There’s nothing inherently wrong with being forgetful at times. However, these momentary memory lapses may sometimes lead to messy yet comical disasters. 

These images from the Well That Sucks subreddit are prime examples. The name itself is self-explanatory, but the photos we’ve collected feature people’s hilarious mishaps after forgetting something important. 

May this list serve as a reminder not to leave your car window open while getting a car wash, or take out the food from the oven before taking a nap… unless you want to deal with the chaotic aftermath.

#1 I Forgot 3 Tangerines In My Backpack

Today I wanted to use this backpack to go grocery shopping so I blindly grapped inside to remove everything. Well first I took out a yugioh tin and wondered what this mysterious dust and smell on it was… then I grapped the first tangerine.

Image credits: Shirizuna

#2 Someone Forgot Their Car/House Keys

Image credits: mavelol123

#3 I Got A Panoramic Xray Of My Teeth The Other Day. The Dentist Forgot To Have Me Remove My Glasses

Image credits: maggiemoocorgipoo

Especially for aging adults, memory problems can be a precursor to more serious cognitive issues. But before you hit the panic button, it’s worth knowing the typical lapses that, according to Harvard Medical School, are still considered normal. 

Absentmindedness, for example, happens when we fail to pay close attention to what we are doing. It could very well be a case of having a busy, preoccupied mind, and the brain wasn’t able to encode information securely.

#4 Drew This For My BF This Morning And Forgot About It. Scared The [hell] Out Of Myself

Image credits: EclipseCaste

#5 I Forgot To Put My Controller Away While I Showered So Our New Pup With A Chewing Problem Found It

Totally my fault. Yes he gets lots of exercise and mental stimulation. Yes he has lots of chew toys. Yes we try to clean up hazards so he doesn’t chew them. He’s learning slowly but surely what toys are for him and what he’s not supposed to touch. He’s a very good boy who just needs some time and patience to get better please no negative comments.

Image credits: monicapearl

#6 Gender Reveal Cake Without The Reveal. Ordered A Gender Reveal Cake And The Bakery Forgot To Dye The Cake The Gender Color

Image credits: m4tty33

Mental blocks are another form of memory lapse that shouldn’t be a cause for concern. It’s another common occurrence as we age, wherein, for some reason, a piece of information we already know suddenly slips us. It could be an answer to a question or even someone’s name. 

Studies have shown that people can retrieve blocked memories in as little as one minute.

#7 My Mom Swore She Already Made Me A Waffle, But We Couldn’t Find It. So She Made Another One And I Grabbed A Fork

Image credits: FrustratedLemonPrint

#8 Just Felt Like I Forgot Something Last Night In My Car

The first time there was more ice inside my car than outside it. Forgot I didn’t take this can into work, and well the Midwest is gonna do its thing.

Image credits: gldnplr

#9 Forgot To Close The Window Before Getting A Carwash

Image credits: Modern-Day_Spartan

So, how can you tell that memory loss has reached alarming levels? Dr. Alexanda Petrakos, who works as a geriatrician at Northwestern Medicine, says it’s when forgetfulness begins to interfere with everyday life. 

Some examples she mentioned include the frequent repetition of questions, misplacing items in unusual places, such as a freezer, and forgetting routine tasks like paying bills. 

#10 My Tired Mother Accidentally Washed A Loaf Of Bread With Her Laundry

My mom owns a bakery and pushes up on 80 hours a week. She decided to make some traditional stollen bread for the holidays and tossed this loaf into a bag with laundry to wash at home. Long story short she forgot to remove the stollen before dumping the laundry in. I think she needs some time off.

Image credits: Level_Bed_631

#11 I Put Water In, The Pod In, Selected Temperature, Pressed Start, Went To The Bathroom. Guess I Forgot A Step.

Image credits: AfterTheEarthquake2

#12 I Accidentally Had Dessert Delivered To My Ex-Husband’s House

I forgot to change the address on the app. And although he lives nearby, I can’t contact him to get back the box… because I have a restraining order against him and he’s about to stand trial for domestic violence crimes he committed against me.

