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People Recount The Most Inappropriate Times They Burst Out Laughing

People Recount The Most Inappropriate Times They Burst Out Laughing
Photo by Surface on Unsplash

There's nothing quite like unleashing a gale of laughter. It's soothing, it's cathartic, it brightens your mood.

But timing is everything, don't you know? You should probably watch who, what, and where you laugh... just in case.

After Redditor Mircalenik209 asked the online community, "When was there a time where you shouldn't have laughed at something, but you did?" people shared their experiences. They're pretty hilarious, if we say so ourselves.


"When I was a student nurse..."

When I was a student nurse I was asked to tell a patient that his daughter couldn't come visit him because she fell down the stairs and had broken both her arms. I could barely contain myself, because the patient was there because he had broken both his arms.

bloodymary88

"So to distract myself from crying..."

I laughed at my grandfather's funeral. Didn't shed a tear. It lead to few people ( neighbors , not family , fam knows what happened) thinking I did something bad to him.

My grandfather was bed ridden for 16 years ( his left side of the body was paralyzed) , I was 17 so basically all my life I've seen him bed ridden. And he was my best friend. He asked me not to cry and always think that God took him because he couldn't see him suffer anymore and wherever he's going he'll be happy. So to distract myself from crying I started thinking about all the good times we had and ended up laughing at one such memory. So yeah that was pretty terrible.

littlerapunzel

"His mom goes up..."

My friend's memorial service. He passed away at only 24. Obviously it's really somber and everyone is crying, his mom goes up to speak. One of my best friends who was one of his best friends used to joke about wanting to sleep with his mom. It was an ongoing dialect between them that was really hilarious.

His mom goes up, starts talking and he whispers "I still really want to motorboat your moms tits dude". Like four of us just lost it. It was extremely inappropriate and EVERYONE stopped and just looked at us. I tried to pretend I was crying to ease the tension.

Rest easy Chris, we all miss you.

uoYredruM

"I buried my face in my hands..."

It happens to me more than I care to admit, but the worst time was at my brother's memorial. An aunt we had, who was a very nice person, had got religion recently and decided to sing a gospel song. The problem was she couldn't sing at all. She got up, with no backing music and sang a really out of tune gospel song. The worst part was she took really long pauses between some of the lyrics, so people started to clap thinking she was done with the song. She wasn't. This went on for like 5 minutes. She would pause, people would start to slow clap, then she would start caterwauling again. I buried my face in my hands and people sitting behind me started consoling me because they thought I was overcome with emotion, as my shoulders were shaking violently. I did have tears running down my face though.

I still feel very bad about this.

FoxPanda32

"In high school..."

In high school we watched a play where a girl dies of a drug overdose. The girl playing the part was way over dramatic, really chewing up the scenery, and when she finally collapsed dead on her bed the theater was dead silent. A kid in the audience yelled out "oh well" and the place exploded with laughter.

hippieflipper808

"At my Uncle Bill's funeral..."

At my Uncle Bill's funeral, my Aunt Mary claimed that she had "cared for him in his darkest times". I let out a solid "HA!". Everyone turned towards me. I finished with an uncontrollable giggle, poorly hidden behind my hand and a wad of tissues. No regerts. RIP Uncle Bill. 12/17/19.

HotSpinach

When I was a kid I often found myself laughing at the most inappropriate reasons at things that were often not funny...

Case in point:

In 5th grade my class went on a field trip to see a Japanese Taiko drum performance at a local theater.

It was SO COOL, I was taken aback by how powerful the drums were.

About halfway through the performance one of the younger uber muscular Japanese American drummers came to the front of the stage and in a deep bass voice told us how he was going to sing us a song that his now dead grandfather taught him years ago. He started to tear up and rubbed away the tears.

He started singing.

It was in falsetto.

I'm not sure what it was, the song was BEAUTIFUL! but for whatever reason I felt an uncomfortable smile start forming on my lips. I panicked and internally started screaming "WHYNOW!?!WHYWHYWHYWHYWHY???" My lips parted to show my teeth and I giggled.

My teacher shot me a look and tutted under her breath and several of the girls next to me whispered that I was showing my true colors.

THE SONG WAS BEAUTIFUL!!!!

I never felt so betrayed by my body in my young life.

Years later I still think about that moment.

komenos

"In boot camp..."

In boot camp, I laughed at another recruit who was getting yelled at, because they were screaming some pretty funny s*** at him. Then they turned around to me...

