Reddit user u/Noerdy asked:
10.
The Farmers' Almanac.
Its never been through peer review. It supposedly uses secret equations and the positions of celestial bodies (astrology anyone?) to predict weather.
"But they're over 80% accurate!"
That number is self reported using standards they establish.
9.
Telling someone "God Bless You" when they sneeze.
Yet, for every other bodily function, the offender says 'excuse me'. Its so weird.
8.
Pretty sure death will come to me if I ever open an umbrella indoors. And when I see someone do it, I automatically wince because I know their life force is about to be taken from them.
I pissed my mother off to no end because I once asked her if she thought umbrella factories were all outdoors, or if they just had an unusually high turnover due to deaths in the family. She was very superstitious and not at all amused.
7.
Nurses will murder people who say a shift is quiet. We aren't allowed to say the q word. (I don't believe it, but it's fun to give each other hell about saying it or getting to blame someone when sh*t hits the fan.)
Nurses are ridiculously superstitious (generalization, but I've met so many superstitious nurses)
So many believe in ghosts, spirits, deities, luck, ect...
6.
That if you've had a bad run like at the casino, you're 'due' for a good run. Not how probability or binomial distribution works.
The same goes for investing. People won't sell a stock they lost money on because they feel it "owes" them something. But if you look at your portfolio as a point in time, you sell the ones that aren't doing well and buy ones that are a better investment.
5.
Just in time for the holidays, christmas colors are red, green, and white. Blood on snow to bring back the green plants after winter. Pagan tradition of blood sacrifice to ensure spring would come back each year.
3.
Not to swallow gum. It’s perfectly safe to and passes just as fast as anything else, but instead an old superstition about it being stuck in our digestive tract causes people to litter the stuff everywhere.
2.
Telling someone not to just say that something will go well because you don't want to jinx it.
Break a leg!
Spent the entire autumn 2017 rehearsing for a major role. The premiere is a hit, performances come and go, and we retire for the year to continue in January.
What happens on Christmas Eve? Of course I break my bloody leg.
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
1.
GiphyThat a full moon brings out the crazies. I think this is mostly confirmation bias.
Here's one source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-sc...
No Thank You....
GiphyCame here to say "Thank You Cards"... Saw "honor killings" and "female genital mutilation" and decided to reevaluate everything in my life. Zuikis9
What's Up Doc?
Working new doctors to exhaustion. At this point it's just hazing. Beigecarpet
In my country new doctors are expected to work in rural hospitals. The thing is the doctor to patient ratio in Thailand is 1 :1500 sth. That's mean I could end up being the director of a hospital in the middle of nowhere working upward to 36 hours shift at 25 years old. Themrchester
Jaws.
Shark hunting when hunters remove the fins and throw the shark back in the water. That's both wasteful and downright evil making the poor thing suffer. untilidrown
I was just about to add this but instead I'll second your comment! Way too many sharks are killed and the fear-mongering drives me crazy. Scuba diver/hung out with many toothy bois. They're cool af. oliviaroseart
More than 40!
Accepting overworking to be a normal thing. unpopular_o_pi_nion
Where I used to work salaried engineers were there was an unspoken rule that you were expected to put in regular 50-60 hour weeks. I knew one guy who just refused to do it and left his desk the second he hit 40. A lot of middle managers hated him for it but they couldn't fire him since he got his work done. Trunky_Coastal_Kid
*every. single. year.*
GiphyThat you have to get Christmas presents for people no matter how broke you are to prove you care. I work in the debt relief industry and our enrollment rates skyrocket in January *every. single. year.* It ain't right, man! Navelhazey
No Blood....
Where I live, theres one tradition where whenever a girl gets her first period, for her to avoid growing pimples on her face, she has to smear the blood on her face.
My mom did this to me when I was 11, she added water to the blood thinking at least it wouldn't be as bad. I'm forever scarred.
Edit: Since lots of you guys are asking, no it does NOT work. Although I don't get much acne, a lot of the other girls I know who did this tradition have had acne problems from puberty until now. mikeemouse03
I Do Not.
There's a country that abducts girls and forces them into marriage. It's illegal but they don't enforce it because its tradition. darkespeon64
This also happens in Namibia with OvaHimba women. It the women who arrange everything and they will drag a girl who is kicking and screaming and force her to marry. MoefsieKat
Destruction.
Destroying public, or private property when your city's sports team has won a title. JJJones345
When I was a kid the Packers won the super bowl. I was born in Wisconsin. My father and his biker friends (large, flabby men with tattoos) went streaking.
Childhood me thought THAT was wild.
