Author: Thomas Dane

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People Explain What They Miss Most From The Early Days Of The internet

Do you remember when the internet was new? We had grunge, and dial-up and the computer was a mystery.

Can you believe how far we’ve come? Now the internet rules the world.

Those who can think back, admit it, we all kinda thought… “This will never last.”

How wrong we were.

But with growth comes massive change.

Redditor ransom0374 wanted to discuss the good ole days of the internet, a much simpler time.

They asked:

“What do you miss from early internet times?”

Do you remember the time?

All that was new…

“I miss the wild unknown frontier that the internet was.”

“It seemed there was so much discovery to be had on the internet. And if you were good at the internet ‘Hackerman’ you were like a God amongst your peers.”

“It seems like there isn’t anything ‘new’ on the internet anymore. No discoveries to be made.”  ~ SmallTownJerseyBoy

It had the look…

“I miss the look and aesthetic of old websites. Now everything is so clean and boring.”  ~ LucianaLeak

“I personally like the designs from 2003/2004 for example. If you go on sites such as Spacehey or YTMND, they look very unique with the basic layouts of text and GIFs.” 

“The moving text and how damn smooth it is, also appeals to me.”

“It looks very satisfying and futuristic. The crispy gifs always feel homely. And you could copy and paste images and icons that the site had.”

“But many modern sites, just not the “high-end” ones still allow you to do this.”

“Sites made for a Windows XP computer do look better than sites made especially for a phone.”  ~ KappaMazinksy

Ads, ads and ads… I hate ads. 

“Variety. There’s a popular tweet that says something like ‘the internet has turned into four websites where on each one people share screenshots of the other three.’”

“I miss when you could search a term and there would be dozens of sites dedicated to it or forums especially for it. Now it’s just ads, Wikipedia, and Reddit.”

“Oh, and not having ads shoved down your throat every time you search a term or navigate to a page.”

“I know there were pop ups and banners, which weren’t any better.”

“There was a few years there where you could Google something and half the first page wasn’t sponsored ads, that had nothing to do with what you looked up, and you could go to a website and it didn’t block the page with a full screen ad asking for your email to join their mailing list, or save 10% on their merchandise.”  ~ SociallyInept2020

Use responsibly…

“How people used to treat it.”

“The internet was, not just a novelty, but an amazing piece of technology that let anyone share anything.”

“It was so wholesome and loving, with everyone still being amazed at what we could do now.”

“Now? There’s so many websites that are designed to make you angry and radicalise your beliefs.”

“It’s quantity over quality. There was a time when nobody on Reddit shared politics, when Facebook was for socialising, when YouTube was where people uploaded stuff they were passionate about.” ~ CameOutAndFarted

Silly language…

“AIM away messages saying stupid crap like ‘BRB going to get some bagel bites.’”  ~ fluffy_boy_cheddar

“Don’t forget to update your personal profile with Blink 182 lyrics and the initials of your school sweetheart and some ASCII.”

“Browse for a new inappropriate buddy icon and strike up a convo with SmarterChild.”  ~ YOLOswagBRO69

“It was dumb and fun.”

“That all the webpages were just random people trying to figure out HTML.”

“There really wasn’t a corporate presence at all. You could click on a button and make a cardboard hand wave at someone’s cats.”

“You could dispense a coke from a machine in some dorm. It was dumb and fun.”  ~ diegojones4

Too much to know…

“The learning was endless.”

“There were almost an infinite source of information from all over the world.”

“If you wanted to find something all you had to do was search for it in Ask Jeeves or whatever and you’d find any website that had ever mentioned that thing.”

“There were more than 10 different websites. And at least it didn’t feel like I was being forced to sign up for a subscription after every click.”

“There were so many fun, cute stores to shop. Now it feels like everyone dresses and decorates the same.”

“I miss a lot of things about the early internet. I’m probably wrong, but it just felt safer than it does now?”  ~ thatgirlfromthething

Let’s chat

“AOL and Yahoo! chatrooms.”

“And the Population Zero forum (I think it was a forum). It was for a local band that attended Orange Glen High School in Escondido, California.”  ~ Reddit

When times were good…

“I was in my late teens when the internet was becoming accessible to everyone.”

“Our one household computer was in the kitchen & facing in a way so anyone coming in could see your screen.”

“I remember looking at someone’s website and my Dad passing by to get something to eat, asking me if the person on the website was my friend.”

“I miss those old days! The internet seemed endless & friendly.”  ~ LusciousofBorg

Now it’s a business…

“I miss when streaming was a hobby and now everyone wants to make it a career.”

“Meanwhile for every streamer that makes a living, there’s tens of thousands with 0 viewers, or 1 if they’re logged into their own stream.”  ~ Shadow_Bannedit

Crazy at my fingertips…

“The pure unadulterated wildness of it. This was the first video I was ever sent. Blew my damn mind. Lol.”

“It was funny, crass and anti-establishment. It was crap my parents wouldn’t, in a million years, let me watch.”

“But here it was, unrestricted and at my fingertips.”

“One thing folks born with the internet will never get to experience is that moment of pure joy when something as simple as a low quality and crass cartoon just blows your damn mind because of all the POSSIBILITIES it represents.”  ~ Vanviator

All the popular kids…

“I can’t remember what it was called, but Yahoo had this great music video program where it showed popular artists, and some very unknown folks.”

“I discovered some of my favorite artists having it play in the background all the time.”  ~ AtheneSchmidt

Oh, the good old days—they were wild and fun.

The internet is our bread and butter now. Can you even imagine life without it?

Do you want to?

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People Break Down The Job Interview Red Flags That Scream ‘Toxic Workplace’

The drama surrounding the job search is real.

Everyone wants to work, but not in an environment of crazy.

We all deserve a peaceful, well-run place to make a living. Is that too much to ask?

But sometimes, no matter how desperate you are for a job, the indicators of an unhealthy workplace are right there in front of you even at the interview stage.

Redditor RexJgeh wanted to discuss all of the best reasons to run as fast as you can from a job interview…

They asked:

“What are some red flags during job interviews that scream ‘toxic workplace?’”

Chat about the worst you’ve seen when job hunting. Go.

I owe you nothing! 

“The family one is a huge red flag for me. I worked at a place that always talked about the team members being like a family.”

“It meant you felt horrible about calling in sick, they’d guilt you into working over time because of the culture, and when you finally put in your leave or told them you where leaving you where treated like nothing.”

“Bosses use the family thing to guilt you into being a slave!! My boss even tried to guilt us into coming in on the weekend and working for free!!!”  ~ Turtbergs

So happy to be gone! 

“I was trying to find a better advertising job and during an interview I asked about how much overtime I could expect.”

“Owner of the company goes ‘Well, you know, we try to get home on time, we do try. But, hey, this is the life we chose.’”

“Dude, you make billboards for restaurants… you’re not saving lives here.”

“The most frustrating part about working in advertising is that so many of the late nights could be avoided with slightly better management and less over-promising to the client.”

“Glad I’m out of it, now.”  ~ SeaTie

Too Many Hats

“’Fast-paced, dynamic environment’ can be code for ‘look, we don’t have our crap together.’” ~KinkMountainMoney

“I had a boss one time that was on that crap.”

“He’d always say ‘I have to wear two hats’ because he’d write us up and then show up at the disciplinary meetings and defend us as our union rep.”

“I was always like ‘you know YOU’RE the reason we’re here, right?’”

“And he’d act all innocent and say he had to wear two hats. Dude! Just pick a hat!”  ~KinkMountainMoney

It all begins NOW…

“No interview, just ‘can you start tomorrow?’”  ~ Reddit

“Lol the only time I’ve heard this was when I was applying to summer jobs in high school and one place I applied to was Vector marketing (a pyramid scheme company).”

