We love our parents most of the time, hate them some of the time, but chances are we're embarrassed by them 24/7. As much as we don't like to admit, they seem to know us better than we know ourselves when it comes to pushing our buttons, and they do it to maximum effect. Sometimes they do it unintentionally, blissfully unaware of their own un-coolness. Other times, why does it seem like they take gleeful delight in shaming us in front of our friends, families, and crushes? Ugh, It's just pure evil.
Redditor u/LuanGaff asks:
What's the most embarrassing thing a parent has done to you?
Ugh, She Did This On Purpose!
Had my first boyfriend in middle school and brought him home one time. At one point my mom made him bring me my clean laundry. And by that I mean a single pair of pink High School Musical underwear. I cried from embarrassment but he was actually pretty cool about it and comforted me. Then he cheated on me.
Damnit i was gonna say that! lol
Helicopter Parenting At Its Worst
When I was a senior in college I was working a part-time job. They offered to make my current position full-time once I graduated. Before I got a chance to respond my father found out and contacted my supervisor expressing concerns about the offer and the fact I was still in college. How my father found out still boggles my mind but when my supervisor told me that my dad called him was probably the most embarrassing thing either of my parents have done.
Edit: I spoke to my parents a few months after it happened and the only thing they considered wrong with the situation was that my supervisor told me my dad called.
Another story for your entertainment. When I was in seventh grade and went to a youth conference with my church. All students got a free t-shirt and people were signing each other's name on them. This one girl signed mine dotted the I with a heart and left her number. Well I get home my mom is doing my laundry and finds said number. Yup you guessed it, my mother called the number and told the girl I needed to focus on education and didn't have time for girls.
Every Phone Call Ever
For those who didn't grow up in a time where you shared a phone - with multiple extensions - with your parents, consider yourselves lucky.
For those who did...
Me: Hi it's Kayge, I was wondering if you were going to go to the mall tomorrow.
Girl I liked: Ummm, yea, I think so. It's Saturday, so I usually go with my friends.
Me: Well, if you're there, do you want to, y'know, meet somewhere and have lunch.
Girl I liked: Ummm, yea, that sounds good where do you want to go.
Me: Well I was thinking...
<CLICK>
<numbers dialing>
Mom: Hello?
Me: (Yelling upstairs) MOM, I'm on the phone!
Mom: (Through the phone) Kayge, are you on the phone? I was calling my friend Riva. She's having some people over tomorrow and I wanted to know if she wanted any Potato salad.
Me: (Yelling upstairs) MOM, I'm on the phone with (Girl I Liked), GET OFF!
**Mom: If you want, I can make a little extra so you can take it to Judo. I know how you get tired after class. Oooh, I hope I get to go this week, you look so handsome in your Judo outfit.
<Click>
Me: Sorry, my mom can be soooooo embarrassing.
...
...
Mom: I don't think she's there anymore, honey.
Shy Guy
After I submitted a job application to a manager when I was 16, my mother barged up and started going on and on about how I was really shy and not much of a people person.
Yeah, that's what a manager wants to hear about an applicant for customer service.
[deleted]
What the f*ck was she planning on doing?? i don't see how anyone could think that was a good idea at ALL.
Helicopter mom?
Ouch, That's Got To Hurt
My dad, influenced partly by Bad Boys 2, decided to mess with my boyfriend on my first date by acting like a hard-@ss. He filled a whiskey bottle with tea, and when he answered the door he chugged the whole thing while staring my boyfriend down, then tried to break the bottle over his own head. The date was canceled due to the hospital trip, and I became known as the girl with the batshit insane father. "Don't concuss yourself this time" became the running joke once I was able to get a date again.
Trick Or Tramp
When I was 8 (yes, 8 years old) I was OBSESSED with the new Charlie's Angels movie with Cameron Diaz, Lucy Lu, and Drew Barrymore.
There's a scene in the movie where Drew is dressed in a patriotic jumpsuit at Nascar racetrack and I really wanted to have that outfit for my Halloween costume. My mom is a costumer and, God bless her, made my costume from scratch to resemble Drew's jumpsuit.
Well, as you can probably imagine, an 8 year old girl does not have the cleavage to fill that jumpsuit out. So my mother decided to add MASSIVE fake tits to this costume. I was mortified and for some reason she would not take them out. So for Halloween that year, I had my arms crossed all of trick or treating. I still look back at the pictures from that year with deep anxiety.
