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There's a documentary about Trevor Noah called You Laugh But It's True. It tells how he used his childhood experiences as fodder for an upcoming stand-up comedy show. Some of Noah's stories, growing up in apartheid South Africa, seem so far-fetched that they can't possibly be real. But as the saying goes, you can't make this sh*t up.
The former Daily Show host isn't the only one with life experiences that might have people wondering "What in the big, fat lie is this?" Many of us have personal anecdotes that could be construed as nothing short of a lie. But in reality, they are God's truth. Or so we claim. For real.
A curious person once asked, "What is something about yourself that is completely true but that nobody would believe?" and netizens didn't hold back. The question clocked over 8,000 comments, as people shared the things that "allegedly" happened to them. One person even told how the legendary Nelson Mandela walked them to school on a remote island in the Indian Ocean...
Bored Panda has gone through the responses to select the best and you'll find them below. Keep scrolling and feel free to add your own unbelievable tales in the comments section at the end.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I technically kidnapped my would be mugger. Bought him breakfast, helped him through rehab, getting a job and eventually was the best man at his wedding.
He's been clean on the straight and narrow now for 10+ years.
zimtastic:
You've got to fill in some details on that story...
Kal_Lisk (OP):
I used to travel a lot for work, often in rough neighborhoods. One day while unloading my van, a guy came up with a knife and said, “Let’s make this quick.” I froze, forgot I was even carrying. As I reached for my wallet, I felt the gun and remembered, but he was close, and I thought I was going to get stabbed.
Then he stepped further into the space, and without thinking, I pulled the gun and said something dumb like “rock beats scissors.” He backed off, scared, and said he just wanted to leave. But I was suddenly furious ranting about how people like me are just trying to feed our families.
Turns out, he was strung out and desperate. Eventually, we agreed he’d drop the knife and leave. But instead, I offered him breakfast at the IHOP next door. Over pancakes, I found out I knew his brother. He was terrified his family would find out how far he'd fallen.
I told him if he wanted to get better, I’d help. He slipped a few times, but eventually went to rehab, then the gym, then got a job in HVAC. Now? He’s clean, married with kids, eats better than I do, and helps troubled teens. No one knows what he used to be.
You are who you are, not who you were.
Renee Fiola-Homen 5 months ago
You showed him love and kindness at his lowest point. A*******n makes monsters out of otherwise good people. You saw past that. God bless you both. 🙏
I must admit that I'd never heard of the Cocos Islands before scrolling through this listicle. And when I read the story about Nelson Mandela walking some kid to school on that particular island, I was tempted to call bullsh*t.
But then I told myself that anything is possible and decided to do a little deep dive into this mythical land where famous people get off the plane to escort random children to class. Suddenly, I want to visit the Cocos Islands. As it turns out, it does exist, and it's gorgeous.
Also known as the Keeling Islands, the little piece of paradise belongs to Australia. It actually has a road called.... Wait for it... Nelson Mandela Walk. So perhaps the person's tale isn't so far-fetched after all.
RELATED:
#2
I never forget names or faces. Like ever. I realized this nearly two decades ago working at a telemarketing company. I never forgot a name and to this day can think of several names I encountered that stood out. Later I worked at a nightclub and one day this couple came in - we'll call them Steve and Mindy. We chatted for about a minute or two, three years later Mindy runs into the bar hollering that someone assaulted her boyfriend. I said "O no! Is Steve okay?". She looked at me like she's seen a ghost and I did think O, she's probably surprised I remember them. Later she asked how I could remember them and I just said that I never forget anyone I meet and have any substantial interaction with. I just don't forget names or faces ever. Almost 100% of the time they are permanently etched into my memory. Don't remember birthday or what day of the week it is and after six years still don't have my plates memorized but f**k it, if we met one time for five minutes twenty years ago, I still remember you. Weird but true.
freesteve28:
The perfect skill for a politician or a salesman.
Robert T 5 months ago
I'm the exact opposite of this. I can't remember faces or names until I've met the person several times. Even as a little kid, my mum would stop and talk to someone we knew whilst we were out shopping, and afterwards I'd ask "who was that?" LOL
Caro Ansaldo 3 months ago
Or a teacher... I can't remember the names of all my students (nearly 200. 10 courses, 20 students approx by course)
At Least I'm Not You 5 months ago
I've got this, too. I see people all over and I'm like, "Hey, Jeff/Lisa/Dave/Sue/etc., good to see you!" And I get so many confused looks.
Catmom 5 months ago (edited)
Like some others commenting here, I do not remember people's faces. If you don't either, you can get tested for prosopagnosia, or faceblindness (https://www.faceblind.org/). I did. Mine is severe, and it runs in the family. I also have aphantasia: no mind's eye. I see absolutely nothing in my mind, not even on psychedelics. But for some reason I can spell in languages I can't even speak and know which colors will go with others even when I can't see them, by a kind of feel in my body. Brains are weird.
#3
All my family has pretty cool middle names, and when people are like, 'What’s your full name?' I get to my middle name, which is Thunderstorm, and they just don’t believe me until I get someone in my family to back me up.
Edit: since a lot of you want the other middle names are: Morningstar, Firefly, Honeybee, and Still Water.
Edit 2: I forgot to mention I actually have two middle names, the other one is Liam.
Row199:
I have two co workers named Larry Justice and Luke Liberty and I swear to you on everything good in this world I’m not lying and it makes me happy every time I have a meeting with them.
Troy Parr 5 months ago
Or Phil Freemason Esterhouse, if you know, you know... (hint: Hill Street Blues)
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago
"Hey... And let's be careful out there."
Load More Replies...
Laura Gillette 5 months ago
As a kid at summer camp, I had a camp counselor whose legit given name was Sunshine
Many of us love a good story. So much so that sometimes we tend to believe just about anything, as long as it's told in a gripping and engaging way. "Stories persuade, at least in part, by disrupting the ability to evaluate facts, rather than just biasing a person to think positively," explains Rebecca Krause, who researches consumer psychology at Northwestern University.
