The Dumbest Things People Were Ever Scared Of As A Kid
Reddit user _Veron_ asked: 'What was the "dumbest" thing you were scared of as a kid?'
Hindsight is 20/20, but our ability to look back and realize that a situation wasn't as bad as it seemed won't lesson how hard that situation was in the moment.
This is also true for children and the irrational fears they are facing. Learning later on that those things are irrational will not change how scary those things were at the time, but it's fascinating to look back and see what we feared the most.
Redditor _Veron_ asked:
"What was the 'dumbest' thing you were scared of as a kid?"
The Sweet Potato Man
"'El Señor de lo Camotes' or 'Sweet Potatoes seller.' In Mexico, there are people who sell sweet potatoes and bananas with cinnamon, candy, or honey, and they bake them on a tricycle with an oven with a chimney while they walk the streets."
"The sound of the chimney is a bit creepy and loud! I was terrified as a child, and even more so when my dad told me that the sound was from bad kids that the man was burning on his tricycle."
- KerenGO
Godzilla
"Godzilla. The old school black and white cheesy fake dinosaur looking one. I could not sleep for days."
- Mamadog5
The Cowardly Lion
"The lion in 'The Wizard of Oz..."
- seekthegiant
"Consider yourself lucky you weren't shown 'Return to Oz.' So much nightmare fuel. I still remember chunks 30 years later and I certainly haven't rewatched the thing."
- m0le
The Quaker Oats Man
"The Quaker Oats guy. He reminded me of Reverend Kane from 'Poltergeist.'"
- Ronnieb85
"I totally forgot I used to be afraid of this guy, lol (laughing out loud). My grandma always had some when I was a kid, and I don't know… He just had a creepy stare, and his eyes followed me no matter what."
- Fates_The_Great
The Loud Popping Noise
"Popping a balloon."
- SuvenPan
"When I was a kid, lots of birthday parties had a game that involved sitting on a balloon until it popped. I was terrified of that, but the adults made me do it anyway."
- UltraRunner42
Dun-Nuh Dun-Nuh Dun-Nuh, Shark Kite!
"Kites. Especially shark kites."
"When I was very little, family friends and my family went to fly kites in Sacramento. The older of the two boys had a shark kite and the corner of it poked him in the eye. There was blood everywhere and screaming/crying. After that, any kite being flown triggered me."
"Meanwhile, a year earlier a dog literally attacked my face… but did that deter me from loving dogs? H**l no. But a shark kite? No f**king way, man. Those things are dangerous."
- theWildBore
Omniscient Bears
"My brother and I used to set our stuffed animals/toys up and stare at them from a long distance using binoculars. We would take turns, but each of us could only last a few seconds before freaking out, squealing, and handing off the binoculars, because we were just CONVINCED that they were going to start moving or looking in our direction."
- AquamarineCheetah
"Toy Story: Horror Edition."
- madmonkeman
Theme Music
"'Unsolved Mysteries' intro song."
"I loved the show, but for some reason, the intro music scared the s**t out of me. Many times, I’d make a point to go to the bathroom when the song played so I didn’t have to hear it, lol (laughing out loud)."
- PhotographIcy600
'The Ring' Movie
"'The Ring' movie, which I never even saw. Someone recapped it and it haunted me for years…"
- Mr_Trumpets
"I would recommend that you never see it then. Because it is the images that stay with you."
- Dr_broadnoodle
"I had to unplug the TV in my room for like a month as a kid before I stopped being scared. It wasn't even a big enough TV for that b***h to crawl out of. It was probably a 12-inch screen."
- panda388
Something Out There
"UFOs. The first time I saw a spotlight in the sky (was a car dealer having an event), I nearly passed out. I was probably around 10."
- Ruseiriousmars
The Worst Possibility
"Those outdoor stairs where you could see through the steps down to the bottom, I was convinced I could fall through."
- LibraryVolunteer
"Or unfriendly hands reaching out to grab your ankles."
- Bladenkerst_Baenre
The Concept of Impermanence
"One of my earliest memories is of my mom telling me to hurry up and eat my ice cream before it melted. It was the first time I learned about things melting and that concept scared the s**t out of me for some reason."
- acct4dumbQs
Santa Claus
"I was terrified of Santa Claus as a kid. He just looked big, fat, and scary to me. He used to freak me out to the point of tears!"
- Elizabeth_Winters
"'He sees you when you’re sleeping.'"
- Madmonkeman
"You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout. Santa Claus is coming to town."
"Are we sure this isn't a warning?"