Edit: adding sh*t quality pic of shame.
This Should Remain Private, Period.
My mom told everyone (20-30) people I got my period.
Thanks mom.
My mother did this too. Called everyone she knew. Smh.
Mine did the same thing...knowing I was a very private person. Like it wasn't bad enough I had to share a room with a younger sister opposite in personality, but to go and tell people that? Still angry with her about it 20+ years later.
Quiet The Scene-Stealer
My mom went through this phase where she would talk during movies, specifically about what's going on in the movie. She was also terrible at paying attention to what was going on so often times what she was explaining was incorrect.
In addition, she would try to talk over the movie. Mom would occasionally have to yell to make sure she was heard over the action scenes.
Imagine, if you will, watching the aftermath of the stampede scene from the Lion King and the person next to you yelling "SIMBA IS SAD BECAUSE HER DAD DIED."
Haunted For Life
My 350 pound mother streaked in front of my boyfriend and my friends for 100 bucks. I was only 16, and that image still haunts me.
My *sshole of a stepdad thought it'd be funny to give my alcoholic mother money to mortify me.
The Call That Killed A Career
She googles my boss's phone number, called him in his office, asked him to put me on the phone. In his office. I was in a meeting with a client, I didn't answer her call on my cellphone, in the middle of a work day.
She wanted to b*tch about my step-father, and wanted to talk now. No emergency or anything. She just wanted to talk and gave zero sh*t about the consequence of her actions, as per f*cking usual.
And that's the day my boss and pretty much the entire company lost respect for me. When the mom of their coworkers called him on his boss's office, to talk about personal sh!t.
A few months later, I resigned. There was nowhere to go in that place anymore...
What A Pain In The Flash
When I was 10 or so, I was struggling with being too big for kids' clothes and too skinny for most juniors' clothes. I was trying on this dress with a mesh area around the neck in the department store dressing room, and it was so big on me that my nipples literally showed through the mesh part that was supposed to be around my collarbones. Kids that age are moody, so I just lost it in frustration and started crying. My mom was like "Oh, just let me see" but I didn't want her to see because that meant showing the whole fitting area my nipples. Finally I showed her and when she saw how upset I was, instead of comforting me, she decided to mimic me, fake-cry in my voice saying "OH MY GOD EVERYONE CAN SEE MY NIPPLES" and flash everyone in the dressing room.
Your mom flashed everyone?
Yes. It was horrible. She was wearing a beige see-through bra that was actually the same color as the mesh yoke, so it was very on point tbh.
When Reality Is A Nightmare
When I was young we had a pajama day at school but I always just wore my boxers to sleep. Well obviously a kid can't show up to school in just underwear but I was too little/dumb to understand that. Why my mom allowed me to go and even drove me there, I have no idea. It was the most embarrassing day of my life, and the school had to call my parents to come pick me up halfway through the day
Edit to answer some questions: I was in elementary school, but I can't remember if it was 1st or 2nd grade. And the school didn't notice or care until halfway because I was eating lunch in the cafeteria and kids were staring at me, some adult must have noticed then.
I'm so sorry you went through that, I've had actual nightmares of going to school in my underwear, that's so f*cked up...
Worst Thanksgiving Ever
Tell everybody at Thanksgiving dinner at her boyfriend's house about my tween bout with anorexia. I didn't want to be there in the first place, and she just kept going on and on about how I had carrots for dinner for a year until I had to shout at her to stop.
What was the aftermath if you shouting at her?
To her credit, she was immediately embarrassed when she realized what she was doing, and apologized profusely.
At least you had the nerve to shout at her. Good on ya.
Careful The Things You Say, Children Will Listen
My father was a huge racist and used pejorative terms to describe other people.
I knew about the bad words for African Americans, Chinese people, and Japanese people so I never said them. Little me didn't know about the other words.
I used one in class to answer a question my history teacher asked and he was properly horrified. I was immediately removed from class and my confused self was grilled for hours about my word usage. I finally said I don't know what I did wrong, my dad says it all of the time to describe people from that country. They called my mom, I had to go home.
There was a shouting match between my parents and my dads mother that night and I was beaten soundly by my father.
Edit: JFC, fine. The word was "hadji". Also, I learned that it might not be as bad as I was lead to believe. Always learning something new on Reddit! Thanks y'all!
