
New home owner, listen up. There are a few items that everyone should have in their home.
These items are usually meant to keep us safe. We never expect to be in danger in our own homes, but accidents happen. Things we don't ever want to happen can spring up on us, so we have to be prepared.
This list of important home items are essential for any home owner. Even if you're not a first time buyer! Professionals have chimed in with some incredibly helpful advice that backs the need for these home staples.
Redditor DanDong77 asked:
"What is something that everyone should have in their home?"
Get your Amazon shopping cart ready.
Make the investment. It's worth it.
"Fire extinguisher."
"ExtinguisherS."
"One near the kitchen."
"One in the garage (if you have a garage)."
"One near the fireplace."
"One on each floor."
"Most importantly, one in the bedroom. If you get woken up by the smoke detector, you grab the extinguisher with you in case the fire is between you and an exit. Also, an empty one from when you practiced putting out fires with it. Most extinguishers last over 10 years (get the ones with the pressure gauge). Even if you need 5, that's around a $100, or $10 per year."
"Emphasis on near the kitchen, not in the kitchen."
"If the stove starts a fire and you keep the extinguisher a foot away under the sink, you won't be able to get close enough to get it."
"Keep it in a nearby pantry or closet or hallway; somewhere between the kitchen and exit so you can get out if need be. Mount it on the wall, too, so you don't have to dig around to get it."
"More importantly, make sure everyone in the house knows how to use them."
"Spend the extra money to buy a spare, and teach you SO and the kids how it works, what to expect when you use it, and where you should point it."
"Insanely important."
It's a luxury for some and a necessity for others.
"A working and clean toilet."
"I just had a long conversation about living in a van. This was my whole argument."
"To everyone who says use compost toilet, sh*t in bag, or use public restrooms that's all well and fine. Butt for me, there's no replacement for your own toilet in the privacy of your own warm home. I've been on some looong trips I've had to try these methods and more."
Safety first! Take it from a firefighter.
"A smoke detector."
- thaw800
"Firefighter here. Yes smoke detectors are absolutely essential to a home fire safety plan. BUUUUT, you shouldn't just assume that simply having them around is going to make you totally safe. They are just one tool in a complete toolbox of fire safety. They can only alert you that a fire is already burning. They do exactly nothing to prevent, extinguish or provide shelter from fire."
"A plan for how to escape is critical. Also sleeping with your (and especially kids') bedroom doors closed could very well save a life. Extinguishers are nice if you have a small fire that you can put out quickly, but detectors and a plan are the most important things."
"Don't just take my word for it. Here's a video from Underwriters Laboratories showing how fast fire and toxic gases spread in a house fire with modern furnishings. And here is a video showing the dramatic difference closing a bedroom door makes."
- mtd074
"I don't have one because my parents believe the radioactivity from a smoke detector is more dangerous than the risk of fire. Hope they're right."
"I have tried for years to convince them. For now I'm gonna accept it, but in a few months I move out and get my own."
"Please tell your parents to put their smoke alarms back in ffs. They give off about 1/100 of a millirem over the space of the year. You can withstand a background radiation level of around 360 millirems per year... 1/100... 360..."
"It's not worth dying in a house fire over nothing."
"Source: I work in nuclear engineering."
"Carbon monoxide detector."
"Yup. This saved us this week. We have one in the basement and it started going off after dinner, so I called the non-emergency line all apologetic, like I'm not sure who to call. But they were so pumped and had the fire truck there in two minutes and they had the energy company come out with a more sensitive reader. Ended up being the oven (new one installed today and it's awesome) and we wouldn't have known at all without the alarm."
"I wish they were made for fewer false positives."
"I mean, I get it, if it goes off too much, that acceptable compared it not going off even once when it isn't supposed to. The thing is, people just disregard them now."
"I actually spent over an hour explaining to a customer on a service call that the CO detector he had wasn't faulty, but that he had CO in his house."
One Redditor shared a post from a man who was leaving post-it notes around the apartment and forgetting about them. He later learned he had carbon monoxide poisoning.
If you don't have this, is it even a home?
"A bag filled with bags."
"This is a requirement!!!"
"A bag bag, if you will."
"I call mine, 'The Bag of Bags.'"
The heart of the home is the kitchen.
"A good sharp chefs knife."
- dgolia1
"And sharpener!"
- splorfer
"I got a knife set as a housewarming gift. I don't know how I lived before cutting vegetables with dull cheap knives. It has changed my entire cooking experience."
- Amii25
The Best 'Actually, You're Speaking To The Boss' Experience | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
First aid.
"First aid stuff."
"Yes. I sliced my hand open not too long ago while doing the dishes and had nothing to bandage it with. It sucked. Lots of blood everywhere. Ended up getting 4 stitches."
"True. Aspirin works as a blood thinner. So people with family history of cholesterol and heart diseases should have one at home! It'll give you some extra time to reach hospital for surgery!"
A working toilet.
"A working and clean toilet."
"With a plunger."
"I just had a long conversation about living in a van. This was my whole argument."
"To everyone who [says] use compost toilet, sh*t in bag, or use public restrooms that's all well and fine. Butt for me, there's no replacement for your own toilet in the privacy of your own warm home. I've been on some looong trips I've had to try these methods and more. Mainly I just want to handle my own sh*t as little as possible!"
This is critical.
"Toilet plunger."
"And make sure it's a toilet plunger, not a sink plunger. Sink plungers are semi-hemispherical. Toilet plungers looks like sink plunger with a skirt on it."
"Once rented the spare room of someone who liked to flush things like kleenex and paper towel. Naturally they did not own a plunger. It was a bad time."
On a similar note...
"A BIDET!!!! A BIDET!!!!!"
"How are bidets not common across North America?"
"It's one of those 'we don't have many them, so no one misses them, so no one feels compelled to make/sell/promote them, so we don't have many of them' things."
The ability to call for help.
"A working phone. Even if it's just a cell phone that's not used, you need to be able to call 911."
"A cell phone can call 911 even without service, as long as it has a signal."
When the power goes out.
"Flashlight, candles and matches/lighter."
- diiejso
"Every time there's a big storm I am surprised and disappointed by how many people don't seem to have these."
- Sammo909
We don't need anyone hurting themselves.
"A tallish ladder (one that will allow you to reach all your ceilings comfortably). I've stacked chairs on tables before in previous places and it sucked for changing light bulbs or air filters."
"Those little giant ladders are a godsend. Heavy, but a 6ft closed latter can be used as an A-frame up to 11ft or straight for 22ft."
"I will add onto this, but having step stools in any space where there are cabinets above your head. Doesn't matter if you can reach. Will potentially save you from oopsie dropsies, hurting your shoulders or back from over-reaching, allow you to better organize high cabinets."
Wifi really has become a necessity.
"Internet."
- kgold0
"Yes. Living with garbage wifi for six years was [terrible]."
Aw, so sweet!
"Someone who is happy to see you when you come home."
"So my dogs count?"
Pets definitely count.
Something everyone deserves.
"Peace."
"Underrated. You never know you have it until it's gone. And you don't wish for it until it is unavailable."
- Jcdabney
"At home, emotional/physical abuse is frequent. Back when I was a teen who still hadn't realized living like that wasn't normal, I noticed I'd get exhausted as soon as I walked in the door. I adopted all kinds of superstitious explanations for this, from bad feng shui to the house being cursed."
"Turns out that a house where you can't have peace f*cks with you. Do what you can to make it happen."
The fact that so many professionals came to this thread is an indicator that you need these home items. It could save your life.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.