the tough thing and broke some hearts. We are both now married to people who are a much better fit for us.
SchadenFreudian Psychology 2 days ago
I was in the same situation, but married him. Biggest mistake of my life. We’ve been divorced for 24 years now, but I still feel bad about this.
#29
Driving home with my wife after a party was like 2:30 am. We were coming up to a light after getting off the freeway the light was red so I was coasting to a stop, the light turned green and I just continued to coast instead of accelerating.
Right before we get to the intersection another car flies through the red light doing easily 50+ mph.
Had I accelerated through the light like normal we probably would have been t-boned.
Bored Trash Panda 3 days ago
I ALWAYS wait a couple seconds before going when the light turns green. I have saved myself numerous times from being t-boned doing so.
#30
I dated a Mormon briefly when I was 19 and was a total wreck when he dumped me. Everything I’ve learned about Mormons since fills me with so much relief lol. Plus I got a much cooler husband.
DC 4 days ago
... and what's depicted there, they actually believe. Not regardless, but because. BECAUSE! Gotta wrap your head around "I believe a lie because it's so obvious I don't believe anyone would lie THAT shamelessly!" - oh yes, they would!
Load More Replies... Awenpotato 4 days ago (edited)
Anyone who bases their personality on any religion is a warning sign
Michael Largey 3 days ago (edited)
Someone who bases their personality on a religion possesses neither.
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#31
I was crossing an intersection on my bike when a city bus approaching from my left ran a red light going easily 45 mph. I saw it and stopped just in time; it grazed my front tire as it roared past. I would have been crow food if I hadn't seen it.
Hugo 4 days ago
The highway code tells us that amber means stop unless it would be unsafe to do so. Where I live it's taken to mean "speed up and with any luck you'll get across the intersection in the first two seconds of red". I need to be more cautious when cycling.
Lady Eowyn 4 days ago
Same around here. I actually get honked at when I slow down as the light turns yellow.
Load More Replies... Beady El 3 days ago
As a kid I rode my bike to school whenever the weather was decent. One morning I came within a whisker of being run over at an intersection. The guy was looking to the right while turning left and he looked back almost too late, his car tapped my bike. I never saw anyone look so scared in my life. I later learned that he was the local school superintendent.
#32
Many but this one sticks out. I hated math but loved the job my dad did. He travelled the world going to building's his company insured. So i was going to school for engineering...to travel. Like an idiot thinking that's what all engineers did. Was taking math classes and struggling. My brain just doesn't work that way. Cut to one year into college, at a party. Cops showed (I was 18 "OH NO THE COPS" Era). I was blacked out and woke up in the hospital. Apparently I had jumped off the balcony to catch a tree and missed. Fell three stories. Cracked my pelvis and broke my arm.
Had to cancel my schedule of math classes. BUT, i had signed up for an online psychology course. So that semester, I was taking Percocets and reading psychology like a book i had never been so enthralled in. I switched my major immediately, realized i was a creative and started doing stand up comedy. I know the life i was heading towards would've been a disastrous and it took that incident to change my course realize I had a different calling.
#33
I’m neurodivergent, so I’m extremely socially awkward and have trouble making friends. No one has tried to recruit me into their MLM.
I’m not saying I’m smarter than people who get suckered into pyramid schemes and MLMs. It’s just that the mere thought of talking to people I don’t know makes me so anxious that I immediately run the other way if the opportunity arises. Lots of bullets dodged there.
JB 4 days ago
It's when they start flashing their watches or "hot wives" that you should really start watching out for the cult/mlm manipulation. The whole "you could be just like us," "See how great we are?" "My car costs more than your yearly salary," "They don't understand you like we do," and all that jazz.
Bartlet for world domination 4 days ago
Goes for crypto too, and Reddit stocks.
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#34
Went to a friend’s house said his girlfriend is bringing a friend for me and to see if we hit it off. She was a major flirt and thought things were going well. At the end of the night I made my move and she shot me down.
Fast forward 10 years at that same friend’s wedding. The girl was there obese drunk and very attention hungry.
She comes up to me while I’m standing there with my date (future wife) and she begins with “hey do you remember me? Remember when you tried todate me and I laughed?” I hit her with
“Do you remember when you were all wasted and bought up some awkward stuff at a wedding and made everyone uncomfortable?”
She looked so confused. And went “No” I said
“Oh because it’s happening right now.”
She then proceeded to make a drunken best woman speech then went around to every guy at wedding asking if they wanted to dance even if they had dates or not.
#35
Literal bullets on two occasions and I'm uninvolved in any kind of industry or profession where you would expect to be shot at.
Angela C 3 days ago
Didn't you read the post? They said they AREN'T involved in a profession where you'd expect to be shot at
Load More Replies... #36
Not leaving the military when I got fed up, stuck it out and retired after 23 years.
Alexandra 4 days ago
Depends on what alternatives were available to him. Since health care and a retirement plan are not standard on employment in the USA, working for an organisation that offers even 1 of them could be a powerful motive to stay.
