A selfie stick saved this girl from a riptide. In case you forget yours, here's how to stay safe.
Taking a dip? Remember this tip.
While plenty of dangers lurk on the beach — weird tan lines, food on sticks, sand in unfortunate crevices — there's one you don't hear much about: riptides. (Pipe down, Vance Joy. No one's talking to you.)
Riptides, or rip currents, are powerful, narrow bands of fast-moving water found on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts and even in the Great Lakes.
Rip currents are incredibly difficult for the average beachgoer to spot, making them highly dangerous. They account for 80% of rescues performed by surf-beach lifeguards and are the cause of over 100 deaths a year.
In fact, in the United States, rip currents are 100 times more deadly than sharks.
In June 2015, a 16-year-old girl and her father made headlines after they were almost swept away by a rip current.
Erynn Johns and her father Derrick tried to swim toward shore, but couldn't make it. Sensing her daughter and husband were in trouble, Jennifer Johns ran to the water, where she too ended up caught in the tide.
What saved the family from an unimaginable fate? A selfie stick.
Yes, haters, a selfie stick.
Erynn was recording video with a GoPro camera attached to the infamous monopod, so the entire event was captured on film.
As she felt herself being swept out to sea, the video shows Erynn struggling to swim back toward her father and the shore.
Unfortunately, she was fighting a losing battle. Swimming toward shore means fighting the current, otherwise known as the Ronda Rousey of moving water — odds are, you're going to lose. In fact, people are usually injured or killed because they tire themselves out fighting the current.
Luckily, Erynn's father, Derrick, was able to grab hold of the stick and guide Erynn toward shore.
Onlookers and lifeguards jumped in to help, and the whole family made it safely back to the beach.
GIFs via Derrick Johns.
Derrick Johns, a former Marine, told The Boston Globe the experience was "total, sheer terror."
Facing a riptide without a selfie stick? Keep calm and swim parallel to shore.
If you're caught in a rip current, do not try to swim toward shore. Instead, since riptides are only about 100 feet wide, move parallel to the shore until you are out of danger, then swim to safety.
Photo by Hector Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images.
Wherever you swim this summer, be mindful of your surroundings and never swim alone.
The buddy system is not just for kids. Always swim with someone, and stick to parks and beaches with lifeguards. Summer days are a lot more fun when everyone gets home safe.
Want to experience a rip current from the comfort of dry land? Watch the footage from Derrick Johns' GoPro in its entirety:
And if you haven't already, go snag a selfie stick. It's banned pretty much every place worth going, but on the off chance you can use it, it just might save your life.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."