Month: December 2021

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World Travelers Share The Cities That Disappointed Them The Most

It’s been said that traveling changes the way you see and exist in the world, that it expands horizons and fosters a sense of connectivity.

It can also be absolutely miserable.

Reddit user 0_7_0 asked: 

“What city disappointed you the most when visiting?”

Growing up traveling, I remember my brother’s biggest disappointment was the discovery that lots of other countries didn’t have chicken nuggets or ketchup at their McDonalds—and that some didn’t even have McDonalds in the first place!

My big drama was always air-conditioning related.

That was pretty basic kid stuff, though.

None of us ever got shot, unlike this person.

Welcome To Rio!

“I got shot 5 minutes after arriving in Rio.”

“After a 7 hour road trip from Sao Paulo with 2 friends we nearly got carjacked at a gas station. Several shots were fired, but only one hit.”

“I just happened to be the thing it hit.”

“My Brazilian friend got me to a doc. I stayed there the whole night and drank pitu with him. He was a great guy and his stories are wild.”

– VerySpecialCognac

Sorry About Hollywood

“Hollywood.”

“I am embarrassed for people who travel around the world to see it. What they imagine it to be vs reality. Sorry, it’s not what you expected 😑”

“You CAN have a good time in Hollywood, but do your research and check your expectations. Remember, the film industry is literally built to create an illusion.” 

– Mondo114

“We went there in July, just homeless people everywhere. Literal shit on the ground on almost every corner and in parking garages. People digging in trash cans tweaked out.”

“I was uncomfortable most of the time.”

“Only normal part of the walk of fame was in front of the theater and in that mall area, otherwise I was scared of what I might see.”

– DBelland1515

“I grew up in the LA suburbs and even I was disappointed with Hollywood when I visited it for the first time.”

“There are so many other cool places to visit in Southern California, just skip Hollywood.”

– ScienceMomCO

Casino Catastrophes

“Atlantic City.” 

“The Atlantic City casinos feel like they’re 30+ years older than those in Las Vegas (at least when I was there in 2013). I just expected them to be newer and nicer and cleaner.”

– User_492006

“This is a great answer. I was so disappointed by Atlantic City and my expectations weren’t even high.”

“It was just nasty there. The whole experience felt like biting into an apple only to realize it’s an onion.”

– [Reddit]

“Flew to Atlantic City for a convention and was excited to stay at Caesars, because the one in Vegas was really great back in the day.”

“The ceiling above the fountain in the main lobby was covered in mold. There were A-hole drunken wiseguys (literally) yelling and taunting people at the craps table.”

“I witnessed a pimp with his three employees leaving early in the morning when we were heading out for our flight.”

“Holy f*ck what a cesspool.”

– dr_freudenstein

Being The Attraction In Beijing

“Beijing.”

“I arrived at the end of a trans- Mongolian rail trip seeing so many incredible places and I think it was just a huge anticlimax.”

“Our whole group was intimidated by the level of armed security everywhere, we had to fight off so many scammers, and I didn’t enjoy being touched and laughed at when on the subway (I’m a very White European with curly hair).”

“Overall just found it really challenging despite some amazing sights.”

– Teapigs1984

“I’m Black. I stepped out of a train in Beijing with my brother and everybody was starting at us like we had just slapped their mums.”

“At least 10 people didn’t even ask and just started taking pictures of me. It was such a f*cking weird experience considering I was only 14.”

– thisis2022

“Got to Beijing and tried shopping for some groceries. The women at the stall started shouting.”

“My Chinese friend took me by my elbow and started dragging me away. When I asked her what was all that fuss about she said that they were screaming at her to get rid of me because they don’t sell to Black people.”

“Wtf. I was so surprised.”

“Those guys are extremely racist. Never gonna go back to that country again. I’ve been targeted by racists back home but never so openly and never in such a manner.”

– Muted-Sundae-8912

“Was traveling with 3 blonde and 2 red headed female college friends in Beijing.”

“People would push their kids at us to take a picture with us. I remember one kid crying but dad had to take a picture with us.”

“When seated, people would start touching our hair.”

– ParadePaard

I Believed The Rom-Coms

“Paris was so dirty, and I was not prepared for the disdain of the French towards a ‘stupid American.’ I believed the American Rom-Com movie version of Paris.”

– Idontknowthosewords

“Don’t forget smelly too.”

“And not just one strong smell so you can get acclimated to it either. Fresh bread, urine, perfume, body odour. Yuck.”

– BlueberryPiano

“I flew into Paris and the next day projectile vomited escargot and was rushed to the hospital with appendicitis. They taped my eyes shut and I kept waking up during the operation in agony, thinking I was blind.”

“The next time I visited Paris like 5 years later, I was locked in a small bathroom for 4+ hours. That city…”

– gallopingwalloper

“I agree 100%. I’ve been there numerous times and I feel like the city is overrated. It’s dirty, expensive, and the people are mega unfriendly.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I love France, but there are way better cities to visit.”

– Flaky_Sandwich9353

“I’ve been twice and the people were nicer than in most big cities. But the amount of dog sh*t everywhere was shocking and disgusting.”

– edgeplot

Anything To Do Besides Malls?

“Came here to say Dubai.”

