Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down How An Act Of Kindness Totally Backfired And Blew Up In Their Face

It's always wonderful to see people who do random acts of kindness for others, without expecting anything in return, and generally making the world a little bit better place.

But sometimes misunderstandings happen, especially among strangers or acquaintances, and sometimes our actions backfire, even if they came from the kindest of places.


Already cringing, Redditor UnorthadoxGenealogy asked:

"What's something you did out of the kindness of your heart only for it to backfire and blowup in your face?"

Past Job in IT

"I work IT. Naturally, people call you when their computer breaks."

"Of course, once you fix an issue, everything else that happens to that computer is somehow your fault."

"Replaced a laptop battery? Well, that must be why their hard drive failed six months down the line. Screw that. I don't work on other people's stuff anymore."

- EyeOfTheRedKing

A Close Call

"I was driving into a petrol station and saw a cyclist lying unconscious on the side of the road, obviously having been side-swiped by a car. I parked, ran in, and told the operator about it, asked them to call an ambulance and police, etc."

"By this time a bunch of people had gathered around the cyclist, and while we were waiting, this woman started accusing me of being the one who hit him. Because, 'Why would you care so much about helping him unless you were the guilty one?!'"

"The police and ambulance came, and I saw this woman immediately run over to them and start gesticulating in my direction. The police came over and asked me some questions 'as a witness,' but I began to get a bit worried."

"Fortunately, by this time, the cyclist had recovered consciousness and was able to describe a vehicle that was obviously not mine as being the one that hit him. The police apologized for bothering me and said they had no further questions."

"The woman looked visibly annoyed and frustrated that she hadn't been able to get me in trouble..."

- MisterMarcus

Lending Money

"I absolutely hate it when you lend people money and then they act annoyed and twist in a way that makes you feel bad."

"Doesn't really matter whether it is a big or small amount. If I realize someone isn't paying back small sums on his own and act annoyed or pissed, when you remind them (or when they even forget), then I usually do not lend them any money anymore."

"It shouldn't be my job to remind people of that. The thing is also that you can't win with those people. If you don't ask they will probably never give it back or at least drag it out for ages. If you persistently ask, more often than not, you get some undeserved snarky remark about how stingy you are or that you shouldn't take it so seriously, etc."

"Stuff like that ticks me off, but if you get agitated then you are the crazy one because you get worked up over 'a few bucks.'"

- Invictu520

Grocery Haul

"A guy that used to work for us had no car. His wife needed to go pick up groceries. I had the flu and wanted to just sleep in my bed, but she gave me a sob story about not having any food at all (this was before grocery delivery was really a thing), so I told her I could take her for a few things."

"She knew how sick I was and promised she would just get a few essentials while I slept in the car. TWO HOURS LATER, she walked out with two carts of groceries and loaded them up. I groggily took her home and drive home and crawled into bed."

"That evening, her husband came to my house and confronted me about being 'really grumpy' about taking his wife to the store and being mean to her."

"I straight up told him I had the flu, I wasn't grumpy, I was half-awake, but don't worry because I would never run either of them anywhere ever again. Ungrateful a**holes."

- GreenOnionCrusader

Boundaries Crossed

"I had an old, lonely lady who used to come to 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 don’t remember how this happened but 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 and day, which I couldn’t always answer because I had a job? A kid? I was sleeping?"

"Anyway, she then began leaving me very nasty voicemails that I had 'abandoned' her and 'was just like everyone else.'"

"It was wild."

- Starlight_City45

New Level of Friendship: Unlocked

"I used to pop into a bar by my apartment after work and met a guy named Tom. At first, it was just small talk but eventually, we started having more serious conversations, and I thought, 'Cool, a new friend.' I gave him my number and suddenly my phone was blowing up every day."

"I was working full-time and had my own life; I couldn't drop everything at a moment's notice every time he called or texted and it was all the fucking time."

