Everyone has a day when the toast lands butter-side down, the bus leaves just as you reach the stop and the one shirt you needed has a stain on it. The photos below are those days, caught on camera: a car swallowed by a flooded hole, a dress snagged by an escalator, a bottle that exploded in a freezer, a cyclist mid-crash and a pedestrian about to be soaked by a passing car.
They are funny because nobody in them was badly hurt, and because we recognise ourselves. They also have something in common. Most of these mishaps are not pure chance. They come from ordinary physics and small decisions: leaving a window open, trusting an old shelf, putting a sealed bottle in the freezer, standing too close to a puddle. So alongside each picture you will find a short note on what probably happened and, where it helps, how to avoid the same fate.
The photos were shared widely on humour sites and social media and their original owners are mostly unknown; the pages where they were found are credited at the end. After the gallery, there is a short look at why bad luck feels so personal and what research on luck actually says.
On the road and around the car
1. The car that sank
A small silver hatchback has dropped nose-first into a water-filled hole in a car park, while the car beside it was parked a metre away and escaped. Sudden holes like this usually open when a drain, culvert or water pipe underneath fails and washes the ground away. If a road surface near you is sagging or cracking after heavy rain, report it to the local council rather than parking on it.
2. A gift from above
The driver left the window down on a grey day, and a bird left its mark right in the middle of the leather seat. Two bits of bad luck at once: rain on the outside, a dropping on the inside. Bird droppings are acidic, so wipe them off seats and paintwork quickly with water and a mild cleaner.
3. Only the mirror shows
After a heavy snowfall, this car has vanished under a smooth white blanket except for one wing mirror poking through. Digging out is the easy part; clear the whole roof, lights and windows before driving, because snow sliding forward off the roof can blind you when you brake.
4. The tree that chose this car
A tree heavy with snow and ice has snapped and landed across a parked saloon. Ice can multiply the weight on branches many times over, which is why storms knock down so many trees. In freezing weather, avoid parking under large, overhanging limbs, especially old or leaning trees.
5. The roadside waterfall
Perhaps the most famous photo in this collection: a pedestrian on the kerb disappears behind a huge wall of spray as a car ploughs through a flooded gutter. In the UK, driving through a puddle to soak someone can be treated as careless driving, so drivers have good reason to slow down. Pedestrians can help themselves by stepping back from the edge when water pools at the roadside.
Disasters at home
6. The tap that came off in his hand
Someone turned a bathroom tap and the whole spout broke away, leaving a jagged piece of chrome-plated metal in their hand. Cheap taps are often made of thin cast alloy that corrodes from the inside. If you know where your stop valve is, a broken tap is a nuisance; if you do not, it becomes a flood.
7. Bubbly in the freezer
A bottle of sparkling wine went into the freezer for a quick chill and came out in pieces. Water expands by about nine percent when it freezes, and a sealed bottle under gas pressure has nowhere to go. Set a timer, or chill bottles in a bucket of ice and water instead; it is faster anyway.
8. The cupboard that gave up
A whole wall cabinet has come off its fixings and crashed onto the worktop, scattering cups, tins and glass. Kitchen units are often hung on screws into plasterboard that cannot carry the weight of full shelves. Heavy cabinets need proper wall plugs or a hanging rail fixed into studs or masonry.
9. The glass table
A glass dining table has collapsed into a carpet of shards, taking bottles and a jug with it. Sudden failure of glass furniture can come from a chip at the edge, uneven weight or, with some types of toughened glass, a tiny flaw that gives way without warning. Keep children and pets out of the room and use thick gloves and a vacuum to clean up.
10. A shelf full of beer
A shelf in a cabinet gave way and sent brown glass bottles across the floor. Bottled drinks are far heavier than they look, and a whole crate of them can easily overload a thin shelf or its plastic support pegs.
11. The jar that met a knife
A large kitchen knife has ended up plunged into a jar of juice on a crowded counter, probably after sliding off a cluttered draining rack. It is funny in a photo, but it is also a good reason to store knives in a block or on a magnetic strip rather than loose among cups.
