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People Share Their Nicest Celebrity They Have Ever Met

They always say, don't meet your heroes. But here's the thing- sometimes your heroes are actually just chill, normal people. This can be refreshing in a world of egos.

A Quora user asked: Who's the nicest celebrity you've ever met?

What a nice person.

OK, the women of Quora are the nicest celebrities I have ever met on line.

But … face-to-face? That would be Priscilla Presley.

Now, I've met other influential people. Politicians, including one foreign president, and Generals, including briefing General Powell. Celebrities? Not really.

But Priscilla Presley???!!!

WOW!

She is one of the nicest, most decent, smartest and stunningly beautiful women I have ever met, and she is definitely a celebrity.

One of? That is to protect myself from the other nice and beautiful women I have met and will meet.

August 16 2007. Elvis's 30th Death Anniversary. Priscilla was a STUNNING 62. I was a younger 43. She had finished an interview with Larry King at Graceland.

Work … as usual. High pressure.

Finished the day at BB King's Place AKA Blues Club on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee.

Beale Street puts the French Quarter in New Orleans, Old City Savannah Georgia, Duval Street Key West, and Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco on notice. Etc.

Having a beer at the bar.

A Big Guy sits down, and we start talking. Great Guy!

"Fred, I really enjoyed talking with you."

"John, I enjoyed talking with you. What did you say you do when you are not on Beale Street wasting your time with guys like me?"

He looked down. "Fred, I play football."

"Great! What college?"

"I'm a Pro." Very humble!

"Wow. Now that is interesting. Titans?"

"Yes. Let me do a favor for you, Fred. How'd you like to meet Priscilla Presley?"

"Your kidding! Of course. Thanks!"

"Fred, wait here."

Crowded place. Big place. Nice guy AKA Great guy. Loved talking to him. That's the last time I'll ever see him. Oh, well. C'Est la Vie.

I finished my beer and looked up. It was John. And I mean up. I'm 5′11″. He had to be 6′4″. "Let's go, Fred. She's upstairs in the VIP Room."

"John, upstairs? This is a one story tall building."

"VIP room on the roof. There is the entrance."

Three guys at the door in a far corner. Open collar shirts. Blazers. Clearly packing heat. We walked over. "Hi Mr. Schlimm. Mrs. Presley is looking forward to seeing you."

Door opens. Not searched. Is this real? And who the hell is John. More ESPN for me!!!

Landing. Two guys. "Hi Fred, she's upstairs." WTF!!!???

"Hi Fred." Door opened. John must have some serious juice. Silly me. More ESPN. He's got to be All Pro. NFL Pro doesn't get this with Priscilla on Elvis's 30th Death Anniversary near Graceland.

And as my eyes adjusted, I saw Lisa Marie, whatever she was married to at that time, other people, beautiful room, and the most beautiful creature I ever saw gliding towards me.

Took my hand. Other on my shoulder. Smile. "Hi Fred, John told us a lot about you. You look hungry. Join us for dinner."

WHO IS JOHN. WHY DID HE TALK TO ME. AND PRISCILLA PRESLEY!!!???

The rest of the evening was very decent and a bit foggy.

Got to Olive Branch, Mississippi. Typical 2.5 Star Hotel for expense account. Slept a few hours. Exhausted. Headed for work in Biloxi. I turned on the TV. Repeat of Larry King Live at Graceland. Yep. That was Priscilla before dinner. Lights. Makeup artists. Prepared questions.

She was better looking and charmingly spontaneous in person.

She was the nicest celebrity I ever met. More importantly, a wonderful person.

So was John. MORE ESPN FOR ME!!!

Fred Schlimm

That's actually kind of surprising.

Giphy

The first celebrity I ever worked for was Joan Rivers. Fashion Police. Red Carpet Heckler. The original "Mean Girl!"

I was terrified. They said they needed someone who was really good. I was an OK seamstress at the time and probably far from being really good, but I decided I could fake it.

I went to the store and bought $100 worth of every random sewing supply I could find within my budget. I lamented over what I should wear. I arrived an hour early because I wanted to make sure I got to the venue on time.

It was pouring rain as it does in Florida, when Mrs Rivers came rolling in the back door of the theater with a giant umbrella, a soaking wet assistant and her luggage.

I was waiting for her in her dressing room. I had all my sewing stuff in a neat little pile, ready for any kind of wardrobe malfunction known to man.

She came in, and her assistant and I started getting her unpacked.

She was soooo kind and chatty I was floored. She asked me where I was from, did I have kids and all kinds of other very "interested in me" normal, conversational questions as we were unpacking her.

She had everything crammed into her little suitcase like a Mary Poppins bag.

She had giant cue cards with her jokes written on them, four or five fancy beaded and feathered stage and after-show outfits and an enormous hot pink feather coat that looked like big bird and Barney had a baby! It was barfing pink feathers everywhere, some I still have.

Then she pulled out an industrial size can of Lysol and started spraying it everywhere. All over her chair, table and then she went into the bathroom with it.

She came out and instructed me not to let anyone use her restroom including me! She was sweet, cute and funny and reminded me of my grandmother.

We set out all of her makeup, her glorious perfume, her Sharpie eyeliner, jewelry and so on.

We went through her outfits for the evening, which I steamed and hung on a Z rack.

Then we went to the stage so she could do her rehearsal.

Here is where the publicly known Joan Rivers character emerged. It was like two different people. She was playing a role, being rude, cracking jokes and had everyone rolling.

She laid out her cue cards on the floor across the front of the stage.

