You feel safe all the time...
...but the world is more dangerous than you realize. Even the things you don't normally assume to be deadly, the actions you do every day, can lead to some unfortunate injury or, worse, death.
Watch out for springs. Seriously.
Reddit user, u/FrenchDude1000, wanted to know what they should be more careful around when they asked:
What's dangerous but most people don't realize?
Never underestimate the power of nature. Be it living or non-living, the things out in the wild are more ferocious than you realize.
Water Always Wins
"Water, specifically moving water. People have no sense about how powerful large volumes of moving water can be."
"My grandfather used to point out boulders in flash flood channels and ask us how they got there. A flash flood is literally thousands of gallons of water moving with the force of a hurricane, mowing down anything in it path; your odds of survival if you get caught in one are slim to none. Water is no joke!"
pretty-as-a-picThey're Called "Wild" For A Reason
"Chimpanzees."
"Ever since I saw that woman on TV that was ripped apart by her own pet chimp, I swear I would freak out if I ever had to be in the vicinity of a chimp irl. She didn't die but it f-cked her up bad enough that those things scare me. When people use them in music videos or whatever, I always think of that lady."
"It wasn't her chimp - it was her neighbor's. And she was known to the chimp, and had interacted with it for years before, on friendly terms."
"One day it just went, well, ape.."
It's Literally A Big Ball Of Burning Death
"THE SUN. Skin cancer is a major killer that is easily preventable by wearing sunscreen. Sun damage is more significant than many people realize and it's such an easy thing to avoid."
Even The Cute Ones...
"ALL wild animals are dangerous, even if they don't look it. Most people know that large predators like mountain lions and bears are dangerous, but many underestimate herbivores and/or smaller animals like deer and squirrels. A lot of people assume smaller animals/herbivores are tame, and try to get close or even touch them. This is extremely dangerous- these animals don't understand humans, and an animal that feels cornered or threatened will lash out to try and escape. Please keep a safe and respectful distance from any animal you don't know!"
Going to the doctor can feel like a big weight, especially if you don't have the right kind of coverage. That's probably why things like the following can lead to dangerous outcomes.
Brush, Brush, Brush Your Teeth
"An infected tooth."
"True! An abscess under the gum line can literally kill you."
"Argued with a receptionist about this. I had one badly and she said she'd never heard of it killing anyone. Like... yeah, ask your damn boss."
Go For A Walk
"A bad diet and sedentary lifestyle. Most people don't think about how these two can lead to an incredible amount of health problems and how they can remain asymptomatic for years and suddenly have a heart attack or stroke."
And then there's these, typical, every day actions or items we might come into contact with which actually pose more of a threat than we realize.
Watch out for those springs.
Buckle Up
"Driving. The forces involved in driving are way above anything the human body can withstand should things go wrong. All the safety features built into cars lead us to believe that it's a safe activity, which encourages additional risky behaviors like texting. Everybody should be hyper focused while driving down the highway at 80mph, but almost everybody is doing something else in addition to driving."
Buckle Up THE RIGHT WAY
"90% of children are improperly restrained in the car."
"I spent a decade as a CPST and the things I've seen are deeply upsetting knowing they're easily fixable with an hour or two of effort."
"I've seen children internally decapitated. Parents put their kids in car seats forward facing far too early, booster seats before they're truly large enough, coats under the straps, straps never properly tightened."
"Car accidents are still a leading cause of death. The awareness has gotten better in the last 15 years but with plenty of room for improvement."
"If you have a child, please make an appointment with a certified CPST whenever they are big enough for their next seat or seating position. It's worth the effort."
"Also, not every fire fighter is a CPST. The goal is to teach YOU how to install the seat, not to have them do it for you."
Think Of Your Mental Health
"toxic workplace. stay there long enough and you will hate life itself"
"And then the toxic people who say "think about the money" when you mention quitting for your mental health"
Hire A Professional
"Garage door springs will f-ck you up."
"I'm generally a do-it-yourselfer, but I don't mess with breaker boxes or garage door springs."
Be safe out there. You never know when a wild spring is going to jump out of the dark, ready to attack.
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You never really know the people you meet.
Sound a little too much? You'd be surprised.
