Everyone has felt that punch to the gut when they realize they've sent a text to a wrong person. Let's hope that none of those are as bad as the stories listed here. We have collected the absolute best tales of Redditors who have sent the absolute wrong text to the absolute wrong person. I'm not sure their moms will ever forgive them. Some content has been edited for clarity.
Accidental Creeper
“My brother wanted to see a picture of a girl I was talking to on Tinder, so I proceeded to take a screenshot a photo from her profile then send it to him. I accidentally sent it to her…her own photo. Luckily, it was a photo of her and a friend, so I started sending her more and asked her to verify which person she was in each photo.
Looking back, she admitted it creeped her out, but we dated for two years afterwards.”
Babysitting Gone Wrong
“I sent the mom of the child I was babysitting a text stating that I would rather jump out of their window than continue to watch their kid for the rest of their night.
I paced back and forth in their house until they got home. They pretended nothing happened when they got home, but she later texted me saying something along the lines of, ‘I’m sure you didn’t mean it, which sucks because the kids really liked you.’
I apologized and never saw them again. Oops.”
Dad Please Don’t Read That
“My dad and my husband are both named Charles. I didn’t meet my dad until I was 19, so I call him Charles, not dad. Sent a picture of my giant pregnant sweater kittens saying I needed them massaged, among other things, to my husband.
Nope. Not my husband.”
Seriously, Twice?
“I was on a first date with a girl I had met through doing some community theatre. We’d gone to the movies to see ‘Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.’ Before the movie, we were chatting and slowly realizing that it definitely wasn’t meant to work out. We just had too many conflicting interests and opinions. It made the experience incredibly uncomfortable, especially because we started lightly arguing over things like politics and religion.
Before the movie started, I texted another friend of mine to tell her (the friend) how awful the date was going. And it was a door of a text. And then I heard that fateful sound. Immediately after clicking “send” on my phone, my date’s phone chimed. She pulled it out of her purse and read whatever text had come in. She then slowly turned to me and asked…
‘Did you MEAN to send that to me?’
I immediately realized and explained that I had just opened up whatever the most recent message in my inbox was and replied to that, with the intention of texting my friend. Or perhaps I’d clicked the wrong name in my contacts list (they both were the only names beginning with M in my phone). Needless to say, she was pretty upset.
I explained that, despite our differences I really enjoyed her company. I really did, because she was brilliant and beautiful. Certainly out of my league. So we continued the date as friends which was more awkward than we had anticipated.
After the movie, we went our separate ways. When I got back to my apartment, I texted that same friend again about how that date was incredibly uncomfortable and I doubted that there would be a follow up. My phone chimes.
‘You sent it to me again.'”
Oh, That’s How Group Chats Work Now?
“This was right when smart phones became a thing, and I was a bit late to the party because of when my upgrade was scheduled. So, I had just gotten a new smart phone, wasn’t fully acquainted with all the new/different features, and I was pretty hammered.
Remember how on old cell phones you could send a mass text and no one would be any the wiser? Well, I sent out a mass booty call text to like twenty girls in my phone, thinking it was twenty separate messages.
Instead, it was my first experience with a new thing called a ‘group chat.’ So that was really, really awkward. My friends still talk about it. Good times.
The worst part was that they all started talking to each other. About me. I felt like Adam Sandler in ‘The Wedding Singer’ when he’s singing about Linda.”
Honestly Impressed They Weren’t Fired
“Two years ago, it was the first week at work, and I had just been set up with my e-mail address. I’d made a few friends at work by then, and they sent me some funny e-mails. One I found hilarious, so, decided to send it on to a friend who worked in another department. I added her name, clicked a few buttons, and hit send.
All of a sudden, I got about 200 out of office replies.
My mind was hitting the deck, I was in complete panic mode now. I looked at the sent items and I had sent it to all the staff in the UK. I worked for a BIG company – over 10,000 employees in the UK alone. I called over a colleague to try to help out, but this was the fatal error, as within 10 minutes there were five of us surrounding this dumpster fire of a situation. They were in hysterics as they scanned the names of people I had sent it to, with the odd ‘He’s an MD’ and ‘He can probably get you sacked.’
At this point, I was feeling like Neo when the agents were coming for him, looking over my shoulders as if three guys were gonna roll round the corner and take me away. By this point, the responses had started coming in, thick and fast. Some with praise, other complaining that they did not want a distasteful joke from a ‘trainee,’ and that they would contact my boss, about 55 lol’s, and at least two dozen emails asking who I was.