“I decided to spend 10 days there while passing through. Had enough of it after 24 hours.”

“Too many f$#&!&# malls. No culture.”

– wric84

“Me too!”

“Dubai is a horrid place – fancy malls and hotels for the westerners, but the streets are full of the poor / slaves.”

“You really see what misery the whole place is built on.”

“I went there for work, I can’t imagine how people can go there for fun.”

– c19isdeadly

“Ah yes, I briefly lived in Dubai and felt like I never left the airport.”

“Giant shopping malls and soulless modern architecture full of people from around the world on a years-long layover.”

“I actually like good airports, but not sure I’d want to live in one.”

– icrbact

“Agreed, my expectations of Dubai were never high but the place is completely pointless.”

“It’s made for people with money to spend money; and even then I’d rather spend money in virtually any other city in the world.”

“I was there 3 days and that was too much.”

– BCS24

“Dubai.”

“While there I learned about how the whole city is built and run on some legalized slavery. I felt dirty after leaving.”

– BranigansLaw

So now that you know the places everyone else would skip if they had a chance to do it again, it’s your turn.

Hit us with your mic-drop moments in the comments.

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People Break Down The Most Expensive Wastes Of Money

Money can be hard to come by these days. There’s often no room for error or waste.

A global study from 2014 showed that only 33% of adults were financially literate. The study measured the individuals understanding of basic numeracy, interest compounding,
inflation, and risk diversification.

With only a small percentage of the population able to understand 3 out of 4 of these concepts, there are a lot of ways people can waste money.

So we went to AskReddit to learn about the biggest wastes of money so we don’t make the same mistakes.

Redditor Animeking1108 asked:

“What is the most expensive waste of money?”

Get your note pads ready!

Scams around water.

“Designer water.” – invalidpassword

“Voss, Fiji etc.” – SnooPoems5454

“Voss has a good quality bottle. Buy it once then refill it from the tap for 6 months.” – Dr_D-R-E

“Smart water bottles are popular with backpackers for a similar reason. Thin, durable and lightweight.” – sctbct

“Or structured water.” – VattghernCZ

Phone psychics.

“My ex-girlfriend had an obsession with phone psychics. Not all at once, but over the course of a single year she spent over $15k getting ‘life advice’ from multiple psychic lines.”

“No one in her circle of family or friends could convince her to stop. I haven’t spoken with her in a few years but I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s still wasting her money on them.” – Hollywood899

“Haha my friend used to be a phone psychic and she got paiiiiid. She said the people who typically called would obviously want to hear her say certain things so she would say them and they’d just keep calling.” – wasabitamale

“She spent at least 41 dollars per day in psychics. Wow. Why not just learn magic herself at thst point?” – Yokhen

Forgotten on the train.

“Well, I bought some Christmas presents and then immediately forgot them on the train so I would say that lol. I went back the next day and literally bought the same stuff. I just hope whoever found it either needed it or uses it for their own gifts.” – FluffDuckling

“I bought Chanel glasses once and left them in a taxi before ever putting them on my stupid face.” – northshorebunny

“I forgot sh*t I purchased once in the cart when I got to my car. I didn’t take anything out.” – IronyIntended2

A mobile app.

“The I’m Rich app. When launched, the screen only contains a glowing red gem and an icon.”

“It cost $999.99. You can’t buy it anymore but it was an expensive waste of money.” – GonnaGoFat

“The guy did it as a joke too and people bought it thinking that no one would actually dump thousands on an app.”

“This message brought to you by [mobile app]. Use my code and save 5% on the $999.99 Christmas beginner package.” – PM-Me-Your-TitsPlz

“I feel like he could probably sell the NFT for that app.” – runawaycity2000

Shopping while hungry.

“Shopping when I’m hungry.” – thatluckyfox

“Lol oh yeah, go shopping for sponges and come out with $50 worth of junk food. Stopping at McDonald’s for fries beforehand has saved me so much money.” – Slight-Ad-1744

Cable is dying.

“Cable service, especially since half the channels are f* cking ads.” – Firebolt164

I was paying for YouTube TV for a while and then realized sh*t, I’m paying $65 a month for this and have a sh*t load of commercials. I could take that $65 a month and subscribe to the ad free versions of Paramount +, Disney +, Peacock, HBO Max, and Discovery + get all the same channels and have no ads.”

“TV service is f*cking insane.” – CrowGrandFather

“It’s even worse for us. We live out in the country 15 miles from the nearest town. Other only tv or internet service available is Satellite. We have Hughes net and Direct TV as the players. We have satellite internet and we had their TV service. It was atrocious. First, the 5 second lag between changing channels made channel surfing impossible. Second, they advertised a 200 channel package and we had 35 actual channels with content. The rest were all infomercials or music channels. We need to f*cking sue them for that ad practice.” – Firebolt164

Gender reveal party.

