"What's the most regrettable purchase you've ever made?"
Anything But Luxurious
"When I was in my early 20’s bought a used BMW with 80k miles."
"Everything in that car was crazy expensive to fix."
"Had it for a 1.5 years before I sold it."
"The amount of money I spend on buying+fixing that car I could have bought I brand new BMW."
"Learned my lesson, never buy used luxury cars."- Steve83725
And So Began A Habit They'd Do Anything To Break...
"That first pack of cigarettes."
"Should have never started."- xipisiw577
...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...
"A $300 pogo stick."
"I still don't know what the f*ck I was thinking when I ordered that thing."- xayep54838
bart simpson pogo stick GIFGiphyYou'd Think Science Lovers Would Have Been More Meticulous...
"A shower curtain with the periodic table."
"We couldn't find it here in Denmark so I had to order it from the US which meant a huge shipping fee."
"Then there was added a custums fee making the total price almost $100."
"All of this would not have been so bad if not for the fact that we forgot to check the measurements, as it turned out to be only 180 cm long leaving a big gap at the bottom where water would splash through making the floor soaking wet."- xipisiw577
Not As Advertised
"A remote control car I begged and saved for when I was 9."
"It was terrible and I still haven’t got over the disappointment 30 odd years later."- thencamethethunder
Way To Soon...
"I bought a planner in January 2020."- Dear-Original-675
Typography No Refunds GIF by Abel M'VadaGiphyOof...
"2 engagement and wedding rings."- Tawebuse
Planning Ahead Doesn't Always Pay Off
"I was engaged for a little over a year, and since she didn't want to be on the pill, we used condoms."
"One time we ran out, and I bought a great big box of new ones, different flavors and ribbings and what not."
"Then the relationship ended, and I could feel the box lying there in my drawer, mocking me, almost untouched."-nadoba1473
winter olympics lol GIF by Animation Domination High-DefGiphyGood For One Good Ride?
"Gotrax scooter."
"That company is a joke."
"Their products' life cycle is measured in weeks before your scooter is a piece of plastic going to the landfill."
"I tried going through their customer service for repair parts and got some covered by warranty, only to have those parts break after a few days of light use."
"Even worse, when I asked for a tracking number for the parts, their CSR emailed me a spreadsheet of EVERY part order they had that day, complete with names, addresses, emails, telephone numbers."
"Only thing missing was the CC numbers."- AdWonderful5920
Hopefully They At Least Look Nice
"I bought some running shoes, I enjoy sitting down."- kenow18890
Timing Is Everything
"I bought a KIA two months before the Kiaboyz TikTok challenge went viral."
"Of course some teens tried to steal my car causing $2,500 worth of damage to my ignition and steering column."- Aldous_Hoaxley
car driving GIF by A Magical MessGiphyPlanning Ahead To The Max...
"A grave for me besides my father's grave."
"Bought it for $6.000 +- it was bad because there was a monthly fee $40 +- , after 5 years paying that fee I've had enough so I decided to sell my grave."
"Then i couldn’t sell due to one contract clause wich gives the cemetery practically all the selling money."
"As i result i had to return the grave to the cemetery for nothing."
"Good for them , stupid me lost all that money."- Icy_Cow4578
No Golden Ticket Either...
"When I was about three years old, I was with my family in a store that sold trading cards."
"There were a lot of packs of cards everywhere with different colors and pictures on them."
"All fairly standard trading card size."
"But then there was this one package that was definitely not a pack of cards."
"It was a candy bar."
"I could tell because it was extra long and shaped exactly like a candy bar."
"I asked my parents to buy it, but they didn’t want to."
"They asked why I wanted these cards so bad and I explained that they weren’t cards, but a candy bar."
"I essentially threw a fit until they decided it was just be easier to buy it for me."
"And then with some help, I opened my first and only ever pack of NASCAR trading cards."
"Definitely not a candy bar."
