You wake up disoriented and realize your phone is dead. It’s 10am and you were supposed to be at work an hour ago, but your alarm clock is trapped in your phone that desperately needs to be charged. You bolt out the door as fast as you can only to see that your car has a flat tire. You need to call your boss, but your phone is still dead and you can’t even call a taxi without it. And when it seems like things can’t get any worse, you rush back up to your apartment to find that you’ve locked yourself out.
Did that paragraph stress you out? Sorry, take some deep breaths. It’s not your reality! But we all know that feeling of having a comically bad day. It’s like a storm cloud is hovering over us that we just can’t seem to shake because when it rains, it pours. After the fact, these terrible days often turn into funny anecdotes we can share with friends, once the relief of the day being over has set in. So to laugh along with (okay, and a little bit at) some people who have shared their worst fails and bad days online, we’ve gathered some photos of these horrible experiences down below for you.
So sit back, relax, and be thankful that your day is not going as terribly as the days featured in these pics. Keep reading to also find an interview with Francesco Benedetti, President of Fail!, an inspiring project aimed at normalizing failure and eliminating the stigma often associated with it. Then if you’d like to check out even more hilarious fails that have been featured on We, you can find our last articles on the same topic here and here.
#1 Aaaaaaaaaa
To hear a bit about the importance of openly sharing our failures and embracing that we all experience them, we reached out to Francesco Benedetti, President of Fail!, an organization that “brings together inspiring people to share their stories of, and lessons from, failure, setbacks, and vulnerabilities”. Fail! includes a mix of personal and professional perspectives and delivers stories onstage in a TED-like talk format.
First we wanted to hear how this inspiring project came about. “Our team began this project as a response to the constant, underlying fear of failure we witnessed in the people around us at MIT, initially mostly students and academics, to realize that this literally applies to everyone,” Franceso told We.
#2 Cat Didn’t Eat For 3 Days, Went To The Vet Where They Did An Ultrasound Only To Find A Belly Full Of The Neighbor’s Cat’s Food
“We feel that this fear is prohibitive to many who are capable of making unique contributions to their fields,” Francesco explained. “Through this event, we want to recognize failure as ubiquitous, and begin to think more creatively about the ways in which we can embrace it, and build resilience and psychological safety in hyper-competitive communities. By sharing these stories, if we can make failures, big and small, less intimidating and all-consuming, individuals with great potential will be more willing to take risks, think outside the box, and try things that may push new boundaries.”
When it comes to the goal of Fail!, Francesco told We, “Our hope for this conference is to bring together inspiring people to see failure through different lenses and clearly state that we all go through setbacks at some point and, regardless, everyone can still become their role model (like the ones we bring on stage), because their experience was not always defined by success as well and they learned from it and grew forward.”
If you’d like to learn more about Fail! and hear some of the stories that have been shared at their events, you can check out Fail!’s website right here.
#3 So Costco Apparently Doesn’t Re-Take Membership Card Photos If You Sneeze
#4 Doing My Will. Needed Some Info From My Brother. Messaged Him To Ask His Address And Job Title. Failed To Remember Today Was His Birthday
Bad days are unfortunately something that we all have to live with. They can be caused by a multitude of reasons, including making a mistake that has rippling effects, losing something like our job or an important possession, being broken up with, having a fight with a loved one, getting injured or having a massively embarrassing moment. This list features the bad days that don’t have life-altering effects but that do make for a great story later down the line. From mildly annoying inconveniences to injuries that resulted in going to the hospital, on this list, you’ll find some of the funniest examples of bad luck people have ever experienced.
These photos got me wondering though, if some of us are genuinely more lucky than others or if we all have the same amount of good days and bad days. Perception is a factor in whether we consider a day to be positive or negative, of course, but when it comes to things that are actually out of our control, are some of us just unlucky?
#5 What If I Decide To Let My White Dog Out After I Mow My Lawn?
