Harry Potter Fans Share R-Rated Things Might Happen In The Wizarding World

Expecto...oh.
JK Rowling has done so well at creating the world that Harry Potter inhabits that we now have an understanding that allows (dangerously) for speculation. And fans love to speculate.
u/eL7Square asked Reddit:
What are some R-rated things that probably happen in the world of Harry Potter that the story doesn't address?
Here were some of the R-rated answers.
The Cost Of Love
The implications around love potions and spells are disturbing to think about. Even the books touch on it a little bit with Voldemort's parents.
And yet they're openly and legally sold to teenagers.
In fact, I cannot think of a single "good" use for a love potion.
Rowling did not think this through. The Imperious curse that removes free will is "Unforgivable", but the potion that forces you to love someone you normally wouldn't is A-Ok?
Luck Of The Cauldron
I guarantee there is at least one person out there who is addicted to Felix Felicis (the luck potion from Half-Blood Prince). I mean, if it can get you a "perfect day", don't you think there is someone out there who brews that stuff on bulk, or even a company that just sells that, and uses it every day to try and have a perfect life? Maybe there's a rehab center or a "Feliciholics Anonymous" for people who are Felix Felicis addicts trying to quit (similar to actual drugs in the muggle world).
Creative Goals
Someone probably at one point stuck their wand up their own a** and used an illumination spell to turn them self into a jack-o-lantern. I know I would.
Curse Blockers
Do you ever think about how many people must work in curse-proofing? Like, there must be a pretty sizable economic sector dedicated to putting curse blockers on, for instance, basically everything that magical world leaders ever come into contact with. How many leaders around the world do you think were killed by exploding forks or furniture turning into lions or something of that nature? Magical anti-terrorism must be pretty hectic in a world where anything can theoretically be turned into a bomb with the right spell. Even when you're just casually walking through a crowd of magic users, you're essentially surrounded by a bunch of people with guns; they could all kill someone if they know "avada kedavra." I thought you can't block that curse, so how do leaders stay safe during public events? Then of course there's polyjuice potion; do you think they have a scanner to make sure everyone who enters a government building is really who they say they are? They clearly don't at the bank since Hermione was able to get in as Bellatrix.
Corporal Violence
The punishments are pretty extreme. Azkaban should be considered a crime against humanity. In the Fantastic Beasts movie it was too easy for the main characters to be sent for execution. It also bothered me that the executioners were so calm/happy helping someone die. Umbridge should not have been able to use a magical hand-scarring pen to punish people. Honestly, it feels like the law in that world has no limits, and I'd be scared if I lived somewhere in which that was normal. Wizards/witches have probably committed some pretty sick acts because their legal system is shady. For example, they could torture someone as punishment and instantly heal them, over and over again. Or they can use a spell that forces them to experience their worst nightmares.
I've Got Dragon Pox
I've always wondered how many sexual mishaps Madame Pomfrey has to deal with. Like, there has to be male students who tried an "engorging" charm at one point or another and it backfired. What about STDs? Do wizards have different STDs? Newt Scamander said that Muggles have different physiologies than wizards (in context of medications). That said, can a Muggle born introduce a new STD to the wizarding community? There has to be birth control charms or potions, as you never hear of pregnant students at Hogwarts. Is there an abortion spell/potion? Is this controversial in the wizard world? Is there a spell that girls can use to intentionally stop a period? I mean, if you can magically straighten teeth or have skelo-grow, I don't see it as being that far-fetched.
Red Flags
Let's just break some things down about the wizarding world, some red-flag stuff:
- Everyone that attends Hogwarts has a 5th grade education. You receive your Hogwarts acceptance letter between your 10th and 11th birthday (seems to be some uncertainty on that). That puts a kid roughly around 5th grade of elementary school wherein they are pulled out of their education and brought into a curriculum tailored towards magic more-so than academics. Yes, of course, learning about magic is hugely important and many education systems throughout the world are less than stellar, but I very much doubt the curriculum is tailored to help students learn and retain all the necessary levels of information to be able to actually interact with society easily.
