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Doctors Describe How A Patient's Lie Nearly Cost Them Their Life

Doctors Describe How A Patient's Lie Nearly Cost Them Their Life
Photo by Hush Naidoo on Unsplash

Not everyone tells their doctor the truth, whether out of embarrassment or a lack of trust. This can have some pretty big impacts on treatment outcomes, though, especially in an emergency.

Reddit user u/GlassCoyote asked:

"Doctors, when did a patients lie nearly end up killing them?"

20.

When patients lie and say they haven't eaten anything prior to elective surgery when they have. I caught a patient snaffling biscuits that her partner had brought in for her because we are "so cruel" to deny her food. People can die from aspirating stomach contents during a GA.

-wrallcomefromaway

19.

How about the opposite? I've moved a lot and when I visit a new doctor they often try to answer my health history for me.

'Drinking? Smoking? Exercise and diet? Meh. You're thin. So moderate, no, regular, healthy.'

None of that is accurate, but when I correct them I get 'Oh. So is this a cry for help?'

What? No. I just want you to have the facts.

-kosigoli

18.

One of my patients was smoking in the bathroom while on oxygen. Could've ended very badly for him and others in the hospital

-callsikhurity

17. 

My teenage brother had the opposite to most of these stories.

He came home after being out drinking with friends, raided the fridge and went to bed. A little later he comes out panicking to my parents that he's having trouble breathing, is feeling dizzy, and has a bunch of other alarming symptoms.

They rush him to the ER and from what they tell me the staff were yelling at him to tell them what drugs he'd taken, even though he was adamant he hadn't taken anything. They wouldn't believe him, my parents were begging him to tell them, but he insisted he hadn't.

I'm not sure of the rest of the details but it turns out he had developed a nut allergy he wasn't aware of, and had eaten something that was causing him to go into anaphylaxis.

-Mah_Jong-un

16.

Social Worker at a children's hospital. We have kids coming in through our resuscitation room that have been seizing and are unconscious with no prior history. I'm constantly trying to get parents to tell me if there is a possibility that their toddler might have ingested something, "Does your kid have access to cannabis? Could they have eaten some?". Parents never want to admit it to doctors and so I'm always on a fact finding mission. As a social worker parents are either glad I'm there or they think I'm going to take their kids away...

PSA - cannabis can effect children in horrible, shut down your ability to breathe, kind of ways!

-Typetwofuncrew

15.

Nurse on an ortho unit. This particular patient was a fresh post-op joint replacement. They woke up in the middle of the night going crazy. He was insisting he had to leave. He was seeing things. We were on the 6th floor and he tried going down the back stairwell. There was no reasoning with this dude. He was straight up determined to leave.

Turns out he was detoxing from alcohol. He had lied to both his doctor and the nurse that admitted him about his alcohol use. When you're a heavy user like he was, quitting cold turkey can kill you. We were lucky he didn't start seizing before we got meds on board to help him detox safely. I was very thankful I caught him trying to get down the stairs before he went ass over tea kettle and cracked his head open.

A few months later, he was back on the surgery schedule to fix an injury on his operative leg from falling. Luckily, his doc knew to plan for detox this time around. But the patient also planned ahead... after he was discharged, we found a bottle of booze in the bedside table. -_-

-trahnse

14.

Vet here so in my case it is is the owner telling the lie that can kill the patient. It is hard to get the point across to people that I am not going to call the cops if you tell me your dog ate your drug stash. Just telling me will save time, lots of money spent on diagnostics, and possibly your pet's life. I really don't care if you do drugs.

The only scenarios I can think of where I would call the authorities would have to involve deliberately harming an animal or extreme neglect that I know will continue in the future.

-dickpicksix

13.

Had a grandma who was basically comatose status in ER, whenever we could rouse her or get a word she stated she wasn't on any drugs, we YOLO gave her Narcan (narcotic od drug) with no effect, 20-30 minutes later we do flumazenil / romazicon (benzo od drug) and she wakes up. A lot of ppl weren't suspecting her of drug OD given her age & statement so they were thinking 900 different routes.

