Health Inspectors Share The Grossest Things They've Seen In Restaurants
[rebelmouse-image 18350661 is_animated_gif=If you've ever eaten at a restaurant, plan on eating at a restaurant or have ever even heard the word restaurant - this one's for you
Things are going to get gross, don't say we didn't warn you. We know you're stubborn and you're going to read ahead anyway. So prepare yourself, you're about to enter a world of roaches, bribery, dumpster diving, and at least one live bear.
No that was not a typo.
One Reddit user asked:
Health inspectors of Reddit, what are the most vile conditions you've ever seen in a restaurant?
And we clicked it, for some reason. We sat here for like three hours, you guys. We got sucked into the world of grossness. Now you're about to suffer with the things we can't unread. You ready to be well and truly baffled at what on earth is wrong with some people?
The Envelope
[rebelmouse-image 18350662 is_animated_gif=I was performing a pest control service on one restaurant that was shut down by the health inspector. 4 techs, spending 5 hours treating for German cockroaches. I have NEVER seen an infestation more severe than this one. When we were finished for the day, i would say that there were at least a few thousand cockroaches still running around. Health inspector collected an envelope from the owner, took down the violation on the door, got in his car and drove off. He didn't even reinspect the place.
Live Mice
[rebelmouse-image 18350663 is_animated_gif=Shut down a restaurant awhile back as there was a severe rodent infestation. I'm talking poop everywhere, in the utensil bins, on the food prep surfaces, just everywhere. Owners were brushing it aside as they worked. Live mice stuck to glue traps under sinks, etc.
Closed Down By A Can Opener
[rebelmouse-image 18350664 is_animated_gif=I've only ever closed down one restaurant. It's actually much harder in most places than you would imagine: lots of red tape that prevent field staff, and even managers, from using their professional judgment in the service of public health.
A pizza place was operating without a permit at one point in time. I had drafted a letter stating that, and before I went out to hand-deliver it, I got a complaint notification. Someone had eaten their pizza the day before, and their son had felt glass (or something that felt like pulverized glass) in his pizza. Backing up for a moment to the red tape thing: we're not legally allowed to investigate or inspect restaurants who don't have a permit (you can thank the U.S. Constitution for that). You can see the dilemma. We decide the best course of action is to deliver the letter saying they're operating illegally, and that it would be in the best interest of their business and the public health to allow us to investigate the nature of the complaint.
After I get permission to go in and take a look around, I'm appalled: the manager has fingernails that extend probably half an inch beyond the nail bed. And they're caked in flour and other ingredients. The other employee there has dirty bandages all over his fingers. Both of these characters are dressed in filthy uniforms. The walk-in cooler has loads of uncovered foods sitting beneath mold, all beneath a ceiling of black filamentous fungi. The pizza-prep table has broken doors/hinges, and is covered with what I can only describe as putrified ingredients from 2003. It clearly hasn't been cleaned since then. The plastic lexan containers holding the food items in the cooler are all breaking apart and chipping... At this point, I've got a few ideas as to what that guy found in his pizza, and I don't think any of them are glass. It's probably a fingernail, or a band-aid, or plastic, or maybe broken metal from the cooler itself...
Then I see it... The most disgusting can opener I've ever seen. To put it in perspective, mounted can openers are like the low hanging fruit of every health inspector: they're almost always out of compliance, and writing one up will make you look like a Try-Hard jerk who's out to get the restaurant owner in trouble. They're usually not a big deal. Except this one. This one is absolutely caked in dried, vile, pizza sauce goop that has turned black with age. The blade itself is so dull and chipped it is literally peeling metal filaments off into a mass next to the blade. Every time this thing is used to open a new pizza sauce (which, by the way, is put into a cracked plastic container and covered with a trashbag to keep the loads of flies away) it deposits metal chips, flakes, filaments, whatever you wanna call it, into that sauce, and into the bellies of the customers.
Needless to say, I was appalled. I had the person in charge call the store owner, who pleaded with me to let him stay open. Given that they didn't even have a permit to be open in the first place, this was a no-go. I went back the next day with back-up, and we formally closed them for operation until they could get everything back into working order. Surprise surprise, they call the next day saying everything is fixed, and... I can't believe it, but it was. Managerial lack of control aside, they must have spent a thousand dollars and 16 hours into cleaning this place. The one dude even clipped his fingernails!
Success story? Maybe. Gross example of what you get with second-rate poorly managed restaurants? Definitely. They're lucky no one has yet died from eating there.
That's Not Lemonade
[rebelmouse-image 18350666 is_animated_gif=Not a health inspector, but am good friends with one. This is her worst experience.
