Not everyone is meant for the water. Certain people should just stay far away from a public pool- they're already germy and full of screaming children. The best solution would just be to get their own pool. Or a kiddie pool. Or just a bathtub. Whatever it is, stay away from the community pool.
Reddit user alipoop asked:
Lifeguards of Reddit, what's the weirdest thing you've seen someone do in the water?
Are you serious?
"We once had a man come into our pool for lane swim."
"He had all the latest gear, brand new suit, cap and goggles."
"He got to the edge of the deck and did some arm circles, adjusted his goggles and dove into the pool."
"He popped up for a few seconds then promptly started flailing and gasping for breath."
"A colleague jumped in and pulled him out immediately."
"We were all really confused until he told us he had never swam before and he thought it came naturally."- shann-tastic
Some people will do anything for attention.
"Fake drowning by a woman who admitted that she wanted my attention. I wanted to drown her."- Mentalfloss1
GiphyYou know you can buy oxygen, right?
"A lady once had an asthma attack so we put her on the oxygen only to find out that her oxy saturation levels were at 100%, turns out she just wanted an oxygen high."- ohshitaratoohhhshit
Thank goodness she had that life jacket.
"Life guarding was my first job when I was 16."
"I watched a little girl around 9-10 years of age dive head first, with a life jacket on, into a kitty pool of about 6 inches."
"Needless to say, she smoked her dome and I had to patch up a little cut on her forehead."- plain_ass_username
GiphyWe love a witty lifeguard.
"Couple having sex in the water."
"Not as fun as you would think though."
"There's lots of kids around."
"We'd yell that 'this is a family facility, not a family making facility' and they'd always stop."- fellowneighbour
Somehow so smart yet so dumb.
"On the hottest day of the year when we were short on guards, we paid a guy 5 bucks to s**t in the pool so we could clear it for an hour to clean."- jackaloper92
Kids today and their anarchy.
"I worked 3 years as a lifeguard for my local community center."
"Our place was somewhat unique as we both had an indoor pool and water park, complete with water slide and other such things."
"There were also containers filled with pool toys and other things like life preservers, life vests, and kick boards."
"One day, while I was on break, my supervisor comes running into the break room and tells all of us (there were three of us on break) to come help control a situation in the water park area."
"Apparently, one of the summer camps' kids had rallied enough kids together and coordinated them into constructing makeshift rafts with all the pool equipment."
"By the time we made it out on deck, they had already made a motley fleet of boats pieced together with pool noodles, life jackets, and other floating toys."
"The issue however was not that they had Macgyvered this little fleet, but how the camp had split into factions and begun an all-out naval engagement in the pool."
"Pool noodles were now being used as makeshift water cannons, and things only escalated from there."
Giphy"Some of the kids had broken into our supply closet and found our stash of other water toys, super soakers, water balloons, etc., and came whooping out onto the deck."
"A few of the kids made armor out of the kick boards and vests and were wielding the buoys we use for water aerobics like clubs."
"Others had taken the water balloons to the top of the water slide and were lobbing them off in some crude bid for air superiority."
"This one girl had taken her camp shirt and tied it to a pool skimmer, waving it like a flag and yelling 'FOR THE KING! FOR THE KING!'
"It took thirty minutes to regain control of the situation, in which time one of the guards required stitches due to being pistol whipped with a water gun by an overzealous 11 year old."
"We never did invite that camp back."- RorschachtheMighty
The Strangest Superstitions People Actually Observe | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
The world can be a superstitious place. If you've ever knocked on wood or thrown salt over your shoulder then you've run into one or two throughout your life...The cycle begins.
"I once watched as another guard jumped in then performed a front active rescue."
"As she pulled the victim up he threw up all over her."
"Leading her to throw up all over him."
"And then back and forth."
"Causing both of them to start drowning."
"Then I jumped in from the other side did a rear active rescue on my own coworker as another guard saved the original victim."
"Awkward day..."- joepbrett
That can't be comfortable.
