Author: Koh Mochizuki

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People Who Work In Remote Places Break Down The Creepiest Things They’ve Ever Experienced

Some jobs require employees to work in unique locations outside of the typical office job.

While unconventional job locations provide an environment that prevents fatigue experienced by others who constantly work under fluorescent lighting, working in remote locations can experience unsettling feelings while on the clock.

Curious to explore examples of this, Redditor shafaatkhan007 asked:

“Redditors who work at remote places like forest officers, oil rig workers, etc, what creepy things have you noticed while at work?”

A Bloody Discovery

“I worked at a public forest. One day we had someone report a dead animal on the side of one of our trails. A few of us from the front desk hiked out to see what it was. It looked like a giant peice of…liver maybe? Just a pile of smooth red meat…no blood around.”

“And it was wrapped up in a t shirt, with some coins scattered around it. We called our rangers to go check it out, and one of them was pretty sure it was a placenta.”

“The weird part is, you have to check in thru a front desk. So someone either snuck a placenta/liver in or gave live birth/removed an organ on our trails. We never got an answer on what the pile of meat was, how it got there, or why.” – WhiteOwlz

The Body

“I do a lot of stream work so I spend time out in pretty rural areas walking streams and rivers. Once my coworker and I were working in a more urban environment and came across what we initially thought was a body – which of course triggered ‘Oh sh*t!!’ from us – but it ended up being a firefighter’s dummy that had fallen down a hill. We felt pretty dumb.”

“Other notable things include a small grave in the middle of nowhere for someone’s dog (pretty sad), and a stuffed rabbit with shotgun shells placed where its eyes should be, a mannequin very purposely placed in a chair in the middle of the woods, and lots of little random alters.”

“I also did work in Myrtle Beach (what a hell hole) and accidentally walked into an inhabited homeless camp. I was peering into a stormwater grate when I looked up and saw a homeless person standing in his shelter staring at us and saying nothing. I felt like I was trespassing so we quietly left.” – RegularTeacher2

Suspicious Sound

“I used to work in a ship and we’re usually gone 3 to 10 months at a time. I worked night shift so this meant I would sleep in the sleeping quarters during day time with either just me or a handfull of other crew members where usually there’d be 20 to 30 of us in there.”

“It wasn’t so bad. Actually I really liked because it’s a lot more peaceful sleelimg during the day. You don’t hear anybody else snoring or someones footsteps because they have to piss or something like that.”

“All you can hear is the light creak of the walls and the floors of the ship and all you can feel is the sway of it on the ocean. A bit haunting and creepy of you really think about it but I like it.”

“All that ended when there was a short period of time was literally only 2 of us in there or at least that’s what I thought. I started hearing light taps across the room. At first they were light taps. Then it would get a bit faster. Sometimes it’ll get a bit louder. I’d ignore it if it wasn’t so utterly annoying.”

“I look at where the other guys is sleeping and he seems to be fast asleep accompanied by his light snoring. 2nd day, there it goes again. I tried to follow the sound but for some reason it bounced around the room like an echo.”

“Eventually it comes to an abrupt halt. So I try to sleep it off. During work at night I tried to ask my mate about it but he said he was too tired to even notice. I guess I’m alone on this pursuit.

“3rd day I take my pursuit one step futher by not sleeping right away. I’d be fully awake when it starts so I’ll have a better chance of discovering the source. There it goes again. This time I go from one empty rack to the next until finally it was loud as f’k, tapping in progress.”

“My heart was thumping like a jackhammer. I pulled the curtain to the side. There laid the biggest dude I’ve ever seen on the ship holding his d*ck mid stroke. You have no idea the speech I prepared for this guy, in my head, for keeping me up for several days but at that exact moment I had no idea what to say.”

“Of course I gave out a small yalp which didn’t help the situation. I never thought I’d be locking eyes with another dude while he’s gripping his dong when I began this honorable pursuit.”

“With the current situation I mustered my best attempt at displaying my annoyance. It somehow came out as an apology followed by ‘I keep hearing tapping noises.’ He hadn’t said anything yet but at that exact moment, I realized that his elbow that which belong to the fapping arm is resting right on the wall probably banging on it over and over and over.”

“I didn’t wait for a reply. I nodded my head, kind of rolled my eye and walked away. It will never be easy trying to avoid a big guy like him everyday in the same sleeping quarters.” – Chevrons21

Isolation Fears

“I work on North sea oil rigs on an ad-hoc basis (off the coast of Scotland).”

“Wouldn’t say anything was particularly paranormal creepy but it can be very unsettling/weird place.”

“Fog can come rolling in out of nowhere and other rigs you can see off the sides can disappear in front of your eyes. Sometimes you can’t see the walkways 6ft in front of you or if you’re walking over grating you can’t see the sea below your feet (about 60m down from feck to sea) but you can hear it, all be it muffled. The fog can roll in over the course of a few minutes too so a perfectly clear day becomes pea soup.”

“You can also feel the rig moving/swaying on high winds /rough seas. Even though it’s a fixed leg Platform. Very unnerving to feel your office swaying when it shouldn’t be.”

“My last trip was my first ever Nightshift and I found it particularly unsettling as you’ve got the background noise of the plant but I walked around the whole rig without seeing another living soul for the whole shift (usually there are about 130 people on board although smaller rigs have smaller headcounts) .”

“Usually once a trip im hit by this awareness that you are just very isolated and in the middle of no where (most rigs I’ve worked on are an hour’s chopper ride from land). So if things go wrong it can escalate very quickly.” – sootsprite13

While many may scoff at the prospect of sharing a crowded space with other coworkers, it could be better than the alternative.

Constantly working in isolation with no one to distract you can be nerve-wracking over time and your imagination can wind up playing some cruel tricks.

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People Share The Weirdest Pizza Toppings They’ve Ever Tried

Pizza may have roots in Italy, but it is now a global phenomenon.

That international appeal has led to some creative local flair.

But not everyone thinks creativity is the secret to a great pie.

Redditor mrlogman asked:

“What’s the weirdest pizza topping you’ve heard of or tried?”

C’est Mangnifique

“I was in france and had a pizza with my dad that was Loaded with toppings.. three fried eggs were on the list. there was bacon and really good cheese and sausage and stuff. Very tasty.” – dirkachbar

A Teen’s Take

“I use to be a pizza chef in my late teens at my parents pizzeria.”

“I once made a chocolate calzone (without cheese), it was sickly/revolting.” – anon

When In Cambodia

“spiders and marijuana, not together but both in Cambodia.” – anon

Ruff To Swallow

“dog. I’m serious. I didn’t try it, but I have had zebra tacos.” – new_bedlam

Pineapple Still Raises Questions

“I used to think the same thing. Pineapple and canadian bacon/bacon on a pizza would freak me out. It’s a fruit, I would say.”

“Then, one fateful day, I tried it. Seriously, it’s delicious. The slightly sweet tang coupled with the melted cheese and the salty canadian bacon/bacon, maybe throw in some green peppers for effect…”

“I’m going to order one now. Seriously, try it. You won’t be disappointed.” – anon

A Little Garnish Goes A Long Way

“If you do like pineapple on pizza, try pineapple, ham, mint and feta cheese (Don’t use feta instead of mozzarella, just use the feta as a topping).”

