Top Stories

People Explain What Began As A Joke But Then Became A Legitimate Thing

People Explain What Began As A Joke But Then Became A Legitimate Thing
JEshoots/Unsplash

My whole career.

That's it. That's the best example of something that started as a joke and got serious.

You know that whole Michael Cera theory that he was lost one day and wandered onto a film set and has just been too awkward to tell anyone he's not a real actor, and now he's famous?

Yeah. That's pretty much how I got here.


Reddit user oreoboom12 asked:

"What started as a joke but became a legitimate thing?"

So there's me, there's Michael Cera, and there's ... this stuff.

Julius Pringles

angry episode 2 GIF Giphy

"Someone on Wikipedia wrote on the Pringles Wikipedia page that the name of the Pringles mascot was named Julius (full name Julius Pringles, I believe he named it in honor of Julius Peppers the football player)."

"Eventually this joke became Common Knowledge so Kellogg's legally changed the mascot's name to Julius Pringles."

- turkeyinthestrawman

"It even made it into a Jeopardy clue before he revealed the joke."

- CosmicCommando

"But the Mascot was supposed to be a caricature of Dennis Gage. Their inventor."

- OutWithTheNew

Thag Simmons

"Thagomizer."

"There was a cartoon (The Far Side) that had a caveman showing a picture of a dinosaur with a spiked tail. He is pointing at the spikes and the caption says "this is called the thagomizer, after the late Thag Simmons.""

"Spiked and clubbed tails are now called thagomizers in published papers."

"Edit; Apparently Thagomizers are the configuration of 4 spikes on a Stegosaurus tail, not all clubbed or spiked tails."

- CountDown60

"I just loved that no one In years of paleontology, ever thought about naming the stegosaurus’s rather unique tail spikes"

- Mrwright96

"WHAT"

"I am a huge Far Side fan and remember this comic, I did not know this lol that's amazing"

- IAmSpike24

"They have a thagomizer fossil at a museum in Portland and it brings me joy every time I see the name on the formal placard."

- redmoskeeto

The Catalina Wine Mixer

step brothers GIF Giphy

"The Catalina Wine Mixer from Stepbrothers."

"It was made up and in the movie it was actually shot on the mainland and you can see the island of Catalina in some scenes. It wasn't until several years later that they actually started holding a Catalina Wine Mixer on the island, which was inspired by the movie."

- Ms_KnowItSome

" 'It’s the f*ckin’ Catalina wine mixer!' ”

- DangersVengeance

"I've been to the wine mixer and tbh it kinda just feels like a huge cash grab. Acts are just a meme and they nickel and dime you for everything. I went in 2018 so idk if anything a changed since then. Main st Avalon is more entertaining"

- sleurlee

"Ha, I went there a few years ago and there was seriously a whole store dedicated to "Catalina Wine Mixer" merchandise. I had no idea why, but I did go to a nice beer festival that weekend :')"

- darkenedgy

Bee Movie

Peace Out Respect GIF Giphy

" 'Bee Movie.' "

"Jerry Seinfeld supposedly pitched the idea of a B-movie about bees as a joke, but Steven Spielberg liked it so much that it got greenlit."

- vivalahomestar

"That movie is just so funny for the wrong reasons. A kids movie where a human and a bee have a very questionable relationship that even Jerry Seinfeld admitted later on he didn’t know wtf he was doing."

- sleepy--ash

"If you watch the movie without suspending disbelief, it is the most hilariously ridiculous movie ever. A woman leaves her boyfriend for a bee."

- rich1051414

"one time when I was in a chemistry lecture I had the bee movie playing on my laptop and I got a note from a guy 2 rows back asking me to move my laptop slightly to the left so he could also watch"

- mithoolee

"I mean that movie is a joke so... yeah lol"

- Dunkinmydonuts1

Sup Doc

Wake Up Reaction GIF by Looney Tunes Giphy

"Bugs Bunny’s carrot started as a joke about a scene in a 1934 movie called 'It Happened One Night'.""

"Now, almost a century later, the joke has been lost and the carrot has just become part of the character."