- Muggle-society has developed in a much more sophisticated manner than the wizarding society. Reread Harry Potter and watch how Arthur Weasley gets when it comes to interacting with anything muggle related. He works for the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, which is focused on making sure enchanted muggle items are kept well and clear from muggles. He is constantly amazed at muggle ingenuity. How they have developed the technology that they have. How things work and operate. Airplanes are a total mystery to him. Looking at how everything operates and looks in the wizarding world, it doesn't look like that is exclusive to him. I would argue that their dependence on magic to solve all things has led, ultimately, to a fundamental lack of innovation. They merely can make things fly, without ever attempting to understand the underlying reality of it all. Also, it's telling that both Hermione and Harry act very differently compared to many others because of their upbringing. Having no knowledge of magic or the wizarding world, they operated in a world where finding answers and getting results required actual application of knowledge, resourcefulness, and effort.
- Muggle studies. An elective taken from the third year on. Subjects include "Why muggles need electricity.", hangman, crosswords, and playgrounds. Most considered it an easy class, not worth taking the time in (Percy Weasley felt it should be important, in contrast, so as to help the magical community better understand and relate to the non-magical community). Let us not forget that within a century, two Dark Lords rose to power both believing that all muggles should be subjugated to the wizarding world, and they had a lot of support. Having a poor understanding of other groups of peoples and communities is an easy way to ultimately dehumanize them and see them as nothing more than tools and pawns.
- The government within the wizarding world is... flimsy. Now, at the end of the day, wizards are humans and human nature and politics leads to inevitable conclusions. That said, the politics and bureaucracy present in the wizarding world is nothing short of a disaster. With how easily things can change and be swayed, from peaceful and cooperate to violent and subversive, stability leaves a lot to be questioned. To be frank, the only form of clear direction and ambition is present only when the Death Eaters and Voldemort take control. Beforehand, it was stagnant and ultimately wanted to keep its fingers in its ears. It's even telling in what became the norm: He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. When you are afraid to speak a name, and thusly things related to the individual, you have granted a lot of power out of your own cowardice. And the wizarrding world gave Voldemort a lot of power.
- Clear separation of the magical and non-magical communities. Yes, you can't just drop the veil and hope all will be well. But really look at how things operate. Arthur is amazed at the Grangers exchanging their money for wizard money, and have their own for0m of currency. Transportation is by brooms and floo systems. Communication through birds. Buildings are hidden in plain sight. The magical community goes through little effort to ever actually live in the non-magical world, but wishes to do all it can to separate itself. Now, obviously such places that are separated must exist for the safety of everyone. But this constant separation only amplifies my 3rd point and that they are terrible at actually cooperating with their non-magical neighbors.
So why do I mention all of these things. It's real easy to read Harry Potter and think "Oh man! Being a wizard would be amazing! I want to be in that world!", but the reality is that things aren't better, just more of the same in a different way. They are, broadly speaking, a group of easily swayed people that wish to remain removed from a situation that cannot be solved by magic alone: interacting with non-magical people. However, they also lack the ability to take responsibility and investigate matters in a way that would actually protect those that don't even know another world exists. They wield some of the most powerful forces known to humankind, and have the education of middle schoolers and societal functionality of older kingdoms. Imagine a group of people like that existing in this world, and tell me how order is ultimately maintained?
Either it isn't, and magical members of the community regularly interact and interfere with muggle society to their own gains, with little regard to its impact. Or there is ultimately a "task force" (EDIT: I had forgotten that there is one. Obliviators. Look them up. Crazy.) that operates in such a way that they are regularly wiping people's memories or whole lives so as to keep a secret. Muggle saw a girl using a broom, wipe her memory. Muggle was brutally murdered by witch. Unsolved murder as far as the muggles are concerned. Theft? Oh well. Any illicit behavior is swept under the rug in some capacity so as to not "cause a public outcry". The magical community can talk about how muggles and wizards are equal, but they are pretty much lying. The non-magical community is at the whims of of the magical community each and every day, and they don't want you to really know it. It's like if the Illuminati were real, but full of incompetent people who don't really understand you or your world.
So, to answer OP's question, think of anything that does happen in real life with one extra caveat: The prime directive is in full effect and we can never truly know it happened. The Ministry of Magic will subvert the law and idea of justice whenever anything bad happens to an average person. Imagine watching a movie where you are watching Aurors going around, seeing all the ways Voldemort and his Death Eaters left a trail of death and destruction in their wake, and intentionally tampering with evidence and crime scenes, obstructing justice, and interfering at every turn so we can never know who did it, or that there is a magical world out there that thinks we can't actually cooperate or be trusted with such power.
