People Share Family Secrets They Didn’t Learn Until They Were Older That Made a Whole Lot of Sense

Every family has secrets…

Some are huge and devastating, some are small and insignificant.

We’re about to read some from folks on AskReddit who shared the family secrets they didn’t learn until they were older.

Let’s take a look at what they divulged.

1. Wow.

“That my sister (she was 16 when I was born, and kicked out) is my mother.

Her mother, my grandma, raised me as her daughter. It doesn’t end there. I was a product of abuse from a family friend. To this day I don’t know who my real dad is.

My grandma was in her forties when she “had” me. And my sister was sent to a boarding school when she was pregnant with me. My sister has no idea that I know.”

2. Awful.

“My uncle came to visit us when I was little and before he came mum sat me down and told me not to be alone with my uncle, and that if he made me feel uncomfortable to let her know.

Found out last year that when my mum was nine, she was r*ped by my uncle.”

3. Grandpa.

“Something felt strange about my grandfather’s funeral, just they way they were emphasizing his place in heaven.

Later found out that he shot himself in the heart with a 357. Same side of the family also had seemingly random people show up at family gatherings throughout my life that ended up being illegitimate children of my grandma.

I just started gaining uncles and cousins…Confused the sh*t out of me as a child.”

4. Sad.

“My grandpa burned to death.

I found out he died when I was a kid, but was not allowed to go to his funeral, and they told me he had a heart attack. I was so confused because everyone around me would clam up when I asked about him.

Turns out that he had a heart attack while trying to put out a field fire, collapsed, and burned. I still have no idea how long it took for people to find him, but I’m assuming it was hours.”

5. Mental illness.

“When I was around 6-8 years old, my uncle passed away. I thought it was something sudden and medically tragic, as I remember him having lung problems of some sort.

When I got older I found out he committed suicide, because his girlfriend broke up with him. I remember visiting my dad and hanging out in my uncle’s room where we got to play video games and listen to cool music with him.

That was the start of me learning about mental illness running in the family and connected a lot of dots for me.”

6. Jeez…

“Was told my aunt and uncle died because of a carbon monoxide leak in their house. When I was 16 I was told the truth.

My uncle was having serious money problems. He shot my aunt and then hung himself.”

7. Family matters.

“That my grandmother’s husband was a pedophile.

All of a sudden I knew why my uncle was so weird and would pick me up and carry me away rather than let me stay alone in a room with him.

For the longest time I thought my uncle was a real prude, my male cousins could all swim naked or run around in just their swim trunks, but my uncle made me always wear a swim suit and put on a cover up when i came out of the pool.

He later admitted if  “god forbid he touched you, I was making sure no one could try to blame you. They blamed all his other victims for being too tempting.”

My uncle, bless his heart, wanted to kill that man so bad. For that matter so did my dad. Finding out the pedo was, well, a pedo, made all of their muttering to each other at family gatherings make so much more sense.”

8. Mom’s recipe.

“One of my most beloved “mom’s recipe” recipes was actually Hamburger Helper.

She was a from-scratch cook and literally everything else we ate she made herself. She never told us because it made her so mad that her kids would love a boxed meal so much. She did it once out of sheer desperation because she didn’t have time to cook one night.

We ended up loving it. I only found out in college because I begged for the recipe. I love giving her crap for it to this day.”

9. Oblivious.

“That my aunt’s close friend that she lives with is actually her girlfriend. Was about 22 when they told me.

Never even thought about it until it was said. Weird how I was completely oblivious to this for so many years.”

10. Poor little fella.

“My pet rabbit got attacked by something a couple years after I got it. My parents found it dead and replaced it before I found out.

I just thought my rabbit lived super long but it was actually two rabbits. This happened over 10 years ago and I found out last year.”

11. Don’t talk to me.

“That my grandparents didn’t talk to each other 20 YEARS before my grandfather finally kicked the bucket.

They lived in the same house the entire time too and no one knows why they weren’t on speaking terms.”

12. Sterilized.

“My grandparents forced my aunt to get an ab*rtion before my family moved to America, rendering her permanently sterile.

It finally makes sense why none of the adults talk about having children around her.”

13. Mysteries of Dad.

“My late father was a great dad, went to work, came home every night and nothing was really out of the ordinary…

Except that he would ask my sisters and I to let him use the money from our piggy banks (my granddad lived with us and he had a great pension and relatively no bills, so he spoiled us rotten and would always give us money) because he knew we had it, but told us not to tell anyone and that he’d give it back.

He would also really only have 2 moods, really cranky or extremely sweet (my sisters and I called it his “nice face”). This was all we knew until I was about in 8th grade… we went to a private school and my dad would tell us school was canceled, there was a gas leak, institute days etc and we would stay home, when we would go back to school, nobody else would know what we meant as they had been in school.

One day, just before my graduation, my mom let out a scream and started screaming. Our house was being foreclosed on and my dad hadn’t been paying the mortgage and had been trying to cover up for the fact that he had been a functional cocaine addict.

The “nice face” was when he was high, the school absences were because he’d spent tuition money on drugs and then had to pay before my mom caught wind. Apparently, it had gotten worse by this time but he’d been an addict for more than 20 years and none of us knew.”

Did your family have any deep, dark secrets that you learned about when you were older?

Well, we want to hear them!

Talk to us in the comments and spill your guts. Thanks!

The post People Share Family Secrets They Didn’t Learn Until They Were Older That Made a Whole Lot of Sense appeared first on UberFacts.

Frugal People Share Tips They Use to Save More Money Than You’d Expect

Do you want to save more money? Yeah you do! Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this, right?

It’s time to spend less and save more with these frugal tips from AskReddit users who know how to save some serious dough.

Let’s take a look!

1. Caffeinated.

“Brew your own coffee.

If you live in a city and drink a cup/day that’s about 2-3 bucks a day.

Over $700-900 a year.

Easy to cut that down to roughly $150 with a nice coffee machine and a dark roast.”

2. Switch hydration

“Drink water.

It costs less than soda, and it’s better for you.

It also helps to stop hunger!

Double win!”

3. Foodies unite!

“Crock pot meals!

Even if you’re just one person, You set it in the morning and then you have a home-cooked meal once you come home and most likely leftovers for the next couple days! You can also get a small crock pot for 1-2 people for about $20 (at least in my area you can). Yes it can be boring but you get far more out than in the effort you put in. It also helps for unexpected guests.

Also, Labeling all food so that the expiration date on each is ridiculously obvious. You do this so you know when to go grocery shopping and you can get a little at a time versus buying a ton all at once. If it doesn’t have an actual expiration date, you can also try writing the date of purchase on it otherwise, try to find out online what the ‘expiration date’ would normally be.

Ex: Oranges usually last about 1-2 months in the Fridge/2-3 weeks on the counter.”

4. Don’t. Shop. Hungry.

“Do not go shopping on an empty stomach.

Personally, I don’t even drive anywhere until I’ve had a good meal.

This way, less chance if wasting money on sh^tty junk food or impulsively going to restaurants where you end up spending more than your budget allows.”

5. Repairs aren’t that difficult

“This post may seem out of the ordinary and somewhat non frugal, but invest in tools, a car jack, and jack stands.

Learning to fix your car yourself is a great way to save money on labor.

When you buy car parts, I recommend using sites such as rockauto or autopartswarehouse since they sell parts much cheaper than stores such as O’reilly, AutoZone and Napa.”

6. Happy with less.

“Learn (or convince yourself, whatever) to be get by and be happy with less. There are tons of sh^t that people buy that are just simply not necessary.

