
People Share The Strangest Things That Have Happen To Them That Remain Unexplained
[rebelmouse-image 18357271 is_animated_gif=When you think of "the unexplained" you probably imagine some strange supernatural major event like ghosts or an alien abduction or something. The unexplained doesn't have to be quite THAT fantastical, though. Some of us have had tons of mundane moments we couldn't explain throughout our lives. One Reddit user asked:
What strange thing have you witnessed/experienced that you cannot explain?
The responses were pretty interesting! It was really fun to see the sorts of things that stick with people. Some are a bit scary, some kind of funny, all remain unexplained so far.
Red Curls
[rebelmouse-image 18357272 is_animated_gif=My GF was telling me about working with her new coworker (said nothing about her appearance) and all of a sudden I got a flash of intuition and it was as if I had seen her coworker in my mind's eye.
I interrupted her and asked "does she have curly red hair?" and it turned out she did!
It's pretty minor and it could mean nothing but it was just a powerful flash of insight that has always stuck with me, especially for being such a completely useless piece of information for me.
Drop In Temperature
[rebelmouse-image 18357273 is_animated_gif=I was sitting in my college dorm room once when the temperature suddenly started dropping like crazy. I turned the heat up as high as it would go but it just kept getting colder. I took out my winter clothes and started putting them on. This was like in late September/early October in New York so it wasn't cold outside at all.
I was just about to go ask for maintenance when my roommate got back from hockey practice and asked why there were so many police cars and ambulances outside. I had no idea. Later that night, we were informed a girl who lived in the dorms had died. Everyone who I've told about this says that I felt her death. I was in that same room for 3 years and that was the only time I ever had problems with the temperature.
Extra Street Lights
[rebelmouse-image 18357274 is_animated_gif=One time, as I was driving home from work, I turned onto the street where I live on and noticed what seemed to be more street lights than I remember being there.
I didn't think much of it at all at first, but something in me made me do a double take. I notice that the three "additional streetlights" are not street lights at all, but lights lined up perfectly in the sky in the distance.
Literally, as soon as I notice this, the lights in the sky beginning moving slowly and getting closer together. Eventually, they were close enough and formed a triangle.
Mind you, at this point I have managed to park my car in my driveway and I'm standing there staring at them. My parents, who are fairly religious, tend not to believe in aliens, UFO's or anything of the sort, so I decided to run inside and get them so they can see this for themselves.
We go back outside, the lights are still hovering, moving slowing in a triangle. No sound is being made by them. They do this for a few more seconds and all of a sudden, one of them speeds off super quickly. When I say quick, I mean quick.
The remaining two continue moving slowly in the sky for a few more seconds then they literally just vanish. Poof, the lights were just gone.
I'm not saying it was aliens, but yeah, those really were unidentified flying objects. To this day, we have no idea what they might possibly be.
Driving Off Into The Woods
[rebelmouse-image 18357275 is_animated_gif=A few years ago me and a bunch of friends were on a cabin trip at my friend's parents' cabin. It was in the middle of nowhere and it was late, so the road was pitch black. We were split up into two cars, and I was driving behind the person who knew where we were going.
At some point, my friend just starts speeding up, annoying fast. I start bitching that I'm barely able to keep up. Suddenly, she takes a sharp turn down into a wooded area with only a vague trail. I try to follow, but I'm desperately trying to avoid the massive potholes in my tiny-not-fit-for-off-roading car. Meanwhile, the car in front of me is gliding down the path seemingly no problem. I flash my lights for them to slow down, but nothing. I'm pissed at this point, and am cursing my friend's name while my passengers sit in silent terror.
We finally make it down to a real road, but my friend's car is nowhere to be seen. It was like it vanished out of thin air. Again, the area is pitch black, so if there was any source light we would be able to see it.
We're lost as hell and try to call, but we don't have a cell signal. We drive for about 10 minutes before we reach them, find them, and are finally guided to the cabin.
I mention to my friend about how annoyed I am that she took a dangerous off road path without warning us and then just disappeared. She then gets a really weird look on her face and says, "What are you talking about? You guys were right behind me and then suddenly you just turned off into the woods. We had no idea where you went, we were really worried." Apparently, she had been on the road the whole time.
No one knows who the truck was, where they came from, or where they went. Everyone in both cars never saw a car pull out between us or saw us get broken up. The three people in my car a confident that the truck we saw lead us down the woods was my friend's car. Everyone else in the other car assured us they were on the road the whole time.
To this day, none of us know where that car came from or how they snuck in between two cars without 6 people realizing it.
The Mud Dream
[rebelmouse-image 18357276 is_animated_gif=I had a dream when I was a teenager.
We lived on the hillside overlooking the city. I was standing on our terrace just watching the world die. Water covered most of the city. What wasn't drowned was burning, pillars of smoke covered the horizon. But oddly enough it was serene. You couldn't hear screaming or choas, just tinders snapping like a campfire along the shore. It smelled like the sea too.
Then I looked to my right, and there was my dad. To his right, was my paternal grandmother. They both just smiled a sad smile which made me realize that I couldn't move. We were stuck standing in mud.
I woke up after that.
After breakfast, I didn't say anything until my dad and I were the only ones left at the table. I asked him if he had a dream last night. He described the exact same thing and he said he saw me too.
Later on that day, my dad, who had checked in with my grandmother, said that she had the exact same dream.
