Tradition can be a beautiful thing--they can keep us connected to our cultures and histories.
But they can just as easily be antiquated holdovers that don't serve a real purpose.
Let's talk about that stuff. Reddit user Alicia-XTC asked:
What tradition should stop and just go away?
And here's the thing... a lot of this stuff is just flat out predatory. Like a lot.
The Funeral Industry
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"Stupidly expensive funeral everything. Why the f*ck is a casket like 846374846 dollars?" - -slinxthefox-
"The real scam is the fact that it's illegal to be disposed of how you wish. I'd like to be buried in the dirt on my farm with no coffin no plot on a funeral home, and no headstone."
"Apparently this is a crime." - chupacabruhhh
"Because what are you going to do, not die? They have the most captive market possible" - boots-n-bows
"Costco for caskets, my friend."
"Lost my dad at the beginning of the pandemic, he passed away in a small town with one funeral home. Their prices were ridiculous, so we bought the casket from Costco and had it shipped to the funeral home. It was gorgeous and it was about a third of the price." - ADiestlTrain
What Marriage Looks Like
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"Child marriage is still legal in most of the US with parent permission (more like force vs permission.) Its definitely still a thing in most of the world 🤢 even when it's illegal people get away with it" - theflooflord
"Forced marriage" - anderogenus
"There's a difference between an arranged and forced marriage. A forced marriage is when you have absolutely no say in the matter and have to go along with it."
"An arranged marriage is more like your family is playing slightly aggressive matchmaker until you find the one." - GammaRayGreg
"Arranged marriages are despicable. It's NOT two consenting adults, no matter how you phrase it."
"It's two young adults who are pressured by society and family and cultural norms into the most important decision of their life. And the societies that have those kinds of marriages have deep seeded racism and misogyny issues."
"People will say that the 'new' way to arrange marriage is fine because it's two adults dating normally after their parents introduce them. But it's not. It's two adults dating with the added pressure of not disappointing their families. As well as it being forbidden for them to date normally."
"And how often do the families select someone outside their race?" - thegoatisoldngnarly
Calm Down, It's Just Gender
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"Gender reveals that involve fire works or confetti can go f*ck themselves. I don't care if a gender reveal is done through a cake or party decor because they're ultimately harmless, but gender reveals that use fireworks and confetti just suck." - Allustar1
"The woman who invented them wants the tradition to end, I've heard." - GenericEschotologist
"It's also not really a gender reveal. It's a genital reveal."
"There is no guarantee that your child will be cisgender, but even if they are cis, you won't fully know until they start developing a sense of self."
"So, basically, it's creating a hazard to announce to the world that your child has a penis." - murrimabutterfly
"It's especially sad when one of the parents is really hoping for a particular gender and doesn't bother to hide their disappointment." - whysweetpea
"It's gone from a cheesy way to announce what you're having to setting forest fires and killing people. Instead of people just having fun, it's becoming a game of one-upsmanship and people feel obligated to do one now." - permalink_save
Hazing
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"Hazing. It can be dangerous and serves no reasonable purpose."
"If a group is forcing you to do something very risky or something you're uncomfortable doing, you should rethink your decision to join. There are tons of other safe activities that you could make into initiation rituals, but people always choose the most dangerous ones." - RDEnergizer7000
"A family friend died during hazing."
"Got super drunk because that was the ritual. Was encouraged to go into the dark basement and stay there as long as possible."
"He tripped, hit his head, and died after two days due to the hemorrhage in his brain. He was 19." - murrimabutterfly
"Though I agree with you that hazing is stupid, there is a purpose to hazing which is to bond you closer to those you were hazed with through a shared experience." - Cheeseish
"I don't see how drinking a gallon of liquor and pouring chocolate sauce down your butt crack is a bonding moment."
"In computer lab, we just bonded by solving each other's coding problems." - PotatoProfessor
"If someone asks you to harm yourself so you can "bond with the group", you need to leave. Immediately." - The_Louster
Back To Black
"Black Fridays" - purplealchemist
"I worked at Best Buy for a year, one Black Friday under my belt. That was enough."
"I was dating a coworkers sister at the time and was having Thanksgiving dinner with them and their family. My friend/coworker and I sat there in our blue polos and quickly ate as we had to leave at like 3pm to be there in time to prepare for black Friday, which of course started Thanksgiving evening."
"For a couple of years after that I used to go to that Best Buy on Thanksgiving evening with a big bag of candy for everyone. I don't do it anymore because I don't know anyone who works there anymore, but Black Friday is a sh*t tradition for anyone working retail, though" - BreezyGoose
"Those big name brand companies, specifically make cheaper-material, low-end versions of the "full price" stuff, JUST to stock on the shelves on Black Friday."
"You are not getting any kind of deal, whatsoever. You are buying a cheap knock-off, packaged by the major company."
"SONY, VIZIO, Dell, etc., are not giving away free money, or taking a hit on profits." - tauntonlake
People Explain Which Expensive Purchases Paid For Itself In The Long Run | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Garter Grossness
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"The whole removal of the bride's garter and tossing of it at weddings. Cringe and creepy AF." - junkyarddog
"Brides used to be considered lucky, so people would sometimes rip off part of their dress to keep as a lucky charm."
"Obviously, women were not pleased with the idea of their fancy dresses being ripped off their bodies over the course of the day, so the bouquet toss and garter toss are a way to give the guests a piece of that good luck without the destructiveness."