Krause was interested in the interplay between facts, stories, and persuasion, so she and a colleague made up a fictitious brand of cell phone called Moonstone and selected 397 American adults to evaluate a set of either all strong or all weak facts about it. Half the group read only facts about the phone, while the other half read a story about the phone that had the facts embedded within it.
#4
I grew up on a tiny island, unrelated to Africa.
Nelson Mandela held my hand and walked me to school as his plane refuelled there.
Edit. Lots of questions on where this island was. It was cocos islands in the Indian Ocean back in the 90’s
Lots of people calling fake. I wouldn’t believe a stranger on the internet either, but I do have photos of me as an oblivious little kid trotting next to him like it’s no big deal. Kid me had no idea that my life had peaked at that moment.
Annonymous54386:
It sounds so fake but it's the kind of fake that's gotta be true somehow. Cause who would make something like that up. You know what I mean.
2xtreme21:
I believe it. It says on the Wiki page of the Cocos Islands that the airport was used for refueling flights between Australia and South Africa.
Super interesting place too! Would love to visit one day.
roddy 5 months ago
When I was a toddler, my mother had me out for a walk in a push-chair and we ran into Haile Selassi (Ras Tafari) out for a walk with his bodyguards following in a car. The pavement being narrow, he chivalrously stepped into the street so we could go on. It was after he had been reinstated as Emperor of Ethiopia. He returned to the place of his exile in Bath, just down the road from us, to thank the people who had supported him there, and rewarded many of them with gold watches.
At Least I'm Not You 5 months ago
I mean, of all people, Nelson Mandela wouldn't be the go-to if I was going to lie about it. Not saying he's not worth meeting, but for a kid, he's just some guy in a suit.
#5
When I was in high school, a random new kid started stalking me. Like following me home from school, I’d see him outside my house, he’d stand by my locker at school. He was WEIRD. Told my counselor but they didn’t really believe me. Told a teacher I was close with and he talked to the principal. They said they’d “watch out”..
After about a week my boyfriend was pissed the school wasn’t helping me. He confronted this kid and they almost physically fought.
Finally, he got kicked out of school and about a month later, less than 3 miles from my house, he strangled a girl my age (who also went to my school) and dumped her body in a field.
MidnightAshley:
This hit home for me because a guy in my friend group started stalking me after he asked me out and I said I wasn't interested. He threatened to k**l us both in texts he sent to me and would follow me in the halls and wait for me by my classes, but no one did anything about it except my friend on the football team. My friend walked me to my classes and activities to make sure I was safe until the end of the year (this happened in May of our senior year). He was such a great friend. Don't know what happened to the stalker kid though, and I'm happy not to know.
#6
I have been dreaming of a girl since I was a small child. She would appear in any dream I was having at the time and talk to me/play games. This happened almost daily for years until I was 12. I thought maybe she had been my wife in another life.
One day I told her that we couldn't see each other anymore and that I needed to move on with my life. She cried and I felt horrible as I said goodbye. I stopped dreaming of her after that and regretted it badly for the next 23 years.
3 years ago a woman that looks just like her walked up to me and said "We should be friends!" I don't think I have ever had anyone just tell me to be their friend out of the blue like this.
She is now currently my best friend and I look forward to every conversation we have. I have never met anyone that has mentally changed my outlook on life as much as her and I am so grateful to have met her.
Nova Rook 5 months ago
I used to dream about a very specific town main street that had a very specific layout and there was a store for comic books. I've visited that place in my dreams but it does not exist in reality. It vibes like Lachine, where I did spend a lot of time as a kid but I know the layout of Lachine and this ain't it.
Nikole 5 months ago
It’s weird to dream about the same nonexistent place multiple times, but also oddly comforting.
Load More Replies..."The researchers found that when facts were weak, a story with the facts embedded within it led to greater persuasion than facts alone. But when facts were strong, the opposite effect occurred: facts alone led to more persuasion than a story with the facts embedded within it," explains Phys.org.
What this shows is that stories direct people away from weak information and reduce people's general processing of information. "As a consequence, stories help persuasion when facts are weak, but they hurt persuasion when facts are strong," reads the site.
#7
I can't tell faces apart and I can't picture people I know in my mind, not even close family members. If I try really hard the most I get is a very blurry image. If someone changes their hairstyle, or if I see them out of the context that I usually see them in, then I can't recognize them.
maleorderbride:
Reading the Wikipedia page:
Treatment
"Huh I didn't know that they had developed-"
There are no widely accepted treatments.
"Oh."
HellsBells 5 months ago
I have a face that no one recognises if I'm not in the environment they know me from. I'd make a really good hit man lol
Mimi M 5 months ago (edited)
I tell every new person that I meet that I'm bad with faces and bad with names, so I don't have to fear that I won't recognize them in the future and they will think I'm just being rude. If someone has a really distinctive face or hair that doesn't change, I'm okay, but I might still forget their name, at least for a while. After a few times, I'm fine.
Jude Corrigan 5 months ago
Oddly, I used to have a really good memory for people's faces and where I knew them from. Nowadays, I can see people's faces and recognise them but I cannot picture people's faces in my mind. Just partial details. Even family members.
#8
I married really young and my ex husband ended up k*lling several people during our marriage. I had to separate from my daughter for our protection because he was still at large. After nine years, I finally reconnected with her. People think I abandoned her but as long as she knows differently, that's all that matters. We're safe and out of his reach now, and I couldn't be happier.
Edit to add: He was finally apprehended two years ago, and immediately after I was reunited with my daughter. I didn't abandon her, we were forced to separate for our protection and had to move far away from our little house. I didn't know where she was and she couldn't know where I went. I honestly never thought I'd get to see her again, so just having her in my life again is a miracle. I don't know why he did the things he's done, but I take comfort in the fact he is now in prison and his appeals have been denied. May he rot in there for every single life he's destroyed, including the childhood my daughter should've had.
LDG192:
Holy s**t! What caused him to go berserk like that?
cannibal87 (OP):
Stress and dr*gs. He wasn't exactly an upstanding citizen prior, but I lacked self worth and common sense as a teen and thought he was a key to freedom. We married and it went to hell instantly. Once we had our own house, it got even worse. Then random strangers would bang on my front door late into the night and he'd be irate long after they left. I don't know what all he was involved with, but it destroyed what little bit of humanity that he had left and he turned into an absolute monster with no regard to consequences.