We went through all of her costume changes and then we took a long break before the show.

She ate some dinner, met with some VIP guests and then we got her ready.

During the show (now on Netflix of this exact tour) she got her heel stuck in the back of her dress. I stood in the wings watching in horror as it began to unfold… when she realized what was going on, aggressively just ripped the shit out of the back of her fancy dress to get herself unstuck and just made a joke about it. I was dying.

We made her quick change into her Libery Costume and took her bows.

After the show we vodka-sprayed all her clothing and shoved it back into her Mary Poppins suit case.

Then, this happened.

The first and only photo I have of me with any of the now 50+ celebrities I've worked for since that day.

The lesson I learned from Joan Rivers has stuck with me. I have never since been nervous about working for anyone famous. She cured me for life of judging people from the public characters they play or perceptions we may have about them.

RIP, Joan. Thanks for the rest of the vodka, sunglasses and Fashion Police badge. I wear them proudly.

Gina Vincenza

Soft hands.

Chris Pratt.

He is one of the only celebrities I have ever met. I've bumped into Misha Collins and I've met the members of All Time Low. But out of all of them, Chris Pratt was definitely the nicest.

Here's the story:

It was the 4th of July. My friends and I were walking in the parade with our local community theatre float and we noticed a familiar face in the crowd. After we had gotten to our drop off location, one of my friends ran over to me and told me that she had seen Chris Pratt. This wasn't too much of a surprise because he had been to our town several times since he and his wife are wanting to move here with their son. We were still very excited, however. We've been dying to meet him.

Sadly, through several attempts, there was no way to reach him in the crowd and we watched with defeat as he and Anna walked away. We eventually gave up looking for him and started to make our way back to the community theatre to change out of our costumes. On our way there one of my friends saw Chris and Anna walking towards us. Well, not towards us, but in the same general direction. We ended up running into them on the corner of the street and upon seeing us, he exclaimed, "hey there, community theatre!"

It was overwhelming. He knew who we were! We got to talk to him for a few minutes and it was so crazy. He asked if we had any upcoming shows that they could go see (we are all actors) and what there was to do around town. We told him our whole schedule for the dramatic arts and he said he'd try to attend a performance. Then, the craziest thing of all, he asked us for a photo! You can view that below.


(I'm the one in the red, curly wig)

He and Anna were so sweet to us. They never even looked displeased like several famous people do. You could really tell they enjoy being around their fans and talking with them! It was such an amazing experience and I am so thankful that it happened. It's a young, aspiring actor's dream to meet other actors/actresses and the fact that we got to is mind blowing!

Overall, Chris and Anna are two of the nicest people I have ever met. (Not to mention he has really soft hands).

Alison Cole

An interesting person.

This was around summer last year, I had gone back to visit my hometown- St. Petersburg, Russia. We were on a tour bus sightseeing different places and museums. We made real good friends with the people in our tour bus as they were really friendly and all. But there was this one woman sitting way at the front who wasn't talking to anybody.

Weird. I thought.

Anyways, we went to different museums and I got a chance to notice what she was wearing. She was wearing all black tights, t-shirt, leather jacket and combat boots. She looked really intimidating and a little off to me, because while people were taking pictures of the Russia painting and Faberge egg; she was taking pictures of tiny descriptions instead of the actual priceless possession.

So I concluded that she was a thief or a con artist. Now bear with me here.

Then the entire group including me went to a Russian restaurant to sit down and eat food, they were all sitting and taking (and mind you, I was the only teenager in this group) so I decided to chat with the lady cus she seems bored.

Once I started talking to her, she told me she was an actress. I had a little panic moment (you know the general one when you meet a celebrity) but I couldn't quite pin point who she was. So I asked her about her works.

She replied, "Are you interested in any DC comic book shows or any Vampire related TV shows?"

And then I said, "Yeah, I watch Arrow and Vampire Diaries."

"Bingo, I've played a minor role in those two shows."

Then realisation hit me like a wave.

She was Kelly Hu.

For those who don't know who Kelly Hu is: She played China White in Arrow.

Much to say I was fangirling over her and all the adults in the group were looking at me like I was crazy.

Overall she seems a bit reserved but she opens up to you once she knows that you've seen her in the big/ small screen and appreciate her work. Plus she is aware that most teenagers would know who she is and hence she is really nice to them. We had lunch together and we talked about how it felt like working beside actors such as Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) and Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen a.k.a Green Arrow).

I felt really bad for thinking that she was a thief. (Gotta tone down all those Mission Impossible movies haha!)

The experience was great, she even took a picture with me and followed me on Instagram.

BEST DAY OF MY LIFE.

Malibu is the place to be.

Giphy

So living in Malibu I've met many celebrities and had a couple conversations with them.

I'll start with Adam Sandler. This guy is the best. So my younger brother was about 1 at the time and barely walking and we were in a crowded mall. My parents suddenly noticed that my brother Scott was gone. They were freaking out but they had written their phone number on Scott's arm just in case this happened. They new he probably was back in one of the prior toy stores and were hoping someone would call. Soon enough someone did, we told the guy where we were, and guess who shows up holding my little brother, Adam Sandler himself. He was such a nice guy to go out of his way to help being my brother back.


Next, and this one might surprise you, but Charlie Sheen. So this guy has a bad reputation but his daughter was in my class for a couple years and I new her, I had seen her dad around the school at her volleyball games and things but had never actually met him until this time after I had preformed the lead in a school play, Charlie Sheen comes up to me and holds out his hand to shake mine and says "Hi, I'm Charlie" like all humbly as if we didn't know who he was. Anyways he was really sweet and he said he was really impressed by my performance and said he couldn't have acted that well at my age. He really is a sweet and down to earth guy.

