VR is the future. Right now, we use it mostly to play games, but there are infinite possibilities to what virtual reality can do. And honestly, that's a little scary.
u/KhAiMeLioN asked: VR now allows you to sell your experiences to others. Which memories would you put up for sale?
An interesting perspective.
I would sell a typical day of me walking through my city. It would allow people to see what life is like from the perspective of a dwarf.
You'd get to see how it feels when everyone and everything towers over you, and experience how inaccessible so many places are. And of course, how much unwanted attention you get from strangers. The photographs taken of you. The pointing, staring and comments.
Maybe schools could use it to help kids empathize with people who are different.
Now that's cool.
GiphyI sat next to Quentin Tarantino in a theater at one of the first screenings of the Edgar Wright movie The World's End, and for the subsequent Q&A with Wright, Pegg and Frost. He was very animatedly laughing and loving it the entire time.
As a movie dork, that was a pretty once in a lifetime experience.
What a unique experience.
The time I went to a Paranormal circus. It was fantastic!!
A red and black tent popped up in the mall parking lot overnight and advertised a weekend long paranormal circus. I couldn't find anyone to go with me so I went by myself.
It was so much fun, they had zombie nurses running the snack stand, light up creepy masks and costumes for sale, everyone was dressed like dark steampunk, when they opened the gates to get into the main tent we had to go through an area with open cages to signify the "monsters" had been let out or something.
I got directed to my seat by a lady and as I walked down the corridor to the main tent, a man with underbite fangs and a jungle cannibal style costume started chasing after me with a chainsaw, haha. Hey, thats one way to get people in.
When I got there I had semi-front row seating, not right at the stage, but the row behind those, right on the walkway near the action and face to face with the performers.
Chainsaw dude apparently liked me because he jumped on the seat next to mine and yelled out the show was starting, there were nicely dressed vampires handing out light up cups full of slushies and bags of cotton candy, yknow, the good stuff.
Then a hooded dude with a demons voice came on stage and announced that if anyone there was scared of the dark to leave then and there, well, with that the show began, and a tiny clown in blood stained clothes came on the stage.
The rest of the show was amazing, scares, stunts, girls in spiked boxes escaping, people in boxes being set on fire, creepy mimes, people being volunteered to perform questionable acts, at one point one guy was doing flips on this huge spinning rod in the air and almost fell twice, I'll admit, i screamed.
11/10 would go back again, but it was a one time random thing in our small town.
A good day, indeed.
Snorkeling in Hanauma bay in Hawaii.
Initially, my wife and I went with the intent of staying an hour or two, having a picnic while we dried off, then hiking up Diamond Head. I felt like a kid again looking at all the pretty fish. My wife got out first and I just did not want to stop. We decided to come back again on one of our last days and spend all day there. Damn, that was a good day.
Party hard!
GiphyNot as wild as some of the others, but I'd sell the memory of a summer I had when I was 16. My parents were away and I had the apartment to myself for an entire summer. There were two huge groups of friends I hung out with, among whom were a few real, solid buddies that I'd known my whole life and a few others less permanent but very cool and funny individuals.
My best friend and I dated a pair of best friends, and while I liked my girl enough I wasn't head over heels, and so had fun without any of the ensuing drama (she felt more or less the same way) The weekends were basically 48 hours of non-stop partying and hanging out, feels like I saw the sunrise every day. Not a care in the world.
I think about it a lot now, decades later. I've got a great family and a good job, but man do I miss that freedom.
Isn't that sweet.
When my daughter was three, dressed in a Snow White costume watering the flowers in our garden and talking to the flowers. My over all best memory. The only thing I would care to remember when I die. It brings tears to my eyes just by mentioning it.
Oof.
The video game career experience.
All the marketing material for this experience would make it sound fun. Talking about how you can live your dream job through VR creating awesome games for people all around the world.
You start playing the experience. For the first few hours it's bliss and everything seems great. Then after the first few hours something seems off. Your bosses are mentally abusive, work conditions decline, your estimates are cut in half and deadlines are impossible to hit, your community bashes you, sends you death threats, and flames you for decisions that were made above your head in which you have 0 input.
Young love.
GiphyI met this girl when we were both youth camp counselors over one summer. I asked her out after the first week was over. We went out a few times. Then we took a picnic up a nearby canyon and just kind of lazed about on a big old blanket from my parents' house. I decided it was time for a DTR (Define the Relationship). I asked her "Hey, so I'm in, like, total likeage with you here. How are you feeling?" "I'm in total likeage with you, too!"
She became my girlfriend.
I would share that moment when she said she liked me back using the same awkward, dorky language I used, then we just laid on the blanket, held hands, and stared at the clouds together for about an hour. Pure bliss.
We've now been married for 11 years and have four amazing kids together and are currently building our dream house.
Everyone feels that way at some point.
