fact
The Soviets set up fake border posts at the Czechoslovak borders in order to trick emigrants, making them think they were already in Germany. Once comfortable, they would talk to an “American” agent, revealing their contacts. 00
Frank Sinatra’s publicist auditioned and paid girls $5 to scream at his early performances to get the crowd excited. 30
Frank Sinatra’s publicist auditioned and paid girls $5 to scream at his early performances to get the crowd excited. 00
Digital cameras were developed so spy satellites could send images back to earth more quickly. Before digital cameras in 1976, spy satellites used film. After the film was shot, the satellites loaded the footage into capsules and dropped them from orbit into the atmosphere for collection. 50
Digital cameras were developed so spy satellites could send images back to earth more quickly. Before digital cameras in 1976, spy satellites used film. After the film was shot, the satellites loaded the footage into capsules and dropped them from orbit into the atmosphere for collection. 00
Zappos offers new employees $1,000 to quit, after just one week on the job! This strategy is used to create a team of dedicated employees who buy into the customer first culture they want to foster. 40
Zappos offers new employees $1,000 to quit, after just one week on the job! This strategy is used to create a team of dedicated employees who buy into the customer first culture they want to foster. 00
Ever wonder what people from other countries think when they visit America?
In this AskReddit thread, European travelers share their biggest WTF moments about America.
“Did a house exchange in New Jersey (from UK) and on the second day a neighbour came to the door with an actual cherry pie to welcome us and ask us to dinner. Was:
A huge confirmation of stereotype
Really touching and sweet (pie was also wonderful btw)
A bit weird because we knew our neighbours wouldn’t give a flying f-ck and we felt bad :/ “
“I really wasn’t prepared for the size of the cars! I’m used to getting into cars by opening the door and sitting down, not climbing up. And we had a rental car, a Dodge of some sort, that was pretty much a tank, with tiny windows so you could barely see where you were going.”
“In 2015 I went to Florida. We walked past a crazy golf place and a guy was holding an alligator in his arms, he also told me he had an 8-foot alligator in the back.
I’m from England, so I don’t think I’ll ever quite get over just how casual he was having a dang alligator in his arms.”
“Went to some diner in Portland, Oregon and I ordered coffee. Half way in my coffee she asked me if I wanted a refill, I politely declined telling her I was short on cash. She laughed and said refills are free of charge, and to top of my amazed reaction she complimented my shirt. Needless to say, she cured my hangover and I fell in love.”
“It was my second trip to California, I was only 18 years old. When I got out of the plane, as usual, I had to go through all those security checks. At the last checkpoint, the officer asked me whether I have anything in my suitcase that I didn’t mention on tis CBP thing. Then he asked for drugs and then for alcohol. I honestly answered all questions with “No” when surprisingly he asked me “Why not?”.
A bit confused, I told him that I knew, I wasn’t allowed to take drugs or drink alcohol in his country. He got interested and asked whether it was different where i’m from (Germany). Here the minimum age is 16 for light beverages like beer and wine and 18 for the other stuff like spirits. He was so interested, he kept asking stuff for like 5 minutes, not even minding the 100 people behind me. When he let me pass, he instantly turned towards the guy in the other checkpoint was like “Hey, did you know … ” “
“While in Florida, we went through a drive through and the lady couldn’t understand what i was ordering regardless of how slowly and carefully i spoke so, i decided to go inside instead where the lady behind the counter couldn’t understand me either, i am a northern brit but not too too broad an accent.
My little sister had to put on her Florida accent to order for us, the manager who eventually took the order said she was sorry as the staff were only used to “normal” English lol.”
“Boston: didn’t notice I had left Europe.
Houston: the people were as friendly as they were huge. And loud. Hugely loud. And loudly huge, I guess.
Nashville and other places I went kinda blend together in my head, except for the delicious food.
Oh, and the person who asked if my country had coins and traffic lights. I.. what.. yes? I mean.. wat.”
“Ordered a BLT sandwich in Las Vegas, I swear that sandwich was 90% bacon. Under a mount Everest of bacon were two tiny lurk warm tomato slices and a single leaf of lettuce almost apologizing for being there. 10/10 would visit America again.”
“First time I flew to America, right at the airport I see this guy walking around just all dressed up like a cowboy and my day was just made right there.
They’ve always just been these fantasy characters from TV or movies, in the back of my mind I knew they’re real but no matter what you can never be prepared to really see one.
He wasn’t even a cowboy, just an American.
“The space. You guys have so much unused untouched space, it’s crazy. In Europe there is barely anywhere that isn’t owned or isn’t being used. In Europe we have protected forests, in America you have some unrestricted, uncontrolled forests that are massive!”
“I’m actually in NYC right now, so that was good timing! I’m from the UK.
Yesterday I went to Central Park and there were literally two guys just driving around on segways with giant a– snakes around their necks. Occasionally they’d take them off and drape them around the nearest random person. I was actually frozen with horror.”
“I’m an Aussie who visited USA, hope it’s okay for me to crash this thread.
