‘What is, by far, the stupidest decision you’ve ever made?’ – 22 people who can’t believe their own empty-headedness

We all do silly things from time to time, but have you ever done something so monumentally dumb that afterwards you could not believe that you did it? You’re in good company. Over on the AskUK subreddit, user PaddedValls asked ‘What is, by far, the stupidest decision you’ve ever made?’ and followed it up with a story of their own idiocy…

‘When I was 18, I stupidly decided not to pull over when flashed by the police. I didn’t have anything illegal on me, I hadn’t done anything too bad (I was originally speeding) and I hadn’t had any run ins with the police before that.

‘I don’t know what I was thinking. I remember at the time (20 years ago) that it was for a laugh and that I’d just get a slap on the wrist. I took them on a bit of a ‘chase’ for about 10 minutes. Instant driving ban and fine. Lucky I never went to jail.’

And plenty of people were keen to jump in with tales of their own utter brainlessness.

1.

‘Mortgage rates will stay this low. I don’t need a longer fixed rate term for £70 extra per month.’
–Cottonshopeburnfoot

2.

”I’m so thirsty, this Spanish hotel bathroom tap water will be fine’.’
–Sad-Garage-2642

3.

‘Getting all the credit when I turned 18. Then defaulting on all the credit a mere handful of months later. Then having to go through my 20s and 30s crippled by repayments and with an untouchable credit rating.

‘It was so bad that I got my first mobile phone contract on my 18th birthday. I was accepted for my second one when I was 38.’
–knight-under-stars

4.

‘I was one of those awful people you read about who left London during the pandemic. Had some money saved, and realised a mortgage on a 4 bed house up north would be cheaper than rent on a 2 bed flat.

‘I wasn’t going to the office, or really going anywhere at all, and living somewhere with direct access to the countryside was appealing at a time when walks were the only activity. My brain was fried from lockdown and in a moment (a drawn-out process of several months) of madness I moved.

‘Within weeks I had the ‘What have I done?’ fear. Hated the area, hated the house itself. My neighbours were all Brexity boomers suspicious of anyone who’s ever been to that London. Anyway, I’ve since corrected my course. But Christ, what a couple of years. Lesson learned. Don’t move and buy a house without doing any research into the area or paying attention to what needs doing to the property.’
–Norman_debris

5.

‘Not paying into my pension when I first started working in the NHS. I could have retired next year at 55. Now I have to work till I die. Doh!’
–insertitherenow

6.

‘Did really well in college in English language and literature and had the opportunity to study journalism or classical studies/lit.

‘But I decided to study creative music technology instead because I was getting really into recording after forming a band in high school. Needless to say my sludge metal band never took off, my university course went nowhere and I’m currently managing a bakery.’
–Deep_Banana_6521

7.

‘That French style roast beef looks perfectly fine in this Egyptian hotel buffet.’
–orbtastic1

8.

‘Getting a girl’s name tattooed. And getting a tattoo in general.’
–Affectionate-Boot-12

9.

‘Buying a canal boat with my ex, you pay for the boat, I’ll pay for the work that needs to be done. Two years later, we split up, and apparently, it was never my boat. Never saw a penny even after she sold it a year or two later. Wild really, we’d been friends half our lives.’
–Eastern_Bit_9279

10.

‘When I was 17, I had about 30 driving lessons. Turned 18, had all my money saved and ready for the final few lessons and the test. Decided to buy an ounce of weed instead, cos some of my mates were heading off to uni and I wasn’t going to hang out with them as much.

‘Smoked it all over the course of about a week or two with my mates. Went off to uni myself, never got round to finishing up and taking my test, because I was skint and living somewhere I didn’t need to drive. I’m 40 years old now and still don’t have a driving license.’
–ben_jamin_h

11.

‘Not investing in crypto way back in 2010 and instead wasted my time being a dumbass kid playing Battlefield 3 and Halo Reach all day.’
–DeadliftYourNan