LONDON — Modern life is full of common mishaps such as mistakenly sending a text to the wrong person or confusing a stranger for an acquaintance. These mistakes often only become clear after we make the embarrassing error. In a survey of 2,000 adults, researchers found that other frequent blunders include laundry mishaps that resulted in shrunken clothes, forgetting a meal on the stove, and people attempting to unlock a car that didn’t belong to them.
Other common errors include preparing a meal for work only to leave it at home and forgetting to cancel unused subscriptions. Sadly, 16 percent of respondents admitted they have forgotten about planned events and failed to show up, while 11 percent have dropped a book while reading in the bathtub.
“These misfortunes are a part of life, and we can all make them. Whether it’s getting the wrong currency for a holiday or booking a train for the wrong time, many of us can relate. Our findings show it can happen to anyone and everyone can relate to making a mishap,” says Ursula Gibbs, director at Compare the Market, the company commissioning this research, in a statement.
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The study, conducted by OnePoll, also found that the average adult encounters 84 mishaps a year, amounting to more than one embarrassing error per week. Additionally, 31 percent confessed to repeating the same mistake more than once.
The most common places where these errors occur include the home and workplace (both 17%), the supermarket (9%), the pub (7%), and while on holiday (7%).
Despite being the butt of the joke, 45 percent laugh at their misfortunes, while 21 percent felt they had learned something from the experience. In fact, a remarkable 87 percent acknowledged that mistakes and mishaps are simply an unavoidable part of life.
As for witnessing others’ mishaps, the most common emotional response was empathy (22%). Interestingly, over six in 10 people (63%) believed that innocent mistakes should be celebrated, as they are a part of what makes us human. Among those who discuss their mishaps, most confide in their partners (52%), while others talk to their mothers or relatives (44%), or friends (38%).
“No one is able to avoid making a mistake or two, as it’s a part of life. But it’s great to see so many people feel they have learned from their experience and been able to laugh about it afterwards,” Gibbs adds.
Top Mishaps People Endure in Modern Society:
- Sent a text to the wrong person
- Mistook a stranger for someone you knew and greeted them
- Got on the wrong train or bus
- Washed clothes and accidentally shrunk them
- Washed clothes and accidentally turned them a different color
- Forgot about a meal that you were cooking and it spoiled
- Prepped a meal for work but forgot to take it in
- Put a laundry load on for a wash and forgot to add detergent
- Had your phone go off in a place it should have been on silent
- Tried to unlock your car before realizing it was someone else’s vehicle
- Forgot to cancel subscriptions you never use
- Forgot about plans and didn’t show up to an event
- Bought a piece of furniture for the house but didn’t check the dimensions and it was a lot smaller or larger than you thought
- Accidentally sat on the TV remote control and missed a key moment on live TV
- Let an insurance policy automatically renew without realizing
- Forgot to connect your headphones, so everyone could hear your music
- Put the wrong destination in the car’s satellite navigation
- Bought the wrong ingredients for a meal and had to make something else for dinner
- Dropped your book in the bath while reading
- Ordered the wrong thing in a restaurant by accident
72Point writer Charlie Bayliss contributed to this report.
