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Article created by: Gabija Saveiskyte
Most of us have likely met a person or two who don’t take things too seriously, be it health, relationships, or something way less important. However, sometimes even the seemingly insignificant things shouldn’t be played down too much.
Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community recently discussed things that many people take too lightly when they shouldn’t. While some emphasized the dangers of situations such as moving water or driving, for instance, others focused on social issues, like dehumanizing other people or holding individuals accountable for their actions, all of which some might consider not to be a big deal. Scroll down to find more of their answers on the list below, and make sure to upvote those you agree with the most.
Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interviews with two health experts, Professor in Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Gretchen Chapman, and Professor of Health and Human Sciences at Loyola Marymount University, Dr. Hawley Almstedt, who were kind enough to answer a few of our questions about why people shouldn’t take certain things lightly.
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#1
Dental health! A bad tooth can put you six feet under.
ETA: it needs to be covered by insurance and considered a human right instead of being considered cosmetic.
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#2
Getting a pet. It requires work, that goes without saying. But what nobody talks about is the eventual loss. As I write this, I am looking at out ten year old puppy who is slated to be euthanized later today. They diagnosed him last week and scheduled this appointment. He's not in any pain outwardly but his demeanor speaks volumes. I broke down at work and left this morning after only a couple hours. He's never been nothing but a good companion and in my opinion deserves so much more than he has received. I've lost pets before, of course, but this hurts, for some reason like no other. They bring joy and if you've done your job right, they will bring a boatload of pain.
#3
Using medical or psychiatric diagnosis terms when they're not warranted.
Being detail-oriented (in and of itself) is not OCD.
Feeling restless or bored or impatient (in and of themselves) is not ADHD.
Feeling social different or awkward or uncomfortable (again....) is not ASD or "autism"
People throw around these words (e.g. "Oh, that picture wasn't hanging straight and I needed to fix it once I noticed. I'm so OCD.") very casually or self-diagnose, often based on one feature of condition, which greatly devalues the proper use of the terms.
#4
Driving. It astonishes me how casually so many take operating a machine capable of causing a great deal of harm.
#5
People take the dangers of glitter way too lightly. That stuff is basically craft herpes. Once you get glitter on you, it spreads everywhere and never fully goes away. You find it on your clothes, in your hair, and somehow even in your food. A single encounter with glitter and you'll be finding those sparkly specks for years. It’s like a sparkly plague that never goes away and you keep finding between your toes and in other questionable places.
#11
Water, more specifically flowing water with currents. So many people underestimate the power of a flow.
#19
I notice no one holds doors for the person behind them, people don't let others off of an elevator before they barge in, people don't share the road or let others ahead when driving
.. So I make it a point to do all these things because it's.... polite and I am hoping people will see this and do it as well.. but, when i do these things, like holding a door open for someone, almost everyone will not say "thank you" and some people won't even try to catch the door or even pretend to notice. I've had so many times where the person in front of me slithers out after the person in from of them held the door for them and they do not catch the door and I get a door slammed in my face. Its crazy how much people do this. I started loudly saying ur welcome to people who don't say thank you , and I only (barely) heard one person say oh, thank you. This is In my lifetime BTW, over 30 years, Lol. Driving of course no one waves to say thank u. I do and I do it so they definitely can see lol.
I refuse to be an unkind person, and not hold doors open, or not let others through, not sharing the roads, like how i see majority of people doing. It's not in me to do it even once.
Do these people who do this think this is what those people are supposed to do for them? Or thanking that person is basic social etiquette and the gesture shows you appreciate their kindness and acknowledge it. No gesture makes u feel invisible and unappreciated as if it was some automatic door and that opened itself. Its disrespectful and sad that people don't know what an act of kindness looks like and thinks that's what they're entitled to.
I hope I'm not just old lol and it's getting phased out
Edit.... I came back on and saw notifications... I thought I was getting in trouble for something lol.. I'm so happy people see this and are thoughtful. It's so nice to know that!
#20
Work/Life balance. No matter where you work, you are replaceable within days. No matter what you do, someone else can do it, too. Spend time with your family, friends, and pets. Your job will not be there for you when you are dying, nor will it care that you are gone.