- Outatime76
Spontaneous Combustion
"When I was a kid I watched a tv show about spontaneous human combustion while I was sick with the flu and was 100% CONVINCED I was going to burst into flames. The fever dreams afterwards did not help."
- Chapstickie
The Loading Sound
"The PS2 startup sound. I used it to play games and watch DVDs but I would turn it on then run and hide then wait for the 'scary part' to be over."
- plutodite222
"It's certainly kinda spooky, can't blame you for that."
- ooo-----D
We can all look back on our childhoods and point out things that we irrationally feared or believed, but while we may think those things are silly now, that will not change how the kid version of us perceived it back then.
While it may be funny now, it was pure nightmare fuel then.
Life is fleeting.
We face the end every second of the day.
We have no idea about the ticking time bombs in our bodies.
We have no clue what's around every corner we turn.
When face to face with death, the mind wonders.
Or maybe it finds peace.
Redditor LaVidaFiesta wanted to hear about the times we've been SHOOK by the aspect of dying, so they asked:
"When did you think you would die, but didn't?"
I've lost track of times I've been near death, mostly all traffic incidents.
I always start praying.
Road Hazard
Driving Jim Carrey GIF by Morgan CreekGiphy"Dated a dangerous driver. One night he decided, with me in the car, to overtake a lorry on a country road where he couldn't see crap. We were seconds from a head-on collision and I never set foot in his car again. He later had to go to prison for driving offences."
Impressive-Bench9223
So Much Blood
"When I was 17, in 1989, I got shot outside of a party in Detroit. So much blood, s**t hurt like hell, burned hotter than the sun. But twas just a flesh wound, didn't hit any vital organs."
StuckInNov1999
Palpitations
"'Minor' heart attack at 37. Nothing minor about feeling like you're drowning on land."
K1rkl4nd
"Go tell that to my dad who refused to take me to the hospital when the 19 yo me asked him to go cause I felt like something was definitely wrong with my heart when it happened 24 yo now, and my cardiologist been saying that I'm a miracle and if I didn't have an healthy and 'athletic' heart I would probably not be here anymore."
BornDifference1216
Roll With It
"My friends dragged me up to the mountains without my knowledge (i was told we were just going for a drive until we were halfway there). So I'm already at the mountain and I'm like... 'aight i guess ill just roll with it.' They had me build the fire since I'm the only one thats any good at building fires. Long story short the smoke inhalation caused me to have extreme asthma without an inhaler."
"Everyone refused to take me to the hospital the entire day. I ended up coughing so forcefully and so often that I ended up with pneumomediastinum (a hole in the lung causing air to leak into the mediastinum). Needless to say I cut off all ties with them."
Thanks_I_Hate_You
No Air
"When I woke up with an asthma attack and couldn’t breathe."
Appropriate_Tea9048
"The most frightening feeling in the world... I moved to a different city with a different climate, and my asthma attacks usually will start with coughs, but now it's just a little uncomfortable and boom, my throat is closed... Very, very scary. Hope your asthma is under control."
pixieface28
ALIVE!!
Giphy"I was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal colon cancer and given 4 months to a year. I thought I would be dead by now but I’m still alive coming up to 8 months since the diagnosis. Starting to feel a bit of pain otherwise I’m fine."
Big-End-9824
Never stop living when you can.
Fast & Furious
paul walker pw GIFGiphy"Car tried passing a truck going maybe 120kmh. I was going 100kmh. Head on. Time did slow down but it was calm just accepting I was going to die. Paramedics went to the scene expecting nobody to survive and I came out with couple minor injuries. Haven’t been scared to die since."
beansff
Disconnected
"Almost two years ago, my now ex-wife got really made at me. Way more than normal it was so bad I asked her to stop the car and let me out. She stopped, I opened the door, put my feet on the ground and she floored the car! The rear wheel ran over my arm, neck, and shoulder."
"Cracked skull , small brain bleeding loss of mass in the frontal lobe, disconnected my Brain from my nose. What I can't get over is the headlights coming back at me. She told the police the car door just opened."
lincolnstar
In my mind...
"I met with an accident where a huge bus knocked me riding a cycle. It came from behind, there were no other vehicles to be seen, and I saw what was gonna happen to me. I knew I was gonna die, but luckily, I was thrown to the other side of the road and survived with small injuries. In my mind, I was gonna die and I just could not believe I lived."
Martiallawtheology
In the Water
"I was out swimming with some friends and since I've been swimming my entire life I wasn't worried about swimming far out and diving by myself. So there I was, 150m away from the nearest person, diving in the sea. All of a sudden a sharp pain hits me in the leg and the shock causes me to breathe out. There I am, alone a couple of meters under the surface, thinking 'I'm dead if I don't calm down.'"
