Most of us can oftentimes drift into thoughts of travel while stuck at home wondering when the world is safely opening up.
Setting off with a bag of essentials, and whatever cash we have in our accounts sure sounds nice, but what about when we arrive? The world is a big place and it's doubtful it'll have gotten less dangerous since a worldwide pandemic halted it.
Reddit user, u/g_1234, wanted to hear about your horrifying experiences when alone when they asked:
Solo travelers, what is your creepiest travel story?
Venturing Into The Unknown
When you travel, you're stepping into someone else's domain as a guest. This means you must walk with respect, with an open mind and clear eyes, because if you don't, then something lurking around the corner might just be waiting for you.
Stepping Into The Wild Frontier
In argentine patagonia, almost got hunted by a puma.
It was dusk and I was overlooking the lake when I heard rustling behind me in the tree line. I kept staring for a while before I saw it and thank god I didn't make a run for it as it would've been my initial reaction. Instead I started yelling and cursing and throwing rocks at it as I had been told to do by the locals, and it left me alone.
That night I kept a fire lit until late in the evening and then went to sleep with a flashlight on and my knife at hand (and that's not to sound bad-ss, I never used it to hunt and I was scared as sh!t).
Stranded Alone In The Black
I drove into Death Valley National Park without any place to sleep for the night. I just thought it's a big touristy area and there's probably tons of hotels there. It was 9PM and just getting dark and it was hot as hell. I did find one hotel but it was full, and my car was starting to run out of gas and I did not have any cell phone reception. My rental car overheated and I was stuck in the immense heat in the dark of the night at about 11PM. Finally the car cooled enough that I was able to start it again and drive out, it was scary as hell though because there was nobody in that entire national park except for me.
Sounds Like A Fun YA Adventure
I got locked in a museum once. Security guard didn't do the proper rounds when locking the door. Thankfully I ran into one of them when trying to get out. Was in there for nearly an hour after it closed (didn't realized it was closed for nearly 50 minutes - so I wasn't in a panic mode). Was kinda creepy seeing all the exhibits off, no staff anywhere. Just 2 security guards who I guess worked late for instances just like mine.
And Sometimes, It's Not Always Nature
I was staying in a B&B in Donegal, Ireland where every room on the floor shared a bathroom. I went in one morning to pee and there was a man with his pants around his ankles asleep in the bathtub. The soap dish and towel rack where all torn off the wall and it appeared he had fallen over while relieving himself and fallen in the tub. While struggling to get out with his pants down he had torn things from the wall. He then proceeded to pass out. I woke the man and helped him from the tub after which he proceeded to hug me and declare me his hero. And this is how I ended up embraced by a drunken Irishman with his pant around his ankles.
Creepy Feeling In The Back Of Your Mind
They say, "trust your gut." That when you're out on your own, and you get that sick feeling in the back of your stomach or when you start to sweat just above your brow, you should listen to it. Run from wherever you are, because usually trouble is about to strike like lightning.
Trust Your Gut And Get Out
I was traveling Eastern Europe when I was 17. I went to a club in Prague and was making out with an Australian guy. Things were getting pretty hot and heavy when he told me that I was the same age as his students and he always wants to have a thing with one of them. Turns out he was a high school teacher. Even though he was only 22-23 I still found it super creepy and begged off.
Gathering People Is Always Bad
I was in Hanoi. I'd just landed in the city and had been in Vietnam for 4-5 days at that point. I had just had some Cha Ca in the old quarter, and I flagged a taxi to take me to hostel that someone else had recommended to me. Big mistake.
I think the distance was like 3km, and when we reached our destination the cab stopped near a few other taxis. The meter said 36.000, which to me is pretty clearly thirty six thousand. The cabbie however refused to take my money, saying it was three sixty thousand.
I argued for a few minutes, then I looked around to find myself surrounded by 3-4 other cabbies, all looking at me like I had murdered their grandmas. Mind you, this was on a busy street at like 7 PM, and other people either did not notice or decided not to intervene.
So I stopped arguing and just coughed up the money. I know that's pretty tame but that's my creepiest travel story, and I have actually travelled quite a bit.
