When people are wanting to get out of various situations and withhold from telling the truth so as not to ruffle feathers, they fabricate wild stories.
Because this tends to happen most of the time–whether it's an employee wanting extra time off or a date who is too afraid to say they're "not interested"–we've become conditioned to be skeptical when hearing excuses.
So it's surprising then that the one time we rejected a person's excuse to decline participation, it turned out to be true.
How embarrassing.
Curious to hear from strangers online, Redditor RadPs77 asked:
"What's the most bull**** excuse you've heard that turned out to be true?"
If somebody yelled, "fire!" there probably was one.
The Emergency Call
"My dad had to call and say he was going to be late on take your kid to work day, because the guys building a house in the lot next to ours set all the extra supplies on fire at 5am, and he called the fire department because it was a huge fire and the firetrucks were now blocking our driveway. He took a video."
– kingftheeyesores
The Blazing Car
"Couldn't make it to work because someone set his car on fire. Sure enough, it was mentioned in the local paper a day or two later..."
– res30stupid
Accusations of lying are especially hard on those who are grieving.
Proof Was In The Ashes
"Not really sure if this counts but... I worked at a mcdonalds years ago and I called in sick one day because I was having my dog put down, this was my childhood friend I'd had since I was 6. The day after the manager pulls me into the office and gives me a rant about how I need to come up with a better excuse for a sick day. In anger I ended up bringing his ashes into work with me several weeks later with receipts proving dates of attending vets etc."
"Then a good few months after all this, the same manager is moving house and isn't allowed to take her two dogs with her (no pets allowed at the new address) so she let's her friend adopt them who lives on the next street to where she's going to be living then proceeds to take 10 days off 'to say goodbye.' "
"It's been more than a decade but I'm still salty af about this."
– SolaWrex
"Unexcused Absence"
"Had this but when my brother died, took 2 weeks off because of obvious reasons."
"I was on probation at the time and they didn’t believe me, they wanted a death certificate - but where I live those can take some time."
"At the end of my probation I had an exit interview - my dad was able to sit in with me, so he did. He brought my brothers ashes and put them on the table while they tried to say it was an unexcused absence."
– tictactowbar
There are the odd circumstances.
Nature Strikes
"I couldn't go into work for a few days because a tree totalled both vehicles. My boss was pissed because I had requested the day off but was denied. I had to send pictures as proof."
– hotcookin53
The Gamer
"I injured myself badly enough I couldn't go to work for a few days, the night before World of Warcraft was released. Since I'd been talking about it so much, my boss assumed I was lieing to stay home and play it on opening day. Not only was I not lieing, but it meant I was unable to get to the store to pick up my pre-order."
– shontsu
A Birth Anomaly
"One of my guys didn't come into work he said that his unborn triplets had absorbed each other and he had to console his wife that she was gonna have twins not triplets."
– ShItllhappen
Repeat Offender
"I had the same teacher for trig and 2 years later Calc ii. Both times my house got hit by a car right before an exam. The second time she said 'you've already made this excuse" and asked for a police report. I happily obliged and gave her both. Literally could not believe it.'"
– Electronic_Soil5934
Animals are unpredictable.
That is all.
Kitty Bite
"Kid in high school was absent one day because he'd been 'bitten by a cougar.' Yeah, right."
"Turns out, he'd been bitten by a cougar. He thought he wanted a pet cougar, found some place he could buy one, and went over a weekend to pick one out. He was playing with a cute baby cougar, cuddling and wrestling on the ground, just having a great time. Then that cute little baby turned on him, bit down hard on his foot, and sent him to the hospital with numerous deep punctures that needed chunks of Nike shoe pulled out of them. He was on crutches for weeks."
– twothirtysevenam
Kid's Track Record Didn't Help
"Had a kid come into my class one day that was late and he had been a pain in the butt the whole year so I was like 'alright, what is it this time, house burnt down. No no, you went to the forest and got lost, not you used that last time.' He just stood there with a straight face and said, a bear slashed our tires so I had to walk. I looked at him with an as if that happened face and low and behold after school his mum comes up apologising that he was late again and told me that a bear had slashed their car’s tires. She showed me the ring video and everything. I was speechless."