"With that in mind I force the pain away and start using the rest of the body to swim up with. I reach the surface and swim to shore. The whole thing lasted just a couple of seconds but it really didn't feel like it at the time. If I hadn't been swimming my whole life I could've easily died that time. Now it wasn't the closest I've been to dying but it felt the closest."
darkcyberleon
The River
Bless Jason Watkins GIF by Mammoth ScreenGiphy"I can't swim we were crossing a river I was front passenger seat and and we started taking on water my side quickly filled and my seatbelt wouldn't unbuckle."
laglagoon
Life is precious.
Never take a moment for granted.
Do you have any near-death experiences? Let us know in the comments below.
When it comes to sexual harassment, everybody needs to be on the same page.
The focus has predominantly (and rightfully so) been on educating men.
But the men of Reddit wanted to discuss some of their experiences that some people may not realize are harassment.
Redditor Babydolltoes544 asked:
"Men of Reddit, what’s something women don’t realize is sexual harassment?"
First up, let's listen to our Kindergarten teachers and keep our hands to ourselves.
Gloves On
Long Hair GIF by Slingshot DakotaGiphy"As a guy just because I have long hair doesn’t mean you can walk up to me and run your hands through it when I don’t even know you."
TheSilkySpoon76
"Definitely a long hair or curly hair problem. actually why do people think it’s cool to touch your hair, beard, muscles, pregnant belly etc?? personal space everyone!"
ashoka_akira
Leave me Alone
"Some women once tried to take off some of my clothes in a club (without me showing interest in them at all). When I told them to «f**k off» after a while, they got angry at me. Never been so confused."
"Edit: I almost forgot lmao. They talked to one of the guards at the club right after. "
"Don’t know what they said, but as they talked to him, they pointed at me. (Maybe they said that I was the bad guy or something). When I saw that, I just left. I figured the guard would trust the two girls more than me. Club was boring anyways."
UngabaBongDong
Fix the Damage
"I had a drunk young lady rip my button up shirt off in a bar on a dance floor then proceed to cup my d**k. I was mad so told her and her friends to f**k off after I got my shirt back from them, which had all the buttons torn off except the bottom 2. That was super annoying but I was just going to deal with it until I was asked to leave by the bouncers for yelling at women and not buttoning up my shirt."
"Another group of women approached me and said they had the whole thing on video which I then sent to the bars management and got a $200 gift certificate for it. In hindsight, I probably should have just taken it to the police. I never felt in danger or scared for my safety but it was totally inappropriate and if I did that I would be in jail."
krzysztoflee
You're an Adult
"I was working at a birthday party in a bar once, and a really drunk 40 year old woman decided to just walk behind the counter and slip a banknote into my shirt. She then started to rub around my chest like some sort of massage I guess? It was really weird, I just stood there confused waiting for it to end."
"Her husband was watching the whole time and didn't seem to happy about the whole thing. But nobody really seemed to care or just laughed about it. If I as a 40 year old man had done that to a 17 year old girl working at a bar, I would've gotten one hell of a lawsuit."
Xender04
Creepy Granny
Sam Heughan Dancing GIF by Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and GrahamGiphy"Every wedding and funeral I have ever been to as a Scotsman, there are a gaggle of horny grannies who at every opportunity try to get a look under the kilt."
bonjelascott
Not okay, grannies. Let's respect cultural tradition and healthy boundaries.
She gets it now...
"I’ve been into weightlifting most of my adult life. As a result, my arms and chest are noticeable. I’m not like a body builder or anything but I’ve got big arms and a protruding chest. Women think that they can just grab on my arms and rub my chest without permission or warning. I think that they think it’s okay because they compliment me afterwards. It makes me uncomfortable."
"My fiancée never really took me serious about it until at a work party one of my female coworkers basically groped my arms in front of her and it made her jealous. She gets it now."
IWillFindUinRealLife
LIAR!
"The same exact crap that applies to sexual harassment against women. I had a girl I used to work with slap my a**, grab my crotch and try to rub her breasts against me. When I took it to HR nothing was done about it. A week later I got written up because she lied and told HR I had verbally abused her."
SugoiBakaMatt
Where is She?
"My partner was at a truck stop waiting for his food when some lady came up and grabbed his junk. Just walked up and shoved her hand down his pants. He pushed her off, said he was taken and told her to f**k off. She reached for him again and said 'Well she isn't here now, is she?'"
"It disgusts me people are like this, regardless of gender. It's even worse that women aren't held as accountable as men are."
peckerlips
This is Odd...
