Image by Pepper Mint from Pixabay |
It's that time of year again!
My sweaters are no longer hibernating in the closet, the temperature has dipped, and I've been sitting in my apartment doing nothing but drinking tea and reading all day. Sometimes I head outside for a nice walk to enjoy the crisp autumn breeze!
I am truly in my element now, can't you tell?
After Redditor domdomdom asked the online community, "What's your favorite thing about autumn?" people chimed in with all their favorite things about the season.
"I can't explain it..."
The leaves changing color, the crisp air, and the smell. I can't explain it, but fall has a smell that's so comforting. Brings me back to memories of my childhood.
"It's beautiful..."
I live in a tourist town. The weather is at its best in autumn, but nearly all the tourists have gone home. It's beautiful, and warm, and crowd-less, and serene.
"I love the solitude..."
Hiking.
In the woods, the crunch of the leaves under your feet. On a ridge line, the foliage an explosion of reds and oranges.
I love the solitude as people head inside and leave the trails empty. No bugs, no people, just stillness.
"It sounds silly..."
Soup. It sounds silly, but my father makes amazing soup. He only makes it during the cooler months, though. I always look forward to it.
"I tend to get too hot in the summer..."
The temperature, and the leaves. I tend to get too hot in the summer - I sweat a lot - and, for me, my ideal temperature is somewhere between 15C-19C (59-66F). Spring has the same range of temperatures, but I find spring to be a lot wetter. Plus the changing colours of the leaves are beautiful, and a little bittersweet, because they mean winter's coming. It's so pleasant being outside right now. I hope it stays warm through at least the start of November.
"Going to the orchard..."
Going to the orchard and picking apples! Then baking afterwards. Also just the smells, candles, and hot tea.
"And the food."
Besides the natural beauty around me, it's the cool crisp early mornings.
Dressing in layers - I love sweater weather compared to hot summer weather.
And the food. Cooking becomes more interesting with fall vegetables like butternut squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes, etc. Plus soup, stews. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
"I'm torn between..."
I'm torn between the crisp/cool air, the position of the sun lower in the sky, being able to wear most of my clothes from my closet again, weather (like fog/clouds), and Halloween.
"It reminds me..."
It reminds me of going away to post-secondary. Walking to class in the cool morning air. Looking forward to learning new things.
"I always find myself..."
I love the changing trees, the cool hoodie weather, bonfires, and most of all the realization that another year will have soon passed. I always find myself being more reflective in the fall on how my life has changed during the year and how much (or little) I've grown. I think there's just an inherent peacefulness to fall that can't be found in the other seasons.
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There's a reason people are prompted to say "Too Much Information" or 'TMI" in modern slang.
Most commonly, people are urged to say so when they've learned a piece of information that they think they would have been better off not knowing.
Information which caused a visceral reaction of one sort or another, be it disgust, sadness, anger or heartbreak.
Making them feel all the worse is knowing what they learned isn't an opinion, but the cold, hard truth.
Redditor airuarak123 was curious to learn what pieces of information people firmly believe they were better off not knowing, leading them to ask:
"What's a fact you wish you didn't know?"
Gone And Forgotten
"In most cases it only takes three generations to be completely forgotten."- Fred_the_skeleton
Stuck In Your Own Body
"Locked in syndrome is terrifying."
"You are alive and conscious but have no way to communicate that or stop it."- Lilliputian0513
Flight Of The Living Dead
"I read this book called Fever about doctors treating Lassa Fever victims in Africa."
"There was a pilot who would fly dead victims to a city morgue for autopsies."
"The bodies were on a gurney in the back if a small plane."
"Sometimes the change in air pressure would cause air to expel from the lungs over the vocal chords, which would create sounds like moaning."
"And more than once the air pressure caused the corpse’s stomach muscles to contract and it sat up."- Positive-Source8205
No Dare Is Worth It!
"The story of a Sam Ballard whose friend dared him to eat a slug."
"He ate it."
"Death came quickly AFTER THE 420 DAY COMA."- astoneworthskipping
Good for them
"Apparently farmers get the most sex out of any profession."- Outrageous_Package_8
Evil Is Real
"I seriously wish I hadn't seen all those Mexican Cartel videos."
"The level of creativity and evil is almost unfathomable."- watch_over_me
You Thought It Was Bad...