-Wxxz

12.

We had a patient that took her home heart meds religiously even in the hospital when we were also administering then to her. She was Educated to not take any of her home meds while she is hospitalized since were giving her the hospital meds. She would sneak and take them. Her blood pressure bottom out and would have to bolus her. Security was called and had to remove the meds from her and lock them up. We had another patient requested a sleep med. The nurse gave it to her. Later, found patient barely arousable and blood pressure dropped which did not make sense she was given a low dose of sleep aid.

Patient had her purse open on the bed and found a prescription of Ambien. The patient took our sleep aid plus double dose of her home med Ambien. We always instruct patients on admission not to take their home meds while in the hospital. We are not allowed to go through their belongings due to privacy.

-Lanna33

11.

One of my relatives had a bad reaction to amoxicillin as a child; Puffy face, trouble breathing, emergency room visit bad.

Fast forward fifteen years, she's off at college and has come down with some sort of infection.

She, however, didn't inform the campus health people, because, and I quote, "Allergies are caused by a bad diet, and since I'm a vegetarian I shouldn't have them any more."

Yeah. They prescribed her amoxicillin, and, if it weren't for her roommate being home to call an ambulance she'd have been dead.

-technos

10.

Middle-aged housewife comes to ED with episodes of headache and collapse/vacant episodes. Usually early hours of the morning. Has the full work-up with CT scans and lumbar punctures several times - always negative. It took several attendances before anyone asked her about recreational drugs (she was an unassuming suburban mum). Turns out she was into cocaine in a big way leading to reversible cerebral vasoconstriction. No more cocaine = no more headaches (and no lasting consequences luckily)

-TheUniqueDrone

9.

Paramedic here, one common one is when older guys are having chest pain and we want to give them nitroglycerin paste/pills to help the chest pain.

One thing that doesn't mix well is nitro and Viagra...it causes a blood pressure drop that can be really dangerous.

We always ask and make it really clear that if we give the nitro and they are taking Viagra and similar meds that they could die. It usually takes 3 or 4 warnings in a row before the guy will admit it.

Early on I made the mistake of trusting a guy after just a couple mentions of how dangerous it would be.

I sprayed the nitro under his tongue and he said "does generic Viagra count?"

F**k.

At one point his BP wasn't even registering on the box cuff, it was bad. I thought I was going to get screamed at by my doctor, but he just laughed and said it was so common that he wasn't upset, and gave me a couple ideas on how to make it clear how dangerous it was to the patient.

-CaptFluffyBunny

8.

Not a doctor BUT I was in the ER once separated from another patient by only a thin curtain. It was impossible to not overhear what was going on. She was an elderly woman who had taken an ambulance in due to feeling faint and said she had no other symptoms.

Hours are going by, she gets up to use the washroom a couple times and makes small talk with her brother, sounding pretty woozy the whole time. Doctors keep checking on her, they draw blood and check her blood pressure. I think it was like remarkably low but they aren't sure why.

Cut to several hours later when a nurse notices there's some blood on the woman's bed. After some back-and-forth she finally admits that she had been bleeding profusely from her rectum for WEEKS.

The doctors gave her a hard time but got her out of there REAL fast.

-bustypirate

7.

I work in outpatient surgical center, lying to anesthesia can be really dangerous. I've had a person lie about not taking drugs and then react badly when given the anesthesia meds because they interacted (fortunately for that patient not nearly dying but I will forever have it ingrained in my head the anaesthetist leaning over their head screaming "what drugs did you take?!". Anotehr that I fortunately havent seen serious event but definitely has happened to our providers and I've seen more mild versions, people eating/drinking before the anesthesia and then denying. Lucky for my patients they just have puked after waking up so we know they had it but made it ok. The danger is you can puke during sedation and then get it in your lungs (called aspirating) and die from that. Could be really bad but fortunately I personally havent seen the worst yet, but I've heard plenty of stories of it

-future-nurse19

6.