Yes in his past he's made some mistakes but haven't we all. His past doesn't affect who he is as a person. I also respect him because he is turning his life around. He's really there for his kids, going to their shows and sports and dance events and such. He's a really devoted dad and I can tell his kids love him a lot. Don't judge people by their reputations or past, not until you get to see how they are as people, such as Bruce Willis is an ABSOLUTE AHOLE.

Also Kourtney Kardashian is pretty sweet. My dad happens to be her doctor (he was on their tv show) so I got to meet her.

Eliza Byrnes

We love a humble star.

Although I haven't had many encounters with any celebrities, the few I've had a chance to meet, have been very pleasant and respectful. The most down to earth, humble, and normal celebrity I've met, is Ed Sheeran. I got to meet him at a private radio show, and not only is he a superb musician, but an outstanding individual, as well. I met him after he had become a huge success in the UK and Canada, but was just getting started in the US.

We were allowed one picture with him, no autographs, but I wanted to try for one anyway. When I got up there to meet him, he gave me a smile, a genuine hug, and told me how glad he was that I came. He told me he loved my shirt, which had song lyrics on it, and offered to sign my stuff anyway. Unfortunately I didn't have a pen, and neither did he, but he wanted to break the rules for me, anyway, which made me admire him even more at what he would do for a fan.


I got to tell him how wonderful his music is, how much he inspires me as a singer, and how much I appreciate his love for his fans and the respect he has for us. He then, smiling really big, pulled me in to a huge hug again and thanked me for my support of his music. I've had several friends meet him, and they've also said how genuine he is.

Seeing as he is my absolute favorite singer songwriter, I am so glad he did not disappoint me. I am so glad to see that his rise to success here in the US has not diminished that laid back humble attitude he has. I've never heard of another fan complain about him.

Brittany Rogers

While honeymooning on a shoestring at the Turtle Bay Hilton on Oahu (we lived in Honolulu) as they had advertised some cheap midweek rates. I mentioned at the front desk that we were kama'aina's (Hawaii residents) and that it was our honeymoon and we got an upgraded room and some other privileges (which we didn't have time to do), making it possible to have a very nice, late meal in their dining room.

There were very few people having dinner that night and we had the full attention of the wait staff. The cast and crew of "Joe vs. The Volcano" was filming in the area and Abe Vigoda, Tom Hanks and some other actors were at a big table in the corner behind us. We tried our best not to stare. To our left, Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan were laughing and eating with a young boy who was trying to eat a lobster and making a mess of it, which Ms. Ryan thought was the funniest thing ever. Mr. Quaid kept smiling at us whenever I peeked in their direction (her laughter was wonderful) and asked the waiter who we were. I guess the waiter knew we had just gotten married and passed along the information to their table.

When they were leaving, both of them stopped at our table and gave us their congratulations and well wishes. Before we were done eating, the waiter came up with the dessert cart, and asked if there was anything else we would like, and to be sure to pick out whatever we wanted of the cake and pastries, as the cart had been paid for by the Quaid's for us as a wedding present.

The next morning, since we had to be up early to get the groom back to work, I decided to order breakfast in the room. We were brought six serving platters heaped with everything 'breakfast' - pancakes, bacon, ham, sausages, eggs, toast, French toast, croissants, orange juice, milk, coffee and all the extras. Enough for a dozen people and tucked into the payment folder, with no bill, there was a coupon to get a beach picnic with a whole chicken, sandwiches, wine, soda and side salads for later (which, I regret, we did not use), all 'compliments' of the film cast & crew.

We didn't get to see any of the cast or crew to thank them, but the desk said that they were all the best guests. Certainly a class act to us!

Ginger Morgan

A good childhood memory.

This goes way back to when I was 10 years old. A production of the musical "Show Boat" was being offered at the 1953 Season First Production at the Carter Barron Amphitheater in Washington DC. I was chosen to be one of small group of children who would take part in the group segments of the story. For me, it was a magical experience. The huge outdoor theater in beautiful surroundings, the music, the songs, the dancing, the actors, everything was like living in a fantasy.

It was during the summer and my mother would take me there with a little lunch and snacks in a paper bag. All of the children, when we weren't needed, would explore the backstage, the tunnels and dressing rooms under the stage, the costume room, just everything. This was a world you would never know about sitting in the audience watching the show. It was always very, very busy with stage hands and actors always on the move.


The playbill states that "Showboat" was "Produced under the personal direction of Constance Bennett". She was a well known Hollywood actress at that time and, to me, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I remember she spoke with confidence when telling us what to do and she always carried her little dog under her arm. She was always nice to the kids.

Now, to the nicest celebrity I have ever met. Fred Kelly, brother of Gene Kelly, was the choreographer so the kids all spent quite a bit of time with him. We all worked hard and were treated with discipline and gentleness. I was one of the youngest and smallest kids and he always had me in the front of the group. In one of the big scenes, I think it was when the Showboat was either arriving or leaving. There was lots of excitement and waving. I rode on the shoulders of one of the dancers at the end of that scene.

Good luck, Fred Kelly

Ol' Man River was my favorite song. It was so sad that one time I cried. The actor who played "Joe" and sang it was a black man (no black face!) named William Smith who saw that I cried in a rehearsal and told me it was just a song but it told a true story of the south. He signed his picture in my program: To Ann, With Best Wishes, Ol' Man River.