"Edit for those of you complaining that I was mean, this kid was consistently late and rude throughout the whole year and was constantly giving me bs excuses that turned out not to be true. That’s why I was mad and didn’t believe him."
– cryptic_cookies
The next time you hear someone giving a wild excuse, you might want to take it with a grain of salt.
You never know if the person has actually gone through a terrible ordeal.
The truth always comes out eventually, whether it works in the person's favor or not.
Children believe what their parents tell them about the world to be true because they don't know any better.
That doesn't mean they have to like what they are told. But a good child listens and will act accordingly to be in their parents' good graces.
But sometimes, adults abuse their power and say whatever it takes to get a desired response from a young one–even if what they're saying may not be entirely true.
Curious to hear from those who've eventually become wise to the ways of a parent or other adult figure, Redditor i_cant_have_dairy asked:
"What's something you were told as a child by adults, that you now realize is complete bullsh*t?"
Parents hoping to prevent a bad habit had interesting things to impart.
Advancing Bone Degeneration
"Cracking your fingers make you get arthritis."
– Haik11
Stroking Fear
"If you keep masturbating, you'll go blind."
– K333N4N
Interesting things were said in school but not everything stuck.
The Threat That Didn't Land
"HS teachers: 'That stuff won't fly in college" College: ✈️✈️✈️✈️'
– Comfortable_Wish_930
An Easy Pass For Today
"I got this BS all through school. 'I'll let this slide, but don't think you'll get away it next year...' "You can do this now, but don't think it'll happen in Middle School...' 'Don't expect to get away with this in High School...' 'Yeah, we'll let this go in High School, but if you think you'll get that sort of accomodation in college/the real world...(evil laugh)'. "
"Eventually, I caught on that it was more dependent on the teacher's attitude rather than anything else. Small example, in high school I couldn't remember the name of a town on a test, but I could remember everything else, even drew the diagram the teacher had the board in the margin, just to prove I had paid attention that day. Still got marked wrong. In college, similar brain fart, couldn't recall a place name, but I put as much description as I could otherwise. Professor gave me half credit."
– GrandSpecter
The Wrong Impression
"DARE activities in primary school gave the impression that grownups would always be giving away narcotics for free. lol"
– MiguelinaKnudsen
College Myth
"That a degree would open all the doors and knowing about politics, history and general stuff would make me an interesting person and that socializing was a waste of time. Nowadays I work for a big4 but I have the personality of a boiled potato. And they have the nerves to ask why I don't have a girlfriend or more friends at 27. Teach your kids social skills. Studying is not everything."
– davidmt1995
Certain behaviors get fact-checked.
The Thing About Respect
"That you gotta have respect for you elders.... Don't get me wrong you gotta have respect for everyone but I'm only gonna give what you give me. If you are a butthole ima be a butthole."
– Ok_Win7358
There Are No Stupid Questions...Maybe
“No harm in asking', boy did that get me in trouble…"
– khamelean
Combating Bullies
"Re: bullies."
'Just ignore them and they'll go away.'
"No it doesn't. It just makes them laugh so they do it more."
– j-c-s-roberts
Getting Old But Never Wiser
"That adults know what they are doing."
"31 and I feel like a chicken with his head cut off."
– Brontolope11
You Are Not What You Eat
"That you can't be full unless you eat bread. Carbs actually make you hungrier. Protein fills you up."
"Also: if you drink coffee, you'll grow a tail. Don't ask me where I'm from."
– Senishte1992
I was a very rambunctious and obnoxious kid, so maybe I deserved the tactic my mother resorted to using to get me to be on my best behavior.
Whenever I acted out, my mother used to convince me she would call the "mountain people" to come back and retrieve me back to the community from where she claimed to have initially found and adopted me.
One time, when I was incredulous and stood my ground after being a pain, my mother told me the mountain people were going to take me back.
So she called them up by using our rotary-dial telephone and faked a whole conversation with them about how unruly I've been and that it was time for me to return.
She sent me to my room to start packing–which I did. Unbeknownst to me, she rang the doorbell to indicate they had arrived to take me away.
When that happened, I profusely apologized to her and promised to behave so she could send them away.
That was the last time she used that effective tactic and the last time I think I was at my worst in terms of my rebellious behavior.
We laugh about it now but back then, I was terrified.
But I can't discredit her for her creative discipline.