Not a doctor but my sisters godfather was diabetic. He went to the ER because he had a really bad cold for like 2 weeks. He went in and they asked him if he was a diabetic and for some reason he said no. Long story short they gave him something that made his sugar levels go up and he went into a coma. He died about a month later because his organs shutdown.

Edit: he was only 32 years old just in case anyone was wondering.

-GOLdeMESSI

5.

I wasn't the lead on this case, but I was the assist. When I was in dental school this patient came in and was really hyped up. My buddy asked him if he has been on any drugs and the guy just said he had a lot of caffeine. OK-we move forward. From what my friend told me his blood pressure was high, but not too high for an elective procedure.

Part of the local numbing we give patients has epinephrine in it and sometimes this gets into the bloodstream with certain types of nerve blocks, not uncommon. However, if you've snorted a couple lines of cocaine and then get epi in your bloodstream that's no bueno.

Ended up calling the ambulance, his BP was so high he was at risk for a stroke. So yeah, even stuff the dentist does can kill you if you lie.

-lbvsg

4.

I work in an STD clinic, so the stuff I deal with isn't usually deadly or at least not immediately deadly. However, I am constantly surprised by the percentage of patients who test positive and refuse to tell their partners.

A guy came in a few years ago who for something relatively simple like gonorrhea, but seemed to have trouble walking. Long story short a nurse called an ambulance for him and sent him to the ER for a spinal tap. Turns out an ex boyfriend refused to tell him about his syphilis diagnosis after they had a rough break up like 15-20 years earlier. So not only was our guy possibly spreading syphilis unknowingly, he now had untreatable neurosyphilis.

He worked with our Disease Intervention Specialists to track down as many partners as they could but I think he died from related complications like a year after his initial visit.

-tortiekelpie

3.

I was admitting patients in the psychiatric ward. Busy night, and I was way behind. An older man with schizo-affective disorder is admitted with a caretaker. A nurse asks them a few questions, including if the patient has taken any medicine and/or narcotics. The caretaker says no. I see the patient 4 hours later. He seems delirious, which often is caused by a somatic problem (including medicine - you know where this is going). He can't maintain eye contact and can only sit in his chair and talk nonsense. He drools and yells every word, but somehow seems very tired. I ask the caretaker if the patient has taken any medication, and she says the patient broke into a medicine room at the the institution he lives and just started eating random pills.

Apparently this is somewhere around 80 pills not being more precise because she did not bother gathering the empty pillboxes. The only information I could get was, that he definitely ate over 40 lithium pills (which is just great if you really hate your kidneys). Now, after calling the emergency department to quickly prep and an ambulance with an anaesthesiologist for transport, I talked with the caretaker (through my teeth - just slightly - angry). Apparently the nurse "wouldn't understand" because it wasn't his own medicine and she didn't want to "make a fuss". I screamed into my pillow that night in pure frustration. I later found out he lived after intensive care and almost loosing his kidney function.

-nicholasdennett

2.

I'm not a doctor but a patient with a couple of really weird disorders that cause doctors who arent familiar with them to think I am taking. I have been denied very needed basic treatment like a bag of saline because my dehydration is exasperating my symptoms because they think I'm somehow gaming the system. These assumptions that patients are lying do a lot of harm, too.

-MangoMadness1289

1.

When we do our pre op check before a surgery, our office prints out a list of meds we have in file that the patient is taking. We tell them please look at this list and sign it to indicate this is the current and up to date list of the meds you take. Patient signed and we plan for surgery next week.

Get a call from anesthesia the day before her scheduled surgery. Apparently she "forgot" to mention she had started taking a weight loss drug that if you're taking it, can cause severe hypotension when you go under anesthesia and in extreme cases you can die from that. You have to have stopped the drug for at least 4 days to be safe to have anesthesia. So her surgery got pushed back a week. Not canceled just pushed back enough to be safe. She call our office fuming and demanding a refund for the time she took off work.