“A gender reveal party that burns down half of the state?” – wickedblight

“It really sucks that half of California is on fire but hey it’s a boy!” – DogsAreCool69420

“Too many people have tried to go all out for their gender reveal parties, and end up burning their house down, at the very least. Don’t understand it myself really. They already have baby showers. Just reveal the gender there. Why withhold what parts your child will be born with from friends and family to make a party out of something everyone is going to find out eventually anyway?” – Unabashable

“It’s very self indulgent. People act like they’re withholding information that you’d just die to hear when they make you wait for a gender reveal party. I’m happy for them but I couldn’t care less about the sex . My aunt asked me if I ever had kids what would I do for a gender reveal party. I did not mince my words: ‘I will take out my phone, find the family group chat and be like ‘what’s up fam! By the way it’s a boy. Now who’s up for painting the nursery?’” – blonderazor

What is it good for?

“War. Having a sworn enemy is expensive.” – theProfileGuy

“Did you know the war in Afghanistan cost the USA $300 million per day for two decades?

“Insanity.” – PM_ME_AYY_LMAOS

“Only expensive to the taxpayer and the ones fighting it. Profitable for everyone else involved.” – roundbrain5

“But free healthcare would be a waste of money?” – New_Needleworker6506

Payday loans.

“Payday loans. Is that still a thing?” – kincage

“Oh man I know this one. My dad lost his cushy a** job and had to take a massive pay cut so with all his expenses he’s on payday loan from A to pay back B to get more cash to pay off C and it goes on and on. My grandma always said my dad borrows from Peter to pay Paul. I’m not quite sure who those people are but it sounds right to me. Poor guy is still on that track almost 20 years later.” – PretendThisIsMyName

“I let them ruin my life. You think by the looks of things I must have had a serious drug problem to skid into the curb like I did, but no, it was predatory/payday loans. I got caught in cycle of bad credit and low liquidity. And worst of all, I believed it was ok. I’m nearing retirement age and it’s sad to think that if I hadn’t gotten on that treadmill, I could have done twice as much with my life than I did.” – NoPensForSheila

Being poor.

“Being poor is expensive as f@#k!” – Sterling_Thunder

“Yup, in many ways. One that I forgot about until recently was how much food budget is saved when one has a good fridge. I am currently in a temporary living space that has bottom of the line appliances. The fridge, while it keeps things cold, nothing lasts! I bought a weeks worth of veggies and by day two, the carrots in the crisper were no longer crisp. The second day! Poor people have challenges getting good fresh food but then it can go bad quickly even with working appliances.” – GorginaSpica

“Aka ‘the boots theory of socio-economic unfairness.’” – 84147

There are so many ways to make financial errors that lead down a rabbit hole.

Whether it’s the small moments like forgetfulness, or the big moments, like taking out loans that you can’t pay back, those mistakes can add up.

The cycle of poverty is incredibly difficult to break.

It’s not just about finding ways to reduce money waste for the individual, but the systemic and community based solutions that break generational poverty.

Though, this list is a start.

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People Share The Most Useless Advice They Ever Received

As we come up to new milestones, we may find ourselves face-to-face with a life experience we don’t know how to navigate.

While this reasonably will lead us to ask those around us for advice, that doesn’t necessarily mean the advice we will receive will actually be useful.

Redditor PsychedelicAirFusion asked:

“What’s the worst advice you have ever received?”

Some Redditors discussed mental health.

“‘Don’t be depressed, you have nothing to be depressed about.’”

“I hate any advice, especially concerning mental health, that invalidates or considers anyone’s personal situation as a reason why they can’t have x condition.”

“Yes, I had a good home life and a good childhood. But that doesn’t make my brain produce more dopamine or serotonin. I can’t just ‘get over it’ or stop feeling sad.”

“I was encouraged by my mom to stop taking my medication because it would have ‘long-term effects’ on me. She may not be wrong, but I think perpetual sadness and depression are worse.”

“I took control of my own mental health once I realized it wasn’t shameful to do so. It was way later than it needed to be. I’m doing better but there are still things I need to work on.” – dawrina

“‘Don’t go on meds, just exercise’ for depression.”

“Meds ended up practically saving my life.” – Introvertedpanda3

“My mom told me not to ‘bother’ one of my boyfriends by talking about my mental health issues. She said he doesn’t need to hear about it and it’ll just overwhelm him and make him more likely to break up with me.”

“I ignored that advice, and my current boyfriend and I frequently talk about our mental health issues and it makes us stronger.” – mrwilliamschue

There was a mention of addiction.

“When I realized I was an alcoholic at 21, I opened up to a friend and they said, ‘We’re supposed to be young and wild and free! There’s nothing wrong with that!’”

“I lost 3 more years of my life to drinking and a suicide attempt before I got sober at 24 – I’ll have 3 years in February! (No thanks to her)” – OrganizationQuiet470

Some received terrible relationship advice. 

“To break up with the girl I was dating because I felt unsure about it.”

“From there she became my girlfriend, I moved in with her, we moved to a bigger house, got married, and took a dog and now we plan for children.”

“Meanwhile, most of those friends only had short-lived relationships with long single periods for years. I think they are the ones doing something wrong.” – Lvcivs2311

“‘You weren’t physically abused so just get over it, it wasn’t that bad.’”

“Bro, I was mentally, verbally, and financially abused for two years straight by someone who was supposed to love me.”

“He pointed out insecurities I didn’t even realize I had, putting my self-esteem so low that for literally the first time in my life, I started to have very intense suicidal thoughts. And now I have an extremely hard time trusting anyone that comes into my life in a romantic sense because I’m convinced that the same thing is going to happen again.”