'Lighten Up'
I had C cup boobs when I was eleven years old.
My mom loved to LOUDLY talk about them to anyone who would listen. "Yeah, she's only eleven! You wouldn't think from the way she's filled out up top! Hehehehururhurhurhur."
Then I'd start crying from the humiliation and she'd tell me to "lighten up."
That is sooooo not right. I developed early too, and it's bad enough when you're the only girl in class with boobs without someone pointing it out. I can't even imagine going through that.
Saaaaaame!
I'm 5'11" and a f*cking Amazon. I had my period at 10, D cups at 11 and I was always the tallest girl. I was made fun of a lot though in Middle school. I do not speak to my father anymore for other various reasons but the mentality that sh*t does for a kid is f*cked up.
Scarred For Life
My mum pulled up my skirt, causing me to involuntarily flash a room full of people, at a Christmas dinner. I was absolutely mortified. She wanted to check for self harm scars on my thighs, apparently. I've never self harmed before. She should not be allowed to consume alcohol.
Edit, to answer the FAQs in the replies: I was 18, and I was wearing underwear.
Holy Ship!
When I was 5 or so my pre-k did a play based on Noah's ark (it was a pre-k attached to a church).
We were instructed that our costume was supposed to be rain coats/rain boots/umbrellas. I didn't have any of those things but begged my Dad to get me at least one of them so I'd fit in and follow the guidelines.
Fast-forward: the night of the play. I'm frantically scanning the audience because my Dad is ALWAYS late.
He finally shows up and brings me: a life jacket. I had to stand up there with all the kids in their little raincoats in a life jacket. I was really embarrassed. Dad's defense was that I was the only kid who would have survived the flood. 😂
I can laugh now but I sure wasn't laughing then.
Rough Night
I was 10 years old and and my 2 best friends (girl and boy) were sleeping over that night and my dad, the oversharer that he is, proceeds to tell my friends the story on how I was conceived in the back of a car on a cold night somewhere. I was so mortified and my friends were just as uncomfortable as I was and we collectively agreed to ignore the whole ideal. Also he brought the cake out to the lounge wearing only his undies and a bow tie. It was a rough night.
Everybody Saw. Everybody Heard.
My mother insisted on seeing exactly what I bought for clothes to make sure they weren't too baggy until I went away to college. When I was 17, we were buying jeans at the Gap, and when I wouldn't basically do a fashion show for her for every pair of pants I tried on, she crawled her 58-year-old self under the door of the dressing room where I was trying them on. I'm a guy, and the dressing room had a line out the door. Everybody saw. Everybody heard.
EDIT: Also, "All of your jeans are in the laundry. Just wear a pair of mine!"
EDIT2: "Your waist is two inches above your belly button, not halfway between your belly button and your penis."
Thanks, mom.
Oh hi there, seems like we have the same mother.
Mom, Get Out Of My Hair!
I came home from school with head lice. Instead of telling the teacher, who would send a letter home to everyone without specifically naming which child they noticed had lice, my mother rang every person in my class that she had the phone number of. She would have a chat with the parent all "yeah she has head lice so you need to check your kid". I probably got it from someone in my class and the whole class likely already had lice but kids don't realize that so the whole class were calling my dirty and saying I infected them. It was horrible. I was hysterically crying while she called people
Edit: didn't expect this to get noticed so to address the concerns. She never did anything bad ever in my life except this, she kept saying "don't be stupid I'm just telling their mothers so they can sort it" and presumably didn't expect them to tell their 7 or 8 year olds who it was. Clearly someone did because the whole class knew it was me by the next day. Seems there's a lot of comments below with similar stories of adults just having no clue about how oddly shameful it is to have lice when you're little which sucks. But kids will jump on anything to be mean sometimes.
| Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay |
How many people do you know battling addictions?
According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), addiction is "a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual's life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences."
Hearing from those who have battled addictions––and come out the other side––can be remarkably eye-opening, as we were reminded once Redditor YoshBotArmy asked the online community,
"People who have beaten an addiction... what's your secret?"
"I'd then check off..."
"Alcohol. The "one day at a time" approach was too much. I made a chart with a 24 hour day broken up into 15 minutes. For example: 8:00-8:15. [ ]
8:15-8:30. [ ]
8:30-8:45. [ ]
I'd then check off a box for every fifteen minutes I didn't drink. This really boosted my confidence because although I may have only gone two hours without drinking, my brain focused on the 8 boxes I checked off.
Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days, etc.
It's now been 8 years."
"You need to want to quit..."
"You need to want to quit, otherwise, it will be a fight against yourself. I quit smoking about 15 years ago after being a smoker for like 18 years. I decided to quit several times but never stuck, always found a reason to fall back into the habit. One day my 4yo daughter told me that she was going to find a way to save me from cancer because smokers are bound to get it. After that, I couldn't stand cigarettes anymore and quit within the week. Never again. I wanted to be there for my girl more than anything else."
"The lesson to take away from this..."
"I realised my binge eating was due to a general lack of self-control. I developed bulimia (exercise is my poison) trying to counteract it, and I still struggle with that.
I struggled with it for years and tried everything under the sun to stop it. It wasn't until I started practicing Stoicism that I started seeing life differently. Then a couple of years into that, I overheard a colleague say "it's all about finding balance" in a conversation about the challenges life throws at you. That quote stuck with me for about a year until I realised I have no sense of balance because I used to be an extremely black and white/all or nothing character.
It's now been 2 years since I completely stopped binge eating, and it was all due to having that epiphany. Took practice to get into good eating habits and a routine with meals but I'm all good now.
The lesson to take away from this - teach your children self-control and the ability to say no to themselves. My parents gave me everything I wanted so I had to teach myself this throughout my early 20s."
"That does not mean..."
"You have to learn to give yourself grace.
Relapses happen. I self-mutilate. I will do incredible for months. Then one negative thought can send me into a spiral and I harm myself.
That does not mean that I undid any of the hard work I had done up to this point. I acknowledge that I made a mistake, identify my triggers, and make an effort to start clear of them. Take a deep breath and try again."
A valuable observation.
"I kicked the habit..."
"I wasn't physically addicted to marijuana, but I had such a mental dependency on it that it was pretty much like being addicted. I couldn't function without it.
I kicked the habit by pursuing a girl. I really wanted to date her, and I didn't want her to know that I was actively smoking weed. I stopped smoking weed because I'd fallen in love with a girl. I'm now married to her, and I haven't smoked weed in over 4 years."
"The most important thing..."
"The most important thing I ever learned was not to fight cravings. I don't mean to give in and use when a craving strikes but for a long time simply feeling the craving was awful. I tried so much to avoid the feeling because I was scared of it.
I saw the suggestion to actually indulge the feeling and just let it wash over you. When I tried it, it was still uncomfortable to want to use but by letting myself feel the craving fully I was able to let it go and move on with my day more easily. Fighting the craving just made me suffer."
Sound advice.
"I wore a rubber band..."
"I wore a rubber band around my arm and anytime I thought about my addiction, I would snap it and hurt myself. That way, I associated my addiction with pain and eventually broke my body's natural desire for it."
It turns out this has merit.
"I have no idea..."
"Coffee. I was a serious caffeine addict (like 12 cups a day), and one day for no reason I just woke up and ... didn't feel like having coffee. I've had maybe 5 cups of coffee in the 10 years since then.
I have no idea why it happened, but I haven't felt a craving for it in years. I wish that would happen for my other bad habits."
"I don't think..."
"I don't think it's a secret. Understanding the addiction. Knowing that it takes time for the chemicals in your brain to reset. Knowing it's gonna suck. Being prepared as best you can. Knowing it's going to be a battle."
"I'm not very far..."
"It was really taking a toll on my overall health and one day I woke up and said never again. I'm not very far into recovery and I've never been to a meeting or anything. I know I can't have it around me or I'll relapse."
We are proud of anyone who manages to beat an addiction and who can speak about their experience so candidly. And if any of you out there are struggling, we're rooting for you.
The SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-4357) is a great resource, as is the National Suicide Prevention hotline (1-800-273-8255).
Have some of your own stories? Feel free to tell us about them in the comments section below.
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I'm just spitballing here, but it seems to me that pretty much that weapons of war are among humanity's worst creations. Sure: We live in an anarchic world. States can never be certain of another state's intentions. Conflicts are bound to break out. But in a perfect world––and a man can dream––none of this would be necessary.
It seems I'm not alone in this, either. People had opinions of their own after Redditor Questwarrior asked the online community,
"What was the worst human invention ever made?"
