16 People Share A Random Encounter They Had With A Stranger That Completely Changed Their Lives.
You never know who you'll cross paths with and what kind of impact they'll have on your life. Here, 16 people share a random encounter they had with a stranger that completely changed their lives.
1/16. The man in front of me in line at an ATM goes "WOAH!". He turns around to me and with a smile and holds up several hundred dollars cash and says "bank error in my favor!". Then he started walking into the bank and I said "Wait, you're not gonna keep it?" and he said "you are who you are in the darkness". I stopped lying after that.
[deleted]
2/16. I pulled into the ER with my 3-year-old daughter turning blue from an asthma attack. I was frantic, I thought she was going to die. The parking lot attendant came over to tell me the lot was full, saw my daughter, ripped open the door of my van and pulled her out of her car seat. Told me to put the car in park, and follow him. He ran with my blue, non-responsive daughter into the ER yelling, "She's not breathing!" They hooked her up to oxygen, set me up with an asthma specialist and she's been fine ever since. I learned that day to never underestimate the importance of someone's role in life. That parking lot attendant had just as much to do with saving my daughter's life as the doctors and nurses in the ER.
3/16. When I was 16, I would go to the park near my high school to run during the offseason of football. One day this older man was walking around the park and waves me down. He said he sees me come every day like clockwork for the past couple of months and wanted to tell me to never give up being healthy. I honestly never even thought about it before at that deep of a level. I was just training to be better for my senior year. I was in no way having a chance to be a collegiate athlete or anything but I wanted to be a consistent starter for a state championship caliber team. We talked for about 40 minutes and then he asks me. "How old do you think I am." He was old, but not digging his grave by any means. I guessed 68. He was 89 years old. He came to the park every day and walked at least 3 miles. It was amazing, inspiring and I'll never forget him. He'd be 97 if he's still alive today and I hope he's still walking around that park.
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4/16. There is an elderly couple that lives in my apartment complex and sometimes I see them walking around together. The husband clearly has no concept of what is going on. He cannot talk or do anything for himself anymore. The wife spends all of her time walking around with him telling him stories about their life and making sure he is warm on the really cold days. It made me realize the kind of love I want to have, and what is really important in a life partner.
5/16. When I first started trying to run, I couldn't even jog a mile. I could barely jog a quarter mile.
One day, I was jogging on a very popular jogging trail near my campus and was basically dragging my feet, sweating like a pig, and wheezing like crazy. Of course the seasoned runners pass me by without so much of a glance but I always remembered this one old man who slowed down to tell me, "Keep it up, you're almost there!"
His smile and encouragement is something I remember now every time I'm struggling during a workout. Fast forward a few years and I am much healthier and fitter. One of my favorite things to do is offer kind words of encouragement to strangers I see at the gym or anyone struggling on the jogging path. Exercise is easy - its the motivation that's hard.
6/16. Two years after graduating from college I drove cross country from Virginia to LA in March 2011 to break into the entertainment industry. I had spent my savings securing an apartment and was desperately looking for work. I got a gig with my best friend from college driving golf carts backstage at the Coachella Music Festival. I ended up driving a gregarious 6'4" red-headed gay guy from Mississippi. I made a joke about how my cart was 'bigger' and his party hopped on and struck up conversation. Turns out he had just founded a start-up with two tech/entertainment industry giants and he offered me a job. When I started there were 10 of us and now, under 3 years later, there are 190 with offices in London and New York. I have a career and a life here I could have scarcely dreamed of. To this day, I still think of how lucky I've been.
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7/16. I was in the US and there happened to be some kind of festival in the city I was in over the weekend so I checked it out. A guy was there missing part of his leg. Lots of the teens and young adults were staring or avoiding him. He dropped something and a little kid, maybe 5 years old walked over and picked whatever it was up for him and then they had a little chat.
She asked point blank why he didn't have a leg. He made up a big story about fighting fantasy animals in a magic forest to save a princess. He then points to his wife and says she's the princess. They keep chatting. The wife slips into the dollar store while they talk after that. She then comes up and sneaks up behind the girl and places a little tiara on her head and says she's now the princess.
