We unfortunately don't usually get to choose the way we (naturally) die. But wouldn't it be great if there were some things we could just avoid?
For example, nobody wants Alzheimer's. Nobody wants to drown. Nobody wants to die slowly and painfully, forgetting who they are.
Absolutely nobody.
u/Skystalker512 asked:
What is a cause of death you certainly don't want to die from?
Here were some of the answers.
Distress
A couple months ago I was on a train when it stopped and asked all medical personnel to report to my car. I look back and a man is on the floor with his girlfriend sobbing. Everyone went quiet so I heard him gasp "I....can't....breathe" and I was so scared I would witness this man's panicked last breaths. After about 20 minutes they were able to get him stable enough to carry him off.
Before I had never really thought of not being able to breathe as a terrifying way to die but damn....
Nope Nope Nope Nope
Death by lathe. It's not so much for me as it is for the poor jerk who has to untangle me.
I've seen photos of the aftermath, certainly taught me to respect the machinery.
The Trenches
Drown in the mud like soldiers during WWI
Oh damn, that. I heard Dan Carlin's podcast on Passchendele, and the unmitigated horror of slowly drowning in mud over the course of a few days haunts my sleep. They begged their brothers-in-arms to shoot them.
Nature's Slow Cooker
Glow Worms. The way they kill their prey is one of the most painful ways to die in the animal kingdom. They use the silk stands to attract prey, paralyse them, drill a hole in the side of their head and fill their insides with stomach acid, then leave them - for 2 weeks to digest.
Oddly Specific
Surviving a High-speed Car crash only to come out of surgery, live in massive pain for two days and then your heart gives out from all the excruciating pain.
Or surviving a fire but over half your body is covered in 3rd Degree wounds, only to die weeks before being cleared to leave and having to spend all those years in the burn unit only to never see the outside world again.
Mental Anguish
Killed by someone I know.
I don't want to spend the last minutes of my life with the conflicting thought of all the moments I lived with that person Vs. What they're doing to me at the moment. Fear, frustration, sadness, betrayal, pain.
Just Like Floyd Collins
John Jones, who got stuck upside down in a super tight cave passage in Utah and rescuers couldn't get him out... so they had to just let him die and then sealed the cave up.
Yeah. Not my ideal bucket kicking.
Ker-Plunk
Driving off a bridge into deep water. Its never happened to me, but for some reason the sound of a windshield cracking upon impact with water and the feeling of a seatbelt digging into my neck and hips pop up in my nightmares a lot. I have a hard time crossing bridges in vehicles, thanks to that.
The Worst Of The Worst
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Alzheimer's. I have a seizure condition, and when I have had a seizure there is a period of time where I cannot remember certain things. For instance there was an incident where I couldn't remember friends names, or how to do basic things like wash the dishes. I could not muster any memory of how to turn the water on, use the dish soap or how to actually clean the dish. It has lasted for upwards of a week. And it's scary. Because you cannot communicate meaningfully with others. So I couldn't imagine being like that without recourse.
Made Of Stone
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I remember reading about this guy that fell into a pit of concrete powder, and he inhaled some of it. It set in his lungs, causing him to very slowly and painfully suffocate.
The lungs are a series of tissues, crossing one another, which makes it worse. It's not like in a cartoon, where they're just balloons. They're like sponges to maximize surface area for respiration; having cement dust first burn and then set between the membranes is arguably the most horrible sensation I can imagine.
Stop Touch
Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva
The best known FOP case is that of Harry Eastlack (1933–1973). His condition began to develop at the age of ten, and by the time of his death from pneumonia in November 1973, six days before his 40th birthday, his body had completely ossified, leaving him able to move only his lips.
O.o
Lost
Like that poor chick lost in the Odessa catacombs; total darkness, panic, silence and just slowly fading from lack of EVERYTHING... cannot imagine a more drawn out and miserable way to go
So sad
Unconventional, Yet Still Horrible
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I just got told of a case, where a guy put a pantyhose over his head, added some cheddar on top and sat in front of a heating lamp. Suffocated on melting cheese. Way to go!
Reality Taken
I think more than anything on earth I'm scared of alzheimers.
To me it's just so sad.
