Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
I can't tell you how many writers have looked at their whimsical works of fiction and thought "no one would ever think of this."
Only to turn on the news and see reality is crazier.
Ever since 2015 began the 2016 election cycle, the people at "The ONION" must nearly be out of ideas.
Certain facts sound wild but truth is truth.
And truth is a mess.
Redditor edder24wanted to get into the details about some cold hard facts. So they asked:
"What 100% FACT is the hardest to believe?"
Any and every detail that comes out of our medical insurance system. Don't get me started...
WINNER!!
"An Australian man won the lottery, then on camera to re enact the winning for the news he bought another ticket... he won the lottery again on camera. https://youtu.be/6R5MqxcKdV8 "
YeahYeahButNah
Billions
"If a billion people from both China and India didn't exist, they would still be the #1 and #2 most populated nations in the world."
Handsprime
"The fact people think this is a bad thing is something I can’t believe. Though I would like to know the truth. If they are locked into factories living terrible lives. I hope if they where they would revolt. Maybe we should set a better example."
JRotten-Scoundrel
Kermit too?
"Tarantulas keep tiny frogs as pets."
JimminyBean
"This is a bit misleading. They don't keep them as 'pets.' they depend on one another. In nature, this is described as a symbiotic relationship (where both parties gain some sort of mutual benefit)."
Frogs will eat the smaller insects that are a nuisance to the tarantula (it's debated whether or not they protect their eggs, because Tarantula burrows are too deep and sticky for smaller insects to traverse). And in turn the tarantula will protect the frog. This is no different than other relationships in nature. Some bird species will frequently land in crocodile's open jaws to eat bits of stuck, leftover food which can be irritating to the crocodile. The crocodile in turn will just stay still for a bit."
TheGamingTitan12
Terrifying...
"That only 6 people have survived rabies. Rabies has a 99% Mortality rate. You can have rabies for an entire year without symptoms and once you have symptoms, it's already too late. You'll probably die in a couple of days if you have symptoms."
Strange-Listen8048
"More than a year, it can lay dormant for several years. You go on a camping trip and wake up noting you have a scratch on your arm. You put a band aid on and think no more about it. A couple of years later you feel unwell. You're already dead, there's nothing to save you. Rabies is terrifying."
zerbey
Deep
Summer Bike GIFGiphy"There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover North and South America in water one foot deep."
Angry_Elk
Let's go swimming. The rains must fall hard there.
The Hunter
Bugs Dragonfly GIF by Ana MouyisGiphy"Dragonflies accelerate at up to 4G and corner at up to 9G."
automatorsassemble
"Dragonflies are also the most efficient hunter, catching up to 95% of prey."
LuquidThunderPlus
“watchman”
"This relationship of the the pistol shrimp and watchman goby (fish). The pistol shrimp is nearly blind but an excellent digger, whereas the watchman goby has excellent eyesight with a nearly 360 range of vision, but lacks the ability to dig or fight for burrows to live in."
"So these two animals benefit from each other by living together. The pistol shrimp works on digging the burrow, and the 'watchman' goby stands guard outside. If there’s a threat approaching, the goby will dart into the burrow and simultaneously smack the pistol shrimp’s antenna to alert it of the danger."
dashiGO
Go Jimmy! Go!
"President Jimmy Carter rappelled into a nuclear reactor that was in partial meltdown to stop the meltdown and save Ottowa. Before he became President, of course."
thebyron
"My favorite Carter tidbit is a statement something to the effect of 'I hope the last Guinea worm dies before I do.' Dude dedicated his remaining life to bringing another organism to extinction, and he might well succeed. Metal AF."
BaltimoreAlchemist
"but I wore the juice!"
"In 1995, a man named MacArthur Wheeler robbed two banks at gunpoint, he was arrested mere hours later because he didn't wear a mask. instead, he decided to coat his face in lemon juice because he read that lemon juice can be used to make invisible ink. His logic, was that it would make his face invisible. And reportedly, he said to one of the tellers don't worry, I have a face, it's just invisible.'"
"The only thing he did when he was arrested was sigh dejectedly and say 'but I wore the juice!' His case is actually still in academic journals regarding the fact that people with low intelligence do in fact believe that they're smarter than everyone else."
AnnigidWilliams
Deadliest
"The Australian Funnel Web Spider is often regarded as the world's deadliest and hasn't had a confirmed kill in over 40 years since the antivenom was created."
Regnes
5%
"Very few mosquito species prefer human blood, but among those that do, only 5% are deadly to humans. Those 5% though, kill more people annually than humans do."
Punny-Aggron
"5% of mosquitoes are deadly to humans? Is this 100% due to other diseases or can a mosquito actually kill someone, kinda like if someone was allergic to bees and gets stung by one or something like that."
Eupion
Family Tree
"One of Joseph Stalin's granddaughters is a hipster/punk lady who runs a record shop in Portland."
TrumpsNeckSmegma
"One of Mussolini’s actual granddaughters was elected to the Rome council in 2021. One of his other granddaughters was on the European Parliament from 2014-2019 (this one also released some songs in Japan and had a stint as an actress and model)."
incoherentlex
"I wouldn’t be surprised, in terms of political beliefs, the granddaughter could be the same economically, but vastly different politically (being that punk culture is based on anarchy)."
cute-and-psycho
The Axis
"That a spy named Joan Pujol Garcia was awarded the highest honor of service from both the Allies and Axis in the Second World War."
Bma1500
"Wasn't actually the 'highest honour of service' but he was awarded for service both by Germany and the UK. It's not that he was actually playing both sides."
"It's that he intentionally set himself up as a double agent, working for the UK while pretending to work for Germany he did such a good job feeding a mixture of real and fake info to Germany that they never caught on that he was working against them, and ended up being instrumental in the British intelligence operation to mislead the Germans about where the D-day landings would take place."
AnonymousWritings
Planets
Ask The Storybots Planets GIF by StoryBotsGiphy"From the time it was discovered to the time it lost its status as a planet, Pluto made it less than a third of the way around the sun."
SaturnRocket
Billions
"105 billion people have lived so far. 7.9 billion of us are currently alive."
Figurinitoutfornow
"Assuming that the average life expectancy at birth is at least a decade (hopefully an underestimate, given that the life expectancy at birth in the bronze age was about 25 years, that's including infant mortality), that's at least a trillion years experienced by humans, collectively."
TheMoniker
Empires
"Oxford university is older than the Aztec empire."
didijxk
"It's also about 74 years away from its millennium anniversary. The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, predating Oxford by just eight years, is 66 years away from its millennium anniversary. I don't think my lifespan will make it to Oxford's. And making it to Bologna's would be a close call for sure."
AlienBogeys
Evil Amongst us
"It’s estimated people on average come across almost a dozen murderers in their lifetime."
Forsaken_Oil_96
"I'll bet I've come across hundreds. Many of them appear to be decent people on the surface. I am a strong death penalty advocate."
redreddie
"A serial killer bought me a drink once. I wish I still had the picture someone snapped of us. It was a going away party I think, something for a mutual friend."
XmasDawne
Grounded
"There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way. Roughly by a factor of 10."
TyroneMings
"I think I heard somewhere that 150 years ago a squirrel could go tree to tree from the Mississippi River all the way to the East Coast without having to touch the ground."
tidder-emanresu
Scorched
Vintage Vhs GIF by vhspositiveGiphy"Lightning bolts can reach temperatures 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun."
PretzylPower
I hate any and all facts pertaining to bugs and spiders. No thank you.
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Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.
