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10 basic things every adult really should know but most of us don't

The answers do not disappoint.

basic knowledge; common sense; things you should know; ask reddit
Canva/screenshots-Reddit

10 basic things every adult should know but a scary amount don't.

When you think about it, 18 years really isn't a lot of time to learn all the things you need to know before you move into adulthood. Any parent or caregiver can attest that the first five years of a child's life is spent trying to make sure they don't accidentally seriously maim themselves, or worse. But just when you think that stage has passed, it rears its underdeveloped frontal cortex again in the early teen years. That doesn't leave much time for solidifying all the "common knowledge" things parents need to teach their kids before they move out.


Someone on Reddit asked the question, "What's some basic knowledge that a scary amount of people don't know?" and the people did not disappoint. Or maybe they did disappoint since this is about things that should be common sense, but aren't. Either way, the people on Reddit had a lot to say about the things that should've been learned before adulthood and some of them may surprise even the adultiest adult. There were more than 28,000 responses. Here's the top 10…

1. Water and grease don't mix.

This little bit of advice seems like a no-brainer until you add in the element of fire. One commenter explained that you should never put water on a grease fire, which can go against some people's instinct when they see a fire blazing. A grease fire can occur when you're cooking with something that requires grease, such as fried chicken or sauteed vegetables. The grease catches a flame under the pan and whoosh, you no longer have eyebrows. Grease fires are best smothered with a lid, or a substance like flour, salt or whatever is inside fire extinguishers.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
2. Mixing cleaning products can be deadly.

Most people know not to mix bleach and ammonia, but not everyone knows not to mix other cleaning Items together. A commenter reminded people that mixing bleach and Pine-Sol can create toxic fumes that can absolutely be deadly if too much of the fumes build up in the room. Someone else chimed in that mixing any cleaning solutions together is not a good idea unless you're a chemist and know exactly which compounds are safe to mix.

3. Having a basic knowledge of female anatomy is helpful.

Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, a lot of people don't seem to know that people with female anatomy do not in fact urinate out of their actual vagina. There was some confusion as to where it actually come from and for some users the Pikachu shocked face was definitely happening on the other side of the screen. If you are also unaware, I won't tell. Just lean in close so no one else hears. There's a small hole above the vagina called a urethra. That's where pee comes from.

Photo by Team Fredi on Unsplash
4. Don't believe natural always means good for you.

This little tidbit of information may make some people upset, but one user said, "Just because it's natural doesn't mean it is automatically healthy. Just because it is artificial or synthetic doesn't mean it is automatically bad for you." Lots of things are natural that are not good for you, for instance, arsenic. It's certainly natural, but I wouldn't be in a rush test its healing properties.

5. If you're being questioned, the police are not your friend.

Maybe some people missed this in TV shows centered around law enforcement, but as one commenter helpfully pointed out, "cops can lie to you." They can, they will and they do. Police officers are allowed to make up anything they want in an effort to gather information from someone who could be a person of interest. The advice under this comment is to ask for a lawyer and invoke your right to remain silent.

Canva

6. How to spot an obvious scam.

You'd think if it was obvious then people wouldn't fall for it, but the truth is, scammers have been getting more and more clever. According to commenters, people have been posting about falling for scams that involve a fake astronaut and one where they send you money only for you to send it back, so in turn they send you a larger amount. There's even one where people call you and have more information than they should but then they demand you pay off your debt in Apple gift cards. Some of these may be really obvious to some people, but to others, fear kicks in and they do what they're told, which is what the scammers are banking on.

7. Accounting for the weight a semi-truck carries.

We've all seen it happen, someone cuts in front of a semi-truck and slows down or slams on brakes because they didn't realize there was a slower car in front of the truck. This is dangerous and can be deadly. One Reddit user is imploring people to know how long it takes for a semi-truck to stop and hundreds of others are nodding their heads in agreement.

Moldy soup.

Canva

8. How to tell if your food has gone bad.

Ahh, the old sniff test. One commenter used to work at a meat department and says he would regularly get phone calls from people asking how to tell if their food had gone bad. Though the person didn't have a "smellophone" to help answer the callers' questions, he does make a good point by saying everyone should know how to tell if their meat or food has gone past the point of no return.

