Redditor Kondellark wondered about what life truths are so outrageous they nearly prove truth is stranger than fiction, so they asked:
"What is a true fact so baffling, it should be false?"
The truth will always be more off the wall than we think.
Lies have to come from somewhere.
That Decade
roaring twenties smile GIFGiphy"There used to be a radioactive energy drink called 'Radithor' that was in the US market for a decade from 1918-1928. Some of the more prominent users had to be buried in lead coffins."
WildWonderWolf
The Power
"There is a 1 in roughly 5.2 to the 61st power chance that if you were to slap a table, all of the molecules in your hand and the table would miss each other and your hand would go through it."
"Story time: I learned this fact from a deep intellectual conversation with my engineering class 2 years ago, so there very well could be some kind of detail I'm missing here, but nonetheless, what i said is theoretically true."
32151134
Go Wayne!
"You could take away all of Wayne Gretzky’s goals that he scored during his career and he would still be the all-time NHL points leader off his assists alone."
"Bonus Gretzky fact: He and his brother own the record for being the highest scoring pair of siblings. Brent had 4 points in his whole career."
holy_cal
"Of every father/son combo in NHL history, Wayne and Trevor Gretzky have the most goals. Trevor Gretzky was a baseball player."
Damage
happy betty boop GIF by OctoNationGiphy"Giant squids have a donut shaped brain so their esophagus can run through the middle. If they try to swallow too large a bite of food they can get brain damage."
VerminSupreme__
Unless a squid is fried with marinara sauce... stay away from me.
Bad Face
Wide Eyed Reaction GIF by MOODMANGiphy"If a gorilla looks grumpy, it's because they are relaxed and at ease."
"So I’m a gorilla. Cool."
Think about that...
"When the 22nd President of the U.S., Grover Cleveland was 27 years old, he was friends with a married couple who had a baby girl named Frances. As a gift, he bought them a high-end baby stroller for little Frances. 21 years later, he married Frances and she became the youngest 1st Lady. Think about that."
FixFalcon
"This isn't mindblowing or anything, but a fun presidential fact: Grover Cleveland was also the only U.S. President to serve two non-consecutive terms. He was the 22nd AND 24th President, with Benjamin Harrison (23rd President) serving as the meat in the sandwich that was Grover Cleveland's two terms."
japanishinquisition
In the Hole
"The gravity of black holes is so great that it literally bends light around the black hole, so that if you could somehow stand close enough to a black hole and look straight ahead, you would actually see the back of your own head."
chyko9
"So going through a black hole = realizing we all live in a videogame."
"While getting close to the black hole you start seeing weird things. Thinking that light is just being freaky... you suddenly go from thinking the last thing you see before you step into the next dimension is the back of your own head, to realizing it’s actually just you currently looking at yourself on a screen in 3rd person view."
jaqueburton
no food at all...
"A morbidly obese person can survive with absolute starvation without any sickness or feeling ill (under close control). There have been studies since 60's, there is a patient in 1973 who went under a 382 day starvation diet for therapuetic purposes under close control with only vitamin and mineral supplements and water intake without protein, carbohydrate or fat intake (no food at all)."
"Dropped from 207 kg to 88kg and maintained it. After a follow up check-up 5 years later, the patient was 96 kilograms, stabilized. Prolonged fasting had no ill effects. If anybody is curious about the article, the pubmed ID is: PMC2495396."
Dartosismyname
Crunchy
Loop Waiting GIFGiphy"Giraffes eat bones."
"When I was in Africa we were legit surrounded by a family (?) of 12 giraffes. Then one bent over and picked up a gazelle carcass, looked dead into our eyes as it ate it's leg. It was so f**king creepy."
Kibeth_8
I knew there was something off about giraffes.
Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.
I have a short fuse. I really do. For too many years it has lead to a lot of undo stress and trouble. I try deep breathes now. And prayer. But I nearly pass out from all the breathing and my mouth is dry from reciting scripture. I have issues. Anything can set me off. I could make my own personal reddit thread. But... I'm clearly not alone.
Bullies
Angry Season 9 GIF by ShamelessGiphyHorrible people who go into professions working with vulnerable people. Like, a bully going into social work or nursing, or abusive people going into youth care. Nothing pisses me off more than that.
MOVE!!
