New Study Finds That Having to Fake-Smile at Customers Makes Workers Drink More

In a bit of news that was absolutely no surprise whatsoever to anyone who has ever worked in retail/customer service, a new study has linked forcing a smile for customers with increased consumption of booze.

Researchers from Penn State University and the University of Buffalo recently discovered that faking smiles to please customers can be bad for the health of workers. The data from the research showed that people who work with the public (food service, retail, teachers, nurses, etc.) and who both regularly fake positive emotions (like smiling when they don’t mean it) and repress negative emotions (like the urge to roll their eyes) drink more alcohol after they get off work than people who don’t work directly with the public.

Penn State professor of psychology Alicia Grandey said about the results of the study,

“Faking and suppressing emotions with customers was related to drinking beyond the stress of the job or feeling negatively. It wasn’t just feeling badly that makes them reach for a drink. Instead, the more they have to control negative emotions at work, the less they are able to control their alcohol intake after work.”

And if you work in the service industry or know people who do, you know (and I know) that a lot of them do like to drink more than just a couple when their shift ends. Grandey hypothesizes that by faking or suppressing emotions, service industry workers may be using too much self-control, what she calls “surface acting.” And when they’re not at work, they don’t exercise self-control to regulate their alcohol intake.

Grandey said,

“Smiling as part of your job sounds like a really positive thing, but doing it all day can be draining. In these jobs, there’s also often money tied to showing positive emotions and holding back negative feelings. Money gives you a motivation to override your natural tendencies, but doing it all day can be wearing.”

The researchers analyzed data from 1,592 workers in the United States to draw their conclusions. Grandey also said that workers who have one-time interactions with customers, such as restaurants or call centers, tend to drink more than those who see the same people regularly, like teachers or health care professionals.

Grandey explained,

‘”Nurses, for example, may amplify or fake their emotions for clear reasons. They’re trying to comfort a patient or build a strong relationship. But someone who is faking emotions for a customer they may never see again, that may not be as rewarding, and may ultimately be more draining or demanding.”

What do you think? Share your reactions in the comments!

The post New Study Finds That Having to Fake-Smile at Customers Makes Workers Drink More appeared first on UberFacts.

Having Grown Up in Foster Care, This Woman Explains Why Adoption Isn’t the Best Alternative to Abortion

The abortion debate is becoming increasingly intense again, and many anti-abortion activists are in favor of adoption as a more humane alternative to abortion. But a woman who grew up in foster care wants people to know that adoption is not the simple solution that it seems.

Olivia Paige knows exactly how broken the adoption system is in the US because she grew up in it. She posted on Facebook to explain what it’s really like for children in the system.

“Let me start off by reminding you of the 390,000+ children and teens in foster care, 100,000+ of which are waiting to be adopted,” Olivia’s post began. “Around 50,000 are placed up for adoption each year—these abortion bans are sure to make those numbers grow so let me share some statistics with you.”

Posted by Olivia Paige on Sunday, April 28, 2019

“20% of teens who age out of foster care become instantly homeless, with no support system in place.
There is less than a 3% chance that any of these kids will obtain any sort of degree.
25% suffer from PTSD.
1 out of every 2 kids will develop substance abuse problems.
Adopted children make up only 2% of children under 18.”

Then Olivia went on to share her own experience as one of the “lucky ones” who made it out alright. She attached a photo of a flyer that was handed out to prospective adopters when she was a teenager. She was never adopted, she says.

I debated posting this for a while, I’ve decided to do it because not many people know what it’s really like as a child…

Posted by Olivia Paige on Tuesday, May 28, 2019

“I spent a decade in foster care, bouncing between ‘homes’ with strangers in places I’d never known before. With no warning, a social worker would show up and tell me I’d have to pack my things (the very few I had) and leave whatever strange place I’d kept myself from getting too comfortable in at the drop of a hat,” she wrote. “I had no say in the matter.”

In two of her foster homes, Olivia was physically and sexually abused. Many times, she watched her foster parents take their money from the state and spend it on themselves instead of her. Sometimes, there were no homes for Olivia to stay in, so she had to sleep in a cubicle at Family Services.

“I spent ten years feeling unworthy of love, unwanted and waiting for the next bad thing to happen to me,” Olivia wrote.

it’s Octoberween and this is one of my favorite self portraits so ~ figured it was fitting ?

Posted by Olivia Paige on Thursday, October 4, 2018

Thankfully, Olivia aged out of the system at 16, and she’s been doing well ever since. But there are tens of thousands of children just like her currently going through the same thing.

“I dare you to say ‘adoption is always an option’ to any of the several tens of thousands who have been waiting patiently for years for someone to come along and give them the chance to define the word ‘family’.”

Olivia wrote that, while she doesn’t wish she’d been aborted or that she were dead, she does believe that abortion is preferable to forcing so many kids to go through this.

missing doing shoots with Rich Adams Jr.!

Posted by Olivia Paige on Tuesday, November 27, 2018

“A life is not saved just by letting it be born,” she said.

“Kids should be in homes with families that truly love them. If you’re so adamant about kids being born—go through the process and adopt some yourself.”

The post Having Grown Up in Foster Care, This Woman Explains Why Adoption Isn’t the Best Alternative to Abortion appeared first on UberFacts.

Endearingly Honest Illustrations Show the Real Side of Any Relationships

Growing up, you see a lot of relationships depicted on TV and in movies, and it all seems so romantic and beautiful and perfect. The whole “happily ever after” thing, you know?

But then you grow up and you realize that, while being in a stable, loving relationship certainly does have those elements to it, there are also plenty of moments in between that aren’t TV-worthy, but are the essence of what being in a relationship entails on a daily basis.

Artist Amanda Oleander is based in Los Angeles, and her illustrations bring viewers behind closed doors to show what relationships are really like when no one else is around.

