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People Explain Which Embarrassing Things They Did As A Kid That Still Make Them Cringe

People Explain Which Embarrassing Things They Did As A Kid That Still Make Them Cringe
Image by Anita S. from Pixabay

You ever try to go to sleep at night only to find that you can't because your brain won't stop reminding you of some embarrassing thing you did when you were ten?


No?

Anyone?

Oh dear...

Just me?

After Redditor Pyrezz asked the online community, "What did you as a kid that makes you cringe when you remember it?" people shared their own stories.

"I put gum..."

amy poehler deal with it GIF Giphy

I put gum on my balls when I was five and freaked out when I couldn't get it off. Went to the living room crying to my parents, aunt, and uncle. That was damn near 30 years ago and I can still see my uncle laughing harder than anyone since. As a matter of fact any time is brought up he loses his s*** and cant stop cry laughing for about 15 minutes. Hands down my least favorite childhood memory.

Cleverusername18

"I thought my voice..."

I thought my voice was a weapon so I screamed at people.

FallenWings_

"I think about it often..."

My best friend's mom took us to McDonald's, but I really wanted Wendy's for some reason. I threw a fit until she drove us to Wendy's as well.

I think about it often and wonder what made me act like such a brat, and when that behavior changed.

parkpeters

"I sent a girl..."

I sent a girl lyrics to a Korn song and pretended it was a poem I wrote hoping it would impress her.

biggigglysack151

"I put loads of pop culture references..."

I put loads of pop culture references in my school tests, and also did the ninja run everywhere I went.

vijanbf

"I used to just randomly..."

I used to just randomly stare at people and think "I know you can hear me. Don't look inside my head!" I thought I was some mind whisperer.

Zedfourkay

"I'd be lying..."

I snatched my great-grandmother's obsidian urn (that is: she was in) from the mantelpiece once, when we were visiting my somewhat weird and reclusive grandfather. Even though I was only six or so, I'd be lying when I said that I was completely clueless about what the thing was. It just looked very cool and mysterious. I unscrewed the lid and filled it up with candy and expensive meats I'd found in the kitchen.

My "plan" was to use the urn to smuggle the loot back home when we'd leave later. I forgot about it, however, and my grandfather only found out about what I had done a week later, when his living room inexplicably started to smell rancid and cadaverous. It sparked a confrontation between him and my parents, and the next time I saw him he was in an urn as well.

EPIC_BOY_CHOLDE

"I think I was an exquisitely cringeworthy..."

Lassie the dog was my absolute hero and I couldn't watch an episode of Lassie without sobbing uncontrollably the whole way through and for several hours afterwards. I genuinely thought I was somehow descended from/related to Lassie because I could go upstairs on all fours quite quickly, which I used to do every time I went upstairs, and 'run' on all fours quite quickly. Because of this I used to frequently declare 'I'm not just a star, I'm a real life superstar' which my family found utterly hilarious. Once I got over this delusion I swore my family to secrecy about this little phase but I suspect that, at the very least, my older brother has told his wife, but probably also all his friends throughout his life.

Also, my older brother and his friend asked me what was the scariest book I had ever read. They meant books like James Herbert and Stephen King and I said 'Five Go to Mystery Moor' by Enid Blyton.

I think I was an exquisitely cringeworthy and embarrassing kid! A lot of my recollections seem to be of my family in hysterics at something I said in all seriousness which made me really angry which made them laugh even more! Believe it or not I somehow turned out quite a normal adult!

fishfingerchipbean

"It turned out..."

It was in history class, I decided to try and be funny by standing up and dancing when the teacher wasn't looking or facing the class. I did it maybe once or twice but no one laughed.

It turned out there was another adult in the room that was watching while grading the teacher. I didn't notice her until after and she just gave me this stern look like "What the hell are you doing? Stop."

I slowly turned back, fully embarrassed and didn't speak for the rest of the class, surprisingly? She didn't tattle on me or get me in trouble, and I appreciate that. The moment was cringe enough.

RenataFleury

"I was a strange kid."

I once wrote a letter to my best friend that she wasn't my best friend anymore and should try harder. I think I was just insecure because she was hanging out a lot with another girl and I was very jealous of that. Kinda dumb of me cuz' that letter upset her a lot and I think was one of the reasons we're not friends anymore. This was like 10 years ago I think? I still have her reaction letter somewhere. We wrote letters to each other all the time even though she lived in the next street. I kinda miss her to be honest.

Bonus: I used to love hiding under the table in my house or under the desk in my room and see how long it would take before people would notice me. There have been moments that I was literally under that table for like three hours. I was a strange kid.