Reddit user, u/Specific_Nature_4450, wanted to hear who they should avoid when they asked:
Who was the most dangerous person you've meet?
You can meet people randomly, anywhere, who might possess more than what's on the surface. Either their past, or their present, dictates their capabilities, and if you say or do the wrong thing, they could lash out at you at any moment.
Say More Right Now!
"My ex. He was handsome and charismatic and very charming. Like a monster in beautiful sheep's clothing. Suddenly after a few fingers of Brandy, he made Charles Manson look inviting. It took 4.5 years, a hostage situation, a SWAT team, and me changing my name and moving 5 states to get away."
"Some people need warning labels."
Needing Something To Help Change
"A guy who I knew for a long time, was extremely friendly and overall a nice guy, we used to live in the same building but didn't hang out often."
"Time passed and I didn't see him for years, though he headed back to the state his family lives at, pretty far from where I live, instead, I learned after he got released that he went to prison for 7 years for drug dealing and [selling] illegal guns, turns out the guy was kind of a big shot in organized crime [around] the area, never suspected a thing."
"Now days he did a completely 180°, his daughter was born and he's working in a honest job, I'm glad things are looking better for him, still kinda weird, I used to play soccer with the guy and thought I knew him well, when in fact I knew nothing about him..."
Not Full Of It
"So seems like everyone is naming off various criminals. I was in the military (not me or any of my close buddies, I was a mechanic). One of the instructors in my training company was a sniper with many deployments and a slew of confirmed kills. Sometimes instructors like to hype themselves or fellow instructors up to scare recruits. Well I ended up running into him a few years later on deployment and turns out he was indeed not full of sh-t. He was about to board one of birds to go out on a mission. One that ended being "successful". Also, outside of boot camp, he was a very calm and genuinely nice guy. Unless you were the enemy of course"
Cultural Differences
"I once met a violent felon from England who had just been released from prison. My cousin took me to a random house party, I started a conversation with the other person that seemed awkward there. Turns out they had just been released from prison recently for violent offense. To make matters worse, instead of flashing him the peace sign as I left, apparently I made a vulgar gesture and I had to get to the vehicle quickly."
It's always the ones you least expect, right? The ones who are maybe a little too quiet, or maybe a little too nice, who reveal themselves to be the most deadly.
A Lot For Someone Under 18
"Grew up with a kid on my street in a small town. He was a few years older than kinda a punk as a kid, but we all were. Used to skateboard, rollerblade and he would show me Explicit music when I was too young to get it myself. Come high school time we never really associated because he had gotten heavily into drugs. Got into a bad meth deal and went back and blew their heads off a few blocks from our houses… After the whole story came out, it turns out they had tied him to a chair and burnt him with cigarettes repeatedly. Obviously killing someone is wrong but, I'm fairly certain a child doesn't deserve full punishment for killing 2 men who tortured him. I'm pretty sure he got life in prison before he even turned 18"
Almost Hired Them
"We had a young carpenter come to our home to discuss a remodeling job when we had young children."
"Very soon afterward there was an article in the newspaper about him - how he had been accidentally released from prison. He had murdered a small child, and was sent back to jail."
"I've always wondered what could have happened if we had hired him, and our children had been rambunctious and annoyed him....."
Not Where I'm Supposed To Be
"Some guy I met in county jail. GP was filled up, so they put me on the psych floor. I figured he was just there for a minor thing because he didn't seem like a bad guy. Turns out he killed two people over a drug deal gone bad. Dismembered their bodies then just left them like that in an open field to send a message."
"Why were you in the same pod as them? What crimes were you in for damn"
"Warrant for unpaid speeding tickets. Back then, county was so full, they just put you wherever there's space to fit a new body. They didn't care."
You Think You Know Someone...
"The security guard at my office building was the nicest guy. Always greeted everyone by name, always remembered little details about people, like, "Hey, how is your dog doing? Did everything check out at the vet?" And so on. Told me he was patrolling the lot, and noticed the air in my tires was getting a bit low, and to be careful."
"One morning, he came in, was telling jokes, smiling as always."
"Later that evening found out he had killed his wife and young son the night before, and came into work like nothing happened!"