Ghost Legos
[rebelmouse-image 18357277 is_animated_gif=Ghost legos.
I was a kid playing with legos and noticed a few were in the bucket that didn't look like mine/ the plastic was faded/ older/ definitely of a different generation. I would build spaceships all day then when I went to bed and woke up there'd be holes in the spaceships where the old bricks would be. Being a seven year old my biggest concern was all the air getting out and my crew suffocating before they went to battle so I'd quickly pull them apart and put new bricks in where the old ones were but now that I think about it that always stuck with me as odd.
Silent Triangle
[rebelmouse-image 18357278 is_animated_gif=I lived in Roswell, NM for years. I'm not the only person who saw this, my (now ex) husband, a friend of ours, and other people who were outside at the time saw this (the first time).
I do NOT think it was a UFO (and you damn well know what I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Pedantic). I think it was military. After all, there are many air force bases in NM.
So it's around 10 or 11 pm, and we're outside at a bar. Not drunk, in fact my husband and our friend hadn't had anything but soda. I think I'd had one margarita at this point.
There is a black, triangular object moving across the sky overhead. No lights. No sound. It looked huge, but of course, the size of objects in the sky can be deceiving. The only reason we could see it, was because it blocked out the stars. We're all just like... wtf.
It flies off, we go inside, and are like... yep, that just happened. We file that in our mental "weird s*** in the sky" bin. (I've seen other things too, but my memory isn't as clear on them as it's been many, many years now, but I can write that in a separate reply maybe.)
A few years later, my husband is outside our house, watering the lawn. It's around 9/10 pm. He yells at me to come outside. The same object is in the sky again. We just stared. Neither of us had a smartphone yet, heck I'm not even sure we owned a digital camera at the time.
If other patrons at the bar hadn't seen whatever that was, I'd have been like "yeah, right." And then for us to see it twice? The lack of sound is really the part that gets me. No sound before, during, or after it passed overhead.
The Dog Knew
[rebelmouse-image 18357279 is_animated_gif=A few years ago, shortly after adopting my dog, my then gf and I were getting ready to go out for food (or whatever it was). Right as we are getting ready to go out the door our dog starts FREAKING out.
He's losing his mind whining, jumping at us, biting at our arms, and trying to pull us to the living room. We take a few extra seconds, calm him down, say goodbye and head out - we had a train to catch. Took all of 30-60 seconds.
As we were approaching the bus stop, about 30 seconds away from the stop, a BMW comes barreling around the corner and jumps the curb exactly where we would have been standing. Had we left when we originally wanted we would have been standing there, we never would have seen it coming.
To this day I'm convinced my dog knew, and he delayed us for that reason. He's never had an outburst like that since.
"If You Believe In That"
[rebelmouse-image 18357280 is_animated_gif=Me and my dad both witnessed a white figure fly across our backyard in 1999. It didn't have arms or legs or a face, it was basically like a sheet and it flew across the yard at superhuman speed. When we saw it we both looked at each other and tried to make sense of it. We still talk about it today. I don't believe in ghosts, but I can't explain what this was. Looked like a ghost if you believe in that.
Caught By An Angel
[rebelmouse-image 18357281 is_animated_gif=Believe it or not, a LOT of people had this experience, so here are a few stories:
Once, as a teenager, I tripped at the top of the stairs. I was worried because I knew landing would hurt and because my pup was at the bottom and I was headed right for her. Anyhow, when I landed, it was like I fell on top of an air bubble. I didn't even touch my pup and she remained sleeping. No idea how neither of us were hurt.
I sincerely almost dropped a newborn on her head, but it felt like something lifted her back into my arms. It was such a close call I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it.
Once fell head first down my basement steps from the top towards concrete floor. The thought that went through my head was: "wow. I really let my parents down. This is such a stupid way to die." Then, all of the sudden, someone catches my arms while I'm falling and flips me feet first. I'm still here.
My friend's 3 year old son fell out of a high open window on the 2nd floor of her house straight onto the concrete driveway. (about 12-14 feet high) She had no idea until he knocked on the front door. He had a couple scraped knees but no other injuries. We were baffled, but realized the only way he got outside was by actually falling out of that window, which was open and had a large ripped screen. I was at her house and we were totally freaked out but he was completely fine. Our families went to religious Christmas program that winter, which was about 8 months after the incident and there had been no talk of his accident in months. An actor playing an angel was on stage and my friends son tugged on her arm and very loudly said, "Mommy, mommy, that looks like who caught me when I fell out of the window".
Police And Fire Department
[rebelmouse-image 18357282 is_animated_gif=I'm a police officer. One night we get a call about some banging noises in the wall of the bathroom in an apartment building. The banging has been going on for a few hours and it's reported to sound like someone banging on the other side of the wall. The people who live in this unit are a husband and wife and their young son, maybe 10 years old or so.
A couple of us attend this call and when we get there, we hear the banging. Its not continuous, but it happens in 4 or 5s, every few minutes or so. It sounded like how it was reported, like someone banging their fist against the wall. It's extremely loud and forceful; I can't remember for sure, but I think it made the mirror in the bathroom fall off. It was definitely making the items on the bathroom shelf shake.
We go out and knock on the door of the apartment next door, next to where the bathroom would be. Dude answers and lets us in. Can hear the banging still, but not nearly as loud. It's clearly nobody in that unit banging on the wall.
