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People Share The Strangest Things That Have Happen To Them That Remain Unexplained

People Share The Strangest Things That Have Happen To Them That Remain Unexplained

People Share The Strangest Things That Have Happen To Them That Remain Unexplained

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When you think of "the unexplained" you probably imagine some strange supernatural major event like ghosts or an alien abduction or something. The unexplained doesn't have to be quite THAT fantastical, though. Some of us have had tons of mundane moments we couldn't explain throughout our lives. One Reddit user asked:

What strange thing have you witnessed/experienced that you cannot explain?

The responses were pretty interesting! It was really fun to see the sorts of things that stick with people. Some are a bit scary, some kind of funny, all remain unexplained so far.

Red Curls

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My GF was telling me about working with her new coworker (said nothing about her appearance) and all of a sudden I got a flash of intuition and it was as if I had seen her coworker in my mind's eye.

I interrupted her and asked "does she have curly red hair?" and it turned out she did!

It's pretty minor and it could mean nothing but it was just a powerful flash of insight that has always stuck with me, especially for being such a completely useless piece of information for me.

Drop In Temperature

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I was sitting in my college dorm room once when the temperature suddenly started dropping like crazy. I turned the heat up as high as it would go but it just kept getting colder. I took out my winter clothes and started putting them on. This was like in late September/early October in New York so it wasn't cold outside at all.

I was just about to go ask for maintenance when my roommate got back from hockey practice and asked why there were so many police cars and ambulances outside. I had no idea. Later that night, we were informed a girl who lived in the dorms had died. Everyone who I've told about this says that I felt her death. I was in that same room for 3 years and that was the only time I ever had problems with the temperature.

Extra Street Lights

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One time, as I was driving home from work, I turned onto the street where I live on and noticed what seemed to be more street lights than I remember being there.

I didn't think much of it at all at first, but something in me made me do a double take. I notice that the three "additional streetlights" are not street lights at all, but lights lined up perfectly in the sky in the distance.

Literally, as soon as I notice this, the lights in the sky beginning moving slowly and getting closer together. Eventually, they were close enough and formed a triangle.

Mind you, at this point I have managed to park my car in my driveway and I'm standing there staring at them. My parents, who are fairly religious, tend not to believe in aliens, UFO's or anything of the sort, so I decided to run inside and get them so they can see this for themselves.

We go back outside, the lights are still hovering, moving slowing in a triangle. No sound is being made by them. They do this for a few more seconds and all of a sudden, one of them speeds off super quickly. When I say quick, I mean quick.

The remaining two continue moving slowly in the sky for a few more seconds then they literally just vanish. Poof, the lights were just gone.

I'm not saying it was aliens, but yeah, those really were unidentified flying objects. To this day, we have no idea what they might possibly be.

Driving Off Into The Woods

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A few years ago me and a bunch of friends were on a cabin trip at my friend's parents' cabin. It was in the middle of nowhere and it was late, so the road was pitch black. We were split up into two cars, and I was driving behind the person who knew where we were going.

At some point, my friend just starts speeding up, annoying fast. I start bitching that I'm barely able to keep up. Suddenly, she takes a sharp turn down into a wooded area with only a vague trail. I try to follow, but I'm desperately trying to avoid the massive potholes in my tiny-not-fit-for-off-roading car. Meanwhile, the car in front of me is gliding down the path seemingly no problem. I flash my lights for them to slow down, but nothing. I'm pissed at this point, and am cursing my friend's name while my passengers sit in silent terror.

We finally make it down to a real road, but my friend's car is nowhere to be seen. It was like it vanished out of thin air. Again, the area is pitch black, so if there was any source light we would be able to see it.

We're lost as hell and try to call, but we don't have a cell signal. We drive for about 10 minutes before we reach them, find them, and are finally guided to the cabin.

I mention to my friend about how annoyed I am that she took a dangerous off road path without warning us and then just disappeared. She then gets a really weird look on her face and says, "What are you talking about? You guys were right behind me and then suddenly you just turned off into the woods. We had no idea where you went, we were really worried." Apparently, she had been on the road the whole time.

No one knows who the truck was, where they came from, or where they went. Everyone in both cars never saw a car pull out between us or saw us get broken up. The three people in my car a confident that the truck we saw lead us down the woods was my friend's car. Everyone else in the other car assured us they were on the road the whole time.

To this day, none of us know where that car came from or how they snuck in between two cars without 6 people realizing it.

The Mud Dream

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I had a dream when I was a teenager.

