School is supposed to be where we go to learn things.
Unfortunately, sometimes the thing we learn is that adults are big fans of ridiculous punishments for ridiculous and seemingly arbitrary things.
One Reddit user asked:
What was the most ridiculous thing you got in trouble for at school?
and hey it turns out school really DOES prepare you for the real world where rules only apply to some people some of the time!
Who Do I Ask?
Algebra teacher yelled at me for asking for help.
First, he told me "Don't ask me. Ask your partner first!"
Later, I turned around and asked my "partner" for help. The teacher then yelled me at again "Don't ask her. If you need help ask me!"
I Know My Own Name
American Horror Story Fx GIF by AHS
Giphy
My parents wanted my name to be unique and went with an extremely uncommon spelling on top of a rare name.
My first grade teacher called a parent-teacher conference to impress upon my parents that I refused to spell my name correctly. Before the parent-teacher conference, when my teacher refused to let me use my first name correctly, we negotiated that I could use my middle name.
That's when I proudly told her my middle name is Apostrophe. This lead to her claiming I'm a liar on top of my sh!tty attitude - all of which she told my mother.
I'll admit, I had a shitty attitude because I 100% knew my name and my name's spelling - and I loved it. I was frustrated with this dumb witch of a teacher who seemed to hate me for some reason.
My mom was furious and chewed my teacher out for making her leave work early for something so stupid.
Shockingly that incident did not make my teacher like me more.
If you know a kid struggling with a unique name... the children's book 'Crysanthemum' is great. Was my favorite book for a long while after this incident.
Intimidating
Reading a book.
Apparently the head of History found me sitting on a bench reading across from her office window "intimidating".
I was a grungy 90's white kid just sitting there minding my business.
- klc81
How the hell do you read "in an intimidating" manner...."reading intimidatingly?", "intimidatingly reading at me, causing me to fear for my life and safety?"
"Tattling"
In grade 1, there was a day where everyone brought in their favorite stuffed animal. The teachers warned us not to bring valuable ones because there was a chance they could get damaged.
I brought my favorite stuffed animal. The teacher's daughter and a boy in my class completely and purposefully destroyed it; ripped it, cut it up, colored on it).
I went to the teacher and told on them. They got absolutely no punishment for destroying my stuffed animal. The teacher reprimanded me for "tattling" and told me that I shouldn't have brought a stuffed animal that I cared about, since there was a risk of it getting damaged.
Most of the teachers in the school were really awesome, but that one was decidedly not. I didn't get along well with her daughter, and she always took her daughter's side.
When Your Locker Is Too Far
Not putting my jacket and back pack in my locker.
All of my classes were on the first floor and one end of the building. My assigned locker was on the second floor and in the furthest corner from my classes. I would have been late to every class, so I just never used it.
The administrators refused to move my locker... so pretty much every day this one teacher would write me up and I got a couple of in school suspension for it.
Finally after a few meetings I got the principal involved and she essentially told the teacher to leave me alone.
- Met90LX
Rural Life
GIF by Demic
Giphy
One time in 7th grade I was talking about how I went hunting with my dad over the weekend. The school made me talk to a counselor about it
I got the same crap in grade 1 for saying that I helped my grandfather kill turkeys over the weekend.
My 4th grade teacher was one of those people who would always ask on Monday what you did during the weekend. She went around and made everyone in the class share what they did.
Hunting is a big thing in my state, so naturally when the season opened a lot of kids said they went hunting and got a 6 point buck, or 8 point buck, etc. After about the 5th or so kid said they went hunting the teacher got mad and said something to the effect of, "Ok, no more stories about hunting, talk about something else you did."
That's not fair, what if someone else went hunting and that's all they had to share? If my memory is correct, that is exactly what happened. More kids said all the did was go hunting so they had nothing else to share.
The teacher got mad again and stopped asking what everyone did during the weekend.
No Touching
Two month into the first grade I got suspended for lightly touching the arm of the teacher.
This wasn't the first time I got in trouble with her. She was very very strict and I grew up with my rather laid back mother and I've been to a lets call it "hippie kindergarten" (Kinderladen).
So this teacher was my first real authority person.
We were standing outside at the class room door, there was a lot of noise and I wanted to tell her something but she did not listen. I do not remember what it was. So I touched her arm lightly to get her attention.
I got suspended and the school janitor watched me until my mother picked me up.
I did switch schools after that to a much more understanding and patient teacher.
The Guy With 12 Guns
So I was the good nerdy kid in school. My sophomore year we had a new principal and she saw some video that showed a guy with 12 guns hidden on his body.
The new principle made a rule that your t shirt had to be shorter than your fingertips at your side. I'm a small guy so all my shirts were non compliant.
So long story short I was sent to in school detention for the first time in my life.
I loved that PSA video!
Let's see him walk with all that hardware. Unless he gets wheeled in Hannibal Lecter style on a dolly, he'll be lucky if he doesn't just sound like a toolbox falling down the stairs.
Half the guns would slip out and clatter across the floor, and the other half would quickly follow as soon as he tried to bend over.