Scroll through these photos and let us know if these scenarios look familiar.

1. I can help you with that

View this post on Instagram

24 Hour Print Sale Now available on the site. Link in bio to see the rest available. 29 prints available this week + giving away pins to the first 20 orders—————————————— Nuevo arte ahora disponible en el sitio durante 24 horas. Enlace en bio. ———————————————————————— Nova arte agora disponível no site por 24 horas. Link na bio. ———————————————————————— Nuovi dipinti ora disponibili sul sito ———————————————————————— New art now available on the site for 24 hours. ———————————————————————— هم‌اکنون سری جدید نقاشی‌ها به مدت ۲۴ ساعت برای خرید از طریق وبسایت قابل دسترسی هستند. ———————————————————————— رسمات جديدة متوفرة في الموقع على مدار الـ ٢٤ ساعة . ———————————————————————— International shipping available ———————————————————————— ? Gifting a print to a random person in the comments. To enter the giveaway tag someone that you think will appreciate an art print as a gift! ♥

A post shared by A m a n d a??‍?O l e a n d e r (@amandaoleander) on

2. Making meals together

3. Binge watching

4. Don’t fall asleep yet

View this post on Instagram

Me last night staying up until 4 a.m excited about all of the projects and events coming up this year. —————————————————— Title: Stay awake with me —————————————————— Título: mantente despierto conmigo —————————————————— Título: Fique acordado comigo —————————————————— Titolo: Resta sveglio con me —————————————————— Titre: Reste éveillé avec moi —————————————————— Titel: Bleib wach mit mir —————————————————— Название: Просыпайся со мной —————————————————— Başlık: Benimle uyanık kal —————————————————— הכותרת: להישאר ער איתי —————————————————— タイトル:私と一緒に目を覚ます —————————————————— العنوان: البقاء مستيقظا معي —————————————————— با من بیدار بمون ——————————————————

A post shared by A m a n d a??‍?O l e a n d e r (@amandaoleander) on

5. Dining in

6. In the bathroom

View this post on Instagram

24 Hour Print Sale Now available on the site. Link in bio to see the rest available. 23 prints available this week + giving away pins to the first 20 orders—————————————— Nuevo arte ahora disponible en el sitio durante 24 horas. Enlace en bio. ———————————————————————— Nova arte agora disponível no site por 24 horas. Link em bio. ———————————————————————— Nuovi dipinti ora disponibili sul sito ———————————————————————— New art now available on the site for 24 hours. ———————————————————————— هم‌اکنون سری جدید نقاشی‌ها به مدت ۲۴ ساعت برای خرید از طریق وبسایت قابل دسترسی هستند. ———————————————————————— رسمات جديدة متوفرة في الموقع على مدار الـ ٢٤ ساعة . ———————————————————————— International shipping available ———————————————————————— ? Gifting a print to a random person in the comments. To enter the giveaway tag someone that you think will appreciate an art print as a gift! ♥

A post shared by A m a n d a??‍?O l e a n d e r (@amandaoleander) on

7. Happy tears

8. Spring cleaning

9. Reading in bed

View this post on Instagram

24 Hour Print Sale Now available on the site. Link in bio to see the rest available. 24 prints available this week + giving away pins to the first 20 orders—————————————— Nuevo arte ahora disponible en el sitio durante 24 horas. Enlace en bio. ———————————————————————— Nova arte agora disponível no site por 24 horas. Link em bio. ———————————————————————— Nuovi dipinti ora disponibili sul sito ———————————————————————— New art now available on the site for 24 hours. ———————————————————————— هم‌اکنون سری جدید نقاشی‌ها به مدت ۲۴ ساعت برای خرید از طریق وبسایت قابل دسترسی هستند. ———————————————————————— رسمات جديدة متوفرة في الموقع على مدار الـ ٢٤ ساعة . ———————————————————————— International shipping available ———————————————————————— ? Gifting a print to a random person in the comments. To enter the giveaway tag someone that you think will appreciate an art print as a gift! ♥

A post shared by A m a n d a??‍?O l e a n d e r (@amandaoleander) on

10. Going gray

11. Taking it easy

12. Chilling by the pool

View this post on Instagram

Drawing 46/100 of the drawing a day for 100 days challenge challenge. This is inspired by this past weekend laying by the pool with @joeyrudman he was looking at me without saying anything for a bit and then said “I love looking at you.” And I immediately said “I’m drawing this.” We tried to get a photo of us this weekend but they were all posed of course since we don’t have a personal photographer photographing us candidly so here’s an illustration of what really happened. (Posting photos from this past weekend on my ig story) I cannot wait for more summer pool days coming up. ————————————————— Title: I Love Looking At You ————————————————— Título: Eu adoro olhar para você ————————————————— Título: Me encanta mirarte ————————————————— Titre: J'aime te regarder ————————————————— Teideal: Is breá liom Ag amharc ort ————————————————— Titel: Ich liebe es, dich anzuschauen ————————————————— כותר: אני אוהב להסתכל עליך ————————————————— タイトル:あなたを見ているのが大好き ————————————————— Название: Я люблю смотреть на тебя ————————————————— Eser: Sana Bakmayı Seviyorum ————————————————— العنوان: أنا أحب النظر إليك ————————————————— عنوان: من دوست دارم به تو نگاه کنم ————————————————— Mi piace guardarti ————————————————— P.S doing giveaway contest in my IG story.

A post shared by A m a n d a??‍?O l e a n d e r (@amandaoleander) on

13. Wearing retainers

14. Couch potatoes

15. Hanging in the kitchen

Pretty true to life, AmIRite?

The post Endearingly Honest Illustrations Show the Real Side of Any Relationships appeared first on UberFacts.