We lived on the hillside overlooking the city. I was standing on our terrace just watching the world die. Water covered most of the city. What wasn't drowned was burning, pillars of smoke covered the horizon. But oddly enough it was serene. You couldn't hear screaming or choas, just tinders snapping like a campfire along the shore. It smelled like the sea too.

Then I looked to my right, and there was my dad. To his right, was my paternal grandmother. They both just smiled a sad smile which made me realize that I couldn't move. We were stuck standing in mud.

I woke up after that.

After breakfast, I didn't say anything until my dad and I were the only ones left at the table. I asked him if he had a dream last night. He described the exact same thing and he said he saw me too.

Later on that day, my dad, who had checked in with my grandmother, said that she had the exact same dream.

Ghost Legos

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Ghost legos.

I was a kid playing with legos and noticed a few were in the bucket that didn't look like mine/ the plastic was faded/ older/ definitely of a different generation. I would build spaceships all day then when I went to bed and woke up there'd be holes in the spaceships where the old bricks would be. Being a seven year old my biggest concern was all the air getting out and my crew suffocating before they went to battle so I'd quickly pull them apart and put new bricks in where the old ones were but now that I think about it that always stuck with me as odd.

Silent Triangle

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I lived in Roswell, NM for years. I'm not the only person who saw this, my (now ex) husband, a friend of ours, and other people who were outside at the time saw this (the first time).

I do NOT think it was a UFO (and you damn well know what I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Pedantic). I think it was military. After all, there are many air force bases in NM.

So it's around 10 or 11 pm, and we're outside at a bar. Not drunk, in fact my husband and our friend hadn't had anything but soda. I think I'd had one margarita at this point.

There is a black, triangular object moving across the sky overhead. No lights. No sound. It looked huge, but of course, the size of objects in the sky can be deceiving. The only reason we could see it, was because it blocked out the stars. We're all just like... wtf.

It flies off, we go inside, and are like... yep, that just happened. We file that in our mental "weird s*** in the sky" bin. (I've seen other things too, but my memory isn't as clear on them as it's been many, many years now, but I can write that in a separate reply maybe.)

A few years later, my husband is outside our house, watering the lawn. It's around 9/10 pm. He yells at me to come outside. The same object is in the sky again. We just stared. Neither of us had a smartphone yet, heck I'm not even sure we owned a digital camera at the time.

If other patrons at the bar hadn't seen whatever that was, I'd have been like "yeah, right." And then for us to see it twice? The lack of sound is really the part that gets me. No sound before, during, or after it passed overhead.

The Dog Knew

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A few years ago, shortly after adopting my dog, my then gf and I were getting ready to go out for food (or whatever it was). Right as we are getting ready to go out the door our dog starts FREAKING out.

He's losing his mind whining, jumping at us, biting at our arms, and trying to pull us to the living room. We take a few extra seconds, calm him down, say goodbye and head out - we had a train to catch. Took all of 30-60 seconds.

As we were approaching the bus stop, about 30 seconds away from the stop, a BMW comes barreling around the corner and jumps the curb exactly where we would have been standing. Had we left when we originally wanted we would have been standing there, we never would have seen it coming.

To this day I'm convinced my dog knew, and he delayed us for that reason. He's never had an outburst like that since.

"If You Believe In That"

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Me and my dad both witnessed a white figure fly across our backyard in 1999. It didn't have arms or legs or a face, it was basically like a sheet and it flew across the yard at superhuman speed. When we saw it we both looked at each other and tried to make sense of it. We still talk about it today. I don't believe in ghosts, but I can't explain what this was. Looked like a ghost if you believe in that.

Caught By An Angel

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Believe it or not, a LOT of people had this experience, so here are a few stories:

Once, as a teenager, I tripped at the top of the stairs. I was worried because I knew landing would hurt and because my pup was at the bottom and I was headed right for her. Anyhow, when I landed, it was like I fell on top of an air bubble. I didn't even touch my pup and she remained sleeping. No idea how neither of us were hurt.

I sincerely almost dropped a newborn on her head, but it felt like something lifted her back into my arms. It was such a close call I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it.

Once fell head first down my basement steps from the top towards concrete floor. The thought that went through my head was: "wow. I really let my parents down. This is such a stupid way to die." Then, all of the sudden, someone catches my arms while I'm falling and flips me feet first. I'm still here.

