30+ People Who Learned Life Lessons the Hardest Way Possible

We’ve all made silly mistakes and realized moments later how big of a blunder it was. That feeling of instant hindsight is so painful because you can see clearly what you’ve done wrong, but there’s nothing you can do to take back your foolish actions. Since we’ve all been there, we can all laugh good-naturedly with the following people who decided to share their ridiculous blunders. 

Every one of these people instantly regretted the action that earned them a place on this list. However, the bright side is that they’ve been able to share their mistakes with the world. Hopefully, we can all learn a thing or two. At the very least, we’re bound to get a few good laughs.

To the Moon

Since the rise of cryptocurrency, the phrase “to the moon” has taken off among people hoping to become instant millionaires online. Before this craze took off, one of the quickest ways to genuinely get rich was to make it all the way through the popular game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. 

This woman was on a roll when she correctly identified that peanuts and kettles are the smaller items on the list. However, she made a massive blunder when it came to the elephant and the moon. We’re giving her the benefit of the doubt and assuming her nerves got the better of her.

The Wrong Way to Paint a Car

Here’s a tip you probably didn’t need: Never open a tin of paint in your car. This is especially true if the vehicle is moving. We honestly can’t figure out why this person couldn’t wait until the car was stopped. 

Even eating and drinking in a car can be a bad idea. Drivers should avoid it at all costs since it’s a massive distraction from the road. However, passengers should also be careful as a bump in the road can result in a nasty spill. 

Safety First

Even the sturdiest ladder can be terrifying when you get near the top. This person seems to have no fear, despite the incredibly precarious position he’s in. 

The only explanation we have for this photo that isn’t terrifying is that it could be a camera trick. Perhaps the surface is actually flat and the camera makes the angle look more dangerous than it is. Either way, this should serve as a lesson to always practice good ladder safety!

Sweet (and Stinky) Revenge

We can only imagine the frustration of these poor workers who are just trying to get their jobs done. There are bound to be clear signs indicating that this is a no-parking zone, and most of us just know that we shouldn’t park near or obstruct access to dumpsters. 

This driver is lucky the workers were in a jovial mood that day. If they had been feeling particularly vengeful, they may have covered the car in stinky garbage. Let this be a lesson to us all – it’s important to be respectful of every person we encounter and the jobs they need to do. 

Whoops

The look on this lady’s face is priceless. However, it’s hard to say if she’s fully at fault for this blunder. We can’t see any barricades or any signage to indicate that the concrete is wet. Still, this is a good example of why situational awareness is so important.  

Of course, you don’t have to develop the skills of Jason Bourne, but it’s still a good idea to pay attention to your surroundings. That concrete is clearly different in color from the dry concrete surrounding it. Lesson learned!

Worse Things Could Go Wrong

This is one of our favorite entries on the list. It’s not clear at first what’s amiss, but if you take a look at the object to the right of the image, you’ll see that someone is about to be very disappointed when they land.

The lesson here? Always empty your pockets before you jump out of a plane. Of course, of all the things that could’ve gone wrong that day, losing a set of keys isn’t all that bad. We’d much rather lose our keys than have our parachute malfunction. 

Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?

Isn’t it common knowledge that cats aren’t fans of being submerged in water? Of course, there are plenty of videos on the internet showing eccentric cats enjoying water in funny ways. However, these kitties are exceptions to a very well-established rule. 

From the guy’s reaction, it’s clear that the cat does not want to be in the water. Indeed, it’s willing to do whatever it takes to get out, including clawing its owner. Why would you want to take a bath with a cat anyway? 

Just a Little Higher

This picture perfectly captures the moment just before the success or failure of this trick was determined. Did the horse manage to get enough lift to clear the man’s sensitive region? 

This trick has been pulled off many times with great success, but we have to wonder if it’s really worth the risk. What’s wrong with having the horse jump over a traditional obstacle? If this were our horse, we’d let it run free and live its own life.  

You Had One Job

Perhaps the funniest part about this image is the fact that the “do not bend” message was left sticking out in clear view. Perhaps the delivery person was just having an off day. However, it almost looks like a passive-aggressive move. 

We’re sure the precious diploma will be absolutely fine. However, it would be frustrating to find that your “first-class mail” delivery wasn’t given first-class treatment. At least the owner of the diploma was able to get a laugh out of the situation. 

No Bottle Opener? No Worries

This is a classic case of someone having greater faith in their abilities than is warranted. We can just see the lead-up to this situation playing out. Someone went off rummaging around the house for a bottle opener. Meanwhile, the resourceful member of the household decided to get creative. 

There’s nothing like a glass of rosé after a long hard day at work. However, the lesson here is that it pays to be patient. If you love wine, it also pays to have a bottle opener or three in easy reach around the house. 

The Regret Is Real

If this isn’t the face of instant regret, we don’t know what is. That poor guy is clearly not enjoying himself. In fact, his eyes tell us he has completely checked out internally and is just waiting for this to be over. 