"The breaking point was him calling me on a Tuesday around midnight asking why I wasn't at the bar hanging out. Uh, because I have to work tomorrow?"

"Suddenly he was saying things like, 'I knew you were just like everyone else,' and 'nobody wants to be friend.' I just couldn't do it anymore. Like, I'm sorry you have trouble making friends but being hyper-clingy and texting me 50 times a day demanding we hang out isn't the answer."

- apocalypticradish

Tough Luck Stories

"I used to be a sucker for a hard luck story."

"Oh, you need $1000 to buy a car so you can go see your kid? Sure, I got you, just pay me back."

"You need help buying Christmas presents for your kids? Sure, I'll help!"

"You want me to let you crash at my place for a couple of days while you figure some s**t out? I got you!"

"Every single one left me with no money, fewer friends, and a growing distrust of people."

- bstyledevi

Let It Snow

"Not my story, my dad's..."

"A woman went off the road & into a snow bank right out front of my Dad's auto shop, and he happened to be in a tow truck (he'd just serviced) with a customer. They went up to the lady to see if they could help, and she was on the phone with the police (laughing out loud) for a tow."

"The police came, and asked if they could pull her out as they were already there and another truck could be hours. They agreed, but they made it clear to the woman and the cop they would not be liable for anything. Just get the car outta the ditch and back on the road."

"Sure enough, after almost an hour of shoveling and laying in snow/slush to get this thing out, the first thing she says is, 'Oh, you caused damage, look, that's bent, etc., etc.' The cop told them to get the h**l outta there and he'd sort the lady out."

"Save someone a penny, and it'll cost you a dollar..."

- kittenxx96

That Mean Girl Energy

​"I sat down with a girl who liked me in a private setting and explained that I was already in a relationship but would like to remain friends. She used that opportunity to tell my girlfriend (now wife) that I was cheating on her."

"This, of course, wasn’t true but she proceeded to make up a lot of s**t to start fights between my girlfriend and me. It almost ended our relationship until we had a long conversation and realized that everything we had been told by her was a lie."

"You’re probably wondering why I didn’t figure she was lying to my girlfriend sooner. That’s because she pretended to be my friend through the whole thing and would seemingly take my side. My girlfriend and I talked for hours, and when we did, we realized who was lying to us."

- SwerveTheNerve

What a Catch

"I had an ex that lost her job and apartment. I told her (she was my girlfriend at the time) to come live with me if she wanted, so she’d have a roof over her head and access to necessities. I paid for everything under the premise that she would try and find other employment opportunities."

"I even bought her a car and paid for the insurance so she wouldn’t have to rely on public transportation, considering it’s not always easy to find a job in your immediate area."

"She was banging some dude in my own bed while I was working night shifts. Kicked her to the curb, sold the car, and used part of the money to buy a new bed."

- irnbrd00

Gotta Get That Insurance Info

"I saw an accident while driving through my neighborhood. Stopped to help the lady because her car was stopped in the middle of the road. The car that hit her drove off."

"When the cops arrive, the lady told the cop that I hit her. I figured she just made a mistake but then she told the cop some made-up story."

"The cops asked for my license/registration, and it took a while to convince them that it wasn't me because I had no damage whatsoever and the amount of damage meant that the other car was also badly damaged."

- frank-sarno

That High School Audacity

"Very simple but I had a friend in high school that was very upset that she had done poorly on an exam. Like full-on crying that she might not get an A (like she did well, but not up to her standards)."

"I got her her favorite candy bar from a vending machine and hugged her and told her that it would be alright, that she was smart, and that no matter what, she did her best."

"She, very coldly, told me to f**k off and that she didn't want a f**king candy bar. So I f**ked off and had a candy bar."

- cherrybomb_777

Le Sigh.

"When I was in high school, I offered to help a classmate who was struggling with French homework. I took time every week to help her with it."

"On the one occasion when I couldn't, she told other people that I couldn't be trusted."

