Intentionally or not, we tend to overhear other people’s conversations. Sometimes it's because people are talking too loudly or sometimes they are too close to us. Most times we hardly pay attention, however, it’s a different discussion altogether if we overhear a very absurd conversation.
These people shared their regrets about hearing something they weren’t supposed to hear. Read on and listen to their regrets, you might likely have experienced some of these, too!
1. Emergency Panic
Everyone is boarded, and the plane is in the middle of the taxi when a kid about ten seats up and on the left side (I was on the right side) starts crying and screaming.
It was something that kids sometimes do. However, the kid was screaming at the top of his lungs, "I NEED TO POOP," and "I'M GOING TO POOP," over and over again.
Until the seatbelt signs came off, I'd never seen so many worried faces and the look of panic as the mother picked up the kid and bolted to the toilet.
cmcorms
2. The Locksmiths
I also come from a dangerous country. Once, I was in the subway and overheard a conversation between 3 men about the best way to open different sorts of cars to steal them.
The one who was "learning" asked, "What do you do if the owner of the car resists or fights back?" and the "expert" told him, "I just finish him off."
This happened at 2 in the evening and around an OK place in the city. I just got out of the wagon at the next station despite not being my destination.
corgi_crazy
3. The First Timer
I sat in front of a kid (12-13) and his older sister, who I assume was his guardian. It was a cross-country flight, and the kid was casually talking about how he had never flown before and was looking forward to it.
It is pretty wholesome so far. Then the plane starts to move, and he instantly freaks out, screaming, "WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!!! Let me off this plane. It's a coffin, and you're all going to die. It's going to be a fireball." Etc.
The stewardess comes by and tries to calm him down. The sister is talking to him in English and Spanish, trying to get him to relax, telling him he is embarrassing her, she's never taking him to Puerto Rico if he keeps acting like this, etc.
The guy in front of me turns around and loudly offers the kid Xanax. Finally, the hero of the story, a big Southern black lady, says, "James (not his name) honey, I'm gonna need you to calm down sweetie 'cause you're making all the rest of us real nervous now, ok?"
Eventually, and for no noticeable reason, the kid relaxes and starts talking about how cool flying is. Like a switch, he starts looking out the window, saying things like, "Wow! The view is really cool! I feel safe now. Everything is OK after all."
An audible collective sigh of relief. Where was his sister flying him to? Astronaut camp. I think about him every time I fly.
cjthepossum
4. Bathroom Drama
We shared a wall with our neighbor's bathroom. One morning, we heard our kind neighbor crying to his girlfriend because she insisted she never slept with anyone else.
He pleaded with her, to tell the truth because he had gotten a call back from his doctor telling him he tested positive for genital herpes.
He sounded so heartbroken and despaired, but she denied cheating repeatedly. He moved out, and we never saw him again shortly after that.
Nightswimm
5. Hello, It’s Me
Two older guys in my row on the way to an academic conference. One of them mentions that the first thing he is doing is attending a lecture on some esoteric physics topic.
Still, before he can even finish the name of the topic, guy #2 says, "Oh, of course: The Effects of co-limited tesseracts on quantum membrane string interactions (or some physics jargon.) Are you familiar with the topic?"
Guy #1 gets halfway through saying, "Well actually, I-" before he is cut off by guy #2, who says, "Because, you see, most people, even in the field, are woefully undereducated in this particular subject..."
Then proceeds to talk guy #1's head off for about ten minutes. Guy #1 just nots and smiles patiently through the whole exchange.
At the end of his missive, guy #2 says, "So, the lecture is being given by Dr. So-and-So, one of the leaders in the field and an absolute legend. Do you know his work?"
And, of course, guy #1 puts on a very kind but somewhat sheepish look and says, "Actually, I am Professor So-and-So: your understanding of the field is actually quite good!"
Guy #2 turns red as a tomato for a few seconds but seems to get over it quickly, and they spend the rest of the flight casually talking shop about theoretical physics.
