
If you haven't heard about it already, Pokemon Go is the newest mobile fad that has taken the world by storm. While still new and relatively undeveloped, it has become one of the most used and popular apps on the market. Even though news about the app can be found just about anywhere these days, there are still some things most people don't know. Here are 30 awesome facts you probably haven't heard about Pokemon Go. Enjoy!
3/30. Chances are, after you've visited a handful of PokStops (the blue floating cubes) around the world, you'll end up with a number of 'Eggs', to be hatched by walking two, five or 10 kilometres. What's inside them first appeared to be random, but is actually tiered, with greater distanced eggs having a higher chance of rewarding you with a rarer and more powerful Pokmon. The game seems to have an element of randomness, so although a 10km trek can occasionally result in a bog-standard Eevee, you may also end up with something like an Electabuzz in a shorter distanced egg.
4/30. Many landmarks and monuments have been turned into PokStops, but as you look over the game world, you'll spy a number of them are randomly covered in pink petals. These 'petals' are actually tiny love hearts, and they come from a 'Lure Module' being dropped at the Stop in question. Dropping a module lets all PoGo players in the surrounding area know that they have a far higher chance of catching Pokmon, should they venture across to its vicinity, so if you're in need of a few hundred extra friends, drop a module and wait for them to show up.
5/30. The world first learned of Pokmon Go from the Pokmon games first-ever Super Bowl ad in January 2016. It was designed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original Pokmon games for the Nintendo Game Boy.
Continue to learn more about Pokemon Go!
6/30. You can run, you can jog, you can even sprint - just don't speed up past 25mph, as that's the cut-off point in terms of how fast the game can track you. This mostly comes down to Niantic's servers needing to keep track of you at all times, and some relative balancing in terms of how frequently you can acquire the creatures themselves. If you could hop in your car and do laps around the block to hatch the most powerful monsters in minutes, and that just wouldn't fair.
7/30. Pokmon isnt actually owned by Nintendo itself the copyright is technically jointly owned by The Pokmon Company, a joint venture between Nintendo, original game developer Game Freak, and toy-maker Creatures. It was actually The Pokmon Company, not Nintendo, who spearheaded Pokmon Go.
8/30. Pokmon Go is the newest reason for the entire population to stare down at their phones. To put into perspective the enormity that is Pokmon Go, you just have to look at the numbers.Five percent of all Android users in the US have downloaded the app, which is more than the amount of people that use the dating app Tinder. And 60% of those that downloaded it use it every day, which means is more than Twitter. The app is also used an average of 43 minutes a day, which is more than WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Snapchat.
9/30. Since Pokmon Gos release, many beneficial uses have been uncovered. For one thing, it helps players get exercise. The app is allowing many people to be more social than ever before and is bringing Pokmon back in a big way. But theres one use for Pokmon Go that no one expected: its ability to solve missing persons cases and scare the crap out of teenagers. When one player in Wyoming was searching the nearby river for water Pokmon she stumbled across something unlike the other 50 Pokmon that she had found earlier. Thats because rather than a Pokmon she found a dead body, lying face down in the water just a few feet from where she was walking.
10/30. For players who caught all 151 Pokmon in Google Maps in 2014, Google had a sweet bonus: A set of custom-made Pokmon Master business cards.
Continue to learn more about Pokemon Go!
11/30. The roots of Pokmon Go trace back to 1995, and the launch of Meridian 59. This was the first three-dimensional online roleplaying game, setting the tone for World of Warcraft almost a decade later. It was also the first game made under the leadership of John Hanke, who would go on to form Pokmon Go developer Niantic.
12/30. You can now take an uber to catch Pokemon. In the wake of the global "Pokemon Go" obsession, all sorts of business ventures have popped up seeking to capitalize on the game's success. It is now possible for committed players to hire a driver specifically to take them from Pokestop to Pokestop, canvassing cities such as New York and Portland, for about $25 an hour. If you feel your game needs work, hire a high level real-life Pokemon trainer. You can relax at home, and let them walk around and catch those pesky pokes for you for a mere $20 an hour.
13/30. With the wave of intellectual property nostalgia that is sweeping our blockbusters, why hasn't there been a major motion Pokmon film? Well, as it turns out Hollywood has always had plans to get into the Pokmon business. Word is that Legendary Pictures is working on getting the rights in order to make a live-action Pokemon film that would have a similar feel to "Angry Birds" or "Pixels." And while this sounds like an exciting prospect in the world of video-games-turned-movies, who knows if by the time the film is made the worlds population wont be too consumed in one big Pokmon hunt to care.