"I was inconsolable at the time, and still think about it to this day."- BillionaireGhost
tom and jerry eating GIF by Boomerang OfficialGiphyAdvertising can be very persuasive, and sometimes all it takes is looking at a picture to make us think we positively need to have something.
Once we unwrap this, possibly expensive, impulse buy though, we are reminded that imagination and fantasy is always more appealing than reality.
Redditor airuarak123 was curious to learn what pieces of information people firmly believe they were better off not knowing, leading them to ask:
"What's a fact you wish you didn't know?"
Gone And Forgotten
"In most cases it only takes three generations to be completely forgotten."- Fred_the_skeleton
Stuck In Your Own Body
"Locked in syndrome is terrifying."
"You are alive and conscious but have no way to communicate that or stop it."- Lilliputian0513
Flight Of The Living Dead
"I read this book called Fever about doctors treating Lassa Fever victims in Africa."
"There was a pilot who would fly dead victims to a city morgue for autopsies."
"The bodies were on a gurney in the back if a small plane."
"Sometimes the change in air pressure would cause air to expel from the lungs over the vocal chords, which would create sounds like moaning."
"And more than once the air pressure caused the corpse’s stomach muscles to contract and it sat up."- Positive-Source8205
No Dare Is Worth It!
"The story of a Sam Ballard whose friend dared him to eat a slug."
"He ate it."
"Death came quickly AFTER THE 420 DAY COMA."- astoneworthskipping
Good for them
"Apparently farmers get the most sex out of any profession."- Outrageous_Package_8
Sexy Conor Mckenna GIF by FoilArmsandHogGiphyEvil Is Real
"I seriously wish I hadn't seen all those Mexican Cartel videos."
"The level of creativity and evil is almost unfathomable."- watch_over_me
You Thought It Was Bad...
"The challenger astronauts didn't die until they hit the ocean."- Cravatitude
Neglect And Abuse Has Lasting Effects
"Childhood trauma and neglect leads to permanent structural changes to the brain that effect the way you perceive and interact with the world."- Doingmybest2019
They Know More Than Let On
"30% of people that report missing people end up kidnapping/murdering them."- Kewleila
Forever Ruining Christmas...
"That Santa isn't real."- Trick-Contract-441·
Season 6 Nbc GIF by The OfficeGiphyDestined To Ruin Everything
"The fact that something like tumors exists."- nOOb_Hyper
"Tumors can grow teeth."- FirefighterEMTJamie
Internet Graffiti
"You can literally make something out of thin air, post about it on reddit claiming it to be a fact and get a bunch of karma."- Alpha_1_5
ducks no GIFWhat Lies Beneath...
"Our chins look bumpy because of the muscle under it."
"Look it up. It's so creepy."- Llcaballero
Inevitable Truths
"The friend group that I have now has a possibility of everyone slowly disappearing into their lives and leaving their video games into their inactivity death."- CelebrationHot5209
Love May Not Be Everlasting...
"Falling out of love without a third party is true."- classicgeneral_00
Incentive To Sleep With Your Mouth Closed...
"You know that fact saying you swallow about 3 spiders a year well this is not true spiders love warm moist areas so the number would be far higher."- Yurrinator33
Spider Tarantula GIF by GrandCanyonTVGiphyA Less Fragrant Option...
"If you hold in a fart it goes into your bloodstream so you can exhale it later."- cheeseboss278
Ignorance is Bliss?
"Apparently the earth can be destroyed any second and we wouldn't even realize, we'd just die."- hliasgr2070
As they say, the truth hurts.
And when we can go through our lives without needing to know certain things, then ignorance is, indeed, bliss.
Because honestly, who feels their life improved after learning the truth about Santa Clause?
One rock is just like any other
"Plymouth rock Massachusetts."
"Despite all the rage it's still just a rock in a cage."- BodybuilderOk3836.
"Plymouth Rock!"
'I don’t know how famous it really is outside of New England but it’s a rock that marks where the Pilgrims supposedly first landed in Massachusetts."