"I was a lifeguard at a camp, and this Pentecostal church came to stay, about 500 of them."
"Even in the pool, the boys would wear slacks and a belt."
"No shirt, but they'd be wearing their tan slacks, and brown belt."
"Blew my mind."- BryceGlass
Not that hunky.
"Was a lifeguard at an indoor apartment pool."
"One lady was mostly paralyzed on one side."
"She also could not swim in deep water."
"So, lady would do laps in the shallow end, but because of the paralysis, would end up swimming into the deep end where she would promptly panic."
"She did this over and over and over."
Probably these days, twenty years later, I would ban her from the pool."
"But I was a teenager at the time who certainly did not want to make any waves, so I ended up making literal waves regularly to save her."
"I would suggest that she liked being saved by the hunky lifeguard to deliberately drown herself so regularly, but I'm not that hunky."- Knave7575
GiphyVomit worthy.
"I worked at a college pool so we had a standard Olympic sized high dive."
" I had to tell a kid that was at least 11-12 yrs old not sit under the board and drink the water falling off the people about to jump."
"I can't imagine how much a**/foot/b*lls water that kid ingested."
"It was sick."- flamingbirdsonfire69
Are you sure that wasn't a rabbit in a bikini?
"Not really in the water technically but still a head scratcher."
"Used to work at a very high end gym back in college."
"You could pay annually ~$1000 or monthly to the tune of about $120."
"Had a regular who would come in late afternoons every sat and sun to our outdoor pool."
"This lady was absolutely stunning."
"Maybe early 30's and the physique of a super model."
"Always wore a super tight purple bikini and lounged out on the stone wall encompassing the hot tub."
"Never actually in the hot tub but would lie on her back along the wall."
"Made it really hard as a 20 year old male lifeguard to concentrate on the people in the water.'
"Thank god for sunglasses."
"It was also hard to remain focused on the other patrons as this lady would proceed to then one-by-one pick the leaves off the shrub next to the wall, eat them, and hold a conversation with herself while staring into the sky."
"As the leaves would start to dwindle on that particular shrub over the course of the week, she'd move farther along down the wall and start on the next one."
"This continued every summer for about 2 years until I left for the military."
"Wherever you are lady, I hope you're doing well outside of your career calling as a deer or rabbit."
"There was also the man who got pissed when we closed the waterslide for the night so he went over to the children's wading section, took a big dump, and ran, fleeing out the side gates."
"Jokes on you buddy, we got to shut down for the day and got paid to f*ck around on my phone in the guard office."- S-S-Stumbles
No bricks allowed.
"Late to the party but I was a lifeguard for about 6 years."
"About half of my job was telling people, "as a reminder, please do not throw any of the rocks, sand or seaweed at the beach (it's crowded are you serious?!)"
"This one guy shouts back, 'can I throw bricks?'"
"My out-loud response was to ask if he had any bricks on him at the moment."
"He insisted he didn't have any on him, but could go out to his truck and get a bunch."
"I responded into the megaphone, 'as a reminder, please do not throw any of the rocks, sand, seaweed or bricks at the beac'".
'We both yucked it up a bit and went back to our respective lives'."- MrOwlsManyLicks
GiphyFather-son bonding.
"Worked as an open water lifeguard last year, and worked on a 100m long inflatable assault course."
"Throughout the hottest parts of the summer, seaweed would often be found along the edges and safety straps, the course was made out of multiple inflatable obstacles fastened together, and it was our job every morning to clean this."
"Sometimes spots were missed, as we had about 30 minutes for just one of us, the task ran on a rota, so a different person did it each day, to clean the entire park."
"Halfway through one day, a dad and his son find a strap covered in seaweed and jellyfish eggs."
"Usually people recoil and stay away upon touching the stuff, but instead these two pull the seaweed and eggs off the strap and throw it back and forth at each other for about half an hour."
"Was weird to watch, and kinda disgusting."- marcus__lfc
Literally seeing Red!
"A woman was dying her hair in the hot tub! "
'Everything was red.'
