Everyone has a bad day from time to time, but hopefully none of us are having days this bad. From humiliating botched tattoos to irreparable property damage, reading the stories below will make most of us feel like our own days aren’t going too badly after all. Here is photographic proof of people whose days have clearly been ruined.
1. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?
It’s hard to view two brothers simultaneously winning the lottery as a bad thing—but did they really both win if one of them got a measly $7.00 while the other got nearly $300,000? We’ve all heard of income inequality, but this is ridiculous! I think it’s safe to say that James will be covering at least the next few family dinners…
2. Sick And Tired
Cutlery is usually a sign of etiquette and politeness, but clearly not in this case. This fork needs everyone to know that it destroyed that tire, with a vengeance!
3. Painting A Pretty Picture
We’re not quite sure how they got into this situation, but we do know that things just got a lot more colorful. They’re looking at one another to decide who to blame for the spill and who should have to clean it up—but these guys are probably better off just telling everyone that their modern art project is now complete...
4. A Walk In The Park
Now, I always thought I was bad at parking, but this photo just made me feel so much better about myself! But to be fair, maybe putting an upscale dealership full of expensive vehicles right next to a river was not the best idea in the world…
5. Come Fly With Me
For many of us, the only thing that makes long, uncomfortable plane rides tolerable is the fact that we can watch a movie to pass the time. So climbing on board and discovering that your TV is the only one that isn’t working is pretty much an immediate blow to your day. Better hope there was no additional turbulence along the way…
6. Naming Names
Is the concept of protecting someone’s identity so complicated? Does this newspaper not have an editor capable of spotting obvious and glaring contradictions within a single sentence? Either way, Tom’s day is going to be completely ruined when he reads this article…
7. Something’s Missing
This picture needs some explanation. When this man was bitten by a snake, he chopped off his own finger hoping to save himself from poison—only to be told that this measure was not necessary. I don’t mean to point fingers here, but seeing that empty spot on the X-ray monitor must really help it sink in just how bad the poor guy’s day really was…
8. Cookie Monster
The only thing worse than having something bad happen is having something that seems good turn out to be bad. False hope always leads to a painful downfall, and this chap learned that the hard way. And I thought dessert was supposed to be the fun part of the meal!
9. Well, That’s Awkward...
We go through great pains to prevent embarrassing ourselves in public, but we can only control our bodies when we’re awake. It’s one thing to learn that you have a sleepwalking problem, but it’s a whole other thing to learn it from the neighbor you just unwittingly put on a show for. At least they left a note before it happened again.
10. Key Largo
These guys were proud to learn that their armored vehicle was practically impenetrable to intruders, but they forgot one thing—that locking the keys inside makes it impenetrable to them, too. Forgetting this key detail secured the fact that this would be a terrible day for everyone involved—and locked it into their memories forever.
11. Candle In The Wind
This photo does not compute. Who is the person out there who is technologically advanced enough to be using a Mac, but primitive enough to need candlelight in order to do so? If it was a cozy, romantic setting they were going for, lighting their expensive laptop on fire probably did a thing or two to alter that mood.
12. Where Her Head Is At
Okay, nobody loves shopping at Wal-Mart that much! I think it’s safe to assume that whatever plans you had for how your hair would look when bleached did not include the Wal-Mart logo in the middle of your head. They better appreciate the free advertising.
13. Let It Snow!
I hate when I have to brush snow off my car—and that’s only on the outside! Whether this car is a convertible or someone just forgot to close its windows and doors, one thing is certain—that unless those kids who have to ride in the back seat enjoy their clothes being soaking wet, they are not going to have a very fun day…
14. Food For Thought
Imagine working your butt off for hours on end to get dinner ready, only to lose your entire meal to a silly little thing like your bowl having no bottom. And that food looks so good, too. I don’t know about you, but going hungry doesn’t usually make my day too much fun.
15. Let’s Have Another Cup Of Coffee
Poor Jonah Hill! Just minding his own business walking down the street, with no idea that his coffee cup just separated from its lid—or that a camera was capturing the whole thing. I guess even celebrities can have a bad day now and then.
Harald Krichel, Wikimedia Commons
16. Slippery When Wet
Looks like someone won’t be getting clean today. This person’s predicament should remind us all never to make our pressure on the faucet as aggressive as the water pressure we want for our showers.