StyrkeSkalVandre
6. Getting Out
My friend got her wisdom teeth taken out but had a bad reaction to the anesthesia, so I was helping take care of her. Her bf (new relationship) dropped by to "check on her" with one of his friends.
I heard them both murmuring in the kitchen, wishing I wasn't there so they could have fun with her. I confronted them and screamed for them to leave.
Well, note that she lived in an apartment building, so I knew people heard me. They tried to say it was a joke, but it was either messed up or scared me.
QuiteLady1993
7. Losing Patience
I was flying to Seattle from Atlanta, and there was a baby crying for most of the flight. The parents were doing their best; it was not their fault, just a bad situation.
About halfway to Seattle, the man seated in front of the baby snapped and started screaming at the baby and his parents, cursing at them, saying how they’re awful parents, and he’s gonna beat them all to a pulp when they land.
A flight attendant tried to ask the guy to calm down, and he said he would also beat her up. The pilot had to come on and tell everyone to calm down, or else we had to make an early landing.
We made it to Seattle, and the guy ended up having to be tackled by four cops at the gate because he was trying to run away after being approached by them.
_surya_p_
8. Self Conscious
I'm not sure this qualifies, but I speak French, and when I was about 18, I was walking on the sidewalk near an outdoor pool.
A bunch of teens about my age were walking on the sidewalk towards me, all in bikinis. Not wanting to be rude, I passed them without checking them out or anything.
Then, as I passed and kept walking, I heard one say in French, “He didn’t even look at me!” Then the others consoled her and said she was cute/hot/how dare he.
I feel like that experience makes even less sense now than it did then based on what society deems appropriate, but it’s always in the back of my mind.
stephenlipic
9. Turning Tables
It’s not really messed up, but it's a bit sad and very comical. However, I could overhear a young Indian couple arguing. The woman was just blasting the guy and listing out all his flaws.
It included all the crap the guy did wrong in the relationship, and the guy kept trying to calmly get a word in and said, “Okay, but…” so many times it started getting funnier the longer it went on.
Eventually, the guy managed to say something, saying, “Okay, but I don’t think you understand the situation here. YOU cheated on ME, so I am actually breaking up this relationship.”
He added, “So thanks for that, and I’m sorry you thought I was inadequate, but luckily [guy she cheated with] is ten times to the power and power of infinity worse than me, so at least I can feel good about it. Enjoy!”
The whole situation, the accent, the tone of this guy’s voice, and that final burn had really stuck with me for a long time. I remember his response word for word, and I still use modified parts of it to make a crap situation seem less crap to this day.
sandalcade
10. An Open Book
I was sitting next to a dad and his daughter, who was about 5. He was super cool and was chatting away while his daughter started talking to me.
She was so sweet and bubbly. And gave way too much information to me. She said, "I went to my grandma and grandpa's house, and they're married.”
Then the kid added, “I wish my dad would marry my mom, but they can't talk to each other. I always wish they were married like my grandma and grandpa." Her dad would have been horrified. And I was just sad.
lpcoolj1
11. Watch Your Mouth
Last December, I was flying from Frankfurt to Chicago and was seated in the absolute last row of the plane where the staff prepared stuff so you could hear them just chatting with each other.
Right before takeoff, I heard one of the flight attendants say to another, “Is that thing still broken?? I swear they’ll never get around to repairing it,” which is not something you want to hear on a flight.
The guy next to me was like, “Did you hear that?” looking at me like wtf? I hope nothing major is broken. The attendants then said something like, “Well, at least it’s not maggots this time,” and the guy next to me and I were thoroughly concerned about how this flight would go.
After laughing it off, I spent the next 9 hours chatting with this stranger about our entire lives, relationships, family drama, etc.
We had four glasses of wine and decided to watch The Matrix together, making sure to pause whenever the other person paused.
I don’t think we exchanged names, but if you’re out there, a guy from Wisconsin living in Italy and teaching English, thanks for the most fun flight I’ve ever had!