Once she went into a pretty popular restaurant (I think it was a burger place?) that she just got bad vibes from the beginning. Walked into the main seating area, everything was good so far. Asked where the kitchen was, owner was instantly defensive, like "oh, you don't need to see that, it looks the same as the dining area," and so forth.
She found the kitchen door, opened it and looked inside and instantly dropped everything she was holding.
/Hundreds/ of 2 litre cola bottles lined the kitchen, filled with urine.
She had no idea why and nobody could get an answer out of that dude
Sewage
[rebelmouse-image 18350668 is_animated_gif=One of the most recent restaurants I worked in already wasn't the cleanest - our fryers rarely got strained/emptied properly, it wasn't rare to see roaches crawling around, their bathrooms were always nasty, etc. When you get right down to it, it was one of the most disgusting kitchens that I have ever had the displeasure of working in, but what made me genuinely say "f*ck this" was when our plumbing and pipe work below the restaurant became clogged and then began backing up into the kitchen through the drains that we had along the flooring in there.
For more than a month my coworkers and I were sloshing around in sewage and human waste and whatever else, still serving food and pretending like nothing was going on. We could all hear patrons in the dining room complaining about the smell and the stench would hit you in the back parking lot before you'd even get inside. The owners kept making small "improvements", essentially lame band-aids to take care of it for only days at a time, and by the time I completely threw in the towel it still hadn't properly been fixed and they were still serving food from that deplorable, rank kitchen.
Once I quit and had amnesty from being fired for being a whistle blower, you can bet your ass I reported that restaurant to OSHA and they had health inspectors go through there. I reported them to my local health department as well. Unfortunately last I heard they're still open (figures), but I do know one or two of their other locations closed down for unrelated reasons, so....I guess that's something?
If I had been the owner of that restaurant, I would have not been able to live with myself knowing food was being served from that hellish kitchen or knowing that I was making my employees work under those conditions.
Moplata
[rebelmouse-image 18350670 is_animated_gif=There was a store in the area that got caught cleaning their Coolata machine with mop water... There were not details on if the mop water was clean or not (I assume it was), but there are issues regardless.
Cockroach Island
[rebelmouse-image 18350671 is_animated_gif=I used to work as a health inspector. Was inspecting a kitchen area undergoing some remodeling to include removal of a center island. No openings, essentially a box with a table top. This island had probably been in place 10-15 years. When the top was removed, it was half full of dead cockroaches that had layered on top of each other over the years. Happy dining!
Sniff The Gasket
[rebelmouse-image 18350672 is_animated_gif=I am both a former chef and a former private health inspector. I've seen some crazy stuff, but there is little worse than supermarket meat departments. I will not buy meat which has been ground in the market, because the employees almost never know how to tear down and clean the grinder. I would regularly go in, show them how to take it apart, and make them smell the "gasket" of old meat that had never been cleaned out from between the parts.
Close 'Em Down Kathy
[rebelmouse-image 18350673 is_animated_gif=My mother was a health inspector some years back. She was known as Close 'Em Down Kathy (not her real name, but you get the drift)
She went to a Chinese restaurant one day to pick up lunch, brought it back to her office, opened up the bag and found a live cockroach staring back at her. She immediately stormed back to the restaurant, shoved the bag in their face and said:
"I didn't order the cockroach."
She ordered an inspection on the restaurant, found out they kept their cooked chickens hung on a metal rack, in the alley, ABOVE THE DUMPSTER. They were shut down pretty quickly,
My mom's a badass.
NSFW ... or Anywhere Else.
[rebelmouse-image 18350674 is_animated_gif=Not a health inspector, but when I worked at a sub shop we caught a co-worker doing something inappropriate.
My manager had to look at the camera for some unrelated reason. He is skipping forward and accidentally goes to far forward. He notices a worker putting a bin of tuna on the floor. He keeps looking at the tape. The worker pulls his pants down and proceeds to enter the bin of tuna. He makes sweet sweet love to the tuna. Finishes up, goes into the bathroom to clean off. Proceeds to smooth out the bin of tuna, wraps it back up and puts it in the fridge. My manager immediately has me throw out the tuna and make more. Needless to say he was fired. And while this was 20 years ago I still can't eat tuna I didn't make or see made.
The Rotten Salad Bar
[rebelmouse-image 18350676 is_animated_gif=Was a tradesman working on a hotel where the new owner was renovating/updating the entire building, including their restaurant. Every single member of the kitchen staff got fired when the new owner discovered that the salad bar hadn't been cleaned/sterilized in months; they just kept adding more food on top of the old stuff.
Coffee Makes You Poop
[rebelmouse-image 18350677 is_animated_gif=There was a serial floor sh*tter at this coffee place. I'd get complaints in multiple times a week over the span of several months and the manager was aware that a customer came in like clockwork and shat in the middle of the bathroom floor. Not much I could do besides making sure the spot gets cleaned properly.
