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Skyscraper Window Washers Reveal The Weirdest Things They've Ever Seen

Skyscraper Window Washers Reveal The Weirdest Things They've Ever Seen

Skyscraper Window Washers Reveal The Weirdest Things They've Ever Seen

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Got a secret, can you keep it?

What would you try to do if you were so high up in a building that you thought no one could see you? Well, these window washers saw some crazy things during their personal day jobs. Reddit user a_spicy_memeball asked:

High rise and hotel window washers of Reddit, what's the weirdest thing you've spotted when descending to a room?

The answers were varied, interesting, and very weird.

Kitty Corner

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I played with an orange kitty through a window once. That was nice. I also kicked through someone's screen because the window was open. Surprisingly no naked people so far.

The Time Of Your Life

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I worked on swing stages doing concrete finishing and I once saw a grown man jumping on his bed in his tighty whities. I wasn't even shocked. He just looked like he was having so much fun.

Surprise!

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Not so much a window washer but window replacer. Woman (mid 20s daughter of the homeowner) walked into the room like she had 1000 times before, took her clothes off faster than I could say "excuse me mam, allow me to avert my gaze" but when I did get words out she screamed and ran out of the room. A little while later her mother came out and asked if that meant they'd get a discount.

Lights Off

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Not a window washer but this is related. Used to work at Caravan of Dreams in downtown Fort Worth. It had a roof top bar with a very nice view of the Worthington Hotel. At night people would turn off their lights. They thought no one could see them. They were completely wrong. One waitress was so confused at what she saw, but just couldn't stop looking... it was hilarious.

Gy Rise

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I was at the gyno for my annual visit waiting for the doctor to come in. I'm sitting in the chair, feet in the stirrups facing the window when I start to see the ropes of them coming up to next floor. I have never been frozen in fear like that in my life haha. Luckily the receptionist ran in at the last second and closed the blinds before they totally came up. Phew!

Right In Our Faces

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Finally a question I can answer. We were cleaning a fairly tall building 12 stories adjacent to an equally tall government office building. This office building had several bedrooms on the top level, which we could see from the roof but certainly not from the ground. From where we were standing this bedroom was about ten meters away. As we're setting up a naked dude jumps onto his bed. Facing us.

Not weird necessarily but certainly unpleasant

Something I Shouldn't Have Seen

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Not a repelling story but one time we were washing the interior of a house and the woman who was home was very nice. About halfway through, the person who would seem to be the husband comes home and they kiss a bunch, nothing crazy, but they kept talking in very hushed tones. Which is not that weird considering there are strangers in your living room, moving stuff and cleaning and whatever. They just kept whispering though as we moved into the bedrooms, which started getting weird. Well, we get to he master bedroom and start moving family pictures off a dresser to clean he window behind it and I can assure you that our visitor was not the husband or the father to their two blonde children. Got a very icky feeling and finished the house quickly. Needless to say she left us a very generous tip.

Art

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High rise window cleaner here. The most bizarre thing I saw had to be a taxidermy alligator with bird wings sprouting out of its back, chained to the ceiling.

Woofpocalypse

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Another story from the other side of the window: I was in a behavioral psych unit when I was in high school, fifth floor of a regular ole hospital. Let me tell you, it gets boring af. So one day when we saw the ropes come down, I waited by the window until the guy got to our floor and started barking my ass off. A couple of the other patients joined me, it was fun for a while. I doubt it made much of an impression, but it was an event at the time. No punishment though, I had good rapport with the staff.

Java High

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Window cleaner based in Fort Worth and I once had someone open the window and offer me coffee while in mid-air. It was quite refreshing.

Banknight

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I work for my dad during the summer for his window washing company ( check my post history ) and one day I'm working in an office at like 8 pm at night ( we were doing interior cleaning) and as usual every one is mostly gone but some late workers. Well that night we just arrived on a new floor and as we turn the corner to start, my dad and I walk in on 2 guys full on making out. Definitely not expected but we all laughed it off. This was an admin building for a bank in Montreal btw

Hot Fuzz

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Few years back at the age of 17 I took a full 3 day safety training and did this as a part time to get quick cash. This was in Chicago at the Holiday Inn.

