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Everyone has had at least one example of that glorious moment where something you were mocked for ends up mattering. Double checking if the oven is off, packing some spare batteries, or even just buying an extra of something “just in case.”
So if you’re interested in hearing other folks' stories, we’ve gathered examples of “little” precautions people have taken that actually ended up paying off in the long run. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below.
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#1
Take pictures of EVERYTHING before you move into a rental. So many times landlords have tried to dock my deposit for things that were there before I moved in.
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#2
I was working on an electrical system that was, according to another technician, already disconnected from it's power supply inside the case it was housed in. So I could just swap out my parts, reconnect the power, and everything is good.
Just to be safe, I went to the electrical room and disconnected the breaker to the case I was working on, then I swapped out my parts, noticing that several wires were not secure, so I reconnected them. I went back to the breaker, flipped it on, and return to my work to find everything powered already. The f*****g idiot disconnected the wrong wires for the power. If I had swapped out my parts, they would've shorted out and I probably would've gotten lit up like a Christmas tree.
#3
My dad always tells me to look both ways before driving into an intersection after it turns green. One day I looked both ways in a major city, was about to go, and a car came flying through a red light. I for sure would've been in the hospital if I didn't look, likely would be dead. Just to be safe, I always look both ways.
#6
I angled a bunch of steel fence posts we loaded into the back of our car rather than having them straight on. Just had a feeling.
We got rear ended at a full stop by a guy doing 60mph. The posts got jammed sideways rather than forward.
#7
Wore a motorcycle jacket. I would usually head out in a lightweight urban style bike jacket with protective shoulders and forearms. I wore a fully protective jacket because i had a weird feeling, and i ended up sliding and hitting a curb at stupid speed in the middle of nowhere. I was flung as soon as my wheels hit the curb and the bikes wheel had landed on my back between my shoulders. Doctors were amazed i walked into A+E by my own, nevermind alive. If it wasnt for that jacket and the protective back plate, it wouldnt have looked so good. If you ride a motorcycle, wear your gear. It will save your life.
#8
Keep and print a LOT of emails and sending a lot of "As we discussed" communications. I still have my emails from 2001.
#9
Not me, but a cop friend. A couple was brought to the police station after a bad fight. My friend, a rookie at the time, managed to convince them to make peace, and they left holding hands.
When they left, an experienced officer told him he should file their (previous) complaints anyway, so if they fought again it didn't come to bite his behind. He did it, and the next day there was a very popular radio program accusing the police of refusing to file a couple's complaint and "forcing" them to make peace. He thankfully had the file and could cover his a**.
#11
Usually when I go deep into the woods for camping, I rely on fish for food, but I usually bring a couple things of crackers and a propane stove to make sure I don't have any issues. About 3 years ago, I took my trip a little too late into the Olympic National Forest and ended up getting caught by snow that was supposed to hold off for another week.
I had packed an extra freeze-dried meal bag because I thought it might be good (it was spaghetti and meat sauce, REALLY tasty). The lake I wanted to fish was hard to get to, and I had to spend the night freezing my a*s off, so I cooked that freeze-dried meal, and not only was I warm, I was full.
Now, I always overpack to make sure I don't get f****d. I don't know what I was thinking, being alone out there at 16 with not enough gear to really last me. Now I keep double what I need in my rig.
#12
I lifted the drain in the bathtub in my hotel room Wednesday of last week, when I noticed it was down. I usually don’t mind a bit of standing water when I shower but this time I just sort of reached down without really thinking about it.
Soaked under the hot water at the end of a cold day for 15-20 minutes. Woke up 5 hours later lying on my back in the tub, limbs everywhere else, staring up at the showerhead still running hot water down on me.
Still don’t know why or how I passed out after multiple CT scans, an MRI, EEG, and an ultrasound on my heart. Maybe the hot water made me lightheaded, maybe I slipped, and either way can’t recall the moment due to getting reconcussed in the process. I’m lucky I woke up at all after five hours in what was essentially a sauna. But I definitely would have drowned if I hadn’t noticed the tub was plugged and, against my norm, unplugged it.