Hospital Restaurant Worms
[rebelmouse-image 18350678 is_animated_gif=A coworker had to investigate complaint called in by a food employee at a hospital saying they were forced to work in an ankle-deep sewage backup. The backup was confirmed and he said he could see the bodies of sewer worms slithering around.The restaurant/cafeteria of this hospital was serving food prepped in a kitchen full or worms and sewage to people who were already sick. People probably died.
There's Bleach In The Water
[rebelmouse-image 18350679 is_animated_gif=In a college campus cafeteria, I once saw a lady who was alternating between cleaning tables and serving the salads. She would go to a table, stick her gloved hands into a bowl of dark/filthy water, scrub a table -- then walk back to the salad bar, use the same gloved hands to grab a handful of salad, and put it on a plate for the students.
I gave her a stunned/horrified face, totally on reflex.
She saw me, and said -- and I quote -- "Oh it's fine, I'm wearing gloves and there's bleach in the water."
So to summarize, she thought that serving food with gloves that're covered in filth and bleach was safe, because she "was wearing gloves" and "using bleach."
I can't even.
Meaty Tomato Soup
[rebelmouse-image 18349862 is_animated_gif=OK so my dad was a health and hygiene officer in the air force back in the early 50s and was stationed in England. His job included inspecting kitchen and latrine facilities at bases, overseeing quarantine on troops returning home from Europe, and doing health inspections on said troops.
He and some fellow H&H officers were on leave in London and decided to have lunch at a pub that was advertising a soup and sandwich deal. They sit down to piping hot bowls of tomato soup and are talking and eating, when one of the guys says "Mmm good soup, nice and meaty."
Everyone stops talking as it sinks in that tomato soup should not have meat in it, and my dad reluctantly digs his spoon to the bottom of his bowl and comes up with several well cooked cockroaches. Being trained in such things, they stormed into the kitchen and confirmed that the place had their soup heating on a back burner uncovered and directly below a cold water pipe. The rising steam condenses on the pipe, makes it slippery and causes whatever scurry across it to fall into the soup. They yelled at the owner and reported the place, but beyond that they couldn't do much about the unexpected protein.
Two For One
[rebelmouse-image 18350680 is_animated_gif=The two inspections that I remember being horrible were both at low end Chinese places in strip malls. In one inspection, the wok chef had an overflowing ashtray right next to the meat bins. Rodent droppings, piles of dead flies behind the range, open doors to the outside, just nasty.
We also had to check soda machines and the hoses and guns. The soda gun line at one place was so caked with mold and funk it was a miracle that soda could even get through, we couldn't figure out how any previous inspector had missed that or what happened. The soda gun was the worst because it ruined eating out and having a mixed drink.
I'll never be able to drink anything out of a soda gun ever again.
Nope, Not Russia
[rebelmouse-image 18350681 is_animated_gif=My Mom used to be a health inspector. A bar had a bear chained outside and the owners would bring it inside to hangout with the patrons sometimes. Not Russia, but close - the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The Mop Sink
[rebelmouse-image 18350682 is_animated_gif=Walked into a Mexican restaurant one time and saw some lady soaking some tripe in a mop sink. Saw that and told them to throw all of it in the dumpster and bleach it in front of me. My boss had seen a restaurant defrosting raw shrimp in a mop sink with the mop draped over the faucet. When I started as a health inspector, the trainers kept telling us:
_"Be on the lookout for mop sink chicken." _
We kept asking what it was- and they just replied:
_"you'll know when you see it..." _
They were right.
Dumpster Diving
[rebelmouse-image 18350683 is_animated_gif=Chinese restaurant was getting ready to open for lunch. I walked in and temperature checked the items in the walk-in cooler. All of them were well above acceptable temperatures; the cooler had broken down in the night and was no longer functioning.
They wanted to serve the food anyway. I had to embargo the entire cooler worth of food and stood there as they filled trash bag after trash bag with meat and took it to the dumpster. As I was leaving the location, I drove around to the back and they had employees pulling it all out of the trash and dragging it back into the building.
I had to stop them, make them return it to the dumpster and pour straight bleach all over the food to ensure it could not be used.
H/T: Reddit
Men Who've Gotten A Vasectomy Explain Whether They Regret It And How The Procedure Changed Their Life
With more people exercising their right to live a childfree life, or to at least start their families later than people used to, it's important for people to have access to forms of birth control that work for them.
For some, that means getting a vasectomy, but there are aspects to the procedure that most wish they had known before making the appointment.
Redditor jaqeacc asked:
"To men who have gotten a vasectomy, do you regret it, and how has it changed your life?"
Avoiding the Risk
"I’m 30 with three kids and got a vasectomy earlier this year. My wife almost died in childbirth for the last one. Can’t risk that again. No regrets."
