
We all feel a certain pressure to be above superstitious beliefs. There's a powerlessness within superstition that we'd rather avoid.
But what if we simply can't?
There are just some situations that people can't help but feel convince that something supernatural or otherworldly at play.
It may be due to an old bed time story or urban legend that they never could shake, or perhaps there is something about the dark that brings out the beliefs.
Whatever it is, plenty of Redditors had experiences to share.
Francucasteddaju asked, "People who aren't superstitious, what is something that still creeps you out/ you won't mess with?"
The Underworld
"The basement when the lights are off." -- rosekayleigh
"I don't believe in anything paranormal, spiritual, religious, etc. But sometimes the dark makes me feel so uneasy and on edge, even if it's a room I've just been in with the lights on, like a primal fear kind of thing."
"Which is super weird considering I'm a night owl." -- diosexual
Just Gotta Do It
"I don't know where these superstitions originated or how exactly they're supposed to work, because I live in the American south and we have a bunch of superstitions from both Europe and Africa, but..."
"Most people around here paint the roofs over their porches a specific shade of blue to ward off bad spirits. I also turn my shoes in two different directions after I take them off by the door."
"This supposedly confuses hags/haints/bad juju in general so it won't find you."
"I do this fully recognizing how ridiculous it is."
-- noregreddits
Regional Tales
"I grew up with stories of Bell Witch. As an adult, I don't believe any of it is real. But it was such a huge part of the culture I grew up with in Tennessee."
"We used to dare each other to call for her three times in front of a mirror in a dark room. None of my family or friends ever did it."
"My mom claimed she did it once, and ended up with scratches down her face. To this day, I don't have the balls to do it."
"I'm getting an eerie feeling just typing this out."
-- efluxr
Zip the Lips
"As a health care worker: Saying it's 'quiet' today."
"You just don't do it. If you say that, the rest of your shift is certainly not going to be quiet."
"Also, being on call overnight during a full moon is for some reason guaranteed to be your busiest call shift."
Irish Tales
"My grandma was Irish and she always told me if you hear music at night don't follow it." -- Bunnystrawbery
"Unless you're in a rave." -- stygyan
"For some reason Irish folklore just manages to creep me out so much more than all the Hollywood horror ghost stories." -- aloic
Never Again
"I was able to postpone a final I wasn't prepared for in college by telling my professor that my aunt died."
"My aunt ended up actually dying the day after from a brain aneurysm and her funeral was held on the same day as my make up final."
"It's 13 years later and I still regret that and don't f*** with that kind of sh** anymore. I'm not religious, nor am I superstitious, but that f***ed me up and it felt like I caused her death."
Avoid At All Costs
"Setting the volume to 44."
"I'm not superstitious but 4 sounds like the word for death in my mother tongue. I always go to 43 or 45. I keep having uncontrollable thoughts of getting into a car accident if I set the volume to 44 in my car."
"I know it makes no sense, aside from potentially inducing a self-fulfilling prophecy, but still."
-- Morbidhanson
Leave Things As They Are
"Totems/dolls/weird voodoo guardians. Look if you buy a car and it has like a doll or something in the glove box, dont remove that sh**."
"Second you do everything goes to hell."
"Found a tiki head in my barracks room, took it out, internet failed, power failed, ac failed. Put it back in after searching through a dumpster and everything works now."
Inherited Approaches
"I will never put a hat on a bed, even for a second. Or a couch for that matter. That's about the only superstition I've ever taken seriously, and I have no idea what it means, and only seen it in one other place, in a movie from the 80s. Drugstore Cowboy."
"But my dad told me once when I was a kid, kind of an off hand comment, but for some reason I've always taken it seriously and I even passed it on to my sons."
"My wife hates it lol."
-- Rowe0311
Steer Clear
"Both my parents are nonreligious, very pragmatic people, and I'm their creepy black sheep type daughter."
"For some reason having to do with a story from his teen years that my dad REFUSES to talk about (weird because he's a very talkative person), I was never allowed to have a ouija board."
"I've watched scary movies since I was little with my parents, they never cared about any of my darker interests, but that's where the line was."
"To this day I've never touched one and I've been out of the house for half a decade."