Being frugal consistently is like eating healthy consistently. There’s no special trick. No fad.

Just committing to making smart decisions on an hour-to-hour, day-to-day basis while keeping your long term goals in mind.”

7. What do you really need?

“Stop buying anything you don’t need … and really start evaluating what that word means.

Change your mindset to loathe materialism.

No matter your religion, you can’t take it with you, so why does it matter?”

8. Budget! Budget! Budget!

“It took me a long time to figure out how to budget but I use mint.com which is a free website by the same company that makes Quickbooks. Basically you link it to your bank account and every time you use your debut card it categorizes the purchase. Really forces you to are where you waste money. The first month I had it I saw I was wasting almost $150 a month at a coffee shop near my work!!

Tricks that work for me: Don’t use cash unless absolutely necessary. Cash is harder to track. If you make tips at work, deposit them in the bank and use your debit card.

I keep my budget on mint.com linked to my phone. It texts me to let me know I’m getting close to my chosen limits for dinners out or stuff like that.

Put bills on auto pay- late payments are stupid wastes of money.

Put checking account alerts on your phone. Overdraft fees are wasted money.

Don’t buy groceries in such quantity that your throwing away food. Bulk price is only worth it if you bulk eat.

If you have a credit card leave it home if you are easily tempted. If you’re carrying a balance with interest you’re doing it wrong. I never ever carry a credit card balance- It is for emergency use only. If you have credit card debt, pay off the highest interest cards first.”

9. Banking blues.

“Get out of the big banks! You’re paying fees to hold your own money! Get a credit union. I guarantee there’s tons around you.

I don’t pay ATM fees ever. They don’t charge me to take out my own money. And with my credit union I can use any Walgreens, CVS, Wawa, Hess, or 7-11 atm for free.

I don’t pay fees for transferring from savings. I don’t pay a monthly or annual fee for having a low balance.

Accidentally overdrafting is $25 instead of $35. Loans and borrowing have much lower rates than the big banks.

I can link my account to another credit union account to transfer money, without being able to see their info/balance.

STOP PAYING FEES AT YOUR BANK!”

10. Avoid convenience.

“Stay out of convenience stores.

Eat at home instead of going out or ordering delivery.

Buy in bulk when feasible. The smaller packages/containers are generally pricey per unit.”

11. Just stay home.

“Drink at home more often instead of going out to the bar.

The bar is definitely fun sometimes, but you and your friends could have just as much fun playing games and being anti-social at home.”

13. Cooking saves a lot!

“Learn to cook and don’t eat out at restaurants.

Some occasions are ok but otherwise you save a lot of money by eating in.

There are a lot of videos on youtube of doable recipes and after you get the hang of it you’ll only want to cook for yourself vs ordering or eating at restaurants.”

That’s some pretty great advice, right? Yeah it is!

Do you have any money saving tips you’d like to share?

Let us know in the comments!

The post Frugal People Share Tips They Use to Save More Money Than You’d Expect appeared first on UberFacts.

People Talk About the Historical Facts That Make Them Choke Up

History is full of amazing stories, and they can run the entire gamut from joyful and lovely, to completely devastating and sad.

Because human beings are complicated, you know?

These 14 facts, though, are of the variety that make people break down and weep, so gird your loins!

14. And their dogs.

I am in tears, while carrying you to your last resting place as much as I rejoiced when bringing you home in my own hands fifteen years ago

My eyes were wet with tears, our little dog, when I bore thee (to the grave)… So, Patricus, never again shall thou give me a thousand kisses. Never canst thou be contentedly in my lap. In sadness have I buried thee, and thou deservist. In a resting place of marble, I have put thee for all time by the side of my shade. In thy qualities, sagacious thou wert like a human being. Ah, me! What a loved companion have we lost!

To Helena, foster child, soul without comparison and deserving of praise.

Three epitaphs written years ago in ancient rome by men and their dogs.

13. We don’t deserve dogs.

WW1- Mercy dogs, they would go out into no mans land and find wounded soldiers.

They would bring medical supplies for the soldiers to patch themselves up. Or if the soldier was to mortally wounded, stay and comfort them in their final moments.

12. Times were tough.

Through genealogy, I found an old newspaper reporting an accident that happened:

My 4x great grandmother and grandfather were crossing the river into maine from canada when their wagon tipped. He and 5 children survived, my 4x great grandmother and month old baby did not.

That tugged at my heart. I cannot imagine the devastation he and his children felt as they were moving.

There was also a lot of stillborns and a lot of children who never saw past the age of 10

It’s quite a sad journey at times.

11. It’s heavy.

The end of a sappho poem:

Beyond all hope, I prayed those timeless days we spent might be made twice as long.

I prayed one word: I want.

Someone, I tell you, will remember us, even in another time.

That quote always make me tear up.

10. The worst time in history.

Dangerfield Newby, one of the free black men who died in the raid on Harper’s Ferry, had a letter from his enslaved wife on his person.

He had been working to buy her and his children, but her owner kept raising the price.

9. Do not Google this unless you truly want to know.

The torture and murder of Junko Furuta.

What they did to her would make the cartels cringe, but the worst part of her sordid case is that all of the people involved in her death were given slaps on the wrist and are roaming the streets of Japan today.

8. History is full of stories like these.

The Sand Creek massacre is particularly bad. They had so much faith in the peace treaties that had been signed, the signs of good faith from American settlers. Only to be massacred.

The leader of the camp, Black Kettle, desperately holding up the American flag he’d been given with a white flag underneath it, encouraging his people to gather around it- thinking that the settlers would realize they were allies and stop the killings. Only to be shot down.

The descriptions of the massacre are brutal- children tortured and slaughtered, pregnant women with their children torn out of their stomachs. Genitals torn from corpses and taken for trophies. It really made me realize you can never underestimate the cruelty of mankind.

Especially considering most of the murdered in this massacre were defenseless women, children, and elderly.

7. Everyone loves cats.

The oldest recorded name for a cat was from Ancient Egypt.

The cat’s name was “Nedjem” which means “Sweetie”.

6. He probably should have.

My grandfather was Kalispell, he was taken from his family, sent to “white” school and eventually adopted by a German family. He was about eight, his exact age was not known.

Breaks my heart every day. He was such a good and loving grandfather, and never held a grudge.

5. Humans, man.

There’s no more wolves in Ireland.

They are coming back to Germany.

And there are already groups which want to kill them all again. And they are spreading panic:

There was a news story were a woman reported to be “attacked” by a “wolf wearing a collar”. It was a lost dog looking for help, which sniffed and licked her hand.

4. Seriously, I hope you have a dog.

The story of Hachikō, the dog who waited patiently for his owner 9 years after his death.

I’m sure many are familiar with this story because of the movies and the episode of Futurama (Jurassic Bark) which was inspired by this story.

3. Because they had no choice of their own.

There were approximately 300 infants and children that were murdered in Jonestown, being forcibly fed or injected with cyanide.

I feel so much pain for all the victims but the kids in particular make me ache with despair.

2. It’s called honor.

In WWII an American pilot named Charles Brown was flying a B-17 in a bomb raid over Germany where his aircraft was severely shot up and entered a free fall when Brown passed out.

When Brown awoke, he was only a few thousand feet above the ground and barely was able to recover the aircraft. When the Luftwaffe spotted a limping B-17 far below the formation, they dispatched a pilot named Franz Stigler, a soon to be ace just 1 kill away, with 2 Downed B-17s earlier that day.

