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People Break Down The Most Unexplainable Thing They've Ever Experienced

Life is full of little moments of WTF. We have them daily - finding a lost something in a place you know you checked a bunch of times before, that awareness that you've done this before, thinking an intense thought and having the person next to you respond to it as if you spoke it aloud.


I like to call them "mundane mysteries" - the stuff that probably has an explanation, isn't anything too unusual like being abducted by aliens or sharing a McShake with Bigfoot because the ice cream machine was actually working.

One Reddit user asked:

What's something unexplainable that you've experienced?

And yeah ... mundane mysteries, fam. Just because there weren't any aliens, cryptids, or a working ice cream machine involved doesn't mke these moments any less mysterious.

Keep your eyes peeled for one where Reddit users suggested a potential explanation - I'm honestly not sure if the idea that all that could be caused by something so simple makes it better or worse.


Tap, Tap, Tap

I was stopped for the night at a truck stop in the desert, 60 miles east of El Paso,TX. This truck stop only has lights around the store and fuel pumps, the truck parking area is only lit by any headlights that are left on. I get to bed at about 2200 thinking it'll be a nice quiet night.

At around 0230 I wake up to a tapping on my truck like someone was trying to wake me up. I ignore it and try to go back to sleep, but the tapping gets louder and louder and eventually turns into the sound similar to someone beating their hand on my door and cab.

I get out of bed and open the curtains to the side I heard the sound coming from and there was nothing there. I open the curtains on the other side, and nothing there either. There was no trucks on either side of me. So I throw my shoes on, grab my machete and flashlight and go outside to see what the hell was going on.


There was nothing, no foot prints, no paw prints, absolutely nothing there.

I get back in my truck and turn on my side markers, so I'm somewhat illuminated. Close the doors, lock them, and run my seat belts through the door handle and buckle them in, to add essentially another lock to both doors.

I go back to bed, and wake up at 0630. The sun is starting to come out, so I go inside for some coffee, and breakfast before heading out. Other truck drivers were in there, and experienced the same thing i did that night. With no answers as to what it was, I finish my breakfast and nope the f*ck outta there.

Sh*t gets crazy at night in the desert.

- Bearded_Trucker

Black Cat

When I was around 9 years old I found two plush toys that looked like black cats. They were 2nd hand and were the only two in the shop. I am a cat freak and adored them. But so did my younger siblings (twins).

My mum just gave them to my siblings, and told me to stop whining. I was livid. I had bought them for my self with change I had busked for. So unfair. Then, out of nowhere a third cat appeared. Exact match.

My and my older sister even went back to the shop and the owner just thought we were crazy. There definitely never was a third cat.

To this day, I have no idea how that happened.

My mum isn't the thoughtful kind and she kind of always acted like a d!ck when I was upset, so I am 100% sure she didn't try and get one for me to cheer me up or whatever.

I just think that some guardian angel got me the cat. Or well, I want to believe :)

- ovviocontousaegetta

The Uniform Policy

engaged brown sugar GIF Giphy

A few weeks before my grandad died in April, I started wearing 2 rings I had inherited from a family member on a chain around my neck. I've had them for years and always wear them when I feel like I need a bit of luck or support. Makes me feel as if someone is looking out for me even though I don't really believe in the afterlife or the supernatural.

I knew he was sick so I'd not long started wearing them again, only I'd had to put them on a chain this time because the uniform policy in work meant I couldn't wear them as I usually did on my finger. The clasp on the chain can be quite stiff to open, so I'd just throw it over my head with the rings attached because it's long enough to not have to open, so the rings and the chain had been together for a few weeks at this point without me ever opening the clasp, because there was no need.

So I was in work with another colleague about 2 feet away from me. I had the rings tucked well down my shirt (hanging right around heart level), my uniform zipped up over them, a plastic apron and my gloves on (I'm a nurse). I was busy doing something so my hands weren't anywhere near the rings, and I wasn't even thinking about them. There wasn't any way I could've touched them or got them caught on anything.