14/30. One of the more go aspects of Pokmon GO is the fact that you have to walk around to hatch incubated eggs that will turn into Pokmon that probably are not in your area. The game tracks your movement using GPS, not a pedometer, so walking on a treadmill does nothing to hatch eggs.
15/30. You may wonder what the point of holding gyms is other than bragging rights, but there is actually a tangible benefit to it. For every gym you either lead or support you will get a daily package of a pretty significant amount of currency. Ingress players have said that turnover happens often, and not to get attached to your gym because you will be losing it all time. Thats most of the fun of the competitive aspect of games like this.
Continue to learn more about Pokemon Go!
16/30. If you download the game map you can extend your battery life. There's a lot of disagreement going on about this particular trick. On the one hand, a bunch of players have experienced better battery life, whilst on the other, an actual Google technician stated the 'hack' didn't work. So, the theory goes that Pokmon GO actually uses Google Maps' API (the offline guts of the app itself) to form the base of the game world. To make the most of battery life, many users are saying to pop into Google Maps' settings, hit 'offline areas', tap the plus symbol and add/download your own location. From here, the game should then use the offline map to process all data other than GPS tracking, saving your battery and hopefully extending how long you can play.
17/30. You may have noticed little prompts popping up stating you've 'Captured 3 Water Pokmon' or walked a certain distance, so if you're looking for optional things to do and track in between capturing and battling Pokmon, hop into your profile menu from the main gameplay screen, and then scroll down to see the list of optional medals. As the app runs less smoothly in densely populated areas, many of the scrolling options rarely work the first time you place your finger on the screen. Always be sure to explore the app in full, as Niantic have really dropped the ball when it comes to explaining all these features.
18/30. 'Pinch n' zoom' has been the norm for years on all smartphones, but Pokmon GO takes things one step further - or back, depending on what you make of this weird inclusion. You may have noticed that tapping on the game screen in random places causes a small blue disc to emanate from said area. So, if you tap and then quickly tap and hold again, moving your finger up and down will zoom the camera in and out.
19/30. You can tap Pokmon to hear their soundbites. Niantic are reportedly working on a fix to make it so the Pokmon themselves don't sound like they're communicating through a wall of foam. As it stands though, they'll yell at you when being caught and again during gym battles, but you can see what your team sound like at any time. Head into the Pokmon viewer and tap on the creature itself to hear their iconic noise, and you can also hold your finger down on them to rotate. Now you can fully admire your Charizard in all its splendour.
20/30. Pokmon Go isnt actually the first time you could play with Nintendo characters in so-called augmented reality. The Nintendo 3DS and its successors have a little-used augmented reality feature that lets you aim its camera at special cards, and have 3D characters appear on the screen, kind of like Pokmon Go.
Continue to learn more about Pokemon Go!
21/30. Although Pokmon Go hasnt been out very long up to this point, crazed Pokmon hunters are jonesing for more creatures to catch. And while its yet to be confirmed that anyone has caught em all, with 151 original Pokmon out there and capturable, according to the Pokmon Go Pokdex. But fear not, because its been reported that game developer Niantic is working on adding more Pokmon to the game. In the meantime, Niantic has confirmed that trading is definitely coming in a future update in order to really capture the original essence of the Pokmon of our youths. But with 721 official Pokmon created since Pokmons debut in 1995, theres a lot more characters that fans are going to want to see on Pokmon Go in the near future.
22/30. A Pokestop may be coming to a McDonald's near you, Gizmodo reports. If Reddit rumours prove true, a not-so-distant McDonald's sponsorship would mean you could be fighting most of your Pokemon gym battles under the golden arches with a mouth full of french fries.
23/30. Anyone whos ever played a video game will attest to the fact that no game is complete without a rare quest to find a hidden Easter Egg. And perhaps Pokmon Gos Easter Egg is the holy grail of the game, as some users have found hints in the games code alluding to Legendary Pokmon waiting to be captured. Just like the original Pokmon games, searches for its rarest creatures look to be among the most rewarding experiences. Though no one has located them yet, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Mewtwo and Mew are among those listed in the files for the game.
24/30. Almost nothing tracks when the app is closed. This is one aspect of Pokmon GO that really seems to be a problem, and a huge cause of battery woes. The game will not alert you when Pokmon or PokStops are near unless the app is open. It will not count your steps. It will pretty much not do anything except drain the timer of your consumables. So you will literally have to be that guy or girl walking around with your phone in hand, or at least paying really close attention to sounds via headphones or buzzes while you have the app open in your pocket.
