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The Worst Thing That's Ever Happened To People On Their Birthday

The Worst Thing That's Ever Happened To People On Their Birthday
Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

A birthday, all told, is just another day.

Birthdays are just as subject to bad luck as any other day of the year. It feels more personal because it's your day. But it's not--it's just the randomness of the universe making you randomly suffer.

CitrusBay asked:

What's the worst thing that happened to you on your birthday?

Here were some of those answers.

Carmen's Mom... Needs Help

drunk on one GIF Giphy

When I turned 15 there was a girl who lived in my apartment complex who I'd flirt with from time to time. On my 18th birthday her mom drunkenly tried to have sex with me. While Stacy's mom may have had it going on, I can assure you that Carmen's mom did not.

rhett342

Just Awful To A Child

Everyone ignored me and quite some people got gifts for my mom, then I sat in my room and cried. I got scolded for crying and everyone told me to grow up. I was 12.

halfmvsquaredtimesd

A Sixteen Candles Situation

So growing up we were poor, lived on a trailer, and not white in the south. My tenth birthday was coming up, and I really wanted a party. A real one like you see on TV shows and whatnot. So I invite everyone in my grade.

The day comes and my dad and I go out and get pizza, and cake, balloons, the whole shebang.

No one showed up.

But my mom, thinking she could save it, invites her friends kids, one was seven, one was a kid who just was super annoying. My older sister invites her friends.

The seven year old totally took over the party, even blew out my candles. My sister and her friends just holed up in our room so I didn't even have a place to get away from the annoying kid, so I spent the afternoon trying to look like I was having fun so my dad wasn't sad.

Or when I was 13 my iguana died. Either one sucked.

finitedreamer

Def Not Suspicious

My best friend told me he and my GF weren't going to meet me after I got off work because they were going camping for the weekend, just the two of them.

simplyshaun

Just A Little Nicer

I tried to arrange a 19th birthday party over facebook. No-one showed. Sat in a pub alone on uni campus feeling like a right idiot.

My birthdays are generally nicer than that though.

Poore_Yorick

Too Much Emotional Labor

Not anywhere near as bad as some of the comments in this post but in new flat that me and a bunch of friends moved into one of my flatmates had a birthday about 3 weeks before me. everyone made a big fuss about all chipping in money to pay for nice presents ($30 each) then we "had" to go to a fancy restaurant for dinner because the birthday girl had been talking about it. in total the 5 people that lived in the flat spent about $120 each to make the birthday happen (we all had decent paying jobs so we didn't mind splurging once in awhile)


I brought up the fact before we committed that my birthday was next and that we were setting a pretty expensive bar for birthdays in the flat and that it may not be sustainable if everyone had one like this. My flatmates assured me that everyone would get a nice birthday regardless.

my birthday rocked up and I never received any gifts, or dinner, or happy birthdays in person. personally I never wanted to make it a thing.

I would have been happy to get some McDonald's for dinner to be honest. as I was going to bed I heard my flatmates I the other room obviously check facebook (though I couldn't see) and see that it was my birthday and that none of them had made an effort. about 30 seconds later I got happy birthday messages from all of them.

it was the last time I put any real effort into helping them with anything.

ThatKiwiBloke

Externalized Awkward

Excited Happy Birthday GIF Giphy

This happened last year.

I had a huge party, invited about 30 people. At that time it seemed fun but that wasn't even the worst part.

I invited my best friend, I haven't seen her in 2 months at that point. I know that is not that long but before that we used to see each other everyday and then we couldn't meet each other during summer vacations so it felt really long.

I was really excited to see her obviously, I also felt a little nervous. I finally mustered up the courage to go and talk to her, I went to her to talk and she just said "Im sorry, this is awkward" and she walked away. That hurt. This happened at the start of the party so I was pretty upset throughout the rest of the party.

But I don't really blame her, she didn't talk to anyone much at the party as she was going through some tough times. At that time I didn't know that though.