- DesertDelirium
Enough Kids
"No regrets. Had it done after our third child was born. We definitely couldn't cope with a 4th child, and my wife was told sternly that she should not have another."
"It hasn't changed my life. It has helped my wife in that she no longer takes birth control."
"Interesting that some other commenters in this thread have had life-changing situations where they went for reversal. The health worker tried to talk me out of the vasectomy, saying I was very young (I was 35). She kept coming up with these scenarios in which I might want to have more children. I would reply, 'I still have three children.'"
- WitShortage
Pain Management
"I had one at 43 years old and didn’t have any pain at all after the procedure. It was fully covered by insurance as well. I recommend making sure they give you the Xanax 30 minutes prior."
- Specific_Albatross63
Respect the Recovery Time
"You need five to seven days to recover. I just did it. The last thing you want to do is pop the internal sutures and bleed into your sack. Then you have to walk around with grapefruit or cantaloupe-sized balls."
"Don’t rush it. After seven days, you’re good to go. Hit it sooner (especially lifting) at your own risk."
- jbrad194
Preventative Care
"I got mine, no regrets, and my sex life vastly improved. Just make sure you get a sperm count post-OP."
- Cebonite
Prepare the PlayStation
"I just want to add a warning from a friend of mine who had it done."
"He had the operation and went home to recover for a few days, unfortunately, he had not foreseen that he wouldn't be able to set up the new PlayStation he'd bought himself as a 'reward.' He didn't feel up to all the awkward bending and f**king around behind the TV. Instead, he had to sit there on the couch for days wishing he was playing it!"
"So a careful warning to anyone else reading this: plug your self-reward PlayStation in before you have the operation and not after. Learn from his mistake!"
- not_right
Rare Issues
"I had one back in 2014 and have been part of the one percent of people who experience pain every day after. Last year, I got it reversed because I didn’t want to be in pain anymore but that did nothing but cause me more issues."
- Slugs86
Stress Free
"My partner got his vasectomy in January. Neither of us have kids, and both of us turn 30 this year. Of course, no OBGYN would entertain sterilization for me (a female), but he was able to set up the appointment with no problem. I’m just now getting the birth control out of my system and it’s life-changing. We’re ecstatic to be able to enjoy each other and not worry about pregnancy."
- PayMeToRedditMmkay
Moving On
"I've had one some nine years ago when my then-girlfriend and I broke up and I decided that I'm too old now to find somebody to have kids with (which was/is totally okay)."
"My urologist really took the time to explain to me how it all works and to make sure that that's what I want. The procedure only hurt a little bit, even though some dude sticking a long hypodermic needle in your sack is probably a rather acquired taste. The greatest inconvenience was the ban on bathing."
"As for the effect, I would definitely do it again. My long-term (=long enough to get tested and do it without a rubber) partners all appreciated it a lot, and even in connection with other forms of contraception, it gives a certain peace of mind. Besides that, the sex itself hasn't changed at all."
"If you're sure you don't want any more kids, I can totally recommend it."
- Radiant_sir_radiant
Potential Complications
"It has changed my sex life significantly. Posts like these are disheartening, because I remembered scrolling through similar posts and disregarding those who were not so lucky and ended up with PVPS (Post-Vasectomy Pain Syndrome) or other changes in their sex life. So many men say it's the best thing they did and never regretted it: no change in orgasms whatsoever."
"The intensity of my orgasms has changed a lot. It isn't as good as it used to be. It's like stepping on a garden hose where water wants to escape but it can't. I never feel relaxed after an orgasm anymore or fulfilled. There's a feeling of congestion after."
"I am not experiencing any pain, luckily. I do feel my testicles are more sensitive. I already feel the tenderness when I go to the bathroom just to pee. I loved it when my partner held them, but I don't anymore."
"Everyone will say it's psychological; your urologist and the people around you. I have posted a couple of times on Reddit about it, but most people thought I was trolling."
"Maybe it is only psychological, but that doesn't change how I perceive my orgasms."
- ThrowRabedeezled
Motivations for the Procedure
"One of my mates got married at around 20 and had two kids by the time he was 23. Got the snip when the second kid was born. Turns 30, and found out his wife had been sleeping with every guy at the gym, divorced, remarried, but the new wife is only 25 and wants kids of her own. He went in for the reversal, but I haven't heard if it was successful yet."
"Another mate was single, got the snip around 35 to make casual sex less stressful. Got married at 40, decided they wanted kids, got a reversal, but it was unsuccessful (that was about 10 years ago though)."
- Michael_Scott247365
Electrifying Experience
"I guess I'm one of the unlucky few..."
