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People Confess Which Things Women Do Better Than Men

People Confess Which Things Women Do Better Than Men
Nicholas Houzey/Unsplash

Doing something "like a girl" has traditionally been an insult - but science says there's plenty of stuff that girls are just plain better at.


Reddit user DueVegetable4583 asked:

"What are things that women do better than men?"

Normally these "girl-power" lists will be full of things like "women are better nurturers" etc.

That might be true, but that's not the list Reddit set out to make. I promise this list doesn't look like what you'd expect.

For example, we're starting off in outer space!

Space Is For Girls

Outer Space Happy Dance GIF by NASA Giphy

"Enduring the ravages of long term space flight."

"Women lose muscle mass slower than men. There are video examples of female astronauts walking after re-entry when their male crew members have to be carried due to muscle atrophy."

- GenaArmagost

"I always found it interesting that women tend to have more endurance than immediate strength. More women tend to survive in famines then men, probably because the body needs to be able to keep in fat for reproduction and insulation."

- Minimum-Cauliflower2

"Women also use fewer calories on average, making them the more efficient option for long-distance space travel."

- velawesomeraptors

"I’m a researcher working on the effects of galactic cosmic radiation on the brain."

"At least in mice it is typically seen that this type of radiation has a lower detrimental effect in female mice than male mice on cognitive function. It is believed that estrogen could play a neuroprotective role but more studies are needed to confirm."

"So there’s another aspect of long term (and deep) space flight."

- DeArgonaut

"I read a study on the effects of estrogen on muscle mass in women recently."

"Estrogen is linked to muscle recovery and that might contribute to female astronauts being able to hold on to muscle mass better in space."

"This is not my field of study though, so I’m happy to be corrected if someone has more info. I just found the article when I was looking for women’s fitness information."

- growerofpalms

Better In Every Possible Way

"Former gymnastics coach here."

"Before puberty, girls in competitive gymnastics are almost universally better in every possible way except confidence, including strength."

"I should clarify:"

"My girl gymnasts are stronger, in that they have generally been able to do more pull-ups (and with better form) than my boy gymnasts; whether that tendency maps to the population in general would be a separate question entirely."

"But where the difference seems much more dramatic is in skills that combine strength with precise control. Most girls I've coached are probably slightly better than most boys I've coached at things like push-ups and pull-ups."

"But where the girls really leave the boys in the dust is more complex strength skills, such as press handstands, muscle-ups, mannas, pullovers, etc."

"The girls have more precise body control, better discipline, are stronger, etc. If gymnastics competition were coed, I guarantee 90% of state and national champions in the under-12 age brackets would be girls."

"With the onset of puberty this shifts quite a bit, but even at the highest levels, female gymnasts tend to have much better form."

"Also, women are far stronger in Yurchenko-style vaults generally, even up through older age brackets and higher levels."

- GeoffreyTaucer

Bloody Hell

"Dealing with blood coming out of your genitals."

"I've seen blood come out of my penis a few times recently after both rigid and flexible cystoscopies and a nephrectomy."

"Women deal with this hell often. Amazing."

- reverendgrebo

"Had a thing once where I peed blood. Can confirm the ladies handle it better."

"That being said, the contrast of blood-red on a shiny white porcelain urinal is kind of cool looking after the shock wears off..."

- squirtloaf

The Safer Sex

Shooting Marc Rodriguez GIF Giphy

"Girls outshoot the boys, easy."

"I've seen this with shooting sports as well including small bore rifle and archery."

"Girls tend to have better concentration, better fine muscle control, listen better and take instruction better than similarly aged boys."

"They also generally take it more seriously and are safer."

- gearmantx

"Yeah I taught archery for a little while at a boys & girls club."

"The boys were generally more pumped about it, but the girls almost always picked up on it quicker and outperformed them."

"Not to undermine the boys though, I had several of them that were pretty talented in their own right, and they tended to stick with it longer than the girls."

- frightenedhugger

"Yep."

"I always fired expert at the range (39 out of 40). None of the guys at the unit could beat me."