“Luckily, someone told me it was a pyramid scheme before I actually started ‘working’ there.”  ~Think_Tie8025

Nobody stays…

“For an hourly job as a cashier or a server or something like that I don’t think that would be that big of a red flag, to be honest.”

“There is high turnover even in well-run places in those industries, and if a good candidate is in front of you sometimes it’s best to offer a job before someone else can get them.”  ~ sofingclever

Meeting the Owner! 

“I interviewed for an administrative management position with a smaller magazine publisher. There were rumors about the owner of the publication (not an easy person to work for).”

“I sit with an interview panel first for thirty minutes – Shipping Manager, Accountant, Legal, Layout Editor.”

“Each of them introduces themselves in a very clipped manner. Each asked one question, read from a piece of paper.”

“As I answered the question, no one took notes, no one asked any backup questions.”

“Then I met with the CFO. The receptionist had to go back to her desk to get the office keys because the CFO’s office door was locked.”

“It was always locked. Meet with the CFO, and he asks the exact same four questions the panelists asked.”

“He, too – no notes, no follow up questions.”

“The I met with the owner.”

“His office looked like it was meant to be a training room. Huge amounts of space, and lots of dead-animal themes art-ing up the place.”

“I sat with the owner for about an hour. It seemed a pretty reasonable discussion. Then the final couple of questions.”

“Him: ‘You’ve met most of my primary managers. What do you think?’”

“Me: ‘To be honest, they all seemed disinterested in the interview.’”

“Him: ‘I know they are. I’ll make the decision on who to hire. I just want them to have a favorite.’”

*’DING DING DING DING!!’*

“Effing creeepy vibes. Lock-down environment. Managers dealing with a psycho boss. And the money person’s office always locked? Nope.”  ~ Yabloski

We’ll take anybody! 

“The shorter the interview, the more desperate the company is to just hire someone.”

“Bonus points if the person currently in the position you’re interviewing for has worked there for less than a year.”  ~ EfficientAnteater995

Work to the bone…

“If you hear ‘We work hard, but we also play hard’ pull the EJECT! handle.”

“The translation of that phrase is ‘We’ll work you like a dog, then insist you attend ‘team building’ activities w/o pay.’”  ~ LilShaver

Management Issues

“The important duties are super concentrated on that one person that is super close to the ‘Boss,’ that one pretentious person will reap all the bonuses and benefits, while the ones that do the heavy lifting will just form new health and mental issues down the road.”  ~ Longpenn

Am I ALL the staff?

“I had the entire job change in an interview once! I came into a first interview for selling IT solutions to companies who’d signed up through a webform.”

“We did most of the interview and the hiring manager said ‘You sound great for this! Just a few details! It’s not actually a IT solution, it’s fire alarms. It’s not to companies, it’s to regular customers. Oh and they haven’t signed up anywhere, it’s cold calling. If you’ll just follow me we’ll get you set up at a work station!’”

“I noped out of there immediately.”  ~ EchoingEchoes

Now you know the signs of whether to run or stay.

Don’t settle for anything. If it feels off… it’s off. Bring track shoes to get away faster.

They’ll be other jobs, sanity first,

Posted on

People Share The Best Trivial Facts They’ve Picked Up On The Job

Random knowledge is always being thrown at us and there are some things we’d never hear about if not for our jobs.

The workplace can be one of the best places to learn and thrive.

Case in point, I learn everyday from reading threads like this. I gather knowledge about science, geography, humanity, murder—the list is endless.

It can be useful and useless all at once. And that’s fun.

Redditor HugSized wanted to discuss all of the random knowledge many of us pick up in the workplace.

They asked:

“What trivial fact do you know only because of your job?”

Let’s get ready for Jeopardy…

A Special Time of Season

“The reason many TV shows have ‘holiday special’ episodes is because TV viewership is very low the week of Christmas but if they call it a special they don’t need to include it when they calculate their average ratings for the season.”

“Also the day Americans watch the least amount of TV is the 4th of July.”  ~ thisisanewusername57

Inch by inch by inch…

“Tulips will continue to grow, on average, two inches more after they’ve been cut. Generally not while they’re in cold storage, but once they’re in a warmer environment.” 

“Usually the entire flower will get bigger. They will grow in length, but also as the petals open the petals will become larger as well.”

“Taking them out of cold storage will make them continue to grow, and do they!”

“I think it’s the cells becoming larger as they get warmer. Like they expand and contract with temperature and light.”

“A lot of flowers will open in light and close in dark. There is a point of no return.” ~ marefo

“As someone who worked in floral making arrangements for a while, tulips have become my least favorite flower to work with.”

“Those flimsy ass stems that just flop over because they’re so top heavy, and since they tend to grow at different rates, it is hard to use them in arrangements.”

“Plus the soil is always packed into their leaves, leading to dirty water if you happen to miss a spot when cleaning them.”   ~ amugnai

Buying. Selling. For a bit. 

“The average length of a Real Estate Agent’s career is about four months.”  ~ Bunktavious

“I lasted three years. I didn’t have the money to pay the Realtor fee at the time or the car to impress.”

“Then I moved out of town, got divorced, spent a whole year broke before I was back on my feet, with other 9-5 entry level positions.”

“I’ve wanted to get back into it but with such a bad market where I live and the necessity to make money asap, it is a hard decision.”  ~ LLL84

Better to Breathe

“Babies born vaginally tend to have less respiratory distress than babies via c-section of the same gestational age because the squeeze through the birth canal helps get amniotic fluid out of their lungs.”  ~J ohnnytucf

“This saved my nephew.”

“He would have died if delivered cesarean but being born vaginally, the squeeze pushed his intestines back through the hole in his diaphragm and into his abdomen allowing his lungs to expand.”  ~ neinta

“Also the sudden change from chilling in their own pee to suddenly being squeezed, relatively slowly, through a very small space causes a release of stress hormones which also help absorb fluid in the lungs as well as triggering breathing.”

“Babies born through C-section don’t get as much of that stress.”  ~ kjhwkejhkhdsfkjhsdkf

Shopping in Secret

“In the state of Nevada, only licensed private investigators are allowed to work as mystery shoppers.”  ~ cattemonstre

“I had a secret shopper twice in a row.”

“He was making sure we checked IDs. I asked for his ID when he ordered, gave me a green card indicating I passed, I gave that to my manager, started talking to him.”

“Saw him again the next month, said hello and just asked for his ID before he said anything.”

“He just smiled again, gave me another green card and I bought him an appetizer so he could just sit and relax a bit.”  ~ illgot

“Based on my experience, I think mystery shopping companies that operate in Nevada recruit current PIs to do mystery shopping work on the side, rather than encouraging aspiring shoppers to get licensed.”

“The locations being shopped also have somewhat higher security needs (stores and restaurants in casinos, etc.), so that might have something to do with it.”  ~ cattemonstre

For the price of ink…

“You know those vintage looking shirts at the store that are distressed on the print. It saves the company a ton of money on ink costs.”

“My boss says that trend is what made him a millionaire.”  ~ PlopsMcgoo

“Also makes it easier to print/less waste.”

“Didn’t get solid pressure all the way through the push? No problem, it’s distressed. Didn’t flood the screen fully in one spot?”

“It’s ok, distressed. Pretty much any error is easily hidden in a distressed design.”