This 24-Year-Old Will Have $100,000 Saved by Next Year. Here’s How

Managing our money is definitely one of the biggest struggles most of us face as we enter adulthood. It’s a skill that isn’t nearly as widely discussed/taught in school as it should be. Too many adults these days are living paycheck-to-paycheck, where any major, unexpected expense can potentially derail their entire lives.

Tori Dunlap is only 24 years old, but she recently realized she’s on track to have $100,000 in the bank by next year despite never making more than $80,000 in a year. Pretty impressive for a young person, right?

Dunlap said, “One of my biggest priorities in life has always been to save as much money as possible — and I owe much of that to my parents, who made sure I had a strong financial education at a young age.”

Dunlap acknowledges that she has some advantages that others don’t: she’s white, she comes from a middle-class family, and she graduated from college with no debt. But whether you’re as privileged as she is or not, anyone can benefit from her 5 most important money-saving tips.

1. Get on that side hustle

Dunlap said she worked an extra 15 hours per week doing social media marketing outside of her regular 9-5 job to help reach her $100,000 goal. She then invested all her money from her side job and 20% of her earnings from her full-time job.

View this post on Instagram

You don't have to stop spending money. You just need to stop spending money on things that aren't priorities for you. ?????? If that daily coffee brings you joy, awesome. But if that daily coffee is your excuse to get you out of the office at 2 pm, and you don't even taste it any more, something needs to change. ☕☕☕ Make a list of your three priorities. These are things you're willing to spend discretionary money on (mine, for example, are travel, food out, and living alone in Seattle.) This list might be the same as mine, or include things like fancy groceries, manicures, makeup, clothes, etc. These are the things were the majority of your "fun" money should be spent. ??? Then, use a tool like my Cash Calendar to track your spending and reflect on your purchases. Did these align with my priorities? Or did I emotionally spend my hard-earned money on something that didn’t matter to me? That’s where the real transformation happens. ??? What are your three spending priorities? Drop them below! ?: @oliviafrances143

A post shared by Tori Dunlap | Her First $100K (@herfirst100k) on

2. Invest early

Dunlap opened a Roth IRA after she graduated from college and she maxed it out every year. She also saved six months of living expenses in a high-yield savings account for an emergency fund.

3. Don’t fall into the lifestyle inflation trap

Dunlap lives in an expensive city (Seattle), but she tries to save money in a variety of ways. She lives in a less expensive, less trendy neighborhood than many young people in Seattle. She has prioritized saving money over having a trendy lifestyle. She has a one-hour commute to work instead of a five-minute ride on the light rail, and her neighborhood consists of mostly older people – but, again, she is saving more money than her peers by not paying an outrageous amount for rent.

View this post on Instagram

Privilege. • This word, especially when it comes to money, can cause people to go from zero to sixty in a hot second. And rightfully so. It’s hard to listen to folks talk about privilege who haven’t done the work of educating themselves as to what it means and why it matters. • One of the core tenants of my practice is to acknowledge my privilege. A huge reason why I’m on the path to $100K is because I graduated without student debt. That was a privilege. Going to a private college was a privilege. Getting two four-year degrees was a privilege. • It was also work. My parents — who both grew up poor — sacrificed and scrimped and saved so they could help support me financially. A huge privilege. They also expected me to contribute — with profits from summer jobs, three jobs while going to school, and merit scholarships. It was a collaboration, not a handout. A privilege but not a hall pass. • After listening to the most recent episode of @fairercents, it got me thinking. Too often, we don’t showcase that both of these things are possible: having or lacking privilege, combined with hard work. I would not be where I am today without privilege: being white, cis-gendered, with supportive parents who were able to emotionally and financially support me. But I also wouldn’t be where I am without diligence. • With privilege, comes responsibility. Having the financial education I have is a privilege I intend on using for good. With this knowledge, I have the responsibility to teach and guide others. It’s what I believe I was put on this earth to do. • I know privilege can be a tough conversation, one that I am constantly learning more about and trying to be better at. Always more to ponder and consider and strive for… thanks for listening. ?: @karyaschanilec

A post shared by Tori Dunlap | Her First $100K (@herfirst100k) on

4. The three-bucket budget rule

Dunlap divides her budget into three buckets. The first is living expenses (rent, bills, groceries). The second is for goals (investments, retirement, saving for a house). The third bucket is for everything else. This is the fun bucket for eating out, clothes, and travel.

The percentage of how much you put into each of the three buckets varies depending on the person.

View this post on Instagram

“We all have a better guide in ourselves than any other person can be…” ??? Personal finance is just that — personal. Our emotions and our mindset affect more of our money than any APR or interest rate can. ??? Changing your money habits starts with changing your mindset. It starts with knowing yourself and your triggers. It starts with small steps over time. ??? This is where a money coach can help you. We see you for your whole person, not just the number on your statement. We’re that cheerleader to keep you going, with the knowledge of how to guide you. It’s my favorite thing in the world. ?????? You know yourself better than anyone else. Trust yourself and start building habits that will change your life. Go get ‘em.

A post shared by Tori Dunlap | Her First $100K (@herfirst100k) on

5. Take things one step at a time and learn from your failures

We all make mistakes when it comes to saving (and spending) money. Dunlap said she took a job once simply because the money was good, even though her gut told her otherwise. The work environment ended up being extremely toxic, and she quit less than three months into the job.

Dunlap admits she felt like a failure after this experience and that it took her a while to rebuild her confidence, but in the long run she learned more about herself and what is important to her. She said, “Money is great, but unhappiness isn’t. Life is just too short.”

Do you have any money-saving tips of your own? Share them in the comments.

The post This 24-Year-Old Will Have $100,000 Saved by Next Year. Here’s How appeared first on UberFacts.

10 Doctors Share Their Most Shocking Anti-Vax Horror Stories

At the risk of potentially getting some angry comments from a few folks, I’m gonna go ahead and say it: vaccines are a marvel of modern medicine that have saved countless lives, and any potential negative side effects (such as they are – the most commonly-feared ones have been widely disproved) are vastly outweighed by the benefits.