- Parhel

"Bugs also changed the meaning of 'nimrod' which originally meant a skillful hunter. He called Elmer Fudd a nimrod (sarcastically I guess?). I’m not sure if people knew it was sarcastic or if they assumed it meant an inept person or idiot. But that’s what people think it means now. Idiot ."

- TheDirtyFuture

"Carrots aren't even a good food to feed a rabbit! Well, the 'carrot' part isn't, anyway.

"They're too high in sugar content and if you feed it to your pet rabbit too often, can lead to serious health problems."

"Carrot tops (the leafy greens, not the actor), on the other hand, are great for rabbits and packed with nutrients!"

"In conclusion:"

"Bugs Bunny: What's up, doc?"

"Doctor: Your blood sugar again, Mr. Bunny."

- coffee-and-insomnia

"Mel Blanc, who voiced Bugs Bunny, was allergic to carrots. Unfortunately, they couldn't find anything else that sounded like biting a carrot. So every take, he'd bite off a carrot, then immediately spit it into a bucket."

- Awdayshus

Cool Way To Sleep

"Tauntaun sleeping bags - started off as a ThinkGeek April Fools product, and then they started selling them"

- rebuildmylifenow

"RIP thinkgeek"

- Rimbosity

"Holy sh*t, ThinkGeek is gone?"

"When did that happen?! /s"

- 1337b337

"I lobbied for and bought one of these!! We gifted it to our nephew (and wished they came in big kid size too). It was so plush and soft and cozy. I saw one recently in a thrift store. They had a crazy price on it but it gave me a nice smile to see one in the wild."

- WhatMyWifeIsThinking

Mr. Worldwide

Wink Celebrity GIF by MLB Giphy

"Pitbull’s concert at a tiny town in Alaska"

- tornadobravo

"I actually gained a lot of respect for Pitbull from that."

"He could have backed out of it, or gone somewhere else due to the votes being obviously manipulated, but instead he went to a remote location and gave the people there something really special."

- HutSutRawlson

One Josh To Rule Them All

"The Josh fight"

- Western_Insect_2610

"Didn't Josh win that?"

- DC4MVP

"Aww, thanks for reminding me that that happened. Good memories."

- miss_kimba

"Please explain this, I've always heard about it"

- Bandito21Dema

"Last year some guy named Josh Swain on Facebook added a bunch of people with the same first and last name as him to a gc and then challenged them to a fight in a random field in Nebraska to see who would keep the name."

"It got ssed and spread across the internet. There were a lot of memes about it on Reddit and stuff. On the day the fight was scheduled, over 1000 people showed up (only around 50 were named Josh) and there was a Rock Paper Scissors match between the only 2 Josh Swains in attendance."

"There was also a fight with pool noodles between the fifty Joshes (a little boy named Josh Vinson won)"

"Finally, everyone who showed up got a pool noodle and started to fight"

- dpcmufc

Petty Revenge

"Several months ago, I was pulled over by a county sheriff (of course) for an expired sticker on my license plate. Didn't even know my registration was expired."

"He happened to catch a peek at my wallet which had numerous of my friend's old/expired/school ID's. He claimed it was the 'beginning stage of identity theft' and took my ID's from me."

"All of my friends personally gave them to me (inside joke) and I keep them in my wallet cause it's funny/for memories? Idk."

"Anyways, he was just phishing for anything he could possibly have against me, started asking about an old license plate from a car I don't even own anymore (never got rid of the plate) and just overall being a d*ck."

"He said if I wanted them back I would need a court order or to have all of my friends ask for them back since it was 'their property'."

"I jokingly said to my girlfriend, who was there with me the whole time, that I should be petty and make a legal case against him, but then I started thinking that I could just ask my friends to come to the station with me and demand the ID's back."

"Couple months later we head to the sheriff's office and ask for them back, turns out he shredded them not thinking anything would come of it."

"We're now in the beginning stages of filing a destruction of property suit against the station all because this guy was being an a$hole during a regular traffic stop."

- SquidlordOG


"Dude you’re a hero, a champion of the people. Cops do these petty power trips all the f*cking time, good for you for giving a little pushback."