“When you need crisp, sharp lines is where errors become majorly obvious and any error can mean recording and printing a new shirt.”  ~r edebekadia

Gimme your grade…

“The most common type of stainless steel is grade 304. The second most common is grade 316, which is used for food and surgical purposes.”  ~ mycatiswatchingyou

“Most common because it’s the cheapest grade of stainless steel, 316 has higher quantities of more expensive elements, 321 more so.”

“You can then kick it up a notch and look at Duplex and Super Duplex stainless steels if you have the budget and the need.”  ~ KarmannosaurusRex

Food Prep Areas

“Ground moles have kitchens just like us!”

“They will paralyze earth worms (their primary food source) by biting its head and will drag the worms to a designated burrow where they store the bodies to save for later.”  ~ GraeBabe

I’lll just take two of these…

“So many companies will let you walk in say ‘I’m with the computer company’ and walk out with a computer.” ~ SirPasta117

“I’ve seen this work at a tech company. Had more than a dozen developers hand their laptops over to a random guy with a cart.”

“I’m from IT doing a laptop upgrade, here to collect the old ones”

“From the security footage, one of the devs ran after the guy to stop him… to hand over the charger that goes with the laptop.”

“We only found out when we started getting angry calls a few hours later from developers demanding to know how long the replacement was going to take.”  ~J uan_Golt

Head Held High! Moooo!

“Cows have a tendon running down the back of their necks that holds their head up.”

“It’s called a paddy whack and you can dry it out and give it to dogs like a rawhide bone.”

“That’s the source of Knick knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone.”  ~ ellipses1

Well that is a ton to process. I don’t know if I’ll ever make an episode of Jeopardy! but it’s good to have knowledge tucked away.

It can be fun to just blurt out random facts at a party.

You know when we do, people might be inspired to follow up in research. And then we’re all learning.

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People Break Down Which Gestures May Be Friendly In One Country But Disrespectful In Another

We all try our best to be courteous and not rude—well… most of us do—because, everyone wants to make a good impression in any given situation.

It’s especially important to want to be as respectful as possible when visiting other places, like stranger’s homes and other countries.

But what works in one place may be taboo in another. That’s why we have to keep up on the definition of our gestures in life.

As it turns out, one size, does NOT fit all.

Redditor HeWhoMustBeGay wanted to discuss all the major differences in communication that differ from one country or region to the next.

They asked:

“What’s a friendly gesture in one country but a big no-no in another?”

Let’s make a list so we’re safe for travel.

Touch a touch a touch a… touch me…

“In Brazil we are very pro-hugs even with strangers depending on the situation. Like tight hugs.”

“We have no problems about touching as in the shoulder or arm while talking, or side hugging to take pictures with strangers. We also have the kissing thing (not between men though).”

“We share our life’s story and feelings with strangers pretty easily. Waiting-in-a-line-together micro friendships are a thing.”

“There are many cultures where this level of touching and sharing would be considered incredibly weird.”  ~ deinha

“I had a friend who didn’t like to be touched, it was hard for him because we Brazilians also take a looooong time to say goodbye. It’s in installments.”  

“Like you say once at the house, kisses, hugs. “

“Then the same people move to the door, say again, more hugs and kisses.”

“Then everyone keeps talking until they get to their cars, someone breaks the joke that it’s finally time to go and you have another hug. It was a nightmare for him.”  ~ tdeinha

Which Finger Works Best?

“Thumbs up means ok in America but in Iran it has the same effect as the middle finger.”  ~ Curry12734

“I’ve accidentally flipped off my Iranian relatives so much. Especially with my poor farsi making me want to use my hands more.”

“But it’s been fine. Iranians nowadays know what the middle finger and thumbs up means to the rest of the world.” ~ GNB_Mec

Head Held High

“In the west a lot of people when greeting kids, put their hand in the kids head, ruffling up their hair or something like that.”

“In Thailand the majority of the country is Buddhist and follows the beliefs so some extent. The head is held as a sacred and cleanest part of the body, even if it’s a kid so this practice is considered very offensive.”

“Luckily the Thais are a very understanding and forgiving people and would happily accept an apology for this oversight.”

“And would only hold a grudge if it came from someone who they know to be aware of this.”

“Another thing that we in the west might do without thinking is step across someone in you needed to get past.”

“For example if people were sat on the floor around a fire, or a low table, maybe just chilling on the grass with friends in the park or at a festival.”

“If you needed to get past someone you may step over their body to some degree, maybe stepping over their legs or something innocuous to us.”

“Just as the head is held in high regard, the feet are the opposite, believed to be dirty and it is very disrespectful to point your feet at someone, step over any part of their body etc.”

“A simple excuse me (koh toad khap), with a gesture in the direction you wish to pass will result in the person happily moving out of your way and appreciating your respect of their cultural beliefs.”  ~ fifadex

“Are you Canadian?”

“Took a trip to Australia last summer, and I’m from the US.”

“When people heard my accent they would ask, ‘Are you Canadian?’ and after having replied no to several people, I asked why they never asked if I was from the states.”

“Apparently Canadians are insulted if you ask them if they are American, so it’s just custom to ask everyone if they are Canadian first.”  ~ Lost_Ad_8970

It’s all in the eyes…

“I had a Chinese neighbor who would stare at me. And I mean STARE.”

“There was one time when he was in his front yard and I was getting in my car. I decided to stare back.”

“We just stared at each other for a good 20 seconds.”

“I lost the staring contest because it was agonizingly awkward.”

“I researched Chinese customs and found out that they apparently stare a lot and I guess it’s not really ‘friendly,’ but it’s just a normal thing in China.”

“In the US, staring is considered extremely strange and rude.”

“He didn’t speak English, so I couldn’t even tell him that he was making me and my wife uncomfortable with his constant death stare.”  ~ New_Example7867

Shoes on or Off?

“Not necessarily rude but still weird/surprising.”

“In India when you meet someone who is your elder (like significantly older) you touch their feet as a gesture that you are asking for their blessings and showing respect towards them.”

“I think there is a video of an Indian student who touched the feet of his American Principal on his graduation and left him confused.”  ~ Radiant_Ad5640

Service Standards

“Although tipping is obligatory in the US, but I also heard that in some countries like Japan and China tipping often makes them feel inferior.”  ~ Qrainix_

“I tipped a bar tender in Scotland because he was really friendly and sweet, but he got really embarrassed afterward and kind of shut down.”

“Learned that lesson the hard way.”  ~ International-Pen518

Keep it Chatty

“In America, people talk to strangers on regular basis, do small talk, ask how the other person is doing, etc.”

“In my country if you ask a stranger how is he doing it will be really weird and awkward for the person.”

“You don’t even smile or talk in general to strangers in my country.”  ~ Ellenixie

Let’s all clean it up! 

“My sister in law recently came to stay with me while my husband was out of town.”

“Apparently in my husband’s culture it is a sign of gratitude for guests to help clean around the house and help with cooking.”

“Meanwhile in my American culture having a guest over means busting my butt to clean the house to the point of being spotless, and making sure there is a ton of snacks, and food available before the guest gets there.”

“First morning she got up like an hour before me and swept the whole house and even brushed the cat hair off the cat tree.”

“She also would not let me help cook dinner lol.”

“It made me uncomfortable at first and I tried to tell her that she didn’t need to do all that (nicely not in a rude way), but she was very insistent on wanting to help out so I just let her.”

“Apparently it was making her uncomfortable sitting around while she was here lol.”

“Definitely a conflict of cultural norms there lol.”  ~ Eened

The Decor is LIT! 

“I read once that in some cultures, if you’re a guest in someone’s home, it would be bad form to compliment a household item or decoration, because they will then be obligated to offer it to you as a gift.”