Many doctors have experienced real-life horror stories in their dealings with anti-vaxxers. Recently, we found out a few of these stories when a Reddit user posted the question, “Doctors of Reddit, what are some of your anti-vax parent stories?”

Brace yourselves. Some of these will shock you.

1. An odd rationalization

“Had a kid come in for generic upper respiratory virus. Asked mom if he was vaccinated, as is routine. She said no. When I asked why not, her response was “Well my boyfriend was vaccinated and he still got meningitis, so they don’t even work”

I told her that’s the same as saying your friend got bruised by a seat belt in a car accident, so you don’t wear them when you drive.”

2.This is shockingly heart-breaking

“I’ve told this story before, but the worst was when I was in medical school. The woman actually brought her daughter in to get catchup vaccines. Why? Because her other daughter was in the ICU with fulminant meningitis from a vaccine-preventable illness, hanging on for dear life. The nurse there sat her down and told her point-blank that she rarely sees this disease because people are vaccinated for it. The mom couldn’t understand how her girl had contracted it. We asked if she knew anyone who wasn’t vaccinated. Apparently no one in her church vaccinated, and several had been sick recently. She couldn’t believe the source could be them. The kicker? She also brought her son to clinic, but refused to vaccinate him, saying “he’s my only son”. No matter how we explained it to her, she believed giving her son the vaccine would result in brain damage.”

3. Doctors understand the dangers if only we’d listen

“Doctor here. Guy decided to not get a flu shot this year. Ended up in the ICU with flu infection in his brain He has currently been in the hospital for a month most of which in the ICU. Has likely permanent speech difficulty and left sided weakness.”

4. Unbelievable!

“Child A had an absolutely horrible time with chicken pox; to the point that I thought he might not make it. So what does she do? Intentionally expose Child B to it.”

5. Real talk from Dad

“Friend of mine is a military OBGYN. Was at a OB appointment with the pregnant dependent and servicemember. He had just returned from AFG a few months prior.

OB mentions about follow-ups after delivery in 1st year of life, including vaccines.

Wife says: ‘I read on the internet that vaccines cause autism, I don’t think we’re going to do that.’

Husband says: ‘I saw a lot of little graves in Afghanistan, sure as sh!t we are getting our kid vaccinated.’”

6. And vaccines have bad side-effects?

“I had a kid come in that was super sick. 3 years old and in septic shock. He had the flu and another compounded viral infection (I want to say pertussis). Heart rate was close to 200, respiratory rate in the 50s, blood pressure in the 70s. Kid was so fucking dry that we could barely get IVs into him and I almost had to drill an IO. We dumped a ton of fluids into him, started him on vasopressors and transferred him to the local children’s hospital.

I had asked the mom if he was vaccinated and she said “No, vaccines have really bad side effects! They’ll make you sick.” I explained to her that NOT getting the vaccines had made her kid 10 times sicker than he ever would have been from any mild vaccine reaction. She told me I was a moron and that I obviously have no clue what I’m talking and that’s the reason her kid was getting transferred…. She also told me that recommending she vaccinate her kids was racist.”

Photo Credit: Quick Meme

7. Anti-vax beliefs pushed to the extreme

“We had a 14 year old female come in for abdominal pain one time. She weighed 80 pounds. Looked sickly. Her mother refused to let her eat anything but a handful of things, nothing with very much protein at all. She literally had a binder full of articles about how horrible vaccines are, all the bad things they put in food these days, etc. She had completely brain washed this kid so the kid believed it too. Her labs showed malnutrition, her teeth were horrible. Just a sad case all around.”

8. This doctor knows what’s up

“When I was a med student, I had a parent who wanted to do a ‘delayed vaccination schedule’. Basically it means that you get all the same vaccinations but you pointlessly and foolishly do it over a longer time period. The mom had read a book promoting this practice that was unfortunately written by an MD. My pediatric attending had zero chill: ‘Is that the book written by Dr __? Yes? Well, then you should know that I was in the same medical school class as Dr __ but I got much better scores than he did.’”

Photo Credit: Make a Meme

9. A secret vaccination?

“I’m not a medical doctor but a mental health therapist, went to do a new client intake and while asking the mother about the kid’s medical history, vaccination records etc she said he was not vaccinated because vaccines cause autism and she didn’t want to risk her son getting it, then when I went to meet the kid within 5 seconds of laying eyes on him I could tell… he was autistic. Worst part was that when I told her she became very upset and started yelling at her husband saying he must have gotten the kid secretly vaccinated and then immediately ran out the house and took the kid to the emergency room for “testing” and just left me and the dad in the living room just kind of staring at eachother. Never answered my calls or texts again after that and I had to get DCF involved.”

10. Excuse me?

“This one time this lady came in for a check up. The child had not been vaccinated yet and I told her she needed to vaccinate him. She said that she didn’t want any needles touching him because she didn’t want him to get autism from the needles. She wanted him to get an ass spray of the vaccine. To this day it left me very confused and I told her we didn’t do that so she left. Maybe an anti-vax but idk anymore.”

Photo Credit: Make a Meme

Please do your research to understand the down-sides of not vaccinating your children. A preventable death is the ultimate tragedy.

The post 10 Doctors Share Their Most Shocking Anti-Vax Horror Stories appeared first on UberFacts.

The Secret Life of Keanu Reeves: Hollywood Superstar and All-Round Good Guy

Keanu Reeves might just be one of the best, nicest guys in Hollywood. Obviously, his acting career is incredibly impressive, with credits like Point Break and The Matrix to his name. All that success could easily go to his head, but he prefers to live a quiet life that few know about.

Today, let’s take a look at Keanu Reeves, the man.