Americans often drop popular sayings in conversation that have some element of truth to them.
You've undoubtedly come across phrases like, "Kill two birds with one stone" or "it's raining cats and dogs."
While those are used to describe actions, like the state of the weather, there are other phrases that are dispensed as words of wisdom to help individuals through a challenging situation.
But the endeavor to console someone by using this tactic is not always effective.
Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor Braca5 asked:
"What popular sayings are bullsh*t?"
These sound familiar?
The Survivor Mentality
"whatever doesn't kill you just makes you stronger."
– WhenTardigradesFly
Vanity
"Looks aren't important."
"It's true. They don't always or entirely matter, but they do. That's kind of how superficial humans are."
– Ok_Chain821
Not Every Pain Heals
"Time heals all wounds."
– sweetechoes2008
"There's another one that goes like this 'time heals nothing, it just replaces memories.'"
– Fulcinnamonroll
The stigma around this is so foul, the guilty will lie about their offensive crime.
The Gas-Leaker
"He who smelt it dealt it"
– MrGeekman
"Whoever said the rhyme did the crime."
– Neoptolemus85
Psychology Around The Guilt
"The irony is it's almost always the opposite that's true. Most people would rather just be quiet about a fart than try to put it on somebody else and as it is you usually become pretty accustomed to your own and probably don't even smell half of the ones that slip out so likely the person who dealt it is going to be one of the last to actually consciously smell it."
– Vanilla_Neko
Playing by the rules doesn't always get you places.
Playing Dirty
"Cheaters never win."
– MadAsH3ll
"A better saying:"
'Treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it Treason.' John Harington (1561 - 1612)
– Suibian_ni
Comeuppance Never Comes
"What goes around, comes around."
"Bullsh*t. I've seen people be jerks my entire life (I'm 57 y/o) and they never got what should have come around to them."
– Feels2old
Thing About Karma
"Worse, it's an excuse to not take responsibility. A few years back, I had discovered a nasty person who was fooling the public by buying dogs from Amish auctions of out of state, bringing them, unvaccinated, across state lines, and pawning them off on the public as 'rescues' but also taking loads of donations when she was not registered as a charity. She was not using the funds for medical care. The gal was a flashy blonde in designer clothes and knew how to fool people."
"The county authorities were investigating and needed more evidence. I approached the owner of a local pet supply store where she operated her scam and asked him to cooperate. He banned her from the store but completely refused to cooperate with the investigation. Excuse, 'Karma will get her.'"
"B*tch got off with just a fine when she would have faced animal cruelty charges."
"Karma? No, it's not a thing."
– ShowMeTheTrees
Those who adopt a passive way of thinking end up making up for lost time.
Turning A Blind Eye
"Out of sight, out of mind."
"Ever lost track of a spider?"
– Samuelabra
How Much Time Do You Have?
"Good things come to those who wait."
– P13r15
Lond Distance Relationships Aren't For Everyone
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder”
– Quirky_Mongoose_401
I think those who say "if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life," is debatable.
Depending on the situation, being forced to do something you once loved so you could earn a living can potentially breed resentment.
I'm a former dancer who absolutely lived off the adrenaline of performing on a stage. But when the cast I was performing with at a theme park was forced to do the same rigorous show five times a day–sometimes in intense heat–I was miserable.
Once, I severely twisted my ankle mid-performance simply because I was physically exhausted but continued giving it my 100% when my body was ready to give out. That's when most performance-based injuries occur.
That phrase certainly got a second hard look from me back then.
With so many stresses spiking our anxiety levels in our current climate, it's a challenge trying to pick our battles.
Ultimately, letting things slide and not sweating the small stuff are good places to start so we can get a good night's sleep.
But there are just some things that we can't stop fixating on, and it's mentally taxing.
Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor -Z-3-R-0- asked:
"What bullsh*t are you just tired of?"
The way we interact gets dissected here.
Respect
"Grown adults who don’t want or flat out refuse to act like decent humans. Being a**holes to each other over petty things and then being proud of it for moral superiority and/or internet points."
– bubblegumbreeze
Social Media
"I am tired of people constantly being on their phones, especially when you're trying to talk to them. Tiktok will wait. If you could just do me a solid and return my conversation, I would appreciate it. Your Instagram isn't going to suddenly have something new on it just because you keep refreshing it."