I somehow didn’t get fired, but I did become a company legend.”
I Think Not Knowing Is Even Worse
“So I was 18 and I went home to visit my friends who had just graduated from public school (I went to boarding school a ways away). There were probably 50-70 kids at this party in the middle of nowhere Vermont on an apple orchard. There were little fires everywhere, a lot of cheap drinks, and pheromones were in the air. Anyways, the father of the kid who was hosting the party dragged a tree across the exit of the property to stop people from driving. This will come into play later. Great parenting decision right there.
I wanted to meet up with a girl I had been seeing on my breaks from boarding school. Her name was Molly. Which just so happens to be next to ‘Mother’ in my cell phone. (Yes, this is happening). Molly and I were texting back and forth, and things were heating up. And she was going to try to come by the party later that night. Meanwhile, I was a stupid 18-year-old who didn’t really know how to drink.
So I got pretty hammered, and I thought I should call Molly (for god knows what reason). Well, I ended up calling my mother and leaving a pretty terrible voicemail on her cell phone. Very suggestive. Very bad.
And so begins ‘Operation make it back home to delete the voicemail before my mom wakes up.’ Well, the only problem with being that plastered is that I didn’t know that any of this took place until it was already too late. So yeah, my mom heard the voicemail. It was terrible. My god. I still have no idea what I said.
I’m 23 now, and I don’t think I want to think about this again for at least another five years.”
Nudes and Double Chins
“I sent a nude to a group chat without knowing I’d taken it. There I was bending over to pick up a shirt and bra, understandably shirtless, with my phone in my hand. Next thing I know I’ve sent a lovely ‘selfie’ of two sweater kittens and seven chins to my DnD group chat made up of all dudes.
This happened two days ago, and I am still mortified. I can only hope I made someone’s day, because I cried. The worst part was it was a terrible photo, not like a nice posed one in my gallery; that would have been less painful. It was literally two awkward repositioning thumb swipes near what I now know must have been the open camera button on Facebook messenger with the chat already opened.”
Tech Start Ups Are Apparently Relaxed
“I sent a message to a coworker saying, ‘Can you please send Graham last night’s report ASAP because he is such a nutless little baby he can’t cope unless he knows that drop rates were down yesterday. I seriously hate him.’ Instead of sending it to the coworker, I replied to Graham, the owner of my company. I am a woman, which makes ‘nutless baby’ even worse, I think.
I told him that I was really hung over and just super cranky and somehow that was fine. It was a tech startup, so whatever. That company was out of business in five months. Management had no idea what they were doing and morale was horrible. It was a telecom company and Graham would buy the cheapest routes and then blame us for the bad quality. Can’t make a gold bar out of a turd, Graham.”
How Many Tacos Is Too Many Tacos?
“My freshman year roommate accidentally sent his academic advisor a time-lapse of himself eating 12 Taco Bell tacos. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder than after him yelling across the room, ‘OH NO, can I unsend an email???’
It all started when we saw a dude walk out of Taco Bell with 10 tacos and I said, ‘Huh, looks like he’s going to a party,’ and my roommate said, ‘Nah, those could be for just him,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, no way,’ so he replied ‘I bet I could eat 12,’ so we made the bet for a bowl of ice cream later on.
The next week, we went to Taco Bell and he ordered 12 tacos. Obviously, we had to record such a historic event, so over the next 40 minutes we made a time-lapse of him eating all 12 tacos, and he eventually saved it on his computer. Fast forward five months to April, when he was emailing his Honors academic advisor about scheduling for the next semester. He wrote the email, went to his files to attach his transcripts, typed ‘t’ and clicked the first thing there and hit send.
Cue panic from him and a lifetime of laughs from me!”
Well, That’s Just Impressive
“There was a time, several years ago, when I’d spend an evening or two every week at a rather interesting club in San Francisco, known as ‘The Glass Kat.’ It was frequently populated by a cadre of characters clad either in eclectic clothing or very little clothing at all, and at the time it seemed like an ideal hangout for a single guy with delusions of eccentricity.
While visiting this club one Wednesday night, I got drawn into a conversation with a young woman. She was interesting (although the lacy black brassiere she was wearing as her sole upper garment might have helped that sentiment along), and she seemed interested in me. So, as the evening drew to a close, I asked to exchange phone numbers with her, and she agreed. I left the club feeling both content and excited, eagerly looking forward to the next time I’d get to speak with her.
