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People Break Down Which Punishments Might Not Sound That Bad But Are Actually Horrific

People Break Down Which Punishments Might Not Sound That Bad But Are Actually Horrific
JamesDeMers/Pixabay

No one enjoys a punishment; however, there is a big red line that shouldn't be crossed. Sometimes it can seem relatively minor but when you really look at what the punishment fully entails a more gruesome side begins to show. “Old school" discipline has been shown to be damaging on many levels often causing lifelong damage whether physical or mental.

Even the current correction system in America still uses tactics as punishment of inmates that rather than leading to rehabilitation causes lasting damage to inmates in turn leading to higher rates of ricidivism. Yet, some parents will use similar degradation to punish their children. Someday perhaps, as a society, we will begin to discipline without causing lasting harm.

One Redditor by the screen name rivno2 was curious about what others knew of punishments both in real life or imaginary. They asked:

Which punishment (either real or imagined) sounds "light" or "not a big deal" at first, but is actually horrific to experience?"

Some of the responses were shocking.

after one hour you just want to hold your hands in ice water...”

“Peeling salted sunflower seeds with your bare hands. Had the choice between that and getting spanked. Chose the peeling and I regretted that immensely."

“It doesn't sound bad at first but let me tell you, after one hour you just want to hold your hands in icewater. Your fingertips get sore, sometimes you prick your skin and the salt dries out your fingers and makes them really sensitive."

“Not to mention that the salt creeps up your nailbed and hurts like sh*t, especially if you rip your skin near your finger nails. I never chose that punishment again." Mr_Gaster

Writing lines...

“As a kid, when I did something wrong I'd have to write a sentence 100-500 times as punishment. I remember having to sit in the car at a family reunion at probably 7 years old writing ‘I am a bad girl.’ 500 times because I'd taken a granola bar without asking.”

“Writing I am a bad girl that many times, repeated for minor infractions and sentences like ‘I am a liar and no one likes liars.’ Or ‘I ruined the day for my family.’ Just sticks with you and becomes internalized. I'm 31 now, it's been a good 15 years since I've had to write these, but I still think them about myself.” CuteNCaffinated

The crime? I'm allergic to the incense used in church...”

School made us do that as a punishment, copying pages and pages of quotes from the bible about bad people. Or lines of 'I'm not worth educating' 'my actions and life will amount to nothing' Yeah wonder why bunch's of students are anti Christian and struggling with depression and a career 10-15 years later."

“Got to the point I refused. Not wasting paper or my sanity, so an alternative was to go pull thistles and prickles and goatheads (sharp pronged thorny things) out of the grounds barehanded."

“The crime? I'm allergic to the incense used in church and my coughing disrupts service every Friday and Sunday." Snofall-Bird

Wait...WTF?

“Having to play with chicken. My grandpa always told me, when the neighbors kid would missbehave (100 years+ since then) his parents would lock him into the chicken habitat and put some liquid and/or meat on his feet. The chickens would peck at his feet and he would have to flee constantly until he was too tired to. Then he would be released.” iwannaconsumepp

​Outlaws

Outlaws GIF by Back to the Future Trilogy Giphy

​“Outlawry. To be declared an outlaw. Today, we think of an outlaw as just anybody who breaks the law regularly. Back in the day, though, it was a punishment.”

“If you were declared Outlaw, that meant that you were literally ‘outside of the law’ and could claim no protection from it. If someone didn't like you, they could freely beat you, rob you, torture you, or even kill you.”

When the stories refer to Robin Hood as an ‘outlaw’ that's what they're talking about. It's not a romantic, heroic, swashbuckling thing, it's the state of having no claim to any legal protection at all. The king (or whoever he appoints) takes your land, anybody who wants it can take your stuff, and anybody who doesn't like you can just beat you to death without consequences.”

They can also put a bounty on your head and have people hunting you to claim it. What do you think would happen if you lost all protection from the law, and anybody who brought your head to the courthouse could claim a year's salary as a reward?” Wadsworth_McStumpy

Kneeling on something painful...