The stories are endless
"I see a whole lot at my resort park.'
"Guests wearing masks above their noses, letting the water in, doing god knows WHAT kinds of strokes."
"Dead man floating etc."
"The one thing that is probably the most common weird thing though, is little kids, 5-10 carrying multiple heavy rocks down our realistically decorated river."
"So they're sputtering and kicking hard and I just look at them."
"'Hey bud/sweety, just...drop the rocks?'"
"They look at me like I've threatened to take away their pet."- ClydeLeArtiste
Art Photoshop GIFGiphyLeaving his mark...
"Not strictly pool-related, but part of lifeguard duties was to clean the changing rooms at my pool."
"Anyway, we had an 8-ish-year-old kid, who we were pretty sure was a serial sh*tter."
"Every time he and his family went for a swim, there would be a sh*t left for us in the showers."
"Happened 2 or 3 times before we didn't see them again."
"Don't want to imagine what he's allowed to do at home if that's what he does in public..."
Well, that's one way of doing it.
"A bit late but this only happened today."
"Mum, prob 40s, is taking [a child], 10 for a swim."
"Nothing seems suspect, just the usual mucking around."
"Wouldn't have paid them anymore attention than the rest of the public when the kid comes running out the pool."
"First no-no, but too far away to do anything about it so I just watch."
"Kid runs up to the fountain to grab a drink."
"Normal until he doesn't swallow."
"This kid walks his ass back to the pool mouth still full of water and baby bird style feeds his mum the water so she can have a drink."
"Like I've seen some weird shit working at the pool but I've never been so weirded out."- barnacle_soap
Not cut out for the job
"As a lifeguard you are required to have 4 hours of training each month, at least where I worked you were."
"During one of these training sessions, I was the one that was chosen to be on stand."
"While I was, I saw a new guard grabbing onto one of the supervisors necks and trying to stay afloat."
"I never saw that new guard again."
"I guess they couldn't swim, and I got yelled out for not jumping."- eric12343
american dad! eating GIFGiphyThey could talk the talk...
"I use to be a lifeguard at a boy scout summer camp in Hawaii and it was the first day of camp which is the swim test to see who can and cannot swim."
" I have this kid walking with me and him telling me 'oh I am on a swim team' and other stuff."
"We reach the deep end and I tell him to jump in and start swimming."
"He jumps and sinks straight to the bottom."
"I am about to jump in and get him but he breaches the water and I reach the rescue tube out to him and pull hm out of the water."
"I later find out that he is in the learn to swim class."
"I guess he thought swimming was gonna be easy."- PeekClamBeDyslexic
Stories both sweet and sour
"I'm a lifeguard at three neighborhood pools."
"I haven’t seen anything particularly shocking, but my boss shared a few of her stories with me."
"A man named James is banned from the pool for 'flashing his peepee'."
"Most recently, a person who has yet to be caught took the biggest crap in the women’s restroom."
"It was not in fact in to toilet. "
"They had decided to walk past the stalls and take a massive dump in front of the sink."
"This one I actually saw."
" A literally girl and her mom and dad come into the pool."
"I am on stand and don’t pay particular attention to them until our of the corner of my eye I see this 10-13ish girl hobbling into the pool with a sparkling mermaid tail."
"I kinda felt bad for her because this huge group of teenagers stopped in their tracks to stare at her as she proceeded to wiggle through the water."
"I was so scared that i would have to jump in and save this girl because her legs are basically bound together and swimming became extremely tiring and difficult."
"Her mom looked so proud of her and was yelling at her husband, who was visually embarrassed, to take pictures."- A-Subconcious-Memory
In and out
'One time, as I was maybe 30 minutes from closing a pool, man came into the pool area."
"My first thought was 'oh no, I'm gonna close late today', but instead of swimming laps like most people, the guy jumped into the pool, sat on the bottom against the wall for maybe 30 seconds, and then left."
"Didn't even swim a little."- -_Pancake_-
Chilling Pool Party GIF by GIPHY CAMGiphyWhat does he get up to in private?