DarkRiderPB

OUCH For Wine

I had a date over for dinner on my 21st birthday this year. We discovered I, not being a functioning adult, lacked a bottle opener for the wine. We then embarked on a several-block walk to Target, purchasing and returning with a crappy little bottle opener.

Alas, it had a sturdy plastic zip-tie which fastened the screw inside.

Again, I'm a schmuck, and could not locate my own pair of scissors. Already being stoned, I resolved to stab the plastic repeatedly with my roommate's butcher knife. I was eventually successful with significant force, but the knife plunged forwards and I bisected by entire left pointer finger, requiring a dozen stitches.

A jagged, to-this-day nerve-sensitive scar will help identify my body in any hypothetical future mass casualty incidents, so I've got that going for me - which is nice. At least six different medical personnel throughout the night joked, "Did you at least get any wine?" My date stuck with me in the emergency room until five in the morning - and I still got laid afterwards.

DudeAbides101

Search Party

5 years old. My best friend with social anxiety who lived in the next town over got overwhelmed by the large amount of kids at the party. He tried to run away and got in the car with somebody that knew him and decided to give him a ride home. This was before cellphones and gps tracking of children.

My parents panicked and called the cops and like 50 people got in their vehicles to search for this kid. When he got to his house his parents called mine to inform them of what happened. They all moved shortly after. Super weird...

good-wolf

It's A Way To Change Your Friend Group

I was friends with a narcissist for most of my life. Little did I know that one of the extremely f*cked up things they like to do is ruin birthdays.

They do this because they believe they should be the center of the universe and it pains them to see other people happy, because they don't care about anyone but themselves. You having a birthday is stealing their "spotlight."

I've made plans like going out of town only to be ditched. Like they tried to give me some bull about how they "don't feel like going" at the last second when the night before they pretended like they were pumped. Or they just turned their phone off the entire day when they practically invited themselves.

I don't have friends anymore because of this. I got sick of it. I got to the point where if someone tries to ruin my birthday, they're getting beat up.

IMissDiningOut

Sucks

Kim Kardashian Crying GIF Giphy

My parents forgot once. They were under a lot of stress at the time so as an adult I understand. As a kid though, felt pretty bad.

teflonPrawn

Without Them

I don't live with my parents, only with my grandparents. I am still in touch with them (they are divorced) but they never called or anything like that on my birthday but I got through it. This summer I going to be 18 and I really hope, they realize that and at least message me.

NepoMi

Paid for by....

I paid for my parents birthday gift to me.

Haven't talked to my parents in years, I'm in therapy, getting my meds sorted because growing up like that did a number on my own mental health. Have a kid but kiddo doesn't really know them, and friends parents and other family have been great and stepped up to be surrogate grandparents. I just think I've dealt with everything and then there is that one reddit comment that shows me that there are still things I haven't realized are incredibly messed up.

nyamzzz

Can I be 16 Again?

My 17th, my parents picked the day to tell my sister and I they were separating. Mine since have been a card and $25 per parent. They have never even adjusted for inflation! Not once! Ever! (runs off to play My Chemical Romance).

LostNTheNoise

Hey, my 19th was similar! They called to tell me the divorce was finalized. They'd hated each other for years and could have done it any date, but why not ruin someone else's day at the same time?

aqua_rogue

Over the Years

I got married.

It wasn't a bad thing at the time. It was a joke between me and my future ex wife. She could never remember my birthday, and when we were talking about a date for the wedding one of us (and I don't remember which) said "hey... maybe this will help make the date memorable for a change!"

So we got hitched on my birthday (in Vegas), and everything was cool. Our 2nd Anniversary/my birthday was cool as well.

Our third anniversary was the weekend she moved out. Happy freaking birthday, huh? But it gets worse. She was having an affair (shocking, I know) and in a rare moment of attempted reconciliation she offered to take me out to dinner to smooth over the pain of the birthday/anniversary weekend.