The following afternoon, I sent the young woman a text message: ‘It was great talking with you last night!’
A moment later, she responded: ‘I had a great time, too! Also, you’re nice to look at :)’
My heart jumped with elation, and I hastened to send my reply. ‘Thank you!’ I answered. ‘You’re pretty nice to look at, too!’
I waited in rapt anticipation, checking my phone every few seconds. When her next message finally arrived, though, I felt a dawning sense of confusion. ‘Thanks! So, do you always dress so… provocatively?’
Provocatively? I’d been clad in a suit and tie. ‘I tend to dress fairly well,’ I replied. ‘Usually I don’t wear the vest, though. How about you?’
‘Vest?’ she answered. ‘I must have missed it. All I saw was your bra 😉 I’d like to see you with it off! Hehe. I hope you don’t mind me saying so…’
… What?!
‘Wait, who is this?’ I asked.
‘Tom. Need a picture to remind you? ;)’
About that time, I started to suspect that I might have been texting the wrong person. As it turned out, both Tom and I had talked to the same girl while at the club the night before. Tom had given his number to her, and she had given Tom’s number to me. Needless to say, the outcome was a bit disappointing. I still don’t know how she managed pull off the deception without me noticing… but I suppose I may have been a bit distracted at the time.
Still, I’m just glad Tom stopped texting me when he did…”
This Might Technically Be A Crime
“I sent a text saying ‘I can’t wait to see you, I’m super eager to hang out,’ intended for my girlfriend. Except much more explicitly spelled out and sent to the 16-year-old worker at the restaurant I managed who shared the same first name. Much terrified apologies ensued, and the misunderstanding was put behind, thank god. There was a moment where I honestly thought I was going to jail.”
I Still Want To Know What The Show Was
“My girlfriend and I were driving around town doing errands. We ended up driving past a gentlemens club, and the marquee sign said, ‘Donkey Show at Midnight.’ We live in the United States, where that kind of thing is illegal, and certainly not advertised, so we spent some time theorizing about what this could actually mean.
Once we got home, she took a nap while I played video games. An hour or two later, she texted me and asked, ‘What do you want to do tonight?’
I thought about it for a few minutes, responded to the most recent text, and sent back a dirty response. There was no response for a while, which was odd; I was hoping for at least an eye roll. Eventually, she came downstairs and asked, ‘Why you no answer me?’
But…I had. As I checked my phone in confusion, I realized someone had texted me between her initial text and my response, and I responded to that text by mistake.
With dawning horror, I realized that I had inadvertently sent the following text message to my girlfriend’s mother:
‘Want to make our own donkey show?'”
This Is Why I Don’t Use Craigslist
“I was home alone when my wife texted me she was on her way and lusting after me. I drafted a few different messages and deleted each without sending them. I put my phone down for a few minutes, said whatever, and sent ‘I’m waiting on the couch… with nothing on.’
I accidentally sent it to a guy that was on his way to buy something from me off Craigslist. His reply was ‘Uhhhh what.’ I realized what I’d done and apologized. ‘But you’re still going to like sell me the thing, right?’
It was the most awkward transaction ever.”
I Made The Wrong Choice
“School had me swamped, and I barely got to see my girlfriend for a while, so I sent a mushy text about how she’s always on my mind and I love her. I accidentally sent it to a casual friend only to find out that she was secretly in love with me… it was a very awkward situation.
I tried to give her an out by pretending that my phone wasn’t showing the name of my contacts, but she didn’t take it and clarified it was her. We ended up agreeing that an in-person discussion would be better. We met up and had a very long, emotional talk, and it put a lot of things in perspective for me.
She asked me to dump my (then) girlfriend for her. That relationship wasn’t perfect, and I did very much love my girlfriend, but there was just something to her words they just felt so real and I began to falter. In the end, I decided to stay true to my girlfriend and turned her down. She said she understood as her eyes were tearing up and I felt like the worst person to ever live.
We didn’t hangout too much after that; I didn’t complain given the situation. She ended up finding someone which isn’t surprising because she’s a sweet and beautiful girl. As for me, I ended up being dumped for another guy… Oh the irony.”
Yea This Is Almost Certainly A Crime
“I have a close friend/co-worker (we’ll call him Joe). One day I gave Joe a ride home from work. I was trying to tell him about this single malt I like, but I couldn’t remember the name of it. So, when I got home, I sent him a picture of the (empty) bottle. The next night I get a reply that just says ‘Who is this?’