25/30. The gym system is a little confusing at first. As it turns out, you have to lower the gym rep all the way to zero in order to make it neutral and then you can station one of your Pokmon there. This involves beating a gym two, three or more times, unless you have some team members around to back you up. If you can heal after each fight, this is actually pretty easy to do depending on your CP levels, but the system is not terribly well explained in the game itself.
Continue to learn more about Pokemon Go!
26/30. You can evolve non-primary duplicates for XP. You quickly learn that you will be shoving lots of extra Pokmon into the meat grinder for candy, once you start amassing a lot of low level duplicates. Once you have a max evolution version of a Pokmon, it seems like youd want to just upgrade that and not look back. But, for some of the most common Pokmon near you, they can be a bonus source of significant XP. Say you evolved your Rattata into a Raticate but you keep finding eight zillion Rattatas. Well, save a few, and use all that candy (and zero stardust) to evolve them for 500 XP a pop. There are probably only a handful of Pokmon that you will find this often, but this is a great use of extra candy which costs you nothing of significance and will really help with levelling.
27/30. It seems that everyone is capitalizing on the success of Pokmon Go, from restaurants to churches and even criminals. Police have reported that criminals armed with a handgun in Missouri have been luring players to them using the app in an attempt to rob them. Although the suspects were caught and charged with felony robbery and are probably not great people, no one is talking about how they must have been expert Pokmon Go players, considering the level they would have needed to attain in order to track and lure their victims to a secluded place. According to police the robbers added a beacon to a Pokstop in an empty parking lot and were able to lure four Pokmon Go players to them at 2am.
28/30. You get daily bonuses by stationing Pokmon at gyms under your team's colour. Stroll up to one, and if it's the same colour as what you're signed up to, battle for the option to raise the gym's 'Prestige' - whereas if an opposing colour is stationed, you'll have to beat the guarding Pokmon before going any further. Once the gym is grey again, turn it your team's colour by placing a Pokmon there - now jump into the Shop menu and look to the top right. You'll have a number in the centre of the shield icon, which dictates how many Pokmon are assigned to gyms. Each is worth 10 gold coins and 500 Stardust. You can put up to 10 out in the wild for the rest of us to fight, and the bonuses will roll in once every 21 hours, depending on if they've been defeated and returned to your roster or not.
29/30. Going forward, Niantic should be looking into populating rural areas just as much as cityscapes and general suburbia, but as it stands if you're out in the sticks, there may only a handful of PokStops to activate. To remedy that, know they reset every five minutes, meaning you can do a quick walk around the block - catching Pokmon as you go - only to return and nab another set of items. There's no limit to how much you can cash in (other than your own sanity), so do yourself a favour - get a bit of exercise in by inventing new routes to and from your places of business, and trigger these Stops as much as possible.
30/30. There are some points on the map designated as gyms, that are far harder to reach than others. There are some gyms you literally couldn't get to without paying a fee, which was great, because the Pokmon who were stationed there had a CP level of around 700. You could tell, whoever these people were, they'd coughed up the cash to get into the area and stationed their Pokmon, knowing only those who also wanted to pay cash to take back a fictional gym would ever take it back. Next time you're rationing off which Pokmon will be guarding what, survey the environment and think: Which gym poses an actual challenge to seek out? It can only lead to more regular daily bonuses in the end.
SHARE these PoGo tidbits with your friends and "Catch 'em all!"
It's a teacher's job to leave a lasting impression and set a good example for their students.
With this in mind, particularly in this age of viral videos and social media, teachers have to be very careful of what they say during class hours.
Even so, there are very few teachers who haven't said something they've regretted when teaching a class.
Sometimes to control unruly students, other times when they've simply had enough.
Then too, sometimes teachers leave their students baffled and perplexed by what they say in their classroom, well aware of what they were saying.
Always making for a memorable story.
"What’s the wildest thing you’ve ever heard teacher say in class?"
And Anyone With Such Closed Minded Views Shouldn't Be Teaching...
"Had the Head of the Department in college claim in class that anyone who actually needs accommodations for mental health issues should not be in college to begin with."
"This was while we were discussing 'Death of a Salesman' and the discussion had veered over to unhealthy pressure and social standards for success."- RavensQueen502
Wait what?!
"My very well-respected Biology teacher in college spent almost an entire lecture telling us that Jamie Lee Curtis was a hermaphrodite."
"It seemed oddly personal to him."- Urbane_Cowboy
Sad On So Many Levels
"Not heard but my freshmen year high school teacher once pulled a bottle of Jack out of his desk and took a shot during class."
"He was dying so towards the end I think he just stopped caring."- Mangothefello
Can't Take The Heat, Then Stay Out Of The Classroom...