"I remember walking off the range once and our XO was reading the results to us when suddenly his tone changed and said, 'and the princess scored 39!' ”

"Told y’all I had better aim than you. LOL"

- SollSister

"I had never shot a gun in my life until a couple of years ago, and I outshot both the owner of the gun, and his dad."

- strapinmotherf**ker

"I went to the rifle range with a girl I was dating who had never held a gun before. I'd been a few times, total novice, but had a modicum of experience."

"She was much, much better than I was."

"Tried again on the trap."

"She was even better with a shotgun."

"It was a scenario the instructor said he'd seen dozens of times, and he had been in the job less than two years."

- KenEarlysHonda50

The Girls Are All Ears

"Women tend to have better hearing than men and are less likely to experience hearing loss with age."

"Also, when women do experience hearing loss they tend to navigate it better: disclosing the problem and offering workarounds."

- doublestitch

"After suddenly going mostly deaf in my left ear I have heard this as well."

"I had to get a great deal of testing done, one was obviously a hearing test to determine the level of degradation. In my left ear the doctor said I was roughly a 70 year old man however in my right ear I was labelled a 13 year old girl. To which I laughed and asked what the hell that was supposed to mean."

"He quoted numerous studies concluding women are born with superior hearing abilities."

"The studies even had controls for occupation-associated hearing loss since men are more likely to work in industrial settings with consistent loud noises, which can degrade hearing over time."

"Women are just better."

- ryleyjunk

Bathroom Solidarity

"Women are better at stranger restroom support."

"We can ask a total stranger for toilet paper, hold broken doors shut for each other, and provide period supplies to other women."

"Toddlers peering under stall doors don’t freak most of us out."

"And if a woman starts to walk out with toilet paper stuck to her shoe, there will be a half dozen women trying to step on that trailing toilet paper to save that woman for embarrassment."

"One of my favorite stories relating to this is back in the 80s when a young woman walked out of an airport bathroom with the back of her skirt and slip stuck up in her pantyhose."

"I swear, a dozen random women of all ages converged on her, surrounding her so nobody could see, and a grandmotherly type said 'Honey, y’all got to pull your skirt down in the back.' ”

"Seriously, women have bathroom solidarity."

- Gen-Jinjur

I Am No Man

Lord Of The Rings I Am No Man GIF by AIDES Giphy

"Slay the Witch King."

- Oldforestwalker

"Fun Fact: MacBeth is actually why Eowyn is the one to kill the Witch King!"

"Tolkien read MacBeth and was apparently disappointed that it was a c-section loophole."

"The prophecy of Great Birnam Wood marching on Macbeth’s castle is what inspired the march of the ents to Isengard."

- gentlybeepingheart

Science Says

"From observation working in mental health- which is also backed by research- their lower testosterone makes them as a group: less impulsive, better attention, and less violent."

"In other words, more rational."

"In my work, this is why they are more likely to attempt suicide via poisoning, but less likely to complete it - they're less likely to use a gun."

"And why they're better able to resist or trying drugs because they are lower in novelty seeking and becoming addicted."

"Also- and this one is kinda my fave- they are better at having an 'average' IQ.”

"Women are clustered in the middle of the bell curve but, men are over represented at very low and very high end."

"This is my favorite because whenever I see this stat referenced, it is always by a sexist or misogynist who tries to use it as proof of men being 'smarter.' "

"Yet they, of course, ignore that it also means men are 'stupider.' That's data misrepresentation and happens a lot in these circles."

"Science: It’s not for everyone!"

- PMmeJOY

Welding Wonders

"In a lot of cases women are better at welding."

"They have really good attention to detail, so much so that they look at the little tiny details of welds and metals where a man would just say 'f**k it.' "

- Quinnjamin19

"I had a friend that was a welder and pretty damn good at it, too. But she had to quit."

"The field is so heavily male dominated that when she first started working, there was no women's bathroom at her job. She would go to a nearby coffee shop and use their bathroom during her break."

"She was the only female welder at her location and got harassed daily at work. The last straw was when she found out that the male welders had a betting pool on who was gonna have sex with her first."