"Cheap and easy to make..."
"Landmines. Cheap and easy to make, but they remain active and people forget where they put them."
"It's toxic..."
"Styrofoam. It's toxic, can't be recycled, and there are better alternatives."
It also sounds horrible when rubbed against another piece of Styrofoam. Torturous.
"Now idiots can connect to each other..."
"Social Media - It gave people the ability to find others and create echo chambers. Before, idiots were isolated to dealing with just a few in their immediate radius of existence. Now idiots can connect to each other across the world and validate their thoughts/feelings."
This is very true. We're seeing the consequences, aren't we?
"Imagine companies..."
"Planned obsolescence.
Ain't built like they used to - because they can't sell you a newer model if the old one is still performing like new.
If companies didn't have this in mind we wouldn't be running out of resources and messing up the planet in search of more. This would create less conflict and way less pollution. Imagine companies actually making insanely good, long-lasting products instead of cheap ones that needs replacing more often than it should."
"As a medical student..."
"As a medical student, I basically see people every day whose lives have been wrecked by smoking. Kids and unborn babies get messed over by tobacco smoke. Stupid and plain evil."
A great film about the tobacco industry: The Insider (1999). Really makes you think about the cost we all pay for Big Tobacco.
"I can't believe..."
"The concept of Flat Earth. I can't believe people are still stuck in the seventeenth century and still believe in that crap and try to defend it with their misunderstandings of science and physics, as well as pure ignorance."
People believe the most ridiculous things.
"How am I going to pay you..."
"Overdraft fees. How am I going to pay you EXTRA money when I don't have money?!"
Human beings are capable of so much innovation, beauty, and joy, but threads like these remind us of all the horrors in the world. There's a lot of darkness in humans, too.
Have some of your own contributions to share? Feel free to tell us about them in the comments below!
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Formerly Homeless People Break Down What Most People Don't Get About Living On The Street
Homelessness is an unfortunate and all-too-common occurrence in the world, particularly in the United States. Homelessness has grown to a huge degree, and while most countries have the resources to help their homeless, many choose not to.
It is also difficult to break the cycle of homelessness once you have entered it. It creates a never-ending loop of failed job searching, lost or stolen goods/items/things of value, and stigmatization by society. More often than not, homelessness is begotten by another condition wherein the state or country fails to provide resources--such as mental health.
"Ex homeless people, what are some things people don't know about the streets?"
Here were some of those answers.
A Sad Reality
"My stint on the streets was about six months and due to some bad decisions I made. But what sticks with me the most was the crushing boredom."
"No intellectual stimulus at all because it's safer to keep your distance from other homeless, and you're not going to have a chat with civilian out of the blue."
"So you're completely alone all the time. And to avoid putting yourself in risky situations you stay on the move as much as possible."
"Most cities you can get some day labor work for quick cash but then you have to be careful about people knowing you have cash. You're always on the lookout."
"The only sound nights sleep I ever got was when I could manage to scrounge up enough cash to get a room in a transient hotel for a night and basically pass out from exhaustion."
"Other than that you're sleep deprived most of the time. And of course all this is made worse if on the streets in winter."-HardALee99
The Worst Side Of A Woman's Life (TW: Rape)
"I'm a psychiatric RN who works with mostly homeless people."
"I have heard SO MANY TIMES where women who tested positive for meth have said they use it to stay awake 24/7 to avoid being assaulted by other homeless."
Lucky To Be Alive
"People can and often do develop PTSD from being homeless, especially in rough areas. BF was kicked out at 14 in what was, at the time, the heroin capital of the Northeast, and he very quickly realized that selling drugs was the easiest way to make sure he had food/water/shelter as someone under legal age to work."
"But bouncing from crackhouse to crackhouse— especially as a kid— creates this state of constant hyper-vigilance, possessiveness over your belongings, a lot of hoarding behaviors, etc."
"Basically you wind up living in survival mode the entire time so you don't get assaulted/arrested/kidnapped/shanked."
"To this day if you touch him while he's sleeping he freaks the f**k out. Loud noises at night freak him out, car engines outside, lights in the window, etc."
"He still sleeps better on a couch in the corner of the room than a bed, because 'at least then you have something at your back, makes it harder for people to surprise you.'"