Kalzone4
12. Mysterious Bags
Passenger W is struggling to get his luggage into the overhead compartment, and passenger E, seated next to me, starts getting upset. W's carry-on clearly doesn't fit.
E speaks up, saying to be careful because his luggage is there. The flight attendant comes over and says passenger W needs to check his bag. W grows increasingly disturbed, but it works out.
Then W says to the flight attendant, "I'm sorry, it's just that I haven't taken my medication. I get so nervous with all these body bags on board. You know I have body parts in my luggage." Passenger E turns to me and says, "Did you hear that? I just have a laptop in my luggage!"
Clever_whitty_name
13. Familiar Faces
Once, I was flying between two Australian cities, and a bunch of highly manicured young men were sitting in front of me. They looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn't place them.
Naturally, I spent the entire flight trying to figure out who they were, mostly by looking between the seats while they were texting their friends.
I saw them write a bunch of messages to mates about how much "they didn't want to hang out with us" and "they just spend all their time in their rooms."
It wasn't until we landed and I walked out into a room of screaming teenage girls - signs and selfies at the ready- that I placed that we'd been sitting with an international boy band.
They were an Australian boy band that was becoming popular then. I can only assume they were texting about the band they were touring with - a little-known outfit.
MongooseBrigadier
14. Plane Debate
A 2-hour domestic argument circling around the man's "arrogance" and the woman's "witchiness." They were told before take off that if they didn't cut their crap, they'd be kicked off the plane.
They did until about 20 minutes after take off, and then they were just talking badly at each other the entire flight. They were going to Croatia to see the man's "homeland," as he called it.
But I got the impression this was a recent revelation as she kept correcting him on his own family history. "Your grampa wasn't from _______, dumb jerk. He was from _____" I wanted the plane to crash.
BurlyJoesBudgetEnema
15. My Brother
Sitting on a plane in Chicago, waiting for take-off. There was a delay, so the guy across the aisle was talking very loudly on his phone.
He looked familiar and was wearing a hat from a company in my hometown.
I ended up overhearing his entire conversation, and he proceeded to talk badly about my brother, whom he indirectly works with.
We were over 500 miles from home. He was using full names and details that couldn't be misconstrued; it was hilarious. I wanted to call him out on it, but he looked a lot crazy, so I kept quiet.
SomeoneSomewhere5
16. Who’s Larry?
I was on a plane coming back from a work trip. About halfway through the flight home, I start hearing "GODDAMMIT LARRY!!" and people groaning, etc.
Like the whole plane is having a conversation, and I'm unaware of what's happening. The person sitting next to me sees my confusion and takes the opportunity to fill me in.
"Larry" is sitting a few rows up from me and is air-dropping weird pics for everyone on the plane. The exasperation is because he has done this multiple times during the flight, and he just keeps doing it, so they're trying to call him out very publicly, and he KEEPS doing it.
So much so that the plane has identified exactly who Larry is, and they are continually yelling at him TO HIS FACE in disgust - and Larry only responds with ANOTHER PIC.
It was glorious and terrible. I laughed when I had to tell my wife the story about what happened on the plane ride on the way home.
JermStudDog
17. Huge Misunderstanding
I was recently behind a pair of drunk parents and an 11-12-year-old son with headphones. They were connecting to a week-long reunion with her family, and I hope they survived it.
She was telling him to just give her money and leave so he could go be with his young girls in Italy. Two highlights were him pulling his son's headphones off and saying something.
"You need to hear this. I'm only with these girls because your mother stopped loving me, and they are better than she ever was," and she said, "My dad keeps asking to finish you off, and I'm going to tell him now is the time. No one will find you, and no one will even care except the girls you spend so much on."
SaddestClown
18. Two Buddies
I was on a Friday flight from London to Leeds/ Bradford on a single propellor plane with only a few seats, some time back in the 1990s. There were two sales guys a couple of seats in front of me who had obviously already had a few drinks and were in full party mode.
They kept slapping the air stewardess on the backside and asking for more drinks, which she wasn't giving them as they were too drunk. Then they went into this long and loud discussion about this "crazy big" sale they had managed to make, which I assume was the reason for their celebrations.