The day I, a grown-ass adult man, hid in the back corner of a gas station parking lot, leaning against the rear wheel of my car, crying as softly as I could to myself for five to ten minutes. It won't sell well, but I'll at least have a handy reference of how lonely, isolated, sad, and pathetic I felt at that time and many others besides. But that one stands out as a lowpoint among lowpoints, so it's the one that gets used.
Some people have never been there, never will be, and as a result, I don't believe they can ever understand what it's like. It's not their fault they have people who love and support them, nor is it their fault that, as a result, they haven't had that firsthand experience. But now they can at least see what it's like.
A wholesome story.
I told this story recently, but when I was 10 years old my parents made help out back to clear out the weeds that had taken over our backyard. It was going to take a while because how crazy it was, but I was taking even longer to help because I was so distracted by the cute puppy our next door neighbor had.
I found out that his parents were going to take him back to the shelter because their son wasn't taking good care of him like he promised. They offered to sell him to me for $20 and I had that saved up, so I went back and forth begging my parents if we could get him. They finally caved and he became ours.
I named him Snoopy and have never been as happy as I was that day. I was an only child so I looked so much forward to having a dog to play with and go on adventures with. It's definitely my favorite memory, because he meant to much to me in the almost 17 years he was a part of my life.
Here is the first picture I have of us together, where you can see on my face just how happy and excited I was. I feel that people would want to experience a happy memory like that and it would also be a way to help keep Snoopy's memory alive.
When we're young and naive, we tend to be optimistic as we have our whole lives ahead of us and we have to time to figure out who we are and who we want to be.
But when we're all grown up and out in the big world on our own, nothing can prepare us for the harsh realities of adulting until we experience them.
And unfortunately, life isn't always sunshine and roses the way we imagined it to be when we were much more innocent.
Curious to hear about life's many wake up calls Redditor Just_Surround_2108 asked:
"What is the adult version of finding out that Santa Claus doesn't exist?"
Life's deceptions begin slowly revealing themselves.
Caveat Emptor
"When you buy an 8-piece tupperware set, 4 of the pieces are lids."
– throwmeawaypoopy
"Same with pots and pans. What a rip off!"
– MrsMalvora
"And when you put them in the cabinet, suddenly SIX of the pieces are lids 😂"
– opheliainwaders
Value Of Friendships
"That some friends were never really your friend."
– Kangaroowrangler_02
"Also that friendships can end just like any relationship."
– ScienceUnicorn
"The best friend I'll ever have said some nasty things to me and blocked me recently. Never going to get much closure on that front."
"Not having closure is, with both friends and lovers, worse than the loss itself. I want to grow. Tell me what I need to become so this doesn't happen to me again!"
– VoxClarus
"On a related note: your co-workers are not your friends."
– tomdelfino
"I think most people seem to treat this as the default stance, but I’ve learnt you can actually make deep connections amongst coworkers, the same way you do in other stages of your life."
– immorjoe
The role of parent and child unexpectedly switches. So now what?
Who's Parenting Who
"That time period when your relationship switches and your parent looks to you for answers and advice, instead them being the one with all the answers."
– Smile_Terrible
"Not sure about that one. Dad simultaneously says I’m the smartest person he knows and I don’t know how to do anything lol."
– Puzzleheaded-Job6147
About Grieving
"When both your parents die. I am in my mid 50’s and had my mom pass on Mother’s Day ‘22. My Dad then was living with us from then, and eventually reached in-home hospice status with a sudden stage IV cancer diagnosis. He died in January of this year, and then I got laid off from my tech job and was unemployed for 10 months. Nothing takes the wonderment and positive outlook from the world than having to empty out your childhood home solo and throw everything you grew up with into a big dumpster and are left to wonder what our lives really mean."
– i_spock
Leaving Behind The House You Grew Up In
"I’m in the process of dismantling my childhood home right now. I’ve compared it to dismembering the dead body of a loved one. It’s really rough."
– HaloTightens
"my mum sold my childhood home a decade ago. i won't have to go through that."
– deathschemist
We all want to grow up when we're young. But as soon as reach reach 30, we want to slam on the breaks.
Aimlessness
"I thought I'd grow up, move out, find my footing in the grown up world and basically switch into cruise mode. Now I'm in my 40s and sh*t is confusing as f'k."
– Borsti17
"As adults, nobody knows what they're doing, we're just pretending we do."
– BeautifulMidnight-
Misconception Behind Work Integrity
"Being a hard worker and good at your job doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be rewarded for it."
– DorianOrosco
And the laziest person at work is allowed to be lazy, but the hardest worker isn’t allowed a break."
– Puzzleheaded-Job6147
We Are Our Parents
"Finding out that your parents are people, too, with weaknesses or flaws that you were blind to when you were young."
– tamammothchuk
"And the day you suddenly notice how old they are. When their mortality finally hits you."
– daggerxdarling
Living On Borrowed Time
"Yep had that day earlier this month. Was visiting for dad's 75th birthday."
"As I was leaving, out in the sunshine and fixing to get in the truck, I suddenly saw how small and frail-looking they are now. Mom hit me the hardest. She's started to shrink. They are both healthy, but Dad's just . . . worn."
