
Pull up your seats, folks. I'm about to take you on a magical journey of medical f*ckery the likes of which only Reddit could bring you.
Yeah, it's like that.
Reddit user moboyd1_ asked:
Medical professionals of Reddit, what's the most obvious case of faking it you've witnessed?
Now, normally this is the point in the article where I briefly relay a kind of related story. And I'm going to do that, but I'm going to need you guys to just agree to roll with me because it's a doozy. My story isn't about faking it coming from a patient - it came from other medical professionals and there's a whole active case about it now.
Early in my days as a writer, when I was still a lil baby wordsmith, I had a job working for a social media company. Or so I thought. Turns out haha, nope! I work for a maniacal narcissistic, very short, stereotypical evil villain doctor. The doctor opened a medical training company, and then a second one to create competition for himself, then a web development company, and a social media company, aaand a day spa. Yes, a day spa.
Roll with me here, people, the scheme is lengthy.
The owner opened a "medical training school" to train other doctors on how to do minor procedures like botox , liposculpture, and fillers. They taught (some classes) with hands-on training, using real product. Sometimes. The owner would absolutely water-down the product and a lot of times they would "run out of time" so only a few of the students would be able to do any hands-on work. The training company was, in no way, accredited. It was a useless certificate and everyone knew it. Doctors hesitated to continue buying these classes, which the owner sold for thousands of dollars. In response, the owner created another company as "competition" for himself to prove to his clients that it was a real thing. That worked for a while, but the doctors got suspicious again.
Not a problem! The owner would direct them to this day spa, where he claimed to have trained all the employees. They were his perfect glossy model of success! In reality the spa was a total waste that never booked more than 3 clients a week.
The day spa employees would talk about how great everything was, and how much the training helped them feel solid. Then during idle chit-chat they would talk about how things like defining their image and having a good location also helped them stay busy, but honestly it was totally Facebook that really made things boom.
The doctors, not having any suspicion that a medical training company would have anything to do with a day spa's Facebook page, would ask for recommendations. They would then go to the social media company. The social media company would build their Facebook, manage their Instagram, etc. After a few months the social media company would casually mention how much more effective this would all be with a website. The doctors would ask if they could recommend anyone, and of course the social media person totally has a friend who builds websites and just built one for a doctor not that long ago! The doctor would think it was destiny or something, and go build a website with the company they recommend.
These doctors had no idea they just bought bogus training, heard a bogus success story, paid thousands for a social media company, then a website and all that money went to the same man, who they never saw. The reason they never saw him is because he had a hair-trigger temper and would scream at, threaten, and throw chairs at people. He was bad for his own business, so his wife kept him behind the curtain as much as she could.
The low level employees didn't know it at first either, but it never took long before the truth came out because we got asked to do insane things. Each of us had at least 3 alternate personalities with email addresses and phone lines, we were often asked to leave fake reviews, that sort of stuff. Some of the older employees had a game, every Monday they would gather around to read the new reviews on sites like RipOffReport. Business was shady, wrong, but not MAJOR... right?
Then it came out that the doctors who had been doing the training were never real doctors to begin with. One guy was an accountant with a mullet!
There was no way they could keep the ruse going for long, but no amount of reporting or bad reviews has been able to sink this company, but every single training weekend I would end up with literal hours of voicemails from medical professionals complaining that this was the most obviously fake training they've ever attended. Obviously I didn't last long once the truth all came out. All I wanted was to write some sassy social media posts and get paid for it; not be part of a multinational medical fraud scheme. Yes, we reported - along with a whole bunch of other people.
This company is still in operation and has been open for over a decade. It "trains" doctors all around the world. Careful where you get your Botox, fam.
Now... the answers from Reddit users involve a lot less billion-dollar-business-scams, but that doesn't mean they're any less interesting or hilarious. Pro tip: Blind people don't drive.
Just Listen
Getting pages that patients state they are in indescribable agony and screaming nonstop, then going outside their room and listening a bit while they joke and laugh with their family... only for them to start screaming again as soon as I walk in the room
Blind Driver
We have a patient at our primary care clinic who claims to be blind. He always comes in with sunglasses and a white cane. We were always suspicious though. Something definitely seemed off.