“I can’t remember which countries they cited where this was a thing.” ~ ashfordbelle

So are we more clear on a few things?

Culture varies from place to place and so does verbal and nonverbal communication.

So try to be cognizant of what societal changes you’re entering into and never be afraid to apologize or ask a question.

Posted on

Teachers Divulge The Creepiest Things Students Have Brought In For Show And Tell

When I was young I LOVED show and tell. I would bring in all sorts of nonsense.

I loved to “present” to everyone. It’s still one of my favorite childhood pastimes.

Of course there would always be those few kids who ruined it for everyone, and left the teacher scrambling to cover.

Let’s talk show and tell…

Redditor Salmonerd_ wanted to hear from educators out there about the times students made show and tell weird.

They asked :

“Teachers, what’s the worst thing a kid brought for show and tell?”

Let’s hear all about it…

Diamond in the rough…

“When I was in elementary school there was a kid from a different class who brought his mom’s diamond engagement ring to show and tell.”

“I know this because I found a Diamond engagement ring in the wood chips under the swing set.”

“I turned it in and later got a $10 reward, dumb 7 year old me probably should have pawned it!!”  ~ GoBuffaloes

MOOOOOO!!!

“In 5th grade, we were studying human anatomy.”

“When we got to the eyes, a kid brought in a bag full of cow’s eyes. His dad worked in a slaughterhouse. Teacher was horrified.”

“I should add that my classmate brought them in, unannounced. The teacher had no plans for dissection, was going to show us a filmstrip about eyes or something.”  

“I should add that the teacher put them in the staff refrigerator for the day (this was in the Arizona heat).”

” Afterwards, when teacher returned the bag of eyes to my classmate, he took them home, and on the walk home, gave them out to any kid who wanted one.”

“I’ll leave all that to your imagination.”  ~ alvinathequeena

The Dead

“Wasn’t show and tell but once during morning break while I was a student teacher, two 6 year olds came to find the class teacher in the staff room.”

“They had something to show her.”

“She came back with pictures, these boys had found half a dead and decomposed hedgehog and decided to pick it up and put it on her desk.”

“Needless to say hands were thoroughly washed and drenched in sanitiser.”  ~ drwhogirl_97

“I took a skeletonized animal from my back yard in for show and tell. I don’t know what animal it originally was and I think I kind of sneaked it past my mother.”

“The teacher was a bit surprised!”

“My cousin took a dead bat in a jar to school once. It was in the house.”

“They hit it with a broom, which killed it, then they put it in the jar.”  ~ whatyouwant22

Too Sharp. Too Dangerous.

“I brought 2 knives.”

“My dad is from a region in France where they make famous knives (Laguiole) and I owned two of them (one made of horn and one was bright orange).”

“It didn’t cross my mind it could be a problem, but they called my parents (who weren’t mad at me).”  ~lyscity

“My dad tells a story about when he brought his dad’s bird hunting shotgun and ammo to school for show and tell.”

“It was rather uneventful.”

“My grandpa walked out to the bus with him and told the bus driver that he was taking it in for show and tell.”

“Dad got to school, put the gun in his locker, and went and got it when it was time for show and tell.”

“He put it back in his locker after the presentation, then took it home on the bus.”

“Very different times.”  ~ wedapeopleeh

Lucky

“The teacher across the hall from me had a student who brought what he thought was a lucky rabbit foot to show to the class and excitedly announced he had enough for everyone in the class.”

“The rabbit foot was a tampon.”  ~ Saerica22

“My brother sent me a picture the other day of a sword one of his younger boys made out of the plastic part of a tampon applicators.”

“They have 2 teenage daughters and my friend that was on the text asked if he washed them.”

“The consensus was probably not.”  ~ Nate0110

“This reminds me… as a child I had an actual rabbit’s foot. My step dad at the time got it (I don’t know from where), but it wasn’t taxidermied (?) properly, basically just cut off, so there was still some blood and meat inside.”

“I carried it around in a plastic bag for at least two weeks, showing everybody very proudly, until the stench just got too much!”

“To this day I don’t know where he even got it from or how he or I thought this was a good idea.”  ~ Reddit

High Alert

“My brother found a scorpion at our house and captured it to bring for show and tell.”

“The scorpion got out somehow and the teacher had everyone on high alert to look for it and capture it.”

“Several children returned to the teacher having ‘found’ the scorpion.”

“That was the day we found out our school was infested with scorpions.”  ~ Youaresoogoodlooking

The Skull

“I had a student bring in ‘her grandfather’s skull.’”

“The class was horrified. It turned out that he was a doctor and it was the skull that he kept in his office as a model.”  ~ NinjaGinny

Got Tide?

“In my school some kid brought in his collection of ‘laundry rocks’ which were crumpled up pieces of paper that he put in his pockets and when his mom did the laundry they would turn hard like rocks.”

“He said he did it by accident once, liked it, and started deliberately putting crumpled paper in his pockets to make more.”  ~ Pro_Gamer_Queen21

Rotten on the inside…

“I taught 5th grade in a school with really rich kids and really low income kids bussed in.”

“One of the low-income kids brought a coconut for her show and tell about Trinidad, where her dad was from.”

“She cracked it open — it was completely rotten inside and smelled awful.”

“I was so worried about the kid being embarrassed, but then one of the rich kids (who was also of a pretty low intellect) looked at it with wide eyes and said “It’s like the earth: the core, the mantle and the crust!” which is something I think he had never really understood before.”

“So it actually turned out pretty well.”  ~ sanmateomary

Gas

“1993, grade 3 primary school in Australia.”

“My show and tell was rotten egg gas, I had a class mate hold a test tube that contained sulfur power while I added hydrochloric acid, no protective gear used. None of the adults saw any issue with this.”  ~ Unshavensmoe

Show and tell sounds like a game of survival in some of these cases.

But it’s clearly never dull.

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People Share Facts So Ridiculous They Almost Sounds Fake But Are Totally Real

Knowledge is power, and there is so much to take in.

What’s funny though, is that in some situations, some knowledge we acquire can sound more like made up storytelling.

There have been plenty of times where an Onion article became reality.

Go figure.

Redditor SuruchiSushi wanted to discuss all the fascinating facts about life that leave us reeling because it sounds more like fiction.

They asked:

“What is a fact so ridiculous that it sounds fake?”

Let’s talk about what’s really real.

Pre-Zombie Menu

“We’ve eaten mummies into rarity.”  ~ Daylight_The_Furry

“Yep, it was all the rage a few hundred years ago in Europe. Largely for medicinal purposes, ground up into powder and mixed with stuff, mostly.”  ~ Reddit

“I mean, this was around the same time that British scientists categorized aboriginals as fauna. I don’t think they had a very good sense of who counted as people.”  ~ Callmecaesar1

“Not only eaten, but they used to be ground up to make pigment for paints. Literally called mummy brown.”  ~ThatOneAsianGuy33

Missing Parts

“Some moths emerge from the cocoon without a mouth or anus.”  ~happy_cake_babe

“Serious response: a lot of what we think of as ‘insects’ are actually the adult forms, and often don’t live very long as adults.”

“Basically they emerge as adults, go find another to make babies with, and then die once the eggs are laid.”

“If they’re only going to live a few hours or days, they can get by without mouths or buttholes.”

“A lot of insect species spend most of their time as little maggoty things, and only take their distinctive adult forms for a brief portion of their life.”

“Insects are weird, yo.”  ~ AndAzraelSaid

Bad Words

“The term ‘prime minister’ was first used as a slur.” ~ ____andresito____

“The term ‘Prime Minister’ as we know it today emerged in the 18th century, during the prolonged conflict between Britain and France.”

