ADVERTISEMENT

There’s nothing quite like being in your own company. It’s a pure judgement-free zone⁠—no pressure to show off, no expectations met by reality, no strange looks given as you’re voicing all the nonsense out loud in an empty room.

And interestingly, some of the most unusual behavior happens while we’re on our own. In fact, the things we do are so random, we don’t really talk about them. Ever. Like doing a remote trace or aligning your feet to the tiles so you won’t die.

Bored Panda has compiled a list of all the odd things we all do but never dare to tell, not even in truth or dare. And you know what? It's better off that way.

Humor plays a vital role in younger generations’ communication and media consumption. But Gen Z and millennials are renowned for what’s called absurdist, surrealist, and often dark comedy full of dank memes and observational one-liners.

In order to get this sense of humor, one has to understand the context in which the youngest generations came to live. In the past decade, the world has been bursting with information which is “both more accessible and less reliable,” writes The Washington Post. “Brands pose as a friend on social media to millennial consumers, and the line between real and artificial matters less than it once did.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Another explanation is that such surreal humor is a response to a world that has stopped making sense. According to Andrew DeYoung, the director of 555 and editor on The Eric Andre Show, the Adult Swim school of comedy is designed to “reflect the frenetic distribution of information on the internet.” And that’s why most of their shows are so chaotic and absurd.

Since there’s no time for a narrative joke to be said online, traditional punchline structure doesn’t work. “Instead, things are funny because they are willfully jarring and strange,” writes Rachel Aroesti for The Guardian. Weird Twitter and bizarre dank memes are perfect examples of how millennials break down the joke, decontextualize it, and create utter randomness.

#7

Picking A Song

Picking A Song

Report

Add photo comments
POST
james_fox1984 avatar
Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is definitely a hard one but considering the situation I would be in that I had 6mins to live, I would probably listen to Always look on the bright side of life from Monty Python.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#8

Things Causing Anxiety

Things Causing Anxiety

Report

Add photo comments
POST
orders_4 avatar
Liam Walsh
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When the cashier gives you the change by placing notes on your palm and then the coins on top... awkward shuffling around of money ensues.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#9

Standing In The Way

Standing In The Way

Report

Add photo comments
POST
james_fox1984 avatar
Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If a person is there trying to make a decision or taking too long I just say excuse me please and grab what I want.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#13

Security Sensors

Security Sensors

TweetPotato314 Report

Add photo comments
POST
pmkorpershoek avatar
Peter Korpershoek
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I once got 'caught' by a store manager after the alarm went off, i was 12. I patiently waited right after the sirene, but nobody showed up. I got some angry faces from customers and personnel. I tested the alarm again by swinging my plastic bag trough the gates, it went off again. Nobody showed up... After one minute i started walking back to my bike, and right then someone grabbed me by the neck. He dragged me roughly to a small office where i had to empty my pockets and bag. He checked the receipt and saw that I didn't steel anything. He tested the alarm with my bag, it went off. They seem to have forgotten to remove a tag. I was 19 when i had the guts to enter that store again.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#14

Sleep Time

Sleep Time

Report

Add photo comments
POST
kaisu-reinikainen avatar
Kaisu
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's the best feeling ever, knowing you can have lots more sleep! Like waking up at 7 but then remembering it's the weekend and you can go back to sleep

iblowsheep avatar
samlomb avatar
Samantha Lomb
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The worst is like waking up 2-5 min before the alarm and feeling horribly cheated and cranky

joleehang avatar
Jolee Hang
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

True... I have a watch, and my mom controls it from her phone, (I'm sixteen, so she can still do this, even though I have had an ipod for years and am perfectly capable of having a phone) and she used to have an alarm for washing my face at 7:00am and now I get up at 7:00am instead of 6:00, so since my watch is, like, thirty seconds ahead, I turn off my watch alarm, which is too far to reach from the bed, and then by the time I get in bed, my clock goes off ten seconds later. Unfortunately, I get extremely tired in the morning, so I either kept forgetting to ask her to turn it off or when I did ask, she told me it was a bad time. It stayed like that for over a year before she finally fixed it.

Load More Replies...
susannaental_1 avatar
Dynein
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not for me... I struggle with falling asleep, so if I'm awake enough to wonder about the time I really hope it's past 6am. That means I can maybe get up, maybe doze a bit (depending on the exact time and how I feel about getting up), but either way I probably already got a sufficient amount of sleep to function for the day. 3am? Might not fall asleep again (or take hours to do so), then be tired all day and only kinda become awake toward the evening... and then struggle to fall asleep that night because I'm too awake >.< And getting out of THAT cycle will cost me days that I'll spend being tired and unmotivated and hardly able to concentrate. Yippee.

nataliem9159183586 avatar
Ginny Weasley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes!! I wake up like this every single day!! *Falls asleep at midnight* *wakes up* *3:00 AM* *Falls back to sleep at 6:00* *Alarm goes off at 7:00*

Load More Replies...
danoberlander avatar
Dan Oberlander
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was in the Navy, we had to be up at 5am. Every minute of sleep was precious. One night my roommates alarm clock was going off at 2:30am. Matt, why the hell is your alarm clock going off? His response, “you know that feeling you get when you wake up in the middle of the night and realize you still have a few hours to sleep. I trying to get that.” WTF!?!?

catmarshall57 avatar
BusLady
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wake up at 6:58 when the alarm is set for 7, then think damn, I could have slept 2 more minutes.

dirigobill avatar
Bill
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you suffer from insomnia, keep clocks out of your room. That way you won't stress what time it is and might actually sleep. Read from an AARP article

soniw avatar
soni w
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Me: lays in bed with eyes open for 4 more hours!