One day someone followed him out of the building. He walked through our nearly empty parking lot, and down the street a little ways to a car parked out of view of the clinic. He folded up his cane, got into the driver's seat, merged into traffic and drove away.
Water
I had a woman come into triage in labor and delivery. We ruled her out for breaking her water. She was pissed that she wasn't going to get induced and be delivered. So after I left the room she flooded the bed, the floor and herself with tap water. Literally gallons and gallons of water, it was leaking out from under the door. SOO much water - It was like that scene in Coneheads. She said it was her water breaking.
Again, we quickly ruled her out and told her she needed to go home. She subsequently peed the bed before leaving.
Geological Origin
My mom had a patient who said she had passed kidney stones at home and needed painkillers. The lady actually brought in the kidney stones as proof. Patients don't usually do this, and the stones were way bigger than people can pass on their own. My mom sent them to the lab and they came back as "geological origin."
Crazy lady picked up small stones from outside to try and get meds.
Gotta Pay Your Bill First
Called to a bar for a seizure. Waitress says she delivered his bill and he suddenly went to the floor having a seizure. Look over at him, and he's laying there flopping his arms and Legs around, as he looks is right in the eye and screams over and over "I'm having a seizure!!"
We tell him to stand up so we can take him to the ambulance. He does and starts walking to the door. We tell him to hold up, gotta pay your bill first. Man, was he pissed at us. Waitress tells us he does this all the time. Well, not today. He still took a ride to the hospital though. The hospital has good egg salad sandwiches.
The Big E
I commonly have young kids who really want glasses because some of their friends have them. They'll come in acting like they can barely see the big E on the chart. I change some lenses in front of their eyes, give them a little encouragement that they can see better, and they can magically read 20/20 with little to no prescription. They're not big fans when I tell them they don't really need glasses.
Amnesia
Had a prisoner once that was faking full amnesia including name. I told him there was a nerve in his ear that if he put his finger in his ear and couldn't remember his name that he was for sure faking because it even worked with severe dementia. Finger in ear... remembered name; finger out of ear... cant' remember who he was. Instant discharge back to jail.
Vicodin Works
When they told me they were allergic to Tylenol (acetaminophen) but Vicodin works really well for them.
- shawnr80
Throat Tube
Not a medical professional but work security in an ER, once had a guy come in, announce that he was going to have a seizure, then laid down slowly and comfortably in the floor and didn't start "seizing" until he was sure everyone was looking at him, then when the nurse (who knew he was obviously faking) said they were going to have to run a tube down his throat he was suddenly fine.
Throwing Things At A "Blind" Child
Pediatrician here so my patient was younger (and I think influenced by Mom)
This 13 year old kept getting admitted for complaints that never made sense. Lack of smell. Dizziness. "Seizures" that would happen while he was walking/running. Heart felt hot, etc. Every specialist under the sun had seen him and cleared him. He had every test and imaging study you could think of.
There was a lot of social stuff going on and this was a hard family to discharge. He'd get admitted, we'd run a hundred tests and as soon as we were about to discharge him, some new symptom would come up. The worst was once after I had already written the discharge orders and the nurses called to let me know the patient had gone blind.
I was grouchy that day and wasn't having it.
I went in with a rolled up piece of paper. I checked his pupils. I used a Snellen. I went through the whole rigmarole. Then when I was talking to his mother, without looking I threw the paper at him hard and fast. He yelped and dodged it. I told Mom that they were going home.
To be honest I still feel a little guilty about it, and don't know what the right thing to do was.
- sjwilli
Friends And Relatives Of Porn Stars Explain How They First Reacted When They Found Out
Sex work is work.
We really have to let go of the purist idea of sex.
People can do whatever they want with their bodies.
And make quite a fabulous living at the same time.
Porn has long been looked down upon but now thanks to the rise of OnlyFans and such, everybody is becoming more acclimated.
