The amount of lies we’re fed growing up is pretty astounding when you stop to think about it. From stereotypes perpetuated by media to common misinformation shared amongst friends, there are tons of ways to be fed the wrong facts.
Someone on Reddit attempted to dispel some of those fears by asking people for rare things that people think are common, and some of their answers have been compiled here!
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Rare appearances.
“Having green eyes.”
“It warps your perspective when you live in areas with a lot of people who look similar to you,” elaborated one reply, “Only 2% of humanity is blond but my country has like half of that share so it’s completely normal.”
Scare spice.
One person simply stated, “Wasabi.”
When someone else asked why, they explained, “Because real wasabi is actually rare due to the plant being difficult to grow. Most ‘wasabi’ you get is actually a horseradish base.”
Talk about fear mongering.
“Intentionally tainted Halloween candy. Remember growing up some kids couldn’t trick or treat because their parents feared psychos who poisoned the candy or slipped razor blades into the tootsie rolls or whatever? Yeah, as far as I can determine it’s a myth and never happens. If it did, think about how easy it would be to trace and capture said person.”
Pale in comparison.
“Most cheap ‘jade’ is aventurine, glass, resin, serpentine or some other kind of stone. […] I wanted to buy a jade bangle and did a ton of research and found that the real ones cost at least a few grand with the nice ones being tens of thousands, if not more.
Also, pretty much all “jade” facial rollers are not real jade […].”
Out of commission.
“Blimps.”
“That just blew my mind,” replied one astonished user, “I google’d it and there are about 25 in the world and half are actually used. I live in an area where I drive by a docked one every so often and usually just think, ‘oh cool, there’s a blimp’. I’ve never thought, ‘I’m seeing 4% of all blimps in the universe right now’.”
Sleeping soundly.
“Being aware/waking up under general anesthesia. Most stories of this are MAC anesthetics where the patient is kept light and generally [doesn’t] remember, but it isn’t truly general anesthetic. If people really wake up under general anesthesia they will have their eyes taped shut and a breathing tube in. They will also likely be paralyzed. It does happen, but it is extremely rare.”
It really works!
“After all those years of stop drop and roll, [I’ve] not been on fire ONCE.”
“I have and it works!” replied one rather unlucky person, “There was a lot more swearing than those drills would have led you to believe.”
Yeah, that checks.
Stranger danger.
“Child abductions by strangers. Growing up in the 80s we were taught that if you were by yourself you were liable to be snatched up by a stranger. The reality is most abductions are by people the child knows. Stranger abductions make the news and often end tragically, but they’re relatively rare.”
Humans are friends, not food.
“Getting attacked by a shark.”
For those still afraid of sharks, one user shared a tip they received from a lifeguard, “[…] make sure you wear colourful wet suits and sharks will generally leave you alone. They will attack you if they confuse you with a seal, so don’t wear all black. But sharks don’t actually like humans.”
The great flavor debate.
“Vanilla. It’s the [go-to] word for common, plain, or boring, when it’s a pretty rare ingredient [that’s] difficult to grow and only comes from a few places on earth.”
The fact that we don’t consider chocolate to be the more common flavor by now is ridiculous!
The common enemy.
“Being bitten by any venomous creature in Australia.”
When someone jokingly brought up the sun being the real enemy, someone replied, “Real talk though. Melanoma kills thousands of people in Australia every year whereas venomous animals kill dozens. In 2017, the death toll due to melanoma was about 1770. Venomous animals was 19. Wear your sunscreen people.”
Slip ‘n’ slide.
“Slipping on a banana peel. Childhood TV taught me that this is a common accident.”
Another commenter replied to this, saying, “I actually did it once as an adult and remembered thinking, ‘So this is what they were talking about all along’!”
Where the sun don’t shine.
“People going to the ER with things stuck in their butts. Been an ER nurse for 5 years and [I’ve] only seen it maybe 2-3 times. I’m kind of disappointed.”
The times where you did see it are probably among your more memorable shifts though!
Making good on their promises.
“Someone who has threatened to sue you follows through and files a lawsuit against you.”
“This is quite true,” agreed another commenter, “When I actually did sue someone they were mostly shocked that I had sued them (Despite having told them I was going to sue them for months) and came completely unprepared to the hearing.”
A peculiar plea.
Speaking of lawsuits, a lawyer chimed in with their own rare law happening.
“Pleas of not-guilty by reason of insanity. Fewer than a third of one percent of all cases involve such a plea, and even fewer are successful. TV makes it sound as though everyone is trying it, though.”
Eggs aplenty!
“Salmonella. Statistically, only about 1 in 20,000 eggs is contaminated with salmonella. […] To further reduce your risk: try to reduce contact with the with the egg itself and the outside of the shell. The shell itself holds most of the bacteria.”
Seamless transition.
“Needing to wear an outfit that will go ‘from day to night’ with the removal of a jumper/ addition of earrings etc. Fashion mags really had me thinking this was a skill I’d really be needing as an adult.”
How to save a life.
“Donating blood. Of the 329 million people in the U.S only 37 percent can donate and only about 3-10 percent of those people actually donate. Give blood and save multiple lives!”
Donating blood is a wonderful and easy way to give back to your community in a life-saving way! It really ought to be more common.
Comin’ down.
“Plane crashes. It has been statistically proven that the number of plane crashes pales in comparison to the number of car crashes. Yet, there’s way more people who are afraid of flying than there are people who are afraid of driving. Ironically enough, with lots of the people who are afraid of flying having no problem with driving.”
Keeping up appearances.
“That someone who LOOKS rich, actually IS rich.”
Another user replied, “I remember working at a bank, and getting to see these people’s bank accounts. Huge house, luxury cars, designer clothes, fancy restaurants. And massive credit card bills and overdrawn on their account by the end of every month with no savings or retirement plan. That [expletive] was way more common than I ever would have thought.”