- IrrelevantPuppy

"This is the kind of joke turned real we need.

" 'Hey, let's go demand our expired IDs back from the cop who took them'."

"Cop: 'So I shredded them thinking nothing would come of this'."

"Enjoy destruction of property suit dill weed."

"Honestly, see about destruction of evidence as well. If you had made a case out of it he destroyed the evidence. Real boneheaded move right there."

- RolyPoly1320

"This is the exact meeting point of pettiness, standing up for yourself, and sticking it to the man that I live for....godspeed."

- majinspy

"The malicious compliance here is amazing"

- optimushime

B.I.R.D. Avian Boogaloo

Bird Hello GIF Giphy

"The 'birds don't exist' fake conspiracy theory that was made specifically to make fun of conspiracy theories. Apparently, it was convincing enough that idiots genuinely believe it now."

- angel_and_devil_va

"Flat Earth 2: Avian Boogaloo"

- OJezu

"I've seen pictures of people taking the joke to the extreme like customizing their 20-year-old van with all sorts of birds aren't real decals, but is there any real proof that these people are like, anti-vaxxers, or flat earthers?"

"I'm not doubting you I just haven't seen anything that doesn't look like an extremely high effort sh*tpost"

- Zenketski_2

"I'm in the Facebook group and always assumed everyone knows it's satire. You get the occasional numbnuts who posts something along the lines of "Do you guys actually believe birds aren't real". I'm sure there are some who do but I think it's only a small percentage. (I hope anyway)'

"I think this is how flat earth society got started though."

- evil-kaweasel

"If it flies it spies."

- CraziestPenguin

"You mean Bio Integrated Recovery Drones?"

- Salay54

Africa Cover

"Weezer covering "Africa" by Toto happened because a 14-year-old girl made an account whose sole purpose was making this request. And the account gained enough popularity that they caught on and thought it was funny, so they did it. For her."

- AllFuzzedOut

"Their version sounds so much like Toto’s that I question why they did it"

- smileusgood

"They played it this year at Rock am Ring and holy fuck was it worth seeing it. That girl knew whats good."

- TPC_DE

"Yeah saw them about a week ago and the crowd definitely were into Africa more than any of their other songs. Crazy really"

- notliam

So Many Blades

season 16 episode 20 GIF Giphy

"People making fun of razors with multiple blades and Gillette actually making it. This happened twice."

"SNL predicted a three blade razor in one of their fake ads in 1975 (it was called the triple-tac). At that time one blade was the standard and three blades just seemed unnecessary and ludicrous. Well, Gillette followed suit and released the MACH3 in 1998."

"Then The Onion ran a story called 'f*ck it, we're doing five blades' by the CEO of Gillette and 18 months later the Gillette Fusion with five blades was released."

- Goat_In_The_Shell3

"MAD Magazine had a twenty blade razor plus a lot of other shaving inventions in an Al Jaffee article back in the late 70s."

- imapassenger1

"A straight razor is a better shave if you know how to do it. It’s a lot of work, and you’re guaranteed to cut yourself plenty of times using a straight, that’s the appeal of multi blades. Multi blades are for close shaves that are much safer and easier to do, they’re disposable and don’t require as much upkeep or prep."

- WaltSneezy

Goose Video Game

"Untitled Goose Game"

- SovereignGFC

"This is my 4-year-old daughter's favorite game. She calls it 'naughty goose' and it cracks her up."

- funky_grandma

"A guy put the song from Righteous Gemstones to the trailer for untitled goose game when it came out and it’s one of my fav things I’ve ever seen"

- santichrist

"I'm using this game to introduce my kids to video games. Some of the later puzzles are still a little above them, but they like to run around and annoy the farmer"

- Enginerdad

Minor League Major Names

"The Minor League Baseball team name for Huntsville, AL — the trash pandas"

- gingerwoozle

"Macon Georgia has a Minor League baseball team called the Macon Bacon. Their hockey team Is the Macon Whoopee."

- HBCDresdenEsquire

"A lot of minor league team names are awesome like that."