"High school science teacher told my class that a kilometre was longer than a mile."
"Refused to budge when refuted and kicked out several students for doing so."- SupersonicDebris13
"5th grade teacher: 'Mount Whitney in California is the tallest mountain in the world'."
"5th grade me blurts out: 'No it isn't, Mount Everest is."
"Whitney is not even the tallest mountain in the USA, which is Mount McKinley in Alaska'."
"I got in trouble for 'contradicting the teacher'."- gtmattz
It's Not Just Students Who Are Bullies...
"I had a teacher ridicule a fat kid about his lunch choices in front of the whole class."
"He ran out crying as she was making fat guy blimp gestures and telling him he was going to be huge as an adult."- SnooOwls5859
Some Dramatic License It Seems...
"I had a literature teacher who told the class that he didn't believe in dinosaurs, because the universe is only a couple thousand years old."
"The bones were put there by Satan."
"Thank f*ck he wasn't a science or history teacher."- AllBadAnswers
Everyone Deserves Nice Acomodations...
"My English teacher told us that he genuinely believes that the Rothchilds own a hotel for aliens in the Bermuda triangle."- TroyLear77
Well, Then...
"We had this kid in our 6th-grade class."
"Very dark skinned kid from Africa."
"His name was Tajak."
"Every now and then when we'd line up to go to another class or lunch and the lights would go out some of his friends would go 'where Tajak at?'"
"Anyway one day we had a sub and we we're lining up for lunch, the lights went out and there went the 'where Tajak at?' and the SUBSTITUTE TEACHER who was also black went 'Boy you darker than night'."
"6th grade was f*cking wild."- 11221mikew
Sad Premonitions
"Psych teacher in high school told us that 1 in 10 of the people were friends with in high school would be dead within 5 years of graduating."
"At the time I thought it was hyperbole, but it turns out he was being conservative."
"3 of the people in my high school friend group were dead by the time I was 22."- Reddit
Do They Really Need A Reason?
"'Now girls, don't you let them boys touch your breasts'."
"'It'll give you cancer'."- jondru
Maybe Should Have Checked With The Geography Teacher?
"A teacher in Elementary school claimed during history class that the Colosseum was in Greece, as an Italian kid I was very confused, this was in Mexico."- Spascucci
So Much For Instilling Hope...
"Didn't hear this personally, but read in a book about a guy who recalled his teacher skipping chapters in a textbook and saying 'You will not need to know this when you are down in the mines'."- futanari_kaisa
The mark of a good teacher is that students will take everything they hear from them with them for the rest of their lives.
Though, the less-than-wonderful teachers may also say things their students will never forget.
People Who've Had A Serious Illness Describe The Exact Moment They Knew Something Was Really Wrong
As a kid, I never raised alarm bells even when I started to feel sick. My mom got stressed easily and was busy taking care of my younger brother, so I never wanted to be a burden by making her take me to the doctor only to find out nothing was wrong.
However, in fifth grade, my ears started to hurt and I knew something was wrong. I told my mom, she took me to the doctor, and I found out I had an ear infection.
Now, an ear infection isn't serious at all, and it was easily treatable. Still, I learned something from that experience: no one knows your body better than you. You know if and when you're sick and how serious it is, even if you don't now exactly what is wrong.
Redditors can corroborate this. Many of them have experienced symptoms that told them they were sick in some way -- usually with a very serious illness -- and are ready to share those experiences.
It all started when Redditor thelearner18 asked:
"People who have had a serious disease (cancer, MS, organ failure, etc) when did you realize something was really wrong?"
A Lesson Learned
"Hust found out i have rectal cancer. 42 yrs old. multiple stools per day, not fully emptying, thin poop. so got a colonoscopy. bam! cancer. starting chemo next week. lesson learned for everyone....if your stools or stool schedule changes, go see a doctor"
– shawngee03
A Lucky Break
"I had been having a lot of pain in my midsection, and all around my torso for several weeks. I went to the doctor and it was dismissed as gynecological cramping (menopausal?). It remained. After several weeks (6-8) I couldn’t take it anymore. I went to emergency in the middle of the night. I got a CT scan that showed a large kidney stone. They also found a mass on my ovary. The kidney stone lead them to finding a rare ovarian cancer. If not for that stone, I wouldn’t have known about the cancer and might not have caught it in time. I have been in remission since September 2021."
– peachsqueeze66
Cause For Concern
"My kid, who was 14 at the time, kept throwing up in the morning and having weird headaches. Her doctor thought it was migraines. She went back a couple of times, but the doctor was not concerned. Then one day she complained of a whooshing noise in her ear. Went to the children’s hospital and found out it was a brain tumor near her cerabellum. She was in ICU for a month, but turned out it was non cancerous and it never grew back. She is doing great now."