17. You Say Tomato, I Say What?
I’ve never even seen a tomato that small, let alone grown one. Putting all that work into a homegrown crop only to have a disappointing result must suck—but your whole crop being one teeny, tiny deformed vegetable must suck even more. How do you even go about attempting to eat that thing?? It's more like a garnish.
18. Print That
There is no part of dealing with printers that isn’t extremely frustrating—but at least most printers don’t cover our entire bodies in ink stains. Even though the mishap probably ruined this guy’s day, let’s at least hope that his documents all printed properly.
19. It’s Aliiiiivve!!!
Oh yeah, a lizard with its tail cut off is definitely something you want to see in your morning cup of tea. Let’s just hope that this individual discovered the uninvited guest before taking their first sip.
20. Bird’s Eye View
If any bird belongs at a wedding, it’s the tuxedo-shaded penguin. When this bride said “I do,” this penguin found a weird way to celebrate. The only thing worse than having a bad day is having a bad day on what was supposed to be the best day of your life—especially when that bad day involves getting peed on. By a penguin.
21. Getting Cheesy
People, don’t put parmesan cheese in your backpack without making sure it’s closed. When this person’s laptop runs out of battery, their day is going to get real bad, real fast…
22. The Green Grass Of Home
Not only is this guy’s day ruined, but his front lawn will never be the same. It never hurts to double check what you’re spraying your grass with before spreading it all over your property—you know, just in case one of the substances might destroy an entire portion of your lawn. At least it looks like a cool pattern?
23. Put On A Happy Face
Wait, this wasn’t a costume party?? Well, that’s awkward. At least you can take solace knowing that you probably would have won first prize.
24. Mamma Mia!
This one is just painful. Such a hilarious tattoo idea, yet such an embarrassing mistake putting it on the wrong arm—not to mention an irreversible one. Carefully double checking the plans beforehand would have been a great way to prevent this fun endeavor from turning into a terrible day for whoever this arm belongs to…
25. Melting Away
This person just learned the true meaning of the phrase “I scream for ice cream.” He didn’t just spill a little bit of his dessert, he just lost all of his desserts for the next few weeks. That flavor looks delicious, but it clearly has no mercy.
26. Chain Of Command
The writing on this impromptu sign pretty much speaks for itself. It’s safe to say that your day gets instantly ruined when someone you don't even know forces you to spend it in a place you don’t want to be—all apparently for no good reason. The fate of this particular biker’s day seems pretty well locked down at this point...
27. Let It Bleed
When first responders arrived on the scene of this accident, they must have thought they were in for a long and tragic night when they saw this girl’s face covered in blood. Luckily, they soon found out that the blood was fake and part of a costume. Still, this could not have been a fun ordeal to have gone through for anyone involved.
28. The Name Game
So you’re a big enough fan to go to a book signing, but not a big enough fan to notice that you mixed up the author with somebody else? Hopefully with all their experience in comedy, Woody Harrelson and Woody Allen will have a sense of humor about this little mixup. Either way, reading that note had to have ruined this fan’s day.
29. Lockdown
There is nothing fun about getting locked out of your house. And there is also nothing fun about being tormented by the sight of your keychain right behind the door. The only thing worse than a bad day is a constant visual reminder of how bad it really is.
30. The Man In The Mirror
We all have settings in which we prefer to remain anonymous and keep our identities a secret. We’d better hope that whoever Mr. X is hiding from doesn’t get a look at this photo. Whoever forgot to blur the mirror in the picture definitely has some self-reflection to do…
31. You’ve Got A Friend In Me
Normally, being told that someone considers you a friend is a good thing. But when the person calling you a friend is someone you have a romantic crush on, there can be nothing worse in the world for you to hear. The poor guy in this photo got this gift from his crush, and learned the hard way that being friendzoned is a guaranteed way to ruin your day.
32. It’s For A Friend!
It’s always important to proofread your messages from the other person’s perspective, because context really does matter. In this girl’s case, it almost cost her a job. She sent her boyfriend's letter of resignation to her own manager to print for her, leading to a classic mixup. That next shift must have been pretty awkward…
33. In The Still Of The Night
A bad night can be just as upsetting as a bad day—and a door collapsing and landing on you while you’re trying to sleep is usually a sign of a bad night. He probably thought he was just having a nightmare when he first heard that crashing sound.
