Be careful, you could die at any moment. Danger is lurking at every corner and ready to pounce at any given moment. The things we're naive to could be our downfall. So look at knowing these things as life saving knowledge. Yes the simplest things can also be the most harmful, in a surprising way, but that is life. It's like smelling a rose and getting stung by a bee. So smell the roses from a distance.
edditor u/Jkwon6227 wanted everyone to be warned about the things in life we may fall vulnerable to by asking.... What seem harmless but can be seriously life threatening?Quicksand....
ocean waves GIF
Giphy
Island beaches. There are a lot in Hawaii that are a lot more dangerous than tourists realize. Islands are on the edge of the vast ocean and can sweep people in.
Dry Humor
Wet tile.
This is exactly why those prank videos of people putting butter on the tiles for people to slip on make me so angry. You can kill someone surprisingly easily that way, it's not funny at all.
Oh god. There's a viral video of a dude doing this to himself as a joke and he slips and kicks a counter or something and compound fractures his toe and I've only seen it once but my whole body is miserable just thinking about it.
Keep Brushing
Poor dental hygiene can lead to heart disease.
This literally happened to my grandpa this last weekend, well at least they caught it this last weekend and he needed a 4 hour surgery to fix it. He's doing ok now but is still in the hospital.
At first they thought it was a stroke because his right side was numb, and they thought he was having mini heart attacks. The heart attacks were actually seizures brought on by the sinus infection putting pressure on his brain.
Through the Pane
Springs in double pane windows. The windows are heavier than you think so the springs are pretty strong. A friend that works as a maintenance guy at an apartment complex posted a pic of one of the balancers (as they're called) that came lose and went completely through the motorcycle helmet he wears when replacing them.
It still cracked his skull, and the ER doc said if he wasn't wearing the helmet he would have definitely died. Scary to think something as simple as a window can kill you. We all know garage springs are dangerous, but so are window springs.
Water Douse GIF
Swift Kick
Walking around or behind a horse without keeping your hand on it.
Horses can get very scared very fast and a well placed kick can beak your neck, can even stop your heart.
If you must move around one, keep a hand on it after it is aware of your presence and slide it with you so it knows where you are, also stay very close to it the whole time so the potential kick has less wind-up.
CO Issues
Carbon monoxide, since you can't smell or taste it you won't know it's there.
CO terrifies me. We have like 6 detectors in our house. My mom went to high school with this kid who lost his entire family to CO a few years after graduation.
He and his wife had a new baby. They were at his parent's house for the holidays around Christmas. All of his extended family was there.
Their baby was having trouble breathing, so he and his wife took the baby to the ER. By the time they got back, everyone else was dead of carbon monoxide poisoning. He lost his whole family.
Local codes only require 1 CO detector in the whole house. We've got them outside all the bedrooms, by the furnace room, by the dryer, etc. I don't mess around with that stuff.
A Bad Grip
Saving someone with a heimlich grip. You can definitely rupture someone's organs with this move and people have died as a result of being saved by this procedure. Always send someone to the hospital after doing this as the victim might otherwise bleed to death in their sleep that night.
Just a Dash....
Eating cinnamon.
Was looking to see if anyone said this. Cinnamon will dry your mouth and throat out badly, it'll mess you up quick. That whole cinnamon spoonful fad a few years ago (maybe more than a few, I'm getting old) was super dangerous. I don't remember if anyone died, but I know people ended up in the hospital.
funny walk crossing the street GIF
Add Jelly
Eating peanut butter directly out of the jar with a spoon. If you choke on it, it's going to be nearly impossible to dislodge.
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/18/magazine/l-dangerous-peanut-butter-227906.html
But do you eat it as one giant mouthful? That sounds really unpleasant honestly. I often take a big spoonful but I don't just shove that spoon directly in my mouth afterwards. You gotta savor that sh!t because it's like 400-500 calories.
The Obvi
Jesse Pinkman Reaction GIF by Breaking Bad
Giphy
For a serious (and somewhat generic) answer, probably not getting enough sleep or not drinking enough water, I am guilty of both of these things but it can really make you feel like utter crap and lead to serious health complications.
Steps
My answer: stairs.
I fell down the stairs when I was 13 and couldn't sit for like 2 months and I now have a bony bump on my hip 10 years later
In hindsight I wonder if I mildly broke my pelvis and it healed wrong?
But yeah. Stairs can seriously mess you up.
I have it!
Shingles. It is already inside you!!
It is miserable. I had shingles at 30 on my right side shoulder, neck, scalp and ear mostly. It can come back again, and in a different place. I am scared of it being on my face and blinding me.
Not Funny
"Pranking" someone with allergies by giving them a little bit of that allergen (I've seen articles of people putting peanuts into an allergic person's food).
What the hell? That's not a prank, that's straight up attempted murder.
My friend is deathly allergic to peanuts and tree nuts and one time a kid chased him around with peanuts in his hand. Kid got suspended. Food allergies are not something to mess around with.
Listen Ladies....
surprised woman GIF
Giphy
Leaving a tampon in too long can cause toxic shock syndrome and it can be deadly.
Crispy
Sunburns can be very dangerous.
Normally you don't think too much of them, just a few days of irritated/itchy skin, but if you aren't careful you drastically increase your chance of getting malignant melanoma (skin cancer) through a handful of decent sunburns.
High Tension
Garage door springs.
I am very handy and can fix everything around the house. But I don't mess with garage door springs. I call the experts in for that one.
Anything with such a high amount of tension is so dangerous, when I think about it it's quite terrifying that we use these things so frequently.
Kitty has Claws
cat mountain GIF by Cheezburger
Giphy
A cat scratching you and breaking the skin. Cat's claws carry a deadly bacteria that, if untreated, can kill you.