My friend's 3 year old son fell out of a high open window on the 2nd floor of her house straight onto the concrete driveway. (about 12-14 feet high) She had no idea until he knocked on the front door. He had a couple scraped knees but no other injuries. We were baffled, but realized the only way he got outside was by actually falling out of that window, which was open and had a large ripped screen. I was at her house and we were totally freaked out but he was completely fine. Our families went to religious Christmas program that winter, which was about 8 months after the incident and there had been no talk of his accident in months. An actor playing an angel was on stage and my friends son tugged on her arm and very loudly said, "Mommy, mommy, that looks like who caught me when I fell out of the window".

Police And Fire Department

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I'm a police officer. One night we get a call about some banging noises in the wall of the bathroom in an apartment building. The banging has been going on for a few hours and it's reported to sound like someone banging on the other side of the wall. The people who live in this unit are a husband and wife and their young son, maybe 10 years old or so.

A couple of us attend this call and when we get there, we hear the banging. Its not continuous, but it happens in 4 or 5s, every few minutes or so. It sounded like how it was reported, like someone banging their fist against the wall. It's extremely loud and forceful; I can't remember for sure, but I think it made the mirror in the bathroom fall off. It was definitely making the items on the bathroom shelf shake.

We go out and knock on the door of the apartment next door, next to where the bathroom would be. Dude answers and lets us in. Can hear the banging still, but not nearly as loud. It's clearly nobody in that unit banging on the wall.

We can't figure it out. We entertained thoughts of an animal or something being stuck in the wall, but then how did it get there? Plus the forcefulness of the banging didn't add up to an animal. A person stuck in the wall? Nope. We call the fire department.

By this time, mostly everybody on the whole floor is out in the hall, seeing what the hell is going on. Of course everyone is joking that it's a ghost. The people who live in the unit say they've heard the banging before, but not to this extent. It's never gone on as long or been as loud or forceful.

As a joke, someone shouts out "if you want us to leave, knock 3 times!" Right away, there are 3 sharp bangs. Not even joking. Everybody is freaked out by this point.

I'm walking around the unit, just seeing if anything else is out of the ordinary. I see a laundry basket on the bed of one of the bedrooms, which shares a wall with the bath. A few of the bangs are so forceful, they made the basket on the bed shake.

The kid says the banging is more frequent when he is near the bathroom.

So the firemen arrive. They think it's a big joke, but when they hear the banging and it can't be explained, they are puzzled as well. I can't remember why, but it was determined that the sound wasn't originating from the pipes or anything else in the wall. The firemen decide to cut a small hole in the wall.

Honestly, I don't even want to be there for when they do that. I've never believed in ghosts or demons or anything or that sort, but I was actually scared about what may be in the wall.

So they cut a small hole in the wall. What do they find? Absolutely nothing. Nothing is in there. It's hollow. They shined a light in there and tried to shove their phone in there to take photos, but nothing was seen. The only weird thing was that when they used a heat sensor, one part of the wall was hotter than the rest.

The banging basically died down at this point. We told the occupants to call us if it started up again, but it never did, or at least they never called us again.

On a follow-up a few days later, they said they called a medium or someone of that sort and while they were doing their thing, the banging happened again, very intensely, but just for a few minutes.

Last I heard the occupants moved out and we haven't heard anything since.

I have no good explanation for this and neither does anyone else. Maybe it's not ghosts, I don't know, but I'm of the opinion it's something supernatural and this is what made me a believer.

Rod Through The Head

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Like other people I occasionally have very prophetic dreams. They always are about something tragic but I'll describe my most vivid one.

About 5 years ago I had a dream I was in a horrible 3 car accident with my then-gf and my younger brother. The car was totaled, there was smoke, my gf and my brother went to the hospital and I thought I died because I was pierced through the head with some sort of rod.

Fast forward 2 years later, and my brother and I get a ride from girlfriend to go to a graduation party for a mutual friend. Gf pulls out into an intersection. I immediately recognize everything from the dream and I flinch to the left. Everything goes black for me for a few seconds after that, but when I regain consciousness I look around and see the exact same scene as in my dream except I lived. The car we were in was totaled. There was smoke from the other two cars involved and a rod that went through the windshield about 6 inches to the right of my head.

It was the most intense moment of my life. Since then I have always kept track of my dreams and paid very close attention to them.