- idontknodudebutikno

"Female welder here."

"I finished a month earlier than my class of all men without proper fitting gloves/equipment."

"They have that now and there seems to be a lot more women in trades school for welding but it wasn’t like that at the time."

"I quit doing it after 7 years to be a general contractor after getting constant harassment at every job."

- borntolose42069

"Yes, I was told this by the workshop techs at school."

"He reckoned women have the patience more to go slower and get it done properly, rather than rushing and having holes in the weld."

- ColonelRainbow

"Im a girl and my welding instructor has always said this to me"

- Nyxie_Koi

"You guys should see the girl in my welding class!"

"Holy sh*t the girl can run the most beautiful roots with 6010. Haven’t seen anything she can’t do, yet."

"My instructor that’s a third generation machinist and worked on literal spaceships says he hasn’t seen her kind of talent in a couple decades. I don’t know what I’m talking about, but he freakin' does."

- Awkward-Review-Er

A Second Job

Music Video Work GIF by Rihanna Giphy

"They have been better at taking on more skills and responsibilities, thus doing more generally speaking as a result of The social movements and changes that Started around the 60s."

"It's like women generally were able to successfully move in to more formerly male realms of education and work, while still largely having to perform the traditional female roles as well. It's like they got a second job."

"Can we say the same of men? Did they have to perform in more arenas as a result of those changes? Did they expand themselves in more ways?"

- Lissez

Survival

"Self-preservation instinct."

"You don't scoff twice when hearing about some of your male pals about to go and drop molotovs in an abandoned mineshaft, but you'd never expect women to do it."

- GooseVast

"Women seem to be better at not offing themselves in really inane ways."

"When you hear the proverbial 'Hold my beer!' moment, you always imagine a man. Women seem better at wanting to survive."

- [Reddit]

Let Ladies Lead

"They are better national leaders."

"There are fewer wars, improved standard of living indicators, better economic performance, etc. when you look across the the global averages."

"Of course this is just an average, and there are women who do not perform as well as some men, but if we are generalizing, women are better leaders. I believe both Obama and Bush have a quote about those."

"I've also found that in a work setting, they are better managers and have higher employee satisfaction and performance."

"Again generally, I've had a bad female manager before myself. But my best 3 were all ladies. Maybe some HR pro can weigh in here on this."

"I think if we are serious about wanting to make the world a better place, we (especially men) should be pushing to put women into the highest levels of leadership in the biggest industries/companies and nations."

- Blackman2099

Apt Pupils

harry potter GIF Giphy

"I've been a math teacher for 15 years."

"Girls homework is, without a doubt, a lot lot looooooot better than the boys' homework."

"Girls are more organized, their solutions are more thoroughly explained, and they're just neater."

- BangkokGarrett

The Pain

"Pain tolerance."

"Put one of those labor simulators on a man and a woman at the same time and watch the woman not even flinch while the man is on the floor writhing at setting 4."

"Seriously, go on YouTube and find the videos. Enjoy the laugh."

- [Reddit]

Feminine Finery

"Fine motor skills and hand work."

"I worked in a factory for a summer when I was in school and when it comes to assembling items on an assembly line women and men are not even in the same league."

- [Reddit]

"Women/girls apparently have better control over small hand movements."

"A teacher of mine mentioned this to us in middle school and proved this to us after he pointed out that our class was evidence. Even something as simple as writing on a black board during our "spelling-race" - a girl would win 9/10 times (consistently)."

- StevenArviv

"Women have better attention to detail and finer skill during menial tasks - hence have always been better factory workers with fewer injuries."

- Mantzy81

Support

"Supporting chronically ill spouses."

"If I’m remembering right, the divorce rate is something like 6x higher if the chronically ill spouse is a woman than it is if the ill spouse is a man."

"Women are just better at shouldering that extra work"

"Literally look at John Edwards, dude cheated on his wife while she was fighting cancer."

- Mixedslt4accents

Experience From Both Sides

"Women can process emotions with more range and a cooler head."