- washyourhands--

"Ah yes. I remember when this happened. Everyone thought it would be hilarious to vote for the name 'trash pandas' without realizing that voting would have an effect on the situation."

- cognitiveSmack

Down With The Flatness

Flat Earth Comedy GIF by Bob's Burgers Giphy

"My dad was a member of the Flat Earth Society in the 80s. He thought it was the funniest thing ever to pretend that anyone would actually believe that shit. I wonder what he would think if he were alive today."

- Nymaz

"This was my thought as well. While there has always been a sincere 'Flat Earth' movement among hardcore Evangelicals and Bible literalists, the modern Flat Earth movement was a combination philosophy/trolling experiment to observe the ways Internet conversation would debate comically long-debunked concepts.\"

"Apparently, the experiment was too successful, as the Flat Earth 'troll philosophers' developed argument points effective enough to persuade others (particularly those unaware of the actual movement's sociological roots) into actually believing it."

"So much so, these newly 'enlightened' fools outnumbered the trolls, ultimately hijacking the thought experiment into a living breathing monster of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories."

"It's now impossible to tell if a Flat Earther is actually sincere, or if it's just some next-level evolution of Internet troll taking it way too far. Certainly a mix of both, for sure."

- QuarantineTitans

"He would think the joke reached peak saturation, to the point where idiots thought they were serious about the earth being flat."

- EpicGuard

Naming Things

"Boaty McBoatface"

- Locked_door

"Never forget. The internet won big that day. Boaty McBoatface, however, did not."

- DeathB4decafe

"Yep. If you're going to do a poll like this, then you need to give the internet a list of pre-selected names to choose from."

- MarkNutt25

"YES! This was funny as fuck. Then every small town copies it and now half the small towns in the Midwest have a snow plow called 'plowy McPlowface' it got overdone real fucking quick"

- JessesaurusRex

perrie GIF Giphy

"Chris Crocker 'leave Britney alone'."

- Ambitious-Edge-4698

"I honestly feel bad about how much I made fun of him and that video. He was right and I feel bad for Britney too."

- kurinevair666

"It makes you wonder if the conservatorship would still be going if not for that video."

- will_holmes

"She was right but the video was still hilarious. So melodramatic."

- Quirky-Swordfish-218

"That is her Dead Name. She goes by Cara Cunningham now."

- Witness_me_Karsa

If we've learned anything today it's that truly there is no such thing as driving a joke into the ground or proverbially beating a dead horse. Eventually, if you press hard enough, a joke becomes reality.

... I feel like this explains so much...

Infamous Internet Rumors That Ended Up Being True

Reddit user strakerak asked: 'What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?'

boy playing at laptop inside room
Photo by Ludovic Toinel on Unsplash

In 2017, I returned to my office after my lunch break to hear my supervisors discussing Tom Petty. This seemed like a random topic to me until one of my supervisors told me Tom Petty had passed away. He was a huge fan of Petty and spent the next hour or so combing through the internet to get more information.

He came back into the room my other supervisor and I were working in and announced that Tom Petty wasn't dead after all. News outlets had jumped the gun to announce his death, but he was actually still alive.

The next day, I came in to find out that Tom Petty was dead; the news may have been premature, but true.

This is a classic example of the rumor being started on the internet. Sometimes, like with the news of Tom Petty's death, the rumor can run wild and appear everywhere. Other times, the rumor can be seen by just a few people and dismissed. However, a lot of times, these rumors turn out to be true.

Redditors know a lot of internet rumors that turned out to be true, and are eager to share.

It all started when Redditor strakerak asked:

"What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?"

The King Of Pop

"Michael Jackson writing the music for Sonic 3."

"He actually did, but was never credited on the game because it would breach his contract with his record label."

– -WigglyLine-

"He did the same when he appeared on The Simpsons. He appeared under a pseudonym, and the Producers said it was an impersonator."

"Only years later they confirmed it really was Michael."

"His singing voice was actually done by an impersonator, though."