Seriously lady? Sorry but we have a signed document saying you told us all your meds. Exactly who should be mad at who? You put us at liability and now the surgeon/our office doesn't get paid for that day when we could have subbed in someone else in that slot.

-DoUBleaveNMagic

doctors

Jobs That Seem Easy But Are Actually Incredibly Challenging

Reddit user CeleryLover4U asked: 'What's a job or profession that seems easy, but is incredibly challenging?'

Woman stressed at work
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

When we hear about other people's jobs, we've surely all done that thing where we make assumptions about the work they do and maybe even judge them for having such an easy or unimportant job.

But some jobs are much harder than they look.

Redditor CeleryLover4U asked:

"What's a job or profession that seems easy but is incredibly challenging?"

Customer Service

"Anything customer-facing. The public is dumb and horrendous."

- gwarrior5

"My go-to explanation is, 'Anyone can do it, but few can do it for long.'"

- Conscious_Camel4830

"The further I get in my corporate career, the less I believe I will ever again be capable of working a public-facing job. I don’t know how I did it in the past. I couldn’t handle it in the present."

"I know people are only getting worse about how they treat workers. It is disturbing, embarrassing, and draining for everyone."

- First-Combination-12

High Stakes

"A pharmacist."

"You face the public. Your mistake can literally kill someone."

- VaeSapiens

"Yes, Pharmacist. So many people think their job is essentially the same as any other kind of retail worker and they just prepare prescriptions written by a doctor without having to know anything about them."

"They are very highly trained in, well, pharmacology; and it's not uncommon for a pharmacist to notice things like potentially dangerous drug interactions that the doctor hadn't."

- Worth_University_884

Teaching Woes

"Two nuggets of wisdom from my mentor teacher when I was younger:"

"'Teaching is the easiest job to do poorly and the hardest job to do well,' and 'You get to choose two of the following three: Friends, family, or being a good teacher. You don't have enough time to do all three.'"

"We all know colleagues or remember teachers who were lazy and chose the easy route, but any teacher who is trying to be a good teacher has probably sacrificed their friends and their sleep for little pay and a stressful work environment. There's a reason something like half quit the profession within the first five years."

- bq87

Creativity Is "Easy"

"Some creative professions, such as designers, are often perceived as 'easy' due to their creative nature. However, they may face the constant need to find inspiration, deal with criticism, and meet deadlines."

- rubberduckyis

"EVERYBODY thinks they are a designer, up until the point of having to do the work. But come critique time, mysteriously, EVERYBODY IS A F**KING DESIGNER AGAIN."

"The most important skill to have as a designer is THICK SKIN."

- whitepepper

Care Fatigue Is Real

"Care work."

"I wish it could be taken for granted that no one thinks it's easy. But unfortunately, many people still see it as an unskilled job and have no idea of the many emotional complexities, or of how much empathy, all the time, is needed to form the sorts of relationships with service users that they really need."

- MangoMatiLemonMelon

Physical Labor Generally Wins

"I’m going to say most types of unskilled labor and that’s because there’s such little (visible) reward and such a huge amount of bulls**t. I’ve done customer service, barista, sales, serving, etc; and it was all much harder than my cushy desk job that actually can be considered life or death."

- anachronistika

Their Memory Banks Must Be Wild

"I don't know if I'd call it incredibly challenging, but being one of those old school taxi drivers who know the city like the back of his hand and can literally just drive wherever being told nothing but an address is pretty impressively skilled."

"Not sure if it's still like this, but British cabbies used to be legendary for this. I'm 40 and I don't think most young people appreciate how much the quality of cab service has gone down since the advent of things like Uber."

"Nowadays it's just kind of expected that a rideshare/cab driver doesn't know exactly where you're trying to get and has to rely on GPS directions that they often f up. Back when I was in college, cabbies were complete experts on their city."