"Testosterone makes your muscles stronger/more efficient, but it messes with your emotional state. Source: a trans woman who has had experience being on the hormones of both."

"When I was on testosterone, I could feel blinding rage (and only rage) at almost anything and my emotional responses felt out of my control."

"To prevent an outburst, I had to stop the activity at the earliest sign of frustration, because if I let it mature, I’d end up throwing a controller, punching a wall, etc. even if I didn’t want to."

"On estrogen, I can take the time to process my emotions rather than acting abruptly. I can feel them when they come and choose what I want to do with them."

"I can feel more emotions - meaning I can feel sadness or disappointment at an event rather than just anger."

"I can take a breath and say 'hey, I’m not enjoying this right now, I need to take a break.' Or if someone cuts me off in traffic, I can sigh, and move on, rather than responding with a temper tantrum."

"On the flip side, I’m also physically weaker now - by a significant margin - than I was before the estrogen. That's true even though I’m more active now than I used to be."

- _Internet_Random_

Now that you've read what Reddit has to say about wonder women - it's your turn to cheer on the ladies.

What do YOU think women tend to do better than men? Tell us in the comments.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

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Jobs That Seem Easy But Are Actually Incredibly Challenging

Reddit user CeleryLover4U asked: 'What's a job or profession that seems easy, but is incredibly challenging?'

Woman stressed at work
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

When we hear about other people's jobs, we've surely all done that thing where we make assumptions about the work they do and maybe even judge them for having such an easy or unimportant job.

But some jobs are much harder than they look.

Redditor CeleryLover4U asked:

"What's a job or profession that seems easy but is incredibly challenging?"

Customer Service

"Anything customer-facing. The public is dumb and horrendous."

- gwarrior5

"My go-to explanation is, 'Anyone can do it, but few can do it for long.'"

- Conscious_Camel4830

"The further I get in my corporate career, the less I believe I will ever again be capable of working a public-facing job. I don’t know how I did it in the past. I couldn’t handle it in the present."

"I know people are only getting worse about how they treat workers. It is disturbing, embarrassing, and draining for everyone."

- First-Combination-12

High Stakes

"A pharmacist."

"You face the public. Your mistake can literally kill someone."

- VaeSapiens

"Yes, Pharmacist. So many people think their job is essentially the same as any other kind of retail worker and they just prepare prescriptions written by a doctor without having to know anything about them."

"They are very highly trained in, well, pharmacology; and it's not uncommon for a pharmacist to notice things like potentially dangerous drug interactions that the doctor hadn't."

- Worth_University_884

Teaching Woes

"Two nuggets of wisdom from my mentor teacher when I was younger:"

"'Teaching is the easiest job to do poorly and the hardest job to do well,' and 'You get to choose two of the following three: Friends, family, or being a good teacher. You don't have enough time to do all three.'"

"We all know colleagues or remember teachers who were lazy and chose the easy route, but any teacher who is trying to be a good teacher has probably sacrificed their friends and their sleep for little pay and a stressful work environment. There's a reason something like half quit the profession within the first five years."

- bq87

Creativity Is "Easy"

"Some creative professions, such as designers, are often perceived as 'easy' due to their creative nature. However, they may face the constant need to find inspiration, deal with criticism, and meet deadlines."

- rubberduckyis

"EVERYBODY thinks they are a designer, up until the point of having to do the work. But come critique time, mysteriously, EVERYBODY IS A F**KING DESIGNER AGAIN."

"The most important skill to have as a designer is THICK SKIN."

- whitepepper

Care Fatigue Is Real

"Care work."

"I wish it could be taken for granted that no one thinks it's easy. But unfortunately, many people still see it as an unskilled job and have no idea of the many emotional complexities, or of how much empathy, all the time, is needed to form the sorts of relationships with service users that they really need."

- MangoMatiLemonMelon

Physical Labor Generally Wins

"I’m going to say most types of unskilled labor and that’s because there’s such little (visible) reward and such a huge amount of bulls**t. I’ve done customer service, barista, sales, serving, etc; and it was all much harder than my cushy desk job that actually can be considered life or death."

