
When we're growing up there is so much we're never told.
And we're left with so much to figure out.
It's not until adulthood we figure out the answers.
Some of those answers can make one feel foolish, others can just lead to more questions.
Life can be just one repetitive Dateline NBC episode.
Redditor Biggrock03 wanted to hear about all the past life whodunits that finally found a conclusion. So they asked everyone to share:
"What’s your childhood mystery that you finally solved years later?"
Santa. That was my big mystery.
Figured that out.
Bread Thief
"That the brown part of bread doesn’t contain the nutrients. It’s just the more cooked outer layer. My brother lied to me to get me to eat crust when I was a kid."
redneckhonkySlayer
“hi boys”
"I have a memory from when I was 6 of an old man cracking jokes with the kids and spitting his dentures into his food. I thought it was hilarious and knew this man was named Frank. Casually mentioned it to my grandmother. Turns out I was remembering my great grandfather and that day was my great grandmothers funeral."
"I always hope that they know they do. My great grandfather was always quite the prankster, too. He had all granddaughters so he’d put on his wife’s dress before walking out to the lake. He’d say 'hi boys' as he passed the granddaughters then walk off the dock into the lake."
"I’ve seen pictures of both great grandparents in their youth thanks to my grandma having a lot of them hanging up in her place and I’d be willing to bet he did that for a long time."
gothiclg
Sing out
"My dad used to occasionally burst out with this one line of a song:"
“'...said Barnacle Bill the Sailor...'”
"Only ever that line. When I was 6 or so I asked him why and he said it was an old drinking song that was absolutely filthy and I was too young to hear the rest of it. This continued once or twice a year until I was 18."
"I told him I was an adult now and he could tell me the rest of the song. I distinctly remember him looking up from the newspaper, sighing and folding it then going... 'The truth is I can never remember the rest of the song.” And then went right back to reading the newspaper."
dabbit-secondus
$$$ Vanish
"Not the biggest mystery but..."
"One day my friend was over in my house playing video games. My mom called us over to her room to help flip the mattress over. So we did. We then went to another friend's house. My mom calls that friend and says, 'there was two 20 dollar bills on top of the dresser, did you get them.'"
"I said no, I asked my friend, he said no. Like 5 minutes later, my friend says if we want to go to the toy store because he has 40 dollars, in two 20 dollar bills. I say yes and we go and he buys me a yo-yo or something."
"It took me YEARS to finally realize that my friend stole the money."
HurricaneHugo
Hey Betty
"Growing up I always insisted I liked the mashed potatoes at my grandma's house better than the ones my mom made at home."
"My grandma once told me it's because she uses a special recipe. I found out last year that my mom hand mashes her potatoes. My grandma just gets the Betty Crocker boxed crap. Her special recipe I was gonna get what she dies is Betty f**king Crocker."
mapleleafness09
Grandmas and their recipes.
Always stirring trouble.
Behind Closed Doors
"When I was in elementary school, I always wondered what the teachers staff room was like. It seemed so mysterious - and I remember trying to get a peek anytime I walked by and the door would open."
"Later became a teacher and can fully confirm they’re dull, often toxic spaces full of cranky teachers complaining about students."
ktemw
“secret hiding place”
"The entire time I lived in my childhood home, my mom hid my Christmas presents in her 'secret hiding place' she made it sound mystical and mysterious a few months ago a while after I moved out, she finally told me what the secret hiding place actually was, the Christmas tree box in a cabinet in the garage she would replace the Christmas tree with my presents when she put the tree up."
Dragonsbreath67
My Jellybeans!
"When I was a kid, my dad bought me one of those big candy cane things filled with jelly beans. I was so excited to eat the jellybeans, but I was told I had to wait for the next day. I asked for them later but apparently they disappeared into thin air. I couldn't find my candy cane anywhere."
"Lots of weird crap used to happen around our house, like borderline paranormal stuff, and dad said it was just that."
"No it wasn't."
"That f**ker ate my freaking jellybeans."
merari01suckss**t
Pool Water with a Twist
"Once when I was about 7 or 8, my family was having a pool party and my twentysomething aunt was sitting by the pool with a glass of clear liquid. I was hot and thirsty, so I reached for her drink, and she said, 'Don't drink that, it's pool water!' I wondered why in the heck she'd have a glass of pool water, but left it alone."