Then I felt something cold touch my stomach and the next thing I knew one of the rings had dropped onto the floor. I was confused at how it'd happened and thought maybe the chain had broken (even though it's quite sturdy) and didn't want to lose it, so I took my apron and gloves off and pulled the chain out of my shirt.

The chain was intact and still clasped tightly together. And the other ring was still on it. So somehow, one ring had come cleanly off the chain without the other one falling off, and with the chain still clasped together.

My colleague was just staring at me like WTF, and I'm not really a believer in the supernatural, like I said, so I just cracked a joke saying "I hope that wasn't a sign or someone trying to tell me something!" and laughed it off.

Not 5 mins later I got the call to say my grandad had deteriorated and I needed to come home. I left work that day to care for him and 2 weeks later he died.

I know there's got to be an explanation for it, but part of me doesn't want to know it because the mystery makes me feel like maybe I was actually being looked out for.

I wear the rings on my finger now because I can't shake the feeling that there was something more to that little mystery than the logical side of my brain wants to believe. And f*ck the uniform policy. If anyone calls me out on it I'll tell them a ghost told me to wear them.

- surelyunimportant

The Rattlesnake Prophecy

I was 9 years old and I had a dream that I got home from a friends house, and as I opened the side door, out of the corner of my eye I see a grey rat scamper along the side of my house. Dream me stands there a second just watching it. Then I look down and a rattlesnake was right next to my leg.

Of course I panic and step back, but the snake strikes and bites my leg. I scream and roll around and my leg BURNS, even in the dream it burned. My father comes out and sees me on the ground and I tell him I was bit by a rattlesnake. He rushes me to the hospital.

Time gets real malleable. I don't remember traveling to the hospital or checking in, but I end up on a bed and very distinctly remember getting a couple doses of anti-venom but it is too late. I die, and I see my mother crying while holding my hand. I watch for a few minutes, then I wake up.

Weird nightmare, right? But nothing to freak about.

So I go about my day, play with my friends, and whatnot. When I was walking home that evening, I just randomly though about my dream, so I stopped a bit away from the door and actually looked around where the snake was in the dream.

Motherf*cker was EXACTLY where I dreamt he was and basically staring at me! It never does rattle. Then a f*cking rat goes darting down the side of my house, just like in the dream. I change course and go to the front door instead. I tell my dad about the snake, he goes out and kills it with a shovel.

I haven't had another dream THAT vivid of the future since. Sh!t still freaks me out though.

- damdingashrubbery

McBicycle In The Sky

One time me, my brother and mom were in a McDonalds drive thru getting McFlurrys, and my brother pointed to the sky through the car windshield.

There was a bike in the sky with a man just riding on it, it had balloons floating above it like in Up. All three of us saw it, it wasn't imaginary, although my brother forgot this happened (he was pretty young at the time), me and my mom have not forgot.

- TheChemicalSophie

Bill

When I was 9 or 10, we had a big family reunion at my great aunt's big Victorian house that her family grew up in, which she inherited. I got bored though because there weren't other kids there my age, so I went exploring through the house and found a check writing machine in the upstairs office or library kind of room. I remember the machine was black and gold and had lots of little levers where you'd select the individual numbers then pull down on another lever to stamp the check. I'd put in pieces of paper that were on the desk and look at the numbers stamped on it.

I was playing with that when I very clearly heard another kid in the hallway say "you're not supposed to play with guns, Bill."


My name wasn't Bill, and I wasn't playing with guns. I remember saying "I'm not." Then some moments passed and I got curious about another kid maybe my age being there, so I hopped up and looked into the hallway to find him, but there was nobody there. And nobody around my age downstairs or outside where everybody else was either. I figured at the time it was maybe some neighbor kid who ran out.

I didn't really think about it again until I was 18 or 19 and my mother told me her father (Grandpa Bill, my great aunt's brother who grew up there too) had accidentally shot his friend in that house when he was a kid, when playing with his father's pistol. Then when I was in my 40's, I was driving my great Aunt somewhere (now in her 90's), and I asked where in the house Bill had that accident, and she said in that upstairs office.