We can't figure it out. We entertained thoughts of an animal or something being stuck in the wall, but then how did it get there? Plus the forcefulness of the banging didn't add up to an animal. A person stuck in the wall? Nope. We call the fire department.
By this time, mostly everybody on the whole floor is out in the hall, seeing what the hell is going on. Of course everyone is joking that it's a ghost. The people who live in the unit say they've heard the banging before, but not to this extent. It's never gone on as long or been as loud or forceful.
As a joke, someone shouts out "if you want us to leave, knock 3 times!" Right away, there are 3 sharp bangs. Not even joking. Everybody is freaked out by this point.
I'm walking around the unit, just seeing if anything else is out of the ordinary. I see a laundry basket on the bed of one of the bedrooms, which shares a wall with the bath. A few of the bangs are so forceful, they made the basket on the bed shake.
The kid says the banging is more frequent when he is near the bathroom.
So the firemen arrive. They think it's a big joke, but when they hear the banging and it can't be explained, they are puzzled as well. I can't remember why, but it was determined that the sound wasn't originating from the pipes or anything else in the wall. The firemen decide to cut a small hole in the wall.
Honestly, I don't even want to be there for when they do that. I've never believed in ghosts or demons or anything or that sort, but I was actually scared about what may be in the wall.
So they cut a small hole in the wall. What do they find? Absolutely nothing. Nothing is in there. It's hollow. They shined a light in there and tried to shove their phone in there to take photos, but nothing was seen. The only weird thing was that when they used a heat sensor, one part of the wall was hotter than the rest.
The banging basically died down at this point. We told the occupants to call us if it started up again, but it never did, or at least they never called us again.
On a follow-up a few days later, they said they called a medium or someone of that sort and while they were doing their thing, the banging happened again, very intensely, but just for a few minutes.
Last I heard the occupants moved out and we haven't heard anything since.
I have no good explanation for this and neither does anyone else. Maybe it's not ghosts, I don't know, but I'm of the opinion it's something supernatural and this is what made me a believer.
Rod Through The Head
[rebelmouse-image 18357283 is_animated_gif=Like other people I occasionally have very prophetic dreams. They always are about something tragic but I'll describe my most vivid one.
About 5 years ago I had a dream I was in a horrible 3 car accident with my then-gf and my younger brother. The car was totaled, there was smoke, my gf and my brother went to the hospital and I thought I died because I was pierced through the head with some sort of rod.
Fast forward 2 years later, and my brother and I get a ride from girlfriend to go to a graduation party for a mutual friend. Gf pulls out into an intersection. I immediately recognize everything from the dream and I flinch to the left. Everything goes black for me for a few seconds after that, but when I regain consciousness I look around and see the exact same scene as in my dream except I lived. The car we were in was totaled. There was smoke from the other two cars involved and a rod that went through the windshield about 6 inches to the right of my head.
It was the most intense moment of my life. Since then I have always kept track of my dreams and paid very close attention to them.
The Dolphin Show
[rebelmouse-image 18357284 is_animated_gif=On a boat, trolling for yellowtail amidst a school of dolphin about 4 miles off San Diego (dolphin are too smart to take lures, aren't shy near small boats, and feed on the same bait schools as yellowtail and tuna, so it's strategic to follow them). As if cued, all ~50-75 dolphins simultaneously stopped jumping and disappeared into the depths for about 30 seconds. Immediate, unnerving quiet. With great fanfare, they all suddenly burst out of the water in a near-perfect row about a football field wide, and for a while, synchronized jumps ahead of our boat. Then they were gone. Showing off for my dad and I? Normal behavior? Who knows, but it was awesome.
Grave Marker
[rebelmouse-image 18357285 is_animated_gif=My friend and I used to love to go and hang out in one of the local cemeteries. I guess because we were just weird. This was an older cemetery and was no longer used so it didn't have any new graves in it.
One day while we were hanging out and just wandering around we stumbled upon a new looking grave marker. It stuck out like crazy because all of the other markers were old and gray and crumbling. On some of them you could barely make out the names. This marker was much newer and the name and dates was clearly visible. It was also a rather neat red marble color which was really different from all of the others.
We didn't think much of it and just continued our trip through the cemetery. We sat down under this big tree in the middle and talked and laughed and did other stupid kid things. After an hour or so we decided it was time to leave. We crossed right by where the new grave marker had been and it was gone. We both kind of freaked out a little bit and searched the whole graveyard looking for the brand new marker and it wasn't there.
We checked for it several more times on different visits and never found it again. It was just weird and some thing neither of us could ever explain.
Did You See That?
[rebelmouse-image 18357286 is_animated_gif=Out walking around the neighborhood late at night with a friend one night, we would occasionally look up to the sky in awe of the stars. I saw a fast moving light like a meteor, but slower, although much faster than an airplane. Then, it made 2 sharp 90° turns. First to the right, then to the left and disappeared. My friend and I both stopped and said "did you see that?" to eachother. This was in the late 80s and I can still picture it like it was yesterday.
Crows Are Smart
[rebelmouse-image 18357287 is_animated_gif=I came out of a store one day and turned the corner to see a crow trying to read a paper-back novel on a park bench. He was perched on the bench, turning pages with his beak. When he noticed me staring, he hopped away like I caught him red-handed, and took flight a moment later. Ended up getting a tattoo of a crow reading a book because the incident left such an impression on me. No one really seems to believe me, but dude, corvids are smart. I figure it was either imitating a person, or trying to harvest the pages for a nest, but either way, strange experience.