– given2fly_

The Truth Comes Out

"In 1998, US Men’s National Team captain John Harkes was shockingly cut from the team right before the World Cup. The coach claimed it was because Harkes wouldn’t fit into his new preferred formation, but rumors flew on the early internet that it was actually because he had slept with his teammate Eric Wynalda’s wife. The rumor was so well-known in soccer circles that Harkes expressly denied it in his autobiography the next year."

"Fast forward 12 years to 2010 and Wynalda admits it’s true. The coach then came out and admitted it was why he dropped Harkes, but that he’d planned to keep the secret as long as Wynalda did."

– guyfromsoccer

Video Evidence

"The Tim Burton Hansel and Gretel that aired once on halloween in the 80's."

"I heard for years that it was fake but I knew it was real because my dad recorded everything in the 80s and he recorded that. We let a good friend of ours borrow it and switch it over from VHS to DVD and soon after that it made its way on to the internet , and there it is now. I know it's our copy because the tracking in the beginning is screwed up. Still have the VHS."

– Frozenthickness

"There was a similar story with a Nickelodeon movie called Cry Baby Lane. It was supposed to be so scary that Nickelodeon got complaints and denied its existence for years. Someone uploaded a taped copy to youtube about a decade ago."

– PattiAllen

The Movie Business

"That North Korea hacked Sony Pictures because of The Interview movie."

"I worked in the movie business at the time and the account managers at Sony all basically needed to get new identities as all of their personal information got leaked online."

OldMastodon5363

"My partner worked on that movie and the production bought all the crew 1 year of an identity theft tracking service."

CMV_Viremia

Keep Away From The Ears Of Kids

"Some banned episodes or scenes of cartoons."

"For example, I remember there was a Dexter’s Lab cartoon where he clones evil versions of DeDe and himself and they swear like every other word (censored of course), and people debated whether it even existed cause they only aired it like once. Now it’s pretty accessible online."

– Spledidlife

Yes, It's True

"Echelon, a massive electronic espionage system by the US and allies to intercept all electronic messages, especially emails."

"In the mid-nineties it was a topic on conspiracy BBS boards. A lot of people in my bubble at the time (mainly uni students in Europe) were including fake threats to the US in the their email signatures as a way to "protest" and "fill the system with false alarms" (obviously useless)."

"Then, in 1999-2000 came out to be true and a lot of security service agencies from UK and other US allies started to admit they were part of the espionage network."

– latflickr

How The Mighty Fell

"John Edward’s love child."

– ACam574

"A reminder that he was cheating on his wife while she was hospitalized for cancer treatment."

– Fanclock314

Ugh...

"Carrie Fisher's heart attack. Some a**hole who was on the same flight was livetweeting the whole medical emergency and justified it by insisting she was just making sure the family was informed."

– everylastlight

It Actually Happened

"Every year around her birthday there was a rumor that Betty White died. When I heard she died, I scoffed, saying that dumb rumor is back.... then saw it on the news. I was in shock."

– Known-Committee8679

"The fact that Betty died literally right before she turned 100 is such a Betty White way to go out."

– Paganigsegg

Big Actor, Small Roles

"I distinctly remember some rumors about the reason why Bruce Willis was taking so many roles in sh*tty movies before it was announced he has dementia."

– KampferMann

"RedLetterMedia did a deep dive on his recent movie activity to try and work out why exactly he was taking part in basically scam-movies. They noticed he had an earpiece in one of the scenes and joked that the director was feeding him lines. I remember they even disclaimed over the rumours at the time, and possible made a follow-up vid when it was revealed to the public."

– CardinalCreepia

What To Do Next?

"That the writer of LOST were making it up as they went."

"Turned out to be absolutely true."

– homarjr

That last one was kind of obvious!

Do you have any to add? Let us know in the comment below.

Person holding large stack of books
Photo by Jay Lamm on Unsplash

Whether you're naturally interested in fun facts and trivia or not, it's always nice to know a few that you can pull out of your pocket at a moment's notice as a nice conversation starter.

But there are some fun facts out there that are so weird, people become more preoccupied with how the teller found out that information rather than the information itself.

Redditor Dry_Bus_935 asked:

"What is your 'don't ask me how I know' random fact?"