Me and my partner(25-ish) at the time where almost done with our shift as it become close to dark. As we get to this one room, it was oddly brighter. When we reach it, we find a group of people in animal costumes. The room was full of glitter on the floors and had a bunch of rainbow type sprayed on the walls. We wanted to finish quick. As we started descending they caught us and gave us what looked like sharp looks. We booked it and told the front desk what was up. After they checked it out they got back to us and told us they kicked them out and damages the room. So it was out of service last time I checked.

I Spy

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I wasn't washing windows but I was on my first trip to New York when I was 15 or so. We had a hotel room pretty high up and at night it was so interesting how you could see into so many other windows in the buildings next door. I had a good view of 3 different buildings. 2 looked like apartments and the other was an office building. I saw a some guy at a desk, some people in there apartments just on the couch or computer. All except for one guy who kept walking in and out of a room. Turning the lights on and off each time which is how I noticed.

A Mystery

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Around 7-8 years ago I was working on building restoration as a contractor, we worked for about a week from the afternoon till late. During work I noticed that in one of the buildings next to us we could see inside a room on the 12th floor. Strange thing is: in that room the lights were on everyday, like even when we started work. Even more weird: the TV was playing some pop music video clip over and over on repeat and we never seen anybody moving in the room (and it was presumably the living room with the entrance door opening from it).

This kept going on for a week, and we were all wondering what happened.

On the last day of work I went to the building to see if there's a doorman/receptionist on the ground floor who I can notify about this. Went in, told him that he'd better check that room on the 12th floor and described the odd situation to him. He looked at me weird and said that if the room I'm talking about is the one he thinks of then that room is unoccupied and unfurnished as the last tenant moved out months ago. He assured me that at night he'll go up and check. The project we worked on finished and I went on my merry way.

Our boss went back a few months later to correct some issues, and then he called me saying that the room we were on about is empty/unfurnished with the lights off and has a "for sale" sign in the window.

I found this pretty creepy and we never found out what happened.

An Old Wound

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I used to work with the glazing company that had a contract to clean and replace windows on what was the 4th tallest tower in Calgary at the time, Canterra Tower.

The top floor had a two story office in it that we had to use the stairs in to reach the roof since the elevator did not go all the way to the last floor. One day, my boss asked me to note the ages of the windows, as all commercial grade double glazing has the year of manufacturing in it. One was four years newer than the rest and he told me what happened.

Buddy had a bad day, threw his chair at the window. At ground level, you could see where the paving stones had a puddle after the rain even though a drain was only a meter or so away.

Around The World On Scaffolding

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I worked for FISH window cleaning but did side gigs on high rises. I once scaled in front of Alice Cooper during a broadcast.

Also, I met Dave Mustaine and Jenna Jameson the same week while cleaning their residental windows but didnt talk to either.

Bunch of random dudes walking around their apartments naked and a lot of crazy people that went crazy when I touched their windows even if we were told to by their property managers.

Homeowners Break Down The Weirdest Things The Previous Owners Left Behind

Reddit user Oblivious_Dude14 asked: 'People who bought a house. What is the weirdest thing you have found left by the previous owner?'

Old torquoise radio box
Milivoj Kuhar/Unsplash

Buying a home is a daunting task, but it comes with the comfort of finally having a place to call your own after the lengthy process of purchasing.

One of the things new homeowners look forward to is renovating certain areas of their newly acquired domicile.

However, embarking on this next phase of making a home their own can come with some surprises.

For example, doing a gut reno in the basement or tearing down a non-load-bearing wall can unearth unusual relics left from the previous homeowner.

These discoveries can either be treasures, or something very unpleasant.

Curious to hear from new homeonwers, Redditor Oblivious_Dude14 asked:

"People who bought a house. What is the weirdest thing you have found left by the previous owner?"

These will spark curiosity about former occupants.

Hidden Message

"First time I took a hot shower in our new home. The steam covered the mirror, only to reveal the phrase 'HELLO, I SEE YOU' in large finger drawn writing."

"It freaked me out for a second, but made me laugh soon after that."

"It was such an inconspicuous yet obvious thing to leave for the new homeowner (me)."

– Individual-Common-89

A Special Request

"It's not really weird but I think it's kind of a nice story."