I accepted her invitation. Just about halfway through the appetizers, I asked how she found out about this nice restaurant we were in. "Oh, it's me and (new boyfriend's) favorite restaurant!" Jesus Freaking Christmas are you serious? The rest of the meal was brief and uncomfortable.

gogojack

Off to England

My parents decided to scoot their trip to England right over my 18th birthday for their anniversary that same month.... their anniversary was 3 weeks after my birthday so I ended up buying my own cake and the dog ate half of it the next day accidentally.

iwantthemavocados

When in China

On my 14th birthday I got stuck in a train somewhere in China during a power outage. No lights, no air conditioning, no flushing toilets, no open windows or doors for about four hours... with food poisoning.

garysredditaccount

This one should be at the top.

GooseG00s3

Flames

birthday falling GIF Giphy

On my 5th birthday my hair caught on fire while blowing out my candles, then I fell down the stairs. If you all have better spacial awareness than a clumsy 5 year old, you should be okay. Good luck, and happy birthday!

Soupcindy

Oh Well

My parents just forgot, I was 12. After that any birthday was usually forgotten or they just said happy birthday at some point of the day. Can't still celebrate my birthday with my partner it's too much for me. No other reason than bad parenting send me in some bad times when I was teenager. I'm great now though. Sorry I think I just had to let it out here.

mienczaczek

Six Flags

old man GIF Giphy

My mom chose the day after my 20th birthday to tell me in exact terms why she and my dad were splitting up. I had thought that I knew why, seeing as I've basically been her therapist since I was in middle school, but apparently there were some things I didn't know. This was on the way to pick up my sister who'd been caught stealing at Six Flags. I don't celebrate my birthday anymore.

1moreflickeringlight

Fevers

I got pneumonia. My parents messed up not taking me to a doctor. Coughed up stuff for two weeks straight until my throat and lungs started bleeding after having a really high fever the day of my birthday. Would have been nice to have gotten antibiotics.

Achylife

Pops

My grandpa died on my 19th birthday.

caringbliss

Mine died 9 days before my 12th. Greatest man I've ever known. Named my son after him. I feel you though.

grandelusions

My grandpa died just 28 days after I was born. He held me once and that was the day before he passed away.

NepoMi

February

My job caught fire.

It was a family business and I worked there for eight years.

This was in February.

NantheCowdog

Good Luck?

Sh*t on by a bird, and hit on the head with a baseball bat. Fun times.

DavidsTea07

See Scared

I was 14 my parents do their usual crap, went out got drunk come back about 5pm started fighting each other, my brothers were scared I was scared. When fists weren't good enough, out came missiles books, ash trays or whatever was at hand, but then my mother pulled her party trick.... the knife. Eventually she rang the cops to remove my father from the house. After this i then got a kicking off her cause I told her my youngest brother was scared. This was to show me what being scared is like.

l649a649

20 for the better....

I had to work all day then I got a speeding ticket on my way home only to find my cat died... Turning 19 was awful.

manboobsonfire

Across Time....

I was in the navy and we crossed the international dateline skipping it completely. We crossed at 11pm so the day just came off the calendar and I went to bed on the 2nd and woke up on the 4th.

Pencilowner

Whiskers

cats hugging GIF Giphy

My 20-year-old cat died.

Spicycatlady_

My five year old cat died on my birthday last week /: she ate a piece of string and died.

Sockie_boy

I Love Grandma

My grandma died on my 16th birthday. I knew she had been sick with what we thought was a cold. I called her that morning and thanked her for the flute she had bought me because it was more than my parents could ever had afforded and I really needed an open hole to qualify at all state that year. When I came home from school I was informed she had died and that cold was actually a severe fungal infection in her lungs. The next day I attended an honor choir where we exclusively sang funerary songs from around the world.

Birthdays still suck because my grandma was the person I was closest to in life. She lived across the country from me but I called her twice a week and she sent me a package with little trinkets and books and treats every month and made sure I was able to pursue my musical hobbies. I regret going to all state instead of her funeral. I am thankful the last thing I said to her was "I love you".

qrowess

Nana rub....

On my 12th birthday I was sick so I was left home alone while my mom took my sisters out for my birthday dinner. Only upside was that my Nana dropped me some vapor rub to help me breathe.

