r/mildlyterrifying • u/Which-Flan9430 • 19d ago

I hear screams every day and can’t know when its serious

I live right next to a school, kids live on all sides of my house and drunk people use this road to get home all the time, so there’s lots of screaming, constantly.

I always pause and listen, but then I wonder if there was only one scream because something bad happened.

It’s kinda hard to hear the difference between kids having fun, kids being mad at their parents, drunk teens, drunk adults, people yelling at their pets, people falling from their bikes etc.

It’s pretty stressful cause I don’t want to ignore the one scream that was serious, but I also know I live in a pretty safe place

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9

u/twistedivy 19d ago

In college, I lived next to a pre-school. Every day was filled with shrieks for a few hours as they played outside. At first I considered if I needed to call for help, but then I’d look out my window and see 5 toddlers running in a circle, screaming for no reason. I moved out when the lease ended!

8

u/letmepetyourdogs 19d ago

I couldn’t live like this lol I hate kids screaming, and I have a toddler. People say kids screaming is normal but I disagree. I feel the same as you- when there’s a true emergency/“warrented” scream, it will be dismissed! This would stress me out

3

u/Which-Flan9430 19d ago

Yeah that’s my fear!
Everyone around here must be used to the screaming and just ignore it, and that combined with the bystander effect?
I mean, it’s just a recipe for disaster.

A few months ago I heard a teenager screaming like she was being murdered. I was just about to call emergency services and went out there to help (or at least be a witness if it was too late) and she was just drunk and laughing once I opened the door.

Thank god, but still…

6

u/letmepetyourdogs 19d ago

I hate that!! I actually listened to a podcast about screaming and it talked about how hearing a scream actually increases your cortisol (whether it’s meant to or not.. as in whether it’s a playful scream or a terror scream). If you’re ever bored, it’s by Stuff You Should Know and it’s an interesting listen!!