Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The Biggest Shock People Have Experienced In Their Adult Lives

The Biggest Shock People Have Experienced In Their Adult Lives
Beautiful, powerful and artistic black man thinking.
Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

All of us have found ourselves taken by surprise on a few occasions.

There are good surprises, like a friend you haven't seen for years making a trip to celebrate your birthday, as well as less great surprises, like your boyfriend surprising you with tickets to the hockey game, when he knows full well you hate hockey.

But then there are the moments that truly leave us at a loss for words.

The chapters in our life which, for better or worse, we will never forget.

Things that we would never expect to see or hear in a million years, and which we still might be processing to this very day.


Redditor ZonaPreto was curious to hear the moments in people's lives from which they are still trying to pry their jaws off the floor, leading them to ask:

"What's the biggest shock you've had in your adult life?"

They Never Got To Say Goodbye

"I got a call at work that my wife had been admitted to hospital and that I needed to come to get my children."

"That was all the information they gave me."

"I was at a site about 1.5h drive from the hospital, so I said I'd be there in about 2 hours."

"Finally arrived, and they told me where my kids (14 and 7yo) were."

"Walked in the room and said, 'Hi guys!... What's wrong?'"

"My daughter responded, 'Mom died!'"

"This was more than 22 years ago now, but I still can feel the shock."

"We survived, with a lot of help from friends and family."

"All doing well now."- kamuelak

Queen Bees and Wannabees...

"Some people never grow past high school."- Rad-Cabbage

It Never Really Goes Away...

"How bad grief can actually f*ck you up."- Daddyz-bby-grl

People Have A Way Of Surprising You

"Just found out my wife of 8 years was having an affair with her coworker for a year."- Srslynotjackiechan·

It Could Sadly Happen To Anyone

"Biggest shock was when a friend was killed in a head-on collision by an inebriated driver coming directly at him at high speed."- Back2Bach

Things You Never Want To Hear From Your Doctor

"A brain cancer diagnosis."

"The full expectation that regardless of how long I have left, it WILL come back and it will kill me."- FrogPrinceLuckey

It's Almost Worse When You Know It's Coming

"The day I realized my mother was on life support and that she would soon be taken off."

"Context: My mom's health had been declining for a while, so it wasn't as if was completely out of left field."

"She was young (63), but we had known for years that she was going to be gone sooner rather than later."

"Still, when I got that phone call from my Dad saying that had fallen into a coma and that I needed to get home ASAP, I got off the phone, collapsed on the floor of my office and just laid there and shook."

"I couldn't even get the air into my lungs to wail like I wanted to."

"It was awful."

"Some of my closest friends were coming in from Canada for my birthday and we were gonna hit the town with my girlfriend. Instead, I spent my 30th birthday watching my mother being taken off life support."

"If your parents are worth having in your life, keep them close."

"When they're gone, you notice in a million small ways every single day."

"Especially around this time of year."- NapalmStef

Not-So-Holy Matrimony

"How many people cheat on their spouses and how many of those people don't seem to feel bad about it at all."- compromisedfishstix

"My spouse was f---ing around on me."

"Not just during our marriage, but also while we were dating."

"And not just with a few people."

"Like, f---ing everybody."

"Men, women, coworkers, friends, randos... ev-er-y-bod-y."

"Biggest punch to the gut in my whole life."

"I thought we were forever... oh, such a fool."- ShexyBaish6351

A Literal Shock

"480 volts on a welded contact."- twojs1b

Always At The Bottom Of The Ladder

"I’ve had like nine different jobs, tons of experience in different sectors."

"I’ve been loyal, spent 4 years with one company."

"I can’t get somebody to hire me for the life of me."- im_a_nobody_too

Makes You Kind Of Wonder Where They Got It...

"How popular cocaine is."

"In high school, I thought it was up there with meth."

"Then in college it was more popular but still I thought only hard core partiers took it."

"Then I graduated, got a job in tech finance, and it's EVERYWHERE."

"It's like the most common thing people don't talk about."- bromosa_mimosa

They Think They Know Everything...

"How stupid adults are!"- TheGood1swertaken

Shocking information comes in many different forms.

Sometimes it makes you jump or scream the minute you hear it.

Other times, it takes a good amount of time for the magnitude of it all to actually sink in.

No matter the packaging, however, shocking information has a way of continuing to mystify you till the end of your days.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Randy Fine
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

MAGA Rep. Hit With Instant Backlash After Tweeting Truly Vile Post About Muslims And Dogs

Florida Republican Representative Randy Fine is facing harsh criticism after publishing a bigoted tweet that draws a comparison between Muslim people and dogs.

Fine said he was reacting to an online post from Palestinian American activist Nerdeen Kiswani, who wrote that dogs belonged in society but not inside homes, calling them unclean. Kiswani later told NBC News the remark was satirical and part of a local New York debate about dog waste following a recent snowstorm.

Keep Reading Show less
Hillary Clinton; Donald Trump
Alex Wong/Getty Images; Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Hillary Clinton Epically Calls Out 'Disgraceful' Trump For Working With Putin Against Ukraine: 'He Has Betrayed The West'

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized President Donald Trump and his administration during an exchange at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, saying Trump has "betrayed the West" with his "disgraceful" handling of Ukraine.

In particular, Clinton called out Trump's often deferential attitude toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, who invaded Ukraine in a "special military operation" in 2022. Clinton said that not only are Putin and Trump "profiting" off Ukrainian "misery," Trump is also looking to Putin as a "model" of what a leader can be, effectively betraying Western values.

Keep Reading Show less
Miss J. Alexander; Tyra Banks
Netflix; Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Fans Upset After 'America's Next Top Model' Favorite J. Alexander Reveals Tyra Banks Didn't Visit Him After His Stroke In 2022

Tyra Banks wanted to share her side of the story and do some big reveals in the Netflix docuseries Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model, but if she was hoping the docuseries would improve her image to the public, she was sadly mistaken.

Past model contestants have already gone public about their time on the show, but now, people from behind the scenes, like one of the show's photographers and judges, Nigel Barker, the creative director, Jay Manuel, and judge and runway coach Miss J. Alexander, have all come forward with their experiences, and the history might be darker than we ever expected.

Keep Reading Show less
Sarah Spain; JD Vance
@spain2323/Instagram; Kevin Lamarque/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

ESPN Commentator Claps Back After Her Comments About 'Demon' Vance Spark Hate From MAGA Trolls

Emmy-winning sports reporter Sarah Spain drew the ire of the MAGA minions after commenting on having to sit near MAGA Republican Vice President JD Vance at a Team USA women's hockey game. Spain is covering the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.

In addition to her 15 year career at ESPN, Spain also hosts the award-winning daily iHeart women's sports Good Game with Sarah Spain podcast and serves as Content Director for the iHeart Women's Sports Network for iHeartMedia.

Keep Reading Show less
Marc Kennedy during Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics Men's Curling Round Robin.
Foto Olimpik/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Canadian Olympic Curler Sparks Flurry Of Memes After He's Accused Of Cheating By 'Poking' Stone

Last week at the Winter Olympics, tensions ran high when Team Canada faced Sweden in the men’s curling event. A cheating controversy erupted after Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson accused Canadian curler Marc Kennedy of illegally touching the granite portion of a curling stone rather than the handle, which the rules prohibit.

Sweden further alleged a “double touch,” which occurs when a player makes contact with the stone after it passes the hog line.

Keep Reading Show less