SAPPER2104

Evil Mom

When I turned 16 my mom told me she was embarrassed of how fat I was. (I was 23% body fat, a competitive swimmer, and I am female.) She canceled my party and forced me to go to a weight watchers meeting. On the way there, someone coming down a driveway lost control of their car and side swiped us on my side. I spent the rest of the night in the hospital having tests.

vixinboots

Everyone Hates Charlotte

I (9f) went to an aquarium with my 6 friends, now i have a very stuck up clumsy friend who i will call Charlotte. Charlotte has caused me many issues through our friendship, but this day i will never forget. We get to the aquarium and everyone is so excited to see the penguins, polar pears etc.

We see them, and everyone is enjoying themselves and is having the time of their lives. Not Charlotte though, the whole time she is complaining that it is " Too cold " and that she is bored. This is itself isn't that bad just very annoying, it gets bad when my Mom brings out the cake she made for me.

It was an ice-aged themed cake, because i was obsessed with one i had seen in a cake store so she remade it for me. Charlotte is furious that my cake is pretty amazing, because apparently her cake at her birthday was just plain and average. So after i have blown out the candles, she proceeds to stick her entire fist into my cake and smash it until it is a big white mess. Then she complains that she got cake all over her and it was my fault. That entitled witch ruined my special day, my cake and she some how decides to blame it on me? Smh.

escap3withme

Tardy Days

One year we all forgot it. I worked all day, my parents both had work, and it was my 17th bday so it was no milestone. It was also in the middle of summer which made the days blend together. We woke up the next day and my mom goes "wasn't it your birthday yesterday?" so we just celebrated a day late.

stotts-tots

The American Way

On my 18th birthday, my best friend told my boyfriend to buy me some flowers and bring them to my birthday dinner at a restaurant. He showed up with a half dead potted plant that he bought with his Lowes employee discount. He didn't get me anything else and didn't know why I was upset.

Also, this birthday dinner was at a Mexican restaurant. My grandpa embarrassed us all by ordering himself an AMERICAN hamburger with AMERICAN fries. Everything he ordered needed to be "American." He also told my friend that she was "nice for a black girl."

angsty_melancholy

bad news....

My mom was diagnosed with cancer the day I turned 20. Fortunately, she's cancer free now but it was definitely scary then.

Two years later, also on my birthday, a great uncle passed away.

queengrima

Off to Disney

Had a hotel at Disneyland, got a call from the front office saying they needed my credit card info. It was like 6am and I was 20 so I didn't think twice about it until like ten minutes after I hung up. It was too late, they had drained my account and I had to deal with the bank stuff and cancel my debit card so I didn't have any money to spend.

the-willow-witch

Ok bye....

I was in a long distance relationship and had driven three hours to spend my birthday with my girlfriend and her son. We had a nice dinner with the kid before he went over to his grandma's house but my girlfriend seemed super tired and distracted the whole night. Didn't think much of it because I was crazy tired from work and the long drive anyway.

We went home, watched a movie, and had some of the most boring going through the motions sex ever. No one was satisfied and sleep was a welcome change.

I go home the next afternoon and then she calls me about nine that night to break up with me. Yay.

bilbob_tubbins

Bad 12....

On my 12th birthday, my mom bought me beige horizontal blinds that I hated for my bedroom windows. And then took out the curtains that I liked to put in the blinds that I hated. The blinds that matched all the rest of the blinds in the house that she had just bought for all the other rooms. Pretty sure that doesn't count as a gift. And my super precious lifelong BFF cat had to be put to sleep the very next day after a battle with cancer. It was not a great birthday.

hegemonickitten

All by Myself

Happy Hour Reaction GIF Giphy

16th birthday. Was living alone, family forgot (no one called), walked to Walgreen's, bought a muffin and 1 candle, walked home, lit it and sang happy birthday to myself, cried, went to bed.

ProNukes

Battling Parties....

