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People Share The Best Unconventional Wisdom Their Parents Passed Down To Them

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Our parents are often teaching us valuable lessons, whether we know it or not. Believe it or not, the best lessons might not always be the most obvious.

After Redditor IridescentBrushstroke asked the online community, "What is an unconventional way your parents taught you a life lesson as a kid, which makes you think to yourself "woah that was good parenting" now that you´re older?"people had plenty to share.

Read on –– you might come away having learned something absolutely essential.

"It seemed unconventional..."

Told me from young adolescence that no matter the situation, if I was drunk or high or whatever, if I was ever in trouble I could call my dad and he would come pick me up no questions asked. It seemed unconventional compared to my friends with strict parents who went buck wild when they weren't under their supervision, but it taught me to stay safe and smart, and I ended up being a pretty good and stable kid who knew I could go to my parents if I needed them.

thewrongrecroom

"When I was three..."

When I was three I always kicked my shoes off in the car seat. Mom would have to put them on again at every destination.

One time we came home and there was snow in the ground. I had kicked my shoes off again and my mom just about had it. My dad came to the car and said "Ok, get out and go inside."

"But Daddy it's cold..."

"I know."

Never kicked my shoes off again.

theoptionexplicit

"When I asked a question..."

When I asked a question she didn't know the answer to, my mother would go out of the way to find an answer or find someone who knew. This humanized her and allowed me to understand that you don't have to be an expert on everything but you should always know where to look for answers.

Fuzzy_Nothing

"My parents divorced..."

My parents divorced when I was a baby and pretty much ignored me my whole life. But my mother would punish me by making me read this huge history book (Roman Empire through WW2) and my dad would make me clean and polish his tools.

By the time I was a teenager I was pretty well read and handy around the house.

VyrPlan

"I stole a pack of candy..."

I stole a pack of candy when I was about five. My mom busted me in the parking lot, marched me back inside, got the manager and walked me to the person who had checked out our groceries. She made me apologize for stealing and promise to never do it again while I was full on hysterically crying. It was mortifying. When other teenage girls were shoplifting later- I remembered that moment and was like NOPE.

Cephalopodium

"The irony of the lesson..."

My dad would make me sign single season "contracts" for my little league teams, basically guaranteeing that I would remain on the team until the season was over. My dad was not a sports dad, and really didn't care whether I played sports or not, he just wanted to make sure that if I committed to something, I would see it through to the end, and not abandon my team mid-season just because I didn't like it or was getting bored (which I was prone to do as a kid).


To this day, I try to be very practical about my commitments, and I don't sign on for anything unless I know it's something I can fully commit to. Anything from work projects, after-school clubs (I'm a teacher), coaching, being a groomsmen in a wedding, I consider how committed I can be. The irony of the lesson is that I think I end up saying "no" a lot more than most people, because when I sign on, I'm committed to the end.

skatecarter

"They got me to try..."

They got me to try a bunch of food that I wouldn't be comfortable with at a young age.

I remember the day that my Mum told me "special fish cakes" were actually calamari and I had been eating squid rings, but I realized it was damn tasty and it opened my mind a little.

iHybridPanda

"I feel like..."

I feel like it will give context to give a little backstory on myself. I grew up very fortunate in a middle class family. I never wanted for anything.

But when my parents gave me something and I did not say thank you, they took it away. When I was younger, I was always so upset by this. But to this day, I am not reserved when it comes to saying thank you. I find it very important to express gratitude to others, and I am so thankful that my parents taught me that.

LawsofWonderland

"I learned that exercise..."

I learned that exercise can be fun if you find a fun way to do it. For example, I enjoy visiting new places and trying the food there. So when I was a child my father and I would go on bike riding trips so I could try new food and see new places. Now as an adult I know how to ski, ride a bicycle, hike, canoe, kayak, ride a horse, run (sprint and long-distance), play soccer, football, baseball, ice skate, tennis, golf and several types of dance (Irish step dance, formal dancing, and DIY dancing). Incorporating my curious child mind with physical activity.

SilentStrategist

"My mother let me..."

My mother let me take a drag of her cigarette when I was about four. I would constantly pester her to let me smoke because I wanted to be just like her. I vomited. But I'm nearly 23 and have never touched tobacco since!

ajfirnfh

"If you accidentally..."

If you accidentally stab or cut yourself, the sharper the knife the easier the wound is to heal.

bathtub_eater

"When I was younger..."

When i was younger, i would always do math homework with my dad. Of course i would make mistakes and my dad always screamed at me and "bullied" me. We would do this until 6th grade. By then i was so used to my dad's treatment that i did not even flinch or argue and just concentrate on what was in front of me. Then a few years ago he told me that he treated me like that so i could face people with that kind of atitude and still be able to be the one rational and calm. And, well that worked very nicely as i would be bullied in school and the bullies would just give up as i did not even care to aknowledge them. This is a very good skill when "reality" hits you.

This man..... he knows what's up...

mateipc

"We were taught to be satisfied..."