As he approached from the rear, Stigler noticed that the B-17s tail gunner didn’t move and after further inspection, realized he and several other gunners were dead. Stigler saw this and remembered what his flight instructor had said years ago,” if you shoot a man in a parachute, ill shoot you myself”.

Stigler saw this limping B-17 as no different from a downed pilot in a parachute. To prevent german flak cannons from taking it out, Stigler flew in formation with the B-17 all the way until the English Channel where it landed safely. Stigler never mentioned the incident, and could’ve been court martialled for it.

Decades later, Charles went looking for the enemy pilot that saved his life that fateful day, and eventually met him face to face, becoming close friends and dying just a few months apart from each other in 2008.

1. It will make you cry.

The story about Sir Nicolas Winton who saved over 600 children from the holocaust

No one knew of his story until 50 years later when his wife found notebooks detailing the 669 kids he helped escape the Nazi’s.

Is anyone else choking up here?

Do you have a fact to add to this list? Share it with us in the comments!

The post People Talk About the Historical Facts That Make Them Choke Up appeared first on UberFacts.

People Share the Historical Facts That Makes Them Cry

If you think history is boring, I promise that you’ve just never had the right teacher (or read the right books!). History can do all of the things a good movie or book or play can do – it can make you laugh, making you think, make you mad, and sure, it can make you cry.

These 15 people are sharing the moments that always make them tear up, no matter how many times they hear about them.

15. Life isn’t always fair.

It doesn’t exactly make me cry, but Albert Goring, the staunchly anti-Nazi brother of Hermann Goring, spent the second world war helping jews and dissidents to escape.

He was caught several times, but was let off the hook due to his brother’s influence within the Reich. After the war, he was shunned for his last name and his accomplishments forgotten.

14. Mental illness is a thief.

Virginia Woolf’s suicide and the note she left behind makes me f**king weep like a baby.

Just the way she expresses sentiments of happiness and love to her husband, but also her guilt and struggle with mental illness- it just kills me.

13. Human beings are capable of terrible things.

The R**e of Nanking in 1937.

Looking up photos of what the Japanese did there left me silent for a while. They Raped and murdered women, Bayonetted babies, (you can look up a photo of it.) used the wounded as rifle and bayonet practice, forced mothers on their sons and fathers on their daughters, and made a contest out of beheading civilians.

(There is a Japanese newspaper article you can look up about it. It’s disgusting.) and the worst part about it is that the Japanese government denies most of these acts. Along with a lot of other war crimes that they committed afterwards.

It always shakes me to my core to know that human beings are capable of doing such horrible things to one another. And smile while doing it.

12. What a night for everyone involved.

RMS Carpathia was the first ship to arrive on the scene when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank. Every one of the Titanic’s 705 survivors were rescued by Carpathia, which made a tremendously heroic effort that night in the North Atlantic.

The scene is dramatized in A Night to Remember, the classic film from 1958 (and one of the more accurate, especially given the constraints of technology at that time) — Harold Cottam, the radio operator on Carpathia, had already gone off-duty when the Titanic’s distress signals were received.

He immediately conveyed the message to Captain Arthur Rostron, who jumped out of bed and ordered the ship to change course.

11. Well that’s horrifying.

After the Pearl Harbor attack, at least some men were alive in a pocket of air inside one of the capsized ships.

Navy personnel could hear them banging on the hull and trying to signal for help, but there was no way to get at them safely.

The water was full of fuel and oil, so blowtorches weren’t a workable idea. And there was no way for divers to get into the ship because the damage had rendered the whole thing a deathtrap of twisted steel. There wasn’t even any way to communicate with the trapped men.

So the guards at Pearl Harbor had to listen to those calls for help getting weaker and weaker, while inside everyone slowly suffocated.

When they hauled the ship up for scrap later, there were 16 notches scratched onto the wall of that compartment, which means at least one casualty of Pearl Harbor lived until December 23, 1941.

10. People don’t talk like this anymore.

A letter from the Civil War by Sullivan Ballou:

“My very dear Sarah: The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days — perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more …

“I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans on the triumph of the Government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and sufferings of the Revolution. And I am willing — perfectly willing — to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt …

“Sarah my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me unresistibly on with all these chains to the battle field.

“The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them for so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our sons grown up to honorable manhood, around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me — perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar, that Ishall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battle field, it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have often times been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness …

“But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest days and in the darkest nights … always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again …”

Sullivan Ballou was killed a week later at the First Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861.

9. Imagine if they’d just…refused.

A story from my great grandfather who fought in WW1…

Soldiers would cease fire to pick up their men’s bodies and would have a smoke together, go back to their trenches and start firing again.

Neither side of front line soldiers actually wanted to be there. Just drafted for war.

8. It’s hard to know how to feel.

The kneel down of Willy Brandt, German chancellor of 1969-1974.

He was visiting the ghetto of Warschau and kneeled to apologize for the German war crimes, surprising everybody.

The thing that really gets to me was the backstory: Brandt emigrated Germany in 1934 for being a social democrat and for having been in the resistance. He spent his time in Oslo until he was captured by Nazi soldiers there and was able to flee to Sweden.

The press releases of the time really capture the strength of the moment and I’m sorry for my translation, this is what Hermann Schreiber wrote in Der Spiegel:

„Dann kniet er, der das nicht nötig hat, da für alle, die es nötig haben, aber nicht da knien – weil sie es nicht wagen oder nicht können oder nicht wagen können. Dann bekennt er sich zu einer Schuld, an der er selber nicht zu tragen hat, und bittet um eine Vergebung, derer er selber nicht bedarf. Dann kniet er da für Deutschland.“

“There he kneels, he, who does not have to, for those who would have to, but who are not kneeling – because they can not, or because they do not dare to or because they can not dare to kneel. There he admits to a guilt, he does not have to bare and asks for a forgiveness he does not need. There he is, kneeling for Germany.”

7. Finally a happy ending.

Sacagawea, who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition to explore the lands we now know as the Western United States, had a vital coincidence on the journey that always makes me emotional to think about.

She was born a Shoshone but was taken around the age of 12 and made a slave to the Hidatsa. After being with them for 3 or so years, she was sold to a French man named Toussaint Charbonneau who took her as a wife. When Lewis and Clark met her, she was about 16 years old and pregnant with Charbonneau’s child. The birth was a tough one and Lewis helped with the child’s safe delivery before Sacagawea and Charbonneau joined them on the expedition.

Lewis and Clark knew they would meet the Shoshone on their journey and were hoping Sacagawea could help them procure some supplies, especially horses, to help them cross the Rocky Mountains.

Sacagawea didn’t speak English. She spoke Shoshone and Hidatsa. Charbonneau spoke Hidatsa and French and one of the members of Lewis and Clark’s expedition spoke French and English. Suffice to say, translation was complicated and complex.

When the expedition finally came upon the Shoshone’s territory, they agreed to meet and hear Lewis and Clark’s proposal. They sat down around the fire and began negotiations.

The Chief of the tribe began to speak with Sacagawea and the conversation proceeded rapidly. The others, unable to really understand what was going on, were confused when she and the Chief began to cry, and then to embrace.

In the years since her capture, it turned out, Sacagawea’s brother had become Chief. He had believed her dead and she did not recognize him at first.

The celebration, when the tribe learned who she was, and the appreciation bestowed upon Lewis and Clark for returning her, is hard to completely express.

6. I like these happy endings.

Just a slightly happier letter for those needing a recovery. From a former slave, so writing not as eloquent.

Samuel Cabble, a private in the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry (colored), was a slave before he joined the army. He was twenty-one years old.

