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"As safe as houses," the British say when they want to describe something completely secure and protected from harm. So it's unsurprising that so many of us see our homes as a place of ease and comfort. After all, nothing beats coming back after a well-deserved vacation or even a long day of work. One step through the front door, and we instantly feel the familiarity and refuge from the wild outside world.

Unless, of course, something has gone way wrong in our absence. Redditor Cyan26 was curious about precisely such cases when no one was home to prevent these nightmarish disasters and the horror that followed. So the user invited members of the Ask Reddit community to reveal the worst things they’ve ever come home to, and they instantly jumped into the comment section.

From illegal labs to thousands of pets taking control of the house, an avalanche of stories started rolling in. We’ve gathered some of the most captivating responses from the thread to share with you all, so be sure to upvote the most spine-chilling ones and let us know what you think of them right below.

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#1

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers I was 13 and came home from school. My mother was walking around the house naked and delirious. Randomly picking objects up and dropping them. Calling me by a name that wasn’t mine. I called 911 and a neighbor.

She had a fever of 104. It was bacterial meningitis. She was in a medically induced coma after that, required brain surgery and then months of antibiotics. She had amnesia after that and was never really the same.

maikakun , Jeremy Bronson Report

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#2

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers 8 billion baby praying mantises in my house. Over the fall, my daughter went out into the woods and collected every praying mantis cocoon she could find and put them in a shoebox in her bedroom. They all hatched in the early spring while we were visiting my parents for the day...

damatas , Gita Krishnamurti Report

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Although many of us believe that these eerie, unexpected, and downright spine-chilling situations only happen on hit TV shows or in movies, more than 16k comments left by Redditors prove they happen in real life too.

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Instead of receiving a warm welcome from a loving family member, these homeowners who shared their stories in the thread were greeted by unpleasant and shocking scenarios that went horribly amiss. Well, all kinds of things can occur when we’re away. Our hope of coming back to our sanctuary can be shattered in mere seconds, turning our return into a horror story that only adds more fuel to our nightmares.

Shari Botwin, LCSW and author of Thriving After Trauma: Stories of Living and Healing explained that we all sometimes see life as scary simply because trauma or devastation can hit us hard at any point in our lives. "We cannot prepare for things we have no control over," she told Bored Panda.
#3

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Blood. Blood everywhere.
I was working a 12 hour shift at work and had a friend stop by to check on the dog. She immediately called me to tell me the walls were covered in blood, carpet was soaked, splatter everywhere. My dog comes running up and he, too, is covered in blood. He is wagging his tail in pure joy that someone is home, activating the blood sprinkler. He had two deep cuts on his tail from a glass bottle he broke.
I left work immediately to take care of him. Get home and the sprinkler is going off again and on it's highest setting!
I call the vet that is across the street from me and let them know the situation and that we're coming over.
I try wrapping his wounds in towels and tape them so he isn't splattering everything in a five foot radius. Alas, he is such a happy dog and his tail is too strong for my bandage. It slips off in like two tail wags.
We walk to the vet and I'm trying to sign in whole simultaneously hold a towel around my dog so he doesn't make a mess.
The vets clearly didn't believe the severity when I told them the situation, because when they saw the amount of blood going all over their pristine lobby they started panicking and trying to get her mop to clean it up. We waited in the lobby for maybe fifteen minutes. There was a lot to clean.

Cleaning the apartment took me about 8 bottles of peroxide and about 4 hours of cleaning with the help of a few other people. I've never seen that much blood before.

Over a course of a couple months we tried staples, stitches, glue, and a combination of all of them at once. His happy tail was too happy for any of them to work and his wounds wouldn't shut and heal. We ended up having to amputate his tail. Now he is a proud member of the wiggle butt nub club.

PotatoUnni , PotatoUnni Report

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#4

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Me and my siblings were sent home early from school to learn from my mom that my dad [took his own life]

Silly_Bun Report

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#5

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Came home and found my front door wide open, my parents missing, my neighbors on my front lawn (we don't talk to my neighbors) and blood all over our grass and the nearby wall.

Turned out my father, who knows how to do professional landscaping/tree trimming/gardening etc, was trimming the tree in our front yard when a branch broke and he lost his balance. He fell backwards and ended up landing on our neighbor's fence, which is topped by steel spikes. One of the spikes went into his leg, though he apparently didn't even notice or feel it so he pulled himself off the fence without a problem, but when he tried to stand he collapsed onto the lawn. He lost a lot of blood and had to have emergency surgery, but survived. His wound was so bad that when he made it to the hospital, a police officer and doctor confronted him because they figured he had to have been shot and tried to get him to admit it so that they could find the culprit. It was an incredibly scary moment, but that was 17 years ago and he is fine today, though he did end up eventually getting his revenge by chopping that tree down.