I've never seen a little girl so happy. And her parents thought it was all hilarious. It just reminds me that there's so much good in the world.
[deleted]
8/16. As a 10-year-old kid, I was sitting on a bench at a park by myself. A random guy in what I would guess was his mid 20s came up to me and said, "You will remember me for the rest of your life."
Then he left and went about his business.
That f*cker knew how to play the game. 10 years later and I still remember him, and think of him about every couple of months.
9/16. I was day tripping to Vancouver from Seattle and stopped in for lunch at a little cafe. From my window I saw a young teenage girl out in the cold, squatted down in a closed up businesses doorway, holding a small bundle in her arms. She was panhandling, people were mostly walking by ignoring her. She looked just broken.
I finished up my meal and went outside, went through my wallet and thought I'd give her $5 for some food. I got up to her and she was sobbing, she looked like she was 14-15. And that bundle in her arms was a baby wrapped up. I felt like I just got punched in the chest. She looked up putting on a game face and asked for any change, I asked her if she'd like some lunch.
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Right next door was a small quick-Trip type grocery store, I got a can of formula for the baby (very young, maybe 2-3 months old.), and took her back to the cafe though I'd just eaten. She was very thankful, got a burger and just inhaled it. Got her some pie and ice cream. She opened up and we talked. She was 15, got pregnant, parents were angry and she was fighting with them. She ran away. She's been gone almost 1 full year.
I asked her if she'd like to go home and she got silent. I coaxed her, she said her parents wouldn't want her back. I coaxed further, she admitted she stole 5k in cash from her Dad. Turns out 5k doesn't last long at all and the streets are tough on a 15 year old. Very tough. She did want to go back, but she was afraid no one wanted her back after what she did.
We talked more, I wanted her to use my phone to call home but she wouldn't. I told her I'd call and see if her folks wanted to talk to her, she hesitated and gave bad excuses but eventually agreed. She dialled the number and I took the phone, her Mom picked up and I said hello. Awkwardly introduced myself and said her daughter would like to speak to her, silence, and I heard crying. Gave the phone to the girl and she was just quiet listening to her Mom cry, and then said hello. And she cried. They talked, she gave the phone back to me, I talked to her Mom some more.
I drove her down to the bus station and bought her a bus ticket home. Gave her $100 cash for incidentals, and some formula, diapers, wipes, snacks for the road.
Got to the bus, and she just cried saying thank you over and over. I gave her a kiss on the forehead and a hug, kissed her baby, and she got on the bus.
I get a Christmas card every year from her. She's 21 now and in college.
Her name is Makayla and her baby was Joe.
I've never really told anyone about this. I just feel good knowing I did something good in this world. Maybe it'll make up for the things I've f-ed up.
10/16. I was working in a sh*tty convenience store after high-school with straight C's. I really had no direction in life, and was pretty happy with sitting around, and watching TV all night. One night a guy came in and held up me up at knife point. After the cops left my boss made me finish my shift. I spent the rest of the night evaluating my life. I decided that night that i was going to do everything in my power not to become the kind of person that robs a teenager working a convenience store, or the scum that tries to dock the money robbed from the store from the employee that got robbed. I am now in my second year of university, and I've had straight A's this year.
11/16. I was having a bad day and was traveling by Greyhound from my friend's city back to mine. I had to transfer and ended up seated next to a guy with a laptop. I don't know if he could tell that I was upset or not, but he asked me if I wanted to watch something with him. We ended up sharing headphones and watching Where the Wild Things Are. I was pretty shy back then but if I could meet him again today I would thank him for cheering me up.
I know it's not a life-changing story, but it's a little thing that made a big difference back then.
12/16. Meeting my wife in a park in Chicago.