You live a long, healthy life, with so many beautiful memories to just have them ripped away from you.
You forget your SO, then your kids, then everyone else, then what? You're alone in this world and you're stuck living with that hell.
You die with nothing, no memories, no loved ones (as far as you know) and that is the most heartbreaking thing to me.
I'd rather die than deal with that.
The hardest thing I've ever done was tell my great grandmother I love her and she doesn't even respond.
I don't want to live through that, no way in hell.
Anxietyeh
In a plane crash. The actual impact isn't what I'm talking about, it's the unbearable amount of terror you'd experience before. Like you know you're going to die while hurling to the ground, and everybody in a screaming panic around you. Gets my anxiety up whenever I think about it. I'm going on a 9 hr plane trip next month and I have a severe phobia of them.
Under The Ground
Buried alive with an oxygen tube running into the coffin/box/whatever it is you're buried in. Obviously it would suck if you were buried alive but you wouldn't be alive for long. There's only so much oxygen in that enclosed area before you run out and ultimately die (6 or so hours give or take). Well, now imagine you're buried alive but have a tube running from the coffin to the surface that provides you with enough oxygen to breathe normally. You're stuck there for days until you die of dehydration. Days trapped in a tight, enclosed area with no relief. All you can do is sit there and suffer in darkness until your body finally gives out or if you're lucky, die of shock. Sounds like a pretty terrifying way to go if you ask me.
Ok!
Cartoon Yes GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy"Breastfeeding, sure no problem. Changing diapers on the table/booth/chair, no freaking way. There's a reason most bathrooms have a change table."
- LuntiX
Be Clean
"As long as you don't leave your dirty flip-flops on the table that's disgusting."
"Last week I was at a cafe terrace and I saw a woman breastfeeding her baby and afterwards changing the diaper on the table (which was a tad odd since they have a nice changing room there). After she left I noticed she left the dirty diaper on her plate, didn't even bother to close it up."
- domin8r
Silence
"A baby can't scream with a mouthful, so I'd say it's a win-win."
"My son used to do the same. The thing is his twin would get right to feeding and would stimulate the let down on his boob too, so it would be 20 seconds of screaming and 30 seconds of vague drowning noises before he clicked that food was happening."
Who Cares?
"The baby's gotta eat. Plus I don't even pay enough attention to other people to even notice or give a crap either way."
- Jikal
"I agree lol!! I've noticed moms breastfeeding their babies at a restaurant maybe a grand total of TWO times in my whole life, and I go out to eat all the time. However, I ALWAYS notice when a baby is screeching so loud nobody can enjoy their meal."
"I don't even mean just crying, I mean that SCREECH they do sometimes where if you're anywhere close to them you can't even continue talking, you just have to stop and WAIT for the kid to finish. (I promise I don't hate kids LOL this is just my opinion)."
No Adults
Oh No You Didnt GIF by happydogGiphy"Acceptable if she's breastfeeding her baby, weird if she's doing so with her husband."
- maajyc
So far, so normal. Stay in your own conversation. If you're that interested about another person, you're sounding like a stalker.
Whateves
Let It Go Whatever GIF by Hannah Bronfman Giphy"The more it happens the less people will care."
Couple Issues
"I was once breastfeeding my daughter on the beach, aside from my boob being *kind of* out (mostly blocked by the baby) I was wearing shorts and a shirt, more covered than most of the people on the beach. Apparently a dude started watching me that I didn't notice and his girlfriend took offense to it."
"She started to approach me, but my mom was with us and gave her the stink eye to end all stink eyes. I have to think if they had been just a little more exposed to breast feeding this wouldn't have been anything. I'm also 99% sure that incident resulted in the couple fighting."
When in Public
"I walked with my head down the majority of my life because I felt like everyone was staring at me as I'm a very tall female. Started looking up a few years ago and realized how very wrong I was. I cared WAY more about this made up scenario in my head while assuming the worst and causing MYSELF to feel shame over it- than anyone else ever cared about my height. We're all busy doing our own thing and I don't think MOST people care about women breastfeeding in public as people think they do."
In the UK...