Image credits: Neolithique

Other signs Dr. Petrakos mentioned were getting lost in a familiar area and having trouble managing medications at home. When these symptoms persist, she advises getting cognitive screening tests. 

“If your results are abnormal, your physician will refer you to a specialist, such as a neurologist, geriatrician, or neuropsychologist, for further evaluation,” she said.

#13 Hubs Unplugged The Crockpot Before We Went To Bed & Forgot To Plug It Back In

Woke up to half cooked creamy garlic chicken parmesan meal prep that sat at room temp for 9 hours. Food poisoning ready to serve! Love him to pieces but definitely the derp moment of the day.

Bowl looks gross because we back to backed barbacoa and chicken.

Image credits: ScrupulousScorpion

#14 I Fell Asleep After Putting Food In The Oven- 6 Hours Later This

Image credits: SvenSerpent

#15 4 Hours Into A 13 Hour Road Trip To My Families 3 Week Vacation Of The Year And I Just Realized That In The Rush To Leave I Forgot To Bring Any Other Shoes With Me

Image credits: carrs-for-life-32

Now, if you’re fortunate enough not to have memory problems, there are ways to preserve it. Cedars-Sinai geriatrician Dr. Zaldy S. Tan urges getting enough sleep, engaging in regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, and participating in social interactions. 

Dr. Tan also advises against using prescription sleep aids and benzodiazepines and recommends being aware of drastic mood changes. But his most important piece of advice is proper stress management because elevated cortisol levels are an “underrecognized” cause of memory loss.

#16 Set My Remotes On My Heater While Cleaning And Forgot. Then Got Chilly

Image credits: reddit.com

#17 Forgot To Give Him His “Go” Command For Food. Poor Wee Pudding Sat There For About Ten Minutes And Didn’t Make A Peep

Image credits: Herwiththetwodogs

#18 Uhh, Excuse Me Officer, But It Looks Like You Forgot Something

Image credits: QuasarsRcool

#19 Left The Kettle On The Stove

Got a set from goodwill mostly for decor cuz they’re cute but I’ve used them both multiple times and they work just fine. But don’t really whistle ….and usually I’m IN the kitchen while I’m making tea but this time I wasn’t n forgot about it. Came back in a few hours later to this. Wondering if the stove is salvageable and how I’m suppose to clean this up FML.

Image credits: Professional-Will-42

#20 I Forgot I Took The Guard Off To Clean It And Went To Touch Up A Spot I Noticed

Image credits: swagboyclassman

#21 Someone Forgot Their Rotisserie Chicken In Their Cart At Costco

Image credits: irishdrunkwanderlust

#22 Someone Forgot To Turn It Off

We have a bulk ice flake machine at my work and last night shift forgot to turn it off, this is what happened to running it all night.

Image credits: ToGoNuclearOrNot

#23 My Roommate Forgot A Plate Of Pasta In The Fridge

Image credits: umberto_pagano

#24 Forgot To Move His Stairs Back After Vacuuming & Found Him Like This

Image credits: aqui_nomas23

#25 Guess A Memorial Day Beach Goer Forgot To Change Their Location For Delivery

Bag has been outside the door since Friday night.

Image credits: rambaz710

#26 Bought Myself A Replacement Pair Of Earbuds With A Note From My Loving Husband

Still have OG 1st gen, lost a right bud of my 3rd (2nd?) gen that I had replaced at the Apple Store. Left went through the wash AND dryer… lost the right one again 3 weeks ago. We’ll see what happens…

Image credits: missybeputtinitdown

#27 I Forgot To Turn The Volume Back Up

Image credits: Katonmyceilingeatcow

#28 Was Helping My Husband Do Yard Work For An Elderly Lady And Forgot To Take Sunscreen

Image credits: mom2one2610

#29 Broke My $1100 Camera After 3 Weeks

Bought myself a nearly mint Sony RX100 M5 for $1100 on March 28th then I brought it with me on a quick road trip on April 18th. I put it inside my small side bag and forgot to zip the bag before getting out of the car. As soon I got up the camera flew out and smacked onto the concrete floor of a parking garage. Got a quote for the repair at over $1100.