This production was born when the composer, Jerome Kern, bought a copy of Edna Ferber's book "Show Boat" in 1926. About halfway through reading it, he asked Edna Ferber for the stage rights and asked Ziegfeld if he would like to produce it. Oscar Hammerstein II, who had collaborated with Kern to mount other famous plays on Broadway would write the the script and lyrics. So, then it began.

I apologize for going on so long. Once I began remembering and retrieved my old program it was all so clear in my mind. "Show Boat" was the beginning of my education about the old south literally on a visceral level. The actors, the songs, the story…a true learning opportunity. Thank you for reading.

Ann Niskanen Stirlen

A genuinely good person.

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I was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal for more than a decade, and interviewed a number of celebrities, CEOs and other big-shots—called in the trade "bold-faced names."

Most were courteous, professional and even humble. But one stood out: Garrison Keillor, the host of the long-running radio program A Prairie Home Companion.

During the height of his fame, he gave a speaking tour around the country. I went to one of these events at Lisner Auditorium in D.C., and went backstage afterwards to meet him.

Because he'd just made the cover of Time magazine, he'd been in great demand that day. He'd even been taken around Congress to meet various politicians who wanted to have their pictures taken with HIM.

That night, he'd given a one-man reading of one of his books, which went on for over an hour.

So he must have been exhausted by the time I met him. But the area backstage was full of various VIPs and their families who were standing in line to meet him.

He greeted them all cordially and asked them questions about themselves.

That made the line move slowly, and some people got impatient, particularly when the young man right in front of me was introduced to Keillor.

The young man, about 15, was in a wheelchair, and had a disability that made his speech very slow.

It took him a long time—more than a minute— to stammer out, "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Keillor."

Keillor just stood there smiling as the young man struggled to get out the words, then reached out his hand and said in his honey baritone, "No, it's an honor to meet YOU!"

I just about burst into tears, he was so warm and genuinely kind.

On another occasion, I had the opportunity to interview him one-on-one during one of his book tours, and can attest that he's a cagey interview subject—deflects any question he doesn't want to answer—but his intelligence and quick wit shone through. He also was unfailingly polite and didn't hurry the interview, as many celebs do.

All in all, I think if Americans had a list of artists designated "national treasures," as Japan does, he should be on it.

June Fletcher

Products That Customers Don't Realize Have A Really High Mark Up

Reddit user petrastales asked: 'What product unbeknownst to most people has the highest mark up?'

When I was in high school, my friends and I went to a pizza place after school nearly every day. In addition to a slice of pizza, we would each buy a soda. The place offered free refills (this was back when not all places did this), and we thought it was really cool. However, I used to wonder why they would do this. Wouldn't it be more profitable to them if they forced us to buy a second drink?

Four years later, I began working in a restaurant and learned that more often than not, the cups we gave out for soda cost more than the syrup that went in the drink. The restaurant offered us free food on days we worked, but we couldn't get drinks for free unless we brought our own cups.

This was shocking to me and put free refills into a whole new perspective. We could sell the soda for more than it cost to make, but no one would buy a soda if we tried to sell it for more than the cup cost. It would cost us less to allow customers to refill the same cup for free than it would be to give or even sell them another cup because it would cost the business a lot to replace each cup.

Soda cups aren't the only things that have a high mark up price, and they're not the only products people were surprised to find had a high mark up. Redditors know of lots of products that they were surprised to find out has a high mark up and are ready to share.

It all started when Redditor petrastales asked:

"What product unbeknownst to most people has the highest mark up?"

​Equality Doesn't Exist

"Back in the early 2000’s I was managing a restaurant - garlic bread was selling for 3.95 and cost 0.07 to make. Not all food items are equal when it comes to margins!"

– leyland_gaunt

"I came here specifically to mention pizza. The profit margins on pizza are nuts, you have to suck at making it to not stay open."

– DreadedChalupacabra

"Yeah, it drives me nuts when you can request add-ons, but it's like $3 for a few pieces of camembert, or $2 for some chopped tomato, when it probably cost $5 for an entire 1kg bag of tomatoes."

– Writerhowell

How Cheesy

"Yeah and like 1.50 of that pizza was the cheese."

"Cheese is the most expensive part of a pizza assuming youre not doing some weird specialty stuff."

– Doomstik

"Can confirm. Worked at a pizza place. An incompetent employee was supposed to fluff a box of cheese but dropped it on the ground by accident. the owner was there. I swear I saw him shed a tear because that box was $120 of pure uncut shredded mozzarella and that was supposed to become like $1,000 in pizzas."

– PM_Sexy_Catgirls_Meo

That's Nuts!

"Yeah I worked at a place that did charcuterie, I apologized to the chef for munching out on the fancy olives all night. He said he didn't give a damn, as long as it kept my hands off the roasted cashews. Big jar of olives was like 15 bucks, the equivalent of cashews was like 200 bucks."

– hudson27

Bamboozled

"Reminds me of the never-ending pasta at Olive Garden. Pasta is dirt cheap and incredibly filling. The chances of you eating enough that it's actually a good deal for you is very slim."

– IBJON

"When I was working at a chain pizza restaurant, the storage manager wanted to get pasta on the menu, because of the profit margins. It's crazy because it cost us $2.10 to make a 17 inch pizza, and we sold them for $14."

– fukreddit73264

Not Worth It

"Flavored seltzers at a brewery. The beer costs 10x as much to make, but they charge almost the same at the tap."