"I went to a mall in London, England once with a room dedicated for baby care. There were comfortable chairs and a microwave and sink. There were also little rooms with rocking chairs and low light floor lamps. Now, I would feed my baby wherever the hell I needed to, but this was luxury."
Free!
Mothers Day Mama GIF by reactionseditorGiphy"I'd rather a happy baby having a meal than a hungry miserable baby screaming and crying for nourishment. I am however against the restaurant charging an opening fee."
It is what it is. Be free ladies. Whatever keeps the kid quiet, works for most of us. Do as you need.
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Reddit user QadeerRay asked:
What is an item you think should be free?
The responses were honestly a lot more varied than I expected. I was positive I'd see someone mention the places that charge you for using rain water - the literal water that falls freely from the sky - but there's a lot here that I hadn't even thought about and honestly, I'm kind of salty now.
Come, be salty with me.
Notifying People Is Expensive
creepy grim reaper GIFGiphy"Death certificates." - redrivverrunning
"For me they were $16 each - and every single company that the deceased has an account for needs a copy."
"I learned to go in person to places like banks as much as I possibly can. They make a copy and give it back to me, that way I can avoid mailing it for them to keep forever so I have to buy even more official copies." - classic_elle
"In the state where I live, they charge you $20 for the first certificate and $3 for each additional one so the funeral homes generally suggest you go ahead and order 5-6 more than you think you'll need after figuring out their accounts and stuff because it's still cheaper than getting a single extra at a later time." - SilverDarner
"The UK government does have a service where you inform them of a death, provide them with the certificate, and they'll make a best effort to inform all of the person's banks and pension providers. It doesn't have nearly the number of companies being informed that I would've liked, but it's a good start."
"What confuses me is that other companies aren't jumping at the chance to be on the notification list... you'd think it would be in their best interest to be notified if one of their customers died so they can clean stuff up on their end. But oh well." - SweatyOctopussy
"Not really, (at least in the US) they would really only need to stop billing/autopay once they are informed of the death and it is confirmed. The longer they can go without that confirmation, the better it is for their bottom line."
"Source: Work in corporate America" - TheLastFartan
Looking At You, Nestle
3D Loop GIF by Pi-SlicesGiphy"Drinkable water. Looking at you, Nestle. The company has a history of taking over water sources and that whole formula thing was gross." - Whit-Batmobil
"Nestle financially pushed for hospitals in 3rd world countries to start new born babies on 'free trials' of formula feeds so the mother's weren't feeding & their milk would dry up. Essentially forcing them to buy & continue using the formula forever."
"To make matters worse, this was done in areas with no safe drinking water so babies that were only a few days old were giving formula mixed with unsafe water & many got sick/died as a direct result when their mothers could have just breastfed them safely and for free."
"Even when Nestle was alerted to this (as if they didn't already know) they refused to change their tactics. The company is scum." - now_you_see
In Public
bathroom GIFGiphy"Using public toilets in Europe." - pretty_pumpkin
"Personally, here in Germany I find it is counter-intuitive. I think people resent having to pay for a toilet, and treat it like 'Alright, you're going to charge me €.50 for a pee, I'm going to get my money's worth then and just piss everywhere, because f--- you for making me pay to pee.' "
"This I find is especially true with toilets where the cleaning is 'automated.' On the other hand, you go into a lot of department stores, or a mall, etc, the toilets are often attended to by a person sitting just outside the entrance. Payment is usually optional (i.e. there is no turnstyle you have to unlock by putting money in), but it is typical to put €.50 or so in the dish on your way out... and in those cases I find the bathrooms very clean."
"Other bathrooms, particularly those along the autobahn, are actively serviced, but have a payment turnstile thing you have to go through. You can then use the receipt from the turnstile at the fast food and snack shops which are a part of the building, and you'll get the amount you paid at the bathroom deducted from your purchase."
"But overall public bathrooms are just terribly hard to find (paid or otherwise). Public pissing is common and basically unavoidable. You see it and smell it regularly." - Mozambique-Ready
Insulin
michael douglas greed GIF by 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentGiphy"Insulin industry is actually hijacked by three companies and they're doing all they can to keep it's price high."
"It's not a luxury. It keeps people alive! Show some humanity."
"• Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi are the three companies that dominate more than 90% of the world insulin market by value. This means that they can set prices as they wish."