#9
I am unwell. Mental health is that secret stalker that will attack you constantly and no-one would know. Suffering with depression and an eating disorder is secretive and no-one would be able to tell that anything is wrong. It sucks!
The Majestic Opossum 5 months ago
Shame thrives in the dark... Share your demons and they become much easier to bear ♥️
Lady Eowyn 5 months ago
I make no secret of my mental health issues. They are no more a sign of weakness than my physical health issues.
"Knowing that stories may provide the most persuasive benefit to those with the least compelling arguments could be important given concerns about fake news," says Krause.
"But this does not mean a story is indicative of weak facts," she added. "Rather, when you feel especially compelled by a great story you might want to give more thought and consideration to the facts to determine how good they are."
#10
I died once as a baby.... i only survived because my mother heard an audible voice in her ear to 'check the baby' ... no one else in the car said anything or heard the voice.
#11
I jumped out from a moving bus to escape kidnapping.
jimmymd77:
I asked a dazed and scared looking young woman at a fast food restaurant if she needed help and she said yes, she wanted to know where she was. She'd just been dumped in the parking lot by some guy who'd kept her against her will for the past day.
Luckily my teenage daughters were with me. They helped make her feel safe going with us to the police station (offered hospital, too, but she refused).
I did not doubt her but any question of her story was erased when we got to the station, which was closed. I called 911 and before I could even explain the situation to dispatch, several police cars pulled up, surrounding my car.
Turns out she had been reported missing and in danger so the cops had been trying to triangulate where her phone was. The phone was dead, so while we were driving to the station, I let the young woman borrow my car charger. She kept trying to turn it on, but the charger was so slow her phone kept shutting off again. The cops were following the pings each time the phone turned on.
#12
My nightmares, after my father was m******d, were cured by a shaman in the Amazon jungle.
AncientGrapefruit:
Full story please.
TOMSDOTTIR:
I started having regular frightening nightmares after my father was m***ered in 2005. They usually took the form of another member of my family being m***ered in front of me, and were so scary that I'd wake myself up, making those awful gurgling noises you make when you're trying to scream. This went on for months. My husband and I went on vacation to Venezuela later that year to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We were staying at a place called Canaima, and from there, made a trip into the jungle. The guide asked if we'd like to meet the local shaman. He was just a little guy in his 40s wearing a pair of football shorts who answered our questions through a translator. We were about to leave when the guide said, "any more questions?". I said, " Can you get rid of nightmares?" and he said yes. He got me to sit on a tree stump and made up a fermented drink which I couldn't take as I don't drink alcohol. He lit some tobacco leaves ( they smelled lovely! Nothing like cigarettes) and paced around me, chanting and covering me with smoke. I didn't feel any different during or after, and I didn't believe it was going to work, but I never had another of those nightmares.
#13
Both of my parents have a twin sister named Jenny.
IKWJZN:
Are they by any chance triplets from Alabama?
extraspookyy (OP):
Wait... I have never met the other Jenny. What if one of the Jenny’s doesn’t exist and they are just sis-
screams internally
#14
G**g members tried to rob me and I told them no.
I was alone in downtown Minneapolis and two Bloods tried to rob me but I laughed and said “I don’t have money on me because so many people see a skinny white guy and try to rob me.” (I was lying and I don’t know why I reacted that way).
One of them stared at me for like 5 seconds then said “Ok, you’re cool” and they walked away. Minneapolis doesn’t have (nearly as much of) a g**g problem now, but definitely did then. This happened when there was a parking lot across 7th St from First Ave (the club where Purple Rain was partly filmed).
More detail if you want it: the first one asked for money and I said I didn’t have cash. The 2nd appeared out of *nowhere*, like suddenly his face was right next to mine and he said “I don’t think you heard him. He *said* he wants your money.”.
froglover215:
My aunt was a school librarian. Years ago she attended a conference in Los Angeles for school librarians. Several of them walked away from where the conference was being held so they could get lunch. Some guy tried to rob them at knifepoint but the librarian in the lead just laughed and said, "We're school librarians, we don't have any money" and kept walking. The librarians behind her didn't even know what had just happened and looked at the guy curiously as they walked by.
LinkTheHylian 5 months ago
NWA: "Gangsta gangsta!" Minneapolis: "Nah, son, we're cool. Education comes first, fam."
#15
When I was younger I was river tubing with some family. Stupid me forgot to bring eye drops for my contacts, and one popped out into the water.
Later we come to a shallow end, and this little girl FINDS MY CONTACT!!! Like, what are the odds?!
In case you're wondering, yes I popped it back in.
Looking back I don't know what the bigger miracle is,
Losing a contact in a river, and finding it again.
OR
Not getting my eye infected when I put it back in.
Brittewater:
My husband lost his wedding ring in the ocean. It was a very rough day and the waves were relentless. He lost it when he tossed something to his son and the ring went flying off his finger. He spent the next 5 minutes in a full panic trying to find it. Right when he gave up, he spotted it on the ground about 2ft away from him.
newlyentrepreneur:
Lost mine while skydiving. Did not find it later.
Sarah 5 months ago
Lucky escape re the contact and having your eyeball eaten .. my friends an optician. Never mix contacts and water
LinkTheHylian 5 months ago
Especially if those contacts hold an electrical charge. Wait... we're not talking about batteries?
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Gadaffi Duck 5 months ago
Husband lost his kayaking in the North Sea, I'm not brave enough for boats so I was watching from the shore as it slipped off his finger. I waded in as far a I dared but it was full of rocks with low visibility. I turned to go back to shore and as I turned I felt it against my foot.
#16
When I (24M) was 7 my parents were housing some young film makers and they had Steve Buscemi over for dinner. Really really nice guy, just as everyone says.
#17
I have crippling social anxiety but am also very charismatic so people very rarely believe me.
Diane Tucker 5 months ago
Me too. We've learned to cope, haven't we? Courage and peace to you.