– LocoCracka

"I have a buddy who made seltzers at a brewery in the Bay Area. Some malt liquor, very little flavoring, and a ton of soda water."

"Couldn’t make a cheaper adult beverage if you tried."

– Ikarus_Zer0

Ma, I Can't See!

"Glasses."

"Luxottica owns most major eye wear stores, costs them a few dollars to make and you pay hundreds for them."

– godnrop

"My cousin taught English in China after college in the early 2000s, apparently they had machines in malls where you could look into a pair of holes, do a vision test, get a prescription, and have a pair of glasses automatically ground for you in like 2 minutes for about $5, and the only reason we don't have that in the US is regulations."

"I travel to China frequently for work. I just take the USA prescription for family and friends and they have them made in about an hour or less. Family and friends give me an idea of frames they like and they pop the prescription lenses in. I pay about USD40 for the top-grade lens material that is antifog and anti-scratch."

i3f8j

"I don’t really object to paying $50 for an eye exam, I object to paying $300 for a pair of frames. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to take the prescription the optometrist gives you, enter the numbers into the machine, and get the same $5 glasses."

river4823

​Message Received

"Back in the day, text messaging."

– alien109

"That's why I left T-Mobile in 2005. They were charging me for incoming texts but offered no way for me to block them. So basically, someone else had control of my bill."

– CGYOMH

"I remember being young, spending the $20 I worked so hard for so I could get minutes, only for a friend with unlimited minutes to spam me with a few texts and take it all away. What an upsetting time."

– Boopcheese

Ice Ice Baby

"Soft drinks in pubs. Especially the ones from “the tap”. Costs pennies and they charge £3 for a pint of it. Probably the biggest earner in a pub."

– lucky_1979

"Especially when they just cram a glass with ice and then lightly moisten it with the actual drink you ordered."

– jamesmowry

"My work just came out with a policy that we need to completely fill the glass with ice because it "keeps the drink colder for longer".. eyeroll."

– metalbridgebuilder

"The nuts and bolts section at your local big box hardware store is the highest markup isle. 500% or more. If you need more than a few bolts, go shopping at a proper hardware supplier."

– SatanLifeProTips

"Whenever I go through one of these aisles and look at the price for a single bolt or screw, I look at the overall assortment and think: There must be tens of thousands of dollars just for the shelf-price of fasteners I see right here in this aisle alone."

"The markup is crazy, but why do I want to buy a box of 100 screws if I only need two?"

– lemming_follower

Second To One

"The second-cheapest bottle of wine on the menu."

– slocki

"In order to not look cheap, many people will buy the 2nd cheapest item on the menu."

– AprilsMostAmazing

"Wine in restaurants in general. The markup on wine is wild. My boss used to get whatever was “on sale” from the distributor and usually pay $3-4 a bottle and sell it at $10 a glass."

– she_shoots

Pour Some Sugar On Me

"Candy floss / cotton candy. £4.99 for legitimately 10p worth of sugar."

– Tylervdub

"I used to work food service at an amusement park for a summer job."

"A manager told us that the cost of making a bag of cotton candy, including ingredients, labor, etc., was 19 cents...we sold it for $3."

– etm105

Look, Don't Drive

"Those button batteries in store."

"They know you need one asap cause your car won’t unlock so you are stuck."

"Wait 1 day and you can get a dozen from Amazon for same price."

– kindrudekid

Medical Supplies

"As a Diabetic I'm pretty sure it's Insulin."

– PraiseThePun81

"Can’t believe I had to scroll so far to find this."

"I spend over $13k annually on ‘good’ insurance that doesn’t cover half of the things I need as a diabetic. I spend half that again on the insulin and supplies. It’s a racket."

– Nosce_Temet

H2O

"Water."

– ganic-Lie4759

"Bottled water is so highly marked up as to qualify as a scam."

"At no extra cost aside from the bottle (I don’t have a water meter) my water is completely free. It tastes as good or better than bottled."

– 6033624

I didn't know about any of this!

I can hear my wallet crying.

Black and white photo of a teacher pointing his finger toward an unseen student
Photo by Immo Wegmann

Teachers are meant to impart knowledge to the next generation, but they have to get the kids to pay attention first.

Not an easy task.

So many, too many schools are plagued by kids who have no self-control.

Teachers end up playing referee, counselor, and parent in addition to their teaching role.

All of those additional hats don't come with any additional pay.

It's no wonder we're in a teacher shortage.

Redditor _Planet_Mars_ wanted the teachers out there to share some rough student stories, so they asked:

"Teachers, what is the worst thing you've seen a student do?"

I once saw a kid drive their car into the school office.

They were drunk.

Thankfully no one was injured.

POP!

"The was a loud pop and a flash in the back corner of the classroom. I asked the student sitting there what happened. She said it was firecrackers. I sent her to the office. While she was still in the office, I realized the electrical outlets in the room didn’t work. At that point, another student fessed up that the student sent to the office had put a pair of scissors in the outlet. I’m not sure why that student thought it was better to lie and claim she was doing fireworks inside the school?"

mynamelessname

Pain

"When I was teaching preschool, I had a little girl, between 3-4, walk up to another girl who was sitting on the rug reading a book, grab her by the hair and slam her head into the wall. They hadn’t been interacting in any way prior. When I asked her why she did it, she said she 'wanted her to know it hurts.'"

No-Doubt-8748

That Kid

"A different type of bad than most of these."

