17 People Who Followed Their Gut and It Paid Off

1.

Late at night, I was sitting in my car waiting for my boyfriend to finish his shift. A guy walks past and we make eye contact. I feel this sense of danger but figure I'm overreacting. A few minutes pass and the fear won't go away.

I finally decide to move my car away from the edge of the parking lot to the front of the restaurant in the customer parking area. I start up my car and just as I'm putting it into drive, the guy rushes out from behind and tries to yank open my door, pulling on it really hard. I hit the gas and he trails me for a second, then hits my window with a rock.

I keep going and he throws the rock at me then runs away. I was shaking so badly I could barely steer. Pretty sure he was sneaking up on me just as I decided to start my engine.

2.

I was working on a radio system in the local water tower of a pretty remote outback town. It was a beautiful late spring day in October when I got there, but after about 2 hours the bird noises stopped, the breeze stopped...

I took my equipment out of standby and flagged it as live test because I had the weirdest feeling I didn't have time to fully test it, and went outside to sit in the car.

About ninety seconds later there was a direct lightning strike on the tower I'd just left, it was the highest point in 200km. It was literally the loudest thing I'd ever heard. Ever.

3.

I was sitting on the beach alone and noticed that a man walking along the water was staring at me. I tried to shake it off thinking maybe he had friends or family somewhere behind and wasn’t actually looking at me.

He started walking up from the water and walked right up to me, but didn’t stop and circled around me. I felt awkward so I didn’t make eye contact. He walked away. I’m thinking at the time, maybe it was in my head.

About an hour later, he came back and did the same thing. Went down to the water, looked at me, then started walking up to me. He came right up to me again and as he starts to circle me I look at him and notice he’s staring not only at me but also at all of my things, like he was taking inventory of what I had with me. I finally said, “Can I help you?” And he seemed surprised that I spoke up and says, “oh no, no, no!” And walks away.

After he walked away, I couldn’t shake the uneasy gut feeling. They say when you know something is wrong, not to ignore your gut feeling. And I can’t explain it but I KNEW.

I was too scared to walk back to my car alone, so I ended up walking over to another man nearby who had been keeping to himself and told him what had happened and that I just wanted someone to walk back to the parking lot with so I wouldn’t have to walk back alone. He confirmed that the man was in fact totally watching me the entire time I was there - he noticed and said he saw him creeping around a couple other girls as well.

That beach is ruined for me. As I walked back with the kind stranger I still felt like I was being watched and I was paranoid my entire drive home. I’m so thankful for that kind stranger. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and if you feel like you’re in danger, don’t ignore that feeling!!

4.

I was walking to school in middle school and this lady with a car pulled over next to me and called me Linda. That's not my name, but was close enough I looked up.

She apologized and explained she thought I was her grandkid. Then she offered me a ride to school. Except that I was already standing on the school grounds. I had a half block walk before I needed to turn to walk into the building.

When I said no, she tried to demand I get into the car. I said no thanks and took off running. It occurred to me much later that she probably had no intention of dropping me off at school.

5.

It was at the local mall a few years ago, I was there with a friend. She went into the bathroom and I was waiting alone outside the bathroom, it was near closing hours so it wasn't surprising that some guard told me that it was almost time to leave.

But before I could respond to it I took one good look at him and my stomach turned. It was not a guard. But he acted like he was. He then offered to escort me out of the building, people walked past and I noticed his badge was plastic and from some toy store. I just told him no and kept on waiting for my friend.

I looked at him my stomach turned and I got shivers. When my friend got out of the bathroom he was gone. She asked me who I was talking to and after I told her we got out of there quick.

A week after, I was there again to get some stuff and asked an actual security guard about the guy from earlier. They had to escort him out several times because he kept posing as a guard to get teenagers to come into his car. I haven't seen the guy since and it still gives me the creeps when I see that bathroom door. Waiting there felt like years. Who knows what actually could have happened if I listened to him? I also wonder if anyone ever actually followed him.

I hope not.

6.

I’m a chalk muralist and was hired by my city to create art along walkways downtown for a festival. The thing with chalk art is you kinda have to create it the same day it’ll be displayed, meaning that I had to get started around 4am in order to be fully finished by the time the festival began at 10am.

It was around 5am, still dark, and I was just finishing up outside of a coffee shop located in a stand-alone building. I noticed a guy slowly walking down the street, several blocks away and very far ahead of me. He was far enough away that even if he’d started sprinting towards me, I would’ve had plenty of time to get into my car and flee. Still, something didn’t sit right, so I kept my eye on him.

