Growing up, I wasn't really allowed to have friends outside of my cousins, and people who my parents went to church with. Since I have a ridiculous number of cousins (seriously... can we stop, fam? There's sooooo many of us already!) it wasn't really a major thing that even crossed my mind.
I didn't really spend any time at "friends" places til I was almost done with high school, and when I tell you it was straight up culture shock ... I just ... woo!
My family is multi-racial and massive. So imagine my shock walking into a house where people are just one color and there's only 3 of them and like ... that's it?
Three? Where is everyone else? My dad has nine siblings. Most of them have 5 and 6 kids and even more grandkids. Moms side of the family is just as big.
One Reddit user asked:
What's the weirdest thing you've seen happen at a friend's house that they thought was normal?
For me, the weirdest thing by far was just the total lack of people. Friend's houses felt like post-apocalyptic desolate wastelands for the first few visits until I started to understand that it was *ME* who was the one living in an unusual situation.
Let's see what these people discovered.
The Musty Smell
Funny Face Reaction GIF by TikTok
Giphy
"Was on a date with a guy who was cooking dinner for me and his dog took a giant horse pee in the living room. I jumped up, a bit panicked, trying to get the guy's attention to what just happened."
"The guy didn't even look up when he said 'Oh yeah, she does that sometimes' ... and that was it."
"I asked him if there was a towel and disinfectant I could use to help clean it up and the guy says 'I'll just throw some Febreeze on it after dinner.' "
"I suddenly realized the musty smell I noticed earlier wasn't from his cool and rustic cabin being under a canopy of trees, or that the floor in the same location that bowed when you stepped over it was because it was old."
"Ate dinner at a table that was couple feet away from the dog toilet. Left."
"Fcking gross." - Revolutionarysugar6
The Daycare Bartender
homer simpson daycare GIF
Giphy
"Here's an 'I was that family' story. My Godmother (who was practically an aunt) ran a fairly successful daycare out of her home in the 90s."
"She was a first generation immigrant to the US, whose parents came to the New England area from Ireland. My two younger brothers and I spent a lot of time at her home and I was generally the oldest child there."
"When I was about 8 years old, she started to have me make her her favorite drink. Gin and tonic. She drank these ALL DAY, while running her home daycare."
"At age 8 I knew...how to mix cocktails, that forks were better for stirring than spoons, and that large plastic bottles of gin were cheap and low quality."
"This went on for years, on pretty much a daily basis, until my family moved out west. My Godmother kept her daycare running until she died (I'm sure of health problems relating to alcohol.) "
"I was 15 when she passed and I'm in my 30's now. I honestly went most of my life thinking NOTHING of it until I became a father a couple of years ago. At which point I was like... 'How the f*ck did anyone let her have a daycare?' "
"Side note, I drink but would consider myself an average drinker, if not below average. With that being said, I could never stomach the thought of gin and didn't try gin until I was 30. "
"This was because I once licked my finger, early in my daycare bartending career, after a couple of drops of gin splashed on my hand as I was pouring. That plastic-half-gallon quality gin was the worst thing I'd ever had in my life and I had no idea how my Godmother liked it so much. Complete ruined my taste for gin...at 8." - academic_bar9792
The Hoarders
2 broke girls GIF
Giphy
"I had a friend in High School - we're still friends today actually - whose mom was a hoarder."
"There were little pathways throughout the house but it was filled, from floor to ceiling, with junk. In the hallway to the bedrooms, she had stacked every newspaper she ever got. They were tied up in bundles."
"When you walked in that hallway he would caution to not touch the papers because if a row fell, it would take a couple hours to dig yourself out." - ferrariguy1970
"Not really weird I guess, but first time in my husband's parent's house (just a friend at the time), I got to see what a hoarder house looked like."
"It wasn't even a well-known term/condition back then, so it just really shocked me seeing the giant mounds of stuff everywhere and having to navigate through it all. His room was clean, the rest of the house, not so much." - ArtsySAHM
Cool
This Is Cool GIF by MOODMAN
Giphy
"I babysat for a family on occasion and the kids would always ask for a 'cool cup' and I had no clue what it was. They asked for them constantly but were too little to really describe them enough for me to understand."
"I mentioned it to the mom in passing one day and she started laughing hysterically. She then showed me the cool cups by cutting the tops off of some bell peppers, taking out the seeds, and then filling the peppers with tap water."
"The kids went nuts over them like there were treats. It was really weird to me that drinking water out of bell peppers was a thing to beg for on the regular." - Kikabennet
"One of my friends has a 3 year old that was wanting some sort of like yogurt drink or something. He'd already had one so answer was no."