Follow Her
I was walking through Paris looking for the closest metro station to go back to my hostel. I was trying not to look lost, but I was very lost. There was this intersection shaped like the hub of a wheel, and I knew the metro was on one of the streets radiating out from it, so I started going down the streets one by one.
As I went down one particularly deserted street I passed two men sitting in a doorway. In French one muttered to the other, "a woman", and they both got up to follow me. Luckily I could see the train a block ahead, so I checked my imaginary watch and started running. I made it before the train left. I don't know how far the men followed me, but there was hardly anyone at the station so I'm glad the train was there.
We're Always Watching You
Had a layover in Moscow, flying from Seoul to Barcelona a few years ago. Aeroflot, of course.
Standard economy ticket, nothing special.
We land as usual, and are leaving. Cabin crew and pilot were thanking us as we left. When I got to the door, the captain looks at me and grins. "thanks for flying with us Captain (last name)." I was a military Intel guy at the time, and it seemed apparent they wanted me to know I was being watched and tracked.
My phone immediately started blowing up with Russian phone numbers calling it once I cleared security and hid out at a different terminal than my follow on flight. Never been to Russia before, no friends or family. Super weird.
Horrible People Are Everywhere
The last thing you should probably know about traveling alone: there are horrible people everywhere.
This. This Is What Women Deal With.
Was waiting outside the train station in Salzburg by the fountains to head back to Vienna. It was nighttime and I wanted to people watch and be outside.
Some guy kept walking in my view, whistling. He then approached me asking what's my business and I kept my answers very blunt, not really interested and keeping my guard.
Mind you, I was a 20-something-year old female at the time. He tried to lean for a kiss when I was not interested and definitely said NO when he asked. I shoved him away and started walking fast to the train platforms in hopes he wouldn't be behind me
This. This is the bullsh-t creeps female solo [travelers] have to f-cking deal with. I can't even sit outside a public, well trafficked area, by myself waiting for a train without being approached
Locked Up For The Night
Traveling in Cambodia. Went to a club with a group of new friends from the hostel I was staying at and hopped on a bus early the next morning to head to the beach (about an 8 hour drive). Later that night one of the girls from the hostel arrives off the bus. Turns out the night before she left the club by herself and got into a tuktuk. The tuktuk driver took her about an hour out of the city and locked her in a shed.
She screamed for hours until an old Cambodian man found her, took her to his house and was able to find out where her hostel was by using Google translate on his iPad. Her took her back to the hostel and she proceeded to take the bus 8 hours to where we were and get blackout drunk. I can honestly say, even before this story, Cambodia is the one place I will never go back to. From the moment I crossed the border from Laos I was on edge and crossing back into Thailand I felt immediate relief.
Hey! This Isn't Your Room!
Waking up to my hotel room being burgled. Was real annoying.Thankfully the only thing taken was my petty cash before I woke up and chased him
A "Shortcut"
Had some dude try to haul me off my first day in Berlin.
He stopped to ask me a question when I was in Tiergarten, and proceeded to grab me by the wrist and refuse to let me go. I had told him I was going to Alexanderplatz and he started dragging me out of the park, telling me he would 'show me a shortcut' that he insisted would only take five minutes to get there (for those of you that have never been, it's at least a 30 minute walk.) I was so panicked I didn't know what to do and couldn't even scream, all I could think was that he was going to take to somewhere where no one would be able to help me.
I had a friend who I was staying with in the city text me at the right time and managed to beg off and say she was waiting for me back at Brandenburger Tor station, which was the opposite direction. He only let me go if I open mouth kissed him goodbye and gave me his number, which he made me call so he was sure 'I had the right one.' He was pulling me towards the holocaust memorial, so after he let go I rushed to it and hid in it so he wouldn't follow me.
Funnily enough that night was the first day of the 2014 World Cup. I was still really shaken, but still wanted to watch the game. I also wanted to go somewhere where I could talk to people in English because I was very 'f-ck dealing with Germans' at that point. I ended up at an Irish bar and the Irish bartender is now my husband and we live in Berlin.
