People Reveal The Most Important Things To Ask Before Renting
[rebelmouse-image 18359187 is_animated_gif=A popular financial magazine recently published an article claiming that by age 35, people should have twice their yearly salary saved. People responded ... preeeeeeeeeeetty much how you probably just did. The internet collectively scoffed and pointed out that the financial world isn't what it used to be. With student loans, inflation and insecure career prospects, our goals aren't the same as they used to be. Things like owning a home, having years worth of money in savings, etc. just aren't as easily achieved anymore.
That means more and more people are renting as opposed to purchasing. With all of these people renting for longer, it's important to know what to look for in a rental. One Reddit user asked:
What are the most important things to ask/check when viewing a new property to rent?
We saw answers from property experts, people with horror stories, pizza lovers and at least one person who maybe has never heard of sunglasses... click ahead to read more!
Night Noise
[rebelmouse-image 18359188 is_animated_gif=Go to the property at night and see what the noise is like.
I used to have a neighbor that bought a set of 4-foot tall neighborhood-thumper speakers and decided to start blasting Skynyrd at 12:30 in the middle of the damn night on a weeknight in an apartment building with walls that might as well have been made of cardboard. Like, sh!t hanging on my walls would rattle, and I had stuff falling off of shelves.
I went over and knocked on his door and asked him to turn it down because I had to work the next morning and he told me to go f*** myself because it was his apartment and I couldn't tell him not to.
For the next two weeks or so, he'd fire the speakers up at random times and play one of the same three country songs on repeat for an hour or so before shutting them down.
I'd call the cops and if they'd show up they'd just tell him to knock it off, and he'd turn it down, then half an hour later, he'd pump it again, and the cops had "better things to do" than to come deal with him all the time.
So I watched and figured out his work schedule, then, on a night before he had to work at 6am, I fired up my surround sound at maximum volume blaring Marylyn Manson at midnight, and left that running for about 45 minutes.
I think he got the message because it was never a problem again.
Pizza
[rebelmouse-image 18359189 is_animated_gif=I work for an apartment property investment company. A new thing we implemented when looking at properties to buy is we see if we can order pizza to that location. If they won't deliver there, it's not a good area.
Placement Matters
[rebelmouse-image 18359191 is_animated_gif=We made the mistake of a corner lot two blocks from downtown with a stop sign. This a somewhat country town, lots of lifted trucks and ridiculous exhaust pipes. Apparently this is where you can peel out and accelerate to 70 mph to the next stop sign. I'm somewhat used to it now but sheesh that sh!t is obnoxious.
Hot Water
[rebelmouse-image 18359192 is_animated_gif=I always check if the shower is getting hot and has proper flow. I'll never forget living in my first student flat in a cold winter where the shower wouldn't get hot. That was beyond fucking annoying.
Also check for mold.
Roach Poop
[rebelmouse-image 18359193 is_animated_gif=No one seemed to mention this... but as a kid who grew up in a roach infested apartment in a bad area. The first thing I do when looking at a place is go into the cabinets and crevices and check for droppings. Yes roaches leave tons of s***, even if the owner tries to clean it up, if there are bugs you'll eventually find some droppings. As someone who went through that once, forget about noise and water pressure, this is the most important thing to check for.
No Internet? No Lease.
[rebelmouse-image 18359194 is_animated_gif=What your Internet options are.
And I mean really check. Call the ISP, give the full address, maybe even start filling a request and cancel it in the middle just to see if they can reach your area. A month ago I moved into an apartment that seemed fine. I was waiting a month before getting internet just to make sure I could afford it.
The modem gets mailed to me. It was then that I discovered there were no phone jacks in my apartment... except for one, all the way in my bedroom, that was heavily painted over and looked like it was intentionally concealed. Anyways, it didn't work and AT&T had to send a technician. Of course the phone line was shot, and he had to drill a hole in the wall to get a new line through.
But lo and behold, the guy who sold me the service over the phone lied to me about qualifying for service at my address. It's out of range, as the technician tells me. This is all despite the fact that I live in a decently sized populous city and all. The guy on the phone also lied about the speed, as he assured me this speed was good for gaming and streaming, but the technician told me that the speed could only handle light browsing and no streaming.
"Built To Code"
[rebelmouse-image 18359195 is_animated_gif=If your realtor says "built to code", that means they made the building as crappy as legally possible.
Can You Hear Me Now?
[rebelmouse-image 18359197 is_animated_gif=Check the signal on your phone.