The Understanding
[rebelmouse-image 18357288 is_animated_gif=I woke up with sleep paralysis with the understanding my uncle died. I get a phone call around 4 AM from my mom to tell me my uncle is on his death bed and that I should swing by in the morning.
Pretty sure it was just his body on the bed, breathing on automatic and that he left hours back.
Fairy?
[rebelmouse-image 18357289 is_animated_gif=When I was about 12 I was playing outside on a really windy day and a blue flying thing the size of a water bottle zoomed into my yard and got caught in some spider web in a bush. It's wings were clear, so it wasn't a bird but the thing was huge and weird if it was a bug. I lived in the Mojave desert at the time if anyone can think of something it could have been. It freaked the f^ck out tangled in the web and branches. It was thrashing so fast I couldn't get a good look at it and I just kept staring at it in disbelief cause I couldn't stop thinking:
"That's a fairy."
I go over and try to detach it from the web and it breaks free. At the speed of f*** you it was gone again. Maybe a huge cicada? Probably fairy.
Uncle David's Goodbye
[rebelmouse-image 18357290 is_animated_gif=Years ago my dad's uncle passed away. Years before that, said uncle got my parents a fancy bottle of tequila from Mexico and it's been on the front room display shelf with a bunch of other dust covered sculptures and glass work for at least 12 years. It's out of reach and untouched (no one in my immediate family drinks). On the day of his passing, I'm in the front room reading and my dads doing his taxes. we get a phone call with the bad news. My dad continues his taxes while letting me know his uncle passed in a few short words. Not 30 seconds later and the tequila bottle his uncle got my parents starts playing music. This is odd to me because I thought it was just a bottle so I ask. "Do we have a music box?" My Dad continues his taxes and tells me the bottle has a music box built in, and that was the only reason he kept it. I clarify "Did you wind it recently?" And he just keeps filing and says "nope" and I was ready to leave it at that but he says still all casually occupied:
**"I imagine uncle David wanted to say goodbye one last time." **
That is the only time it has made a noise as long as I've been alive. Of all days and times. I never knew what to make of it. It just made me uncomfortable
Friendlink
[rebelmouse-image 18357291 is_animated_gif=I had a friend in high school who I stopped speaking to when she transferred in grade 10. Two years later, I have a dream that I visited her new school and sat at the back of her math class with her. In the dream her teacher was tall, brunette with curly hair, and wearing glasses.
The next day I get a message on Facebook from said friend, which is completely out of blue because we hadn't spoken in months. She asks me how I'm doing and I tell her about my dream.
She freaks out and tells me that she sits at the back of her math class, and her teacher fit the description I gave her from my dream perfectly.
H/T: Reddit
People Who Live In Tourist Destinations Divulge What They Wish Tourists Would Stop Doing
When traveling and seeing the world, it is always best to also understand the lay of the land.
That seems to be something we forget.
As tourists, it's suddenly, "All bets are off. I have no manners. And I'm here to burn down the town!"
You know people still live and work there right?
And that a touch of decorum is much appreciated.
So let's see what the locals would like from us while we visit.
Redditor Winterbeers wanted world travelers to listen up to the locals for a minute before you run off to your destination. They asked:
"People who live at tourist destinations, what is it you wish tourists would stop doing when visiting?"
I try my best to respectful when in other people's spaces. But how can we do better?
Rocked Off
"Going on the black rocks and being swept out to the Atlantic Ocean, risking the lives of first responders and locals many of whom are already traumatized from Swiss Air."
bassibear
Just be decent...
"Don't freaking carve your name on stuff!!! The amount of people who need to carve their names onto historical buildings and statues are just crazy. Don't be an a**. You are ruining the place. And respect peoples properties. Yeah, it's a cute street with cute houses and charming gardens. But that does NOT give you the right to enter peoples private properties to peep in their windows, walk in their gardens and try to open their doors."
"A colleague is selling his house because he's tired of people peeping in their windows and trying to open their door to have a look inside. He got yelled at for being inappropriate while he was sunbathing naked in his own garden by a tourist who let themself in the gate and walked around the house to have a look at his garden."
Frequent_Artichoke
Defacers
"Deface world heritage sites for souvenirs or internet clout."
"For example: The Colosseum in Rome has graffiti carved into it's walls by arsehole tourists and Stone Henge is closed off to the public because arseholes were chipping pieces off for souvenirs."
Bedlamcitylimit
"It is worth noting: at one point the 'caretakers' at Stonehenge handed out rock hammers to tourists for the specific purpose of chipping off bits to take as souvenirs. That was before the modern idea of 'museum as conservation of history.'"
beamrider
Snapshots
"Stopping their cars in the middle of the road to take in a view. WTF?"
Duality_is_my_prison
"They do this for wildlife where I live as well. I've seen idiots chasing bears with cubs into the forest to take pictures with their phones. A friend of mine lost a relative because a touron in a bear jam didn't look before pulling back into traffic on the road because he was so focused on the bear and didn't see the cyclists. Hit one of them and broke the cyclist's neck."
MizElaneous
Hands Off
"For your sake, STOP TRYING TO PET THE BUFFALO! Or don't, some of us are entertained by the videos of you flying through the air."
WyoPeeps
Why do we always want to touch the wild beasts? We have death wishes.
Too Many Sips
"Driving drunk. I live in Sonoma County, California. Make sure you’ve got a sober driver ffs. The roads around here are never more dangerous than winery tasting room closing time on a sunny weekend."