SR3116 , SR3116 Report

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"The best way to prepare for the unknown is to have a list of resources and people we can turn to if something terrible happens. I have worked with clients who have come home to burned down houses, lost family members in plane crashes, or have lost a loved one suddenly," Botwin said, adding that unfortunately, there is no handbook that can equip us to be prepared for awful situations.
#6

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers I had been out of the country for 3 days at a music festival. Came home to my front door crowbarred in, and my entire house trashed. They had taken my TV, DVD’s, laptops, etc.

But the cherry on top of the s**t cake: they emptied my box of sex toys so the forensics team had to dust my dildos for finger prints.

bethmaii , Julia Taubitz Report

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#7

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers My 1 year old son's empty room after his mother and I split up. We planned on 50/50 custody but she took everything. I closed the door and didn't open it for the three months that I had to live there. I came from a broken home and promised myself I'd never do that to my child; I'd felt like such a failure.

Edit: I still got to see him regularly. She moved to a different country a year or so after and signed over sole custody to me. It was just rough at first living in a house full of broken dreams.

lucidxd , Sven Brandsma Report

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#8

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Came home from visiting my wife's family over Christmas break. She had asked a friend to come by and feed our cats, and the friend agreed. When we got back home, there was no food or water in any of the cat bowls, and one of our cats was sitting in the corner foaming at the mouth. This cat was a terror and never just "sat in the corner" so we knew something was wrong. We took him to the emergency vet where the vet said he was severely dehydrated. Unfortunately he had some sort of brain damage and we had to put him down.

When we confronted the friend she said she went by every day, we have determined that to be a lie.

RIP Ace.

Edit: Wow this blew up.

[here](https://imgur.com/a/GO6idSA) are a couple of pictures of Ace, this was a long time ago so the pictures are kinda hard to find.

My wife and I had actually set out four different water bowls, big ones like you put fruit it, they were all bone dry.
We ended up just cutting off all contact with the girl that did this, my wife was pretty upset about it and I'm not as nice as my wife is, so we just thought it was best to not talk to her anymore. She knows what she did, and hopefully down the road she'll be laying in bed and remember what a terrible person she is.

Ever since then when we go out of town we leave a sink running and the small toilet open. Yeah, we have a tiny toilet in one of our bathrooms for some reason. I actually have a coworker that I trust more than just about anyone else, he comes by and takes pictures of our cats for us. He lives less than two minutes from us and I pay him in BBQ and beer, it's fantastic. As extra insurance my mom pops in every other day just to make sure everything is alright.

We're heading out of town for Christmas again, I think I may do the webcam thing, as I know my wife would freakin' love that.

Thanks for all the replies, it's hard not to tear up reading through them. Hug your kitties.

[here's Zoe](https://imgur.com/a/OxdnPlW) our new kitten we adopted earlier this year. Should cheer you up.
[snoozin'](https://imgur.com/a/UBB3X3c)

anon , Gustavo Fring Report

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carmisomers avatar
Berry Budgie
Berry Budgie
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This girl should get the same death as the poor kitty😔😡

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Monday
Monday
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would have ended up in jail if this were my cat because I would have murdered that girl.

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Party Poison (They/Them)
Party Poison (They/Them)
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Animal abuse should be punished the same as child abuse! Both are sentient about the pain and helpless to it! Jail time for all animal abusers!

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Moth
Moth
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Child abuse laws came after animal abuse laws. Animal abuse needs to be treated more seriously.

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Furmama0501
Furmama0501
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am a petsitter and this both breaks my heart and pisses me off. I hope that gal is never around animals ever again!

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Rabbit-Of-ill-Portent️ she/her
Rabbit-Of-ill-Portent️ she/her
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would have kicked her a*s within an inch of her life and gone to jail happily for it.

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Kathryn Baylis
Kathryn Baylis
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I couldn’t imagine leaving our three healthy cats and one healthy dog in the care of someone we think will do right by them, and come home to find them all in this condition—-and at the point of death. The girl who did it should be locked up in a room and given NO water until she starts foaming at the mouth. Sounds like the b***h just took your money, decided “F**k those cats”, and never once checked on them. No excuses, just doubling down on her lie. F*****g animal cruelty. I hope she never has a baby, and I hope she’s never the caretaker for her parents when they get old and infirm. But I DO hope she’s incapacitated one day soon, and her caretaker neglects her until she dies. (I’m not really like that, I just get so angry when someone abuses animals and vulnerable people that I envision all kinds of horrible things that should happen to them. But they just stay there and are forgotten. I couldn’t act on them anyway. I’m not that cold.)

