20 Unfortunate People Who Learned Their Lesson The Hard Way

Ashley Hunte
A portable toilet covered with snow.
Reddit | complete******

Life throws lessons our way all the time. Some lessons are pretty easy. But there are plenty we can only learn the hard way.

And for whatever reason, the people in these pics definitely learned their lessons the hard way. If it wasn't so funny, you'd almost feel bad for these people. Almost.

"Gonna go get my 0th pizza reward."

A receipt for a pizza that advertises a point system, but rewarded 0 points.
Reddit | noobdude752

I guess this is what happens when your expectations get a little too high. It really sucks, though. You'll never get to that free slice at this rate.

"Thursday's debut album 'Waiting' finally pressed on vinyl, got it several months after the pre-order...oh apparently the pressing plant had an interesting take on the song 'Streaks in the Sky.'"

A vinyl album cover with a typo on the title "Streaks in the Sky," where it actually reads, "Steaks in the Sky."
Reddit | thedubioustyluss

The tricky thing with preorders is that sometimes, you'll be waiting so long for a thing to come, only for it to be kind of disappointing in some way. At least "Steaks in the Sky" is a pretty hilarious typo.

"During a training session I hit the table…"

A bench with a broken ping pong paddle on it,
Reddit | Antrodash

I guess the lesson here is that even a sport as low-impact as table tennis can be dangerous if you aren't careful.

Is it bad that I laughed at this, though?

"I get these didn't sell well during the pandemic, but it's really time to give up."

Several 2020 Disney World shirts lined up on a store wall.
Reddit | rtowne

Does Disney know that the year is 2022 now? Because those shirts say otherwise.

But let's be real, no one wants to remember 2020.

"I don't have any cows."

A cat staring out a window, where cows are outside, grazing.
Reddit | clarky2o2o

I... don't even know what lesson we can learn from this. Don't have cows in your yard? Get a cow? Look, all I know is that this is really funny for some reason.

"Eye lag bolt SNAPPED OFF as I was screwing it in. Thanks HD, gotta untwist like 3cm of bolt with pliers now."

An eye loop screw in a piece of wood, where the eye part snapped off.
Reddit | human-potato_hybrid

You have to wonder if the bolt was defective, or if OP just twisted it too much and it snapped off. Either way, I can't help but laugh.

"What a day and I just made breakfast."

A bag of bread next to a stove. One of the burners  on the stove has plastic from the bag stuck to it.
Reddit | HelloKittyQueen

You always have to be careful with stoves and bread bags. Though, that usually goes without saying. I've never seen someone melt plastic on to their stove before.

"Spent 2 hours installing a clothes hanger at my mom's place. Just realized the cabinet on the left doesn't open now..."

The wall of a laundry room with a hanger on it. In the corner, and next to the hanger, a shelf sits.
Reddit | ThiccAsThief

Look, OP, the house is laughing at you. It probably knew the mistake you were making and couldn't wait until you figured it out. Back to the drawing board, I guess.

"The burn cream in my college's emergency medical kit expired in 2013 - tried to use it anyway and it looked like spoiled milk (did not help with the burn btw)."

The back of a packet with a hard to read expiration date from 2013.
Reddit | awkwarderest

I probably would've just gone to a pharmacy or something. I can't believe this brave person tried using burn cream from nearly a decade ago (and thankfully, it didn't make things worse).

"Accidentally printing entire purchase history."

A woman with both hands up, showing an absurdly long receipt that spans dozens of feet in a store.
Reddit | Nairobism

I almost feel bad for the cashier who did this, but this has got to be one of the funniest pictures I've ever seen.

At least you know that woman is a loyal customer.

"Got Chinese food for dinner, this was my fortune."

A fortune cookie fortune where half of the fortune is cut off, leaving the words "life difficult."
Reddit | that-one-redditor

I mean, the fortune does have a point. Life is difficult, and whether you already knew that, or it took this fortune to figure it out, the fact remains.

"They pay me to paint not move gravel."

A yellow line painted on pavement, and partially on a pile of gravel.
Reddit | Caffienefiend88

I guess this is a lesson for employers: if you pay your workers to do one thing, but expect them to do something else, they ain't gonna do it. Have fun with all that yellow gravel.

"The guy who brought my pizza was drifting I guess."

An open pizza box where the pizza is all smushed to one end.
Reddit | Alematrix3r

I swear, it seems like some pizza delivery people are out there stunt driving with your pizza. I guess it just goes to show you that ordering pizza can be a gamble sometimes.

"Employee of the month."

A sign on a register that says, "Try a tasty cookie warmed in Owen."
Reddit | Bloodstone2012

Yeah, a single letter can really make or break a sentence. But I think the most perplexing part about this mistake is the fact that W and V are very far apart on a standard keyboard...

"Asked my 11 yr old to clean up the bathroom, came back to this."

A toilet with a blue cover on it and toilet paper rolls on top of the cover, making it look like Cookie Monster.
Reddit | noapostrophe555

I guess that's what happens when you ask someone else to clean up. In other words, you never know what you're going to come back to.

"For a minute I thought I was being asked to join a pizza cult."

A Little Caesars sign saying to text "JOINLCUT" to a number for free stuff.
Reddit | Relative_Ad_2487

I'm not gonna lie, I also thought it said "JOINCULT." I think Little Caesars may have needed to rethink that acronym at the end.

"If your name is not Tim, you are safe."

A sign at a park that says "Take only photos, leave only footprints, kill only Tim (typo for time), Please stay on the trails."
Reddit | WrongWayCorrigan-361

Like I said before, a single letter can make a huge difference. Killing time and killing Tim are two very different things. One of them is, like, illegal, after all.

"If you've worked the night shift at a gas station, you know this type of creepy person..."

A sign on the window of a gas station asking people not to sit on the parking lot for more than 20 minutes because it's creepy.
Reddit | Particular-Guava-323

You don't need to have ever been a gas station attendant to know this kind of creepy person. I feel like those creepy people need to learn to be... a little less creepy, at least.

"My friends' first time in the Florida sun. Apparently it was also their first time using spray on sunscreen."

A family in swimsuits, facing away from the camera. Their backs are covered in uneven tan and burn lines from improper sunscreen application.
Reddit | mynickname86

Uhh, did they think they just had to spray a little bit on and it would be good? Maybe they should've spent a little bit more time indoors.

When you forget to close the door:

The inside of a portable toilet completely covered in snow.
Reddit | complete******

Portable toilets are pretty gross on a regular day, but there's no way in hell I'd be using one that's covered in snow.

Also... is that pee all over the side?