“The mint can be cooked into the pizza or the leaves can be just put on the top as a garnish.” – anon

Heart Of The Platter

“Marinated artichoke heart seemed to be big in Ceuta, Spain.” – Zooph

Everything But The Kitchen Sink

“I had an ‘everything’ pizza in Italy with all sorts of vegetables and a cooked egg on top. They weren’t the normal vegetables you’d expect in the States.”

“Also, I once ate a giant pizza in Italy with 4 sections, 1 with arucola on it. It was pretty weird.”

“-edit- It’s called Capricciosa (with everything- the giant pizza was a specialty).” – poopsix

Restaurant Lab

“I work at a pizza place and sometimes we experiment. Some of the better ones include a PB&J pizza, breakfast pizza (bacon, eggs, cheese, ham, peppers), BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo, etc.)”

“On our menu we offer a cheeseburger pizza that uses mustard as the sauce with beef, mozzarella, cheddar, bacon, onions and pickles. We also have a spicy chicken pizza that has a ranch base instead of pizza sauce. Good stuff. Also, try using a spicy tomato sauce instead of a sweet one for a change.”

“EDIT: Also forgot to mention the Taco pizza (taco meat, pizza sauce, topped with lettuce, cheddar and tomato.) We also have a BBQ Chicken pizza (base is BBQ sauce, topped with mozzerella, diced seasoned chicken, cheddar, red onions and optional bacon.)” – analbumcover

Fruity Delight

“When I worked at a pizza place, a guy brought in a carton of blueberries and ordered a cheese pizza. When it came, he put the blueberries on top and ate it. When he was done, there was a single blueberry left alone on the plate.” – yourpopquizkid

Pharma-Giano

“Honestly? I believe it was either Vicodin or Ritalin.”

“My hubby and I along with his brother and a friend of ours had our pill stage, usually simply consuming or snorting, a few years back. One night, after baking a pizza and serenading it (not joking), they got the bright idea of placing it on our pizza as a topping.”

“I wasn’t fond of the idea b/c I don’t want my pizza tasting like pills and it isn’t the most efficient way to consume pills to get high, but. . . I was out numbered.”

“It was disgusting, of course. That’s all I remember from that night.” – anon

Moose Meat

“People always look at me weird when I say “Roast Beef”. But, I promise… Get some lean, thinly sliced (lunch meat grade) roast beef… Heaven.” – Originate

“Our local joint has this great Mr. Pestato pizza that has pesto, slices of potato and onions. It is so weird but so delicious!”

“And I remember that when I was in Guadalajara, they had ketchup packets at the local Dominos because people like to put it on pizza there. ew”– obizuth

That’s Just Bananas

“Banana Pizza is an amazing dessert. Toppings: bananas, mozzarella, sugar, and cinnamon.” – brandar

This Spuds For You

“I really like pierogi pizza!”

“Pizza with a layer of sauteed potatoes, then a layer of sour cream and topped with cheddar cheese, bacon bits and green onions. We have it at Boston Pizza in Canada.” – flashtastic

“Pickles or Broccoli”

“and yes I made them. I’ve got a knack for cooking and can make quite a few things, but back in my freshman year of college, when I first discovered that I enjoyed cooking, all I knew how to make was pizza and so I made every variation i could think of.”

“My favorite is still buffalo chicken. mix two parts marinara sauce with one part buffalo wing sauce, and dip it in ranch or bleu cheese. Delicious.” – jeffp12

Hitting The Sweet Spot

“I have been to a fish and chip shop which sells (or used to sell) chocolate pizza: pizza base with a layer of Rolos, covered in mozzarella and topped with crushed Flake. No tomato sauce though…. The chocolate and cheese works surprisingly well.” – jln

The Sandwich Variant

“There was/is a place in Sandusky, OH that I went to when I worked at Cedar Pointe that served a peanut butter and jelly pizza that I loved. It really just worked out to peanut butter melted onto a warm crust with cold jelly slathered on top, but it was served as a pizza.” – Spazsquatch

Popular Lunch Meat

“People always look at me weird when I say ‘Roast Beef.’ But, I promise… Get some lean, thinly sliced (lunch meat grade) roast beef… Heaven.” – Originate

While major fans of traditional pizza may consider some of these toppings blasphemous, others might see the topping interpretations as a complement to the dish that became a global culinary sensation.

So don’t be quick to judge these twists on a pizza.

Who knows, you may really enjoy squid pizza, amirite?

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Therapists Divulge The Most Common Secrets That Patients Are Scared To Tell Them

*The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.

Those who seek professional counseling are there because they want to improve their mental health and need guidance.

However, getting some patients to open up on their first meeting seems to be a challenge because they are struggling with their self-imposed shame.

Curious to hear about the things patients finally opened up about in a therapy session, Redditor Music-and-wine asked:

“Therapists, what is something people are afraid to tell you because they think it’s weird, but that you’ve actually heard a lot of times before?”

Redditors who are in the field provided their insights.

Resisting Impulses

“Intrusive thoughts. Nearly everyone has thoughts about pushing the old lady onto the subway train, swerving into opposing traffic, or stabbing their loved one in the stomach while cooking dinner with them.”

“Some folks, however, take these thoughts very serious that believe that they might act them out. It’s called thought-action-fusion. Most of us are able to brush them off, though.” – vedderer

Normalizing A Common Tendency

“Unwanted intrusive thoughts are normal and do not mean you are a bad person (yes, even intrusions of sexual/religious/moral themes).”

“By definition, these are thoughts that are unwanted bc they go against your own values and highlight what you don’t want to do (eg, a religious person having unwanted blasphemous images pop into their mind, or a new parent having unwanted sexual thoughts about their new baby).”

“However normal these thoughts are (over 90% of the population), the moral nature of these thoughts mean that often people experience a lot of shame and take many years before they first tell someone about them.”

“Edit. Because this is getting more visibility that I realised : The occurrence of these thoughts/images/urges are normal.”

“The best way to ‘manage’ them is to accept that they are a normal (albeit unpleasant) brain process, and a sign of the opposite of who you are and are therefore v.v.unlikely to ever do.”

“Let the thought run its course in the background while you bring your attention back to (insert something you can see/feel/hear/taste/touch). I usually say something like ‘ok mind!”

“Thanks for that mind! I’m going to get back to washing the dishes and the sound/sensation of the water while you ponder all the nasties.”

“Carry on!’ I literally say it to myself with a slightly amused tone bc I am always genuinely amused at all the wild stuff my brain can produce!!” – cbearg

The Thing About Grief

“The amount of people I see who feel like they should be grieving a ‘certain way’ and are afraid that they ‘must not have loved someone,’ or, ‘must not have cared.’ People grieve in all sorts of ways. The ‘5 stages of grief’ are bullsh*t.”

“I was consulting with another clinician who was seeing a couple whose daughter had died. The wife was convinced that the husband must not have cared about her because he ‘wasn’t grieving out loud’.”

“In reality, while she had been going to support groups and outwardly expressing, he had been continuing to work in a garden that him and his daughter had kept when she was alive, using that time to process and grieve as he did.”

“Both were perfectly fine ways of grieving, however it is expected that ones grief is more than the other. They both ended up working it out however, he driving her and others to their weekly support group, her attempting to work in the garden with him on the condition that they didn’t talk. Really sweet.”

“To that same extent, the amount of people who are unaware of their own emotions and emotional process is astounding. So many people feel only ‘angry’ or ‘happy’ and worry something must be wrong with them otherwise.”