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Shane S
Shane S
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I also leave a sink barely running and I blockade all the doors open. My cat once accidentally locked herself in a room with no food, water, or litterbox. So I make sure she can’t close doors by pushing on them now.

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Joan Gregory
Joan Gregory
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a situation similar to this happen. Many years ago, I had a job which required that I'd be gone for 1-3 weeks at a time. I had a cat and I asked a coworker who lived in my neighborhood who he'd recommend to come by and feed her/give her water/clean out the litter box. He suggested the son of his next door neighbor. I hired him. He seemed trustworthy. However, when I was gone I started getting a bad feeling. I called him and he said he was going over like I hired him to do. I still didn't feel right, so I called my boyfriend who lived in another town to stop by. He said there was no food, no water, and the litter box was full!! He made sure my cat was taken care of before he left. I called the boy's mother and asked him what was going on??!! She said that my cat was aggressive and scared her son so he stopped going over there. They never called me to tell me that and the mother didn't think her son did anything wrong. I felt so bad for my kitty.

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Well-Dressed Wolf
Well-Dressed Wolf
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Heck, I don’t even trust my mother and sister to feed my pets (my mom thinks pretzels and rice are appropriate foods for cats). I either take my pets with me on the rare occasions I go on vacation, or board them at a really nice cattery/boarding place near me (I’m fortunate that they aren’t “my house only”-type cats). Not sure what I’ll be doing in the future though as I now have a GSD-mix puppy who is going to be 80-90lbs when grown and should not be boarded in a small kennel XD I guess it’s pet-friendly vacations only!

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Chich
Chich
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have some small Wyze cameras set up. They are fairly cheap and easy to set up. Can't always take my dogs with me for runs into town and having the cameras is great. I've even had one set up to keep an eye on my wife when she was sick and I had to zip into town for groceries. The "honey" cam :)

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James G. Currie
James G. Currie
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Charge the b***h. Animal neglect and cruelty laws can result in higher fines and jail time that murdering a human.

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Dave
Dave
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That former frined will not think what a terible person she is. Because if she had any form of empathy and sense of right and wrong, she would not have let the cat starve and get brain infection, which resulted in its demise.

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JuniorCJ82
JuniorCJ82
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At the VERY least, she should have been sued and made to pay for all vet expenses (including euthanasia).

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similarly
similarly
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In the USA, if it can be verified that the person agreed to look after the pets, they can be prosecuted for animal cruelty. It's a crime.

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Christina Hill
Christina Hill
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had my younger cousin (21 at the time so not a kid) watch my dogs for 3 days so husband and I could go camping with his sister and her kids. Left a list with specific instructions on what to not feed (one dog gets expensive 💩 if given any dairy) how much kibble, bought food for her, paid her $75 and said her friend coming over was ok. Came home to s*!t and p**s every where, door unlocked, half eaten food out and one pup with a missing tooth and fat lip! I learned from several other family members later that she'd been known to abuse animals but no one bothered to tell me beforehand, instead just prayed she'd finally changed. I have not seen her since but no longer trust people with my animals.

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Marco Conti
Marco Conti
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am not sure I wouldn't end up in prison for something like that. My kitty sleeps spooning with me almost every night. 9pm to 12 he spoons with my wife. 12 to 2am he spoons with me. He is like a child for us. I probably wouldn’t be able to control myself if someone hurt him. I was a soldier, I learned a hundred ways to kill people, but I cannot stand animal cruelty or neglect.

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Rose Golden
Rose Golden
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Alright.WTF.If this were my family she'd either be sued or dead.Or both.Actually, something similar DID in fact happen. The cat's alive though. So one of the cats, Peevy, was acting sick. This had happened before with a different car, so my knew the signs that something was up. So my Dad took Peevy to the vet, and there was a substitute vet in.This woman felt up the Peevy's stomach, and told my Dad: "Nothing's wrong, he's fine" my dear old dad trusted his gut and told her that he wanted X-rays done.She asked if he was sure, and told that they would be expensive.My Dad insisted on them so Peevy stayed the night. Low and behold, there's something wrong. Peevy had eaten $5 worth of hair ties. Everyone with long hair knows that you can get A LOT of hair ties with $5. So the actual vet calls and tells us that Peevy needs surgery. There was a whole slew of issues after surgery that I will not be getting into. My mom told them what the sub.Vet had said, and that got her fired.