Anna Drever 5 months ago
I call myself socially awkward. I’m trying really hard to make myself make more friends, at this time in life (early 60’s) and have joined a gardening group. Hasn’t been the easiest thing but I’m pleased I did it.
Diane Tucker 5 months ago
Well done! Turned 60 this spring and trying not harden into a stone.
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Giraffe Sitter 5 months ago
I wish I had that. Whatever the opposite of charisma is, I have it.
WalterWhiteSavannah 5 months ago
Ain't all it's c*****d up to be. People assume I'm too good a people person / conversationalist / chariamatic whatever to be as socially anxious and nervous and introverted as I am. Which means than when I can't get past those parts of myself they assume I'm a d**k rather than just awkward and anxious.
Load More Replies... #18
In 1982 I met and had a long conversation with Joe Perry the guitarist for Aerosmith in a bar. I told him what kind of guitar I was playing at the time. He said he had one somewhere up north at a girlfriends house but never played it. I told him he should find it. A few months later his new album came out and he was holding the guitar. In 1996 I jammed onstage with Tommy Chong.
tthat:
About 10 years ago, I got drunk with the drummer and guitar player from Mudvayne. The night before the show, my buddy called me and told me they were staying at the hotel where his gf tended bar. I headed down there, and within 30 mins had struck up a conversation with them. Went outside for a smoke a few times, ended up having a couple PBRs on the bus. Matt, the drummer, got pretty crazy once he was drunk! There was a truck sitting close to the bus in the parking lot across the street from the hotel. He decided he wanted to break the window and hotwire it for a joyride! I told him, DUDE, I drive by here every day otw to work. This truck has been here for 6 months! The battery is dead. Don't f**k s**t up just to f**k it up! I don't have a lawyer on retainer! He was like, that's good advice man! Let's just wander around! It was a good time! The show the next night was k*ller too!
#19
I switched my handedness from Right to Left and I am now left handed.
wholebeef:
My dad did that. Granted it was involuntary, he broke his right arm as a kid and his teacher gave him no exemptions or assistance. So he had to learn to write with his left. Now he's left handed with a hint a ambidextrousness.
SouthernGal 5 months ago (edited)
Many years ago teachers forced left handed children to write with their right hand. Being left handed was viewed as unacceptable for various reasons. This finally changed in the latter part of the twentieth century.
Not-a-Clue (she/her) 5 months ago
Not even all that many years ago either.
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Khavrinen 5 months ago
When my Dad took one of his marksmanship tests in the Army, he qualified shooting left-handed, because his eyesight was better in his left eye. Signing the paperwork at the end of it, the officer running the test noticed that he signed his name with his right hand, and made him go back and do the whole thing over, because a "right-handed" person couldn't qualify shooting "left-handed".
HeavyMetalHeart 5 months ago
I also broke my right hand as a kid (I’m right handed) and the only classes I was exempt from were art and PE. I had to do all my other schoolwork and homework left-handed, though I’d never even tried to write with that hand before. I did ok and have been left fairly ambidextrous, though I went straight back to writing with my right hand when the cast came off.
Lady Eowyn 5 months ago
I've twice had surgery on my right thumb and learned to write legibly with my left hand. But a lot of the crafts/needlework I do require one to be a bit ambidextrous.
Load More Replies... #20
If people know I'm dyspraxic, they have a hard time believing I go to Oxford. If they know I go to Oxford, they have a hard time believing I'm dyspraxic. Yes, you can be disabled AND clever, who knew.
#21
Peter Gabriel complimented me on my guitar playing when I was 5.
TDAM:
Were you on your way to making it big time?
pseudomugil (OP):
Nope! We lived near one of his houses and had his family over for tea. His son also pushed me into a pond.
Felecia_1986 4 months ago
Thought that was a picture of Mike from Breaking Bad! (haven't seen a picture of him since "So" came out tho...)
#22
I can wake myself up if I don't like the dream I'm in.
mudokin:
I often can go back to the dream I had if i like to continue the story. I have some favorite dreams and abilities that reoccur.
The Majestic Opossum 5 months ago
I don't lucid dream, but I wake myself up if I don't like a dream I'm having. Rather I think the stress of the dream (even if not a textbook nightmare) is enough to wake me up just enough to end it.
Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
I've got some clues that I sometimes recognize as a dream thing so I can lucid dream when that happens. Clue 1, gravity doesn't really work. Clue 2, money is in weird denominations like 38€ bills. 3. Clue 3, tornadoes.
Nikole 5 months ago
I hate when I’m having a nightmare and I realize it’s a dream, only I can’t make myself wake up. You think I’d then ignore the things happening, but no. And upon actually waking I wonder if I really knew I was dreaming or if that was just part of the dream.
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Peeka_Mimi 5 months ago
I can change the story line in a dream I don't like. I can also wake myself up.
detective miller's hat 5 months ago
I can also do this, but it's very easy to become addicted to sleep because of it. I end up sleeping waayyyyyyyyyy too much on weekends.
Felecia_1986 4 months ago
I've gotten annoyed by the plot of a dream an woken myself up! I wish I had the ability to return to the good ones though!
#23
The great memelord Rick Astley is actually my uncle, he's a legend on and off the internet.
Luke Branwen 5 months ago
On his page, the OP made a video interviewing his uncle, it's hilarious! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
#24
I've died once, I was hit by a car and was left in the street for 20+ minutes, my pancreas liver and small intestines were ruptured, I broke my left elbow, left shoulder, left collar bone, right wrist, pelvis in 6-8 places and my skull. They declared me legally dead for about 10 minutes in the ambulance but were able to resuscitate me. I had Amnesia for a month, and lost the majority of my memories before the age of 13. This year was my 13 year anniversary of it happening. I'm mostly fine now but I have a limp when I get tired most people believe I did in fact get hit they just believe the part of me dying.
Edit: I was also in a coma for a month.
Sally Moen 5 months ago
You're "above ground and looking around". Something I was told by 90-something seniors at the nursing home I worked at
Sue Ellen Jensen 4 months ago
My sister's boyfriend lost his memory from a motorcycle accident then regained it slipping while hunting and hitting his head on a rock.