Richard Wiseman, a psychology professor at the University of Hartfordshire in the United Kingdom, studies the importance that luck plays in our lives. He began by looking at the difference between people who considered themselves lucky and those who identified as unlucky, and he found that the ‘lucky’ individuals were much more likely to be extroverted. They smiled twice as often and exercised more eye contact than the unlucky people as well. Wiseman believes that their sociability helps them end up in lucky situations because they meet more people, connect well with others and have an easier time maintaining relationships.
When it comes to the unlucky people, they were much more likely to be neurotic. Anxiety can help us focus on a task, but it can also allow us to put up blinders to other opportunities and miss what is going on around us. Unlucky people can be so busy worrying about one thing that they are oblivious to other opportunities passing by or miss details that could have helped them become ‘luckier’. Lucky people also tend to be more open minded and willing to put themselves out there when meeting new people and trying new experiences.
#6 My Dog Had A 5k Surgery After Eating A Rock. I Decided To Display It Accordingly
Another interesting observation Wiseman made about lucky people is that they were simply more observant than unlucky individuals. He conducted one experiment where he gave participants a newspaper and asked them to count the number of photographs in it. Unlucky people took about 2 minutes to complete the exercise, but most of the lucky people only took seconds.
That is because on the second page, there was a message that read: “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper.” The unlucky people often did not catch the message and continued to count the images because they were too focused to notice anything else. With these ‘unlucky blinders’ on, who knows what else these people were missing out on in their everyday lives?
#7 My Neighbor “Allegedly” Refused To Pay The Guy Who Cleared His Back Yard. He’ll Be Coming Home To This Gift Left In His Driveway
#8 He Wanted To See What Was In That Hole. Guess What It Was
#9 Packed My Gym Bag Early This Morning In The Dark And Didn’t Want To Wake My Wife. Only Discovered My Choice On My Way To Shower In A Busy Men’s Locker Room
Unsurprisingly, Wiseman also determined that lucky people are more optimistic. They go through life with higher expectations and even when something goes wrong, they are more likely to look on the bright side. Unlucky people might not actually have very different experiences, but they are more likely to dwell on the negatives.
Positive people might not necessarily attract good luck, but if they believe they have good luck, they are not going to be phased by a bad day here and there. They can shrug it off, upload a funny photo online, and go about their day. Of course, there are always extreme circumstances where a bad day is completely out of our control or societal issues prevent certain people from even having a chance at ‘good luck’, but we can’t deny that keeping a positive attitude is always preferable.
#10 New Hobby = New Broken Bones. 30 Seconds After Putting On Roller Blades Resulted In 2 Broken Wrists
#11 Doesn’t Fit
#12 Anybody Know What It Means When This Light Comes On?
Wiseman is also an expert in helping people break their bad luck streaks and turn their luck around by enrolling in “luck school”. After one month of classes, 80% of Wiseman’s students reported feeling happier, more satisfied with their lives, and yes, luckier. The basic methods luck school students employed were keeping an open mind, being more observant, searching for the positive side in every situation, and going out of their way to break up their routines. So if you’re feeling unlucky the next time you have a bad day (a regular bad day, not a life-altering one!), don’t fall down into the dumps. If nothing else, you can remember that sharing a funny photo of your bad day online can help others smile, and that’s a bright side to your situation right there.
#13 I Guess They Won’t Be Driving Anywhere Anytime Soon, Seen Outside My Son’s Flat
#14 Don’t Want To Lose That Bikini Top
#15 Got A Measuring Tape Without Measurements
If you’re having a bad day, and you’re looking for something to turn that frown upside down, there are plenty of ways to go about it. Getting in touch with nature, for example, can be an excellent way to boost your spirits. Some fresh air and sunshine, a peaceful hike, some yoga in a park, swimming in a lake, or even just going for a walk through a park near your home can be easy ways to unwind. Leave your phone at home or turn it on airplane mode and allow yourself to put aside the stresses of your day, your job, or whatever is giving you bad energy. And if you need to listen to music to drown out focusing on the bad day at hand, I highly recommend blasting some of your favorite bops.