Someonestolemyoreo

"Scooter Truth..."

spy kids by leo GIF Giphy

I watched a lot of spy kids, so when I would ride my scooter I would wait until I seen people older than me and talk in to my invisible spy watch saying "Got it, I'm on my way" and speed off.

My-Username-Is-Dis

"be great..."

I used to search motivational quotes and copy paste it to sound cool. I was acting a 59 year old when I was 11-13. Crap I am cringing now thinking that.

RizwanIslamm

"My Cupcake..."

I had a fit like that in school when I was 9. I threw a fit (which included me throwing a desk) because I didn't get a chocolate cupcake on someone else's birthday. My parents took me to anger management after that. I still cringe about it.

Fly_Boy_1999

"Wide Open..."

I was 5 or 6 and I saw in a school book a picture of an open mouth, and the epiglottis drew my attention. I wanted to find out if I had one too, so I stuck my finger down my throat trying to touch it.

I puked all over my desk and my teacher had to call my parents to take me home.

I_hate_traveling

"millennium project..." 

All the seventh graders in Mr. Barrios's history class had to complete a "millennium project" where you pick five (ten? can't remember, this was 19 years ago) key moments that defined the last thousand years. i was OBSESSED with michael jackson (like, michael jackson themed bar mitzvah obsessed) and i included the first time he performed the moonwalk at the motown 25 awards as one of those moments. i shudder to think what the teacher thought.

i guess also having a michael jackson themed bar mitzvah qualifies for that too, though everyone loved my faithful performance of billie jean, where i basically recreated the motown 25 performance.

i've come a long way since then... i swear.

melancholalia

"Kim? Is that You?"

Being embarrassed that my parents weren't rich.

Aware-Contract-1862

Ironically I was embarrassed if I said or did anything that made me feel wealthy. I wasn't super wealthy growing up but was like upper-middle class. I felt super awkward if I ever said anything about how much something I bought was or anything that inferred I or my parents had a lot of money to spend.

Mortemulous

Mr. Clean

I once walked into a barbers shop, and asked a bald guy, "What brings you here?" No, he was offended, and my mom told me it was time to leave lol .

ins3rt_namehere

"Greased..."

ronald mcdonald wink GIF Giphy

The bowl cut that was parted down the middle with gel. Looked like a greasy McDonald's arches on my head.

IronRT

"The Yo-Yo..."

5th grade, I broke a window in a friend's screen door (in winter it had glass) with a damned yo-yo. My mom and dad had separated, money was really tight, and I just couldn't face the prospect of her having to pay for it so I just ran. Next day friend's dad called me over to ask if I broke it. I denied it even though he was holding half of my yo-yo that had broken off. But he either understood my then current situation or was just polite enough to let it go. I still cringe about that to this day. I tried to pay when I was 17 but he pretended he didn't remember it happening and refused to accept anything. Now I cringe I didn't try harder to pay.

Tinmania

"I'm Alive"

the little mermaid ariel GIF Giphy

This is middle school related:

I was that weird kid that did gross stuff for attention (and also money).

I licked the entire bottom of my shoe for a dollar so I could get a gatorade. I ate bugs and did other stupid crap too. Climbed up on the roof and they called the fire department.

My 3 years of cringe. After that, it was my, "How did I not die" phase.

iBelieveInSpace

"Becoming Ariel..."

I used to spend hours looking up "how to become a mermaid, fairy, pony...etc." Me and my friends would make potions from shampoo and rocks and thought that this would do something. Thankfully, I never consumed these liquids, but instead poured them on my hands or the ground. Still waiting for my mermaid tail smh.

cosmicscibblez

"I'll take the Chicken"

Asked my friend on AOL Instant Messenger if vagina smell like tuna. Copied & pasted to send to someone else. Dad hops on the computer later and hits Paste. I said I didn't know anything about that, despite my screen name (which contained my nickname) being listed. My family also never talked about sex in any way or even referenced physical attraction.

sloppyjoesandwich

"Angry Jane"

There was a girl in school whose last name was Anger. I made a joke about her family having anger issues and she started crying. I got so scared of getting in trouble that I also started crying. Just two kids crying across from each other in the cafeteria. Then a teacher came over and just told everyone else to let us cry it out.

CameoKing

"Allegiance..."

When I was five or six, my parents had company over for dinner. Before we ate, mom asked if anyone wanted to say grace. We never said grace, but when everyone was quiet for a second, I said I would, and when given the go ahead, I pledged allegiance to the flag.

emjaysea

"Vanilla"

Honestly my home life was very... vanilla. So my childhood I spent trying to figure out where my YA MC traits would be which led to a lot of really cringe-y periods trying out different stereotypes. I hated having such a boring life, but in retrospect it was fine.