Always Have An Umbrella With You
Travelling in Asia at the time. I got a tuktuk to go to the center of a village with a young driver. We started driving and he turned around while telling me he wouldn't take me to the center of the village because he knew a better spot in the jungle - a place he and his friends loved... I told him no, I want to go to the center of the village and that's it. He got angry and sped up while I was considering my chances of just jumping out. But then he also grabbed my arm in a tight grip so I knew for sure no good would come from the situation.
Luckily for me I had an umbrella with me and with my free hand I started slamming him with it as hard as I could till he stopped the vehicle and he offered me to "take me to the center of the village. lol. No. I ended up walking 3 hours to the village. I had planned one more day there and was constantly confronted by people that I was the girl who attacked the tuktuk driver offering me rides. Pretty sure they were his friends.. I strictly stayed in busy areas till I was able to take a train out. F that situation.
The urge to travel after the world is safe to open up again is strong. You'll see things you've only read about and have encounters no one else could have unless they follow that urge, take it with them, and leave what they know. With that urge, though, comes great risk. Be safe if you do.
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It's amazing to think how, as times change, so do the quality of products.
But this also includes items that were once considered commonplace that are now seen as vintage or even luxury.
For those who were around at the time when an item was first introduced, it can be surprising to see how the availability of that item changes over time, and even frustrating when it becomes increasingly expensive.
Redditor zombiem00se asked:
"What was normal 20 or 30 years ago, but is considered a luxury now?"
Quality Furniture
"New furniture made out of real wood."
- Juls7243
"It's legit why I started woodworking. Even my s**tty projects that I'm unhappy with are infinitely better than the junk in stores."
- leap3
Software Ownership
"I hate that everything is a subscription now. I miss being able to just straight up buy Microsoft Office. Now you need a subscription."
"There's a hidden way to buy a license, but it has very basic functionality and limited apps, so it's kinda useless."
"Even my printer needs a d**n subscription to use the ink that came with it (which I hadn't realized or I wouldn't have bought it)."
- SolusLega
Income-Rent Ratio
"The days of paying no more than 30% of your income in rent."
- newsaggregateftw
"I lived in poverty housing and this was how they determined our rent. It was 30% of mom's income, regardless of how much she was making."
"That was 20 years ago, not sure what starving kids do today."
- DaughterEarth
Constant Availability
"Not being expected to be reachable 24/7."
- Siukslinis_acc
"Yes, f**k this. I hate being bothered about work when I'm off work. I used to have a boss that expected me to answer when I wasn't at work so he would b***h and moan about it. Then I became known as the one who never answers."
- Capt_Skyhawk
Affordable Concerts
"Concert Ticket prices."
- Quality_Street_1
"Sure does seem like ticket prices went from $50 to $200 really f**king fast."
- 7eregrine
Faithful Cookware
"Household products that didn't break within the first few years of use. My grandma had the same fridge from 1993 for a good while before deciding to switch to a newer, bigger option two years ago. Yes, it broke within those two years. My mom's wedding cookware is still going strong 25 years later, but whenever she needs new pans, they start flaking Teflon into the food within a few months."
- parangolecomuna
Retirement Funds
"Retirement plan built-in to your job."
- SuvenPan
"Or just retiring in general, lol (laughing out loud)."
- Joaham1
Farmer's Markets
"Farmer's markets. You used to be able to go down and get fruit and vegetables cheaper than the grocery store. Now it seems like they charge three times more than stores do."
- jrhawk42
Available Repairs
"Being able to get things repaired instead of buying new."
- einRoboter
Right to Privacy
"Privacy used to be implicit. It was just there. You didn't have to think about it."
"Now it's explicit. You have to seek it out and take steps to ensure it remains in force."
- dsac
The Good Ole Days
"Being left the f**k alone."
"Buying something and just like, owning it."
"Playing a video game without an internet connection."
"Not having to provide your email address for every single f**king thing you do."
- El_Mariachi_Vive
Just Gaming
"I still miss the days of just putting a game in, turning it on and you go right into playing it. The game alone was the sole focus and purpose of the console. The GameCube is the last system I remember playing that had this."
- __M_E_O_W__
Bins of Photo Albums Under the Bed
"Photographs on actual photographic paper. I know it's still possible but oh so rare."