#25
I'm a completely white female from the east of England with a ridiculously rare genetic heart condition that's most commonly found in Asian men. It killed my father when he was 50 and is likely the reason my grandad has had 4 heart attacks and needs an internal defibrillator. Hooray for genetic f*ckiness.
#26
Not nobody, but synesthesia is hard to explain to people without synesthesia and I've had people accuse me of making things up.
C B Jones 5 months ago
Oooh I hear you bro. People either think I make it up, or tell me that "yeah, me too, sometimes *stuff* reminds me of *other stuff*". I know these people mean well but seriously, it's not just voluntarily associating unrelated things. I mean, I can smell and taste colours. It's like I'm on a perpetual L*S*D trip.
Peeka_Mimi 5 months ago
I have mirror synesthesia and cannot even look at a picture of someone's injury without feeling pain. No one believes me but I believe it's genetic, my Nany was the same way.
#27
It’s always that I was a serious alcoholic. I am a nice 29 year old girl with glasses and 2 degrees, heading to grad school to study psych. About a year ago I was held against my will in the psych ward for 6 days after drinking non-stop for 3 months.
Whenever I tell people I’m in recovery they’re like “oh, like it’s preventative?” Or they compare me (without knowing much about me) to other “real alcoholics” they have encountered. It’s annoying but at this point I’m ok with the fact that I seem extremely innocent, even though I’m generally not.
WalterWhiteSavannah 5 months ago
As someone who admittedly drinks too much meeting / working with full-blown alcoholics always shocks me. I knew a roofer back in the day who would drink a 26 of vodka on shift. As his f*****g maintenance drinks. He didn't get drunk he didn't even get buzzed. It was just what he needed to function for the 8 hours till he could get to his real drinking after work. Even when I was drinking the most I ever have in my life there's no way I'd be able to down a 26 and not be a stumbling blacked out mess.
Sally Moen 5 months ago
Because your liver is still healthy. High tolerance means there is liver damage
Load More Replies... Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago (edited)
Most of my mom's side of the family, are "high functioning alcoholics". They were never, arrested, lost their jobs, marriages, houses, cars, or other belongings. I am always cognizant of my drinking. I got pretty close to crossing the line in the early 2010s, after a quite a few on the job tragic responses, close calls, and a couple of "sabotaging for promotion" coworkers. The last one was the worse, because you have to trust these people with your life. But, I made it through without losing, and was actually promoted, despite their machinations.
Littlemiss 5 months ago
The denial is real, some don't want to see it or they might have to either face their own problems head on (because they see themselves or their behavior in another) or it will change how they see the person so badly they won't like them anymore.
#28
People don't believe i have tourettes for some reason? Even tho my tics are super obvious???? When I tell them and then twitch they go "NAH THAT WAS FAKE" like???????? Who would WANT tourettes its f*****g awful????????????
Robin DJW 5 months ago
I'm so sorry for you. It is indeed an unpleasant condition. A former co-worker had Tourette's. I had never heard of it, so I looked it up. Another co-worker had eating disorders. Watching her struggles was a real education. The more you know about the things that people suffer from, the more truly sympathetic and tolerant you can be, and the better you can manage your own conditions.
Claire R 5 months ago
I feel sorry for people who really have a problem, with an official diagnosis, not being taken seriously. There are just so many fakers and self diagnosed dimwits online, with tourettes being one of the favorites to fake.
Lady Eowyn 5 months ago
Autism is another, people act bad then claim a mental issue is the cause. Mostly they're just s***s.
Load More Replies... #29
I’m allergic to paprika, I live in maryland. Maryland has this spice called Old bay, this has paprika in it.
The amount of people who honest to god do not believe I can be allergic to Old Bay is ridiculous. So much so one of my ex friends who knew about my allergy invited me to her birthday party where all they had was Old bay crabs.
I had an allergic reaction and literally couldn’t even be inside the house without it happening so I just left.
But her and a LOT of people think I lie about my allergy for “quirky” points or something. Not even family believe me despite me having reactions in front of them 🙄.
Lady Eowyn 5 months ago
I believe you can be allergic to Old Bay, an iconic Maryland blend. But it's sad. I'm allergic to shellfish. So, no Chesapeake Bay blue crabs. I've gotten a lot of sympathy for that.
Nikole 5 months ago
I’m allergic to shellfish too, but I’m a vegetarian, so… You also have to make sure to tell doctors because some meds contain it.
Load More Replies... Judy Reynolds 5 months ago
I have a food intolerance to Coca-Cola. I cannot drink it because to me, it tastes utterly foul!
#30
I have hyper dense muscle and bone mass. Im really strong and hard to break, but also super heavy. Im 6'5", but normal build, and I weigh over 300 lbs, and I do not float. No one believes me until I either a) demonstrate the stronk, b) weigh myself, or c) almost drown for the millionth time.
Isabel Care 5 months ago
I used to float, but about 2 feet under the water. Due to decades of mobility problems, I am now amazingly buoyant, and built like a manatee
Sally Moen 5 months ago
That would be frightening. I hope you took swimming lessons so you won't drown. And do doctors judge you as being fat sometimes due to your weight?
#31
A whale hit me with her tail and broke my rib while i was trying to save her and her pod. (50+ pilot whales beached themselves on a beach i lifeguarded). I doubt anyone would believe me had there not been witnesses (the beach patrons helping with the whales with the lifeguards).
#32
I am a quarter Cherokee, but I am a redhead with pale skin. Grandmother was from Ireland on my Mother's side. While my grandfather was 100% Cherokee on my Mother's side. My Father's side is 100% English.
Sara Frazer 5 months ago
I'm a quarter Tlingit, and quite pale. My paternal grandma was 100% Tlingit, my dad is half Tlingit and half Italian. My mom is a whole mix of European descendance. My dad has deep tan skin, black hair and dark eyes. My mom is pale with red hair and green eyes. My older sister is light tan with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, my younger sister is a darker tan with almost black hair and very dark eyes. I'm pale as heck with dark hair and lighter brown eyes. I have the same almond eyes and high cheekbones as my dad, but everyone always thinks I'm of Asian descent, not native Alaskan. Even longtime friends had confessed that for the longest time they thought I "was Asian" (I heard Korean or Japanese a lot, though I do not believe I look much like someone from Korea or Japan, they just didn't consider native Alaskan in the realm of possibilities. Also I know Asia is a large, very diverse continent with many different people, but "Asian" is the term people would use).