"One of the kids' rooms has a shelf going all around the top edge, and when my kid was putting stuff up there they found a letter from the previous kid. The letter welcomed them to the room etc and asked them to take special care of a rose bush in the front yard that was their special rose bush. My kid thought it was really cool to have that connection with the previous kid."

– catsaway9

Instructions

"Not really weird but they left a typed out and printed note about the house and how to take care of it. Detailing all the plant life in the backyard and how to prep for the winter. Described how to take care of the hot tub and gave random tid bits about the electrical."

"They were good people lol."

– pet_zulrah

Theses secret chambers piqued Redditors' curiosity.

Secret Dwelling

"Not my house, but the school my friend worked at."

"A pipe had leaked and ruined a wall in the building, one of the oldest schools in the city. It was a beautiful property. Anyways the pipe leaked so they pulled down the ruined wall and behind the wall found a door."

"A fully furnished apartment was there. Had a coal burning stove to heat it. Early 1900s appliances and decor. It was for the caretaker of the school."

– Used-Stress

Antique Showroom

"My ex-wife's family knocked down a wall in a 400-year-old house in Cornwall, and found a perfectly intact bedroom from the 1800s, still with all the personal effects where they had been left."

"Nobody knows why it was boarded up, or why things weren't taken out of it."

"Oh, and that house always appears in the guides for the most haunted locations in Cornwall, if you believe that kind of stuff."

– ledow

A Medieval Theme

"A basement room that was fully decked out as a 'dungeon.' Faux stone walls, a stocks (like where you lock your head and hands in ala ye olde England), candle scones on the walls, a metal-barred cage in the corner from floor to ceiling. Oh and the closet had a load of toys, some normal, some....not so typical."

– DisIsDaeWae

These Redditors got a glimpse into past lives.

Family Treasure

"Before I met her, my wife got a call from someone she worked with saying they'd just bought an old house and in the city, and in it was a steamer trunk with her family name (not a common one) carved into the woodwork on one end."

"As it turns out, it was the trunk that her great grandfather used when he came over from Germany, and it made the trip to my wife's hometown when he met her great grandmother on a visit, and subsequently moved to her city to marry her. We now have it and it's full of family portraits and albums."

– LateralThinkerer

Vintage Trickster

"My first house purchase in 2005 - bought an old farmhouse that was built in 1923. The basement was FILLED with crap - we told them they needed to clean it all out before closing, but they didn't do it. The realtor asked if we wanted to postpone closing, and we decided no - some of the stuff looked interesting enough. Maybe it will be worthwhile to go through."

"Most of it was just junk. Then, about half way through (we were working our way from one end of the basement to the other, because you could barely walk through), I went to pick up what I thought was a small box, only to quickly realize it weighed at least 75 pounds. Upon further inspection, it wasn't a box, but a wooden square, 4' wide and about 12'x12', with two thin masonite plywood covers on each side. On one edge were two bolts with wires coming off that had been cut."

"Very strange - had no idea what it was, but thought it was interesting. So I put it aside and we kept going. At the very back of the basement once we cleared everything else out, was a rickety gray cabinet, built into the house. Inside, were numerous strange small tools, vials of mercury, vials of a strange powder, and thousands - literally thousands - of dice blanks. Some actual dice, but mostly blanks without the dots. they were all in little boxes labeled 'dice blanks'. Also very strange..."

"Not too long after that, I met a guy and upon learning my address, he said 'can I come over?My best friend grew up in that house'. He came by, and proceeded to tell me stories for an hour and a half about his childhood best friends eccentric father: Someone who was a part of the 'Dixieland Mafia' in the 60s and 70s, and who made a living traveling around the US as a traveling gambler. The enormously heavy box was an electro-magnet. And the dice blanks were for him to make his own loaded dice with a little bit of metal powder under the inlaid dot, so he could set up his own table with the the electromagnet underneath, and turn it on when he wanted to persuade the dice. He told me many other stories, including that there was 'no doubt in his mind that he had killed someone'. Pretty fascinating."

– GIjokinaround

A Soldier's Story

"A diary of an American soldier in WW-II, South Pacific Theater. Found it above a door when remodeling 20+ years ago. My wife and I tried everything we could think of to find a descendant, but to no avail."

"UPDATE: I just posted photos of it with the person's ID info on r/WorldWar2."