The Dolphin Show

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On a boat, trolling for yellowtail amidst a school of dolphin about 4 miles off San Diego (dolphin are too smart to take lures, aren't shy near small boats, and feed on the same bait schools as yellowtail and tuna, so it's strategic to follow them). As if cued, all ~50-75 dolphins simultaneously stopped jumping and disappeared into the depths for about 30 seconds. Immediate, unnerving quiet. With great fanfare, they all suddenly burst out of the water in a near-perfect row about a football field wide, and for a while, synchronized jumps ahead of our boat. Then they were gone. Showing off for my dad and I? Normal behavior? Who knows, but it was awesome.

Grave Marker

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My friend and I used to love to go and hang out in one of the local cemeteries. I guess because we were just weird. This was an older cemetery and was no longer used so it didn't have any new graves in it.

One day while we were hanging out and just wandering around we stumbled upon a new looking grave marker. It stuck out like crazy because all of the other markers were old and gray and crumbling. On some of them you could barely make out the names. This marker was much newer and the name and dates was clearly visible. It was also a rather neat red marble color which was really different from all of the others.

We didn't think much of it and just continued our trip through the cemetery. We sat down under this big tree in the middle and talked and laughed and did other stupid kid things. After an hour or so we decided it was time to leave. We crossed right by where the new grave marker had been and it was gone. We both kind of freaked out a little bit and searched the whole graveyard looking for the brand new marker and it wasn't there.

We checked for it several more times on different visits and never found it again. It was just weird and some thing neither of us could ever explain.

Did You See That?

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Out walking around the neighborhood late at night with a friend one night, we would occasionally look up to the sky in awe of the stars. I saw a fast moving light like a meteor, but slower, although much faster than an airplane. Then, it made 2 sharp 90° turns. First to the right, then to the left and disappeared. My friend and I both stopped and said "did you see that?" to eachother. This was in the late 80s and I can still picture it like it was yesterday.

Crows Are Smart

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I came out of a store one day and turned the corner to see a crow trying to read a paper-back novel on a park bench. He was perched on the bench, turning pages with his beak. When he noticed me staring, he hopped away like I caught him red-handed, and took flight a moment later. Ended up getting a tattoo of a crow reading a book because the incident left such an impression on me. No one really seems to believe me, but dude, corvids are smart. I figure it was either imitating a person, or trying to harvest the pages for a nest, but either way, strange experience.

The Understanding

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I woke up with sleep paralysis with the understanding my uncle died. I get a phone call around 4 AM from my mom to tell me my uncle is on his death bed and that I should swing by in the morning.

Pretty sure it was just his body on the bed, breathing on automatic and that he left hours back.

Fairy?

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When I was about 12 I was playing outside on a really windy day and a blue flying thing the size of a water bottle zoomed into my yard and got caught in some spider web in a bush. It's wings were clear, so it wasn't a bird but the thing was huge and weird if it was a bug. I lived in the Mojave desert at the time if anyone can think of something it could have been. It freaked the f^ck out tangled in the web and branches. It was thrashing so fast I couldn't get a good look at it and I just kept staring at it in disbelief cause I couldn't stop thinking:

"That's a fairy."

I go over and try to detach it from the web and it breaks free. At the speed of f*** you it was gone again. Maybe a huge cicada? Probably fairy.

Uncle David's Goodbye

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Years ago my dad's uncle passed away. Years before that, said uncle got my parents a fancy bottle of tequila from Mexico and it's been on the front room display shelf with a bunch of other dust covered sculptures and glass work for at least 12 years. It's out of reach and untouched (no one in my immediate family drinks). On the day of his passing, I'm in the front room reading and my dads doing his taxes. we get a phone call with the bad news. My dad continues his taxes while letting me know his uncle passed in a few short words. Not 30 seconds later and the tequila bottle his uncle got my parents starts playing music. This is odd to me because I thought it was just a bottle so I ask. "Do we have a music box?" My Dad continues his taxes and tells me the bottle has a music box built in, and that was the only reason he kept it. I clarify "Did you wind it recently?" And he just keeps filing and says "nope" and I was ready to leave it at that but he says still all casually occupied:

**"I imagine uncle David wanted to say goodbye one last time." **

That is the only time it has made a noise as long as I've been alive. Of all days and times. I never knew what to make of it. It just made me uncomfortable

Friendlink

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I had a friend in high school who I stopped speaking to when she transferred in grade 10. Two years later, I have a dream that I visited her new school and sat at the back of her math class with her. In the dream her teacher was tall, brunette with curly hair, and wearing glasses.

The next day I get a message on Facebook from said friend, which is completely out of blue because we hadn't spoken in months. She asks me how I'm doing and I tell her about my dream.

She freaks out and tells me that she sits at the back of her math class, and her teacher fit the description I gave her from my dream perfectly.