"Had mine done, went in, just like most: Small opening, went in, numbed... This is supposed to be the only part that's uncomfortable... I'm pretty sure he hit the wrong spot somewhere."
"Everything was fine for the one side, and then I felt stuff on the other... Not unbearable, but I will never NOT remember feeling whatever he was doing."
"My doc, however, didn't ground the tool that's supposed to cauterize the area. I got shocked to f**king kingdom come. It was the single most painful experience of my life. I put it above almost dying in a car accident or the time I got shot in the eye with an airsoft rifle."
"Recovery: Over a month."
"Walking made me scream. Sleeping was pretty much impossible and it was absolutely miserable. The doc didn't believe me and finally gave me pain medication on my 3rd+ visit. Which was a constant need so that I didn't get fired."
"Ended up behind on every bill I had."
"I'm fine now."
- D3Dragoon
Childfree Choice
"No regrets. Done it this year with 31 without having children."
"The chance of regretting having a child is too high and I do not want it to feel or even suffer from it. I can live with the regret of not having one."
"As for the question, 'And what if your girlfriend wants children?,' I only date women that do not want one. And even then, when all the planets align and h**l is frozen, there are too many children in children’s homes growing up without parents. Adopt them and give them a home and more importantly a loving family."
- Cruso91
Open Communication
"Got the snip around age 36 after my then wife and I were done having kids. My health insurance covered it 100%, not even a deductible. The pain wasn’t too bad. Felt very much like when you’ve been kicked in the nuts."
"We later divorced. It made post-divorce sex life great. Women were really into the security of not getting pregnant. Let me tell you, life was pretty sweet."
"My girlfriend now has no kids. I was very upfront with her very early on in the relationship about the fact I didn’t want more kids, and didn’t want to hinder her from pursuing having children if it was a desire of hers."
"I basically told her if we needed to end the relationship so that she could find someone else to have kids with, I’d understand. She said she was ok not having kids and we’ve been together ever since."
- wizkee
Dad Jokes
"I was told that after a vasectomy I wouldn't have kids anymore, but when I got home, they were still there..."
- CommentToBeDeleted
While there are certainly risks, and even regrets, involved, most Redditors argued that the ends justified the means when it came to getting a vasectomy.
For most, it removed the stress and pressure of possibilities of pregnancy that some people are not interested in, and it's difficult to put a price on something like that.
There are things that we all wish we had known from an earlier age to avoid mistakes, mishaps, and general embarrassment.
Not only is there advice that older people wish they could give the younger generation, but there are things the younger generation is doing now that older people simply do not get.
Redditor IslamicAnime asked:
"Older women of Reddit, what is something young women are doing that puzzles you?"
Buccal Fat Removal
"Buccal Fat Removal surgery."
- walkingoffthebuz
"They're gonna regret that s**t, lol (laughing out loud)."
- beepbooponyournose
"It's permanent, and your body will never make more of it. Buccal fat removal ages the face immediately, which isn't a problem for most women in their 20s, but as they actually do age, there is a high likelihood that they will need to constantly get fillers for the rest of their life to combat the side effects of significant premature aging."
- NinaNeptune13
Lip Fillers
"The overdone lip injections. I can’t wait for this trend to die."
- chubbybarbie81
"I'm 26. I went to high school with a girl who has lip fillers, and every time I see a picture of her, those d**n lips are all I can look at. They look so goofy."
- mrsbebe
Surgical Butt Lifts
"Brazilian Butt Lifts. The weird disproportionate diaper booty look is... interesting."
- Shapoopadoopie
"I have not seen a single one that looked good. The proportions are so unnatural between the butt and legs."
- Hexenhut
Social Media Babies
"Blasting pictures of their young children all over social media with 1000 followers."
- assylemdivas
"Before my son was born, I asked everyone to keep my kid off their social media. Mine is restricted to friends and family only, locked down pretty well, and difficult to find because I don’t use my first name on there. I don’t know who other people have on their pages but my kid didn’t need to be blasted all over their pages to see."
"My son was born via C-section around 5:00 PM. The nurse asked if I wanted a picture taken on my phone to show my mom and niece (who were in the waiting room). I said yes, she went and got my phone from my mom, took a couple of photos, and gave it back to my mom."
"She sent it to herself, then to close family members. Within 10 minutes, my sister had it posted on all of her social media pages and was acting as though she had been at the hospital with me all day."
"My 16-year-old niece (her daughter) called her and told her to stop, to take it all down, and do as I’d asked. My sister apparently got mad but finally did it. I found out about it the next day and thanked my niece, but it started a whole thing that ended with me finally just blocking her (my sister) on social media because she wouldn’t do one simple thing."
- quincyd
Falsies of All Sizes
"Big, fluffy false eyelashes. I tried it once and it felt like caterpillars on my eyelids, they had to come off right away. I don't know how they stand it, but I admire their skill."