Kneeling on grains of uncooked rice.” Andrezj1097

“It used to be a common punishment in Italy for children to be made to kneel on uncooked chickpeas.” c19isdeadly

The US prison system does need reform...

Time. People underestimate the impact of duration of a sentence. In the US, it's not uncommon to hear in the news that someone received a 1 year sentence for such and such crime and thinking ‘wow that's so short they'll be out in no time’.”

The numbers just seem so abstracted we forget just how vast even a single year is. Even for minor offenses, something like 30 days can be quite large. Imagine the impact on a person for having their life interrupted for an entire month, that will cost most people their jobs.”

“Sentence durations are pretty arbitrary and many of them are just the way they are because historically that is the duration that was expected, any changes are relatively minor. The truth is that modern sentences in the US are among the longest in the world and disproportionately large.” pm-me-gps-coords

Window Cleaners Share The Best Things They've Ever Seen | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

Stehbunker...

​“Standing on concrete. Nazis called them ‘stehbunker’, Stalin called them ‘kishka’, but it's all the same idea, a cell so small you are forced to stand because there isn't enough room to sit.”

“Standing barefoot on concrete, for days, is beyond brutal. It won't kill you, but it will (slowly and very painfully) cripple you, while keeping you awake for days straight.” MyNameIsRay

​Star Trek...

Screaming Internally Star Trek GIF Giphy

​“Since you said imaginary, there was a punishment shown on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, that Black Mirror copied a couple times, and science fiction has used as a concept, likely before DS9. The concept is time dilation - the idea that time takes place at a different rate in the real world than it does in some other.”

So for the punishment, the character Miles O'Brien was strapped in a chair for an hour and sedated, and he 'dreamed' he served a 10 year prison sentence. Or maybe it was longer, but in his mind, he was trapped in this cell for years and years.”

“In the dream, he may have been deprived of food, he was definitely deprived of social interaction, but at the end of it, he woke up, and only an hour had passed. (Actually, the best Next Generation episode, The Inner Light, played with time dilation as well. Same with the best Voyager episode, Blink of an Eye.)” experpernectu

Arms up...

​“Being forced to keep your arms up all the time.” Adventurous_Pipe7479

My dad did this to us with books. We had to hold them straight out in front of us and if our arms drooped, he'd add another books. I didn't realize how messed up this was until I started telling people about it. I'd beg him to spank us instead.” Lacebatty

Goat licking?

“Goat licking. In medieval times you would get your feet strapped between two wooden boards and theyd be sprinkled in salt (or similar) so animals (mainly goats) would lick them. Seems like it'd tickle at first but they won't stop licking. Apparently they'd lick flesh off until they hit bones.” BreadedPotatoMan

Bread and water...

Bread and water rations, it was there to cause weaponized constipation. 30 days of constant abdominal pain, specifically tailored to humiliate is a lot worse than ‘oh bland food boo hoo’.” noobie9000

School punishments...

“My dad told me about a punishment that was given in schools when he was growing up (born in 1954) which was you had to go to the side of the aisle of desks and squat down (into like the Asian/Russian squat stance) and hold it for the rest of class. He said it never sounded bad but after a while your muscles and knees would lock up and at the end of class in order to get out of the position you had to fall onto your side or back to the floor to let your legs relax enough to allow you to move and use them.”

“He told me when I was super young but its always stuck with me cause I was so surprised that something that seemingly small would cause so much pain and loss of control. You essentially got insane Charlie horses when you dropped out of the position.” whothefuckknowsdude

Tickling...

“Tickling. No joke, the Nazis used this as a form of torture in some cases. It doesn't leave a mark, so it's also used in environments like mental facilities where patients may be restrained and staff go on a power trip.”

“Extreme cases can result in incontinence, vomiting and a loss of consciousness due to the inability to breathe. It's also easier for the torturer to do it for a long time without it wearing away at their conscience because the victim is involuntarily laughing, so it's easy to pretend that it's not that bad.” Usidore_

“Wall sits (air chair) are very painful when done wrong.”

“Wall sits (air chair) are very painful when done wrong. Lining your heel with your knee is the wrong way to wall sit but this was how I was forced to do it. Arms out in front like chair arms so you can't support yourself. 90 degree angles and no sliding.” ​WeirdoIdiotSavant

"Standing at parade rest...”

