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People Divulge The Most Controversial Things They Own

What's that old saying? "Make sure you're always wearing clean underwear in case you're in an accident. What would the medics think."

I'm paraphrasing, but you get it.

That saying can be applied to many aspects of life.

What "surprising" items are hidden in your drawers? Or under you bed?

Or dear Lord... what is on your phone?

We all have ownership over a belonging or six that could cause quite a stir.

Especially if we aren't there to explain it's existence.


Redditor churned_applesauce wanted to hear about all the belongings many of us have that could cause quite a stir.

They asked:

"What is the most controversial thing you own?"

I'm not telling you mine.

I'm not that brave.

But let's see who is...

Pennies...

"I have an old Iraqi bill with Saddam Hussein's face on it. It's worth about 17 cents according to Google." ~ postsingularity

Giphy

1937

"My grandfather went to the World Scout Jamboree in the Netherlands in 1937, and while he was there he traded patches and gear with some scouts from Germany. By 1937, the German boy scouts had transitioned into the Hitler youth, so I own a Hitler youth boy scout uniform with a bunch of swastikas on it." ~ iamagainstit

Walrus Parts

"My family owns a petrified walrus penis, my grandmother took it to get it identified at the Smithsonian several decades ago. Apparently her grandfather or maybe it was her great-grandfather brought it home after he spent several years on some type of expedition up around northern Alaska and points north."

"It has been loaned out to several museums at different times. The family has talked about selling it but everyone has to agree and so far there is no agreement about selling it. So I own 1/67th of a petrified walrus penis." ~ Robyn_withaY

Propaganda...

"When I was 18, I bought a print of a 1918 German zoo advertisement from a thrift store. I thought the artwork was neat. It had a leopard on it and I was completely cat-obsessed at the time. Turns out the artwork was by Ludwig Hohlwien. He would go on to produce Nazi propaganda." ~ wolfmoral

Jars

"An ornate, Boer tobacco jar from the 1800s. My great grandfather looted it off a dead militiaman during the Second Boer war." ~ deathtotheminutemen

Giphy

Interesting.

Nothing too crazy thus far.

Hey, to each their own.

Shut Tight!

"I have a glass vial/small bottle of pure histamine. If anyone would be exposed to this they would get a deadly allergic reaction. I have it double sealed." ~ TheRealMonreal

Giphy

Holiday in Kenya

"A complete ivory and ebony chessboard bought a sale of confiscated poacher stuff to fund elephant preservation. When I lived in Zambia and was on holiday in Kenya. My dad bought it and I got it as a hand me down. We were friends with someone who owned an animal sanctuary and their security had shot the poachers as far as I remember. They had a parentless baby hippo as well. It stole my sister's chewing gum and tried eating their cat. It was moved further away from the main houses after it tipped over their Land Cruiser." ~ xxrumlexx

Oh Grandma...

"I wanted a chinchilla really badly as a kid, but my parents said hell no. One Christmas my grandma got me a teddy bear made out of chinichilla fur. Luckily my parents told me it didn't hurt the chinchilla its just like getting a hair cut for them, but they were like WTF to my grandma. I now know better and am also like WTF grandma." ~ lebrunjemz

Snuffed

"I have a set of small bone carved snuff bottles from China (dated to the 19C) with explicit images on them. They’re kind of curiosities in themselves but when my in laws separated my MIL called my husband and asked him if there was anything in the house that he wanted and he said, nothing but the explicit snuff bottles."