I was taking a walk when her dress caught my eye. I told her, "Your dress is really pretty!" which made her cry. She said she'd just been having a crappy day, so any compliment meant a lot to her. Fast forward six years, and I've now been married to her for three years, and we have a daughter.
[deleted]
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13/16. I was stopping through Portugal for a few days on the way home from a backpacking trip through the Basque Country, and a friend decided to take me to an island right off the coast. The island itself seemed to be a common tourist destination, as there were people from all over the world getting off boats and swimming around the dock, and there was a place you could hike to that hosted thousands of seagull nests, but along the southern edge of the island was an old fort and a stone bridge that stood about 25 feet off the water. Now, there was this girl I had a thing for with us, and when she saw people jumping off of it, she asked if anyone else would do it. Of course I would!
I have a dreadful fear of heights.
So I got up on top of this bridge and stood there for maybe 45 minutes, just staring off the edge, trying to get myself to jump. People from every corner of the globe would come up, cheer me on, and then leave disappointed. The girl wasn't even really paying attention to me anymore, but the struggle had become much more than that for me. I was going to cure this fear, damnit!
Well, just as I was about to give up, an old man came along who, swear to god, was the living, breathing embodiment of Ernest Hemingway. He had the beard, the serious look, the belly... were it not for his Portuguese accent, he could have easily passed for Hemingway. "I do not believe you are going to jump." I was baffled. Everyone up to that point had told me I could do it. "What?" "You won't. Here." He reached down and plucked this old pebble off the bridge. "Keep this. You'll look at it and remember the day you didn't jump."
I took the pebble from him and looked at it. He shook his head at me. And then, I don't even know what came over me, I just shouted, "F*ck that!" and threw it at the water. As I jumped from the bridge, he was still laughing in this deep, jolly tone. Long story short, another man who had been watching the entire time helped pull me out of the water and offered to buy me a beer, but as I was standing there, with all of what had just happened sinking in, Hemingway came down the steps to the water's edge and handed me another rock. "You'll remember this one as the day you jumped."
14/16. When I was about 14 I had a very bad fight with my parents. I have had a history of fighting with them ever since I could talk, but this was the first and only time it got physical. I was really upset so left the house and sat on a bench crying outside.
This punk guy walked up to me and asked me if I was ok. He asked what happened and offered me a smoke. I declined and he basically held a monologue for an hour and one of his friends stopped by so they had a conversation too. He talked about his life and his way of dealing with things (very similar to mine at that moment).
I hardly said 10 words to him, but he changed my life. I have since gotten quite a good bond with my parents and we haven't really fought since. I've always wanted to thank him for just being there when I felt so alone, but I have never seen him since.
15/16. It was a woman at a grocery store. I was having an absolutely miserable night. The wife and I had been arguing and I went for a long walk. It was very late, and I found myself at a 24 hour grocery store. Decided to buy a couple things.
I get to the checkout line (the only open one) and there are two women in front of me. The girl right in front of me looked like a young college student. The young woman ahead of her did not speak English, and had one of those newspaper coupon flyers in her hand, and a bunch of baby food.
The woman running the register was trying to explain to her that her government assistance would only pay for certain baby food items (this flavor, not that one. this brand, not that one) And that she would have to pay for the rest.
The mother was very upset, and didn't understand, and, I gathered, had no money. And started to just walk away, leaving the baby food.
Some kind of Whoville anti-grinch moment hit, and I got the bagger to go bring her back, and I bought all of her baby food for her. It wasn't a lot. Just under $40. But the woman was in tears and very grateful (I know almost no Mandarin, but I do know "thank you").
I doubt I changed her life, but she changed mine. It made me look at some of the things I was angry and upset about and realize they were not that important after all. My wife and I had money. We could pay our bills. Hell, if she quit her job, I could still support us both. And the issues we had were not life-threatening. I looked at my life from a renewed perspective after that.
16/16. I work as a manager at a restaurant. Unfortunately a good amount of our guests feel like they should be waited on hand and foot, especially when it comes to families. Nine times out of ten they will be the ones that complain about their food taking forever minutes after they have ordered, complain about something so minuscule that it is more inconvenient to fix than it is to ignore, or ask something so ridiculous from me that it might as well be comical.
