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Here are some simple, but brilliant, April Fools' Day pranks to pull on your friends

Here are 17 of the best responses.

april fools' day, april fools history, pranks

April 1 is April Fools' Day.

Nobody really knows why we celebrate April Fools' Day on the first day of April. Some people believe that it goes back all the way to the Roman Empire when they celebrated Hilaria, a festival of merriment where people dressed up in disguise.

Others say that it began in 1583 in France when the country switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent. Folks who were slow on the uptake and didn’t realize that the calendar had moved to January 1 became the butt of jokes and pranks.


Regardless, this is your reminder that on April 1, 2022, you should be prepared to prank some people or at least be aware that it’s April Fools' Day so you can avoid being the victim of someone else’s tomfoolery.

A Reddit user who goes by the name Never--Mind asked the online forum to share their favorite April Fools' Day pranks and they got a ton of great responses. “Since April Fools day is fast approaching, what have been some of your best April Fool pranks?” they asked.

The great thing is that most of them are really easy to pull off. When it comes to pranks, simple is usually best. Simple pranks are harder to detect and easier to accomplish without getting caught.

Here are 17 of the best responses to the r/AskReddit question.

1.

"There are 4 doors to our building and my co-worker put a sign on each one that says 'Door broken use other door' with an arrow pointing left." — Proud Turtle.

2. 

"Piece of opaque tape over the laser on everyone's mouse. IT was pretty pissed, I need to take that one to the grave with me." — [deleted]

3.

"I work in Sales, and it seems like we always have a new guy around April. I like to write down on a post-it 'Please follow up with Mr. Baer at...' and then the number for the San Francisco zoo." — mismistu

4.

"Here's mine for this year. I hope it works. I recently purchased an espresso machine that leaves me with little hard pucks of compressed coffee grounds. I intend on covering them in frosting and leaving them on the break room table at work. Muhaha." — FuzzyManPeach

5.

"A greek radio station once said on the news that Greece would quit the euro and go back to their old currency (this was before the whole economy crisis there). The Greek stock market had a crazy and troubled morning until they finally got that it was only an April Fools Joke." — isablaubear

6.

"High school summer, my friend had a habit of getting up at 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I dropped by his place and his mom informed me that he was still sleeping and I should go wake him up. He's a really heavy sleeper so I decided to have a little fun. I moved his cell phone into the center of the floor, about 4 feet from his bed. I crawled under the bed and gave him a call. No response. Called again and I finally heard movement. Hand comes down, can't quite reach the phone. Foot comes down, another foot. He's got the phone sitting down on the edge of the bed.

A very groggy, '..hey, what's up man.. what are you up to?'
I pull off the best freddy kreuger voice I can muster, and yell out, "I'M UNDER THE BED" and grab his ankles with a vice grip. He jumps halfway across the room, nearly faceplants since I have his feet. He kicks my hands away and half scamper/crawls across the room until he realizes what happened. There was lots of swearing, he didn't think it was as funny as I did." —
JMace

7.

"I'm a female kindergarten teacher. I wore a mustache all day long and pretended it wasn't there...even with the parents. Everyone got a kick out of it except for one student who cried because 'I looked scary.'" — HotTamalesYum

8.

"One April 1st I got up before my wife. I went to the kitchen to get some water. I opened the curtains to see that our neighbour's house, across the lane, was on fire. I ran to the bedroom and told my wife. She opened one eye and said, "Sure, sure. Ha ha." She got up seconds later when she could hear the fire trucks. Every April 1st, as a joke, I tell her the same thing." — windy496

9.

"It wasn't mine, but it was my mother's. I was six years old and one day she gave my daily cereal, which was cheerios, in milk. But today it was different. The milk was a teal blue, and luckily my six-year-old self seemed to notice. I asked 'Mommy what's wrong with the milk?' She said 'oh nothing a blue cow just made it.' And I was more excited than terrified and ate it all up. I told all the kids at school I ate a blue cow's milk and they were all jealous as fuuuuuck. it wasn't until later I realized it was dyed, and I felt like a fraud for telling all my friends I ate a blue cow." — randomfactgirl

10.

"Last year I posted on Craigslist under the personals section, listing wfm. Googled "selfie" and found some hot girl and used that on the post. Pretended I had just moved to town, and was looking for a good time around town, and someone who knew how to show a girl a good time. I posted my friend Victor's cell number and said the girl's name was Victoria and went by Vic. I specified at the end of the post that 'I'm kinda picky though, so send me a pic if you think you've got the goods, and you may get one back ;)'

Anyway, this was 1 am on 4/1. By 3 am his girlfriend was waking him up saying "someone's blowing up your phone" Vic -"hand it to me." She picks it up, only to see a dick pick that says "hey Vic, here's mine, send me yours." Oh and over 50 more dick shots. By the time he came into work his phone had died twice, and he had over 500 dic pictures sent to him. I deleted the post, told him it was me and we had a good laugh. Still, one of my favorite stories to tell, though I still work with him and I'm scared for this year." — SopwithStrutter

11.


"I replaced a picture of one of my friend's family members with a black and white picture of Boris Johnson." — RugbyTime

12.


"In 3rd grade, the teacher walks into the room with a pissed look. She says the tests from yesterday were horrible and starts telling everyone's super-low grades out loud. She goes on to give us all a piece of paper, saying we are having another test right now. She then proceeds to write the instructions on the board: April's Fool. Super scary moment for me. A girl cried."
— Shroomsters

13.

