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People Explain Which Things Seemed Awesome As A Child But Turned Out To Not Be Cool At All

Well this doesn't hold up.

People Explain Which Things Seemed Awesome As A Child But Turned Out To Not Be Cool At All
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Hindsight is 20/20 for sure. Once nostalgia is involved, memories get clouded. And nostalgia and clouding set in as soon as the second passes. The things we loved to play with or hold onto in our past of course mark our history but often.... when we come across them in the present we sometimes realize... meh... they weren't so hot. We all can get taken in by shiny baubles, it's human nature. Let's take a look back.

Redditor u/ILoveTicTac wanted to compare notes about what wonderful things we loved in the past that maybe didn't stay as wonderful with age, so they asked...
What seemed nice when you were a child, but when you grew up turned out to not be so nice?

Round & Round....

Giphy

Getting dizzy. We had an uncle who was tall and strong and would spin us around one by one. We couldn't get enough. I remember after my spin, I'd just laugh as I couldn't keep my balance and watch the world spin. Now, I avoid getting dizzy like the plague.

shaka_sulu

Good Night. 

Staying up all night.

I used to want to stay awake all night and play video games.

Now if I'm awake past midnight, it takes me 2 or 3 days to recover.

WoopDeDoo11

4AM is like the freaking event horizon of a black hole.

ilovedonaldtrump2020

"wayment"

A popular girl complimented me on my shoes. My mom had just gotten them for me from Old Navy and I thought they were really cool.

"Were they really expensive?" she asked. "Were they like..." (she dropped her voice) "twenty dollars?"

I smiled back, thinking it was cool that she must be responsible enough to buy her own clothes, cos I certainly didn't in grade seven.

I nodded and said "they were $19.99, yeah." She smiled and walked away and I was so excited to have been complimented by a person who was not only POPULAR but also A GIRL, that I wrote about it on my Harry Potter calendar and told my mom that "the cool kids liked my shoes."

It was earlier this year that I thought back on this nice memory and went "wayment".

TileFloor

Adulting....

Giphy

Being a grown-up.

EddieTheAwful

We all do, friend. Those internal struggles don't go away. You just learn how to work with them and understand them. They are a part of you. And that's ok.

evanbartlett1

Easier Days....

Living on a farm. I begged and begged my mom to buy a farm and have horses etc. I have never even liked to literally get my hands dirty. Though a horse would be nice, I was cured when someone moved into the neighboring farm and everything they owned was dirty, and the kids always had to help out with something on the farm.

mythirdpersonality

PAY for it?! 

The drug talks at school would make you think that someone is going to jump you on the street and forcibly inject you with heroin. All that "they'll offer you free drugs to get you hooked and spend all of your money" - Where were all the free drugs when I was growing up, huh? I had to PAY for my weed.

My_slippers_dont_fit

Through the Screen. 

I grew up in an extremely religious community that I only later found out had a lot of cult-like features. There were a lot of things that I thought were normal or even kinda great when I was a kid. Turns out television screen isn't actually the devil's device that it uses to enter your body.

Wingedens

Return to Sender....

Giphy

Getting mail addressed to me.

wonomocorono

Yep. Since the advent of email, texting, and social media the only mail I ever get anymore is bills, junk, and more bills.

II_Confused

"YEA NO SCHOOL!!!!!" 

Snowstorms.

As a kid you're all "YEA NO SCHOOL!!!!!" And you get bundled up and go outside and make snow angels and have snowball fights and go sledding and run around the whole damn day and come inside and mom has a grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of tomato soup.

As an adult, "OH DAAAMN I HAVE TO SHOVEL THE DRIVEWAY AND THE DAMN SIDEWALK?!?!" And then having to re-shovel the end of the driveway when the plows come by and cover it up. And if you go out in your car there's a bunch of poopheads who ONLY scrape the snow off the front windshield and the others who ignore the fact that road conditions aren't suitable for going 80 freaking mph anymore.

ElliotReidsBajingo

Stay Home! 