Dear Wife i have enlisted in the army i am now in the state of Massachusetts but before this letter reaches you i will be in North Carolina and though great is the present national difficulties yet i look forward to a brighter day When i shall have the opportunity of seeing you in the full enjoyment of freedom i would like to no if you are still in slavery if you are it will not be long before we shall have crushed the system that now oppresses you for in the course of three months you shall have your liberty. great is the outpouring of the colored people that is now rallying with the hearts of lions against that very curse that has separated you an me yet we shall meet again and oh what a happy time that will be when this ungodly rebellion shall be put down and the curses of our land is trampled under our feet i am a soldier now and i shall use my utmost endeavor to strike at the rebellion and the heart of this system that so long has kept us in chains . . . remain your own affectionate husband until death—Samuel Cabble

Samuel Cabble returned to Missouri for his wife, and together they moved to Denver, Colorado.

5. It’s definitely not funny.

One of the girls in the Donner Party was fed her dead mother and told afterwards. They had an agreement to not feed people their family members, but they had broken off from the camp in an attempt to find rescue. She would randomly burst into tears about it at school years later.

The whole story of the Donner Party is so horrible and sad and it bothers me that it’s just used for cannibal jokes.

4. What is the matter with people?

One that really stands out to me from the sub is this image of the Filipino Zoo Girl that was on display in the Coney Island Zoo in 1914. She was bound by ropes and people tossed peanuts at her.

It’s just heartbreaking to see something like that happen, especially to a child so young, but human zoos were a thing up until as late as 1958.

3. A heavy heart.

Teddy Roosevelt’s mother Mittie and his wife Alice, who had just given birth days before, both died in the same house on the same day, hours apart from each other.

In his diary entry that day, he drew a large black X and scribbled “The light has gone out of my life.”

That’s some heavy s**t right there, man.

2. Bless her heart.

When Alexander Hamilton’s eldest son died, his second child Angelica Hamilton had a mental breakdown and she never recovered.

Sometimes, her family would walk into a room with only her in it, and she would be speaking to her dead brother.

1. Heartwarming and tragic.

During the German-Soviet war, there was a Red Army soldier who sang each night with a hauntingly-beautiful voice. His comrades would give him their tea rations and scarves to protect his larynx.

One night, he couldn’t sing because he had gotten sick. A German soldier crawled across no-man’s-land and tossed something into the Soviet trench; the Soviet soldiers thought it was a grenade.

However, it was a package containing a letter asking if the singer was okay and if he needed medicine. A truly heart-warming moment in an otherwise horrific front.

Is someone cutting onions in here? Ugh!

If there’s a historical fact that makes you cry (and it’s not on this list) share it with us in the comments!

The post People Share the Historical Facts That Makes Them Cry appeared first on UberFacts.

Kids Who Believed Something Was Totally Normal…Until They Grew Up and Realized It Wasn’t

When we’re young, we live in a bubble that’s largely made up of our family. Our parents, our grandparents, our siblings and cousins answer our questions and show us the way the world works.

We have no reason to question them, and really no avenue to ask questions, even if we wanted to.

Which makes me believe these 16 people, who found out later in live that their families weren’t exactly “normal,” aren’t alone.

16. She’d gone feral.

My family had dinner together at the dining room table six nights a week (we went out once a week together) for the first 15-ish years of my life. Kids set the table and did the dishes. We discussed current events, books, philosophy, etc. We used cloth napkins.

My ex-wife grew up eating huddled around the TV at best. More often than not they’d just find food on their own and take it to their rooms if the family members bothered to come home at all. They also argued constantly. Every family meal I had with her family contained at least two people angrily screaming at one another about something.

She absolutely couldn’t handle my family meals. She tried to pick fights with people constantly and got even more frustrated when nobody would take the bait.

15. That poor kid.

My parents were racist. According to them all money could have been up a N-words butthole. When I was in 4th grade I actually asked a black kid if they did that…

He just stared at me with a blank look on his face and shook his head no

14. The sound I just made.

I remember in year 8 in school we watched a video about mental health. One of the kids said that at a low point he considered suicide. I didn’t think that was a big deal, because I thought about killing myself almost every day. I thought it was normal and everybody did it.

13. Not just in the movies.

Sitting together at the table for meals (especially dinner).

We frequently got McDonald’s, had TV dinners, or had ramen/mac and cheese. I didn’t know until I was an older teen that families actually sat down to talk to each other EVERY DAY because I thought that only happened in shows and movies.

Sitting down at the table makes me uncomfortable, even to this day. Like, I don’t even know how to prep the table.

12. My heart hurts.

I grew up on a farm outside a small town, didn’t realize until I started going to school that running around naked outside often, playing with hatchets and pockets knives,or breaking off pieces of salt lick to suck on, were not normal things.

My parents fostered 2 young girls very close to my age. The things they expected from my parents/thought were normal were so sad. The eldest tried to undress for my dad, he was mortified. They thought they would get in trouble for using soap in the bath. They asked permission to get drinks of water, and to go to the bathroom. They were amazed we weren’t locked in our rooms at night, amazed I had my own room and they had theirs. They didn’t know what bed frames were.

11. An innocent one.

Jesus. I was going to say cutting pickle spears into little triangles to eat alongside your sandwich…

This thread went in a way different direction.

10. I am full of awe, not in a good way.

Dying.

Over the period of about a year when I was 9-10 years old four different people on the street I lived on died unnatural deaths. The old lady next door electrocuted herself trimming the hedges. One of the neighbor kids I played with accidentally shot himself playing with his father’s gun (in front of his sister), another playmate’s father was a cop and was shot and killed in the line of duty and a 16-year-old girl was raped and murdered in her own house (never solved, even though everybody knew who did it). I also had a cousin I was close to die in a car accident, but he didn’t live on the same street.

So with all that I just assumed that was a normal rate of death. So naturally, I assumed that I was going to die at some point in the near future. Took a few years to get over that.

9. So wholesome.

Building homes for snails and slugs when it rained.

My older brother and I would love to go outside when it rained and collect slugs and snails to put in these little pebble shelters wed make for them in the backyard.

8. All good reasons.

My parents sleeping in separate rooms.

My mom snores like crazy and I understood why my dad would hate that.

Turns out, dad was gay

7. You never think about that.

My parents have what we now know was developmental disorders but was previously known as “being slow”. Think it was second grade when I started doing math for my parents. We went out for shopping or dinner, then I’d check the grocery receipt or tally the tip. In more ways than one I became very independent from my parents at a young age.

I didn’t realize until late high school, interacting with my boyfriend’s family, that normal children don’t speak to their parents like equals. It was, awkward to say the least. It took many years to learn how to be respectful to your elders and not throw my “weight” around. I had thought every kid needed to keep their parents in line.

Aaawkwwwaaard.

6. Whatever works.

My parents slept in different beds my whole life. I guess it started when my dad got injured in the army and my mom was afraid of hurting him in her sleep, then he snored, she liked to stay up and read in bed. It just worked. They had a super happy marriage. I remember bringing new friends over and giving them the tour “this is my dad’s room, this is the bathroom, here’s the office and this is my mom’s room”. They would be so confused lol.

My mom still is upset that whenever we went to my grandma’s she made them sleep in the same bed even knowing they never did. They were so used to sleeping alone they stayed up all night worried about keeping each other awake.

I have to add that getting up late at night and looking for one of them only to find them both in the same bed was always awkward.

5. Everyone should use them, though.

Using corn bags.

They’re cotton squares or rounds filled with dried corn. You put them in the microwave for a heating pad and the freezer for an ice pack.