"Nightmares, too. Just... a whole bunch of sh*t, some of which I won't get into because he's embarrassed by it. Here are a few of the choice events he went through, though, just in the first two years or so:"
"He's almost had his throat slit with a half a DVD, woke up with a fork in his chest from some crazy chick, had all his food stolen, even had somebody inject him with heroin against his will while he was sleeping. Sad to think about."
"He's off the streets now, kicked a drug addiction, found a good-paying job, and is about to go to college. But the damage being homeless for his adolesence/early adulthood did..."
"It's going to be a while before he really feels safe. Not to mention he feels like a failure going to college at 30, but... I mean, how many people could have gone through all the horrific sh*t he went through, lived to tell the tale, AND somehow managed to keep going and eventually recover?"-vishuual
Homelessness is even expensive for the country because it leads to more and more problems that resources have to be expended upon in order to deal with the mental health and physical trauma it causes.
Over And Over
"One thing that f**ked me up was my concept of time. Often I'd be up late as f**k trying to sleep and before I knew it, the sun's back up."
"You gotta plan your day differently to use the restroom and it's hard to even find anything 'normal' to do because there are so little resources."
"People don't realize that being homeless is a situation in which no one is really looking to help you to find a sustainable life. It's truly being otherized and ostracized until you die or miraculously get back on the work grind."-SuperDuperChuck
Not An Addict
"I guess the worst part for me was the lasting trauma."
"Sure walking around in sandals because it's all you have when it's raining sucks. Sure sleeping in public is terrifying. Yeah homeless shelters are packed out. Borderline impossible to get a job."
"But the worst part was realising I'd lost some fundamental part of myself and I wasn't getting it back. Innocence maybe?"
"But it's more than that, it's like that Lily Allen music video where she's walking around with rose coloured glasses but the audience sees what's real. Yeah well, you lose the glasses and you never get them back."
"There's nothing that fixes the trauma of knowing people who you thought were your friends or family were fully aware you had nowhere to go and didn't do anything about it."
"You can't fix that feeling of your best friend not returning your texts until you're back on your feet. Or the stares you get in the street when thousands of people walk past and don't stop."
"I'm physically ok now but I'll never see people the same way again. I don't know how to. I used to be a really sociable person and now I steer clear of most people. I don't trust anyone."
"Also as an aside, the people who were kindest to me were always working class. A construction worker who bought me lunch. A taxi driver who got me a blanket. Rich people treat you like utter filth and disappear ASAP."
"I was homeless due to domestic violence as well, but people just assume it must be drugs. I literally barely drink let alone use drugs, but in people's minds homeless = addict."-SunnydaleHigh1999
Stop Stigmatizing Homelessness
"The amount of 'ordinary' people there are that are homeless. I was homeless for about 6 months but you would have never known."
"I had job where I could make just enough to stay fed and get a gym membership. I kept all my clothes in the gym/ back room of the restaurant I worked at."
"I'd hide and sleep in the back office of the restaurant. A lot of homeless people have cars and can sleep in them."
"Gym memberships are the easiest ways to stay clean/ not look homeless. Once my boss found out I was homeless, he let me move into a room at a hotel he managed for free. That man saved my life."-SeamanTheSailor
Food Or Money?
"People seem to have this perception that food is the only thing a homeless person would need to use money on and so they will give food in place of money."
"While giving food is nice, it isn't some one-to-one replacement for money. Food can't help you get cleaned up for job interviews, for example."-CattyPlatty
And homelessness is caused by a number of things--most of which are failures of the government. There are enough vacant homes in the United States for every homeless person to have 6.
Policing Your Own Cleanliness
"What's really important is staying clean. But not so clean people won't give you money if you have to panhandle."
"Don't let people know where you sleep if you can help it."
"Don't take work offers alone, you never know what kind of sicko's there are out there, especially once they have you alone in their environment."-Tired_of_yer_ish
Read That Part Again About How Close You Are To Homelessness
"Former homeless person here (as a child and an adult) and someone who used to work helping folks who were unhoused due to violence get housing:"
"-You are more likely to become homeless than win the lottery. Most Americans (around 60%, that number has probably changed in the pandemic) are one missed paycheck away from homelessness."
"-As shared above, lack of quality jobs, affordable inventory (meaning not enough affordable housing), and integrative and trauma-informed heath care services are the leading causes that keep people unhoused."