Sara Frazer 5 months ago
I ran out of usable character space, but I was just sharing as someone who is also a quarter Indigenous American and doesn't quite fit the typical physical stereotype, and sharing how it's interesting in the ways that genes work out!
Load More Replies... Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 5 months ago (edited)
Most people who do mot know, think that I Italian, because of the east coast accent and dark hair, but I also have freckles. All my life I thought I was mostly of Filipino/Scottish/Irish ancestry, because that was what my mom thought my dad was.Until I bought a 'Ancestry Test'. Well... I am evidently English/Indigenous American/European/Spanish/Basque/Scottish. My mom was quite dismayed to find out that we were not as Irish/Scottish as she thought.
#33
I can barely remember details past a few months ago, I have essentially no recollection of what things look like. Big events and things like that work fine, but details are gone and half the time I cant tell if I actually remember something or I remember someone telling me about something.
Nikki Sevven 5 months ago
My memories are sparse and spotty. 7th birthday party? I probably had one, but I don't remember it at all. 13th Christmas? Same. Even the memories I do have are spotty, and I don't relive them, but watch them like a spectator.
Bored Trash Panda 5 months ago
I have a lesion on my brain that causes migraines, aphasia, and memory issues. Like OP, I can remember big events that happened, but I can't remember details of things from even a few months ago. It really sucks, especially because it has messed with my memory of my son growing up and when me and my husband got together.
LinkTheHylian 5 months ago
I think we remember what we consider the most important memories. What did I have for breakfast the first Tuesday of last month? Doesn't matter, so I don't remember. When did I meet the love of my life? 19th June, 2004. It was a sunny Saturday morning, and I saw her on my train to work. Her fiery personality matched her fiery red hair, and her sapphire blue eyes just melted my heart. I don't know how I found the courage to talk to her, but this, kids, is How I Met Your Mother.
Sally Moen 5 months ago
I'm not sure if living with this is better or worse than remembering traumatic experiences over the years
#34
I had a house with an indoor pool at age 25. Made 15k on the weekends playing blackjack in Vegas. I was retired at 26, and then homeless and bankrupt from divorce at 28.
#35
I was the guy who microwaved an entire carton of eggs in the microwave in the break room last month.
Anon:
Had a guy do this on board a deployed Navy ship. 2 dozen, one in each microwave on the aft mess deck. Half of each dozen was hardboiled. It was a f**kin terrible sight. Then the mess crank guy lost his absolute s**t on the dude. Beat the p*ss out of him, they both got busted down a rank and pay taken. Guy that did it was an E-5 prior to this. He went to E-4 and 3 months of mess hall duty. Other dude had some other s**t goin on entirely in his life with a girl back home. He went U.A. in Turkey and as far as I know was never found. They ended up replacing both microwaves because the smell would come back when they were used.
Tim Steil 5 months ago
Navy vet here. UA is unauthorized absence. Same as AWOL in other branches.
Load More Replies... #36
I can put both legs behind my head. Yes, I can reach my groin. No, it's not as exciting as people tend to talk about, at least for straight guys.
#37
I can remember some pretty random facts that people will tell me about themselves or things that would've happened to them while I was there. I don't mention that to people because without context it sounds creepy af.
#38
When I was a toddler, I was in beauty pageants with JonBenet Ramsey. We were in different age groups but my mom has a photo of us together, tucked away along with the few trophies and tiaras I won.
Dogfacedboy1980 5 months ago
Was it you that took her out so you would have a better chance of winning?
#39
I have danced with a real-life prince!
I was at the same university as Peter Philips (grandson of the Queen of England) and he came and danced with me on one of my first nights out as a fresher. I didn’t recognise him at first, wasn’t really interested and went back to sit with my friends who were like “you do realise who that was, don’t you?”.
#40
I am not allergic to mosquitoes, which only occurs in 1 in a million.
Matt Blakeley 5 months ago
Mosquitoes mostly ignore me, but eat my wife alive. I am not good eats. 😞
HeavyMetalHeart 5 months ago
Same. They rarely bite me anyway, I guess I don’t have the right smell/taste, but if they do, I don’t react. No itching, maybe a tiny pink spot that quickly disappears.
#41
I can't learn mathematic formulas after basic fractions. I can learn them briefly and will forget them within hours. High-school was a nightmare.
Nikki Sevven 5 months ago
I'm forever grateful to my maternal grandfather, who taught me shortcuts for doing math in my head. It's far easier to (200 x 60) + (200 x 8) or (200 x 70) - (200 x 2) than it is to (200 x 68).
BrownEyedGrrl 5 months ago
I started college when I was 40. Had to take remedial algebra. Failed it.
Diane Tucker 5 months ago
Oh yeah, me too. Luckily when I was in high school (1978-83) you didn't have to take math anymore after grade 9 (Freshman year in U.S.?). After the absolute disaster of trying to learn algebra, I passed only because the last unit was geometry and I promised my math teacher I'd never take math again if he passed me.
#43
I can read things instantly just by looking at them. Like if it enters my vision, even for just a millisecond, I can remember what the entire thing said.
This also works for things I'm not even *directly* looking at. Things in my peripheral vision get read too, even when I'm not paying attention. For example someone can put a paper on my desk with a soup recipe. Let's say I never look at this paper all day, but I walk by it once while doing something else and it was in the edge of my vision. I'll suddenly start thinking about a soup ingredient from that paper, like 2 teaspoons of salt or whatever minor detail was written on it.
Later when I look at the paper I will be like ah, that explains why I was thinking about this random ingredient all day. My eye must have caught it even though I never intentionally read the recipe.
#44
I can stop hiccupping by force of will.
Luke Branwen 5 months ago
♫ It's 5% luck, 20% skill, this guy can stop his hiccups with the power of will ♫
#45
I can hear some infrasound wavelengths and some sounds from something like radio lengths.