– Evilelfqueen
"I heard a whooshing noise in my ear a few years ago I only really heard it at night when it was quiet it would sometimes switch ears now I basically never hear it. I'm pretty sure it was just pulsatile tinnitus but still scary."
– fallen-summer
It Was The Salt
"I have Cystic Fibrosis (terminal lung disease) and it was found out when I didn't sh*t for 3 days after I was born and then my mother gave me a kiss and said I tasted REALLY salty."
"Now I'm on a gene modification drug called Trikafta and this is some serious witch craft a** sh*t because I no longer feel sick to death and I basically feel like a normal person. It's f*cking wild!
"Went from 19% lung function to 87% in 3 months. I no longer cough my a** off or feel like I'm suffocating from mucus. Go science!"
– Sudden_Blueberry_477
A Funky Optic Nerve
"I was diagnosed with MS when I was 22 after having blurred vision in one eye after a ski trip. I went to the optometrist and they said I had a dry eye probably from not wearing goggles while snow boarding. So they gave me steroid drops. After a week it kept getting worse, so I went back and they told me my eye looked much better so they did a field of view test, which showed I couldn’t see anything out of the lower half of one eye. They sent me straight to the emergency room since nothing was wrong physically wrong with my eye. They did some tests and I was diagnosed with MS and ended up going completely blind in one eye. My vision eventually came back and I got on medication within a month so haven’t really had any symptoms or issues since thankfully. I’m only 29 now though."
– johnjohn9312
Caught It In Time
"This isn't me, but this happened to my best friend VERY recently. Like in the last couple of months."
"Was perfectly fine and healthy one day. Then the next he started feeling a little bit of pain in his kidney. He'd had kidney stones before, so he figured it was that again. Then he started peeing blood. He thought it was still part of the kidney stone thing so let it go for a couple days, but he was still peeing blood and the pain was getting worse."
"That's when he decided to go to the doctor. They did an X-ray and found a mass in his kidney and told him that based on where it was located they can't remove the mass, and they can't do a partial kidney removal, and it's about a 90% chance it's cancerous, but they wouldn't be able to do a biopsy without removing the kidney first. They did the whole insurance dance, but it went fast and within two weeks he was in surgery having his kidney removed."
"He's still recovering at home right now, but they got the biopsy results last week. It was indeed cancerous, but they caught it before it spread."
– SweetCosmicPope
Happily Ever After
"I couldn’t walk anymore with my crutch I had been using to get by. Had Been on Percocet for 8 months because of the extreme pain. Nobody was finding answers to my pain but I knew something was wrong, badly. After finally having an ultra sound on my hips at the age of 26 I found out I had to undergo a double hip replacement to walk again due to a serious rare disease. I was stage 4 Avascular Nercrosis. Took a year to recover from both. But Happier ending, I’m doing good now. However it was very very upsetting news to get over a phone call at 26."
– heartpathetic
It Really Sneaks Around
"My wife started getting numbness in her right arm. The breast cancer had spread to her right shoulder and the tumor was crushing the nerves. She has stage four breast cancer in her bones."
– zenos_dog
A Turn For The Worse
"For me, it started May 14, 2014. I went to work and was having a good morning. Then, at about 9:00 in the morning or so, I started to feel some lower abdominal pain. Not to be crude, but it felt like that cramp you get when you really need to go to the bathroom. I did so, but the pain didn't go away. It got worse. I started to feel chills, was sweating, and felt nauseated. My employer has a clinic on site, so I went there. After some poking and prodding, the nurse asked me if I wanted to go home or if I wanted to go to the emergency room. I decided to go home, and if the pain didn't subside, then I'd go to the emergency room. As I was saying that, though, I noticed that my pain had gotten a LOT worse. They always make you rate your pain on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain at all and 10 being the worst pain you've ever felt. When I went into the clinic, I was mostly uncomfortable, maybe a high 2 going into a 3. On that very subjective scale, I was now a 6 or a 7."
"I changed my mind and decided to go straight to the nearest emergency room. My boss drove me, and by the time we got there about 15 minutes later, I was now a 10. This was the worst pain I'd ever felt. My previous definition of the worst pain I'd ever felt was when I broke 7 bones in my wrist, it was misdiagnosed as a sprain, and I had to have them rebroken 2 weeks later. The pain in my abdomen was now worse than that. The emergency room admitted me and put me in a wheelchair. They wheeled me to a room, I curled up on the bed they put me in, and passed out."