"He asked a couple more times and so my bud asked him in an excited tone, 'Do you want a cool drink!?' "
"Of course kid got excited and said yes."
"My friend put ice and water in a blender and made a shredded ice drink. Kid drank 3 of them and was jazzed about it. Lol" - ConstipatedUnicorn
The Documentarian
Photo Pictures GIF by The Godfather
Giphy
"Went to a sleepover at this girls house and her mom was obsessively taking pictures of us all night."
"At one point, we were watching a movie and my friend passed out and her mom , I sh*t you not, pulls out a huge newscast-type heavy duty camera and starts recording her daughter sleeping for a solid 5 minutes."
"I have trouble sleeping and so that night when us kids were in the bedroom to sleep, I was on the floor, just staring at the wall in the dark. I was facing away from the door, laying on my side."
"I hear the door creak...some footsteps and then the darkness of the room lit with a sudden flash."
"I got up just in time to see the door close. I know it was her mom taking pics of us. The weirdest part to me is that it was about 3am when that happened - meaning the girl's mom either had an alarm or just stayed up that late in wait..."
"It wasn't explained and the mother also took like 20 pics of us eating dinner and breakfast the next morning. Also, we were in high school."
"I found out later her mom is just like that. We had a school science fair and her mom came and was taking pictures of EVERYTHING, even the carpet." - TraditionalEye4686
"My grandmother lost her first child in a tragic accident. She was like this with my dad. Maybe she had something like that in her past." - robbysaur
The Best 'Actually, You're Speaking To The Boss' Experience | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
There are a few experiences as frustrating as dealing with an entitled customer. But there's absolutely nothing quite like dealing with someone who doesn't r...House Cows
cow GIF
Giphy
"Had a friend who's family lived on a huge property and kept cows for the property tax exemption. Not odd around the area."
"He told me to come by. When I got there he invited me in to meet his parents and I swear to God there was a full size cow chilling on one of their couches in the living room." - Veg305
"Growing up we had some goats and land but no cows."
"My brother decided to go to the livestock auction with one of his friends and saw a baby cow being sold for meat. I guess he just couldn't stand the thought of this poor little cow being sold to be eaten so he won the auction for it."
"He then walked it home somehow and didn't put it in the pasture, nor the backyard, but INSIDE THE HOUSE INSTEAD."
"My mom came home from work and was like 'excuse me everyone, why is there a cow in the hallway?'"
"Lmao he got in so much trouble. Loved that cow though, he thought he was a goat." - bunnykitten94
The Doctors House
Elizabeth Corday Doctor GIF
Giphy
"My house - but looking back it's unusual."
"My Dad was a doctor and it was not uncommon for him to take a patient's blood on the way home and store it in the fridge next to the orange juice overnight. Then take it to work the next morning."
"Can't do that these days of course but the 70s was pretty wild." - Ozdiva
"My grandparents were doctors and this is the least weird story in this thread for me. Living with a doctor is an educational adventure." - ChasingSplashes
"Almost same but my brother. He is a veterinarian but during his study, he'd bring all sorts of animal cadavers in the house. Lol" - Adonis_X
The Bears Couch
Giphy
"One of the first times I met my husband's family, I was over at their house and husband gestured for me to sit down and be comfortable."
"Their house was really very cluttered. Not quite hoarder cluttered, but close. They had a couple of couches facing each other and then some other chairs."
"Not knowing the 'rules,' I sat on one of the couches, which had a lot of stuffed teddy bears on it. OMG, you would think I had sat down on live bears."
"There were probably 20-30 small - medium stuffed bears on this couch. Husband's mother and twin brother both visibly reacted as if I had damaged the bears. (Not antique bears either)."
"That was when I was told that the couch was for the bears, and only for the bears and that no one was allowed to sit on the bears' couch. Just the bears."
"The bears all had little beaded necklaces with their names on them to tell them apart because they were all the same brand and style." - floridianreader
The Dog's Room
bored german shepherd GIF
Giphy
"Friend of mine had a German Shepherd. I never once seen it outside, always in the house."
"I only ever went up the stairs once and there was a spare bedroom with just a carpet down and piles and piles of dog sh*t everywhere." - ProbationInTheMaking
Distinct Sound Of A Shot Gun
Shotgun GIF by memecandy
Giphy
"In high school a friend and I went to a later movie then planned to sleep over at her house. The movie got done around 10pm ish."
"The house was dark as her parents were early to bed."
"As we walked in her back door there was a distinct sound of a shot gun being racked and her father saying "who's there?" My friend just calmly says "oh its just us" and that was that."