I distinctly remember one of them kept repeating this dumb phrase, "I was like an angry big bear," and every time he said this, he would growl and rake his hands as if they were bear claws in the air.
His colleague would then say, "Yes, and I was there to calm them back down again," and he would do this strange rocking motion with his arms, like he was rocking a baby.
As they got more and more animated, they kept getting out of their seats to do their little act, and the poor air stewardess had to come over and ask them to sit down again.
Then we hit turbulence. The plane hadn't been exactly stable the entire flight. Hence, the air stewardess insisted that everyone stay in their seats, but the last half an hour was pretty extreme.
I actually like turbulence, so I loved every minute of it, rising up out of my seat and then being pushed back down again as we rose and fell through air pockets. The wings were making some pretty scary noises, but most of the passengers were obviously used to a bit of turbulence, as nobody made too much of a fuss.
Apart from the two sales guys, that is. They were crying like babies the whole time. One of them started wailing about all his life's regrets, how he had been a bad husband and cheated on his wife, etc. The other one just kept screaming, "Please let it stop!" over and over.
We finally landed after being redirected due to the bad weather conditions. Then we had to sit in a coach for a long and awkward journey with the now pale and subdued sales guys looking as embarrassed as they deserved to.
Diksta
19. Outfit Hunt
Two women in front of me discussed their niece, who had flown out to Paris to find a dress for her school formal (prom) from Australia.
Then, apparently, the designer would be flying out to Australia for fittings and adjustments.
Then proceeded to complain about “kids these days” being so wasteful with money and spending so much on a simple dress.
I can confidently say that kids today do not routinely fly halfway across the world for a couture dress and then fly the designer halfway across the globe for a school dance.
Frozen_Feet
20. Insensitive Sentiments
During a storm, I was on a flight to Manchester after a long flight from SE Asia via Saudi. The landing was horrible; the plane smacked into the runway, bounced 2 or 3 times, and started skidding sideways before the pilot finally regained control.
I was sitting in the back row. They say that if you're ever scared of flying, look to the flight attendants for reassurance. I don't have a fear of flying, but this landing shook me up.
It also clearly shook up the cabin crew. As soon as we were safe and during the entire taxi to the terminal, the attendants in the galley behind me were having a very audible conversation about your chances of dying in a crash landing.
"If it crashes when landing, it explodes, and we're all dead" was one of the (misinformed) gems I overheard. Haven't flown with Saudia since.
odinelo
21. Serious Illness
I was on a short flight and got bumped up to first class for reasons I can't remember, but I didn't really question it. I sat next to 2 very wealthy-looking gentlemen.
One was talking about how his friend just told him he had incurable cancer, and then they suddenly both roared with laughter. The 2nd guy said, "So you got him sorted, yeah?" and the first replied, "Yeah, yeah, I got him sorted straight away".
I often think back to that conversation, and I wonder if I was missing some context or if cancer really is just a laughable thing the very rich can just wipe away like it was a paper cut while the rest of us have to deal with its harsh realities.
JoeFilms
22. Quick Development
Business flight across the US, so 5ish hour-long flight. A man and woman sitting behind me, based on their conversation, also a business flight.
The conversation started off benign enough, talking about their weekend plans with spouses and kids. Mid-way through the flight became flirtatious.
By the end of the flight, they had mapped out every detail as to how they were going to cheat on each other regularly and keep it from their families. Definitely lost a part of my soul hearing that.
calapity
23. No One To Fool, Miss
I was flying from ATL to MSP one time when I listened to someone nag their traveling partner to go up to first class and one-by-one ask all the "rich people" if they would switch with her because her feet hurt (????!!!!).
He didn't even acknowledge her presence for the whole flight, and she just kept dropping hint after hint that he should be providing her with a more comfortable flying experience.
She even suggested that he could "go make a new rich friend" up in first class and then invite them back to Coach to continue the conversation so she could go take their seat.