“I would love to just get over it. I would love to be the person I was before I met my ex. I would love to just have my self-esteem back and love to not to be as anxious as I am.”

“But I’m not. It took me almost a year, and getting back with him briefly to realize it WAS that bad. Maybe he didn’t beat the s**t out of me, but he made me believe that I was someone that wasn’t worthy of love. It was absolutely that bad and it’s going to take a long time before I completely heal from the trauma he caused.” – Pear_Jam2

“Only make friends with people who are of a higher ‘status’ than you are so you can use them to better your situation.”

“This came from my paternal unit (PU) when I was about 15 (in response to a new friendship of mine with the daughter of a cemetery worker*) and I knew it was pure bulls**t the second he said it. Lost all remaining shreds of respect for him in that moment.”

“*his job mattered to the PU, which is the only reason I mention it.” – maggie081670

Others received questionable advice for their futures.

“April 2008 – ‘You should really look into buying a house instead of renting.’ I started the process of getting preapproved and looking, but for some reason decided to wait.” – ioncloud9

“When my wife and I were looking for houses, my manager at the time called to ask how the house hunting was going.”

“At this time, I was rumored to be up for a promotion that would be a rather sizable boost in salary, about $1,200 a month. There was absolutely no guarantee when this promotion could hypothetically take place.”

“He said, ‘Here’s the thing, I could be a finance guy doing this s**t for a living, but I couldn’t stop smoking weed long enough to finish college — don’t buy something that suits you now, because you’re always going to wish you would have gone bigger.’”

“He continued, ‘Buy something that you can grow into. You’re going to be making a lot more money soon, so buy something you almost don’t even feel comfortable buying.’”

“I bought a house well within our means, got promoted a few months later, now have a huge disposable income. Glad I didn’t think his advice was sound.” – Forwardbase_Kodai

“I was told by a guidance counselor as an incoming freshman (who didn’t know me from anyone else, by the way) that taking more than one honors course plus being in Band was too much.”

“My mom was persuaded. I had to fight both of them to ignore the advice. I ended up taking every honors and AP course possible throughout high school, finishing with a perfect 4.0 GPA, then doing the same in college.”

“Don’t take advice on what you should or shouldn’t do from someone who doesn’t know you. Always take into account your personal strengths and weaknesses when considering any advice in life.” – Kooky_Finding8516

While the people expressing these pieces of advice might have been earnest, these definitely weren’t the shiniest gems of advice we’ve ever seen.

The glowing takeaway here seems to be to understand yourself, what you need, what you want and what you’re capable of.

If you remain honest about that, you’ll make a better decision than any of this advice could lead you to.

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Workers Divulge The Most Unethical Request Their Boss Ever Made

Most large corporations are built on a ‘leadership’ model that borrows heavily from the military idea of Chain of Command.

The top gives orders, which are followed with increasing levels of detail the further down the chain one goes.

The trouble is that the orders aren’t always proper – or even, in some cases, legal.

Non-disclosure agreements and general embarrassment often keep people from telling these stories but Redditor SethmAR15 decided to use the anonymity of Reddit to ask:

“What’s the most unethical thing a boss has ever asked you to do?”

Someone needed a break.

“Many, many years ago I was working as a part-time mechanic for a guy selling ‘restored cars’.”

“He called me in for an emergency brake repair on a TR-4.”

“One of the rear wheel cylinders had failed and he needed it fixed ASAP.”

“He had a buyer lined up with cash.”

“Instead of having me hone and rebuild the cylinder properly (I had the tools and the kit to do so) he wanted me to cut the pipe to the rear brakes and just crimp it over onto itself, enough to stop the leak.”

“He was in a hurry and wanted it fixed before the customer saw anything.”

“I fixed it properly anyway, so that no one would die, and then rolled my toolbox out of there that very night.” ~ limeycars

The benefit of the doubt.

“Also at Dollar Tree, most of my cashiers were teenagers or dipshits that never showed up for work so this older Korean woman kept getting called in to work the register.”

“She was pretty much getting 40+ hours every week and open season for benefits was getting ready to start.”

“My district manager called me and told me I had to convince her to not get any benefits or else.”

“I told him that else better be him doing that shit himself because I’m not about to do his dirty work.” ~Sol-Blackguy

An executive decision.

“Not me but my dad’s story.”

“1980’s.”

“My dad worked at a small mid-western bank as an executive.”

“One day a fellow executive comes in with several loan applications and says he needs them all approved.”

“My dad looks over them quickly and immediately realizes none of the applicants qualified.”

“If they approved them the loans would go into default within three months and these people would lose their farms.”

“My dad said it wasn’t possible.”

“The other exec says ‘well if you just fudge the numbers it is.’ My father tells him that’s impossible because other exec never walked into his office and they never had this conversation.”

“The other exec nods and takes the papers back.”

“Six months later the FBI raids the bank.”

“My father was the only exec who didn’t go to prison for fraud.” ~ BlackStarCorona

We’re trying to contact you about your car’s extended warranty.

“Similar but different.”

“As a teen, I worked at a car dealership in the service department.”

