"What was the thing you thought was a lie until you realised it was true?" –– Special thanks to Redditor 
SYETHOUD, who reminds us that things aren't always as they appear.
"When I was 10..."
When I was 10 my mom was giving me the puberty talk. I thought she was lying and trying to scare me when she said that I'd wake up one day with blood in my underwear.
"My older uncle..."
My older uncle told me when I turn 30 go buy a suit because you 'll have a lot of funerals to attend. I'm now late 30s and been to 5 in the past few years.
"This guy..."
This guy acting like he was crazy when I got to college. He was so over the top and since I was at an artsy school, I thought it was an act. Later in the year he launched himself from a third-story balcony into the dining hall. Yeah, it wasn't an act.
"Later, I realized the appeal..."
That adults put their tongues in each other's mouths on purpose and that they like it. Legit thought the other girls in kindergarten were lying and it made me nauseous. Later, I realized the appeal..... much much later.
"When I was 6..."
When I was 6, I asked my mom how babies were made. She told me very matter-of-factly that a man puts his penis inside a woman's vagina. I thought she was making up a weird, gross lie to avoid telling me the real truth.
"While changing countries..."
While changing countries, I was told that I would feel a sense of homelessness and I didn't really believe it. I've been away for college and back to my home country during summer for almost 3 years now, and I have acquired a constant feeling of being misplaced both at the country I've moved to AND at my home country. It's terrible.
"My mom told me..."
My mom told me that after high school, I'd lose some of my closest friends. "They're going to move on and start turning into other people over time." I laughed that off because I thought we weren't going to be like that.
We were just seven unpopular kids with a hilarious group chat. We did so much together. Now, there's two of us left.
I miss them.
"That my friend..."
That my friend could not be trusted.
It should not have taken 11 years to accept that.
If everyone around you doesn't like somebody that you're close to, and has good reason for their distrust, take their word for it and really, REALLY rethink if the way they treat you is truly better than just being alone.
"I was in my mid-20s..."
I was in my mid-20s when I discovered that narwhals were actual animals and not made up like unicorns.
"That kids..."
That kids pick their nose and ate boogers. I always thought it was just a mean rumor kids spread about other kids. Then when I was 17 or 18 my best friend casually mentioned that she did it as a kid. Mind. Blown.
"Hit and Run"
I thought one of my good friends killed two people in a hit and run.
We knew he was a crazy aggressive driver. He lived a block from where the accident occurred. We knew he would've been coming home on that street at around that time. The witness description matched his vehicle.
And he suddenly disappeared to Mexico two days after it happened. When he came back, he didn't have his vehicle.
We knew somebody in our group must have tipped off the police, because when he came back a couple weeks later, he told us all about how he was questioned upon his return from Mexico. He said he went to go see his ailing grandpa, and they decided to stay a couple extra weeks so his mom could make plans for a lengthy visitation over the Summer. He left his vehicle there so his mom could drive around in a safer, less Lexus-shaped car.
They didn't have enough evidence to arrest him, his story checked out, and they let him go without incident.
For years we thought he had gotten away with vehicular manslaughter. It was kind of the "dark secret" between us that we didn't bring up openly. We were all pretty certain he was guilty, and the police completely failed in thoroughly investigating him, probably because he came from an affluent family of lawyers.
Turns out we were wrong. About 10 years after the fatal hit and run, some random old guy who lived 20 miles away was arrested for DUI hit and run. His vehicle matched the description of another recent hit and run. They did some digging to see just how many hit and runs this guy had, and they found evidence that would've put him at the one we thought our friend did. He plead guilty, and last I checked, faced 20+ years.
So I'm conflicted. Do I owe my friend an apology for simply thinking he was guilty, and expressing that thought to other people who already felt the same way? Or do I just forego the apology, recognize I never brought it up to his face, and leave behind a chapter I'm sure he'd like to leave behind as well?
'On purpose'
That adults put their tongues in each other's mouths on purpose and that they like it. Legit thought the other girls in kindergarten were lying and it made me nauseous. Later, I realized the appeal..... much much later.
People eat cactus
I hear Cactus juice is very thirst-quenching.
Drink cactus juice, it'll quench ya! Nothings quenchier! It's the quenchiest!
Unicorn is the national animal of Scotland.