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Luna Lovegood for Justice
Luna Lovegood for Justice
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel so bad for you. I only have a dog but if I lost her I would be heartbroken and I am sure it's the same with cats.

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Dawnieangel76
Dawnieangel76
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I probably would have gone to prison if that had happened to me. The restraint is incredible.

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Oddly Me
Oddly Me
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Someone recently used a kennel for their two dogs here in AZ. When they went to get their dogs, one had been kept in a kennel that wasn't cooled, and both had bone dry water bowls. The poor dog in the hot kennel was deceased. I can't imagine what this couple is going thru.

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Diolla
Diolla
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've had pets to care for ever since I was a child. Every now and then I have a nightmare in which I have animals and forget to take care of them so they die. Don't know why, I never forget them in real life. The cats I had before the current one lived to be 18 and 19 years old. But these are the most horrific nightmares. So I cannot understand how someone can live with herself after doing something like this. I even feel bad if I am home late to feed the cat.

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Kaz
Kaz
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Years ago a friend of mine went to Australia for a month. I was asked if I could pop in every day to feed and water the kitty, keep the litter tray clean and have a little play every day. About a week after she left we had a really unusually heavy snowstorm. All roads were blocked. I trudged every day in snow up to my knees for about an hour there and back for a week to make sure kitty was OK. That woman should burn.

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MonkeyInTheMiddle
MonkeyInTheMiddle
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Your cats are truly amazing. Well picked names for both of them. F in the chat for Ace, he didn't deserve that. No pet deserves that. I hope that girl succumbs to Vecna or something.

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Gabriela Cink
Gabriela Cink
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Noooooooooo :( it hits harder as we are now on vacation and miss ours. But our cat is in good hands fortunately.

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H R
H R
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3 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

May that ffoe forever hurt his smallest toes on sharp corners

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Cody Downs
Cody Downs
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

some comments are over the top, I would not wish death on a lady

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ℙ𝕦𝕣𝕣_𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕕
ℙ𝕦𝕣𝕣_𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕕
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This really infuriates me. Just thinking about that poor kitty suffering like that. Breaks my heart.😭

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Coleen Clark
Coleen Clark
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I do Trusted Housesitters, a site online where they vet all the sitters and all the owners, so everyone knows they have a safe sit with good people. I have done 7 sits so far with cats and dogs across the UK, and I love it! Please look into it before you travel again, there are people all over the world who need pet and house sitters, and lots of trustworthy people available for you. Shame on that girl for allowing an animal to suffer. Shame.

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Jaguarundi
Jaguarundi
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hire a professional since my husband's "friend" decided to go through our things and steal jewelry and such that he could easily p**n. The "friend" blamed a person that he had come with him to check on the cats. At least the cats were fine. My husband decided not to press charges.

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SGH
SGH
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You just leave a tap running for a few days? How wasteful is that? Can't you just leave the cat in a kennel, or whatever the cat equivalent is?

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lib
lib
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this deserves a lot more than 16 upvotes 😭😭🤯🤯

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Of course, many of us consciously know that life is unpredictable, but that doesn’t mean we automatically glide through our days unaffected by startling changes in life. When we do encounter these unfortunate events ourselves, they often knock us off our feet. According to trauma specialist Botwin, unexpected accidents leave us distraught, devastated, shocked, and in disbelief. Even if the change is positive, we can still have difficulties coping with the whirlwind of emotions these situations cause.

"From the moment the event occurs, we are left feeling uncertain and afraid of what is to come," Botwin told us. "People's mental health quickly deteriorates once they realize what has happened. Feelings of fear, panic and despair often result in clinical depression and anxiety if we do not process or talk about what happened." After all, finding your home damaged or destroyed by a fire or flood is so much more than just losing physical property.
#9

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers My dad came home to find a wasp in the house. And then another. And then another. He investigated. Heard a buzzing coming from the dining room. An entire nest of wasps had been living in the walls and chewed through the sheetrock (or whatever it is they did) and were now pouring into the house through the hole.


Edit to answer a few questions: the dining room was a formal room only used for holidays and dinner parties and since it was summer most entertaining they did was done outside. So no buzzing heard. Also my dad was older and hearing does get less sharp.

