Y'all nasty.
Don't believe me? Just keep reading. (and yes, established readers, I *am* going to keep writing articles about it. Go clean something!)
Reddit user "Foxmachine" asked:
What common household item is rarely if ever cleaned, although it should be?
Remember that I tried to warn you. There's just ... so much dirt and grime and gross.
Because Of Maggots
load dishwasher GIF by bekoGiphy"The dishwasher."
"Clean the filter, and clean the spray arms regularly." - rubaduck
"Once a month it gets the full treatment in our house. Family members are plumbers."
"Fun fact: most dishwasher pumps fail because of maggots. Clean your f*cking catcher and rinse off the chunks, people."
"Maggot eggs are eeeeverywheeeerre. You can also get mold mites, drain flies, cockroaches… it's a humid, dark environment with food scraps." - Taleya
"Hire somebody to do it the first time, because you do not want to know about the maggots." - ProudHedgehog6767
Slow Clap For This Pun
Super Troopers Good Job GIF by Searchlight PicturesGiphy"The bottom of my toaster is a graveyard of charcoal crumbs." - CubaGoodingIII
"More than just a graveyard, it's a catacrumbs in there." - superokaycatdad
"Can't decide if I'm angry with you or proud." - Eveystuff
Pets Deserve Clean, Too
Giphy"I used to work at a dog boarding facility and I could not believe the state of some of the food bowls people would bring in with their dog. Disgusting." - TheHowlingWool
"Agreed. My 2 cats have several bowls between them, and every meal is a fresh bowl."
"Growing up we never washed our pet's bowls. It just wasn't something the parents said needed to be done."
"I can't imagine making them eat off manky bowls now." - LtnSkyRockets
"I feel guilty that I used to never wash my cats' food bowls. Now I wash before every meal. My precious cats. The only real companions I've got." - MoxEmerald
Not Just The Cases
pillow GIFGiphy"Actual pillows, not just pillow cases. You can wash pillows in a washing machine. The amount of dirt that comes out is horrendous." - JadenGlow
"You absolutely can machine wash them, but in my opinion you will LOVE the results of washing them in the bath tub with scalding hot water, a ton of oxyclean, and let them soak for a few hours."
"It really gets in there."
"Then pop them in the washing machine to spin the water out. Just did this recently with our couch covers as well... It was fantastic" - PlopPlopPlopsy
The Water Is Always Brown
Drinking Coffee GIF by 60 Second DocsGiphy"SOFA! Maybe because it's so hard to clean?"
"Seriously, deep clean your sofa. It's really gross, it's covered in dirt from the years." - thitgahamtonghop
"I shampoo mine about once a month. The water is always brown. I can't imagine it after years." - Gingerbrew302
"Man, the spots between the seats are so full of crap and dirt, it should get power washed." - Nilyosh
If These Walls Could Talk (They'd Ask To Be Washed)
Khloe Kardashian Fight GIF by Comments By CelebsGiphy"Walls. I went around my place last winter after I lost my job and started washing all my walls. My family was telling me it looked like I painted them." - Smil3yAngel
"I have a steam mop that has a handle that detaches so it's like a wand."
"I steam cleaned my bathroom walls because the previous tenant was a smoker and had that nasty yellow residue on the walls. Biggest pain project, but totally worth it."
"Cleaning my other walls is on my to-do list." - Spitfire07
People Share Dark Secrets From Their Profession The Public Doesn't Know | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Opening A Can Of Yuck
force GIFGiphy"Can opener. Look at yours and despair." - IAmEggnostic
"I literally never even thought of washing one until I moved in with my wife. Blew my mind when she threw it in the dishwasher" - 1seacow
The Swab Experiment Revealed
Mix Lab GIF by BrownSugarAppGiphy"There was a swab experiment done in a kitchen and the coffee maker water reservoir had the most bacteria (more than the toilet, vom) Dark, wet and warm. The perfect breeding ground for germs." - ellenmc
"Depends on the type I suppose. An Aeropress or a simple filter holder gets rinsed after every use anyways, but that office style fully automatic big machine definitely needs some taking apart and washing out every month or two."
"I have one of those big Siemens EQ6 machines at home, and last year completely disassembled everything and washed it. The amount of stray coffee grinds in the mechanisms and other funky weirdness was unbelievable."
"Even found some mold in the far off corners." - friftar
Down Under
skill cooking GIFGiphy"In your kitchen: The underside of your cabinets (as well as the top of them if you can)."
"All of the food you cook, saute, etc. sends tiny particulates of oil and other parts of your meal into the air. It settles on all surfaces, but you clean most of them regularly."
"The top of your cabinets is usually ignored, but it can develop quite the gunky buildup if you don't do a fairly regular cleaning. Say, once a month or so."
"The underside of cabinets – especially near your cook surface – should be cleaned every week or so. That oil and muck will eventually start to dry and cake on, attracting bugs and rodents and emitting a not-so-fresh smell."
"Get a good degreaser cleaner and give those surfaces a thorough cleaning." - ilikemrrogers
A Mini Time Bomb
dancers laundry GIFGiphy"Your dryer, it's a mini time bomb waiting for a stray spark to burn your house down. Clean it thoroughly every few months and make sure you get the lint hoses serviced as well." - zerbey
"Funny how after I cleaned out the duct, my husband didn't have to do loads twice through to dry all the way...clean your Ducts!" - PsychologicalNews573
Computer Love
Mad The Internet GIF by MOODMANGiphy"Computer. Intake vents and all over the inside. Unplug it and very gently vacuum. Use snaked bristle brush if you have one or crevice tool. Gently!!!" - Spute2008
"My mouse is clean as it's easy to swab with a qtip… my keyboard… my keyboard is one with the dirt. You can run it through the dishwasher and still have hair stuck."
"I'm honestly not even exaggerating. I've had the same mechanical keyboard for 8 or 9 years and ran it through the dishwasher multiple times, but it's impossible to get completely clean." - ApprehensiveAd3778
This Kitchen Calamity
Animated GIFGiphy"kitchen ventilator" - PhilyVargas
"Kitchen suction hoods. I heard that most fires at homes occur because of fat in suction hoods catches fire" - hetgepeperte
Not So Clean
Giphy"The track the wheels of you shower door run in (assuming you have a door not a curtain) people will clean the glass but never think to do that little track but at the bottom and it can be super gross" - KingBenjamin97
"I Use This Weekly"
japan rice GIFGiphy"This is funny. I just noticed yesterday that I rarely clean the inside-top of my rice cooker. Cleaned it last night and was like 'I use this weekly and have never wiped this part down.' Made me feel gross but yea" - AljamimaSyrup
Now go clean!
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.
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.
