When Thomas Mitchell met his now wife’s grandparents for the very first time, the “city slicker” had a very bad day.
In what can only be described as the most hilarious and worst chain of events possible, Mitchell managed to drive a manual ute straight into the back of a garage.
To make matters worse, he tried to covertly Google instructions on how to drive the vehicle, however, there was no reception…
“To cut a long story short, it was basically a s— show,” he said during an interview with POPSUGAR Australia.
“I didn’t have my drivers licence and I tried to get into the country life. Basically the whole thing culminated in me crashing his ute into the back of the garage and getting stung by a wasp. It was a comedy of errors.”
After being the butt of the joke for several years — and the story being told over and over — Mitchell decided to write it all down.
“I always loved how people enjoyed that story and enjoyed laughing at my spectacular failure,” he said.
Now, he has turned his terrible day into a new book, Today I F—-d Up, in stores and online from March 3. Along with his fable, Mitchell has written down other peoples massive fails, combining them all into a hilarious novel that will have you in stitches.
Filled to the brim with stories about dating, sex, losing your job, capitulating in a job interview and accidentally throwing a house party (we’ve all been there), Mitchell has compiled the best of the best for your enjoyment.
“Suddenly, I was sifting through the hundreds of submissions of people’s f–k ups. It was good. It was actually a really nice way to spend time,” he laughed.
Funnily enough (pun intended) there is actual science behind gaining pleasure from someone else’s pain — schadenfreude. Literally meaning “harm” and “joy”.
“I think it triggers an almost dopamine effect where you get like a little rush from seeing someone else fail,” Mitchell said. “On the surface, it sounds really harsh, but it comes from a really good place. It makes the human experience more real.”
About Thomas Mitchell
After continually being told to ‘use his words’ as a child, Thomas Mitchell took that advice on board and ran with it. Since then his words have appeared all over the place. A full-time writer, Thomas spends his days googling synonyms and trying not to overstay his welcome at the local cafe.
Pick up a copy of Today I F—ed Up here.