- audiofankk
High-Quality Clothing
"Good quality fabric in clothing. I have clothes from the 90s (and 80s from my mother) that still hold up today. These days, I'm lucky if my shirt isn't saggy and misshapen within a year."
- TheMadLaboratorian
FriYay and TGIF
"Being able to go out every Friday after work and being able to afford it."
- M-the-music-guy
We're always moving forward and looking forward to future advancements, but sometimes, it's nice to look back on where we've been and what we miss about the old days. Sometimes, it may even be a little sad to think of what's not available anymore, but at least we got to experience it.
Dating can be pretty fun, but like anything else, there are going to be some bad or weird dates.
But sometimes the person we think we're really into will do something so repulsive, we know instantly that relationship is over.
Redditor th3dankmemer asked:
"Redditors, have you ever gotten the 'ick' from a potential partner or love interest that instantly killed your attraction to them?"
"If so, what happened?"
Uninterested in Them
"We were talking about our interests, and after I listened to him blab about his ''lawn-scaping business,' I went to talk about my interests. He interrupted me to say, 'Wow, you really have nothing interesting to say, do you?'"
- youraveragebrat
Interrogating Them
"I went out with a guy who would not stop grilling me, and I couldn't get him to actually answer any questions about himself."
"I finally just said, 'Look, it's cool that you're so interested in getting to know me, but I'd like to hear about you too. What do you do in your free time?'"
"He sat there and stared for a bit then started listing off TV shows, asking if I'd seen them."
"I had not."
"Finally, he got to 'The Wire,' which I'd seen a few episodes of, and because that was the only one I had any experience with, apparently that meant I needed a 20-minute monologue about what the show was about. I literally checked the clock when he started, and it was a full 20 minutes."
"When he finally petered out, we just sat in silence for a second before he stood up, shook my hand, and left without another word."
- TheDogWhistle
No Personal Space
"He grabbed me by the face on the first date, 'stroked' under my eyes, and said, 'You need to take better care of yourself.'"
"Sir, I’m a divorced 37-year-old woman with kids, and those under-eye circles were passed down from my grandmother. They’re family heirlooms."
"And get your hands off my face. We just met, and this is not a Nicholas Sparks movie."
- IgnoreThisIAmStupid
Victimizing Themselves
"Literally every single problem she had was someone else’s fault. Even when there was proof it was her fault, she would argue nonstop that it was someone else’s."
"She got in a car wreck and called insurance over and over again to tell them that it was the other person’s fault. They checked the computer in her car because it saved the speed she was going right before the wreck. It told them everything they needed to know, and she STILL denied it."
- ctrlALTdeleted716
Bully Behavior
"He bullied someone in front of me. Instant disgust."
- noteveni
Absolute Nose Blindness
"I had a guy once whose car smelled so bad, I had to try not to throw up while sticking my head out the window."
"He couldn't smell it. I thought I was going to die."
"It turns out he forgot about a double cheeseburger in the back of his car for over two weeks in the hot sun."
"I don't know what bothered me more. The smell or the fact that it didn't bother him."
- yuyufan43
Mom the Third Wheel
"I found out the reason he rented the house next door to his parents was so his mom would make his meals, wash his clothes, etc. He had the audacity to say, 'Let me call my mom,' when I mentioned I was a little hungry."
"She was a big enabler, and she was part of the reason I ended the relationship. I don’t need to be coached on 'how to please her baby boy.'"
- SpeechDistinct8793
The Two-Faced Partner
"She was 'best friends' with another girl who she constantly spoke s**t about when said friend wasn't around."
- 11_Jay
"Ooh, I had an ex who did that."
"She got SUPER MAD at her 'best friend' for wanting to go out for sushi a week before her birthday when she wanted sushi! It was totally on purpose just to steal her idea of getting sushi. Because you obviously couldn't go out and get sushi two weekends in a row."
"A couple of weeks later, they were best friends again. A couple of weeks after that, I got ghosted and realized I was better off."
- mdp300
Imaginary Friends
"In college, I was seeing a girl who lived in a student residence with me but on another floor. She would always talk about how another guy, Tom, on her floor was obsessed with her and would show me texts between them. She said she only talked to him because he’s harmless and that they’re friends. I never met him."