"I was a teacher at a poor inner-city school. I had a lot of wonderful students but some difficult ones. One was the worst — bright but was always sleeping through class and acting up and never doing homework. I lived about 30 minutes away. One night, I stopped by the local Wawa after a night out with friends. Was at least 11:30 pm and I was already dreading the early morning drive to school. And who should be checking me out but my own 'problem' student."

"He was working late to make money for his family and then getting home at 1:00 am or later before heading into school on 4-5 hours of sleep. He was a smart kid. Really smart. I hope things worked out for him but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if he’d been allowed to have a childhood and focus on his education."

Low_Cartographer2944

Blame the Heat

Sweating James Mcavoy GIFGiphy

"It gets very hot here in the warmer months and so the school put out those big containers for water for everyone. Well, one student was caught peeing into a bag and dumping it into the containers."

huzzahserrah

Some kids really need some deeper therapy.

Peeing in bags? Seriously?!

From Beneath

"My wife is an elementary teacher and has a kid this year that likes to slip under their desk and lick toes (we live in a warm state) and they all think he will grow up to be a creeper."

CherryManhattan

BOOM

"This was the worst thing I know of that happened at my high school."

"Someone brought a blasting cap to school (OK, that's a bit dumb), and flushed it down the toilet (that's REALLY dumb). Then told a teacher about it, because maybe it wasn't such a good idea (their best idea that day, really)."

"Wound up with that restroom being taken out of service while the fire department x-rayed the plumbing to find and remove the (admittedly tiny) explosive. Took several weeks before it was back in service."

gogstars

Sad

"My favorite teacher in high school was a very kind a lenient man. Do your work, be respectful, and follow the major school rules and you and him would be cool. The one thing that would seem minor, but that he was very strict about was taking any medication in any way shape, or form in his classroom."

"One day, I needed to take some Advil for cramps and asked to take it. He said I needed to go to the nurse for permission. I ended up asking him why he was so strict about it. it turns out, he had a student pass out in class one day at his former school. He tried to wake her up and called the nurse, but she wouldn't wake up. They called 911 and by the time they got there, she had died of an OD on narcotics she took in the bathroom that she had hidden in a Tylenol bottle. I don't know how he went back to teaching after that."

musical-nerd24601

Painful

Moving Season 2 GIF by Paramount+Giphy

"Saw a 4-year-old purposely push a piece of furniture over onto another 4-year-old at preschool. It actually really hurt the other kid, and her parents took the school to court."

MPD1987

Kids are brutal.

No wonder people home school.

Baby on back in their crib
Photo by Alex Bodini on Unsplash

Some haters will disagree, but parenting is hard. Every parent is going to experience their journey differently from the next parent, and it stands to reason that they're going to make some differing decisions, too.

But some decisions are made based on facts while others are made based on old wives' tales and myths, some of which have long since been debunked.

Because that's how Grandma did it and how Mom did it, some of these myths are trying their best to stand the test of time!

Redditor BITE_AU_CHOCOLAT asked:

"What's a disproven parenting myth that way too many people still believe?"

Allergy Prevention

"To prevent allergies, avoid giving your child these foods until they are much older…"

"It has been proven over and over again that exposing your child to traditionally allergy-prone foods in very small amounts when they are younger drastically reduces allergy potential. Even to the point of doing so in utero."

- UsesCommonSense

Instant Maturity

"Having a kid will cause someone to step up or straighten out or grow up or mature, etc."

- Exploding_Muffin

"I have a family member that tried this. He and his girlfriend were addicts. They specifically decided that they should try to get pregnant as motivation to stop doing drugs. It didn't work."

- HoopOnPoop

Nonverbal, Not Deaf

"That nonverbal kids don’t understand what you say. This one is common in the autism community."

- Kwyjibo68

"I work in dementia care. Lord knows this isn’t the truth for either population."

"A lady I took care of several years ago was thought to be nonverbal and beyond the ability to understand speech. We were changing her one night, and she looked at me and said, 'When does school start back?'"

"Clear as a bell. I was in college at the time."

- bookishkelly1005

No Spoiled Newborns

"You can not spoil a newborn. Their brain is still quite underdeveloped, and actually, by refusing to answer their calls, you can give them self-regulation issues as they develop without that safety in processing new stimuli."

"Edited to Add: I said newborn because I meant newborns. Not babies that need to be practicing lifting their head, etc. There are people who start fussing at parents about this as soon as they bring their newborn home, forgetting that this baby is experiencing everything BRAND NEW, and needs a safety system."

"And also I did raise two humans, and I very much remember being a new mom."

- TinyGreenTurtles

The Power of Multilingualism

"That a child shouldn’t be exposed to a second (or third) language until having mastered their native language. I’ve heard this so many times from people who have no idea about multilingualism."

- lrbdad626

"My sister's first language is English, and her husband's is Spanish. They're both bilingual and speak both languages in their household."

"My sister remembers her daughter noticing when they switched between languages when she was well under a year old. She'd be watching them intently and do a little startle when they switched. Kids' receptive language develops earlier than a lot of people realize."

- dorky2

Dads Are Parents, Too

"Dads are more than babysitters."

"It's been 20+ years since I was a single father, but the attitudes towards men and parenthood haven't changed as much as they should have."

"Don't ask a dad if he is giving mom a break today. Don't assume dad doesn't know how to settle down their child. Don't stare at Dad at the park when Dad is there with his kid(s). And for god's sake, can businesses install a change table in the men's washroom!"

- keiths31

"Oh yeah, this p**ses me off to no end. And no matter how many times we tell the school not to, they will ONLY call my wife if there is some issue during the day. She is 100% unavailable during the day, while I WFH (work from home) and can come deal with anything at a moment's notice."