"She took them and left them with a note that said ‘I’ve left you, please don’t contact me again. I’ve taken the snuff bottles; they were the only things in the house I liked.' After their separation we got all sorts of controversial hoardings, including a suitcase full of ivory and an abundant collection of Enid Blytons first edition books." ~ waireti

Luggage

"I have a few Ivory jewelery pieces from the early 70s my parents bought back from Botswana, and a poison arrow kit. Mum has the 3-metre long python skin she just put in her luggage from back then too." ~ Icy_Hippo

Giphy

Bat Parts

"A first print edition of Batman Damned #1, the one featuring Batman's 'little batman.' (From DC Black Label featuring more adult content. Violence and swearing are totally fine, but a shadowy penis profile made people flip out enough they removed it from subsequent print runs). You guys are some creative freaking people with your Bat-Penis puns. Love it." ~ 1nd1anaCroft

Rude

"I don’t think I have it anymore but back when I was in 9th grade and my brother was a senior we hosted a foreign exchange student from Norway. Without us knowing he had been taking pictures of every overweight/obese American that he saw while he was here for the year. It wasn’t until a year after he went home, on Christmas he sent us a leather bound photo album, like it looked really nice, opened it and boom..."

"Hundreds of photos of people from Walmart and malls. My mom was not too impressed but me and my brother had a good chuckle, not even at the people but just the fact that he took all that time and energy to collect all those photos and then make them into a photo album." ~ Toxicvenom_77

A Museum?

"There is a pharmacy museum in Cuero TX that is absolutely incredible. The building was purpose built in the late 1800's as a pharmacy and used for that for over a hundred years and they managed to hold on to all of their old inventory. They have tons and tons of bottles of heroin, morphine, cocaine, and the like as well as all sorts of quack medicine including one product you gave to your baby if the baby was too ugly." ~ texasrigger

Dumbo?

"Not me, my parents growing up. They had an actual elephant foot turned into a table. Like an actual foot cut from an elephant and taxidermied made into an end table. Had a glass table top. You could feel the thin hairs on it. Freakin' haunted my dreams man." ~ bobsux1234

elephant sneezing GIF Giphy

Hey Doc

"My grandfather was a doctor until the '60s. I have glass syringes with needles, forceps, a bottle of nembutal tablets, glass vials of pitocin, order forms for buying morphine from the government, and a few other things. Here's a link to a photo of an order form:"

"https://imgur.com/yil38Nv"

~ BSB8728

They Lived

"Umm mortuary toe tags from an asylum in New York... like twenty or so of them... I think they could be the only things left showing that these people actually lived." ~ ironviking13

"It's sad, but when you think of it, most people who ever lived left no records of themselves. It's more usual to just fade out of existence as people forget you." ~ DumbleForeSkin

Trinkets

"Growing up near a fairly prominent civil war battlefield (manassas), I had a few confederate themed items. slouch cap, small battle flag, and a tie based on an old painting. for me, it was a 'the people who were from the same place as me were on this side' without looking any deeper into it than that. I was a kid, and it was the 80s." ~ bearded_fisch_stix

Jars

"A ceramic jar with 'cocaine' written on it. My father is a contractor and he got it from a client who was descended from a relatively prominent US President. It was headed for the trash, my father didn’t steal it, of course." ~ Apprehensive_Goal811

"It’s probably a pharmaceutical jar for a dentist office from back in the day. Cocaine was commonly used as an anesthetic, and came in ceramic jars like that." ~ Joygernaut

In the middle of Kansas...

"My grandma used to tell a story about a woman in her town whose husband captured one of those enormous red swastika banners. He saw that it was made out of some decent quality silk so he thinks, 'Hey my wife could make some really nice dresses out of this.' So he packs it up and ships it home."

"His wife gets it, carefully washes the whole big-a** thing by hand, and then without thinking, hangs it out of an upstairs window to dry. In the middle of Kansas, in the middle of WWII, this lady is flying a a giant nazi banner. Apparently there were some extremely colorful conversations with the neighbors." ~ MustBeThursday

Catholic Comics

"I have a book of Roman-Catholic–themed comic strips from 1953. All men are lazy drunks, all women are gossips and nags, all boys only fight, and all girls are only supposed to be Mary Sunshine." ~ android-unknown

tim curry no GIF Giphy

Who doesn't have cursed or ancient jewels hidden somewhere?

At least nobody on this thread mentioned faces or eyes.

That's what I was waiting for.

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People Who Know Someone Super Rich Explain What Makes Them Different

Reddit user sunnybestie asked: 'To people who have also worked with multimillionaires or billionaires, what is something different they do from ordinary people?'