So this is where a smart person would say who they are and confirm who they were talking to. I, however, am not a smart man. I had just left Joe at a bar, and for some reason I assumed that he just didn’t have my number saved and/or was tipsy. So I texted him, ‘I smoke crack in your nightmares,’ which was a reference to an actual nightmare that a mutual friend had told Joe and I about. A few minutes later, I got a response that said ‘WHO IS THIS?’
Again, this is where a smart person might notice something is amiss. I, however, did not. Instead of wondering if I had the right number, I decided to tell him ‘check your chip-chafed butt crack.’ This was another inside joke, referring to something that had happened at work that day. I get another text that says ‘WHO ON EARTH IS THIS!?’
So at this point, I decide Joe is too out of it to understand these references. I tell him ‘Jeez, this is just sad now. It’s Steve.’
The response: ‘I DON’T KNOW A STEVE, WHO IS THIS?’
Finally, I started to catch on. I asked, ‘is this not Joe?’ They said, ‘NO, IT’S NOT AND YOU’RE SCARING MY SON!'”
Wait, You Did What To The Bathtub?
“My girlfriend and I were having flushing issues with our toilet. We did not have a plunger but when we needed to, we had been successful in unclogging the toilet with the toilet brush. One day, I had gotten home after a long drive of holding in a very urgent bowel movement. It was, what I like to call, a Threat Level: Midnight. This meant it was happening whether I was ready for it or not.
I finally got upstairs and into my apartment to find the toilet was clogged and wouldn’t flush. I urgently and with reckless abandon began jamming the toilet brush in and out of the toilet bowl in a frantic attempt to render the device usable. In my haste, I snapped the head of the brush off inside the throat of the toilet. In the throes of a very serious Threat Level: Midnight I plunged both hands into the murky water of the plugged toilet, clenched my butt to delay certain disaster, and grasped at the slippery bristles of the brush’s head.
Alas, my attempts were in vain because no matter how hard I tried I could not grasp the brush and free the only toilet in the apartment. It was time for a decision. Either I pooped my pants, lay on the floor of the bathroom in the fetal position weeping softly until my girlfriend came home OR I pooped in the tub. The decision was simple. I dropped my trousers, perched myself on the edge of the tub like a grim faced gargoyle, and let fly like Moussilini from the balcony.
The end result was a thick, compacted log rendered solid by a day of suppressing a bowel movement coiled around the minuscule drain of my bone dry tub. I doused it with water from the shower and slowly it receded down the drain, never to be seen again, leaving a faint musk as evidence that it ever even existed. Quickly and doused with sweat and shame from my ordeal I sent a text to my girlfriend to brighten her day saying, ‘There was a situation and I had to poop in the tub.’ Sadly, when the response came back it was from my boss, ‘Are you going to be OK?’ Agog with the realization of the events that just transpired I replied, ‘Whoops, sorry. Wrong number.’
Monday was a bleak affair.”
Sometimes In Laws Can Be Cool
“This one time I didn’t see my girlfriend for a few weeks because of various reasons, and we were both in need of some serious cuddling, kissing, and filthy time. I made my intentions clear, ‘Next time I see you, I’m taking you out to dinner, and then we are having dirty times all weekend. Don’t make other plans!’
I kinda of felt proud at my email, I’m super shy, and I am usually never this cool. Until I realized that I sent this to her mother. And of course my girlfriend’s mother and father were a bunch of jokers who live for this kind of stuff, so for the next few days, my incoming emails and text messages read something like, ‘I would never betray the trust of my daughter… unless you can keep quiet,’ ‘When are we going to dinner?’ ‘How dare you make love to my daughter before marriage!,’ ‘I bought you guys some rubbers, you can find them in the mailbox.’
I guess it could have been worse.”
Reply All Apocalypse
“A woman sent a retirement announcement inadvertently to the entire, tens-of-thousands strong agency I work for. People were hitting reply all to tell others not to reply all. It went on for hours. We called it the good ol’ reply allpocalypse! My favorite is when the action starts to die down, then someone who was out of the loop checks their email and gets it started again. Then someone will come in later and reply all for them to be removed from the chain. Next thing you know, everyone thinks that is how to make it stop. So then everyone starts to reply to remove them from the chain.
Writing UNSUBSCRIBE doesn’t work Karen.”