# Weird completely unexpected things that happen to you **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 9, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519 "2021-03-09T11:11:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/81 "2021-03-15T18:02:18Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I was eating sunflower seeds in the wind yesterday. I spit out some shells You shouldn’t do that. Don’t tug on Superman’s cape either. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/82 "2021-03-15T19:06:36Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > My wife, however, had been hearing smaller bangs…like our neighbors fooling around with guns, as they sometimes do, shooting stuff at their little impromptu firing range. After the series of “gun” type bangs, there was this louder BOOM, then silence after that, and she’s quite sure all these noises were from a nearby neighbor, not inside our own house. Maybe they were shooting something that exploded?! Tannerite, maybe? ETA: neighbors have been known to complain. I don’t blame them. > **[Tannerite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannerite)** > > Tannerite is a brand of binary explosive targets used for firearms practice and sold in kit form. The targets comprise a combination of oxidizers and a fuel, primarily aluminium powder, that is supplied as two separate components that are mixed by the user. The combination is relatively stable when subjected to forces less severe than a high-velocity bullet impact. A hammer blow, the product being dropped, or impact from a low-velocity bullet or shotgun blast will not initiate a reaction. I Bec... ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/83 "2021-03-15T19:17:26Z")
Not nearly as bad but I was at an old grocery store that had been converted into an antique mall when one of the lights fell from the ceiling about three aisles away from where I was standing. Twice in the same year two buildings I’d been shopping at only weeks before crumbled to the ground. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/84 "2021-03-15T19:27:22Z")
I lived in St. Augustine Florida and I saw the Santa on the fire truck several years in a row. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/85 "2021-03-15T19:50:29Z")
My bed occasionally shudders for no reason. Maybe the mattress or box spring adjusting to all the pressure I put on it? ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecccb3/32.png) [@Old\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Wench)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/86 "2021-03-15T21:33:33Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > I’ve posted this before. > > We were once driving along a country road. Ahead of us was an open convertible being driven by a young woman. Suddenly from the side of the road in front of her as she drove along a hawk flew up, a dead ground squirrel in its claws. The hawk and the car were a near miss, and the hawk in its fright let go of the ground squirrel and dropped it neatly into the woman’s open car. We couldn’t tell if it fell behind her or if she noticed it, so we followed her to see if we couldn’t alert her to it. After awhile, she pulled off into the parking lot of a roadhouse which had a crowd of drunks outside. The drunks all wanted to chat up the young woman, but we pulled in, too, and pointed out the dead squirrel in her car, and it was duly disposed of. > > That was weird. The late **Kopek** and I were driving along a similar road when a hawk flew up from the edge of the road with a squirrel in its talons. Said squirrel was very much alive and struggling and, just as the hawk flew over our car, the squirrel hit our windshield and bounced onto the hood of our car. We stopped and it was just like in a cartoon - the squirrel sat up, shook its furry little head, looked around and then scampered off. Another squirrel story – a couple of years ago, I was in the front seat of a roller coaster when we came around a bend and I saw a squirrel running for dear life along the track not far in front of us. I’ll just say that we were going a lot faster than the squirrel was and weighed several tons more. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/87 "2021-03-16T14:29:58Z")
Driving on a two-lane road. Owl standing in the middle of lane, staring me down. Oncoming traffic, no shoulder. When I got home, I had an owl in my grill. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/88 "2021-03-16T15:33:31Z")
Looong time ago, let’s say about 1985, I and my older brother were out in a small boat (small outboard motor) and had one of those “wish we had a camera” moments. A fishing hawk of some kind had swooped down and grabbed a fish out of the bay, less than 50’ from us. It flew up, clutching the fish. Then the fish got away, and the bird tried to catch it midair but missed, and flew through the splash of the returning fish. All this drama over 3-4 seconds. I imagine this takes place thousands, millions of times daily around the world but isn’t recorded all that often! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/89 "2021-03-16T16:41:04Z")
I may have related this before. We were on safari in Botswana and on a game drive one morning. There are no toilets in the wild, so if one has to go, the driver just pulls over in an open area and keeps watch while you do your thing. So after he scanned the area for predators, I stepped off the truck and began my business. Startled at hearing a noise, I jerked my head up to see an impala staring at me from about five feet away. It was apparently wondering who was peeing on its turf and came over to check it out. It was very surreal. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/90 "2021-03-16T21:47:23Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Driving on a two-lane road. Owl standing in the middle of lane, staring me down. Oncoming traffic, no shoulder. When I got home, I had an owl in my grill. Eons ago I was flying a single engine Cessna. While landing I was moments from touch down and just a couple feet in the air when I notice a rabbit standing on the runway just ahead. To avoid the rabbit I goosed the power intending to get over/past him then reassess whether to land or go around the traffic pattern again. The rabbit had one last hare-brained scheme and just as I got to him he jumped straight up and was duly Cuisinarted. That’s right; I killed a rabbit in midair with my Cessna. That was one dumb (ex-)bunny. The rest of the landing was uneventful, but boy did I have a mess to clean up afterwards; rabbitburger was everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/91 "2021-03-16T23:58:25Z")