I'm not religious, but that just seems too specific. Maybe it's a wild coincidence. I still can't explain it all these years later, and it's the only thing that keeps bugging me in my life.

- kabekew

She Has My Face

I was on public transit one time, and saw someone that was just about the same height as me and looked to have my body type. I just shrugged it off in the moment. As a taller girl with a slightly bigger frame, it's not that rare.

The only seat available was the one directly across from her, so I sat down and put my headphones in. I tend to people watch while I ride to school, so I started to do exactly that. I took a closer look at the girl in front of me, same shade, cut and color hair.

Huh. Weird.

Her head is down so I can't see her face, but when the bell dings to tell that it's the next stop, she looks up. Oh. My. Lord. She has my face!

She looks up at me and blinks twice. Same color eyes. I have very odd eyes, so brown they look black. Her eyes are so brown they look black. She stands up and walks off the bus. I turn to see her go, sure my eyes are playing tricks on me.

Aaand she's gone. it's like she walked off the bus and just fell into a worm hole. I look at the spot we stopped. No girl there. I was creeped out for the entire week.

- Not_your_Average_Rat

Swearing Is A Sin

old lady wtf GIF Giphy

My grandmother was a deeply religious person. Catholic, so she had the fear of God in her. She was nearing the end of her life and was terrified of going to hell. So terrified, she'd have fits of anxiety where she'd cry and pray and shake. I told her of course she'd make it to heaven, God loves her (I'm not religious at all and absolutely abhor the Catholic faith, but for her sake I thought the sentiment would be nice).

She refused to believe me.

But I remembered my mom telling me about a story where this dying woman who told her son she would send him a sign in the form of phrase when she made it to heaven. And when she died, the son eventually got the sign. So I made a deal with grandma: when she made it to heaven, she would send me a sign with the phrase "hot damn, she was right!" Of course she absolutely refused, saying "I can't swear! Swearing is a sin!"

Well, grandma died. I don't know if she ever became less terrified, or if she found peace in her final moments, but she left many heavy hearts behind.

Weeks later, I was walking into a restaurant, and on the door there was a promotional ad for something unsubstantial, and it read "hot darn, she was right!"

- KitKatPattyWhacks

I'm Not Checking

Recently, I was on the couch watching something and I heard a crash from my washer and dryer room. My cat also shot up and looked in the direction of the door. It sounded like a broom fell over, or maybe one of the plastic tubs. Freaked me out as I already don't really like that room in the first place, plus it was very late at night and I live alone. Also because of the pull string door that leads to the creepy ass attic.

Decided I was not going to be like every idiot in a horror movie and investigate what the noise was. I literally sat there on my couch for hours.

The next day, I decided I had enough courage to take a peak and literally saw nothing touched. Both brooms were still propped up against the wall. All the plastic tubs were sitting perfectly. I have no idea what that noise was and I don't really care to find out.

- LoopZoop2

Joshua

As a kid, I had an imaginary friend who I would play with a lot. I had few "real" friends but I was also more of an outcast in daycare and kindergarten so sometimes, that imaginary friend was all I had.

My mother said I'd always describe him as very similar looking. When I was around pre-school age, my mother said we needed to talk about my friend and I said that I'm fine with keeping Joshua around because I was scared of starting school alone.

Her face just froze in shock and she never brought it up again. I didn't realize why until my grandma explained years later that I had a twin brother who didn't make it and my parents were planning on naming him Joshua.

The only logical explanation I have is that I picked it up when I was very little but my grandma said that my parents literally never talked about it because they didn't cope well with the loss at all. It's still very strange.

- CichaelMlifford

Say Thank You

About 9 years ago, I was searching our file cabinet for a document I needed. I had piles of papers all over the bed, searched for an hour, meticulously. Could not find it.