"Years later, as my family's alcohol consumption habits became clearer to me, I realized that she was probably drinking vodka."
wheezy_runner
Nice Bars
"I visited my dad when I was 6 or 7 years old at the place where he worked, or so I was told. I remember remarking at the time, and people laughed at me, because I said it looked just like a prison. The people laughing were the guards and I was indeed visiting my dad at Terminal Island federal correctional institution where he was a federal inmate."
Grokker999
Mysteries solved. Not exactly Dateline, but that's a good thing.
Pizza is one of those foods that nearly anyone can agree is good, even if we can't find a middle-ground on toppings.
However, one phenomenon that confuses a lot of people are the pizza lovers who choose to eat their pizza with a fork and a knife.
But the cutlery fans argue that there are good reasons to skip picking up that slice of pie next time.
Curious, Redditor Ok-Treacle-9312 asked:
"People who eat pizza with a knife and fork... Why?"
Clean Hands
"I eat donuts with whatever I can pierce them with, whether that be a fork, knife, chopsticks, or whatever. I just hate getting my fingers dirty."
"Pizza barely gets a pass because you can hold the crust."
"But if grease drips onto my hand somehow, it's irritating."
- Bjorn2Fall
Protect That Keyboard
"Typically I'd do it because I'm working at my PC and don't want to have to wipe my hands off every time I need to type something."
- Hrekires
Mindful Eating
"I use a fork and knife to slow me down."
- NairobiMuzungu
No More Overeating
"Using the fork and knife slows me down, it gives me more time to realize I'm filling up, and I end up stopping before I overeat."
- whomp1970
Depends on the Pizza
"Depends on the pizza, if it's thick and unwieldy absolutely laden with toppings, I might reach for a fork. But if it's a standard slice, I'm picking it up."
- StanYelnats3
Beating the Heat
"I'll use a knife and a fork when I want it right now, but if I bite into it when it’s too hot, the cheese will slap itself onto my chin, and I’ll scream."
- senorbane
Dental Issues
"I don't have a single freaking tooth left in my head. Just about anything I eat requires a sharp knife."
- Pitiful-Signal8063
"I've got plenty of teeth, but the ones in the front don't do a good job of meeting. So if I try to eat pizza without a fork and knife, my first bite doesn't go completely through the toppings, I pull the pizza away from my mouth... and all the toppings on the slice fall in my lap."
- the_quark
Good Point
"You ever tried to lift a slab of deep dish to your face?"
- Wazula23
Because, Italy
"That's the normal way of eating a traditional Italian pizza."
- ViridianKumquat
"I just watched an Anthony Bourdain episode, and everyone at this Naples pizza place was eating with a knife and fork."
- WiseTree710
"It's a perfectly valid and convenient way to consume pizza."
"Source: I'm Italian."
- Colosso95
Listen to Seinfeld
"How do you eat it? With your hands? (scoffs)."
- kofed62181
Preferences Matter
"Maybe because they want to?"
- Mentalfloss1
Social Perspective
"It looks neater, if you are in a setting with people you want to impress and want to come across as super tidy then a knife and fork would look okay."
- Usual-Constant-3744
Messy Situations
"Sometimes I have a little too many (inconvenient) ingredients on my pizza that make it hard to eat it with just my hands."
- UnicornPopPile
Signs of Aging
"Because I instinctively take unmanageable bites if I'm manhandling food. That was okay before I hit 40 and my metabolism lost its sense of adventure."
- Automatic-Choice-794
Enjoy the Food
"Mainly, it forces me to slow down and appreciate the pizza instead of just shoving it in."
"Also, it makes eating pizza more of a sensory experience. I can feel and hear how crunchy or thick the crust is by cutting into it. I can tell how much sauce is on it by how much I have to spoon it up after cutting. I can also see how stringy the cheese is by having to twirl it around my fork."
- Ok-Resource-7640
This just goes to show that we all have our preferences, even when it comes to how we want to eat our pizza.
Now, the most important thing is to respect everyone's choices here... and maybe go grab a slice of pizza for lunch.
People Who've Spent Time In A Psych Ward Describe The Strangest Things They Ever Witnessed
Patients who have severe mental illnesses can pose a physical threat to themselves and to others, which is why they are often sent to psychiatric care facilities.
Those who have visited these institutions or individuals who work in one know firsthand how intense some of these patients can be.
Curious to hear examples from those who've witnessed extremely unusual behavior at these facilities had plenty to share when Redditor N3SSDOGGDOGG asked:
"People who have spent time in a Psych Ward what is the craziest thing you’ve witnessed?"
One thing is certain. There is never a dull moment.