When he got about a block away, he took a left down a street where I could no longer see him. As soon as that happened, my inner voice told me I needed to get the f*ck out of there. So without gathering my chalk or any other supplies, I grabbed my car keys and hauled a*s to my car on the other side of the lot. I got in and locked my doors just in time to see him literally run out from the opposite side of the coffee shop where I’d seen him walking - right where I would have been on my hands and knees in a vulnerable position if I hadn’t gotten up. Idk what he was planning, but his body language told me he was in attack mode.

I ended up waiting it out for about a half hour, grabbed my supplies, and came back once the sun was up. It put me behind on finishing my work on time, but I will gladly take that L any day.

7.

It wasn’t me that noticed “something is not right”. Once a women came up to me on a train that I had gotten on and said “I just wanted you to know that man there is following you” and he was.

He followed me (in a quiet way) when I changed trains, and I ended up asking a cop to walk me home. It was one of the creepiest experiences of my life. In hindsight I shouldn’t even have gone home. I’m pretty sure he stopped following me when I spoke with the police officer. But still.

8.

I've got 2 of them. Both shook me up.

I worked as a bouncer in 'BFE' Missouri and about midnight one night I got sent to Walmart for some things. Driving down 50 I caught glimpse of a figure on the side of the road. Ghostly corner of your eye kind of thing. I pulled over and a young woman approached my passenger door.

She was hyperventilating almost and really freaked out. I couldn't understand her so I just told her to get in my truck. As we sat there for a moment she tried to talk. Just then a van pulled up behind me, still on the side of highway 50, and a man jumped out and approached the passenger side window that was still down.

He grabbed the girl and starting cussing at me. About half a second goes by before I collect myself and in my biggest voice calmly explain he needs to back off and she's not leaving my truck. I told him I have no idea what's going on but I'm taking her wherever she wants to go.

We talked on the way to the hospital. She was from out of state, some guys she met through a friend assaulted her and drug her out to a field. She was beaten until she played dead. She escaped from the back of the van when they stopped for gas.

I don't usually stop for strangers at midnight but something in my gut made me slam on my brakes for that woman.

Other Missouri story, still bouncing. I used to drive girls for private shows. One girl decided to schedule her own show and make some money without having to tip me I guess. Guys wouldn't give her the address for the party just told them to meet them at a closed gas station off of 50.

On the way there she got nervous and called me. I was in bed half asleep but after hearing her I tried to talk her into just turning around. She insisted on meeting the guys because she needed the money. Made some comment about if I don't go with her it'll be my fault when she's missing and on the news.

So I met her at the empty gas station. The whole scene made me nervous, especially because they weren't expecting me. And as**oles get stupid when spooked. We sat for 10 minutes while we waited. The whole time I tried to convince her to go home.

3 vehicles rolled up with several guys in them. They were all drunk/f*cked up. She jumped out the car to be friendly. But the moment I stepped out and they saw me they started cussing and hollering and rolled out in a hurry.

I'm not the toughest idiot, I just don't think they expected a witness. Avoid highway 50

9.

My mom awoke from a dead sleep and had a horrible feeling so she checked on her children all fine and asleep cause it was like 2 in the morning.

Feeling stupid for worrying over nothing she decided to smoke a cigarette to calm her nerves before she went to bed.

As she was trying to light it she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, Before going to the bar my dad has made himself some ramen on the gas stove and he'd turned the flame off but left the gas on. Horrified she snapped it off and threw open the doors and the windows not daring to smoke inside until 2 days later out of paranoia

10.

I caught some creepy guy trying to expose himself to my 11-year-old daughter. It was a gut feeling to go check on her (I was in another part of a store and walked up just in time). Always follow your instincts and trust your gut.

11.

I planned to visit my Dad in the afternoon. Called him in the morning to ask if he needed anything because I was about to go to the store anyway and could easily pick up some things for him. He didn't answer.

A little weird for him but not too uncommon. But I had that thought in the back of my head. So I tried again like 30 minutes later. Again, nothing. Neither landline or mobile. So I decided to drive over there early and check.

Can't really explain it but I just knew that something had happened. Found him dead in his house. He fell and cracked his head open. To this day I don't actually know what was worse: finding him like this, or the 30 minute long drive where the feeling grew that I was going to walk into something like that.

12.

When I was 10 years old, my grandma was watching my younger siblings and me while our parents were at a weekend-long work conference.