“Standing at parade rest without being able to talk for 5 hours. In basic training, someone got caught stealing food from the DFAC no more than 20min after we had been yelled at for people doing that.”

“As a punishment, we stood at parade rest from 5pm to 10pm without being able to talk and with at least one DS watching us at all times. I don't know how to describe it, but your brain can only come up with so much to do for 5 hrs while not moving.” EnegmaticMango

“...it can lead to frostbite injuries similar to 2nd and 3rd degree burns.”

​“Closing your hand around a chunk of salt water ice, and holding it there. Dubbed the ‘salt and ice challenge’, where people hold onto it for as long as they can stand, it can lead to frostbite injuries similar to 2nd and 3rd degree burns.”

“It also essentially fuses to your skin, so if you try to open your hand it will rip off skin (you need to use warm water to detach it). I did this about 20 years ago, before it was a thing on social media. It sucks. Edit: With the attention this is getting, I feel obligated to say...definitely do NOT try this!” Rebuttlah

Hot rock painting...

Painting rocks. A couple of guys in my AIT unit got in trouble, the sadistic drill sergeant tried being creative with an ‘approved’ punishment which was painting rocks.”

“As dumb as a punishment it is, the sadistic side was that this training unit was in southern Arizona during peak summer temperatures. The rocks were literally hot enough to fry an egg on and both privates' hands ended up being covered with 2nd degree burns.”

“The drill sergeant faced pretty heavy administrative action. I don't recall exactly what, but it probably one of he most severe I had ever heard a drill sergeant receive.” ​wonder-maker

​“Once he troubled my aunt so much that she punished him...”

My cousin, 10yo, quite agile never sits still. Once he troubled my aunt so much that she punished him. His punishment was to sit still on the bed and do nothing. No tv, no playing either on phone or with his toys, not even speaking, no one was allowed to come to his room so that he even can't watch others.”

“He asked her to read his textbook as he thought studying would lessen her anger but she denied even studying! He had to sit completely still. Initially that punishment seemed quite simple to me but what impact it had on a small child was huge. This punishment tortures you by boring you which a small child can't take. At last he broke down crying after which he was pardoned.” kvmedico

Sadly many of these are all too common. Remember to be kind even when it's time to discipline

Homeowners Break Down The Weirdest Things The Previous Owners Left Behind

Reddit user Oblivious_Dude14 asked: 'People who bought a house. What is the weirdest thing you have found left by the previous owner?'

Old torquoise radio box
Milivoj Kuhar/Unsplash

Buying a home is a daunting task, but it comes with the comfort of finally having a place to call your own after the lengthy process of purchasing.

One of the things new homeowners look forward to is renovating certain areas of their newly acquired domicile.

However, embarking on this next phase of making a home their own can come with some surprises.

For example, doing a gut reno in the basement or tearing down a non-load-bearing wall can unearth unusual relics left from the previous homeowner.

These discoveries can either be treasures, or something very unpleasant.

Curious to hear from new homeonwers, Redditor Oblivious_Dude14 asked:

"People who bought a house. What is the weirdest thing you have found left by the previous owner?"

These will spark curiosity about former occupants.

Hidden Message

"First time I took a hot shower in our new home. The steam covered the mirror, only to reveal the phrase 'HELLO, I SEE YOU' in large finger drawn writing."

"It freaked me out for a second, but made me laugh soon after that."

"It was such an inconspicuous yet obvious thing to leave for the new homeowner (me)."

– Individual-Common-89

A Special Request

"It's not really weird but I think it's kind of a nice story."

"One of the kids' rooms has a shelf going all around the top edge, and when my kid was putting stuff up there they found a letter from the previous kid. The letter welcomed them to the room etc and asked them to take special care of a rose bush in the front yard that was their special rose bush. My kid thought it was really cool to have that connection with the previous kid."

– catsaway9

Instructions

"Not really weird but they left a typed out and printed note about the house and how to take care of it. Detailing all the plant life in the backyard and how to prep for the winter. Described how to take care of the hot tub and gave random tid bits about the electrical."