timdsampson avatar
Toasty
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unfortunately, it is always two minutes before my alarm goes off.

kristina_thomas avatar
Kristina Thomas
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Know what's horrible? "Please don't be 7am." It's 6:13am. And you're too tired to get up but too awake to sleep more.

dalleyviv avatar
L1z4rd
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Except when you have been awake since 1 and it's now 4.30 am and it doesn't feel like there is any chance you are going to get back to sleep before your alarm goes off at 6 😭

anabellajoy09 avatar
Joybug
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Okay, but I go to bed at 3, because I stay up reading.

prava-hanuma avatar
Unaffected
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And then you can't fall asleep again until 7 am.Story of my life

rocker_seven avatar
Anthony Murphy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sometimes I purposely don't check the clock, because I'd be more upset knowing that it's about to go off in a few minutes as opposed to not knowing and laying back down.

mamaoddling avatar
Mama Oddling
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just don't look at the clock. If I get up 3 or 4 times a night, I always tell myself "it should be about midnight" every time. Stupid, but it works.

kmhommes avatar
Kim
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Me, mom of a baby, when said baby wakes me up in the morning: Please be 7am, please be 7 am. clock: 5.20 am me:... not again. COFFEE!

joleehang avatar
Jolee Hang
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I do that to myself on purpose. I set an alarm for 6:30/7:30-weekdays and weekends-and get up an 7:00/8:00. I get to have an extra thirty minutes to lay in bed and wake myself up without actually having to get up. And it makes me less tired when I do get up, even though I didn't get up any earlier or later.

klerandre avatar
Randy Klefbeck
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Forget it. The minute I look at the clock it's over. I won't go back to sleep.

jessica-munoz-jm avatar
Jessica Muñoz
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's the worst because when I go back to sleep and wake up again, I have a terrible migraine.

amyahminott-starling avatar
AMYAH MINOTT-STARLING
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

on a sunday i woke up thinking it was a monday online school i also woke up at 9:12 and questioned my parents

kimmy_hjalmarsson avatar
Kimmy Hjalmarsson Hector
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

During my military service (Swedish Ranger) we would constantly be so tired that 7-8 our of sleep felt like 30 minutes. And you almost never woke up in the middle of the night. The few times I did wake up at 3am it felt like hitting the jackpot :D

katie_karstensen avatar
Katherine Gilleland
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’m far more upset when I wake up at three and not right before my alarm because it means that I’m going to be exhausted the next day from screwed up sleep

michelle_hallahan avatar
GenXandEarnedItAll
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm a firefighter and work 24 hour shifts. When I wake in the middle of the night I think, "Yeah, baby. Four more hours of sleep...or four more hours of a chance I might have to run more calls before shift change." 😴🥱

terrysane avatar
TerrySane
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It used to be like that. Now I am sleeping with my 2yo and he is able get up at 3 am. So I am so happy when is at least 5 am on the clock.

sasyscarborough avatar
Sasy
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Meeeeeee, and once in a while there is what I call Santa night, when you wake feeling rested, the time us 1am and you are all woohoo, fall asleep, wake what feels like hours later and it's 2.45am and you are grinning like a nutter, this goes on all night and in the real am you wake feeling like you slept 24 hours. This is how Santa gets everything delivered and whatever else he does through various times of the year.

donovanstrader avatar
Donovan Strader
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

hahaha havent had to wake up early in a longgggg time becuase of quarintine

kerri avatar
Kerri Russ
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I could easily add "I thought I was the only one" to every one of these. When we're alone, we all do the same stupid s**t. (Thank you, Dennis Miller!)

casper_slinkman avatar
Slinkman
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There was a time i was so sleepdrunk, that i was fully dressing myself for work until i realized it wasn't 7:00 AM, it was 1:00 AM.... I still had a night full of sleep ahead of me, it felt like a huge gift.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#15

Auto Pilot

Auto Pilot

gabbylizzul Report

Add photo comments
POST
james_fox1984 avatar
Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s a bit dangerous. Although I have walked to the shops and as I am almost half way home I have thought “I don’t even remember walking to the shops”. It’s like I was just suddenly placed there without knowing how I got there. Does that make sense? Kind of like I was on auto pilot.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#19

Just Adult Things

Just Adult Things

reddit.com Report

#21

Walking By

Walking By

Report

Add photo comments
POST
juliaartigue avatar
juice
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

also works when you make awkward eye contact with strangers and don't want to be perceived as rude

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#23

Leaving Without Buying

Leaving Without Buying

Report

Add photo comments
POST
khwahish-n avatar
Nea
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So often i buy things that will eventually be used like kitchen towels just to avoid this...

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#24

Shipping Rates

Shipping Rates

Report

#26

Well Deserved Rest

Well Deserved Rest

tomsimmo Report

#27

Just Do Nothing

Just Do Nothing

Report

#28

Silent Mode

Silent Mode

abgates7 Report

#30

Sleeping Pose

Sleeping Pose

reddit.com Report

ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#33

Blanket Choice

Blanket Choice

reddit.com Report

Add photo comments
POST
fabianabarrientos avatar
hispanic! at the disco
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always put one foot in and one foot out. I remember reading it controlled the temperature of your body.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#34

Package Tracking

Package Tracking

Report

#38

Checking Yourself Out

Checking Yourself Out

kourtney152253 Report

#39

Forgetfulness

Forgetfulness

Report

Add photo comments
POST
lncaska avatar
Kaisa
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It is almost like forgetting that the same thing was posted already

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

Note: this post originally had 63 images. It’s been shortened to the top 39 images based on user votes.