Off-screen, Reeves has been known to take part in funding children’s charities on the down low.

Why? Because he’s a humble “do-gooder” for no other reason than to give back. Pretty cool, right?

“I have a private foundation that’s been running for five or six years, and it helps aid a couple of children’s hospitals and cancer research,” Keanu said in 2009 (according to Snopes) in a Ladies Home Journal article.

“I don’t like to attach my name to it, I just let the foundation do what it does.”

Apparently, this was inspired by his sister, who battled Leukemia back in the 1990s. Luckily, her disease was declared in remission by doctors, spring-boarding Reeves into his charitable groove. Not only does he fund cancer and children’s charities, but he’s also been known to participate in phone drives.

“Public efforts found him manning the phones at a Stand Up to Cancer telethon in 2008,” the List mentions in an article. “Stars like Reeves generously gave their time and used their star power to encourage fans to become callers, donors and participants in the efforts to heal cancer.”

But his heart-felt generosity doesn’t stop there. He enjoys taking care of others. Like buying his mother a new house and giving millions of dollars to the crew of The Matrix! He insisted the special FX and costume design teams were the real heroes of the movies, gifting them each $1 million.

In the end, money does not equal happiness to him.

“For me, I guess I don’t connect the enjoyment and the money,” Reeves told the New York Post. “I work on a part and hopefully realize a part, and make good films. Some of the successes I’ve had I’m grateful for, because it creates other opportunities. [The way] I look at it is I get to act again.”

Going one step further, Tim Allen wraps up Reeves’ personality in a recent interview.

Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear) talked about the Toy Story 4  on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and said: “New guys are in it. Keanu Reeves has got a great part in it. Inside story, even the fun, gentle guy that he is, even he said [about his own character], ‘This sounds too much like Buzz Lightyear.’”

He didn’t want to step on Allen’s toes!

And I guess that proves my point: Keanu Reeves is the best guy in Hollywood.

The post The Secret Life of Keanu Reeves: Hollywood Superstar and All-Round Good Guy appeared first on UberFacts.

15 of the Most Unbelievably Scary Things People Have Actually Seen

Have you ever experienced something incredibly creepy, but nobody believed you when you told them about it? Maybe you saw a ghost, or a UFO, or something else weird enough to raise suspicions.

These AskReddit users shared their scariest experiences that no one believes for some reason. Except me. I believe you.

1. The tackle box

“Alright, buckle in.

My neighbor was dying of a heart condition about 6 years ago. He knew he was, so he was giving away his valuables to people he trusted with them. Neighbor gave me his tackle box. He loved to fish. I would see him come home from fishing every day and he’d just sit on his porch and skin fish.

I just put the tackle box in my closet and didn’t really do anything with it since I don’t fish. Anyways, soon after, he passed away in his home. Exactly a week after that, I woke up to the tackle box at the foot of my bed. Weird, but my stepdad likes to dick around, figured it was him, so I put it back. The next morning, I wake up, it’s at the foot of my bed again.

So, I ask my stepdad what the deal was, and he had no idea what I was talking about. To test this, I put the tackle box in a spot that he wouldn’t find, nor would he attempt to get it. Under my bed, all the way in the back against the wall, and I put stuff in front of it to conceal it. Next morning, nothing. Okay, I guess it was him.

Didn’t give it much thought after that. 3 days pass, I wake up one morning and there it is, at the foot of my bed. Fuck. Now i’m starting to freak out. So I did what any rational person would and I went fishing with it. After I went fishing, I put the tackle box away, and it hasn’t moved since then. It’s still there.”

2. Very strange

“Just after high school, maybe six months or so after 9-11, I was a van driver who drove the meals for meals on wheels to the place where they get packaged up and taken for home delivery. Anyway the delivery van only had am/fm radio and I was listening to 92.5 fm, when all of a sudden the station cuts out and a transmition that I can only describe as an American version of a numbers station began playing.

It was seemingly random numbers followed by a long period of the same phrase repeated over and over again. The phrase was “they took the crosstown bus”, over and over again. None of the other drivers heard it but man was it creepy to hear. Eventually the regular radio station came back on and they never mentioned anything about it.”

3. Vanished

“This happened to me last year and I fully understand why no one believed me because it sounds ridiculous.

Every morning, I need to wake up at 5 am to get the 5:30 bus to the train station to go to university. I had to be there by 8 am, but I like to get there half an hour early.

To get to the bus stop, I have to walk down this bike path and under this bridge to get to this quiet backstreet road. There is fuck all light on the bike path. This street is dead quiet. The right side of the road is a continuation of the bike path, and the left is a normal footpath with a long green hedge.

One morning, I was standing there waiting for a bus and this old women comes walking out from under the bridge. I didn’t see her at first because as I said it was pitch black on the bike path. She crosses the road and walks up to me. She asked me if I knew where X road was. I turned to point in the direction of the road she was looking for. I turned back and she was gone.

This old women who was walking at a snails pace dissapeared within 3 seconds.”

4. Intruder

“The scariest thing i saw was at the age of 16, I woke up early in the morning (4:30-5-ish AM) me and some friends were supposed to go on a roadtrip for the weekend (we had a long af ride to one of the stops we wanted to visit, and didn’t wanna be there too late) i look out my window and it’s still a kinda dark outside, i walk downstairs and see wet footprints all over the house, and suddenly a big man (Like 6’7”. i was around 6’1” at the time) just bolt past me and out the front door.

Not really creepy, but i shat at least 5 bricks and bolted upstairs to my dad.

Nothing got stolen, but things were scattered all over the house.”

5. Spirits

“Fishing on Lake Minnewanka in Banff national park with a good freind. About 50 feet from shore.

Around 8:30 pm I see glowing red eyes. Up in the trees. Like …. red… like predator i guess. I do a double – take… they are gone.