CTHeinz

"I started covering my mouth..."

Back when I was around 10-11 (ish), my family went to a funeral for an aunt that passed away due to cancer. My dad wasn't really close to/liked that aunt in particular (personal issues that are too boring to go into detail) but he still went to the funeral. He wasn't making a scene or talking bad about her or anything, he was just mainly keeping to himself.

So, during a moment of silence, my cousin (her daughter) started singing the Ave Maria as an eulogy (I guess) while everyone was sitting. Quietly, dad started mock-singing in a very high-pitch tone (quiet enough not to be heard by anyone around, loud enough to be heard by me, sitting by his side).

I started covering my mouth cause I wanted to laught so hard. The more I tried to contain myself the more my dad did the high-pitch singing, up to the point that my eyes were teary. Another aunt behind me saw me; bent over, holding my stomach and my mouth and I guess she thought I was crying. She leaned over and said: "Don't worry honey, she's in a better place."

I lost my s***. I lost it so bad. It was one of those laughing fits that the more you try to contain yourself, the more you laugh. Even my cousin stopped singing and just looked at me as if I had kill her mom myself. I excused myself and got out of there fast. I waited for the rest of my family inside the car while my the rest of the family just stared daggers at me.

During the car ride, I had to explain to my mom and my sister that my dad was the one who made me laugh. My dad just answered: "she's lucky I didn't bring my trombone and do the "wa-wa" while they were putting her on the ground."

yosol

"They asked to see my manager..."

I was 18-20 and working at a department store. 3 men walked up to me and struck up a conversation while buying white button up shirts.

Apparently they were buying matching shirts for a wedding. They asked if there was a child's suit section. One of them added "The best man lost so much weight..." I cut off the sentence with a chuckle, and he finished "that he died." and looked at me like I was a monster.

They all looked really sad or mad depending on who you looked at. They apparently were going to buy a suit for the son of the deceased that was stepping in for him.

They asked to see my manager and she was really disappointed in me for laughing at a story like that. I did my best to tell her that I had no idea it was something terrible like that and I was just laughing since I thought he lost so much weight he needed a kids suit. She didn't really buy it and she didn't respect me after that.

KuromanKuro

"LOL"

emoji laughing GIF by Twitter Giphy

My dad, using 9 "laughing tears" emojis to announce that our family cat whom we love dearly had passed away.

hmssnickers

"Quiet Please...."

My sister and I at our uncles funeral. Our uncles brother-in-law started singing it was bad. Sister and I looked at each other with big stupid 'what the heck' eyes. We both cracked up but tried to play it off as crying. She and I had always been the ones to laugh at awkward situations.

FerretWarDance3

"Dear Ms Smith"

My daughter's teacher's mom died, and the sub had all of the kids make cards and asked me to drop them off, as she lived near me. I was chatting with the teacher as she looked through them and she burst out laughing and handed me one- "Dear Ms Smith, I'm sorry about your mom, but hey, we all gotta go sometime."

sunny_in_phila

"00 Dead"

When my uncle died, his casket was being lowered into the ground, and my cousin threw a flower onto the coffin and said 'from Cornwall with love', and I started laughing because it sounded like the worst James Bond film ever.

beardol

"Face Talk"

I didn't "laugh" but when I used to get uncomfortable my facial expression would look like I was smiling. I did it when my teacher was telling a sob story about herself. She got furious because she thought I was making fun of her and tried to get my family to send me off to a living facility for mentally challenged children.

daystooshort

"WEEEEE"

titanic GIF Giphy

I laughed the first time I watched titanic since my brother was going "WEEEEEE" when the boat tilted and people were sliding down it.

bethkatez

"Gassed"

Anything at the library. Stuff didn't even have to be really funny, the fact that you needed to be quiet and this not allowed to laugh was insane. You tried to suppress it but the more you do, the funnier it gets until you just have to run outside and burst into laughter because the last name of a book's author sounded like.... a fart."

GeezCmon

"there is nothing funny about this"

Once, a friend of mine got ACL reconstruction surgery and nearly died. They had mixed up the anesthesia for the spinal block and instead given her an emergency coagulant. She started having really bad seizures on the operating table and the doctors quickly put her in an induced coma. This lasted for two weeks (felt like a freaking eternity), during which they said they had no idea if the damage to her brain or other organs was permanent, or if she would ever wake up again.