#16 Just Had Satan’s Moustache Crawl Across My Face When I Was Trying To Go To Sleep. My Skin Is Crawling
#17 Waited All Summer To Cut Open This Watermelon I Grew In My Yard
#18 My Dad Says “Google Is Doing This Stupid Thing Where It Blurs The Top Left Part Of The Results. Facebook Is Doing It Too Actually.” He Melted The Top Left Corner Of His Screen
It can also be helpful to release all of your bad day energy onto paper or to a friend or loved one. Maybe you need to call your best friend, rant about the day, and move on. Bottling up our emotions is never a good thing, and releasing them can feel like a huge weight off your chest. Journaling is also an excellent way to decompress. I find that when I feel dramatic and like my world is spiraling out of control, putting my thoughts and feelings onto paper is very grounding. I realize how far out of proportion I was blowing up a situation in my head, and I can take time to express gratitude for all of the things that are going well. My life is not a tragedy, regardless of how hard my brain tries to convince me of that sometimes, so I feel much better when I take time to acknowledge the facts of a situation.
#19 So My Friend Emailed Her Professor Today And This Happened
#20 The Roof In My Apartment Collapsed Due To Rain, But The Latex Paint Caught The Drywall
#21 Came Home For A Week To Help My Parents Out With Some Yard Work. Turns Out, I Don’t Know What Poison Ivy Looks Like
Sometimes a bad day can be remedied by treating yourself. Do something that you absolutely love, whether it’s watching your favorite guilty pleasure movie, cooking up your favorite comfort food meal, or grabbing ice cream from the shop that you always think about going into when you pass by. The little things can go a long way sometimes, so if buying yourself some flowers at the market or spending the evening painting your nails and taking a bath will put you in a better mood, I fully support it. We don’t all have the time to practice self-care every single day, but especially when we are more stressed than usual, we have to prioritize finding small ways to squeeze in moments of joy.
#22 I Found My Lunch (In A Tote On My Desk), From Two Years Ago. I Didn’t Open It For Fear That It Could Trigger Another Pandemic
#23 Went To A New Barber. Asked For My Part To Be Cut In. She Mowed A 1/2″ Stripe Out Of My Head
#24 My Daughter Might Be A Bit Accident-Prone
Another great way to turn around a bad day is to find something that will make you laugh, or at least smile. Call up your funniest friend, watch your favorite comedy film, go see some stand-up, or scroll through your favorite funny articles on We. It can be easy to go the whole day feeling stressed, angry or disappointed when you’re having a bad day, but not everything has to be colored by the failures of the day. Make sure you smile a little bit, and don’t be too hard on yourself. You deserve to enjoy some moments of every single day, even if you are in the hospital with two broken wrists from a roller-blading accident…
#25 There Was An Attempt To Shoot Some Sweet Archery Video
#26 Happened In Germany. Elderly People Really Should Take A Second Driving Test
#27 There Was An Attempt To Send A Text
We hope these fails and unfortunate examples of bad days are bringing a smile to your face. Even though they were upsetting at the time, I’m glad that these individuals were able to laugh them off later and share their pain online. Remember that we all experience bad luck and bad days at times, so if you need to feel less alone, you can always consult this list and be glad you’re day was not this bad. Keep upvoting the pics that you feel the most sympathy for, and then let us know in the comments what your worst ‘comically bad day’ was. I wonder if any of you pandas have bad day stories that can top all of the pics on this list!
