Everything happens for a reason, right?
Even the worst things that happen to us make us the person we are today, and while it may suck at the time, ultimately it can lead to growth and happiness.
Here are some of Reddit's best mistakes.
Redditor S_aturn asked:
"What was the 'best mistake' you have ever made?"
Smooth move.
"Watching this guy painting a beach scene in a touristy area of my city."
'Nobody else was watching, I was just zoning out, it was relaxing."
"This girl walks up and I didn't even notice, and she goes 'wow that's beautiful'."
"Just a joke as reflex but I shot back 'you're beautiful'."
"I immediately realized what I'd done and I turned to this gorgeous girl and she was blushing."
"I think we were both speechless for a second."
"We flirted for a couple minutes but I was far too flustered from my f up to ask her out."
"Which makes no sense in hindsight but it was a great mistake."- TheHumanRavioli
Good Pupper.
"Getting my dog."
"I was a dumbass 19 year old who couldn't afford a dog nor did I get the type of dog for my lifestyle."
"I had to keep being better for her."
"We had a rocky journey, but now she's a spoiled ass boxer that goes to daycare and plays every day."- cherrywinetime
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Um....why is that a problem?
"Helping my last girlfriend's brother make some money by paying him to watch my cat."
"She flipped out and ended up breaking up with me over it."
"Turns out, my relationship was pretty toxic and I couldn't see it because I was so in love."
"Still recovering from the toxicity, but I can see it as a positive now and I'm really looking forward to 2020 because of it."- NewToThis-27
Buttf*ck nowhere is the best.
"I moved to buttf*ck nowhere to start a job."
"My mom kept saying it's a dead end, and that I really need to switch jobs every 3 years if I want to progress."
"It was a 5 hour drive through twisty winding roads to a place where nothing but sheep, cows, and turnips grow in a 100 mile radius."
"It was pretty dire, and I could only think that I was making the biggest mistake of my life."
"Well, turns out people in buttf*ck nowhere pay quite well to make sure you stay in buttf*ck nowhere."
"I've been getting a 5% bonus every year, around 2% pay increase every year to account for inflation, and an extra 5% pay rise every year for performance."
"Property prices are very cheap in buttf*ck nowhere."
"I met the love of my life in buttf*ck nowhere. It's quiet, peaceful, and crime is almost nonexistent."- GrammatonYHWH
Awwww.
"Deciding to take a paid internship."
"It was a total scam."
"I had to door knock on houses and then convince them to hire me to paint that house."
"My wife was working with the same company and we met at a Christmas party."- stuartstustewart
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Getting Banned Can Be The Greatest Blessing.
"I was sent to work in another office that didn't have their sh*t together."
"Apparently I made some mistakes and customers got pissed off and it got back to my boss."
"Fast forward 6 months and that office is still a sh*t-show, but I never had to go back because I'd been 'banned'."
" It was great."- Cyberhwk
Yum!
"When making a batch of oatmeal-raisin cookies, I mistakenly used "Craisins" instead of raisins."
"The cranberry flavor and texture turned out to be a big hit with everyone that tried the cookies."- Back2Bach
We love a good flight mishap.
"When booking airline flights on-line was newish, I booked a flight from New York to Detroit and a rental car at the airport."
"I meant to fly into Detroit Metropolitan Airport but booked to Detroit City Airport by mistake."
"The plane landed and they rolled up some stairs to the plane almost immediately."
"I walked fifty feet to the terminal building; waited a few minutes for my bag; walked thirty feet to the car rental counter; got my key; walked another fifty feet across the road to the car lot; got into the rental car and drove away."
"Ten minutes later I was passing Detroit Metro on I-94."
"Had I flown into the larger airport, I would have still been waiting for the plane to pull up to the gate and for the extendo-thing to be hooked up."- Dogs_Akimbo
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Another Cute One.
"This girl (A) was introducing me to her friend (B) at a restaurant."
"I thought nothing of it at the time, but later she (A) asked me what I thought of her friend(B) and my response was 'She's cool, I like her' as in 'she's a cool person, I like her as a potential friend'."
"Shortly after this conversation, she(A) went to her friend(B) and told her I liked her and wanted to date."
"I didn't have the heart to tell her (B) otherwise."
"So long story short, we have been married for 5 strong years"- TheRealSlimCoder
Cats change lives.
"I thought this said 'biggest mistake' and I was so pumped cause I had a great one."
"But nope."
"Thought really long and hard about this and had nothing until I read that one comment about them having a dog."
"So I'll say this."