"At some point, a nurse came in and gave me some morphine. Great stuff. No pain at all anymore. A doctor came in and told me they suspected a kidney stone. He wanted me to get a CT scan to confirm it, and I agreed. An orderly wheeled me off to imaging. I got scanned without contrast and was wheeled back to the room. My wife had arrived while I was getting scanned. Shortly later, the doctor who told me he thought it was a kidney stone came into the room. With another doctor. And two nurses. They all crowd around me with solemn looks on their faces."
"The first doctor told me it was a kidney stone. A 2 to 3 mm kidney stone had been lodged in the ureter of my left kidney. That's the tube that goes from the kidney to the bladder. It passed into my bladder when they gave me the morphine, but they could see evidence of it on the CT scan. Then the other doctor said they were more concerned about the 6 cm mass they found on my right kidney. They had my attention."
"They did another CT scan, with contrast this time, and it was impossible to see anything but a tumor in the pictures they showed me. They made an appointment for me with a urologist for the next day, as well as an appointment in a few days time to get it biopsied. It was an after-hours appointment for the urologist, but he was nice enough to stay late to see me. He looked at the CT Scans and cancelled my appointment to get it biopsied. He said there was nothing else it could be but cancer, and the kidney would have to go."
"Two months later, I had the kidney and the tumor removed laparoscopically. I was incredibly lucky. They caught it in stage 1. The doctor said there were signs it was going to start moving soon. I have no idea how doctors can look at a softball sized lump of cancer and tell anything other than 'gross', but that's why they're the doctors and I'm not."
"My recovery was smooth, and I've been cancer-free for 9 years. I was incredibly blessed. I didn't have to deal with chemo, or radiation. While those can save your life, they are also horrible experiences with nasty side effects. I didn't have to deal with any of them. I was bracing myself to have to. They said it was a possibility. But I didn't. I have every respect for those not as fortunate as me, and wish them all the best in recovery."
– mnementh9999
Reason #5,622 To Start Exercising
"I started jogging again to try and get back into running shape. I kept noticing that just after a mile or so, I'd stop and get REALLY lightheaded. Kept thinking, "oh, I'm really out of shape" and kept going. Went in a few weeks later for my annual physical and doctor said "you ever been told you have a heart murmur?", no. Two months later I spent Christmas of 2017 in the ICU after having a section of my aorta cut out and a new valve put in. Surgeon said it was bad. Said it wouldn't have made it too much longer."
"Edit: for clarification, it was an aortic dissection."
– Itsawlinthereflexes
Slow And Steady
"My dad's friend went on a hike with a doctor who knew him and he was winded not far from the car. The doctor clocked it right away and told him to get his heart checked. He had 98% blockage in his heart arteries."
"He tells my dad so my dad gets the test to see how his arteries are doing and they found a massive aneurism on his aorta. He is getting it removed tomorrow. He had no symptoms but the doctors said if he had overdone it he would be dead before anyone would even know what was going on. Crazy how a random friend's hike may have saved his life."
– Pencilowner
It Takes A Village
"I never did, my teacher and parents did."
"I was seven, usually an active kid and my first grade teacher noticed that rather than running around at recess I sat down and took a nap. It happened a couple more times and after I fell asleep in class (totally out of character), she gave my parents a call, we had been visiting the doc fairly regularly cause I was also complaining of joint pain and frequent ear infections combined with the new symptoms and a new doc at the practice I was finally diagnosed with leukemia."
– greenmachine11235
Thank goodness for that teacher (and of course, the parents)!
When in the beginning stages of dating, it's important to know as much as humanly possible.
The element of surprise is no longer a fun aspect of romance.
Ask the small questions. Ask the hard questions.
Interrogate. Grill. Investigate.
Of course, you should do it with a subtle hand instead of an interrogation lamp.
The truth is all we have.
Ask everything.
Redditor RedditPenguin02 wanted to make a list of the best inquiries to make when starting a relationship, so they asked:
"What is a good question to ask before you start dating someone?"
From what I've learned in my past, always ask... "Are you into Buffy the Vampire Slayer? The TV show."
If it's a no, then it's a dealbreaker.
I Do
"Are you married?"
wrenchmonkey135
"I would ask that. If they said no, the next question was 'Would your wife agree?'"
"If they laughed, they were telling the truth. If they got indignant and pissed off that I thought they were lying…they were married."
"Worked every time."
Squibit314
We Lived!
