Life can change in an instant. One moment you’re having a grand old time, then, next thing you know, you’re in the middle of something real bad.

In this article, AskReddit users share their personal experiences about being in the wrong place at the wrong time but living to tell about it.

1. Robbery

“When I was 12, me, my mom, and my sister went to a dollar store late at night after a school play she had. Right when we went in, a car pulled up in the parking lot and my mom got paranoid and rushed us in and out to get candy and a soda. Right when we left, two men got out of the car and speed-walked into the store. The next morning we saw on the news that the store was robbed by them. I guess they waited for us to leave before they did it.”

2. Car wreck

“In my sophomore year of high school my older cousin was getting married. I’d originally talked my mum into letting me stay home that weekend instead of travelling the 7hrs to the event. I was going to go with some friends to a basketball game for something to do on Friday night.

But on Thursday my mum decided I couldn’t miss the wedding and made me go with the family Friday after school. Friday night after we got to the hotel I got a phone call. My friends that I was going to ride with to the basketball game were in a bad car accident. 2 died. It took years of survivor’s guilt to get over that because those 2 would have driven in a different car if I’d been there.”

3. Close call

“Almost forgot to wear my helmet before taking the scooter out for a ride in the country. I hit a deer that day. EMTs and Shock Trauma hospital doctors agreed that I’d be dead, had I not worn that helmet.”

4. Scary

“I was doing orientation videos at the company I had just been hired at. I had gotten enough done for the day, but still had some time left, so I decided to do just a couple more. In the time that I was doing that, someone had bought a kitchen knife and asked the clerk to remove the zip ties (you know, the ones that you have to take a knife or scissors to). She thought it was a little strange, but complied.

He then walked out the door, and started stabbing random folks in front of the store, talking about how “You took my people’s land!” Anyhow, a regular there, real road warrior looking guy, always carried a bowie knife and, apparently, a permitted concealed handgun, he drops his groceries he’s bagging in self-checkout, walks outside and pulls his gun and tells the guy to get on the ground. I walk out and find the door I’d usually exit through taped off and find out about the whole thing a few minutes later.”

5. Good thing you didn’t go

“My friends wanted to hang out but I didn’t like them anymore because they were druggies so I made an excuse.

By “hang out” they meant beat a jogger to death with hammers.

They all got life in prison.

I sometimes think if I would have been able to stop them.”

6. Disfigured

“When I was about 13, I came home from playing outside, entering the house into the kitchen through a side door. I walked through the kitchen and into the front of the house, and started up the stairs. Halfway up the stairs, I heard a crazy loud metallic clanging, like pots and pans were falling… and falling and falling.

I came running downstairs to find that the pressure cooker top had popped off, shooting into the ceiling and the pressure release propelled the cooker into the living room, smashing into a wall and rolled to a stop in front of my dad on the couch. The whole time it was spewing boiling chicken grease, as my mom was making chicken soup.

Had I come in 10 seconds later, I would have probably been disfigured from grease burns and maybe been hit by the flying cooker itself.”

7. The route home

“There had been a couple of armed robberies around my route home from work, which I usually walked. One of my coworkers, who lived in the same apartment building as me, was nervous about going home after dark, so I agreed to switch shifts with her so that she could get off in the afternoon and I’d take closing.

I found out the next day that she’d been mugged and shot after her shift. She didn’t die, thank God, but the fact that I should have been the one walking that same route freaked me out for a while.”

8. Drunk driver

“Going back home from the bakery with my aunt, for some reason she decided to cross the street, which was unnecessary cause my house was on that same sidewalk. As soon as we crossed the street, a car crashed at that very same place we were, breaking into a house. The driver was absolutely drunk. I was like 6 or 7 when it happened.”

9. Red light

“In the car with my father-in-law, husband, and baby boy. FIL was driving us to lunch. We were the first car at a red light. The light turns green but he hesitated to go for about a second and a half, for absolutely no reason. A car ran the red light and would likely have killed my FIL and husband at the speed it was going, and since it was on a hill, we likely would have rolled too.

Highway patrol just getting off the interstate saw the entire thing and pulled the driver over immediately.”

10. Flower pot

“Typical cartoon scene of a flower pot flying off a balcony. It fell right where I was standing one minute earlier. I had since moved a couple of steps, but another guy was in that spot, it grazed his shoulder and would have been really dangerous if it hit him on the head.

We called the cops on the guy since we saw other vases on his balcony. Dude was very pissed but took them in.”

11. Bomb

“My family vacationed in Paris for a week in the mid ’90s. I was about 10 years old. My mom and stepfather were planning to go to the Arc de Triomphe on a certain day, but I wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower. When I was told we would see the Eiffel Tower another day, I threw a fit. Don’t know why it was so important to see the Eiffel Tower that day and not two days later. It became a whole argument between me, my stepfather, and my mom.

My mom caved (to probably just shut me up) and we went to the Eiffel tower that day, and my stepfather was pissed the rest of the day for my mom caving. We got back to the hotel and saw that a pipe bomb had gone off near the Arc de Triomphe and a bunch of people got hurt. The last we spoke to any other (step) family was before the fight and my stepfather told them we were going to the Arc de Triomphe that day and they were frantically calling the hotel to try and get a hold of us. So my brattiness might of saved us from a pipe bombing.”

12. Gang related

“I just got off a bus stop near my home. My mom worked up the block wher my stop was. I called her and she said that she was gonna pick me up. As I waited outside the stop by a 7/11, I noticed a few guys outside the 7/11 who seemed off. 5 minutes later much more showed up. I assumed gang members so I kept my distance. My mom picked me up and we left for home. As soon as I got in, I saw another group of guys walking up to the 7/11. We pulled away. Next morning we turn on our local news and saw there was a gang related shooting at that 7/11.”

13. Sandwiched

“Yesterday the metal awning on the food truck I was approaching collapsed to the wind and slammed into the sidewalk.

I almost got sandwiched while trying to get a sandwich.”

14. Tragedy averted

“Was in Branson last week on vacation with my wife, had a thought about riding a Duck boat on Thursday. Decided to play mini golf instead. The boat capsized killing 17 people, 9 from one family.”

15. Shooting

“In high school my friend was supposed to go to a party with his best friend. He decided he was to tired and wanted to stay home and sleep. The next morning his mom wakes him up to tell him his best friend was shot and died.”

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