“Normalizing feeling the whole gamut is just as important. Recognizing what we’re feeling as well as what it feels like in our body when we’re feeling is incredibly helpful for understanding how we process and feel.”

“As a whole, how we treat emotions as a society is kinda f’ked. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.” – sredac

Feeling Out Of Place

“I’d say a common one is believing that there’s something innately, irreparably wrong with them that makes them unable to ever truly ‘fit in’. For a lot of people it’s such a deeply ingrained belief that it can be extremely painful to acknowledge or express, regardless of the level of personal success in their lives.” – GuidedBySteven

Common Topics

“Two topics come up with regularity: when someone discloses to me that they were sexually abused as a kid, and/or when some is experiencing suicidal ideation. Both are something I hear from clients every single day, and so I don’t find it weird at all.”

“But, when I have someone in front of me who’s talking about it for the first time, I know it’s important to validate the fact that even though I might be talking about this for like the fifth time that day, they have never talked about this EVER, and are in need of gentle care to feel safe.” – HighKeyHotMess

What Makes People Happy

“That they do not know what they enjoy doing. Often they have people in they’re life, including therapists, say ‘try to do something fun today’ or ask ‘what do you like to do when you have free time?’”

“Many people I work with do not know what those are. Once I explain that I dislike these statements /questions because they assume people should know the answer, and that many people don’t, I can watch as they relax, take a deep breath, and say something to the effect of ‘oh my, that’s so good to hear. I have no idea what I like to do. That’s part of the problem’.”

“More often than not they feel like they should know and that everyone else their age has it figured out. They are embarrassed to say that they don’t know when in fact not knowing is very common. I couldn’t even try to count how many clients I’ve had this conversation with.” – ljrand

Not Knowing Where To Start

“A common one in the time I was a therapist was simply ‘I don’t know.’”

“You’d be surprised how reluctant people are to admit that they don’t know why they’re feeling how they are. But that’s exactly why you’re (or were, I’m not a therapist any more) sat there with me; so we can figure out why together.”

“It always put me in mind of a line from America by Simon and Garfunkel:”

“Kathy, ‘I’m lost’ I said, though I knew she was sleeping. ‘I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why’.” – kutuup1989

The Stigmatization Of Sex

“Psychologist here. Basically, anything having to do with sex. There’s so much shame. Sexual abuse. Sexual fantasies and fetishes. Erectile dysfunction. Infidelity. Becoming sexually assertive.”

“I’ve been told that I have a good ‘psychologist’s face.’ I try not to have a strong reaction to normalize the discussion. With adolescents, they are extremely anxious to tell me if they’ve relapsed or aren’t doing well.”

“They cut one night or they were suicidal. They’re having a lot of negative self-talk or panic attacks.”

“They’ll come in, pretending everything is okay. It’s usually in the last 10-15 minutes that they’ll say something. They’ll reveal that they worried they’d let me down.”

“That I’d be disappointed in them. It usually turns into a discussion about policing other people’s feelings and tolerating emotions.”

“I explain that I care about their well-being and it’s my job to monitor my emotions and reactions, not their role.” – MyDogCanSploot

The takeaway from this thread is that psychologists and other therapists have heard it all and they are there to help patients, not judge them.

While it’s easy to say patients should shed their guilt when opening up about their issues, they should be proud for taking that first step by showing up.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

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Former Flat Earthers Explain Why They Finally Came Around

Despite hard evidence the earth is NOT flat, many naysayers, known as “flat earthers” insist our planet is not at all spherical, whatsoever.

And if they could, they would go to the ends of the earth to prove it. But none ever have, because, well, they’ll wind up right where they started in their quest to prove their ridiculous point.

But among those who proclaim our planet is as flat as a stale slice of flatbread, some have come to their senses.

So how did these people manage to undo what they were so convinced of was not possible?

Strangers online revealed how they saw the light or made flat earthers accept reality when Redditor jbarms asked:

“Former Flat Earthers. What made you come round?”

Explaining Basic Concepts

“I talked to a flat-earther about my job working for a company that tracks ship locations, routes, and speeds by satellite. We also had ways of monitoring carbon emissions based on fuel consumption and known weather conditions.”

“None of this would work at all if the earth was flat. Not a jot of it.”

“I could only explain the most basic concepts, but it was enough for him to understand and realise that I was right and that he’d been convinced by someone who had no practical experience of the spherical nature of the Earth.”

“I think that’s what really did it – my experience was really tangible. This happens then this happens then we measure this etc etc… no theory, just practice.”

“A bit like showing a child a rock dropping to the ground in order to explain gravity, rather than giving them the whole theoretical shebang. Y’know?” – Administrative-Task9

A Competing Theory

“The mobius strip earthers had more compelling arguments.” – jnhummel

A Timely Realization

“Quote I got from somewhere…”

“for 5 years I believed the Earth was flat, then I turned 6” – -QED-

It Was Worth A Try

“I convinced a flat earther, temporarily, by asking him if it was possible for a sphere to be so large that you could not tell it was a sphere my simply being on the surface of it.”

“It took him a while, I used an analogy of a extremely long line that was so slightly curved you could not tell so by looking at a small section of it.”

“Eventually he said yes to the sphere and I told him that was how big the earth is. A few days later he reverted, most of these people aren’t mentally stable, they believe in a lot of conspiracies.”

“Corny edit, but as connoisseur of flat earth content my personal favorite is Professor Dave on YouTube. He is a underappreciated dude who just had a Science channel on YouTube and got brigaded by flat earthers for an unrelated video.”

“He made like 6 video responses in total just owning these guys but they eventually gave up. Check it out.” – McClain3000

A Foolproof Method

“What I like to do is use telescopes. This telescope is strong enough to see distant stars and galaxies, yes? Okay, look out this direction across the ocean. Can you see Europe?” – HavanosArcova

Possible Profitability If True

“Look, it’s really easy:”

“If the Earth is flat, there would be an edge(s). And there would be a f’king Disney park at the edge, and we could bungie jump off the side and paraglide into the void etc etc.”

“Someone would be making an absolute sh*t ton of money off of it – if it existed.”

“Guess what? Nobody is doing that – adn in this world where absolutely everything is exploited for profit – if no one is making money off of it – it does.not.exist. No edge. Not flat. Get a clue.” – Gedwyn19

Approach With Kindness

“I watched a documentary about flat earthers called ‘Truth behind the curve’ and my analysis from watching that these flat earthers are a group of people who found a community to be a part of.”

“It’s a shame their community is based on a lie, but I saw a bunch of people who were to be part of A community.”

“Most of the people were social awkward and whatnot, and so an opportunity to be an influential figure within the community so they double down on their flawed logic.”

“The more against you are of them, the harder they rep their flatness.” – imthatguydavid

“I was debating a flat earther in Mexico, and I asked him about how GPS worked if there were no satellites. He said that they had devices in the ground to route you.”

“I told him the Mexican government is barely able to put decent water pipes in the ground; would he really think they had the tech to put routing devices in the ground?”

“He chuckled with a thousand mile gaze.” – mzaouar

The Authority On All Things Space

“A serious answer here.”

“The thing that made me stop was just the question ‘why would nasa lie to you.’”