"It is quite literally just a medium sized rock with '1620' carved in it but every elementary school teacher around Massachusetts at least hypes it up for the class field trip to see a literal rock that is not big, impressive, or really historically relevant."
"Driving an hour on a bus to see this was the most anticlimactic thing and I would not particularly recommend."- alisoninwonderbread
Vegas of the East Coast?
"Atlantic city."
"Monopoly got me good."- mahouko08.
How do you spell that again?
"LlanfairÂpwllgwyngyllÂgogeryÂchwyrnÂdrobwllÂllanÂtysilioÂgogoÂgoch in Wales."
"Nothing there except an Edinburgh Wollen Mills shop."
"Which is just silly as Edinburgh is nearly 300 miles away.'- Dreddguy.
Hooray for Hollywood...
"Hollywood, it's seedy and disappointing."
"It's full of entire industries (*cough scientology *cough) that take advantage of starry-eyed twits."- Judas_Feast.
​
"Hollywood Walk of Fame."
"It's a sidewalk and outside of maybe big events where they may clean the ones around where photos may be taken."
"It otherwise is just covered in dirt from people's shoes and some are barely legible because they haven't been cleaned in ages."- CaninseBassus
Los Angeles Hollywood GIF by Party LegendsGiphyWhere the land meets the sea.
"Lands End, UK.'
"Heralded as the 4th most disappointing attraction in the UK."
'It's not even disappointing enough to win an award.'
"I mean the landmark in Cornwall, not a clothing store."
"Deary me."- YellowBernard.
"They say the neon lights are bright..."
"Time Square on New Years Eve."
"Just forget it."
'It has *never* been worth it."- roman_fyseek.
Times Square Ball GIF by New Year's Rockin' EveGiphy"See the Pyramids along the way..."
"Egypt.'
"Its like if phone scams were a materialized location."
"You get there an right away the airport is going to start scamming you, take your electronics away and tell you that you need permits for them (which they will gladly sell you, and then tell you that its the wrong one and have you buy another one)."
"The hotel you stay at will check your bags again like the airport did and again tell you that you need permits or whatever random thing they decide they can get away telling you needs one."
"The police will extort money from you if they think they can."
"Fake police will come up to you and fine you or tell you to follow them to different sites where they will charge you."
"Children will run up to you and ask if you want to ride their camel very aggressively (they will cut you off with their camel and not let you move forward) tell you its free, and then try to charge you insane amounts of money and call their camel pimp over to deal with you if you don't pay."
"If you don't get on the camel they will often even get the camel to attack you."
"It's all pretty wild, its not worth it."- yovalord.
There are few worse feelings than arriving at somewhere you've been dreaming of going all your life, only to find yourself disappointing.
Maybe some places are best visited in our imaginations.
It certainly costs a lot less!
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Redditor The_Hala wanted to hear about all the things we believed when we were younger, that has thrown us through a loop as adults.
They asked:
"What’s something you imagined as a kid and it turned out to be wrong when you became an adult?"
I believed that soulmates were real, and that we had an automatic pull to finding one another. I type that sentence while sitting alone with dogs and chocolate.
Speed Machines
driving fast and furious GIFGiphy"I used to think cars cost a ton of money. Like, a whole hundred dollars or more." ~ Jaycatt
The Happy Ending
"I thought finding a career and a loving spouse just happened naturally." ~ SilasMarner77
"So did I, and everyone told me it happened that way, so it was very strange to reach 18 or so and suddenly be told 'what's the matter with you? You have to put yourself out there!' from all these people who had apparently just drifted into position like celestial bodies."
"I think a lot of kids are taught to never make decisions for themselves and fobbed off with the idea of things just 'happening' later, and then have no clue what to do with themselves when they are not under someone's control so suddenly have to figure it out for themselves." ~ JMW007
I felt so stupid...
