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68 People Who Made Some Truly Terrible Decisions And We Have The Photos To Prove It
We have all made a decision that seemed perfectly reasonable in the moment, only to look back later and wonder, “What was I even thinking?” It happens to the best of us. One minute, everything seems perfectly under control, and the next, you're staring at the aftermath of your own judgment and wishing you could rewind five minutes.
We've compiled photos of people whose decisions went spectacularly wrong. Some of them will definitely make you laugh out loud while also making you feel sorry for whoever had to deal with the aftermath.
Grab your favorite snack and scroll down for questionable choices that might make you feel a little better about the last time you embarrassed yourself.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
What If I Decide To Let My White Dog Out After I Mow My Lawn?
RELATED:
#2
My Dad Asked Me If I Wanted An Egg Sandwich. I'm Not Even Mad, This Is Genius!
#3
Man Gets A Tattoo He Found On His Pup, Not Knowing It Means He's Neutered
Beak Hookage 17 hours ago
He thought it was animal cruelty and got a matching one in solidarity, the poor dope.
We can all make decisions that look completely ridiculous in hindsight. This is because our brains are not designed to know exactly what will happen next. We make choices using the information we have at the time, along with our assumptions, emotions, habits, and occasionally an unhealthy amount of confidence.
Research on decision-making shows that both ordinary people and experts can be affected by cognitive biases that distort how they judge situations. This means that being smart doesn’t come with a lifetime warranty against doing something spectacularly silly.
#4
…just Post The Damn Hours!!!
Panda-sized Potato 19 hours ago
I used to work there at a Dairy Queen. The mall itself and stores can have different hours. Stores are required to open by a certain time, but are allowed to open earlier.
#5
Martez. Stuck On The Playground
#6
My Mom Accidentally Left Her Mirror In Front Of The Window Over The Day. After Coming Back She Found This
People can be surprisingly bad at recognizing the limits of their own knowledge when making decisions. The Dunning-Kruger effect describes how people can have an inaccurate view of their own ability, especially when they lack skill or knowledge in a particular area. This can be quite dangerous when a decision requires you actually to know what you are doing.
You might feel confident because you don’t realize what you’re missing or what the situation really entails. Unfortunately, when confidence outweighs competence, a terrible idea can look like a perfectly reasonable one.
#7
What Does It Mean When This Light Comes On?
#8
Wcgw If I Drain A Deep Fryer Into A Plastic Bucket?
#9
When The Bakers Make The Mix Wrong And Don’t Realize Yeast Doesn’t Just Stop Working Because It’s In A Dumpster
Sometimes, a terrible choice feels reasonable because we genuinely think everything will turn out fine. Psychologists call this optimistic bias. In fact, research has found that people often judge negative events as less likely to happen to them than to other people.
This can make a risky choice feel a lot safer when you’re the one making it. Your brain is basically saying, “Sure, this could go badly, but probably not for us,” which is a very confident way to walk toward trouble.
#10
Wcgw If My Dumb Neighbor Put Hot Charcoal From His Grill Into A Trashcan
#11
Aaaand There Go My $300 Headphones
#12
What Could Go Wrong If I
People can find it hard to backtrack when they have already put a lot of time, money, or effort into an idea. This is known as the sunk cost fallacy. A study on the subject showed that people are more likely to keep going after they have already invested a lot.
Nobody wants to feel like all that effort was for nothing, so we keep pushing even when everything is clearly going off the rails. Sadly, sometimes, trying to save a bad idea only gives it more chance to become an even bigger problem.
#13
The Fall Of The Paella
#14
My Bank Told Me Off
Beak Hookage 17 hours ago
I used to label transactions with stuff like "stupid phone bill" because obviously paying bills is annoying. Then one day the app on my phone wouldn't let me do it any more. Apparently this is because bitter ex spouses were using it to say nasty things while paying child support and such so the bank took steps. And hey, I'm completely behind that.