"When I was a lifeguard, there was this one guy I worked with."
"He was a fairly nice dude; kinda nerdy."
"Was a camp counselor, made us all listen to Glee covers of top 40 hits while we lifeguarded with him."
"But when things were slow or he was on a break, etc., me and my friend I worked with noticed he left a tab open on one of the office computers."
"The office is on the pool deck so you can sit at the desks and also look out at the pool."
"And it was videos of these sexy girls speaking ASMR telling stories or just talking."
"They weren’t pornographic, but it was just so weird cause it was definitely low-key erotic and he was just watching them on a public computer at work."
"Definitely started noticing his creepy vibes more after that."- lavendermilktea
Next time, maybe we'll just dip out toes in the water or stay on dry land.
People Who Don't Get To Know Their Neighbors Explain Why
Reddit user pandaocean168 asked: 'People who don’t get buddy-buddy with your neighbors, why?'
The Bible instructs us to "love thy neighbor as thyself".
Whether or not you are a practicing Christian, it is still wise to treat your neighbors with respect, and maintain a good relationship.
For some people, doing so is quite easy, as they end become close friends with their neighbors.
While others might remain friendly with their neighbors, but wouldn't go so far as to call them friends.
Then there are those who don't have any relationship with their neighbors, good or bad, possibly not even knowing their names.
"People who don’t get buddy-buddy with your neighbors, why?"
Classic Conditioning
"I was raised in an area where we had no neighbors."
"Now living in a neighborhood it drives me crazy to be outside working in the yard with people on all sides."
"I miss privacy."- Best_Fondant_3027
Friendly, But Not Friends
"I'm friendly with all my neighbors but I'm not trying to hang out with them."
"I don’t have any cool neighbors I can relate to on a personal level other than the fact we live in the same area."- ibetyouranerd
"I'm not against it, but none of them seem interested in more than a 'hey' head nod."
"Which I'm okay with."- Toastybunzz
seth rogen film GIF by NEIGHBORSGiphyIf The Chemistry Isn't There...
"Unless my neighbors are really cool, and we have a good amount in common, I wanna keep the relationship to just waves, how do you do’s, and hey your house is on fire."
"I’m here for pleasantries and emergencies only… I don't need to hang out with you."- Mundane_Tour_3215
"Why would I want to?"
"The only thing I have in common with any of them is that we live on the same block."- great_auks
It's A Generational Thing...
"My neighbors are either half my age of thrice my age."- BarefootBestseller
Baby Boomers Dancing GIFGiphyNo One Likes A Gossip...
"Neighbors next to us and directly across the street gossiped about other neighbors within a few days of us moving to the neighborhood and meeting them."
"Like heavy stuff about affairs, sexual preferences, mental health issues, arguments, etc."
"Also, one of the neighbor’s kids is a disrespectful drama queen."
"I try to steer my kids away from interacting with this kid, but they live next door."- PhatBitty862
My House, My Rules...
"Why would I?"
"My home is the one place I am not required to interact with others."
"I don't want to be bothered and I don't want to bother."
"I'll be friendly if I pass by them or something but I'm not going out of my way to befriend them simply because they live near me."- LunaMay196
Cultural Thing
"I live in Sweden."
"We don't do that here."- SweetWodka420
Sweden Flag Sport GIF by xponentialdesignGiphyYou See Them Every Day...
"Same reason you don't date someone from work."- dudeab1des
"Separation of church and state."
"I have friends, and those friends have to text me to see if I'm home."- Doyce_7
Just Human Nature
"What do I look like? Some sort of extrovert?"- heyitsvonage
Season 5 April GIF by Parks and RecreationGiphyQuality Over Quantity
"I try to get buddy-buddy with as few people as possible IRL."
"I like to live a simple life, and new connections beget new obligations."- Tylensus
Quite The Assortment Of Characters
"One is incredibly reclusive so I leave her alone and one has more faces than the town hall clock so I stay tf away the others are pretty ok though."- Banana_boof
No one should feel obligated to become friends with their neighbors.