“At the time, there was a major recall for transmission repairs.”

“They would do fake warranty repair orders on cars that did not need it and came in for other reasons, and bill the manufacturer accordingly.”

“They had to order replacement parts to continue the fraud, and would tell me to take them to a storage room above the parts department.”

“It so happened on my last day there, an auditor was on site for routine audit stuff.”

“In the break room I told him what I knew and left.”

“Fast forward 3 months and the dealership was closed.”

“I probably wouldn’t have said anything if my boss hadn’t been such a dick when I asked for time off to attend my grandfather’s funeral.”

“He thought I was lying and I had to bring in the obit (pre-internet) to keep my job.” ~ RunMelba

Dollar Tree doesn’t play around!

“My old boss at dollar tree would make me drive her to the bank in my car every night.”

“And she would have me park like 10 feet back from the ATM while she walked up to it.”

“She told me that if someone ever tried to run up on her while she was depositing the money I had to run them over.”

“She said if they were too close to her to just hit her as well.”

“She was incredibly adamant that I absolutely HAD to do this and very serious.” ~ durkinbrowns

Expiration dates are suggestions, right?

“Back in a butcher shop portion of a grocery store I worked at.”

“The supervisor asked me to change the date on some burger that wasn’t selling.”

“The day she asked me to do this was the sell-by-date.”

“I even asked her if that was safe/legal.”

“She just tapped her name tag that said supervisor on it and said that was the only thing I needed to worry about.”

“I put new tags on all of the packages while she was there but I didn’t put them on the shelves.”

“After she left for the night I found the store manager and showed him.”

“I showed him the old tags, which were just under the new tags so it was easy to pull them back and prove it. He had me toss the burger down the trash chute and my supervisor was gone from the store by the end of the week.” ~ Nerdfatha

There are always more workers.

“Keep people at work when there was a chemical leak from the car painting shop next door, and people were getting sick.”

“The boss wasn’t on-site (almost never was), I tried calling him and got no answer, and I was the most senior worker on-site so I sent everyone home.”

“When I was almost home (1h+ commute) he called me back.”

“He had gotten my voicemail where I explained the situation and he was not happy.”

“Apparently we should have waited it out or I should have arranged for everyone to work from home (not possible).”

“The guy was a dickhead but this one still makes me angry when I think about it.” ~ipakookapi

Seeing is believing?

“Branch Manager (Banking) asked me to pose in a picture, showing a lot of cleavage, to use on his construction loan website for his builders.”

“He wanted them to ‘see’ who they would be working with in a daily basis so he could get more business.” ~ Hchel25

This sounds like an episode of the Sopranos.

“I had a boss ask to me take a bunch of stock from the warehouse to his personal storage unit, and not to ask any questions …” ~ TJDigital_

What’s a little illegal dumping between coworkers?

“Loaded unknown chemicals into the nose of tractor trailers for out of state transport.”

“I’m sure it was all illegally dumped. Just out of HS I had no idea the scope of what was happening.”

“Nothing was labeled, containers, trailers and manifests all claimed empty containers.” ~ Reddit

It can be very easy to just do what you’re told, to just follow the orders.

Remember though that actions have consequences and to be wary of anyone trying to slide those consequences off their shoulders—and on to yours.

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People Divulge Which High School Rumor Turned Out To Be True

The high school rumor mill always seemed to be in full swing.

A few hundred teenagers crammed into one or two buildings was apparently ideal conditions for all sorts of steamy stories and imagined thrills to surface every week or so.

By and large, these stories were false. Or at the very least, wildly embellished.

But every once in awhile, one of them turned out to be true. And that was enough to make us believe all the other tales that flew around the hallways.

Redditor Le_Bayou_Cochon apparently wanted to separate fact from fiction.

He asked:

“What high school conspiracy turned out to be true at your school?”

Of course, sexual rumors were a common go-to. 

“There were rumors about a music teacher and a student, but they were both pretty dramatic people and did very little to dismiss the talk. So half the school wanted to believe it for the salacious thrill and half just waved it off as attention seeking and sh**-talking.”

“Teacher got canned without explanation. Most of us just figured it was budget-related. A math teacher filled in on his music/theater roles.”

“Years later I randomly caught up with the student and she said the rumors were true, she freaked out and tried to end things to shake off the reputation, and eventually the teacher showed up trashed and naked on her family’s front lawn, in the rain, yelling out for her.”

“Like a really fu**ed-up version of John Cusack from Say Anything but with less boombox and more drenched wang.” — Dangercakes13

This rumor spanned more than one school. 

“That our IT teacher slept with his students. He was attractive, young, friendly etc, then suddenly a rumour went around the school that he was sleeping with a 6th former (aged 17/18).”

“He was suspended for a while but then ‘decided to leave’ after he was ‘cleared’ of wrongdoing.”

“He got a new job at my cousins high school across town…he did it again there. Got caught with another 17 year old and was fired shortly after.” — Hot_potatoos

In a couple cases, the ending was rather unexpected. 

“Two of the teachers ‘hooking up’ on a Europe class trip. Gone for a week, came back and the rumours started.”

“Two weeks later a rumour started he got divorced.”

“Last week of school they were spotted at a restaurant together.”