Forgot about that with the house we bought 3 years ago. I can maybe get 1 bar if I stand in the doorway of the master bathroom. Ended up getting a microcell booster because we'd like to be able to call 911 in a real emergency. Which will hopefully not happen during a power outage. The house was built with a landline connection, but no telecom companies are servicing landlines anymore. They're only doing internet phones, which will not work during a power outage.
This is in a suburb of Dallas. We're 1.5 miles west from the nearest cell tower, which is oriented North-South. Our subdivision is on a peninsula in a lake.
We really like this house. It's as old as we are, and will need work in the coming years but, it was a great fit for us from the first walkthrough.
Heads Up
[rebelmouse-image 18359198 is_animated_gif=Know Your Landlord!
And know how much notice the landlord has to give before showing up for whatever reason. Ideally, you want an expressed term of time. I had a lease that stated "reasonable" notice and the law only required the same. As a result, my landlord thought four hours notice was reasonable when I wouldn't even get the message of my phone until much later. I thought 24 hours was reasonable.
Another landlord would give... 20 minutes notice? He'd show up to "check the fire alarm," while I or my roommate was in the shower. Happened more than once. Finally, I googled the law and my state requires 24 hour notice. He and his wife were just banking on the idea that we were all dumb kids. I emailed him the law. When I moved out, he screamed at me that I was not a lawyer and can't quote law to him (I was mentioning the fact that they had built a makeshift locked gate on the fire escape - illegal). He also called me despicable. Get that notice in writing. You can ask for changes to leases before you sign.
Petty Neighbors
[rebelmouse-image 18359199 is_animated_gif=If you're in an apartment complex, check that there aren't a million petty signs up in the foyer telling you what you can't do. A few signs about legitimate issues is to be expected, but if you're finding a bunch of notices about things like a bag of trash outside the door for an hour, kids laughing too loud, parking etc. it's a giveaway that your neighbors are gonna be a problem.
Dumpsters
[rebelmouse-image 18359200 is_animated_gif=I'm a paramedic and have been to an untold number of communities ranging from super high-end to complete nightmares. Regardless of the price range of where you are considering go look at the dumpsters. Nothing will tell you more about the community than how the residents treat the dumpster areas. If you are a jerk that has no regard for other people and is okay just slinging your excrement nonchalantly a community of decent people is not for you.
Utilities
[rebelmouse-image 18359201 is_animated_gif=What utilities are included in the rent, not just this but asking what those total costs are.
On average what is the gas, water and electric bill. I rented a place where it wasn't included (which is fine) and the electric bill was insanely high. There was no insulation in walls to keep heat in so furnace was running constantly. I wish I'd asked the costs.
*Another User Responded: *
The first apartment I ever got was with my sister. We lived in a decent two bedroom and our electric bill was crazy high. I just thought it cost that much. Then she moved for a job, I got a smaller one bedroom apartment, and I thought my first electric bill was a mistake. We had been paying about $300/month and my first bill in my new apartment was $25. Well, no, it wasn't a mistake. The old apartment was basically just walls, no insulation at all, and in Louisiana this means the A/C was trying to cool not just the apartment but the whole neighborhood.
Bed Bugs
[rebelmouse-image 18359202 is_animated_gif=Bed bugs. I moved into an apartment, and when a neighbor moved, I got their bed bugs. It's been hellish, costly, and I just moved back into my apartment last week from staying at my parents for a month. Bought a new bed, and guess what? I might still have them. I don't know. It's like A Scanner Darkly, I'm terrified of itching now.
Here's the rage inducing kicker. I told my apartment manager about the issue, in hopes that they would spray or heat treat for them- since it wasn't me that brought them in. Nope. It's on me. Oh, and if I don't get it treated, they will charge me the cost of getting the place treated and possibly take me to court.
You do not ever want to risk getting bed bugs. It has cost me not only thousands of tangible dollars, but also forced me to get rid of just about every single article of clothing I own, many other possessions (bed, couch, etc), and more than a month of my life.
All because my apartment manager was too cheap to properly treat the units.
(Don't) Go West
[rebelmouse-image 18359203 is_animated_gif=Avoid living west of your work if you drive there. Sun in eyes both ways everyday sucks.
More Power
[rebelmouse-image 18359205 is_animated_gif=Count the outlets. Two per room aren't enough! Also, the number of light fixtures. For some reason, where I live most of the apartments do not have light fixtures in the living room and bedroom areas, so if you forget to buy lamps you have to spend the first night in the dark.