“I will try replying to all of yall but will go to a study hall so ill reply later.” – The_Holy_Fork

Impossible Secret

“This a solid point, there’s no way 70,000 scientist could keep it a secret.” – needsmoreusername

“That’s the biggest reason for me to not believe so many conspiracy theories, especially major ones like a Flat Earth… We know how often things leak about everything, and suddenly a collection of 10s of thousands of people are all gonna keep this one big secret?” – JerHat

“Flat earth is absolutely sh*t tier. It not only fails on the level you described, but also: why? Why pretend the shape of the earth is different than it is? When does someone convene a high level meeting to circulate that idea?” – heseme

Some Deep Digging

“I spent about a year infiltrating the flat Earth community on Instagram. I garnered a decent following with an account dedicated to flat earth travel photos (an intentionally absurd premise). In that time I learned a quite a bit about the community including how to discern the trolls from the real deal.”

“The majority of legit flat earthers are extremely distrustful of anything the government says or does. These same people are 9/11 truthers, Holocaust deniers, and anti-vaxxers and they connect these conspiracies together.”

“Many of them have also attached flat Earth theory to religion, magic, or mysticism. Before my infiltration I’d always considered conspiracies fun. Like they were the fan fiction of real life. Now they mostly make me sad.”

“For all the phony accounts like mine, there are still plenty of people out there willing to drop a couple of hundred dollars on a flat Earth convention.” – Zelph_Onandagus

The Trip Confirmed It

“Had to travel to Japan, gave up on my beliefs in order to make a shorter trip.” – uvzla792

Based on some of the comments above, it is entirely possible to change the minds of people who have pretty much been rejected from society and found acceptance from a community with whom they shared the same flawed logic.

It may have taken some hard convincing, but eventually, they flat-out came ’round.

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People Break Down The Absolute Worst Trends Of 2021

As 2021 draws to a close, people are taking time to reflect on the year that was, is and could’ve been.

Regarding work-life, education and parenting, the uncertainty of the pandemic’s future prevented many of us from going back to a sense of normalcy. But one thing remained constant and that is our use of social media.

With many of us glued to our phones more than ever, you may have noticed trends have come and gone or have stuck around.

Curious to hear of the more disastrous viral events, Redditor SweatyCure asked:

“What is the dumbest trend of 2021?”

Observe the examples below to determine which do you think were the lamest trends of this year.

The Video Sharing App

“Anything on tik tok.” – CryptographerOwn3688

“Case in point: That school shooting day rumor last week.” – BayushiKazemi

Dance Trends

“Moms tik tok dancing next to their new born baby who’s either dead or dying.” – ThatOneFilmPerson

“All this booty and stomach stuff. All those dances that are so sexual. I don’t know if that’s so good for the youngsters to learn. I just find it cringey.” – iiipzy

Social Media In General

“Literally all of it.” – 44untrue

“twitter and tik tok.” – E190wings

“Tiktok is mainly children under 10.”

“Children are dumb.”

“It adds up.” – tuwabau

The Root Cause

“I’m not sure, but I’m 99% sure it started on Tik Tok.” – InfiNicty

Wreaking Havoc In Schools

“Hard to say, but maybe the whole ‘devious lick’ thing.” – Writy_Guy

“Devious licks licking icecream and dec 17 school shooter challenge.” – BobOfBrazil

“God the devious lick trend was so stupid.” – pyjamapants14

“Except that disappearing clothes trend. I’m good with that one.” – LexLuthorJr

“Milk crate challenge was one of the dumbest but also one of the most entertaining.” – Filtaido

School Shooter Challenge

“Devious licks licking icecream and dec 17 school shooter challenge.” – BobOfBrazil

“December 17th – School Shooting Trend.” – sfisher923

A Violent Challenge

“You remember the skull breaker challenge?”

“It was a while ago. Three people would stand shoulder to shoulder, and the one in the middle would jump. The two people of the sides would then kick the middle’s legs in mid air, so they would fall backwards and crack their skull on the ground.”

“A few people died.” – uninterestedcrab

Gun Violence

“The new trend where they are threatening to shoot up schools on Tik Tok.” – OnasoapboX41

“What the actual f’k is wrong with people? How do they not know that threatening to shoot up a school is illegal?” – DogsAreCool69420

“That’s the exact reason why my parents didn’t let me go to school last Friday, there were too many threats towards my school.” – garvin1313

“My middle school was threatened to be shot up by a killer clown when that was going around 2017.” – OnasoapboX41

The Hair Don’t

“I hate that mullets have come back strong in Australia.” – flibblewobble88

“2020 wtf is the point of a crop top hoodie???” – Gilligan_Gurl

Pushing A Cause

“Making your political affiliation a major part of your personality and then cheerleading politics like it’s a goddamn sport.”

“And the worst part? Maybe 10% of these people actually knows sh*t about politics and political issues. And maybe 5% knows sh*t about how the government works.” – PunchBeard

Investments

“Gamestop and meme stock investing. Ruins price discovery and the entire equity market turned to sh*t.” – CapableScholar16

Conflicting Responses

“Treating CRT[critical race theory] like a pandemic, and COVID like a theory” – MacSanchez

“Honestly, the CRT thing gets under my skin. They can’t define it nor describe it to save their lives, but they hate it anyways because that’s what they’ve been told.” – BayushiKazemi

Anti-Biden Slogan

“Let’s Go Brandon” – cowboybluebird

COVID Reaction

“Antivaxxers” – gixanthrax

“Not wearing a mask in public.” – Laurence_Bloke

“Not washing your hands and using hand sanitizer.”

“COVID IS STILL AROUND.” – Dimple_from_YA

“Vaccine refusal and fake vaccine passports.” – muusandskwirrel

“Making the decision not to have a vaccine that could save your life because needles are sharp.” – AncientZebra0

The 5G Conspiracy Theory

“COVID shots give you 5g!!!”

“Then sign me the f’k up.” – muusandskwirrel

COVID Deniers

“The continued refusal of the general population of the planet to accept that covid has no easy solutions. Only one very hard solution.”

“Like a broken ankle, they would rather walk on it than get it taped up, plastered and immobilised giving it time to heal.” – BraveLittleToaster77

“During the height of Covid we stopped my stepdaughter from visiting her bio dad or his parents. The grandparents went absolutely crazy over this becuase according to them.Covid didn’t exist in their house.”

“Then they went silent for a few months. Found out later it was because grandma got covid.” – Kanagaguru

A Neglected Routine

“Not washing your hands and using hand sanitizer.”

“COVID IS STILL AROUND.” – Dimple_from_YA

Over The Variants

“Delta and Omicron.” – YashSrivastav17

Stupid Inconveniences

“Losing the tv remote and masks.” – doomslayercurse

Social Disgraces

“Inviting someone out to brunch whwn it’s obviously ypur treat and tgen expecting them to pau half.” – CollegeAssDiscoDorm

Baring It All

“Naked in front off your loved ones.” – Hugosimpon

Fashion Disaster

“The ‘big t-shirt as a dress’ look. The only thing frumpier is those god forsaken high wasted pants.” – BEJimmy

In The Buff

“Naked in front off your loved ones.” – Hugosimpon

In Summary

“2021 itself.” – MarvelSanctuary

“Its ability to pass by in the blink of an eye.” – Own-Jacket-1929

“I don’t know, if this is from 2021, but I really don’t like 💀when something is funny, I don’t get it.” – Kalle579

Back in the day, trends focused more on fashion and food. While those still apply, the introduction of social media was a game-changer in many of our daily interactions.