-- qabril27
Fair share
I am a nurse and saw my fair share of dead people (two as of yesterday) but I have a keen sense of "this person is gonna die today". Like sometimes I dreamt of my patient dying and the day after I learnt that he died at that exact time. I also had strange dreams such as one time (the one that creeped me out the most), I dreamt that I forgot to buy a birthday present for the girlfriend of my boyfriend's bff (a girl I met once and that I don't follow on any social media).
When I told him about my dream he laughed it off just to come back one hour later with an uneasy look on his face, and he showed me her fcb page. It was, indeed, her birthday. I had no way to know. It was awkward. These very specific dreams creep me out sometimes. And sometimes I feel in my guts that my patient will die, and... I rarely get mistaken. Like nearly never. I want to believe that it is from experience but I am indeed a young nurse.
I get that sense too sometimes! Although my sense is usually around silly things, pregnancies, or just random moments that are a little off putting to see in advance. It must be hard to have those moments with patients, but I think it shows your compassion too. You're "in tune"
Fae-ry Real
Fairy Rings or anything Fae related.
My cousin told me very firmly that all faerie stuff is all ridiculous, not real, and that the only reason he keeps a faerie fort on his property is that the government pays him to out of a heritage maintenance fund. He keeps injured cows in the ring because it helps them feel safe once he's separated them from the herd. He then goes on to tell me that his uncle, who lived down the street, bulldozed his faerie fort and then BAM! Cancer! And urged me never to mess with faerie forts.
I visited the for later on that day and left some whiskey for whatever may be there. My cousin signed the cross at me for protection, once I got back.
That song
Generally, I'm not superstitious, but when I got into a bad car accident a few years ago I developed some weird ones. I wouldn't wear my hair in a bun if I had to drive for quite a while since that was the hairstyle I was wearing the day of the accident and I have not listened to the song that I was listening to when I got hit.
Lefties
I never put my left shoe on first. I read that it was unlucky in some weird library book back in high school and it stuck. I also have clinically diagnosed OCD so maybe that has something to do with it...
Q
I work in a 911 center. The "Q" word is strictly taboo. Do I know it's nonsense? Yes. Have I heard people say it and then seen absolutely nothing happen? Yes. Will I ever say it while at work? Absolutely not. I won't even think the word. That's just tempting fate.
What's the q word tho
Quiet. As in, "It sure is quiet." Or any sentiment or statement that we are not busy. Because shortly thereafter the excrement will hit the fan.
T-bone
The number 13.
About six years ago, I had finally had enough of my stupid, specific superstition, and I finally decided to let my car stereo be at a volume of 13, since this seems to (infuriatingly) be the perfect volume on every electronic device.
About 10 minutes later, I get my custom ordered 2012 Wrangler Rubicon t-boned by an old man who ran a red light.
The number 13 is no longer welcome in my life. Never again.
Days are a changin'
Just talking about this with my coworker - I will not change a calendar early - just can't do it have to wait til the first day of the new month/year. No idea why....tried to look it up maybe bad luck?
Mocking the sharks
I don't let my son wear swimwear with sharks on it to swim in the ocean. It just seems like you're mocking sharks and if you got attacked by one it would seem like your own fault.
Lingering
That when someone dies their soul lingers for a few days in our realm. You have to tell them it's ok to leave or ask what unfinished business they have and help them out or else they won't leave to their final resting place.
I'm not too religious but grew up catholic, when my husband's grandpa died, two days later, two of the daughters of the deceased invited a lady who sees things when in prayer and is her friend. This was 4 years ago, the woman had cancer and already passed away. I was waiting for my ride but they invited me to pray while I waited. We were St Cesar's house.
The lady started a normal rosary but started saying that, let's call him Cesar, was still here, so the daughters told him "dad is ok to go, go find mom, we are ok.". The praying lady said he couldn't leave cause he was worried about the family business and some specific stuff about some money. There is no way the lady knew the specifics. It did shock me.
-c05u
Three-finger scratch and pranks
According to the customs my tribe follow, we also believe that the soul will linger on for few days after the death of the person. So we have a ceremony on the 11th or 13th day after their death to honor them and let them know that they can leave this realm safely. We cook their favorite dishes, pour their choicest drinks, and keep flowers in front of their photo. Apparently, they will make their presence felt by either scratching someone (a three-finger scratch), or emit a sweet-smelling fragrance, or play a prank. The younger the person who's dead, the higher are the chances of pranks being played.