Exterminator cleared it out. My dad removed the sheetrock and replaced it and replaced all the vent covers.

They typically had wasp nests hanging from the eaves all the time so seeing wasps outside wouldn’t have been noticed (they even had them in the mailbox).

SylkoZakurra , Bee Safe Report

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#10

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers I go to turn on the light and...nothing. The electricity is off. Go to the electricity box outside and turn it on and go back inside: house has been cleared out of all valuable things. I hear a whirring sound and realise it's the old VCR video tape rewinder rewinding the video tape I put in it in the morning as I left home with my baby son. And then it dawns on me: that tape only takes about 3 minutes to rewind... The burglars must have turned off the electricity seconds after I left home with my baby in the morning. They were watching me leave from inside the garden.....

growing_up_slowly , Gabriel Petry Report

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#11

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Meth lab bust. I was raised by my grandparents (they were wonderful people who adopted a bunch of sh**ty kids) and they'd let my aunt and her boyfriend move their RV onto the property because they got kicked out of wherever they were staying. The worthless a**holes were trying to cook meth in it and it caught on fire so they ran off and left it there burning. The neighbors called 911 and the fire department got the fire out before it got to the house. It was nice coming home from school to that. It was a huge s**t storm. My grandparents were almost arrested and they almost lost their house and land. Pretty much the only thing that saved them was that the meth lab was in a vehicle registered to the boyfriend. Even though we didn't get into any legal trouble it was still a pain in the a*s because the whole house had to be tested and they had to hire someone to clean up the mess and have the property test clean before we could move back in. And my childhood home is listed as a former meth lab on the National Clandestine Laboratory Register. My grandparents never recovered financially.

anon , Adi Goldstein Report

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Depending on the severity of the event, our inability to cope with unforeseen circumstances that changed the course of our lives can prevent us from moving forward. In some cases, they can even evoke a sense of fear and anxiety. "I have met several clients who have been afraid to leave their homes after experiencing this kind of trauma," the trauma expert shared a few stories from her own practice.

"Recently, I met one woman who developed claustrophobia after living through a house fire as a teen. At the time of the fire, she did not talk about her feelings, and she told me, 'Everyone in my family just moved on and acted like nothing bad ever happened.' Her sense of security and safety was taken, and the impact of that was never addressed," she revealed.
#12

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers An old dog of mine had become sick after getting ahold of a large batch of double fudge brownies at some point during the day, and by the time I got home, I walked into a house with no less than 25 separate puddles (yes, puddles) of s**t. Poor fella had to eat bland boiled chicken and rice for a week.

TrumpHairedHarambe , REGINE THOLEN Report

Final score:
116points
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#13

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers My Brothers (20 and 22) and I (20M) came home from college for winter break. The next day my mom wakes me up asking if I planned on going with the rest of the family to put my childhood dog (13F) down. She had told everyone weeks before that this was going to happen when we got home for break... but forgot to tell me.

FreshAnteater6 , Kanashi Report

Final score:
115points
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#14

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Got off work about 7 am, rounded the corner with my McDonald’s breakfast in hand to see 2 cops standing over a dead body on my welcome Mat.

Sjax81 , https://unsplash.com/photos/b6hJHLGpPiI Report

Final score:
114points
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Botwin has also met an EMT worker who rescued two men buried in a collapsed basement. He told her, "My life was never the same after that day." Sadly, living through this shocking experience had unfortunate consequences. "He developed PTSD and became an alcoholic," she said. "Every time he saw images of destruction, he was reminded of what he witnessed when he saw two men fighting for their lives under layers of concrete in that basement."

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#15

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Aged 15; coming home to my dad confronting me about the gay [adult movies] he discovered on my phone which I had mistakenly left at home.

ERpunk , NordWood Themes Report

Final score:
113points
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#16

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Dead bunny parts + my cat & two stranger cats.


Years ago we would camp for weeks at a time, coming come a few times a week to do laundry, feed the cats, etc. Our cats had a doggie/kitty window and could come and go as they pleased. Came home one night to my cat having guests & serving them bunny. It was a fluffy mess.