"My mom used to tell me that if I turned on the little light in the back seat that we would instantly be pulled over and would be given a ticket. I believed that till about 3 years ago when my girlfriend turned on the light and I told her why we can’t do that and she told me that wasn’t even a thing. I felt so stupid smh." ~ INYOURCLOSET4
Unprepared...
"I thought every next step was going to be the thing I couldn’t handle. Jr. High. High School. Boot Camp. Fleet Marines. College. Business world. Turns out I was only really unprepared for marriage, everything else is pretty easy."
"I’d say this: if you don’t find yourself wanting to spend literally every moment possible with someone, don’t marry them. I’m solitary by nature, so I thought I’d want to spend time apart from anyone, but it turns out, I can’t get enough of my second wife."
"I really could have saved first wife and myself a lot of grief by not assuming ours was the best a relationship was going to get. We are both fine and probably each better off for the time we did spend together, even all the painful time, but I sure learned a lot about how not to be." ~ mojave_moon
Wisdom with age...
Knowing Cedric The Entertainer GIF by CBSGiphy"'You'll understand it when you're older.' Sure, I accepted it, but understand it? That's one hell of an overstatement. Lots of it's apply here." ~ FranticBronchitis
Acceptance is key. But you don't learn about acceptance until it's already too late and the illusion of life is destroyed.
Hit the Floor
jim carrey falling GIFGiphy"I thought I would have had to use 'stop drop and roll' by now." ~ crispypotatocake
Wing It...
"Adults have any semblance of how to handle every situation, especially the bad ones." ~ The_Soapmakers
"It's definitely weird when you come to the realization that we're all just winging it. I used to think my dad had all the answers."
"I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just I really thought he was in a position to know exactly how to handle any problem I came to him with. Now my kids look at me the same way and sometimes I can really feel the weight of the world on my shoulders because of it." ~ Handsome-Jim-2
Family Ties
"My dad's family is big as hell, my dad has 13 siblings (like 5 of them being step-siblings, and two of the 13 have already pass away) So my paternal family is more than 100 people, no joke. So... my dad's oldest sister is like 20+ years older than him and when my dad wasn't even born (Like 2 or 5 years before)."
"She had a child and the kid and my dad grew up and were raised as brothers (when they were actually uncle and nephew). And I just discover two weeks ago that he wasn't another of my dad's siblings, not even my uncle obviously, he was my cousin, my cousin which is 50 years older than me." ~ CChrysanthemumm
Lessons Learned
"As an early teen, I thought that LGBTQ was a load of garbage. I couldn't wrap my brain around why someone would be attracted to their own sex, or why they wouldn't feel like their assigned gender. I thought it was just a phase some people went through to be unique."
"While I still don't understand how most of LGBTQ works, I at least know that homophobia and transphobia is wrong. Discriminating against someone because of who they want to love/be is just wrong. one day LGBTQ going to be widely accepted. I hope that day comes soon so that the discrimination calms down." ~ placeholderNull
I'm Useless
gossip adults GIF by Halo Top CreameryGiphy"That adults knew what they were doing. I'm in my 40's and I still don't know what the hell I am doing half the time." ~ The__Riker__Maneuver
Oh, why couldn't it all just be a grand fairytale? What does so much have to be so hard? Alas...
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I'm used to being disappointed about a lot in life. I've given up on looking forward to much. This way anticipation doesn't trip me up. But I've never been let down by sound. Music can be underwhelming sure, but that's usually due to the lack of creativity. So this should be fascinating.
Too Loud!
All That Nicksplat GIF by NickRewindGiphy"I was home alone after having my cochlear implant turned on for the first time and I nearly peed my pants when the refrigerator started making ice. Also discovered that my cat purrs very loudly."
The Collision
"Some dude in an old thread surprised clouds colliding didn't make noise."
"DUDE THAT WOULD BE SO DOPE just like HUUUUGE distant, near peaceful thuds of clouds hitting each other, like a low rumbling in the ground you can feel with the same bassy noise of a far off explosion. God, I've been hearing everything all my life and now I'm sad clouds don't make noise. It would help people realize how large and heavy clouds are, too."