Quite a while ago I was so close to my breaking point; in those past few weeks I felt like almost every customer I spoke to was rude and nothing was going well at work. We were understaffed yet again and everybody needed help. I was ready to find a new job but decided that I would finish my shift before I decided to quit, so I went to go help a server take some orders. Right away on the first table I approached, I immediately noticed that it was a husband and wife who had 3 children with them. All I could picture was me, approaching this table, and having what might as well have been 2 demons and their little hell spawns ask me for food in the most rude way possible and then proceed to eat what little bit of dignity I had left for the day. Well while I was introducing myself, one of their younger daughters started holding my hand for no reason. I had no idea why she grabbed my hand, or what I should have done about it, so I just kind of let it happen. Her mom told her to stop but didn't explain anything to me.
As strange as it was, it was a nice gesture, and as little as it may have seemed it made me feel better. I finished taking their order without saying much and went to go help some other guests but the more time that passed the less upset I felt about work and the more I thought about this little girl. I could not figure out for the life of me why she held my hand and what she was trying to say to me. I brought out their food about 15 minutes later and asked if they needed anything else. They all thanked me, and said they were all set. The little girl did not say a single word to me but she did try to hold my hand again. I didn't know if she could talk or not but I did not want to ask. Her mom must of read my mind because she looked at me, apologized, and began to explain that her daughter had autism and didn't understand how to communicate very well. I told her it was no problem and it didn't bother me at all, but I had to ask what she was trying to tell me by holding my hand. Her mom smiled and said she saw that you were upset and decided to hold your hand because she always feels better when someone holds her hand. I swear I almost cried. I said thank you to both her and the little girl and spent the rest of the day with the biggest grin on my face.
That one girl showed exactly how one small gesture can change someone's day by flipping mine around without even saying anything to me. She doesn't know but she stopped me from quitting my job just by being one of the nicest people I've ever met and it is because of that little girl that I spend everyday appreciating the small things I see people do for each other.
Some of our possessions are no-brainer, have to have them, best things in the universe. Others are total beaters, through and through liabilities, that should have been trashed years ago.
But what about those possessions that fall right in between?
These are the things we love as much as we hate. Like some people or places in our lives, these objects and us have a love/hate relationship--and, surprisingly, almost as much baggage as the human version includes.
Some Redditors sat down and shared their best examples of these kinds of possessions.
lliorca336 asked, "What do you have a love / hate relationship with?"
Some set their sights on the elephant in the room. They described their excitement as well as all the issues that come with the expansive, unbelievably powerful internet.
The Whole Dang ThingÂ
"The internet." -- LM1120
"Yup. On one side, it can really help people who feel alone. However, it can also breed toxicity." -- RHCube
"Back down it was as simple as don't use it but thats not really possible anymore" -- Derpsterio29
Even More WholeÂ
"Technology in general."
"On the one hand, it's nice that I was able to deposit a check just now while sitting down on my bedroom. On the other, screw anyone who has the audacity to call me and greet me with a robot."
Horrifyingly Convenient
"I have it with none other than 'Google.' "
"I hate it when Google tracks my every move. I even feel scared sometimes. Like just the other day, I was watching 'Padmavat' on Amazon Prime. It wasn't even my account, but my husband's. We had to stop in the middle due to something."
"And as soon as I opened my Gmail next, the very first email on the top was a 'Spam' email asking me if I missed out on watching 'Padmawat?' Really Scary!"
"And then, I love it when it takes me down the memory lane. Like just today, my Google Photos app asked me if I would like to see where I was on this day in 2010? I thought why not. Turns out, I was at my friend's wedding. Which reminded me, 'Oh! It's her anniversary today!' "
"I simply sent one of her gorgeous pics wishing her happy anniversary. We had a long chat, after which I sent over all of the pics from that day. She was really happy to re-visit them and tagged them as the best anniversary gift!"