Rolls Royce hood ornament
Matheus Bardemaker on Unsplash

The super wealthy aren't like most people.

How can they be?

They live in a world of rarefied air most people will never even glimpse.

That privilege inevitably warps perspectives.

Keep reading... Show less
Burger and fries on plate
Photo by Haseeb Jamil on Unsplash

A lot of things have gone downhill since the pandemic, and it's made the whole process of bouncing back from those two to three years that much harder.

One thing we can all agree on is the quality of the food that we now find in restaurants, especially the fast-food joints we used to frequent and hit the drive-thru for on the drive home.

Curious what other people thought, Redditor Soy_tu_papi asked:

"What's the worst fast food restaurant?"

Eat... Expensive, Not Fresh

"Subway. The ingredients don't taste fresh. They don't give you enough meat or cheese. The bread tastes sweet. It's not even that cheap anymore."

- Brilliant-Mango-4

There for the Nostalgia

"Tim Hortons. We’re nostalgic for a time when they made fresh donuts and great soup and sandwiches. But that was more than 20 years ago and now everything is just heated from frozen garbage with garbage dish water coffee."

"The only reason they’re around is nostalgia and convenience. Americans for the most part didn’t fall for their crap when they expanded south because they didn’t have one on every corner, and they don’t have the nostalgia, and they already have a s**tty coffee and donut place called Dunkin."

- Strain128

Microwaved Soup

"Really, we all going to pretend like Panera is not fast food?"

- WelderNo6075

"It’s not fast. It's always a 20-minute wait."

- Greedy-Time-3637

"For microwaved soup."

- InsertBlueScreenHere

Hospital Food. Gourmet Prices

"Panera. For when you want hospital food, but you can’t afford the $127,209.00 hospital bill."

- BarnacleMcBarndoor

"Yeah, it’s only $126,208 for Panera."

- sherlock----75

"There is a similar yet worse than Panera hospital food restaurant called Atlanta Bread Company. How these two hell holes stay in business, I have no idea."

- GrandUnhappy9211

New Horizons

"I think KFC abandoned the American market and put all its resources into the Asian market, because omg KFC in Korea is something else. The chicken is breaded perfectly, with no mouth-destroying rock-hard breading and the ratio of breading to actual chicken meat is perfectly balanced."

"Also, the sauce selection; they have so many good sauces. The fries were great too."

- LolitasDaniel

RIP, Potato Wedges

"In my opinion, KFC. They got rid of their beloved potato wedges. The only thing I got there anymore was those and the mashed potatoes."

- dirtymoney

"Wendy’s breakfast potatoes almost fill that hole in my heart."

- Karsa69246

Those Darn Screens

"Any of them that have replaced their menu boards with TV screens that change every 15 seconds so I can't find the price of anything."

- xkulp8

"I hate the TVs. Maybe I'm just a bitter old guy, but they really don't seem to be an improvement. There's just too much going on, and it's too bright. Sure, it's probably more convenient for menu/price changes. But when you add in the cost and electronic waste, it doesn't feel like a net gain."

- BumpyMcBumps

No Longer Affordable

"McDonald’s. They’ve forgotten their role as the place I eat at because I’m broke, probably drunk, and want to fill up for a few bucks. Have you seen their prices lately!?"

- Jlace001

"A quarter pounder meal is over $10. $4 More bucks and you can get a chills old-timer and fries. And they always park you, so not very 'fast,' unless you are talking about the stomach cramps you get after."

- Eric12345678

Define 'Pizza'

"Little Caesars Hot-N-Ready is for when your manager promises you a pizza party when you exceed your sales goal and buys enough for one piece a person, but he's been talking up this party he's going to throw for you all week, so you come in on your day off and see two Hot-N-Ready boxes sitting there and some Dixie cups for water. Sometimes nothing is better, STEVE."

- cold08

"The secret technique for Lil Caesars is to give it another few minutes in the oven/under the broiler at home until it's to your liking."

- KaRabbit

The Great Pizza of the Past

"It hurts me to say this, but Pizza Hut."