"More even than knowing how to get somewhere, they could also give you advice. You could just generally describe a type of bar/club/business you're looking for, and they'll take you right to one that was spot on. Especially in really big cities like NYC."

- Yak-Mak-5000

Professional Cooking

"Being a chef."

- Canadian_bro7

"I would love to meet the person who thinks being a chef is easy! I cook my own food and it’s not only OK to eat but I make a batch of it so I have some for later. So, to make food that is above good and portion it correctly many times a day and do it consistently with minimal wastage (so they make a profit), strikes me as extremely difficult."

- ChuckDeBongo

Team Leading, Oof

"Anything that involves a lot of people skills and socializing. I thought these positions were just the bulls**t of sitting in meetings all day and not a lot of work happening but having to be the one leading those meetings and doing public speaking is taxing in a way I didn’t realize."

- Counterboudd

Not a Pet Sitter At All

"Veterinary Technician."

"Do the job of an RN, anesthesiology tech, dental hygienist, radiology tech, phlebotomist, lab tech, and CNA, but probably don’t make a living wage and have people undervalue your career because you 'play with puppies and kittens all day.'"

- forthegoddessathena

Harder Than It Looks!

"Sometimes, when my brain is fried from thinking and my ego is shot from not fixing the problem, I want to be a garbage man... not a ton of thinking, just put the trash in the truck, and a lot of them have trucks that do it for you!"

"But if the robot either doesn't work or you don't have one on your truck, it smells really bad, the pay isn't what it used to be, you might find a dead body and certainly find dead animal carcasses... and people are id**ts, overfilling their bags, just to have them fall apart before you get to the truck, not putting their trash out and then blaming you, making you come back out."

"Your body probably is sore every day, and you have to take two baths before you can kiss your wife..."

"Ehh, maybe things are not so bad where I am."

- Joebroni1414

Twiddling Thumbs and Listening

"Therapist here. I’ve always said that it’s pretty easy to be an okay therapist—as in, it’s not that hard to listen to people’s problems and say, 'Oh wow, that’s so hard, poor you.'"

"But to be a good therapist? To know when your client is getting stuck in the same patterns, or to notice what your client isn’t saying? To realize that they’re only ever saying how amazing their spouse is, and to think, 'Hmm, nobody’s marriage is perfect, something’s going on there'?"

"To be able to ask questions like, 'Hey, we’ve been talking a lot about your job, but what’s going on with your family?' And then to be able to call them on their s**t, but with kindness and empathy? Balancing that s**t is hard."

"Anybody can have empathy, but knowing when to use empathy and when and how to challenge someone is so much harder. And that’s only one dimension of what makes being a therapist challenging."

- mylovelanguageiswine

Constant Updates

​"For the most part, my job is really easy (marketing tech). But having to constantly stay on top of new platforms, new tech, updates, etc etc is exhausting and overwhelming and I really hate it."

"Also, the constant responsibility to locate and execute opportunities to optimize things and increase value for higher-ups. Nobody in corporate roles can ever just reach a point of being 'good enough.' More and better is always required."

"Just some of the big reasons I’m considering a career change."

- GlizzyMcGuire_

Performing Is Not Easy

"Performing arts and other types of art. People think it’s a cakewalk or 'not a real job,' not realizing the literal lifetime of training, rejection, and perseverance that it takes to reach a professional level and how insanely competitive those spaces are."

- ThrowRA1r3a5

All About Perception

"I suspect everything fits this. Consider that someone whose job is stacking boxes in a warehouse has to know how to lift boxes, how many can be stacked, know if certain ones must be easily accessible, know how to use any equipment that is used to move boxes around."

"Not to mention if some have hazardous or fragile materials inside, if some HAVE to be stacked on the bottom, if a mistake is made and all the boxes have to be restacked, etc."

"But everyone else is like, 'They're just stacking boxes.'"

- DrHugh

It's easy to make assumptions about someone else's work and responsibilities when we haven't lived with performing those tasks ourselves.