-- toxasagt
Others chose to discuss those necessities of day-to-day life that they've actually come to love completing over and over.
But that doesn't mean they don't get annoying all the time too.
ProcrastinatingÂ
"Showers."
"That weird thing where I'll waste time before entering the shower because it feels like such a chore that takes a long time, I'm gonna need 5 h to dry my hair afterwards etc., but then when I'm in the shower i never wanna get out."
-- Victoria749
Cruising, Until Your NotÂ
"Driving is my biggest love/ hate relationship. I absolutely love the feel of driving when there's a small amount/ no traffic and the feel of being able to go wherever you want in your country is so freeing. Start/stop traffic, car maintenance costs, insurance, monthly payments, terrible roads, the possibility of an accident, driving through new places without clear signage etc..."
"Man, driving at its best is one of my favourite things in life but at its worst I wonder why I ever got my license and look toward busses with jealousy."
-- LTPfiredemon
It Will Never EndÂ
"Cooking. I hate the necessity of having to prepare food and the process itself, but I usually like the result, and if I cook for other people, I get many compliments for how it's good."
"You know, when I hate to do that, then at least it gotta be tasty."
-- Ziriath
Others spoke about the luxuries in life. It almost feels absurd to complain about such wonderful, unnecessary possessions.
And yet, they are luxuries with a slight catch.
The Nut BarrierÂ
"Chocolate."
"Probably my biggest trigger to ruin my diet. Doesn't even have to be good chocolate. Doesn't even have to be mediocre chocolate (by American standards). I'm talking about, like Palmer's Double Crisp super-cheap, probably-not-even-actually-chocolate Chocolate."
"My only saving grace is that I'm allergic to peanuts, and a lot of the really really cheap chocolate has peanuts/peanut butter in it, so it's no longer a temptation."
More and MoreÂ
"Having a home gym:"
"Love: Not having to go far and not having to deal with other ppl and their bs."
"Hate: Everything you want is much more expensive than you expect... and you keep wanting more"
Another Take on Tech
"Modern technology. For every way it makes our lives easier, there's at least five ways it makes things harder."
"But overall, it's generally worth it... if you can get the stuff to finally work, which might take you all day."
-- Arekai4098
So the next time you find yourself out of wits in frustration, only to come back to that same object or task the very next day, don't feel so alone.
Everyone out here is emotionally confused about their inanimate objects and abstract concepts.
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People Identify The Common Misconceptions That Only Exist Because Of Clever Marketing
We live in an era defined, amongst other things, by the unparalleled barrage of content that blasts our eyes and ears throughout every hour of every single day.
Truly, it's exhausting to be alive in the contemporary media landscape.
Generations before had to deal with posters, billboards, and magazine advertisements, then radio commercials after that, and then TV commercials came along.
We thought the consumer seduction reached its peak with those.
But then, lo and behold, social media came about. And now the "information" peddled by brands and advertisers is everywhere. And so so much of it is misleading, or flat out incorrect.
Some Redditors shared the examples that came to mind.
Cameron213 asked, "What is a common misconception that only exists because of clever marketing?"
Many people chose to talk about the marketing efforts used to push health and nutrition products onto consumers.
It's no surprise that there were so many examples to choose from. People in contemporary times are obsessed with health, fitness, diet, and longevity.
So of course, marketers have taken some liberties.
"Zero"
"That things with 'zero sugar' can still have 0.2 grams of sugar per unit which is why tic tacs claim to be zero sugar but can still be dangerous for a diabetic person" -- Whynotgarlicbagel
"Always check the ingredients"
"I found some 'no added sugar' ice cream that had concentrated caramelised sugar syrup as a flavoring"
"Also no added sugar just means they haven't added any sugar. Not that it's zero sugar" -- EmergencyAdvance
The Natural WorldÂ
" 'Natural' food isn't your definition of natural." -- Gmax100
"Cyanide is natural" -- Izwe
"Everything is natural, nuclear power plants are as natural as beaver dams" -- Skylake52
The Anti-Fat MovementÂ
"Low fat is good for you. Well not just clever marketing, also lots of lobbying from the sugar industry" -- UltimateAnswer42
"That's a big one. Fat being the 'bad' macronutrient was something that took me a while to unlearn. I felt my healthiest when I ate a high fat, lower carb (50g or so) diet." -- Cameron213
Give Tators a ChanceÂ
"White potatoes are somehow unhealthy even though they are a very nutritious starchy root VEGETABLE."