"Back in the 80s and early 90s, Pizza Hut was amazing! It's somehow worse than Dominos now. It's a f**king travesty."

- Ocku2

"Their marinara sauce with breadsticks is watery now..."

"My friend and I used to ride our bikes there and play Pac-Man in eighth grade. Their breadsticks and sauce were amazing."

- KkdBaby

Small and Stale

"Whataburger is very hit or miss depending on the individual location. It was also better before it sold out and went national."

- HoovesCarveCrater

"It used to be so good, but it's so bad now. Earlier in the year, I went, and I got a stale bun with a tiny piece of meat they called a hamburger. Then I stupidly went again months later, and got the chicken sandwich. Both the bread and chicken were somehow stale. Never again, it's not worth it."

- user_base56

Belly Bombers, Indeed

"White Castle. I ate there once, and I now know what it feels like to reject an organ."

- flyzapper

"I have a stomach of steel when it comes to fast food. Not even Taco Bell gives me an above-average s**t. But when it comes to White Castle, some things just can't be saved."

- STILETTO_exists

A Rise in Poor Management

"Sonic used to be good."

"I feel for the two workers running the whole place. There used to be a lot of staff to handle the load."

"But now I feel bad going there simply because it's unfair to the workers. Which means corners get cut, things aren't clean, people aren't happy and workers end up catching the blame because there aren't enough of them."

"They really need to get it together. And treat their customers and employees right. It's going to kill their business."

- That_90s_Kid_

"The only Sonic near me stopped serving onion rings, which to me is their best side. And they take for-f**king-ever now to get you food, and half the time it's wrong or half-a**ed. I used to love Sonic, and I still want to and will go there, but every time it's a let-down in some form."

- SweetCosmicPope

"Sonic used to give their managers minority ownership as part of their compensation package. The result was highly motivated managers. Unfortunately, they had to work 80 to 90 hours a week. I thought about getting onboard with them but after using two weeks of vacation from my current job to work there, unpaid, I quickly decided smelling like French fries 24 hours a day, seven days a week was a very bad idea."

- the_beeve

A Series of Failures

"A bad KFC is tough to top, but there are still some amazing ones out there. The key is that it’s busy enough to have fresh chicken and a few employees that aren’t strung out. Not all. Just some."

"Burger King increasingly tastes like the burgers from my elementary school that sat in that weird burger water after being boiled in its own juices. I like their nuggets though."

"What even is Jack in the Box? It’s just some random assortment of food you take kids who can’t agree on what hot garbage they want to eat so you go here and make everyone unhappy."

"I’ve been to Whataburger once and it was bad, but since it’s crazy popular, I assume maybe it was just a bad experience and it was in AZ vs TX."

"I feel like I’m left with Little Caesars at this point, as the person buying those godawful hot and ready things is the epitome of a desperate person just trying to fill their children’s with ‘pizza’, thus the reason why there are any in existence."

- bowindine

So Real for This Answer

"Basically, every single one since the pandemic."

- MythicalMango123

"Dine-in prices for dollar store flavors."

- WannaBeTraveler87

"This is the answer. They are all awful now."

- chris1out

Especially for those of us who had the pleasure of experiencing these food places in the 80s, 90s, and maybe the very earls 2000s, it's terrible to think of how much these places have declined now.

As some Redditors have said, it's almost not worth going to these places anymore. We'd rather preserve the happy memories of going there with our families and friends rather than go for an unhappy meal now.

Red flag
Carson Masterson/Unsplash

If it wasn't for our inner voices warning us about various life predicaments, who knows where we'd end up?

When a salesperson for a product works their charm to persuade us, our instincts may tell us not to rush into purchasing due to the suspicious quality of the product.

When a prospective date shows up in person and they just don't match the impression you got during the online interaction, your gut is telling you to back away.

But sometimes, the warning signs don't come from you.

Strangers online weighed in with their experiences about being tipped off when Redditor asked:

"What is the biggest red flag you have come across?"

These Redditors discuss polyamory and how it may or may not apply to them.