#15
Halfway Through A Box Of Raffaellos And I Find This 🤢
Decision fatigue can make good judgment harder. Research suggests that repeatedly making decisions can increase our tendency to choose less effortful options.
After a long day of making one choice after another, your brain may be very interested in taking the path of least resistance. That is when “I’ll just go with this” might seem like the easiest option, only for it to create a much bigger mess than you expected.
#16
Chase Attempted To Withdraw $99 Billion From My Checking Account. It's Still On Hold
#17
It's My First Summer In Arizona. Left My Laptop In My Car. Lesson Learned
#18
Anyone Got Any Tips For Getting A Spot Of Paint Out Of A Carpet 🤦
Our emotions can also get in the way of making a really good call. Emotional states can influence how we evaluate risks and rewards, and strong feelings can make it harder to think clearly.
This means the choice you make while you are angry, excited, scared, or stressed may be very different from the one you would make when you are calm.
So when you say, “I wasn’t thinking straight,” it’s not always just an excuse. Your brain really can process a situation differently when your emotions are running the show.
#19
The Breakfast Bar At The Hotel I’m Staying At Automatically Adds An “Optional” 18% Gratuity
#20
Turned My Back For A Minute And She Did Her Business In 20 Cups Of Uncooked Rice
It's easy to judge the people in these photos because you can see how things turned out. This is where hindsight bias comes in. Studies have shown that people tend to see past events as more predictable after they already know the outcome.
Once something has already gone wrong, the problem can look painfully obvious from the outside. The person making the choice, however, didn’t have the luxury of seeing the ending first. This is worth remembering before we get too smug about somebody else’s spectacularly bad call.
#22
People Who Paint Over Switch And Outlet Covers Making It Near Impossible To Remove
#23
Boat Ramp vs. This One
#24
Who Tf Does This?
The good news is that mistakes can teach us something and help us make better calls. Of course, the lesson is usually more memorable when you have personally experienced the consequences.
While no one enjoys discovering they were wrong, the human brain has a pretty useful consolation prize: the ability to think, “Well, I’m definitely never doing that again.”
#25
My Car Played An April Fools Joke On Me By Rolling All Four Of My Windows Down While It Snowed Overnight
#26
Dog Damaged Passport. Flying In Two Days
Verena 13 hours ago
As long as the chip isn't damaged and the text of plastified card is undamaged, and depending on the country you plan to travel to, you will only get a stern or defeated/exhausted look from the douane. I once worked on a construction site which due to its location required carrying our passports 24/7. Mine looked worse than that, both douane told me off but just accepted it.
#27
The Bathroom Mirror Fell
As the popular saying goes, to err is human. We can laugh at the ridiculous mistakes on this list because, deep down, most of us have at least one decision we would happily erase from the history books.
Which one of these made you laugh the hardest, and what is the worst decision you’ve ever made that seemed like a good idea at the time? Tell us in the comments. We promise to judge you only a little.
#28
My Pepper Grinder Broke This Morning
#29
I'm An Idiot... Just Painted The Stairs To My Basement Now I'm Trapped
Chich the witch 3 hours ago
You now have no excuse to sort through those boxes in the corner. The ones everyone has and will 'get to one day'.
#30
Idiot In Truck With A Terrified, Unsecured Dog In The Back With No Tailgate On The Interstate
#31
The Vegan Option Served At A Fancy End Of Conference Dinner
Luke || Kira (he/she) 11 hours ago
This isn't even an "He's a little confused but he's got the spirit" attempt, that's a deliberate intention to clown on vegans.