Never Let Age Or Stature Indicate Capability
"Something similar happened to me. This girl I wouldn't say was scary in the sense of stature or physically scary at all, though she was pretty weird. So I worked at phone store a couple years ago and she came in with her mom, she's probably high school aged if I recall correctly, so they come in and this is the 2nd time in a week or so so I help them out again, they buy 2 phones and 2 smart watches and finance it all on their account, both happy as can be laughing and making conversation."
"I show up to work the next day and my manger is talking about something in the news, apparently [Insert girls name] had taken her best friend out into the woods and shot her in the back of the head the day before she came in and bought some stuff from me. I spent probably a good 2 hours with her. Pretty crazy stuff."
Dungeons & Dragons & Murder
"Similar - A guy I used to play D&D with ran the game from his basement. He told us one week to move our stuff from the table to a shelf if we were going to leave it there because he was going to do "spring cleaning" in the late summer. The room looked clean but what ever. He "forgot" to do it that week and had us to it the next week (2nd friday). Then the third friday when we gamed again he got a call from the cops asking if he knew anything about his ex from 10 years ago that was missing. He told us all he had nothing to do with it. That following monday he was swated, the cops searched his house and took his truck. A month later they found an odd stop on his trucks GPS. After checking that stop they found her body."
"The entire time he was acting like his normal self other then "being tired from cleaning". He is now sitting in jail. I wrote him once. He acts like nothing is wrong and that he will be out "soon" even though its been a full year. I hope he rots."
Be wary.
You never know who you're talking with.
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Humans can connect with everything.
Reddit user, u/Gamestar02, wanted to know who you wept for when their story was done when they asked:
Which fictional character's death made you cry?
Let's get the notable ones out of the way, the ones that hit us as kids that we've never truly gotten over.
Feeling That Real World Connection
"Sirius Black; I sobbbbbbed my first read through of Order of the Phoenix ."
"As someone who's parents are dead and who's uncle became the parent by default, I can't agree more with this. I watched his death while running on the treadmill the other day and had to stop because I was crying from all orifices"
Gotta Watch Them Bees
"Too many to count but I remember crying my eyes out at the end of My Girl when I was like, seven or eight watching it on VHS, probably the first character death that made me cry"
"His glasses! He can't see without his glasses." Gets me EVERY time"
Just When You Think There's Only One To Deal With...
"Tara from Buffy"
"Also Joyce, I bawled my eyes out"
"I'm showing Buffy to a friend for the first time and Joyce's death basically just happened. Buffy's reaction is so heartbreaking. We watched Once More With Feeling last night so Tara's death is only a few episodes away now. I'm dreading it."
Maybe it's the nature of the death, or how we feel a character didn't deserve their untimely fate, that resonates with us the most. "They didn't deserve that!" we'll scream to no one because we're in a theater or at home, watching Netflix at 3 in the morning.
You Know There's Only Going To Be One
"Ali in squid game"
"I actually cried"
"There are other scenes that made me cry in the show, but Ali's is the only one that's literally so goddamn hard for me to watch."
I'm Tired, Boss
"John Coffey from The Green Mile."
"Ughhh. It's "Don't put me in the dark boss, I'm scared of the dark" gets me every time. That and hanks grabbing his hand."
That's Somehow Worse Than Crying?
"Leslie in Bridge to Terabithia"
"I didn't cry, but I still remember vivid dreams about trying to find her in a search party on more than one occasion."
And then there's these, characters who sacrificed everything for the ensuring safety of their friends, family, and loved ones.
Men Are Imperfect
"Borimir, he died with honor, you wanna make a man cry show him a gripping scene of a man restoring his honor and being strong in the face of great adversity at the cost of his own life. The scene with him as he dies holding aragorns hand asking forgiveness and receiving it, im tearing up rn f-ck."
"Disappointing how far I had to scroll to find this response."
"Boromir was a true representative of mankind. An extremely complex character that was good at heart, but was overcome with desperation. He didn't know what would happen with his community and acted how he thought was right."
"At the end of the day, he did the right thing when his friends were in danger."
"One of the best characters ever to be created. He causes such internal strife for me every time I watch the movies. Depending how my life is at the time, I will agree with different aspects of his actions. But at the end of the day I will always respect him and cry when he dies."
