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When Your Gut Feeling Is Right

When Your Gut Feeling Is Right

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Things Foreigners Should Avoid While Visiting The U.S.

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Tourists Explain Which Cities They Would Never Visit Again

People Who Take Late Night Walks Describe The Scariest Thing They've Ever Seen

People Who Take Late Night Walks Describe The Scariest Thing They've Ever Seen

Unbelievably Entitled People

Unbelievably Entitled People

Scarred For Life: "I Wasn't Meant To See That"

Scarred For Life: "I Wasn't Meant To See That"

People Describe The Worst Thing They've Ever Seen A Tourist Do

People Describe The Worst Thing They've Ever Seen A Tourist Do
Photo by Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash

Some years ago, I remember seeing someone try to crawl over a barricade atop the Empire State Building. This person––a man in his thirties, or thereabouts––was immediately stopped. Was it a suicide attempt? No, thankfully. They simply wanted to see what the ground would look like from 1,250 feet up. Needless to say, he was escorted away (and probably would be thrown into jail for being stupid, were it possible to jail people for being stupid). Let's just say his attempt to look down could have ended very, very badly.

People told us all about their experiences with terrible tourists after Redditor chimacuhama asked the online community,

"If you live in an area heavily visited by tourists, what is the dumbest thing you've seen tourists do?"

"Every summer..."

"Venice, Italy.

Please for the love of God, do not swim in the canals, the water is so dirty, polluted and it smells. Every summer I see some tourists swimming or washing their feet in them and it boggles my mind.

Trust me you don't want to touch that water, ever."

JustALIttlePissedOff

Okay, that's just nasty. The mere thought of getting into a grimy canal sends a shudder up my spine.

"I had to go out..."

​"I grew up in a beach town.

On one occasion I was chilling on the beach and this couple next to me was getting smashed.

They had a 3-4-year-old. So while they were getting blackout drunk their child was playing in the water unsupervised. She had a floaty vest but that was it. The current started taking this child out to sea. I had to go out and get her."

​cleaningmeaning

Do people seriously not realize that the ocean is perhaps the most powerful and dangerous form on earth?

"I have seen..."

"I have seen way too many tourists in Florida try to pet wildlife."

imastranger

Definitely not a smart idea... I mean... this is Florida, we're talking about.

"This was in a city park..."

​"I've seen a guy climb down into an active geothermal hotspot to scoop boiling mud into a plastic container. He looked so pleased with himself, too.

This was in a city park that had a legal disclaimer and body count at the gate."

​i-throw-socks-at-cat

Take it from me... people don't read. Ever. They walk past signs like nothing.

"Basically..."

"I work at an aquarium near the beach. One day a couple came in holding a cup and explained to me that they had found a crab on the beach. They were concerned that he was in distress and were not sure how to best take care of it, so they brought it to me. I look at the cup and see a very dead hermit crab.

Basically, they kidnapped a crab from his home, drowned him in a cup full of Ozarka bottled water, and gave him to me to throw away."

fruitsuitriot

Crazy Historical Events That Sound Fake But Are 100% True | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

"It always baffles me..."

"There were a couple of tourists who decided that it would be a good idea to stand directly in the path of the Queen's guard to take a selfie with them. Those guys don't stop for anyone, they will walk through you if they have to. I've seen so many videos of it happening online but I never thought I'd get to see it with my own eyes. Man, the look on their faces when they got yelled at to move out the way... it was like a weird mixture of terror and offence. Like they completely expected them to stop and pose or something.

It always baffles me that people seem to forget that they are actual soldiers and not just some guys playing dress up for the sake of tourists."

CookiesChoco

"A tourist with a baby..."

​"Live close enough to Banff that I visit regularly. A tourist with a baby in a snuggly on her chest got out of her car in a bear jam, walked up to the bear, and tried to hand it an orange."

​NZT-48Rules

Contrary to what some of you might believe from television, actual bears are nothing like Yogi Bear.

​"Try to get a close-up..."

​"Try to get a close-up photo of a rattlesnake. Guess what the rattle noise means?"

PoorCorrelation

"Luckily..."

"I've seen someone start walking towards a bison with the intention of petting it. Luckily a park ranger noticed too and quickly put an end to the suicide by buffalo attempt."

ZerenTheUnskilled

"Grew up in Oxford..."

"Grew up in Oxford in the UK and a lot of tourists hop over from London for a day of looking at old university buildings. One set of American tourists wandering along were overheard saying something like "you can really see the early American influence on the architecture" about buildings that predate the whole country."

endorspire

Tourists never fail to amaze me. Here's a simple rule before you go traveling anywhere: Educate yourself.

Educate yourself on some local customs and the dos and donts of being out in public (and especially when you're out in the woods).

And for heaven's sake, don't pet the wildlife.

Have some stories of your own? Feel free to tell us in the comments below!


From Your Site Articles

Things People Secretly Love But Would Never Admit To In Public

Reddit user sweet_chick283 asked: 'What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?;

Collection of VHS tapes
Bruno Guerrero/Unsplash

What makes us all unique is our passions and the things we love, whether it's singing in the shower, reading books, or listening to specific music artists.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are judged for our various tastes and interests thanks to social media, and it makes us consciously selective about sharing the things we love on the internet.