“Looked em up a couple years after graduating. They’re married.” — Gone_cognito

“That one of the cheerleaders was dating one of the teachers (in his 40s). A year after graduation, they got married and had a baby. Still together 11 years later.” — Trailmix

Unfortunately, some other rumors were gruesome. 

“There was a girl freshman year who went missing. She ended up being found dead in the river. There were rumors that she was seen on a bridge with her boyfriend the day she went missing. Nothing was ever found and they assumed it was suicide/ an accident.”

“Fast forward 25 years and the boyfriend murdered his best friend of several decades, set a fire to cover it up, and went on the run. Couple days later he killed a woman at a rest stop in the bathroom to steal her car.”

“They reopened the case about the high school girlfriend. That rumor was correct all along. He will be in prison the rest of his life.” — pomegranatepants99

And some were alarming. 

“Lead in the water.”

“Our high school tap water was dark brown and we weren’t allowed to bring our own waterbottles or get filtered water from the cafeteria without paying $3. We sent hundreds of emails asking the school board to look into it, but they said it was fine.”

“In my senior year, a student did a science fair project on the illegal amount of lead in the tap water, forcing the school to investigate and fix all the taps.” — xJaneyDoe

This example was intriguing—and terrible.

“I attended a newly opened high school that apparently used to be a school for troubled kids. Someone told me there were padded rooms somewhere in the school so I skipped lunch with a friend one day to walk the halls and find them!”

“They did exist, but by next year they were renovated into offices and storage rooms. I thought that was pretty interesting and seriously wondered what went on there before it was turned into a ‘normal’ high school.” — E-macularius

One school was filled with surprises.

Two to be exact.

“That there were tunnels under the school that led to a hidden pool.”

“Confirmed by my father who was a maintenance man for the school district. The tunnels were just utility tunnels, the pool is below the gym floor and was abandoned due to financial reasons.” — pondcypress

In one case, someone tried to hide the past.

“My old math teacher was a WWF wrestler, i recognized him from my childhood days channel surfing and couldn’t find anything about him on google, but i was so sure it was him I just asked.”

“I was right lmao” — TheTastySpoonicorn

This one sounds straight out of a movie.

“My history teacher/tennis coach made moonshine and hosted cock fights in his barn. I ended up becoming friends with his son and it was all true.” — m011yRadar

As does this one. 

“That my high school history teacher was putting whiskey in the 2-liter bottle of Pepsi he carried around everyday.”

“He was caught trying to buy liquor for some senior girls and it resulted in a car chase we all watched. The police had to pull out the spike strips to catch him.” — Tylerurby

And finally, some quick thinking, heroic teachers.

“Due to budget cuts or something all of our metal and woodwork shop machines were to be taken away and replaced with worse versions. The shop teachers and drama teachers that were in the building at the time didn’t like this idea, so they hid all the machines in a false wall somewhere in the building.”

“The people came to pick them up and they told them that people had already come to pick them up and that they were late. They did some looking around and couldn’t find the machines and gave up. A few years and 1 principle later they brought the machines back out from behind the walls.”

“And that’s how the smallest high school of our district with only around 450 students became the best school in the district to learn metal and woodwork.” — imfamuspants

If these are true, there’s no knowing which of the rumors you wrote off in high school may have actually been true too.

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People Explain Which Historical Events Seem Altered By A Time Traveler From The Future

Ever wonder about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand?

Somebody throws a grenade at his car. It blows up behind him.

That’s the first incident of time travel, stopping the assassination.

Later, as he goes back, the driver realizes he’s on the same route where the grenade was thrown and they try to turn around.

The whole procession of cars stalls and a guy who just happened to be sitting there goes over and shoots the Archduke setting off the events that lead to the first World War.

Did a time traveler meddle then? Wouldn’t surprise us.

It turns out that there are quite a few historical events out there that seem stranger than fiction.

We heard about them after Redditor Heterozygoats asked the online community:

“What historical event 100% reads like a time traveler went back in time to alter history?”

“Basically, Poe writes about…”

“Edgar Allan Poe wrote about an event 40+ years in the future.”

“Basically, Poe writes about four people who are starving at sea, draw straws, and kill and eat the loser, cabin boy Richard Parker. 40 odd years later four people are adrift at sea in a lifeboat, one drinks seawater and goes into a coma.”

“When they draw straws for who will be eaten, the coma guy gets the short straw in a development that surprises no one. And so the three other men kill and eat the cabin boy. Richard Parker. Seriously.” ~ TuckerMouse

“There was a shipwreck…”

“There was a shipwreck in 1664, a shipwreck in 1785, and a shipwreck in 1820. Each had 1 survivor. Each survivor was named Hugh Wiliams.” ~ pm_me_genius

“The Fire Department and some clowns…”

“The Toronto Circus Riot of 1855.”

“The Fire Department and some clowns get into a disagreement at a whorehouse, and get into a punch-up. The clowns win, but the firemen return to the circus later and start attacking in revenge.”