#13
Weirdly enough? Getting an STD test after my ex cheated on me. No STDs but they did a pap as part of it to test for HPV and that’s how I found out I actually had cancer cells on my cervix. I wasn’t due for a pap for several months but because they caught it so early they were able to get it with a LEEP procedure. My gyno said it likely would have progressed further and I might have needed further treatment if I hadn’t had the forethought to get tested because he cheated. 🤷🏻♀️.
#15
Back when I did civil work, I had a client who got sued by a former business partner. These two guys had known each other for decades and their relationship had seriously soured. The former partner sued both one of my client's many companies **and** my client personally.
One of the first things you have to do when you're sued is file an answer to the lawsuit within a specific time. If you don't, the other side automatically wins and then can have a hearing to determine money damages and demand the defendant come to court to show how they're going to satisfy that debt.
You can always call opposing counsel to get an extension of time in which to answer and, absent very extraordinary circumstances, the extensions are routinely granted. I called opposing counsel and asked for an indefinite extension of time to answer because my client told me he and his partner were going to try to work things out. Opposing counsel agreed.
It's generally accepted practice where I was practicing at the time for the party granting the extension to send the other party a letter memorializing the extension. For some reason, I sent the letter instead, noting the indefinite extension of time to answer and an agreement that the other side would notify me before taking any action detrimental to my client.
Fast forward four or five years. I was no longer representing the client. It wasn't an adversarial thing; I simply moved the focus of my practice and my former client got another attorney. But I got a panicked call from my former client saying that his former partner was trying to have his house seized to satisfy the default judgment they had taken in the old case.
I ended up having to testify at a hearing, with the letter I had written, and the email I had attached it to when I sent it to opposing counsel. Opposing counsel, without notifying me or my former client's current attorney, took a default judgment, saying that client hadn't answered in time, so his client won and deserved a six-figure judgment.
When he took the stand, all he could say was he didn't remember any conversation with me and didn't remember granting such an extension. But he agreed that the email address on the copy of the email in evidence was his email.
The judge, in a written ruling, ruled in favor of my former client based almost exclusively on my testimony, and the letter and email. I don't know for sure, but I think she also reported the other attorney to the bar association for what he did.
#16
Didnt save my a*s. But I have chickens, and they are semi free range. They are usually allowed to be let loose in the back yard to graze and do chicken stuff.
One day, it was a really dreary day and i wasn't sure if letting them out was a good idea. Even though the weather said the chance of a storm was minimal. Well we had a storm, and it took down a ton of branches that were right in the middle of my chickens fav spots to hang out. So my "Just to be safe" mindset probably kept them from being killed by falling branches.
#17
When hurricane Ida was approaching it came to mind that our house was surrounded by big old trees, so 'just to be safe' we headed north. The day after the storm our neighbors called and told us that a large tree had fallen and split out house in two. If we had been there we would have been either k****d or seriously injured.
#18
I was young in my teens back in the 90s, I use to go to an arcade by a movie theater in commerce, there was a gang member in the arcade playing games, then two from another gang started s**t with the one guy.
yeah I saw the writing on the walls and left, when I got home the news was saying cops were responding to a shooting at the arcade I was just at. there was a shooting and bystanders got hit like 15min after I left.
thank you spider senses.
#19
My grandpa was trying to turn on a gas grill. But it wasn't starting. So to be safe i got a cup of soapy water to check for leaks and poured the soapy water in the gas hose and I saw some bubbles coming out so I quickly shut off the gas, My grandpa was about to use a match to light the grill, if i hadn't caught that we would have had an explosion. We would have died over some rib eye steaks.
#20
Parked my car further down the street so that I wouldn’t be boxed in if the club got raided.
Club got raided and they boxed the street in. I strolled down the street casually and got in my car and left.
#21
I was booking an anniversary trip to Turkey with my wife. I planned flights from London to Ataturk airport, plus a few flights within Turkey. It took a lot of work to plan the itinerary. When I went to book the flight, I was given the option to pay or to hold the flight for 24 hours. “Just to be safe” and make sure I could get the hotel I had chosen, I selected the save for 24 hour option. Given my inherent distrust of technology, and not wanting to lose all the hard work I had put into planning the itinerary, “just to be safe”, I saved the itinerary to PDF so I could recreate it if needed.
After saving the itinerary, I began the work of booking the hotel, but it was very late, and I was tired, so I said, “Screw it; I’ll book the hotel in the morning.” When morning rolled around and I started booking the hotel, I saw that overnight Turkey had shot down a Russian jet. “Just to be safe”, I decided to wait a while to complete booking of the trip.