Ghosts
[rebelmouse-image 18353260 is_animated_gif=Who are all of the previous tenants? How did they die? How long did they live after moving into this property? Was the property built on sacred land?
Horror movies have totally prepped me for this.
Orange Discoloration
[rebelmouse-image 18359206 is_animated_gif=As an asthmatic currently having a s*** time thanks to this, have a good look at the ceiling corners in your bathroom. Mold might just be orange discoloration, or straight up black fuzzies.
Moving in June, thank Pete.
Indoor Smokers
[rebelmouse-image 18345799 is_animated_gif=If you are a nonsmoker you're going to want to be sure your apartment has either never had a smoker in it or has been properly cleaned since an indoors smoker lived there. If a long-term resident also smoked indoors, the smell will have permeated in to the walls, carpet, and even the cabinets depending on how long they lived there and how heavy they smoked. Make sure the carpets have been professionally cleaned and open cabinets and closets and sniff for smoke smells. If you smell them, minor cases of bad smoke smells can be fixed with a new coat of paint and steam cleaning the carpet.
Curtains Not Included
[rebelmouse-image 18359207 is_animated_gif=I signed for a beautiful condo that had stainless steel everything, very modern, the works. This included floor-to-ceiling windows. Awesome, right? Wrong. This place didn't have curtains included. I'm talking at least 12 ft windows, sun in my eyes, and visible from the bed. The issues here:
1. There are no curtain rods long enough for the width of the windows
2. There are no curtains long enough for the height of the windows
3. Curtains are !@#$ing expensive when you have to have them custom made, including the damn rod. 4. The building could have not allowed modifications to the walls, which means you can't put up curtains (rare, but happens).
Remember: Just because you see it during the open house/showing, doesn't mean it'll be there when you move in.
Should Be Spotless
[rebelmouse-image 18359208 is_animated_gif=As a land lord let me give you this piece of advice when you are looking at apartments. Look. Take a look at every thing from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave. Is the lawn cut? Is the building landscaped? Is the entry way and hall ways clean. Same goes for the apartment, if it's empty it should be spotless. Try every faucet, flush every toilet, make sure there aren't any drips. Are the door knobs loose? Are any of the windows crack/broken. All of these things are indications on how your apartment will be maintained. If the place looks like shit on the outside chances are your LL isn't going to be rushing over to you place to fix a leaky faucet. If an apartment is empty when you view it, it should be perfect and if there is something wrong ask the LL and if they don't say we'll fix it immediately move along
H/T: Reddit
The Best Ways To Tell If Someone's In An Open Relationship Or Actually Cheating On Their Partner
Views of commitment and monogamy in romantic relationships continue to evolve.
More and more couples have decided to open their relationships, seeing other people while still remaining committed to one another.
Dating someone who's in an open relationship can take some getting used to, however, as the feeling of knowing your new romantic interest is going home to their spouse or partner following your date is strange, to say the least.
Then too, can you ever be certain that they are in fact in an "open relationship," and not just cheating on their partner?
"How do you know when someone is really in an open relationship, and not a cheater pretending to be in one?"
When In Doubt, Don't...
"If you're feeling off about it, don't do it."- Massive-Ad7628
Bad Feeling I Anticipate Problems GIF by America's Got TalentGiphyConfirmation Needed From Both
"When the partner openly knows and acknowledges it."- EngineeringVirgin
"I was seeing a man who was married."
"He assured me that their relationship was open, that he had full permission to do whatever, and that if it would make me comfortable he would give me his wife’s number and she and I could chat."
"We saw each other for about four years."
"I went to pick him up at his house a couple times and his wife would say 'have a nice date!'."
"That’s the way to do it."
"Everything on the table."
"If there’s some sneakiness, something that makes you feel it’s not quite right, you need to listen to that feeling."- theyarnllama
"Ask to meet their partner."
"If they’re really open, it shouldn’t be a problem."- bloomautomatic
Threes Company Reaction GIF by moodmanGiphyAn Oldie But A Goodie...
"Ask them to pinky swear."- Still_kinda_hungry
Give Your Intentions A Second Thought As Well
"Agh."
"Ok so I’m in an open relationship with my partner and he hooked up with this girl, and we called her to go get a drink with us and she was like 'I knew he had a girlfriend, but I didn’t know you knew'.”
"After that I def didn’t want to hang out with her because she thought she was facilitating him cheating on me."
"Not cool."
"Intentions matter."- Physical_Witness_922
Ask And Answer
"In my experience, ask literally anything about what type of poly or open they are."