Twuntz
24. Mission Accomplished
I'm not sure if it counts as crazy, but I was on a Virgin Atlantic flight and was in Upper Class, quite close to one of those internal phones they use.
It was when they had a walk-up bar there, too, and there was a somewhat drunk guy at it making a very bad attempt to pull the admittedly very attractive stewardess (as they were called then) running the bar.
Another member of the cabin crew spotted it and walked over to the phone near me, called the cockpit, and said, "There's a letch at the bar. Can you shake the plane to get him back to his seat?"
Sure enough, there was a noticeable movement of the plane (hardly a shake), and the seat belt lights went on. This was followed by an announcement of turbulence and an announcement that everyone should return to their seats.
So, if you have ever wondered if sometimes that convenient turbulence when things are getting busy is real, I can confirm that it definitely was not on at least one occasion.
fussyfella
25. Loud And Proud
I was on a bus once and heard two guys sitting in the seat next to me. I was dozing off, but I just woke up to hear one of the most messed up things I ever heard.
So this guy was just telling the other guy how his mother and his brother used his father's retirement money to build a house and kicked him out later mercilessly.
He was smiling the whole time. He even showed the other guy a video on Facebook in which his father was interviewed by a local channel to ask people to donate some money.
I don't know how bad his father was to them, but that seemed pretty cruel. I heard he was in some old age home. This was in November 2019, and I can't forget this now also.
tejaj99
26. Separation Conversation
I was at a Mexican restaurant when I overheard a woman casually telling her husband she was sick of his crap and wanted a divorce.
He seemed genuinely stunned and didn't eat a bite of his food. She didn't seem mad and wasn't yelling or even talking loudly.
Just calmly eating and telling him what a jerk he had become, and she wasn't going to put up with it anymore. She was absolutely cold but completely calm. Totally shredded the guy without even breaking a sweat or raising her voice.
SirPatrickofMichigan
27. Too Much Anger
I just got back home from spring break (college), and I left the gate open to our driveway because my mom told me that my sister and her wife were coming to pick something up.
I was sitting in the office room immediately to the left of the front door as you entered, and my sister barged in, angry that I had left the gate open.
Then she said, “He is such a loser, and he can’t even close a gate. He is just going to stay in this tiny town and do nothing with his life; he is just going to be some fat middle school coach like the rest of them.”
I grew up in a small Texas town that had a huge poverty problem. She said some other things between her and her wife. I just sat silently and didn’t move at all.
After like a minute or 2, they left back through that same front door and didn’t notice me on their way out. I never told anybody in my family; I just promised to never forget what she said.
Helpful-Praline-9375
28. Dumbest Comments
My girlfriend was working in Lawrence, so I dropped her off and went to the college (University of Kansas) and did my work from there.
I work remotely most days, so I can work from anywhere. Two college girls seated right behind me in the student center were comparing old photos.
I don't want to talk negatively about these two girls, but they were not studying engineering or medicine at the school if you know what I mean.
I think about these two dumb dumbs all the time, and they make me laugh. These are some of the things I heard them say, "That is big as heck. Is that a donkey?" (It was a dog). "Oh my God, look how small you were, you were literally a fetus." (This one I did turn around for, and it was not a sonogram)
Stories_for_days
29. Debt Not Help
My Aunt and her husband offered out of the blue to buy a house and sell it to my parents at a very low rate. My family was very excited and gracious for the help as we had been stuck in our very old and tiny house for a long time.
We were unable to move due to the financial burden my parents had to endure because my brother and I had various medical issues up until our late teens.
In the following months, our grandmother paid for our family, plus my aunt's, to go on vacation, and I was excited to take my boyfriend of 5 years with us.
When we got there, my aunt asked if I could watch her eight and 9-year-old stepsons while she and her husband went out to see the area. Normally, it would have been fine, but I watch kids at my job all day, and it was a family vacation with lots of other adults to watch them.
I said no because my boyfriend would have had to entertain himself or be roped into babysitting with me. She smiled and said, "Sure, no problem," and I thought that was the end. I was wrong.