I still use and make them, I just didn’t realize nobody else used them until like… High school lmao

4. Parents are so weird.

Being forced to eat way more than what I could, until my stomach would hurt for hours. Not traumatizing like other stuff in this post, just something I don’t miss.

On a lighter note, walking in stealth mode throughout the whole house all the time because I wanted to be like Pocahontas when she spies on John Smith.

3. It was a different time.

Cracking open cans of beer and pouring them into styrofoam cups.

So my parents could drink while they drove the car.

2. Lots of people!

Talking to you parents and them being affectionate.

What do you mean you play “board games together” and no one yells? You willingly sit down and spend time together????

Dated a girl and the first time I met them, her mom hugged me. Weirded me out plenty. She just sits around the living room doing her own thing while her parents may also be there.

Who even does that????

Turns out, a lot of people.

1. A great lesson.

Shoveling food into your face as quickly as possible while huddled around the TV.

It wasn’t until a sleepover at a friends house that I encountered a family sitting around a dinner table talking about their day.

At the time it made me super uncomfortable but I’ve learned to slow down and appreciate it more with time.

I think we can all think about some strange things about our upbringing, right?

Share your own weird stuff in the comments – we’re here for it!

The post Kids Who Believed Something Was Totally Normal…Until They Grew Up and Realized It Wasn’t appeared first on UberFacts.

People Recall What They Thought Was Normal as a Kid That Wasn’t

If there’s something about kids that’s always charming, it’s how clueless they are. They’re learning all the time, about everything, and no one knows how their little minds really work.

Kids believe all sorts of things, and yeah, they think everything they think is normal – why wouldn’t they?

Looking back, though, these 17 people realize their little brains were working to make sense of a world beyond their comprehension.

17. They’ll always find out.

Opposite but..I had a neighbour who had extremely (and I mean extremely) strict parents.

We were invited to a sleepover of about 5 or 6 girls at one of the other neighbor kid’s place and she was shocked to see that we had candy and popcorn and soda/pop to eat at our disposal after 6pm.

She had no idea. To us, it was normal sleepover snacks but to her it was like looking at Willy Wonka himself. Crazy.

16. That could seem fun?

Having a “path” through the house surrounded by boxes and junk stacked to the ceiling.

I grew up in a hoarder house.

Occasionally us kids would run too fast through the “path” knocking into the sides and the boxes and stuff would collapse on top of us.

15. Bless his heart.

Whispering what I just said back to myself.

Apparently I did it all the time as a kid and never noticed until a couple of friends pointed it out to me.

I would be like “Let’s play Barbies!” and then quietly let’s play Barbies. I have no idea what that was about.

14. His parents never told him?

I smiled with my lips on the inside of my mouth.

I don’t know how I managed to not learn how to smile properly, but I thought I was smiling normally until a kid said “stop smiling like that, you look weird” and I spent a good week looking up pictures of smiles and practicing how to smile

13. What did I just read?

Collecting roadkill and utilizing insects to clean the bones so I could collect them.

12. That’s one way to keep kids safe.

When you went to the sitter everyday, you were to sit on the couch and never move.

Seriously, my brothers, sister and I were forced to sit on the couch with the TV on at the sitters house, while her kids ran around like a bunch of hellions.

When we got a new sitter after moving, all four of us promptly sat on the couch and stayed there. Our new sitter pulled a bunch of toys out and sat in the floor and played with us.

11. He was trying hard.

Sleeping in the display beds at the furniture store.

My parents are divorced and when we were little we’d go week to week at each parent’s house. Well my dad worked at Montgomery Wards and opened the store maybe 3 days a week. That meant he had to be there at 5 am. During his weeks, he’d stuff us in the car in our jammies, and drive us up to “monkey wards” as he called it.

Then we’d all get snug in our own display beds and sleep for another hour and a half.

Once some other employees showed up and it got closer to school hours, he’d get us dressed in the dressing rooms and drive us to school.

He really did love us. And tried hard for us.

10. Definitely bizarre.

Not telling your family when or where you were going or what you were up to or how long you would be gone. I remember as early as 6 I was wandering off to another neighborhood and across a busy road to find playmates. As I got older, I would go to friend’s houses for days on end, still never needing to check with anyone or let anyone know at home I was going.

It didn’t really click until I got my first roommate after college who bugged out and was about to call the cops because I went to my boyfriend’s house, turned my phone off and took a long nap in the middle of the day as he worked nights. We had an argument where I kept saying “I’m an adult, you don’t need to keep track of me” and it took a while for me to understand that even adults check in with each other for safety and they don’t normally just disappear for a few days.

9. Brains can be rude.

Have ‘speed up spells’ where it feels like I just got off a treadmill and my internal monologue is yelling.

Turns out I have epilepsy and was having seizures. Didn’t realize back when I was like 7, but presented with tonic clonics (grand mal) at 15.

Or listen to the air vent and hear music in white noise. This was likely auditory hallucinations, also due to epilepsy.

Stupid brain.

8. What a life.

Wash my two pairs of pants and two sweaters every few days…because they were the only clothes my parent had bought me for school.

Eating canned button mushrooms for lunch because there was nothing else to eat in the house.

Not for a lack of parental funds.

Didn’t realize other kids didn’t live like this until I hit 13-ish.

7. Normal is relative.

My family are not comfortable around each other. Never any touching, kissing or cuddling.

Any physical contact is forced and horribly awkward. No one also talks and any disagreements simmer for years with a grudging resentment.

When I first starting dating my now husband I was shocked his family would just sit close to each other, like their legs would touch on the couch. Like not overly touchy, just normal, but not normal to me.

They also spoke to each other if they were upset. I was quite envious.

6. I think this is fairly normal?

Biting my washcloth in the bath.

5. Tough lessons.

Trusting everything people say to me.

This is an underrated comment. For some reason I think I was born an idealist or something. I was told as a kid that lying is wrong (because I clearly and intentionally lied once) and that we should always tell the truth. So i just thought that everyone told the truth and if someone lied, their feelings would be hurt *immediately* as if somehow the person knew right away.

So I’ve always trusted others 100%. I’ve slowly gotten depressed because thinking everyone else is right makes everything i think wrong. And now i’m trying hard to learn to NOT trust others always.

4. Bless her heart.

Having camping nights. Mom would light candles and make dinner with camping gear. She and I would play games until my bed time huddled up in the living room.

It was because she was crazy poor when she divorced my dad and a few times she couldn’t pay the electricity on time. I thought it was fun.

3. Mother knows best.

My mom HATES lies. She is also very good at telling when someone is lying and everyone knows it. Most people don’t flat out lie to her or around her (it isn’t worth it)…

This resulted in me growing up with the assumption that the vast majority of people normally tell the truth. It wasn’t until college that I found out most people don’t consider lying a big deal and do it fairly regularly…

Which I honestly still find really messed up.

2. He had to pass on the knowledge.

I was trained by my father to believe that a proper salami sandwich has 15-20 pieces of salami on it – imagine my Aunt’s horror when I did that at her house, while she was putting 4-5 pieces on the sandwiches she was making for my cousins.

The story lives on til this day, like 30 years later – no regrets.

1. Way to go, Dad.

Apparently when I was a kid I used to pick up quarters on the street.

My parents didn’t want me doing that so my dad told me to not pick up coins, because people put them in their butts. I didn’t use change for anything until I started driving at 16.

Kids are just the best. Truly.

Did you believe something totally weird as a kid? Share it with us in the comments!

The post People Recall What They Thought Was Normal as a Kid That Wasn’t appeared first on UberFacts.