The decision to wait turned out to be the right one. Although the response from Russia was muted, the s**t hit the fan in neighbouring Syria and I decided maybe visiting Turkey wasn’t for us. I gave up on the trip, “just to be safe”.
That decision to abandon the trip was validated when six months later, terrorists attacked Atatürk airport, killing 48 people and injuring 230+ people. Curious, I dug out that old PDF to check the dates. Given the itinerary and the timing of the attack, I would have been at Ataturk airport, awaiting the flight back to London.
That save-for-24-hours option saved my a*s.
#22
Working with my best friend, best man at my wedding - built a company together. He sends me an email that includes the line "just sue me if I screw you."
If somebody ever sends you an email with that line in it, my advice is to send a copy to your personal email - even if it seems like nothing could possibly go wrong. Even when you're friends. I'm glad I did.
When it came up in the mediation, his lawyer was like "yeah you should just settle.".
#23
In the military, had supervisors out to screw me over, but I kept meticulous records. Whenever they tried to throw me under the bus, I always had the paperwork to back my play.
#24
I guess my most recent was getting a colonoscopy last month. I’m in my thirties, but both brother and uncle have died from colon cancer, so I’m supposed to get them every five years. Nearly didn’t do it this year (I really hate them), but they found and removed some precancerous polyps. 👍🏼 The prep was less arduous this time as well, so all together, not a bad experience!
#26
Late December early January 2020 when I was starting to hear about Covid, I decided to stock up on toilet paper and disinfectant wipes. Best decision ever. Never ran out of it, actually ended up giving a few rolls to a friend.
#27
I worked in a grocery store and when covid started to freak people out and the quarantine was being talked about, I decided just to be safe Id set abunch of basic necessities and toilet paper aside in the back room for the employees to be able to purchase since a lot of us couldnt go buy any thing to the very end of our shift and it would all be sold out and hoarded by then. It was a pretty good call since we sold PALLETS of it in the matter of just a few hours, even with a "2 packs per customer" limit. So it LITERALLY saved my a*s.
#28
For some reason I stuffed a towel in my shoulder bag. Then my water bottle opened by itself and the only reason it didn’t ruin most of the stuff inside my bag was the d**n towel.
It was the first time ever I stuffed a towel on my bag. I still don’t know why I did that and yet it paid off.
#29
Got the $100 insurance to cover any damages to a rental truck I got to drive from denver to Los Angeles. I hit a bollard pretty badly, and did a lot of damage so I’m really glad I paid that extra $100 up front. Stupid 19 year old me was so smart that day!! Not the day I hit the bollard.
#30
Meterman doing install on a big barn on a big ranch. The linemen hadn’t even pulled in the line yet. So dead, right? Turns out there were two big barns and the second one was going to be fed from this one. The journeyman I was with could hear a motor running off in the distance. I couldn’t hear it but to be safe he checked the voltages. The motor he heard was a generator tied to the other barn almost 1/4 mile away.
#31
Put on my safety glasses and then like 2 seconds later some f****r threw a chestnut directly at my eye. Might’ve saved my vision because it was a direct hit.
#32
All work related but asking extra questions on things like wires has saved my a*s multiple times... Finding out it was money laundering or savings someone from being scammed. Super rewarding. I've learned that whenever I have a gut feeling it's 9/10 times right and to look into it further.
#33
Not me but a good friend, age old story. He was with a chick who left him for a few weeks. Shows back up and “becomes pregnant” within the first 2 months. When the baby is delivered “early” he refused to sign the birth certificate right away. She left him after a week or 2 after she got out of the hospital. Got back with the guy she left him for. She sued for child support and he demanded a DNA test. He was found to not be the father. A few years later we see the other guy randomly and he comes up to my buddy. Come to find out they had planned the whole thing. They wanted him to sign the certificate and try to milk him for child support.
#34
I never got insurance on my rental cars. But back in June I was in the Cayman Islands and thought “different country. Might as well.” Got in a car accident.
#37
I always double lock my car because I know I might forget. And last week, the car next to mine was robbed and mine was locked, thank God.
#38
Bringing tums with me, for any s**y occasion! Never know when acid reflux will strike and ruin any enjoyment.
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