- anachronistika

Their Memory Banks Must Be Wild

"I don't know if I'd call it incredibly challenging, but being one of those old school taxi drivers who know the city like the back of his hand and can literally just drive wherever being told nothing but an address is pretty impressively skilled."

"Not sure if it's still like this, but British cabbies used to be legendary for this. I'm 40 and I don't think most young people appreciate how much the quality of cab service has gone down since the advent of things like Uber."

"Nowadays it's just kind of expected that a rideshare/cab driver doesn't know exactly where you're trying to get and has to rely on GPS directions that they often f up. Back when I was in college, cabbies were complete experts on their city."

"More even than knowing how to get somewhere, they could also give you advice. You could just generally describe a type of bar/club/business you're looking for, and they'll take you right to one that was spot on. Especially in really big cities like NYC."

- Yak-Mak-5000

Professional Cooking

"Being a chef."

- Canadian_bro7

"I would love to meet the person who thinks being a chef is easy! I cook my own food and it’s not only OK to eat but I make a batch of it so I have some for later. So, to make food that is above good and portion it correctly many times a day and do it consistently with minimal wastage (so they make a profit), strikes me as extremely difficult."

- ChuckDeBongo

Team Leading, Oof

"Anything that involves a lot of people skills and socializing. I thought these positions were just the bulls**t of sitting in meetings all day and not a lot of work happening but having to be the one leading those meetings and doing public speaking is taxing in a way I didn’t realize."

- Counterboudd

Not a Pet Sitter At All

"Veterinary Technician."

"Do the job of an RN, anesthesiology tech, dental hygienist, radiology tech, phlebotomist, lab tech, and CNA, but probably don’t make a living wage and have people undervalue your career because you 'play with puppies and kittens all day.'"

- forthegoddessathena

Harder Than It Looks!

"Sometimes, when my brain is fried from thinking and my ego is shot from not fixing the problem, I want to be a garbage man... not a ton of thinking, just put the trash in the truck, and a lot of them have trucks that do it for you!"

"But if the robot either doesn't work or you don't have one on your truck, it smells really bad, the pay isn't what it used to be, you might find a dead body and certainly find dead animal carcasses... and people are id**ts, overfilling their bags, just to have them fall apart before you get to the truck, not putting their trash out and then blaming you, making you come back out."

"Your body probably is sore every day, and you have to take two baths before you can kiss your wife..."

"Ehh, maybe things are not so bad where I am."

- Joebroni1414

Twiddling Thumbs and Listening

"Therapist here. I’ve always said that it’s pretty easy to be an okay therapist—as in, it’s not that hard to listen to people’s problems and say, 'Oh wow, that’s so hard, poor you.'"

"But to be a good therapist? To know when your client is getting stuck in the same patterns, or to notice what your client isn’t saying? To realize that they’re only ever saying how amazing their spouse is, and to think, 'Hmm, nobody’s marriage is perfect, something’s going on there'?"

"To be able to ask questions like, 'Hey, we’ve been talking a lot about your job, but what’s going on with your family?' And then to be able to call them on their s**t, but with kindness and empathy? Balancing that s**t is hard."

"Anybody can have empathy, but knowing when to use empathy and when and how to challenge someone is so much harder. And that’s only one dimension of what makes being a therapist challenging."

- mylovelanguageiswine

Constant Updates

​"For the most part, my job is really easy (marketing tech). But having to constantly stay on top of new platforms, new tech, updates, etc etc is exhausting and overwhelming and I really hate it."

"Also, the constant responsibility to locate and execute opportunities to optimize things and increase value for higher-ups. Nobody in corporate roles can ever just reach a point of being 'good enough.' More and better is always required."

"Just some of the big reasons I’m considering a career change."

- GlizzyMcGuire_

Performing Is Not Easy

"Performing arts and other types of art. People think it’s a cakewalk or 'not a real job,' not realizing the literal lifetime of training, rejection, and perseverance that it takes to reach a professional level and how insanely competitive those spaces are."