People Share Really Embarrassing Childhood Moments They Laugh at Now

We’ve all been embarrassed before, and these folks can’t help but share the times that they got red in the face.

Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. We’ve ALL been there.

Here are 10 people’s stories that we can all relate to in some way, shape or form.

Let’s take a look!

1. Happens to the best of us.

I was about 3, in a Bloomingdales with my mom, who was looking at purses. I had to go pee. She couldn’t hear me. So I just pulled down my pants and went.

Another time, I was in Mexico City with my family and my sister was running towards the glass sliding doors but missed, instead hitting a window. Her nose mark was there the whole day.

And finally, I peed my pants in the middle of science during 4th grade.

2. This is like, a rite of passage.

When I was about 6, my mom and I were putting ornaments on our Christmas tree. She showed me an ornament, and told me that she’s had it since she was my age.

I said “Wow, it must be really old!” without malicious intent, but oops.

3. Won’t be the last time.

So this happened when I was in kindergarten.

I had just walked into the bathroom, and I went to look for a stall that wasn’t being used. I started checking for ones that had unlocked doors, and I found one.

I pushed it open, and there was another little girl sitting on the toilet.

I was flustered, and apologized quickly.

4. Why are boys?!

So when I was around 12 or 13 it was that time of that month. And I didn’t know that cuz it started and i didn’t know. So me and my crush were partners on a school project. (And just to mention i was wearing white jeans) So he dropped his pencil and he looked up and said trinity you have a red stain on your hoo haw.

And i turned so red in my face. But the loud mouth kid heard and screamed ” TRINITY’S ON HER PERIOD!”

We did just learn about periods and puberty in health the day before and i didn’t want to return and now my crush at that time is now my bf of 5 years and reminds me of that day every couple months.

5. The poo-fect experiment!

My parents are both scientists, so naturally I was and am a very nerdy person. One time, when it was lightly snowing during recess, I saw that a dog had pooped near the playground.

I grabbed a bundle of twigs and leaves, knelt down next to the poop, and began to ‘dissect’ it. The teachers were very made when they saw me with my very clean hands and snowsuit, with a group of children huddled around watching me, and they nearly dragged me inside.

Somewhat embarrassing, but my parents told me that it was good that I was interested in the world around me when I got home.

6. Ah, young love.

I was in 5th grade and we were coding. Everyone has a little childhood crush, and so the “genius” that I was, I sat down next to him in my computer science class. That day we were coding, and there was a really cute code thingy that you could make your choose an animal and you make it dance with music that you pick.

At the time, I loved loved LOVED 80s music, and some 90s and when I saw the song that I was currently obsessed with, “Take on Me” I choose it. Once I finished the code, I got some headphones and turned up the music super high. A bit into the music I started to hum the song and watch the little animal dance his butt off.

When it finished, I looked up and saw everyone staring at me. I said “Uhh? Is there something on my head?” and a girl replied back to me by saying: “Well, you were singing a song, I thought you were talking to me, so I responded and you never said anything back besides the lyrics of the song…” I could literally feel my checks burning up.

To make matters worse, everyone started to laugh at me; including my crush. Even the teacher was laughing at me. I still get a little flustered reciting it smh.

7. I love that dad took a picture.

One time, a few months ago, my cousin and I were playing hide and seek at my house, and I found the PERFECT spot. So my little brother has a bunk bed and a trundle bed and the trundle bed doesn’t have a mattress in it yet. So of course I crawled in there because if I could get in, I could get out right? Wrong. So I called for my cousin and we spent like, 20 minutes just trying to get me out and then he left and got my dad (the whole time I thought he abandoned me) and my dad took a picture of me and took his sweet time getting me out. I obviously eventually got out, but yeah.

Okay so the other one was in second grade, there was a boy that I liked and I used to chase him around the playground during recess. So one day I got super close to catching him and he tripped and fell down like a tree. So naturally I tripped as well, resulting in chipping my tooth on his butt. (It wasn’t a bad chip)

8. Way to go, dad.

I was about 6 and we (my close family) were going to have a dinner party that night so my dad was taking me on errands. we were in this small, local market, and right next to the cashier where my dad was, there was a giant jar of taffy. i was really craving candy, so i took one out and asked my dad if i could have one.

he was talking to the cashier and just told me to wait a second. I put the candy in my pocket and just looked around some more. then he got me and we rushed out. we had to go in a hurry, so we were going pretty fast. we were about half way down the street when i reached into my pocket and felt the candy. i had totally forgotten about it, but was terrified because i thought i would go to jail, so i told my dad.

he flipped out because he thought i meant to steal it. that wasn’t even the worst part. as we were walking back to the shop, my best friends mom came around the corner and asked what we were doing. my dad told her that i stole something. i was mortified

9. Puberty is the worst.

OK so when i was around 11.

I was on my period and i didn’t realize it and my crush and i were partners on a school project and he dropped his pencil and was like “hey, you have a red stain on pants near you hoo haw” and the kid who cant keep their mouth shut seriously yelled “She’s got blood on her pants!”

It was right after health class and we just learned about periods and puberty.

So yeah that was embarrassing.

10. That’s just funny.

So, I was in Sweden at an amusement park, and it had a big wooden hamster wheel, and I was walking on it, and my pants, because they were big, got caught between two boards.

I fell down and went all the way up, then dropped down. worst part is, my pants fell down when it happened because…

It was still stuck.

Of all the things that happened to me as a kid, being embarrassed is among the things I miss the absolute least. Ugh!

Did you find any of these situations relatable? Have a story of your own you’d like to share?

Let us know in the comments!

The post People Share Really Embarrassing Childhood Moments They Laugh at Now appeared first on UberFacts.

If You Love Your Life, What’s Your Story? People Shared Their Stories.

No matter how bad your day, week, month, or year has been, it’s important to look in the mirror sometimes and say, “I’m lucky to be here and I’m gonna make the most of it!”

And that’s what leads to people appreciating and loving their lives.

Are you ready to hear from some people who definitely fall into this category?

Let’s see what AskReddit users had to say about this.

1. Time to finish it.

“Had a near-death experience where I remember my last thought not being able to finish my favourite tv series.

Made me realise that my bucket list wasn’t a complex sort of thing. It could range from something as simple as taking a diffrent route to the shop or just having the guts to actively start a conversation with my nwighbour of 11 years who I’ve never said anything beyond a hello to.

Or even just plain finishing what I started, nothing pleases more than just finishing something.”

2. All good things.

“Married my best friend.

Got into a career I was sort of passionate about, not my number one choice in the world but its good.

I plan out my weekends so I have things every week to look forward to. I have goals in my hobbies to work towards thats a huge one.

Always have something to work towards in your personal life. I am trying to make a dining room set with woodworking and want to eventually have most of the furniture and stuff in my house made by me.”

3. Met a redhead…

“Met a cute redhead whose personality is almost the exact opposite of mine (outgoing, bubbly, connects very well with all types of other people).

We became really good friends. We started dating about two years later. We got married about eight months after that.

We’ve had some struggles (mostly because of my own inability to communicate effectively), but we are very happy together now, over twenty years later.”

4. Congrats!

“I was addicted to h*roin and m*th and now I am not.

I have accomplished a bunch of stuff and generally just appreciate how happy and healthy I am now!”

5. The American Dream.

“Grew up in very poor farm in Pakistan.

Now, after immigrating to the US, I work a salaried job, graduated from University of Illinois, working on my Masters at Harvard to achieve my goal of becoming a scientist and keep living the American dream.

I know things are not great here in the US considering the climate, but I’m thankful to live here.”

6. You do you.

“Some people may disagree with my life choices here but im happy so here goes.