He Might Have Been Your Father...
"Since I watched it again last night, Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy 2. The Ravager funeral always gets to me, especially Kraglin's reaction to it."
"He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn't your daddy!"
"My wife had a six year old daughter when we met. She'd gone no contract with the father when my step daughter was 2 because he was unstable and had violent tendencies. My step daughter tracked him down when she was about 14 and started rebuilding their relationship. He'd gotten mental health treatment in the twelve years since my wife met him, so we were okay with this and she even went live with him for a while. That didn't last because he didn't have the patience to cope with the unique challenges of being a parent to her (she has her own mental health issues) and she came back home, saying that she was glad to have gotten to know him but that I was her real dad."
"Yeah, I ugly cried in the theater when Yondu died."
You Can Rest, Now
"Tony Stark, he was the first hero I watched in high school. By the time he died, I realized I'd known the guy through movies for over 10 years at that point. I had graduated college, grad school, and started a new job. All those memories of my friends learning how to play the iron man theme song were some of the best years."
"This one was harsh. I was not expecting it."
"And then you start thinking about his kid and Pepper who he left behind. Damn, I'm going to get choked up thinking about it."
I'm not crying.
You're crying.
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Don't shy away from the truth.
This oft ignored lesson could be why there are individuals who think the worldwide pandemic is "over," but it's one that gets ignored more often than you might think. Things can be hard to stomach or accept, so often people will not listen to these truths, choosing to believe something else.
Can't escape facts when they're staring right at you in the mirror.
Reddit user, u/Letmediebro, wanted to hear about some tough facts when they asked:
What is a hard pill to swallow for most people?
Life can feel like it's working against you sometimes.
It's not. It's just the way things go sometimes.
Starting Out With A Tough One...
"That doing your best does not mean you will succeed"
"Also sadly, not everyone's "best" is good enough for what they're trying to accomplish. We are not all physically, mentally and intellectually equal, and we all have different strengths."
What Are You Going To Do?
"How you react to situations shapes your reality more than the situation itself"
"This is one that I have become consciously aware of the older I have gotten. Oftentimes it is my reaction that defines the way in which the happening of an event will be categorized. So, I have been trying to train my brain not to react and instead process first as to allow me to have a rational reaction whatever that might be."
Just. Not. Into. You.
"If someone isn't into you as much as you are into them, there really isn't much you can do about it. Even just waiting is often bad for you in the long run."
Turns out the hardest lessons are the ones you need to apply to yourself.
They Come, Stay For A While, Then Move On
"not all friendships were made to last. that doesn't make you a bad person, or a bad friend, it just means it's time for you to find someone better, even if it doesn't seem like there is. (currently trying to swallow this one)"
Work For You And You Alone
"looking for others to validate your sense of worth will always end in ruin."
"Yes, stop trying to impress others or always do them favors to gain respect. Respect yourself. It gets you nothing. If the person like you before (s)he will respect you. If the person before didnt, then you're being taken advantage of."
Sometimes the harshest facts we can face are connected to ourselves, how we view ourselves, and how we feel about ourselves. If you want to face the harshest facts then you need to look inward.
I'm Sadder Than You Are
"Your suffering is only unique unto you. The fact that you suffer is universal to all life it shouldn't be a race to bottom. Which for most people it absolutely is."
"and suffering competitions are insufferable"
It's You.
"Sometimes you're the toxic one in the relationship."
"This one is true, and most of the time you don't even know you are the toxic one."
"I was aware of this from the start. I'm in therapy for it now. I'm at least catching the smaller sh*t I've been doing. Like don't get me wrong I'm always sweet and try to make sure they are looked after but there are toxic things I do."
It'll Happen. Be Ready.
"That life isn't fair, you will face heart-breakingly tragic things that are beyond your control. Some more than others, but everyone has something, be kind."
The world can feel like it's out to get you, to ruin everything going on for you personally.
With a little insight, a gaze into your own self-worth, you'll see that's not the case, and usually the one stopping you from succeeding is you.
Talk to someone, if you can.
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People Explain Which Items And Services Are Incredibly Overpriced In Their Country
Goods and services are always going to have a cost. Such is life.
Something overpriced where you live? Let's talk about it.