When I have audio exams I need to lie because the nurse gives me weird looks when I say "I can still hear it" when she lowers the frequency under the normal range.
It also makes it really hard to listen to someone in a public space or near a train.
E: to clarify, I can hear low sounds no one else can. Yes I also hear phone chargers and stuff, but hearing those high pitched things is more common or "normal" among younger people.
Lost Panda 5 months ago
Not sure if it is the same, but I can hear electronics. Like if a light is on or TV (yes muted because with volume duh...) Just the mechanical sounds from them...
Nikki Sevven 5 months ago
...the annoying buzzing that fluorescent lights make. On the plus side, this now seems to be mostly masked by my tinnitus.
Load More Replies... ROSESARERED 5 months ago
I hear the lights buzzing, fluros are really noisy, tv has a distinctive bzzzzzz, and those ultrasonic mice repellers drive me crazy....I bought one and had to turn it off straight away...and smoke alarms buzz too. We live in a noisy world of electricity
Jeff Peiffer 5 months ago
I used to hear higher than usual frequences myself when I was younger. I used to be able to walk in blindfolded to a computer lab and point to all the monitors that were on at the time because I could hear the high pitch whine that came off of them.
Lady Eowyn 5 months ago
I can still hear higher frequencies than most people, but when I was younger I could hear even more. It started to fade a bit when I was in my 50s. I'm 70 now. And audiologist once told me my hearing was bionic.
#46
My eyes over time have started changing color. They were bright blue and now are transitioning to a hazel. Im 26 and this started when I was about 15.
Apparently this is a rare "talent" but I can raise 1 ear at a time.
Cilantro tastes like soap.
During the main life of call of duty: modern warfare 3 I was ranked 12 on the free for all leaderboards. I regularly played against #2-7 and could usually beat them with a pistol. My parents never paid for anything gaming related and I couldn't afford a molded controller but I loved the hard hitting semis so I practiced, my fire rate with the 5.7 was about 16 shots per second.
Nikki Sevven 5 months ago
My daughter's eyes were cerulean blue when she was born. They changed over a few months to the darkest brown, so dark you can only see her pupils in bright light.
meeeeeeeeeeee 5 months ago
My eyes changed from very blue to green at some point in my 20s. It also tastes like soap to me.
Snackmachine 5 months ago
Mine were dark brown until I was about 25. They turned hazel gradually over the next couple of years and are still hazel
ROSESARERED 5 months ago
I've got chameleon eyes, they change colour, sometimes only slightly, sometimes dramatically...it's not the eye colour changing, the pressure and veins behind. I'm a green Eyed monster if I'm angry, sad or scared, grey if sick or tired, and a purple thin band right next to the pupil if I'm in excruciating pain ( someone told me that one) normal eye colour grey green amber hazel.
#47
I was in Ohio while working for Bellator MMA years ago and met Dave Chappelle outside a Starbucks. He invited me to dinner that night and we sat and talked for hours with just a few close friends. He was every bit as amazing to hang with as you’d imagine. It was a wild experience that I knew no one would ever believe.
Dogfacedboy1980 5 months ago
Yes. Dave Chappelle lived in Ohio he might still but I know he at least used to
#48
A girl called me cute today.
Michael Largey 5 months ago
Women more often call me "acute". We won't dwell on the nouns they follow it with.
#49
I can't remember a conversation I had 10 seconds ago, but I can remember most things from at least an hour ago. Also, I was locked away in an asylum 4 times.
#50
I kept my father out of prison as an infant.
Dogfacedboy1980 5 months ago
That's just because he was stuck at home babysitting your little a*s
#51
One of my grandma's cousins was assassinated.
Not m******d, assassinated.
#52
My wife and I both look like we're in high school. We've had multiple servers at restaurants ask if our parents are picking us up despite the fact we have both graduated college and live far away from her and my parents.
#53
Probably that I throw up every time I eat food if I don't take gravol or a s**t ton of ginger. My husband believes me because he gets to see it everyday unfortunately, but because I used to have an eating disorder every time I tell a doctor they never believe it's involuntary and I really really do not want to throw up every time I eat..... Like everything. Soup, crackers, whatever. It's usually very small, and I know it isn't acid reflux (tried medication for that, threw that up also), but it still just takes the fun out of eating.
#54
I don't understand humanity to the point where i can't get basic concepts and having a really hard time living without support of the people who "know what to do". I feel like i am living on the planet with aliens.
My brain also erases everything that isn't related to my main interest.
Yet despite all that i am able to write plots that are enjoyable to most players who live trough them. I was told many times that if i am so much disconnected from society, i should not be able to make up a good story or believable characters, but yet i am.
#55
After multiple times going, I've never lost in Las Vegas.
Sara Frazer 5 months ago
I've never lost in Vegas either! 😃 However, I've never been, and it's not even in the top 100 places I'd like to visit...maybe not even in the top 200 places I want to visit....
Robin DJW 5 months ago
It's at the top of my list of places I never want to see again.
Load More Replies... 
Kyra Heiker 5 months ago
I have a foolproof method for gambling in Las Vegas. I take as much money as I can afford to lose and when I'm down to my last ten dollars I find a cheap buffet
Multa Nocte 5 months ago
We used to do the same. Take a small sum of nickels and quarters (this was the 80s) and play them until they ran out or we got tired.
Load More Replies... Nikki Sevven 5 months ago
When my family visited Manhattan in the '80s, I was so nervous I'd get lost that I memorized the street and subway maps. I always knew where we were going and how to get there.
#56
People usually don't believe when I say I can tie my shoelaces while riding a bicycle.
And yes, I need 2 hands for that.
Nikki Sevven 5 months ago
I can pat my head and rub my tummy simultaneously. I can also walk and chew gum at the same time.
#57
I was parked in a space and left ten minutes before a car with a bomb parked there and blew up.
#58
My family ended up on the West coast because Al Capone was rubbed the wrong way by my grand uncle. He was m******d while visiting my great grandpa's farm.
#59
Im part mexican but i look like a sweedish man with curly hair.