I live in the UK, and started working in a pub at 16 as a glass collector. I was studying cookery at college and quickly learned I didn’t want to just cook, i wanted to run the whole show.

My parents took on their own pub and since they did that I fell in love with the whole lifestyle.

I have no children and no partner, and i dont plan on changing that anytime soon. I am very close to having my own pub at 24 years old and i cannot wait.

I’m close to having my dream job before im 30, my own car, an awesome family, 3 beautiful dogs, and more money than i could have imagined at this age.

Lockdown 2.0 will prove a challenge but if we come through it ill be living the dream.”

7. It’s good to wait.

“Waited rather than settled.

Dumped a lot of okay guys, left a lot of okay (and not so okay) jobs, moved a lot, was lucky to have a baby when the time was finally right.

It’s taken a lot of tough decisions and hoping for more but it’s been worth waiting for.”

8. Keep it up.

“I’m 8 years sober.

I was drinking to self-medicate for my depression, so I didn’t really think I had an active addiction.

If I take my meds and don’t drink, every day I wake up is the best day of my life.”

9. The bright side.

“I’m depressed, I have a myriad of incurable physical and mental problems.

But god d*mmit, I get to see my favourite person every day, and I have a job that isn’t hard and pays relatively well for someone who doesn’t need to be self sufficient.

I  love my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

10. Been good for a long time.

“My life has been pretty awesome since I was 16 (I’m 40). It was pretty weird before that.

I’ve had a lot of good luck. At 16, some of the bad things left my life. My education improved. I married the right person. I managed to be moderately successful at something that fits my lifestyle (I’ve never not had enough money).

I’m self-employed. My kids are easy, intelligent and fun. I have lots of fun hobbies. I still have most of my friends from growing up and continually add new ones. And I’m sill close to my dad.

That’s pretty much it. I do actually pray every morning for peace for myself, my family, and others. And amazingly, I have a lot of peace in my life.”

11. Grateful.

“I grew up very poor.

I was homeless as a teen and struggled all through my 20s with mental health issues and creating stability. My kids have a middle-class upbringing and I’m so grateful to be able to give them that. I’m grateful for everything.

When it’s raining, I thank God for the roof over my head, heat in the winter, my bed at night. I’m not rich by any means but am so happy to be where I am.”

12. Worked hard to get here.

“I am a nurse and worked so many terrible jobs.

It was either long hours on my feet, not so many hours but lots of lifting and cleaning up people who sh*t themselves from their neck to their knees, to a Monday through Friday job with no lifting but a toxic work environment, to a great job with a two-hour commute one way.

I took a huge pay cut to work in a mental health facility for incarcerated patients. It is so chill and so rewarding. The patients are independent. I don’t have to lift them or bath them. I don’t have to deal with families. Or doctors. I spend a lot of time just hanging out and talking to them.

And some days when the techs are busy or we are short staffed, I’m the one who takes them outside for recreation time. I get to sit outside and watch them play basketball and make small talk. I work three days a week with five days off in a row. It’s like not having a job at all. Since my job isn’t physically demanding I have energy to do the things I enjoy on my days off.

I feel like I put up with a lot of bullsh*t to get to this place. Thankfully I handled my money well when I made more money, so being able to take a pay cut to work in a better work environment is just amazing.”

13. Mostly love it.

“I went from living with my mother who lives with addiction during my childhood (hating life), to marrying a guy after knowing him for 3 months at the age of 20 and we had a horrible, toxic relationship (SUPER hating life) and moving all around the country with…

To now: a 28 y/o divorcee with a super rewarding job (I work with people who are in recovery and who are homeless) and I am engaged to the best guy I have ever met. I am also back to the same state I grew up in, and I have all my amazing friends close by, and now we talk everyday.

I am still in awe I am just like “wow, you mean I don’t have to dread every moment of my life?!?” I used to pray that I could just turn back time and redo all the mistakes that I had made to end up so unhappy, but now, I am glad I f*cked the hell up.

I still have depression. But therapy and that lexapro life plus a great support system is honestly just gives me a happy f*cking life. I still struggle with my mom (she hasn’t been sober since I was 10) but that is mostly out of my control. So, yeah, mostly I love my life.”

Okay, now it’s your turn.

In the comments, please tell us how your life is going right now.

We’d love to hear from you!

The post If You Love Your Life, What’s Your Story? People Shared Their Stories. appeared first on UberFacts.

“How Can Rich People Go Bankrupt and Still Get Loans, but Average People Get Blacklisted for Years?” People Answer.

If it seems like there are two sets of rules in this world – one for the haves and one for everyone else, well, you’re not alone.

One of the places we see this discrepancy is when we lose everything, and are forced to file bankruptcy.

How is it that a rich person can go bankrupt multiple times and still receive loans and start new companies but if the average person declares bankruptcies they’re basically blacklisted for years and their credit is ruined? from NoStupidQuestions

A regular person is looking at 7-13 years of rebuilding their financial life.

A rich person is looking for a loan that will get them through to their next huge embarrassing failure.

If you’ve ever wondered why, this thread is for you!

17. They’re rich for a reason.

It’s all in how s/he organizes their business. A corporation is fully separate from the owner (shareholder), and in court and for tax purposes, they are treated like a separate person, which is why you file a corporate tax return.

In other words, a corporation can go bankrupt, but that will have little bearing on the owner (shareholder). Corporations have the privilege of being able to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy which simply allows the corporation to reorganize the company, whereas individuals can only file Chapter 7 (liquidate all your assets to discharge all your debts) or Chapter 13 (3 to 5 year repayment plan that discharges your debts). Both have a negative impact on an individual’s credit score.

In other words, rich people are rich because they know tax and business law better and take full advantage.

16. They’re protected.

The person didn’t declare bankruptcy, the corporation that the person owned declared bankruptcy.

This prevents the majority of the negative effects of bankruptcy from affecting the owner.

15. PR spin can do a lot.

There are vanishingly few chapter 11s that aren’t the result of some form of major failure or another. People put a lot of spin on what a filing really means for PR purposes, but believe me, a company does not undertake the incredibly expensive, painful, and laborious step of actually filing unless catastrophe is imminent or has already occurred.

The end result in the vast majority of these cases is that the owners (shareholders) are wiped out. Either a bankruptcy sale will happen, the proceeds of which run out in the middle of the capital stack long before reaching the shareholders, or some class of creditors will receive all of the equity in the reorganized debtor as partial satisfaction of the debt.

It’s true that chapter 11 rarely means the end of the business, but almost always, someone is getting megaf**ked in a chapter 11; the shareholders, then the unsecured creditors, in that order.

14. The system is rigged.

Yes this. But there is also something in the credit scoring algorithms that puts people into different buckets. For example, when I worked in real estate had 2 applicants for a place with the same low credit score of around 600.

One was 20 years old, really had no significant debt and defaulted on like a $60 dollar credit card bill out of probably pure negligence (her mom would be cosigning for the place)

The other guy bought and flipped properties, fell under water (this was around 2009) and defaulted on over $1m in loans. Same credit score.

13. Straight predatory.

I would actually say it’s not true that bankruptcy gets you blacklisted quite the contrary because your debt gets locked in for 7 years because you can’t file again for 7 years.

A lot of times a few months after someone files they get a lot of offers from credit card companies

12. There should be space for details.

This is something that’s frustrated me my whole life.

My credit isn’t good. But I messed it up keeping a roof over my head in college and beyond.

But my score gets looked at the same as some kid who signed up for credit cards and blew all the money on booze and trips and clothes.