Consequences Of Enabling Drug Addiction
"In our tiny community some kids are smelly because typically the parents are addicts who either didn't pay their water bill, don't own a washer/dryer or are too brain dead to care. The nearest laundromat is now 30 miles away because the local one got broken into and robbed too many times by. Our school is awesome, there are staff members who do laundry for these kids and make sure they get showers. It's discreet so they're not ridiculed. I hate how our society enables addiction and even celebrates drug use, but I don't know how we can fix it at this point. It's gotten completely out of hand."
– Marisleysis33
Taking You To A Live Commercial
"My brother-in-law had a stint in a psych ward a little over a year ago, and on a particularly manic day they were in the middle of the community room and started singing."
“I have a structured settlement and I need cash now”
"This was then met by about 40-50 psych patients shouting back."
“CALL J.G. WENTWORTH!!! 877-CASH-NOW!!!”
"After getting a few verses in the orderlies stepped in and kindly requested they stop, which was kinda a shame since it sounded like they were all having a good time."
– MikeMars1225
Select Highlights
"I've worked in one for about 2 years now. The staff are just as crazy."
"Here's some highlights"
"Patient got into the ceiling, couldn't get them down for a while."
"Patient milked themself into their coffee. Did you know some anti-psychotics make you lactate?"
"The entire adolescent unit escaping because maintenence forgot to lock the gate. Don't worry. They all came back eventually."
"And myself getting a concussion from a patient trying to escape, they weren't successful, but at least I didn't work for 6 weeks."
– NeverlandEnding
Character Performance
"The funniest thing I ever saw (spent total of about three years in in my teens and early 20's): a kid in seclusion who was having a genuinely good time making staff's life a living nightmare while he was in there, took apart the plastic mattress, tore the foam inside into small pieces, donned the empty mattress and started yelling 'I'M GUMBY, DAMMIT!' while tossing the pieces of foam around like confetti. Even most of the staff were laughing about it."
– t_portch
Physical violence seemed to be a common occurrence.
He Had A Violent Streak
"Not a patient but an employee. Had a 16 year old kid come in who was about 6'2 220 pounds. Built like a linebacker. I found out since he was technically a child he somehow ended up at an autism school for children with very little security. He ended up inflicting a TBI on one of the teachers and got sent to us. The kid had a violent streak the likes I hadn't seen before, he knew he was stronger than most and liked to fight unprovoked and it always took 4 to 6 people to restrain him. I never seen a patient spend more time than him in the 'safety room' an incredibly small padded room with nothing in it. His parents wouldnt authorize his move somewhere else and they wouldn't take him home either. We were not equipt for someone with his level of violence. So there he sat... For one and a half years..."
"It wasn't like a single incident that was crazy, it was the entire situation."
– DisagreeableFool
David And Wendy
"I was in an adolescent inpatient facility for 30 days. One kid named David who was very tall for his age, I think he was only 13. He insisted on watching Friday the 13th movies on movie nights and everyone was afraid to disagree with him because of his violent nature and frequent homicidal fantasies. He hated taking his meds, and probably 2 or 3 times a week he'd brawl with the psych nurses over it. No joke, it took 5 to 6 large grown men to overcome this kid. He was scary."
– better-off-ted
A Mother's Experience
"My mother worked in an asylum in Ireland when she was about 15. This was in the early 60s. She loved working there, despite the fact that some of the patients would physically try and kill her. One patient always stuck out to her, every day he would tell my mum he was going to kill her when she finished work. She knew he loved music, so would tell him she was out dancing that night, and could he wait until the next day, which he agreed to. The next day he would forget what he had said, and would threaten her again, and she'd say the say thing again. This went on for a couple of years that she worked there."
– tiredandstupid82
Turns out some patients weren't seeing a change of scenery any time soon.
Fighting To Stay
"I work inpatient and we had someone who was in for 2 1/2 years. They would try to take him out but he would start fighting immediately and eventually said he preferred it."
– Deathdad
Simon
I was a social worker at an institution that had a hall for what we called 'lifers,' it was essentially for people who had no hopes of ever being released due to their conditions. Anyway, my hall had 14 beds and it was full. There was this one guy who was huge. He was 6’7 and about 350. His name was Simon. He suffered from drug-induced schizophrenia and had bipolar disorder. He talked to himself all day, but never talked to others. All the other men in the ward were scared of him."
"It was my day to do first shift. I got there early to start on some paperwork I needed to finish. When I got my keys in the door, I heard Simon hit the door with his fists. I looked through the tiny window on the door and he and the hall was covered in blood. I panicked and called security for backup because I thought he had killed somebody."