Suddenly, the tv across the room (which is NOT on) makes a clicking noise. I stop what I'm doing, look up and over at the tv. I see nothing out of the ordinary, so I turn back to the pile of papers....and the document I had been searching for is right on top, like it was placed there.

I looked up, said thank you, and put away the papers I didn't need.

- MyLifeIsAZoo14895

The Bathroom Was Breathing

When I was 10-ish my mother, sister and I moved into an apartment. Two bed two bath, but from the start I couldn't handle using the bathroom in the room my sister and I shared. Something just felt wrong in there, like the bathroom was breathing and I was being watched, so I used my mom's. Eventually my sister refused to sleep in our room at all and moved her mattress into the living room.

I got sick a lot during the year we lived there. At night I sometimes woke to the sound of footsteps approaching my bed from the bathroom, and when I would sit up to look the sound always stopped. I begged my sister and her friends to keep the bathroom door closed after coming in to use it, but they'd often forget and I'd wake late at night to a black hole of an open door and that breathing sensation.

Eventually my sister's boyfriend, who often spent the night, told her he sometimes saw shadows looming over my bed at night. My religious grandma visited once, stepped into my room and started speaking tongues. I don't know, it all sounds superstitious and hoaky, but that place messed with me until we moved.

- tillywhacks

Speaking in tongues aside, this sounds like carbon monoxide poisoning.

- brunchwithpoodles

Or mold. That sh*t can be psychoactive. Breathing in mold to the point of hallucinating takes time, like sleeping in a room next to mold.

- aneggshellwhite

100% there was a carbon monoxide/gas leak/mold issue in that room.

- sylverbound

This has some information about what mold can do. Nothing about hallucinations or tongues.. But this source says it can make you hallucinate. Given the bathroom was the creepy room, water damage would be more likely, therefore mold growth isn't out of the question.

- mute-owl

Psst

I stay up late at night very often..usually I just chill, draw and listen to music, etc.

One night I decided to do dishes to make cleaning up eaiser for mum and halfway through, somebody whispered "PSSST!!" in my ear.

I felt my hair fcking move when it happened. I noped out of the kitchen and wouldn't go in it by myself for along time.

- GhostmaneBlackmage

Haunted Housekeeping

I was 12 got into a fight with my mom and her, my sister and my grandmother all left for the store. The living room was a mess and my mom said if I didn't clean it by the time she got back I was getting punished.

Being stubborn I waited until I heard the front door close and left my room to watch TV. No one else was in the house besides me and I wasn't going to clean. I got bored and locked myself back in my room.

I can hear dishes clanking together and or falling onto each other in the drying rack. I heard the front door unlock and was terrified of the beating I was about to receive but my mom came in knocked on my door and gave me a hug and thanked me for cleaning up. I never did I don't know who did.

We had a 3 bedroom apartment everyone who was there left with my mom leaving me completely alone. I don't know who cleaned up, but they saved me from a beating!

- 11220611

Ghost Spiders

I have a friend who is a witch and psychic, the real deal. Not a lot of 'power' but what is there is legitimate and I've seen a few things from her. I'm an agnostic of the supernatural but it's usually something fun to witness. Not this time.

We're having dinner at a little hole in the wall restaurant next to a hospice charity drop off center. In the middle of our conversation something grabs her shoulder HARD, pulls her sideways in the booth. She turns white, gets this big fake smile on over her poorly masked freak out.

I'm like WTF was that?

She says they really want to be acknowledged and they know she knows they're there.

I know she's seen stuff before, but was always excited by the experience. Not this time.

I asked "Did you know about the hospice shop next door?"

She's says we need to leave. Now.

I look at her shoulder and finger-shaped welts are rising up like if someone strong grabbed her. I saw it happen and there was nothing that could have done that. We noped the fck outta there like there were ghost spiders.

- JaneAustenKicksAss

McLight Show

While driving home from McDonald's at 2 am with my girlfriend, we were driving down the freeway when I experienced a blinding green light. We weren't near any light sources or near any homes if it was some kind of laser pointer.. we both freaked out in the car.