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#37
I work industrial service. There was a time when I walked about 2/3 to my equipment from my truck to get the hour meter reading for the paperwork, and realized that I forgot my hard hat. In the time it took me to get it, a barrel of bronze bars had fallen from a mezzanine right into my walking path. Had I not gone back, I would have likely been crushed. So, indirectly, my hard hat saved my life.
There was also a time when I had hopped a set of train tracks on my rollerblades with the gates down, and a train running full speed passed before my rollerblades had returned to the ground. That was a close shave.
LinkTheHylian 4 days ago
Close to a Darwin Award, too. Jumping onto a train track when the barriers were down? Seriously?
#38
I was driving a 2000 Toyota Camry to play poker at Cherokee casino in North Carolina. I just got my check from Black Friday when online poker shut down in the United States. So for a couple years I was working restaurant jobs and going to school bc my dream was over. But then that $12k check came in. And I restarted my dreams.
This was a couple months into me getting back into poker. I was driving down the mountain in a very bendy section of the interstate, right turn downhill and it was pretty steep for the interstate. A downpour came out of no where, just absolutely drenching the road. I start spinning out bc I have some bald tires on my car since I’ve been broke for so long. There’s a car in front of me, a car beside me, and a car directly behind me. I do one full 360, then I hit the median and do another 360, I’m still spinning and end up backwards on a patch of grass to the side of the road.
This is the only patch of grass. Tree line 50 yards behind me. Tree line 50 yards in front of me.
I just sit there. In shock. A bunch of cars pull over to make sure I’m okay. And a state trooper pulls over. Everything is fine. My car has one scratch on the bumper. So then I just drive off. Thinking wth just happened.
I lost $1500 at the poker tables. 😂 could have guessed that would happen.
Then on my way home my hood pops up while I’m driving and I can’t see anything while going 60 mph on the interstate. It’s all bent and messed up. I use straps to keep it down.
Then the next week I have the craziest run in my poker career. I made $50k in 3 days in the sketchiest home games. They actually kick me and my buddy out of these games bc they’re sick of us pros coming.
Anyway I go and buy a new car that week. And my poker career was pretty good after that. Never a $50k week. But I made tenfold that over the years.
Now I’m a metal worker/artist and doing what I love. And it started out being funded by my love for a stupid card game.
Robin Roper 4 days ago
Interestingly, the son of a former neighbor became a******d to gambling at that very casino. She had to sell the farm that had been in her family for over a hundred years to pay his gambling bets. Statistically, the house wins and the gambler loses.
cryssH 3 days ago
Mom sells generational farm to settle enabled son's debts - fixed that story.
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Brian Droste 3 days ago
If he got a check for 12k, he should have used part of that money to buy new tires and he wouldn't have spun out.
Siege Rook 3 days ago
Almost everyone who gambles regularly will be a net loser over time because of the house edge. Only a truly miniscule minority of people end up lifetime profitable from gambling, and the vast majority who claim they are (profitable) are probably seriously undercounting their losses, most likely owing to cognitive biases formed around the need for ego preservation. Admitting their losses would be tantamount to admitting to years/decades of poor financial decisions that are their fault, and their fault alone. It's one thing to gamble responsibly, with truly "spare" money you've budgeted for the purpose, but that's not what most people do.
#39
I used to pray in grade school every night to get to marry a classmate. In high school she told me to get out of her life when I asked her out. Decades latter, she was morbidly obese and obviously a drunk. I am glad the answer to my prays was “no”.
Bewitched One 3 days ago
I think they were saying, to outsiders, it was obvious she was an alcoholic. Not like because someone turned you down in school they’re going to end up obese and OBVIOUSLY addicts/alcoholics. I’m not sure how you interpreted it, but just wanted to throw this out there. You’re right though, the story would read exactly the same without that addition
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#40
Said no to being with someone I thought was a good friend because he was lonely and I was last choice.
Genuinely hope he's doing well, but God did that hurt.
#41
Not moving to Edmonton with my dad, he was planning to live with his mother and did that not go well.
#42
I was in Poland, I was 16, and my great-grandmother was there visiting family i was with her. She came from a very secular Jewish Orthodox community, that barely a third survived the war.
A man had taken a liking to me, my great-grandmother forbade the match, saying I was of mixed blood. That community was very particular about skin colour amd race too.
Thank god we went back home to Australia a week later. Next time I visited Poland was at 23, didn't look up my great-grandmother's family, but still had a great time.
Rahb in Oz 4 days ago
There is no such thing as a “very secular Jewish Orthodox community”. A contradiction in terms.
Purple Gurl 3 days ago
Could they have meant secluded? Just got the words wrong? Or maybe Insular? Like-keeps to their 'own kind'?
#43
Having a kid with my ex wife. It’s crazy what you’ll put yourself through for the sake of love and marriage. 10 miserable years but I’m out!
Bewitched One 3 days ago
I think they meant they dodged having a kid with their ex wife,? I hope..