Being stuck behind a trio of slow walkers taking up the whole sidewalk.
Sometimes, depending on the width of where you're walking, it could just be 1 person and they are so evenly in the middle that you can't pass them on either side. It's infuriating. Like, HELL, make the minimal effort to move ever so slightly one way or the other.
Me Time
Having no free time.
My previous employer would send me appointments at 10pm for the next day.
I made it a rule to never EVER respond to emails past 5pm, even if I had a mail I wanted to send I would schedule it for delivery the next day.
Yeah I have a rule about being talked to while on the clock. If it's not important enough to tell me while you're paying me then it's not important.
Beware of Others
Inside Out Reaction GIF by Disney PixarGiphyPeople who are just oblivious in public. You are not the center of the universe, other people exist around you, stop being an a**.
And stand in the middle of the aisle leaning on their cart texting with one finger.
Passover
People who drive up my butt in the mother freaking slow lane. Wtf.
I hate when they do that when there is a passing lane and clearly they aren't trying to get to a turn. I could get if you can't pass me because of a turn (whether regular road where you are about to get to an entrance, or highway/interstate and off ramp) but WTF are you driving up my @ss when there is an empty lane beside you and you can go around me.
All of those things! ALL OF THOSE THINGS! I hate them all. How could you not? I'm angry just from reading. LOLOL. Let me pause for a breath and a prayer. Continue without me for a moment.
Get Back
Mad Grumpy Cat GIF by MOODMANGiphyLine cutters.
Missing Pieces
When you order takeout/delivery and you get home and the food is wrong. Ruins the whole meal for me.
Dude. This. I swear to god, if I splurge and get delivery and it's missing hoisin for my mu sushi it's honestly like momentarily devastating.
I bought some as a back-up and always leave a polite note saying I'd like sauce packets, but it still happens and is such a bummer. I usually only order food when it's been a rough/stressful day, so missing sauce is just like an extra kick in the shins.
It's Pretend
People sending death threats to actors because of a role they played.
Wtf. Really?
I studied acting in college and played a major douchebag in a play once. I played carter in Neil Labute's "Fat Pig." I talked with some girl several days after performances ended and she said she had a friend who wanted to talk to me but didn't because she thought I might be an butthole. So I kinda get that some people don't understand that actors aren't their characters, but sending death threats seems almost unbelievable.
Trashed
People who casually throw trash out their car window.
One time while I was in the car with my family, there was a daycare van driving in front of us on the highway and the passenger threw trash out, so my dad called the daycare phone number. Glad he did!
Stay Calm
Angry Season 4 GIF by The OfficeGiphyWhen someone "apologizes," but starts of with I'm sorry YOU don't like/didn't hear/felt as if/etc. If you're going to apologize freaking own it. Get out of here with that passive aggressive bullcrap.
This entire thread has given me anxiety and makes me thankful for alcohol. I don't know why anything here would be deemed irrational; or maybe it's time I head back to therapy. Pray for me, and the world at large that has to encounter me.
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When males fly, they are "Superman" whereas, when females fly they are a witch.
But doubles standards aren't limited to sexism.
People shared their examples of the phenomena when Redditor piano_043 asked:
"What double standards annoy the sh*t out of you?"
Rules
Sure, there are exceptions to certain rules, but where do you draw the line when the person of authority setting the rules frequently breaks them?
School Deadlines
"Professors who have strict deadlines but don't grade anything."
"I find it even more annoying in high school. The teacher will say 'I won't do X, because I have a life, and I don't want to use my free time on my weekend to do that'. Cool, fair enough. I get it, you work for the time you get paid for. But then ... 'You had all weekend to work on this!'. Like, wtf, is the weekend time for the school system or not? You can't choose one when you want it, and another when you don't."
Crime & Punishment
"people stealing millions get no or less jail time than someone who stole couple of dollars"
All Talk
"Preaching about saving the environment but doing the absolute bare minimum to change it."
Smoke Breaks
"If I took as many extra breaks at work as a smoker does, I'd get fired."
"I had a job where this guy would go out every hour, on the hour for 5 minutes in an 8 hour shift every day of the week to smoke."
"That's over 3 hours of extra break time per week I wasn't getting as a non smoker."