On the flip side though, no one should be averse to it either.
After all, when you click, you click, and when you don't...
Well, you get the picture.
Over the years, I've gotten a little more adventurous with my menu options.
I recently added pepper a decade ago.
I've also been dabbling in hot sauces as of late.
But I am bias against a lot of food.
My stomach is a coward.
And I'm ok with that.
Redditor Judgemental_Squirrel wanted to hear about the foods that turn many people's stomachs, so they asked:
"What food aren't you eating even if it was free?"
Cow. Cow tongue. Cow stomach.
Why in the world?
Not that I don't eat steak but... I can't even think about it.
Not even with a free tank...
Sushi Ew GIF by Sealed With A GIFGiphy"Gas station sushi."
kirinmay
"For sushi use the 200-mile rule. If there isn't a body of water where the fish could have been caught recently, it's probably a bad idea. I wouldn't even get fresh sushi in Kansas unless I caught the fish myself."
Bahnd
Just Bland
"Shark fin."
Podzilla07
"I attended a wedding and the family paid for the food at an after-wedding dinner. I didn't know what it was, I didn't learn of the immorality behind it until after, that being said, it wasn't remarkable in any way and is in no way worth what they do to the sharks."
xfocalinx
"Not defending shark fin's soup, it's pretty bad the way it's prepared but where have you been eating it that it's bland? I'm Asian so I've eaten it at a bunch of weddings, its standout feature is how rich it is both in taste and texture."
LoreCriticizer
WHAT?!?!
"I’ve lived in New York my whole life and came to South Carolina for vacation ended up moving down here because I loved the weather. I learned that they apparently LOVE Mayonnaise and BANANA SANDWICHES!!"
"Miss me with that friggin' crap WHAT!?"
Yunloveme
"This is a dying sandwich down here, too. I grew up with them and enjoy them, but it's becoming less common. I think it must have started as a poverty food or something. They are good, though. Sweet and tangy." ~ Ritz527
"Banana and mayonnaise sandwiches came about during the times when food was more scarce (WWII). My grandmother loved them!"
Excusemytootie
Spoiled
"Suspiciously lukewarm milk. I am extremely paranoid about spoiled milk."
Melomius
"The smell of warm/hot milk is disgusting. When I have to make a huge batch of Mac and cheese at the school I work at, I have to wear a mask during the heating up of the milk/butter."
"Nothing like filling up a kitchen with the odor of vomit. Ugh. I refuse to eat Alfredo sauce and NE clam chowder for the same reason."
KitchenWitch021
Sorry Danes
fish GIFGiphy"Lutefisk. No offense to the wonderful people of Sweden/Norway and I genuinely like most other Swedish/Norwegian cuisine but not that."
"Edit- changed from Swedish to Scandinavian to Swedish/Norwegian thanks to the new knowledge about it from helpful Redditors. Apologies to Danes and anyone else who was offended by Lutefisk being labeled as Scandinavian."
HelenAngel
I go back and forth with fish in general, so a fish I can't pronounce... never!
Anything But This!
No No No GIFGiphy"Balut."
DesignerString6620
"On Today’s episode of 'F**k That!'"
"My friend said 'It’s great! Just pop the top off and sprinkle a little salt, drink the soup, and then eat the rest.' No."
omega_frog
"This. I could probably eat damn near everything, everyone else named, but hell no to this! And doing a quick skim, I’d actually probably tried half of the stuff, that’s been posted here."
Eupion
After Effects
"Pickled fish... tapeworms."
"Edit: I probably should have said 'Pickled fish because of tapeworms.' Buying them from a store is probably safe but buying/getting them from a bar or a person may not be. My uncle got tapeworm from pickled Walleye. One of two things need to be done beforehand, 1. bring the meat to 'a temp' (I don't remember) which sterilizes it but doesn't cook it, or 2. freeze for 2 days."
hatchetman208
Bad Harvest
"Edible Birds Nest. The high demand causes the nests to be harvested while still in use resulting in uncountable deaths of chicks and unborn swallows."