Learnt a very expensive lesson to zip up my bag.

Image credits: Justin3210

#30 Forgot To Take The Plastic Cutting Board Out Of The Oven Before Making Dinner

Image credits: avcamp

#31 Getting My Laundry Out Of The Dryer And Apparently Forgot I Had A Roll Of Dog Poop Bags In One Of My Pockets

Image credits: thishereticflesh

#32 I Just Wanted To Feed My Kitties

I had just purchased this box of cat food the week prior. I had noticed a faint odor, but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. I thought it was just a random city smell and forgot all about it.

Cue yesterday, time to feed the kitties (most feral), so I go to open their new box of food. The box has been sitting on some bricks for a few days. By the smells, I thought a rat had somehow got in the box and died, so I dumped it.

Nope. Somehow, some cans had been busted or crushed open. That smell was rot, mold and bugs. Do maggots leave exoskeleton shells behind? That crusty mess is bug shells. It smelled like dead rat and rotten stuff.

Of course I’d thrown away my receipt, so that’s long gone. I did purchase with card, but I don’t be able to get back to that store (Walmart) until Monday morning. Hopefully they’ll be able reprint it. I’ve already contacted Friskies and they’re offering to send me a coupon to replace the items. I just need store/purchase info first. There is NO way this is going back in my car. Directly into the garbage.

Luckily I had some cans of kitten foods I’d been saving.

Image credits: Elistariel

#33 Waited An Hour At The Doctors Office Only To Be Told They Never Checked Me In

First post op appointment after my knee surgery and after developing an infection. Very important I be seen today. Took off work for this appointment because one of my pre op appts had a 2-hour wait. I had to be driven here because I can’t drive myself.

Walked up to the front desk when I arrived and then was told I was good to sit down, they’d check me in because of my crutches. Waited about an hour and then asked how much longer. They said they forgot to check me in.

The person I talked to said she would have to check if I’d be able to be seen today. I definitely had some kinda look on my face because her coworker saw me and was like no no no just add her to the schedule and we’ll explain.

Image credits: simplyikhanic

#34 The Author Forgot To Use Spaces In This Book, It Happened Multiple Times

Image credits: Nikola_Orsinov

#35 Forgot To Check My Toddler’s Pockets And Now Inside Of Dryer Is Covered In Ink Marks

Image credits: dontbetouchy

#36 I Forgot To Grab My Watch Before Work This Morning

Image credits: grandmastoasted

#37 I Forgot To Add Water When Boiling Eggs

Image credits: itsHardToHaveAUsrena

#38 Forgot Dollar Store Air Horn In The Sun On The Dash Of My Truck Today

Image credits: mrstoness

#39 BF Made A Display For The Lashes I’ve Left

He has decided to call it his trophy wall. They look so peaceful there. I thought it was funny. Plus, it’s convenient – now I have spare lashes?

Image credits: Taekyungoppa

#40 I Met Ariana Grande At Disneyland In 2018. Got A Picture, But Forgot To Turn The Flash On. This Is The Pic Already Brightened

She was pulled away by her bodyguards before I could take another. She was kind though and chose to come over to our little group, no one rushed at her or anything (just for clarification). This was right after her and Pete Davidson got engaged. So he was there, and Frankie Grande was there which was cool

Image credits: Serious-Jellyfish-38

#41 This Is What I Came Home To After 1 Week Of Moving Into My New Apartment

Started the machine before i went to work and got home to this. I was washing my bed sheets and some other stuff and i forgot to close the buttons on the bedding and it all kind of formed a big ball of wet and heavy clothes in there.

Image credits: aysepivec

#42 My Family Forgot It Was My Birthday So Spent It Baking Myself A Cake

Maple spice cake with a maple buttercream! Not the best cake decorating skills LOL and also burned my finger in the process.