“It was first applied insultingly to Sir Robert Walpole, who is now considered the first Prime Minister of Great Britain.”

“It was used by members of Parliament against Walpole, who served for 21 years and oversaw the increasing power of his role and simultaneous withdrawal of King George I from cabinet meetings.”

“The derogatory nature was derived from its comparison to France’s Chief Minister, Cardinal Richelieu.”

“The British were proud of not to be an absolute monarchy, like France, so the comparison was intended to be offensive.”

“Source” ~ Zhyko

Among the Stars

“When two galaxies merge, almost nothing collides despite each having trillions of stars.”  ~mrbigmac61

“Yep, it’s because there’s really just far too much space between objects when you zoom in.”

“Even the asteroid belt has thousands of miles of empty space between each asteroid.”

“If you flew through the asteroid belt, you’d only crash if you did so on purpose.”  ~ nsci2ece

Hey Rubber Ducky

“In 1992, shipping containers with around 28,000 rubber ducks were lost at sea(in the Pacific Ocean)…. they’re still being found today.”  ~ BlueSparkle2810

“Imagine being lost at sea for a few days, you see something in the water in front of you.”

“Maybe a clue to where land is? No. It’s a friggin’ rubber duck.”  ~ DancingDoggos

A Massive Population

“Bangladesh, a really tiny country has a population larger than all of Russia.” ~ R4zerSins

“Just scanning over Bangladesh on Google maps satellite view is incredible.”

“Even in areas that look green from zoomed out, there’s villages absolutely everywhere when you zoom in.”

“And then when you do get cities, they’re mega-densely populated metropolises with huge slum areas. It’s mad.”  ~PillarofSheffield

Give me the keys…

“It’s legal to own, and drive a tank in the USA.”

“You can even drive it on the road if you replace the steel tracks with rubber tracks. The guns and cannon must be disabled though.”  ~ KKKKOOOOBBBBRRRRAAAA

“Actually that last ‘fact’ is untrue. You do not need to disable the gun, in fact you can buy tank shells.”

“The reason however most are disabled (there are a few not disabled) is its ridiculously expensive and requires a lot more paperwork.”  ~corbear007

Flying High

“On the 29th of September 1940 two planes had a mid-air collision, got stuck together and successfully landed.”

“The pilot used the controls of the top plane and the engines of the bottom plane.”

“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp478Tgm5gg“. ~ alphaechothunder77

Meeting your maker…

“France didn’t stop executing people by guillotine until 1977.”  ~ whereismattdamon

“Yeah, like all the modern execution methods. And the guillotine is even more sure than getting shot in the head.”

“The ol’ chopper is the method I’d choose if I had to be executed.”

“Course, I’d request that they quickly grab my chopped head and show me my body. That’d be sick.”  ~ 4_P-

The Missing

“20% of foster children are missing at any given time.”  ~ SagiTsukiko

“20% of foster care children are missing.”

“A lot of this is due to runaways.”

“My girlfriend works in foster care and every week she has at least one foster child runaway, mind you these are just her cases and not her coworkers cases who also have constant runaways.”  ~ skuzzlebut90

“98%. 2% are unaccounted for. It’s still a major issue that so many foster kids are running away, though.”

“A glimpse into how inadequate the system and many foster parents are.”

“It’s not always their fault that they cannot adequately care for a foster child, though, and many foster parents who are not abusive simply just were not prepared for a lot of the issues that may arise with a traumatized child who has been removed from their birth family and shuffled around.”  ~ SagiTsukiko

Playing the Devil

“2 actors have died playing Judas in live biblical productions by accidentally hanging themselves for real in his death scene.”  ~ acronicality

Death

“The last time an inmate in the USA was executed by firing squad was on June 18th, 2010.”  ~bob4for4

“Ronnie Lee Gardner (January 16, 1961 – June 18, 2010) was an American criminal who received the death penalty for shooting a man in the face and killing him during a robbery in 1985, and was executed by a firing squad by the state of Utah in 2010.”

“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Lee_Gardner“. ~ Reddit

Well that was a lot of knowledge to devour at once. Some fascinating, the rest surprising.

We were still using firing squads in this century?

I have no words.

Now we’re all one step closer to Jeopardy.

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People Share The Facts That Completely Changed Their Perspective

“You never know.”

That is an age old saying that may also be one of life’s truest truths.

We do never know. Because there is so much out there to know and learn and sometimes random things happen.

And sometimes your new knowledge changes everything.

Redditor ettleboy wanted to discuss the knowledge some of us have acquired over time, that lead our thoughts and opinions in a different direction.

They asked:

“What fact totally changed your perspective?”

Let’s share some perspectives…

Switching Metals…

“It took mankind 4 times longer to switch from copper swords to steel swords than to switch from steel swords to nuclear bombs.”  ~ Im_gonna_fart

“This sucks because I am having way harder time cutting my steak with my nuclear bomb, compared to when I used to do it with my steel sword.” ~ hyelander

resist, Resist, RESIST!!

“The longest a nicotine craving will last is 180 seconds. That means all I need to do is resist for 3 minutes.”

“My last cigarette was January 25 2008.”  ~ nivla73

“YMMV. I saw this fact (have no idea if it’s true) when I was a heavy smoker and it helped me ease back on my intake.”

“I decided that if this is true then what I’d do is think back to my last craving.”

“If I had a cig last time then I’d skip this one and wait for the next craving to go have one.”

“As my body got used to only smoking 5 a day instead of 10 then I was smoking 4 or 3, then 2 until finally I was only smoking when I was out with friends or particularly stressed.”

“Now I only smoke on occasion and while I want to eliminate that entirely.”

“I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to have one every so often (maybe once a month now) as long as I don’t go buy a pack and start back up smoking regularly.”

“This approach simply doesn’t work for some people. No solution is one-size-fits-all.”  ~ ej255wrxx

“I quit, after 30 years of smoking, in 1995. Even after 23 years I sometimes (rarely) get a craving.”

“Mine last less than a minute and are not intense. I will never go back to smoking. Smoking killed my wife before age 70.”

“She just didn’t have the willpower or motivation to give it up.”

“At the end, after being released from the hospital because she had almost died from COPD, she went back to smoking.”

“Two days later she was taken in Emergency and she died about a week after. “

“By that time we had been divorced for 14 years.”

“The divorce was partially caused by her inability to change her bad habits.”  ~ La_Lanterne_Rouge

With each passing minute…

“Time doesn’t stop.”

“That speech I’m about to give in front of my class and I’m sweating balls over, in the next 2 minutes, it’s going to be done with. 2 minutes is two minutes.”  ~ DinoTerrorisT

“This has helped me so very much in life. I always tell myself the same thing – this time tomorrow, it’ll be in the past, a distant memory.”

“I’ve just got to get through it, but it will be over.”

“I hope your speech went well!”  ~ BasketballShooter

“I love thinking like this.”

“I kind of adopted it from the movie ‘We Bought a Zoo’ where they talk about how all it takes is just like 30 seconds of insane courage to do something.”

“You wanna ask someone out on a date? You want to ask for a raise? You want to try something crazy like skydiving?”

“All it takes is 30 seconds where you are just unstoppable and you just do it!”  ~ Reddit

“Hope your speech went well.”

“One of my favorite sayings related to a speech is, ‘For every speech you gave, there will be 3 versions. The speech you were prepared to give.”

“The speech you actually gave. And the speech you wished you gave.’”

“Unrelated to the question. But felt like sharing it here.”  ~ tempemailacct153

Truths…

“I’m capable of being entirely convinced of something false.”