"They were good people lol."

– pet_zulrah

Theses secret chambers piqued Redditors' curiosity.

Secret Dwelling

"Not my house, but the school my friend worked at."

"A pipe had leaked and ruined a wall in the building, one of the oldest schools in the city. It was a beautiful property. Anyways the pipe leaked so they pulled down the ruined wall and behind the wall found a door."

"A fully furnished apartment was there. Had a coal burning stove to heat it. Early 1900s appliances and decor. It was for the caretaker of the school."

– Used-Stress

Antique Showroom

"My ex-wife's family knocked down a wall in a 400-year-old house in Cornwall, and found a perfectly intact bedroom from the 1800s, still with all the personal effects where they had been left."

"Nobody knows why it was boarded up, or why things weren't taken out of it."

"Oh, and that house always appears in the guides for the most haunted locations in Cornwall, if you believe that kind of stuff."

– ledow

A Medieval Theme

"A basement room that was fully decked out as a 'dungeon.' Faux stone walls, a stocks (like where you lock your head and hands in ala ye olde England), candle scones on the walls, a metal-barred cage in the corner from floor to ceiling. Oh and the closet had a load of toys, some normal, some....not so typical."

– DisIsDaeWae

These Redditors got a glimpse into past lives.

Family Treasure

"Before I met her, my wife got a call from someone she worked with saying they'd just bought an old house and in the city, and in it was a steamer trunk with her family name (not a common one) carved into the woodwork on one end."

"As it turns out, it was the trunk that her great grandfather used when he came over from Germany, and it made the trip to my wife's hometown when he met her great grandmother on a visit, and subsequently moved to her city to marry her. We now have it and it's full of family portraits and albums."

– LateralThinkerer

Vintage Trickster

"My first house purchase in 2005 - bought an old farmhouse that was built in 1923. The basement was FILLED with crap - we told them they needed to clean it all out before closing, but they didn't do it. The realtor asked if we wanted to postpone closing, and we decided no - some of the stuff looked interesting enough. Maybe it will be worthwhile to go through."

"Most of it was just junk. Then, about half way through (we were working our way from one end of the basement to the other, because you could barely walk through), I went to pick up what I thought was a small box, only to quickly realize it weighed at least 75 pounds. Upon further inspection, it wasn't a box, but a wooden square, 4' wide and about 12'x12', with two thin masonite plywood covers on each side. On one edge were two bolts with wires coming off that had been cut."

"Very strange - had no idea what it was, but thought it was interesting. So I put it aside and we kept going. At the very back of the basement once we cleared everything else out, was a rickety gray cabinet, built into the house. Inside, were numerous strange small tools, vials of mercury, vials of a strange powder, and thousands - literally thousands - of dice blanks. Some actual dice, but mostly blanks without the dots. they were all in little boxes labeled 'dice blanks'. Also very strange..."

"Not too long after that, I met a guy and upon learning my address, he said 'can I come over?My best friend grew up in that house'. He came by, and proceeded to tell me stories for an hour and a half about his childhood best friends eccentric father: Someone who was a part of the 'Dixieland Mafia' in the 60s and 70s, and who made a living traveling around the US as a traveling gambler. The enormously heavy box was an electro-magnet. And the dice blanks were for him to make his own loaded dice with a little bit of metal powder under the inlaid dot, so he could set up his own table with the the electromagnet underneath, and turn it on when he wanted to persuade the dice. He told me many other stories, including that there was 'no doubt in his mind that he had killed someone'. Pretty fascinating."

– GIjokinaround

A Soldier's Story

"A diary of an American soldier in WW-II, South Pacific Theater. Found it above a door when remodeling 20+ years ago. My wife and I tried everything we could think of to find a descendant, but to no avail."

"UPDATE: I just posted photos of it with the person's ID info on r/WorldWar2."

"Last Update: Thanks to all the help from this community, and those at r/worldwar2, this diary is now in the hands of its writer's son who came to my office this morning to retrieve it. I am so thrilled to have been able to facilitate this!"

– Factsaretheonlytruth

These folks really hit the jackpot.