“The firemen win the day but violence is stopped when the militia come in. The police do nothing, so the city fires all the police (and I mean everyone) and starts a new police force.” ~ splitdipless

“When Andrew Jackson’s assassin…”

“When Andrew Jackson’s assassin attempted to shoot him, both of his flintlock pistols misfired. Andrew Jackson had to be restrained after almost beating the assassin to death with his cane. The two flintlocks were examined after the incident and found to be in good condition.” ~TwoBearsHighFiving

“20,000 people could have died…”

“Cyanide Gas Attack Thwarted in Tokyo Subway.”

“20,000 people could have died but a worker found a burning gasbag in a toilet just before it mixed with another poisonous gas bag – just in time – and put them out. That was in Shinjuku station. I was in that station that day, and that person might have saved my life.” ~ Idkeepplaying

“It was so much happenstance…”

“Franz Ferdinand’s assassination. It was so much happenstance, shenanigans, and tomfoolery that it’s like a special achievement in a hitman game.” RigasTuring

“Survived both of the bombings…”

“Tsutomu Yamaguchi.”

“Survived both of the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Reads like a satirical time-traveler story where the protagonist screws up his dates.” ~ OlympusJCook

“The number of times…”

“The number of times we DIDN’T go to nuclear war because of a false positive of a launch. Honestly, Stanislav Petrov should have statues in every country.” ~ AustinJG

“Jack Ruby clearly was sent…”

“Jack Ruby clearly was sent to kill Lee Harvey Oswald so no one would ever discover it wasn’t him who killed Kennedy.” ~ possiblyhysterical

“Fidel Castro’s assassination attempts…”

“Fidel Castro’s assassination attempts being dodged is so unrealistic (really, he dodged about 600) that it feels like a time traveler went back and foiled every single one of them.” ~ AttentionSome

“If you read up on his life…”

“If you read up on his life, you’ll find there are so many times Adolf Hitler almost died, but somehow survived, that makes me think there was/is a time traveler war going on.”

“A faction trying to kill Hitler, because it’s Hitler, and a faction preventing his death because the guy who would replace him was even worse than Hitler.” ~ Lichruler

“The Germans spent a lot of time…”

“The Germans spent a lot of time and money developing a magnetic sea mine that probably would have significantly reduced England’s ability to stay in the war, except they dropped a single one of the mines accidentally on an English beach, and also failed to arm it so none of the booby traps were active and the British basically found out straight away how it worked and we’re able to cheaply build magnetic minesweepers.” ~ pezzz4525

“It wouldn’t be surprising…”

“It wouldn’t be surprising if Nancy Wake was a time traveler. She was just too damn good at special ops against the Nazis.” ~ doublestitch

“That time in the 1700s…”

“Battle of Karansebes.”

“That time in the 1700s when the Austrian army got confused, waged a huge battle against itself within its own lines, and lost an estimated several hundred to few thousand men (and a lot of equipment and money) in the process. They then retreated.”

“The Ottomans, whom they were originally intending to fight, showed up two days later.” ~ HyvalTheEmolga

“The last known kill…”

“The last known kill by bow and arrow in combat was actually during the battle of Dunkirk, 1940. Jack Churchill landed a well-placed arrow into a German soldier’s chest.”

“He also chose to carry bagpipes and a Scottish longsword.” ~ WasteNot2532

“The Russian writer…”

“The Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to death by firing squad and just as they were preparing the groups to be shot, a messenger came with a letter from the Tsar ‘forgiving’ them and the sentence was changed to prison labor.”

“He later went on to write some of the most influential novels of all time.” ~ smokeyman992

Whoa.

History is fascinating–and full of odd incidents like these, because life is crazy.

Just think—you’ll be the star of your next dinner party as soon as you whip these facts out.

So why don’t you?

You’ll be the envy of everyone!

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Desert Dwellers Break Down The Daily Facts Of Life They Face

Some months ago I found myself in El Paso, Texas. It was a fun enough time.

But let me tell you something—as a child of the Northeast, I don’t think I would enjoy living in the desert.

Nothing about the desert seems fun to me.

The idea of having the sun beating down on me all the time? I’m good, thanks.

Oh, there were no natural windbreaks out there, so sand just got everywhere whenever the wind picked up. That wasn’t great.

I mustn’t forget to mention the random lizards and scorpions that I’d see on the side of the road.

Or the spiders. Dear God, the spiders.

I guess I’m just accustomed to not having to think about animals all up in my space living in a Northeastern city. And I think I like it that way.

But there are plenty of people out there who live in these environments and would think I’m crazy for feeling the way I do!

They told us all about what it’s like living out there after Redditor Casual_WWE_Reference asked the online community:

“People who live in desert towns or cities, what are some everyday ‘facts of life’ about living in the desert that people who live in other places wouldn’t know?”

“And they are really freaking annoying.”

“Tumbleweed is not just in the cartoons. And they are really freaking annoying. Roadrunners are also around and are pretty cute. Coyotes party and sing in groups at night, and sound creepy as hell.” ~ sonictower

“Every now and then…”

“Every now and then we get a big wind storm that piles up the tumbleweeds in people’s yards. Imagine coming home from work and having tumbleweeds piled up to your roofline.” ~ elWattully

“Always wear a wide-brimmed hat.”

“Always wear a wide-brimmed hat. Long-sleeve T-shirts are underrated. Sunscreen. Lots of sunscreen.”