About Unfaithfulness

"Used polyamory as a scape goat for cheating."

– Helix_On_The_Hill

"I have a friend who claims to be poly. Then she confessed to me that she and her partner hadn't had sex in over a year, supposedly because her prescription meds lowered her libido - so she declared to him she was asexual. Partner just apparently went with it. Last year we went on a group trip overseas, and she immediately f'ked a stranger she met. She told her partner, which made him pretty upset (and he didn't do anything about it other than bottle it up), and that caused some tension during the trip."

"She then explained to me that it's okay to be poly and at the same time refuse to have sex with your primary partner. She offered a compromise to her partner that she would see a sex therapist."

"I ended up biting my tongue (this person reacts badly to getting feedback) and lost a lot of respect for them as a friend, because of the way she treated her partner when it came to sex."

– monkeychasedweasel

Common Strategy

"My Ex used the 'poly so I can cheat' strategy twice because she was disinterested in me. I would go into more detail but I’ve mostly chalked it up to a learning experience, moved on and mostly forgot about it."

"The other thing is that I can be a very clingy person and that’s why the strategy was so effective."

– Helix_On_The_Hill

Updating Your Significant Other

"I decided I'm poly and we're in an open relationship, sorry I didn't tell you until after I cheated".

– anon

"I'm poly. Every once and a while (really only ever seen it online), I'll hear about someone 'coming out' to their partner as poly. Grosses me the hell out."

– petrasdc

Full Transparency

"I would figure that's something you'd mention pretty early on to a potential new partner. Not go 'This isn't what it looks like!' In the middle of things."

– Mike7676

Anger issue is all the rage.

Tipping Point

"I've said it here before on my old account, the biggest red flag is quick to anger. If their default emotion is anger, that's unhealthy. I'm talking about snapping over the smallest mistakes/things. Over the top anger reactions. Any volatile reactions that do not match the situation are huge red flags."

– Practical_Reindeer23

Relationship On The Rocks

"My partner got angry with me while I was having a moment of big overstimulation when we were at a concert, because I physically could not communicate (sometimes that freeze mode really takes hold) and he was trying to get me to leave, as his way of 'fixing' the situation. I at least shook my head no, because I was waiting on the band I wanted to see play, I just couldn’t physically vocalize. I was definitely very tense and was dealing with a lot of ticks, which isn’t normally how I get, but I was trying to handle it on my own, using tapping techniques and things. He got angry that I didn’t do as he wanted and that I didn’t vocalize a response, 'it’s not that hard when someone asks a question for you to answer.'"

"We’ve been together for 7 years and have gone through a roller coaster of changes/self development. But I exploded once I ended up giving in to his wants and leaving the venue."

"I don’t feel supported or listened to or validated, ever. Everything outside of his mindset doesn’t matter to him so why bother discussing anything."

"I hate it here."

– Virtual-Moment-9132

As if first dates weren't already nerve-wracking.

Dating Nature Boy

"The guy would ONLY go on dates in the woods at night. I’m not even kidding. I’d suggest a movie night or a restaurant I wanted to try but it was shut down immediately because he only did dates in the woods. Worst part is I went on 3 of them before I cut him off."

– PixelatedBats

Flashing Warning Sign

"I made out with a guy on a party. He told me 'I have to warn you: I'm really an a**hole.' I was pretty taken aback, then thanked him for the warning and avoided him for the rest of the night."

– skanus_cepelinai

Having Strict Parents

"She asked her mother for permission to eat meat. A 30 year old with a full time job."

– yumsilly

"I had a coworker who had a family tracking app on her phone, but it was her parents tracking her. She was 25."

"She thought it was normal or not a big deal. Her mom would flip out if she did something like go shopping at lunch or spend too much time at the gym."

"Apparently, her mom was super paranoid she was secretly dating 'inferior' men and not the ones she was trying to set up for her daughter."

– ohlookahipster

Year ago I met a guy who was super sweet at work, and there seemed to be a mutual attraction.

However, I didn't jump to pursue anything with him, especially after I found out through a mutual friend that we had conflicting interests.