And remember that Arthur Weasley was amazed by a turnstile. That most of them are probably incapable of actual problem solving and reasoning above a 5th grader level, since magic makes everything easy.
They know what's best for the non-magical community, guys.
P.S.- I know the movies aren't strictly canon, but watch them and pay attention to how the muggle side of things are presented. Being a muggle is boring, dull, uninteresting, and gray. Colors are muted. Everyone acts the same. That's pretty much how the wizarding world contrasts the muggle world. Quite frankly, a wizard or witch standing up and saying "We need to take control of the muggles. They obviously don't really have any idea what they're doing. We'll uplift them!" should happen about once a year.
It Mirrors Us
In the last book, it's mentioned that many of the first year wizarding students had simply gone missing without explanation, because of the Death Eaters on the loose. These kids are never found. It's pretty frickin dark to imagine the Hogwarts Express getting stopped and boarded, and all the young first year students getting escorted to concentration camps.
The Most Embarrassing Things People Have Ever Googled
Reddit user b-secret asked: 'what is the most embarrassing thing you have ever Googled?'
I freely admit I'm of a certain age where my primary education occurred before the age of the internet—when our questions were answered with conversations with experts, encyclopedias or knowing how to use card catalogs.
My knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System is largely useless today.
Research is drastically different now—sorry Melvil Dewey. Internet search engines quickly became the difference between occasionally finding an outdated version of the information we were looking for and rarely not finding current information on the most obscure of topics.
Unless your Google game is super weak, you're likely to find what you're looking for or something close to it unlike the good old days when our chances were hit or mis—with lots of misses.
So what do we use this amazing, life-changing tool for?
Well...
Reddit user b-secret asked:
"What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever Googled?"
How Much?
"what's the alcohol percentage in 70% rubbing alcohol?"
~ LightsJusticeZ
"55% alcohol, 15% rubbing"
~ FishOfFishyness
Who?
"I Googled my work because I couldn’t remember my boss’ name after working there for 8 months."
"I just blanked and couldn’t think of it."
~ HCxTC
Spellcheck
"I Google how to spell restaurant all the time."
~ ParkOk6450
"I'm like that but with Febuary."
"EDIT: February"
~ NeoNero_x
"I go into incognito mode to check spellings of words I should know how to spell."
~ LordCaptain
Um, No.
"I was trying to find the name of those signs where a word is written down the side and each letter is used for a descriptive word."
"Confusing I know."
"So here’s an example: False Evidence Appearing Real"
"I know it has to have a name. So I googled 'Sign where every word starts with a letter' and Goggle responded with 'Did you mean a sentence?'.”
~ Team_Lift
Looks Like...
"Googled green beans once, was super high and forgot what they looked like."
~ testies2345
"I did the same thing with beets."
~ Jjetsk1_blows
Gaby Yerden on Unsplash
That Movie, With the Guy and the Stuff...
"I'll forget the name of a movie and just type in random sh*t I think I remember. Usually it works."
"Like 'that movie where the kid sleeps and has weird dreams and flies on a bed'."
"Works like a charm."
~ fohsupreme
Did They Have Blue Feet?
"big boobies"
"I was only 10."
"I was surprised to find some."
~ PoopPower99
"I’m 39 and I Google this every day."
~ dekkact
"They're nice birds but are they really worth Googling everyday?"
~ redwolf1219
Blue-Footed Boobies
GiphyPredictive Text
"I used to search something like 'no clothes' or 'without clothes' or something like that when I was a kid."
"Then I learnt the word NAKED because of the TV show Naked and Afraid."
"Then searched it so many times that my autocorrect started to show that word first when I wanted to type something."
~ sniper8207
NSF...S?
"My favorite band growing up was 'The Barenaked Ladies'."
"When I was at school, I once Googled them and clicked on a link that said 'free shows!'."
~ BW_Bird
Good Description
"I forgot what a 'gondola' was called so I typed in 'Thing that carries you through the mountains in a basket'."
~ TheGreatJaceyGee
"I once forgot the word for 'door' so my brain reached for adjacent concepts, smashed them together and threw them out my mouth: 'house portal'."