"Also anyone who isn't willing to get/show a recent std test isn't worth the risk."- Midori8751
just ask leslie jones GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphyInstructional Videos
"My SO and I just make videos explaining the situation and ground rules."
"That way, our potential partner know what they are dealing with."- TagtheCat
Doesn't Hurt To Check...
"I slept with a woman who was in an open marriage."
"Her husband called to check on her and ask if she was ok."
"She said she was fine and that was the extent of the call. I think that’s a pretty good indicator."- Fit-Concern-81
It's All About The Reaction
"When they introduce you to their SO as their lover and the SO is fine with it."
"Open relationships rarely sneak around on each other."- welltriedsoul·
“'So like…. You know your husbands screwing Ashley right….??'”
“'Yeah I know'.”- AkKik-Maujaq
It Must Be A Mutual Decision
"In my experience, one of my ex's said we were in an open relationship, however I didn't know that."
"So yeah, that's a cheater."
"I briefly dated someone that was in an open relationship (the couple were long distance)."
"I spoke on the phone with the girlfriend before any sex happened so we could all be on the same page regarding boundaries and intentions, what protection will be used, testing, etc."
"It really wasn't awkward, and I appreciated knowing that everyone was aligned."- korova_chew
Cartoons Button GIF by NickelodeonGiphyIf They Say No, That's A Problem
"Ask them if you can talk to their partner."- vivi2626
Don't Ask, Don't Tell... Don't Date!
"I've been poly for closing in on 2 decades."
"I used to run a large poly meetup in a huge metro area."
"I've seen it all, personally talked to several thousand+ poly folks over the years, etc."
"I REFUSE to engage with anyone in a DADT policy at all at this point."
"HARD F*CKING PASS, the vast majority of the time its cheating."
"And when its not I swear 95% of the time is because the couple with the DADT policy hasn't done any work around opening up their relationship and there are a LOT of problems involved."
"And I want nothing to do with that huge nightmare of a cluster f*ck anymore."
"Here's my perspective and where it comes from."
"The amount of cheating I've seen is beyond staggering."
"A huge percentage of the women I know have run into TONS of men that are cheating and try to use poly, dadt, etc as a guise to do it."
"I have zero reason to put that much trust in someone I just met. It's the same reason I ask for proof of STI testing."
"I can't understand people with the attitude of 'if you can't trust them why are you with them' the whole point is you don't know them that well why would you trust them?"
"This is one step in establishing some trust."
"The ethical part of ENM is a big big deal to me, and I refuse to be complicit in cheating and be put in an unethical situation."
"If cheating was rare it would be a different situation, but f**k it's common."
"I've verified 100% of my partners are in ethical situations, and none of them had a problem with it."
"I've had a number of their partners thank me for actually checking."
"I'll accept a few options for verification, a phone call, voice chat, a brief text exchange while my date is present, a prerecorded voice / video message, or showing me snippets of a conversation where being poly is discussed / confirmed and there is a long-standing chat history with said person."
"Most of the time I had already met or seen their partner, so I already knew it was ethical."- f*cklifehard
Schitts Creek No GIF by CBCGiphyMany couples have said that their communication and commitment has greatly improved after opening their relationships.
When one half of a couple seeing other people causes pain and unhappiness, however, it seems clear that that relationship is not open in a healthy way.
Particularly if only one person is truly benefitting from it.
Rumors can be dangerous, especially when they are about scientific facts.
Sometimes, rumors are told and retold so many times that we actually start to believe the rumors rather than the actual fact.
These rumors turn into commonly held beliefs.
When I was little, I used to believe bumblebees were superheroes because they're wings were so small, physics said that they couldn't actually fly. I found out later than I would've liked that that's not true.
Redditors know a lot of commonly held beliefs that have actually been disproven by science and they are eager to share.
It all started when Redditor Redt_Wolf16 asked:
"What is a popular belief that is scientifically proven wrong?"
Heavy Winds
"Hiding under a highway overpass is actually not a good way to survive a tornado."
"It has been scientifically proven that the wind gets concentrated and the speeds increase underneath the overpass."
"If you aren’t shielded by a bridge girder or something similar you’ll just get swept away and mulched."
"Your best bet for survival if you cannot escape the tornado is to find the nearest deep ditch or hole."
– jitsbay
"That's just a rumor that was started by a tornado"
– MikePGS
He Sees You
"Goldfish have a three second memory."
"They don’t and, supposedly, you can even train them to do tricks."
– twerkette
"They can even recognize human faces."