"My roommate moved out and ditched her cat with me, said she'd try putting her up for adoption and never did."
"And I couldn't handle doing it myself so I kept her."
"So here we are, never was supposed to have a cat, never thought I ever could have a cat, and now this cat is quite possibly the only thing keeping me alive."
"Where would I be without her?"- Lyssinfinite
Seeing People For Who They Truly Are
"I yelled at my friend's girlfriend and that made me realize that neither of them were my friends in the first place."- FueledUp
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A Much Needed Laugh
"I was texting a friend while playing skyrim."
"I wasn't looking down."
"I meant to say that I was fighting a dragon."
"Instead, I somehow wrote 'I'm queefing a dragon' instead."- Zapashark
When Peer Pressure Pays Off!
"Allowing my friends to pressure me into having a 'relationship' with my current SO."
"They did it as a 'joke,' and after I was hooked, they were planning on blackmailing him to dump me so I'd be heartbroken and rely on them for everything."
"Needless to say, I am no longer friends with them, and my wonderful boyfriend and I have been together for 8.5 years, at the end of February."- SweetSugarGirl1296
Wrong Place At The Right Time
"I clicked the wrong orientation date for college and ended up meeting my future girlfriend."
We've been dating ever since."- BioJoltz
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Wake Up Call
"F*cking up my degree."
"I coasted through my undergraduate degree."
"I did the bare minimum to pass exams and pulled all-nighters whenever I had an essay due."
"I was that guy in your class who sends a Facebook message at 8pm the night before a deadline asking how other people were getting on so that I could pretend that everyone else had left things as last minute as I had."
"I spent far too much time playing games, hanging out in the bar and having fun."
"I bought into the student lifestyle big time."
"Then came graduation and I realized just how much I had messed up."
"I graduated with a less-than-ideal classification."
"My family said they were disappointed for me, but not in me, but I knew I had let them down and more importantly had let myself down."
"I worked for a year in a dead end job."
"I had a part time gig while I was at uni, so I went full time and stored away cash."
"The next year I applied to a lot of masters programs in the hope that one would accept me with my dismal academic transcript."
"One did."
"I went back to uni and worked my a** off."
"I basically lived in the library."
"When I graduated this time, I graduated at the top of my class."
"Off the back of that, I've managed to get a PhD position at a pretty good university in an excellent research project."
"I've now had the opportunity to share platforms with nationally recognized experts and research in an exciting and dynamic field."
"I wouldn't be where I am today if I had worked as hard as I should have in my undergraduate."
"If I'd graduated with a "good" degree, I'd have gotten a job somewhere and never looked twice at academia."
"It's funny, when I graduated with my degree, I felt like the university was telling me that I'd never succeed in academics or research."
"I guess I figured that I would show them that they were wrong."
"That, and I couldn't bear having my family be disappointed in me or my achievements."- SvalbardBear
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Someone Didn't Proof Read!
"I was trading in a Jetta for a new Audi (circa 1998)."
" I am horrible at math, so when looking at the contract I assumed the numbers were right and I was getting the payment I wanted, so I signed away."
"When I got my beautiful new Audi home, my brother (a numbers guy), said, what's the monthly payment on this!"
"Irritated, at how low the payment was for this car, he said angrily, 'well how much did you put down?'"
"I told him."
"He said, 'impossible, let me see the contract'."
"He looked and immediately noticed their mistake."
"There was apparently a typo, and they gave me $19k for the Jetta instead of $9k!"
"They realized their mistake a few weeks later...oh well, they signed the contract!'
"Lucky for me my BF at the time was a prosecutor lol."- ChrissyT16
The Greatest Love Of All
"My third child."- dewittboo
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Sometimes mistakes offer us the greatest opportunity to learn!
Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.
Every now and then, a friend of ours might say something, or we might overhear a complete stranger say something that makes us stop in our tracks.
More often than not, what we can't believe we just heard is something so ridiculous, we can't help but put the person who said it in their place.
Other times, however, what we just heard might have stunned us silent because of how shockingly clever it was.
Resulting in our not wanting to scold or yell at someone, but rather give them a handshake.
Redditor SubmergingOriginal was curious to hear the sharpest and wittiest things they've ever heard, from friends and strangers alike, leading them to ask:
"Enough with the dumbest; what is the wittiest thing you've ever heard someone say?"
Don't Give Me So Much Credit...
'I was on a team at work that was on a project working insane overtime."
"One night after an 80-90 hour week, we were all sitting around the table trying to finish up so we could go home."
