Cell phones have changed everything about our world in just a few short decades. The accessibility of these mini computers (essentially) has expanded so rapidly in the last few years that even preschoolers can easily operate them to play their favorite games and watch YouTube videos.
Despite the fact that Google and your ISP can see everything you do on that phone, there's still an expectation of privacy most people have when it comes to their phones. But if we leave our phone on the table or kitchen counter for a few moments, anything goes, and a new notification might pique the curiosity of someone standing nearby.
Sometimes, those notifications are the last thing you want anyone to see.
These Reddit users are a testament to just how far south things can go after someone else catches a glimpse at an embarrassing notification from your phone.
Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!
#25 Came In Like A Battering Ram
My best friend in high school was in the process of being grounded and having his phone taken away. As he was handing over his phone to his mom, he got a text from me that said "Hey I found your mom's KY Jelly" accompanied by a picture of a medieval battering ram. He told me that they both saw it right as the transaction was taking place, then held each others gaze silently for what he described as an eternity.
#24 This Is Your Daily Reminder
I was letting my coworker share/borrow my laptop and my birth control reminder popped up while he was using it. I'm extremely immature, so the message just says "BIRTH CONTROL" with the location set to "YO MOUTH."
#23 Mommy Knows Best
My boyfriend has a friend that I have always suspected is in love with him. Once she was showing me something on her phone and a text from her mom popped up saying, “I still don’t understand why you can’t get with [boyfriend’s name].” We pretended it didn’t happen.
#22 70% Off
I got subscribed to a lingerie company's texts after I ordered something from there. It's really annoying since they don’t tell you how to unsubscribe.
I was at work and a parent was looking at some of the pictures I had taken of the field trip we took the kids on, and a message pops up: “SEXY CROTCHLESS PANTIES ON SALE!”
I was mortified.
#21 A Loaf Of Embarrassment
“Bread BREAD I AM NOT PLAYING WITH YOU. BREAD.”
I believe this was an inebriated reminder to remember bread. I found it amusing until I noticed my client’s blank non-reaction.
#20 Ovulation? More Like Humiliation
Happened to my best friend. She is a very organized person and has everything mapped out. We were both senior RAs in college and were watching movies in a common room with all of her freshman (male) residents. Halfway through the movie, this app pops up and says, "Mary, you are ovulating today! Now is a great time to get pregnant!" They made fun of her for ages.
#19 The Intestinal Dream (Or Nightmare?)
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#18 Not Sure How To Begin To Explain This One
One of my friends was showing her professor something on her phone and right as she handed her the phone she got a message in our group chat from our friend that we nicknamed "I eat hotdog pasta every meal of the day."
#17 Size Isn't Everything When Sailing On The High Seas
I was with a group of friends and this person gave me their number. I save people's names with a detail that reminds me of who they are (example: James From Chicago)
So this person was talking non-stop about their yacht. So I wrote something like "Gary Hasayacht."
He sent a text but it didn't go to my phone for a while because we had a bad signal, but it popped up when my phone was in clear view.
He sees the text, and his name as it's listed on my phone, and then goes, "you know, it's really not that big of a yacht."
I wanted to sink into the floor. He thought I was hitting on him and/or a gold digger.
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#16 The Ultimate Throwback
I was looking at my “Snapchat in review” with my boss around the New Year when one of my pictures popped up. It was a nude.
I left the job a few months after because of a variety of reasons, including the above.
#15 Something To Share With The Class
My professor used to have his laptop hooked up to the projector up front and while he was going through a PowerPoint, a text popped up on his screen from a woman, and all it said was, "I have herpes." He stopped connecting his laptop to the projector after that.
#14 Quizup, The Next Hottest Dating App
I have Quizup on my phone, a trivia game where you can play matches on different topics. Sometimes if you follow someone, you get notifications that say, "Hey, [username] just posted in [topic], come check it out!"
I got one that said "[very dirty username] just posted in Dirty DDLG Furry Roleplay, come check it out!"
I've turned notifications off since they started allowing people to create their own topics.
#13 Tardiness Is Next To Unemployment
I was waiting for a job interview and the interviewer was late. Being panicky and nervous for it already, I was texting my friend every detail of what was going on, which included the interviewer's lack of timeliness. He shows up, we talk, I'm showing him something on my phone, and my friend texts me back about how unprofessional it is to be late as an interviewer. I didn't get the job.
#12 "I'll Have You Know I Love My Father Very Much"
I was at the Apple store having a screen protector put on my phone when my fiancé texted. The Apple guy was like, “Uhhhh, ‘Daddy with heart emojis’ texted you???” I was mortified.