– fractalfrenzy
"So…you’re telling me Pumpkin the goldfish recognized me? 🥹🥹🥹 He was my first pet and I loved him so much"
– Inevitable_Willow_15
"Recognised? Pumpkin loved you."
– ihaveadarkedge
Crack!
"Cracking knuckles = arthritis"
– bigfart99
"There was a guy who only cracked the knuckles on his right hand his whole life to test this. He had no real difference between his hands arthritis-wise."
– Lmtguy
Boil A Frog
"A frog thrown in a pot of boiling water will jump out immediately. If a frog is put in a pot of cool water and that water is slowly warmed, the frog won’t notice and boil to death."
"This is indeed false"
– Backwards_Pessimist
"I love this one, we slowly boiled the water and the frog didn't jump out!after we removed most of its brain"
"Also if you throw a frog into boiling water it's not going to jump out, it's going to f*cking die."
– Enk1ndle
BOOM!
"That rice will make the birds who eat it explode. Birds eat rice all the time! It's actually good for them, especially brown rice."
"I believe this myth was made up so people would stop throwing rice at weddings, but harming the birds wasn't an actual risk. It was getting rice grains stuck in your ear that was."
– Mister_Moho
"The church my family went to had a sign on the door about not throwing rice at weddings, because the birds would eat it and "would get harmed". I think they just got tired of trying to get the rice out of the carpeting."
– genital_furbies
What About The Other 90%?
"We only use 10% of our brain"
– Key-Wallaby-9276
"I'm pretty sure I know a few people for whom this is true."
– maybebaby83
"...and others, that is a very generous overestimation."
– Any_Street
Lightning Flashed
"Lightning never strikes in one place twice."
– JarJarLifts
"Right? The Empire State Building gets hit about a few dozen times per year."
– dcbluestar
"Friends" Lied To Me!
"Despite popular belief, urine is not sterile."
– koalamiracle
"As a corollary: do not pee on jellyfish stings."
– Slant_Juicy
Both Can Be True
"“Fish don’t feel pain” , and simultaneously “Fish do feel pain” are both arguments which ignore centuries of research."
"They lack a Neocortex which deems them unable to “process” pain, however they have several nociceptors located around the mouth which allows them to “feel it”. What does this mean? Well nobody actually knows yet, and it is largely open to interpretation. It’s unfathomably hard for us to understand, as we can both feel and process pain. Some scientists describe “acting on instinct” as symptoms of pain when these nociceptors become compromised. Some scientists describe it as just that though, acting on instinct based on what parts of their body are compromised and hence weaker or vulnerable."
"For example : You hook and release a bass. That Bass now moves slower, eats a little less, and socializes less. Are these actions the result of the fish acknowledging the compromised nociceptors and acting accordingly while giving itself a chance to heal? Or is the fish genuinely hurting and sad? Research points to both being correct, but neither have enough evidence to prove anything yet."
"All we know with certainty is that we don’t have a definite answer supporting either argument, so anyone that leans hard one way or another doesn’t know what they are talking about."
– goldieglocks16
Lazy Simba
"Don't know if it's been said yet still scrolling, but that male lions don't hunt or do anything. Yes, lionesses do most of the hunting but males do help if the prey is too big and strong, such as with cape buffalo or giraffe. Males do a lot, staying back and protecting the territory which is very important if there are cubs, not to mention that the mane not only blows their cover more when hunting, but it tires them out quickly as it's a bunch of hair weighing on their head. Males also have to leave their birth pride at a certain age which of course until they can find a pride, they at that point have to hunt."
"Also on the topic of African animals (wildlife nerd) hyenas hunt more than lions and are more successful predators, and hyenas aren't dogs. Elephants don't think you or any human is cute."
"Edit: I was told wrong a lion's mane doesn't weigh as much as I thought, but it does have more of a negative effect on their hunting compared to a lioness."
– wildnstuff
That's That
"The one about earlobes (free, or attached) being inherited from your mom and dad were taught to us in 8th grade. We were supposed to go home and examine our parents. Mine are free, both my parents are attached and I'm not adopted. My science teacher sadly informed me that I MUST be adopted and that's that."
– snarksneeze
"I have an identical twin and he has one attached lobe and another that is free. Both of mine are attached."
– philodendrin
"I’m sad to inform you that either you or your identical twin MUST have been adopted and that’s that."
– TaintlessChaps
Blue Bloods
"That blood is blue until it comes into contact with air"
– xPunkdaddy
"Wow thanks, this is the first one I read that I didn't know. My old science teacher was amazing and she taught us it was blue, so I really doubted you until I looked it up. In her defense, she was a physics/maths fanatic and openly admitted biology just wasn't her thing. But still, I presume it must have been in our textbook. Madness!"