Later, my girlfriend told me that to her it wasn't a blinding green laser light at all. She saw a giant blue light slowly floating through the car.

- cup_of_diabetes

The Headphones

When I first started playing video games my mom bought my a used turtle beach headset for me. When I used it I heard this guy talking like he was in a war or something. I can't quite explain it but I have no clue why i was able to hear this guy and it was really scary considering I was only like 8.

- albinodj

A Connection With Death

My mother, brother and I all lives with my very elderly, late stage dementia grandpa. My mom was his caretaker and was certified etc. But when my grandfather died, it was just me and my mom that still lived with him.

I distinctly remember waking up at like 4:30-5am randomly, something I very rarely do. I also felt weird, and felt sad. But I felt like a force leading my eyes towards the window. It felt familiar, like it was my grandpa. But I shrugged it off and went back to bed. I woke up a few hours later for school and my mom came in my room and closed my door and told me that my grandfather had died that morning at the same time I had woken up.

My grandpa who loved us all, but was very old school let me know he was leaving when he died, but also put me back to sleep so I didn't have to deal with his passing in the moment.

Apparently, the ambulance, my uncle, and mom were all there through the night, my mom and uncle grieving and my grandfather made sure I didn't see.

I was in highschool at the time. I've never been able to explain it. Its almost like I have a weird connection with death. A similar experience with my dad's passing happened just a couple years later.

I visited my dad with my cousin, she wanted to come with her because my dad had been dealing with his shortcomings poorly, drinking himself into a stupor more often then not doing so. I visit him, I tell him that after my first year of college I was gonna come back and visit him and that I wanted him to be there when I did. However I knew he was going to die. So when I left his house I texted my brother and told him exactly this

"Hey, I don't think dad is gonna be around much longer, come visit him."

Which is out of character for me. My brother visited him that next morning, also out of character for him, and found him dead in his living room. He had died the previous night. Not more than a few hours after I left his house.

Plus he texted my other brother who was a few hours away at the time and told him and he left immediately to come home and my mom told me that something was wrong with my dad and I knew he had died.

- lawlermon

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Infamous Internet Rumors That Ended Up Being True

Reddit user strakerak asked: 'What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?'

boy playing at laptop inside room
Photo by Ludovic Toinel on Unsplash

In 2017, I returned to my office after my lunch break to hear my supervisors discussing Tom Petty. This seemed like a random topic to me until one of my supervisors told me Tom Petty had passed away. He was a huge fan of Petty and spent the next hour or so combing through the internet to get more information.

He came back into the room my other supervisor and I were working in and announced that Tom Petty wasn't dead after all. News outlets had jumped the gun to announce his death, but he was actually still alive.

The next day, I came in to find out that Tom Petty was dead; the news may have been premature, but true.

This is a classic example of the rumor being started on the internet. Sometimes, like with the news of Tom Petty's death, the rumor can run wild and appear everywhere. Other times, the rumor can be seen by just a few people and dismissed. However, a lot of times, these rumors turn out to be true.

Redditors know a lot of internet rumors that turned out to be true, and are eager to share.

It all started when Redditor strakerak asked:

"What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?"

The King Of Pop

"Michael Jackson writing the music for Sonic 3."

"He actually did, but was never credited on the game because it would breach his contract with his record label."

– -WigglyLine-

"He did the same when he appeared on The Simpsons. He appeared under a pseudonym, and the Producers said it was an impersonator."

"Only years later they confirmed it really was Michael."

"His singing voice was actually done by an impersonator, though."

– given2fly_

The Truth Comes Out

"In 1998, US Men’s National Team captain John Harkes was shockingly cut from the team right before the World Cup. The coach claimed it was because Harkes wouldn’t fit into his new preferred formation, but rumors flew on the early internet that it was actually because he had slept with his teammate Eric Wynalda’s wife. The rumor was so well-known in soccer circles that Harkes expressly denied it in his autobiography the next year."

