Today's burning question comes from Redditor kryantastic who asked:
"What 'black market' existed in your school?"
This reminded us that kids, teens, and college students all find unique ways of making money or obtaining "contraband.
A relative of mine ran a gambling ring in junior high, for example, and that was how they (and so many of their classmates) obtained all the candy and chocolates they could stuff their faces with. This same relative has since paid for their black market wits with numerous visits to the dentist over the years.
You win some, you lose some, right?
"Teachers punished us..."
Teachers punished us by making us write "I will refrain from extemporaneous vocalization during valuable pedagogical opportunities" 50 or 100 times as homework. So over the summer we would do up a few hundred sheets of that, and we could sell or use them, as necessary.
FlavoredCuDispenser
That's one way to save time. A lot of it. Not even mad at the hustle.
"The cafeteria..."
The cafeteria (not school run, kind of just a cafe inside the school) would charge $3-4 for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so one girl kept the ingredients in her locker and charged $1. When the school caught wind and shut it down, they tried to guilt us all by saying how the cafeteria was someone's livelihood and we were taking away from that. But like. $4 for peanut butter?
Mustashim
$4 is a robbery. That is probably the cheapest sandwich one can make! And where do they think students will get this money each time they need to eat?
"Kids would find..."
A porn ring.
Kids would find their dads' VHS pornos or magazines and sell then to this kid. Then he'd turn around and sell it for profit.
Funny thing is that when the principal caught wind of it and found all the porn in his locker the money wasn't there. The kid used the locker under his and hid it all in the bottom.
The porn hustler dude is now a cybersecurity analyst. I asked him at our reunion how much he thought he made back then. He claims $900 in 4 months.
HelpMyBunny1080p
For a kid, that's pretty much a fortune. And teenagers are horny devils.
"My school..."
My school banned soda. I used to keep a cooler full in my car and sell them for $2 a pop.
jsmys
You wouldn't have made any money off of me! The less soda the better, I say.
"My mum owned a sweet shop..."
My mum owned a sweet shop and sweets were banned in our school as we had to have healthy meals and all that. So she'd constantly give me bags of sweets to smuggle in and sell everyday at dinner. Made an absolute bomb.
skraii
Your mother was aiding and betting your criminality! Sounds like someone worth meeting, come to think of it.
"I used to sell bootleg movies..."
I used to sell bootleg movies in high school. Not the kind of bootleg where you take a video camera into a theater, but I knew someone who kept getting early versions of movies that I guess are sent to theaters (they had some message about it being for screening purposes only/internal use - I don't remember exactly) and giving them to me. I'd burn a bunch of copies and sell them to people for $5. They were high quality and still early in theaters.
Cheese_Pancakes
So you're the person brandishing DVDs in the middle of everyone's faces in the middle of Times Square!
"Our high school..."
GiphyOur high school had an internet filter.
An enterprising friend of mine set up a FreeBSD server in his basement, and put together some 256mb flash drives with an executable version of Firefox (could run directly from the flash drive without installs) and a SSH client. You could plug it in, connect SSH, then use the server as a proxy for all the Firefox traffic and get around any website you wanted.
Those flash drives were a hot commodity, let me tell you. You could set up in the library and just start casually browsing a banned website, and people would start coming up and asking how you could do it.
chrisw1984
Your friend sounds brilliant. What are they doing now?
"Our cafeteria coordinator..."
Iodized salt and simple black pepper in the lunchroom. I'm not kidding. This was around 2004 (USA).
Our cafeteria coordinator was trying to do everything healthy and by government rules, so no added salt. Bogus, but whatever. But she also took the pepper too. Kids in my school didn't really pack lunches, as most of us got reduced lunch. I was pissed, as they just boiled canned veggies and gave them to you in a bowl with the juice, and wasn't going to stand for it. I was also a huge ahole in high school, so I made a plan.
I bought salt and pepper shakers and put them in a zippy bag to carry in my backpack. I broke them out at lunch every day, and shared with about 70 kids. We made it through for about 3 months, and then they finally caught on who had them. I got "silent lunch detention" in a separate room for a week, and I made sure I put my salt and pepper out on my table every day.