XinaRoo
Money Woes
“'I paid a lot to be here.' 'Change (blank) or I’ll leave a horrible review.' Driving like a d**k head, leaving garbage anywhere but a rubbish bin, stopping in the middle of the road to let out your family of 12 instead of pulling into the parking lot. I have a lot of stories. I live in Hawaii and work only with tourists. Best yet, My company was asked to contact the cruise ship company to have them move the ship because it disrupted the sunset."
Ishart_thesherrif
Infested
"In my hometown, it somehow became a thing that tourists would rent mopeds. So when you are trying to get to work, you often get stuck behind a flock of tourists on mopeds, riding at 20MPH in formation so you cannot pass them. We are infested with gawking tourists moped gangs. If they want to rent mopeds, at least go the speed limit, and ride in a manner that allows others to pass you."
Panthean
Food Wars
"Stop feeding the damn seagulls."
AlwaysPhrasing
"I worked at Disney World for a few years and the squirrels there are vicious. People think it's fun to feed them so they are completely fearless. They'll hop right into a stroller and grab food from a child."
Jupiters
Proper Attire
"Stop trying to hike up a mountain in flip-flops! Also, don't try to use an air mattress as a mode of transport between islands. Several of these every year."
JoetheGrim
Well this is all good information. Now... will people listen?
Movies make so many jobs look cool to a point where we're like... "I want to do that!"
But in the end it's some of the most tedious, boring stuff we could do and then of course the danger factor always looks sexy until... you're in danger.
Being frivolous with our lives is romantic on paper, but makes you cry in reality.
And most of the time, the jobs don't pay.
That would be nice to know sooner.
Redditor Ok_Boot5426wanted to compare notes on careers that really aren't as sexy as we thought.
They asked:
"What’s a job that’s romanticized but in reality sucks?"
I always wanted to be a stripper. But I sweat too much. And the pay is limited if you don't have certain gifts. Alas...
Just Blah
"I strongly suspect being a spy doesn't involve half as many high tech gadgets and spontaneous sexual intercourse as I've been lead to believe."
Rrraou
"One former member of the CIA said the most unbelievable thing about James Bond was that he never had to file an expense report."
goblingoodies
For the Rich
"Anything in modern-day publishing. How many television shows and movies must I watch where the plucky young upstart graduates from college and gets a job at the magazine or newspaper of their choice and is respected and can make a living? The pay sucks, you're in constant danger of being laid off (when your pub folds, usually)."
"And it's usually a pretty corporate environment where you're tasked with multiple jobs for little hope of advancement. The names high up on the mastheads are usually those of rich people, and it's because they started off rich and could afford to stay in the industry."
SarahRecords
Clicker
"Game tester. I worked as a game tester for EA for almost 3 years. Here's what it's like. Imagine a game type you don't like. Maybe soccer games. Maybe an RTS. Whatever. You now play that game, 8 hours a day. But you don't play it. You test it. So let's imagine an RTS. You are told to test the resource acquisition systems."
"All you do is click around and make sure your guys can mine gold and harvest lumber. You click around the map and mine and forest. There is no combat, they've turned that off for your testing. There is no story, because you just flick from level to level to test the resource system."
"You test using one guy. You testing using 100 guys. You make sure no other units can gather resources. You try blocking your own guys. You try killing your own guys. 8 hours a day. Every day. For weeks. You enter dozens of bugs. They put out a patch that fixes the bugs. You have to retest every level and every bug to make sure they're all fixed. That's game testing."
shaidyn
Truth Numbers
"Lawyer."
"Number of historic, life-changing, precedent-setting cases participated in: 0"
"Number of angry, self entitled, abusive clients wanting to screw each other over: 842"
"Number of pages of paperwork that’s sucked up free time and social life: 84,836"
epicurious_aussie
Yehaw-NO!
"From what I've understood, being a cowboy was (is?) really awful."
foxmachine
I can't ride horses anyway. So I'm good.
Mostly Miserable
"Everyone used to think it was awesome that I worked in live sports TV. 70% of the people I worked with were miserable pricks with over-inflated egos, and then there were the athletes."
S**tty_Fat-tits
Long Days + No Job
"Working on a film. If you're crew, it sucks. long long hours for what seem like very very slow progress on the picture, lots of standing around waiting, etc. You arrive well before everyone else and leave after everyone else. If this is an indie production you also may have to beg/chase down for your pay at the end of each week. Oh and when the film wraps, you're now unemployed."
MrPelham
'let's talk about your feelings'
"Being a therapist. Too many people I've met get into the field thinking it's how they saw it on TV: affluent white collar, own office, warm slow pace environment, where you get to sit on a nice comfy couch and be like 'let's talk about your feelings.' That's only if you get to private practice, which they don't tell you is also like running your own small business, which good luck is you have no business acumen. The reality is you get out if grad school, get your first job working at a Community Mental Health facility because they are the only ones who will hire you with a limited license and no experience."
"Getting paid less than $40k/yr if you're lucky, and then get put in a walk in closet of an office, where they dump 100 client case load on you the first day, followed by your first client who has 5 different diagnoses and is on 12 different psych meds who says to you 'f**k you, you're my 7th different person I've had here, nobody cares about me.' Yeah people go into $100k of debt for that."