“As a result anything I’m convinced of doesn’t necessarily reflect reality.”  ~ AssadTheImpaler

“The one thing we all had in common is that we all think we’re right.”

“Now you’ve gone and fucked it up.”  ~ briffobroffhouse

Back in the Day…

“Can’t remember exactly where I saw this, but the first Western movies filmed in Hollywood were made around 1915, when the industry moved there.”

“At the time much of the area outside of Los Angeles was ranchland and there were still some sizable cattle drives going on.”

“Directors would hire actual cowboys for a pittance to train horses or be extras.”

“Basically they made movies fantasizing these big cattle drives and gunfights as American history, while people who had actually done all those things irl were chilling in the background.”  ~ bradthaphoend

“They also used trained sharpshooters to fire real bullets at things before the invention of the squib.”

“All the cannon fire in the 1915 film ‘The Birth of a Nation’ were live. Blanks were available, but not pyrotechnics.”

“Someone was killed during the filming of Cecil B DeMille’s ‘The Captive’ because they forgot to swap out their live ammo for blanks in one scene.”

“The Captive (1915) Silent film review.”  ~ behemuthm

All the Money in the World…

“There are real life castles that are less expensive to buy than a New York City apartment.”  ~ yerrrdoobie

“You can actually get a free castle in France as long as you can provide a plan for how to keep up with upkeep of the castle so that it won’t become a ruin.”  ~ Christian__N

“There are planets out there without suns, planets that are hurtling through space in absolute total darkness.”

“Imagine being there.” ~ Reddit

Run Faster…

“Balto only ran the last leg of the route.”

“The dog that ran the longest and most treacherous parts of the route (and at night) was named Togo.”

“Balto toured the U.S. as a hero, but couldn’t be bred because he was neutered.”

“Togo’s owner was pissed Balto got so much attention, and then his story got out and Togo got to tour the U.S. and was bred like crazy, so most Huskies are descendants of the greatest sled dog in history.”  ~ FnkyTown

The Pull Around Us…

“How strong gravity is at a neutron star. If you were to stand on top of one, you’d be flattened at the subatomic level.”  ~ verymuchlol

“What’s really cool, is that it wouldn’t just crush you, it would crush you so hard that the molecules that make up your body would stop obeying what we typically think of as fundamental laws of particles.”

“Everyone goes on about black holes, neutron stars are cool as crap.”  ~ contrivedpanda

Shuffle Along…

“If you shuffle a standard deck of cards, it is most likely the only time that sequence of cards has ever been shuffled in the history of cards.” ~ Leaves_1991

Pets on Pets…

“An example of being mutually beneficial.”

“Giant tarantulas keep tiny frogs as pets.”

“The tarantula protects the frog from predators – and the frogs, in turn, eat insects that could possibly harm the tarantula’s eggs.”  ~ Back2Bach

Well my brain is full for the time being.

I love new knowledge.

You just never know all there is to know.

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People Explain Which Scientific Advances May Sound Futuristic But Are Actually Reality Today

The future is now. There are so many advances happening on the daily, it’s impossible to keep up.

Science seems to be moving at warp speed. Everything we thought would be possible is now more than possible.

Soon, we’ll all be in space.

Well, those of us with billions of dollars of course.

Redditor emeister26 wanted to discuss all the fascinating facts about life and science that are already upon us by asking:

“What is something that sounds futuristic but is happening now?”

It’s all about the T…

“CAR T cell therapy.”

“They take the T cells out of a cancer patient. They train the cells to kill the specific type of cancer that the patient has and then they put them back in.”

“This therapy doesn’t work 100 % of the time, but when it does it does miracles.”

“(It’s also expensive as sh*t for now)”.  ~ strange_socks_

“I currently work in this field, and am currently commercializing my second CAR-T product in my life (my first was Kymriah).”

“It doesn’t always work 100% of the time, but the next generation of CAR-T’s have shown 100% remission rates.”

“Example of 100% remission.”

“CAR-T is roughly the same price as a monoclonal antibody, Amgens Blintocyte is $300k roughly, and Kymriah and Yescart are about $220-350k depending on where you are in the world.”

“So it’s pretty competitive.”  ~ arabidopsis

How many types are there?

“I’ve been a type 1 diabetic since 1982.”

“Back when I was first diagnosed, I had to pee on a stick and match the color up to colors on the vial to see approximately what my blood sugar was a couple hours ago.”

“Now I have an anamatronic fish that tells me what my sugar levels are and I don’t even have to prick my finger! We truly are truly living in the future.”  ~ rhett342

A.I. is upon us…

“Robotic prosthetic limbs. I know a guy who lost his arm from a construction accident.”

“He now has an arm that has a fully articulated hand, and is good enough that he can even write with it, though not very well.”

“He said it’s worth about half a million dollars, and also it has done wonders for his ability to hook up with women.”

“I guess a lot of people are curious and that starts off the conversation.”  ~ Youpunyhumans

“There are actually some amazing innovations in the robotic prosthetic scientific field that have JUST been published!”

“Scientists have been able to make a prosthetic arm with a sense of touch! This is very important, as it allows for better gripping of objects.”

“The test subject was able to pour a glass of water in half the time it took him with a non-feeling prosthetic.”

“It also allows people to enjoy the sensation of feeling, which is pretty awesome!”

“Also, piggybacking because it’s somewhat related, scientists have also recently discovered a way to allow a paralyzed man to type and control computers with only their thoughts!”

“The outside of the brain is the part that deals with bodily motion, so they surgically implanted electrodes and asked him to imagine hand-writing letters.”

“Then, a little bit of machine learning magic, and boom! He was able to write on a computer!”

“He was able to write 90 characters a minute! Kinda the ultimate “look ma, no hands!”

“Links to articles:”

“https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/05/20/998725924/a-sense-of-touch-boosts-speed-accuracy-of-mind-controlled-robotic-arm“

“https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/medical-advances/553323-in-amazing-first-paralyzed-man-is-able-to-type”  ~ cancer_dragon

Photos and texts of the future.

“A program that is able to generate almost any (!!!) photo using short text input.”

“A San Francisco street? Done. Avocado chair? Yes, why not. A photo of buildings of Poland? YES, it can do that.”

“It can generate almost any stock photo you can imagine, like any any, you can add parameters, lighting, ask to specific picture in the room.”

“It uses 12 billion of pictures and descriptions to do this. There are two downsides of course: the first one is lots of lots of computational power.”

“The second is that the program is losing the track after few parameters.”

“Also it can do only 100×100 pixels at the time but it will change fast.”

“It’s called DALL-E and was premiered this year. It’s an AI made by OpenAI. Terrific and amazing at the same time.”  ~ umotex12

Know the Survey

“I’m fourth generation of an excavating company and some of our surveying techniques now are unbelievable.”

“When we started in the 60’s you used a contraption called a theodolite and prism (a fancy level used to measure the distance and elevation change of the prism).”

“One of the fondest memories I’ll ever hold happened two months ago shortly before my Grandpa (the founder) passed away.”

“I showed him how to survey a 30 acre site with a drone in about 45 minutes (all automated), something that would have taken a crew well over a week in his time.”

“I then took the data, had it processed, and showed him the prints of the site right on site with my laptop. He cried.”   ~ cmde44

Visualize it and See it!

“I work in the construction industry.”

“Technology has really made projects easier to plan out and do. Like back in the day, paper blueprints were how you visualized a job.”

“Big huge paper rolls that were a pain in the a** to carry around and store, and the prints were easy to damage because well… they’re paper.”

“If there was ever a change to the prints, you’d have to wait for the drafters to draw them, print them, and send them to your job.”