"Around 11, my buddy's wife called, dubious about the hours he'd been keeping."
"We heard her through the line - 'are you cheating on me?'"
"Exasperated, he looked at our boss, then replied 'honey, if I was cheating on you, I would have been home by now'."- lionbatcher
Eternal Optimism...
"Asked a blind guy if he'd been blind his whole life."
"He said 'Not yet'."- Feeling_Mode_6465
Free time Isn't The Only Thing He Has On His Hands...
"My brother got a vasectomy and when the doctor was releasing him and giving him instructions (with the nurse listening in), one of the orders was to 'come back and have a follow-up appointment after you’ve ejaculated 30 times'.”
"Without missing a beat my brother asked 'what time do you open tomorrow?'”
"The nurse couldn’t keep it together after hearing that."- UtahUtopia
Awkward Season 8 GIF by The Office
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Double Whammy!
"My pal uses the phrase 'he doesn’t look strong enough to carry information' and it cracks me up every time."
"Calling someone stupid and weak in one fell swoop."- JennyW93
Can't Hide Your DNA...
'Whenever I jokingly insult my mum, she says 'that must be where you get it from'."
"She cracked the code."
"I can never offend her without offending myself."- JennyW93
Self-Sufficient!
"My brother was a line cook at a New Orleans restaurant."
"My mom was in town, staying at a fancy hotel, and he stopped by after work, still wearing his kitchen whites."
"He was reading a newspaper in the lobby waiting for her to come down when the shocked lobby manager sputtered at him, 'MAY I HELP YOU!?!?'
"He answered, 'thanks, but I know how to read',” and went back to his paper."- jobrody
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A Miracle!
"My brother-in-law’s comment."
"The entire family went out for my mother’s 80th birthday and after the meal we all went to a local park, largely occupied by the elderly, to rest."
"My mother needed crutches at this point, and they were resting against her bench."
"My 10-year-old niece, who looked like every starving waif image from Dickens, grabbed the crutches and started hobbling round the park."
"All the OAPs were following her progress with looks of pity until my brother ran up behind her, and kicked away the crutches."
"There was an audible gasp from round the park and then my niece picked the crutches back up and started chasing my brother, clearly intending to hit him."
"In the confused silence my brother-in-law’s voice rang out 'Praise be! She can walk again!'"
"We still think this was the highlight of the birthday celebrations."- DdraigGwyn
Still Legal, Whichever Way You Cut It...
"I picked up my pleasantly tipsy boyfriend from a nightclub."
"We were stopped by the Police for a random breath test."
"They asked me my age, and I said, 33."
"My bf blurted out '33? You told me you were 22'."
"Police just laughed and let me go."- Aggravating-Corgi379
Music Video Police GIF by Andrew W. K.
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A Bit Too On The Nose?
"Business law class in college years ago, talking about the issues that black Americans had before the Civil Rights."
"Amendment, trying to travel through the south with the discrimination so rampant, trying to find restaurants to serve them and decent lodgings."
"My instructor was posing a hypothetical: 'So you pull up out front of this place, you're exhausted from driving for hours, and you see the sign out front says 'Ku Klux Klan Motel'."
"'What would you expect to find there?'"
"Without missing a beat, from the back of the room came this gem: "'Extra sheets in every room?'"- NedsAtomicDB
Not Yet, Anyway...
"I was working with my friend and his dad."
"My friend (26) heard an ice cream truck near where we were working."
"He asked his dad if he could have a couple dollars."
"His dad asked, 'what for?'"
"My friend told his dad that there was an ice cream truck in the neighborhood, and that they were playing music."
"My friends dad told him "'They don't charge anything to listen to the music'."- tatersalad1234567890
Words Escape You In The Literal "Heat" Of The Moment...
"A friend of mine is a teacher and her husband is known for his wit."
"She told this story to him:"
"One day at school a kid took the hall pass and returned reeking like smoke."
"She asked the kid if he’d been smoking and he denied it over and over."
"She was about to send him to the office when she noticed smoke coming from somewhere."
"She told the kid and he realized that he didn’t put his cig out completely and it was burning in his pants pocket."
"The kid noticed and frantically tried to put it out and someone finally poured water on it."
"Her husband sat listening to this with a weird look on his face."
"She asked him what was wrong."
“'What’s wrong???'"
"'This was probably the only chance you’ll have in your life to say literally, ‘liar,liar, pants on fire’ and you missed your chance'."- Luder714
On Fire No GIF by PEEKASSO
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Amazing What You Might Say A Few Drinks In...