"I looked up a lot of wedding traditions for my own wedding, specifically to cut out the patriarchal BS, that was one I decided was okay." - Lexicological
"Wanna hear something even worse? At One of my cousins' weddings, her uncle was an auctioneer and he auctioned off the garter at the reception."
"The idea was like to raise money for the couple kind of like how the dollar dance works, but holy f*ck it was creepy as hell." - shrimpsauce91
Unnecessary Surgery
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"Infant circumcision" - MushyFry
"Ive heard people say its gross and unhealthy/unclean to have foreskin."
"To those people I always ask who failed to teach them how to care for themselves. And why did you have sex with someone who cannot care for themselves in that way?"
"They never have a real answer." - GazelleEconomyOf87
"Hospitals make a lot of money off of selling the foreskins for use in cosmetics, there's basically a whole industry built around keeping that "tradition" alive despite multiple risks and it being unnecessary 99% of the time." - Kipper246
"Virginity"
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"Losing your virginity. Virginity is not a thing." - Queen6Cat
"It's literally nothing. You now have an experience you didn't before. Unless the experience was traumatizing you are no different afterward than before. You're still exactly the same person." - Respect4All_512
"I have a friend who just turned 24 and she's never had sex before. She feels like some sort of freak because she's "still a virgin" to the point that she wants to have sex with a random person just to get it over with. It's dumb that we place so much weight on having sex for the first time." - treeplanter98
"My 29 year-old sister just asked my sixteen-year-old brother "So have you done the DEED yet?" Last week at a family function."
"This made him visibly uncomfortable but he said no."
"Seriously what even is the point of asking such questions? Why does it matter? I felt so bad for him and she was acting like the damn teenager even though she's almost thirty." - DarkDan3
Balloon Battle
"Letting balloons go at memorial services. It's so terrible for the environment/animal/everything." - Kate9616
"Pisses me off so much. What dead person would want to be remembered in a tribute that kills wildlife and pollutes the planet." - Jessflyc
"When I was a kid, we used to have "balloon day" at school - every kid would get a balloon, write their name and contact info on a tag attached to it, and we'd go outside and release them. Who had a tag returned from the furthest away won a prize."
"Half of the balloons would never make it off school grounds, getting caught in trees and whatnot." - theshoegazer
It's Bull
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"Bull fighting. Not sure why this tradition still goes on."
"Nothing like having a bull that is tortured and tormented for days so it is weak and disoriented, thrown into a ring to be stabbed and harassed until it bleeds to death all while a crowd cheers it on."
"What is even the point? The matador isn't doing a whole lot seeing how the bull is already so weak from its treatment before and then the pikadors stab it half a dozen times before the matador does anything." - Stitchmidda2
The "War" On Christmas
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"People saying each year that there is an attack on Christmas while everyone says Merry Christmas, decorates, and listens to radio stations that play nothing but Christmas songs for two months." - madeyedog
Graduation Day
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"Graduations for every single year of school from preschool and kindergarten to high school. IMHO this is just to get people to buy more stuff like gifts, cards, have celebrations, etc. Forced consumerism."
"I think it is ok to have a celebration without calling it a 'graduation' because by the time high school graduation happens it is not a special event. College Graduation becomes a not so special event because it has been watered down." - Rapunzel111
Ruined By Cake
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"Smashing the birthday person's head into the cake. Seriously makes me angry cause first of all, what a waste of cake, and second of all what if that person got hurt." - AceButNotAtLove
"Couples smashing wedding cake all over each other's faces after spending all that money on an expensive cake, dress, tux, getting makeup and hair done only to get it ruined by cake." - Rapunzel111
Diamonds Are Disasters
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"Diamond engagement rings."
"Campaigns like "a diamond is forever" contributed to the notion that a diamond is the perfect representation of an indestructible love and marriage. We've been told that an engagement ring should cost a minimum of two months salary. Much like a new car, a diamond is devalued as soon as it leaves the store."
"The diamond trade is an 81 billion dollar industry, fraught with slave labor, violence and corruption. The mining of diamonds has a negative environmental impact, causing soil erosion and deforestation. Science has enabled us to create gems in a lab with a composition identical to naturally formed gems for a fraction of the price."
"The stigma remains, however, that those who would choose a cubic zirconium or other lab-created engagement ring are cheap, or even deceitful if they choose not to disclose that it wasn't mined."
"This needs to change. There are numerous options for those who still wish for a ring as a representation of their eternal love."
"In addition to lab-created diamonds and gems, there is the option to purchase a pre-owned or vintage ring. Already, there are companies capitalizing on this niche, but still overcharging for their product."
"There are many avenues creative consumers can pursue to circumvent this, ranging from consumer to consumer platforms, antique stores, and pawnshops, to local artisans. Given that the tradition of buying and wearing engagement and wedding rings will likely remain, it's time to consider ethical, environmentally friendly options to perpetuating the diamond trade." - CouldBeUrMom
I Don't Need A Blessing
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"Blessing people who sneeze."
"After one sneeze , while working toward a second, I'm required to somehow reply "thank you" to the person or persons who blessed me."
"And after the second sneeze, reply again."
"It is just sneezing. It is allergies or my nose trying to expel something that doesn't belong (such as pepper or dust.)"
"I don't need a blessing. I sneeze. I cover my face. Let me be." - ranouttanameideas
What "traditions" are you just over?
For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
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"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
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"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
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"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.
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
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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
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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
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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
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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...