#32
First Day On The New Job
#33
I Walked Around The Office All The Way Up Until Lunch Before Somebody Pointed It Out
#34
I Accidentally Put My Leather Gloves In The Washing Machine
#35
Going 75 Down The Interstate And Struggling To Keep The Front Wheels Down
#37
DIY Fail
#38
Had A Driver Quit After Her Shift, No Notice. Cool, No Harm No Foul. Proceeded To Blame Me For Her Losing An Apartment She Applied For…5 Weeks After She Left
#39
The Quality Of Toilet Paper At My Dentist’s Office
#41
We Just Bought A Sofa For Upstair. Let's Say The Sofa Was A Little To Big
#42
Dropped My Phone In Industrial Paint Today
#43
People Parking Like This (White Car Is Mine)
#44
Honey, I'm Home!
#45
Just Poured Milk Into My Jug Of Protein Powder Instead Of My Shaker
#46
I Was The One In Charge Of Unlocking The Building Today. This Will Be A Fun Conversation
Paul C. 11 hours ago
I used to open up the offices for our company at 7 in the morning. Went past the alarm box to drop my bag in my office. Before I came out to unset, a manager walked into the building, without me seeing him and went upstairs. Oh how we laughed, when the police and security company turned up!
#47
This Car In A Parking Lot Where I Plow Snow On The East Side
#48
Am I Drunk?
#49
Pizza Delivery Guy Dropped The Pizzas At The End Of My Sidewalk Then Came Up And Rang The Doorbell And Walked Past Them Again And Was Back In His Car Driving Off Before I Answered The Door
#51
Who Knew That Forgetting A Login Would Make You Question Whether Water Is Wet? Surely Not Me
#52
How Is This Even Possible?
Janissary35680 10 hours ago
No way that's a metal pan unless it's tin or bismuth. Aluminum melts at 660.3 °C (1,220.5 °F). A stovetop element can't get that hot. The pop-up caption says "plastic frying pan". WTF makes frying pans out of plastic and WTF would use them in the kitchen?
#53
Help! I Messed This Cat Door Up Bad
#54
Narrowly Avoided Getting In A Car Crash During Cake Transport
#55
I Was Fitting A Pull-Up Bar — Yes, I Am Now More Intimately Familiar With The Concept Of Drywall
#56
The Tip That Someone Left Last Night
#58
Hauling Lumber!
#59
Left A Slip-N-Slide Up For 2 Days
#60
No One Is Happy Here
#61
My Roommate Bites Her Butter Then Drops It On The Pan When She Cooks
#62
Fly In My Friend’s Pizza
#64
Crayons Melted Onto Seat Of Car
#65
Dont Get Ur Drunk Friends To Tighten Your Shoes At A Party They Will Just Glue Em 😭🤣
#66
My Monster Froze
#67
Hit A Bump… The Eggs Broke And I Then Got To Clean Egg Juice Off My Groceries
#68
The Way My Sister Eats Pizza
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What do you think ?
Paul C. 11 hours ago
What do you think is the main reason behind these questionable decisions? Idiots?
BlanchHofmann 6 hours ago
My last salary was $8750, ecom only worked 12 hours a week. My longtime neighbor yr estimated $15,000 and works about 20 hours for seven days. I can't believe how blunt he was when I looked up ,,.. his information... 𝙋𝙖𝙮𝘼𝙩𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝟭.𝗰𝗼𝗺
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Paul C. 11 hours ago
What do you think is the main reason behind these questionable decisions? Idiots?
BlanchHofmann 6 hours ago
My last salary was $8750, ecom only worked 12 hours a week. My longtime neighbor yr estimated $15,000 and works about 20 hours for seven days. I can't believe how blunt he was when I looked up ,,.. his information... 𝙋𝙖𝙮𝘼𝙩𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝟭.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Load More Replies... CarolynFerrigno 5 hours ago
I am making a real GOOD MONEY (300$ to 400$ / hr )online from my laptop. Last month I GOT check of nearly 18,000$, this online work is simple and straightforward, don’t have to go OFFICE, Its home online job. At that point this work opportunity is for you.if you interested.simply give it a shot on the accompanying site….Simply go to the BELOW SITE and start your work… 𝗝𝗼𝗯𝟰𝟬.𝗰𝗼𝗺
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