Puzzleheaded-Art-469
Nothing is Happening
"Archaeologist, specifically field archaeology. 99% of the time you find absolutely nothing, it's often physically demanding (sometimes grueling), the pay is crap, there are no benefits, you have to constantly travel, there's very little stability, I could go on. Source: have worked in CRM (Cultural Resource Management) archaeology for several years now."
"In spite of all the bulls**t of this field, still love being an Archaeologist and don't really wanna do anything else for a living, but I can't universally recommend this job to everyone in good faith."
eric3844
Less than Thrilling
"Journalist. Expectation: I’m gonna be the next Hunter S. Thompson and write compelling feature pieces with a unique voice and get paid to travel the world!"
"Reality: Talking to my editor about how my contact from the cat fashion show won’t call me back or do an interview unless we pay them $80 or adopt two cats."
kit_kat_barcalounger
Staying Poor
"Ballerina."
purpleowlie
"In order to have a shot at dancing ballet professionally, you have to train your entire life. Once you make it, you'll be paid so little that you'll share lodging with a half dozen other dancers since you make less than a server at a casual dining restaurant. And even then the odds of still being a professional dancer after 30 are almost nil. If you want to stay in the field, you basically have to move into teaching which tends to pay so poorly that you'll need to find a second job."
EclecticDreck
At this point in life, boring can be fun. Now we know we have options.
Humans are naturally curious creatures - it's a primate thing.
As kids, we tend to explore those curiosities and ask whatever random question popped into our heads. As adults, we learn that some stuff just isn't our business. Some questions are intrusive or uncomfortable.
We don't necessarily "mature" beyond ever having an inappropriate or intrusive curious thought. We are just mature enough to know we aren't entitled to those answers, and that it's unfair to make someone uncomfortable by asking those questions.
But then there's Reddit...
Reddit user Spunkybluepuppy asked:
"What’s something you wish you could ask trans people without any judgement?"
Curiosity isn't a good enough reason to treat a random stranger like a science experiment - but there are plenty of people willing to talk openly about their experiences - and they're the real heros of this thread.
Stopping Cycles
"Do periods go away when you start T? Is there a way to get rid of them without surgery?"
- Human_Indeed_
"For some folks, yes, for some folks no."
"Some IUDs can stop periods, like mirena, or for some taking birth control without the sugar pill week can stop periods."
"For transmasculine folks The most reliable way to get rid of periods is by having a full hysterectomy with oophorectomy , which also helps reduce the amount of estrogen in the body."
- TananaramaRex
"My period stopped after two months on T. My friends' stopped after he had been on T a bit longer, not certain of the exact number. But both of us had a last period that was a real b*tch. Worst cramps ever! I'm glad I'm done with it now! 😂"
- spacedustyy
"Yes, my cycle ended about 6 months into T."
- bananaflavored2
Size
"Do you get to choose a size?"
- AlexArtsHere
"For trans guys, it depends on how much skin they can safely graft, I think. But after the maximum is established, yep."
- gayshouldbecanon
"NB transmasc here, MtF wife So for masculine bottom surgery:"
"It really depends on a lot of things. First HRT will grow your clitorus, this averages 1-4cm of growth, some surgeons require either a certain amount of time on HRT/ certain amount of tissue. So from here there are 2 commonly surgical options, each have their own pros and cons and have different methods of being done : 1- metoidioplasty, sometimes referred to as a Meta 2- Phalloplasty sometimes called a phallo. Either can have urethral lengthening, some surgeons will require one depending on the surgery. An issue with urethral lengthening is that the urethra can become blocked/collapse which is obviously no fun. Scrotoplastys are also common to also have done, usually that's done in 2 surgeries where they create the scrotum and then add testicle implants later."
"For a meta what is happening is the ligaments that hold the clitoris to the body get cut and released from the pubis, giving you more shaft. 4-6cm is average length. It will basically look like a small penis. Benefit of it is it can get erect without further surgery. You will likely have more sensation compared to a phalloplasty. You also don't have a giant penis 24/7. Depending on length you may or may not have issues standing to pee."
"For a phallo there's usually multiple stages to the surgery. If you have a meta you can still get a phallo in the future but not vice-versa. So you'll have a donor site, either your arm or you thigh is pretty common, you'll get some say in length but it really depends on how much tissue they can use and the goal is generally average size. They cannot become erect on their own. You have to get an implant for that which is an extra surgery and more money on top of the money you've already spent to get a phallo. Because the tissue is donor tissue taken from other parts you won't have as much sensation if any. Some say they never get sensation to the shaft, some do get some sensation to the shaft. The lack of sensation can actually be problematic during healing because you can't feel if you accidentally bump your penis into something. And with a phallo it will always be full length as it can't deflate like a cis-penis would."
"For transfeminine bottom surgery: So there are a few different ways to make a neovagina. A common way is by taking the penile tissue and inverting it, so the length here varies based on how much tissue. Another procedure uses rectal tissue, the benefit here is that is has some self lubricating capabilities, unlike with penile inversion. Though due to risk factors it's less commonly done. Another surgery involves taking peritoneal tissue from the abdomen to create the vagina. This is a newer surgery for transgender women even though it's a surgery that has been used on cis-women for decades. It also has the benefits of self lubrication and having a stretchier vagina compared to penis inversion. Length here varies quite a bit on what tissue is available for use. Most surgeons operate with the goal of length of cis vagina when aroused. Though some will result in a short vagina. Dilating the vagina after surgery and for years afterwards will help maintain depth overtime. Anecdotally I've heard of dilation once you're past recovery stage to only be necessary if you aren't sexually active and it can depend on the type of surgery you received."