The day it happened, I ended up leaving work early because I couldn't think straight, and as a result I missed a meeting I was supposed to go to. It wasn't a big deal but I had promised I would be there. The next day, a coworker asked me why I wasn't at the meeting. As I began to say that my friend was in a coma and we had no idea how bad it was but she may never wake up again, I started laughing uncontrollably. I even tried to say "there is nothing funny about this," but I just kept laughing and the coworker just looked at me in shock and confusion. I was pretty confused myself; I have never had that happen to me before or since that day. To this day I have no clue if she thought I was making up a ridiculous excuse to miss an unimportant meeting, thought I was a psychopath, or both.

My friend eventually made a full recovery, though she had to go back a second time to get the actual routine surgery she was meant to get in the first place.

EDIT: they gave her a coagulant, not an anticoagulant. If you nick a vein during a surgery and the patient starts to bleed a lot, they inject this stuff to keep them from bleeding out. This is what they accidentally put into her spine instead of anesthesia. Also corrected "spinal tap" to "spinal block." Sorry for my English!

saxiflarp

"I'm a Fool"

In my Imperial Russian History course in university, one of the books was written by a guy with the last name "Overy" which sounds the same as "ovary" and I always had to suppress a giggle because I was and am an immature little moron haha.

SmallRedBird

"Locking Eyes"

One time on a school trip, a homeless man came up to me and was asking me for money, and my teacher shouted out (very loudly, in the middle of one of Paris's busiest squares) "don't look him in the eye!" Which made the giggles I was trying to hold in from being so nervous explode out of me. I got a serious telling off (from the same teacher) for "mocking the poor."

dearsweetanon

"Dear Ma & Pa"

Work From Home Kids GIF by MOODMAN Giphy

As a kid I laughed during stressful situations, so I could barely hold it in when my parents were confronting me about almost flunking out of school.

kingofthepenguins777

"Flying Laughs"

Our entire 7/8 grade class (small catholic school) lost its shit when the teacher decided, in her infinite wisdom, to give a class about "flying buttresses." Every time she said it, we erupted into laughter. I still can't hear the word 22 years later without stifling a laugh.

elisabeth_hudson

"Feeling the Feels"

I still laugh during high stress situations. I have it under control but still will laugh as my first reaction to things, before I have time to process it and ponder it.

When my grandfather died when I was 10, my parents picked me up from my aunt and uncle's and went to my grandma. I don't remember all of it, but I remember my dad and I not playing around but he was making me laugh. They did tell me my grandfather died, but I hadn't processed it and just I was laughing.

My grandmother was extremely angry and basically shunned me for a couple of years. When I went home that night and saw the CD that I had borrowed from my grandfather on my desk, I broke down. I was crying hard and was very hurt.

Moral of the story is that my initial reaction may be laughing but it's not my first thoughts and feelings.

Frenchy4life

"Like a Sack of Potatoes"

Donating blood in college with a friend. We finish and go to the table for snacks where they have people to watch you, to make sure you don't pass out.

Well, my friend is 6'2" or something and meaty. We have a juice box and get ready to go. We both stand up and.... the life drains from his face and falls over like a sack of potatoes.... on top of another much smaller kid. Whelp I lose it and laugh like a hyena (to be faaaaaair I was also a bit light headed and out of it).

A nurse maybeeee 5 ft 100 pounds comes over and starts trying to roll my friend over , who is still unconscious on top of this poor kid who only went there to give blood.

He wakes up a minute later still on top of this dude, and I'm still laughing it up. The nurses then all give me the stink eye like I was somehow at fault here. I'm not a big guy and doubt I'd have been able to help even if I wasn't weak from donating. So I slink out of there with a smile on my face still but trying to hide it from the entire room now watching this scene play out with concern for my friend.

He's fine btw. And I love this story. 10/10 would laugh again.

hogtiedcantalope

"I know that Look"

Not me, but while we were watching a documentary about the KKK in school, and a klan member shows the camera his robes, the class weirdo said, "hey, my dad has that same jersey in his closet!" My friend lost it. I mean, he was wheezing and crying of laughter, but he tried to cover It up by pulling his shirt up. The teacher was so tired of him she didn't even care, so she tried to ignore it.

spider_rico_is_a_bum

"Face First"

Baby Reaction GIF Giphy

Once when I was about, say, four I slammed my face against my driveway knocking out my two front teeth. I was laughing the entire half hour my dad was freaking out with my bloody mouth.