My 21st. Was having a party at my house. Nothing big. Just some family and close friends. By 11 Pm only one of said friends had arrived. He kept telling me we had to go around to my friend's house who lived very close by because he had a present for me, but would need my help to carry it. I kept telling him I'd wait a while so other friends could arrive.

Turns out it was his job to get me around to my friend's house where he had organized a surprise party for me, with all my friends and about a dozen people I hadn't invited to my party.

Like my party wasn't good enough?? The friends I had invited eventually came to my house when I refused to go to the other party, but they were all hammered already and I wasn't because I was waiting for my mates before getting too drunk...

So yeah that was a pretty crappy 21st.

cliffybiro94

Forget It

If anyone bothered to even show up my mom would use some asinine excuse to scream at me. The last party I had as a kid led to months of verbal abuse over a $5 pizza and some soda. The only other times I tried after that no one showed up. I don't bother anymore.

nebulousennui

Not so Merry Birthday!

This was back when I was in church, on christmas eve which is my birthday. We were rehearsing for the christmas performance the next day, after rehearsal ended I heard someone singing happy birthday, I turned toward the direction where the singing came from and sure enough there was a birthday cake, for another person who shared the same birthday.

There was also this other time few years later this new friend of mine invited me to a Christmas eve party, and I did not tell him it was my birthday since that's kinda weird. Anyway after the party they brought out cake for not one, but two people whose birthday was also Christmas eve, its super awkward if I say hey it's my birthday too so I just went along with it and didn't say anything. Not a horrible experience really.

Xelisyalias

Low Quality

I was 21 or 22, I can't remember, and I had booked a hotel room so my then-gf and I could have some quality alone time (we were both living with our parents).

I couldn't get it up. She got insecure and we had a fight. Lots of tears, anger and 50€ down the drain.

I_hate_traveling

Allergic to Happy

A few weeks prior to my 16th birthday, my sister had graduated high school. My dad bought her a car and gave her $1,000 and threw a huge party for her.

He didn't even acknowledge me. My mom yelled at him and told him to do something for me, so he sent me roses, a box of chocolates, and a bottle of perfume.

I'm allergic to all of these things.

He also sent me a birthday card for my 18th birthday..... Six months after my birthday. And told my mom he was happy I was finally an adult so he didn't have to pay child support anymore.

ObsoleteCyclops

2 in a Row

On my 21st birthday I was on a film set doing free labor after driving 2 and a half hours for the director who was my college professor. He brought along a couple of us students to get real set experience who then promised us paying gigs once the film got picked up (this filming day was for test footage and a trailer)

We spent over 16 hours on this set on this ranch in the middle of farm land.

After that day none of us students heard from our professor ever again and he was no longer working at the college when we went back the following semester.

Then for my 22nd birthday I got laid off from my job at Target with no warning. I finished all my duties for the morning and was about to clock out (I was an early morning shelf stocker). Where they asked me into the office, handed me an envelope of money saying "we're letting you go, here's the money for the days you've worked since your last paycheck, have a good day."

Moonlight150

The Loud Day

My parents got into a huge fight (they had started the divorce process about a month prior). Argued loud enough for the entire apartment complex to hear. Both storm off somewhere and leave me and siblings alone.

Guess someone called cops.

Cops just chilling in our apartment until my mom finally comes back.

PapaBigCorn

It was Me

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory Tantrum GIF Giphy

On my 10th birthday my parents set up a treasure hunt for everyone, we had a pretty big piece of land around our house with some notable landmarks around. When we had eaten cake everyone ran outside and found a bunch of clues out of order without the hunt even having started. I was a little witch and started crying and my parents had to cancel the whole thing and everyone's parents had to come get everyone. I still cringe to this day.

Terrastega

Mr. Death

On my 13th birthday, when I came home from school, I was told that a really close family friend had died. And every birthday since then, either someone we know or have heard of passes away. The worst was when Chester Bennington died on my birthday. I feel like an unlucky charm, obviously.

fur-on-my-frisbee

Such Pain

I was in a juvenile detention center for my 14th birthday.