“Nowadays the foreman or project manager carry an iPad with all of the blueprints, both in 2D and 3D CAD drawing and can look up every detail of the drawings in seconds.”

“And if the drafters have to make changes, they can email or message the site foreman and give them new prints in a matter of minutes.”

“This isn’t your dad’s construction site anymore.”  ~ Mercurydriver

Just think reeeeal hard!

“Being able to control objects with your brain. I know it’s still in its infancy but the fact that we can even attempt do stuff like that is crazy.”  ~ Cruise_alt_40000

Year One

“A blood test to diagnose Alzheimer’s.”  ~ Geekla

“It was on Jeopardy tonight, actually, yes! I’ve been reading about it.”

“It’s less than a year old, just getting started and I’m guessing just the first version of more to come, but it’s real and it made my whole day to hear it.”  ~ Geekla

Body Parts

“3d printed organs.”  ~ turn_your_compote 

“I really hope that one day they can just scrape a few of your stem cells, and 3 weeks later they’ve grown you a new heart, liver, kidneys, etc.”  ~ Diligent_Slide

The lifespan of light…

“Something I just noticed the other day.”

“CFL light bulbs became popular and all but got replaced by LED bulbs all within the lifespan of a single bulb.”

“I was replacing a bulb the other day that was a CFL and I remember the last time I replaced it, the previous bulb was an incandescent.”  ~ Restil

The Good Landing

“Rockets landing upright… to me it looks like bad special effects, because it was never in any good movies.”  ~ redmaybe

Technology and science, two things I’ll never understand. But two things I can’t avoid.

We are close to living in The Jetsons.

I can feel it. Can you?

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Housekeepers Divulge The Biggest Secrets They’ve Learned About Their Employer

Being a domestic servant is a difficult job, no matter what position you’re filling.

People who work personally and privately for others in their homes always seem to have a mountian of tasks.

These jobs can also be tedious and humdrum. But they can also be intriguing.

One of the perks of these types of jobs can be the secrets and information you become privy to.

Honey, there are just some lives you learn about that could rival storylines on “Dynasty.”

After all, truth is stranger than fiction.

Everyone on Reddit wanted to drink up the hot, hot tea delivered by Redditor Hunterofshadows when they asked:

“Housekeepers of reddit, what do you know about the owners of the houses that they don’t know you know?”

Now this ought to be scolding darling…

What a Stinker!

“Not a house keeper but a nanny. A family once took me on vacation with them so I could watch their kids while they‘d go out and explore the area.”

“That week, my bed was the couch in the living room. It’s late at night, the kids are sleeping, I’m laying on the couch and the parents get back.”

“The dad says, “is she sleeping” referring to me? I didn’t say anything so apparently he assumed yes.”

“He then started farting very loudly.”  ~ sisof2

One Day at a Time…

“Dog walker, here. I was dog sitting for an older work friend once and saw her “days sober” calendar.”  

“I was simultaneously sad, because I had no idea she was struggling, and happy for her because she had almost a full month marked off.”  ~ cleanandclaire

“I will hit 3 weeks on Sunday. This is the longest I have gone without alcohol in 10 years.”

“The only times it was longer before that were the 3 times I was deployed overseas and no alcohol available.”  ~ RSchnars

Not so loud next time…

“I’m a nanny. The last family worked for I overheard the Dad calling his insurance asking if a certain Rehab was covered.”

“He talks LOUD naturally. I heard what he was going for and everything.”

“Nobody knew not family not friends. Just me and them. They never knew I knew.”  ~ Thesugarsky

Some special announcements…

“Our maid service found our positive pregnancy test in the bathroom trash, after presumably finding negative pregnancy tests in the bathroom trash for the previous 12 months.”

“Left us a nice little congratulations note on my wife’s nightstand.”  ~ fizzleguy

“Mine found the “Best new daddy” mug I gave my husband.”

“Bless them, they hadn’t said a word about what had been in the trash.”

“Unfortunately, I had to follow that up with the miscarriage news a month or so later.” ~ ttcanuck

A Passage to Nowhere…

“House I used to work at had a secret passage from the master bed to the attic, also a secret passage from a cabinet in the great room leading to the exterior of the garage.” ~ madiet6uwu

“I grew up in a house with a trap door in the pantry floor that led to a bricked in “cell” in the basement.”

“The house was built in the early middle 19th century in an area that became known for Underground Railroad traffic and then as a Prohibition smuggling route.”

“So I’m sure that little room had some history to it.”

“Edit: Unless you guys know more about my house than the people from the university that came and checked out the house, please stop telling me it’s a cellar or root storage. It isn’t.”  ~Capt_Hawkeye_Pierce

“I just worked in a house a few months ago that had this!”

“10 million dollar mansion built in the late 1800’s.”

“They started in the kitchen/servants quaters and ran behind the walls coming out in each room with staircases that went up to the second floor and down to the basement.”

“Some of them were sealed off but the ones in the living room, master bed and basement still had their functioning pocket doors.”

“It was really awesome and made me feel like a kid again exploring them.”  ~ iHateMonkeysSObad

A Whole New World!

“A bit of an innocent one but while I was cleaning I saw this cabinet that was very large.”

“Like someone could fit a body in there. So, being curious, I opened it and saw A WHOLE ROOM.”

“It was crazy! Inside there was a bed and lights attached to these tall wood pieces.”

“Then a mini bookshelf with some books and a desk and computer. It was absolutely amazing.”  ~ LemmeHear

Well that’s a surprise!!

“Where she keeps her sex toys. It’s not obvious.” 

“One day I noticed that whenever I used the toilet the water was barely enough to send away my “deposit” so I opened the water tank to adjust it and I found not only one but several.”

“Well they are waterproof I thought.”  ~ yaarty

“I’m not a housekeeper but my late aunt used to be. One of her clients, who was fairly well-to-do, had a whole closet full of genital themed toys.”

“And when I say “toys,” I’m not using a euphemism for “sex enhancement items” or anything like that. Literal genital toys.”

“Windup penises with googly eyes on them, PEZ dispensers shaped like the most browsed pages of a skin mag (I suspect these weren’t official PEZ brand).”

“Rather risque variants on “pin the tail on the donkey”, a Nerf-like gun that fired foam phalluses.”  ~Times_Hunger

“My aunt is currently a house keeper.”

“The had this one client who would throw used feminine hygiene products under the bed; pads specifically.”

“No matter how I think about this I just can’t imagine how someone can get to that level of grossness.”

“If you’ve ever had a heavy menstrual cycle and wore a pad, you know sometimes not everything is absorbed into the pad.”

“You need to immediately sit down in the toilet or it can quite literally go everywhere.” ~ aamirazeal

She’s a Whole Hot Mess!!

“That she got a DUI. Typical religious white collar family; husband, wife, and 4 teen kids.”

“She had one of those at home breathalyzer tests from the court sitting in the master bathroom, it takes your picture as you blow into it and it sends it to your probation officer.”

“I only know because I was on probation a few years ago and had one too.”

“Curiosity got the best of me and I looked at her public record… yup.”

“DUI and she messed up on probation too, had another court date. After that I started noticing 12 step books and such.”  ~ LunaTheFerret

The way people live

“Working in hotels is similar to cleaning someone’s house, because those comfortable will lay it out for you.”

“You can tell if someone is messy or tidy at home, how well they take care their things, what they eat, how much they drink, what medical problems they may have.”

“And if you get the chance to meet them you can piece together why they live the way they do by telling their stories.”

“I never made fun of our guests or judged them. That would be so unfair and intrusive.”  ~ silly-noodle

I See You!