JUG Units
Jesuit high school. Detention was called 'jug' it stood for Justice Under God. It was in 30 minute unit intervals of sitting in silence doing nothing after school. If you missed it without an excuse, it doubled.
There was a school rule that you had to check the jug list every day. Well, I didn't. I was given two units intended for a kid with a similar name to mine.
By the time I realized I had jug, it added up to 16 units. I explained my situation to the person in charge of discipline. He saw my point and removed the original 2 units. But, since I broke the rule of checking the list, I had to do the other 14.
That's 7 hours.
The Wrong Blue
I got in-school suspension because I wore blue tights under a dress. They were not a school-approved shade of blue.
This was my senior year of high school. My school decided to enforce a dress code. Navy was one of our colors, but apparently my tights weren't navy enough.
I was a straight A student who never got suspended till this.
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Ticket scalpers. How do you the audacity to say that's a job?
Actual burglars have more empathy.
Disrespectful
Out Of Office Summer GIF by Merge MansionGiphy"There are debt collectors who call relatives of the deceased to pay off their debts when they are not legally obligated to."
Top_Gun_2021
Shady. Shady.
"Australian Real Estate Agents. Laws don't seem to apply to them. Just as dodgy in sales and rentals alike. Never seen anything like it overseas."
snave_
"I'm in the US, it can vary state by state but my state is pretty strict on realtor laws. Some states require attorney review and there are definitely penalties for being reported for shady sh*t. It does require consumer reporting though."
ilostmytaco
Etransfer
"Where I live, tax info was leaked and now scammers are targeting low income individuals/families (people earning under 30,000 per year) with etransfer scams. I got one the other day that was an etransfer warning that 240$ 'a family member sent me' was about to expire."
SnowyInuk
"That’s disgusting. The scammers know what they’re doing, they know the harm they cause people and yet they don’t care."
surelysandwitch
Should be illegal...
"MLM managers. Not the low level idiots that get suckered into it, they suck too for trying to bring new people into that sh*tshow, but the people who create them know exactly what they are doing and are pretty much the only ones who profit off of it. Should be illegal. Pyramid schemes are illegal. None of them ever get the just desserts except occasionally by vigilantes I assume."
Wereno
I hate debt collectors. Yeah, you calling me one hundred times a week is going to miraculously make money appear.
Animals
Giphy"Paparazzi."
VictorBlimpmuscle
"I met Jack Gleeson (King Joffrey from Game of Thrones) at a bus stop in Dublin. Really nice guy but he said he quit acting due to people being nasty online and constant hounding from paparrazi. He's happier now but it sucks that he was pushed away from a career he was quite good at."
goobi94
Scumbags
"The pastors at mega churches whom ask their followers for money for private jets. Absolute scum to abuse others faith for your own greed."
ichancho
"Brian Tamaki is a greedy freaking pig, he takes advantage of so many people who are already struggling. Every time he’s in the local news (which btw is often) I get more and more pissed off at him and his wife. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Tamaki "
surelysandwitch
it’s a thing???
“'Dating Expert.' Sadly it’s a thing. It’s basically a self appointed title that requires no training or qualifications. What’s worse, is that I have a female friend who uses one. It’s very much a blind leading the blind situation."
Mean_Manufacturer_61
"Most of the self proclaimed “dating coaches” I know are women in their late 30s or early 40s who have never been married or had a longer relationship."
ipozgaj
EVIL
"Poachers. Especially big game poachers who purposefully hunt nearly extinct animals from species they know they are on the brink."
"I know there are poachers that come from rural villages who are trying to just put food on the table, which has my sympathy but poachers who come from money and hunt down animals minding their business in most shelters or restricted areas just to put a head on their wall as a trophy are absolutely heinous."
GetterdoneObiwan
I See It All
miss cleo fraud GIFGiphy"Psychic Mediums. Specifically those who prey on the grieving."
JamesDeadite
"I've always found it interesting how many magicians go after people like this. I think it's because they know what it takes to trick people for the art. The slight of hand and mentalism. And they abhor people who use these tactics for such sh*tty purposes."
34HoldOn
I want so bad to believe in psychics and mediums. What say we on that topic?
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For some odd reason I love the things burning. Anything, food, pots, pans. You name it. Weird.
Blow
fire burning GIFGiphy"Matches/candles on a birthday cake. I remember lighting matches as a kid purely to blow them out and inhale that sweet match-y smell."
semispooked
"guilty good"
"I work at a Chemical plant. We make a highly acidic product that is dark blue, viscus, highly corrosive, and smells exactly like Fruit Loops. It is incredibly disturbing."
Turin082
"Organic chemistry has many 'guilty good' smells. Thiophosgene (sulfur derivative of a chemical weapon used extensively in WW1) apparently smells like meat. Phosgene is used to make polycarbonate, thiophosgene is used to make some sulfur-containing molecules which eventually end up in therapeutic drugs."
HammerTh_1701
I can't huff it...