"Just because when you smother oil and ranch on it it becomes unhealthy does not mean potatoes themselves are unhealthy."
Leave It AloneÂ
"Vaginal odor being bad was a thing for a while, and that it could easily be corrected with over the counter treatments such as douching."
"First of all. A vagina is gonna smell like a vagina, not like flowers. If you're concerned about the way your vagina smells you should see a doctor."
"Second of all, the vagina is self-cleaning and doesn't need extra soaps to help keep it 'fresh.' In fact, those soaps and chemicals can cause harm and create real infections."
-- ZeD00m
Other people chose to point out the marketing efforts that have aimed to influence our expectations of culture and the social playing field.
What is "cool" and acceptable is what sells. The question is, who decides what is "cool?"
NOT RequiredÂ
"Makeup as a necessary norm." -- b2lose
"Man, FU** makeup! I don't wear it and have yet to have anyone I work with question my professionalism for it. I hate it, it's expensive, and I won't wear it." -- TheRedMaiden
"I love this, and I'll also throw in: shaving as a necessity. I've had so many people tell me it's 'unhygienic' for women to have leg hair." -- buriedclementines
Manufactured StatusÂ
"That teenagers are cool, tbh. Teen culture is 95% manufactured by suits trying to make a buck." -- crookedhope
"When have teenagers ever been cool to anyone but themselves?" -- troomer50
"right? this kills me as an adult. all the cool teenager sh** that 'parents don't understand' was absolutely designed by grown a** dorks just like their parents." -- likearealreptile
Passing the BuckÂ
"The notion that climate change needs to be combated by individuals making changes in their day to day lives by buying green products. Corporations, global shipping, and factory farms all contribute massive amounts of pollution and greenhouse gasses that can't be offset by using less straws or buying a hybrid car."
"An entire city's worth of individuals couldn't even come close to offsetting the pollution created by a handful of ships used for global shipping, yet advertising would have you think that individuals could replace real systemic change and regulation."
And then there was one total, bald-faced lie. It had to do with an upsettingly common purchase that comes with an arbitrarily high price tag.
Maybe it's time to rethink it.
Pulling the Strings of Supply and Demand
"That diamonds are rare." -- icecreamterror
"That you should spend so much on a diamond and wedding, but can barely scrape by. Sure, let's throw a $30k banquet then go jumpstart the car again to get home." -- Choontz
"Futhermore on this; that 'cognac' diamonds are a desirable colour in a diamond, and are worth more than colourless. Jewellers originally struggled to sell stones of this colour so came up with a marketing concept to make them seem more unique, more special, and just as desirable as, or moreso than, colourless diamonds (which are generally far rarer, particularly if they are classified as flawless with few/imperceptible inclusions)."
"Similar idea with "champagne" diamonds...they were given this name to make them sound more appealing, too, so jewellers could still use them and increase the volume of jewellery they produce and sell." -- teenytinytinkerer
Of course, this list is so far from exhaustive. Pay attention for just the next few hours and I'm sure you'll come up with your own list of at least ten in no time.
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In the age of the internet, sometimes it can be very cool to hate on things just because other people do. Bandwagons can be fun, right? But honestly, not all of the things hated on actually deserve it. Save your hate for things that actually call for it.
Wanna jump off the bandwagon? Then keep reading!
U/lit3rallyuseless asked: What doesn't deserve the hate it gets?
​Film and media are probably the biggest contender for being hated on randomly. It may seem harmless, but not always deserved.