"(Just wanna make it clear here, I'm not about sh*tting on the aesthetics of young people. You do you, my sweet children! It's just not for me.)"
- katie-kaboom
A Little Privacy
"Letting everyone on the internet know exactly where you are at all times and what your schedule is seems a bit nuts."
- Konebred
"I teach high school math..."
"My students have tracking apps so they can see exactly where their friends are at all times, and I think it's weird as h**l."
"Someone was absent, so I asked, 'Where is Martha?' to nobody in particular. Well, her friend in class pulls out her phone and replies, 'Oh! She should be here soon. She's in the 300 building bathroom.' I find it incredibly creepy, but they have no issue with it."
- Philyphreak3
Influencer Concerns
"Posting non-stop content and then caring so much about what strangers say about them online. As if life isn't difficult enough for women without finding new and unnecessary standards to hold themselves up to. It all seems like an exhausting, pointless, and mentally draining exercise."
- MuddaFrmAnnudaBrudda
"Focusing on their social media appearance. The lighting, the posing… it’s all for likes."
"Posting where they are. Where they go."
"The complete transparency over their location floors me after being told not to tell people that stuff online."
"I worry that a lot of young people are too aware of their social media standing and appearance and aesthetic and are forgetting to find and love themselves for who they are."
- punnymama
Lack of Communication
"Passive-aggressive roommate fights."
"The layers can get really impressive, but in a terrible way. 'A wrote B a note about dishes, but C thought it was about them, so C wrote A a note, and then B came home and thought it was for her so she texted the group chat and...'"
"DUDE. TALK TO PEOPLE. TALK. TO. PEOPLE. This is the perfect time in your life to be practicing assertiveness and healthy conflict resolution. All this s**tty note-writing and vague group text chatting and bulls**t is making whatever the problem is a thousand times worse."
- Much_Difference
Self-Sufficiency
"I am bewildered by women who do not prioritize the ability to support themselves."
- Joey690
"I have so many friends that can't do stuff my dad taught me was basic. Like following instructions for general house maintenance stuff. No reason to pay someone $400 and wait two weeks for them to come when you can do it yourself in 15 minutes with an online tutorial."
"Like swapping the lock assembly on a washing machine. Sounds difficult if you don't know what you're doing, but on many washing machines it's one screw and it's plug and play. There are a ton of videos on YouTube for it, so you don't even need to know how to start."
"I guess what I really got from my dad was the confidence to try. So many people I run into just don't even think they can, so they don't try."
- caboosetp
#VanLife
"Van life."
"The whole 'Van life is so glamorous, look at me sipping my coffee sitting in the back of my van in front of the sunrise' thing is WAY overrated and very, very fake."
"Van life or camper life can be fun and an adventure at times, yes, but it comes with a LOT of work, expenses, and risks that people don't tell you about."
- Just_another_Sue
Makeup Enthusiasts
"They are SO good at makeup. I don’t know if it’s because they have better products, the availability of tutorial videos, or both but they all look amazing and we were walking around with orange faces and smudged eyeliner. Not gonna lie, I’m a little jealous."
"EDITED TO ADD: so many bitter people in these replies! Makeup is a hobby. It might not be one that you enjoy but that doesn’t invalidate it."
"We should respect and uplift all women and however they choose to express themselves, whether it’s by wearing makeup and miniskirts or Carhartt and axel grease."
- SnooPeripherals5969
Relationship Red Flags
"I'm definitely not considered an older woman yet, so I apologize as my view may not count, but one thing I've noticed since starting a new job and working with some 17-20-year-olds has given me a few yikes."
"One is the weird obsession with knowing where their partner is at all times, one girl threw a mini fit because her partner's Snapchat location wasn't on and she was scarily angry about it."
"And the weird glorification I've seen about being 'psycho' is such a weird red flag. Amount of them boasting about borderline mentally abusive things or acts they do to their partners is f**king WILD and frankly scares me a little."
- bamyris
Real-Life Experiences
"I'm 33 so I don't consider myself old yet, but I've seen young girls living through Snapchat and other apps, vehemently photographing themselves and everything around them."
"To me, it seems as if they care more about how they portray themselves online towards others (they don't even know), instead of enjoying the actual experiences."
- Flikketeer
Miss Dependent
"I know a few 17 or 18-year-old girls who have decided not to learn to drive or get licensed because their boyfriends always have cars; not to finish school because they don't enjoy it; and don't ever want to vote because that stuff's boring."
"They have these precious rights to be free, to be educated, to be heard, and they don't care!"
"(Regarding the car thing, we're in a semi-rural area with limited transport options.)"
- RooBeeDooBeeDoo
Lack of Skin Protection
"Not wearing sunscreen and still going tanning."