CaptainCloudyL
"Nearly all the edible bird's nest on the market is farmed, not harvested wild. Nesting houses are often built in urban areas for the swiftlets to settle in, while wild populations are left relatively untouched."
"The overharvesting you mention was a problem around 2 decades ago when immature nests in caves were destroyed to meet demand, but urban farming today has allowed populations to rebound and stabilize. After all, it's not in the farmers' interests to destroy swiftlet chicks which would become moneymakers for them next season."
LostTheGame42
LOATHING!!
"Liver, I cannot for the life of me get past the horrible taste and the horrible smell, I can't."
mikeyeli
"I tried eating liver before because I read that they’re a good source of iron. I then stopped and would rather take iron pills. I don’t eat any organs food like liver, gizzard, intestine, and all that. Those food are easily found in my country."
mznh
"Hell, yes. I LOATHE any kind of liver and have a special hatred for foie gras. Not only the method is horrible, but the texture is also even more revolting than regular liver."
"And yes, I've tried multiple times, from multiple animals and in every preparation under the sun because a lot of people go 'But you haven't tried it made THIS way.'"
Duochan_Maxwell
Bad Texture
"Gizzards. I'm not a gristle gal at all."
biggesttoot
"I love gizzards but I don't think I would ever call them gristly. Chewy as leather for sure though!"
orangestegosaurus
Lord No!
"Durian."
leafbaker
"Hot garbage fruit. When I was living in China, about 10 meters from my apartment’s entrance there was a durian stand and a stinky tofu stand side by side. Never needed coffee in the morning to wake up properly."
kuridono
Well, my stomach is unsettled.
I'll skip dinner for now.
Do you have anything to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
Some of us are more comfortable with advertisements, commercials, and sponsored content that we see on television and social media, but we can all agree that there is some truly cringey content out there.
But there have been some completely side-eye-worthy blunders that have happened at the corporate level that earned a company or product more attention than their marketing ever could, cringey or not.
Redditor LeatherFruitPF asked:
"What are some of the worst corporate blunders or PR (Public Relations) disasters in history?"
Gerard Ratner's Jewelry Woes
"Gerald Ratner called his own company’s (jeweler) products 'crap' and said that, 'a prawn sandwich would last longer' than their earrings at a conference."
"The company’s value fell by 500 million euros, and he had to resign."
- Onion_Heart
Bringing Back Spam
"Back in the 90s, Hormel Foods went on a Cease and Desist spree against anyone who was making jokes about Spam because they felt the brand had been damaged and needed to be rebuilt."
"The last straw was when they threatened to sue Jim Henson Studios over the character Spa'am in 'Muppet Treasure Island.' That turned people against them pretty quickly. It turns out that if you want to rebuild your brand in the public eye, suing one of the most beloved entertainment franchises of two generations was a bad way to go about it."
"Eventually, they dropped all the cease and desist stuff and changed their marketing strategy, instead deciding to lean into it and proclaiming that there are always going to be jokes about Spam, so they might as well be in on them."
- weirdoldhobo1978
Complacency Over Competitiveness
"Blackberry thinking that they are the top in the mobile market so they didn't need to innovate to compete with those new iPhone things from Apple."
- TechyDad
Poor Translations
"Supposedly years ago, there was a Pepsi slogan, 'Come Alive with Pepsi,' that was mistranslated in Chinese as, 'Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Dead.'"
- xain_the_id**t
Not Welcome in Canada
"Target's expansion into Canada. It collapsed in two years and cost seven billion dollars."
- USSMarauder
"I still remember how annoyed my town was when our Zellers (what Canada had before Target) was closed down because Target was rolling into Canada. In the time it took for them to renovate the two-story mall location and convert it to a Target, THEY PULLED OUT OF CANADA."
"So for about a year, we lost our only Zellers location and we didn't even get a chance to experience it as a Target because they went t*ts up before it had a chance to open."
- sillyslambo
The Thing That Could Have Given Them an Edge...