"Fast forward 12 years to 2010 and Wynalda admits it’s true. The coach then came out and admitted it was why he dropped Harkes, but that he’d planned to keep the secret as long as Wynalda did."

– guyfromsoccer

Video Evidence

"The Tim Burton Hansel and Gretel that aired once on halloween in the 80's."

"I heard for years that it was fake but I knew it was real because my dad recorded everything in the 80s and he recorded that. We let a good friend of ours borrow it and switch it over from VHS to DVD and soon after that it made its way on to the internet , and there it is now. I know it's our copy because the tracking in the beginning is screwed up. Still have the VHS."

– Frozenthickness

"There was a similar story with a Nickelodeon movie called Cry Baby Lane. It was supposed to be so scary that Nickelodeon got complaints and denied its existence for years. Someone uploaded a taped copy to youtube about a decade ago."

– PattiAllen

The Movie Business

"That North Korea hacked Sony Pictures because of The Interview movie."

"I worked in the movie business at the time and the account managers at Sony all basically needed to get new identities as all of their personal information got leaked online."

OldMastodon5363

"My partner worked on that movie and the production bought all the crew 1 year of an identity theft tracking service."

CMV_Viremia

Keep Away From The Ears Of Kids

"Some banned episodes or scenes of cartoons."

"For example, I remember there was a Dexter’s Lab cartoon where he clones evil versions of DeDe and himself and they swear like every other word (censored of course), and people debated whether it even existed cause they only aired it like once. Now it’s pretty accessible online."

– Spledidlife

Yes, It's True

"Echelon, a massive electronic espionage system by the US and allies to intercept all electronic messages, especially emails."

"In the mid-nineties it was a topic on conspiracy BBS boards. A lot of people in my bubble at the time (mainly uni students in Europe) were including fake threats to the US in the their email signatures as a way to "protest" and "fill the system with false alarms" (obviously useless)."

"Then, in 1999-2000 came out to be true and a lot of security service agencies from UK and other US allies started to admit they were part of the espionage network."

– latflickr

How The Mighty Fell

"John Edward’s love child."

– ACam574

"A reminder that he was cheating on his wife while she was hospitalized for cancer treatment."

– Fanclock314

Ugh...

"Carrie Fisher's heart attack. Some a**hole who was on the same flight was livetweeting the whole medical emergency and justified it by insisting she was just making sure the family was informed."

– everylastlight

It Actually Happened

"Every year around her birthday there was a rumor that Betty White died. When I heard she died, I scoffed, saying that dumb rumor is back.... then saw it on the news. I was in shock."

– Known-Committee8679

"The fact that Betty died literally right before she turned 100 is such a Betty White way to go out."

– Paganigsegg

Big Actor, Small Roles

"I distinctly remember some rumors about the reason why Bruce Willis was taking so many roles in sh*tty movies before it was announced he has dementia."

– KampferMann

"RedLetterMedia did a deep dive on his recent movie activity to try and work out why exactly he was taking part in basically scam-movies. They noticed he had an earpiece in one of the scenes and joked that the director was feeding him lines. I remember they even disclaimed over the rumours at the time, and possible made a follow-up vid when it was revealed to the public."

– CardinalCreepia

What To Do Next?

"That the writer of LOST were making it up as they went."

"Turned out to be absolutely true."

– homarjr

That last one was kind of obvious!

Do you have any to add? Let us know in the comment below.

Person holding large stack of books
Photo by Jay Lamm on Unsplash

Whether you're naturally interested in fun facts and trivia or not, it's always nice to know a few that you can pull out of your pocket at a moment's notice as a nice conversation starter.

But there are some fun facts out there that are so weird, people become more preoccupied with how the teller found out that information rather than the information itself.

Redditor Dry_Bus_935 asked:

"What is your 'don't ask me how I know' random fact?"

Nuclear Fail Safe

"You have quite a lot of time, certainly more than ten seconds, to turn back on the main pumps of a nuclear reactor once you have accidentally turned them off."

- egorf

"I'm not surprised. The amount of fail safes, redundancies, and emergency scenario planning for nuclear power plants is insane."

