10 People Who Tried Too Hard — and Paid the Price

The world is full of good intentions. However, problems arise when, believing we’re doing something kind or meaningful, we suddenly realize we’ve ended up in an awkward situation instead. It’s those moments that make us blush at first, but later turn into stories we laugh about for years. They remind us that even our most embarrassing experiences can become some of our best memories.

• This reminds me of the one and only time I ever went snowboarding. I was a senior in high school and had gone up to the mountain with a few friends — I was the only beginner in the group. After my first trip down the hill, I got separated from them, so I got in line for the chair lift by myself. There was another kid behind me who was also alone, so we agreed to share the next lift. When we got on the chair, he mumbled something about putting the bar down, so I promptly reached up, grabbed it, and pulled it down with all my weight. He wasn’t paying attention, and the bar slammed into the back of his head, almost knocking him out of the chair. He screamed, “I said, don’t put the bar down!” That was a very long chairlift ride. © eggson / Reddit

• Riding home on the bus, I heard a passenger asking the driver for directions. I didn’t hear the driver respond, so I took it upon myself to help and walked down the aisle to her seat. I asked where she was headed and if she needed any help. Turns out, I wasn’t familiar with the area she was going to, I couldn’t actually help with directions, and the driver had already answered her — I just couldn’t hear it from where I’d been sitting. © llathrop / Reddit

• I arrived home and saw some neighbors carrying a new piece of furniture into their house. Part of the wrapping was trailing behind, and I worried it might get tangled around the wife’s feet as she walked. So I ran up behind her but misjudged how fast they were moving. I grabbed the wrapping material and stumbled, falling to my knees. They kept walking, and the wrapping went taut, yanking the table backward. It tipped over, and their brand-new table hit the ground. © Ninjaspeaks / Reddit

• I was on a plane. Every seat on the plane had its own LCD screen and controller. Closing my eyes was making me dizzy, and any movement in my sight made me uncomfortable. A girl next to me was touching the empty black screen, trying to turn it on. I was getting frustrated. I watched her 5 minutes doing the same thing. I pressed the power button, looked at her and said, “This is how you turn on the system.” She was stupefied. 2 hours later, I realized the screen’s brightness was so low that it was seen as black when you look at it from the sides, although it was open and running. She was just navigating through menus to choose a movie to watch when I suddenly closed her screen and made my glorious remark. © rotirahn / Reddit

• This girl who used to work with me asked me for a ride home after work. I’m like, “Yeah, of course, no problem.” She then tells me, “Hey, you can drop me off right at this corner coming up, I can really walk the rest of the way,” so I’m like, “Are you sure? It’s no problem to drive you all the way home.” She tells me no, so I let her get out. Maybe a week later, I find out that she was telling everybody how I kicked her out of my car. Yeah, never gave that chick a ride ever again. © teenygoblin27 / Reddit

• I was at a restaurant with some friends and I felt like helping the waitress by grabbing my plate off the big tray she was carrying them in on (in my defense, it looked like her hands were full.) I guess she had her own way of balancing things, because as soon as I grabbed mine, the entire tray flipped and dropped on the ground. That was pretty embarrassing. © go_dukes / Reddit

• A friend of mine was at a continental breakfast, waiting in line for coffee. He poured himself a cup, and saw a lady behind him was waiting as well, so instead of putting down the pot, he thought he’d be polite and hold it out for her to take. Unfortunately, coffee pots having only one handle, he ended up just expectantly holding a scalding hot cylinder at this poor lady. They stood like this, awkwardly trying to figure out what to do, before the lady said, “Just put it down.” He did. © Ipecacophony / Reddit

• Leaving a store, trying to be nice, so I hold the door open for somebody that’s about to go in. Gives me a strange look and continues walking down the street. © LethalShade / Reddit

• You know those dividers you see at grocery stores, that you use while standing in line to separate your stuff from the person in front/behind you? I'm standing in line and feeling generous that day, and behind me is this really cute girl with literally just a bottle of Sprite in her hands. Without thinking, I just grabbed the divider, put it down, and nodded like, "You can put your stuff down now." But she only had a bottle of Sprite, thus the divider was useless, and she just stared at me. © kyzu / Reddit

• My elderly uncle went to America and went for a walk. He paused at an intersection and squinted at the window display across the street. A huge woman took notice of him, grabbed him by the arm, and firmly guided him across the street. She was murmuring “comforting” words or something like that. He was so embarrassed that he pretended he had intended to cross the street all along and even “thanked” her. He waited for her to disappear before he crossed the street again. © doctorawho / Reddit

There are also those stories that no one would believe if you told them — the kind worthy of a movie script, complete with suspense and a breathtaking ending. And these 12 stories are only believable because they had a witness.