Nuclear Fail Safe

"You have quite a lot of time, certainly more than ten seconds, to turn back on the main pumps of a nuclear reactor once you have accidentally turned them off."

- egorf

"I'm not surprised. The amount of fail safes, redundancies, and emergency scenario planning for nuclear power plants is insane."

"I toured a nuclear plant and wrote my high school senior thesis on the plans put in place to ensure the Fukushima disaster would not happen at that plant."

"I'm sure the secondary pumps are plenty capable of handling the reactor until the main pumps are repaired or just turned back on."

- Borderlandsman

Happy Cat

"If your cat chews on fresh eucalyptus, they might start hallucinating and fall over repeatedly, leading to a $400 emergency vet bill just to be told she’s just kinda high."

- oddidealstronghold

"And, that's part of why koalas love it. Little stoners."

- littlebluefoxy

Archaeology: Do Not Lick

"Old human bones are very porous, so if you lick them, they’ll stick to your tongue."

- clanculcarius

Sharing is Caring

"A pigeon will only eat a Starburst if you chew it up a little bit first. Just to clarify: chew the Starburst, not the pigeon."

- OhTheHueManatee

"Instructions unclear. Pigeon unhappy."

- Wild-Lychee-3312

Intriguing Anatomy

"Everyone is here with the creepy crime stuff, and I'm just like, 'A soft fur rat has 22 nipples.'"

- horroscoblue

"Okay, so either they have really small nipples, their nipples overlap, or they have nipples in places where there shouldn't be nipples."

"(I've never written the word 'nipples' so many times in a singular sentence before.)"

- GdeGraaf

'Don't Ask Me,' Indeed!

"Turmeric can be used as clothes dye. It is capable of permanently dyeing cotton cloth even after it has passed through the digestive tract of an adult male."

- SlefeMcDichael

"You s**t your pants, didn't you?"

- PMmecrossstitch

"I'd prefer not to answer that question."

- SlefeMcDichael

High-Risk Survival Skills

"If you ever trying to survive in the Arctic, don’t eat polar bear liver. It is so high in vitamin A, it will kill you."

- WrongWayCorrigan-361

"It's also surrounded by a lethal amount of angry polar bear."

- horanc2

Real-Life Spies

"TV shows and movies go out of their way to make military/intelligence officers look bada**."

"But real-life 'spies,' by design and training, are boring. They have regular houses and standard second-hand cars, they dress down, and they have vague, boring job titles (accounts receivable) as cover, and they do not draw attention to themselves. Most come from specialized academia."

- Ok_Worth_1093

Haunting Reality

"Your muscles can keep twitching for several hours after you die."

- JustDave62

"Also, beards can appear to grow. This is however not because the beard itself grows but because the skin shrinks."

- RRautamaa

"I worked at a morgue for over eight years. If you grasp the hand of a dead body to move the arm, the hand will grasp back, but that's just muscles and tendons reacting to the tension."

- goneferalinid

The Sneakiness of Drowning

"When a drowning victim is revived, get them to a hospital as soon as possible. Drowning is the leading cause of death of kids from the age of one to seven and is ruled as accidental drowning when it comes to secondary drowning or dry drowning."

"Basically, your lungs are full of water despite being revived. Your lungs will absorb the liquid, but not before your body acidifies from high levels of carbon dioxide. The only chance to survive is to have the lungs pumped with oxygen via CPAP machine and time."

"Also, drowning is extremely quiet. You don’t hear the victim go under. And if you see flailing, do not attempt to save the victim otherwise you’ll become another drowning victim. Throw them a lifeline and hope their amygdala realizes that a rope or something is floating near them and grabs on it."

- Dfiggsmeister

Not Everyone's Favorite Chocolate

"Hershey’s chocolate has the strong smell of vomit or feces to some people (me), and that’s because they use butyric acid as a preservative. Butyric acid is the compound that makes vomit smell so bad."

"Edit: Digging further into it, there are some claims that they may not be “adding” the butyric acid, but rather it is occurring from essentially spoiling the milk in their milk chocolate. Either way, the butyric acid and putrid smell remains a part of their product."