"I toured a nuclear plant and wrote my high school senior thesis on the plans put in place to ensure the Fukushima disaster would not happen at that plant."

"I'm sure the secondary pumps are plenty capable of handling the reactor until the main pumps are repaired or just turned back on."

- Borderlandsman

Happy Cat

"If your cat chews on fresh eucalyptus, they might start hallucinating and fall over repeatedly, leading to a $400 emergency vet bill just to be told she’s just kinda high."

- oddidealstronghold

"And, that's part of why koalas love it. Little stoners."

- littlebluefoxy

Archaeology: Do Not Lick

"Old human bones are very porous, so if you lick them, they’ll stick to your tongue."

- clanculcarius

Sharing is Caring

"A pigeon will only eat a Starburst if you chew it up a little bit first. Just to clarify: chew the Starburst, not the pigeon."

- OhTheHueManatee

"Instructions unclear. Pigeon unhappy."

- Wild-Lychee-3312

Intriguing Anatomy

"Everyone is here with the creepy crime stuff, and I'm just like, 'A soft fur rat has 22 nipples.'"

- horroscoblue

"Okay, so either they have really small nipples, their nipples overlap, or they have nipples in places where there shouldn't be nipples."

"(I've never written the word 'nipples' so many times in a singular sentence before.)"

- GdeGraaf

'Don't Ask Me,' Indeed!

"Turmeric can be used as clothes dye. It is capable of permanently dyeing cotton cloth even after it has passed through the digestive tract of an adult male."

- SlefeMcDichael

"You s**t your pants, didn't you?"

- PMmecrossstitch

"I'd prefer not to answer that question."

- SlefeMcDichael

High-Risk Survival Skills

"If you ever trying to survive in the Arctic, don’t eat polar bear liver. It is so high in vitamin A, it will kill you."

- WrongWayCorrigan-361

"It's also surrounded by a lethal amount of angry polar bear."

- horanc2

Real-Life Spies

"TV shows and movies go out of their way to make military/intelligence officers look bada**."

"But real-life 'spies,' by design and training, are boring. They have regular houses and standard second-hand cars, they dress down, and they have vague, boring job titles (accounts receivable) as cover, and they do not draw attention to themselves. Most come from specialized academia."

- Ok_Worth_1093

Haunting Reality

"Your muscles can keep twitching for several hours after you die."

- JustDave62

"Also, beards can appear to grow. This is however not because the beard itself grows but because the skin shrinks."

- RRautamaa

"I worked at a morgue for over eight years. If you grasp the hand of a dead body to move the arm, the hand will grasp back, but that's just muscles and tendons reacting to the tension."

- goneferalinid

The Sneakiness of Drowning

"When a drowning victim is revived, get them to a hospital as soon as possible. Drowning is the leading cause of death of kids from the age of one to seven and is ruled as accidental drowning when it comes to secondary drowning or dry drowning."

"Basically, your lungs are full of water despite being revived. Your lungs will absorb the liquid, but not before your body acidifies from high levels of carbon dioxide. The only chance to survive is to have the lungs pumped with oxygen via CPAP machine and time."

"Also, drowning is extremely quiet. You don’t hear the victim go under. And if you see flailing, do not attempt to save the victim otherwise you’ll become another drowning victim. Throw them a lifeline and hope their amygdala realizes that a rope or something is floating near them and grabs on it."

- Dfiggsmeister

Not Everyone's Favorite Chocolate

"Hershey’s chocolate has the strong smell of vomit or feces to some people (me), and that’s because they use butyric acid as a preservative. Butyric acid is the compound that makes vomit smell so bad."

"Edit: Digging further into it, there are some claims that they may not be “adding” the butyric acid, but rather it is occurring from essentially spoiling the milk in their milk chocolate. Either way, the butyric acid and putrid smell remains a part of their product."

- hefewiseman1

"That explains the weird aftertaste I always get! I don’t smell it but their chocolate always has this super unpleasant sharp/acidic aftertaste that I find repulsive. I assume this is why!!"