Reddit user, u/Spaceisthecoolest, wanted to know what cheaper options they should look for when they asked:
What is incredibly overpriced in your country?
We're certainly paying a lot for the tiny super computers in our pockets, aren't we?
Paying To Pay To Use A Phone
"Cellphone service fees."
"It's insane. I just got here and wanted to setup a phone plan. Visited 3 store until I understood this where the regular prices. I'm not even paying a 10th in Europe of what I'm paying here."
Canada, Eh?
"Mobile data. Canada pays some of the highest prices in the world for mobile data."
"In Finland I pay about 20€ for unlimited phone calls, text messages and data (they are truly unlimited)."
"20 dollars in canada gets you about 100 minutes calling, free texts and 200mb of internet lol, its unreal"
It isn't just America, before you go assuming we're the most over costed country in the world. Turns out others might have to be paying a lot more than we are for goods and services.
Conversion, Anyone?
"An RTX 3090."
"Jokes aside, gas at the moment. It used to be €1.60 per litre. Now it's up to €2.05 per litre. When we go to Germany for some gasoline it's around €1.60 where it used to be between €1.30 - €1.45"
"F*ck! That's $9.01 a gallon!! At to think I was bummed gas here is ~$3.75/gal (~€0.86/L?)"
Paying A Lot For The Bare Minimum
"Housing. It's a travesty."
"Tell me you live in NZ without telling me you live in NZ..."
"As an Aussie, NZ is my affordable alternative."
"Good luck finding a beach front peice of land for 200k here with a less than 1 hour commute to the city."
"Plus, in NZ, you can buy old houses and have then transported on a truck."
"I was doing math the other day"
"Beach front land - $195k"
"Restored 1920s house - $90-110k"
"Transport, foundation setting and connection - $75k-$100k"
"Approx $400k for a really great set up. In Australia you pay more than that for a sh-t apartment that catches fire, in a leaning building, with no resale value."
Contrasts Between The Two
"Most things in Australia except food…a trip to the US is an eye opener re cars,clothes,electronics etc…"
"I would expect food here to be substantially more costly than the US. Take out is real expensive unless you're buying something very unhealthy like Maccas, which frankly doesn't seem cheap either"
"American supermarkets are weirdly expensive. Their restaurants are crazy, crazy cheap"
USA! USA!
USA? Are we really "the best" when we can't take care of the people who need it the most?
Ohhh, Bootstraps. That's All We Need.
"Housing, childcare, and medical services/insurance."
"Geeze bud. Don't buy a house have kids or get sick if you can't afford it. Do you have bootstraps you could try? /s"
Step one: acquire bootstraps
Step two: pull
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit"
Just Pay Your Workers? Maybe?
"Tipping. Not just restaurant waitstaff but everyone…at hair salons, hotels, taxis, coffee, tour guide or anything travel related, bar. It's no problem to tip the individuals trying to make a living, but it's ridiculous that we as patrons are expected to pay for these companies labor costs based on how the US functions"
"It's getting really out of control in the beauty service industry especially. Lots of people rent a small room or just a chair in a salon to say, do lash extensions or hair coloring. Or they own their own salon outright. These aren't people making under minimum wage and working for someone else. They own their own business and set their own prices. And yet they still demand a 20% tip minimum."
"Just charge me the price you expect to make and don't do this BS tip song and dance that just makes it awkward for everyone."
"Have the time they also act like they're doing you a huge favor by even allowing you to be graced by their presence. Thankfully with YouTube I've learned to just do everything myself."
Because, Capitalism.
"Insulin."
"Sorry.... How..... How is that the most expensive... It's literally free?.... Oh.... American I presume?"
"Our country charges $1000 for a life saving medicine that other countries charge $30 for because Capitalism."
Leaving Hawaii To Hang With Their Pricey Milk
"In the 50th state."
"Milk and gas."
"7 bucks a gallon "
"try and guess which one I'm talking about."
"Hawaii or Alaska?"
"I can get mine for $2.72/gallon"
"We do have to have lactaid, so I actually pay $5.72/gallon"
Be smart, try to see when someone is trying to pull one over on you, and always be willing to walk away to find a better deal when you can. That's not always going to be possible, but it's important to try.
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