"That's over 173 hours of extra break time per year I wasn't getting as a non smoker."
"That's like an extra week of paid vacation per year in just smoking cigarettes."
Culture Wars
"Cancel culture double standards. Certain people have been canceled for saying something stupid like 10 years ago, and yet somehow Chris Brown is still a successful musician even though he did far worse than most people society has 'canceled.' It doesn't make any sense to me."
Awards
"The Oscars. It seems like sometimes, it's awarded to an actor because 'it's their time or they are overdue' or just based on popularity or a makeup award, while other times it's 'this is the performance of the year and no one else is worthy.' It should go to the best acting performance all the time, not just because people think it's this actor's best, only, or last chance at winning the award."
Appearance Guidelines
"School dress codes. The horror that a females bra strap is slightly visible!!!!!!!!!"
Sexism
When men can't catch a break when in the presence of kids.
Father Time
"Aww look, dad is babysitting while mom has a day off"
"No I'm NOT. I am the father and I am wanting to spend time with my children when I have time available. That's not babysitting. That's being a caring, loving, responsible father."
"Demeaning On All Sides"
"This one drives both me and my husband nuts. He's being a parent. Also, he gasp actually wants to spend time with the small human we chose to create. The flipside is also frustrating - he's a superhero or babysitter when he takes her to the park, but I'm a woman so I should just magically be able to handle all her needs and God forbid I take 10 seconds on my phone when I "should be" having quality time with my kid (never mind the fact that dad's right there and she's really focused on the leaves at the moment)."
"It's so insidious and demeaning on all sides."
Popularity
"Having to act differently around kids just because I'm a guy. I work at a camp and a dance class, and both my senior counselor and dance instructor gave me talks about how to act around kids."
"I'm 6'1" and I have a beard and long hair, and for some reason kids love me. And I really like playing with kids. But I can't do very much with them. The female staff can hug the kids and hold their hands when walking with them, no problem. But then the kids want to hug me and hold my hand, and I can't do it because I'm too big and scary and I'll look like a creep. So it kinda hurts when I can't play around with kids just because I'm a guy."
"Also, this all happened before [the virus], when hugging and holding hands was not an issue. Just to clarify."
Play Time
"If women make faces or try to play with random kids it cute, but when men want to play with random kids they are seen as predators."
Making Memories
"And the women who think dads are creeps watching their next victim when they're just taking a photo of THEIR child having fun at the playground for memory's sake."
Girly Things
"Girl enjoys girly things - People: Oh you're so basic and not progressive. Girl enjoys traditionally masculine things - People: Oh, she's just trying to fit in with the men and she hates other women. Must be one of those 'not like other girls' girls. It's so frustrating. I feel every one of my hobbies is subjected to this extra layer of scrutiny and judgement."
Racism
Victims of harassment aren't always innocent of the same offense.
Being Asian
"Racism seems to only apply to black people. Growing up if you said a racial slur to a black student in school, you were in serious trouble. However you say a racial slur to me (south Asian) the teacher might tell you to cut it out. In the Army, no one dared say a racial slur or anything racist to a black soldier. That would end your career. However, racist 'jokes' and slurs were said to me on a daily basis. No one seemed to intervene. If I threatened to complain to EO they would probably stop, but then I'm on everyones sh*t list for being too sensitive and not being able to take a joke. However no one would ever even attempt this type of thing with the black soldiers."
False Claim
"I'm part Asian myself and one day a girl i knew was saying some pretty harsh stuff about the Chinese, i called her out on being kinda racist and she dropped the bomb 'Asians can't suffer racism, they ain't black' i was in complete shock at how someone could possibly have negative IQ and still trying to be smug."
Deportation Jokes
"the same thing happened with me and I'm Mexican. people were allowed to call me beaner and tell me I needed to be deported but somehow I was the one that always got in trouble for being upset."
One example I can't stand is the perception that men aren't allowed to cry because it's a sign of weakness.
This sexist view is deeply ingrained in my culture where the men in my father's generation were told to keep their sentimental emotions bottled up inside and that they should leave it up to the women to get emotional because "it's what they do."
The dangerous mentality screwed with my head in my formative years. If I ever had a moment of weakness and shed a tear, I felt extremely ashamed – which further plummeted me into confusion and despair.
So yeah, double standards suck.