This gave us some things to think about, and it certainly reminded us that nothing good comes of making assumptions, especially when it minimizes someone else's experiences.

job description

Things Left-Handed People Deal With That Right-Handed People Never Do

Left-handed person holding a Sharpie
Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Many of us who are right-handed never even think about how the world is designed to cater to us.

It probably doesn't even cross your mind that 10% of the world's population is left-handed.

Because of this, there tends to be a stigma for being left-handed since society tends to associate the left with negative things.

For example, the phrase "two left feet" applies to those who are clumsy and therefore, incapable of dancing.

Curious to hear more about the challenges facing those with the other dominant hand, Redditor johnnyportillo95 asked:

"What’s something left-handed people have to deal with that right-handed people wouldn’t even think about?"

If only manufacturers appealed to an ambidextrous world.

Furniture Obstacle

"Those desks or couch chairs that have a small desk attached. They do make left handed/sided ones but they are few and far between."

– Prussian__Princess

"And they’re only on one side of the lecture hall, and it’s never a good seat. There is ONE front row, lefty desk in the entire room and it’s in the far corner, obscured by an ancient overhead projector."

– earwighoney

Everyday Objects For Everyday People

"as a left-handed person myself, one thing we often deal with is finding left-handed tools or equipment. many everyday objects, like scissors or can openers, are designed with right-handed people in mind, which can make certain tasks a bit more challenging for us lefties. we also have to adapt to a right-handed world when it comes to writing on whiteboards or using certain computer mice."

– J0rdan_24

Dangerous Tools

"The biggest risk is power tools. I taught myself to use all power tools right handed because of risks using them left handed."

"Trivial, I love dry boards but they are super hard to write on."

– diegojones4

It's hard to play when you're born with a physical disadvantage.

Sports Disadvantage

"Allright, Sports when you are young. Every demonstration from PE teachers are right handed. You cant just copy the movements they teach you you need to flip them and your tiny brain struggoes to process it. As well, 98% of the cheap sports equipment the school uses is right handed."

– AjCheeze

No Future In Softball

"I tried to bat right handed for so long in gym class growing up because the gym teacher never asked me what my dominant side was and the thought never occurred to me as a child to mention it! Needless to say I never became a softball star."

– Leftover-Cheese

Find A Glove That Fits

"In softball and baseball we need a specific glove for our right hand that's often impossible to find unless you own one, and we have to bat on the other side of the plate."

– BowlerSea1569

"I was one of two left-handers in a 4-team Little League in the 1980s. Nobody could pitch to me. I got a lot of "hit by pitch" walks out of it."

– Jef_Wheaton

These examples are understandably annoying.

Shocking Observation

"Having right handed people make comments whenever they see us write, like we’re some kind of alien."

– UsefulIdiot85

"'Woah! You're left-handed????'"

"I find myself noticing when someone is a lefty, and sometimes I comment on it, but I try not to. I'm primarily left-handed (im a right handed wroter but do everything else left), and every single time I go to eat with my family, someone says, "Oh hey, give SilverGladiolus22 the left hand spot, they're left-handed," and inevitably someone says, 'Wait, really?' Lol."

– SilverGladiolus22

Can't Admire The Mug

"We never get to look at the cute graphics on coffee mugs while we’re drinking from them."

– vanetti

"I just realized…I always thought the graphics were made so someone else could read them while you drink. Hmmm."

– Bubbly-Anteater7345

"I'm right-handed and I often wondered why the graphics were turned towards the drinker instead of out for others to see."

– Material-Imagination

The Writing On The Wall

"Writing on whiteboards is a nightmare. I have to float my hand, which tires out my arm quickly, and I can't see what I've already written to keep the line straight."

– darkjedi39

"Also as a teacher, it means I'm standing to the left of where I'm writing, so I'm blocking everything I write. I have to frequently finish writing, then step out of the way so people can see, instead of just being able to stand on the right side the whole time."