"Paint, specifically house paint. I love the smell. But anytime I hear that anyone is painting a room or their house, I volunteer. I just love sitting on the floor in a room that's been freshly painted, closing my eyes and just inhaling that slightly chemically, slightly creamy aroma."
Neowza
A Hint of French...
"A fish and chips shop burnt down as couple blocks from work a few years ago. The whole neighborhood smelled amazing for days. Just the slight hint of French fries. Nothing overpowering. It was so awesome. Until I found out someone was trapped in the fire and died."
stevey_frac
Drag
Drag Racing Vegas GIF by Don Schumacher RacingGiphy"Race fuel. Instantly puts me in a good mood as it reminds me of going to the drag races with my dad when I was young."
garfnodie
Fuel and matches get me too. And they sort of go together. Interesting.
Just like the Movie...
Johnny Depp Drinking GIFGiphy"The water from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Mmm, bromine."
Stalkerslovemy
"This is one of my favorite scents of all time, and Disney is very aware that people enjoy it. Evidently it’s a lot harder to recreate than just adding bromine to water."
cash4panties
"black widow".
"There's a chicken wing restaurant near my house that has a challenge sauce called "black widow." The owner claims it to be around 500,000 scovilles. A few years back some buddies and I decided to try them, the sauce was a dark molasses color and smelled almost like a BBQ sauce, no hint of the danger that lurked at all. We each grabbed one wing and it went terribly. I don't know how something so spicy could smell so innocent."
Final-Chapter
Endless Weekend
"Hotel/rented rooms whenever you go on vacation. There's this particular smell that just says 'you are on vacation,' especially on a beach/swimming trips/out-of-the-town vacays."
Yummy_Llama
"Bath and Body Works has a plug-in scent called Endless Weekend that replicates that scent (to my humble nose)."
Exxcentrica
"oh no..."
"Someone you are attracted to's body odors. Anyone else who is slightly unhygienic smells repulsive."
Mini_gunslinger
"I remember back in high school a girl leaned over, sniffed me, told me that I smelled really good, and asked me what cologne I was wearing. I asked if she was joking, and she's like, no, you smell really good. When I told her I had just gotten done with gym class, she gets a small 'oh no...' look on her face and turns away. I think we both had a revelation that day."
user deleted
That Smell
Smell It Season 6 GIF by This Is UsGiphy"The smell inflatable things give off. I have no idea how to describe it, but it’s… nostalgic? to me."
crestfxllen
I do love the smell of plastics and inflatables. Ahh....
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It's hard to imagine how to go on without the lost object–whatever it may be–but over time, it becomes a distant memory and we move on.
That is until we magically find ourselves presented with this opportunity proposed by Redditor mikehotel288, who asked:
"You find yourself in a room with everything you’ve ever lost in your life. What do you look for first?"
There are necessities people cannot do without.
No More Dry Lips Ever Again
"Gonna be a lot of chapstick in that room."
– camefromxbox
There are things that bring us comfort and are irreplaceable.
Safety Blanket
"My baby blanket. It became tattered over the years—to the point where I couldn’t reasonably wash it anymore—so I had to throw it away a little while back."
"I have heavily regretted that decision. I was really attached to it (hence it being in tatters), but I really wish that I kept what was left of it instead of throwing it away. Just knowing that I’d still have it would be a huge comfort to me."
– Uearie
Sentimental Heirloom
"The pendant my dad had made for me with my grandmother’s engagement diamond. It was 2 carats. It disappeared from a Las Vegas hotel room 20 years ago. It was hidden deep in a suitcase where it would not have been easy to find. It was just GONE. Cops didn’t do anything. Didn’t even come to take my statement. Cleaning lady said she thought she saw an elderly man enter my room. The guy I was with was not sympathetic in the least. Entire situation was f**ked. I’m still so upset about it."
– MaritimeDisaster
Lone Shark
"My plastic shark toy I lost when I was 10. Ain't no f'king way it just VANISHED."
– Guilty_As_Charged__
Not everything lost is tangible.
Tick Tock
"The time I wasted."
– shinyfennec
It Holds Value
"My private key with 6 BTC in it."
– Significant_Mirror19
"I didn't lose one, but I'll check my room for yours just in case."
– Smodphan
Finding Purpose
"The reason I walked into the room."
– Lloyd_lyle
Lost Opportunity
"That one girl i spoke to on omegle lol"
– h-amishh
If only we get to reunite with those we've lost.
The Loved Family Member
"My grandpa."
– Splatty_boi_420
Grieving Parent
"My daughter. She’ll be in my brother’s arms. So I’ll find both things I care to look for."
– SeeTheFence
Missing Mom
"My mom. She died of cancer in 2017. She never got to meet my daughter. I miss the hell out of her and wish she was still part of my family’s life."
– X-Arkturis-X
The Animals That Come Into Our Lives
"My pets that have passed: especially my horse, Blue. It's been 4 years, but it feels like just yesterday."
– Baciandrio
While many of these scenarios are unlikely, the thread gave people an opportunity to reflect on the things that made a strong impression on their lives.
Sometimes, the memories of the things we've lost–whether they are random objects or sources of love–is all we have.
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