#21
Freshwater loss. Whole lakes are being drained and rivers diverted completely so they never reach the ocean. We're generally treating natural freshwater like it's an unlimited resource and it's not.
#22
Seat belts. "I read about this guy who was ejected from his car which then caught on fire - if he had been wearing his seatbelt he'd have been killed, so I don't wear one." Yep, one in a million accidents, a seat belt does more harm than good, but to me, this is outweighed by the other 999,999 where it helps.
Also "my car has airbags, so I don't need a seat belt". If you've never had the pleasure of being in a car when the airbag deployed, I suggest you find some videos of people doing silly things like setting a barrel over one in a junkyard and then triggering it with a battery, launching the barrel into orbit. Please believe me when I tell you, an airbag deployment is an INCREDIBLY violent thing to happen inside the confined space of a car, and you do NOT want your face (or any other body parts you prefer not to injure) anywhere NEAR a deploying airbag.
#24
Blood pressure. In the past few years I've learned that a number of people in my life just walk around day-to-day close to stroking-out and don't bother going to the doctor about it.
#25
Holding friends and family accountable for their words and actions. A lot of people like to think they would act reasonably and morally when their close relationships do terrible things, but they often don't. Usually they create excuses for the behavior and learn to adapt around it.
#27
Heat stroke. It can really sneak up on a person, and even be counterintuitive, esp. in young children.
#30
Condoms, a friend of ours is promiscuous. But she thinks that birth control and being somewhat picky about the guys you sleep with will prevent STI’s. She says she only uses them the first few times. I fear for her future.
#33
Speeding. People drive around at 10-15 over the speed limit then act like it's the cops fault that they got a ticket. Yea, you save 3 minutes on your drive but you also drastically increased your stress levels as well as your chance of a car accident. Speed limits are set with local traffic, pedestrian frequency, and road design. Ignoring that is just begging for an accident.
#34
Posture/sitting. Sitting is going to be the next cig killer because of health issues. And posture is already doing it as so many issues are due to bad posture(bad wrist? Prob posture or sitting, headache at the back of your neck? Posture. Trouble breathing/chest tightness? Try to adjust your posture. I bet a good chance it goes away(fun fact this can cause anxiety). It's insane how we've just accepted text neck, hunching, rolled shoulders, and other stuff as normal.
#35
Their words, they have weight. A lot of people act like they’re invisible so they go hurt others for attention without knowing it has impact.
#36
Covid, for sure. It's not just the flu or a cold, people. It's not even just a respiratory disease. It can damage your heart, brain, kidneys, arteries, and more. And every time you get it, even if you're asymptomatic, your risk for long Covid or just cumulative damage to your vital organs goes up.
And the fun part is it's causing literal brain damage, so like the longer we wait to address it the less mentally agile we'll be as a country to design and implement counter measures.
#37
Saving money for rainy days or retirement. People are living beyond their means and they don't even know it. When you factor in the fact that you're going to have to depend on what you saved up it becomes even clearer.
#40
This is gonna be niche but safety in westen riding/rodeo sports. Especially with kids.
I watch the videos online of 10 year olds almost being thrown from horses 20 times their weight before doing their barrel racing run wearing a hat only and I can't believe this is where we are still at. Concussions ans TBIs are not taken anywhere seriously enough in these circles purely for the sake of looking "tough."
I understand the culture behind the hat and I understand why some safety precautions aren't practical in a working farm/ranch setting, but this is a sport involving live animals, high speeds and crazy maneuvers.
I grew up riding western and absolutely loved barrel racing and rodeo but I saw (and experienced) FAR too many concussions where the immediate treatment was encouragement to "get back up on the horse" to show you were ok and not wimpy.
My last concussion was WITH my helmet. There was a rule at our barn (which was a common rule at many other barns) that you only had to wear a helmet IF you lost/forgot your hat and it was mostly to shame you for forgetting or losing your hat. I was thrown and landed head first on the ground. Imagine if I had just been wearing my hat.
I could understand not forcing adults to wear helmets since it's their choice but to put small kids into these sports with absolutely nothing protecting their heads is straight up insanity.
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