9. Not all news online is real.

Remember back in the day when our parents were super skeptical of this wizardry known as the internet and would wag their finger saying "don't believe everything you read on the internet"? I do. The funny thing is, it was probably much safer to believe what was on the internet in the early days of the world wide web than it is now. Not all news sites are created equal and some sites deliberately put out false and inflammatory information. Deciphering what's true and untrue is a skill everyone should hone.

Canva

10. Evidenced-based reading should be focused more heavily on in high school.

Researching information on the internet isn't enough if you don't know how to search for and read scholarly peer-reviewed articles. Not only should you know how to read scholarly articles, but you should also know how to read the research included in the articles. The commenters feel that this skill will help people stay educated and better able to decipher truth in things shared online.

While some of these things may seem like common sense to you, they're not common sense to everyone. Hopefully someone learned something new today. If you want the nearly 30,000 responses, you can see them here.

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Three women, three MS journeys: How multiple sclerosis looks different for everyone

Gina, Nathalie and Helga share their reactions to being diagnosed with MS and how they stay informed and positive in the face of ever-changing symptoms.

Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga, Nathalie and Gina all have MS, and their experiences show how differently the disease can manifest.

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It’s been 155 years since neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot gave the first lecture on a mysterious progressive illness he called “multiple sclerosis.” Since then, we’ve learned a lot. We know MS causes the immune system to attack healthy tissue, including damaging the brain and spinal cord. Resulting symptoms can be debilitating and include fatigue, blurred vision, memory problems and weakness. Huge advancements in our understanding of MS and its underlying causes, as well as treatment advances, have been made in the past few decades, but MS remains a complex and unpredictable reality for the 2.8 million+ people diagnosed around the world.

Ironically, the only real constant for people living with MS is change. There’s no set pattern or standard progression of the disease, so each person’s experience is unique. Some people with MS have mild symptoms that worsen slowly but sometimes improve, while others can have severe symptoms that drastically alter their daily lives.

All people with MS share some things in common, however, such as the need to stay informed on the ever-evolving research, find various lines of support and try to remain hopeful as they continue living with the disease.

To better understand what navigating life with MS really looks like, three women shared their MS stories with us. Their journeys demonstrate how MS can look different for different people and interestingly, how the language used to talk about the disease can greatly impact how people understand their realities.

woman with horse, woman riding horseGina loves riding her horse, Benita.Courtesy of Sanofi

Gina—Hamburg, Germany (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2017)

When her youngest son was 4 months old, Gina started having problems with her eye. She’d soon learn she was experiencing optic neuritis—her first symptom of MS.

“Immediately after the diagnosis, I looked up facts on MS because I didn’t know anything about it,” Gina says. “And as soon as I knew what could really happen with this disease, I actually got scared.”

As her family’s primary income provider, she worried about how MS would impact her ability to work as a writer and editor. Her family was afraid she was going to end up in a wheelchair. However, for now, Gina’s MS is managed well enough that she still works full-time and is able to be active.

“When I tell somebody that I have MS, they often don't believe me the first time because I don't fulfill any stereotypes,” she says.

Overwhelmed by negative perspectives on living with MS, Gina sought support in the online MS community, which she found to be much more positive.

“I think it’s important to use as many positive words as you can when talking about MS.” It’s important to be realistic while also conveying hope, she says. “MS is an insidious disease that can cause many bad symptoms…that can be frightening, and you can't gloss over it, either.”

To give back to the online community that helped her so much, Gina started a blog to share her story and help others trying to learn about their diagnosis.

Though she deals with fatigue and cognitive dysfunction sometimes, Gina stays active swimming, biking, riding horses and playing with her sons, who are now 11 and 6.

Cognitive dysfunction is common in MS, with over half of people affected. It can impact memory, attention, planning, and word-finding. As with many aspects of MS, some people experience mild changes, while others face more challenges.