"Turns out, Simon was in the throes of an extreme manic episode and had managed to walk the literal soles of his feet off. Other medication he was on thinned his blood and led to him bleeding all over the place."
"We checked the camera footage and he had walked and talked all night. The orderly (who was fired that day) had slept through his whole shift and never heard Simon walking back and forth."
– CamillaCream02
Some of these examples sound like they could patients in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, without Nurse Ratched tormenting them.
But props to the real humans who are compassionate and look after those who can't function alone in society.
Even before these far too frequent cases of violence in schools, not all students felt safe going to school every day.
As bullying continues to be an ongoing problem, with students being bullied by fellow students and teachers alike.
Sadly, bullying has become so commonplace that many students and teachers might witness it and not think much of it.
Every now and then, however, people will witness something happening within the presumably safe walls of a school which still keeps them awake at night.
Something so shocking or horrific that should simply never happen anywhere... let alone in a school.
"What was the most f**ked up thing you saw at your school?"
A Stupid Dare, Or Just Plain Stupidity?
"The ambulance in front of the school because two guys glued their eyelids shut with a quick-dry adhesive."- Teapunk00
An Accident That Should Never Have Happened
"A new kid at our school grabbed the art teacher's scissors and threw them over a dividing wall when the teacher left the room."
"They hit some girl in a different art class on the other side and one of the blades went through her cheek."
"We were held after class until he finally confessed, and we saw the police at the school later."
"He had been at our school for about a week, and we never saw him again after that day."- HairyDowntown
There's A Reason They Warn You Not To Play With Your Food
"Some guy got a concussion because someone threw a kiwi(fruit) and he got hit in the head."- BobbyLeFourbe
What Lesson Could They Have Possibly Learned?
"Some kids were punching a mason jar lid that we used to seal a jar with some bug in it."
"They were doing it as some sort of whose tougher test."
"When the teacher sees this and sees they have small scratches on their knuckles she proceeds to tell them that the bug was poisonous and they will die very soon since they drew blood punching the lid."
"We were maybe 10 at the time."
'She made them write goodbye notes to their parents and make goodbye speeches to the class."
"We were all tripping because we believed her too."
"It was wild."- country728
The List Goes On and On...
"Middle school:"
"Girl had the sewing machine needle go right through her finger."
"The left with the needle and thread just hanging out."
"Another kid had an exacto knife stabbed right into his wrist, by accident, so close to the artery."
"High school:"
"Girl was run over by a bus."
"It backed over her, then pulled forward over her again!"
"We had fundraisers and pep rallies for her."
"She made a full recovery and is still playing sports at almost 40 now."
"Sex in the bathroom."
"Endangered turtle was found during construction."
"All construction had to stop until the turtle moved out."
"PE teacher…you know how that one goes."- Dyltra
What A Way To Go
"The EMTs wheeling out the Spanish teacher after she had died in the girl's bathroom of a heart attack."- CapG_13
So Many Questions...
"A jeep ended up in the swimming pool."
"The student crashed through the wall during lunch, rumors about DUI flew, but never did find out exactly what happened."- Taladrac
Things Aren't Always What They Seem...
"When I was at 1-2 grades, we had this extremely friendly janitor, who could be found in his small office, and he would close the door and give you some candies."
"I heard about this, and never believed my friends, but I decided to go see him on one of the brakes."
"I know what you think, but stay with me."
"I knocked, he opened and asked me what my name was, and what I would like to do when I grow up, he gave me 2 candies and said thank you for visiting."
"Yep, just a normal dude who likes kids."
"Also, we had computer class where we were taught stuff like paint, word, PowerPoint."
"We had about 20 pentium 1 computers."
"One day, all the computers were gone, disappeared."
"And so was he, the candy giving nice dude."- EastOrganization2392
Strangest Thing About This Was That He Wasn't Watching It...
"Some guy in college sat in front of me in a studio."
"We were on stools so there was no back to the chair."
"He had his phone in his back pocket, screen facing out with porn playing on his phone, he had his headphones on."
"I wasn’t the only one who noticed, but I certainly didn’t want to break the silence by telling him."- ireallyamtired
Some Would Say They Deserved Much Worse...
"A bald girl crying as she walked to class."
"Someone had stolen her wig and run away with it."
"They knew she had brain cancer and couldn't chase after them."
"The wig was only returned after a popular boy made the girls give it to him."