"• Production cost of insulin is about 2% of it's market price."
"• Unlike any other medicine, there is no generic insulin. Insulin is still under patent after 37 years. 'Big three' producers are abusing legal loophole for over 4 decades. (Known as Patent evergreening)."
"• These companies make profit of worth billions. Not to mention they're spending millions on lobbying politicians and donating to other decision makers to keep quiet."
"• They pay another companies not to enter the market. Or they sue them. That's what happened to company called Merck. Sanofi sued them." - DogDisguisedAsHooman
Standard Bathroom Care
tampons ugh men GIF by DiggGiphy"Uhm tampons and pads in public restrooms, schools, etc. Freak I'm a penis carrier and even I think that sh*t should be free."
"You would be mad if you went in to a public restroom and there was a coin slot for the f*cking toilet paper."
"I don't think they should be free off the shelf. Everything requires money to make so in reality nothing is free, but this should be standard care in every bathroom just in case." - TripleThickBacon
We're Not Here For Fun
season 8 episode 23 GIFGiphy"Hospital parking. Oh, dad's dying? Doesn't matter. 5 bucks." - bdd4
"Where I live you go in for free, but they do charge to leave. If you get your parking validated, (pretty much just saying you had a reason to be there as a patient or visitor) you get to leave for free."
"They had a huge issue with people parking there for free, but not even being there for the hospital. Just a place to park as they did business or shopping downtown where the hospital is located." - Howling_Fang
"You're gonna love this. We as hospital staff have to pay to park the hospital as well!"
"I am close to graduating from a medical program and some area hospitals hire from graduates of our school's program over other applicants so they have meetings at our campus about working there and benefits, etc"
"the cheapest parking package they offered, which is still a MASSIVE hike to the door is $50 a week, the most expensive being $100 a week."
"They made it a point to highlight that their staff ride all the city buses for free with our ID cards and they bring you to the front door, so that's something at least." - xBlackx_xDahliax
The Dreaded Paywall
Pay Me Kim Kardashian GIF by GQGiphy"Scientific articles. They're mostly behind a paywall."
"You can either subscribe to certain journals so that you have access year-round ($ depends on the specific journal), or you can pay for access to one article at a time. The latter is usually about $30-$50."
"As a scientist, this has always irritated me. People on social media everywhere reference blogs and other non-scientific articles, which are, of course, ill-informed and non-scientific."
"We should be linked to science journals when we Google - but then every time we're interested in some topic, pay $50 to read about it?? That's ridiculous."
"Even news media reporting on interesting results from science pubs get the results mucked up. You really can't trust anything but the peer-reviewed paper itself." - BrahmTheImpaler
"I firmly believe this is one (of many!) reasons why the US is full of anti-science/anti-intellectualism rhetoric."
"We keep information locked behind paywalls, creating yet another socioeconomic barrier for attaining knowledge. Even if the desire to learn is there, it means incredibly little without the ability to access the information." - sayhellotojenn
Buying My Info Back
Confused Always Sunny GIF by It's Always Sunny in PhiladelphiaGiphy"Schufa Auskunft."
"This private company in Germany just collects all your information (like a credit score) without your consent and the you have to buy all that info back from them because otherwise no landlord will ever accept you."
"There is a free Schufa you can request that once a year (so bad luck if your search for a home takes over a month) and it's also not the full one. Some landlords still demand the full one." - GreenKangaroo3
Seeing Is A Luxury?
Glasses Seinfeld GIFGiphy"I have insurance and I still have to pay (in my opinion) too much to just be able to see."
"It's not a luxury, it's a basic need. Also, my sight changes all the time so I can't even get a nice pair and be set for the next few years. If I'm lucky I'll get to keep a pair for 1,5 to 2 years before I absolutely need new glasses." - Proper-Literature173
"I think it's weird that vision and dental are separate from health insurance. Like seeing and chewing are just vanity." - FistedTate
"I can't believe how far I had to scroll to find this, I passed 3 waters and chicken nuggets. Why does it cost money to see? And I have 20/20 vision so this doesn't affect me." - Tian_Lord23
So tell us, what you YOU make free for everyone if you could?