"Do you clap when the plane lands?"
dont_u_know
"I swear people used to do this all the time when I was a kid (early 2000’s), and I don’t think I’ve heard anyone do it in 5+ years. I guess 9/11 really made people afraid of flying for about 10 years and then most folks decided they didn’t need to applaud when the plane landed safely?"
jmims98
Family Planning
"Do you want kids in the future? If one person wants kids and the other wants to stay child-free, then they are not compatible. And it is better to try dating someone else."
GoodAlicia
"It confuses me whenever some couples who disagree on this end up in a conundrum because one expected the other to change their mind. This is something I bring up early cause I see no future with someone who wants kids when I do not."
GoodAlicia
"You should always put childfree on your dating profile. It's not a small thing. Either you agree on it or not. If I had to date, I would put childfree on my profile too."
GoodAlicia
Carb it on...
"Do you like bread? That is the extent of my flirting skills."
HumpieDouglas
"Being German, bread is like a frickin' cultural phenomenon here, we have around 300 kinds of bread, there's a bread museum, every time I go on vacation I'm like yeah it's nice here but the bread ain't it yall, never as good as home lol. So yeah, valid question and the only answer to this is an enthusiastic yes."
Nayeliq1
Room Temperature
"What temperature do you set the thermostat to throughout the year?"
OneFingerIn
"Haha this one always gets me as someone who needs low temps - you can always put on more clothes, I can't peel my skin off to get cooler."
djdante
The thermostat is a dealbreaker for me.
It's gonna be 60. Love it or move on.
Discovery
"When was the last time you changed your mind about something?
"Opens a window to how they think."
youcantkillanidea
"If that was really early on in the dating I’d think it was a bit of a head-f**k question. I’d probably find that question a red flag, tone dependent, although I agree with the sentiment."
LivestockMarc
Personal Time
"Aside from major differences about finances, kids, politics, or religion, a big one is; What are your hobbies? If they don’t really have any, you may be the next hobby, which isn’t going to work unless you’ve got that kind of time. If the hobbies are time-consuming ones generally done with a SO."
"But you have no interest in them, that could be an issue as well. If only one of you likes camping, wanted to spend vacation lounging instead of exploring, didn’t like sports, etc either that partner is annoyed or the other feels like they don’t get to enjoy what they love."
Githard
Past Issues
"Ask them about their exes. If they think every single one of them is an a**hole... they are likely the real a**hole."
CantTakeMeSeriously
"I have mixed feelings about that - I've been in three previous relationships and all three were emotionally abusive towards me (one wasn't nearly as bad as the other two, though) in various ways. I know this is a common sentiment and it always makes me afraid that people won't believe me or something.
"I mean, I realize in your comment you said 'likely' and not '100% sure' and there's plenty of room for nuance."
phiore
Values
"I would try to take care of any dealbreakers. If I find out that she has different political values than I do, it's not going to work out in the long run, so I wouldn't bother. Same thing with other factors (religion, financial values, etc.). I would also ask how much cuddling she likes to engage in, as I prefer a lot."
SkullKrusher9000
Essentials
"When I was dating my three essential questions were always kids, sex, and money. If you're not on the same wavelength for any of those three things, just don't even try."
KhaosElement
TRUTH PLEASE!!
"So, how much personal debt do you have?"
"Source: the guy who dated a woman with huge debts and was asked to pay for everything and then some".
"After that, I'd go with, 'Have you ever been diagnosed with borderline, narcissistic, or histrionic personality disorders?"
extracensorypower
The questions are basic.
Just ask for the truth.
Do you have any good Qs to add to the queue? Let us know in the comments below.
As much as we always hop for our dating efforts to be worth it and for every relationship to work out, we all know that some relationships are not destined to work out.
But sometimes relationships end for totally valid reasons, and sometimes the reasons are painful, if not devastating.
Redditor overIorded asked:
"What went wrong with your last partner?"
History Repeating Itself
"He cheated on me. And I was glad because that was finally reason enough to allow myself to leave."
"Now I know somebody who's in the same situation. They're trapped. And she's such a gentle and fun person who's afraid to leave him because 'well, it's always been like this, I'm used to it,' and 'I deserve it.'"
"She wants to leave him, she knows she should leave him, but it's so hard to do it, and I know that feeling."
"I'm thinking I should give her my phone number like when the day comes you've had enough, I'll gladly come to help you move out from that s**thole."
- NmlsFool
Mental Health Struggles
"I'm lost in my own trauma and mental illness and he deserves better than anything I have to offer right now."
- Last-Celery7146
"I’ve been on the receiving end of this, and mildly said, it absolutely ruined me. Her trauma and mental problems were BAD, but I still wanted to be with them. So if you ask me, as long as they can give you the space and support you need, and want to be with you, let them make the decision."
