10 People Were Trying to Help, But Made Everything Worse

They say the road to disaster is paved with good intentions. Sometimes, in our attempt to be thoughtful, kind, or helpful, things go hilariously - or tragically - wrong. From surprise parties gone sideways to grand gestures that backfired spectacularly, here are 10 times well-meaning acts led to total mess.

1.

I saw a struggling street musician playing his heart out but with barely any tips. Feeling generous, I dropped a $20 in his case and said, “You're amazing, keep it up!” He stopped playing, stared at me, and said, “Dude, I was filming a music video. Now I have to start over.”

2.

I'm an engineering major, and we had English linguistics class, and we were given an essay to write. English isn't our first language so many people struggled with that, I did mine way ahead of the deadline and a guy from my class asked me to write his on like the very last day. I wrote his essay out of sympathy. Submitted it.

After a week, we got an assignment to draw some figures. That guy has his own insta for sketching and arty stuff like that, and he did that assignment for 6 people but refused to do mine, saying boys will make fun of him for helping a girl. He wasn't ashamed to take my help, but has a problem in helping me.

iselenaii / Reddit

3.

A homeless woman was begging outside my apartment. I didn’t want to give her change, but she did look hungry. I went inside a grocery store to buy a few things and bought her a sandwich as well. I brought it out to her, and she says, “I don’t eat this!” and threw it at me.

arwinmine / Reddit

4.

I planned a surprise party for my best friend. I got all our friends together, set up decorations, and made sure his girlfriend kept him busy until the big moment. When he walked in and we all yelled "SURPRISE!" his face went pale. Turns out, he had been on his way to break up with his girlfriend, and now he was stuck acting happy at a party in his honor.

5.

When I was at college, we had to do a software development assignment. Most people weren't that interested in writing software. I loved doing that stuff though, and was good at it. I ended up doing the assignments for 6 different students in class. I changed them all slightly, so it didn't look like they were all just copies.

I got the worst mark on my own assignment. The other six students who handed in my assignment all got better marks than me. The professor said that he marked me down because it was obvious that I'd copied someone else's assignment.

saugoof / Reddit

6.

I saw a man outside 7-Eleven with a cup, and he asked me for some change. I pulled it out of my pocket and put it in his cup, it ended up being his cup of coffee.

Ze3ks / Reddit

7.

My manager finds a wallet in a cart at work. Brings it straight to me and I look in the wallet for ID. Call customer to come get wallet. Comes in, picks up wallet and then calls the police and tells them I stole $400 out of her wallet. I got to make a statement. Video is reviewed and proves she's full of it.

Customer is still outraged and the police have to literally show her the video and threaten her before she backs down. Wallets just go straight into lost and found now. I make no effort to contact people any more.

AirVengeance / Reddit

8.

My coworker was having a rough day, so I left a little cupcake on her desk with a note saying, “Hope this makes your day better!” She looked at it, burst into tears, and ran out. Turns out, she was on a strict diet for a medical condition and had been struggling with cravings. She thought I was mocking her.

9.

I had an old, lonely lady who used to come see me at work. She was sweet, and we would talk quite a bit, and she told me I was the only person who “understood her” or “took the time” with her. I gave her my personal phone number for her to give me a call whenever she felt depressed or lonely.

I ended up getting phone calls every hour throughout the night/day, which I couldn’t always answer because I had a job? A kid? I was sleeping? She began leaving me very nasty voicemails that I had “abandoned” her and “was just like everyone else.” It was wild.

Starlight_City45 / Reddit

10.

Got my parents a huge bouquet and those expensive fruits dipped in chocolate bouquets for their first anniversary since I started work. Mom comes in from work, sees the bouquets and says, "Of course your dad wouldn't have gotten this, he's done nothing for me in all these years." They had a huge fight and my flowers and fruit just sat there on the dining table abandoned.

Unknown author / Reddit

If there’s one lesson to take from these stories, it’s that good intentions don’t always guarantee good results. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is think twice before acting - or at least double-check the details.