"Edit: I came here from a trans sub honestly expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised. Thanks for the really great questions. It was fun to spend some time answering questions. I think there really isn't enough good conversation on trans topics. The people who are the loudest on trans topics are generally the ones who are not transgender, incredibly misinformed, and do not care to listen to other points of view or scientific information. So I really hope there were some good conversations that might have brought issues to people's attention/ broadened the understanding of what being transgender is. Anyways, have a great rest of your day! If you comment a follow up question to my comment I will do my best to answer if possible. :)"
- Ahtnamas555
Most Manly Experience
"Trans men… do you realize the manliest experience you’re having is being told you’re not a man?"
"That’s like 60% of being a man."
- VernonDangerfield
"This was hilarious and validating thank you"
- hoddy-Ad-1746
"You know what's the crazy thing? I've always been bullied for being a girl. Decades later I come out as a girl and now the same 'manly men' tell me I'm a man. Like make up your mind! JEEZ!"
- EmilyFara
Sitting
"Does sitting down feel different after you get bottom surgery"
- Foursiide
"At least for this one trans woman, Sitting down the three months after bottom surgery is a b*tch. You're still recovering and all the irritated flesh is very painful."
"Then eventually sitting down is the same except for the fact that I no longer have my privates in the way."
"However for me personally, when I sit down my belly button feels weird because my nerve endings regrew incorrectly."
- Dungeons-n-Dysphoria
"Over a year post-op, and it feels way more natural & easy. There's no extraneous crap between my legs any more, and I can sit like a degenerate bisexual much more easily now."
- loveablehydralisk
Sensation
"Is it still possible for a person to have an orgasm after reassignment surgery? Not a doctor, but my understanding of the process of creating the genitalia (F-M or M-F) would seem to make that prospect incredibly dim."
"The sheer number of nerve endings in the clitoris and tip of the penis make it seem impossible enough survive the surgery to provide the same sensations"
- Gritsandgasoline
"My surgeon uses a technique that leaves the neurovascular bundle fully intact, the tip of the penis just gets reduced in size to form a neo-clitoris. I had my first orgasm 34 days after surgery and the intensity is pretty much as before, I just can have longer ones now."
- LegitimateNothing
"To add to what many people are saying here... there is a risk of losing sexual sensation after surgical intervention. We all know it. Before surgical intervention is performed, that risk will be made explicitly clear to the patient, they will have to acknowledge that it is a risk, and confirm, often in writing, that it is an acceptable risk, and that they are prepared for that outcome."
"It is, however, considered an unintended side effect these days... something that decent surgeon will be able to avoid almost all of the time."
- ConnectionIssues
Just A Phase
"Is there any part of you that is genuinely worried that it is 'just a phase'?"
- The-Ginger-Lily
"Yeah. That's why it took me over 10 years to accept it and begin my transition"
- phoenixdro
"Yes. Most if not all trans folk wonder this at some point, this is why a lot of us are depressed."
- Tyleos
"Yep! I think that’s fairly normal with any identity tbh. It’s annoying because rationally I know that I have dysphoria and prefer certain pronouns but my irrational brain is really good at making me second guess myself"
- Spaghetti0s67
Functions
"If you’re transitioning MtF and are on hormone replacement therapy but haven’t had bottom surgery yet,"
"1) does the penis shrink up and become unusable?"
"2) can you still have penetrative sex (penis in vagina)?"
"3) can you get someone pregnant via question 2?
"I’m a cisgender woman and am genuinely just curious"
- Eppengu
"1: It varies! Some people retain full size, some people shrink. The jury is out even among the community on if you can control it, and to what extent. 2: Yes! 3: Yep! Fertility is generally harmed by hormones, but not always completely gone."
- ohdearamistake
"I am talking purely from personal experience."
"1)yes it does, but primarily when soft, you lose random erections which work as bodily check if your penis is healthy, which means it's recommended to get it erect every so often so the muscles don't atrophy, which could lead into it being unsuable."
"2)If I wanted then yes."
"3)Possibly...The funtioning sperm count heavily decreases on hormones, but that doesn't mean all of it does. Usually it's recomended to freeze your sperm before taking hormones. Still wouldn't count on it as 100% save from getting someone pregnant."
- NotElise0
"This actually hasn't been studied systematically in trans women very extensively (there are huuuuge gaps in the medical literature), buuuuut there are cis men who get testicular cancer and can't go on testosterone replacement (like, their tumors were hormone sensitive, so it's risky to go on T again), and we know a fair lot about them. Since testosterone is what mediates penile response, what applies to them seems to apply to trans women who are either pre- or non-op. Thus, to answer your questions:"
"1)It's not that simple. When you nuke testosterone, some people lose the ability to have erections, but most retain it to some degree. What disappears is nocturnal erections--ie morning wood--and the biological function of that is to exercise the skin, vascular contractions, and so forth of the phallus. Unless you work the phallus out, you'll lose size and function, but if you use it regularly, it seems to stay just fine, according to the literature."
"2)Why wouldn't you be able to? Many girls don't want to, because it makes them feel dysphoric, but those who do can. Some need help from cialis or viagra, but that's not exactly a big deal."