"After a week, her ex-friend from high school pulled me aside and told me not to trust her. She said that the girl I was seeing is a notorious liar and that Tom doesn’t exist. That she added her own number in her phone as 'Tom,' would text herself, and then delete the sent messages."
"The only reason her ex-friend knew is that she saw the text message exchange happen in the reflection of a mirror when they were in the same room."
"I was close with the front desk and asked if they could look up the names from that floor. They said yes, and told me that there was no guy named Tom on her floor. I noped out of that real quick."
- GetInMyBellyButton
Reciprocation Matters
"My brief girlfriend bought me some hair care products before she came over because it was right by her house. In return, I said I would go grocery shopping and make her a nice dinner. I thought this to be an even exchange."
"That night I found her looking through my trash for the receipt for the groceries to make sure that the 30 dollars she spent on me was equal to the amount I spent on her dinner."
"Just to clarity, I saw her parents do this to her. It was her upbringing. She did this in every aspect of her life which gave me the ick but she did not have very good role models."
- lookssharp
Conspiracy Theorist
"I dated a guy who seemed chill but kept talking about social media and how people and his exes were scheming against him."
"I believed him at first until it got to a point where he thought things like a photo someone put up was an indicator that they were ‘getting him back’ when these people were literally just doing normal things and posting normal stuff."
"I think he was schizophrenic, but it was really unsettling. Months later, he rang me out of the blue to ask me about a link between his ex, myself, and a friend. The link was butterflies, and because of this link, he thought we were conspiring against him."
- BangGrenade
Constant Assumptions
"He kept making assumptions about me on the first date, like 'I suppose someone like you...' or, 'A girl like you wouldn't understand...'"
"I am literally right here, ask me. Don't tell me what my life is or is like."
"Anyway, eventually I got up and left. They messaged me and asked what my problem was, so I wrote back something to the effect of, 'A boy like you wouldn't understand even if I told you.'"
- Kixion
Faking Seizures
"I realized he was faking seizures our entire relationship to get out of helping me do chores or cook meals."
"We dated for less than a year. I found out from his friends and family he never had a seizure in front of them."
"I came home one night after working a double, and I asked him to please try to make dinner."
"The next night, I found him asleep and woke him up to let him know I was home and where was dinner?"
"He said he had a seizure. This caused an argument where he admitted he faked it. He said his seizures were caused by flashing lights."
"I took him to countless doctors and no one could replicate what I saw all the time. After he admitted it, it finally clicked. He’d been faking it the whole time."
- helloyellowfellow1
Weirder and Weirder
"I went on a date with a guy I met at a party. He made me prove that I liked 'Lord of the Rings' by answering who said what when he quoted someone."
"He pulled out a notebook of really poorly drawn anime characters and asked me if he could draw me."
"He was a lot shorter than me and asked if it bothered me. I said no, then he said, 'Good, I like Amazonian goddesses.'"
"He kept trying to put his jewelry onto me despite my protests. He asked what I wanted to order for food, and then ignored me and ordered me something else and got frustrated I didn't eat it all."
"He referenced being arrested, made me guess what for, and when I refused to guess for not knowing him well enough, he said GBH (Grievous Bodily Harm)."
"He was a trainee doctor and asked if I'd ever broken any bones. When I replied yes, he said that he was going to look up my X-rays."
"And the icing on the cake... When I wanted to leave, he got my knee-high boots, slipped them onto my feet, zipped them up, and said, 'You should always be treated like a goddess... My Morticia Addams.'"
"ALL ONE DATE."
- choccymilkaddict
Saving Marriages One Story at a Time
"This thread is saving my marriage."
- letsjakeonit
"No kidding!"
"My parents love to say that after going out in public, there’s no one else they’d rather go home with."
- Tup1000
We've all met some unusual people in our lives, but it's especially strange when we're dating them and make unexpected discoveries about them.
At least a relationship doesn't have to last forever unless it's meant to.
This November, Puerto Ricans can vote on one of three options–including becoming the 51st state in the U.S.
The U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Puerto Rico Status Act last December.
