I understand capitalism and more often than not, I am a fan. I understand that nothing in life is free and you get what you pay for, also, everyone's time is worth something. And I fully comprehend that taxes are necessary to fund our cities and our basic ways of life. I am clear on a ton of that. However, there are just certain, basic, obvious things in life that shouldn't have a price tag. There is enough money to go around for a few free things. And I'm not alone in this opinion.
Redditor u/starep wanted everyone to share about what things in life should be available to all without a monetary value attached by asking... What should be free?Healthcare. Everyone is entitled to it. I'm always astonished by the callous nature of some when this topic comes up. Everyone deserves a fighting chance to live. And that chance should not send you into poverty. The price tag on any and all things health related is ludicrous. Did you know an aspirin, one, singular in a hospital can be $5? Not the bottle, just the pill. get out of here with that craziness.
Emergency Parking
emergency ambulance GIFGiphyHospital parking. Where I live, parking garages at public hospitals all seem to be run by private companies and the fees are unhinged. It's a huge amount of pressure to put on people who are already under stress.
Identity Proof
IDs. I find it ridiculous that we have to pay so much for something we are required to have on us at all times.
Edit: Sorry should have mentioned that i am from Germany. We have "Ausweispflicht" which basically means everyone above the age of 16 is required by law to own an ID.
Here in the UK we are not required by law to carry ID. Yes it helps in situations with law enforcement, but most of the time a bank card, or work ID pass will suffice for an officer. As long as when he runs your details (and he will run your details) everything matches up you're good.
Public Paradises
Beaches and public parks.
I'm from California where all of the beaches are free for everybody to use. It baffles me when I travel and find other beaches aren't free. WHAT?!
Not sure about public parks, I don't know of any that cost $, but not doubting some do.
I'm ok to pay my $20 for a National Park, that money helps keep it beautiful. But no doubt we will be paying more in the future.
The First
Video Games Nintendo GIFGiphyThe first Super Mario Bros. game. Just have it preloaded on every Nintendo console.
Sky Sewage
Rain water. In Germany, towns may charge you for a rain water tax. Mainly for the maintenance of the sewage system, but yes, you essentially pay for rain water.
In English it's called Stormwater fee
And it gets calculated in reference to the land that's built upon so that it "seals" the ground. If you have a garden, which feeds the rainwater back into the ecosystem, you don't pay the rain water tax. If you build a giant parking lot, you increase the strain on the sewage system with every rainfall.
See now, all of that sounds very reasonable. Nobody is asking for the world. Especially when it comes to water that falls from the sky. Like, nobody asked for it. It's just sent down. If anything we should be payed to deal with it. I digress, let's read on.
Food but with taste...
School lunch for all kids.
When I was in high school they used to confiscate your lunch and feed you this sad looking cheese sandwich, if you were too far in the negative.
One time my dad forgot to put money on the books, and when I got to the register on this afternoon, the lady told me I had to put it back and get the cheese sandwich.
So I looked her dead in the eye, pulled the tray up to my face and gave the lunch a big ol' lick. I got to keep it LOL
A funny story, but it's a shame and a half that it took THAT for them to contemplate giving a kid a proper lunch.
Reading is Fundamental
Libraries.
Anyone who thinks 'Netflix for Books' is a viable business model that could possibly replace the numerous services your local library provides -- especially to those people who by definition couldn't afford a subscription model -- is exactly the kind of person who could probably benefit by spending more time in a library.
EDIT: For everyone who's asking whether libraries are free: yes, they (usually) are. However, it's recently become a Libertarian talking point about 'why my taxes should be going to fund things I don't use'.
The is nonsensical because a) you're still getting access to the service even if you choose not to use it; it's like asking why you pay towards a Fire Department even though your house didn't burn down, and b) 'F**k you, Jack, I've got mine' is a crappy worldview that we shouldn't be encouraging. Libraries should be free at the point of use. Thankfully, they mostly are -- but we need to make sure they stay that way, because there are people who don't want that to be so.
When you gotta go...
Peeing In The Bathroom GIF by Film RiotGiphyUsing the toilet.