- hefewiseman1

"That explains the weird aftertaste I always get! I don’t smell it but their chocolate always has this super unpleasant sharp/acidic aftertaste that I find repulsive. I assume this is why!!"

- PomegranateNo975

Do Not Lick the Asbestos

"Asbestos tastes like chalk. And if you lick it, it has the texture of extremely gritty sandpaper. Which is actually the feeling of microscopic asbestos needles piercing your flesh!"

- TooYoungToBeThisOld1

Mapping Out the War

"Beginning in 1911 in anticipation of the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, two statesmen, one from England and one from France, began visiting locations in France that they believed would be the settings for a number of major battles that would occur during the great war."

"Long bike rides through these future battle zones in the countryside and weeks spent building a foundation for a French-Anglo codebook that would later prove important in helping win the war."

- fjordperfect123

Avoiding Lawsuits > Protecting Patients

"Doctors, or surgeons more specifically, that make too many mistakes during surgery, ie, leaving instruments in patients, frequently gets ‘quietly traded’ to other hospitals where they continue their path of destruction with the patients not being aware of their past record. Hospitals tend to keep quiet about the matter to avoid lawsuits."

- Kittytigris

Bonus Points: Do This While Having Lunch in Your Car

"If you overfill a fast food gravy cup and then put a lid on, it will create a pressurized gravy stream that sprays all over your face and uniform while your coworker looks on in horror."

- thechaosjester776

This subReddit thread was so a roller-coaster of random facts, we've surely all walked away learning something.

But the biggest takeaway might just be: Maybe don't lick so many things.

Shocked woman covering her mouth
vaitheeswaran Nataraj/Unsplash

When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.

But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.

Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.

It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.

Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:

"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"

These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.

Bleeding Out

"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."

"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."

– DongLaiCha

Tragic News

"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."

– accountnameredacted

Bottom Of The Barrel

"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."

– Crotch-Monster

A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.

Like Father, Like Son

"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."

– psycospaz

Busted

"Flashing blue lights."

– FiddleOfGold

"This sobered me up just thinking about it."

– redmaple_syrup

Losing Sight

"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."

– MissHibernia

Quitting The Bottle

"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."

– omgtater

These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.

Unplanned House Guests

"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."

– Oneinsevenbillion75

Serious Health Warning

"Elevated liver enzymes."

"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."

"So I opted for recovery, instead."

"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."

– Far_Meal8674

The Joyride

"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."

– foxfood9116

The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?

How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.

But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.

Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.

Woman holding multiple shopping bags
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.

Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.

These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.

From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.

Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:

"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"

"Tale As Old As Time..."

"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","

"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."

"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."

"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."

"Lol!"

"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom

"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."

"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."

"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."

"I think he was a germaphobe."

"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."

"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."

"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.

"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."

"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."

"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000

Money Burn GIF by nog Giphy

Who Wore It Better?

"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."

"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."

"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."

"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'

"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"

"No."- mertsey627

Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...

"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."

"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."

"It was very low key."

"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."

"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."

"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."

"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."

"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa

south park wedding GIF Giphy

See You In Court!

"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."

'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."

"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."

"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."

"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."

"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin

It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!

"I work in a public library."

"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."

"A popular book that just came out."

"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."

"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten

A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!

"My own."

"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"

"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."

"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"

"Unacceptable!"

"This shall not stand!"

"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."

"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."

"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."

"I got over it."- DeathGrover

homer simpson episode 23 GIF Giphy

Holy Matrimony!

"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."

"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."

"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."

"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."

"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."

"It's just a party."

"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree

When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...

"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore

In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...

"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."

"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."

"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."

"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."

"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."

"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."

"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."

"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."

"We don’t offer wrapping services."

"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."

'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae

Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso Giphy

Happiest Place On Earth!

"I used to work for Disney."

"That in itself should tell you everything."

"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."

"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."

"Suddenly got worse huh?"

"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."

"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."

"I'm not kidding."

"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."

"My wife worked booking."

"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."

"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."

"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."

"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."

"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."

"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong

Disney World GIF Giphy

The horror!

Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!

It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...

Said absolutely no one.