Mine was spent on cheap rent and utilities and healthcare. I’m working my a$s off to fix it, and I will, I just wish there were more to it.

11. We don’t use the same applications.

Well, a lot of financing that rich people get is private investment, not bank loans.

So they’re not trying to convince a bank with a credit rating, they’re trying to convince investors with a value proposition.

10. It’s not personal.

This. Financial institutions are not the morality/personal choice police, all they care about is whether you pay or not and if you did that’s great and if you didn’t that’s bad.

If you defaulted on a debt because you had bad luck and had no choice but to do so to stay alive it’s the exact same result for them as someone that defaulted on a similar sized debt but for something else, like strippers, so you’ll be treated equally.

There’s nothing inherently “better” about someone that couldn’t pay out of desperation vs. someone that couldn’t pay out of mismanagement.

9. It’s all in who you know.

Rich/wealthy people use private banking when they use banks.

Credit scores don’t matter much in private banking.

If a rich person wants to finance a 10 million dollar mortgage and has a 100 million dollar investment account with the bank, they’re going to give him/her the loan without caring about anything other than the other outstanding debts that person has.

8. It depends.

This only works for some businesses though, right?

A corporation (like Toys R Us) can easily claim bankruptcy without directly affecting the individuals who are a part of the corporation.

In the case of a proprietorship (like a locally owned and operated store), for example, since the liability of the business is directly tied to the individual owner, wouldn’t that affect their financial standing as well?

7. Who cares about treason?

Or they are financed by Russian mafia who pay a fee to launder money through businesses.

When you have such a bad track record that no one will lend to you any more, you make deals that allow you to still make money on shitty businesses by laundering.

Or you get a “legit” loan through Deutschebank with ties to Russian mobsters.

6. It’s shady as heck.

Fun fact, this is why subcompanies exist too. most property companies will file each building as it’s own company eg. 123 Main St, LLC. and operate it as part of their business and just have that one declare bankruptcy if something drastic goes wrong.

The shadiest example of this is mining companies putting mines into separate companies when they go bust so that they don’t have to deal with the cleanup costs.

“That mine doesn’t belong to MegaCoal anymore, it is property of Toxic Pit, LLC! and Toxic Pit LLC would love to follow the legal steps and cleanup for the property, but they have approximately zero assets or money! Oh well, Toxic Pit is bust! I guess the government has to deal with it now!”

5. Must be nice.

In college I knew a girl who worked for a millionaire. He told her he’d made money and lost it several times. His advice to her was you never use your own money to make money, you use someone else’s.

Hence, as others have pointed out, a corporation that has people buying into it as an investment can go under and there is a separation between the corporation and the individual. This is not talking about a mom and pop gas station but larger businesses.

4. When the bank gambles.

Something I read a while ago on here…

“Take a thousand dollar loan, you worry.

Take a million dollar loan, both you and the bank worry.

Take a billion dollar loan, the bank worries.”

If I fail to repay the thousand dollar loan, the bank will come down heavy on me and I will either pay it or my wages get garnished until the entire loan (plus interest) is paid.

If I fail to pay back the billion dollar loan, the bank will work WITH me because they don’t want to take a massive hit.

3. It’s a classic for a reason.

It’s an old joke:

If you have $10,000 in debt, that’s your problem.

If you have $10,000,000,000 in debt, that’s the bank’s problem.

2. An interesting take.

There was a lot of impact on World War 1 about supporting a country at war for the survival of the country because they owe you money.

If you owe the bank money, the bank controls you. But if you owe the bank enough money, you control the bank. At that point the bank has an interest if your survival

1. Find the right loan officer.

I’m in financial services and here is the basics on this. Most lenders yes would blacklist the individual. But it also depends on the lender and the type of lending being done. Some lenders charge more (higher interest rates) for the added risk and others specialize in Asset Based lending, in which they don’t care about the individual but just the assets.

In most cases, real estate being the most valuable. Many cookie cutter lenders like the big 4 would not touch someone with a 10ft pool that has a BK, but that doesn’t mean someone won’t. There is a lender for everyone out there. Just need to find one.

I don’t know why the world is the way it is, but sometimes I really want off.

Do you think this is fair? Is there any way to change it?

Drop your thoughts in the comments!

The post “How Can Rich People Go Bankrupt and Still Get Loans, but Average People Get Blacklisted for Years?” People Answer. appeared first on UberFacts.

People Share the Things All Moms Do That Make Us Smile

You know what we all have in common? A mom. Yes, we all had to be born, so there’s no getting out of this bit of human unity.

So we all can show a little love for how weirdly funny and strange and beautiful their personalities can be.

This AskReddit finds people sharing all the quirky, wonderful stuff that they do… and we’re here for them all.

Love you moms!

1. How mom phone works

“Mom 1 min ago: “Where are you??”

Mom 2 min ago: “Why aren’t you picking up my calls?”

Mom 3 min ago: “You are normally home at 5:32pm on the dot, it is 5:33pm, are you home? Where are you?”

Then you call her back less than a minute after the last call/text and she doesn’t.”

2. Bathroom breaks

“Be sure to use the bathroom before you go anywhere. You never know when you’re going to find the next one.

I live 2 minutes from work and still use the bathroom before I leave.”

3. What’s an expert?

“Hearing a ‘fact’ from an ‘expert’ on the news once and believing it forever.

i.e. My mom still thinks I should be getting nine hours and fifteen minutes of sleep after hearing that figure on the Today Show over a decade ago.”

4. Clean angry!

“Vacuuming when they’re angry.

So everyone knows they’re angry and everyone is super uncomfortable.

It’s loud and scary and I just want to die.”

5. Strong AF

“Moms are freakishly strong when they need to be.

I remember my wife running away from a pissed off skunk, one kid in each arm.”

6. That “Stop Short” Move

“While driving with you in the passenger seat they throw their arm across you if they have to hit the brakes.

Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode and the “Stop Short” move that Kramer mistakenly pulls on George’s mom.

Ahhhh… Seinfeld.

Wait, what were we talking about?”

7. Hey kids… STAPH!

“Tom! Dave! Brad!

YOU!

Stop that!”

8. Temperature check!

“Temp might get down into the 70s.

“Make sure you bring a jacket”

Transklation = A jacket is what you wear when your mother is cold.”

9. Dishes and bishes

“My mom would angrily wash the dishes.

All you would hear was slamming cutlery.

It was terrifying.”

10. OMG!

“OMG A NATURAL DISASTER/MURDER/MAJOR CRIME HAPPENED IN A COUNTRY YOU WANT TO VISIT ONE DAY.

YOU SHOULD NEVER EVER GO THERE.

EVER.”

11. That finger dexterity

“Texting with 1 finger whilst holding the phone entirely in the palm of their other hand.”

12. Personality shift

“Mom screaming at the kids.

Phone rings.

Total personality shift!

The caller would never believe we were fearing for our lives .03 seconds ago!”

13. Super spreader

“Licked her fingers to straighten out your eye brows/stray hair/etc.

Gross mom! That’s how you spread germs.”

14. Get hydrated, kid!

“Me: (describes some type of physical ailment)

Mom: “How much water have you drank today?”

Me: Enough.

She does this every time.”

15. Da best!

“Mom knows why you hate that bi**h Shelby from high school.

So she goes out of her way to casually let you know that last Thursday she saw Shelby at the gym, and has she gotten fat.

Love you, Mom.”

Those are some seriously funny mom moments, right?

Have any that you want to share?

Let us know in the comments!

The post People Share the Things All Moms Do That Make Us Smile appeared first on UberFacts.