- PomegranateNo975

Do Not Lick the Asbestos

"Asbestos tastes like chalk. And if you lick it, it has the texture of extremely gritty sandpaper. Which is actually the feeling of microscopic asbestos needles piercing your flesh!"

- TooYoungToBeThisOld1

Mapping Out the War

"Beginning in 1911 in anticipation of the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, two statesmen, one from England and one from France, began visiting locations in France that they believed would be the settings for a number of major battles that would occur during the great war."

"Long bike rides through these future battle zones in the countryside and weeks spent building a foundation for a French-Anglo codebook that would later prove important in helping win the war."

- fjordperfect123

Avoiding Lawsuits > Protecting Patients

"Doctors, or surgeons more specifically, that make too many mistakes during surgery, ie, leaving instruments in patients, frequently gets ‘quietly traded’ to other hospitals where they continue their path of destruction with the patients not being aware of their past record. Hospitals tend to keep quiet about the matter to avoid lawsuits."

- Kittytigris

Bonus Points: Do This While Having Lunch in Your Car

"If you overfill a fast food gravy cup and then put a lid on, it will create a pressurized gravy stream that sprays all over your face and uniform while your coworker looks on in horror."

- thechaosjester776

This subReddit thread was so a roller-coaster of random facts, we've surely all walked away learning something.

But the biggest takeaway might just be: Maybe don't lick so many things.

Shocked woman covering her mouth
vaitheeswaran Nataraj/Unsplash

When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.

But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.

Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.

It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.

Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:

"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"

These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.

Bleeding Out

"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."

"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."

– DongLaiCha

Tragic News

"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."

– accountnameredacted

Bottom Of The Barrel

"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."

– Crotch-Monster

A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.

Like Father, Like Son

"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."

– psycospaz

Busted

"Flashing blue lights."

– FiddleOfGold

"This sobered me up just thinking about it."

– redmaple_syrup

Losing Sight

"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."

– MissHibernia

Quitting The Bottle

"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."

– omgtater

These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.

Unplanned House Guests

"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."

– Oneinsevenbillion75

Serious Health Warning

"Elevated liver enzymes."

"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."

"So I opted for recovery, instead."

"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."

– Far_Meal8674

The Joyride

"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."

– foxfood9116

The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?

How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.

But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.

Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.

Woman holding multiple shopping bags
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.

Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.

These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.

From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.

Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:

"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"

"Tale As Old As Time..."

"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","

"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."

"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."

"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."

"Lol!"

"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom

"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."

"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."

"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."

"I think he was a germaphobe."

"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."

"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."

"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.

"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."

"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."

"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000

Money Burn GIF by nog Giphy

Who Wore It Better?

"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."

"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."

"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."

"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'

"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"

"No."- mertsey627

Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...

"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."

"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."

"It was very low key."

"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."

"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."

"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."

"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."

"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa

south park wedding GIF Giphy

See You In Court!

"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."

'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."

"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."

"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."

"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."

"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin

It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!

"I work in a public library."

"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."

"A popular book that just came out."

"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."

"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten

A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!

"My own."

"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"

"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."

"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"

"Unacceptable!"

"This shall not stand!"

"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."

"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."

"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."

"I got over it."- DeathGrover

homer simpson episode 23 GIF Giphy

Holy Matrimony!

"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."

"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."

"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."

"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."

"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."

"It's just a party."

"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree

When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...

"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore

In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...

"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."

"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."

"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."

"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."

"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."

"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."

"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."

"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."

"We don’t offer wrapping services."

"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."

'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae

Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso Giphy

Happiest Place On Earth!

"I used to work for Disney."

"That in itself should tell you everything."

"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."

"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."

"Suddenly got worse huh?"

"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."

"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."

"I'm not kidding."

"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."

"My wife worked booking."

"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."

"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."

"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."

"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."

"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."

"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong

Disney World GIF Giphy

The horror!

Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!

It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...

Said absolutely no one.