Man Thinks He Found Bag of Drugs on Sidewalk, Then Looks Closer

A man taking a walk through his town stopped when he saw what looked like a bag of drugs on the ground, only to be totally surprised when he took a closer look.

Reddit user u/slartibartfist, from Birmingham in England, shared the unusual find to the CasualUK sub on New Year’s Day.

He wrote: “Thought I’d found a baggie of drugs on the pavement (sidewalk) but it turned out to be people.”

In photos attached to the post, the man holds a suspicious-looking clear plastic bag filled with something white.

But a close-up shows the white substance is in fact dozens of minuscule human figures, which look ready to be painted.

The Reddit user, a husband and father, did not give his name as he joked to Newsweek: “The fact I actually picked up a baggie from the street to take a closer look isn’t something I’d like connected to my real identity!”

He explained he was walking to a New Year’s Eve party when he noticed the baggie, which looked “strangely clean” and his interest was piqued.

The best part of the bizarre incident, he said, was the interactions on his post. Reddit users loved it, helping it rack up over 14,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments, one joking: “Get hooked on model railways and you won’t have any money for drugs.”

“That’s how they get you mate. Start you off on some space marines but really they’re just setting you up for the large gauge railway sets,” another added.

One asked: “Why can’t I ever find a baggie of mysterious tiny white people?” and another joked: “You gonna have a line or what?”

To which u/slartibartfist gave the ultimate British reply: “We call it a ‘queue’ in this country mate.”

The Reddit user told Newsweek that the comment set up the “perfect” opportunity for the gag.

He believes the miniature people have “got to be for model-making—either architectural or model railways.”

Having a hobby like model-making is linked to positive health and mood, according to a 2023 study published in the National Library of Medicine. It found that those who engaged in hobbies had fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of self-reported good health, happiness and life satisfaction.

And while u/slartibartfist hasn’t yet decided what to do with the bag of miniature people, he would “definitely want to give them a good home after being cooped up like that.”

“[I] may have to get into model railways, but I understand that can become even more expensive than a robust drug habit,” he joked, adding: “So I’ll have to be careful!”

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some extra details and they could appear on our website.