Clothes, gadgets and everyday errands
12. Sitting on a fresh coat of paint
An older woman in a bright red coat sits calmly on a newly painted red bench, with a "wet paint" sign on the pavement at her feet. At least the colours match. Paint marks are much easier to remove while fresh; a little white spirit or soapy water for oil and water-based paints respectively, tested on a hidden spot first.
13. The phone that fell through the gap
A phone slipped through a gap in wooden boards, was retrieved from under a car and now has a spider-web of cracks across the screen. A case with a raised edge and a screen protector are cheap insurance against exactly this kind of fall.
14. The iron and the sock
Someone pressed a hot iron onto a black synthetic sock, and the fabric melted straight onto the soleplate, leaving a sock-shaped hole. Many socks contain nylon or polyester, which melt at temperatures an iron easily reaches. Use the lowest heat setting for synthetics, or simply skip ironing socks.
15. Balloons that flew away
In the first frame a girl poses with a huge bunch of colourful balloons; in the second she looks up, laughing, as they disappear into the sky. Balloons released into the air eventually come down as litter, and some councils and wildlife groups discourage releases, so keep a firm grip or tie them to your wrist.
16. The dress and the escalator
A smiling shopper stands at the top of an escalator in a long patterned dress; in the next picture she is holding up the torn hem. Long skirts, loose laces and soft shoes can get caught where the steps meet the comb plate at the end of an escalator. Lift loose fabric and step off promptly.
Animals, sport and the great outdoors
17. The stunt that did not land
A BMX rider at a skate park has parted company with his bike in mid-air, upside down, while a friend watches. Falls are part of learning tricks, which is why helmets and pads are standard in the sport.
18. Bees in the fuse box
Someone opened an outdoor electrical cabinet and found it full of honeycomb. Honeybee swarms look for dry, sheltered cavities, and an enclosure with a small gap is ideal. Do not try to remove the comb yourself; a local beekeeper can often collect the colony, and an electrician should check the box afterwards.
19. A stowaway on the bananas
A shopper's gloved hand reaches for a bunch of bananas in a supermarket, and a large spider is sitting on the fruit. Spiders and other small animals occasionally travel with fruit shipments. Most are harmless, but if you find one, leave it alone and tell the shop staff.
20. The horse who stopped
A horse has refused or stumbled at a jump, and its rider is sliding headfirst over its neck towards the sand. Refusals are common in show jumping and usually end with a bruised ego. Her helmet and body protector are doing their job.
Why bad luck feels so personal
The idea that "anything that can go wrong will go wrong" has a name, Murphy's law. It is linked to Edward A. Murphy Jr., an engineer working on US Air Force rocket-sled tests around 1949, after sensors were wired the wrong way round. John Paul Stapp, the Air Force officer running the tests, popularised it as a reason to plan for every failure.
Scientists point out that the law works mostly on memory. We notice and retell the one time the toast fell badly and forget the hundred times it did not. With billions of people taking photos every day, rare accidents are guaranteed to happen somewhere, and the most dramatic ones are the ones that get shared.
Psychologist Richard Wiseman studied people who described themselves as lucky or unlucky for about ten years. He concluded that people make much of their own fortune: so-called lucky people tend to notice opportunities, trust their instincts, expect good outcomes and bounce back from setbacks. People who see themselves as unlucky tend to feel more anxious, which makes them miss chances and dwell on misfortune.
Turning near-misses into habits
Look back at the twenty photos and a pattern appears. Most of the trouble came from small, fixable things:
- Check the weather before leaving windows open or parking under trees.
- Do not overload shelves and cabinets, and fix heavy units properly to the wall.
- Never freeze sealed bottles; use ice and water to chill drinks.
- Keep sharp knives stored safely, not loose on a crowded counter.
- Watch loose clothing on escalators and keep phones in a protective case.
- Read the signs, especially the ones that say "wet paint".
Not every misfortune can be prevented, of course. When it cannot, the best response is the one several people in these photos chose: take a picture, laugh, and tell the story later.
Sources: background on Murphy's law and research on luck (Wikipedia). Photos found via Pinterest, BuzzFeed, TBD, Viraisfeed, Vidmax, Smosh and eBaum's World (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14). Original photographers unknown.
COMMENTS