#28 My Dog Ate All Of My Games Yesterday While I Was Gone. Including My Copy Of Doom Signed By The Entire Development Team
#29 Pro-Tip: When Transporting Paint Make Sure It Is Properly Secured. Especially If You Are Driving A Maserati
#30 Found This Note On My Car After Work
#31 Just A Snake Crawling Out Of My Wife’s Car At Customs During A Random Check
#32 Arrived To My Bathroom To Find A Friend Doing Some Exploration
#33 Glad I Didn’t Decide To Sit In My Car This Morning And Defrost It
#34 My Instrument After A Flight. Thanks Southwest
#35 So I Ordered McDonald’s Via Doordash And Found This In The Bag. Not Only Did The Doordash Driver Get My Order Wrong, But I Think He Messed Up Some Poor Dude’s Plans
#36 First Overseas Flight In 9 Years! Paid Extra For A Window Seat So I Can See Everything
#37 Went To A Concert Last Night. This Was My View For 3.5 Hours
#38 My Customer’s Husband Decided To Preheat The Oven For Snacks And Had No Idea That His Wife Had Left The Laptop In The Oven
She did this to prevent the laptop from being stolen while they were on vacation.
#39 That Time I Broke One Of The Screws In My Back
#40 My Graduation Photo
#41 Girlfriend Told Me The Hot Water Isn’t Working So I Went To The Basement To Investigate
#42 My Boss Gave Me A Coffee
#43 Can’t Email My Township Unless You Can See Color, Which I Can’t
#44 Woke Up This Morning To My Light Full Of Water. Our Apartment Is Brand New
#45 Went To Show My Bunny The Forest. Sounded Better In My Head
#46 The Water At My Aunt’s Work In, You Guessed It, Florida
#47 My Friend Just Broke My Several Million Years Old Piece Of Amber That I Got While I Was Living In Australia
#48 I Absolutely Hate My Life. The Third One Also Just Fell On The Pile
#49 This Is Fine
#50 Got Home From Work, Ready To Have Some Blueberries And Wine. And Then The Bag Broke
#51 When Your Cable Guy Drills A Hole In The Side Of Your House, Into A Closet, Through A Guitar Case, And Right Through Your Martin HD-28V
#52 “Honey, Have You Seen My Other Airpod?”
#53 No Passenger Was Harmed In The Making Of This Error
#54 My Cat Knocked Over 2 Gallons Of Laundry Detergent Onto The Floor While I Was At Work (My Floor Is Not Blue… It’s White)
#55 Customs Office Destroyed My Sculpture Someone Bought From Me Because They Wanted To Check If I Didn’t Hide Drugs Inside
#56 Slaved Over A Dinner Date, Got Stood Up
#57 Ordered Eight Extra Large Shirts; Received Eight 8XL Shirts
#58 Came Home From The Vacation To This. Hose Broke And Was Spraying Water For Days In Subfreezing Temperature
#59 Just Spent The Last 3 Hours Cooking For Family Coming Over. Then They Brought Their Own Takeaway To Eat
#60 After 16 Consecutive Hours Of Work, I Come Home To Find This
#61 New Neighbors’ Truck… Every Night
#62 Happened Today In My Hometown
#63 Five Minutes After They Delivered My Table
#64 I Put A Hole In The Wall Because I Passed Out While Blowing My Nose
#65 I Asked My Wife To Tidy Up My Neck With The Clippers…. Yes We Are Still Married
#66 I Came By My Storage Unit To Pick Up Some Stuff Just To Find That Someone Cut My Lock Off And Placed Their Own
#67 Drove My 17-Year-Old Son To Visit My Childhood Home
#68 Let Someone Borrow My Truck, This Is How It Was Returned
Very dirty and random wire coming from the dash going to nothing, scarred up hood (sun fade was already there), before vs. after the bent exhaust, broken dash, and check engine light on.
#69 My Mother Destroyed My Computer Screen Because My Dogs Woke Her Up
#70 My Brother Tried To Dye His Brand New Nikes In Coffee And Forgot About Them For A Month
#71 My Son Teased His Sister, And She Threw A Switch Controller At My Parent’s 75-Inch TV
#72 How My Sister Left Our Apartment After Moving Out
#73 My Address Is 444 And This Is The Only Place In Town That Sells House Numbers
#74 Amazon Sent Me An Empty Bag, And The Delivery Picture Shows It Was Open
#75 Friend Woke Up To See His Car Like This
#76 Crash In California
#77 New Hyperloop Is Being Built In Novosibirsk, Russia
#78 A Bullet Came Downwards Through My Sister’s Window After New Years
#79 Yup, That Is Me. The Idiot Stuck In A Silt Bed In A Ford F350 Tremor
#80 She Has Separation Anxiety
#81 This Person Is Double Parked Into My Parking Spot And I Can’t Park My Vehicle Or I’ll Block Another Spot Next To Me
#82 Take The Day Off To Renew My Tag And It’s A Government Holiday?