"All this to say, you have far more in common with people on the street than you think you do. Please see them as people. I will never forget what it felt like to have someone's eyes slide right past me like I was invisible. "
"No one is expecting you alone to end homelessness, but you can give someone $10 for a laundromat or shower, or say hello."-AbolitionistCapybara
Why Is It Illegal To Have The System Fail You?
"I was homeless with my single mom at the age of 9. In the US it is basically illegal to be homeless but it is definitely illegal to be homeless and have a homeless kid."
"My mom was a great mom. We just hit a really rough patch in the 2008 financial crisis in the US causing my mom to lose her job."
"She could not get another one and we ended up living in her mini van. However she was always able to get me food and get me to school. I am not sure how she was able to keep our situation a secret but I was so ashamed of living in a car that I wasn't about to tell anyone about it."
"I think it is twisted that the government would rather place kids with strangers and give those strangers money to take care of the kid than to help that kids family find stability."
"Furthermore my boyfriend was in the foster system for a number of years and has a few horror stories from it. I feel lucky that I was homeless with my mother and that we were able to get out of that situation in comparison to what my boyfriend went through in his childhood living with abusive foster parents."-psychologicalfuntime
The bottom line is that homelessness is not the fault of the homeless. It is the fault of a system that criminalizes a lack of resources and support, especially in the USA, the wealthiest country in the world.
What would we gain by continuing to criticize and stigmatize homeless people across the country?
It's amazing what the legalities are from place to place. I live in New England, and in Connecticut, passengers are allowed to drink alcohol in the car, as long as they aren't driving. Weed isn't legal there, but open containers in the car? Totally fine. At least we have something to look forward to as we cross the border.
There are some truly strange laws depending on where you go. Here is a list of the weirdest ones.
U/Bone_Donor asked: What is the stupidest law where you live?
Did you know that murder is allowed in certain instances, depending on where you go? Talk about scary.
I’m sure no one will test these laws.
Not sure how much of it is true. But apparently if the Swedes cross the border by walking over the ice given its frozen over, (which it hasn't in like more than 100 years) we are allowed to kill them.
There's an old law in York in the UK that says if a Scotsman is within the city walls after sundown you can kill them with a longbow. I assume no one has tested the law for a while.
The exact gates they have to be within are defined but I don't remember what they are.
Dying is illegal in France.
Kate Mckinnon Snl GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphyOh boy. France has some history and a love of regulation. Perfect mix for absurd laws. Quick examples:
It's still technically mandatory to have hay at home in case the king's horse is nearby and needs some... Horses have been a pretty rare sight, let alone kings.
A mayor made it illegal to die in his town. The initial problem was an overcrowded cemetery, but he kinda reached the wrong solution.
This probably isn’t enforced anymore.
There is a medieval law here that has never been repealed: all males over the age of 14 are required by law to practice longbow for at least two hours per week.
Some of these laws are so silly, they make you wonder what event happened that put them in place.
I think everyone has done this.
"Forbidden to pee in the ocean". I live in Portugal.
'Like a piss in the ocean' is literally a euphemism for something not mattering. What's the problem?
Tigers are fine, though.
film history GIF by DiggGiphyIt's illegal to bring a lion to the movies.
Somebody better have a conversation with MGM.
Define “suspiciously”.
You can't carry a salmon suspiciously.
"Sir, what were carrying this salmon close to your body? Were you going to use it as a weapon?"
"No officer, I was going to eat it later"
"Seems suspicious you were carrying it around in public. I'm gonna have to take you in for questioning."
"Nuuuuu!"
What is the backstory here?
It's illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors here.
I know this is Pennsylvania, but I forget the exact reasoning, but I think it has something to do with homeless people.
These next few laws will definitely make you question these towns’ legitimacy when it comes to lawmaking.
Poor raccoons.
raccoon stealing GIFGiphyIn Virginia, it's illegal to "hunt or kill any wild bird or wild animal, including any nuisance species" on Sundays. However, it is permissible to kill raccoons.
How the heck is this enforced?
I don't know if this is still a thing anymore, but in Texas it used to be illegal to own more than six dildos.
It's illegal to own any at all in Alabama unless the owner has a letter from a doctor claiming a legitimate medical need.
Granted, most of these laws were written a very long time ago. But it makes you wonder, what the heck were these original lawmakers doing? And what event happened that needed these laws to be enforced at all?
If some of these laws don't make you want to be a criminal, then I don't know what will