~ Tail_Nom
It Just Doesn't Translate
"I have to search a random word 'auf Englisch' or a random word 'auf Deutsch'."
"Every damn day."
"It took me a minute to realize that there was no way to translate Schadenfreude into English."
~ grammar_fixer_2
Ah, Memories...
"I found out that as long as you're logged into Google, all your searches are saved to your Google account (I'm not talking about browser history)."
"So I looked back, and the 1st thing I ever googled after getting a Google account was 'Can ducks fly'."
"I've no idea why I googled this. I know ducks can fly."
~ caca__milis
You Ate What‽‽
"Once I was with some friends and I was telling them about how when I was a kid we only got to eat nuts as a special treat around Christmas."
"Then I mentioned how much I liked squirrel nuts and no one knew what they were. So I Googled 'squirrel nuts' with image search."
"Not at all what we ate at Christmas time."
"Finally found out what my family called 'squirrel nuts' were actually called hazelnuts."
~ 123fofisix
100% NSFW
"A few years ago my coworker and I were looking at the calendar at work. It had pictures of birds and we were trying to figure out what kind of bird was pictured for that month."
"I can’t remember what she thought it was, but I darned sure it was a Great Tit."
"We have a great relationship and have been working together for a long time but we tend to argue like an old married couple. So we went to Mr Google for the answer."
"Let me tell you that Googling Great Tit at work isn’t something I will ever do again."
"For the record, I was right. The bird was a Great Tit."
~ pi11bott
Great Tit holds an insect in its beak
A Perry on Unsplash
Hope some of these folks remembered to clear their browser and search histories.
So, what's your hilarious—or embarrassing—little Google secret search?
People Divulge The Scariest Thing They Learned About Someone From Their Childhood
Life is all about learning new things, including learning new things about the people in your life. Sometimes, the things you learn are shocking, disgusting, or even scary.
I was the new kid in town when I was in fifth grade and my first friend was this quiet (and cute) boy in my class. He and I remained friends through middle school, and even though we drifted apart in high school, our interactions when we ran into each other in the halls or the cafeteria were really nice.
All throughout school and even beyond, he remained quiet, polite, and reserved. Just a few years ago, I read a news article written about him. He had apparently fatally wounded his father after an argument.
I had to reread the article several times to make sure it was really about my old friend. I think about it a lot, and still can't believe it!
I'm not the only one that has a shocking story like that. A lot of Redditors learned shocking or scary things about people from their childhood, and are ready to share.
It all started when Redditor ValuableHovercraft90 asked:
"What's the scariest thing you have found out about someone from your childhood (old friends, teachers, etc)?"
So Creepy
"That the boy who lived across the street and moved when I was 6 is still obsessed with me and my sister 30+ years later and posts ramblings on Facebook with our names and that he's going to be with us. Pretty terrifying honestly."
– mrscrawfish
The Worst List
"A neighbour died when he was 30. Police searched a trailer he owned and found weapons, bombs and a list of people he wanted to kill. My uncle was on that list."
– Flashy_Somewhere_648
"I'm glad this ended the way it did."
– CreepyCandidate4449
Terrifying
"One of my best friends (and locker partner) from high school was kidnapped by terrorists in Iraq. After a nightmare of 6+ months, all went silent. We buried an empty casket in his memory 10 years later."
– francois_du_nord
"This is horrifying. How incredibly sad for family to never get any closure. Very sad to read this. :("
– fizzycherryseltzer
"About 15 years ago my dad received a very good offer for work in Iraq, as a construction specialist. He was considering going, since at the same time the financial crisis started in Europe, but then one of his friends, a civil engineer, was kidnapped. Never returned back either."
– 19lgkrn70
"Same thing for my dad old coworker told him how great the money was. Dude got sniped working on a radio tower or something. My dad luckily was like, "I got a wife and family that would kill me for doing something so dangerous.""
– tristanjones
End Of The Friendship
"One of my dad's good friends, and my "uncle", just stopped coming around one day. I was told he was always busy with work, away, etc."
"Turns out, he killed 3 people in a drug deal gone bad and got life in prison."
"What's scary, is that we were over at his house for a weekend BBQ with a bunch of people earlier in the day of the night he did it, and it happened at his house."