Is it the dream? Probably not for most.
Is it wrong? Absolutely not.
So what if you knew somebody doing it?
Is that an issue? Why?
Redditorh00psz004wanted to hear about the times people learned the profession of a loved one or acquaintance and it a bit of a surprise.
They asked:
"Friends or family of porn stars what was your first reaction when you found out?"
I have known several porn stars. All good people and a load of fun. And no, I won't name names.
Her Niche
"I had a roommate who did porn. She told us about it herself and was very open about it. She was popular in a very niche kink, but didn’t work enough to be able to support herself solely off of porn. Now she has a masters in education and works as an elementary school teacher."
bittyitty
Mommy Dearest
"My mother is a porn star. It kind of tore our relationship apart. We were never close in the first place because she was a terrible mother but that pushed me over the edge to not want to talk to her anymore. I was 13 when I found out by the way. I didn't just find out, I saw. Things change in your mind when you see your mom's anal fisting porn. (I wish that was a joke)."
undergroundpolarbear
In the Woods
"I found my flatmate on a porn site too 😬 The shoot took place out on a hike somewhere (I believe she told me about the sexual encounter over a drink one night but not the fact it was all over the internet). I absolutely shat myself when I realised it was her- I felt so yucky and guilty for seeing her like that. I immediately shut everything down and didn't look at porn for ages afterwards lol."
Devojka_Iz_Svemira
That Girl
"First thought: Oh wow, she has nice breasts."
"Second thought: Yea, that's not gonna look good for her mom."
"The woman in question was a student in the grade below me in high school. I knew her sister and their mom was a teacher at that school."
slick1260
Something is Familiar
"Was browsing and came across one of my housemate titled 'Russian teen amateur.' First, she's Mexican. Second, she's like 28. Third, THAT'S MY F**ING BED!!"
voice_of_craisin
It must be daunting when you recognize the stars and your apartment. Like, you could've at least invited me.
Freaky & Brilliant
"My friend got into the porn industry because it’s much more lucrative than her degreed field (microbiology). I wasn’t surprised at all because she’s uninhibited and freaky anyway, and just assured her I had no issues or judgements about it."
xxplodingboy
Those We Lose
"Male porn actor here! My mom found out... and she was surprisingly way more chill than I thought she'd be. Of course she hates it and doesn't want me doing it, but she was essentially like 'the past is the past, now let's never talk about this again.'" I actually lost a group of friends over it."
"Not sure how they found out but apparently they started talking behind my back about it on Facebook. One of those guys reached out to me to let me know what was happening, and that he personally didn't care. I reached out to the group but they weren't interested in hearing what I had to say, and pretty much cut me off. I think they were worried that it might somehow affect them professionally in a negative way."
"I've had a few girlfriends/girls I was seeing find out. So far most have been fairly cool about it. One actually cried upon finding out, but at her insistence we watched a few of my vids together, and it was absurd enough that we could both laugh about it. My other friends (the true friends) were just like okay, cool."
pornishard
Family Matters
"Okay. So I woke up one day to a text sent from my cousin, M. Who sent me a pornhub link to another cousin, S. Apparently she has been doing it for awhile, and got another cousin involved in her sexual endeavors, T. So now I have family members who do porn and took Incest Porn a little too literally."
forskin_curtains
Mind your Business
"Recently in my friends group it came to light that one of our buddies wife's sister (F 23) started an OF page over the pandemic (she lost her job as a hair stylist, and where we live was in lockdown for quite a long time), and now has a page on PornHub, even a sub-reddit. She does mainly solo stuff, but pretty heavy with one particular kink."
"When we found out, most of use guys were not surprised as she always had a promiscuous attitude. I feel for my buddy though, him, his wife are born again Christian, and it has destroyed the relationship between the sisters, as well, it has also created a huge rift in his wife's family, were half want to shun her, and the half are accepting, (the parents are divorced, so there is lots of people in play)."
"It also doesn't help that one of our other buddies went on a massive hunt for all the links and videos and sent them to us all, and presumably many more people, absolutely pissing off our buddy, as I guess he feels obligated in trying to defend his wife's family, it has created a rift between them, and overall a very messy situation."
cynicalyak
Who Cares?