But then, when I came back to the normal lunchroom, like 30 people had salt and pepper shakers. Shakers everywhere, and the coordinator was pissed. Oh it makes me laugh even today. She still refused to put out salt and pepper, but we all had it anyway. It continued until I graduated from there.
mingohippy
Viva la resistance!
"In 5th grade..."
In 5th grade I sold fairies to every single one of my classmates for $1 each. I gave them names and back stories and drew little portraits of each then would toss them an invisible fairy and then collect from the next sucker.
venuscries
You must have made a killing!
"Stuck on a boss?"
PlayStation (1&2) memory cards
Stuck on a boss? Want the treasures without having to beat the game on Ultra Hard? There was a guy who in my grade who, for a fee, would play any game and get where you wanted to be then give you a memory card to copy over the save file. Naturally you had to return the memory card to keep the ball rolling for everyone.
fukKnucklesLLC
Okay, this is rather brilliant. Look at you go, you little entrpreneur!
Kids are crafty, man. They will find a way to supply any demand.
Do you have similar stories? Share them in the comment section below!
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Redditor Ebo8000 wanted to know:
"What is your most controversial take on Star Wars?"
Doors
"LASERS LOCK DOORS. LASERS OPEN DOORS. LASERS KNOW WHAT YOU WANT THE DOOR TO DO."
- SlamVanDamn
"But if you get past the door and close it behind you and you don’t want anyone to follow you through it…"
"…you shoot the bloody door panel!"
- treeonwheels
"Also, f*cking hell, we're in the future (or in the past), whatever, and people have better technology."
"Why put the door control RIGHT NEXT to the door? Put the door control system in a breaker box."
"Build every door so in case of malfunction they all shut closed (after all, they're in space and you don't want to lose air in decompression, do you?)"
"Shoot the breaker box, now the whole floor is closed until someone can figure out what happened."
"Almost look like those doors just exist as dramatic elements..."
- smegma_yogurt
GiphyThe Past
"I’d like a film about when the Republic was at its height. 1,000 generations is 25,000 years and we’ve had 9 movies about the last 60."
- Musickat18
The Future
"Not sure if controversial but they need to take the franchise and yeet it 200 years in the future."
"I'm tired of the Empire era where they need to justify why more than 2 Jedi and 2 Sith exist at one moment alongside knowing everything is pointless until Luke leaves the farm."
- Alandrus_sun
Design Fail? No!
"The Death Stars weren't badly designed they were just badly managed."
"Yes, designing them assuming large scale assaults was stupid given the political state of the galaxy but the second Death Star wasn't even finished so that doesn't count, it's all Palpatine's fault. As for the first one that was finished, the Alliance made three runs on the exhaust port."
"The first was called off before they made it to the trench, the second failed and the third was carried out by space Jesus which isn't exactly fair."
"All in all it sounds like a fairly effective defence when you consider the design philosophy."
- Engeneus
GiphyCool Factor
"The entire universe has a cool factor that outweighs the atrocious storytelling."
- Ozty
"Bro imagine the following movies, but if they were in Star Wars universe."
"Magnificent 7 - A Jedi, Bounty Hunter, Ex-Imperial, Pilot, Wookie, a Droid, and Lawman team up to defend a town against pirates"
"Dredd - Two Jedi climb up an apartment block to confront a new dark side user who has mental control of the entire apartment block"
"Supernatural (T.V. Show) - A Jedi and their apprentice go around and solve and defeat Dark Side Force spots—where the Force consolidates from emotions and creates foul creatures to fight"
"Top Gun - But it's you know, Wedge or something"
"Ford versus Ferrari - But it's podracing or swoop racing"
- BoutsofInsanity
Ships
"Something about the ships in the original series always felt more like real ships than in any of the later movies, despite the objectively better effects of the later films."
"Some of this is probably the use of models (i.e. actual three dimensional objects), but I think there is some critical difference in the design that makes them feel more real (probably because they were designed to be things that would actually work as models)."
"Whatever it is, I LOVED the ships in the original series and never really liked any of the new ones."
- UnspecificGravity
"The original trilogy changed the world by showing a universe in space that was dirty and lived in. The special effects from the later movies did not recognize this."
GiphyBoba who?