– pnwking509
School Friends
"Don't know if it was scary, but I grew up with a kid whose birthday was the day before mine so we almost always shared birthdays in elementary school. We were friends, even spent the night at his house growing up. Later on in our teens, he started getting into some really dark stuff. I recognize that now as his being a sociopath, but like most everybody else at the time, figured it was just him going through some kind of emo phase. Over the years, we lost touch but I would occasionally run into him around town and our meetings were cordial, if not friendly."
"Last year, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison for killing a man back in 1993, roughly 3 years after we got out of High School. Apparently he, his sister and another man lured this guy out to the boonies and killed him to steal money he had gotten in an insurance settlement."
"The only reason they were caught is the other guy got religion, felt remorse and went on the local TV station and aired a confession before turning himself in (He got 25 to life)."
– 530_Oldschoolgeek
"A girl I went to school with did the same thing. She was the nicest girl, got good grades & was kind of a dork. Mixed with the wrong people after graduation. She and two others lured an old man into an abandoned building, stabbed him and robbed him. He later died from his wounds."
– HereF0rTheSnacks
The Worst Afternoon
"I had a friend in grade school who was being raised by her single dad. She had a unique name and pretty face. She never talked about her mom, and she was super outgoing, so all us kids just made friends with her quickly. It was weird her dad never brought her to our birthday parties, even though she was always invited, but we didn’t think much of it. A couple times, she was allowed to ride the bus home with me after school, and we played and had fun until her dad came to pick her up. Later in the school year, she invited me to ride the bus to her house, and my mom agreed. I was 10. It was the scariest afternoon of my young life. I cannot articulate the extreme tension in her home. We weren’t allowed to make any noise, and we mostly stayed outside, me desperate for my mom to arrive."
"Her dad screamed at us for opening the door, and I was too nervous to go into the house to use the restroom. I knew she was embarrassed that there were no snacks or comforting interactions, like at my house. I didn’t really tell anyone how uncomfortable the experience was. After that day, I didn’t hang out with her a lot. We were in different classes, drifted apart, and decades later, when my own daughter asked to go to a friend’s house, I thought about that girl."
"As an adult, I figured out her dad probably worked a night shift and tried to sleep during the day…or he was an alcoholic who was really angry. Maybe both? I looked her up on social media, and thanks to her unique name and face, I recognized her immediately. She’s a perfectly well-adjusted woman with a beautiful family. She even had pictures of her kids with her dad and tributes to him as the greatest father and grandpa. Her whole page made me wonder what the hell I experienced that afternoon in the 4th grade?"
– OlderAndTired
School Is Supposed To Be Safe!
"In our school, we had something called "de halte." In English, it means "the halt" literally translated. Basically time out. BIf you had a meltdown in class or you were just a little sh*thead, you were sent there for 15 minutes or so to cool off.
The de hatle teacher got fired and jailed for breaking 4 different wrists of 4 different students by bending them the wrong way..."
– Ok_Win7358
*Skin Crawling*
"There was this classmate a grade below me but all grades shared the same drama class. She was weird and kind of "off." I tried to befriend her at one point and was rebuffed. It later came out that she was actually an almost 30-year-old woman who would show up in a new area claiming to be a 15-year-old runaway. Kind of freaked me out."
– jackfaire
It turns out it was a good thing that the friendship didn't work out!
When we think of the term "red flags," we're quick to think of red flags that might appear in a problematic or abusive relationship.
But red flags can appear in any place in our life, especially the workplace or places that consumers frequent, like big box stores and restaurants.
When it comes to restaurant red flags, these are important to note, as they could have a negative impact on a consumer's health.
Redditor FlintTheDad asked:
"What's an immediate red flag at a restaurant?"
Fair Enough
"When you see the owner breaking apart frozen chicken on the curb outback."
- Mourning-Poo
High Humidity
"High humidity inside."
- Presitigious_Gold_585
"Yes! The small that causes is unmistakable."
- TemperatureTop246
Sticky Furniture
"All of the furniture and menus are weirdly sticky..."
- Silver_Sunshine360
"I know what *some* of that is. Some furniture and cleaning solutions aren't compatible. The cleaning spray reacts with the finish on the table tops, and softens, it, which makes it feel a bit sticky, and dulls it super fast... but it's the sanitizer cleaner they use for *everything*, and they don't want to have to deal with a separate cleaner for certain surfaces."