"My sister died at age 36 from skin cancer and it is still a struggle to convince younger girls of all ethnicities to wear sunscreen and stop tanning. Use a fake tanner or/and love the skin you're in."
- Sure_Temperature_349
From generation to generation, priorities and practices have a way of changing. Some practices are wildly confusing for older generations, leaving the older people to wish that they could give younger people advice they wish they'd had themselves.
The mundane activities we do on a daily basis put us into auto-pilot, where we don't have to think about what we're doing.
This occurs every day. But maybe we shouldn't assume things will always go well.
Think about it. Drivers who commute don't have to concern themselves with how to get to work or school. But can you assume the drivers with whom you share the road are safe drivers?
Diners at restaurants don't have to worry about eating the foods prepared for them. Are you sure there aren't any foreign–possibly sharp–objects in your entree?
Even acts that are simple as stepping into the shower early in the morning don't have to worry about a single thing.
Did you watch Final Destination?
Curious to hear about normal activities that can unexpectedly turn deadly, Redditor Godzilla_Cheese asked:
"What is something everyone does daily that if done wrong, can kill you?"
These are reminders for people not to check out on the most basic activities.
Showers Can Be Fatal
"take a shower or bath."
"one slip and you could die."
– TrailerParkPrepper
"This happened to a kid at my highschool. Was showering, slipped hit his head and died. Was only like 16. Nice guy."
– TheWillsofSilence
Amateur Cooks Beware
"I’m a firefighter and my only answer is: cooking"
"You f'kers set your stoves on fire entirely too often."
– alstottno1
"First thing in every sims game I've played: buy a fire alarm and install it right above the oven and grind out a point in cooking."
"Far too many ghosts in my town due to grilled cheese."
– Torringtonn
Drivers should be focused on one thing: driving.
Eyes On The Road Please
"How many people answered this while driving?"
– hamstrung_hero
"So, I only know exactly one person, personally, that has died while driving. Yet, it happens all the time. So, I often think at work (I work at a bar): 'how many people here aren’t gonna make it home tonight?' Just, statistically, working in bars for 15 years; I know there has to be some number of people who came to my bar and that was the last day of their life."
– NerdModeActivated
Driving Defensively
"The scariest part is you can do everything right and still die because someone else did it wrong."
– Vegan-Fury
"Always assume everyone else is on the road is a complete imbecile. Don’t just be aware of what’s in front of you (and in front of them), be aware of what’s on all sides of you. Know which way you can swerve if needed, etc…"
– NBA_Fan_76
Be Aware Of Last-Minute Maneuvers
"Almost happened to me this morning. People seem to think it's okay to pick the last possible second to exit or merge. You had an entire mile to prepare for this and you chose to try and kill me instead."
– Silent-G
Lingering Trauma
"Yup, a friend of mines was recently involved in a fatal traffic accident. Thanks to CCTV on the vehicle he was deemed not at fault by police. I can't begin to imagine what's going through his head, he's still off work for health reasons."
– STRICKIBHOY
"The only thing keeping us from smashing into oncoming traffic is an agreement to not cross a thin painted line on the road."
– gREGER2K
Wrong Time, Wrong Place
"Literally just walking."
"Walk in the wrong spot at the wrong time and wham hit by a semi truck."
"People literally die from random shi*t like tripping and hitting their head on the edge of a curb, doesn’t even need to be a car!"
– Swift_F0x
Don't assume everything goes down smoothly.
Dining On-The-Go
"Drink or eat."
– oneofyrfencegrls
"I just saw my 88 year old aunt for maybe the last time. (She lives halfway around the world and was clear that this is her last trip to the US) she started choking on a piece of sushi, we asked if she was okay, she shook her head 'no' and pointed to her back."
"My dad starts patting her back not nearly hard enough and I realize that if I did the Heimlich on her, I could break a rib. She’s tiny and frail. Luckily, she coughs it up and her British a** says, 'So sorry to be a bother. I’m quite embarrassed by that.' I blurted out, 'Sorry!? I thought you were going to die! We’re good.'”
– phlavor
The Peanut
"Peanuts. My dad's Shaolin Kempo teacher died this way. Big burly guy. Black belt fighter. Choked on a peanut with no one around to do a Heimlich. Like this guy got hit in the head multiple times during tournaments, but a peanut is what did him in. Bizarre to think about."
– Melvarkie
Killer Tomatoes
"I used to have a teacher in high school who worked in tomato fields earlier in life, which anyone who's ever worked in a picking field knows that it can easily f'k you up good. He eventually made his way out of the fields and into a teaching career, and one day years later he was eating a salad and started choking on a piece of tomato. Luckily one of the students was able to pat him on the back hard enough to force it out, but once everyone's nerves weren't on edge he was just like, 'Man I made it out of those fields just for the tomatoes to try and kill me now.'"