"Once, my poor kid sat in the infirmary for two hours because they were waiting for mom to return their call. Finally, she herself piped up and said, 'Can you try calling my dad instead?' and I was there five minutes later. You would think they would eventually learn but nope... still happens to this day."

- dcmcderm

Why Is Comfort So Taboo?

"Picking up your baby too much will spoil them. For f**k's sake… pick up a crying child and meet their needs. Sometimes it's just a need for comfort and bonding with their caretaker."

- laurenderson

Disturbing Gender Norms

"Daughters are nightmares and sons are so easy to raise."

"The really disturbing part is women seem to believe this more than men."

- lilymunsterisaqueen

Best Practices, Who?

"That there is anything even remotely approaching a consensus on best practices when it comes to raising a child. I've only been a parent for five months and the sheer volume of confident, authoritative, and completely contradictory advice I've received has been staggering."

"As best as I can tell, just work on keeping them healthy, secure, and loved, and try to muddle your way through as best you can on rest."

- liebkartoffel

Don't Let Regret Run the Show

"I'm an older parent. In my opinion, a lot of who the kids grow up to become is simply them. For the kids who turn out well or don't, people will look back and think, 'If I had only done this more often!' and pass it off as advice."

"Parents shouldn't beat themselves up. Don't traumatize the kids. Don't spoil them. Support them in their interests. Outside of that, just let them become who they will become and enjoy the ride. It's a shorter run than you think at the time."

"At some point, we as a society may find that electronics are bad, something in our food is a problem, lack of interaction is an issue, etc. but as an individual parent, it's really hard to swim against the stream. It's fine to research and take reasonable steps to avoid this but I see too many young parents totally overwhelmed with advice and data."

- fish1900

Breaking the Cycle

"That all parents, specifically mothers, have an instinct that will kick in eventually and your child will be your world."

"Mine told me from a very early age that I wasn't the kid she'd wanted, I was ugly, fat, whatever. I finally ended things completely this year when she told me she's always hated me and never wanted me. I needed the closure."

"She made my life h**l, especially since she had two kids after me that she loves."

"My daughter hasn't ever been shouted at (by that, I mean raising my voice), hurt, or made to feel like less than the wonderful person she is. I suppose I can thank my mother for showing me how not to be."

- earthtomanda

Not the Same AT ALL

​"That love, respect, and fear are the same thing. They're f**king not."

- LaliMaia

"'Is it better to be loved or feared?"

"'I want my kids to be afraid of how much they love me.' from Michael Scott's School of Parenting (on 'The Office')."

- Millerisabast**dMan

Not In Debt

"This destructive myth that we are OWED respect and love from our kids. NOPE!"

"They are attached to us, yes, but love and respect are earned. Fear is not respect; guilt is not love; we chose to have kids, they had no say in the matter. It is incumbent upon us to reach them by mirroring the behaviors we value."

- I_wear_foxgloves

"This goes hand in hand with some parents thinking their kids owe them anything in return for meeting their basic needs. You see this especially when children become adults."

"Parents telling their adult children, 'You owe me X because I fed you and gave you a roof over your head.' It’s utter bulls**t. Your child never signed a contract saying that in order to be born, they owe you something in the future."

"Keeping a child safe, providing food and water, a roof over their head, etc… those are basic needs that your child deserves. If you aren’t prepared to provide those things, don’t become a parent. Your kids don’t owe you anything, not as children and not as adults. Respect is earned and not bought. A child’s relationship with their parent(s) is not transactional."

- CatmoCatmo

Public vs. Private

"That you can tell if a stranger is a good parent by how their kid behaves in a random instance you happen to observe."

- JuniorPomegranate9

Resilience as an Excuse

"Kids are resilient and will get over stuff without it correctly being addressed."

"No, we remember everything In our tiny and impressionable brains."

- Pleasant_Tooth_2488

The misconceptions presented here are truly heartbreaking in some cases and mind-boggling in others.

It's hard to unlearn behaviors and what we thought were facts, yes, but if we want to be better people, and better parents, we absolutely have to figure out how to do it.

Old torquoise radio box
Milivoj Kuhar/Unsplash

Buying a home is a daunting task, but it comes with the comfort of finally having a place to call your own after the lengthy process of purchasing.

One of the things new homeowners look forward to is renovating certain areas of their newly acquired domicile.

However, embarking on this next phase of making a home their own can come with some surprises.

For example, doing a gut reno in the basement or tearing down a non-load-bearing wall can unearth unusual relics left from the previous homeowner.

These discoveries can either be treasures, or something very unpleasant.

Curious to hear from new homeonwers, Redditor Oblivious_Dude14 asked:

"People who bought a house. What is the weirdest thing you have found left by the previous owner?"

These will spark curiosity about former occupants.

Hidden Message

"First time I took a hot shower in our new home. The steam covered the mirror, only to reveal the phrase 'HELLO, I SEE YOU' in large finger drawn writing."

"It freaked me out for a second, but made me laugh soon after that."

"It was such an inconspicuous yet obvious thing to leave for the new homeowner (me)."

– Individual-Common-89

A Special Request

"It's not really weird but I think it's kind of a nice story."

"One of the kids' rooms has a shelf going all around the top edge, and when my kid was putting stuff up there they found a letter from the previous kid. The letter welcomed them to the room etc and asked them to take special care of a rose bush in the front yard that was their special rose bush. My kid thought it was really cool to have that connection with the previous kid."