"Boba Fett is an oddly overrated background character, and even after watching The Book of Boba Fett, I don’t really care about him."
- imidoesonlyfans
"He was never a character. He was a cool helmet."
- JimPlaysGames
"He was a cool jetpack too."
- RipperFromYT
GiphyTime for the weather...
"Han is actually older than Obi-Wan due to Time Dilation."
- Snowbofreak
"Time dilation in a universe where every planet and moon has the same gravity and atmosphere?"
- suman_issei
"And just 1 biome."
- DogShampoop
"That way they only need one Weather Channel per planet."
- The_Most_Superb
"And over to Klaatu for the Tatooine weather report. Klaatu?"
"It's still sunny."
- Budsygus
GiphyThese are the droids we're looking for.
"Star Wars is actually the life story of C-3PO—think about it."
- jonguy77
"I disagree. I think its R2-D2's story. He had a much greater presence in Episode 1, 2 and 3, and got the same amount of screen time as C-3PO in 4, 5 and 6."
‐ MacGregor_Rose
GiphyFan is short for fanatic.
"Fans ruined the whole franchise."
- SeaworthinessNo5209
Ouch...
So, did your controversial Star Wars opinion make the list?
Hollywood hasn't helped, as movies and TV have typically portrayed death as something sinister and violent.
How could anyone be convinced death is a peaceful transition, and that what awaits on the other side is actually an unimaginable utopia?
Curious to hear strangers' thoughts about death, Redditor GoodNess2020 invoked a quote by an iconic literary figure and asked:
"Mark Twain once said, 'I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.' Why do you agree/disagree with his statement?"
People clarified what actually terrified them most about death
The Process
"I don't fear being dead. I fear dying."
– magicbluemonkeydog
"Yeah, that's usually the issue. It's why that quote doesn't mean much, to a lot of people."
"It's not a fear of eventually dying and not existing anymore. It's the act of dying itself. He didn't constantly die for all of time. He just wasn't alive."
– appleparkfive
Concept Of Loss
"To have not existed for billions of years is to have spent billions of years never knowing loss. To die is to know loss."
"If you look into a new bank account and see zero dollars, it’s nothing. If you look into a bank account that once had a million dollars and see there’s nothing in there, you’ll know it’s absence."
– -CrestiaBell
People provided an analogy to articulate what ceasing to exist must feel like.
It's About Time
"Time is only relevant to you when you are alive. He is right. Have you ever been sedated for surgery? You go under, and then instantly wake up and procedure is done.... or you died so no worries."
– 20190419
Consciousness Is Life
"You won’t be feeling anything in death though is the thing. That infinite/instant sensation was a living feeling, you just weren’t conscious for it - your body experienced it anyways. No body, no experience."
– Parradog1
Like Being Under
"That is very true, but for me, that's the closest amalgamation of what it probably feels like."
"No one can tell you what actual death will be like. It's impossible for you to experience nothingness."
"Thinking about death can be paralysing sometimes, and when I remember that the closest thing i can link as an experience I had, being put under, was actually sort of pleasant. I then think maybe death will be like that, and honestly it doesn't seem that bad."
– IamEclipse
When In Deep Sleep
"Yeah in contrast to sleep where you can actually feel like time has passed when you wake up."
– GreyFoxMe
Think Line Between Death And Slumber
"As CGPGrey puts it, your bed might very well be a suicide machine."
"Given our lack of understanding for the fundamental processes of our sentience, it's entirely possible that when you fall asleep, your mind is functionally killed, disassembled, analyzed, sorted, tweaked, and adjusted by your biology, before being reassembled when you wake. Every night."
– Mazon_Del
People opened up about their insecurities around the concept of death.
Fear Of What Comes Next
"I’m just paranoid that something does happen after death and it’s just based on one thing that you didn’t know about."
– PsychoDog_Music
The Circle Of Death
"There’s nothing to fear in oblivion. Unless, of course, your consciousness survives death. If so, it would be reasonable to fear the sensation of consciousness without senses, suspended alone in the cosmos, with no one to hear you, and no way to make yourself known. No reference point for counting time – a count that does not matter anyway in a literal eternity."