"Been also doing the math lately. The math where you count up how many times you see them a year and then multiply that by how many years they have left according to the average."
"I've had enough crap and surprise losses in my life that I've long since started parting with family and friends like it might be the last time I get to see them. But that times left to see them calculation really clobbers me with my folks, and it's not even that bad yet for me. Given the ages of my grandparents when they passed I've probably still got somewhere between 150-200 visits."
"But the meter is running."
– Boudyro
I'm at the point where I'm realizing there are no handbooks on life and taking care of our parents.
When you're so used to having them there and taking care of you your whole life, nothing can prepare you for the time when that role reversal happens.
As tough as that may be, however, there's nothing more beautiful in life than returning the favor for the people who loved you unconditionally and raised you.
It's not attractive to gloat.
And there is little more obnoxious than flaunting how wealthy you are.
Particularly if you aren't even that wealthy to begin with.
Indeed, perhaps to make themselves feel more powerful and important than they actually are, many people will try and show off how much money they have in what they wear, eat, live in, and drive.
However, not everyone is so easily fooled, as those in the know can detect a charlatan when they see one.
Redditor aloe_veracity16 was eager to hear the dead giveaways that someone might not be as wealthy as they appear, leading them to ask:
"What’s a dead giveaway that someone is not actually as wealthy as they claim?"
Stating The Obvious...
"When they constantly talk about how wealthy they are."
"A genius doesn't need to tell you they are smart."
"An athlete doesn't need to tell you they are fit."
"And a rich person shouldn't need to tell you they are wealthy."- TigLyon
Attracting Unwanted Attention...
"90% of the wealthy shut the f**k about it, because they learn once they start making good money everyone wants a piece."
"Talking about it constantly = broke AF."- Vladtehwood
Simply By Doing It...
"Making the claim at all is a dead giveaway."- Starfox41
In Plain Sight...
"People who actually ARE wealthy mostly try to hide it."- Matt7738
"Living In A Material World..."
"I'm not well-versed in judging someone's wealth, but I do notice that the fake rich only look rich on social media and try their hardest to go to popular locations celebrities post."
"I know a couple of friends of friends who took out a loan just to keep up the facade that they're all in on the latest iPhones and wearables."
"They built a persona of being a rich kid, so now they have to stay the course."- anima99
Flaunt Modesty, Not Wealth...
"As a person which knows many very rich people."
"I can guarantee that not a single one of them wants to be known as rich."- CompetitivePause9033
Schitts Creek Flirt GIF by CBCGiphyWe Heard You The First Time!!!
"When they repeatedly and adamantly tell you how wealthy they are."- Famous_Bit_5119·
Experiences Over Stuff!
"I feel like actual rich people prioritize vacations/travel, buying their kids cars, paying for their kids/grandkids tuition."
"They don’t spend money on flashy or luxury stuff as much."- Klesea
Summer Time GIF by Merge MansionGiphyAll In The Editing...
"Ever notice how those jet setting influencers that post their pictures out of the airplane window are behind the wing?"
"They're in coach."
"The picture in business is where they stopped to pose on the way through."- Turbulent-Ask-2633
Pack Light...
"Private Jet pilot friend of mine said for the slightly wealthy they bring loads of luggage."
"The ultra rich bring a day bag they have enough money to buy clothes when they get there or already have clothes waiting on them."- hadmeatgotmilk
The Less Said...
"I never met a wealthy person that talks about it."
"They don't need to."- 181Eclipse·
Christina Moses Secrets GIF by ABC NetworkGiphy"See The Pyramid [SCHEMES!] Along The Way..."
"They make a goofy advertisement for some book or course that 'will help you get rich too!'"
"If they were actually rich, they would be on some tropical beach engaging in whatever vices they enjoy most-not hocking some get-rich-quick scheme."- illegalopinion3
All About The Simple Things...
"My dad's entire job is managing millionaire / billionaire philanthropy accounts, so I’ve grown up surrounded by some of the wealthiest people in the country."
"And I never knew until I got older how these 'Mr. Smith' and 'Ms. Jones' people that I’d grown up hanging out with were anything above upper middle class."
"Normal clothes, modest homes, very down to earth and funny people."
"Big wealth, and especially old wealth, is quiet wealth."- Travel_and_Tea·
Anything But Proud...
"I have a family member who insists she and her husband are upper middle class."
"She isn’t."
"She’s rich (8 figures), but it hurts her in some sort of primal way to acknowledge that."
"Her adult brother is also wealthy, although not as much as his sister."
"Likely also 8 figures."
"He insists he’s blue collar and middle class."
"There’s something in their upbringing that makes them ashamed of having 'made it' financially."- strangled_spaghetti
Blue Collar Work GIF by Pudgy PenguinsGiphyPeople will try to come off as wealthier than they are for a multitude of reasons.
But just like any facade, keeping it up eventually becomes untenable.
This is why it's always most important to be grateful for the things you have, rather than flaunt what you wish you had.