“Always have water on hand. Watch for snakes. Learn about heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and their respective symptoms.” ~ ClickBang911

“In the summer…”

“It’s dangerous.”

“In the summer we are often unable to go outside because 110-120 degree temps with little vegetation to absorb it will lead to heatstroke, and quickly.”

“Animals do not seek out the midday heat, and humans who think we’re somehow exempt from that will get sick.” 

“Adobe walls keep the heat out well but are hard to put nails into. Use 3M strips? Well, they melt. In my office, I usually have to replace broken frames every time the A/C shuts off because everything falls off the wall.” ~ [deleted]

“After a few days…”

“A couple of years after college, my friends and I spent a week in Big Bend National Park. It’s a large park in southwest Texas on the Mexican border, mostly desert with mountains, and the Rio Grande.”

“To give you an idea of the size of the park, our campsite was 70 miles from the park entrance.”

“After a few days driving around out there, we noticed that people were on another wavelength from what we were used to in the city and suburbs.”

“Folks you met at a store would give you a five-minute conversation. People driving by would wave. We would wave back because you could go half an hour without seeing another soul. People are wired to be social, and being completely isolated changes how you see others.”

“The loneliest I have ever felt was in downtown Tokyo on the streets of Shibuya, surrounded by thousands. Alone in the desert, people start to see each other.” ~ Thompson_S_Sweetback

“The entire reason…”

“It gets cold at night. The entire reason the desert is tolerable once you can provide shelter and water is almost exclusively because no matter how hot it gets, it’s usually around 50, 60 at night. Sand, dust, and dirt get everywhere.” ~ BigGoose478

“Big scorpions…”

“Big scorpions are scary, little scorpions will put you in the hospital. Incidentally, Fallout: New Vegas lied to you – the bark scorpion is actually both the smallest common scorpion in Arizona, and it’s also the most dangerous.”

“Learn to identify your spiders; the most dangerous spiders are not particularly predatory and will leave you alone, but you need to be able to ID your southern black widow, your Arizona brown spiders, and brown recluse spiders.”

“A brown recluse spider can cause organ failure, but a hobo spider, which looks really similar is harmless to the point that scientists are now assuming incidents attributed to the hobo spider are actually just misidentified brown recluse spiders.”

“There’s no hard, fast rule with snakes. Rattlesnakes want you to eff off. They tend to avoid humans for obvious reasons but that doesn’t mean you can’t stumble across one taking a nap.”

“There’s no cardinal rule with the danger of snakes at large, but on the off chance, a snake with black, red and white striping decides to taste test you, go to a hospital pronto.”

“The Arizona coral snake isn’t actually that dangerous – relative to rattlesnakes – but it’s also the one that’s really easy to identify.”

“Despite the cutesy name, Gila Monsters are dangerous. They’re not terribly fast but they’re pretty chompy and it’s the one case where a native lizard in the United States is also venomous.”

Other bugs: Arizona gets killer bees, and a particularly large eight-inch centipede called the Desert Centipede can also give a painful bite.” ~ BigGoose478

“When you’re choosing…”

“When you’re choosing where to place your garden, remember that ‘plant in full sun’ means full sun in the Midwest. That’s really not the same in southern New Mexico, where opening the front door is like checking if the lasagna is ready.”

“I have shade cloth over everything in our vegetable garden.” ~ DanYHKim

“Logistically…”

“Logistically, unless you have cloth seats in your car or seat covers of some kind, you need a towel to sit on your car seats or you’ll burn your legs. Using oven mitts to drive is not needed now but was crucial where we were in Arizona in the 70s.”

“Wild burros would walk through your yard at night, and sometimes would let you hand feed them. Carrot tops were especially liked!” ~ ReadOnTheCrapper

“I grew up…”

“I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and now live between Death Valley and Las Vegas in a rural low-elevation area. I can’t really safely go outside for what feels like half of the year.

“The temperatures where I live are insane, and they’re getting worse every year. I lost count of how many days we had over 120°F this past summer.”

“I have to physically pick up my dog to take her to the potty area. Some very cheap shoes will melt on the pavement on particularly bad days, so you can only imagine what that must be like for dogs’ feet.”

“Ground temperature is always much higher, especially asphalt. My rule of thumb is to usually take my foot out of my shoe and test it if I’m not too sure, if I wouldn’t walk on it then I won’t make my dog walk on it.” ~ Almadenn

Okay, after reading these, it seems clear to me that we shouldn’t be living out in the desert.

Why?

Why are we doing this to ourselves?

Safe to say I can’t handle it.

I don’t think I’d want to worry about my shoes melting… the humidity in the Northeast is enough!

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22 of the Most Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Foods You Should Be Eating

Inflammation is the body’s natural response to harmful stimuli such as bacteria or viruses. However, chronic inflammation is associated with many illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and diabetes. Doctors are learning that one of the best ways to reduce inflammation lies not in the medicine cabinet, but in the food cupboard. Check out these 22 foods that are great for reducing inflammation in your body: Salmon Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, salmon helps reduce your risk of heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Plus, studies show it may help prevent cognitive decline as you age. Try it in a

The post 22 of the Most Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Foods You Should Be Eating appeared first on Factual Facts.