"I used to sell commercial office furniture, and we'd run into this issue sometimes. The worst was when a company asked us to source some tables they found from a local craftsman (since we were already an approved vendor in their system, they often had us buy and deliver stuff for them). Beautiful, hand-made stuff."
"So we bought them and arranged for the delivery and placement. When we got to the site and saw where they wanted them, I cringed... I knew the tables were finished in shellac, and they were having us put them in their lounge area, where I knew they often had events with drinks."
"Shellac dissolves in alcohol. Spilling a drink on it can ruin the finish. Before we left, I left a note on the tables about being careful and emailed the client some care tips. The NEXT DAY they sent us pictures of the ruined finish, asking, 'What is wrong with our tables?!'"
- NecroJoe
Sounds Fishy
"A seafood restaurant should NOT smell fishy."
- turtyurt
"And conversely, a seafood MARKET that does not smell fishy is indeed fishy."
- FourMeterRabbit
A Specific Smell
"That *smell.*"
"You know the one. floors feel a little slippery/slimy underfoot and it smells like they've been mopping the place with the same dirty mop and bucket water for weeks."
"This isn't something you're likely to see in a nice place but I've encountered it in more fast-casual dining places than I care to remember."
- y2knole
"THAT smell. It always reminds me of yeast rolls. I guess it's bacteria in the mop water that has been setting in that bucket for three days."
- SpeelingChamp
Restroom Cleanliness
"Dirty restrooms."
- carboncanyondesign
"This is a dead giveaway. If they can't keep part of the restaurant that the public DOES see clean, you can imagine how the non-public facing parts look."
- OkaySureBye
"Health inspector here. The key is to look for build-up that looks like it's been there more than a day. Most places don't have bathroom attendants and it's unrealistic to expect public bathrooms to be spotless every minute of the day."
- Vives_solo_una_vez
The Right Audience
"Whenever I have friends come to visit me in Osaka and they're dying to try some authentic ramen. My goto line is:"
"'Look for the most run-down looking, back ally shack you can, the more run-down looking; the better. Guaranteed It'll be the best ramen you'll ever have!'"
"And to anyone who happens to read this, no, Ichiran is NOT the best reman joint. It's nice don't get me wrong but please ask around, research ramen in the area you're visiting, I guarantee you there's SO much better out there!"
- kevo998
"I look for people of that ethnicity eating there. Mexican restaurant with only white people? It might be good. Mexican restaurant with Mexicans wearing high-vis shirts? S**t's going be fire. Bonus points if there’s a grocery store attached."
"The same thing goes for Asian restaurants sans the high-vis shirts."
- PsychoticMessiah
Too Many Variables
"A huge menu."
- dnb_4eva
"A huge VARIED menu."
"Places like Chinese, Mexican, and Indian restaurants generally have large menus, but most items use the same base ingredients."
"It's the places that try to incorporate lots of wildly different dishes that you want to avoid."
- MagnusPI
Unexpected Restaurant Guests
"A raccoon falling through the ceiling tiles. 1:00 AM, drunk as h**l, looking for something to eat, and I found a dive that was still open. I ordered my food, and while waiting for my order, a raccoon fell from the ceiling."
"The waitress ran to the back screaming. The cook came out armed with a cleaver and chased it into the kitchen. The look on his face was like it had happened before. Other people eating there were in shock and got up and left."
"Mystery meat: the new special. Get me the f**k out of there."
- alwaystired707
That Wait Time
"I immediately look to see if there is anyone actually eating. If there are a half dozen tables with no food on them, and people looking anxiously to the kitchen, I'm out."
- scotttr3b
Cleaning Response Time
"Multiple dirty tables that haven’t been cleared. If the restaurant isn’t crowded, staff should have time to clean them. If it is crowded, staff should be trying to turn tables over quickly."
"Dirty tables mean they are either severely understaffed or the staff just doesn’t care. Either way, you will be waiting a long time."
- 787la57la47al
Inappropriate Smells
"Once went into a restaurant that boasted the biggest Cinnamon Rolls in the city/state... Only for there to be a pervasive smell of absolutely raw stagnate sewage throughout the dining room. Needless to say, did not return."