"I overheard my parents fighting and heard my dad scream, “WHO GIVES A F**K IF I SMOKE POT AND YOU’RE A PORNSTAR?!?” As a slightly innocent 10 y.o. I was pretty shocked."
GoAndrevv
Sex is fun. And if you can make cash doing it, more power to you.
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In this day and age, with the state of the world what it is... it's a miracle people aren't sobbing at every gas pump, cash register and red light.
Tears are healthy.
Unless they're being used for manipulation or a tantrum.
We release emotion with our tears.
And one of the most emotional places to be is at work.
That can be a sobfest.
So what is the best way to help in that situation?
Let's compare notes and tissue brands.
Redditortiredoflandwanted to hear about the times they had to deal with emotions at work.
They asked:
"How do you handle people crying at work?"
I have cried many a time over the years. Especially when waiting tables. A hug always helped.
Condolences
"As a funeral director, I tend to just touch them on their arm and hand them tissues. And stay quiet."
Oct92018
Cry on Me
"I usually provide a tissue. I often get hugged. My last job, we had a meeting and one of the people in the meeting, well, she seemed off. Everyone filed out and I kind of lingered, asked, 'Hey, is there something wrong you want to talk about?' Boom, waterworks, she had to put her cat down this morning, etc. I am the guy in the office people cry on, I guess."
Nadaesque
to a science...
"I'm a teacher, so it's a near daily occurrence for me. I have a jar full of candy - usually chocolate- on my desk (the kids call it sad candy), a chair, and a big round plush bird toy just the right size for hugging. His name is Sherbert, cause he's colored like rainbow sherbet. They can talk it out with me or just cry in silence if they'd rather, but I just sit with them until they're ready to re-join the world. It's sad, but I have this crap down to a science."
ThePhiff
The Stress of It All
"I work for a 911 center, you better believe there is crying. Especially when an employee is new and they give CPR to an infant and its not a positive turnout, someone kills themself while you are talking to them on the phone. Pretty soon your heart and soul die and you can deal with it, but something especially awful happens and it hits you. I have been doing it for 28 years and have seen plenty people come and go, who couldn't handle the stress?"
One-Butterscotch-786
Fur Babies
"In the veterinary industry, unfortunately, if you notice a co-worker is or has been crying, usually you pretend not to have noticed, maybe ask them nonchalantly if they can do something for you that isn't client-facing for a while like fill prescriptions, and don't bring it up later unless you're friends outside of work."
"Everybody cries at work at some point, and it's not even usually about a sick/dying animal. If a client is crying though, you have to be sensitive, empathetic, comforting, gentle, offer them privacy and condolences without smothering them."
"Clients cry for the reasons you expect, and of course it's hard to see them through it, because dealing with a sick or dying pet is hard. Staff will often shed a tear in these appointments too, but most often when a co-worker is crying it's because another person went out of their way to hurt them. Be kind to your veterinary staff folks, we feel pain too."
sainttawny
People do seem to cry a lot. Makes sense, I do.
I'm Here
"'Is there anything I can do?' Then just listen. Often the listening is enough."
Pavlock
Kindness
"I work in healthcare, so this happens quite frequently. Usually it’s patients. Most often, people just want their feelings validated and that someone understands them. That’s all. Being empathetic goes a long way."
moscowmulesplz
"Yes! Empathy truly goes a long way!"
ElBarbon026
Alone
"Saw a chick crying at work, sitting outside. Half wanted to ask her if she was ok but when someone is crying hard sometimes they just want to be left alone in their feelings and it must be embarrassing enough to cry at work, so I left her alone and kept walking."
KiwiCatPNW
He is Awful
"Many years ago I (male) was having an extended discussion with a female coworker about something technical and I noticed that she would periodically start crying during our talk. I was so dense that I thought (perhaps out of intended politeness) that I should just ignore this and go on."