Adult me realizes it was in the dark and in an area almost no one could see. So not even that impressive. Bat_City_Boi
Happy Holidays....
Commericalization of holidays. We don't celebrate one's that are to make money. You show it thru the year. And there's no need to spend so much on Christmas. pippins-sunshine
Thanksgiving has become almost like an afterthought in recent years as stores now open at 6pm for Black Friday shopping. Probably the most American traditional holiday celebrated by everyone has to be botched for those retail workers who have to go to work that day. Chicken_fondue
Bling.
GiphyDiamond wedding rings. Overpriced and a nasty industry. aceofspadesx1
Lab created stones are so much prettier. Also Moissanite? Holy crap the sparkle off those stones is so intense, and at a fraction of the price of a diamond, and is nearly as hard as a diamond as well (Diamond is a 10 on the Mohs' scale while Moissanite is between 9.25-9.5). trainercatlady
Happy Birthday!
Fancy birthday parties for kids, and the ones that include all the parents getting drunk. The parties seem to always be about popularity & making each party the *best* party. I have a sister that did this & it got so ridiculous. The parties cost hundreds of dollars more every year & every year it was more about the adults & less about the kids. What ever happened to just having kids, some games, a cake & gifts? Not saying there shouldn't be any parents, but it shouldn't be about the parents having fun. It's about the kids!
lefthandbunny
I Do... not!
Big expensive weddings.
xavierdc
Even worse, destination weddings.
When they have a whole week of crap planned, and now i gotta drop 5k for flights and accommodation for the family on top of some damn 800 dollar kitchen aid mixing machine from their luxury as a wedding register.
How about I just give you 2k cash and you host it at your house which you can now afford because you used that money towards a deposit rather than providing Becky with all you can drink Bellinis so she can pose and hashtag #FIJI#BELLINIS#BESTLIFE#FOOL to impress her instatrash friends.*Breathe* /rant.
DuracellCosmonaut
Maleness....
GiphyActing like men in general are inept when it comes to household chores and childcare. It should be considered normal for men to be taking responsibility for these sorts of things!
CNRavenclaw
Being born and living in Italy this is a big thing: don't know how many families have their father figure not even being able to cook an egg or not even allowed to do it!
My father has pretty much went in full home husband now since he went into retirement.
GeneraleRusso
The Farewell.
Expensive funerals and the works. The judgement of someone when they literally just want to be cremated and the ashes scattered as a ceremony.
Excessive and over the top Christmas celebrations and all the pressure usually falling on one person which is usually the mum.
How people choose to live in this economy. If someone finds it better to be living with their parents then so be it, if someone lives with their parents and grandma and other family members then so be it. If someone is in their late 30s or 40s and still with room mates then who gives a poop. I hate the belief that the ideal is to have your own place and even a nuclear family unit in this day and age.
It's of course more than fine if you believe in these things, I just dislike the judgement when someone might not conform.
FinalGirl1990
"get their feet wet."
Living vicariously through your children just because you want them to achieve something you never could or would do yourself.
That tears families and generations apart. Let your children live their own lives when they become adults and let them "get their feet wet."
I gotta sit.
GiphyStanding at the position of attention for long ceremonies, such as a change of command, in the 120 degree heat. We would have to supply troops for all the formations when I was stationed in Phoenix. Numerous troops pass out every single time but they continue to put people thru it because tradition.
madtrippinfool
Retail Holidays.
Black Friday. In the last few years it has encroached into thanksgiving Thursday. And the tradition of competing for an item by waking up early the next day has devolved into rioting before the turkey is even cold.
Ickababoo
Float Away....
Releasing balloons for celebrations. The devastation it wreaks on wildlife is horrendous and inexcusable.
TheOtherDonald
Honestly, balloons in general. Useless and the helium filled ones are creating a helium shortage if I remember correctly. They're literally trash, usually single use, and so cheap that they're -everywhere-.
loopsdefruit
All the Same...
Being forced to only marry somebody who is of the same ethnicity because if you don't, you're going to be disowned.
boyddd2012
I had to make a throwaway for this. My family is Indian and I'm honestly not sure whether I can marry who I want because of this. I know that my brother is bi and I want him to date who he wants without fear of being rejected by our parents.
throwawaydave69_
Smashed...
GiphySmashing the birthday person's face into the cake. It's messy and a waste of good cake.
00gusgus00
Also smashing wedding cake into each other's faces. If you're gonna do the "feed the cake" tradition, don't shove cake up your new spouse's nose.
gracefrenzi
u/stupidrobots asked:
What really needs to go away but still exists only because of "tradition"?
Here were some of the answers.