"The challenger astronauts didn't die until they hit the ocean."- Cravatitude
Neglect And Abuse Has Lasting Effects
"Childhood trauma and neglect leads to permanent structural changes to the brain that effect the way you perceive and interact with the world."- Doingmybest2019
They Know More Than Let On
"30% of people that report missing people end up kidnapping/murdering them."- Kewleila
As they say, the truth hurts.
And when we can go through our lives without needing to know certain things, then ignorance is, indeed, bliss.
Because honestly, who feels their life improved after learning the truth about Santa Clause?
Doctors Describe Their Craziest 'I Don't Think This Is Important, But' Patient Experiences
Some of us dread going to the doctor's office, but keeping up with your checkups is important. You wouldn't want to have a sudden health emergency would you? (Keeping up with appointments is kind of difficult to do in a nation where so many people are uninsured, but that's a topic for another article...)
Ask a doctor, ask any doctor, and they're bound to have a story about a patient who came in for a routine checkup, not thinking that their symptoms were in any way important.
We heard some of these stories after Redditor Cuteregister1827 asked the online community,
"Doctors of Reddit, what was your worst, 'I don't think this is important, but—' patient?"
"Intercepted a young woman..."
"Intercepted a young woman who was just hit by a car. Her boyfriend was standing with her freaking out. I do a basic physical exam and get a history, and make her comfortable as we wait for the ambulance to arrive."
"Once the ambulance arrives they ask for the same information, except this time the boyfriend mentions he was the one who was actually hit by the car and was shielding his girlfriend's body. The entire car's windshield was cracked by the impact of his back. He was just freaking out and worried about her, and was in shock and hadn't begun to feel any pain yet."
[deleted]
Wow, imagine seeing that first-hand. Ouch!
"We continued talking..."
"Had a patient come into the ER with some sort of spider/bug bite on her hand that had progressed to a red line running up her arm. She stated she put Benadryl cream on and it was very itchy."
"We continued talking and I asked if she had any allergies…”yes, Benadryl.” I thought good lord wtf and I’m sure it was reflected on my face."
"We washed the Benadryl cream off her arm and miraculously it stopped itching."
sweetlyserious
So this is the person that makes it necessary for medication commercials to say "do not take this medication if you are allergic to this medication."
"I didn't."
"I had a headache, and a few hours later noticed that my irises were different sizes. I went reluctantly to the emergency room. Minutes after presenting myself I had neurologists looking at me and I was rushed to get scanned. The artery about an inch and a half below my brain had torn. The doctors were basically just waiting for me to have a stroke."
"I didn’t. Somehow."
kungfusyme
Wow!
You are the definition of lucky, truly.
"Was told by their pediatrician..."
"Emergency radiologist here. I see plenty of people presenting with understated symptoms that turn out to be mind blowing advanced disease. The saddest one was probably the 4 year old boy who presented with a rigid abdomen for a few months."
"Was told by their pediatrician it was constipation months ago but his parents never followed up when it didn't resolve. When I imaged his abdomen I found his entire liver was replaced with a mass consistent with hepatoblastoma."
"I asked the parents why they waited so long to work it up. They said they were satisfied with the diagnosis of constipation. That one left a mark on my soul."
abandonedsquirrel
They weren't concerned that he was constipated for months?! This is so sad.
"Went in for a recurring pain..."
"I'm the patient. Went in for a recurring pain in my throat. Quadruple bypass a week later."
Fatoldguy
And here you are! Glad to see you're still with us.
"I went to examine him..."
"Doctor here."
"I had one a few months ago sent into the hospital by his primary care doctor with 'shoulder pain'. He said he felt absolutely fine, just a really uncomfortable right shoulder pain that hadn't gone away for a couple of weeks. He maybe felt a bit more tired than usual and oh, come to think of it, had lost quite a bit of weight recently and none of his clothes fit him any more."
"I went to examine him and had what we describe in the profession as a "heartsink" moment. He was jaundiced, and his abdomen was absolutely solid in the right upper zone from a huge, craggy liver."
"Get him in the CT scanner and he is just fulllll of cancer. Everywhere. Couldn't even work out which was the primary."