(Looking at you and your stupid pay toilets, Europe! As well as any convenience store/fast food joint that tries to refuse the restroom to non-customers, especially if there isn't a nearby public option).
One Way Ticket
If you ask me, a single ambulance ride shouldn't cost as much as a Lamborghini.
In 2018, I was being treated for cancer. One of the treatments made me extremely sick - I'll spare you the gross details. One evening, a family friend was over. I told my husband that I thought I needed to go to the hospital. The friend said he was going to call an ambulance.
In unison, my husband and I said "hell no!" I was pretty sure I wasn't dying, so I had my husband take me. It took forever because we had to pull over several times so I could barf outside the car.
I mean, cancer is one thing. But I don't want to drown in medical bills.
atm GIF by Anderson .PaakCredit Issues
CREDIT CHECKS SHOULD NOT HURT YOUR FREAKING CREDIT. PAYING OFF CREDIT CARDS SHOULDN'T HURT YOUR CREDIT.
Not exactly the same as a typical cost but it's still a cost.
I came into a sudden chunk of money and paid off my car loan ahead of schedule: my credit score plummeted 30 points. I was livid.
Required Health
Medication, especially anything required for survival. No reason I should have to choose between paying for insulin or paying for food/shelter/education. My body cannot produce it on its own, and I have no choice but to buy it.
If you lived in the UK it would be free and as a diabetic all other prescriptions would be free too. I'm amazed there isn't more of a movement to demand change in the US.
Don't Pop
Winrar.
Winrar is like, the nicest program though. They don't force you to pay, and you can easily continue using it without paying. The just gently nudge you to pay with a non-annoying easily closeable pop-up.
Basics
Cecily Strong Season 44 GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphyGovernment identification.
Drug testing.
Criminal record checks.
Clear Liquid
Water. F**k Nestle.
https://www.reddit.com/r/F**kNestle/comments/hmv0nv/the_reasons_why_we_hate_nestle_so_much/
some of the key events listed in that post
Nestle taking more water than they are allowed to
Child Labor to harvest cocoa
Nestle convinced Third world mothers that their baby formula is as good as breastmilk. With no access to clean water, the formula mixed with water led to malnutrition
Nestles bottled water has highest micro plastic pollution (in general, please don't buy water in plastic bottles).
DontTrustMoonCheese
Universal
- Insulin
- Asthma Inhalers (good ones not cheap)
- Cryptic fibrosis jacket
Update: Wow this is the most upvotes I've ever gotten... then again... this just proves how necessary these should be free to all.
It's AIR!!
The air machines at gas stations. It's air for cryin' out loud. How you gonna refuse me some air for my tires just because I don't have any change on me?
Supposedly, if you ask them kindly to turn it on for you, they'll do it.
This has never worked for me though, but that's anecdotal.
Women's Stuff
I'm a man, but imo feminine hygiene products should be free.
As a cashier full time, it feels wrong to tell a high school girl she's a dollar short so I can't let her leave with her hygiene products. For one, I'm a guy, and can't fathom that discomfort, and that's not even to mention the fact that it is probably extremely embarrassing for her, and a messy inconvenience, especially if that was her only option, in public.
For the record, I bought her tampons for her.
It's messed up that these aren't free for women.
Edit: I should have expected this to blow up, but I didn't. Please don't give anymore rewards, please donate the money to The National Suicide Hotline to help the ones fighting their demons.
The Eyes Have It
Glasses and lenses.
I'd settle for a place around here that doesn't get so pissy about giving out your prescription when you actually pay for an examination.
Yes, even when you're up front about it, and even if you buy a pair of glasses some of them still either won't do business with you again or they give you the bare minimum which means it's missing one or two things, that you can figure out on your own but you shouldn't need to.
So now I have to drive an hour plus if I want to get someone that doesn't treat me like I'm a thief.
How are these ideas not already implemented? I hope this thread is looked at as more of a list of demands and not suggestions. We're already being overworked, overcharged and overtaxed; with dwindling benefits. Something's gotta give.
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Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.