The bill would grant the island commonwealth either U.S. statehood, independence, or independence while retaining some U.S. affiliations.
"Americans, how do you feel about Puerto Rico possibly becoming the 51st state?"
People weighed in with their thoughts.
From A Resident's Perspective
"I'm Puerto Rican and I can tell you that support for statehood and the commonwealth is almost evenly split. Practically nobody supports independence."
– _kevx_91
Not Ideal
"This is not a good deal for most Puerto Ricans. They also don't get the same benefits that citizens in states are entitled to despite paying federal payroll taxes for some of these benefits, like Social Security and Medicaid."
"The territory has a median household income of $21,000, so over half of households would not be required to file federal taxes anyway. Of those that would be required to file, the vast majority will be paying less than 15% of income, less with deductions. This is a pretty awful tradeoff for the (again, largely poor) residents to be ineligible for SSI and the territory receiving only a fraction of the Medicaid funding that it would as a state."
– Noodleboom
The Impacts
"If Puerto Rico becomes a state, it will get more congressmen and thus more influence to negotiate more subsidies from the federal government, as well as repeal some of the extractive policies the US imposes on Puerto Rico. These benefits will likely outweigh the increase in taxes."
– squashgermany
Contrary To Popular Belief
"It’s so funny because I see mainland Puerto Ricans who are like 'independence is the only thing we want' and it’s like, you aren’t living there, why are you choosing for your people. I’m not Puerto Rican but I see this and get confused, especially because I see people in PR who don’t want independence."
– ariana61104
How The Government Might Handle Things
"The way a Puerto Rican friend in PR has explained it to me: it’s not so much that people don’t want independence, it’s that they know their government won’t handle it well and they’ll crumble the second they get it. Obviously that’s just one Puerto Rican and he doesn’t speak for all. I just hope that they are the ones who get to choose in the end and the result is one that ends up working for everyone."
– evil-rick
PR Nightmare
"Considering the political class we would inherit, the terrible geography, being in the direct path of so many hurricanes, losing access to a $26t economy and billions in annual stimulus, I’d say it’s a very risky bet."
"And our closest analogs are Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti. DR is fine, but a clear downgrade in prosperity. And Cuba/Haiti are collapsing. Puerto Ricans can see this which is why only 5% of the state legislature is pro-independence."
"I know many Puerto Ricans in Virginia or in metro Orlando making six figures and buying two-story houses. By all accounts Puerto Ricans who move to the mainland do incredibly well."
"So why would you give that access away when the alternative is Cuba or Haiti (at worst) or DR at best (which is stable, but still far poorer than Puerto Rico). The next time Hurricane Maria hits, who is going to cut us a $15 billion check? Independence is simply impractical."
– _kevx_91
People were talking numbers.
Making It Count
"My only objection is that 50 is a nice round number. Merge the Dakotas and I'm in."
– kjm16216
The Perfect Number
"All I ask is that we find two other states to add as well. Make it 53."
"Truly a nation indivisible."
– rabluv
Keeping It 50
"We should stick with 50 states. And since Puerto Rico has more people than several states, we should make it a state and combine the 2 Dakota's into one state."
– AgentElman
Some people were indifferent.
Supporting Their Decision
"As far as I can tell PR citizens are still split inside their nation about joining the union. I kinda feel like they should be on the same page first. That said, I would support them if it was a question of my support."
– sephstorm
A Strange Situation
"Anyone born in Puerto Rico after 1952 is an American citizen. They are already technically in the union but, due to slightly more complicated reasons do not have equal representation in Congress. They aren’t a protectorate and are technically classified as a territory of the US. It’s a very strange situation to me"
– Dr_Terry_Hesticles
The Neutralist
"I have no strong feelings one way or the other."
– Kgby13
Two hundred and thirty-three members of the US House of Representatives voted for statehood while 191 were opposed.
The bill providing Puerto Ricans a binding referendum awaits passage in the Senate–where at least 60 "yes" votes are required from the 100-member chamber.
A similar referendum procedure occurred in the 1950s when Hawaiians and Alaskans voted for or against U.S. statehood.
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away in the fall of 2020, the United States panicked.