- ThrowRA1r3a5

All About Perception

"I suspect everything fits this. Consider that someone whose job is stacking boxes in a warehouse has to know how to lift boxes, how many can be stacked, know if certain ones must be easily accessible, know how to use any equipment that is used to move boxes around."

"Not to mention if some have hazardous or fragile materials inside, if some HAVE to be stacked on the bottom, if a mistake is made and all the boxes have to be restacked, etc."

"But everyone else is like, 'They're just stacking boxes.'"

- DrHugh

It's easy to make assumptions about someone else's work and responsibilities when we haven't lived with performing those tasks ourselves.

This gave us some things to think about, and it certainly reminded us that nothing good comes of making assumptions, especially when it minimizes someone else's experiences.

Left-handed person holding a Sharpie
Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Many of us who are right-handed never even think about how the world is designed to cater to us.

It probably doesn't even cross your mind that 10% of the world's population is left-handed.

Because of this, there tends to be a stigma for being left-handed since society tends to associate the left with negative things.

For example, the phrase "two left feet" applies to those who are clumsy and therefore, incapable of dancing.

Curious to hear more about the challenges facing those with the other dominant hand, Redditor johnnyportillo95 asked:

"What’s something left-handed people have to deal with that right-handed people wouldn’t even think about?"

If only manufacturers appealed to an ambidextrous world.

Furniture Obstacle

"Those desks or couch chairs that have a small desk attached. They do make left handed/sided ones but they are few and far between."

– Prussian__Princess

"And they’re only on one side of the lecture hall, and it’s never a good seat. There is ONE front row, lefty desk in the entire room and it’s in the far corner, obscured by an ancient overhead projector."

– earwighoney

Everyday Objects For Everyday People

"as a left-handed person myself, one thing we often deal with is finding left-handed tools or equipment. many everyday objects, like scissors or can openers, are designed with right-handed people in mind, which can make certain tasks a bit more challenging for us lefties. we also have to adapt to a right-handed world when it comes to writing on whiteboards or using certain computer mice."

– J0rdan_24

Dangerous Tools

"The biggest risk is power tools. I taught myself to use all power tools right handed because of risks using them left handed."

"Trivial, I love dry boards but they are super hard to write on."

– diegojones4

It's hard to play when you're born with a physical disadvantage.

Sports Disadvantage

"Allright, Sports when you are young. Every demonstration from PE teachers are right handed. You cant just copy the movements they teach you you need to flip them and your tiny brain struggoes to process it. As well, 98% of the cheap sports equipment the school uses is right handed."

– AjCheeze

No Future In Softball

"I tried to bat right handed for so long in gym class growing up because the gym teacher never asked me what my dominant side was and the thought never occurred to me as a child to mention it! Needless to say I never became a softball star."

– Leftover-Cheese

Find A Glove That Fits

"In softball and baseball we need a specific glove for our right hand that's often impossible to find unless you own one, and we have to bat on the other side of the plate."

– BowlerSea1569

"I was one of two left-handers in a 4-team Little League in the 1980s. Nobody could pitch to me. I got a lot of "hit by pitch" walks out of it."

– Jef_Wheaton

These examples are understandably annoying.

Shocking Observation

"Having right handed people make comments whenever they see us write, like we’re some kind of alien."

– UsefulIdiot85

"'Woah! You're left-handed????'"

"I find myself noticing when someone is a lefty, and sometimes I comment on it, but I try not to. I'm primarily left-handed (im a right handed wroter but do everything else left), and every single time I go to eat with my family, someone says, "Oh hey, give SilverGladiolus22 the left hand spot, they're left-handed," and inevitably someone says, 'Wait, really?' Lol."

– SilverGladiolus22

Can't Admire The Mug

"We never get to look at the cute graphics on coffee mugs while we’re drinking from them."

– vanetti

"I just realized…I always thought the graphics were made so someone else could read them while you drink. Hmmm."

– Bubbly-Anteater7345

"I'm right-handed and I often wondered why the graphics were turned towards the drinker instead of out for others to see."