Image credits: internetfa1ry

#43 Forgot To Take My ‘Beer’ Out Of The Freezer

Image credits: FalconDifferent5132

#44 Ever Left Your Fuel Door Open And Gas Cap Off, Then Driven Home? Well Then, This Should Make You Feel Better

I did what I could and honked when I rolled in and she rolled out, she did exit the vehicle and take the fuel cap off of the fuel door and close everything back up but I watched with fear as the water jets repeatedly passed.

Image credits: vinchenzo68

#45 Realized My Orthodontist Forgot A Band After I Already Drove An Hour Home

Image credits: InterestingCarpet453

#46 Forgot My AirPods Charger At Home So I Bought One At The Airport. It Broke Less Than An Hour After I Bought It

Image credits: mitchdwx

#47 I Forgot The Can In My Freezer And Now I Know A Little Bit About Physics

Image credits: RecordCrasher

#48 A Package I Forgot I Ordered Missed The Entire Biden Presidency

Image credits: longislandicedz

#49 Got The Employee In Training And He Forgot To Remove Security Tag Off My Backpack And Now Im In A Different Country

Image credits: adorelive

#50 My Paycheck This Week After My Supervisor Forgot To Input My Used PTO

Was gone on vacation and used all of my available PTO for it. I guess someone forgot to input it into payroll.

Image credits: future-rad-tech

#51 I Forgot I’m Sensitive To Latex

i strained my groin, but i put kt tape on my thigh to help me be able to play tennis. needless to say, but i forgot im super sensitive to latex, this is after four hours of having it on, and three hours having it off, the residue hurts too much to remove.

Image credits: yourfriendeliza

#52 Carved A Pumpkin And Was Gonna Make Seeds But I Forgot About Them While I Let Them Dry

They are no stuck to the papertowel and if i take one off paper sticks to it. Maybe ill go plant it somewhere.

Image credits: t-o-m-u-s-a

#53 SIL Forgot Her iPhone On The Car Roof And It Fell Off Going 100kmh

Image credits: Tomsboll

#54 Forgot To Rinse The Home Depot Sand Before Putting It In My Aquarium

Image credits: Low-Baseball-7978

#55 Daughter Left The Garden Hose Running Outside All Night And It Managed To Flood My Basement

Bonus points for the litter that spilled and the 4 hours of tinkering with my sump pump to pull this all out.

Image credits: Elden_Sage

#56 Made My Strawberry PB Smoothie But In Two Different Cups

I got a large strawberry banana PB smoothie but they made the first one in a small cup with just the PB part. I asked them ab the size and she said she forgot the strawberries and was wondering why it turned into a small. She remade the large with just the strawberry part. It feels like a deconstructed smoothie and I look so big backed in class rn drinking two separate smoothies.

Image credits: Xx_Marxlle_xX

#57 I Swear It Had A Pull Tab This Morning

Normally, I pack my lunch the night before but forgot, so I grabbed a can of soup this morning. Turns out I took the wrong can, and it didn’t have a pull tab. This is why I can’t pack a lunch before leaving for work.

Image credits: OkDate7197

#58 They Forgot To Add Sauce On My Pizza. It Was Just Cheese And Bread

Image credits: Sarah-tonin-def

#59 Forgot To Cap A Can Of Spraypaint. That’s My Computer

Image credits: myburneracc6

#60 Forgot To Take My Belt Off…

Got called in for a later shift today and only had three hours, so I tried to do a quick wash on all of my laundry, 2 loads… the second load I didn’t realize had my belt in it still attached to my jeans until I came down right before leaving for work with the culprit smack dab on top… Glad I picked up that extra shift.

Image credits: ToastedTiefling

#61 I Just Gave Him A Bath

I forgot to close the back door and this doofus ran out to roll in the dirt. Time for a second bath…

Image credits: Chainsaw_Dragon

#62 On My Lunch Break. They Forgot To Cut The Pizza. I Do Not Have Any Scissors In My Vicinity And I’m Sharing This With My Brother

Image credits: Siper647