We were taught to be satisfied and happy about what we had. Fussing was never acceptable to both my parents. Eat what is served, two new party dresses per year, pocket money just enough to meet hunger pangs. Me and my siblings learned that what we had was enough to have a satisfactory life. I follow it with my kids, though not all the times but no fussing and no binge buying,

I am grateful to my parents for teaching us that I can plan my finances and family requirements better.

mommysmagazineindia

"30 minutes later..."

Whenever my parents would get off at the beach or park, they'd show some easy-to-remember landmark to us and always tell us that in case we got lost, this is where baba and mama will come looking for you.

I thought it was kind of dumb since I never thought I'd get separated from them.

Alas, I did get lost once while riding my bike in a huge park and simply couldn't figure out my way back to our picnic spot. I started crying an ocean and all I could tell the staff through my sobs was that I wanted to go to the red ice cream stall with the number 7 on it.

30 minutes later, I was being snuggled in my Dad's arms.

chaoslyric

"Not sure if I can say..."

Not sure if I can say that this can be considered good parenting or not. My Dad always drove us to school. One day when I was in high school, he stops midway and cried so hard like he has a mental breakdown. He mentioned something about my mom always looks down on him. I was young and never ask him about the reason. But this teaches me so well that every human being needs compassion and warmth.

pantawatz

"Keeps me..."

If you get caught breaking the law your mother will bring you lunch at the police cell and you'll reimburse me for the lawyer... But no one is bailing you out.

Keeps me on the straight and narrow to this day

tookatuktuktoo

"I never let a pillow..."

When I was a kid I was hanging a pillow out the window on a car ride (why? I idk, it seemed fun). My mom said, "Don't hang that pillow out the window."

I eventually dropped the pillow and she yelled, "That pillow was filled with money! No we can't go back to get it!"

I never let a pillow hang out a car window after that.

smearing

"Later, I realized..."

Growing up, if I or any of my siblings were crying/yelling/having a tantrum my mom wouldn't say a word - she'd sit back, watch (not in a judging way, more empathetic), and when you slowed down she'd calmly ask "are you done yet?". If you said no or started up again she's say "ok, I'll wait", and she would, very patiently.

We were never punished for tantrums or other outbursts, but eventually you had to be done and then she'd insist on talking about whatever you were upset about. I honestly found the process extremely annoying at the time. I thought she was just trying to get us to stop by 'winning' the first part by outlasting me then 'discourage' future outbursts by boring me insisting on all the talk afterwards.

Later, I realized it taught me more than I thought. It was always okay that I had those strong feelings, and it's okay to be upset, but taking those feelings out on others isn't useful or fair and other people aren't responsible for managing my feelings. I get to have and process all of them, and they're valid, but I need to then be able to talk about the underlying source in a constructive and fair way. Also, if it's someone else raging or demanding I take responsibility for their feelings I don't have to soothe them or accept responsibility - I'm not going to invalidate their feelings or stifle someone else's experience but they need to take ownership of it themselves and then we can talk about and manage the underlying cause together.

CorvusPunk

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College Professors Share Their Funniest 'I Don't Know How You Made It Out Of High School' Experiences

Image by Foundry Co from Pixabay

Now that college has become a standard requirement for so many jobs and careers, there is a massive push by high schools to get their graduating students accepted and enrolled at an undergraduate college.

On the whole, that's undoubtedly a great thing. A more educated workforce will be prepared to solve the most complex issues facing human beings in the next several decades.

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college

911 Operators Describe The Most Unnerving Calls They've Ever Received

Image by Gianni Crestani from Pixabay

*The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.

The person on the other end of a 911 call has a truly remarkable job.

For those who don't play that professional role, we hope to never encounter the 911 call interaction. But if we do find ourselves making that call, the moment is an anomaly in our lives.

The chaos, the panic, the racing heart, and the desperation are all emotions we, ideally, don't experience on a regular basis.

But for the operator on the other end, our call is one in a long line of calls they've received all day, and all the workdays before that one.

It's difficult to imagine being embedded in those uniquely urgent, emergency moments all the time.

Some Redditors who are on the other end of that call shared their experiences on the job.

WhimsicalxxButcher asked, "911 dispatchers what has been your most creepy/unnerving call?"

For a few, the most unnerving moments were the calm callers.

There was something just so eerie about how level-headed the faceless human being on the other end could be through such a desperate, tragic moment.

Almost Clinical 

"I had a friend who worked as a 911 dispatcher and he always said the worst call he ever had was a ~20 year old kid who committed suicide by mixing a bunch of chemicals together in his car to produce hydrogen sulfide gas."

"He said that the most unnerving part was hearing him calmly listing off the chemicals, the type of gas produced, and the effects of hydrogen sulfide on the body (namely the almost instant death it causes at high concentrations)."

"He ended the call by providing the address of the parking lot he was in and saying that nobody should approach the vehicle without hazmat equipment."

"Apparently after that there was a whooshing sound as he dumped the last chemical into the mix, and then the line went dead silent aside for a quiet fizzing noise."

"I know that call screwed him up because he almost never talks about stuff that happens to him on the job. He quit a few months later to go into construction management, and frankly I can't blame him."