- nekroves
Construction Said It Best
"A green flag for a restaurant is when you see a lot of construction workers going there for lunch. You'll know it's cheap and good, hearty food."
"In my old city, there was this tiny little family-owned Chinese restaurant with delicious and cheap lunch specials. Every construction worker downtown sat at the counter at the front for lunch."
"Meanwhile, the waiters would be in this little back room watching TV and the chef must have been at least 70 years old. The food was genuinely so delicious and filling. Probably not good for your cholesterol but so tasty!"
- okaymoose
Atmosphere Matters
"Not a red flag about the food but if a place has their music up so loud I can’t hear the person I’m with, then I won’t eat there."
- Adro87
"Conversely, if it's TOO quiet; as in, not only is the sound system way too low, but if the customers are also weirdly quiet (barely having conversations, just sort of sitting there) and the atmosphere seems almost stifling."
"A couple of years ago we walked into a gastropub in Scotland just like this - very low music, the room was half full (and this was at peak lunch time), and everyone who was there were just sitting, looking sullen, barely speaking, waiting for their food. Just really... odd... vibes."
"After five minutes of sitting at the bar trying to get the attention of staff (who were all standing around looking at their phones), we left and went to a definitely *not fancy* cafe down the block that was the absolutely opposite: people just seemed happy to be there, staff were attentive, and the vibe was really welcoming."
- Good_Difference_2837
The Ultimate Red Flag
"Gordon Ramsey walking in with a camera crew."
- Tint-kicker
"One of the local restaurants we like was recently closed for a bit due to filming for 'Kitchen Nightmares.'"
"My husband still likes to get their food, but I'm waiting until the episode airs!"
- Lington
No restaurant is going to be perfect 100 percent of the time. They're going to have a slow night or poor response time or get some orders wrong from time to time.
But there are far more problematic behaviors and characteristics to find in a restaurant that are perfectly good reasons to never go back there again, no matter how good they may have been in the past.
People Who Witnessed A Teacher Break Down In Tears Share Their Experiences
Teachers are not only educators, they're also inspiring leaders.
The most memorable teachers are those who genuinely encourage young students to do their best so they can be empowered to pursue their dreams.
However, we tend to revere them to such a degree, we forget that they're people too with real emotions.
Curious to hear from strangers who witnessed a vulnerable moment from someone they were inspired by at an early age, Redditor throwthrowwthrowwww asked:
"Students who've witnessed their teacher cry during class, what happened?"
There's no bigger heartbreak than people who are struggling with illnesses or know of someone facing medical challenges.
Ailing Teacher
"One of our music instructors 7th-12th grade. She had a long ongoing battle with stage three/four cancer. She always did her best to try to have fun during our classes, like it was an escape for her because she loved music so much. Over 85% of the entire high school joined choir because of her. Her chemo and radiation treatments left her exhausted some days, though, and she would occasionally break down. In 2012, when her condition worsened, she would have to take more days off because the cancer had become so debilitating."
"We continued to practice our songs while she was gone, and I swear we would sometimes spend an hour on one small section of a song, ripping every note apart, and repeating the same words over and over until we couldn't mess it up. One of the final days in class with her, I remember we were rehearsing for our upcoming state competition, and we sounded damn good. Mid-song, she stopped conducting, closed her eyes, folded her hands, and listened as we continued singing for her. The energy and sound was so profound throughout the room, I can't find the words to describe it."
"After the song finished, we stood in a long, complete silence before she opened her eyes with tears streaming down her face. She wasn't able to go to our state competition with us, but we ended up placing that year. It wasn't first like we were hoping, but it was the highest the school had ever placed. She later passed away that same year. She was one of the strongest women I had ever met in my life."
– Top-Box2372
Losing A Student
"My high school Spanish teacher also taught some homebound students with medical issues."
"One day the vice principal came into our class and told Ms J that one of her homebound students had passed away from his cancer. She couldn't hold back the tears."
– que_he_hecho
Wise Toddler
"I’m a teacher, I cried in front of my toddlers when I got a call from the hospital telling me it was time to make the call as to whether to pull my dads life support. One of my toddlers came up to me while I was crying, put her hand on my cheek and said 'it’s ok to feel sad, it’s ok to cry,' then gave me a hug. I love my job."
– Cheekygirl97
Students witnessed the following teachers get emotional.