I decide not to say anything, maybe I’m trippin. Did just smoke up. Nope. 5 mins later my buddy says “I just seen some glowing red eyes up in the top of those trees.”

I feel goosebumps. “Yup, I saw them too”.

We look back and they are gone. We decide to aim the boat towards the shoreline. It’s not dark yet but sun is going down. We saw nothing. No owls, no goats in the trails. We didn’t get off the boat but we had a good look around.
When I ask him about it (this was around 10 years ago) he just says he doesn’t want to talk about it.

I can’t blame him. But after all these years I’ve never heard or seen anything like those glowing red eyes, 30 – 40 feet up in the trees. Staring at us.

I copied and pasted this next part, I knew nothing about the history when we went fishing there..

“For more than 100 centuries, people hunted and camped along the original shores of Lake Minnewanka. The Stoney people called it “Minn-waki” or “Lake of the Spirits”. They respected and feared this lake for its resident spirits. The Early Europeans called it Devil’s Lake.”

I used to go camping there. I do not any more. Mostly because it’s bear country for most of the summer. But yeah also because of those bright red eyes. I will never forget that. Most surreal thing I’ve ever seen.”

6. Missing time

“I used to have a buddy that lived in the same neighborhood, a few streets over. One night we were having a couple of beers in his backyard while playing cards. I had some things to do the next morning so just before 10 I said my good-byes and shoved off.

It was a short walk (MAYBE 15 minutes door-to-door) so I never drove. Anyway, it was a nice night… uneventful trip. But when I got home, my roommate was coming out the front door, coffee in hand, and dressed for work. He gave me a funny look and said he thought I was asleep since my truck was in the driveway. I told him where I’d been and asked why he was going in to work at night.

That’s when he kind of laughed and asked if I was drunk. We stared at each other for a minute and then he told me it was just after 5 IN THE MORNING and he was going in just like he usually did.

In my entire life, I’d never felt more confused than I did in that moment. I could tell he was dead serious but I KNEW I had just left my friend’s house.

I checked my phone and sure enough… 5-something in the AM. My roommate left for work. I paced circles in the living room for a bit then called the friend whose house I’d just left. He groggily answered and confirmed I’d left at ten the previous evening.

I have no idea what happened during those 7 hours of my life and it gives me chills to think about it all these years later. I wasn’t drunk, I wasn’t tired, no one could have slipped anything in either of the two Coors lights I’d had…no known medical conditions that would have caused me to blackout, and nothing has happened like it since.

I just don’t know what happened to that time.”

7. Help!

“I was walking to class from the dining hall on my campus when I saw a lady yelling for help and banging on a window of a nearby building.

Lots of people were walking past but I was the only one who seemed to acknowledge it. I went to the window to help and she told me she was locked in a room in the building and that she needed me to come in and open the door.

Now, I have no idea the layout of this building and where she was located. So I decided to call campus security for help despite her pleading with me not to call them and to just let her out. I call them and when I hear them coming I go to greet them so I can take them to the window.

I leave for maybe a maximum of fifteen seconds and when I return with campus security she is gone. We can’t see her at the window and campus security goes inside to double check and sure enough there is no trace of her.

Campus security definitely thought I was crazy and I’m sure my professor thought I was full of shit when I explained to him why I was late. No one seems to believe me that this happened but I swear it did.”

8. “It changed the way I look at things”

“About 8 years ago now I was taking a drive out to Kansas from the east coast. I was with a friend and we were going out to see her grandparents. Once we were about 2 hours from the grandparents house my friend starts outlining standard operating procedures of “seeing things” in and around her family’s home.

She seemed a bit panicky when going over everything but I managed to calm her down. I’m skeptical of everything and assured her that the things she had seen when she was a small child were just manufactured in her imagination. She insisted that the entire family had seen these “things” with the exception of her grandparents.

2 hours later, we arrive in Kansas and I’m ready to fall over because of the length of time the last leg of the trip took. We are welcomed and grandmother takes me to a back bedroom and just as she about to close the door; she stops, says “maybe you shouldn’t stay in this room” and escorts me to another room. Ok, that was a little strange but whatever, I’m tired.

Fast forward to night #2 at the grandparents home. It’s around 11pm and my friend is crashed out on the couch watching tv. I’m in an adjacent bedroom from which I can see her laying on the couch. I nod off for the night and wake up to a old grey man that bared a resemblance to the grandfather but was not the grandfather standing with his back to me in the doorway looking at my friend sleeping on the couch.

I decided I was going to get up and confront the old grey man and something slammed me back into the bed. I tried to get up several more times with the same result. Each time I was slammed back into the bed a voice would repeat “put a seal on the door”

Finally, I snapped to it’s 3 am and everything was normal. I must have been sleeping. It was a dream. No old grey man and my friend was fast asleep. So I start pacing around the room trying to decide how I feel about what had just happened. I glance over to my friend her eyes are open and she says “you seen it”. I say, “get in the car, I can’t be here right now.”

We spend the next 4 hours sitting in a Walmart parking lot talking about the history of her experiences in that house and comparing to my own. Ok, my nerves are not on fire anymore and we are heading back to the grandparents home. We arrive and they are waiting for us inside. I tell them exactly what happened to me and I get “yeah, that’s strange.

We usually do seal our doors with a prayer at night but with all the excitement we just must have forgotten. All the children have mentioned stories of things but we have never seen them. We are sorry you had to go through that”.

I’m really not sure what I seen or experienced that night but when I tell people they get that look of skepticism. It’s obvious they don’t believe me. My conclusion is that the experience was indistinguishable from reality in the moment. I don’t know what that means but it changed the way I look at things.”