"When I went to a renaissance faire once, I went to a beer tent and ordered a Newcastle Brown Ale (seemed the most fitting for the surroundings)."
"The beer wench, without skipping a beat, said, 'Everyone wants a Newcastle - no one wants to remodel!'"- jayhof52
Read The Room People!
"My dad wiped out when skiing down a mountain and lost a ski."
"After a few minutes of hunting for it, he gives up, slings the one remaining ski over a shoulder and starts walking down the mountain in his ski boots."
"About half-way down, another skier stops and goes 'Gee! Did you lose a ski?'"
"My dad instantly replied 'No, I was out for a walk and found one!'"- PeterJoAl
There's a reason your mother always told you to "use your words".
As clever remarks can have a much more lasting effect on people than a push or shove.
Teachers are meant to impart knowledge to the next generation, but they have to get the kids to pay attention first.
Not an easy task.
So many, too many schools are plagued by kids who have no self-control.
Teachers end up playing referee, counselor, and parent in addition to their teaching role.
All of those additional hats don't come with any additional pay.
It's no wonder we're in a teacher shortage.
Redditor _Planet_Mars_ wanted the teachers out there to share some rough student stories, so they asked:
"Teachers, what is the worst thing you've seen a student do?"
I once saw a kid drive their car into the school office.
They were drunk.
Thankfully no one was injured.
POP!
"The was a loud pop and a flash in the back corner of the classroom. I asked the student sitting there what happened. She said it was firecrackers. I sent her to the office. While she was still in the office, I realized the electrical outlets in the room didn’t work. At that point, another student fessed up that the student sent to the office had put a pair of scissors in the outlet. I’m not sure why that student thought it was better to lie and claim she was doing fireworks inside the school?"
mynamelessname
Pain
"When I was teaching preschool, I had a little girl, between 3-4, walk up to another girl who was sitting on the rug reading a book, grab her by the hair and slam her head into the wall. They hadn’t been interacting in any way prior. When I asked her why she did it, she said she 'wanted her to know it hurts.'"
No-Doubt-8748
That Kid
"A different type of bad than most of these."
"I was a teacher at a poor inner-city school. I had a lot of wonderful students but some difficult ones. One was the worst — bright but was always sleeping through class and acting up and never doing homework. I lived about 30 minutes away. One night, I stopped by the local Wawa after a night out with friends. Was at least 11:30 pm and I was already dreading the early morning drive to school. And who should be checking me out but my own 'problem' student."
"He was working late to make money for his family and then getting home at 1:00 am or later before heading into school on 4-5 hours of sleep. He was a smart kid. Really smart. I hope things worked out for him but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if he’d been allowed to have a childhood and focus on his education."
Low_Cartographer2944
Blame the Heat
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"It gets very hot here in the warmer months and so the school put out those big containers for water for everyone. Well, one student was caught peeing into a bag and dumping it into the containers."
huzzahserrah
Some kids really need some deeper therapy.
Peeing in bags? Seriously?!
From Beneath
"My wife is an elementary teacher and has a kid this year that likes to slip under their desk and lick toes (we live in a warm state) and they all think he will grow up to be a creeper."
CherryManhattan
BOOM
"This was the worst thing I know of that happened at my high school."
"Someone brought a blasting cap to school (OK, that's a bit dumb), and flushed it down the toilet (that's REALLY dumb). Then told a teacher about it, because maybe it wasn't such a good idea (their best idea that day, really)."
"Wound up with that restroom being taken out of service while the fire department x-rayed the plumbing to find and remove the (admittedly tiny) explosive. Took several weeks before it was back in service."
gogstars
Sad
"My favorite teacher in high school was a very kind a lenient man. Do your work, be respectful, and follow the major school rules and you and him would be cool. The one thing that would seem minor, but that he was very strict about was taking any medication in any way shape, or form in his classroom."
"One day, I needed to take some Advil for cramps and asked to take it. He said I needed to go to the nurse for permission. I ended up asking him why he was so strict about it. it turns out, he had a student pass out in class one day at his former school. He tried to wake her up and called the nurse, but she wouldn't wake up. They called 911 and by the time they got there, she had died of an OD on narcotics she took in the bathroom that she had hidden in a Tylenol bottle. I don't know how he went back to teaching after that."
musical-nerd24601
Painful
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"Saw a 4-year-old purposely push a piece of furniture over onto another 4-year-old at preschool. It actually really hurt the other kid, and her parents took the school to court."
MPD1987
Kids are brutal.
No wonder people home school.