H/T: Reddit

Movie Twists That Caught Audiences Completely Off-Guard

Reddit user -HornyCorny- asked: 'What’s a movie twist that caught you completely off guard?'

Movie Twists That Caught Audiences Completely Off-Guard
Photo by Krists Luhaers on Unsplash

There's nothing like leaving a movie theater having just seen an excellent movie.

Particularly one that took you by surprise.

Perhaps it was deeper and more meaningful than it purported itself to be, or on the flip side, had much more warmth and humor that you would have expected.

Or, the film took an unexpected twist that you never saw coming.

Resulting in your needing to bite your tongue until the rest of your friends and family see the film, and not spoil the surprise for them.

Redditor HornyCorny was curious to hear which plot twists left viewers utterly speechless, leading them to ask:

"What’s a movie twist that caught you completely off guard?"

He Didn't See It Coming Either!

"Brad Pitt in 'Burn After Reading'."

"So surprising and downright freaking hilarious."- thefirehairman

If The Shoe Fits...

"'The Shawshank Redemption'."

"Come on."

"It's not always a man notices another man's shoes."- FUBARspecimenT-89

Lucky For Some, Not For All...

"'Lucky Number Slevin'."

"Huge twist and very satisfying."- kvlr954

angry josh hartnett GIF Giphy

Rosie O'Donnell Would Agree...

"Fight Club."- BuchseeI

"once watched it with a friend who had never even heard of it, and she called the twist like, a half hour in."

"She said it as a joke and didn't realize she was right until the actual reveal, but still I was shook."- yugosaki

I See You Keyser Söze

"The ending of 'The Usual Suspects'."- Schwarzes__Loch

Definitive Shyamalan

''The Sixth Sense'."

'I love movies with plot twists, but I never imagined this one. It caught me completely off guard."- lucasduka

Haley Joel Osment Movie GIF Giphy

The Title Is Also Misleading...

"The second half of 'Parasite'."- iwontrememberthat4

Appropriately, They Really Toyed With Your Cognition

"'The Game'."- DudeHeadAwesome

"Good one!'

"I spent the entire movie going 'is it a game? Is it real?'"- fastpixels

There Were Definitely Ghosts...

"'The Others'."

"Unsuspected end."- NeckComprehensive743

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One Unforgettable Opening Scene

"'Scream'."

"The Drew Barrymore role."- LivingTheLife53

The Real Reason Everyone Is Terrified Of Bees...

"When I was a kid, I wanted to feel good and happy."

"So at the video store, I decided to rent a movie with two happy laughing kids on the DVD cover, thinking it would be a feel-good playful story."

"That movie was 'My Girl'."

"Eff that movie."

"Seriously."

'The DVD cover lies."

"IT LIES."- buckyhermit

You THOUGHT you knew who the villains were...

"'From Dusk to Dawn' — midway point."

"Didn’t know at all what I was walking into when saw it in the theatre decades ago — just, you know, Salma Hayek. Good enough."

"Quentin Tarantino slurping tequila from her foot after it ran down the entire length of her leg — that was already a 'Holy WTF' moment."

"But then, well.. . you know."

"And if you don’t know — quick, go watch it. "

"No trailer, no synopsis, no summary."

"Find it and load it 'blind' and fasten your seatbelt."

"You’re in for a wild ride."- canada11235813

George Clooney Tarantino GIF by MIRAMAX Giphy

It's Title Is More Than Accurate!

"'Crazy Stupid Love'."

"The scene when the whole movie goes apesh*t in the yard is one of my all time favorite movie scenes."- Fimbulvintern

Trifecta Of Twists

"'The Others'."

"The end of 'The Mist'."

"'The Prestige' (though, I ALMOST had it figured out, but not quite)."- Krinks1

There's nothing better than when a movie surprises you.

Even if it does make talking about said movie with people who haven't seen it a bit more challenging.

Case in point, people who saw The Sixth Sense and The Usual Suspects after their endings were spoiled for them, don't seem to like those movies as much as those who went in blind.


Black and white photo, Group at the Pyramids, Egypt, Sister Isabel Erskine Plante, World War II, circa 1942
Photo by Museums Victoria

Every family has its secrets.

It's up to every new generation to unearth it all.

Don't we all want to know if we're related to famous people?

Or what if we have a familial stake in lands and businesses?

Also, this is a good way to NOT end up dating blood relatives.

The more you know, the less awkward later.

As much as there is a lot of trauma there could be a lot of cool facts to to discuss at parties.