I got a root canal with no sedatives, and somehow the dentist was convinced novocain was a sedative.

Root canal, no pain killers or nerve block. Happy 14th birthday to me.

alabasterwilliams

A Deep Cut

tv land pain GIF by #Impastor Giphy

Went to the beach on my 16th birthday and when I ran into the water my foot was impaled by a piece of rebar sticking out of some concrete (within a bordered off safe zone, ironically), which stopped me in my tracks and caused me to faceplant into the water and nearly drown.

bushpotatoe

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REDDIT

Infamous Internet Rumors That Ended Up Being True

Reddit user strakerak asked: 'What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?'

boy playing at laptop inside room
Photo by Ludovic Toinel on Unsplash

In 2017, I returned to my office after my lunch break to hear my supervisors discussing Tom Petty. This seemed like a random topic to me until one of my supervisors told me Tom Petty had passed away. He was a huge fan of Petty and spent the next hour or so combing through the internet to get more information.

He came back into the room my other supervisor and I were working in and announced that Tom Petty wasn't dead after all. News outlets had jumped the gun to announce his death, but he was actually still alive.

The next day, I came in to find out that Tom Petty was dead; the news may have been premature, but true.

This is a classic example of the rumor being started on the internet. Sometimes, like with the news of Tom Petty's death, the rumor can run wild and appear everywhere. Other times, the rumor can be seen by just a few people and dismissed. However, a lot of times, these rumors turn out to be true.

Redditors know a lot of internet rumors that turned out to be true, and are eager to share.

It all started when Redditor strakerak asked:

"What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?"

The King Of Pop

"Michael Jackson writing the music for Sonic 3."

"He actually did, but was never credited on the game because it would breach his contract with his record label."

– -WigglyLine-

"He did the same when he appeared on The Simpsons. He appeared under a pseudonym, and the Producers said it was an impersonator."

"Only years later they confirmed it really was Michael."

"His singing voice was actually done by an impersonator, though."

– given2fly_

The Truth Comes Out

"In 1998, US Men’s National Team captain John Harkes was shockingly cut from the team right before the World Cup. The coach claimed it was because Harkes wouldn’t fit into his new preferred formation, but rumors flew on the early internet that it was actually because he had slept with his teammate Eric Wynalda’s wife. The rumor was so well-known in soccer circles that Harkes expressly denied it in his autobiography the next year."

"Fast forward 12 years to 2010 and Wynalda admits it’s true. The coach then came out and admitted it was why he dropped Harkes, but that he’d planned to keep the secret as long as Wynalda did."

– guyfromsoccer

Video Evidence

"The Tim Burton Hansel and Gretel that aired once on halloween in the 80's."

"I heard for years that it was fake but I knew it was real because my dad recorded everything in the 80s and he recorded that. We let a good friend of ours borrow it and switch it over from VHS to DVD and soon after that it made its way on to the internet , and there it is now. I know it's our copy because the tracking in the beginning is screwed up. Still have the VHS."

– Frozenthickness

"There was a similar story with a Nickelodeon movie called Cry Baby Lane. It was supposed to be so scary that Nickelodeon got complaints and denied its existence for years. Someone uploaded a taped copy to youtube about a decade ago."

– PattiAllen

The Movie Business

"That North Korea hacked Sony Pictures because of The Interview movie."

"I worked in the movie business at the time and the account managers at Sony all basically needed to get new identities as all of their personal information got leaked online."

OldMastodon5363

"My partner worked on that movie and the production bought all the crew 1 year of an identity theft tracking service."

CMV_Viremia

Keep Away From The Ears Of Kids

"Some banned episodes or scenes of cartoons."

"For example, I remember there was a Dexter’s Lab cartoon where he clones evil versions of DeDe and himself and they swear like every other word (censored of course), and people debated whether it even existed cause they only aired it like once. Now it’s pretty accessible online."

– Spledidlife

Yes, It's True

"Echelon, a massive electronic espionage system by the US and allies to intercept all electronic messages, especially emails."