We flew up to Barter Island, AK from Anchorage to see some polar bears. Changed planes in Fairbanks for a puddle-jumper (a cigar tube with wings). When we got over Barter, the fog was socked in, so we were circling. The pilot came on the intercom and told us “Well, ground is telling us that visibility is too poor for us to land, but it doesn’t look that bad to me. I’m going to switch off the radio and see if we can find our way down.” He did. 😮 ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/92 "2021-03-17T03:09:33Z")
About 20 years ago I made a cross country trip, and visited Johnstown, Pa. I camped out in a little campground somewhere in the vicinity. When the sun went down there came a loud roaring sound that built up in volume, and then just died away. I don’t know what it was, but I like to think of it as the ghost of the flood. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/93 "2021-03-18T01:56:07Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Make the best of it and tell any kids who ask that it is a dueling scar from when you bravely defended a maiden’s honor. Sheer genius! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/94 "2021-03-18T02:01:32Z")
My Father was watching me play in the backyard when I was three. He went back into the house for just a moment. I recall seeing a concrete culvert coming up as I fell, and seeing my Father come back out wearing kakhis and a white tee shirt. I thought it was my first memory. Mother told me that he carried me into the ER and stayed with me, until the needle went into my forehead. He fainted, and some tiny nurse had to drag him out to the waiting room. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/95 "2021-03-18T13:07:44Z")
This is from the Twilight Zone. My mother died this year, New Years Day to be exact. A week or two later I ordered a few things from Home Depot. Used my own HD credit card, had it shipped to my house. Open the box and don’t pay much attention to the paperwork. My wife looks in the box and asks what’s this gift receipt. Sure enough, there was a gift receipt inside even though it wasn’t a gift. And under “from” it had only the first name- which happened to be my mother’s. Did someone at the shipping department put in a slip from someone else’s order, or was it a message from beyond? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/96 "2021-03-22T02:17:15Z")
OK, this is really mundane, since it involves mops. Normal household mops for cleaning floors. My flat is a converted house, with an old extension on the back, common in old houses in England. The extension has its own shingle roof that you can see when through the window as you go up and down the stairs. So one day I was at the top of the stairs, something caught my eye, I looked out of the window, and there was a mop on my roof. I have no idea how the mop came to be on my roof - there is an upstairs flat, but it doesn’t have a balcony or anything. Despite everyone’s helpful suggestions, the mop wasn’t reachable from the window or from the ground. So, fine, I just have a mop on my roof. A couple of months later the mop was joined by a second mop, slightly lying on top of the first mop. A slightly different style of mop, but still the old-fashioned fluffy-head type. Again I just had to accept them being there; I was glad mop one wasn’t lonely. Fast-forward to a couple of months ago, when scaffolders put scaffolding around my house to work on the roof next door, and were climbing all over the roof. I asked them to get rid of the mops, explained they weren’t mine and no, I didn’t want them, and immediately the mops weren’t visible. The scaffolders had inconvenienced me in a few ways (and broken some things), and were having to dispose of other rubbish anyway, and there was no other opportunity I’d have to get rid of the mops, so it seemed a reasonable thing to ask. To be honest, I kinda missed the mops, but not enough to want to keep them. I didn’t miss the scaffolders. A couple of days ago I was hanging out washing and a friend was over. He looked at the roof and said “did you know you have two mops on your roof?” Turns out the scaffolders hadn’t actually taken the mops away, they’d just moved them out of sight of the window. Seems a bizarre thing to do. OR! The mops had decided to come back. If it’s the later, at some point I expect there will be a smaller, baby mop. I wish them all the best. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/97 "2021-03-22T02:58:32Z")
Something similar–once someone abandoned a kid’s bicycle on the edge midway up my long private rural driveway. I left it there for about a week to see if the owner picked it back up, then called the police to take it as a lost item. Sometime in the next few days (maybe the next day, I don’t remember) a second bike is abandoned in the same spot. ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/98 "2021-03-22T08:11:15Z")
This is very trivial, but one day I was walking with a guy in southern California when someone in a passing car threw a raw egg on me. Twenty years later I was walking with the same guy in northern CA, and someone in a passing car threw a raw egg on me. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/99 "2021-03-22T16:52:38Z")
This story reminds me of a story in Allie Brosch’s recent comic book _Solutions and Other Problems_, in which she exacted her revenge on a noisy neighbor by throwing the same stick in his yard, over and over. I think eventually she started adding more sticks, just to mess with him. I don’t suppose you’ve been mowing your lawn at 8am? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519/100 "2021-03-24T00:30:56Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > This story reminds me of a story in Allie Brosch’s recent comic book _Solutions and Other Problems_ , in which she exacted her revenge on a noisy neighbor by throwing the same stick in his yard, over and over. I think eventually she started adding more sticks, just to mess with him. I don’t suppose you’ve been mowing your lawn at 8am? Oh no, we get on quite well. Neither of us are noisy, which is a blessing, though the house design helps. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-completely-unexpected-things-that-happen-to-you/937519.md?page=6)