Experience: I just discovered The Guardian's "Experience" section

[Weegian]

For years, the British newspaper The Guardian has been publishing these short pieces where people "share [their] unique experiences."

They range from the relatively mundane, like "Experience: I lived next door to the Pope"

There was always an air of formality about the way he looked. You wouldn't see him in jeans and a T-shirt – he'd often wear a dark suit and a dark tie.

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to the scandalous, like "Experience: My husband ran off with my daughter"

In shock, I phoned my husband. He said he loved me, he loved the children, but he loved her, too. He said he couldn't be with either of us, because he didn't know which way to turn. But he didn't come home that day. He never came back again.

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to the wacky, like "Experience: I was impaled by my own sculpture"

Meanwhile, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the sculpture – should I replace the spike that ended up in my arm, or leave it in as part of its story? I haven't decided yet. The first job to be done in my studio is to get a new nonslip ladder.

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to the one-in-a-million, like "Experience: I killed my classmate with a javelin on sports day"

But the javelin hadn't missed. It had hit Sammy just above her left eye. She stumbled forwards before collapsing. There was a lot of blood.

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There are 673 of these, and they're all available here.

What are some of your favorites?

 

[OrakioRob]

Really cool stuff, thanks for sharing it!

 

[Deleted member 1476]

What the fuck at that javelin one.

 

[Red Liquorice]

The impaled by the sculpture one stayed with me really graphic and -shudder!-, I still remember reading it. It's in the weekend suppliment but I think they put it all up on the website earlier than physical publication?

 

[RDreamer]

to the one-in-a-million, like "Experience: I killed my classmate with a javelin on sports day"

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Jesus that would fuck a person up so badly. Wow.

Kinda reminds me of playing baseball in 8th grade. Kid got kinda angry and hurled his bat. It missed my head by about a fucking inch. I guess it wouldn't have killed me, but I would have been real messed up.

 

[Stonebeard]

What the fuck at that javelin one.

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Yeah i cannot imagine the guilt that girl must have felt even though it was a freak accident.

 

[jelly]

Glad we got a firm talk about the Javelin safety at school.

 

[Deleted member 11370]

Experience: 'I stopped a terrorist attack'
"He was doing these commando moves, but I grew up in Glasgow… I knew a wee forearm smash would sort it out"

 

[Gradon]

I remember reading that Javelin one when it was published. Horrifying stuff.

 

[Rand a. Thor]

Wait a god damn minute. Lisa's Half brothers and sisters are also half brothers or sisters to her child, but her mother and their mother is also grandmother to her child. How in the flying fuck do you live with something that mental?