"Sears dominated the mail order industry for over a century with their catalog. In 1993, they decided that mail order was on the decline and discontinued the catalog. Less than a year later, Jeff Bezos would found Amazon."
- BlueRFR3100
The Osborne Effect
"Have you heard of the Osborne Effect?"
"The company in 1981 had one of the first home computers on the market, it sounded fantastic and everything. At the launch, CEO said the next version will be so much better... So everyone decided, Why buy this version if the next version will be better? We'll wait for V2."
"So V1 sold terribly, the company folded, and there was no V2."
- BIllyBrooks
If Kodak Could See the Internet Now...
"Kodak shunning digital photography... Yeah..."
- uvaspina1
Inappropriate Trends
"Digiorno trying to make the hashtag 'Why I Stayed' be about making pizza at home."
- Kira82
"Reminds me of the whole Bud Light 'Up For Whatever' fiasco."
- The_ChwatBot
The 349 Incident
"The Pepsi Number Fever promotion in the Philippines went really terribly! They basically never recovered in the market there. It’s really interesting actually!"
- Londonbreakdown
"'Pepsi Number Fever, also known as the 349 incident, was a promotion held by PepsiCo in the Philippines in 1992, which led to riots and the deaths of at least five people.'"
"That's the first sentence, oh my god, I don't know why this is so funny to me but I'm going to h**l."
- onaraynaafternoon
Who is Max?
"Here’s one happening right now: HBO is rebranding as 'Max.'"
"HBO is a premium brand with decades of quality programming behind it."
"Max is generic, vague, and makes me think of softcore."
- watchingsongsDL
"It makes me think of Cinemax more than HBO, which, what?"
- EverywhereINowhere
Hoover Flights
"I can't believe the Hoover flights to America promotion from the early '90s hasn't come up yet."
"They offered a pair of return flights to America worth £600 if you spent £100 or more on their stuff."
"As it turned out, people thought £100 for a return flight with a free vacuum cleaner was a h**l of a deal, and it was a disaster that cost the company millions."
- Tim6181
Empty Promises
"Celebrities singing 'Imagine' at the beginning of the pandemic."
- KickMinaj
"'We're all in this together,' said by some idiot celebrities in their multi-million dollar mansions."
- eddyathome
Wizards of the Coast
"'Wizards of the Coast' and the open gaming license earlier this year."
"Worst handling I've seen. Literally caused dozens if not hundreds of companies to pull away from creating content for the company to making new games that will directly compete with them while alienating their fans at the same time."
- Konocti
Embrace the Tech
"Nokia, once the biggest phone company in the world, failed to move with the times and switch to Android/smartphones."
- bent_eye
It's crazy to think of how successful and large some of these companies once were before serious corporate blunders, or how hard they've had to work to come back from those blunders.
It just goes to show that some mistakes have a way of sticking around and make it really hard for people to move on.
From latch-key life to knowing when someone's home based on their bike being thrown on the front lawn to the earliest, cringiest days of social media, 80s and 90s kids are full of stories from their childhoods.
But these stories are uniquely nostalgic as kids today will never quite experience this type of childhood ever again.
Redditor MediumRareTint asked:
"What was a typical 90s scenario that today's youth will never experience?"
Landline Etiquette
"Talking to someone's parent and asking for your friend, because it was the landline and no caller ID."
- MixedSyrup
"Answering the phone in the kitchen, then running back to your room to take it there, and yelling, 'MOM, HANG UP THE PHONE! MOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM, HANG UP THE PHONE!'"
- manderifffic
The Dial-Up "Song"
"Dial-up internet. That tone is ingrained in my memory."
- Reeeeaper
Downloading Woes
"The experience of losing connection when you downloaded 99% of the file because your mom picked up the phone. Still hurts."
- Cute_Panda9
"Telling everyone in your family you're downloading a big file; don't pick up the phone."
"Reminding your family that you're downloading a big file; don't pick up the phone."
"Telling your family the file is almost done; don't pick up the phone."