- emilersen
"It's also fair and mature to care very much about someone but realize that you only have the emotional bandwidth to take care of yourself right now."
"I'm sure it was very hard for both of you to come to terms with that decision. I don't think it's that he deserves better, I think it's that your attention needs to be on guiding yourself through this thicket of trauma and mental illness before you can be someone else's partner. You can love each other very much but also acknowledge that you don't have the tools to spare for a relationship right now."
"I'm proud of you for focusing on your own mental health and someday, when you have more emotional stability and energy, I hope you find a wonderful partner."
- SpoonAtKnifeFight
Relationship Styles
"We disagreed on how many women he was allowed to date. I’m very strong on monogamy and have no interest in someone (in a supposedly committed relationship) that isn’t."
- Altrano
At Least There's That
"Her psychotic brother tried to kill me. Thankfully he has a Stormtrooper's aim..."
- Active-Plate7939
"Hate the attempted murder, love the 'Star Wars' reference."
- letmetellyousom
Childfree Living
"He wanted a big family, like, six kids, all-natural. Obviously, he wouldn't be birthing them. This was very important to him while I was pretty ambivalent about kids, and the further into my adulthood I've gotten, the more I've realized I just don't want to be pregnant."
"I broke it off so we could both get the lives we wanted. He was also quite a bit more conservative than me, and at the time closeted pansexual person, and some stuff he believed just didn't line up with what I believed. It hurt, but it was amicable."
"Now he has a wife and kids like he wanted, and I am happily partnered and childfree. It worked out for the best."
- Free-Government5162
Family Ties
"She hated that I had a healthy relationship with my family and was trying to find ways to sabotage it."
- Cobra-Serpentress
"Similar aspect to mine, she hated my sister and mother because she had a bad relationship with her sister and mother. She would get mad at me whenever I brought my family up."
- letmetellyousom
Quality Time
"My last boyfriend dumped me because I got mad that he was coming to Dallas after I hadn't seen him for two months, but didn't want to see me."
"He was going to meet up with some friends of his he hadn't seen in a few months. I told him that was fine with me, but I felt he should make time to see me too since we hadn't seen each other in two months and we were supposed to be a couple."
"He responded to my anger by ghosting me. That was two years ago."
- dallasmysterylover
Distracted with a Punch
"A girl contacted me about him talking to her. I asked him what was going on, and he sucker-punched me in the face."
- Brilliant-Victory128
Projecting Insecurities
"He cheated on me for all six years we were together and then accused me of cheating on him, even though I wasn't allowed to leave the house."
"I'm also pretty sure he slept with my sister-in-law when my brother and I went to pick up dinner."
- Affectionate_Egg1252
Children Come First
"He was and still is no father to his kids, has anger issues, and probably has other mental health issues. I tried for years to help him and help the relationship, but he wasn't having it. After seeing how my oldest suffered under him, I had to leave."
- rintan13
Poor Communication
"I communicated how I felt about many things in the relationship. He never communicated about anything."
- aj_oof0323
"Oh look, it's the last 14 years of my life..."
- empathetic111
"I'm guilty of this, and boy, do I regret not being able to open up about my feelings. It cost me my marriage. But now I'm trying to be more open and share my thoughts and feelings. Just wished I could've done this earlier than later."
Deserving Better
"I started drinking again and became a miserable a**hole due to my own depression and my s**tty job. As such, she didn't get the attention she deserved, and had to put up with my s**tty mood all the time... so she left. I don't blame her."
"So, it was me. I don't know if I trust myself with a relationship again, but aside from the shame of knowing I hurt someone who I loved, and loved me back, but I was too self-absorbed and selfish, I am trying to be a better human to everyone."
"And to my ex: You'll find someone again... someone better."
- cracksintheegg
Big Moves
"He wanted to move to Alaska to be with some girl he was 'friends' with before me."
- dont_be_trash
Alzheimer's Disease
"My ex's early-onset Alzheimers (at the age of 50) and the resulting violence, paranoia, and irrational thinking. I tried to honor my vows, but he was so far out there, I feared for my life."
- No_Transportation258
Different Definitions of Marriage
"She cheated on me after five years total together, the last one of which was while we were engaged. She cheated on me for months, all while I was planning the wedding, working part-time, and going to graduate school so I can support us comfortably in the future."
"I planned on giving her everything I could and sharing the rest of my life with her, and apparently she didn’t care."
- Mountaingoat1001
This conversation just goes to show that relationships can end for all kinds of reasons. Even in relationships where there is still a lot of love and committment, the relationship can still end, just like how the relationship can end suddenly because of a surprising and devastating realization.