"The shoulder pain is what we call "referred pain" and is commonly caused by diaphragmatic irritation, in this case from all the liver masses pushing against it."
"Bless him. I think about him a lot."
cmwilson95
Wow! This is simultaneously a relief but also oh so scary, for both the doctor and the especially the patient.
"Everyone at my company..."
"Everyone at my company knows the story of the patient who came in for genetic counseling, went through their whole family history with the counselor, and then concluded with, "Oh yeah, I was adopted as a baby and don't know who my birth parents are, does that matter?""
ThadisJones
"14-year-old cancer survivor..."
"14-year-old cancer survivor comes in for his routine post-chemo screening echocardiogram. His heart was barely moving. I don't remember the EF, probably in the low teens. We sat him and mom told for some bad news, put EMLA on his arm for a PICC and walked him to the cardiac ICU."
"A few months later he has a heart transplant. Kids, man. They can look great on the outside when compensated. Then you look at the images and just get nauseous for them. Scariest thing about pediatrics and #1 reason why kids need kid doctors."
msbossypants
Always good to stress this. Heartbreaking otherwise.
"Man came in A&E for some laceration wounds after a fall, noticed he had a putrid nasty dead toe. On further questioning, he admitted that the toe had been like this for some time, but it didn't worry him because it didn't hurt. He was admited for an amputation and possibly sepsis."
Let's be clear: That is terrifying and some people have an insane pain tolerance.
"I was an internal medicine resident..."
"I was an internal medicine resident who had a patient come to my clinic for “persistent flu.""
"I had never seen her before, and she was a healthy appearing woman in her 60s. About a month before seeing me, she was seen by her PCP with persistent coughing, and otherwise had no shortness of breath or other infectious symptoms. Just a dry cough."
"She got tested for flu and was negative, but got tamiflu just incase it was a false negative. She had a chest X-ray which was normal. She came to me a month later because her cough persisted despite completing her therapy."
"Everything sounded great. Heart, lungs, everything. To be honest I don’t usually do this, but something in my gut told me to feel for lymph nodes. I felt around and found something above her left clavicle. It was hard, round, and she was completely unaware of it."
"I told her it was probably a reactive lymph node, but just in case, I wanted to get an ultrasound. This cascaded into her getting a biopsy, which showed squamous cell lung cancer. A CT scan showed stage IV lung cancer, not seen on her chest X-ray. All diagnosed because of a lymph node that almost by chance I was lucky enough to find by being thorough."
"I checked her chart about a year ago, and she was doing well. She got therapy and was in remission after a very long road and many obstacles. I’ll never forget her or her case."
STEM190
That's seriously impressive. Sometimes it's just that extra bit of effort that pays off.
You never know when what feels like a routine doctor's visit can turn into a sudden health scare! Be honest with your doctor. You'll thank yourself later.
Have stories of your own to share? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below.
Many people in the workforce have complained about being tired and overworked in their jobs.
Because there is no other alternative to getting that weekly paycheck, workers in many industries endure the stresses of the job.
But what if the companies these exhausted employees work for could hypothetically alleviate their work-related stresses and anxiety by reducing their work hours?
Could you be on board?
Curious to hear what strangers online would think about modifications to their work schedule, Redditor LanaDelCoochie asked:
"Do you believe in the 4 day work week? Why or why not?"
People mentioned how poor time management was more problematic.
Marking Time
"Some jobs are literally waiting for something to happen."
– Leeiteee
Working Efficiently
"I don’t mind working if I’m busy, but sitting somewhere staring at a clock waiting for the time when I’m ‘allowed’ to leave drives me crazy. If there’s nothing for me to do, let me go home. You’re just wasting my time and your money."
– uglyuglydog
Slow Shift
"I'm food service, my first store was so slow I only needed 2 people in the afternoon. I intentionally worked 11-2 then 5-11 just so I didn't have to twiddle my thumbs and clean already clean things for 3 hours each day."
– BlueNinjaTiger
Stress Of Killing Time
"My current job (the contract for which expires next Friday, but is up for negotiation tomorrow) is 15-20h WFH at my convenience. I wake up at 3am, log in, and work until everyone else in my house gets up- usually, 7. If I need to add some hours, I log in again while my toddler is at preschool."