Several weeks after the vacation, I overheard my mom on the phone talking to my grandma in a furious voice that my aunt decided not to help us with the house because I decided not to watch HER stepchildren on vacation and that we should be more gracious to them because they were being so generous.
Needless to say, we no longer speak to that aunt, and my parents never blamed me for my choice. It hurt to overhear that conversation, and I felt awful about it for a long time.
Zaranni
30. Hidden Camera
In my last apartment, I walked into my bedroom late at night and saw a small but very bright red light in the ceiling directly over my bed.
I instinctively said out loud, "What the F is that?" The lady upstairs said out loud to a male who asked, what's wrong? "OMG, it's my fiber optic cable for my camera into his room. I forgot to cover it up!!"
I thought it over, and rather than going through a long legal fight and a lawsuit and certain criminal charges for the Lady who lived above me, I put into motion a full-bore push to find a new, more secure place to live. My new place is much more secure. However, slime-ball criminals exist everywhere.
SirGlenn
31. Destroying Plan
I got invited to the same birthday party by the same girl every year for several years. I only knew a few people, but everybody was nice to me.
One year, I met a girl who was super into me, but that never happened. That should have been the go-away, but I was popular enough to think that sooner or later, I’d be able to land a pretty girl.
The following year, I overheard some girls talking around the corner. “We’re going to tell Paul that you like him, and then you’re going to pretend to like him all night. He thinks we’re his friends. It will be so funny.”
I did not reciprocate when the pretty girl hit me, saying I had a girlfriend. Her retort was, “Who would date a loser like you?” I was then mercilessly mocked until my parents picked me up. I was never invited back. Thankfully, I didn’t attend the same school because I felt nothing but shame after that.
PaulClarkLoadletter
32. End Of A New Beginning
I don’t think I’ll ever forget this one. Sixteen years ago, I was supposed to marry my fiancée of 5 years. On the day of our wedding, I’m pacing in the church corridor, waiting for the wedding to start, excited to marry the love of my life.
I overhear a conversation between a bridesmaid and waitstaff complimenting our event, stating that it’s a beautiful wedding.
Nothing out of the ordinary until I heard the bridesmaid explain to the waiter that my soon-to-be wife was cheating on me.
She said, and I quote, “What a shame the poor groom’s bride is a cheater.” I mean, technically, our marriage was saved. It’s both a blessing and a curse to overhear that.
louerbrat
33. Mothers Knows Best
I was like 16 at the time. A snowstorm hit, so I didn't have school the next day. I asked my mom if my boyfriend, who was the same age, could stay the night because he was helping with snow, and there was a ton.
She said sure. So we hung out, played video games, watched movies, drank hot chocolate, and my mom made dinner. It was like any other day. But when it was bedtime, we kissed and said goodnight.
My mom was up in the middle of the night, and he couldn't sleep, so he got up and chatted with her. About how there was this other girl involved.
My mom asked him if I knew, which I didn't until I lay in bed, eavesdropping away. She told him that he shouldn't waste his time telling me because cheating is bad (duh, of course).
She was pretty disappointed, and she felt hurt for me. The discussion ended after a while, and he finally came back to bed with me. I said, "I heard everything," and I cried. The next morning, he got picked up, and I stayed home all day in a teenage heartbreak.
Runnergirl868
34. Good Time For A Popcorn
Managed a theater for years, and we had all types of rich douches come in. So one night, this guy comes in with a smoking hot lady on his arm.
He buys popcorn and a drink and pays $100 cause he is a jerk. And they go inside to get a seat. About 10 minutes later, he comes running out, and his phone is ringing.
He runs into the bathroom and says, "Hello? Oh, hey, sweetie. Yeah, I'm stuck late at the office with some meetings. Kiss the kids goodnight, and I'll see you when I get home."
One of my employees has the great idea to scream, "SIR, YOUR LADY FRIEND FORGOT HER POPCORN!" Right as he is getting off the phone. The jerk was mad as heck, and to this day, I hope his nice wife and kids are living the good life on his dime.