– guypr
Sweetness
"The belief that sugar causes hyperactivity in children.This belief has been around for decades, but numerous scientific studies have shown that there is no evidence to support it."
– Logpoze3
"One of my all time favorite scientific studies looked into this in the 90s. The researchers setup a randomized controlled study of boys (n = 35; 5-7 yo) who had been reported as sugar sensitive by their mothers. In the experimental group, the researchers told mothers the boys received a high dose of sugar. In the control group, researchers told mothers they received a sugar-less placebo. Mothers in the experimental group reported higher levels of hyperactivity than mothers in the control group. Well, it turns out the researchers fed both groups the same sugar-less placebo. The only thing measured here was the mother's belief that sugar causes hyperactivity."
– Metridia
I used to believe that, actually. Glad to know the truth!
CW: Death, assault, and accidentals.
Katy B. She was my classmate.
She died tragically in a car accident.
Her car hit an oil slick and flew into the air, passing mid-sky over a median and landed on another car.
Katy was beautiful.
Katy was cool.
Katy was popular.
And best of all, she was kind to the unpopular.
She died shortly after graduation.
I hate that.
Life... at its worst.
Redditor leilavanora wanted to hear about the people who left this world too soon, so they asked:
"How did the kid from your school die?"
So many people gone before their time!
Gruesome
Episode One Armchair GIF by PBSGiphy"Fell off a jet ski and then got hit by it when the driver turned around. Drowned."
lindseys10
"Jet skis are insanely dangerous. If you read up on jet ski deaths they are awful much more gruesome too."
anightclubfordogs
Family Issues
"There was a boy from a family of alcoholics, whose parents divorced, he lived with a mom who was a very heavy drinker and a stepdad. Stepdad had a son who spent quite some time in mental facilities and rehab because he f**ked up his brain with drug use. The son eventually came home to live with his father and my classmate. One time the classmate accidentally saw his stepbrother sniffing glue from a bag."
"Stepbrother got mad, poured kerosene on him, and lit him up. When his mother saw her child was burning she jumped out the window and ran away while his younger siblings were trying to put out the fire. Unfortunately, once they managed to he was already dead."
Healthy-Gain-6586
April
"End-stage renal disease. She was doing good for a couple of years and waiting for a transplant while getting regular dialysis but ended up passing away in 11th grade."
whiteoff44
"That's sad. Plug for Organ donation awareness: April is National Donate Life month. Every day, 17 people die in the US waiting for an organ transplant. If you aren't an organ donor already, sign up at https://www.organdonor.gov/sign-up"
jackruby83
It was devastating
"He froze to death in his sleep after passing out in the snow. It was a school trip with his class and they had some beers but probably some of the first few times they tried alcohol. It was devastating. They were moving from one house to another and he had said he needed a break in between but everyone forgot or just thought he was in another house."
"It sounds like an obvious mistake but it's not necessarily that cold even if it's snow, especially after a drink. To lie down and chill on a snow pile with a good jacket is no problem but if you pass out and forget well damn."
Fit-Childhood879
WTF
Shock What GIF by Paramount+Giphy"In middle school, my neighbor accidentally shot and killed his best friend while hunting. Years later he was beheaded by the Taliban along with two English men. Unbearably sad."
Suspicious-War-8839
Guns and hunting. That is just constant danger.
No Violence
No Way Do Not Want GIF by Schitt's CreekGiphy"Wrestling team bully with anger management issues punched an elderly man in a road rage incident and the elderly man shot him dead and was acquitted as it was deemed self-defense."
evolution9673
So Fragile
"He was playing football and randomly passed out. Never woke up again."
Aints*itAngel
"Happened on the soccer pitch next to ours when I was playing 5-a-side with my work buddies. The kid who looked late teens fell down hard and didn't come back up again. They tried CPR and the defibrillator from the office before the paramedics showed up."
"We just stood there speechless watching it go down. And while it looked super bad, they took him away on a stretcher still working on him so I didn't actually find out he died until a week later when we were back for our usual slot and they held a silence."
"Never even found out the kid's name but I still think about it sometimes. Life can so be fragile."
ianjm
Wired
"An electrician screwed up rewiring her family’s house so a live wire was touching a metal pipe connected to the bath. Her mum was wearing rubber work boots when she filled the bath so wasn’t electrocuted but she must have accidentally brushed against the tap or gone to add some more water while submerged and was killed instantly. We lived in a very small town where everyone knew each other so it really rocked our community. She was in the grade above me so would have been around 10-11."