CampingWithCats Report

Final score:
109points
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#17

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Coming home just wanting to collapse in bed and cuddle my girlfriend of two years before she had to leave for another 5 days, only to be told that she didn't love me anymore and that she was moving out when I walked in. Devastating.

sux4u , Alex Green Report

Final score:
104points
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If we want to stay grounded in the present and avoid causing a permanent impact on our well-being and mental health after experiencing a traumatic event, there are a few things to consider. "If you walk into your home after a fire, earthquake, or tornado, it is crucial that you ask for help and get support," Botwin suggested.
#18

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers One morning when we were leaving for work, my wife noticed that the dog had eaten half a pack of sugarless gum. At the time, we did not know that the sweetener in sugarless gum, xylitol, is dangerous for dogs. We just went to work. We were fortunate in that her health was fine, as xylitol can be deadly. She was OK, but we came home to a ghastly smell in the house. The dog was sitting in 0.5 in. / 1.3 cm deep liquid s**t in her crate. She was coated head to toe in it, and was excited to see us and wagging her tail, sending a spray 4 feet / 120 cm in every direction. It took hours to clean her and the room up, and days to get rid of the smell.

jasonthomson , Autri Taheri Report

Final score:
99points
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#19

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers My gf and I were having a problem. I told her I needed to take a walk, but I'd be back. I kissed her on the cheek and walked out the door.

I got back and she had cleaned up, packed her things, and left me.

BeardsuptheWazoo , Andrew Neel Report

Final score:
96points
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#20

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers When I was around 7, I came home from a family weekend away, I walked into my room towards my cove. I had this hanging chain that you put your beanie babies on. As I passed it, it seemed like there was a bunch of dust particles in the air around me.

I started moving my hands in front of my face as if to push the dust particles from blocking my view... that was when I realized.

These were not dust particles, but rather hundreds upon hundreds of tiny baby spiders. While we were gone tons of eggs hatched and I was walking in all of them hanging from the ceiling on web strings.

I immediately ran screaming into the shower and refused to go back in for days after my dad killed them all. That was the end of me having beanie babies, time to grow up.

TL/DR: Hundreds of spiders hatched from eggs, I walked into them all over me.

jigglypuffpufff Report

Final score:
89points
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She pointed out that the flight or fight response will set in within seconds of the disaster. "Initially, it is okay to go into crisis mode. It is normal to feel numb and in denial of what you are seeing in those moments. Our brains protect us from digesting the feelings until we are safe and have some type of support."

But once you have gotten people to intervene and manage the crisis, Botwin suggested that you leave the scene and go be with family or loved ones. "Find emergency workers, therapists, or loved ones to begin processing the experience as soon as you are able. Find people who can reassure you that all will be okay, even if it is not okay right now. Remember that no amount of loss or destruction can take away the memories or items that may have been lost. Give yourselves time to work through your grief, anger, and disbelief," she concluded.
#21

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Finding out my father had been diagnosed with cancer.

anon , National Cancer Institute Report

Final score:
88points
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#22

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers My casual boyfriend doing full-demolition on my master bathroom. I had mentioned I would like to remodel it someday...

Ruby_Sees_All , Jenia Flerman Report

Final score:
86points
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#23

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Kid decided to remove diaper after pooping, then smear the poop everywhere. Wife was covered in it and everyone was screaming. When I walked in, I assumed someone was severely injured.

Edit: This isn't even the most memorable poop story, just the most recent. This one was also one that fell to my lovely wife to deal with.

Let me tell you about the Potsy [passing away]. Back when my kids were maybe ~2 and ~4, they had this cooking pot toy. It would chatter away as you played with it, singing about food and colors. They also had this pop up tent in their play area. Well, somehow, the 2yo pooped in Potsy. It starts singing - "Every food, has a special color..." Well, the 4yo takes Potsy directly to the play kitchen and starts pretending to cook with it. At this point, they're playing quietly so no alarms have been raised.

Of course the 4yo then takes the Potsy Pot of Poo Porridge and starts trying to feed it to the 2yo. This is when the drama started, as well as the smearing. Potsy [passed away] that day, well loved and full of shtew. The tent was also a victim, as were some of the pretend veggies and utensils that came with Potsy.

I came home and half of the playroom was gone, and my wife had the thousand yard stare. We've since bought another Potsy, but the legend lives on.

swampjedi , Karolina Grabowska Report

Final score:
85points
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#24

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers The screams of 5 mice stuck in glue traps.

I was in college and coming home for the winter one year and my mom had a minor mouse infestation. She decided to buy these glue traps to catch them and they were effective, however, unlike regular mouse traps that kill them instantly these just trap them and let them die of exhaustation and/or hunger.

When I got home that day 5 of them had gotten caught in the traps and were screaming their lungs out in desperation. It was such a terrifying symphony of screams and I had absolutely no idea what was going on when I walked through the door and worried that something had happened to my dog Snoopy. He was fine and after I called my mom she explained what was going on and asked me if I could take care of them, which was also a sh**ty thing to come home to.