That dance floor looks uncomfortably crowded as it is. Also, is that an inflatable boat behind them? Dealing with the constant crush of the crowd with the added pressure of having someone on your shoulders would be a lot. We feel for you, buddy!

That’s One Way to Get Out of Housework

This was either a silly mistake or a dastardly plan to avoid having to mop the floors. As you can see, this person tried to retrieve the mop only to find that it was frozen solid in a bucket full of water-turned-ice.

People who live in frosty places tend to know that things like this happen. This is why we suspect that it may have been the plan all along. Either way, we are thankful for the laughs this picture gave us!

How Did This Even Happen?

We cannot work out how this was able to happen in the first place. The guy must have seen that tiny space and elected to slide on down there. We can only imagine how terrifying it would be to have gotten yourself so firmly stuck. We are impressed by how calm the man appears to be.

The biggest question is this: Did he manage to squeeze his way out or did the police or fire brigade have to come along and cut him out? At least he has friends to keep him company and help him find the funny side of his predicament. 

This Did Not End Well

If you’ve ever jumped on an inflatable mattress, you already know that this did not end well. Look at that hard concrete and all the obstacles around for him to hurt himself on after the inevitable bounce. 

Whoever told him this was a good idea needs to take a good hard look at themselves. Sometimes, your friends will come up with dangerous ideas like this. It’s your job as a good friend to gently coax them out of it. We just hope he didn’t hurt himself too badly! 

Living (and Cleaning) Dangerously

This guy gives new meaning to the concept of living dangerously. It’s understandable that he wants to have a clear view from his beautiful highrise apartment. However, is it really worth this level of risk? 

Surely, he could hire window cleaners to take care of this job for him. Professional high-rise window cleaners come with all the equipment and safety harnesses needed to get the job done without risking anyone’s life. 

DIY Delivery

This is an accident waiting to happen if ever we saw one. Even if he makes it to his destination with that television in one piece, he’s at risk of being pulled over by the police. 

In some countries, this is perfectly normal. Indeed, in Vietnam, it wouldn’t be unusual to see someone carrying a large box like this (along with several other items) on their scooter. However, it really doesn’t look like the guy has left himself enough room to safely steer the bike. Next time, we’re sure he’ll hire a delivery service.

No Car Jack Deserves This Much Trust

We thought the last guy was taking unnecessary risks with his life, but this young man has pushed things to a whole new level. This picture is so difficult to look at! If just one thing goes wrong with that car jack, he’s done for. 

We hope he doesn’t set himself up like that every time he works on a car. We’re pretty sure his boss noticed and gave him a stern lecture about workplace health and safety.

What Did He Think Would Happen?

We would love to see all the moments that led up to this brilliantly captured picture. Did the guy forget he was wearing a helmet? Or did he think he’d somehow be able to shoot the drink down past the helmet and into his mouth? 

Thankfully, there’s a silver lining to this story. Not only did this man learn a valuable life lesson the hard way, but his dog also got to enjoy a tasty treat. We just hope that’s not a chocolate milkshake as dogs should never be allowed to eat chocolate.

Ouch!

Praise to the photographer for managing to capture this image at the strangest moment. If you look carefully, you can see that the hammer is in mid-air, on a collision course with this poor fellow’s face. When the picture was snapped, no one in the frame had yet realized what was about to happen. 

This is why parents all over the world tell their children that hammers are not toys. Just because you’ve grown up, doesn’t mean that this rule no longer applies. When you’re hanging out with friends, there’s never a good reason to bring a hammer into the festivities. 

Many Lessons Have Been Learned Here

This sign is hilarious because it instantly gives you an image of what happened to inspire its creation. The funniest part is, quite a few people must have tried to use this fridge as a door for the store to deem it necessary to create a sign. 

Here, we have an excellent example of more than one person learning a valuable life lesson from the one event. The customers learned to look where they’re going before walking through a door, and the store owner learned that sometimes people need help with the strangest things.  

A Sign of the Times

It seems many people need to be told the obvious in grocery stores. For this sign to have been created, we imagine there must have been a lot of customers asking if it’s safe for humans to drink milk that comes from cats. 

Perhaps a few customers even enquired as to how they might milk their pet cats and save themselves the expense of buying cat milk in-store. After enough of these ridiculous inquiries, the store owner decided to create a public service announcement in the form of this hilarious sign. 

This Isn’t How Gender Reveals Work

You have to admit, this is kind of adorable. This girl is about to get schooled by the internet on how family ties work, and the one thing we can say for sure about this internet is that its inhabitants aren’t known for being overly kind when it comes to mistakes like this. 

You don’t even need to read the replies to know how snarky they would have been. One thing is for sure – this young lady learned a lesson from her post. However, she learned it in the hardest possible way. 

Does This Look Like a Fancy Birthday Meal?

We feel sorry for this poor guy. He tried so hard to create a fancy meal for his wife. It was her birthday and he wanted to make her a meal from scratch, even going to the effort of preparing his own chicken stock. He followed the recipe precisely and all was going well until he hit a major snag.  

