Every hobby or job has its own niche tools and if you’re not part of that community, you may not recognize something it you came across it.
Like, if someone went through my writing desk, they’d find tiny sheets of brass, a loupe, cotton swabs, silicon grease, and blunt syringes. They’d be forgiven if they thought I had some illicit habits, but those are actually common tools for the cleaning and maintenance of fountain pens.
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But I can totally understand why someone might assume an intervention was warranted.
Though… I could probably use one for my stationery habit anyway. (Full disclosure: I chose that gif because I literally have that pen in my pen case today. But with gold ink.)
Of course, it doesn’t take a niche hobby like vintage writing implements to have unusual tools.
Sometimes a perfectly normal thing can seem weird simply because you’ve never encountered it before.
Like, my mother stunned me when she had no idea what the weird brown root thing in my kitchen was. She was concerned about my pantry hygiene, but it was just ginger. She simply hadn’t ever seen the full root in person.
And it does look pretty gnarly.
Of course, being a Baby Boomer, her first stop was to ask someone else what it was.
As a Millennial, my first stop would have been the internet, because it knows everything.
In this case, I would have turned to Reddit, specifically the subreddit r/whatisthisthing , which is exactly what it sounds like.
Which brings us to Redditor Merciman and the thing he found in his dad’s room.
He doesn’t give any context to what he was actually in there for, but maybe he just wanted to borrow a shirt.
While in there, he found what looked like a rubber net thing with metal wrapped around the bottom edges.
“Found in my dads room, really hoping its not a sex thing,” he said
I mean, can you blame him for wondering?
The way it’s lying on that carpet looks vaguely underwear-shaped.
He could have asked his dad, but what if it did turn out to be a sex thing? I don’t kink shame, but I still wouldn’t want to find out my parents were into something like that.
Thankfully, Reddit only made a few jokes before giving a real answer.
They are one half of a pair of traction devices. For your boots, not a sex thing.
These devices come in many styles, but are meant to help you stay upright on ice and snow.
Which is pretty handy if you work outside in the cold or just enjoy all-weather hiking.
I’m sure Merciman was very relieved to learn their true purpose, and I really hope he told his dad about it. Because it’s hilarious.