-eDgAR- , Nick Harris Report

Final score:
84points
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#25

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Maggots in the summer. I was at the cottage for a week and had forgotten to throw out the garbage before leaving.

They were everywhere...everywhere. I’ll never forget that day.

anon , dirtypanjim8 Report

Final score:
79points
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#26

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers When I was in about sixth grade or so, my family and I adopted a dog--Sally--we had found abandoned with her pups. We found the pups a home and decided to keep Sally, little did we know the mom had separation anxiety.

Before I left for the school bus one morning after my parents had gone to work, I was to put Sally in her kennel, but she absolutely REFUSED to get in. Knowing I was already running late, I just gave up and left.

When I came home that afternoon, it was pure destruction. The blinds had been destroyed, she had scattered all my things on my desk on the floor--including a small fish tank--and the house had a myriad of broken objects throughout. Let's just say my parents weren't too thrilled, but I managed to persuade them to keep her.

To this day she was one of my absolute favorite dogs. Who woulda thought?

IamHeretoSayThis Report

Final score:
76points
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#27

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers I came out from work on a heavy rain day in late autumn to find my new used car flooded. The sun roof didn't seal properly and leaked. A lot. At first I didn't notice because I had parked facing downward on a hill. I started up the car, pulled out, and, upon hitting level ground, a four inch wave of icy cold water sloshed over my feet from under the dash. I couldn't get my head around it, just couldn't grasp what was happening. Stopping in the middle of traffic, I just sat there staring down at the wading pool on the floor of my new used car. After a few moments someone honked, so I drove home.

Yes, I knew I should go directly to the dealership, or a repair shop, or somewhere other than my own garage. But I didn't. I drove across town with water sloshing back and forth around my feet like in a sinking ship. I remember laughing out loud at one point, thinking, "Maybe I can dry it out with the leaf blower."

In the end, I sucked it out with the shop vac and manhandled a full-sized dehumidifier into the backseat, rigged up to extension cords to run all night. I went out every couple of hours to empty it, and the next day I parked it in the sun and left all the windows down.

After a few days it was dry, so I took it in to have the sunroof repaired. To this day I have no idea why I didn't want anyone to know what happened. It's not as if it were my fault or anything. Maybe just that the experience was so weirdly surreal that I couldn't break the spell.

SuzQP , maxstrz Report

Final score:
69points
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#28

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Got home after work, sat down on my couch. Caught a glimpse of something in the corner of my eye. Turn towards the love seat and see a squirrel sitting on top of it. Then look behind the love seat and see that my air conditioner side paneling was torn to shreds and all over the floor.

Chased the squirrel out and made better side paneling, but the squirrels never stopped trying to get in. It was horrible hearing them scratching and gnawing. My landlord tried putting up some wire fencing around the window hoping to prevent them from getting in. Instead, they would manage to get in and then forget how to get out. So they would be trapped between the wiring and my A/C, panicking and gnawing and the window sill and and I’d feel bad for them and despise them at the same time. This went on for a long time and I now f*****g hate squirrels and window A/C units.

My friends printed and framed a particularly good photo of one of those squirrels attempting to get in. And bought me a squirrel throw pillow.

ineffectivegoggles , Ferd Isaacs Report

Final score:
61points
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#29

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers My dad had cancer and we were taking care of him for almost a year. I went away to my cousins birthday party for the weekend and came back to him almost dead. I appreciate that my mom didn't want to ruin my weekend but i never would have forgiven myself if i missed his passing.

amakurt , Marcelo Leal Report

Final score:
57points
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#30

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Once my family returned from dinner out (a few hours at least!) and upon entry back into the house we noticed water leaking from the garage roof. Turns out our top floor toilet tank had cracked and water had been continuously pouring and was cascading down the stairs, through all three floors. A ridiculous amount of damage.

Whoneedsyou , Lothlórien Cooperative Report

Final score:
54points
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#31

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers I went on an exchange study trip abroad. The university helped me sublet my student accommodation to [an] exchange student while I was away. Before returning home, I called the department secretary for some study-related stuff, and she quietly asked, "How much have you heard?"