"For some reason I have often thought about this and reflected on the fact that it would have been much more humane to at least ask her if she was OK, if she would prefer to talk later, if she would like to talk instead about what was upsetting."
"Later I heard from someone else that she had travelled to the area from another state with her boyfriend. He had a job at another company nearby that was expanding rapidly and she had received the news that he was already cheating on her with multiple coworkers."
fund0us
I'm Blind
"I follow the golden rule so I ignore them, pretend not to see them, and later talk to them normally like nothing happened, because that is what I want in their position."
xyanon36
"Same! I tend to get more upset if someone checks on me, because now I'm embarrassed and feel exposed on top of what's causing me to cry in the first place. Since I never want to be the cause of that, I won't ever approach someone in that state."
Annonymous_97
There is no perfect way to comfort somebody. You just do it. Or apparently... look away.
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When it comes to religion, a person either believes in a god or doesn't believe that a higher power exists.
But people are more complex than that. As we evolve throughout our respective journeys in life, we are known to vacillate between conforming to some ideas while dismissing others.
What we used to believe in no longer applies based on our negative experiences and vice versa.
Does it work the same way with faith and believing in God?
Curious to hear from non-religious people online, Redditor Graysie-Redux asked:
"Atheists of Reddit: What could change your mind?"

The proof is in the pudding.
Proper Comeuppance
"Every single paedophile/rapist in religious positions of power being simultaneously struck by lightning."
– serharridan
Evidence
"Any actual evidence. Also change my mind about which god(s)? Yahweh, Zeus, Osiris, Amaterasu?"
"I'm always amused by people not understanding what athiesm is. It's not a belief. Its a rejection of a claim and that's it. It's not what evidence would convince me otherwise, it's what evidence do you have. I observe said evidence and say that's not sufficient evidence because..."
– Rdr198829
Deeper Persuasion Required
"Nothing could suddenly change my mind into believing in the Christian (all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving) God. Proof of an entity with reality-changing powers would certainly change my world-view, but only to the point where I recognize that such a thing exists in the known universe. Ability does not imply divinity (or altruism)"
– Piercewise1
A Father's Experience After A Heart Attack
"My dad is an atheist, and had a major heart attack last year which came extremely close to killing him many times. He was in a coma for more than a month."
"During that time, several Christian family members wondered if he was having a religious experience, had seen/spoken to god or maybe his late daughter as an angel, and would awake as a religious man now."
"I said there was zero chance. Even if he did actually have these experiences and then come out of the coma and tell us about them, he would never say 'I talked to god while I was in a coma.' He would say 'The chemicals in my brain did an interesting thing while I was in a coma.'”
"As it happened, he did live and was able to tell us about his experience. None of it was remotely religious. It was mostly memories of thinking the hospital staff were torturing him."
"The closest thing he had during the coma was a dream where he saw my wife telling him that my dead sister and my wife’s dead sister were talking in heaven."
– PRGuyHere
These atheists believe in heavy sarcasm.
The Mythic Creature
"As a former atheist, what changed my mind was that, i learned the flying spaghetti monster existed."
– ThundaCrossSplitAtak
Egyptian Deity
"Christians, what would convince you to worship the Egyptian god Ra?"
– RedofPaw
"Whichever one, Christ or Ra, shows up in front of me first and bitch slaps me."
"Edit: if one of you offering to slap me are a God please teleport to my location to prove it you coward."
– RikenVorkovin
Money Talks
"I don't even need proof. I'll believe in him for €10m. I accept cash."
– ShadyShamaster
"Now that's a conversion method I could get into."
– yomommasofat3
The jury is still out for these Redditors.
Time To See Someone
"Don't know if there's anything. If some god appeared I'd still wonder if this was some hallucination and make an appointment with a psychologist."
– Destriant_of_Perish
Seeing Is Believing
"I think for me god would have to appear on a societal level in addition to seeing them myself. If my friends and relatives (who are also mostly atheist or agnostic) testified to also seeing god, as well as the general public and it became a known thing that god was real and making appearances I would probably believe it too."
– Feral_doves
Hearing It From The Source
"A god showing me they're real."