Daria 5 months ago (edited)
i knew a half-Syrian guy and a half-gуpsy guy, both pale, blue eyed, blond, and curly as they took after their moms. My closest gуpsy relative, on the other hand, was my great great grandpa, but i still inherited the look - black eyes and olive skin. Genetics can be crazy.
#60
I spent the night in the home of a former Ms Venezuela. It was a lovely evening.
Of course, >!she wasn't there. Her roommate was an old friend.!
#61
I'm proficient at playing 8 instruments and can hold my own on 3 more.
Michael Largey 5 months ago
Doesn't holding your own make it more difficult to play those three instruments?
Sara Frazer 5 months ago (edited)
I recently learned how to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the ukulele!.. of course it's been a couple months, and now I don't remember.. but I did it at least a couple times! (but seriously that's impressive)... I'm currently waiting on a short-scale bass guitar to be delivered; I have small hands so my instrument options are limited! 😂🥲
#62
I escaped a carjacking attempt by the Gulf Cartel. If y’all are ever in an area with gang activity, make sure you’re driving the shittiest vehicle.
#63
I can recite the first thousand decimal places of pi backwards. The technique that I used to memorize pi forwards just happens to allow you to recite it backwards. It's easy too, I'm not super super smart.
Michael Largey 5 months ago
I can recite anything backwards. I just turn 180 degrees and start.
#64
I don't know if anybody would believe it or find a true. But when I was born my esophagus was not attached to my stomach so the doctors had to realign that and reattach it. So they gave me medicine for getting an allergic reaction to it I believe it was called penicillin. Or amoxicillin. But they also realize that the same time my stomach has a hole in it. So they end up doing another surgery right after the first one. I have a huge scar on my stomach to prove by I don't think anybody would take me seriously. Sorry for the spelling using text to speech is kind of difficult.
#65
As a teenager I lived in a house that was next to a huge curve in the road (IIRC it's a mile and a half of curve) and we were sort of at the apex. Anyway, drivers would often lose control of their vehicle and flip into our front yard. With my bedroom being closest to the road, I always heard the crashes and would run outside while someone in my family called 911.
I figured out after we moved that in 3 years there were around 15 accidents. One of those was a semi truck that rolled over on it's side and barely missed our house. Of those 15 accidents, 5 people died on impact and 3 I had to do CPR on (the highschool I went to had a required CPR course) and the people ended up surviving.
To this day I still remind people to buckle up or wear a helmet because I've seen what happens when they don't.
#66
I hate myself. I have a good life. My family is not broken. I'm good with people, have a lot of friends, I'm getting good grades. From what I've been told, I am decently attractive, I'm pretty active and very independent. I don't know why, but I am still my least favourite person.
#67
I saw a UFO, and not just some far away light in the sky, it was close enough that I could've thrown a rock at it and hit it. Lots of lights, totally quiet and it maneuvered oddly.
I've only ever mentioned it to a few people. You get the sense that people think you must be a little stupid to think it was anything other than a balloon or some other more mundane thing. It's like they say, you gotta see it to believe it.
Mother of Dragons 5 months ago
Same I was 12. Sleepover at a friends. All 4 of us saw it. Nobody ever believes us.
#68
I can tell what people are eating through the phone.
#70
I’m a white guy. I was born in a country on the east coast of Africa, and spent a good part of my childhood in Kingston, Jamaica. When I returned to my parent’s home country, I had a thick accent for a number of months.
It’s not hard to convince people now, but hoo boy was it hard in high school. Someone still owes me $100.
#71
When I went to study abroad, my english was good enough that almost everyone I talked to though I was just American, when I'm really Spanish-Brazillian-Portuguese (Itd take too long to explain my heritage so I'm not going to).
#72
In my 20s I lived on the outskirts of a college town in a heavily wooden area. The road was windy and narrow.
One day I was getting ready to go out when I heard a large crashing sound. I looked out our large bay window to see a truck had flipped over in the road.
I ran down to help and found a young man lying next to his truck on the road screaming in pain with a woman standing over him.
I called 911 and tried to see if he was ok, the woman says "oh you're find stop complaining".
This man was not ok, he then yells out "she tried to k**l me, you grabbed the wheel!"
I make eye contact with her and she looks away. A few moments later the ambulance arrives and I walk back to my house.
My roommates didn't believe me about what the guy said. I'm convinced she tried to k**l him.
#74
I dated someone for almost 3 years and we never once had s*x
I once fell off a 10-12 foot tree landed right on my head and walked away unscathed
I only have one testicle.
Dogfacedboy1980 5 months ago (edited)
Here comes Johnny with his p****r in his hand he's a one ball man and he's off to the rodeo!
What do you think ?
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 5 months ago
Two Royal Navy cooks based in Chatham made Prince Charles and Lady Diana's wedding cake. When they got out of the Navy, they set up shop in Chatham making weddings cakes. Before migrating out here to Australia, my wife and I had our 1984 wedding cake made by them. Pretty reasonable price too.
Disgruntled Pelican 5 months ago
I ran into a large portion of the Australian Opals basketball team in 2006 while in the bathroom at the Sydney airport. I was all of 12 years old on a student ambassador trip from the US and in comes this group of the tallest women I had ever seen, all wearing track suits that said "Opals". I was so flabbergasted that I didn't put 2 and 2 together on who they were until the Olympics in '08 when I was watching them play on TV. Still wish I would have asked one for an autograph or at least said hello.
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 5 months ago
Two Royal Navy cooks based in Chatham made Prince Charles and Lady Diana's wedding cake. When they got out of the Navy, they set up shop in Chatham making weddings cakes. Before migrating out here to Australia, my wife and I had our 1984 wedding cake made by them. Pretty reasonable price too.
Disgruntled Pelican 5 months ago
I ran into a large portion of the Australian Opals basketball team in 2006 while in the bathroom at the Sydney airport. I was all of 12 years old on a student ambassador trip from the US and in comes this group of the tallest women I had ever seen, all wearing track suits that said "Opals". I was so flabbergasted that I didn't put 2 and 2 together on who they were until the Olympics in '08 when I was watching them play on TV. Still wish I would have asked one for an autograph or at least said hello.
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