"In the mid-nineties it was a topic on conspiracy BBS boards. A lot of people in my bubble at the time (mainly uni students in Europe) were including fake threats to the US in the their email signatures as a way to "protest" and "fill the system with false alarms" (obviously useless)."

"Then, in 1999-2000 came out to be true and a lot of security service agencies from UK and other US allies started to admit they were part of the espionage network."

– latflickr

How The Mighty Fell

"John Edward’s love child."

– ACam574

"A reminder that he was cheating on his wife while she was hospitalized for cancer treatment."

– Fanclock314

Ugh...

"Carrie Fisher's heart attack. Some a**hole who was on the same flight was livetweeting the whole medical emergency and justified it by insisting she was just making sure the family was informed."

– everylastlight

It Actually Happened

"Every year around her birthday there was a rumor that Betty White died. When I heard she died, I scoffed, saying that dumb rumor is back.... then saw it on the news. I was in shock."

– Known-Committee8679

"The fact that Betty died literally right before she turned 100 is such a Betty White way to go out."

– Paganigsegg

Big Actor, Small Roles

"I distinctly remember some rumors about the reason why Bruce Willis was taking so many roles in sh*tty movies before it was announced he has dementia."

– KampferMann

"RedLetterMedia did a deep dive on his recent movie activity to try and work out why exactly he was taking part in basically scam-movies. They noticed he had an earpiece in one of the scenes and joked that the director was feeding him lines. I remember they even disclaimed over the rumours at the time, and possible made a follow-up vid when it was revealed to the public."

– CardinalCreepia

What To Do Next?

"That the writer of LOST were making it up as they went."

"Turned out to be absolutely true."

– homarjr

That last one was kind of obvious!

Do you have any to add? Let us know in the comment below.

Person holding large stack of books
Photo by Jay Lamm on Unsplash

Whether you're naturally interested in fun facts and trivia or not, it's always nice to know a few that you can pull out of your pocket at a moment's notice as a nice conversation starter.

But there are some fun facts out there that are so weird, people become more preoccupied with how the teller found out that information rather than the information itself.

Redditor Dry_Bus_935 asked:

"What is your 'don't ask me how I know' random fact?"

Nuclear Fail Safe

"You have quite a lot of time, certainly more than ten seconds, to turn back on the main pumps of a nuclear reactor once you have accidentally turned them off."

- egorf

"I'm not surprised. The amount of fail safes, redundancies, and emergency scenario planning for nuclear power plants is insane."

"I toured a nuclear plant and wrote my high school senior thesis on the plans put in place to ensure the Fukushima disaster would not happen at that plant."

"I'm sure the secondary pumps are plenty capable of handling the reactor until the main pumps are repaired or just turned back on."

- Borderlandsman

Happy Cat

"If your cat chews on fresh eucalyptus, they might start hallucinating and fall over repeatedly, leading to a $400 emergency vet bill just to be told she’s just kinda high."

- oddidealstronghold

"And, that's part of why koalas love it. Little stoners."

- littlebluefoxy

Archaeology: Do Not Lick

"Old human bones are very porous, so if you lick them, they’ll stick to your tongue."

- clanculcarius

Sharing is Caring

"A pigeon will only eat a Starburst if you chew it up a little bit first. Just to clarify: chew the Starburst, not the pigeon."

- OhTheHueManatee

"Instructions unclear. Pigeon unhappy."

- Wild-Lychee-3312

Intriguing Anatomy

"Everyone is here with the creepy crime stuff, and I'm just like, 'A soft fur rat has 22 nipples.'"

- horroscoblue

"Okay, so either they have really small nipples, their nipples overlap, or they have nipples in places where there shouldn't be nipples."

"(I've never written the word 'nipples' so many times in a singular sentence before.)"

- GdeGraaf

'Don't Ask Me,' Indeed!

"Turmeric can be used as clothes dye. It is capable of permanently dyeing cotton cloth even after it has passed through the digestive tract of an adult male."