#83 This Fallen Tree In Amsterdam
#84 This Literally Happens At This Exact Spot About Once A Month
This is what you get when you rent a truck and don’t read the height restriction
#85 A Week After Installing Our New Garage Door Opener Our Teenager Backs Into Both Garage Doors Completely Dislodging Them And Hitting A Support Beam
#86 How My New Computer Just Got Delivered
#87 Shout Out To That Time I Was Reading Of Mice And Men For High School And My Copy Of The Book Had The Last Page Missing With The Back Cover Just Saying “Surprise”
#88 It Will Cost A Lot To Repair The Car
#89 The Plane I’m In Is Super Foggy For Some Reason
#90 Wind Was A Little High In Colorado
#91 This Is Why You Don’t Hire Contractors Who Secure Cabinets To Dry Wall Only, Thousands In Damage Last Night
#92 The Ceiling Of My School Gym Just Collapsed
#93 This Watermelon That I Grew
#94 Can Someone Tell Me How It’s Possible My Shower Door Shattered While I Was Gone For 2 Hours?
#95 Been Listening To This Guy Weedwhack A City Lot All Day. Who Is Punishing This Man?
#96 I Attended My Sister-In-Law’s Ash Internment Yesterday, And They Brought Her Ashes To The Cemetery In A Sports Direct Bag
#97 Bender Fender, Hit And Run. Long Beach, California
#98 Finland’s Olympic Athlete Dormitory In Beijing
#99 I Baked A Cake For My Work Colleagues For My Birthday And Nobody Took Any
#100 Steering Wheel And Airbag Theft. Third One This Month. Has Anyone Else Seen A Rise In These Kinds Of Things?
#101 Went To The Store To Pick Up A Candle For My Daughter’s Birthday, Guess How Old She’s Turning?
#102 My Dad Said He Would Make Dinner Today And Grilled The Expensive Bullet Steak I Bought. This Is The Result
#103 When You Buy Three 6900 XTs For $3000 From Russia And Get Noodles And Newspapers
#104 I Heard A Loud Pop Under My Desk Only To Find This
#105 My Brother Forgot About This In The Fridge For Almost 2 Months
#106 My University Is Burning 20 Minutes Into New Year
#107 Alarm Fire In Salt Lake City. New Apartments Under Construction Burned Up And Took 12 Businesses With It Including A Porsche Dealership. 65 Firefighters Attended
No injuries. Still watering down the hotspots tonight
#108 Bought A House In A Bidding War So Inspection Waived. Moving In I Dented The Wall And Made A Hole. This Was Behind The Hole
#109 The “Grilled Cheese Reuben” I Spent $15 On And Over An Hour Waiting For
#110 Guess Who Only Had Cash
#111 Made It Half Way Home Before I Bit Into One Of These Not-McDonald’s-Nuggets In The Car, In The Dark, And Almost Puked
#112 Left My Car Sitting At Work For A Little Over A Month. Went To Go Pick It Up Today And The Interior Is Covered In Mold. FML
#113 Somebody Sank Their Water Ferrari And Just Left It
#114 My Backyard Burned Down While I Was Taking A Dump
#115 Came Back To My College Apartment This Morning With My Roommates Having Done This
#116 Screw You Tesla
#117 Guys Help, My Finger Is Actually Stuck. What Do I Do?
#118 Ordered (Boneless) Wings For The Big Game. Only Three Were Not Completely Raw. It Was $76 And DoorDash Refuses To Give Us A Refund
#119 Flipped And Abandoned G Wagen
#120 Well I’m Permanently Half Blind Now. How Are You Guys Doing?