It took him hours of simmering the above ingredients to produce a warm and hearty stock. Referring to the recipe for the next steps, he read the words “pour it through a strainer.” The man dutifully did so and then realized his mistake. He was meant to place a bowl under the strainer to catch the stock but instead, he let it drain down the sink. 

The Patience of a Saint

We wonder how long this lady stood “in line” before she realized what was going on. It took us a moment to spot the problem in the photo, so we can hardly blame her. 

Perhaps the funniest part is the fact that you can tell from the look on her face that she’s sick of waiting for this line to move. Hopefully, the person who snapped this picture was kind enough to tell her what was going on. 

They’re Not Wrong

Though this is clearly a mistake, we have to give credit to the person who made it. They’re not wrong. The smoke detector is indeed installed on the ceiling. 

Of course, anyone can tell that just by looking at the thing. It would be far more useful to know what date the detector was installed. Perhaps it’s the person who designed the sticker who needs to learn the life lesson here – “Installation Date” might be a better thing to print. 

Sending Unsolicited Selfies

This is another adorable mistake. Eva is an insurance agent, and she was trying to process a claim for Susan. She was very kind and professional when she explained to Susan that the selfies she’d sent were not needed for the claim. 

Susan clearly thought it was odd that an insurance worker would want pictures of her taken from the front, side, and rear. However, she complied. Susan’s daughter struggled to hold back the laughter as she explained to her mom that poor Eva wanted pictures of the car. 

It’s Never Okay to Be Rude

This picture comes courtesy of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. A woman was rude to him, shoving past him at the gate when he was trying to board a flight. She flaunted the fact that she was in first-class, cutting him off because she assumed she should be seated before someone dressed like him. 

Tony was seated directly behind her on the flight. However, the funniest part of the incident was that she went on to watch Parental Guidance during the flight – a film in which Tony Hawk Stars. 

Stating the Obvious

This is just ridiculous. While many things in a store can be tried on to ensure they are the right fit, the products below definitely do not fall into this category. 

We can’t believe people genuinely need to be told this. However, we are curious as to how exactly they were trying them on. Did they just drop their pants in the aisle? Or did they try to be a bit more discreet? 

Too Much Positivity

We could all use a little more joy in our lives. However, there’s also such a thing as toxic positivity, and we think these inspirational paper towels have definitely crossed into that territory. 

Who needs their cleaning accessories telling them how to feel? Maybe Jill doesn’t want to shine today. Perhaps she just isn’t feeling amazing. Whatever the case, she does not appreciate being told how to feel by a roll of paper. 

Wait, What?

How on Earth did this happen, and why is this guy so calm about it? This looks like an above-ground pool, so we can’t even figure out how the car could’ve launched up high enough to land in the water. 

Though we’re not kayaking experts by any stretch of the imagination, we’re pretty sure you’re supposed to detach the thing from your car before launching it in the water. It’s an odd lesson to have to learn, but at least he seems to have gotten the point. 

Miscalculation

This seems ridiculous, but perhaps we should cut poor Vega some slack. It’s possible that he was exhausted when he set his alarm the night before. In this case, the mixup is kind of understandable. 

Perhaps his subconscious exerted just enough control to make him select the calculator app instead of the alarm app. Deep down, he knew that 6:30 am is too early to wake up. 

Stuck

Maybe you’ve never done this with a Nintendo Switch, but most people have made a similar blunder at some point in their lives. You accidentally put something together the wrong way, perhaps you force it a little, and then it gets completely stuck.  

This is why our parents always tell us to pay attention to what we’re doing. All it takes is one distracted moment to get yourself in a mess like this. We hope they were able to get it unstuck! 

That’s Not How You Do Keto

Yes, the keto diet is a little extreme, with many food groups cut out. However, it doesn’t need to be this extreme. For a start, you should always ensure chicken is fully cooked. Otherwise, you can make yourself sick. 

The thing is, if you throw your chicken into the pan at the same time as your eggs and cheese, you’re going to be in trouble. You’ll either have overcooked eggs, undercooked chicken, or if you’re like the person who took this photo, you’ll have both! 

Group Projects are the Worst

Most college students dread hearing the words “group assignment” from their professors. Socializing is great, but trying to coordinate an assignment together is not so fun. There’s always at least one student who doesn’t pull their weight.  

Whether you love them or hate them, group assignments do require a certain level of participation and respect for your fellow students. At the very least, you should attempt to get their names right. 

Don’t Try This at Home 

This is not a hack to help you save money on car costs. Yes, she is using oil, but we can tell you for a fact that is not the kind of oil recommended by the car’s manufacturer.

Some life lessons have to be learned the hard way. Who knows? Perhaps the car will manage just fine. At least she didn’t put regular gas into a diesel engine. 

There Are Better Ways to Save Money

Once again, this is not a money-saving hack we suggest anyone try at home. We commend the person for doing their part to conserve water and help the planet, but surely there are other ways. 

Having said that, now we’re curious as to how this concoction might taste. Perhaps it really is a brilliant hack for getting an extra kick and a more robust flavor from your coffee. Or perhaps we’re the ones who are about to learn a new life lesson the hard way.