"You might wish that you still had a corporeal form, only so that you could make your mouth move to express your terror, to make the universal form of a terrified scream – the form of a letter O."
"But you won’t be able to. You just won’t!"
"This has been the Children’s Fun Fact Science Corner. Brought to you by shame, loneliness, and the letter..."
"O....."
– CecilSpeaksInItalics
When Faith Fails You
"what do you mean I'm going to hell?! I was a good person and attended church regularly!"
"Ah yes, but you failed to put a blue feather in your hat and then turn in circles the times praising God Almighty on the fifth Sunday after your twelfth birthday. To the pit with you!!!"
– phormix
There is an poignant episode from the Twilight Zone that brought me a sense of peace surrounding the concept of death.
Death was embodied by a handsome police officer who had been shot–played by a young Robert Redford–and begs to be let into the home of an elderly woman who had been living in perpetual fear of meeting "Mr. Death."
As the episode continues, she discovers much to her dismay that she welcomed Death into her home, but he warmly reassures her there is nothing to fear.
The episode ends with her finally offering her hand to Death after much protest, and they peacefully walk out together, arm in arm, into the light.
It was sweet and beautifully done. The 1962 episode was titled, "Nothing in the Dark."
That's how I imagine it to be.
A dashing Prince of Darkness telling me it's time to join him in guiding me to the other side.
Twilight Zone - "Nothing in the Dark" ending (SPOILER ALERT)
SPOILER ALERTFrom S3E16, "Nothing in the Dark". An old woman confronts her worst fear - the fear of death."Am I really so bad? Am I really so frightening? Yo...
Thanks for that tip, Alton Brown!
Reddit user 0_BREAD_0 asked:
"What's that one lifehack that ever since you learned it you used it?"
So Alton has us all upgrading our guacamole game, let's see how Reddit can help us grow.
It's A Race!
"Race the microwave or the kettle to get things done in the kitchen."
"It's amazing how much you can do in just a few minutes."
- zazzlekdazzle
"I'll add, doing this while things are cooking on the stove or oven also goes a long way for longer tasks like cleaning counters or floors or inside the fridge."
- spicy-avocado4306
20 Minutes
radio remains GIFGiphy"Clean in 20-minute bursts."
"Set a timer and just go HAM on an area in your house or apartment. Stop when the time is up."
"I ended up making a schedule of sorts where I do 2 of these bursts weekly for the kitchen/bedroom, and one for other rooms."
"Your living space becomes so much easier to manage."
- qisabelle13
"Do most things in 20-minute bursts, really. Outside of specific critical tasks that have other requirements. Wherever possible ~25 minutes or less of focused effort spaced out throughout the day tends to be more valuable and sustaining effort past that threshold can introduce diminishing returns."
- iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
"This is what I do. When I was younger, I'd watch my mom clean the entire house twice a week. She'd spend the whole day cleaning."
"Whereas I just take a few minutes a day to clean ONE area of the house."
- windinthesail
Shine A Light
"If something small, like a needle, falls on a smooth floor ( tiles, wood...) shine a flashlight at an acute angle over the floor. Even the tiniest items cast shadows easy to see."
- Boing78
"I feel so obtuse for not thinking about this."
- vitim_m
Say It To Save It
Whats Her Name Comedy GIF by CBCGiphy"When you meet someone for the first time say their name, at least, twice. "Good to meet you, Bryan." and at the end "Good talking to you, Bryan." You are WAAAAAAYYY more likely to remember their name next time."
- voice_of_craisin
"I usually forget their name before I can tell them mine"
- knovit
"I also will ask them to spell their name or repeat it back to them 'is that spelled John or Jon'."
- reganz
"God as someone who works in an education job and had trouble even remembering my phone number once upon a time, this is SO accurate! I usually also try to come up with a specific thing to associate a person with (I.e, if I might find out some kid named Blank likes Ben 10, and later on I’d remember, 'oh, that’s Blank, the Ben 10 guy!')."
- bubblessensei
Stay Hydrated Feline Friends
"You can get your cat to drink more water and prevent eventual fatal kidney issues by moving their water dish to a different room than it's food. Cats don't like to drink water right next to their food."
"I tried it one day and like 5 minutes later caught my cat gulping water like he had been in the dessert."