Marius423
35. Bad Daddy
I had an ex come to me in tears after she overheard a conversation her dad was having that revealed way too much all at once.
She heard her father having a conversation with a woman he had been cheating with, so not only did she find out he was cheating on her mom, but she heard him talk about how she had gotten fat and ugly over the years and how he wasn't attracted to her anymore.
He then proceeded to talk at length about how he never wanted kids and only had a baby with her to shut her up and keep her happy. He basically said he had no love for either of them and could walk at any time and not hurt for a second.
We broke up not long after due to her refusal to seek help, but she contacted me every once in a while. She's lived a sad and unfortunate life in the decade and a half since we split.
Theearthhasnoedges
36. The Bystander
At a music festival, I overheard (and saw) a few people just ripping apart their cars, looking for their keys, throwing crap all over, and getting in a big fight amongst themselves.
We went to our car to take a quick nap, and I mentioned to my friend, “These idiots don’t know they left the keys in the glove box.”
Wake up a few hours later, go see some music, return to our spot, and THEY ARE STILL LOOKING. Upon us walking up, we hear, “Oh my god, they were in the glove box this whole damn time”… I guess I should have said something??
tman7676
37. The Sister
My older sister, who has a husband and kid, lives 1200 km from me and my mum. We live in the city, and she lives in a small town in the country.
When we went to visit them for the summer, we stayed a whole week having fun with my sister (at that time), my four-year-old nephew, and brother-in-law. My mum is a big planner, so before we traveled she arranged which days we were staying at my sister's place.
The only thing was that this time, one day before we came back, my sister had to travel for work to the same city I was living in. We said sure.
The good thing is that when we visit my sister, we always stay at her place because it has an extra room, so, as always, we had a great time and a normal stay. Until the last day, the same night my sister arrived in the city.
Where she lives, it has very dry weather, but when it rains (around 40 days a year only), the storms are big and intense. The night before our departure, there was a storm like one of those.
I couldn't sleep, but I tried to keep my eyes closed. At 12 pm a phone rang, it was my mum's. She answered, and I heard her bursting into tears silently, trying not to wake me up.
She went outside of the room and closed the door. I was imagining that my sister got robbed or something. An accident was too odd but possible. I couldn't hold the intrigue, so I went after my mum.
When I got to her, she had just hung up. She told me my sister passed out in the restaurant she was eating with her friends. An ambulance took her to the hospital, and no one knew what the hell was going on.
It turned out my sister had a brain tumor. And that's how two of the weirdest/most intense/painful years of my life started. Nowadays, my sister is fine and has the possibility of cancer coming back, but I just felt sad after hearing my mother's reaction to that, and I won't ever forget it.
NicoBaterista
38. Odd Lady
Lady was blubbering about something under her breath while the plane was taxing to a runway. Kept saying she had to potty. As the plane was going up at that blunt take-off angle, she decided that was the best time to unbuckle and dash to the bathroom.
Somehow, she makes it. She is barely in there for a minute and falls /stumbles her way back to her seat. Then she's complaining about someone stealing her original seat, and she's gonna call their corporate and whatnot.
It was a cluster. We make it to TX. As my family and I were looking for our connecting terminal, we passed her, who was escorted by security and police. I still have questions.
Tdn87
39. Too Many People
In sophomore year, year 10, I got to go to Germany for a German class. I had one year of German up to that point. Went to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum.
We were supposed to stay in groups, but they were not defined, and we didn't have a tour guide. I ended up getting separated from my group because reading plaques takes more time than just walking through it all.
I got reunited with my group after walking around for some time. Hop back on the bus and eventually get back to the hotel, then go for dinner and go back to the hotel again.
After dinner, I noticed that no one from my group was around the floor of the hotel that we were on or in their rooms. So I wander downstairs. Near the kitchen is a small room with tables that are not in the dining room.
As I get closer, I hear familiar voices, and just as I can see everyone in the room, I hear my name. So I immediately stop and listen.