Madonna was a huge trendsetter in the 80s, thanks to visual media like MTV showing her ground-breaking and very risque music videos. Soon, fans started dressing like her and wearing gummy bracelets–often purchased at grocery store toy dispensers.

Now, anyone can be a trendsetter as an influencer on various social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

However, this time, trends have become harmful “challenges.”

From TikTok challenges to COVID deniers, there were many trends from 2021 people could do without and are looking forward to a clean slate in 2022.

One thing’s for sure, many of the viral challenges that encouraged violence were the ones most Redditors detested and hoped would never continue as we head into the new year.

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People Debate Which Candy Is The Worst Of All-Time

A good majority of us prefer sweet over savory, and we are insatiable when it comes to our cravings for treats with sugar as the primary ingredient.

As kids, many of us may or may not have salivated over the candy selection at the grocery check-out counter and “accidentally” threw a KitKat and/or a Twix bar on top of mom’s grocery pile for purchasing.

We could devour any of those selections. Or could we?

When it comes to sweets, it seems we can still be discerning about which ones to put in our mouths.

Redditor EmmaClark43244 asked:

“What is the worst candy of all time?”

Acquired Taste?

“I’ve never understood why people hate candy corn. I love them personally but I’m mentioning it because I know people hate ’em.” – Dyl-thuzad

Chocolate Knock-Off

“Palmer brand ‘chocolate’.”

“The cheapest most garbage chocolate you can buy a lot of around easter and Halloween.” – sneed_feed-seed

No Sugar? No Way

“Haribo sugar free gummies.” – Sonotmethen

Not For Black Licorice Fans

“Dubbelzoute drop. From the Netherlands. It’s just anise (black licorice flavor) and tons of salt, with no sugar. My former boss was Dutch and loved them, made me eat them from time to time to be polite… It’s not something you can ever love, unless you grew up thinking it was normal.” – MightiestThor

Thank You, Bertie Bott’s Beans

“Those Harry Potter jelly beans that actually taste like the flavors they have like earwax, dirt, puke. Yeah. Not a good experience.” – Bulky_Bicycle_9196

Waxy Goodness

“Those weird wax bottles in the candy section were you drink the sugar water (these are tiny, like the size of a finger) and are just stuck with the wax afterwards.” – peonyseahorse

Unloved Candy

“those valentines hearts that are stamped out of sidewalk chalk.” – thefirstbrick

Not A Fan

“Zoute Drop: It’s black licorice and salt. Imagine chewing on a tablespoons of pure salt with unsweetened licorice.” – greeniewillow

They’re Definitely Not Peanuts

“Circus peanuts. What the heck even are they. Weird fruit-but-not-any-fruit-youve-ever-eaten flavor, off-putting orange color, shaped like mutated peanut with the consistency of smushed marshmallow.” – thousand7734

The Familiar Suspects

“Laughing at these comments because I love all of these – circus peanuts, black licorice, Good and Plenty, Twizzlers, candy corn, conversation hearts, Werther’s Originals, etc.”

“If I had to pick one from the comments so far it would probably be Tootsie Rolls. You think it’s gonna be chocolate but it’s something weird. Tootsie Pops on the other hand are the bomb!” – DadsRGR8

Big Offenders

“You’re gonna hate me but I have a list.. all wax candies including candy corn, candy pumpkins and those bottles. Twizlers, black licorice, anything black licorice flavored. Any chocolate that you put in your mouth that doesn’t melt but rather.. crumbles?”

“Like chalk/sand chocolate. Idk it’s awful. Idk if this counts but those bubble gum brands that decide to turn into mashed potatoes as you chew them absolutely randomly.”

“This is because of a personal experience involving two pounds of them and vomit, but, jelly beans, and along with them, other similar candies. Candies that aren’t really candy but rather that healthy thing that grandma gave you.”

“Not because they taste bad, they’re almost always strangely good, but because they’re misleading and that’s a crime. The ‘mixed berry’ and ‘cherry’ and the occasional ‘grape’ candies that taste like liquid cough medicine.”

“Idk what they’re called but they’re like.. they come in the form of lollipops sometimes, or something similar to off brand jolly ranchers.” – Shh_Its_Alex

Gummy Swimmers

“Swedish fish. They taunt you with their outward appearance. Luring you into a false sense of security. They fill your head with the childhood memories of yore.”

“Begging you to come closer. Please, put me in your mouth. Please. I’m just like a gummy bear. F’KING LIES!!!!!” – SeaFaringPig

Halloween Staple

“Candy corn. It’s not even remotely close.” – Adomillad

Thing About Hershey’s

“Coming from the UK and being raised on Cadburys, I’m really not sure how anyone enjoys Hersheys which absolutely tastes like literal puke.” – purplehornet1973

Soda Pop Bottle

“Them waxy little soda’s with that liquid inside. As a kid I always thought you were supposed to eat the whole thing. Yuk.” – KingsterMan

It’s a Marshmallow World

“PEEPS! I just don’t get what there is to like about them. My kids will knock over a 7-11 for them. Yellow ones, pink ones, rabbit or pumpkin shaped….same mushy crap.” – nuclear_pickle_cpc

Taste Of Wax Paper

“When I was a kid I tried those dots of sugar on the paper roll? The paper would always stick to the sugar, you rarely got the dot off with out the paper. It was annoying and even though the sugar tasted great, the chewing of paper was not.” – MickeyRipple

Sucker

“Lollipops kinda suck ass. Probably not the worst they just popped into my mind. I don’t want to commit to sucking on that damn thing for several minutes when I could just eat something different that’s over and done with in 10 seconds. Idk maybe I’m weird.” – Jimjangofett

Sticky Kisses

“I just found out the name of these after 33 years. I also don’t know if they are available outside of Canada, but should be. They are called Molasses kisses.”

“I enjoy molasses but these are the most disgusting of candy. I never met anyone that like them. Everyone I know hated them. Don’t know why do many people bought them to give away, never even seen any to buy from any sites either, I have no idea where people get em.”

“It’s so weird.” – Asrack

Poo-Pourri

“The lavender-flavored hard candy from Europe that turns your mouth blue. It tastes like a pot-puri.”

“I was given a piece when I was filling in for the regular staff and was dispensing medications (pharmacist) with a blue mouth all day. I got punked big time.” – TapirRide

Brown Wax

“Tootsie Rolls are awful. I’ve never met anyone who buys Tootsie rolls and enjoys them. The only time anyone gets a Tootsie roll is on Halloween when they’re unlucky enough to visit a house that hates children.” – drblah1

For me, it’s wax lips.

Why are those always in the candy section when they should be in the toy section?

Because those aren’t candy.

It’s a simulation of Botox gone wrong.

No thank you, next!

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People Break Down The Best Psychological Tricks They Know

When faced with conflict, many of us have the tendency to respond in a combative manner if the situation appears to lack effective solutions.

But there is always a workaround that requires less energy and prevents exacerbation.

Depending on their intensity, examples of de-escalating tension in an encounter can include sitting closer to an aggressive individual to avoid a possible attack or looking deeply into the eyes of someone giving an unsatisfying answer to a serious question.

These and many other calming maneuvers may seem simple but they are effective Jedi mind tricks that could come in handy.

Curious to hear more examples, Redditor WindyBerniercardou2 asked:

“What was the very first psychological trick you learned that blew your mind?”

Ready to take notes? Then let’s begin.

