Lunacy The Thread About Sad Stories That Personally Involve You

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

So let me make something nice and sparkly clear.

This is NOT a quick read thread. You don't just drop in and leave. This is a thread where stories are told in their completion. If you have a problem with that, this is not the thread for you.

So back in circa 2006, I was living in this rundown shithole apartment building. And one of our neighbors was a legendary alchoholic known throughout the neighborhood. Bar fights, DWI's, jail sentences, etc. He was well known for challenging local police to fisticuffs.

Actually a nice man ... in the morning. Before he got drunk again.

Yet, I never saw him hungover. And one morning, I went over to check on him because it sounded like his whole apartment had collapsed and I "caught" him. Doing his anti-hangover routine.

Now, maybe this is a thing but I'd never seen it before and I've not seen it since.

He poured an entire bottle of Pepto Bismol into a cup. And then poured at least two vodka shots worth into the same cup, and chugged it. I stared at him doing it. Never saw him hungover.

So this man would regularly knock on my door, 11 am at the latest, asking me if I wanted to do some shots. Or drink some beer. It was clearly a desperate attempt to make a friend in his final days but I didn't know that at the time. I was 26. I didn't know shit. Plus I was a coke dealer and was paranoid as fuck. Somehow, he knew. He said he was, "looking out for me." Whatever that means.

So, at one point, I'd not heard from him in three days. Which was weird because the walls in this building were paper-thin. You could hear every goddamn thing everyone in the building was doing at any time. Yet, me and my bitch cunt cheating wife could not hear a thing. I was selected to go check on him.

And... yeah. There he was. Dead. Dead. Sprawled about on the kitchen floor. Bottle of Jack Daniels next to him. This man drank until his last waking moment.

Of course I checked his pulse and called 911 but it was pointless. This man was dead. Dead as fucking dead.

No one in town was surprised to hear about it.

I'll tell you right now, people. Seeing a dead human body in person is something you'll never forget. Nor should you. I've seen three. I'm certain there are some of you who have seen many more - to those, I'm sorry. I'm sorry as fuck. Those images don't go away.

Seeing a dead human body in person changes you.

Death can suckle my butthole, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[momofthegoons]

Wow... you sure have had a lot of life altering experiences.....

I've never found a person who was already dead and imagine it is a pretty intense experience. But I have been present for the deaths of three people. And.... it is a pretty intense experience in it's own way. Something about watching the life force leave a body... it changes you forever. And yeah.... you never forget.

 

[CarolKing]

A lot of the time we don’t know what someone is really going through.

Online I’ve noticed how so many people attack others. I was involved in another online community. I kept getting attacked verbally by another member. I thought to myself I don’t need this shit. I had just lost my husband and needed something to occupy my mind. I originally had loved the online community at one time but this was added to my sadness that I was going through. Some of the PM emails he sent me were horrendous, really mean and degrading. I don’t even know this person! I had never been talked to like that in all my life and not since. I did block him from contacting me. I had enough of trying to avoid this person in the threads, he always had a negative comment aimed at me and others that he decided he didn’t like. So I finally decided not to continue to contribute to that online community.

Its easy for someone to spout out at others with no regard to their feelings. They don’t realize how their words can hurt.

It was traumatizing watching my husband die over 48 hours. I couldnt stay after we let him go and watch him breathe his last breath. With a fresh tragedy that altered my life forever I needed to protect myself and wrap myself in a cocoon.
I feel stronger now but we all need better than trolls attacking us to make themselves feel superior.
Put yourself first and don’t let others get you down or alter how you feel in a negative way.
Dont give power to the wicked.

 

[Kellya86]

When i was younger, i was at a train station with an associate.. not a friend, he was an arsehole and destined to spend his life hurting innocent people...
Anyway.. shit happened and he ended up face down on a train track with a speeding train coming.. he had just enough time to look at me before it hit him... i will never forget that look in his eyes... real fear...
Soo made a huge mess... was not pretty.. not something ever to be forgot..
Least it was quick for him....

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

I had yet another wonderful experience with death the other day.

I stopped at the gas station that is positioned right in the heart of "Death By Suicide Park" which is a place within this county known by locals as a place where drunks and meth-heads and the mentally unhelpable go to die in the middle of the day to make sure they're found. Yes, there are places like that which exist. And it exists less than 15 minutes from my home. It's a thing.

I needed to put air into one of my tires.

He was so well hidden in the weeds and shrubs that everyone else had missed his appearance. But I didn't.

He was laying, slouching against the wall, and slumped over with a carton of Marlboro Reds partially spilling out of his pocket. A 24 oz. can of Miller Lite in a paper bag resting on the cement foundation of the air conditioner of the gas station. Flies landed and stayed upon his forehead.

This is why I've been on edge lately.

I was staring at him, when another dude came over to check to see if I was okay, and he saw what I was looking at, and he immediately called 911 - the hospital they come from is two minutes away at an ambulance pace - and they were there in about 90 seconds.

They did their thing - not much they could do. Sierra and I watched them put his body into the ambulance as though he were still alive.

I then had a Terminator / Back To The Future / Rudolph Fentz moment and realized ... this guy looked a lot like me. Height, weight, glasses, beard.

I'm not a believer in time travel ... but this guy looked just like me. It was scary as fuck.

Death .... well it seems to be following me. And reminding me. Of what, I don't know.

 

[bulllee]

I think of death often. Funny how time changes your perspective on things .

 

[Tincandtoke]

The smell
You never forget the smell

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

Our friends helped me and my beloved bury our Conan for good tonight. Six feet underground.

I know it's just a cat. But when a cat has lived with you for 15 fucking years well then it becomes a bit more.