Curious to hear about people's personal desires under anonymity, Redditor sweet_chick283 asked:

"What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?"

These aren't really chores for the following Redditors.

Good Clean Fun

"Mopping, im a janitor and generally hate my work... but damn mopping is so good."

– MrDDog06

"When you have a great rhythm going it is something special. I get the same feeling while I vacuum, but won’t let my wife know I enjoy it."

– Bogus_34

Act Of Unwrinkling

"Ironing clothes. A dozen of them. Can’t explain how it relaxes me. I told one person and they looked at me like I’m crazy."

– eerie_white_glow

"My mum misses the days when dad would be out on a Friday night, my brother out with friends and me upstairs quietly playing PS1. She would pour herself a Bacardi & Coke and do the ironing while watching her TV shows."

"I'm sure she doesn't really miss it now that we've moved out and they've retired but it was her wind-down after a busy working week so I can see how people can find it relaxing."

– xdq

Our solo actions can spark joy.

Big Brother Is Watching

"pretending to be on the Truman show and whenever im in my house i act all inconspicuous so they dont know that i know that they’re watching me."

– Bec_121

"C’mon man, you’re not supposed to let him know. You signed a contract when signing up for live views. I’m reporting you."

– doeswaspsmakehoney

The Multi-Tasker

"Playing video games naked at home while eating cheese."

– thickening_agent

Releasing The Kraken

"I love the feeling when you've eaten good fibre and let out a solid long train log in the toilet. That feeling is heavenly."

– therapoootic

"Even better when it’s a clean wipe and not a poo crayon."

– TheWarmestHugz

Ultimate Comfort

"My (male 41) weekend routine is coming home from work, make hot chocolate, start a fire, dress in a ugly pink nightgown made for old ladies and watch forensic files."

– crazyloomis

Some people are obsessed with collecting things.

So Kawai

"Sanrio stationery stores. All those different multicolor pens, a thousand kinds of erasers, spiral bound notebooks galore... my kids sadly have absolutely no appreciation for this wonderland..."

– HavingNotAttained

It's A Staple

"Office supplies have a weird, special place in my heart ever since I was a kid. They don't even have to be 'cute' necessarily."

"Japan's legendary stationery stores is unironically a reason I want to go."

– _CozyLavender_

Not Caring Anymore

"The older I get the shorter that list gets. Not because I love less things, but because I don't care about hiding it."

– Bi-Beast

"YES!! I'm 53 now. I'm working my first job in public since 2006. Today is Halloween and we're allowed to dress up so I am sitting here waiting to go to work dressed as a VERY bad Wednesday Addams. My bf said I'd 'look stupid' because no one else will probably dress up and I'm like, 'WHO CARES!' My makeup looks horrible and not like I practiced, but I DO NOT CARE! I'm having fun with it anyhow and I don't care if my coworkers dress up or not. I'm bein' ME! :)"

– deanie1970

Honorable mentions start here.

The Savior

"Picking up worms from the street and sidewalks when it rains and moving them into the dirt so they don’t burn in the sun, every time it rains I do this."

– sky_kitten89

Hero Of The Moment

"Yoooo I scoot SO many snails and worms. I work as a tech/mechanic at an automotive shop, I had a peoject car towed to my house the other day and it was covered in snails. I saw them when the tow guy/coworker was unloading and I was like, 'oh! It comes with free snails!' and began moving them. He laughed then realized and said, '... Oh, you're serious. Uh... Okay.'"

"I don't care who knows it. These little things barely can look out for themselves, why shouldn't we if we can take a moment to help? I don't care what happens next, it probably doesn't matter overall but I can help this moment."

– chris14020

Why should some of the hidden desires mentioned above have to be secret?

Redditors opening up about some of these would make them a hit at parties–no shaming.

As a matter of fact, I'll totally be down for a Forensic Files viewing party where we all make hot chocolate, light the fireplace, and cozy up together in our respective pink ugly nightgowns for old ladies.

secret

Historical Events So Ridiculous They Sound Made Up

historical reenactors
Sigmund on Unsplash

We've probably all heard some variation of the saying "Truth is stranger than fiction."

Real life isn't just strange, it can also be downright ridiculous.

History is riddled with moments of absurdity.

So ridiculous that people have a hard time believing real life is, well, really real.

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history

The Most Embarrassing Things People Have Ever Googled

woman in black long sleeve shirt covering her face
Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash

I freely admit I'm of a certain age where my primary education occurred before the age of the internet—when our questions were answered with conversations with experts, encyclopedias or knowing how to use card catalogs.

My knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System is largely useless today.

Research is drastically different now—sorry Melvil Dewey. Internet search engines quickly became the difference between occasionally finding an outdated version of the information we were looking for and rarely not finding current information on the most obscure of topics.

Unless your Google game is super weak, you're likely to find what you're looking for or something close to it unlike the good old days when our chances were hit or mis—with lots of misses.

So what do we use this amazing, life-changing tool for?

Well...

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technology