Scotland is now my favorite country
Probably a little late for anyone to see this, but it's not that odd really. The unicorn was picked in the 12th century because it was believed to fight the lion, which was England's symbol. Nobody in Scotland had seen a unicorn, sure, but nobody in England had seen a lion either. The unicorn was about as reasonable to believe in for Scots as the lion was for English, and appears in bestiaries well through the Renaissance.
"Running Out'
That the world is running out of beach sand. Erosion is stripping all the sand from the shores into the ocean, and desert sand is too fine to replace it. It's so bad that many countries have a sand black market.
Edit: Black Market is of River and Beach sand to build artificial land and replenish beach sand.oyal
'Made up"
I was in my mid-20s when I discovered that narwhals were actual animals and not made up like unicorns.
Of course, most of the time, it was “just a phase". And looking back, those phases are regrettable, to say the least. Here are some prime examples of that.
SirGergoyFriendman asked:
What was your biggest/most regrettable "It's not a phase, mom. It's my life." that, in fact, turned out to be just a phase and not your life?
The enthusiasm of a young person can lead to some unexpected changes that parents are just not ready for.
Hi, Wheeljack!
I was VERY into The Transformers when I was a wee lad in the 1980s. One day, I decided to change my name to the name of my favorite Autobot. My name was lame, and I wanted an awesome Transformer name. And I was VERY insistent that my parents only call me by my new name. Calling me by my 'old' name would cause a big fat tantrum on my part.
So for the better part of a week, my poor parents had to call me Wheeljack.
Very 2008.
Ariana Grande Shrug GIFGiphyMy cat-ear phase. I wore cat ears every single day. Everywhere. I had like 20 pairs of them. Now everyone thinks I'm a furry.
I find that very cute and wouldn't have thought you'd be furry. Even if you'd had cat mittens. I think my suspicions would have started if you moved a bit like a cat, displayed catlike grooming habits or got a cat mask.
Not gonna lie, that car sounds cool.
I went to a car show once as a teen, and the only newer car there was some chick's PT cruiser. It was hot glittery pink, and at the time I was obsessed. I insisted that one day I would have a hot pink car, with pink seats, pink dash, pink carpets, etc. I was pretty heavily goth at the time, so my parents just rolled their eyes.
These phases can often lead to some very strange fashion choices.
That’s commitment.
When I was a teenager (early 00s), I was waiting for my mother to pick me up and was wearing one of those sh!tty sports wristwatches. It was itching me so I took it off for a second, but then she arrived and because I was struggling to get it back on my wrist, I looped it around the equally sh!tty chain I had around my neck in a rush to get out the door.
My mom asked me about it in the car, and I told her this was my new style and I planned to wear it like that every day. She rolled her eyes.
I wore that watch on a chain around my neck every single day for 3 years or so. There are even professional family photos where I'm wearing it because I refused to take it off.
One day, the chain broke and I lost the watch. I was in high school at that point anyway and it was a major lady repellent, so... phase over.
Not everyone can be Eminem.
slim shady eminem GIFGiphyBaggy pants, being a rapper someday and being a professional skater.
When I was about 14 and Eminem was starting to blow up I bought myself a keyboard with a synthesizer. It cost like $200 which was all the money I had saved up. It finally came (this was way before amazon prime and such) and I tried rapping.
My sister told me "you're effing horrible" and I gave up right then and there.
This should be a sin.
I used to button the top buttons of polo shirts.
I must say, this is probably the worst one I've read.
Looking back at our regrettable choices, all we can do is cringe.
An optimistic look at bad tattoos.
check me out season 3 GIF by PortlandiaGiphyBeing a tattooer. Regrettable because of those poor people who have my awful doodles on their bodies.
Take heart! My favorite tattoo is the one I drunkenly got my buddy to do in his living room one year during March Madness! It's dumb and frankly mediocre? But such a good story and has such good associations I smile every time I see it.
RIP Fredro’s.
My friend and I decided we were going to open a bar in Jamaica with exotic snakes in glass cages in the walls at each booth. We convinced ourselves it would be amazing for at least two years in college. It was going to be called Fredro's.
My entire family made fun of me for it. Once we got out of college, we realized it was not feasible and joined the office grind. We're also two white guys with no ties to Jamaica.
Talk about cringey.
I wore a top hat with an anime pin on it for around a year. Met one of my current best friends while wearing it, idk how he could bear to speak to me after that.
My weirdest phase was probably when I insisted on wearing knee-high rainbow socks to school every day. But honestly, I don't regret it. I rocked those socks, and I wish I still have a pair.