He was into Nazi uniforms and paraphernalia.

I gradually started disassociating with him because I didn't need that in my life.

It just goes to show, you never really know about a person, even if everything else seems perfect about him.

Golden Gate Bridge
Photo by Ben Harritt on Unsplash

Those living in the world's most well-known cities might be lucky enough to be in the vicinity of iconic landmarks, such as the Empire State Building, Big Ben, or the Golden Gate Bridge.

Then too, some people might live in a town that might not have any places that are popular photo ops, but have a distinguished legacy all their own, such as Salem, Massachusetts or Bentonville, Arkansas.

Of course, even if they don't make the travel guides or the history books, just about every city or town in the world has its own claim to fame.

Some that residents proudly promote, others that people hope never get any major attention outside of town lines.

Redditor Worried-Stable-9963 was eager to hear the biggest claim to fame of people's hometowns, leading them to ask:

"What's the most iconic thing where you live?"

Think Carefully Before Taking A Group Shop...

"Blucifer."

"The giant blue horse sculpture that killed the sculptor."

"It has shining red eyes and is NOT helping the DIA conspiracy rumors."- BeastmodeBallerina

"The [Place] Where It Happen[ed]"...

"Alexander Hamilton was shot in the famous duel in 1804, right down the street from where I live." - Reddit

Bibliophiles Rejoice!

"'Anne of Green Gables'."

"And potatoes."

"But the cruise ships of Asian tourists ain’t here for the spuds."- Blue_Moon_Rabbit

martin sheen marilla cuthbert GIF by PBS Giphy

Doesn't Have Quite The Same Ring To It!

"A Golden Gate bridge that is orange."- CalGoldenBear55

Talk About Nickel And Dime...

"We have two actually."

"A Giant Nickel and the World's tallest Smoke Stack that I refer to as the world's tallest cigarette or 'dart'."- GrungusDnD

"My Kind Of Town..."

"The Sears Tower and Lake Shore Drive."- Acceptable-Yak7968

Beer Pong Chicago GIF by BPONGofficial Giphy

For Writer's Needing Inspiration

"Cannery row."- Zealousideal-Bug7138

"Driving there from San Jose is a nice drive through Steinbeck country."- kathatter75

The True Spirit Of St. Louis

"The Gateway Arch."- NowForMy2ndAct

"That’s the only thing here besides the Cardinals."- Andrew_The_Soviet

The Air Is Full Of Spices...

"Old Bay seasoning."- AlmostSane67

"Natty Boh too?"- i_love_ankh_morpork·

old bay japan GIF Giphy

All Roads Lead To Oregon...

"Mt. Hood, probably."

"Any part of the city with a bit of elevation you can look over on a nice day and see a snow covered volcano towering 11,000ft / 3350m over you."

"Doesn't quite compare to seeing Tahoma (Mt Rainier) from the Seattle area, but still cool."

"Also on a crystal clear day, driving north across the Saint John's Bridge, you can see Mt Hood, Mt Adam, Mt St Helen's, and Rainier all at the same time."

"Also the Portland 'White Stag' billboard."

"Hard to miss that one."- Beekatiebee

How Many People Run The Steps, But Don't Go In The Museum...

"Rocky steps."- Bulky_Ad_3608

"I was more impressed by imperfect love when I visited."- Brok3n_wind

He's Out There Somewhere...

"Mothman."- Deputy_Beagle76

"No recent sightings that I know of."

"But Point Pleasant does have a yearly Mothman Festival that’s really popular."- Deputy_Beagle76

Giphy

Take Flight...

"Birthplace of the Wright Brothers, Air Force base, uhhhh."

"Yeah."- carolinethebandgeek

Don't Forget Your Beignets...

"Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras."- The_Pug

Jolly Old England!

"I live in the oldest town in England."

"We have the oldest church in the world."

"My house dates to the 10th century."

"Come at me bro."- schnitzelvk

World Cup Football GIF by Manne Nilsson Giphy

Every town and city in the world will be remembered for something.

Even if some might only be remembered by its residents.