The teacher is talking to the rest of the class and is openly mocking me for getting lost earlier in the day, among other things.
As soon as I realize this, I break down emotionally and retreat to my room. All I wanted was to go home then and there. I was a very emotionally fragile and timid kid, very sheltered.
AutumnAu
40. Family Laughter
As a teenager, my parents and I stopped for dinner at a restaurant on our way to our family cottage in northern Michigan. We overheard two elderly women at the table next to us discussing the life events of their grandchildren.
One says to the other in a proud manner, "Well, (Female name) is doing great for herself. She found her life's calling with the carnival. She gets to travel and see the country." I wish I could've taken a picture of my parents' faces at that moment. They were trying so hard not to break composure.
Also, at that same place but on a different trip (My parents had a love for that place), two people, I'm guessing in their early twenties, were talking to each other about taking a trip to Hawaii.
One said it was expensive to fly there. The other suggested they just drive a car. They seriously both thought this was a good idea.
My mother tried not to laugh too loudly as she looked at me and whispered... "This is why we won't retire up north until you finish high school. There is no way in hell we're putting you into the schools up here!"
polydactylcatophyl
41. Selfish Guy
When I was a medical student on a palliative care rotation, I was eavesdropping on a patient (88yo) whom I liked spending time with. She was very sweet and tried to offer me her lunch, etc.
Her husband was visiting. Oftentimes, patients discuss trying to get things smuggled in for their loved ones, unaware that at this facility, there really isn't the need. A sneaky listen can make a world of difference.
Not this guy, though. He was so self-obsessed, so unlikable. I listened for a few minutes as he complained to his heavily sedated wife of decades that if she was just going to be sleepy all day and not pay attention to him, he was going to leave.
She was so upset whenever he visited for the rest of the day. He'd always pick some fight. I can't imagine what her life was like.
When she passed, it was her grandson who answered the phone because "he didn't want to hear from her at the moment." I understand grief can manifest in lots of ways. But screw that guy.
Responsible_Pin5430
42. Heartbreaking News
This is not messed up, but it's just sad. It kinda messed me up. So I was visiting my mom in the hospital like a year ago, and in the yard, I came across this woman in her late 20s or early 30s.
She was on the phone when I walked past her, and I heard only one sentence, which messed me up. "He/she was still breathing when I arrived."
The woman was barely standing, clearly just at the end of her rope and, worse of all, all alone. My guess is that she lost a child, and there was no one there for her.
-krizu
43. Truth Hurts
My mom was on the phone talking to someone who must have asked about how everyone was doing. When she got to my update, she just said, "Moo!" and laughed.
"She can't understand why I don't love her; it's like she has never seen a mirror before." I was 11. By this point, she had told me to my face hundreds of times that "It is impossible to love someone who looks like someone you hate."
She referred to how I look like my dad, but this particularly hurt because she was saying it to someone else so casually as if this was something she knew they'd agree with.
curly_who
44. Drop The Call
So I had to rent a car the other month. I went to return it, but they were closed on the weekends, and no drop box or anything.
So I called and explained that I could have returned the car on Saturday morning and saved myself 100 bucks, but them being closed stopped that.
The receptionist gets the manager, and she okays the refund, says goodbye, and attempts to hang up the phone. But didn’t.
She then started talking to the receptionist about how she didn’t want to refund me but didn’t want to deal with the situation as I was probably a jerk who would escalate it up the chain and complain to corporate, and she didn’t want the negativity.
Eagle206
45. Missing Husband
This one time, I was on a flight to Manchester from Greece, and there was a delay on the flight because of luggage problems.
After we got in, we waited another 30 minutes in the cabin. Then, the pilot announced that the luggage compartment had a faulty door jam and that our luggage would be shipped to us via a different plane two days later.
Suddenly, this lady shouted, “NO, WE ARE NOT LEAVING WITHOUT MY HUSBAND! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!” Everyone froze in silence, it turns out she had her husband's ashes in her suitcase… crazy times
VideoGameNerd__