We LOVED our visit – loved the whole bloody place, but i was absolutely gobsmacked when I found Froot Loops with marshmallows. I genuinely did not think it was possible to make Froot Loops more unhealthy, but you guys did it – love your work!”
“While walking around Austin, random people would just give me a “Hey, how’s it going” as they walked past. In the UK, if someone even looks like they might glance in your direction, it probably means they’re about to try selling you something. I probably offended a couple of them with how defensive I seemed…”
“In Florida, how amazingly friendly people were whilst talking absolute nonsense to make us happy. We are from Wales in the UK, this guy at a burger store asked where we were from and started to tell us how he loves Wales, then went on about how his mum lives there.
We asked what part of Wales does she live?
His reply, “Paris, I think”. “
“Pretty stereotypical stuff. Couple we stayed with were hugely nice but very religious and overweight. They voted for Obama and then Trump. Also drove us 4 hours for a daytrip! The bread is inexplicably sweet. A nice healthy pancake with blueberries for breakfast was actually five pancakes with blue syrup and whipped cream. I could get used to root beer floats though.”
The post Europeans Share Their Biggest “WTF, America?” Moments appeared first on UberFacts.
Tinder has made it easy to meet new people. But it’s also made it easy to meet weird people. Needless to say, some people have run into some pretty horrifying situations.
How do yours measure up to these horrific tales on AskReddit?
“I went on a date with a guy and the entire time he was talking about how men are superior and how there have been scientific studies to show that “women have an emotional reaction to the color red when they see it”. I wonder why he was single.”
“This was back when tinder first came out and wasn’t quite as known as a hookup app. We met and had a great first date. Second date was even better. Things kept going for about 2 months when she told me she went out with me originally in an attempt for a Dinner with Schmucks type thing where her and all her friends would bring the worst Tinder date. We both really liked each other, but I couldn’t get over how we started.”
“My roommate loves it, and she’s brought back numerous visitors. Which is fine, except for the fact that the apartment is tiny and we share a room. And also the fact that my roommate doesn’t really care what I end up seeing. And, as it turns out, most guys don’t care about having another girl in the room either–some take it as an opportunity for a for a threesome.
My roommate is my tinder nightmare.”
“My buddy isn’t the smartest man. He picked a chick up and drove to a motel. They were walking into the room and she says, “I forgot my purse in the car do you mind if I go grab it?” He says, “yeah that’s fine,” and tosses her the keys. 5 minutes later he walks outside wondering where she is and his car is gone.”
“Went on a date with a girl who had already told her whole family about me, before we even met. And she wanted me to meet them in person on the first date.
Nope.”
“I dated someone I met from tinder for a month. Seemed good on paper: masters student, yoga teacher, cultured, etc.
Found out she was doing heroin and didn’t consider that a big problem. I actually had to explain to her the definition of a high functioning addict because she felt that having a job and going to school meant the heroin thing wasn’t a problem. We broke up and she went back to her junky ex-bf.”
“Matched with my cousin.”
“Showed up to the restaurant, waited about 30 minutes. Ordered myself some food and was about to leave when he texted me: “there’s a liquor store across the street from the restaurant, can you pick me up 2 six packs?”
I told him I wouldn’t. He says he’s decided to play frisbee with his dog instead. Deleted app, went to liquor store, picked up wine and went home.
He texted me for a month or so after to tell me he’s just bought tickets to see me dance (I’m a retired ballerina, haven’t been in anything for a few years). Then he texts me an hour after and tells me how great I was on stage. I never responded.
Dating is too confusing. I’m all done.”
“There was this guy, he was a solid 10 in his pictures. He messages me, asks me if I want to meet up for coffee, so I say yes. He messages me and tells me that I have to pick him up… Okay whatever, I’ll do it. I pick him up, and we decided to go eat instead, he’s super funny and cute so we hangout some more after dinner. Then he pulls out his phone and proceeds to tell me that he has a son and his baby momma took of to Washington (but has no idea what part or anything) with him and he hasn’t seen him in months. So he then takes out his phone and tells me to go through a folder on his phone of pictures of his son.
Like 300 of them.
He sat there and made me look through every single one, and he would tell me the back story to basically every single video and photo in that folder. I felt so bad, but man I was happy when he left. That whole date just got so weird after that, he did some more stuff but those are good stories for another time lol.”
“My Tinder nightmare began on Jan 8 2014 when I started texting with a beautiful woman who I knew was out of my league. I’m a 50’ish Caucasian guy, out of shape, overweight, but otherwise stable and normal. She was a 30 year old Black woman, college educated, stunningly beautiful and very elegant and slender. Nonetheless, after a few days of texting I invited her to join me for dinner at a very nice restaurant downtown. To my dismay she actually accepted my invitation. I was waiting for her at the bar and when she walked in my jaw hit the floor. She was so beautiful I literally lost my breath for a moment. She was taller than me in her heels and was wearing a beautiful short dress with the most amazing legs I had ever seen. She greeted me with a bright smile and a gentle hug and we were escorted to our table. We had a very good date, the conversation flowed, and she seemed to have a good time as well. We decided to continue the date and went to a couple of bars for drinks. Finally she said it was time to go home and, since she had taken Uber earlier, I offered to give her a ride home and she quickly agreed.