Namely, democrats and liberals were terrified by the prospect of another conservative judge on the United States Supreme Court, which already had a two-seat majority.
Then of course, there was the ongoing debate as to whether or not then-sitting president Donald Trump was entitled to pick another Supreme Court judge, as the 2020 presidential election was only weeks away.
Barack Obama was famously banned from appointing Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court owing to the fact that it was an election year, even though President Obama still had eight months left in his presidency.
Of course, RBG's death at age 87 also brought to the forefront an ongoing debate about whether there should be age limits for Supreme Court Justices.
"Would you support a mandatory retirement age of 75 for US House, US Senate & US Supreme Court Justices and if not why?"
If There Are Minimums, There Should Be Maximums
"Yes."
"We have age minimums."
"We need maximum age limits these people are making decisions for a future they won't be involved in."- mattjf22
Age Doesn't Always Equal Wisdom...
"I am 82 years old."
"Personally, I feel that anyone my age who still gets off on power needs to be kept away from normal people."
"But to the point of this post, the world has been run by old people since the beginning of our species, and just look at the place!"
"Yes, if you were intelligent to begin with your wisdom and common sense will increase with age, but so will your cynicism."
"If you were a young jacka**, you will become an old jacka** — and a hide-bound prejudiced old jackass at that."
"Give them a nice pension at 70, with the condition that if they mess with politics or government again they lose the pension."- SemichiSam
Would Have Greatly Affected The Last Two Elections
"70 and as for president no one can run over 65."
"FFS get with the program folks just retire."- Upstairs-Bid6513
Age Limits Are Only The Beginning
"Age requirement of 65, 2 term limit, Congress people serve 4 year instead of 2 year terms, and no campaigning more than 60 days before the election."- Deedoodleday
Term Limits First
"I feel like if we were to attach an age to it, it should be the age of retirement, but I feel like it would be more important to have term limits."
"Limits would fix almost all the same issues and address more, without arbitrarily deciding someone is too old to serve the state."- Askmyrkr
"Term limit is the way to go."- bob2235
Not Where Our Concerns Should Be...
"No, the problem isn't age, it's our election system."
"Politicians get old in office because it's so f*cking hard to vote them out!"
"End legal bribery, end FPTP, and we'll see a much healthier turnover in our political processes."- FountainsOfFluids
What Matters Is Their Qualifications And Abilities
"I'll be the contrarian."
"If you're good, you're good, regardless of age."
"I'll take a 75-year-old who is smarter, savvier, and better representative of my values than a 35-year-old."
"If you don't like them because they're senile, don't vote for them, that's all."
"Honestly, I feel the same about lower-age limits that aren't just the age of majority."- walkerintheworld
75 Is still Too Old...
"I would go even younger at 70."
"Sure that may mean we would lose Bernie, we would also be ditching McConnell, Pelosi, and the other fossils in office who refuse to address the problems we face."- Daryno90
Wrong Priorities
"Would rather see mandatory voting like Australia."- szthesquid
Wouldn't Change Anything
"No."
"Making politicians retire at some arbitrary age would not address the underlying problems our system has."- giope_1995
"What problem are you trying to solve by doing this?"
"Apparently, people want to be represented by ancient dinosaurs."- SideShow117
Defeats The Point Of Democracy
"No, absolutely not."
"Nor should there be a minimum age (apart from 18)."
"The point of a representative democracy is that the people vote for whom they want."
"Putting restrictions on who can run serves no purpose other than invalidating the votes of people you disagree with."
"It's not up to you or me to decide who is 'valid' as a candidate."
"That's the entire point of democracy."
"And to those of you that are convinced that if all the old people were just gone, then everyone would agree with you, you're ironically the exact kind of uninformed voter that you claim to be trying to prevent."- scottevil110
"No, because if there was a 76-year-old candidate I liked I would want the freedom to vote for them."
"Supporting things like this is so short-sighted."- tedesco455
In the heat of the moment, it's easy to make rash decisions about government and democracy.
Frustrating though it may be, it's important to remember progress is a slow, steady stream and doesn't come easily.
Also worth remembering, there are indeed two sides to most arguments, and far more can be resolved in a discussion than in an attack.