It's so important to be prepared. Especially on the East Coast where there's a ton of hurricanes. And the West Coast where there's a ton of earthquakes. And the Midwest where there's a ton of tornadoes. Basically, nowhere in the US is safe, so it's best to be safe, rather than sorry.
Reddit user statementbrand asked:
What supplies or items should every household have in case of a large-scale emergency?
Some of those doomsday preppers have the right idea.
"I got doomsday prepper survival food because I live in Houston and we have hurricanes. I can keep it in my closet for 25 years and it will always be there."
"I also have a few jugs of water and a camping stove with several propane cartridges."
Good tip!
Giphy
"Water."
"Can't stress this enough."
"You can only survive about 3 days without it, and better to have some than rely on a questionable or bad source."
"Yeah, heard the best thing to do is (assuming you can somewhat predict the emergency) fill the bath up as much as you can beforehand so you can boil and use it."
That's a very true point.
"Extra doses of your medication. Ex., insulin for diabetics."
"In college I had one roommate who was diabetic, one who was deaf with hearing aids, and one who had his thyroid removed and required medication daily. We used to watch The Walking Dead together and morbidly joke that if it ever happened our house would be in a lot of trouble."
A nifty trick.
"Water, a few days of food, a radio and extra batteries, decent first aid kit, light of some kind."
"During our last power outage we realized the solar outdoor lights worked for indoors after dark. We put them in vases around the house. Just a thought for others if you have those in your yard."
Can't prepare for the apocalypse without these things.
Giphy
"I think most people have covered water and food, you really can't survive without much of that. Some items you might not think to have stored away but would be invaluable would be like:"
"Can opener - How awesome it is to have so much canned food, but what are you going to do if you can't open it?"
"Matches or other fire generator - Being able to heat things will become invaluable."
"Emergency blankets - If left with no power, these can help preserve body heat. Many don't know, but shivering causes you to expend a lot of calories."
"A sharp hunting/camping knife - Many uses from cutting, opening things, working with rope, etc."
"Maps - If the internet/GPS goes down, these are invaluable in knowing where you are and where you can go."
Food is a top priority.
"Shelf stable food supply that does not require refrigeration."
"Have you seen those tubs of dehydrated emergency ration foods that the preppers like to buy?"
"Buy one of those big tubs. Enough to feed everyone in your home for at LEAST 3 days. Preferably more."
"Put the thing in the back of your pantry, or your closet, or wherever, and forget you have it."
"But if the worst happens, you will have a food buffer."
Don't forget about the pets!!!
"So yes to all the water/food comments in here. 🙂 But also consider keeping hard copies of important documentation, like IDs, medical information, contact list, birth certificates, passports, titles, recent photos of loved ones and pets to help with reunification, etc. Keep it all together in a folder or something in a safe, so you can grab it if needed."
Can confirm, hot sauce is a life saver.
Giphy
"Hot sauce."
"You're probably gonna be eating a lot of shitty food."
"If you all are s***ting your brains from a little hot sauce you got bigger problems than hot sauce."
"And hot sauces basically last forever. Most brands of hot sauce you'd find in the store are basically vinegar and chile peppers, which are basically natural preservatives. The acidity in the hot sauce means they can last for years and don't really go bad. I found they get more vingegary the longer they sit around, but still consumable."
Pro-level preparedness!
"PLANS - A plan for shelter in place - minimum ten days supplies of food, water and meds for person and pet in the household or who could be at your home (think older relatives). Presume electricity and running water are not operational (bucket/trash bags/ kitty litter for toilet), extra water for hygiene). Lighting (batteries/ flashlights). Foods that don't need lots of water or elaborate cooking. Manual can opener."
"Plan for sudden evacuation (in case of wildfire for example). Identify hotels 50-100 miles in each direction from your house, if you have pets / physically disabled person, make sure a hotel will accept them. Print out directions/phone number (stop relying on cells/ contact lists/gps). As soon as you get an evac notice, make arrangements to get to that hotel (with the following:)"
"Right now, go through each room of your house and identify one-two items in each room absolutely irreplaceable either sentimentally or physically. Tape a list of those items in that room on the door of that room so you don't have to "think" in a panic."
"For actual evacuation (now)- make a very short checklist of things to prep house - usually cutting off power / water / gas connections if you can safely and quickly. Make an evac pack or go bag for every person in your household including potential visitors AND for PETS. Shelters are getting better about taking pets but you should still be prepared to support their care (food, water, toys, leashes/collars with IDs, poop bags/ kitty litter). Human go bag - food, water, meds, clothing, small bedding, non-electrical entertainment (books, cards, coloring books, toys), charge cords, power strip, ear plugs, head phones."
"Shelters are a roof over your head; not a four-star hotel. It will be loud, crowded and stressful. Best is to be prepared mentally / physically and bring your own stuff so you are not such a burden. Be nice to shelter staff; most of them are volunteers with affected families themselves."
"In all cases, Lots of cash including coins and small bills (not just a stack of $100s). Misc: good pocket knife, duct tape, print out hard copies of anything important including phone numbers (don't presume cellular service is working). First aid kit include a good tourniquet and know how to use everything. Think self care, buddy care, medic care."
"If cellular service is still up - texts will get through on busy networks better than calls. I don't know the situation since so many folks are getting rid of true landlines, but it used to be (even three-five years ago), that you could reach another US region even if your region was ringing busy. For example, if you/disaster is in VA, you can't call someone in MD, but you could call someone in NV. We have identified a family member in each US time zone as a disaster point of contact to help with coordination and check in."
"Ready.gov and after action reports of disasters (non-secure available by internet search) are good sources of more information."
"Source: I am an emergency management planner with expertise in planning, training and exercises."
You kinda do need to stay entertained.
"Board/card games."
"A lot of the things mentioned here are very important and would definitely cover a lot of physical aspects of getting through it. I wanted to bring in some sort of entertainment not only to help pass the time, but also to serve as a bit of distraction from whatever is going on because your mental well-being is important too."
Good point.
Giphy
"FILTER. YOUR. WATER. I cannot stress this enough. A lot of people have suggested keeping a bathtub full of it which is a great idea and boiling it is too. But sometimes you need to filter it too."
Most people probably haven't thought of this.
"Cash. Probably $100-200 per person in ones and fives. Everyone else is going to have only credit cards and the few that have cash, will have twenties."
Important stuff.
"Water and flash lights."
"When a large-scale emergency happens water and electricity are the first to go. It hard to remain safe if you cant see, hence why flash lights are so important.
"Water because once the water goes you purely don't have any. Unlike food because you will always have food around the house you can take.""
GENIUS.
Giphy
"My grandma, who is a bit of a prepper, as cases and cases of cigarettes. She doesn't smoke, but always says she'll be able to trade them for whatever she needs. Genius."
Be sure to prep before disaster hits. Do you have things to add? Let us know in the comment section below
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Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
Giphy
Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
Giphy
See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
Giphy
Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
Giphy
Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
Giphy
The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
tsunami GIF
Giphy
"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
Giphy
"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
Giphy
"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.