All this time I thought that, even though the date was fun, and comfortable, I assumed it would possibly lead to a friendship at best considering the obvious differences. Well when we got to her place we talked for a few minutes more. I offered to walk her to her door but she declined. She then got out and walked around to my door. She leaned through the window and planted a very brief but sensual kiss on my lips. My heart stopped! She then leaned back and smiled. I was able to stammer out an invitation to go out again and she accepted without hesitation. I was on cloud nine! I knew that this remarkable woman would have a profound affect on my life, it seemed pre-destined.
Fast forward a couple of weeks, She and I had been seeing each other nearly every day and I was developing strong feelings already. But, something was wrong. I had a weird nagging sense that she was hiding something. Although she was being very affectionate , something just felt off. Then finally it happened. We were out at a bar together. It was a good time but she seemed distracted. As we were leaving she turned to me and said, in a serious tone, “we need to talk”. I thought, this is it, the differences between us are too much for her and I’m about to be friend zoned. But nothing prepared me for what came next. She asked me to just listen and not say anything, and I agreed. She then started out by saying that she had developed strong feelings for me but there was something that I needed to know about her that might make me want to change my mind about pursuing a relationship. My mind was spinning and so many scenarios raced through my head. Is she married? Is she a criminal? Then I remembered a few day earlier when we were making out and I touched her breast lightly and realized that she had breast implants because it was quite hard. So I thought, is she a trans?
But, as it turns out, she wasn’t but that would have been better than what came next. She looked at me, and with a tear in her eye, she told me that she has stage 4 breast cancer. She was originally diagnosed 4 years earlier as stage 3 and had beaten it back into remission after having a double mastectomy along with radiation treatment and chemotherapy. Now it had returned as stage 4 and she was to start chemo again in two weeks. I was floored! She then stated that she will understand if I wanted to turn and run and she wouldn’t think less of me for it. My response was to re-iterate that I adored her. And I thought she was an amazing woman and if she wanted me to take this journey with her that I would be honored to do so. We kissed and just held each other for a while. Finally she said goodnight and went to her car to go home. I cried all the way home. We had a full amazing year together. I had to go to Japan for work and she met me there in between chemo treatments. She never cried and was always elegant. I learned what the true definition of grace meant. We lived a lifetime in 2014. She died 9 months ago, 15 months after we met. I am a much better man for having met her and shared in her struggle. I love you and miss you so much Genny!”
The post 10 People Dish on Their Worst Tinder Date Horror Stories appeared first on UberFacts.
A good piece of advice can completely change the trajectory of your life. We often find ourselves at crossroads, unsure of what to do or where to go next. But when someone steps in, whether they’re a trusted friend, family member, or stranger, and offers us words of wisdom, we can’t wait to share them with others. Just like these folks did on AskReddit.
“One of my favourite teachers in Highschool told us:” If you need five pages to talk about 20 lines of poetry, you are obviously bullshitting me. State three well constructed arguments for your point of view and I’ll be happy to reward you for that. Claim. Reason. Proof. Nothing more.” He repeated that before every exam and it really helped me to boil my rather confused teenager thoughts into clear statements. I still think of him today while writing reports for work.
TLDR: Keep it short and simple.”
“Probably “If it smells like shit everywhere you go, check your shoes.”
I’m much less of a miserable asshole these days.”
“Be the person you needed when you were young.”
“This was specifically when looking to transition to a significantly higher responsibility role, but I have found to be applicable to any time I’m facing a new challenge. “Don’t be worried if you’re not sure you can do it. You’re not supposed to be sure. If you were already sure you could do the job, you’d be bored within a month.”
“Life doesn’t change, unless you change it.
You can’t sedate your way out of a crappy life, you have to get up and make changes.”
“Years of love have been forgotten in the hatred of a minute”
Really helps whenever I get into an argument with my friends or family.”
“Your success will be largely dependent on the number of uncomfortable conversations you are willing to have – Reddit”
“There will come a time in your life where you’ll have nothing to offer someone but your word. Make it worth something.”
Edit: Oh shit my first gold?! Thank you kind stranger! I really do feel like I’m internet famous.”
“If you lend someone some money and never see them again, it was probably money well spent.
Got told this after I lent a friend $100 and the fucker dropped off the face of the planet.”
“My first great boss told me “never make yourself indispensable or you’ll never get promoted”.
It’s worked for me.”
“Sometimes the worst decision is no decision. Sometimes you just have to make a decision, any decision, then make that be the right one.”
“You can pay now, or you can pay later, but it’s almost always cheaper to pay now.”
It seems like a lot of people think this is only referring to money, it’s not.”
“Don’t make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option”.
“Do something that makes you want to get up in the morning. Find someone that makes you want to go home in the evening.”
“Respect yourself enough to walk away anything that no longer serves you, grows you or makes you happy.”
The post 12+ People Reveal the Best Advice They Ever Received appeared first on UberFacts.