It turned out the student had trashed the apartment, then ran away to another country without a trace. The janitor had to get in there because of the smell to remove some garbage, and of course the rent had not been paid. It was only due to the department secretary putting a lot of pressure on the company that sponsored the student to pay my rent that I was able to keep my place. I still had to spend a week cleaning and had to throw away a lot of stuff.

nozendk , Denny Müller Report

Final score:
30points
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#32

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Dog had had surgery on both paws. Husband decided after a few days that he trusted him without the cone of shame. Arrived home to find bits of white cotton scattered down the hall. Followed them to find the living room floor covered in blood and the dog in his bed with a paw swollen to twice its usual size after he'd shredded the bandages and ripped out his stitches. Worst treasure hunt ever.

PinkPrimate , seligmanwaite Report

Final score:
28points
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#33

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers I think it would be coming home after working from 8am - 11pm in college. Walking in completely exhausted from the weekend and hoping to crash before your 8am class, only to find that there is a massive party going on in your house. Also, when you finally get to your room there are strangers in your room smoking.

Economy_Cactus , Kelsey Chance Report

Final score:
25points
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#34

A dead rat on my living room floor with its heart ripped out. *Sigh*....cats...

Blanchypants Report

Final score:
25points
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#35

Something happened, and the bottom of my fish tank just split/spiderwebbed while I was in class. When I got home, the entire floor was soaking wet and all of my fish were dead. I was so sad :(

TheFiredrake42 Report

Final score:
25points
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#36

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Thousands of ladybugs that hatched, were swarming around and on the white siding of the house. And then I went inside and a couple hundred were hanging out in my livingroom on the ceiling.

andotis0105 , Scott Bridges Report

Final score:
24points
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#37

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers Towards the end of 6th grade, I found my mom waiting at the door for me when I got home. She had to explain to me that my grandfather - her father - was going through cardiac arrest and likely wouldn’t make it. He passed a few hours later.

Average_Owain , SHVETS production Report

Final score:
22points
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#38

Someone Wonders "What’s The Worst Thing You’ve Come Home To?" And 30 People Deliver Honest Answers My house has been broken into. I got home, and there were two police cars in the driveway. A neighbor reported it. The house was trashed. I have no idea why, I'm not material and don't keep much on hand. The guy got away, and I cleaned up. Not a good day.

calcaneus , Erik Mclean Report

Final score:
17points
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#39

Pittsburgh received an ungodly amount of rain this spring/summer. Neighborhoods flooded, houses slid down hills, and the Point went underwater. Needless to say, it was a good year for a new homeowner like myself to discover how water affects a home.

Two months after purchase, I come home from night class (was at work since 4:45 AM) at 9:45 and the house smells and feels damp; I knew something was wrong and my gut was sinking. Let me preface that my basement hates me. So much has happened in that basement over the past two months that opening the door to the basement is enough to trigger a day’s worth of anxiety, let alone having this sinking feeling there may be water down there.

I make it 1/4 down the stairs and immediately I know there’s water down there somewhere. I can smell it. I peer over to the other side and there’s water pouring in from the exterior basement door and the back half of the basement carpet is soaked. Like, it’s black it’s so soaked. Fortunately, the unfinished side has a drain and vinyl flooring, so there was no issue over there, but between the humid, damp, and musty smell of the finished side and all of the house centipedes strewn about the room enjoying the crappy environment, I was feeling downright defeated.

Before I started cleaning, I discovered a large maple leaf clogged the surface of the drain in my the exterior walkway to my basement, and caused the entire walkway to pool up with rainwater. I was up until 1:30 AM that night shop-vac’ing the water out of the carpet. I’m very fortunate the carpet is all-weather, so I could allow it to dry over the next few days. I promptly purchased a dehumidifier and atrium drain the next morning. To this day, I am still paranoid every time I come home.

Side note: I guess I should be happy I had a house to come home to, considering a few slid down the hills.

FloatingChernobyls: Report

Final score:
17points
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#40

When I was in college, I went away for a weekend to come home to find that my roommate had attempted to hang a tv on the wall. Guess the first time didn't work because there was a massive hole right next to a tv on the wall.

_freeyourmind Report

Final score:
16points
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#41

I came home to an open door because my brother forgot to close it. Nothing had been stolen, luckily because our dog had been on the prowl. Not that she would've done anything to a burglar, though.

anon Report

Final score:
15points
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#42

A robbery

It was during a summer heat wave with high heat and humidity. I came home to an apartment where several things felt off. I took a p**s, removed my tie and sweat drenched dress shirt before noticing a wide open window. I proceeded to take an inventory and called the police. Thankfully I had renters insurance and they missed my laptop.

BrassTact Report

Final score:
13points
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