"My partner went to a job interview and the older woman kept touching him as they talked. Like on his arm or hand. I told him that’s not okay and he doesn’t have to take that."
"He said that he didn’t want to make a scene because she might accuse him of harassment in retaliation and she had his information."
"And I realized men put up with harassment out of fear too. Different reasons, but it sucks for both genders."
BarbarianFoxQueen
Excuse You?
Excuse Me Reaction GIF by BounceGiphy"I once had some chick walk past me and squeeze my junk and another one slap my butt and I'm pretty sure that neither of them knew that that was sexual harassment. (Edit: Both of these instances were on two separate occasions)."
CapG_13
Sexual harassment is still all too prevalent. We have a long way to go.
Do you have any experiences to share? Let us know in the comments.
Franklin D. Roosevelt once famously said, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Words of encouragement to all Americans during his inaugural address, as America was in the midst of the great depression, with countless people having lost their jobs, their homes, and even their will to live.
While America did, indeed, bounce back, it hasn't stopped people from constantly living in fear.
Sadly, we're not talking about unfounded fears, such as ghosts or superstitions.
Unfortunately, there is plenty to be afraid of in this world, and horrifying evidence to prove it.
"What is a fact that scares you?"
No Justice
"That something like close to half of murders reported in the US are never solved."
"That’s just of the reported ones."- YAYtersalad
It Could Happen To Anyone
"Any day, you could have a stroke and lose all your autonomy and become as dependant as a baby."- FrenchMaisNon
"That any of us could have a brain aneurysm right now and not even know it's coming."- becomingNope
Just The Way Things Work
"The number of people older than me will never increase."- Vinny_Lam
At Least You Wouldn't Feel It?
"For some reason, the fact that you poop/pee yourself when you die."
"I know that it won’t matter because I’ll be dead, anyway, but I’ve always been weirded out by that."- EllieK24601
Cherish Your Time Together
"That my parents and grandparents are slowly getting older and it's just a matter of time before I start losing them all one by one and there's nothing I can do about it."- Kysman95
When Nothing Ever Seems To Be Alright...
"I logically know I am fine, but my anxiety won’t let me accept that."- HotSpicedChai
Next Time you Think About Putting It Out There To The Universe...
"That outside of our planet, zero of our achievements/history/language/currency matters."
'It can all be erased in a second and there would be no knowledge of us ever existing in the first place to anyone else in the universe."
"We are meaningless outside of this sphere."- EmergencyNoodlePack
It Really Doesn't Seem That Long
"We only live for about 4,000 weeks."-_Light_The_Way
Spitting Images
"That Dopplegangers exist."
"They say that there are at least a couple people in the world that look exactly like you without being blood related and I met mine."
"He was a f*cking criminal and got into trouble so many times with the law that I myself had been mistaken for him three times."
"The only difference was me having sleeves."
"My tattoos saved me from being mistaken for him."
"I was brought in and put in a lineup, and she said herself, 'that looks like him, but he doesn’t have a single tattoo'."
"4 hours later they found him and the sheriff’s department was dumbfounded that we weren’t twins."
"Like looking in a mirror."
"I was released, and a more than needed apology was given by the chief of police and arresting officer."- TinyoneT33
They Need Something To Keep Them Going
"The most well-educated and intelligent people are also those most afflicted with issues like despair, depression, and existential crises."
"Reality is a nightmare of horrors lying just beneath the surface, and the more aware of how things really work you are the more truly miserable you are, generally."- Emperor_Cartagia
It Could Be Comforting?
"When I die, I will be able to hear what people are saying, my last bit of brain activity will be processing those words or sounds and they will be echoed into my forever dream."
"Hope nobody says anything f*cked up.
"According to recent studies, auditory stimulus is the last sense to be lost, it's anticipated that people actually listen long enough to hear they’re pronounced dead."- TheUpsideDownWorlds·
Where Does The Time Go?
"The fact that the past 10 years of my life have flown by, and it means I got about a decade before I become the same age as my parents when I was born."
"Meaning that I’m just slowly going to age till it’s time for me to pass."
"And I still don’t even know why I’m living or what I want to do, or even feel like I’m happy."- Unhookingsnow6
"I've lived over half my life already."- Lucky-11
It's hard not to be scared by any or all of these facts.
But being afraid of just about anything almost never does anyone any good, as there is also plenty in this world to be hopeful and optimistic about.
As famously quipped in Baz Luhrmann's classic Strictly Ballroom, "A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
When it's time to go... GO!
Our guts know when it's time time to exit.