#11 Not Nosey, Just Concerned
I'm in a group chat whose name changes all the time, depending on the season. The name this time was, "Why Does it Hurt When I Pee?" I was out walking around and a friend came up behind me, saw it, and asked if I was okay, if I needed a doctor, or maybe I had a UTI, etc. I didn't know what to tell him and just quickly walked away.
#10 "Miss Head, Your Presentation?"
I was at work giving a presentation, and my laptop was showing on the big screen. I had neglected to turn off the Dropbox app. My friend, with whom I shared a folder, uploaded a file to it.
The message box popped up. “The file ‘Hey, Butt Head.wav’ has been uploaded to your Dropbox.”
#9 Communicate With Your Patients... And Your Partners
I communicate with my doctor through an app so he can message me whenever he needs to. It's pretty awesome.
Anyway, I'm a new patient of his and he had me do all the standard tests just to get up to speed on my health.
So I'm showing a meme to my girlfriend and suddenly a notification pops up on my phone saying, "We have your HIV test results."
Once I explained it was fine, but it was awkward at the time.
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#8 Unhappy Wife, Berry Unhappy Life
I was riding in the car with a coworker when my wife texted. I told Siri to read it. Huge mistake. My wife texted to complain about me leaving dingleberries in the shower drain.
#7 Think Of It As A Pet Name Notification
A friend of mine had a dude listed in her phone as "Tinder Guy Glasses," which worked great until he became more of a long-term thing and she never bothered to change it. She'd been on a bit of a serial one-night-stand kick for a while; it was easier for her to have descriptions rather than names. After all, she knew who he was. She knew his name. She thought he was great, and she left her wild days behind her. What difference did it make?
He found out when she lost her phone and he called it, only to find he'd been sitting on it. By all accounts, she was mortified when he handed it back to her with that Caller ID on the screen.
El Space - The Blog of L. Marie
#6 The Sauce Wasn't The Only Thing Runny At Lunch
My best friend and I were eating at our favorite pizza place and when we were done, I went to pay while she went to poop.
I had a coupon for the meal on my phone. So, right as I hand the lady my phone to scan my coupon, the friend texts me to describe the dump she is taking.
The poor lady just handed me my phone really fast and didn't say anything else.
#5 Many Lessons Were Learned That Day
My friend changed all the nicknames on my phone to things like "Insatiable Womanizer," "The Baby Blaster," "The Fart Heard Round The World," etc., without telling me, then messaged me a whole bunch while I was at work, teaching. A student asked if he could use my phone because he needed to call his parents for a ride home, and as I was handing him the phone, I saw all the notifications sitting on my screen.
#4 When Your Camera Roll Is The Fifth Wheel
It wasn't a notification but a stupid mistake on my part. My boyfriend and I went on a hike with his best friend and his girlfriend. We wanted a picture and they insisted we use my phone since it was the newest. After taking a couple, the girl went to look at how they turned out. If you have an iPhone, you know how touchy photos can be; any slightly wrong movement and it zooms out to your whole gallery. Of course, she goes to zoom in with her fingers and it drops the picture back into the whole gallery and suddenly we are all looking at some sexy pictures I had taken a few days prior for my boyfriend.
Didn’t help that the first thing she said was, “oh my god, you need a tan!”
I couldn’t look my boyfriend's best friend in the eye for a while..
#3 Do Not Deny The Mall Cop
My best friend, unbeknownst to me, was giving a presentation at work using AirPlay on his iPhone. He has image previews on for text notifications, and like 2 minutes into his presentation I started blowing up his phone with Paul Blart memes. Like, 7 of them in a row. He told me after that he was furiously swiping away the notifications while his coworkers laughed.
#2 What Happens In Amsterdam...
My friend and I were traveling abroad, and the day we arrived at our destination, he told me he was having pain and swelling “down there.” He was super embarrassed about it since we weren’t really that close, but had been in the same country studying abroad and decided to continue traveling together after our programs ended. Once we had WiFi, I messaged my mom about his symptoms since she is a nurse, but didn’t tell him I was doing so. His phone wasn’t working with the WiFi and he asked to look at my phone for the map. While he’s got my phone, my mom responds, “Is it an STD? Wasn’t he just in Amsterdam?” The whole situation was just so embarrassing for us both and he had to explain that he didn’t sleep with anyone.
#1 A Modern Day Love Triangle
Once met a cute girl at a party and found out we had a mutual friend who I had been crushing on for a while.
So she texts her saying she just met me. And she showed me the response text saying how crazy that was. And while I had her phone she got another text from her saying something along the lines of "omg, I actually like him, he's so cute."
Which made me smile. But embarrassed the heck out of her, because she was trying to flirt with me and that threw a wrench in things.