"One and only time I've had a gun pulled on me." - dstone1985
The McChicken Stash
chicken GIF
Giphy
"Use to hang at my one bro's parents houses. He stayed in the basement, had a low paying job, whatever, he makes dough now."
"Anyway we would get cheap food from McDonald's usually. It was when the McChicken first came out and the dollar menu, around when subway came out with the 5 dollar footlong."
"But we use to drink beers and get hungry and subway was always closed by this time so one of us would run to McDonald's and get like 6 McChickens. Well he would always only eat 2 and put one in his sock drawer."
"Thought maybe he had an elf to feed when I left or something."
"Nope he was eating it later or the next day. He even would stash one under the seat in his car, when he drove to grab them. Long story short he got diverticulitis after doing this for years."
"Neither of us eat McDonald's anymore." - moonshotmercury
Keep it weird, my friends. Keep it reaaaaaal weird.
Just ... ya know ... not when company is over. Keep it weird on your own time. lol.
- Tall People Share The Weirdest Things They've Seen Stashed On ... ›
- Window Cleaners Share The Weirdest Things They've Ever Seen ... ›
- People Describe The Most 'American' Thing They've Ever Seen - George Takei ›
- People Break Down The Strangest Thing They 'Have A Guy' For - George Takei ›
- People Break Down Which Common Things Have Never Actually Happened To Them - George Takei ›
- People Divulge The Weirdest Advice They've Heard That Was Surprisingly Effective - George Takei ›
- People Break Down The Strangest Thing About Europe That Europeans Don't Notice - George Takei ›
- People Describe The Strangest Thing They've Seen In The Woods That They Can't Explain - George Takei ›
- People Share The Most Bizarre Thing They've Seen In Someone Else's Home - George Takei ›
- People Explain Who They Could Never Be Friends With Under Any Circumstances - George Takei ›
- Americans Break Down The Weirdest Things About Europe - George Takei ›
- People Explain Which Things Are Considered Normal Around The World But Weird In America - George Takei ›
- People Describe The Creepiest Thing They've Ever Experienced At Home - George Takei ›
- The Absolute Worst Pet Names According To Veterinarians - George Takei ›
When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.
But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.
Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.
It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.
Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:
"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"
These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.
Bleeding Out
"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."
"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."
– DongLaiCha
Tragic News
"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."
– accountnameredacted
Bottom Of The Barrel
"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."
– Crotch-Monster
A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.
Like Father, Like Son
"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."
– psycospaz
Busted
"Flashing blue lights."
– FiddleOfGold
"This sobered me up just thinking about it."
– redmaple_syrup
Losing Sight
"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."
– MissHibernia
Quitting The Bottle
"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."
– omgtater
These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.
Unplanned House Guests
"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."
– Oneinsevenbillion75
Serious Health Warning
"Elevated liver enzymes."
"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."
"So I opted for recovery, instead."
"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."
– Far_Meal8674
The Joyride
"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."
– foxfood9116
The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?
How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.
But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.
Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.
We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.
Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.
These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.
From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.
Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:
"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"
"Tale As Old As Time..."
"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","
"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."
"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."
"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."
"Lol!"
"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom
"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."
"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."
"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."
"I think he was a germaphobe."
"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."
"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."
"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.
"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."
"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."
"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000
Money Burn GIF by nog
Giphy
Who Wore It Better?
"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."
"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."
"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."
"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'
"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"
"No."- mertsey627
Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...
"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."
"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."
"It was very low key."
"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."
"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."
"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."
"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."
"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa
south park wedding GIF
Giphy
See You In Court!
"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."
'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."
"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."
"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."
"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."
"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin
It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!
"I work in a public library."
"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."
"A popular book that just came out."
"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."
"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten
A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!
"My own."
"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"
"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."
"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"
"Unacceptable!"
"This shall not stand!"
"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."
"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."
"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."
"I got over it."- DeathGrover
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
Giphy
Holy Matrimony!
"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."
"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."
"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."
"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."
"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."
"It's just a party."
"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree
When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...
"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore
In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...
"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."
"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."
"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."
"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."
"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."
"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."
"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."
"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."
"We don’t offer wrapping services."
"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."
'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
Giphy
Happiest Place On Earth!
"I used to work for Disney."
"That in itself should tell you everything."
"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."
"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."
"Suddenly got worse huh?"
"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."
"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."
"I'm not kidding."
"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."
"My wife worked booking."
"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."
"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."
"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."
"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."
"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."
"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong
Disney World GIF
Giphy
The horror!
Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!
It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...
Said absolutely no one.