– somethingnotbasic
People don't have patience for others who don't take responsibility.
Tired Excuse
"I'm tired of how f'king obsessed everyone is with categorizing everything and viewing the world through this simplified lens where everything fits an archetype and it's always both okay and accurate to generalize. It's so pathetic and I'm sick of people making excuses for their delusions by saying sh*t like 'this is just how humans are.'"
– gigaLion
It's A Bad Sign
"people blaming their bad traits on their zodiac signs because they don’t want accountability."
"'sorry it’s because i’m a capricorn!' no, emily, you’re just a b*tch."
– thatonedik3
Redditors discussed the different perceptions and personality types.
Entitled
"Entitled customers who think just because 'they've shopped here for YEARS' that means they're entitled to discounts/free stuff and repeatedly treat us like crap."
"I always say we have to bring back (what I refer to as) the 'no bullsh*t policy' because that's the only way you're going to get these entitled people to STOP. You can't give them what they want."
– Dragon_Queen1997
Underestimating
"People mistaking my kindness for weakness. I'm a friendly and intelligent blonde, but I will go Jersey on your a** in less than 60 seconds. I feel like prey 😔"
– wolfielover22
Age Is Just A Number
"People that are older than you thinking they are right just because they are older."
– _MrNobody___
Our day to day dealings involve a variety of headaches.
Healthcare
"Paying health insurance and then still paying for medical care because insurance is a scam."
– wagneran
So Unclean
"Pollution. Trash everywhere in cities."
– EdgeMiserable4381
Affordable Living
"This housing market."
– koa-the-pomsky
"My credit is f'ked because I couldn’t pay all my bills on time at this cabin I lived at in a trailer park. No doors for the one bedroom, no bathroom door, a gaping hole in the floor that squirrels would come up through, and rent was $425 a month."
– WhAtDoEsThIsMeMeMaTe
Forced Slumber
"My body refusing to sleep unless I drug myself."
– CaptainNapal545
There is an art to having a conversation, but it shouldn't be that difficult not to be rude.
I can't stand it when people don't have enough social graces to recognize they've been leading the conversation the whole time, not letting an opportunity for anyone else to weigh in on a discussion.
There's nothing worse than having a conversation move on to another topic when you've been waiting to share your thoughts, ten talking points ago.
Thanks a lot for giving me conversational blue balls.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
Arnold Rothstein wasn't kidding when he recommended we should "look out for number one." Because if we don't, "no one else will."
Whether it's a person or a corporation, there are shysters out there who are looking to take advantage of you.
Sometimes, it's not that difficult to identify something suspicious, but it's up to you to call them out on their BS.
Curious to hear about the experience of keen strangers on the internet, Redditor GeneralEnvironment36 asked:
"What is your biggest "Oh that's bullsh*t" moment?"
Insurance And Large Corporations
These Redditors were almost taken for a ride by greedy companies but were wise to their ways
Really Bad Connection
"My utility company overcharged me $266.00 for random 'connection fees' when I'd already been a customer for a dozen years. It took weeks of arguing with them, speaking to various customer service reps (who each provided slightly different answers) for them to finally agree that they made an error and would refund the money."
"'Ok sir, our apologies for the error. You'll receive the funds via cheque in 6 - 8 weeks.'"
"Uhhhh, what the ever loving kind of bullsh*t is this? I have direct deposit set up with you, you withdrew the incorrect funds instantaneously. Just put the money back. Or e-transfer it to me. If I took 8 weeks to send you funds when I made an error you'd cut me off or send me to collections."
Change Of Tune
"Got called into a meeting with a former boss. Turns out some product I'd shipped went to the buyer's house instead of the shop's address. My boss, someone from HR, and the sales person were in the meeting. Boss went up one side of me and down the other, telling me I'm an idiot for making the mistake, he thought I was smarter than that, blah blah blah. The customer canceled the huge order so we had to pay to get the product back. It was going to cost thousands of dollars."
"Then the salesperson gave me a copy of the order to look at. Yup, looks like I'd shipped it to the wrong place. So I grabbed my copy of the order, with my initials on it to say I'd picked and shipped it...and the addresses were reversed. The salesperson swapped them. I had no idea, I'm just in shipping. I ship to the 'Ship To' address. I point this out to my boss, HR, and the salesperson.