Actors are people too!
Actors who played characters that people didn't like.
Really if you hated the character then the actor did a good job (assuming that was the role).
The best cartoons.
Child cartoons. Some are actually really good, even as an adult.
I feel like watching cartoons aimed at generally a younger audience allows for you to be reminded of some life lessons, I know I forget some things, or didn't realise others, or it at least partially renews my awareness of something I should still like or appreciate
This doesn't deserve awards, it's just my opinion that is apparently shared by many.
This man did nothing wrong.
Guy Fieri, he literally is the nicest person in the world but since he looks like he was electrocuted by mountain dew people want to saw his head off.
Even before that, I was witness to his other charitable work. A few years back, Santa Rosa was hit by some terrible fires and he showed up at a few shelters and personally cooked up and served some killer buffet food. No cameras, no massive team of PR, just a dude with an assistant to keep him on schedule to hit up other shelters in the area. Guy Fieri legit earned a lot of respect in my book for that.
You know who DEFINITELY doesn’t deserve hate? Animals. They’re just living their best lives, and need to be left alone.​
The best cats.
Black cats.
We got a black cat for the first time last year. I've since formulated the theory that black cats might get some of their reputation from the fact that people can't see them well in the dark and so they seemingly appear out of nowhere and they might be instinctually cautious because they know people have a tendency to kick them while walking in the dark. Our black cat is the sweetest cat I've ever known.
They get a bad rep.
Sharks. They are beautiful, complex creatures, deserving of respect and, like any wild animal should be left alone in their natural habitat, but they get this reputation as vicious bloodthirsty monsters. This is only because every shark attack is news, and only then because they are so rare. More people are killed EVERY DAY by mosquitoes than sharks kill in a year.
Any apex predator that has remained evolutionarily unchanged for hundreds of millions of years, whose existance predates TREES, is deserving or our respect and admiration. Shine on, you crazy cartlaginous fish, shine on.
So cute too!
Opossums. They're neat little critters. They eat tons of ticks that carry Lyme disease, (mostly) don't carry rabies because their body temp is too low, and they're the only marsupial native to North America! They get a bad rap because their first defense is to hiss and bare teeth, but failing that, they just play dead.
If you don't have the predisposition to hate them, you'll find they're pretty cute too.
E: this is about /opossums/, the north American species.
Kiwis, I feel for you, but this comment isn't about your possums.
​Hating on other people for just living their lives also seems to be a big contender for things that don’t deserve to be hated on.
This is so true.
Unemployed people. A lot of people genuinely are looking for work and did not want to lose their last job/it was beyond their control (like a layoff) but they get so much hate and called lazy by most people. I know too many unemployed people that are actually really trying hard. They definitely aren't lazy. (Not saying lazy unemployed people don't exist, but to be fair, so do lazy employed people too lol)
Leave the weather man alone!
Meteorologists. They try their best to predict the weather based on patterns, models, and data. They're not perfect because predicting the weather is insanely difficult. When they get it wrong, I think we should go easy on them. It was probably an outlier result almost no one could have foreseen.
I've seen people get angry over the meteorologists for getting it right. Like they control the weather - it is their fault we are having rain, that kind of BS. Never made sense to me, but hey, I have plenty of relatives I clashed with growing up.
Please stop being d*cks to these people.
Customer service associates.
I hate when customers think that I, the minimum wage person forced to sit there and listen to them yell, am personally responsible for every policy they disagree with. Like, ma'am, if I had that much power and influence, I wouldn't be sitting here on a Saturday evening serving you.
Wholesome and necessary.
People don't deserve hate they give themselves when they are not doing too good at the moment.
I'm in a weird place and I didn't know I needed to read this. Thanks buddy.
If you haven't heard it from anyone else today, I'm proud of you.
It seems like people hate on things simply because they think they're meant to hate them. But you can always be the change and make an effort to stop being an a**hole about certain things.
No matter what though, sometimes haters gonna hate
Money means different things to different people.