9. Stabbing attempt

“This was 4 years ago. As I was walking on the sidewalk on a busy afternoon, I saw a suspicious boy/man about 18 yo. He was 10 meters away and walking what it looked like towards me. I kept my eyes on him despite the fact that he wasn’t looking directly at me, his eyes were roaming jumping from an object to an object.

As we approached one another, half a meter away from each other he takes out a knife and tries to stab me in my left side. He wasn’t really fast, so I easily dodged it and immediately turn to see who is he, or if he is trying to stab me again. To my surprise he continues walking and after couple of meters he stopes turns around smiles and gives me thumbs up, then he continues walking in the opposite direction.

Till this day I don’t know who he was, what he wanted and even my family doesn’t believe me, because “if someone wanted to stab you, you can‘t stop him. You aren’t experienced enough to dodge it like that” and something of that kind.”

10. Weird

“Didn’t see it but heard it. My friends and I got a cheap set of walkie-talkies from Walmart and were playing around with them in the middle of the day. There’s a bit of silence as we’re trying to figure out the volume and out of nowhere there’s a male voice saying “mayday mayday mayday” that comes through all of our walkie talkies and it definitely sounds like it from one of those aircraft headsets. We try to answer back but there’s no response. I called non emergency but they said there weren’t any reports of distressed aircraft or ships and even if there were, they couldn’t do anything about it.

Alternatively, a couple months later I saw a plane with an engine on fire go over my campus but apparently no one else did.”

11. I swear it’s true

“When I was 7 or 8, I would have a reoccurring nightmare that one of my dolls came to life, played with me, and then would try to pull me into my closet with her. I’d follow her into the closet at first, but then she’d show me this little door at the back of the closet, and my heart would start to race. I don’t know what it was about that door, but I knew something bad would happen if I went through it.

I’d start to struggle and try to pull away, but the doll was too strong and would start pulling me through the door. At this point in the dream, I’d always wake up screaming. The worst part was I had night terrors, so sometimes I’d wake up standing next to my closet. Every night before bed, I’d make my parents make sure there wasn’t a little door at the back of my closet. There never was.

Anyway, I was talking to my mom the other day and this dream came up. I’m laughing about it and how ridiculously paranoid I was about dolls and that closet, but my mom gets really quiet. She tells me the creepy part of that dream wasn’t the doll; it was the fact that there used to be a little door at the back of the closet, but when I was one year old, they remodeled the house and put a wall where the door used to be. There’s no way I could have remembered that door, but years later, I kept dreaming about it.

None of my friends believe this story, but I swear it’s true.”

12. On the stump

“I grew up on a 2 acre home with plenty of trees and room for an 8 yr old to run around. Our house also was heated in winter by a wood fireplace, so we would periodically cut down one of our own trees to save money. Well for about 2 years, there was a stump less then a foot tall near the house, and at least once a day, without fail, I would see someone standing on the stump.

Usually it was out of the corner of my eye, but once or twice I looked directly at him. I always looked away quickly, cuz it startled me and he was gone, but my sister says she experienced the same thing. Nothing ever came of it though.”

13. Adam

“Growing up, I had a friend named Adam. He was never able to come out during the day, only right before all of us kids had to go home for the evening.

Adam lived a few houses over, in a house with an overgrown yard. I met his parents once. They were very strange, didn’t smile, and obviously didn’t want me there.

I remember Adam telling me that he was sick, that’s why he couldn’t play that much. He was a small boy, pale with dark hair.

Eventually, Adam stopped showing up all together. And I eventually moved on, though I do remember going to his house a couple times to see if he could come play, and his dad just gave me this look before closing the door in my face.

Later in life, I asked my sister if she remembered him. She doesn’t, and according to my parents – that house was empty the entire time we lived there.

I don’t know who Adam was, I don’t know why I so vividly remember him and his parents. As far as I can tell, he wasn’t real – and yet I have perfect memories of him and his parents.”

14. Who’s there?

“I woke up to something, it sounded like a door shutting. At first I thought it was a dream because I could hear it in the dream as I was waking up, kinda like when someone calls your name when you’re dreaming. But then I looked at my cat, his hair was completely standing up and he was beaming at my bedroom door.

This was the moment when I got really scared bc i know animals can pick up on that shit and I thought he might know somethings wrong. My cat doesn’t do this type of thing unless a dog is in the room.

So I looked over at the door and the only way I can describe it is it looked like it was swaying, slowly, like it was breathing, like someone was standing on the other side of it trying to hear if I was awake. This swaying was accompanied by a shadow. *I don’t mean a supernatural shadow, but it looked like the shadow of a person behind the door.

I was paralyzed in fear. I lied there for 5 minutes naked watching this door away. I considered yelling and trying to scare them away but I was terrified someone might respond. I legitimately thought this was the moment where I will have to defend myself or be killed.

I don’t own a gun but after 10 minutes or so I mustered up the courage to check every room in the house. I fucking checked every corner too. But there was no one there.

I don’t know what happened, but my evolutionary traits kicked in and I completely believed someone was outside my door.”

15. An angel

“This makes me sound fucking crazy but anyways:

It was a warm summer morning back when I was a kid. I was standing in our hallway, putting on my shoes when I randomly peeked into our living room and saw a see-through male figure surrounded by rainbow coloured light standing right in the middle of the living room. He was reading a book and didn’t seem to notice me.

I thought it was weird but I didn’t feel scared or anything. It felt like the room was filled with a warm, loving energy if that makes sense. I kinda just shrugged it off and went about my day, probably because I was too young to really understand what I’d seen. A few days later when my mom tucked me into bed she read me a bedtime story about a kid who meets an angel or something like that, don’t remember the story exactly but what is interesting is the authors description of what that angel looked like.

It was exactly the same as the strange rainbow man I had seen in our living room a couple of days before. It even said that angels will often visit humans surrounded by a strong, rainbow coloured lightening and manifest themselves while reading a book*.*

I casually blurted out:”Oh, I’ve seen an angel then!” and my mom was like:”You have? That’s great!” and we didn’t talk more about that for a while until one day where I randomly asked my mom if I could see a picture of my grandad who died unexpectedly while my mom was pregnant with me.