SCM1992

"Falling...."

I accidentally caused the (at the time) bratty neighbor girl to fall off her bike and skin her knee pretty bad. We'd had issues for awhile at that point, and I stuck out my arm as she went by yelling mean things at me, and she wiped out. I didn't mean for her to fall and get hurt, and I still feel bad about it today. That said, we were okay after that, and she's grown into one of the sweetest people out there and just a great person all around. But oh man, I still cringe about that. I really never intended for her to fall, and I know it was just a skinned knee, but that stuff does hurt pretty good.

navikredstar

"Snaked"

Angry Saturday Night Live GIF by HULU Giphy

Hissed at people x_x.

fluentinsarcasm_

"Skid Row..."

As a kid in the 90s me and my rag tag team of misfits were bored looking for things to do in tie neighborhood. We thought it was a good idea to pull our trousers down and run around the neighborhood.

One day we decided to do this while spreading our buttcheeks.

One of my friends didn't wipe his bum properly and we were caught by a traumatized security guard shortly after.

beerushentai

"Everyone but Me..."

In 4th grade I auditioned for the school talent show. I wanted to do a gymnastics routine, because I thought I was awesome at it, even though I had never had a class or anything. But I could do a cartwheel! And a somersault!

Just before it was my turn, another girl who was REALLY good and actually had lessons did a routine to the exact same song I was going to use! They called me out next, and I wanted to walk off but went for it, and did my series of random bad dancing and cartwheels. It was terrible, and halfway through I just stopped and said I was done.

They posted the list the next day of who would be in the talent show. Everyone's name was on it but mine.

rleash

"When you gotta go..."

Once when I was either 3 or 4 my mother let me skip school to go to a friend's house. When I was at her house she was showing me the upstairs. She then showed me the upstairs bathroom and said to me, "I heard when guys pee they stand ON the toilet! Imagine if a girl did that?!" So I lifted up the toilet seat, stood on the toilet, pulled down my pants, and PEED all over her! I didn't even say sorry cause I was little and stupid and thought what I did was cool and normal.

She ended up cleaning the floor and drying herself off (since she didn't have time to take a shower). Luckily she didn't tattle on me but I do remember her saying to me "We will not tell ANYONE about this!!!" Her mother then walked in asking why she smelled so bad. I then went home not saying a word. Whenever I think of this, I feel like moving to another planet.

VisitSecure

"Meow..."

happy cat GIF Giphy

During my "cat obsession" phase in middle school, where I acted like a cat, I jumped on the back of a taller girl who refused to get out of my way even after I said "excuse me". I hissed and clawed at her trying to get her butt to move.

I only got off with a warning for it, though. Ultimate power move, right there.

geico_fire

"Le Sigh"

We had a French teacher who would always compare us to french kids saying things like: "French kids don't behave like this" "French kids are amazing" "French kids know how to listen" "You English kids always misbehave, french kids aren't like this"

After a few months of this, me being genuinely curious, said to her in front of the whole class "miss, if you like french kids so much why don't you go back to France and teach them instead?"

I was genuinely wondering why you would move to a country and teach kids you hate so much if the ones back home are so amazing. Looking back though I realize how offensive that was.

So yeah, that's the story of how I told my teacher to go back to her own country. 🤦.

ItIsWhatItIs118

"Don't Speak..."

Made a stupid comment online and the week after that the FBI was at our door.

randomassdude89

"Don't be Racist"

I told a boy I really liked that I couldn't go out with him because my dad told me that it was against the Bible and I believed him (I'm white he was black). I've never forgotten him and I want to punch myself in the face every time I think of how hurtful that had to be to hear. Forget parents who teach their kids racist crap. My daughter recently brought her black girlfriend to my dad's house, it was lovely. :)

cherokeeinjen

"So real"

4th grade. We had a local artist come and teach us how to use oil pastels and draw some fish. Anyways she's showing us examples and I was impressed. They looked so realistic! I raised my hand and asked in all seriousness if the fish was dead. I MEANT, was it real. It looked so realistic. Not that it looked like she painted a dead fish. I saw this disdain in her eyes and she just sat there for a second before asking for another question.

SweatyGazelle11

"Unzipped..."

I did not know how to zip my pants after peeing in first grade when i asked to go out. So there I was entering the class with my zipper wide open and asking my teacher to zip it for me. The class watched, thanks God that everybody was dumb back then.

Krazevix

"Just Ewww..."

If I needed a tissue while I was in bed at night, instead of getting up to find one, I wiped my boogers on the back of my unicorn poster.

