About ten years ago, I owned a property preservation company. Property preservation doesn't mean upgrading it. Literally just maintaining it in whatever condition it was currently in. We closed the company because federal rules kept changing and were impossible to keep up with.
Our favorite was "The Winterizing Rule."
Every year we had to go around to all of our properties and complete this whole "winter readiness" process that included things like making sure snow shovels are easily accessible, treating the pipes, having plant blankets ready in case of frost, etc. It was a decently time consuming and expensive process.
Oh, by the way did I mention I live in South Florida and most of these properties were in Miami?
Yeah, no matter how many times we explained that we don't need to winterize and that we can't even GET snow shovels most of the time, we couldn't get the banks to understand. You have no idea how many half-panicked people we have spoken to on the phone about this.
It never mattered. The answer was always the same. No we could not, in any way, skip or cut back on winterizing. Hard rule. Must prepare for winter. What will you do when it snows??!?
WINTER IS COMING!
Reddit user IAmHungryAndTired (us too, homie) asked:
What is the most stupid rule you've ever seen?
Yeah... it's looking like quite a few of us have had to deal with wave after wave of rules that made no sense. Kick back and enjoy some people who had to deal with their own personal "winter."
Every Half Hour
A personal favourite of mine was having to clean supermarket toilets every half-hour.
Since we weren't allowed to start until the bathroom was empty, it always took at least 10 minutes to get started.
From there, we had to restock soap & roll, brush and mop the floor and wipe toilets, urinals and sinks (different cloths), which took a minimum of 15 minutes if you half-assed it.
Finally, you weren't allowed to let people in for 10 minutes after mopping to allow the floor to dry.
After being pulled up for not cleaning them every 30 minutes and explaining the problem, I got an official written warning. Naturally, I then closed the toilets to make sure they were empty and did everything as instructed, which got easier as the day progressed since the toilets never actually opened for use.
Restaurant Rules
New rules at the restaurant I work at.
We are no longer allowed to order food while clocked in and can only get our employee discount after working at least 5 hrs. Also, we can't eat in the break room anymore. Or in the lobby.
Where and when am i supposed to eat? Also, I should add that I close at the restaurant I work at, so kitchen is closed by the time I clock out. Functionally they just told me I'm not allowed to eat on days I work.
- NE09_GxT
Locked
The middle School I went to has a rule that if you have an F, then they will lock your school-issued laptop to only be able to access email and classroom. This means that the research paper due tonight can't be done since you cant access the internet to research it or a word processing program to write it - thus lowering your grade further.
- Cayden5
No Talking
GiphyAt my last job we technically weren't allowed to have conversations with co-workers. Upper upper management said it was because customers might get anxious about interrupting conversations. Lower management (my immediate bosses) never actually enforced that rule.
- JLHeavy
The Front Door
When I was a kid, my parents had a rule that we weren't allowed to use the front door of the house. My parents weren't the kind of people who explained themselves to their children, so to this day I have no idea why this was the rule.
One day while climbing a tree, I was stung by a venomous caterpillar and it was both extremely painful and I had a bad allergic reaction. The front door to the house was locked, so I pounded on it until my sister came and she refused to open the door. she kept saying "go around...go around" as I was crying and gasping for air.
The last thing I remember is collapsing and looking up at my sister through the window who was smiling smugly.
apparently a neighbor saw my lying there and called 911 and I was taken to the hospital and recovered just fine. But my sister never so much as apologized, even as an adult she defends her action as "we weren't supposed to use the front door".
Former Flat Earthers Explain What Finally Made Them Come Around | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
The Forbidden Hallway
Our vice principal in high school had some kind of obsession with stopping "loitering." I guess she forgot things called "breaks" and "spare periods" for seniors exist. In her infinite wisdom she decided that the best way to combat this loitering epidemic was to first close the front hallway by the office to any student traffic from 9am when class starts to 3pm when it ended.
The presents a few problems.
One, some people have lockers in this hall and need to get stuff in between classes.
Two, the way our school was built if you couldn't use this hallway you literally had to go outside to get from one wing of the school into the rest of the school.
Also if you got sent to the office for any reason not only were you in trouble for that, but also now you're in trouble for using the hallway as well which was an automatic detention for anyone caught using the hallway.
It later escalated to essentially not being allowed to be inside the school unless you were in class or in the cafeteria at lunch time. So if you had a spare period you were pretty much stuck sitting up at McDonald's or driving around aimlessly. Students had to start renting out the trunks of their cars as lockers since the risk of using your own locker was too high.
Eventually the entire staff had enough of this, including our school cop who all this time had been refusing to actually charge anyone with loitering, hence the detention punishment, because in his own words "this is the stupidest f*cking rule I have ever heard this woman is insane." They got the school board involved and she was relieved of her duties.
- kg106
Harmonious
When I worked in China they had a rule that you had to keep your desk in a way that was "harmonious". Stuff like your stapler had to be at a right angle to your keyboard, stuff like that.
- ooo-ooo-oooyeah
Like Hitting
In my middle school we weren't allowed to high five each other because it was "like hitting."
- jec3rd
Adult Scissors
I used to work at a big oil company, the one which very fittingly rhymes with hell. We were not allowed to use "adult scissors" without proper training. Until someone had completed said training, only the brightly colored plastic and extremely dull "children scissors" could be used.
Wait
GiphyIf the fire alarms go off at our school we have to wait for an announcement or for relief before we can either do the drill or run for our lives.
Everyone thinks it's dumb and our teachers were told that it's because of school shootings and they want to make sure it's a legitimate emergency; but if there is an honest fire then that's more dangerous I'd think. Plus it's hell for the kids with auditory triggers involving loud noises or sirens.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.