– Material-Imagination

The Writing On The Wall

"Writing on whiteboards is a nightmare. I have to float my hand, which tires out my arm quickly, and I can't see what I've already written to keep the line straight."

– darkjedi39

"Also as a teacher, it means I'm standing to the left of where I'm writing, so I'm blocking everything I write. I have to frequently finish writing, then step out of the way so people can see, instead of just being able to stand on the right side the whole time."

– dancingbanana123

Immeasurable

"Rulers."

"How the f'k is no one talking about rulers? It's from 30cm to 0 cm to me, or I have to twist my arms to know the measure I want to trace over it."

– fourangers

Just Can't Win

"EVERYTHING. The world has always been based around people being right handed. As a Chef, my knife skills SUCKED until I worked with a Left Handed Chef. Then it all made sense."

"Literally, everything we do must be observed, then flipped around in our heads, then executed. This is why Lefties die sooner, on average, than Righties."

"I had to learn how to be ambidextrous, just to complete basic tasks (sports, driving a manual, using scissors, etc). I am used to it now, and do many things right handed out of necessity, as wall as parents and teachers 'forcing' it upon me."

"But, at least we are not put to death anymore, simply for using the wrong hand (look it up, it happened)."

"Ole Righty, always keeping us down."

– igenus44

The world doesn't need another demographic to feel "othered" for being different.

But if you're right-handed and tend to make assumptions about left-handed people, you may want to observe the following.

Ronald Yeo, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Texas-Austin told CNN:

"We shouldn’t assume much about people’s personalities or health just because of the hand they write with."
"And we certainly shouldn’t worry about lefties’ chances of success: After all (as of 2015), five of our last seven U.S. presidents have been either left- or mixed-handed."

Word.

Dog lying down on a bed
Photo by Conner Baker on Unsplash

Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.

While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.

Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.

Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.

For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.

Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:

"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"

The Tiny Issue Of Water...

"Absolutely not."

"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649

Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...

"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."

"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."

"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."

"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep

The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...

"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."

"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3

Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen Giphy

What Do You Mean Allow?

"I have no choice."

"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412

"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle

Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show

Hug GIF by The BarkPost Giphy

Who Needs An Alarm Clock?

"I let my two cats sleep with me."

"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."

"And so do I."

"We've all developed a lil routine."

"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_

Whose Bed Is It Anyway?

"Yes."

"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."

"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor

"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."

"Would not come out."

"Got some food and some water in dishes."

"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."

"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."

"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."

"She was too busy eating."

"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."

"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."

"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."

"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."

"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."

"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."

"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."

"She would not go."

"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."

"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588

sleepy kitten GIF Giphy

Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...

"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."

"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."

"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle

Saying No Just Isn't An Option...

"'Let'."

"Lol."

"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren

Felines Only!

"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz

Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official Giphy

Is That My Hair On That Pillow?

"My dog is perfect."

"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."

"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."

"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester

It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.

Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...


Close up of an owl tilting their head to side, looking bewildered
Photo by Josh Mills

The old wives' tales.

They are the stories of legend.

I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.

Where did they originate?

WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!

You don't hear about them as much anymore.

It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.

But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.

Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:

"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"

"Wait an hour to swim after eating."

What a crock!

So many summer hours wasted.

I want revenge for that one.

Say Nothing

Giphy

"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."

LonelyMail5115

"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."

I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA

Say Something

"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."

Severe_Airport1426

"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."

crappycurtains

"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."

AlbinoShavedGorilla

Body Temps

"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."

chriseo22

"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."

"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."

apocalypticradish

Arms Down

"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."

Fatmouse84

10 Years Actually

Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine Giphy

"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."

REDDIT

"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."

Gecko-911

I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.

This tale is haunting.

High/Low

Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace Giphy

"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."

LeastFormal9366

"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."

IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI

The Cursed

"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."

"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."

SmoreOfBabylon

Stay In

"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."

"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."

worldbound0514

Dreams and Facts

"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."

"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."

mattshonestreddit

"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."

Darthdemented

Cracked

Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office Giphy

"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."

Choice-Grapefruit-44

"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."

MacyTmcterry

I love my knuckles.

Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.