– dancingbanana123

Immeasurable

"Rulers."

"How the f'k is no one talking about rulers? It's from 30cm to 0 cm to me, or I have to twist my arms to know the measure I want to trace over it."

– fourangers

Just Can't Win

"EVERYTHING. The world has always been based around people being right handed. As a Chef, my knife skills SUCKED until I worked with a Left Handed Chef. Then it all made sense."

"Literally, everything we do must be observed, then flipped around in our heads, then executed. This is why Lefties die sooner, on average, than Righties."

"I had to learn how to be ambidextrous, just to complete basic tasks (sports, driving a manual, using scissors, etc). I am used to it now, and do many things right handed out of necessity, as wall as parents and teachers 'forcing' it upon me."

"But, at least we are not put to death anymore, simply for using the wrong hand (look it up, it happened)."

"Ole Righty, always keeping us down."

– igenus44

The world doesn't need another demographic to feel "othered" for being different.

But if you're right-handed and tend to make assumptions about left-handed people, you may want to observe the following.

Ronald Yeo, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Texas-Austin told CNN:

"We shouldn’t assume much about people’s personalities or health just because of the hand they write with."
"And we certainly shouldn’t worry about lefties’ chances of success: After all (as of 2015), five of our last seven U.S. presidents have been either left- or mixed-handed."

Word.

left handed

People Reveal Whether They Let Their Dog Sleep On Their Bed Or Not

Dog lying down on a bed
Photo by Conner Baker on Unsplash

Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.

While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.

Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.

Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.

For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.

Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:

"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"

The Tiny Issue Of Water...

"Absolutely not."

"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649

Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...

"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."

"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."

"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."

"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep

The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...

"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."

"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3

Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen Giphy

What Do You Mean Allow?

"I have no choice."

"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412

"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle

Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show

Hug GIF by The BarkPost Giphy

Who Needs An Alarm Clock?

"I let my two cats sleep with me."

"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."

"And so do I."

"We've all developed a lil routine."

"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_

Whose Bed Is It Anyway?

"Yes."

"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."

"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor

"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."

"Would not come out."

"Got some food and some water in dishes."

"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."

"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."

"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."

"She was too busy eating."

"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."

"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."

"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."

"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."

"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."

"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."

"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."

"She would not go."

"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."

"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588

sleepy kitten GIF Giphy

Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...

"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."

"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."

"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle

Saying No Just Isn't An Option...

"'Let'."

"Lol."

"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren

Felines Only!

"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz

Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official Giphy

Is That My Hair On That Pillow?

"My dog is perfect."

"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."

"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."

"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester

It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.

Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...


pets

Old Wives' Tales People Still Believe For Some Reason

Close up of an owl tilting their head to side, looking bewildered
Photo by Josh Mills

The old wives' tales.

They are the stories of legend.

I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.

Where did they originate?

WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!

You don't hear about them as much anymore.

It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.

But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.

Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:

"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"

"Wait an hour to swim after eating."

What a crock!

So many summer hours wasted.

I want revenge for that one.

Say Nothing

Giphy

"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."

LonelyMail5115

"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."

I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA

Say Something

"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."

Severe_Airport1426

"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."

crappycurtains

"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."

AlbinoShavedGorilla

Body Temps

"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."

chriseo22

"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."

"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."

apocalypticradish

Arms Down

"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."

Fatmouse84

10 Years Actually

Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine Giphy

"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."

REDDIT

"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."

Gecko-911

I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.

This tale is haunting.

High/Low

Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace Giphy

"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."

LeastFormal9366

"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."

IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI

The Cursed

"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."

"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."

SmoreOfBabylon

Stay In

"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."

"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."

worldbound0514

Dreams and Facts

"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."

"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."

mattshonestreddit

"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."

Darthdemented

Cracked

Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office Giphy

"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."

Choice-Grapefruit-44

"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."

MacyTmcterry

I love my knuckles.

Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.

old wives tales