"A few years ago, when I worked for this same company, I was tied to a desk in a poorly-renovated school building and very frequently had nothing to do. I cannot tell you how many books I read during my days at my desk in the summer with nothing to do. I browsed Reddit a fair amount, sure, but it was easier to leave a Kindle window open just a sliver next to an Excel spreadsheet to look busy. I re-read a few of my favorites; I read many new things."
"But it was so maddeningly frustrating to be stuck inside at work with literally nothing to do, waiting for anything to come to my inbox!!"
– WomanOfEld
People discuss the pros and cons of working remotely.
Benefits Of Working From Home
'If there’s nothing for me to do, let me go home.'
"Which is one of the reasons I've liked working from home since Covid started. If things are slow and I don't have anything to do, I can relax for a bit and wait for stuff to pick up."
– Surax
Being Productive While At Home
"100%. I'm newish at my current job, so I try to be in the office as much as I can. But if it's a slow week and I already foresee my Thursday/Friday being slow- I'm staying home. I'm still doing what I have to do, but I can simultaneously do other things like read or watch something without feeling guilty, do some laundry, hang with my dog, etc. After my first full year I will most likely be normalizing this to be my Friday each week at the very least."
"On the other side of the spectrum, my last job was fully remote and I was a little too bored and also didn't push to do anything beyond my basic responsibilities, so that was very unhealthy. It's good to be at least moderately productive and accept a new challenge every now and again. I basically did nothing for 2 straight years."
– daveblu92
It's A Preference
"I totally get why people love it, but I am so unproductive at home it‘s crazy. Tried nearly every trick in the book, but when it comes down to it just going to somewhere else for work does the trick for me."
"I think working from home is a nice tool, but it certainly isn‘t a solution for everyone. And even working from home a 4 day week makes a big difference."
– Ulldra
Not For Everybody
"For me, I am discovering the reason for my unproductivity is lack of interest in the work. Like, if I go into the office then I feel I have to make it worth it by getting the work done. If I am working from home though... I feel so unproductive because I just don't care. Like I could get the work done easier while nobody is interrupting but instead I interrupt myself."
"I've got one more week in the current job then I start a new one where I actually feel interested in what I will be doing there. Who knows how long that will last for but it just feels more like something I'd like to think about than twiddling my thumbs."
"Not the case for everybody but something to consider."
– Libriomancer
The limited work schedule seemed to please a good majority of people.
The Popular Opinion
"You might be surprised. I work with a lot of folks who still do the five-day work week, but all of them have been incredibly respectful and accommodating of our 4-day week. They ask me to schedule a meeting or call on a Friday, I reply with 'I don't work on Fridays, what other options work for you?' and they invariably give me other options without batting an eye. And frequently say 'I wish we were on a 4-day week, too.'"
– Mehitabel9
The Thing About Fridays
"It’s because even people who 'work on friday' don’t really work on Friday. Especially if your office has a WFH policy, 90% of the company will be from home on a Friday. And 95% of that group is signing off at 1pm, and breezing through their morning/just shaking their mouse. Just watch peoples skype statuses on Fridays lol."
"And even before Covid when I had to go into the office on Friday, it was well recognized that Fridays were for chilling. You don’t schedule a 3pm friday meeting."
– Count_Rostov_
Worker Burnout
"Yes worker burn out is real."
"So much work in offices is just created to fill time, make things more efficient, pay people the same, get the same amount done with happier workers."
– lemons_of_doubt
Opinions varied across the board since different jobs come with specific demands.
But the overall complaint had to do with the mismanaging of time, with many arguing if there was no further work to be done at an office, employees should be sent home.
Conversely, even a handful of those who worked remotely had the itch to be in a less distracting environment.
Personally, I'd rather be working from home than inside a cubicle at a job location–even though the latter may be more conducive to work efficiency.
What are your thoughts?
People Confess How They Dodged A Bullet With 'The One That Got Away'
Unrequited love is tough to get over.
There's nothing worse than having your heart set on a crush who gives you butterflies, but they just don't feel the same way and would rather be with other people.
And while it's hard to accept the fact that "it's not meant to be," the reality of a person not being right for you can manifest in a way that can provide a huge sense of relief.
Curious to hear examples of exploring this notion Redditor LinksOtherUncle asked:
"What’s your story about 'the one that got away' that turned out being a gigantic bullet dodged?"