Thoughtful Sixth-Graders
"The class surprised him on teacher appreciation day. Someone brought pop, snacks etc. He was surprised. 6th grade teacher."
– Stephlynn1234
Appreciation Day
"Had a philosophy course in uni during covid. So the class was held on zoom. It wasn't teacher appreciation day, but it was the second to last lecture of the term and we all really enjoyed this prof (and because of him most of the class became friends). So we organized an appreciation thing for him."
"We all started class without our cameras on, which was unusual and made him question (he got sad actually). So one girl said 'before we start, we just really wanted to do something for YOU because you've done so much for us. I hope this is okay.' He gave us a confused look, and before he could say anything in response we all turned our cameras on and held up signs saying 'thank you professor [name]' and our green screen backgrounds were of his face lol. He laughed so hard but started crying. Told us how he wished we could do this in person and that he genuinely cared about all of us."
"He had a lot of health issues, the most prominent one being MS. Whenever he didn't start class on time we all got worried, and there were a few times where he cancelled altogether because he fell or something. He also had a cat, and we asked to see him just enough times that his cat learned what time our class was at and would climb up to see us and stay the whole class. It was cute. During the breaks he would email a link to play chess since he lived far from his family and couldn't visit and wanted the company. We organized a Christmas movie day with him over the Christmas break and he loved it. He retired after the following year because of his health, and I still wonder what he's doing now and if he's doing okay. I've been in uni for 5 years now and he is the only prof I've actually spoken to consistently and genuinely liked."
– Burnt_Your_Toast
Sad Literature
"5th grade teacher reading Where the Red Fern Grows out loud to the class. He shed some tears. He did every year."
– SnoBunny1982
"Our teacher read that book to us in 5th grade also. But when it got to that part, she elected me to read it and she left the room. Luckily I had read it before and knew what was coming, but it was still rough."
– MIBariSax81
The Private Life Of An English Teacher
"I forgot his name, but he was one of my favored teachers in high school. He taught English."
"During class, he was called out to talk to some members of the school administration and a few proctors. It took several minutes. But he returned, taught as much of the class as he could, and then just walked over to his desk and started crying. Whimpering. He then left."
"He just found out his wife, who had also been a teacher, was having an affair with one of the female students. We didn't find out that specific fact until later on though."
– Typical_Samaritan
Some students, however, can force a teacher to realize they're in the wrong profession.
Bad Attitude
"Student that had behavior issues and a hard time maintaining emotional regulation threw his recorder (the instrument) at the music teacher and it snapped in half. He then threw his desk in her direction and walked out. This was 3rd grade, and all she had asked him to do was listen to the song we were learning. She quit the next week after almost 30 years of teaching."
– Last_Tuesdays_Beans
Bullying The Substitute
"Ms. Hanlon... Substitute teacher, I still think about her and hope she's doing well. She was posted as the teacher when the usual teachers were off sick. Absolutely zero respect was given to her and the class knew if we had Ms. Hanlon it was just an extended lunch, we could just mess around and act like animals for the whole lesson."
"She had physical conditions like a dent in her forehead and a gravvely voice which prevented her from being able to raise her voice to tell us to be quiet. So the kids would all do Hunchback of Notre Dame impressions, spitballs through straws and do the 'coughing game' where they would just cough through whatever she was trying to say."
"Even as a kid I felt kinda awful after we'd essentially broken her and she'd just come in not even say hello and pull open a book for the hour and sometimes cry into it. I weirdly still think about her randomly once or twice a month, I hope she moved on to way better things. School children really have no filter at all."
– PNCL
Absolutely Zero Respect
"Substitute teacher in Jr High must be among the world's worse jobs. 8th grade we had a sub that demanded and got no respect. Kids would throw stuff at her etc. She left the classroom crying then the vice principal, who was not to be messed with, came in and took over."
– woolash
Major Mockery
"I had a substitute teacher named Mr. Crane who looked exactly like Ichabod Crane from the old cartoon. Some kids in the class bullied him relentlessly for this and he just kind of broke down one day. Poor guy."
– backflip10019
In seventh grade, I witnessed a classmate talk back to our homeroom teacher and saying very inappropriate, bullish things to her in front of the whole class.
But that didn't make her cry.
What made her tear up was when another student defended her and yelled at the bullying student for being out of line.