- Regnes
"Long story short: I accidentally trained my cat to drink out of a water glass. My cat now demands her own glass of water on the coffee table. I’ve created a monster, but I’ve created a monster that won’t have kidney issues. 🤷♀️"
- iono_maybe
"Getting a yule tree, and having them drink outta the water stand. Lol."
"But real talk, you can add things into the water too."
"Cats and other animals are more like humans than we care to admit. They like clean toilets, their favorite toys, and different foods and drinks."
"So, you can spruce your cat water up with catnip, cat-thyme, valerian, and chamomile herbs."
"As well as you can use your canned meat juices to mix into their water.I do this with tuna and chicken."
"Note: while it is a cliche stereotype, cats shouldn't be given fish, at least not raw. Should always be cooked, canned, smoked, or some other safe way to eat. Also, best bet to not give them any raw food. They can get food poisoning too. Especially true for cats that are indoors-only. They have less resilience."
- DaddyMelkers
Thank You
Sesame Street Reaction GIF by HBO MaxGiphy"Saying 'thank you' more and 'sorry' less."
"Like, instead of saying, 'sorry that I'm talking so much,' say, 'thanks for listening'."
"If someone does something nice, or thoughtful, or even just basic common courtesy, don't apologize for having them do it - that puts them in the position of needing to make you feel better. Give them the thanks that they would appreciate."
- zazzlekdazzle
"I'm a big fan of this one. "Thanks" instead of "sorry" leaves both people feeling appreciated, more confident, and less awkward."
- peter_ym_account
"For real. 'thank you for your patience' instead of 'I'm sorry this has taken so long!' Has saved me a lot of pointless conversation and reassuring. Things go wrong or sideways, you can't change that. You can change how you deliver news!"
- animal1988
Sleep!
"Sounds dumb but going to bed on time is pretty damn amazing. I'm happier, have better discipline (make better nutrition choices, more productive at work/gym) and I'm a more patient and pleasant human in general."
- lance2k2
"Not dumb at all. The person I am (internally and externally) when I get <5 hours of sleep vs 7/8 is surprising, for all the reasons you mentioned. I’m a great sleeper and fall asleep easily, but also very sleep sensitive in that way."
- massiejs09
"My life hack is similar to yours. To reinforce going to bed on time, I started to feed my cat canned food right before I went to bed. Sure enough, after only a couple days my cat made sure I know exactly what time it is every night, and often starts his bitching early, which is sadly helps."
- SeattleTrashPanda
Don't Over Do It
"Get up at least 20 minutes earlier for work or appointments than you need to."
"This reduces stress by not feeling so "pushed" to get out the door and to show up on time."
- Back2Bach
"Yep, this has definitely worked for me. I have to be to work by 9 most days, and I used to get up at 7:30 for years. A frw months ago I set my alarm for 7, and it has been a game changer. I don't even miss that half hour of sleep."
- DirtyBirdDawg
"This doesn’t work for me. I will take a little leisure time, either before or after getting ready, and then I lose all motivation. For me, I have to basically allow myself just enough time."
- hiding-identity23
Excited To Say Hi
Tom Hanks Hello GIFGiphy"Got this from reddit, but the thing where when you greet people with enthusiasm, eventually they start to be enthusiastic back."
- AlsdousHuxley
"My colleague replies with a 'Thanks!' with an exclamation mark, regardless of how trivial or insignificant the things I'm helping him with are"
""I feel like it makes me more receptive towards him asking me for stuff, and have started using it myself when asking other colleagues for stuff"
- BlitzAceSamy
No Glugging Or Mess
"This is really dumb but when you open a box of milk or juice and you pour it on the glass it always goes like under the box and it makes a mess, but if you flip the box and pour it backwards it doesn't do that."
"A friend taught me that like a year or two ago"
- arandomalbedofan
"The same idea works when pouring oil from a plastic bottle into a car engine. If you hold the bottle so the spout is at the top rather than the bottom, the oil pours smoothly rather than 'glugging' out. Hadn't thought of using it on a box of milk or juice, but it makes sense."
- retailguy_again
Yall ... I'm about to go change my oil and try this flipped bottle thing cause ya girl is a DISASTER about that.