Disorienting Trick

“If you ask someone to move over to an arbitrary different location to talk (could be 5 feet away) they are much more likely to listen to you and follow instructions. (One of my tricks as an elementary school teacher.)” – jerikkoa

Creating A Path

“When walking through a crowd don’t look at the People in front of you. Instead look past them where you are trying to go and most people will make room without noticing it.” – IridiumFlare96

Dealing With An Angsty Teen

“I taught teenagers in a really tough London school. A colleague taught me a brilliant trick to get a kid to calm down when they were angry:”

“Look them calmly in the eye and say ‘what do you want to happen next?’”

“Most of the time they were so caught up in emotion they hadn’t thought about the consequences of their dickery. As soon as you prod them to think about consequences, most of them would calm down straight away.” – Celtic_Cheetah_92

A New Lullaby

“Talking myself to sleep. I’ll think things like, ‘my bed is sooooo comfortable. Sleeping is soooo easy. I love sleeping. Sleeping is great.’”

“Instead of agonizing over why I can’t sleep. Positively reinforcing myself is my new lullaby lmao.” – HarrisonRyeGraham

Cure For Workplace Procrastination

“My first workplace trick that I still use regularly: people will procrastinate with their own work, but drop everything to quickly ‘correct’ someone else’s work.”

“Example: Bill needs to provide a paragraph of text to go in your company’s brochure. He’s been dragging his feet forever and it’s the last thing you’re waiting on but he keeps putting it off.”

“Go to where his paragraph should be and write a sh**ty version of what he’s supposed to do. Don’t invest more than ten seconds. ‘We do widget services. We are good at it. Our services are good for your widget needs.’”

“Send it to Bill saying ‘hey I filled in the last paragraph about widget services; can you check and make sure it meets your criteria, and I’ll send it along to the boss for approval?’ You’ll have Bill’s polished, fully composed text in about ten minutes.” – Much_Difference

Kill Them With Kindness

“Working as a waitress, if I noticed a customer was getting particularly impatient and it looked like they were going to be rude to me when I went over, when I would take the food over and before they got the chance to speak I’d say something like ‘So sorry for the wait, thanks for being so lovely about it!’”

“It seemed to catch them off guard and paint them as the ‘nice guy’ in my eyes, and more often than not their expression would change from pissed off to surprised, then they’d say something like ‘oh no problem it’s okay’ so they could keep being the nice guy and feel good about themselves and I avoid a chewing out.” – WeakAssPotatoes

Hush, Now

“Stop talking.”

“If you want to get more information out of someone, just let them speak. There are times in a conversation that things stop. Most people want to fill this themselves, but don’t. Let the other person do it.”

“This is especially useful if you think the person and their story is full of sh*t.” – I-am-a-meat-popcycle

Sounding Humble

“People are more likely to believe something you tell them if it’s self depreciating. You can make up some sort of lie but if you add something negative about yourself in it it sounds more believable.” – radpandaparty

Start Big

“Door in the face technique.”

“Basically someone who would have said no to a certain request if you asked it initially, is more likely to say yes to that request if you FIRST ask for something so big that you KNOW they’ll say no, and then the thing you actually want seems reasonable by comparison when you ask it afterward.” – harplesbian

Approaching A Big Chore

“Minimizing. If you feel like something is a really big chore or you just can’t get yourself to get up and go do something, minimize it to a small insignificant part.”

“Instead of doing all the garden work, say you’re just going to take the tools out so when you want to work you can. 90% of the time once you’re up and doing the small thing, the big bad chore doesn’t seem so bad now and you end up doing it.” – TroyMcpoyle

A Sale Tactic

“At a garage sale my father wanted $5 for a desk. It sat all day. Eventually he wrote $10, and $20 above the $5 and crossed them out making it look like he’d dropped the price twice. It was gone in under 30 minutes.” – mike_e_mcgee

Here You Go

“You can give a person talking on their phone an object and they will most likely take it because they are focused on the call. I regularly hand people empty plates, most of the time they just keep talking and don’t notice what I’m doing.” – PleaseTakeThisName

When I first moved to New York, I was on my guard a lot after surviving a mugging. After that harrowing incident, I came up with an on-the-spot tactic when I assumed I was being followed late at night on a walk home from work.

The guy wearing a hood was closing the gap behind me. I didn’t want to run because I thought if he was intentionally looking for trouble, he would chase after me.

He got close enough and started yelling, “Hey, dude. Dude, I’m talking to you. Hey man,” etc… I turned around and I told him, “Sorry, I’m allergic to corn.”

I don’t know how those words in that sequence materialized, but I kept walking.

I guess I threw him off, and as he was processing the random–and very false–statement, the distance between us widened and I eventually turned a corner towards a busier part of the neighborhood.

I turned back, and he was no longer behind me. I guess he thought I was not right in the head, and therefore not worth whatever his intentions were in pursuing getting a solo stranger’s attention.

I’ve deployed this “corn allergy” technique on maybe two or three more occasions and it has worked every time.

Regardless of whether or not their intentions were malicious, I sure wasn’t going to stick around to find out if my gut was sending false alarm distress signals.

For the record, I love corn.

Feel free to adopt my psychological trick to ward off any creepers in your future.

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People Describe The Most Hypocritical Thing They’ve Ever Witnessed

People ought to practice what they preach.

If an authority figure thinks something is objectionable and berates a person for a perceived contemptible act, it’s not a good look when they themselves commit the very act they claimed to be vehemently against.

Curious to hear from strangers who have caught someone failing to practice what they preach, Redditor ChadbourneShamille8 asked:

“What is an instance of hypocrisy you witnessed?”

Dress Code

“When I was a bus driver, a woman was allowed to wear skirts and men weren’t allowed to wear shorts mind you there is no Air-conditioning on most British buses so on hot days it’s roasting.” – [deleted]

The Exception

“My dad once told me that he’s glad my sister gets welfare, but he doesn’t think anyone else should.” – MentalHygienx

The Argument

“Saw this small argument between two people that happened some years ago online in a comment section. The topic was ‘Is Christianity slavery?’”

“One of them argued that it was and brought up their own personal experience as one of the reasons for it. Saying that they were forced to go to church and that you have to have blind faith to follow the religion.”

“In response, the other person, who argued that Christianity wasn’t slavery, brought their experience. Saying that they had found more freedom in themselves by following the religion and that faith is not blind belief, but rather an act of volition which would generally be based on evidence.”

“In response to that, the one arguing that Christianity was slavery said something along the lines of, ‘You bringing in your personal experience doesn’t make your argument valid.’”

“When I read that I just facepalmed.” – Far-Sheepherder-8256

Zero Tolerance Policy

“My favorite example is zero tolerance in schools.”

“It applies stringently to students, and not at all to faculty.” – All_Your_Base

Proponent Of “Family Values”

“Not really a single instance, but a guy I’ve known for a long time is very vocal about ‘family values,’ ‘the sanctity of marriage,’ and complains about people having multiple children by various ‘baby mamma’s.’”

“He’s on his third marriage. He’s fathered six children..two with each of his three wives, has two step-kids, and his latest wife is just about the same age as his oldest daughter.”

“He’s all but disowned her, her brother, and his oldest step-son. But he’s all about ‘family values.’” – gogojack

Selective Charity

“There is a chapter of ‘holy rollers,’ christian bikers at the end of my street. Across from their clubhouse is a convenience store that I go to daily.”