- SlefeMcDichael

"You s**t your pants, didn't you?"

- PMmecrossstitch

"I'd prefer not to answer that question."

- SlefeMcDichael

High-Risk Survival Skills

"If you ever trying to survive in the Arctic, don’t eat polar bear liver. It is so high in vitamin A, it will kill you."

- WrongWayCorrigan-361

"It's also surrounded by a lethal amount of angry polar bear."

- horanc2

Real-Life Spies

"TV shows and movies go out of their way to make military/intelligence officers look bada**."

"But real-life 'spies,' by design and training, are boring. They have regular houses and standard second-hand cars, they dress down, and they have vague, boring job titles (accounts receivable) as cover, and they do not draw attention to themselves. Most come from specialized academia."

- Ok_Worth_1093

Haunting Reality

"Your muscles can keep twitching for several hours after you die."

- JustDave62

"Also, beards can appear to grow. This is however not because the beard itself grows but because the skin shrinks."

- RRautamaa

"I worked at a morgue for over eight years. If you grasp the hand of a dead body to move the arm, the hand will grasp back, but that's just muscles and tendons reacting to the tension."

- goneferalinid

The Sneakiness of Drowning

"When a drowning victim is revived, get them to a hospital as soon as possible. Drowning is the leading cause of death of kids from the age of one to seven and is ruled as accidental drowning when it comes to secondary drowning or dry drowning."

"Basically, your lungs are full of water despite being revived. Your lungs will absorb the liquid, but not before your body acidifies from high levels of carbon dioxide. The only chance to survive is to have the lungs pumped with oxygen via CPAP machine and time."

"Also, drowning is extremely quiet. You don’t hear the victim go under. And if you see flailing, do not attempt to save the victim otherwise you’ll become another drowning victim. Throw them a lifeline and hope their amygdala realizes that a rope or something is floating near them and grabs on it."

- Dfiggsmeister

Not Everyone's Favorite Chocolate

"Hershey’s chocolate has the strong smell of vomit or feces to some people (me), and that’s because they use butyric acid as a preservative. Butyric acid is the compound that makes vomit smell so bad."

"Edit: Digging further into it, there are some claims that they may not be “adding” the butyric acid, but rather it is occurring from essentially spoiling the milk in their milk chocolate. Either way, the butyric acid and putrid smell remains a part of their product."

- hefewiseman1

"That explains the weird aftertaste I always get! I don’t smell it but their chocolate always has this super unpleasant sharp/acidic aftertaste that I find repulsive. I assume this is why!!"

- PomegranateNo975

Do Not Lick the Asbestos

"Asbestos tastes like chalk. And if you lick it, it has the texture of extremely gritty sandpaper. Which is actually the feeling of microscopic asbestos needles piercing your flesh!"

- TooYoungToBeThisOld1

Mapping Out the War

"Beginning in 1911 in anticipation of the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, two statesmen, one from England and one from France, began visiting locations in France that they believed would be the settings for a number of major battles that would occur during the great war."

"Long bike rides through these future battle zones in the countryside and weeks spent building a foundation for a French-Anglo codebook that would later prove important in helping win the war."

- fjordperfect123

Avoiding Lawsuits > Protecting Patients

"Doctors, or surgeons more specifically, that make too many mistakes during surgery, ie, leaving instruments in patients, frequently gets ‘quietly traded’ to other hospitals where they continue their path of destruction with the patients not being aware of their past record. Hospitals tend to keep quiet about the matter to avoid lawsuits."

- Kittytigris

Bonus Points: Do This While Having Lunch in Your Car

"If you overfill a fast food gravy cup and then put a lid on, it will create a pressurized gravy stream that sprays all over your face and uniform while your coworker looks on in horror."

- thechaosjester776

This subReddit thread was so a roller-coaster of random facts, we've surely all walked away learning something.

But the biggest takeaway might just be: Maybe don't lick so many things.

Shocked woman covering her mouth
vaitheeswaran Nataraj/Unsplash

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.

Woman holding multiple shopping bags
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

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.