TimedDelivery
Be Safe
Driving Time Lapse GIF by YevbelGiphy"Like 5 of them died of drunk driving accidents, three of them at one time, Little redneck school in the middle of nowhere apparently people seem to think drinking and driving is the only way to have fun."
Maleficent-Touch-67
Life is fleeting and fragile.
Appreciate every second, kids.
Content Warning: Questionable medical care, sexual harassment or assault
Some people are really against making doctor's appointments or attending them when the day comes.
In order to properly care for ourselves, it's important that we follow through on these appointments.
But there are certain experiences that make it perfectly clear why a person would want to stay as far from a medical professional as possible.
Redditor Silent-Zebra asked:
"What's the worst thing a doctor has ever said to you?"
False Prognosis
"I went through treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia six years ago. I went through chemotherapy and total body irradiation with an allogeneic stem cell transplant."
"My 28-day biopsy after my stem cell transplant results came in, and my doctor literally came in stoic as could be with paperwork printed out. He just said the transplant didn’t work and I still had residual cancer cells in the flow cytometry of my marrow."
"I simply just accepted it and didn’t even look at the paper. My brain was just thinking of all the different scenarios."
"As the minutes went by, I had a different attending come in and say that there were still other options, which made me reassured. I also had another doctor from the Middle East come in after her and told me I was still young and there were other treatments we can try so it lessened the blow at that point."
"I had always been pretty optimistic even with such a poor prognosis."
"Fast forward another 14 days, I had another bone marrow biopsy to see how much the cancer had progressed to see how we could attack it and there were no signs of any cancer cells. Ever since that day, I have been cancer free."
"My donor cells attacked the residual cancer cells and saved me. I now have the DNA of a French woman that is six years old. Modern medicine can be amazing."
- GregNak
Don't Talk to My Child Like That
"When I was seven, I slipped and hit my head on the door axle. I was rushed to the hospital cause well, at that age, my skull was like butter."
"I was crying a lot, and one of the doctors told me, 'Stop crying or I'll make it hurt more.'"
"My parents couldn't do anything since she was the one responsible for fixing me up. But I know they must have been piping mad at that b***h."
- Foodcarsanime1390
Holy Misdiagnosis, Batman
"They told me that I have genital warts, proceeded to freeze them off, and sent me on my way."
"I went to my family doctor and she told me I did NOT have genital warts and was very confused by the other doctor’s diagnosis and treatment."
"I found out later on that the original doctor who gave me the treatment and diagnosed me with GW had come to Canada because he lost his license while practicing in the USA, then shortly after, his clinic was no longer open in my area."
- aycarambo
No More Martial Arts
"After my knee surgery, my doctor told me that I would still be able to practice my martial arts when I recovered. But I had never done martial arts before."
"He probably told me that because I'm Asian."
"We both had a good laugh when I told him that I didn't do any martial arts."
"I was actually a tennis player, and he told me that my tennis days were over. I still play tennis to this day, lol (laughing out loud)."
- MackumTheKnife
What's Said Behind Closed Doors...
"This was overheard by a friend of mine when a neurosurgeon looked at the CT scan of her son's brain: 'There's no point in doing this one. This kid is done. I'm out of here.'"
"The good news is another neurosurgeon did the surgery and the kid (now about 40) is perfectly fine today."
"Another story I heard while working in a hospital, but cannot verify:"
"A guy was gravely injured due to being shot in the face; there was no chance of recovery and he was expected to die within a very short period of time."
"An intern walked into the room and said, 'Is this the guy we are going to harvest the kidneys from?' The doomed patient was reported to have reacted by briefly bolting up into a sitting position. I hope it is not true, but they did get the kidneys."
- Ordinary_Today401
Incredible Violation
"I was 17 and saw a male doctor because I was scared I had an STD."
"He told me I had to give him a list of the names of all the men I'd had sex with."
"I was so young and very naive as this was a country area. And also I think I was naive by nature. So I gave him the names."
"He made it clear that I'd been shameful. In reality, it was two or three guys."
"Then he said he had to test me. He used some kind of tool to take a small chunk of the inside of my labia. Hurt like h**l."
" He then put vinegar straight onto the cut. Hurt like h**l. He said that that was part of the test for STDs."