And seeing Harley climbing up at Sierra while Rocket was already in her arms. Fuck it. Just fucking fuck it.

 

[Kellya86]

Our friends helped me and my beloved bury our Conan for good tonight. Six feet underground.

I know it's just a cat. But when a cat has lived with you for 15 fucking years well then it becomes a bit more.

And seeing Harley climbing up at Sierra while Rocket was already in her arms. Fuck it. Just fucking fuck it.

Sorry for your loss... cats are way more than just pets...
Lost my rat lately and that was devastating, and they only live 3 years...

Losing pets is hard..
Its why i ended up with a tort... he gonna outlive me and my kids. .

 

[Tincandtoke]

Lost her last fall
She was by my side all the time
Know the feeling

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

So one of the crew members is making a documentary of working in the food service industry. Since I worked in it for 20 years, she sat me down and rattled off a series of questions. I of course had my Radiohead cap and sunglasses on.

When the question, "What's the most difficult experience you had managing a kitchen?" came up, well I sort of lost it and gave her an answer I don't think she was expecting.

I was manager / lead line cook at this lowball lunch-only restaurant that merely served lunch which consisted of burgers, chili dogs, fried chicken, plus sirloin steak tacos. I could smell the grease in my hair when I got home and could rub it off my face. It was a blue-collar place with hearty portions and not a corporation, so locals and any police force / EMTs in the area would eat there. The EMTs in this area look as though they would die if forced to run a 1K.

This woman who worked there, whom I had hired, had a meth addiction. She lost her life savings, her house, her boat, and her family to it. And when I caught her using on the job, well I had to fire her.

My policy on drug addiction is that if you get your shit together, get yourself clean and then come back with a sincere apology while you're ready to get back to work, okay. But not when it comes to meth. No. You cannot trust a meth addict. Former or otherwise. I won't do it. But this time, I broke my own rule and gave her a second chance.

This was a sweet woman who had simply lost all hope in herself and in the world. But she knew how to cook. And she would help everyone by offering guidance and suggestions but also letting people learn from their mistakes. She always went out of her way to help the crew - mostly college kids - learn how to cook.

She invited us all to her apartment one night and it was crazy sad. Garbage strewn around the yard. Cat turds everywhere inside. Dirty dishes stacked up to nearly the ceiling. Dirty laundry in piles. It smelled of a mix of death and loaded diapers. I don't know if it was a cry for help or a lack of self-awareness.

And then one day, it's just me and her shutting down the place for the week and cleaning up. And I catch her smoking meth. I had already been pretty sure of it but at this point I saw it point blank. So I fired her. I told her if she gets treatment and figures her shit out, she can come back and talk. She stormed out.

Three days later, some county sheriffs come by asking for me. I was on her list of people to contact. Because she had killed herself.

This was a while back but it's still haunting me. If I had looked the other way, maybe she would have overdosed anyway, sure. Or maybe she could have gotten her shit together if we'd had a discussion about it. But I fired her - a kid at 29 firing a woman in her 50s.

Drug abuse runs rampant in the food service industry. Pretty much everyone at any restaurant you go to is high on something. Whether it be the stress of the job, the feeling of failure and lack of self-worth, the hopelessness, or the abuse of customers / managers.

At that point, my crew member turned off the camera.

Looking back, I don't know if I made the right decision. Maybe she just wanted someone to help her, or maybe she just wanted to be noticed before she died. I don't fucking know.

Her name was Teresa. And she was a kind woman who never hurt anybody. But got dealt a bad hand. And didn't care much for bluffing.

I'm sick of carrying around all this guilt. Sometimes I just can't take it.

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

So I've been being pretty much of a juvenile prankster. And then someone called me on my shit. Asking me what the real deal is.

It's tricky. But you can get to it, if you take some time.

My left leg is fucking my shit up. I need a cane. Yes, A 41 year old man needs a cane. Insert yout jokes here.

Everything. It's all coming back to haunt me. Until the end.

 

[Tincandtoke]

So I've been being pretty much of a juvenile prankster. And then someone called me on my shit. Asking me what the real deal is.

It's tricky. But you can get to it, if you take some time.

My left leg is fucking my shit up. I need a cane. Yes, A 41 year old man needs a cane. Insert yout jokes here.

Everything. It's all coming back to haunt me. Until the end.

Stretch......a lot
Broke a lot of bones over the years so I can sympathize


My mode of transportation when everything takes a day off without notice
Had one since my mid thirties
Use it on and off when I get stupid, so more on than off lately

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

Well this instigates another problem.

Do I use the cane on the opposite side, like most people / sites tell me so?

Or do I use the cane like I've been using Lucille? On my bad leg that feels more natural?

The bad leg feels more natural.

Lucille is not going anywhere.

 

[momofthegoons]

Do I use the cane on the opposite side, like most people / sites tell me so?

While one 'traditionally' uses it on the opposite side..... use it on whichever side makes you feel the most stable.

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

Well the traditional side make me looke like House. And while I'm not a legendary diagnostician disguised like Sherlock Holmes, I do know a little something about food. The book continues.

Cook. Your. Own. Food. I implore you. Elephant Man style. Grow it yourself. Find a backyard. Cut a quarter of your cannabis yield. Stop eating SHIT!!!"

 

[Tincandtoke]

Well this instigates another problem.

Do I use the cane on the opposite side, like most people / sites tell me so?

Or do I use the cane like I've been using Lucille? On my bad leg that feels more natural?

The bad leg feels more natural.

Lucille is not going anywhere.

Stability is the most important then go to the opposite side of the injured leg in stages
The type of injury can dictate the rehab
If you get an injury from over compensation a nasty cycle can begin
Watch your shoulders