Out of sight, out of mind, because six-year-olds don't really think about consequences.

Of course, one day it finally tore away from the thumb tacks that held it to the wall and revealed a very diverse collection of dried-up boogers. EW.

NeedsMoreTuba

"Armed Response"

arms party hard GIF Giphy

I asked my dad to break my arm because I wanted a cast, and got mad when he refused...

UnseasonedPasta

"Just Breathe"

I tried forming a holy brotherhood in high school. Managed to recruit classmate, one lunchtime when we were walking with our rosaries in hand, an upperclassman came and put me in a chokehold for about 20 seconds, whole time i was saying "i forgive you" and my fellow member just stood there saying "its alright".

Right then and there i realized times changed since the 1960's. Few months after it was all about them witches. But i always cringe about the choking part, like really bro? "I forgive you"? Ugh.

jinboy___

"Sweaty Plams"

First or second grade 'music' class (so, 6 or 7 years old), we were supposed to hold hands with the classmates on either side of us, for whatever reason, to sing some stupid little song. I absolutely hated being touched, let alone being forced to hold someone else's clammy, sweaty little hand. I loudly stated I was a virgin and wasn't going to be touched.

I don't remember the fallout, but we were never asked to hold hands before singing again.

Abused_not_Amused

"The Count"

dracula dead and loving it GIF Giphy

I was that kid that tried to convince everyone I was a vampire.

EmmFred

"The Biter"

Bit a girl on the nose at a birthday party. Admittedly they we're mean girls and blocking me from going to the bathroom, but my response was to bite one real hard on the nose then hide in a closet until my mom came and picked me up.

Luckily it was a party for a girl I barely knew and I didn't know any of her friends so I didn't have to encounter them again at school or anything, but that memory haunts me.

HellfireMe

"Escape Artists"

I used to watch videos on how to survive the apocalypse, the Bermuda Triangle and also how to escape quick sand, I'm yet to use any of that knowledge, but when the time comes for it I'll be ready.

MeasurementFriendly6

"Hear Me"

Since I'm actually Autistic, there is a wide array of answers I have. But, in particular, one very cringe thing I used to do was essentially flex my vocal chords; I would start by groaning quietly and slowly erupt into a yell. I thought it was hilarious. My family hated it.

Dr_Charisma

"Chopped"

I tried to shave a little bit of hair off the side of my head because i thought my side burns were uneven but didn't cut them enough to be symmetrical so my mom ended up shaving my head entirely because I had messed up my hair so bad.

rip169

"Little Me"

This happened in my 1st/2nd grade combo class (I was in 1st grade). It was the 2nd day of school, show and tell day. There was a 2nd grade kid at my table and he had a glass dog. A glass one. Pretty cool glass dog. But little me couldn't remember the word "glass" so I said, "I like your metal dog, it's cool!".

Now the boy hates me and still does! <3

alien_hotline

"Dear Diary..."

This happened in the school. I liked this guy so much that I got obsessed with him. I wrote in my diary about him, I tried to see what he was doing, I looked for him when I was in the playground... When I remember the things I did and said... OMG please kill me right now.

linki_arts

"Ms. Granger..."

emma watson GIF Giphy

I went through a phase in 5th grade where I tried to make my hair as frizzy as possible because I thought it would make me look like Hermione Granger.

My friends and I also regularly wrote Harry Potter fan fiction (which we inserted ourselves into) and pretended to be Harry Potter characters at recess. I wish I could erase it all from my memory so I wouldn't have to acknowledge what a total weirdo I was. I also wore dresses to school everyday and occasionally spoke in a British accent for some reason.

Cowboychickenmouse

"We hate you Victoria!"

When I was about 7 or 8 years old we took a field trip to the Field Museum here in Chicago. During our lunch break and I wandered off to the gift shop to see what they had. I had a huge crush on this girl named Victoria in my class and I saw this lady bug ring for a couple of dollars. I knew she liked lady bugs and I had money my parents gave me to buy something at the shop, so I decided to buy the ring and give it to her.

I was really nervous and kept waiting for the right time to do it. I eventually decided to just go for it and walked up to her near the end of the trip. She was with some of her friends which made me more nervous, but I found the courage to do it. She looked at the ring and laughed. Her friends joined her and she then tossed the ring in the trash.

I was completely devastated and tried hard to hold back my tears. Even though I'm over it now, that completely screwed my confidence with girls for a long time. Looking back, I may have embarrassed her too giving it to her in front of her friends, which is why she reacted that way, but even still it makes me cringe when I think about it.

-eDgAR-

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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.