"Not a person telling me why their god is real. That's evidence of nothing."
"Gods shouldn't need middlemen."
– Vic_Hedges
There is not enough convincing that can persuade atheists to believe in an all-powerful, omniscient entity.
Many of them would attest to a higher power if they could be presented with tangible evidence of its existence.
Yet, I'm pretty sure most people who claim to have faith have not witnessed any appearances by God.
So this is an interesting conversation about what leads people to believe or completely dismiss the possibility that there might be something greater out there than any of us can ever imagine.
What do you think?
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A life of convenience.
Wouldn't that be lovely?
Can you imagine driving around and only encountering green lights?
Or always having the phone battery charged?
That is what dreams are made of.
What if you were given a superpower to make all of that happen?
What would you do with it?
RedditorAdAppropriate6975wanted hear about what small, good things some of us would do for others if we had the power.
They asked:
"You’ve been granted the power to bless people with minor conveniences. How do you make their lives slightly better?"
I'd be giving people money.
Even if it's just singles.
That's a small start.
Thank You
"You'll always remember why you walked into a room or where you last put the item you need."
icantthinkofaname940
Faster
"From this day forward, you will always choose the fastest-moving line."
Irishzombieman
"That's impossible for me. It's a fundamental, immutable law of the universe. To change that would be to nullify all of existence as we know it. Hitting stop lights is part of the same fundamental physical force."
brndm
PROPER POCKETS FOR ALL!!!
"May your cellphone always have enough charge when you need it. Also, for the ladies: May you always have at least one pocket on your outfit."
APeacefulWarrior
"40m here. I bought a pair of light airy linen pants for summer. Thought I had bought the same brand as a pair I bought last summer and LOVED. First difference I noticed was a lack of back pocket… thought oh… that’s weird."
"Then I tried to put my wallet in my front pocket and it was too shallow. Wallet literally couldn’t sit in the pocket. Pocket so shallow as to be unusable. I finally understood your pain ladies. I had no idea. I’m so sorry. Consider me an ally in the PROPER POCKETS FOR ALL battle going forward."
Ignominia
Be There
"Your keys, wallet, and phone are always where you expect them to be."
MisterBastahrd
"Hopefully you don’t start having misguided expectations lol. I’m imagining a guy recognizing this happen and experimenting. He imagines his wallet is in an irretrievable void, then searches his house and finds it nowhere. Knowing that it’s gone, he would never expect it to be anywhere he’d find it."
um-souffle
My butter is always a mess, so this would be perfect.
THIS!!!
"Everybody's talking voice actually sounds like the one they hear in their heads."
Daft_Sauce
"Wait people hear the voice in their heads? For me it's not like a voice but more like... floating words or so. I never really tried to describe it but it's sure AF not an actual voice Or are you talking about the way you hear your own voice while actually talking?"
Interesting-Gear-819
"I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't hate the sound of my own voice."
JokicCheeseburgerMan
To match is Divine
"From this day forward all of your socks shall magically be waterproof and nothing will ever stick to them."
Joe-Schmeaux
"I threw out all socks I owned and then bought a couple boxes of the same kind of sock. I just throw all my socks in a bin now and pick two at random. Never need to throw away one sock because the matching on got a hole."
5348345T
"Now everyone has single use socks, because they won't live in a world that permanently smells like feet. Socks become the number one target of Greenpeace. You go into hiding due to the environmental disaster you have created."
andrewNZ_on_reddit
The Zzzzsss...
"The power to fall asleep once your head hits the pillow."
227743
"Clearly I don't think big enough, my blessing was going to be: every night when you fluff/squish/arrange your pillow to go to sleep, it's perfect the first time."
sonyka
"I can do this and my wife always complains about it. I can literally decide to fall asleep, turn around and be gone in seconds. Has always been like this, don’t know why."
KevinSpence
Perfection
"The toilet seat will always be in the correct state depending on your business when entering the bathroom."
Acceptable_Not-good
I would love for someone to do ALL of those things for me. Please and thank you.
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