Load More Replies... #44
When I was young, too young, I met a woman in a foreign country while I was vacationing and was I head over heels for her that we talked about getting married and me bringing her over to my country, etc. She's from a small village so people noticed we were spending time together and everyone said we would make a good couple and they're excited to have a wedding there, etc. Everything moved fast. I was there for 2 weeks and over that time every day the girl would learn a new recipe and make something for me. Everyone knew about it and asked me if the cooking is good. Eventually came back home and snapped back to reality, then it was super awkward I had to break things off either her over long distance. Anyways I know she is now married with children but she still lives in the same village and probably will never leave her country.
What do you think ?
Wysteria_Rose 3 days ago
Highschool sweetheart turned sour. When we both were in college, he asked me to stop by his place on my way to my parents for the weekend. I get there and he saddles me with cleaning duties while he went to his only Friday class. I didn't do it, especially because I told him "this isn't my mess, it's yours, it'll take you the same time to do after your class." He really thought I was going to do it. He was pissed when he got back and I realized right then and there that that was my future. After being together for 5 going on six years, thinking he was the one, I'm very happy to say we went different ways and I'm now married to a man who doesn't expect any cleaning for his messes.
Auntriarch 3 days ago
Two chaps declined to marry me. I'm so glad. I expect Mr Auntriarch is too
Dl B 3 days ago
When to school for electronics in 1968. In 1969 then joined the Air Force. Was placed in electronics repair. Since I had previous schooling in electronics I was allowed to skip over 6 weeks of electronics instruction and I left Kessler AFB in Mississippi 6 weeks early. 3 weeks after I left hurricane Camille came right through there. One of the largest hurricanes ever. Did not do much to the base but the town right outside the base was wiped off the map. Resorts on the beach less than a few miles from the base were wiped out clear down to their foundations. For the next few weeks most of the airmen were assigned to search and rescue instead of classes.
Tiny Dancer 2 days ago
Mum found me lying by the side of the road when I was 13, bike by my side. No cuts or bruises, I looked fine, but a neighbour had seen me and used his CB radio (yup, we're in the '70s) to call for an ambulance. We went with them to be checked out just to be "nice" seeing as they came all that way. Waiting for a doc, I suddenly grabbed my head and started screaming. Long story short, a team of docs looked at my x-rays and said, no biggie, to the shadow by my ear. One doc did not. He asked for permission to shave my head and "go in" (cut my head open and look inside) just in case. Hours later, he was pleased to show my Dad (Mum had no interest, lol) the blood clot the size of a fried egg that he'd removed. Hours away from reaching my brain and rendering me a vegetable, as we used to say. Got a metallic mesh in my head to replace the bone they took out to get to the clot (wild stuff!). Nearly 50 years later, I'm fine. The doc that saved me was only there helping out that day.
Wysteria_Rose 3 days ago
Highschool sweetheart turned sour. When we both were in college, he asked me to stop by his place on my way to my parents for the weekend. I get there and he saddles me with cleaning duties while he went to his only Friday class. I didn't do it, especially because I told him "this isn't my mess, it's yours, it'll take you the same time to do after your class." He really thought I was going to do it. He was pissed when he got back and I realized right then and there that that was my future. After being together for 5 going on six years, thinking he was the one, I'm very happy to say we went different ways and I'm now married to a man who doesn't expect any cleaning for his messes.
Auntriarch 3 days ago
Two chaps declined to marry me. I'm so glad. I expect Mr Auntriarch is too
Dl B 3 days ago
When to school for electronics in 1968. In 1969 then joined the Air Force. Was placed in electronics repair. Since I had previous schooling in electronics I was allowed to skip over 6 weeks of electronics instruction and I left Kessler AFB in Mississippi 6 weeks early. 3 weeks after I left hurricane Camille came right through there. One of the largest hurricanes ever. Did not do much to the base but the town right outside the base was wiped off the map. Resorts on the beach less than a few miles from the base were wiped out clear down to their foundations. For the next few weeks most of the airmen were assigned to search and rescue instead of classes.
Tiny Dancer 2 days ago
Mum found me lying by the side of the road when I was 13, bike by my side. No cuts or bruises, I looked fine, but a neighbour had seen me and used his CB radio (yup, we're in the '70s) to call for an ambulance. We went with them to be checked out just to be "nice" seeing as they came all that way. Waiting for a doc, I suddenly grabbed my head and started screaming. Long story short, a team of docs looked at my x-rays and said, no biggie, to the shadow by my ear. One doc did not. He asked for permission to shave my head and "go in" (cut my head open and look inside) just in case. Hours later, he was pleased to show my Dad (Mum had no interest, lol) the blood clot the size of a fried egg that he'd removed. Hours away from reaching my brain and rendering me a vegetable, as we used to say. Got a metallic mesh in my head to replace the bone they took out to get to the clot (wild stuff!). Nearly 50 years later, I'm fine. The doc that saved me was only there helping out that day.
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