-- iunoyou

Planned Out 

"A woman called me, saying she was going to kill herself. She was gassing herself. Gave me her name & address then said she was just going to lie down and 'go to sleep.' And stopped responding to me."

"I kept the line open, trying to get her to speak to me, and eventually heard officers forcing their way in to find her body. I guess she just wanted someone to find her body."

-- mozgw4

Before It Set In 

"When I got a call from a 6 year old who got home from school and laid down to take a nap with his dad. His dad never woke up."

"The kid was so calm when calling it broke my heart."

"I ended up leaving dispatch shortly after. I was good at compartmentalizing the job for the year I was doing it, but it would've broken me in the long run."

-- tasha7712

Other 911 operators were unfortunate enough to receive a call from the very last person they wanted to hear from: a loved one.

These dispatchers' unique position gave them the unexpected access to a family member or friend at their most dire moments.

No More of That 

"My family member is a long time first responder, and 'retired' into doing dispatch. He heard the address (someone else was taking the call) and realized it was his daughter's house."

"He rushed over there just in time to see them wheeling her body out. Overdose."

"Five months later, he was called to his ex-wife's place because his grandson (son of the daughter who recently passed) had his door locked, lights on, but wasn't responding to his grandma."

"He broke the door down and found him deceased in bed. Overdose."

"He's very stoic after years of all sorts of traumatic situations but my heart hurts whenever I think of what all of this must have felt like. Like sand through your fingers."

-- bitchyhouseplant

Knowing the Address

"Not me, but my grandma. I was sitting in the dispatch office, (very small one only 2 dispatchers including my grandma) but she put out a dispatch that there was a gun shot from my best friends address."

"My heart sank to my stomach and broke later that day. He committed suicide."

-- OntaiSenpuu

When it Happened 

"My uncle passing away. Worked as a small town dispatcher for a year or so. Had a bunch of messed up stuff happen on shift, but this call came in in the still hours of the night. Small town, so not many calls after midnight."

"I answered and recognized the name and address on caller id. Aunt was in a frenzy so didn't recognize my voice. I remained calm and got ems and fire rolling to them, but by my aunt's own words he was already blue."

"I went thru debriefing and mandated therapy for a couple other things that happened, but never really talked to anyone about this. I just try not to think about it."

"That was the call I figured out I needed to find a different job."

-- dangitjon

Finally, some simply had a front row seat to sudden tragedy.

These operators were flies on the wall when disaster struck. They never asked to witness what they witnessed, but sometimes that came with the territory.

A Holiday Tragedy 

"My mom is a 911 dispatcher. Early on she said one Christmas Eve while working she got a call from an elderly lady who's husband had just collapsed(and died) from a heart attack and in the background Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas music was playing on blast."

"The lady was screaming and crying and begging for her husband to wake up but my mom could hear his gurgling in his last breathes. She doesn't listen to or watch Alvin and the chipmunks since."

-- Blueflowerbluehair

What is it About Christmas?

"Christmas night. 911 call with crying child on the other end. A neighbor had run her car over her mom during a domestic."

"The mom crawled to the porch bleeding and the child saw the car coming back. I had her hide quietly in a closet with the cordless phone."

"The 10 year old child was crying and screamed that she hated Christmas. She was afraid of the police when they got there."

"I kept her on the phone until she felt safe enough to give the phone to an officer. I almost fainted after that call was over. Had nightmares for a while."

-- 2FunBoofer

Close to Home 

"Not a dispatcher but I handle radio communications for the Coast Guard. One night I was on the radio and got a call from an 11 year old kid whose boat had started to sink. He was out with his dad and 6 year old brother."

"They had been hit by another boat and his father got knocked unconscious. I remember the entire conversation up until the radio had gone underwater."

"They ended up finding his dad floating on his back alive but the two boys didn't make it. That one really fu**ed with me because my two littlest brothers were around the same age as the youngest."

-- HIRSH2243

A Horrible Clock 

"Another one that stays with me was the man who called in. It was the anniversary of his adult son having hanged himself. He'd now come home to find his wife had done the same."

"That date is always going to be a black day for him."

-- mozgw4


If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

Again, we hope you never have to use the 911 call in your life. Nobody wants to be involved in a sudden emergency or a tragic incident.

But hopefully, if you do, an operator like one of these thoughtful, sensitive Redditors is on the other end.

emergency

Former 'Gifted' Students Explain Where They Ended Up In Life

Image by Nguyen Dinh Lich from Pixabay

When I was moving on from middle school to high school my parents had me tested for the "gifted" program. By some miracle I passed and was accepted. And then I turned it down. Everyone was irritated. "This will pave the way for any college you want! You'll learn so much!" his path will set you up for life!" Every adult tried valiantly to sell me this merchandise but in my gut I just wasn't buying it. So I "settled" a level below, merely advanced classes. And upon reflection... it was the best choice I ever made.

Redditor u/dauntlessdaisy was wondering how far some in life got by asking... For those of you who were considered "gifted" in school, what are you doing with your life now?
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former gifted students

People Explain Which Things Should Always Be Kept In A Car In Case Of Emergency

Image by Markus Spiske from Pixabay

There's a million things that can happen to you while out on on the road.

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