"My boss said 'oh, that's a simple mistake. Could have happened to anyone. No big deal. Let's just go back to work.'"
"What. The. F'K. I was livid. I asked why ten seconds prior I was an a**hole about to be written up but now that it's the sales person's fault it's no biggie? Never got an answer."
– Papabearto2Shady Insurance Company
"I looked at my health insurance statement/bill after an ACL surgery. The statement had a section that said 'here's what you would have paid without insurance: $101,895' but because I had insurance the 'negotiated rate' was like $6,000. So by paying for insurance I was saving something like $95k! Well, I started doing some research and discovered that the initial number over $100k is just a made up figure. The insurance company didn't pay $95k, they just 'negotiated' the cost down and claimed that means they covered that $95k cost that never really existed. I then did some more math and realized that I paid more out of pocket for my surgery between my deductible, copay, and coinsurance than my insurance actually paid. And those rat f'ks still take a piece of every paycheck. That was when I leaned just how f'king useless the private healthcare system in the US is."
Billing Error
"I lived in a house share and through a series of unfortunate events, ended up with the water & power bill in my name. Then the utility company didn't read my meters for 22 months. A bill showed up one day in my name for $15,000. I wasn't the person in charge of the revolving door of short term roommates so I got stuck with most of the bill to the tune of $800/month. 2 years after I paid it off, I received a letter in the mail from the company saying there was a billing error and a check for $8000. A**holes. They ruined my life and I almost had to file for bankruptcy."
Lowest Wages
"The owner of the last company I worked for used to say 'low skill, low wages.' He'd pay his warehouse guys minimum wage, and give maybe a 2% raise each year. He'd also be shocked when guys would quit without giving notice because they found a job paying above minimum wage elsewhere."
"One time half the employees quit in a single week and the owner was confused why so many people quit at once. He even went so far as to call a meeting and ask the remaining guys if they'd quit without notice. When they all said yes, he told them he was sad to learn loyalty was dead. Those dudes laughed in his face."
Being Served
We live in one of the most litigious countries in the world. These Redditors were furious over how much people took advantage of the system in the hopes of getting an exorbitant amount of money from them.
Exploitation Of Preexisting Injuries
"Came home to a summons last Friday. It was from a guy I got into a fender bender with (less than 10 mph, I was backing out of a parking spot onto the road) in 2018. He is trying to get $70k from me because of medical bills and lost wages. My insurance agency has been telling him to pound sand for the last 2 years (he was trying to pass off pre-existing injuries as a result from the accident). He was initially trying to get $30k from them. His 'last option' after getting nothing from my insurance is to sue me directly. My insurance is now hiring a lawyer on my behalf to fight him for me."
– Sirhc978
Who Is Responsible?
"My daughter fell down in Walmart and broke her arm. She fell down on a clean, dry section of the floor. Not at all the store's fault. One of their loss prevention people asked me what they could have done to prevent the accident. I said, 'Not let eight-year-old girls into your store.'"
"Later on when relating the incident, people ask me why I still have to work. As if I was supposed to immediately jump onto the litigation gravy train. I'm making a mental note to not trust people with that attitude."
Speaking Of Walmart
"Worked for walmart, can confirm this is basically what they would say."
"One of my coworkers fell off of a ladder and broke her leg. Someone had packed a box too full and put it on the top shelf and so she lost her balance. Walmart wouldnt pay any kind of workmans comp or anything because they said 'she didnt do the company-prescribed pre work stretches prior to clocking in' and so that meant she was 'working unsafely', so it was her fault. She also got docked on attendance for missing the rest of the day and the next shift."
Greedy Pizza Guy
"I hit a pizza delivery guy (100% my fault) He was out of work for 3 days while the shop fixed his car. My insurance company paid for the repairs and offered him the $50k from the policy limits. He refused. He tried to sue me for $100k for missed work and medical treatments. He couldn't provide proof injury or even a visit to the doctor. My insurance company hired a lawyer and he got $0. The original $50 grand is probably a lot more than a pizza delivery driver makes in a year but this guy got greedy and received nothing in return."