Still to this day I don't know how I was able to laugh when I should've been crying in the scenario.

Edit: why the hell is my most upvoted thing a comment about my yeeting my two front teeth?

Silver-Scythe12

"Brother/Grandpa"

At my grandfather's funeral, my uncle named all of the grandkids by name and how they took on certain attributes of my grandfather. He named everyone but my middle brother and when he looked at me to say "WTF!!" I laughed, and so did my other brother.

J0NAN

"Can't Stop"

A friend told me her grandma had terminal cancer, just a few minutes prior something funny had happened and it was still in my head. I started laughing about the funny thing, then realized how unbelievably inappropriate it was to be laughing at that moment, which just made me laugh harder. It was a vicious cycle that ended in a lot of apologizing.

millivanillalatte

"Tic-Tac Cool"

I was in my low teens, maybe 13 or 14, and with my mom in the drive through at taco bell. We had just ordered, and pulled away from the speaker, when mom just.... Rear ends the people in front of us. No real reason other than the fact that mom can't freaking drive worth a crap. Never has been. So there we are, clogging up the line, mom's doing what she's suppose to, and I don't know how much was embarrassment and how much was the ridiculousness and absurdity of it... I MEAN COME ON! REALLY? AT A DAMN SNAIL'S PACE IN THE DRIVE THROUGH, AND ITS NOT LIKE YOU DIDN'T FREAKING SEE THEM!!!!

And mom asks me to look in the glovebox for some paper or other, which I do not find. But I do find a box of tic tac, which for some reason is suddenly hilarious to me, like the icing on the cake, and I cannot stop laughing. I'm certain this pisses mom off to no end, and looking back I feel terrible about it, but I just laughed and laughed, and offered mom a tic tac.

reyemanivad

"The Cackler"

This girl in 8th grade used to pick on me like it was her job and she got everyone on my case too. One day, she was rocking back and forth in her chair and leaned too far back. Before she fell backwards, she threw herself forward and ended up hitting herself in the mouth. She lost 3 of her top front teeth, legit swallowed them. Blood everywhere.

I cackled.

anoukdaae

"Windshield Art"

waving home alone GIF by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Giphy

My mom picked me up from school during winter. As I got into the car, she started telling me that my dad had a heart attack. However I began laughing, because someone had drawn a massive penis in the snow on a teacher's windshield.

It was so detailed that it took genuine talent. My mom thought I was crying, I just pointed to the penis and she started laughing as well.

supertacoboy

"Signs"

I was in an empty mall and I saw some kid run face first into a sign and basically clotheslined himself and I laughed so loud. It echoed through the whole mall. The mom was pissed but I just couldn't help it.

Cassie_1991

"PIZZA! PIZZA!"

tobias funke space GIF Giphy

I watched a kid from a ski lift that definitely was just learning to ski screaming while bombing a slope and a couple seconds later a man following her yelling "PIZZA! PIZZA!" She ended up running into a fence at the bottom and looked okay when I made it down there so I didn't feel as bad laughing anymore.

DJConwayTwitty

"Where is my Camera?"

We were going home from school. One of my classmates fell down the stairs like, well, a log. She didn't bend, put a leg or hands forward, nothing. Imagine one person simply rotating forward and falling down the stairs (there were only 3 so she didn't got hurt). She was lucky that only I and a few friends were around to see it and we are good friends with her so we didn't tell it to anyone else too much. I still wish I filmed it

DaryCDN

"Hellbound"

Funeral GIF by memecandy Giphy

During my grandmother's funeral. The preacher's going on about how we'll see her again in heaven, when my brother leaned over and whispered "but not you."

6ferretsInATrumpSuit

"Sisterly Love"

I work in healthcare. A few years ago I was meeting with a 60-something year-old patient and their family member - both female - who for whatever reason I assumed was her adult daughter since they looked quite alike. We were wrapping up the appointment and were cracking a few light jokes. Addressing the patient's family member, I said something along the lines of "You must get that from your mother", referring to the patient. The patient cocked her head to one side and firmly stated, "She isn't my daughter, she's my sister." Before I had comprehended the gravity of that statement, I reflexively let out a laugh and smile that insinuated, 'that was a funny joke, you look 30 years older than her!'