“A homeless woman named Betty comes to this store in the afternoon to get out of the sun and hopefully get a few handouts. Typically, if Betty is there when I show up I’ll grab her a big bottle of cold water and a few snacks.”

“One day I stopped by the store to grab a coffee before work. Betty was there and was asking three of the holy rollers if they could spare some change or possibly a cigarette from one of the bikers.”

“They started teasing her about her clothes and told her to get off her ass and get a job and walked across the street to their clubhouse. As usual I went in, got her a triangle sandwich and cold water and gave her a couple of my smokes.”

“Pretty hypocritical of those that supposedly follow the word of jesus to turn their back on a sister in need. I’m not religious and I do a better job of helping the less fortunate than many religious people do.” – PleasurenPain702

Drugs Of Choice

“Relative won’t get a COVID shot, because of fears that persist about what’s in the shot, but has extensively traveled through SE Asia doing shrooms, heroin, cocaine and pharmaceuticals and will take any drug offered to her.”

“Afraid of COVID shot but spiked her skin with an unknown needle in Thailand. Oki doki.” – [deleted]

Talking The Talk

“An aunt of mine has endless photos of herself in Buddhist temples and monasteries, says how she learns the sutras and chants on behalf of her very ill mom. She even claims to have taken certain vows and has achieved some sort of rank in the religious order. Sounds like a virtuous lady right? Nah.”

“She neglects her own mother and cooks up sob stories to get money from her. She claims to be poor and unable to put food on the table and sacrifices her own health to feed her kids etc. Then, the same aunt will post about eating at fancy restaurants and getting food deliveries sent to her house almost every day.”

“At the same time she talks about being a good Buddhist and how she is forbidden to tell lies and curse/scold others. This very same aunt, when confronted with her own lies will threaten suicide, she has been threatening to end herself for 2 years but sadly isn’t unalive yet, and say that ‘You are making me kill myself! If I die its your fault!’”

“If you continue calling out her bs. She also goes to different temples to eat food that’s supposed to be for those who are less fortunate and has been gently chided by the monks and nuns several times.”

“Then she will smear the name of that temple/monastery where the monk/nun chided her and say how they’re faking their faith, looking down on the unfortunate etc.” – Cuddlyevilporcupine

Outstanding Debts

“My FIL is the poster boy for hypocrisy. The latest instance was criticizing my SIL for not telling her husband about borrowing money from me and my SO when he doesn’t tell his wife about his: gambling, smoking, getting fired, getting a much larger ‘loan’ (since he’s made it clear he isn’t paying it back) from us, the reason behind why his granddaughter refuses to invite him to functions, etc.”

“At least I know SIL will pay us back.” – DNA_ligase

The frustrations in these examples are relatable.

How are we to respect those whose actions contradict what they say and impose on others, especially if it’s someone we’re supposed to look up to, like a leader or a parent. It’s definitely a challenge, that’s for sure.

Depending on the circumstances, maybe calling them out on their hypocrisy is an option.

What do you think, folks? Have you ever been in a position where you called someone out for being hypocritical and it backfired?

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People Describe The Most Elaborate Scam They’ve Ever Fallen For

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Many victims of scams fail to detect if what someone is pitching is legit. These con artists have the capability of hypnotizing people by talking endlessly about the products they’re selling, or worse, threatening you with legal action if you don’t pay off charges you never knew you had.

During the pandemic, it seems internet scams have increased to prey on the elderly or even the most unsuspecting customer who isn’t even close to retirement age.

But don’t feel bad if you fell victim to an elaborate scam that made you the proud owner of the proverbial snake oil. You’re not alone.

Curious to hear from others whose gullibleness was taken advantage of, Redditor Pissgf asked:

“What’s the most elaborate scam you fell for?”

The Stolen Car

“I put a room up for rent once. Someone applied and said they would be moving in at the first of the month. They said they were military and switching bases.”

“This person said they were going to go ahead and ship their car out and fly in. The car arrived and was offloaded by truck. A few days later the car was gone. The person never arrived.”

“A month or so later the police knocked and asked about the car. Ended up being that the car was stolen by whoever this person was that shipped it and the person who picked it up was a buyer who thought it was legit.”

“Apparently he had a set of keys mailed to him and a fake title. Idk if it ever got sorted but they initially assumed that I was a part of it.” – BLACKMACH1NE

Free HBO

“At the start of college one year when everyone was moving into houses in the usual sh**ty but affordable part of a college town, a guy walked up to us and said he can get us free HBO, he’d just take $20, he knew a guy.”

“We’re like cool, he takes out his cell phone, walks a few steps away out of earshot, says check our TV, we go, and lo and behold, HBO! We give him $20 and he walks away.”

“A week later, it was gone. The dude just called HBO for some free trial week. He must have hit up every college kid moving in that day and made bank.” – StoolToad9

What’s Left On The Gift Card

“I had a visa gift card for $100 I got for my birthday, and wanted to check the balance after a few purchases online.”

“I look up ‘check visa gift card balance’ and clicked on the first thing I saw.” – throwaway74274380

An Elaborate Con

“This will probably get buried, but it’s one of the best scams (felonies?) I’ve ever heard.”

“Someone in my super small town got their grill stolen off their front porch one day. Obviously they were like, what in the hell? And they’re bummed.”

“A couple of days later, the grill shows back up on their front porch with an attached note that reads something along the lines of.”

“Our son has a problem with stealing things which do not belong to him. We found this on our property and got it out of him who he took it from and made sure he brought it back to you. Please don’t call the police to report this and enjoy 4 tickets to the Cleveland Indians game on us. So sorry for the inconvenience.”

“Needless to say, the people who lived there were relieved to have their grill back and went to the game that Saturday to enjoy the tickets some nice parents (presumably) had left for them to make up for their shitty son’s actions.”

“Except.”

“Our town was about 2 hours from Cleveland. Between the drive there and back and the baseball game, I’d say the family was gone for about 10+ hours that day. Guaranteed.”

“When they returned home, they’re house had been BURGLED. Everything. Electronics, cash, jewelry, ANYTHING you could think of as potentially valuable was gone.”

“Someone concocted a hell of an elaborate ruse they knew would get those people out of their house for a good half a day in order to rob the ever-loving sh*t out of them. All for the cost of a couple of Indians tickets.”

“It’s a funny story to tell, but no doubt was incredibly scary and invasive at the time to that poor family.” – kelseamoore

The Meetup

“Ohhh boy, I still cringe about that. Back in the late 90s, early 00s when chatrooms were popular, I met this guy there and we ended up chatting pretty much daily. He had an unusual name for the region, that should have been the first clue.”

“We chatted and sent letters to each other (by actual post)..tried to meet up with him so many times, but he always had something come up. One night on new year’s eve when we were supposed to meet finally, HIS COUSIN shows up and said yea he’ll come soon, he told me to wait here with you.”

“Pretended to call him several times to ask where he was, an hour or so later I just went back home and never talked to the guy again. Turned out the ‘cousin’ was the guy I was chatting with and he had made a deal with another guy to see how long I would believe all this.”

“I can’t believe I fell for it. Keep in mind I was 16 something back then.” – Finewhatever1

Getting An ESTA Visa

“I don’t know if its necessarily the most elaborate scam of all time, but there are a range of fake sites online that offer ESTA visa for entry into the US.”

“The funny thing about the sites is that they actually process your visa, but they just do it by sending your details to the official site and charging you a hundred dollars or so of idiot tax.”