We were sitting in the living room eating pancakes, and my siblings were watching cartoons while I read the newest Harry Potter book, which had just come out the day before.

My brother asked my grandma for more pancakes and she started to get up. I was only half paying attention because I was engrossed in my book, but out of the corner of my eye, I felt like she was taking longer than usual.

She tried to get up, but her leg wouldn’t move. She tried to pick it up with her hands, but one of her hands wouldn’t move. I knew something was wrong and I put down my book.

Then she fell out of her chair onto the floor. I screamed and she tried to tell me that she was fine, her leg had just fallen asleep and she tripped, but her voice was coming out all slurred and only half of her face was moving. I recognized signs of a stroke from The Baby-Sitters Club.

I ran into the kitchen- she had no cell phone back then- and called 911. Well, first I called my best friend, the only phone number I could remember, and asked her mom if I need to dial an area code before 911. THEN I called 911. Meanwhile, my siblings got the handyman who was mowing the backyard to come in and help out.

The ambulance arrived and they took her to the hospital, and I don’t remember much else. My best friend’s mom must have somehow gotten hold of my parents because they did eventually show up at the hospital.

But here’s the good news: because she was treated so quickly, she made a full recovery and is still alive and in good health almost 20 years later!

13.

Texted my friend Katie the night before and never got a response which was unlike her. I had a gut feeling something was wrong based on that. Later in the day my other friend said we needed to talk and I instantly knew my friend was dead.

She had died in a car accident the night I texted her, and I knew deep down before anyone told me.

14.

I was home alone and someone rang my doorbell. It was dark and I could see a person, but I was unable to see his face (only like a shadow.) I didn't open the door because he never answered so I went back to playing.

However my dog would look straight at the door like he knew something was not right. After 2 hours my parents arrived and told me there were police cars on our street. Apparently, that person was a burglar and he knocked out one of my neighbors, and stole from his house. This happened 2 years ago but I still feel unsafe because I am probably the only one that was able to see his face.

15.

I was living about five hours away from my parents and spent Easter with them. The plan was to take Monday off work and drive back that day, but for some reason, I decided to go back on Sunday night.

Woke up to a weird noise and hit the touch lamp next to my bed. It made a loud popping sound and turned off. Thinking something isn't right here, I got up and grabbed the bedroom door handle. It was so hot that I immediately pulled my hand back. As it turned out, my entire apartment was in flames.

My living room caught fire from a faulty electric outlet and it spread to the dining room by the time I got up. The only ways out were through the living room to the front door or through the dining room and kitchen to the back door.

I used whatever strength I had to shove my headboard away from the window, broke the window out with my glass, and just screamed. My landlord was letting a guy illegally live in a storage room. He heard me and ran right down the block to the fire station. They actually got me through the window and then put out the fire.

I was hours away from my family, had no money or ID, lost my cell phone and car keys in the fire, and it was only like 4am. I ended up losing pretty much everything. My neighbor was nice enough to let me shower at her place and give me some clothes until my parents made the drive.

16.

I took a class on, among other things, lighting in a theater. One day I was using a single person lift to put myself 20 meters above the floor to change one tiny thing on one light. As I raised the lift closer to the light I had this feeling and then it got progressively worse. Literally every single safety thing that could be wrong on this very heavy light 20 meters above the crossroads of multiple walkways was wrong and about as wrong as it could be.

It's a miracle this light hasn't fallen off and killed someone yet, and it was about to. Moreover, whatever idiot managed to screw it up this badly also managed to touch the power coupling to the crazy hot light and make it stay there and the power coupling was melted and somehow still functional. It's amazing the entire auditorium hadn't burned down whenever this idiot did this. It was extremely scary to me as I've been doing extracurriculars in that auditorium for the past nine years. I don't think this light had been touched so every one of the thousands of times I had used that path my life had been in danger.

Well, I fixed the light so it's safe now and had every single other light in the auditorium checked so it wouldn't be possible for another light done this badly to continue like this.

17.

My brother was walking home when he was about 7 or 8 and a man pulled up demanding to take my brother to the hospital because he was limping and was starting to push him into the car (he had foot surgery previously.)

Our neighbor, whose kids we used to play with, suspected something was up and yelled at the man and took my brother inside her house. The police didn’t catch the guy and years later come to find out the guy, along with his car matched the description of the man who kidnapped Steven Stayner a short time later. Life could have been very different if our neighbor hadn’t been paying attention.