I did not give it much thought until I witness two incidents. An uncle of mine was a chain smoker (who eventually died of a heart failure). On thé day of the ceremony, the entire house was smelling like cigarettes.
As if someone had lit a smoke and was walking around. Nobody else smoked in that house and all the linen and curtains from my uncle's room were put to wash.
The second incident was on the day of the ceremony of my aunt. She died after suffering a lot of emotional and mental turmoil caused by her son. So we knew that her soul was not gonna leave in peace. When we all sat down to drink, the entire table collapsed and the bottles broke. It might be a correlation and not causation, but it was weird as the table was sturdy and only a year old.
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Some people like sweets, some people like alcohol, some people are willing to spend extra money a month just to have full access to all 14 seasons of their favorite obscure Canadian detective show.
You don't judge us, we won't judge you.
Reddit was asked:
"What is a guilty pleasure for you ?"
...and ... like ... we honestly feel kind of bonded in non-shame over this stuff.
Because it's all just SO GOOOOOOOOD!
It's Britney ...
"Playing Britney Spears’ music on 11 when I’m in the car all by myself. Especially 'Work Bitch' when I’m on the way to work an extra shift."
-nancydrew1224
"Toxic is an undeniably fantastic song."
-TheBrontosaurus
"It's such a weird mix of elements. Obviously you have Britney's pop singing, but it also mixes harsh strings with synth electro and a lot of rock elements. It blurs several genres together, and accordingly fits well next to other genres of music."
-Nambot
Those Golden Arches
"McDonald’s"
"I regret my choice right after finishing my meal. But not enough to prevent me from going back the next week lol"
-Candidmirror12
"Why did you say the word? I've been clean for three months straight!"
-realfoodman
"Yep."
"I get a craving 2-3 times a year. Same damned order every time. Large #1 value meal with a coke and a cheeseburger."
"I love their little chopped onions"
"Did you know that the Coke syrup formula for McDonald’s is different than what you get at home or other restaurants? It’s actually sweeter per McDonald’s request and specifications"
-mlgbt1985
Can't Run
"The Tremors anthology. Bad B-rated horror but god DAMN do I love me some graboids."
-BolognaIsNotAHat
"The first movie is legitimately excellent. The rest are stupid syfy level movies that are still a ton of fun."
-Taynt42
"The second one is also not terrible. Felt like a well measured escalation. The 3rd one on, though... SMH."
-Hotarg
"You ever have something be so bad that it loops itself back around into being awesome? That's this."
- [Reddit]
Perfect Mood Lifter
"Watching kid shows or disney movies even though I'm an adult."
-BanGinGDreams
"Phineas and Ferb."
"I honestly love to cruise the country side with my biker group, smoke half a pack, get home crack a beer and see what Phineas and Ferb did today."
"I'm a 28 year old man."
-Tiger_In_Maine
"Cartoons are good for the soul. Visually pleasing to watch. Good stories. Usually have some safe humor. Always end on a feel good tone. The perfect mood lifter when you're feeling down."
-GingerJayPear
Go Go Power Rangers
"Power rangers lore."
"I'm 28, can't get myself to sit through the kids shows anymore. But man did I love the series growing up and like keeping up with the new stories and seeing how it's going."
"My significant other would pretty much leave me if she found out how much I'm still addicted to keeping up with a show that I should have dropped 20 years ago."
-PN-DUBS
"Full stop, check out the comics. They were made for people that watched it as children and are adults now and they are honestly nothing short of incredible between the art and storylines. They do some really rad stuff."
-ForSafeKeeping220
Digging
"Picking my nose. I know it’s a bad habit but it’s nostalgic"
-VictoryIsMudkipz
"Kinda same it's not just gross but I also feel like it makes my nostrils bigger so I feel even more guilty 😭"
-getawaycar7H13
"There are two kinds of people in the world. People who pick their nose and liars"
-energy_falcon
Terribly Delicious
"Bad coffee."
"Like you go to a chrome-plated diner by the interstate and the coffee is made of cheap, stale grounds that has been on the hot plate or 3 hours. Something about it is super nostalgic."