Going on long outings or weekend trips to the beach or lake. As a kid I didn't have to worry about anything!!! Just take my damn self and my bathing suit and have a blast. Eat when the food was ready and get in the car and pass out on the way home and wake up the next morning in your bed somehow.

Now, as a parent you gotta do ALL the things. The packing, shipping, cleaning, unpacking, cooking, carrying the kids from the car to the house... it's exhausting. Never thought about that as a kid. And hey, I'll keep doing it because my kids have fun and so do we but man... there's a lot of crap that goes with those trips haha.

psilvyy19

Mooned.

Giphy

Moon shoes. Those damn things almost killed me like 20 times, but I loved them when I was child and was oblivious to just how dangerous they are.

nopedynopenadda

It was the dream.

Eating a whole cake in one sitting. It was the dream. I should have learned from Matilda that it was a nightmare.

kittenkin

My whole life, cakes were reserved for birthdays and special occasions. See a yummy cake in the store? Maybe you can get it on your birthday in two months.

A couple of weeks ago I realized that I am a full grown adult and I can buy cake whenever the hell I want to for whatever reason or no reason at all.

It has been a good couple of weeks.

chaotic_sunflower

playing grown up...

I used to love to play "office" and shuffle around papers etc like I was at a job. Now that I actually do work in an office... not so much fun lol.

morecowbell45

I used to play schoolteacher as a kid who thought it would be the most fun in the world. I've been doing it for several years for real now, and while I do enjoy it, it's not the same kind of fun. To remind myself, I keep hanging on my classroom wall a photograph of the 6 year old me explaining something on a child's blackboard.

eddieandbill

Lake Tales....

Giphy

I swam in some bodies of water as a kid that seemed fine but looking back, adult me would never get in that water.

-RedRightReturn-

Just the other day I drove past a "lake" I used to play in as a kid (in Florida). It's more like a swamp. No in flow, no outflow. Just a stagnant pond/swamp. It's a miracle we didn't die of brain amoeba.

bradland

Send a Stamp....

Getting mail.

BigTubOfMayo

If available, get the Delivery notifications for mail (USPS has it). That sends you an email every day of what mail you are getting. That way you can know when it is time to pack the car and head to the woods to avoid those bills.

CrustyBatchOfNature

Spiked. 

High heels.

It's not that they're not nice, just not practical for my daily life.

midnitemoon7

I always wanted to grow up faster so I could steal some of my mom's really pretty heels. I thought they looked like the prettiest, classiest things and couldn't wait to wear some. Oh, my God, the first time I wore a pair, I about wrecked my knee and twisted my ankle. Nevermind the absolute agony my heels were in by the end of the day. Forget that noise.

cannibal87

The Dairy Queen. 

Unlimited ice cream with no one telling me to stop before my stomach hurts.

origional-user19

My most adult moment so far other than getting married, divorced, married again, and having 2 children, is when I decided that I'm an adult dammit and I can buy I chocolate shake AND a banana split from Dairy Queen if I want to.

I now know my dairy limit.

Fiveskin27

Gets old pretty quickly. 

Eating fast food and ramen noodles when you want. Gets old pretty quickly.

island-breeze

Found this out the hard way at university. Looking back, I think that's one of the reasons why my mental health took a turn for the worst.

thunderfart_99

$$$$ Spent.

Giphy

Earning Money.

Don't get me wrong, I like earning money just like everyone else! But it sucks that the majority of a paycheck can't be spent on Nerf guns and LEGO's.

BohemianLizardKing

Rock Lobster.

Giphy

As a child, I loved looking at the lobsters in the grocery store. I thought they sold them to be pets. Imagine my horror when I found out they are sold to be boiled alive and eaten.

acl2244

My dad brought home lobsters one time. As a kid, it was a magical day. We selected the lobsters, brought them home, and got to play with the forbidden creatures from the grocery store for a while on the kitchen floor. Then, we were sent out back, because it was the 90's and that's what happened as a kid, and when we came back, dinner was ready.

It took longer than I'd like to admit to connect those dots.

thefoxandthepound

Well, we can't fault ourselves when we finally take off the kid glasses and get a glimpse at reality.

Do you have any stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.



People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.