Gina says that while there’s still a lot of education about MS needed, she feels positive about the future of MS because there’s so much research being done.

woman in wheelchair holding medal, woman rowingNathalie is an award-winning rower with multiple international titles.Courtesy of Sanofi

Nathalie — Pennes Mirabeau, France (diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2002)

Nathalie was a teenager and a competitive athlete when she noticed her first symptoms of MS, but it would take four years of “limbo” before she was diagnosed.

“Ultimately, the diagnosis was more of a relief, than a shock,” she says. “Because when you have signs and you don’t know why, it’s worse than knowing, in the end, what you have.”

However, learning more about the disease—and the realities of disease progression—scared her.

“That glimpse of the future was direct and traumatic,” she says. Her neurologist explained that the disease evolves differently for everyone, and her situation might end up being serious or very mild. So, she decided to stop comparing herself to others with MS.

She said to herself, “We’ll see what happens, and you’ll manage it bit by bit.”

By 2005, Nathalie’s MS had progressed to the point of needing a wheelchair. However, that has not dampened her competitive spirit.

Nathalie began her international rowing career in 2009 and has won multiple world titles, including two Paralympic medals—silver in London and bronze in Tokyo. Now, at 42, she still trains 11 times a week. Fatigue can be a problem, and sometimes hard workouts leave her with muscle stiffness and shaking, but she credits her ongoing sports career for helping her feel in tune with her body’s signals.

“Over the years, I’ve learned to listen to my body, letting my body guide when I need to stop and take breaks,” she says.

Nathalie explains that she used to only look backwards because of the initial shock of her diagnosis. In time, she stopped thinking about what she couldn’t do anymore and focused on her future. She now lives in the following mindset: “Even when doors close, don’t miss out on those that open.” Instead of focusing on what she can’t do, she focuses on the opportunities she still has. Right now, this includes her training for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she will compete for another rowing medal.

“I only go forward,” she says. “Well, I try, anyway…It’s easy to say, it’s not always easy to do. But that’s what I try to do.”

woman exiting water after swimming, woman with great daneHelga's Great Dane has become a helpful and beloved companion.Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga—Johannesburg, South Africa (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2010)

When Helga first started having balance issues and numbness in her feet, she chalked it up to her training as a runner. But when the numbness moved to her face, she knew something was wrong. She never guessed it was MS.

“When I was diagnosed, I felt completely overwhelmed and clueless,” Helga says. “I felt that I had nowhere near enough information. I did not know anything about the disease…I had no idea that it was going to be a process of continually monitoring and adjusting your lifestyle.”

In the beginning, Helga’s symptoms developed slowly, and she didn’t appear ill to others. She was even able to run for a few years after her diagnosis, but she couldn’t do marathons anymore, and she began to fall frequently due to balance issues and right-foot dragging. Then her cognition issues became more problematic, especially in her job as a trainer in a printing company.

“My executive function, decision-making and short-term memory were affected to the point that I was eventually medically unfit for work,” she says. She stopped working in 2017.

However, she didn’t stop living life. Even though she could no longer run, she continued to swim competitively. She got a Great Dane puppy and trained him as a service dog to help her walk. She also serves as vice chair of the patient support organization Multiple Sclerosis South Africa, and she advises others who have been diagnosed to join a patient advocacy group as soon as possible to get reliable information and meet others with MS.

Helga says she is “hopeful” about the future of MS. “I must say that I am so grateful that we have all the new medications available, because my life would not be the same if it wasn't for that,” she adds.

Part of how she manages her MS is by looking at the positives.

“If I could tell the world one thing about MS, it would be that MS is an incurable disease of the nervous system, but it's also the greatest teacher of valuing your health, family, friends, and managing change in your life,” she says. “My life is diversified in a way that I never, ever thought it would, and MS has been honestly the greatest teacher.”

Each MS journey is unique – with each person impacted experiencing different struggles, successes, and feelings as they manage this unpredictable disease. But the common thread is clear – there is a critical need for information, support, and hope. We are proud to participate in World MS Day and share these incredible stories of living life while living with MS. To learn more about MS, go to https://www.sanofi.com/why-words-really-matter-when-it-comes-to-multiple-sclerosis.

MAT-GLB-2301642-v1.0-05/2023

This article was sponsored by Sanofi. Participants were compensated when applicable.

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