Emotions are Fragile
Emotional neglect - when you have ' everything '. People always brush it off as being too needy or whatever, but in reality life long emotional neglect especially during childhood development it can impact your life deeply. You can become depressed, anxious and have anxiety. If you suspect that you might suffer from this I have plenty of resources to help guide you to healing and growth. Comment or message.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
***WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SENSITIVE MATERIAL. PROCEED WITH CAUTION!***
I can't think of anything hilarious at the moment. Make us LOL.
Lady
Shocked Oh No GIF by Yêu LuGiphy"I have this friend, love him to bits, but his wife has a tendency of just constantly showing everyone pictures of their son at every social event. At the start it was understandable, but now I'm just like 'Lady, it's been two years; they're not going to find him.'"
UnoriginalUse
at 9am...
"Not the most morbid but I love Anthony Jeselnik’s story about his neighbor who has Alzheimer’s. 'One of my next door neighbors is a 90 year old man suffering from Alzheimer’s. And every single morning at 9am he knocks on my door and asks me if I have seen his wife.'"
"'Which means that every single morning at 9am I have to explain to a 90 year old man suffering from Alzheimer’s that his wife has been dead for quite some time. Now I’ve thought about moving. I have thought about just not answering my door in the morning. But to be honest, it’s worth it… just to see the smile on his face.”
dreagan021
Comedy?
"Why can't orphans play baseball? They don't know where home is."
GW2RNGR
"Why can't orphans play tennis? They get confused when they hear love."
JayDub506
People who make comedy are evil. LOL.
The Darkness
That 70S Show Reaction GIF by LaffGiphy"Dark humor is like food; not everyone gets it."
storm_the_castle
God Laughs?
"A Holocaust survivor dies and goes to heaven, where she meets God. To break the tension she tells God a joke about the Holocaust, but God doesn’t laugh. The lady shrugs and says 'I guess you had to be there.'"
“'I guess you had to be there' is a common expression used when someone doesn’t laugh at a joke. It means that the comedy may not translate without the context of the situation."
"In this case the Holocaust survivor is saying it, meaning that during the Holocaust God was nowhere to be found. It’s not really a joke about the Holocaust, but the absurdity of belief in a benevolent God. Hilarious right?"
semimillennial
Oh Baby
"How many dead babies does it take to fix a light bulb? More than 3 cause my garage is still dark."
sirnibs3
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Because I don't know what it says about us as people if we laugh. Oye.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor Liam_Tang asked:
"People who've divorced, aside from adultery, what were the irreconcilable differences that ended the marriage?"
You think you know a person when you walk down the aisle.
These Redditors were in for a rude awakening.
Pet Neglect
"My wife divorced her ex for many reasons, but the final straw was when she went out of town for a few days, and when she got back he had not fed or given water to the dog. The dog lived a long and happy life after that."
– StrangeCrimes
Obsessed With A Crush
"Not me, but I had an old coworker that divorced his wife for spending their entire savings on candy crush and games of the same type."
– Hexis40
Compatibility Musts
"ITT: Intimacy (sex/romance), beliefs (religion/spirituality/politics), kids, and I haven’t seen it yet but it’s coming: finances."
"The big four. You REALLY need to discuss these things in detail BEFORE getting married."
– rabbiskittles
Physical violence is a legit reason for people to peace out of a relationship.
The Flattening
"She threatened to hit me with a hammer."
– michaelrohansmith
Hitting The Bottle
"She became an abusive alcoholic. It was sad but I had to get out."
– diegojones4
Emotional pain is too damaging to recover from.
Truth Hurts
"She told me as we stood in front of the judge ending our 7 year marriage, 'I never loved you, I just wanted kids.'"
– Pinch_Dogs
Can't Fix Angry
"She was beautiful/smart but an angry angry person. I thought I could be sweet to her and 'fix' that. Heh. She kicked the crap out of me emotionally. Wife II has been a walk in the roses for 32 years now :)"
– lowlandr
A change of heart is worthless if comes too late.
"We Could've Had A Nice Marriage
"He could not understand that my wants and needs were as important as his wants and needs. We tried to make it work for 7 years. During that time, for things that were really important to me, I tried explaining logically, asking nicely, begging, crying, yelling, passive aggressiveness... cycled back through all of these options multiple times."
"(If I knew something was important to him, I would do that. For example, he was really into sports, so I went to all his events, even though that is not at all my thing.) When I finally threw up my hands and told him it was time to get a divorce, he suddenly panicked and said 'What can I do? Do you want me to do half the chores? I'll do it! Do you want me to get a job? I'll do it! Do you want me to buy you presents for your birthday? I'll do it!'"
"So, in other words, he could have been doing that all along, but just couldn't be bothered. That made me so angry. We could have had a nice marriage that we both enjoyed, but no, by the time he saw the light, that ship had sailed."
"We are both happily remarried now (to different people) and I joke that his new wife owes me a thank you note. It was his experience with me that taught him to listen to her and take her needs seriously."
– Bluebird-True
"What Can I Do?"
"My ex was exactly like this. I didn't marry him but when I told him let's break up, he went all like, what can I do? Let's get engaged, let's look at houses, etc. Basically all the pre-marriage topics that we should be discussing about after being together for 7 years."
"I got so angry and straight up told him it's too late... I don't need you anymore."
– gudetarako
As much as a couple wants to stay together, unforeseen circumstances can eventually tear people apart.
Very few people can maintain healthy long-distance relationships.
When a new job opportunity takes a significant other away, would you begrudge them for wanting a better position to earn more money? Or is it better for them to reluctantly turn down the opportunity so they could stay with you? Do either scenarios breed resentment?
These were questions I've often asked myself with past relationships, and my answers varied depending on the person I was with.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.