"Then someone picks up the phone with ten seconds left... and you have to start the 14-hour download again tomorrow."
- Mustang46L
Internet Sounds in the Home
"The dial-up internet tone that was like nails on a chalkboard."
"'Welcome! You've got mail!'"
"The happy logging onto AIM sound."
"Someone yelling from another area of the house, 'Get offline so I can make a call!'"
"Starting a file download/upload... walking away to make a sandwich, brew coffee, fold laundry, start a new load of laundry, put the laundry away... and coming back and the download/upload is still not complete."
"Getting disconnected from the internet because someone picked up the phone to make a call while you were in the process of the aforementioned download/upload, and losing your everlovin' mind on that person."
"The best part: The original Oregon Trail game."
- Just_another_Sue
Renting Movies
"Getting a video to rent and watch at home made you feel like you were going 'out' to do something."
- ekimlive
"Oh God, movie rental, a pizza, some microwave popcorn, and some soda. It was such a fantastic night if those things were planned."
- GreenOnionCrusader
True Quiet and Disconnection
"The feeling of coming home free from school or work, and the outside world was very separate from you until the following day."
"You couldn’t easily find out what your friends were doing (they weren’t doing anything anyway), you couldn’t easily catch up on the news unless it happened to be on, and you couldn’t catch up on new movies or celebrity gossip unless you had a magazine lying around, which would come out monthly."
"It’s a level of relaxation that we took for granted, but we were likely the last generation to experience it."
- Own-Firefighter-2728
"Man, this is a really good one. We are so, so connected and it's so, so unhealthy for us."
"It was really nice when we were an entire phone call away. I didn't need to know anything about anybody, the focus was on the people you were with, and experiences outside of the home were more special."
- artemasfoul
The All-Important Meeting Place
"Making plans beforehand and having a meeting place since no one owned cell phones."
- MixedSyrup
Being Stood Up
"My youth and adulthood perfectly straddle cell phones. Last-minute cancellations became increasingly more common throughout my 20s but were rare in my teens."
"What really sucked was when a date didn’t show up and you had no way of knowing whether 1. they were ok, 2. they had a good reason, or 3. they just decided to stand you up. You generally assumed the worst, or at least I did."
- Dudley_Do_Wrong
"I never adjusted to this. I still hold true to my original plans and am confused with today's culture on this. Like, we made plans. If you didn't want to, don't say yes."
"And I am only 39."
- x-Mowens-x
No Cameras Rolling
"I grew up in the 70s and 80s, but this applies to the 90s as well…"
"You could do the absolute dumbest, craziest, most embarrassing s**t you could possibly imagine, and no one was recording it."
- FrankNStein
Safer Surroundings
"A parent saying, 'Here's $20, I'll pick you up at 8:00 when the mall closes. Don't talk to strangers.'"
- Nonsenseinabag
Airport Security
"Meeting people at the gate when you pick them up from the airport."
- Main_Maximum8963
"Romance movies have been ruined because of this."
- lifejustice
Cramming Commercial Time
"Making a dash through the house from the kitchen to the couch when someone yelled out, 'It’s back on!'"
- NicGyver
"This is how my mom used to get my sister and me to clean the house. One commercial at a time during a movie."
- reklawpuck
Live Television Programs
"Missing an episode on tv and never knowing when you can see that episode again unless some chance someone recorded it."
- Cute_Panda9
School Delays and Cancelations
"Waiting for your school district to be announced as on time, late, or canceled on the news when it snowed."
- SuitableNegotiation5
"Seeing your school scroll across the ticker was like winning the lottery."
- umanousti
Simpler Travel
"Stopping at a gas station and asking for directions."
"Or driving around aimlessly looking for a place to eat."
- Actuaryba
"Using an actual physical map. Then trying to fold it again."
- he77bender
Anyone who was a kid or young adult in the 90s will surely get feelings of nostalgia from at least some of these memories, but with the way technology is rushing forward, it's unlikely that kids today will ever get to experience these.