- StuffEmersonSays

Literally Backfired

​"I have the perfect response for this post. While trying to break people up from fighting, I got my head smashed in myself. One of the two went full rampage on me, and I remember receiving three hits."

"The next thing I remember is me feeling blood drip down my face to see my eyebrow fully split open, the side of my face swollen, my jaw hurting, and my tooth broken off."

"I did not even know any of the two fighting people. Just wanted to help and have an evening full of fun instead of this s**t."

- TheEpiczzz

Paid in Good Ravioli

"An elderly woman in my exercise class (I am no spring chicken myself) who was always grumbly and stiff was complaining about her shoulder. She also mentioned wanting to get her kitchen repainted but couldn't afford it and certainly couldn’t do it herself."

"I love to paint and am not afraid of a ladder so I volunteered, thinking this was a good deed I was doing for an old widow in a small house."

"Well, when I went to her 'small house' to discuss the job, it turns out it was at least 3000 square feet with a gigantic kitchen. She also wanted the ceiling done. I had to demur, it was overwhelming. She asked if I could paint her powder room. I said yes to that."

"When taking a break from painting, she and I sat at her kitchen table and she talked about going on vacation to Ireland with her family. Wow. So she certainly could have afforded to pay someone to paint or have one of her 40-year-old kids do it."

"But no. This perfect stranger volunteered out of the goodness of her heart and got paid in ravioli. At least the tomato sauce was incredible."

- SukiSouthfield

Doing good deeds generally feels wonderful, unless something about that good deed goes horribly wrong.

And if any of these Redditors second-guessed doing a good deed in the future, we couldn't exactly blame them.



More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Couple sitting on bench appearing distant
Charlie Foster/Unsplash

People Break Down The Worst Red Flags They Ignored In A Relationship

Emotions are high during the beginning stages of a relationship, and when an individual is so enamored of the person they're with, they tend to cast aside skepticism.

Who can blame them? They're in love.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman wiping her eyes with a tissue
woman wiping her eyes
Photo by Jeremy Wong on Unsplash

People Describe The Saddest Television Episodes They've Ever Seen

Every time we discover we have a new favorite television show, we still tend to be surprised by just how invested we are in our favorite characters.

So when a will they/won't they couple finally shares their first kiss, we can't help but feel like that just happened to two of our closest friends (looking at YOU Buck and Tommy).

Keep ReadingShow less
Kamala Harris and Taylor Swift
Saul Loebandre Dias Nobre/AFP via Getty Images

Harris Campaign Uses Perfect Taylor Swift Song To Slam Trump Over Debate In Viral TikTok

Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign mocked former President Donald Trump for his debate performance using the perfect Taylor Swift song in a viral TikTok video.

"I Did Something Bad," featured on Swift's 2017 album Reputation, features the following pointed lyrics:

Keep ReadingShow less
J.D. Vance on Fox News; Taylor Swift
Fox, Jamie McCarthy/WireImage/GettyImages

JD Vance's Response To Taylor Swift Endorsement Sounds Like He's Slamming Trump Instead

Republican nominee Donald Trump did not take kindly to Taylor Swift's official endorsement of his Democratic challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris, following Tuesday's wild presidential debate.

The former President told his Fox & Friends allies on Wednesday that the international music star would pay a price for endorsing a Democrat.

Keep ReadingShow less
Flavor Flav; Donald Trump
Jesse Grant/Getty Images; Scott Olson/Getty Images

Flavor Flav Goes Viral With Warning To Other Musical Artists After Trump's 'Eating Pets' Claim

Rapper Flavor Flav went viral after sharing a joke warning to some of his fellow musicians after former President Donald Trump's bizarre claim during the presidential debate that immigrants are eating people's pets.

On Tuesday night, Trump promoted the unfounded allegation that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were consuming dogs and other household pets in response to a question about immigration:

Keep ReadingShow less