They did not smile back. The patient proceeded to explain that the person she brought with her to this appointment was her older sister. However, since this patient did not take care of herself and appeared to be generations older than her healthy older sister, I had made the fatal mistake of assuming it was her adult daughter. Needless to say I didn't exactly bounce back from that one and actually felt quite badly for hurting her feelings.

No-contact-4811

"Raincoat Required"

A coworker informed me that he'd be picking up more shifts because he accidentally knocked up a woman he didn't even like.

I snorted, then quickly followed with "sorry that's terrible man".

His own fault. If it's going to rain, put on a raincoat kids.

AllBadAnswers

"That's My Girl"

Yes, and I still feel bad. I came into a co-workers office, saw a picture of this little girl, probably 10-ish. Hair messed up, thick glasses, clothes that had zero chances of matching.

I say to him, "WTF is that" Laughing really hard

He answers "It's my daughter"

I'm like a deer in headlights. I thought it was a possible gag, other's had been placing really weird pictures on peoples desks saying it's family, etc. All as practical jokes. This was no joke.

TheStavis

"CRAZY"

crazy nicolas cage GIF Giphy

My friend texted that a kid we went to high school with had died. I think what I meant to reply was "omg that's crazy" and what my phone sent was "hahahalol that's crazy." Upon realizing, I couldn't stop actually laughing.

Expert__Witness

"Give me a Hand"

I saw a news story about someone walking down the street and found half an arm, hand still attached, on the sidewalk. They picked it up and it was still warm. Contacted police and they said "we've been looking for that!"

Apparently someone was riding in a car with their arm out the window. A random hobo emerges from the brush and cuts off the arm and then throws it somewhere.

Obviously that's not a laughing matter but the sheer randomness of that happening caused me to laugh in surprise.

Liteboyy

"I'm a Potty Person"

When I was about 9, my mom found one of my cassette tapes that I used with my tape recorder. It was FULL of potty humor. My mom was SUPER against potty humor.

So, she called me down and my heart SANK when I saw my tape recorder on the table and the look on her face meant I was going to get beat with a belt. I also knew it was coming because she had a belt sitting on the table too.

She told me to sit down and listen to it. And she pressed play. And I had to listen to recordings of me telling stories that were FULL of super creative but gross potty humor stories. Like the worst. While my mom glared at me.

And a few made me start snickering. I couldn't help it. I thought they were just too damn funny, even though I KNEW I was going to get beat worse just for laughing.

Spookyredd

"XXXX + 1"

At my great grandmother's funeral, during the eulogy the officiant listed her survivors as "WinifredBarkle and her husband xxxx" this issue being that xxxx was my little brother and we were about 14 and 10 respectively. The whole first row started giggling and people farther back shushed us angrily. It became a running joke that it was official since the pastor said it.

WinifredBarkle

"Finally"

My friend had called me and left a voicemail of my phone. He told me to call ASAP. This was weird because normally he calls me a fool or something on the phone. I end up going to his house since I thought something was wrong. He is sitting there on the chair and his wife was on the couch. He tells me that they are getting a divorce and that they need my help. (I'm an attorney). Well I laugh and say "well it's about time," since I thought he was joking. She ends up busting into tears and had me feeling like an moron.

bahansen10

"God's Connection"

My wife's grandmother died. There we are in church waiting for things to start, and I noticed they had a wifi router up in the rafters. I made a comment about it because I was sort of surprised to see it (been a while since I had been in a church), and my wife's uncle says "hey do you know why catholics hate wifi? They can't stand the thought of an invisible higher power that actually works." So yeah, right then.

Davran

"Air Sickness"

Vomit Reaction GIF by moodman Giphy

All.... the.... time! My go to reaction is to laugh. Pissed off a lot of people that way.

Picked up a friend at the airport and she had gotten sick on the plane and threw up everywhere. When she was telling me about it I laughed instead of commiserated with her. Almost lost a friend that day.

MedievalHag

"Freaking Really?"

I was working as a 4K Assistant Teacher and one of my students had a lot of emotional issues. Swearing, kicking, punching, screaming, etc. if something happened he didn't like.

One day we were having snack, and he'd had a really good morning. It was string cheese for snack and we always encourage the kids to do things for themselves so I asked him to open it himself.

He "tried" to open it and after a few seconds he casually tossed it on the table and said in a completely normal tone, "I freaking hate dis."

The casualness of the word "freaking" coming out of a 4yo's mouth was hilarious to me and I laughed but totally shouldn't have.

