13 Unbelievable Public Transportation Encounters That Will Haunt Your Commute Forever
Ever find yourself wondering what kind of characters you’ll meet on your daily commute? Public transportation—love it or loathe it—it’s a wild stage where the bizarre, the creepy, and the downright unforgettable play out before your very eyes. Sure, it gets you from point A to point B, but sometimes it feels like you’ve boarded a real-life thriller or a sideshow freak tent. From trenchcoat-wielding meat vendors to strangers who think your lap is the perfect seat, the tales shared by commuters on r/AskReddit might just make you double-check your bus schedule… or avoid public transit altogether. Ready to have your spine tingled and your idea of “normal” upended? Buckle up—these stories prove that sometimes, the scariest rides aren’t on the road, but in the seats right next to you. LEARN MORE
Whether it’s dealing with total jerks or snapping a photo of something completely bizarre, life is never boring on public transport. In fact, people are often pretty thankful that it takes them from point A to point B. For all its benefits, though, there are some definite downsides—it really tends to bring out the worst in people.
Sometimes, passengers can be rude and weird, other times they are downright scary or even aggressive. People who encountered such commuters shared their creepiest stories with fellow members of the r/AskReddit community. Just to warn you, they might send a shiver down your spine.
Bored Panda has collected some of the most unsettling answers to share with you, so check them out below. If you’re up for it, let us know what you think about all these stories in the comment section.
I was waiting for the bus late at night, when a guy with a trenchcoat approached me, and whispered “Psst – Hey… want some meat?”
I immediately thought he was going to flash me, but before I could react, he opened his trenchcoat to reveal… meat. Actual meat, in styrofoam packages, in his trenchcoat pockets! Ground meat, chicken.. all kinds of meat.
Didn’t even know what to say. I mumbled something about being a vegetarian and ran to a nearby convenience store.
…I actually think it may have been LESS creepy if he flashed me.
I couldn’t get into a general chem class at my uni, so I was taking it at a local community college after my courses at uni. The days we had lab, the class ended at 11:45p, which was always the exciting time to ride the train on the way home.
One night, I got on the train and stood in the middle section standing area, as to not disturb the characters on the train. A guy gets on at the next stop and stands across from me. I was reading a book and ignored him, although I noticed he kept eying me. As I looked up to check the next stop, he says “You could fit in my trunk.”
I immediately got off the train with the next large group and called my boyfriend to pick me up.
I was riding a not very crowded bus in LA, when a very old woman gets on the bus (80s?). She is wearing a skin tight sequined dress, has crazy white hair, and is carrying some groceries. And she has an eye socket that has been completely gouged out. There is still dried blood, and as she stands next to me (there were open seats) she keeps picking at her eye, and wiping her hand on the grocery bags that were banging into me.
She seemed perfectly fine. Just a lady with a completely gouged out eyeball on the bus.
I fell asleep on a bus and woke up to a very old, scary-looking woman caressing my cheek with a very loving touch as she whispered “I’ve missed you so much.” She thought I was her son who died 30 years ago.
I was taking the last bus home from a friend’s house at about 1 am. The bus is completely empty except for me and the bus driver until we get to a stop about 15 minutes from my house. A man gets on holding an animal carrying cage, sits directly next to me, and pulls a large, fuzzy rabbit out of the cage. He then sticks the rabbit DOWN THE FRONT OF HIS SWEATPANTS and smiles creepily at me until I get off the bus.
My first year living in a city I was waiting for a bus late at night when two homeless-looking fellows approached me in the bus shelter. They asked if I had any change. I said told them I didn’t (which was true). One of the guys pulled out a knife and said “that’s cool we can hit up an ATM”. “So this is how I die” I thought as I figured they would be upset when they dragged me down the block and didn’t get anything out of it (I had $2.80) in my account. Luckily a group of other people walked into the bus shelter at that moment and the guy quickly put the knife away “ha ha, just kidding man!” and they ran off. Then my bus showed up and I got on. THE END
I am a little big boned, and usually have to sit a little off the seat on the NYC bus. One day, on a busy rush hour bus, at the 42nd street stop a woman comes on the bus and sat on my knee. She was late 30’s, dressed like she works in a nice office, by all accounts normal, except she sat on my knee. I didn’t say anything for two blocks (genuine SAP moment), tried to gather the courage to say something for the next two blocks, then she got up and left. No one said a word, or even looked at us.
There is a guy who rides on the Red Line in Chicago who will ask to look at your shoes. Do not let him do this. He bends down and starts licking them. One of my friends got his shoes licked, then he asked another one who was wearing sandals. This apparently has happened to several people I know.
While I was flying home during the holidays last year the person sitting next to me kept falling asleep and leaning on my shoulder. I asked one of the flight attendants if I could move to an empty seat because he had done it 5 or 6 times in an hour after i asked him to stop. He turns his head and says, “I wasn’t falling asleep.”
I used to ride the bus every day to work back in 2000. I’m a friendly, outgoing person, so I’d chit-chat with people on the bus with me. One guy was there most days, do we’d chat fairly often. There was always something a little… off… about him. Like, a very real delay between when I’d say something and when it would register in his brain.
One day, we were chatting about… something, and the guy mentions that he had made some mistakes in the past, but that god ha forgiven him. Naively, I ask what he did. He tells me, in all seriousness, “I, ah… Bombed a couple of abortion clinics.”
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