“I got caught a few years back and I wasn’t even really mad. It was such an amazingly set-up grift, and what made it even better was that you really had no recourse because they were actually giving you what you paid for.” – dougieburrows

The “Color” TV

“In the late 50s or early 60s, some guy came into my grandpas shop selling color TVs out of the back of a truck. The family had never had a color tv, and the price was way less than what a store charged, so he bought one.”

“He excitedly brought it home, plugged it in and turned it on. Black and White. He played with the knobs and antenna, nothing. No color. The guy took a bunch of old black and white TVs, slapped a rainbow sticker on them, and sold them as color. Brilliant.” – Jealous-Network-8852

Owing Taxes

“A phone call just as I graduated high school I nearly fell for it. I was maybe 17-18 years old still looking for a job. The call goes as this:”

“HI, my name is John doe, and I am with the FBI. We have a warrant out for your arrest.”

“I’m terrified because it sounded real, so I kept listening.”

“It seems you owe $259.27 in taxes, you may call the IRS, or you may mail it to somewhere to sort the issue.”

“My heart was racing because I though I was wanted for tax evasion before my first job. I asked my dad what I should do and he told me to call the local sheriff’s department so I did. I was relieved to hear that I didn’t have a warrant and that it was a scam.” – somebigdog

I “bumped” into a guy with my umbrella once, when I was walking in Times Square in the show.

Apparently, I knocked him so hard, his glasses fell onto the SNOW-COVERED pavement and cracked.

He demanded I pay him $200 for a new pair and insisted we go to an ATM to settle the damage. I knew his specs were already cracked.

So when I played along and asked him for his name, address, and phone number so I could mail him a check, he yelled, “that will take too long!” and stormed off.

I guess he didn’t need the new glasses that badly. After all, there were other prospective victims to scope out in Times Square.

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People Share The Most Obvious But Little-Known Facts That Will Make You Say ‘D’Oh!’

By the time we reach a certain age, we think we know everything. Some of us might even be overconfident in our wisdom.

But to those who are erudite and hold multiple degrees of higher learning, they have another think coming.

The truth is, we never stop learning in this thing called life.

Aside from examples of people who are book smart vs. having street smarts, there are common misunderstandings experienced by both camps, and they result in a head slap moment that makes them utter, for lack of a better expression, “D-oh!”

Curious to hear from strangers on the internet, Redditor TikiTC asked:

“What’s a little-known but obvious fact that will immediately make all of us feel stupid?”

English Is Hard

“Words that are spelled the same but pronounced with emphasis on different syllables is actually indicative of the part of speech it is.”

“Stress on the first syllable is a noun. Stress on the last syllable is a verb. Examples: CON-tract and con-TRACT. The former is a noun ( sign this contract) whereas the latter is a verb (the muscles contract). Same with record, address, impact, object, and a few others.” – Verlonica

What’s In A Name

“The words Laser and Scuba are actually acronyms and they stand for:”

“Laser- Light Amplification (by) Stimulated Emission (of) Radiation. Scuba- Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.” – Gerd-Neek

It’s Two Words

“The word ‘helicopter’ has two components. They aren’t ‘heli’ and ‘copter.’ They are ‘helico’ and ‘pter.’”

“‘Helico’ (helix) and ‘pter’ (wing, like with ‘pterodactyl’)” – kabukistar

It’s Casual

“Thee and Thou were actually the informal forms. The King James Bible used them so that the relationship with God would seem more personal.” – kkngs

Obstructed View

“Cats, dogs, and other similar animals can’t see directly below their faces.”

“Because their snout gets in the way.”

“(That’s why you have to point out the treat a million times, they’re not stupid, the damn thing is just in their blind spot)” – tinyhatonapumpkin

“My favorite thing to tell people: Penguins swim faster than Michael Phelps.”

“Remember that discovery special that pitted a shark against him to see who was faster? Completely stupid, because even shark FOOD swims faster than he does! (Sharks eat penguins, to clarify)” – mushupenguin

Join The Circus

“Everyone has seen shows or movies about traveling circuses, mainly in the 1930’s or 1940’s. During the Depression, running away to join the circus was a semi-reasonable option.”

“Many people scoff at the Florida law you must feed the meter where you park your elephant.”

“Those circuses had a travel season that heavily relied on summer and warmer months. They would spend the winter in Florida until the next travel season. AHS even had an entire season about this.” – UnihornWhale

A Lot To Unpack

“Elephants have some of the closest looking breasts to humans besides primates of course. Two of them.”

“You just kind of look at female elephants in the context you usually see them and whoop, there it is and you can’t unsee it ever again.” – breastronaut

Certain Introverts

“Antisocial means that you are hostile or harmful to organized society. As in being or marked by behavior deviating sharply from the social norm.”

“Asocial is rejecting or lacking the capacity for social interaction.” – OttoManSatire

Not For Aesthetics

“Covered bridges are designed with roofs to protect and preserve the wooden structure from the elements.”

“Without the cover they’d last about 20 years, with the cover they can last up to 100. They’re not built that way just to look charming.” – ghostofhenryvii

Do You Know Where You Are?

“911 operators have no f’king clue where you are instantly unless you’re on a landline.”

“You HAVE to say where you are. It’s not our fault movies made you think we have a spy level video of you in your car.”

“Know your location.” – BeardsuptheWazoo

Statistics Say

“Around 70% of all car accidents happen within 10 miles of your home……because over 70% of your driving is within 10 miles of your home.”

“It’s a statistic driving teachers love to toss out there, that most accidents happen close to your home. But if you think about it, most of your driving is close to your home.”

“Even if you drive 20 miles to work, 50% of your driving will take place 10 miles from your home. The average commute is around 15 miles, and most people shop close to home.”

“So it’s really common sense that the majority of your driving will take place in that 10 mile radius, even if you travel further for work or other activities.” – sebrebc

Spud History

“Potatoes didn’t arrive in Europe until the 16th century.”

“It’s so ubiquitous, you’d think it would’ve been a part of English culture since 10,000 BC. – chalkyWubnub”

You’ll Become Unhinged

“You don’t actually bite down. You bite up because of your lower jaw.” – Random_Weirdo_Girl

Fresh Specimen

“When extracting organs for donating, doctors need to keep the body alive, obviously through machines, but they need to keep the blood pumping.” – [deleted]

Let Them Flow

“Tear ducts drain tears, they don’t produce them.” – Katiesullivan01

Legend Of The Fall

“It was never mentioned that Humpty-Dumpty was an egg.” – YummyMango124

Contaminated Seasoning

“Almost all samples of Sea Salt that you can buy in supermarkets are contaminated by microplastics from all the crap in the ocean.” – Cockalorum

“When a nurse gives you an IV – they aren’t leaving the metal needle inside your arm – they actually remove that and only a soft plastic tube remains – so you don’t need to keep your arm that straight, relax.” – Snakes_for_Bones

When I was once told Alaska was considered the easternmost state of the United States, I looked at my informant like he was crazy.

It logically didn’t make sense because, in my mind, Maine was the furthest eastern point.

But then, he explained to me how Alaska’s Aleutian Islands cross longitude 180º, which would make Alaska’s westernmost part of the state fall under the Eastern Hemisphere.

Even though it wasn’t a “D-oh” moment for me, I was definitely enlightened. But I don’t think many people would know about this interesting trivia.

That’s one for discussion at your next cocktail party, I suppose.