– AcousticAaron
Wrong Pipe
"I hate when you drink water wrong."
– Good-Management-4241
"Dihydrogen monoxide strikes again."
– notthephonz
"Aspiration kills 168,000 humans yearly (approximately)"
– Puresparx420
Take from this list what you will.
Many Redditors learned some new things in the thread but also expressed regret.
Redditor pandaram02, for instance, wrote:
"Idk why I’m opening the comment section just unlocking new fears."
Seconded.
Who knew that cleaning can kill you?
Note: never mix bleach with ammonia. Inhaling the noxious fumes from the chemical reaction can have near-fatal consequences.
Everyone has a different relationship with hygiene.
While some people wash their hands every time they enter a new room, and never leave home without a bottle of hand sanitizer, others might not care where their hands have been as they bust open a bag of chips.
However, one thing that both parties have in common is that over time, they might have developed certain practices related to their own personal hygiene that are unique to them.
Helping them either make sure their hands, teeth, and body are as clean as can possibly be or help them get things done as speedily, if not as effectively, as possible.
"What is the peculiar hygiene habit that you've developed?"
So Nothing Gets Overlooked
"When I shower I slowly rotate in a circle like some type of vertical rotisserie chicken."- RootsRoots55
To Help It Come Out... Maybe?...
"When I sit down to poo, I sort of sit in a way that spreads my cheeks as much as possible."- Myzx
Clean Before You Clean
"I wash my hands in the shower before I touch my face."- plasticIove
Happy Wash Hands GIF by Mecklenburg CountyGiphySurprisingly Overlooked
"I spend an extra minute in every shower making sure I thoroughly clean my feet."
"Not weird to clean feet."
"But definitely weird to remind myself every day 'gotta wash them trotters'."- ingoodtime23
Don't Overlook The Hard To Reach Places
"I see a lot of elderly people in the hospital.'
"99% have toenail fungus."
"I keep anti-fungal shampoo in the shower next to a toothbrush and scrub my nails and in-between my toes every morning."- Resilient_bookworm
Nothing Says You Can't Have Fun In The Shower...
"More of a fun one, but related to hygiene."
"When in the shower, and I'm lathering up my body with my soap/shower gel, I ensure a nice seal between my arm and body."
"Then I keep my fingertips against my hip and extend my elbow, creating a huge bubble in the gap between my arm and body."
"Then I blow it to see how big a bubble I can blow before it pops."
"Yes I'm a 35 year old man."- Angry_Cornflake
Extra, Extra Dry
"Squeegee myself with my hands in the shower to get most of the water off before I towel dry."- clydeswitch
Wash Up After Cleaning
"After using a sponge or cloth from the kitchen sink, I wash my hands with soap."
"These things are just nasty, imo."- knuckleduster12
A Few Steps Ahead
"Taking showers in the middle of the night."
"I have insomnia and one night I decided, what the hell, I need to shower when I get up anyways, so I'll get it out of the way now."
"Maybe it's placebo, but as soon as I got out of the shower and got into bed I slept like a baby."
"Now if I can't fall asleep or wake up in the middle of the night I'll go take a shower instead of laying in bed trying to force myself to fall asleep."- SunnySilver8
Relaxing Homer Simpson GIFGiphyBeware The Excess Spray
"I try to close the toilet seat lid before flushing because I saw a video once where green 'bacteria' gets shot out of the toilet."- LrckLacroix
Their Expert Hiders
"Full body tick check before bed every night."
"I spend a lot of time in the bush and lyme sucks."- cat_named_virtue
The Proof Is In The Pudding... Flavored Toothpaste
"My friends think it's weird that I time myself brushing my teeth so that I brush for the full 2 minutes."
"Joke's on them though, I have the nicest teeth in the friend group."- selloboy
Brush Colgate GIFGiphy...Seems Kind Of Dangerous...
"I like to shower in complete darkness."
"Turn off the lights, block the bottom of the bathroom door with a towel or my clothes if I have to, maybe put some music on if I'm in the mood, and just have a nice, long, hot shower."
"It's incredibly relaxing, almost like a little nap with how warm it is and all the darkness."- Adventurous-Till2924
Should That Even Matter?
"As a straight guy, washing my a**, apparently."- fromkentucky
It Can Get Out Of Control
"I trim my armpit hair every time I trim my beard."
"It’s like a buzz-cut under there."
"Deodorant is more effective that way."-
One would like to think that everyone follows the most basic rules of personal hygiene without needing to be reminded.
At the end of the day though, what's important is doing whatever puts your mind at rest that you are as clean as it possibly can be.
Still... How can you really tell how clean you are if you shower in the dark?