Sounds along the way...
"I've worn HA all my life though until around 2010 they had always been analog so not very good at picking up little sounds. I was being fitted for my first pair of digital HA and kept hearing this odd noise even asking my audiologist what's that noise? Turned out it was me moving my feet on the carpet. I'd never heard that shifting around sound before."
"Got newer and even better ones a couple of weeks ago and holy cow I now hear all sorts of noises I've never heard. Technology can be a wonderful thing."
"Also, remembered another sound - the bubbles popping in a soda/coke. Never had heard those little fizz/pops before."
The Ugly
"When my uncle got cochlear implants, he spent the whole next day wondering what this constant, obnoxious, 'ugly' noise was. After hours of searching, found out it was the clock ticking. He questioned why the hell it needs to make noise. I suppose without having it tuned out, it would be pretty annoying."
"On a happier note, when he first got them in, he cried with happiness when he realized his brother sounded different than the nurse."
Several Items
Listen GIF by The Maury ShowGiphy"My friend was deaf and he said the most underwhelming things were opening something carbonated, and a dog bark and the most surprising things was lights not making noise and for some reason trees not making noise?"
Sirens can try anybody's last nerve. I know they are necessary but Lord can they be brutal. I think I would be more surprised if sounds didn't match. I'm genuinely surprised when people's voices are higher or lower than what I thought they'd be. Let's hear some more.
The Sizzle
shaking still life GIF by jjjjjohnGiphy"My sister refused to get hearing aids for the longest time. She finally got some and she said the first thing she noticed was like a weird popping sizzling sound. It was the carbonation in her soda."
Sounds Dry
"When I got my hearing aids, I remember sitting in my room and think it was pouring down outside. Went to have a look, dry af. Turns out it was the sound of my clothes moving against each other. So overwhelming. Now, the silence is more anxiety inducing, because I know that there's so many things around me that are happening and I don't know about them."
'oh, I wanted you to sound better'
"I have a friend who was born deaf and had cochlear implants put in when he was a baby. I don't fully understand it all, but I do know he couldn't hear pitch, even with the implants. To him girl and boy voices all sounded roughly the same and he couldn't listen to music because it all sounded the same."
"A few years back he got his implants upgraded or replaced, like I said I don't really understand it. Anyway, he was suddenly able to hear pitch. He said the single scariest thing was emergency vehicle sirens."
"He'd never heard the proper noise before, so assumed it was just a kind of monotonous whine they made. He was absolutely terrified when an ambulance turned on its siren next to us. Suddenly he could hear the wailing all these emergency vehicles made. He said he found the wails to be very eerie at night."
"Also, when he first heard my proper voice he said 'oh, I wanted you to sound better'. Ouch."
Where to Begin?
"I got a BAHA (bone adhered hearing aid) implant this February. I'm 29F, moderately hearing-impaired for the past 15 years."
"I'm still surprised by:
- clothing rustling
- my own footsteps
- my stomach making quiet gurgling sounds
- the sound when I scratch an itch
- squirrels running across the roof 😊
- rain
- picking out individual instruments in a song"
"I hate that I now hear:
- chewing and eating sounds
- farts (I used to only hear the loud ones!)
- peeing is SO LOUD
- background TV noises in businesses — used to just be white noise for me, now that I can parse speech it's super distracting
- random neighborhood sounds, e.g. children yelling, dogs barking, weed whackers, etc.
...and the sound quality of music is kinda meh via my implant. Still 50000x worth it."
At 31...
halloween monster GIFGiphy"I got hearing aids at 31. The sound of the refrigerator surprised me. I'm an engineer by trade and was trying to figure out why it made such a terrible noise thinking it must be broken."
In the end, it's a great thing that everyone on this list can finally hear. Not that there is anything wrong with people who can't. I'm going to try and be more cognizant and grateful.
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