These Redditors had no idea their romantic interest would wind up in trouble with the law.
She Did Jail Time
"She tried to stab the next guy she wound up with and did a little jail time. Came out an addict and proceeded to destroy herself."
"On a positive note, she’s good now, but if I see her coming down the street, I’m crossing the damn street."
– Jimi204
Leaving For An Ex Con
"Was incredibly close to a gorgeous girl in my friend group. We’d dance at raves together, make out drunk, and talk on the phone for hours most nights. Whenever I'd ask her out on a date she’d say 'I don’t think I’m ready for a boyfriend yet but I like what we have.'"
"We’ll eventually she starts dating an ex con. They start doing drugs together. She runs a few thousand dollars on her dads credit card and gets kicked out of her house. She moves in with her now bf and a friend, then one day her bf trashes the place in a rage so they get kicked to the streets. A few years go by and she’s been arrested a few dozen times and serves a three year prison sentence."
– dirtybrownwt
Killer Relationship
"I was dating a guy a few months ago that was the sweetest person ever. 10/10 in every single way. He just got arrested for murdering two people."
– Nice_Rise6702
Had these Redditors pursued their relationships, it literally would've been the death of them.
Filled With Rage
"I've told this story before in another post. Anyway, I was engaged to this guy who was apparently engaged to this other girl too. I dumped him of course and they got married. He strangled her to death."
– sarcastic_monkies
These might sound like plot lines in a convoluted rom-com but with no happy ending.
The Saga
"My very first girlfriend whom I truly 'loved' at the ripe age of 17, dating for about 7 months. We had plans to move interstate together, she moved first to secure the accommodation, I was to follow a week later once I’d finished working. Two days in she told me not to bother because she’s met someone. I was devastated for a whole year afterwards."
"She ended up marrying the guy and moved in with him and his best friend. Lived together happily for a few years, no issues with the marriage whatsoever."
"One summer, ex-girlfriend, hubby and housemate all decided to go on a 3 week road trip together. Partway through, hubby gets called back to work and has to fly home. Ex and housemate finish the trip and return home."
"Upon returning, ex and housemate announced they had discovered their undying love for each other on the trip, and would henceforth be an item. Hubby, understandably crushed."
"Here’s the kicker, not only did the three of them live together, so hubby had to listen to them sleeping together every night, but hubby and housemate worked together in the same company, in the same cubicle, directly opposite each other."
"Edit: I discovered this when I took a job at that same company, and heard the tale around the office."
"Ex and housemate have since had a child, and I’m eagerly awaiting the next chapter in the saga."
– PM_ME_LADY_SHOULDERS
Closet Romance
"Not exactly the same, but two friends through high-school got married a couple years after we graduated. Night before the wedding (for some reason) we had both the Bachelor and Bachelorette parties (because why not be hungover on your wedding day?)"
"Bachelor party decides to crash the Bachelorette party at the strip club we were at, where I bought the bride a private lap dance in the back. Husband to be decides he doesn't like seeing us at a strip club, queue huge parking lot fight where the owner is threatening to call the cops if we don't leave the premises. Screaming, yelling, throwing things."
"Anyway, we get back to the house and go to bed - a few of the wedding party were staying at the house that night."
"I get called into the office, where bride to be and our friend is naked making out with each other. They confessed their love for one another and wanted to be together before she got married."
"I'm in the living room, Husband to be comes out asking where bride is. I answered loudly enough for them to hear. He goes and opens the office door and shouting commences."
"She was scrambling to put clothes on and he was hiding in the closet naked."
"A few hours later, we're all awkwardly standing as they get married on the beach."
"They were divorced shortly after."
"THEN"
"Fast forward several years. A friend puts on a 'friend reunion', because nobody had set up a proper high school one. She is remarried and has a few children at this point. All is going well at the party, and I go to find the restroom. I open a closet door on accident and there she is, making out with the original friends brother. I just closed the door and continued to find the bathroom."
– PM_ME_OCCULT_STUFF
Look, it's hard to accept the fact that the person you love doesn't feel the same way.
But when they reveal their true colors–or murderous streak–in their next relationships, it makes getting over them that much easier.
This is also a good reminder that we shouldn't be blinded by love. Because you might miss seeing red flags.