"3)HRT has major effects on fertility, radically reducing the likelihood. However, 24% of girls with testes on HRT still produce some amount, albeit small, of sperm even years and years into transition. So, yes! HRT is NOT birth control."
- Not_Han_Solo
Addressing Name
"I work in medicine. Often times it can be apparent that someone may be transitioning, but it’s never right to assume anything about anyone."
"I’ll usually see their given name before I meet them, and it’s standard practice to have a pt confirm with their legal name and dob."
"What do you think is the best way of being asked if you have a preferred first name other than what is 'legal' in that situation?"
"I usually stumble with something like 'Hi I’m looking for John Doe is that you? Nice to meet you, is John okay or do you go by another name?' "
"But it always feels clunky."
"Looking for advice."
"EDIT: My main clinical setting is an urban hospital in a large network of hospitals. This makes any change to charting/intake very well out of my reach, unfortunately. It is a discussion that I hope continues to climb to the administrators."
- ThatRoombaThough
"I don't know if this was to avoid using my birth name (most likely it was) but I've had doctors use just the surname when calling me and then confirming by asking for my birth date or ID."
- Eireann_9
"the way you say that is perfect, i don't think there's a better way to do it. big ups for actually asking, way too few people do that!"
- punsexual-disaster
"love that! you can still say that, if you don't want them to assume you thought they weren't cis (some people may feel discomfort from that) you can say its because some people don't like their name or go by a nickname they use as a first name (you can make up a person in your life, if you want to add in small talk, for example, both my parents don't use their legal names simply because they're too used to what friends and family have been calling them)"
- Rabbtwig
Learning
"These answers are the dialogue that's missing right now."
"After years of trying to understand, I finally feel like I get it. Thank you all for educating and enlightening! Media dialogue seems elusive and circular - these answers made clear sense and I feel like I learned something."
"Thank you!"
- ShareReportSaveFollow
"No- thank you. This comment made my day, aside from this post going viral. I’m so glad that you showed and interest and even happier that you learned something after years of trying to understand!"
- Spunkybluepuppy
"It’s been really nice to talk about it without pushback for the most part. I feel like education is what’s needed for it to be understood without malice."
- Psychoticsleep
"Media dialogue on trans people not being very helpful to understanding trans issues is very much by design - media has grown increasingly hostile to trans people in recent years."
- ihileath
"thanks for reading and learning :))"
- yeahitspostingtime
When people are willing and able to freely talk about their experiences, we can all learn a lot from one another.
The day Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential Election, people literally took to the streets to celebrate, giving an idea that people weren't so sad to see his predecessor leave office.
Indeed, many think so ill of the 45th President of the United States, that people have a hard time even saying or writing his name.
Throughout his tumultuous, often headline-making four years in office, he was frequently referred to as the "worst President of all time."
But was he?
Redditor Unaball3r was curious to hear who the Reddit community considered the all time worst leader of the free world, leading them to ask:
"Who was actually the worst President in US History and why?"
The 17th, but also an unceremonious "first"
"Andrew Johnson."
"He only became President because he was VP when Lincoln was assassinated."
"He basically tried to obstruct/reverse as much of Lincoln's policy as he possibly could."
"Inept, regressive . . . the first President to be impeached."
"Unworthy."
"A President that never should have been . . ."- OutsideSpring
"Andrew Johnson paved the way for the KKK to form in the aftermath of the civil war."- Random_puns
"Andrew Johnson is directly responsible for much of why the US is f*cked up today."
"TLDR: land redistribution after the civil war could’ve set up former slaves to be on equal footing with white people."
"Instead, Johnson made sure they got nothing."- caldo4
So bad they weren't even mentioned by name.
"The two presidents before Lincoln and his successor are usually ranked as the worst ones by historians."- DanSRedskins
"The 'Trail of Tears' guy wasn't great."- RudigherJones
Seriously, how do people like this get elected?
"Grover Cleveland assaulted a woman, got her pregnant, promised to take of her, and had her name the baby after a friend of his that passed away."
"He had a doctor he knew deliver the baby, then kidnapped it and had his sister raise it."
"Then he had the woman committed to a mental institution."
"When all this came out, he painted her to be mentally unstable and a drunk."
"He claimed she didn’t know who the father was and had several men come forward and lie saying they all had been with her."
"He also made it a point to mention that she had named the baby after who she thought the father was, and that wasn’t him."
"The guy was dead so he couldn’t say anything."
"He convinced everyone he had tried to help her by having her put away to get help and by finding the baby a good family because he assumed the father to be his deceased friend who the child was named after and he was just wanting to do the right thing."
"He also married the daughter of a friend and business partner."
"He doted on her as a child and bought her a baby carriage."
"When her dad died when she was 11, he was more like a father figure."
"Until she got older and then he started sending her flowers."
"Everyone assumed he was courting her mother until the two of them popped up and got married."- TheMudbloodSlytherin
A war is never a good way to end a Presidency
"James Buchanan."
"The Civil War escalated to the levels that it did because of his inaction."
"His presidency was by far the most disastrous in history."
"He’s at the bottom of every conceivable list."- LFCSpectre
"James Buchanan."
"Encouraging secession and setting the stage for the civil war puts him at the top without much debate."- jah05r
Andrew doesn't seem to be a name befitting a President
"Jackson and Johnson."- ConnieLingus24
In the eyes of others, maybe there was a President worse than the 45th.
A man with more impeachments than terms as President.
Perhaps its still too soon, and everyone's just trying to forget it ever happened...