Reddit user, u/TopTierUsername101, wanted to hear what you would do when they asked:
How much would $100,000 change your life?
Just Get The Basics Out Of The Way
There's the standard responses, where people ran down the list of the essentials they could get out of the way.
Making The Unmanageable Manageable
A ton.
Could pay off all debt and put a very nice down payment on a house.
Would make the mortgage manageable.
Give All The Money To The Kids
insanely.. i'm 19 and i'd be able to pay for university, pay for my car and help my parents who are on the streets rn get back on their feet and get my siblings out of foster care
You're the person I'd want to get the 100K. I don't need it; tons of people on this thread don't need it, but you my friend sound like you could use it for good.
Allowing You To Focus On Other Things
5-6 years of rent while i get my Ph.D sounds pretty fantastic
I hear this. I'm about to move with my partner so they can continue their education and would love to have $100k to live off of while I find work.
Wouldn't Go As Far As You Think
Then there's those other people who wouldn't be greatly affected by $100k, instead saying it would continue to help them comfortably move forward. Who doesn't like to be comfortable?
Almost Livable!
It would be almost enough for a downpayment on a house for us in our area. Housing is crazy expensive.
It would be less than half of a downpayment on an avg house in my area. This is basically keeping my generation from owning property and it's terrifying.
(avg. House here is about 1.2million)
A Slow Burn
Immediately? Not much at all. I'd pay off all my debt, take a chunk out of the house Im about to sign on. The monthly savings however would really allow me to change my life though.
Same here. A lot would change on paper, but the real effects wouldn't be apparent for several years.
This, also the peace of mind that would come along with it would be the most significant Change
Preparing For The Future
Just more money for retirement. That's all, business as usual.
Same. I mean, I'd say I'd spend some and go on vacation, but my vacations are typically camping somewhere cool and then hiking, so it's pretty frugal as far as vacations go. I'd like think that I could retire a little earlier if I had an extra 100 grand thrown at me, though.
Making A Huge Impact
Finally, there's those people who would do quite a bit if you were gifted $100k. This runs the length of saving lives to crafting a livable future.
Eliminating That Feeling
I'd be able to afford my own apartment instead of living with 3 ppl. I'd be able to focus more on building my life instead of just trying to survive every day. I'd be able to donate to charities and less fortunate ppl in my area.
Overall it would make my life less stressful and make me feel like less of a failure.
America Isn't Very Good Sometimes
Dude, that's almost 7 years worth of insulin. Can you imagine not having to wonder how you were going to manage your life threatening disease for 7, well technically 6.9, years? God, I could actually put money toward my future rather than trying desperately to stay alive in the present.
If the current rate of inflation continues, and if I am lucky enough to live until 75, I will have spent over 7 million dollars on insulin alone, not including other absurdly expensive diabetic supplies, like test strips, that are absolutely necessary for my survival.
Just for some context, each test strip, without insurance, runs you around 1.50 ($75 for a 50 pack of strips) and as someone who leads an active lifestyle and is insulin sensitive, I need to check my blood sugar roughly 6-8 times a day, more if I'm sick or an unforeseen event occurs that affects my blood glucose levels.
It's f-cking criminal what my country is allowing to happen to type one diabetics like myself.
Money Can't Buy Happiness, Until It Does
It would: pay off my husband's student loans and some medical bills that he has left, pay off my dental bill, pay off our credit cards, and then maybe we could get some upkeep/fixit stuff done around the house. The rest would go into savings. We'd have a good amount of money freed up each month, and that would also go into savings.
So, really, $100k would change my life by finally giving me a decent savings account that could be used in the future to hopefully avoid debt. It would be a very nice thing to have.
Dan Price, the CEO of Gravity Payments who became famous when he cut his 1.1 million dollar salary to ensure every one of his employees received a $70k a year salary, probably said it best when he noted, "Money buys happiness when you climb out of poverty. But going from well-off to very well-off won't make you happier. Doing what you believe is right will."
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