“My cleaning guy caught me leaving the house once.”

“Said he knew I smoked pot because he’d find stuff for it a lot and asked if he could find me some for a camping trip with his wife.”

“I freaked a little after he just said “I know you do marijuana”. I was like am I catching a lecture.”

“We moved like a month later so I never really saw him face to face again. Hope he enjoyed it.”

“They were good people and appreciated us more than they ever had to.”  ~ 420Minions

See, if you have people in your house—personal or staff—assume you’re always being watched.

I’ve always wanted to be able to afford cleaning help, and if I ever can, I’m going to make sure to be on alert.

The walls really do have ears.

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People Share The Most Terrifying Facts About The Universe

What life lies beyond the clouds?

What life forces dance among the stars?

What secrets does the sky hold?

What sort of ferocious creature is sitting on a planet waiting to evaporate us?

Or what sort of dark element hides in the vastness of the unknown, biding it’s time to unleash a dangerous fury over all the planets and lives in it’s path?

These are all the lighthearted thoughts I ponder when I think about the Universe and space. And what could possibly be out there.

Sometimes science and knowledge can be more anxiety inducing than fun.

Remember back in the days of middle school? We’d all learn about space and space travel and theorize about what lies beyond and it would be a fascinating process. That was cool.

Or do you recall enjoying films like Alien, Armageddon and Deep Imapct?

We’d watch them and laugh about how none of that could actually happen.

Now cut to 2021 and I’ve lost track of the number of asteroids I hear about that have barely missed us and or are coming for us.

Now who’s laughing? We know next to nothing about what is out there. And the more we discover, the less I want to hear.

And I’m not alone in this opinion.

Redditor ZenitsuCrybaby wanted to discuss all the things we may not want or need to know but do.

They asked:

“What is the most terrifying fact about our universe/world?”

The Big Burn Out…

“Every once in a while, our sun just emits a solar flare big enough to end civilization.”

“In 1859 we had one hit the Earth powerful enough that the telegraph system became self powered for a while before burning itself out.”

“Fortunately at that time, that was pretty much the extent of our electrical infrastructure, so the damage didn’t do too much to civilization.”

“If one hit today without any warning, every system on long spans of wire would be fried. We’d lose a massive amount of infrastructure.”

“No refrigeration for food distribution, large chunks of communication infrastructure gone, massive amounts of manufacturing capacity gone.”

“Pretty much every aspect of life would be affected. And without that infrastructure, we almost certainly don’t have the capacity to rebuild the infrastructure before people start starving to death.”

“And once people start starving, things are likely to go downhill pretty quickly.”

“You might be wondering what are the odds that we’ll ever see another solar storm that large, and the answer is that we already have.”

“On July 23 of 2012, a similarly sized solar flare missed the Earth by 9 days.”

“In the last few decades we’ve added in some early warning systems and protocols to give us a chance of surviving.”

“Basically we’ll get about 45 minutes warning to disconnect as much of the electrical grid as we can, then hope enough of it survives.”  ~ open_door_policy

Better Life Out There

“The universe’s opinion of us: Mostly harmless.”  ~ FredGruntbuggly

“What’s even scarier is that if there is other intelligent life out there, it could have stuff one million times stronger than all of the nuclear weapons on earth combined.”  ~ ThatOneDoveSlayer

Tiny, tiny bits…

“How unfathomably tiny our planet is in comparison to the continuously expanding universe.”  ~Grentis

“The way that the universe operates on such an infinitesimal small scale, but also an impossibly massive scale freaks me out.”

“Even if we can look at the numbers and know the scale, I feel like our minds can’t really conceptualize it.” ~ Reddit

“What’s worse is that not only is the universe continuously expanding, it’s accelerating.”

“Meaning that as time progresses that distant galaxies will literally fade from view, the light emitted from them will never reach us.”

“Eventually the inhabitants of our galaxy will never know of that the universe extends beyond our local group of gravitational bound galaxies.” 

“And even eons beyond that… the notion of other galaxies outside the milky-way will be myth.”

“Dark Energy is one cruel witch.” ~ GRVrush2112

The Grand Expansion…

“What’s outside the universe?”

“If it’s always expanding, what is it expanding into?”

“Any time I think about this for too long it reminds me about how little I understand about the existence of anything and it scares me.”  ~ businessgoose3000

Empty Spaces

“One of the largest “structures” in the universe is the Boötes void. A void is a region of space that contains very little celestial objects or matter.”

“It is a region of the universe 330 million light years in diameter. Despite this it has been found, so far, to contain only 60 galaxies.”  ~ NOVAQIX

We are so terribly young…

“I’ve posted this before but I think about it a lot. Our civilization is so, so early.”

“The universe is expected to continue star formation for 100 trillion years. We exist 13.7 billion years after the big bang.”

“That’s 0.014 percent of the total “habitable” time of our universe.”

“If the big bang was January 1st, 1900 and star formation ends at January 1st, 2000. Then it’s currently January 6th, 1900.”

“What are the chances of that? Why do we exist now, so early, instead of any other point in the rest of time?”  ~ TheReaper42

We know nothing for sure…

“Humans can’t understand the concept of eternal and we can’t understand the concept of infinite.”  ~eggslocated

“That’s why I’m scared of the afterlife, If there is one. The idea of simply ceasing to exist scares me, but the idea of existing eternally also scares me.”

“I simply cannot comprehend the idea of existing forever and ever and ever and ever with no end in sight.”  ~ edd6pi

Anybody out there?

“There could be intelligent life on other planets or we could be the only form of intelligent life in the universe. Either scenario is pretty terrifying.”  ~ Thomas_Chinchilla

“To me, being all alone in the vast expanse of space is an extremely interesting possibility.”

“I scoff when people say it would be boring or a waste of space.”

“It would be absolutely fascinating if there was all of that out there, and then just us.”  ~ dubspace

And on Earth

“You can be born into a completely awful and nightmarish environment, and never escape it. You’ll be born miserable and die miserable.”  ~ DANYALKIM

“There’s also people born into these that do make it out and they’re much stronger for it and go on to ensure that many people don’t end up the way they were.”

“Doesn’t make it any better but at there’s a little glimmer in there somewhere.”  ~ Reddit

WARNING! DANGER!

“We’re not yet at the point of no return for the coming ecological catastrophe and we’re gonna sail past it anyway.”  ~ zomboromcom

“Considering the fact that our planet is the only one known to sustain intelligent life in the discovered universe.”

“It reminds you of how many things have to line up perfectly in order for that to be possible.”

“It is a very fragile balance, and certain ecological and atmospheric temperatures/resources/chemical concentrations are essential.”  

“Yet we look at the way we are carelessly screwing it up, but it is easy to imagine this one in a million planet becoming unlivable.”  ~ twilit_earth

Stop the Killing!

“We have millions of unknown living things on our planet, and most will never be discovered due to humans killing nature.”  ~ Cubsfan630

“Tbh it’s not even just humans killing nature. Humans are also just not capable of seeing or hearing tons of things.”

“There could be a giant 4 dimensional uv dragon sitting next to me and if I hear a fart my brain will blame it on the dog cause I can’t see the dragon.”

“Or that’s how I interpreted the other posts on this stuff recently lol.”  ~ raspberrykitsune

Well that is a lot to process. I don’t remember middle school and high school science classes being so full doom and gloom.

No matter what is out there, one thing is for sure. Humans… we have to do better!

We all play a part in the survival and the downfall, close to home and far and wide.

I’m going to stick to learning about English Lit now. There couldn’t be anything to worry about there.

Right?