Forgotten Stash

"$1200 in cash above the door on the inside the closet. I found it while painting."

– whymetoo

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

"A glass bowl. It was kind of pretty, with horizontal blue stripes."

"We kept fruit in it. We thought about dropping it off at the local charity shop, but never got around to it."

"Then one day I was at an antique fair and I saw for sale glass bowls that looked almost identical to ours. I went home to get my bowl and brought it to be assessed."

"Turns out it was a vintage Orrefors crystal bowl. The assessor valued it at around $800."

"We no longer keep fruit in it."

– khendron

When my great aunt passed away, our family went over to her and her husband's home in Pomona, CA to clear it out in preparation to sell.

They emigrated from Japan in the late 1930s and brought with them many decorative figurines, sculptures, and wooden carvings from the homeland.

One of the pieces was a kabuki doll on a wooden base. As we were placing the item in a box, a tiny envelope that had been taped underneath the doll's base came loose.

I opened it and found what looked like instructions for something. I kick myself to this day that I didn't keep the letter and never bothered asking my parents what the note said as we were frantically trying to empty the house.

But man, my imagination ran wild. Was it a treasure map? Who knows. I still wonder to this day what the note said and tossing it aside remains one of my life's greatest regrets.

test tubes
Talha Hassan on Unsplash

The saying "it's not brain surgery" hasn't meant the same thing to me ever since Ben Carson took his place on the national stage.

The saying "it's not rocket science" doesn't hit the same with me ever since one of my life-long friends became a rocket scientist.

I don't know Ben Carson—just his many public blunders—but in the case of my friend, he's an absolutely brilliant guy.

However I often wonder how my friend managed to survive this long and apparently this isn't an unusual phenomenon.

But more about my friend later at the end of this article.

Keep reading... Show less
person holding black remote control
Erik Mclean on Unsplash

Back in the 1980s the threat of nuclear war was pervasive in daily life.

That fear and paranoia made the TV films Threads and The Day After particularly effective. People were genuinely terrified or traumatized.

Both told the story of an atomic apocalypse, with Threads set in the UK and The Day After in the United States. I wasn’t familiar with Threads until about 5 years ago, but The Day After was a TV event everyone seemed to be talking about in the USA.

But fear inducing isn't quite the same as creepy.

For creepy, you need something like The Twilight Zone, Creepshow or Night Gallery.

Keep reading... Show less

Content warning: abuse and suicide.

There is a level of devastation caused by being cheated on by a partner, especially if it's someone you trusted and have been with for a long time that people who haven't experienced it can't understand.

I've been lucky in that I've never been cheated on myself, but I've had friends who have gone through it. My college roommate told me it was the worst pain she's ever been in when she found out her boyfriend cheated on her, and she couldn't imagine anything worse.

It was indeed horrible. My confident, strong roommate was crying all the time and wondering why she wasn't good enough to keep her boyfriend's interest, even though that had nothing to with it.

Redditors agree that being cheated on is painful, but also are prepared to share things they think are emotionally more painful.

It all started when Redditor Darkterrariafort asked:

"What is something more emotionally painful than getting cheated on?"

Medical Helplessness

"Watching your most precious person die a painful and scary death and knowing there’s nothing you can do about it. F**k cancer."

– coastalliving40

"This. I watched my husband starve to death from gastroesophageal cancer."

"It was like watching a nightmare repeat of my dad all over again. 😞"

– NedsAtomicDB

Mama Who Bore Me

"Death of your child."

– NBA_Fan_76

"I truly cannot imagine a deeper pain."

– theawkwardmermaid

"Your child being serious injured by your ex, and custody court keeps forcing the kid into contact with their abuser."

"You spend years of your life dealing with court homework where you recount every excruciating detail of your own abuse at the hands of this person, in addition to the crimes against your child."

"It costs you about $100,000 in legal fees, and you still aren't able to protect your child. It keeps going on indefinitely, and perversely, your ex tries to send you to jail because the child runs away from them."

– JadeGrapes

"Being responsible for your childs death directly."