"The girl died a few months later."
"Only bright side was that the girls who stole her wig had to change schools because no one would let them forget what a bunch of monsters they are."
"Play stupid games win endless harassment because you bullied the quiet dying girl who was nice to everyone."- godwins_law_34
So Much Wasted Talent
"We had a teammate drop dead mid-run during basketball practice in 8th grade."
"It turned out he had an undiagnosed heart defect and he just had a sudden heart attack with no warnings."- fightwallace
Everyone has at least one or two unpleasant memories from their time at school.
These sorts of things, however, no one should ever have to witness anywhere, at any time in their lives.
More often than not, when we indulge in a television show, we accept the fact that not everything we're watching is 100% realistic.
Even outside the world of science fiction and fantasy, we acknowledge that certain conflicts resolve a bit easier than they likely would in real life ("you had me at hello"? seriously?), or that modern medicine hasn't evolved quite that much (Meredith Grey drowning and coming back to life anyone?)
However, there are certain tropes and clichés which are becoming increasingly commonplace in film and television which result in viewers finding themselves truly unable to suspend their disbelief.
Sometimes not even coming until the film's climax, leading viewers to think "surely they're not going to go there?"
Only to find themselves infuriatingly disappointed that yes, they did.
"What single trope can cause you to fully lose interest in a movie/show?"
That is quite an unusual set of skills
"I can’t stand seeing specialists being cast as masters of multiple highly specialized skill sets or areas of study."
"I understand that it’s a popular action movie trope, but you also see this in the medical and academic fields."- BeatMeElmo
Income/Housing Disparity
"The main character bakes muffins part-time 3 days a week but lives in a 2500 sq ft loft penthouse in the chic part of town."- SeaTie
Henchmen Have Families Too...
"If I kill him I'm no better than him"
"Motherf*cker you just smoked 19 of his henchmen and put 5 more in a wheelchair for life, end his a**."
"And of course the bad guy gets let go, but decides at the last second to try to kill the good guy, justifying a bullet between the eyes, usually by either the good guy's sidek ick, or the bad guy's henchmen that he just got done betraying."- Pyrochazm
Get It Over With!!!
"The main character is about to get killed."
"The antagonist is sitting there pointing a gun at them about to shoot them, but they first have to give a 30-second speech."
"This gives the love interest/forgotten sidekick/child with developing fighting skills to come kill the enemy instead."
"Follow it up with a quote from them saying 'you think I’d miss this party?'."- Jimbo19091
Mortal Wound? No Problem!
"Being mildly impacted by lethal injuries."
"Likewise, when in subfreezing temperatures, not succumbing to hypothermia when soaking wet.'
"Not always enough to shut it off, but it always stands out and strains the illusion."- spill_oreilly
No Conflict? Let's Make Some...
"Smart people making dumb decisions for drama."
"I have stopped watching several shows because of this."- TheWalkingBlondeJoke
"We Can't Do It Without Them!"
"The cop who is about to retire, the soldier with one last mission before they're out, and the person who was about to get married WHEN THEY GOT KILLED."- virgilreality
"The ex-cop/FBI agent that comes out of retirement because the entire government can't catch a criminal."- The_Spyre
Just Kiss Already!!!
"'Will they won't they'."
"I liked watching 'New Girl', but when they completely restarted the main characters' relationship I was like, 'Oh, so it's going to be like that'."
"Dear producers, please let your characters grow."- MrMToomey
"But she has glasses! And a ponytail..."
"The 'clumsy, nerdy, awkward girl' who are normally played by the hottest actresses out there..."- Icy_Note_8154
It Only Took Two And A Half Hours To Figure Out!!
'“Wait!'
"I can explain this very obvious and easy to explain scenario'.”
“'Nope'."
"You’re dead to me."
"Now stare speechless as I’m meander my way out of your life slowly'.”-Aerhart941
"Something that can be fixed right away with just a conversation."- Beginning-Match592
"If an entire conundrum can be solved by just someone waiting 1 minute for the other person to explain but chooses not to."
"Irritates me to no end and I'd much rather stop watching the movie."- charthrowawayliet
Big Words Can't Get You Everything...
"When a character is repeatedly hyped as being insanely intelligent, but then they just have a decent vocabulary and aren't particularly insightful or clever."- Gloomy-Flamingo-1733
The best part of sitting back and watching a movie or a TV show is to surrender to a world completely different from our own.
And enjoying them in the comfort of our own homes gives us the freedom to scream at our TV sets when something happens to annoy us.