34. Music To My Ears
Breaking your headphones sucks under any circumstances, but pulling them apart so hard that they land in different continents is bad luck of epic proportions. Let’s just hope that whoever this was isn’t hoping to listen to music in stereo any time soon.
35. Not My New Floors!
Everyone enjoys getting a new paint job for their kitchen, but most of us would prefer for that not to come at the expense of the floor renovations we just paid to have done. After all, this turmeric stained the floor. I think it’s safe to say that yellow doesn’t quite go with the rest of the color scheme.
36. Drive By
This isn’t just a picture of a destroyed car. This is a picture of a destroyed car that had just been repaired by a mechanic the day before it burst into flames. As if that’s not bad enough already, the car’s owner had also spent $2,000 on those repairs, only to go through this frustrating and dangerous ordeal shortly after.
37. Hitting The Jackpot
Isn’t getting a present supposed to be a good thing? This note sounds more like a letter from the Grinch than a Christmas card! All I can say is that I won’t be taking investment advice from Nicole any time soon.
38. This Little Piggy Went To Market
Leaving your car in a parking lot overnight is the right thing to do when you’ve been drinking and don’t want to endanger anyone on the roads. However, as the expression goes, no good deed goes unpunished! This poor fellow did the right thing, only to discover that a farmer’s market was happening in that parking lot the next day, and his car was stuck in the middle of it all.
Chris Mok || @cr.mok, Unsplash
39. Waterfall
When water spontaneously started to drip from the foot of this Jesus statue in India, many shocked worshippers thought it was a miracle and enthusiastically consumed the "holy water." There was only one problem—the liquid was actually just ordinary water from a clogged pipe, and it made its drinkers sick. This day went from holy to horrible in an instant.
40. Take Me Out To The Ball Game
How could a day at the beach possibly go wrong? Oh wait, maybe a giant beach ball on a rampage of doom is how! Reading this story might scare you away from the shores for a long time to come.
41. Stairway To Heaven
Climbing onto your roof to get some work done is a great way to spend a morning—but you’d better make sure there is someone else around when you do so. This poor sucker better enjoy the song “Up On The Roof,” because that’s all he’ll be able to sing for a while…
42. Too Close For Comfort
This picture gives the term “face planting” a whole new meaning. This kid may be crying now, but no one can claim that he didn’t leave his mark.
43. Just Hanging Around
When this fellow said he wanted to move up in the world, he really meant it. This is one glass ceiling that might have been better left unbroken. He’s either a superhero on his way to fight an epic battle, or he’s just a guy having a really bad day.
John Robert Marasigan, Unsplash
44. Splish Splash
Sometimes, the finish line finishes you! It’s bad enough that this guy lost the race, but did he have to lose his dignity too? Not only did he suffer the humiliation of all those spectators watching his fall, but now he can relive the moment for the rest of his life as new people discover the image on the internet.
45. Bee My Baby
Beekeepers are a crucial part of our society, and our food habits wouldn’t be the same without them—but it can definitely be a thankless job at times. This kid’s lips are all the evidence you need to remember that working with bees can be dangerous and unpleasant. And that was only after his first week on the job.
46. Just One Of The Girls
Is that distinction really necessary? I’m sure Yuna is beautiful on the inside! Instead of being proud about seeing her name on the big screen, these credits probably ruined her day in a pretty big way.
Santeri Viinamaki, Wikimedia Commons
47. Broken Heart
That was not supposed to happen. It’s true that there’s no place like home, but that only matters when you can actually get inside. This guy will definitely be making sure he gets a stronger key next time…
01x07x2022000, Wikimedia Commons
48. Dirty Laundry
Chores are never fun, but people messing with your stuff and costing you money while you’re trying to do them instantly makes them ten times worse. At least this person is ready, willing, and able to avenge this grave injustice that was done to them. The naked truth is this—never mess with someone else’s clothes.
49. Leg Man
When you spot a crawling creature with eight legs, you definitely don’t want it anywhere near you—let alone taking a little stroll in your morning coffee mug. No amount of caffeine is worth that level of grossness.
Poyt448, Peter Woodard, Wikimedia Commons
50. Pet Sounds
This woman probably thought her day was going great when she gleefully posed for a selfie with her dog. Little did she realize that this lovable pet was about to start puking all over her. The look of shock on her face as she realized what was going on says everything you need to know about how messy this day was about to get.