– Kanulie

"My father passed very suddenly and unexpectedly two summers ago. It was the deepest, unimaginable despair that it was almost like a dream. Being walked to the little room at the hospital where they let you know he didn’t make it on the ambulance ride was surreal and up to that point the worst moment in my life."

"One month after he passed, I was in a four wheeler accident with my then three year old. And we were alone as my husband was out of town. I wasn’t being negligent- it was just a terrible, terrible accident. But, in the chaos of being thrown off and being in complete shock, I thought the four wheeler was pinning her down. I was screaming at the top of my lungs and crying and trying everything I could to lift it up. Remaining calm simply wasn’t a possibility when you think you’re killing your own child."

"She wasn’t pinned-and actually didn’t have a scratch on her. EMT checked her out and I went to the hospital because I had ripped the top part of my thigh off trying to lift the ATV."

"The whole thing was eye-opening in the worst way possible. Because, I could never, ever, ever, ever imagine losing my daughter- especially to my own fault. What if she had been hurt or died that day? I would be living in my own constant hell. I didn’t think there could be worst pain that when I lost my dad, but now I know there is. Just the thought alone of losing my daughter brings tears to my eyes."

"Life is really rough sometimes. But it gets better."

– BoredMillennialMommy

Going Down

"Seeing a loved one go on a downward spiral and you can do nothing to stop it."

– New_me_old_self

"Extension of your comment: Seeing a close one(wronged by their protectors) going down the spiral."

"You tried to help them a lot but they dragged you down with them and left you not just empty but drained."

– Sullen_Wretch

So Hard

"Suicide bereavement."

"I lost my best friend in 2022. Found him. Everyday is a struggle to not be in my grief."

"I’d take 100 heartbreaks, 100 nights of going to bed hungry, and 100 punches right to the face just to have him back."

– KatastropheKraut

"It does. I got wasted and said far too much about myself once. One of my friends verbally smacked the f**k out of me, got me to see that people do care about me and that my relationships aren't all just superficial, really just hit my sorry a** over and over again with the idea that I'm deserving of love not because other people get something out of being with me but because I am a human being, and it slowly does get better."

"It stopped me, I was going to kill myself in two months on new year's."

"When I can't live for myself, I live for other people, even when I start doubting other people actually like me, I still don't do it or hurt myself at all, because there's always, no matter what I feel in the moment, a chance that they do truly just care about me."

"If I end myself now then I give so many other people survivor's guilt, I leave all the people I care about wondering for the rest of their lives how it all could've been different if they had just tried a little bit harder to help me. I won't elaborate now but I feel a similar sort of regret when it comes to a number of aspects of my own life. I could never leave someone with something so unfathomably more painful than that."

– pissandsh*tlord

Sounds Awful

"Mental instability. It's cruel because it's your own mind killing you, you can't run or hide and it's long-winded. I couldn't say a single event has been more emotionally stressful than what's happening."

– Country-Road--

"It’s like you’re dead in your twenties but haven’t been buried til you’re 65."

– Gmr33

Tragedy You Never Get Over

"Having your mother pass away in your arms."

– Repulsive_Cricket923

"Something similar happened to me when i was 4. My parents sent me over to get babysat by my grandmother and she sat on a chair and passed as i was sitting on the floor playing with my toys. I only thought she was sleeping at the time, but later learned the truth as i never saw her again."

– Lucidnuts

Just Done

"As far as relationships go, being abandoned by your former partner is pretty damn painful."

– heyitsvonage

"Mine did this to me after 2.5 years and it was f**king devastating, it took years to get over. He acted as though everything was fine, I was his everything, we were actively planning how we would elope after I finished my degree that term, and BOOM NO DO-OVERS YA DONE."

"It was immediately what came to my mind when I saw this post."

– paprikashi

My Work

"When someone steals your research, hands it in first, gets the high distinction, then everything you submit is plagiarizing that a**hat."

– StaunchMeerkat

"This is two steps worse than, "hey can you put my name on your paper too.""

– karmagod13000

Rather Be Cheated On

"When the person stays with you but they secretly still yearn for that other person (even if no cheating occurs)."

– Deleted User

I actually didn't think there was anything worse than being cheated on after watching my friends go through it.

I stand corrected.

Do you have any stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/