SchoolOfTheWolf93

"Mic Check"

A few years back, my sister was doing a play with her theater group. One of her friends was doing a scene or something (idk what the hell they're called), and in this scene, she was walking to the front of the stage and singing. Well she walked off the stage! About a 4 and a half foot fall. Well my dumb fool started laughing so hard I fell out of my front row seat. Little did I know the the girls headset mic had come off her head and landed right in front of me. So Then the whole damn auditorium could hear me wheezing like I was gonna die. Fun times, no regrets!

itsssollie

"ICED"

I laughed at my husband for falling on an ice rink. It was super funny until he said he thought he broke his arm and his poor arm was just dangling there all gross. I felt bad for laughing after that, but he understood.

bojeanerrs

"Got Wood?"

toy story swag GIF Giphy

Christmastime. This little kid got a Woody doll from Toy Story. He was running around telling everyone "Look, I got a woody!"

Llama_Mia

People Describe The Creepiest Things They Ever Witnessed As A Kid

"Reddit user -2sweetcaramel- asked: 'What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?'"

Four mistreated baby dolls are hung by barb wire
Photo by J Lopez

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

tsunami GIF Giphy

"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

Scared The Launch GIF by CTV Giphy

"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

Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN Giphy

"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.

Woman stressed at work
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

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

But some jobs are much harder than they look.

Redditor CeleryLover4U asked:

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

Customer Service

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

- gwarrior5

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

- Conscious_Camel4830

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

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

- First-Combination-12

High Stakes

"A pharmacist."

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

- VaeSapiens

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

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

- Worth_University_884

Teaching Woes

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

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

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

- bq87

Creativity Is "Easy"

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

- rubberduckyis

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

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

- whitepepper

Care Fatigue Is Real

"Care work."

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

- MangoMatiLemonMelon

Physical Labor Generally Wins

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

- anachronistika

Their Memory Banks Must Be Wild

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

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

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

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

- Yak-Mak-5000

Professional Cooking

"Being a chef."

- Canadian_bro7

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

- ChuckDeBongo

Team Leading, Oof

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

- Counterboudd

Not a Pet Sitter At All

"Veterinary Technician."

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

- forthegoddessathena

Harder Than It Looks!

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

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

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

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

- Joebroni1414

Twiddling Thumbs and Listening

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

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

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

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

- mylovelanguageiswine

Constant Updates

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

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

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

- GlizzyMcGuire_

Performing Is Not Easy

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

- ThrowRA1r3a5

All About Perception

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

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

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

- DrHugh

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

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

Left-handed person holding a Sharpie
Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

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

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

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

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

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

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

If only manufacturers appealed to an ambidextrous world.

Furniture Obstacle

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

– Prussian__Princess

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

– earwighoney

Everyday Objects For Everyday People

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

– J0rdan_24

Dangerous Tools

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

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

– diegojones4

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

Sports Disadvantage

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

– AjCheeze

No Future In Softball

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

– Leftover-Cheese

Find A Glove That Fits

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

– BowlerSea1569

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

– Jef_Wheaton

These examples are understandably annoying.

Shocking Observation

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

– UsefulIdiot85

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

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

– SilverGladiolus22

Can't Admire The Mug

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

– vanetti

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

– Bubbly-Anteater7345

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

– Material-Imagination

The Writing On The Wall

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

– darkjedi39

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

– dancingbanana123

Immeasurable

"Rulers."

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

– fourangers

Just Can't Win

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

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

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

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

"Ole Righty, always keeping us down."

– igenus44

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

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

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

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

Word.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Tiny Issue Of Water...

"Absolutely not."

"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649

Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...

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

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

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

"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep

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

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

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

Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen Giphy

What Do You Mean Allow?

"I have no choice."

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

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

Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way

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

Hug GIF by The BarkPost Giphy

Who Needs An Alarm Clock?

"I let my two cats sleep with me."

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

"And so do I."

"We've all developed a lil routine."

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

Whose Bed Is It Anyway?

"Yes."

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

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

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

"Would not come out."

"Got some food and some water in dishes."

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

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

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

"She was too busy eating."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"She would not go."

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

"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588

sleepy kitten GIF Giphy

Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...

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

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

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

Saying No Just Isn't An Option...

"'Let'."

"Lol."

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

Felines Only!

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

Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official Giphy

Is That My Hair On That Pillow?

"My dog is perfect."

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

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

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

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

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