"Last Update: Thanks to all the help from this community, and those at r/worldwar2, this diary is now in the hands of its writer's son who came to my office this morning to retrieve it. I am so thrilled to have been able to facilitate this!"

– Factsaretheonlytruth

These folks really hit the jackpot.

Forgotten Stash

"$1200 in cash above the door on the inside the closet. I found it while painting."

– whymetoo

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

"A glass bowl. It was kind of pretty, with horizontal blue stripes."

"We kept fruit in it. We thought about dropping it off at the local charity shop, but never got around to it."

"Then one day I was at an antique fair and I saw for sale glass bowls that looked almost identical to ours. I went home to get my bowl and brought it to be assessed."

"Turns out it was a vintage Orrefors crystal bowl. The assessor valued it at around $800."

"We no longer keep fruit in it."

– khendron

When my great aunt passed away, our family went over to her and her husband's home in Pomona, CA to clear it out in preparation to sell.

They emigrated from Japan in the late 1930s and brought with them many decorative figurines, sculptures, and wooden carvings from the homeland.

One of the pieces was a kabuki doll on a wooden base. As we were placing the item in a box, a tiny envelope that had been taped underneath the doll's base came loose.

I opened it and found what looked like instructions for something. I kick myself to this day that I didn't keep the letter and never bothered asking my parents what the note said as we were frantically trying to empty the house.

But man, my imagination ran wild. Was it a treasure map? Who knows. I still wonder to this day what the note said and tossing it aside remains one of my life's greatest regrets.

test tubes
Talha Hassan on Unsplash

The saying "it's not brain surgery" hasn't meant the same thing to me ever since Ben Carson took his place on the national stage.

The saying "it's not rocket science" doesn't hit the same with me ever since one of my life-long friends became a rocket scientist.

I don't know Ben Carson—just his many public blunders—but in the case of my friend, he's an absolutely brilliant guy.

However I often wonder how my friend managed to survive this long and apparently this isn't an unusual phenomenon.

But more about my friend later at the end of this article.

Keep reading... Show less
person holding black remote control
Erik Mclean on Unsplash

Back in the 1980s the threat of nuclear war was pervasive in daily life.

That fear and paranoia made the TV films Threads and The Day After particularly effective. People were genuinely terrified or traumatized.

Both told the story of an atomic apocalypse, with Threads set in the UK and The Day After in the United States. I wasn’t familiar with Threads until about 5 years ago, but The Day After was a TV event everyone seemed to be talking about in the USA.

But fear inducing isn't quite the same as creepy.

For creepy, you need something like The Twilight Zone, Creepshow or Night Gallery.

Keep reading... Show less

Content warning: abuse and suicide.

There is a level of devastation caused by being cheated on by a partner, especially if it's someone you trusted and have been with for a long time that people who haven't experienced it can't understand.

I've been lucky in that I've never been cheated on myself, but I've had friends who have gone through it. My college roommate told me it was the worst pain she's ever been in when she found out her boyfriend cheated on her, and she couldn't imagine anything worse.

It was indeed horrible. My confident, strong roommate was crying all the time and wondering why she wasn't good enough to keep her boyfriend's interest, even though that had nothing to with it.

Redditors agree that being cheated on is painful, but also are prepared to share things they think are emotionally more painful.

It all started when Redditor Darkterrariafort asked:

"What is something more emotionally painful than getting cheated on?"

Medical Helplessness

"Watching your most precious person die a painful and scary death and knowing there’s nothing you can do about it. F**k cancer."

– coastalliving40

"This. I watched my husband starve to death from gastroesophageal cancer."

"It was like watching a nightmare repeat of my dad all over again. 😞"

– NedsAtomicDB

Mama Who Bore Me

"Death of your child."

– NBA_Fan_76

"I truly cannot imagine a deeper pain."

– theawkwardmermaid

"Your child being serious injured by your ex, and custody court keeps forcing the kid into contact with their abuser."

"You spend years of your life dealing with court homework where you recount every excruciating detail of your own abuse at the hands of this person, in addition to the crimes against your child."

"It costs you about $100,000 in legal fees, and you still aren't able to protect your child. It keeps going on indefinitely, and perversely, your ex tries to send you to jail because the child runs away from them."

– JadeGrapes

"Being responsible for your childs death directly."