"After that, I was messed up for years. I kept going to doctors thinking that there was something wrong with my genitals. It took one very kind doctor to realize that I had an emotional and not a physical issue, and he sat me down and told me that my vagina was in A1 condition, that it was 'beautiful,' and I had nothing to worry about."
"He said it in the most wholesome, genuine way and respectful way. And after that felt okay about my body again."
- thylacinesighting
Just, Gross.
"When I was 19, my primary care doctor (male) told me he could do a pap smear for me at my physical."
"When I told him I already had a gynecologist, he said, 'I can do it professionally or personally.'"
" Needless to say, I never saw him again and reported him."
- 2SadAllTheTime
Be More Reassuring
"'Welp, looks like you're probably going to go blind!'"
"While I have visions of myself walking about tapping a white cane in front of me, he blithely adds, 'But don't worry about it. Corneal transplants are 99% effective, you'll be fine.'"
"I did have transplants later when eyesight got bad enough to warrant it. They worked a miracle, but man, lead with the, 'You'll be fine,' next time."
- SchaefSex
How Frightening
"Three years ago, I went for an eye test, and the optician gave me a note and told me to go directly to an eye hospital."
"I gave the note to the reception at the eye hospital, the lady said, 'Oh, right, come this way,' and I was taken right through the waiting room and put in a CT scanner within 20 minutes of arrival."
"Shortly after, a doctor came and said that, 'There is something in the middle of your brain,' and that an ambulance is going to take me to a neurosurgery specialist hospital."
"A few hours later, I was having a drain put into my skull to get rid of built-up spinal fluid pooling behind my eyes."
"An MRI scan revealed a golf ball-sized cyst in the middle of my head that was causing problems."
"That was a pretty bad day."
- Cubix89
Incredibly Careless
"A doctor said that I obviously didn't dislocate my knee (I had put it back in myself before I went to ER) because it wasn't swollen out like a balloon."
"He then proceeded to push my knee down flat after it had seized in a bent position to put a stretchy bandage on it."
"I went back two days later because I had lost feeling in my toes as the knee had pinched nerves. They did an MRI and I had a complete tear of the ACL, and my bones in the shin bone and femur were bright white from the bone bruises/fractures."
"I absolutely dislocated my knee and the doctor just smashed my knee down and said, 'Off ya go,' basically."
- sillicibin
Abstinence Only
"I was 18 or 19, and at my first gynecology appointment, I told her how something hurt when I had sex and I wanted to start birth control."
"She told me that I was too young to have sex so she wasn’t going to help with that."
- sweetgirl757
More Exercise Isn't Always the Answer
"I would constantly complain to my doctor that I couldn’t breathe when I would walk and I would get shortness of breath, I was always tired and fatigued, and I would get dizzy if I walked too long."
"She always brushed it off and told me to get more sleep or drink more water, even though I was getting plenty of both."
"Finally, I made an appointment to talk to her face to face, and she flat-out told me I was lazy and needed to exercise more."
"I was so embarrassed because I went with my husband and she made me feel like I was just this lazy couch potato."
"I switched doctors, and my new doctor decided to do blood work, which is something that other lady should have done in the first place, and found out I was severely anemic, to the point of needing blood transfusions."
"I felt soooo much better after I got my infusions. Some people just shouldn’t be practicing medicine!"
- NotAsPlanned-
Worst Case Scenario
"At 30, I was rushed into hospital out of the blue with a Heart Infection, and needing a valve replacement."
"The Professor was absolutely brilliant, but she told me off the record that, 'You may want to get any close family to come and visit, and sort out any important paperwork as it's not guaranteed that you'll wake up again.'"
" I obviously pulled through, but her honesty was reassuring, and even after ten years, we still send the odd handwritten letter to each other."
"(We also had these stupid personal televisions at each bed which cost about £2 an hour to watch. The money would seriously rack up as I was in there for weeks, but she blagged me a pirated code so that I could watch it for free.)"
- stanagetocurbar
How Encouraging
"It was to my husband, I was in the room. He said, 'I’m not going to figure out what it is. If it was serious, you’d be dead by now.'"
"Later, we found out that this doctor was the one that my husband’s uncle was seeing before he was diagnosed with colon cancer. By the time another doctor found it, it was too late. He said there was no way it should have been missed."
- Mellopiex
Reality Check
"I’m a physician. Sometimes I worry that I’m not doing a good job because it took me an hour to return a patient’s call, or some other small thing. Then I read stories like these."
- MidnightMiasma
While there are always going to be situations where we need to seek medical attention, instances like this make it perfectly clear why some people would rather skip that appointment.