Redditor ForthrightPedant wanted to hear some interesting family histories, so they asked:

"What is a historical fact about your family that you think is kinda neat?"

I don't have any family history.

Of course I've done no investigating.

Maybe I do.

I should look!

Super Talent

Excited Happy Hour GIF by Boomerang Official Giphy

"Great-grandpa created the Flintstones. Dan Gordon. Drew lots of Hannah-Barbara cartoons, and directed the first three animated Superman films at the beginning of WW2 as well as several seasons of Popeye, Scooby Doo, Smurfs, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound."

downnoutsavant

Bad Voyage

"My grandfather disliked America and wanted to return to Ireland. He booked passage on the Titanic’s return voyage. If it wouldn’t have sunk, no of us would be here."

mrseddievedder

"My great-grandmother was a Titanic survivor. She was a steerage-class Lebanese immigrant in an arranged marriage. Her husband went down with the ship but she managed to make it to a lifeboat and made it to the Carpathia. Then she remarried in a Lebanese neighborhood in Virginia. Had it not been for the iceberg that struck and sank the Titanic My family lineage would be different and I wouldn't be here. My family's official toast is 'to the iceberg.'"

jaspersurfer

Forgotten

"My husband's grandfather was one of the 'forgotten soldiers' in Canada. He was a Canadian-born Chinese man who asked the Canadian government to fight for his right to vote and a passport. Even tho he was born in Canada in the 20’s since he was Chinese he was not considered Canadian."

H"e was dropped into the Burma jungle and was told he would likely never return. He was in the 10% that did return. He was given the right to vote, to a passport, and to University."

"His wife is still alive today and my son is named after him."

cowskeeper

​Can you imagine?

"My great-grandmother had 13 kids, so she was pregnant for literally a decade. There’s two hundred of us now, all because of this one woman."

CoverlessSkink

"My great grandma had 14 kids. My grandma was the youngest. She died giving birth to my grandma. The oldest child who was like 22 years old raised my grandma. My great-grandfather remarried a woman who had 10 kids of her own. My grandma would tell me stories of them all living together. Can u imagine? 😦."

Content_Pool_1391

Long Ago

american wtf GIF by unimpressionism Giphy

"The land my dad was raised on and my cousins still live on was deeded to the family by George Washington as compensation for service during the Revolution. There was a document with his signature on it at the courthouse until a fire destroyed the records a few decades ago."

mustbethedragon

So much land and fortune and HISTORY has been lost due to fire.

Thank God we keep more than paper records now.

Over the Moon

Michael Jackson Dancing GIF Giphy

"My second cousin is David Scott who walked on the Moon and drove the moon buggy. My mom does. He was so busy during the time when I was young that he even said later in life that he wished she’d gotten to know more of his family."

Roadgoddess

The Union

"Great-great-great grandfather on my mom's side was working his field in the part of Virginia that split off and became a new state because they didn't want to secede from The Union. Union soldiers came along looking for conscripts and he was a young, able-bodied man so they told him to come with them. He informed them he was a Quaker and thus a pacifist. According to family lore, that discussion went on for a bit but he would not give in. So they shot him and left him there. Good thing he had a couple of kids well before that day."

SpottyNoonerism

Opportiunities

"My great-grandfather was offered a chance to invest in a new invention by a guy by the name of Alexander Graham Bell. He declined, saying at most there would be one telephone per town."

Carson4307

"That is apparently my family too."

"One uncle apparently built a version of a hot water heater and then sold the design to GE for a good sum back then."

"Another uncle was asked if he wanted to be in a photo during his military service. He said no so they raised the flag on Iwo Jima without him in it."

"No idea if any of these are true, at best they are enhanced truths, but for me, I really hope they are true."

Jormungand1342

Underground

"I have a relative who worked for the Underground Railroad and had a price on her head in the South."

dahlia6767

"My uncle was a carpenter. And was doing restoration work on old houses in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Many of those old, historical homes had underground railroad passageways and hidden walls. He got to see and restore many of them. He had photos of some of the work he was doing and I got to see those as a kid. Living in Southern Ohio, we have a lot of rich underground railroad history here."

AddictiveArtistry

​Family Empire

blood discussion GIF Giphy

"My great-grandfather was the town police chief in the 1920s. His brother was the Mayor. Their cousins ran the casino."

"My family was a smaller version of Boardwalk Empire."

nowhereman136

Wouldn't we all love a show based on our families?

Then that's even more neat family history.

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.