– Kanulie

"My father passed very suddenly and unexpectedly two summers ago. It was the deepest, unimaginable despair that it was almost like a dream. Being walked to the little room at the hospital where they let you know he didn’t make it on the ambulance ride was surreal and up to that point the worst moment in my life."

"One month after he passed, I was in a four wheeler accident with my then three year old. And we were alone as my husband was out of town. I wasn’t being negligent- it was just a terrible, terrible accident. But, in the chaos of being thrown off and being in complete shock, I thought the four wheeler was pinning her down. I was screaming at the top of my lungs and crying and trying everything I could to lift it up. Remaining calm simply wasn’t a possibility when you think you’re killing your own child."

"She wasn’t pinned-and actually didn’t have a scratch on her. EMT checked her out and I went to the hospital because I had ripped the top part of my thigh off trying to lift the ATV."

"The whole thing was eye-opening in the worst way possible. Because, I could never, ever, ever, ever imagine losing my daughter- especially to my own fault. What if she had been hurt or died that day? I would be living in my own constant hell. I didn’t think there could be worst pain that when I lost my dad, but now I know there is. Just the thought alone of losing my daughter brings tears to my eyes."

"Life is really rough sometimes. But it gets better."

– BoredMillennialMommy

Going Down

"Seeing a loved one go on a downward spiral and you can do nothing to stop it."

– New_me_old_self

"Extension of your comment: Seeing a close one(wronged by their protectors) going down the spiral."

"You tried to help them a lot but they dragged you down with them and left you not just empty but drained."

– Sullen_Wretch

So Hard

"Suicide bereavement."

"I lost my best friend in 2022. Found him. Everyday is a struggle to not be in my grief."

"I’d take 100 heartbreaks, 100 nights of going to bed hungry, and 100 punches right to the face just to have him back."

– KatastropheKraut

"It does. I got wasted and said far too much about myself once. One of my friends verbally smacked the f**k out of me, got me to see that people do care about me and that my relationships aren't all just superficial, really just hit my sorry a** over and over again with the idea that I'm deserving of love not because other people get something out of being with me but because I am a human being, and it slowly does get better."

"It stopped me, I was going to kill myself in two months on new year's."

"When I can't live for myself, I live for other people, even when I start doubting other people actually like me, I still don't do it or hurt myself at all, because there's always, no matter what I feel in the moment, a chance that they do truly just care about me."

"If I end myself now then I give so many other people survivor's guilt, I leave all the people I care about wondering for the rest of their lives how it all could've been different if they had just tried a little bit harder to help me. I won't elaborate now but I feel a similar sort of regret when it comes to a number of aspects of my own life. I could never leave someone with something so unfathomably more painful than that."

– pissandsh*tlord

Sounds Awful

"Mental instability. It's cruel because it's your own mind killing you, you can't run or hide and it's long-winded. I couldn't say a single event has been more emotionally stressful than what's happening."

– Country-Road--

"It’s like you’re dead in your twenties but haven’t been buried til you’re 65."

– Gmr33

Tragedy You Never Get Over

"Having your mother pass away in your arms."

– Repulsive_Cricket923

"Something similar happened to me when i was 4. My parents sent me over to get babysat by my grandmother and she sat on a chair and passed as i was sitting on the floor playing with my toys. I only thought she was sleeping at the time, but later learned the truth as i never saw her again."

– Lucidnuts

Just Done

"As far as relationships go, being abandoned by your former partner is pretty damn painful."

– heyitsvonage

"Mine did this to me after 2.5 years and it was f**king devastating, it took years to get over. He acted as though everything was fine, I was his everything, we were actively planning how we would elope after I finished my degree that term, and BOOM NO DO-OVERS YA DONE."

"It was immediately what came to my mind when I saw this post."

– paprikashi

My Work

"When someone steals your research, hands it in first, gets the high distinction, then everything you submit is plagiarizing that a**hat."

– StaunchMeerkat

"This is two steps worse than, "hey can you put my name on your paper too.""

– karmagod13000

Rather Be Cheated On

"When the person stays with you but they secretly still yearn for that other person (even if no cheating occurs)."

– Deleted User

I actually didn't think there was anything worse than being cheated on after watching my friends go through it.

I stand corrected.

Do you have any stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/