Knowing how to run and save yourself is important.
That little voice in our minds always knows when something is up.
Don't deny it.
It's especially obvious when a murderer is chasing you, or someone is on fire running toward you.
Redditor Apprehensive6815 wanted to hear about the times we knew we had to flee, so they asked:
"What was your 'I need to get out of here ASAP” moment?'
I've lost track of the amount of times I've felt that feeling and fled.
ROAR
MOUNTAIN LION cougar GIFGiphy"I unknowingly walked up next to a mountain lion one morning on a hike. And I’ve never felt true fear til that moment."
_captaintripz
EXITS
"In the late 70s and I was stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY. I was off-post drinking with a buddy and we met a couple of older vets and we started talking, joking... nice time. As the bar was closing down they invited us to their place to have a few more beers. I drove a `65 Chevy pickup so we followed them down into Clarksville and ended up drinking beers in the family room while the one guy's wife and kids hung around."
"But all of the sudden the mood changed in the room. These guys turned nasty... making off-hand insulting remarks. No more jokes. Got dark real quick. I excused myself to take a leak and just as I came out of the john... I heard the guy who owned the house say to his wife in the kitchen, 'Take the kids back to the bedroom and lock the door. Don't come out no matter what you hear out here.'"
"The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I immediately got tunnel vision. I turned and ran top speed down the hall and yelled to my buddy as I whistled past the family room and out the door. I had the Chevy fired up in no time flat and saw my buddy dive into the bed of the pickup through the rear-view mirror as I gunned the engine and fishtailed out the driveway. That's my 'I need to get out of here ASAP' story and it still makes my palms sweat thinking about it."
flippenstance
No Big Deal
"I was walking home one night after the bar, on a long semi lit street. There was a man walking a fair piece back yelling at me to stop, he wanted to talk to me etc. I just kept walking thinking just a drunk dude NBD. A cab pulled up to me and stoped and asked if the guy walking was my boyfriend. I told him know I have never seen him before. The cabby told me to get in the car because that guy paid him $50 to go around to block and stop me."
"The cabby did so thinking maybe we were a couple having a fight. I got in the cab and we had to drive past this guy to turn around to head toward me house and he started freaking out that the guy didn’t stop for him. That night a cabby may have saved me from many years of therapy or possibly my life. I did not walk long stretches at night again."
yeahsheskrusty
Tarped
"I was building a cinder block wall in the winter in Canada. We had the area tarped off with a salamander heater running to keep us warm. One day I noticed my eyes were starting to burn so I looked over at the guy I was working with and asked if he felt weird in any way. When he looked at me I realized he was squinting and so was I. We were maybe 20 feet from each other. Needless to say we killed the heater and got outside the tarp. I wasn’t in the mood for carbon monoxide poisoning."
PocketSand111
Members Only
Cbs No GIF by HULUGiphy"I used to be a part of a rapidly growing cult. I knew I needed to leave when they started convincing teenagers to recruit kids at their high schools."
hermanalexie
Stay away from cults. Keep an eye out.
The Dad
John Cena Movie GIF by Daddy's HomeGiphy"My friends had a friend in high school we called The Dad. If he ever felt uncomfortable at a party and wanted to leave, we would follow. He had the best instincts and saved us from the police, random fights and other foul drama many a time."
joykilled
Wrong Turns
"I once took a wrong turn on a street in Chicago from a pretty decent neighborhood somewhere around Archer and Harlem. Anyways, I don't know how we ended up where we did but I was like 18 driving my Dad's Toyota Camry through a large group gathering of some gang all decked out in colors. Like they were literally everywhere on the street, just hanging out and chilling like they were having a block party... maybe they were, but we got the distinct impression that we did not belong on this particular street and sort of got the hell out of there as fast as we could."
DryEyes4096
Shots Fired
"I was 19 and hanging out with some work friends in Cleveland and one of the guys looked out the window and pulled out a gun and told us all to get down. I, of course, was terrified. Thankfully no shots were fired, but I excused myself after it ended and went home."
dma1965
Machete
"Was hanging out outside of my church when a dude ran by that kept looking behind him, then another one passed by that was throwing rocks behind him. When I looked what were they running away from there was a group of 5 dudes with machetes chasing them and one dead by the side of the road. Actually took me a minute to process and get inside."
MaximumPower682
Gotta Go!
Tobey Maguire Poop GIFGiphy"Major diarrhea at the airport, and the toilet wouldn't flush."
Fracture_98
Life Lesson:
Always have good running shoes.
Do you have any experiences where your instincts quite literally saved you? Let us know in the comments below.