Ignoring Dog Warning Signs
"Welp... A state Marshall came to serve me papers. I was in my back yard after work with my dogs running around playing. I was expecting a friend so i thought nothing of it when they ran down the driveway (out of my site). Instead of trying to go to my front door this a**hole walks past the white flags indicating an electric dog fence, and the beware of dogs sign. My female dog jumped on him. He then punched her in the head. At which point she NIPPED him. One tiny little puncture. He called the cops, and an ambulance... He asked the emt how many stitches hed need and they sort of scoffed and said u just need a band-aid. So he subsequently sued me for 15k citing that he can no longer live his life to it's fullest and lost partial use of his arm."
Challenging Institutions
When grade school teachers feel like they are being challenged by a young student, their instinct is to punish them.
As kids, these Redditors were pushed into various zones of "punishment" by their teachers for doing nothing wrong.
Things were not any better at a youth group for one Redditor who was genuinely a very curious person.
Stuck In The Red Zone
"When I was in primary school, one of my teachers was, for some reason, telling us about bees. She said the normal stuff like the social hierarchy, different roles in a hive, ect. But then she gets into the differences of different types of bees' bodies, and tells us that bees sting with their feet. Obviously I raised my hand to dispute this, and explained that bees actually do not sting with their feet, and she tells me of for 'talking back' for a few minutes, and makes me move my name into the 'red zone' (it seemed like a big deal at the time, ok?). After the lesson, I go up to her and ask if she can look it up, and the says no, I ask why, and she yells at me again, leaving 7 year old me almost in tears. For the rest of my time there I had no respect for her, and she was one of the most hated teachers in school."
In The Yellow Zone
"Aw man, when I was 5, my tutor told everybody to go to the front to sit on the rug. The person who sat beside me left their seat out, so I was unable to get past. So naturally, I push the seat in, as well as my own. Took barely any time, and although I was one of the last to get to the rug, nobody was waiting for me (others were slower). I was one of the furthest away from the front, so obviously it would take me longer to get there, and I knew this so went fast."
"The tutor told me off for 'dilly dallying' and 'wasting time'. She moved my name into the yellow zone. This was the first time I had ever had my name in the yellow zone (and the next time was 5 YEARS after that - I was a good kid). I was determined not to get upset as she'd told a kid off for that a few days prior. So she left me, a tiny 5 year old goody-two-shoes, desperately fighting tears for PUSHING IN TWO SEATS while on the way to do as she'd asked. Go to hell, Ms S."
Consequences Of Being Inquisitive
"First time I went to a youth group at my local Christian church, and I got kicked out by the pastors son, for simply asking questions. I wasn't trying to show anyone up or prove a point...I wasn't raised in a traditionally religious home, I really knew nothing at that time."
Curses For Catholic School
"I identify with this so hard. In the 3rd grade, me and another kid got a 'referral' (basically one step lower than detention, it was a piece of paper we had to get signed by our parents that let them know we got in trouble) for pretending to push each other after an assembly. Mind you, we were not actually pushing each other, but merely miming the hand movements of a push, and laughing about it. God d*mn Catholic school, god d*mn Mrs. MacDermot."
Kicked Out Of Youth Group
"First time I went to a youth group at my local Christian church, and I got kicked out by the pastors son, for simply asking questions. I wasn't trying to show anyone up or prove a point...I wasn't raised in a traditionally religious home, I really knew nothing at that time."
Attendance Rule
"When I was in college there was a class were you had to be present for at least 80% of the lessons or you would fail. Last 2 weeks of the class and I get really sick, Pfeiffers."
"I already did so much work on my assignment by then I didnt wanna fail the class on the stupid attendace rule. So I show up looking like a zombie, high fever, drugged on too much advil, naproxen and Redbull. The professor sends me home, and sais we will work out a way around the attendance rule. I thank her so much and go back to bed. Finish everything to pass from home, got a good grade. The b*tch failed me anyway because I wasnt present for at least 80%."
Calling BS on a situation is a good thing. For the most part.
Whether it is someone trying to defraud you of your finances or even in casual situations where an unqualified person is spouting falsehoods to come off as an expert on a given topic, putting these charlatans in their place can prevent them from continuing to take advantage of others.
But just make sure you tell your smart kids not to piss off their teachers if they detect BS in class.
Otherwise, they may find themselves in the red zone and still talk about it after they've grown up.