To all the people out there cringing over their past selves, remember that you were just a kid, and to be easy on yourselves. After all, we've all been there
Yet, too often, manufacturers who oversell their products fail to deliver what is promised and are inevitably left with angry customers who want their money back.
Whether the merchandise was defective or ridiculously overpriced, strangers online shared some of their worst purchases when Redditor BooksMcGee asked:
"What is the worst product you ever paid money for?"
Short Life Span
"This NERF gun that's supposed to shoot tennis balls for your dog. I bought it cause I thought you could load 3 at a time and shoot them far, but it's just one and it's super loud and the gun broke after like 4 shots (reading reviews later, this was a common issue)."
Lame Pets
"There were these toys called squiggles when I was a kid and the commercials made it seem like the toy was alive. It looked like you would get this crazy little fuzzy worms as pets that would follow you around an so sick tricks and listen to your every command. It was really just a piece of fluffy string tied to another piece of string with googly eyes on it. People may say that it was supposed to be a magic trick but they should also explain that to a 5 year old who really wanted a pet."
Card Value
"Not their fault, but I paid $70 for a Yugioh card hours before it was limited to one copy. Probably dropped to $20 by the end of the day."
These purchases were bad for your bum.
"A bicycle that literally fell apart before I made it out of the parking lot."
Not Worth Sitting On
"Joybird brand couch. Was so terrible, we returned it. Still hard to believe, we returned a freaking couch."
Going Nowhere Fast
"A 2000 VW Beetle (used)."
"Biggest piece of sh*t that literally had to have just about everything replaced before 100k miles and would still break down every time you left the driveway to the point where the tow-truck driver knew us on a first-name basis."
Expensive Lemon
"An Oldsmobile Achieva from one of those buy here pay here places. I should have known better, but I was young and thought I was getting a good deal. I had the thing for about 5 months, I drove it for maybe 3 weeks. The rest of the time it was either in the shop, or in my driveway waiting until pay day so I could afford to fix whatever broke on it this week. Eventually told the dealer just take it, I'm not paying for it any more. He said nope, and I will make sure your credit is ruined. I said well you sold me a lemon, do you really want to go this route? He came and took it. Never reported anything to credit. I heard he got sued by several other people who sold sh**ty cars too and eventually went out of business."
"Always amazes me when I see them driving around still, I can only assume there's enthusiasts who just love repairing horribly designed cars."
– zerbey
These Redditors were not convinced what they ingested was edible.
Bad Cereal
"A box of plain Cheerios. Thought they were honey nut, poured a bowl, was very disappointed."
"If I wanted to taste cardboard, I'd just eat the box."
– gor8884
Space Pizza
"A burnt frozen pizza at the air and space museum cafe in DC. I Don't wish that experience on anyone. There are some amazing restaurants in DC, don't settle."
– Alseids
The following electronics just gave off a bad charge.
"Asus Transformer Pad TF700"
"This was one of those early 'high end' Android tablets that was grossly underpowered, and it showed. Thing was slow as sh!t in no time flat. Rookie mistake investing into shiny new tech while they were still working all the bugs out. Think I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $350-400 for it..."
– Luke5119
Bad Apple
"macbook pro 2018 13" touchbar. 2 years old and dead (battery). they're asking $300-$400 to change the battery. malfunctioning keyboard with double presses and missing presses. that's a lot of money for bad design."
Chilly Reception
"Past winter my old room heater broke down and I had to buy a new one. Went to a store nearby and somehow got convinced to buy a very costly heating device.. It's also my fault, since there were some sligthly cheaper options around, but nope. I wanted the expensive one thinking it will make my small room a volcano with little to no effort/cost (that's also what the seller told me). Long story short the device wasn't doing ANYTHING. No significant temperature changes, too much space, a weird noise, and was doubling my previous device in utility cost. I still gloom over those 80 euros.."
Some of my disappointing purchases was clothing, but only because I purchased them online. Unless they are a brand I'm familiar with, I'm usually fine with buying new jeans off of their websites.
But when it comes to graphic tees only available on specialty shops, an M-size shirt is not necessarily the same size as those found in other reputable stores.
I bought a medium sized T-shirt from a boutique store online because I loved the look of the design. But when it arrived, the supposed medium fit me like an XL.
At least I gained a fierce cleaning rag from this impulsive purchase.