She found an old family album and we looked through pictures of my parents’ wedding that happened exactly one year before I was born. There was a picture of three or four people sitting together, laughing and having a great time at the party. I immediately pointed out the guy who sat in the middle and said:”How funny! He looks just like the angel I saw!!” and my moms face turned white as a ghost. She was just about to tell me that this was indeed my deceased grandfather who I never got to meet. I’m very convinced it was him visiting me.”

The post 15 of the Most Unbelievably Scary Things People Have Actually Seen appeared first on UberFacts.

This Ex-Navy SEAL’s 5-Minute Morning Routine Will Get You Mentally Pumped for the Day

As a former Navy SEAL and CIA contractor, Shawn Ryan knows a thing or two about mental toughness and preparation – whether it’s for a day at the office or a life-or-death scenario. Today, he has his own company called Vigilance Elite, which provides training to law enforcement, civilians, and even Hollywood action stars.

Ryan has a morning workout routine that gets him physically and mentally excited to embrace the day. He does pyramid training for at least 5 minutes each morning to give himself the energy he needs.

Pyramid training is a workout where you follow consecutive repetitions of a specific exercise. The goal is to work your way up and improve on each set to build strength over time. Ryan says, “Too many people try to chase after that one big win and fail to realize that it takes several small wins to get there.”

Here are the 4 steps you should follow, according to Ryan.

Step 1

Pick an exercise that will work your core and your back, legs, and chest. Some options are squats, squat jumps, pull-ups, or box jumps. Pick a workout that works for you and challenges your body and your mind.

Step 2

Set a timer for 5 minutes and start with the lowest number of reps. If you’re a beginner, 10 might be a good number of reps to start with. It’s important to feel comfortable at first and to build and improve your strength.

Step 3

Gradually increase the number of reps you do in that 5-minute time frame. Move up to 15, then 20, 25, and so on.

View this post on Instagram

I second guess that last #boxjumps

A post shared by Delaney (@delaney.sosa) on

Step 4

Record your results every day on your phone or in a notebook. It’s important not to be too hard on yourself if you don’t improve on your reps as quickly as you’d like, but remember the goal is to improve over time.

That’s it! Nice and simple, and it only takes 5 minutes each day! Good luck!

The post This Ex-Navy SEAL’s 5-Minute Morning Routine Will Get You Mentally Pumped for the Day appeared first on UberFacts.

A Simple, Surefire Hack to Help You Fall Asleep Much Faster

Personally, I have very little trouble falling asleep. I tend to sleep through the night quite soundly, but my wife sometimes struggles with insomnia. She tells me she often flips and flops for hours before finally getting to sleep.

Image Credit: Pixabay

If you’re more like her, then you might be interested in this simple practice that could help you snag some much needed z’s without so much work!

And when I say simple, I mean, it’s probably something your mom told you to do when you were little…

Stick one foot out from under the covers.

I know. But it turns out there’s some science behind why this helps – and it has to do with keeping your body at the optimal temperature for snoozing.

According to the video below, higher internal body temperatures are associated with keeping you more alert and awake, and the opposite – cooler internal body temperatures help us relax and sleep – is also true.

By uncovering one foot, you help your body dissipate body heat, and cool the temperature of your blood in the process. This happens because our feet and hands contain vascular structures that can exchange heat more effectively than, for instance, your core.

The cooler blood then circulates through your body, lowering your internal temperature and helping you drift off without so much trouble.

It turns out your mom did know a thing or two after all. Who knew?

So best of luck, my tossers and turners. I don’t envy you!

The post A Simple, Surefire Hack to Help You Fall Asleep Much Faster appeared first on UberFacts.

The WHO Just Officially Recognized Burnout As an Actual Medical Condition

The phenomenon of “burnout” is one that people have been talking about for decades, but it’s still not understood very well. It goes beyond a simple feeling of exhaustion – it’s a feeling of not wanting to continue with what you’re doing at ANY cost, even if stopping might have catastrophic effects.

And now the World Health Organization (WHO) is officially recognizing the condition.

Image Credit: Pixabay

They describe it as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” and characterize it by “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion,” “increased mental distance from one’s job,” “feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job,” and “reduced professional efficacy.”

Though the WHO currently only defines burnout in relation to work, there is hope that the addition will aid doctors in diagnosing and treating the issue anywhere and everywhere it pops up.

The Mayo Clinic points to certain risk factors for developing burnout, including having a poor work/life balance, having a high workload, too much overtime, being in a “helping profession” like healthcare, being a perfectionist, and having a boring job.

Image Credit: Pixabay

They describe symptoms of feeling helpless, trapped, and/or cynical about work, all of which can make you detach from the world, lack motivation, increased procrastination, and even turning to drugs or alcohol to cope with the mounting stress.

WHO also states that there can be physical fallout – anything from stress and fatigue to heart disease, high blood pressure, muscle pains, and sleep disruption. It can also lead to headaches and a weakened immune system.

If you think burnout could be affecting you, you’ll want to seek out support from your friends, family, and perhaps even a professional or two. Getting more exercise and sleep, taking up relaxing activities like yoga, and purging your diet of unhealthy components could help, but searching for a new, more satisfying job could end up being the answer, as well.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Burnout will officially be listed in the new International Classification of Diseases as of January 2022, along with a new classification for compulsive sexual behavior (a mental disorder) and recognizing video-gaming as an addiction like gambling and drugs.

The WHO will also no longer classify transgenderism as a mental disorder.

Yay, progress!

The post The WHO Just Officially Recognized Burnout As an Actual Medical Condition appeared first on UberFacts.