– catsaway9

Instructions

"Not really weird but they left a typed out and printed note about the house and how to take care of it. Detailing all the plant life in the backyard and how to prep for the winter. Described how to take care of the hot tub and gave random tid bits about the electrical."

"They were good people lol."

– pet_zulrah

Theses secret chambers piqued Redditors' curiosity.

Secret Dwelling

"Not my house, but the school my friend worked at."

"A pipe had leaked and ruined a wall in the building, one of the oldest schools in the city. It was a beautiful property. Anyways the pipe leaked so they pulled down the ruined wall and behind the wall found a door."

"A fully furnished apartment was there. Had a coal burning stove to heat it. Early 1900s appliances and decor. It was for the caretaker of the school."

– Used-Stress

Antique Showroom

"My ex-wife's family knocked down a wall in a 400-year-old house in Cornwall, and found a perfectly intact bedroom from the 1800s, still with all the personal effects where they had been left."

"Nobody knows why it was boarded up, or why things weren't taken out of it."

"Oh, and that house always appears in the guides for the most haunted locations in Cornwall, if you believe that kind of stuff."

– ledow

A Medieval Theme

"A basement room that was fully decked out as a 'dungeon.' Faux stone walls, a stocks (like where you lock your head and hands in ala ye olde England), candle scones on the walls, a metal-barred cage in the corner from floor to ceiling. Oh and the closet had a load of toys, some normal, some....not so typical."

– DisIsDaeWae

These Redditors got a glimpse into past lives.

Family Treasure

"Before I met her, my wife got a call from someone she worked with saying they'd just bought an old house and in the city, and in it was a steamer trunk with her family name (not a common one) carved into the woodwork on one end."

"As it turns out, it was the trunk that her great grandfather used when he came over from Germany, and it made the trip to my wife's hometown when he met her great grandmother on a visit, and subsequently moved to her city to marry her. We now have it and it's full of family portraits and albums."

– LateralThinkerer

Vintage Trickster

"My first house purchase in 2005 - bought an old farmhouse that was built in 1923. The basement was FILLED with crap - we told them they needed to clean it all out before closing, but they didn't do it. The realtor asked if we wanted to postpone closing, and we decided no - some of the stuff looked interesting enough. Maybe it will be worthwhile to go through."

"Most of it was just junk. Then, about half way through (we were working our way from one end of the basement to the other, because you could barely walk through), I went to pick up what I thought was a small box, only to quickly realize it weighed at least 75 pounds. Upon further inspection, it wasn't a box, but a wooden square, 4' wide and about 12'x12', with two thin masonite plywood covers on each side. On one edge were two bolts with wires coming off that had been cut."

"Very strange - had no idea what it was, but thought it was interesting. So I put it aside and we kept going. At the very back of the basement once we cleared everything else out, was a rickety gray cabinet, built into the house. Inside, were numerous strange small tools, vials of mercury, vials of a strange powder, and thousands - literally thousands - of dice blanks. Some actual dice, but mostly blanks without the dots. they were all in little boxes labeled 'dice blanks'. Also very strange..."

"Not too long after that, I met a guy and upon learning my address, he said 'can I come over?My best friend grew up in that house'. He came by, and proceeded to tell me stories for an hour and a half about his childhood best friends eccentric father: Someone who was a part of the 'Dixieland Mafia' in the 60s and 70s, and who made a living traveling around the US as a traveling gambler. The enormously heavy box was an electro-magnet. And the dice blanks were for him to make his own loaded dice with a little bit of metal powder under the inlaid dot, so he could set up his own table with the the electromagnet underneath, and turn it on when he wanted to persuade the dice. He told me many other stories, including that there was 'no doubt in his mind that he had killed someone'. Pretty fascinating."

– GIjokinaround

A Soldier's Story

"A diary of an American soldier in WW-II, South Pacific Theater. Found it above a door when remodeling 20+ years ago. My wife and I tried everything we could think of to find a descendant, but to no avail."

"UPDATE: I just posted photos of it with the person's ID info on r/WorldWar2."

"Last Update: Thanks to all the help from this community, and those at r/worldwar2, this diary is now in the hands of its writer's son who came to my office this morning to retrieve it. I am so thrilled to have been able to facilitate this!"

– Factsaretheonlytruth

These folks really hit the jackpot.

Forgotten Stash

"$1200 in cash above the door on the inside the closet. I found it while painting."

– whymetoo

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

"A glass bowl. It was kind of pretty, with horizontal blue stripes."

"We kept fruit in it. We thought about dropping it off at the local charity shop, but never got around to it."

"Then one day I was at an antique fair and I saw for sale glass bowls that looked almost identical to ours. I went home to get my bowl and brought it to be assessed."

"Turns out it was a vintage Orrefors crystal bowl. The assessor valued it at around $800."

"We no longer keep fruit in it."

– khendron

When my great aunt passed away, our family went over to her and her husband's home in Pomona, CA to clear it out in preparation to sell.

They emigrated from Japan in the late 1930s and brought with them many decorative figurines, sculptures, and wooden carvings from the homeland.

One of the pieces was a kabuki doll on a wooden base. As we were placing the item in a box, a tiny envelope that had been taped underneath the doll's base came loose.

I opened it and found what looked like instructions for something. I kick myself to this day that I didn't keep the letter and never bothered asking my parents what the note said as we were frantically trying to empty the house.

But man, my imagination ran wild. Was it a treasure map? Who knows. I still wonder to this day what the note said and tossing it aside remains one of my life's greatest regrets.