-MutantOverlord
"Hell yes. I'll get like 5 refills on that tiny ass cup, tyvm"
-stoncils_
"Just terrible enough to want another cup."
-caseyd1020
Later
"Procrastinating….I hate myself for it"
-Usual-Difference9135
"I was going to comment the same but figured it could wait."
-C0rnD0g1
"I usually have two or three things on the go at once. So when I feel like procrastinating, I switch to one of the other things. My job has become literally me always procrastinating."
-StGir1
T.Swift
"I, on some occasions, belt out Taylor Swift’s 'Our Song' when I’m alone"
-nenolpunk
"I do it too but with 'The Story of Us' "
-SoonlyXo
"Taylor Swift's old songs are the best songs"
-AwesomeSpindleberry
"It’s this or 'Teardrops on My Guitar' because wow. Hit me in my teen feels."
"Who is Drew? I don't know, but I’ll sing about them regardless"
-nenolpunk
Hipster ASMR
"Before I discovered ASMR, I used to secretly watch videos of makeup tutorials because they made me feel relaxed. I'm a guy who's never worn make up in my life."
-SXOSXO
"I'm a man in my 30s. I love the cosplay tutorials from Alyson Tabbitha."
-amadeus2490
"Literally same!!! I watch NikkieTutorials or Naomi Jon! Like I personally don’t wear make up but I love the art behind it"
-patzzxd
So tell us, what's your pleasure? And do you HONESTLY feel guilty about it?
Go ahead and talk about it in the comments, I've got a certain Canadian Detective to check up on.
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Love or money?
An age old question.
Ideally, you wouldn't have to decide between the two.
In a perfect world, you would be able to find the true love of your life and be incredibly wealthy all at once.
But, as the saying goes, you can't have everything.
Though if faced with having to choose between the two, people might have a different idea of what the obvious answer would be.
Redditor lulinghayaw was curious how people would decide when faced with this decision, leading them to ask:
"Genuine, true love or 5 million dollars? Why?"
My love is worth more than that.
"True love because my true love is 5 trillion dollars."- ImOnARush.
Freedom to do what you love.
"I'm gonna be really honest, I'd choose 5 million dollars."
"Having that much money means financial stability."
"It means not having to work for money - that wouldn't mean not working ever again, but doing a job you really love even if it doesn't pay well."
"I would be able to study without worrying about burdening my parents."
"I could achieve my dream of getting multiple degrees."
"Money isn't just money, it's opportunities."
"Without having to worry about money, I could focus on improving myself in every way - getting healthier, studying more, having a stable routine, reading a lot, overall becoming the best version of myself."
"I'll have plenty of time to find true love, improve relationships with friends and family and everything else."- lux_blue.
Money over love any day- no matter the amount.
"5 dollars."- SpaZzzmanian_Devil.
"SHOW ME THE MONEY."- _starvingartist.
How much is true love worth.
"Money."
"Love can't pay my bills."- LiteLit.
Money can't buy happiness.
"True love."
"Moneys cool and all, but I'd much rather be in a loving relationship."- WhiskersCleveland.
But money can buy a lot of other things...
"5 mil, I’ll wipe my tears with hundreds."- Weary_Gate7941.
True love...with a rich partner.
"Genuine true love."
"It didn't say my partner and I would be poor."- moonIightbaby.
"The greatest thing, you'll ever learn..."
"True love."
"I have been alone all my life."
"I’ve always had toxic friends because i told myself i deserved it, i told myself 'at least they want to be friends with me'."
"I have a narcissistic mother and a dad that isn’t emotionally there because of his own trauma."
"I have a sister that flat out ignores me when I talk and my other siblings are too young for me to have the kind of bond that i need right now."
"I have an amazing best friend but it’s different than having someone that loves me and i love back."
"If you had asked me a month ago i would’ve said 5 million."
"I would’ve been lying."
"If you had asked a year ago I would’ve said 5 million and I would’ve been telling the truth. true love is priceless."
"I’ll be winning 4 million on the lottery tho."- 76543210987654321.
Some might say being truly, madly in love feels like having five million dollars.
While others might feel that having five million dollars feels even better than being in love.
Others might simply strive for a little bit of each.
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It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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