"At the office, fill a bowl with trail mix, but remove all M&M's and replace with Skittles." — cgrant993

14.


"Not necessarily done on April's fool, more like random days throughout the year. One day for uni we went on a bus trip to go check out the cadavers at another uni. Our lecturer was going to meet us down there, so I took this opportunity to buy him a singing Disney Princess birthday card, I got everyone on the bus to sign it and told them all it was his birthday, which of course it wasn't but no one clicked that I was joking, I mean I had been in class with these people for 2 years and if they hadn't figured out I was a smartass, they're not fit and observant enough to be doctors. So I had convinced the class to sing him happy birthday once we got off the bus, which has started a new tradition. Randomly over time with we'd try top that. I once bought him a cake, streamers, banner, hats and party blowers and got my whole year level to barge into one of his classes and sing happy birthday. Everytime he posts a serious post on the Facebook Page for new students, I always post 'happy birthday scott.'" — scottydoeskno

15.

"A few years ago I bought 200 packets of mayonnaise and hid them all over my boyfriend at the time's room. I tucked them in the pockets of all his clothes, in his board games, behind his wall art- anywhere you could think of there was mayonnaise. He was still finding mayo a couple years later." — AimeeSaysGrowl

16.


"When I was fourteen I came inside and found my parents sitting solemn and serious in the living room. They had me sit down and told me that I was adopted. I was devastated to hear such a thing, and my dad told me how my birth parents had to send me to the United States because it was practically the end of the world for them. They couldn't get away, and so i was smuggled into the US and adopted. Now the time had come for me to know the truth, to inherit the items my birth parents had sent with me, to begin my journey to learn who I really was, and to take on my destiny. . . As the last son of Krypton." — [Deleted]

17. 

"I told my friend I was pregnant as a prank and he offered to marry me and raise the baby together...it didn't feel like a prank anymore." — TheSilverLinings

This article originally appeared on 4.1.22

Planet

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Images of Hugh Grant and Renee Zellweger via Wikicommons

Hugh Grant and Renee Zellweger



love actually GIFGiphy

  1. Hugh Grant does not hold back when it comes to his opinions on anything. But in one unfortunate interview he did for Elle Magazine back in 2009, he dished on most of his female co-stars, and it wasn't pretty. He described Emma Thompson as "clever, funny, mad as a chair." Of Sandra Bullock, he said, "a genius, a German, too many dogs." He later commented that Julia Roberts' mouth was so big, he "was aware of a faint echo" when they kissed onscreen. And while Julianne Moore, Rachel Weisz, and Drew Barrymore were all described as clever, stunning, or beautiful, the consensus was that they all "loathed him."

But it was his Bridget Jones's Diary co-star Renée Zellweger with whom he seemed to have the softest spot. Even when revisiting the matter on The Graham Norton Show in 2016, Hugh agreed with his original assessment that she's "delightful. Also far from sane. Very good kisser."

When pressed, Hugh jokingly said, "She is genuinely lovely, but her emails are 48 pages long. Can't understand a word of them."

Now, nine years later, Renée is returning to her Bridget Jones character, and the two reunite for a piece called "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" for British VogueBritish Vogue. After Hugh writes an intro to the piece, where he reveals he used to have tons of questions between on-set shots for Renée—questions like "If you had to marry one of today's extras, who would it be?" and "Who is a better kisser, me or Colin Firth?" He now has a whole new slew of questions. Here are a few key things we find out:


Sad Renee Zellweger GIF by Working TitleGiphy

What did Hugh always think of Renée?

He says candidly (of course), "With a lot of other actors, you think they're really great, and then suddenly you see a little glint of steely, scary ambition, and you realize this person would trample their grandmother to get what they want in this business. But I've never seen that glint coming off you. So either it's very well disguised, or you are quite nice."

What does Renée really think of Hugh?

You're hilariously brilliant at everything you hate. And, though you hate humans, you're a very good and loyal friend. I like you very much. And I love working with you."

Love Actually Dancing GIF by PeacockTVGiphy


What did Hugh really think of her English accent?

Queen Elizabeth GIFGiphy

After discussing Renée's dialect coach, Hugh tells her that her attempt at an English accent is…"perfect."

Why does the Bridget Jones franchise remain so appealing?


Renee Zellweger Romance GIF by Bridget JonesGiphy

Hugh says, "In a nutshell, I say it's an antidote to Instagram. Instagram is telling people, especially women, 'Your life's not good enough.' It's not as good as this woman's or that woman's, making you insecure. Whereas what Helen (the writer) did with Bridget is celebrate failures, while making it funny and joyful."

Renée makes some jokes and then says, "I think maybe folks recognize themselves in her and relate to her feelings of self-doubt. Bridget is authentically herself and doesn't always get it right, but whatever her imperfections, she remains joyful and optimistic, carries on, and triumphs in her own way."

What does Hugh think of Renée's fashion?


Drunk Bridget Jones GIF by Working TitleGiphy

After asking if people in general should be a "bit more stylish," Hugh tells Renée she's "very chic." Renée pushes back with, "I'm wearing a tracksuit." To which Hugh retorts, "Yeah, but a sort of PRICEY one."

And finally, those emails:

"You have sent me the longest emails I've ever received. I can't understand a single word of them. They're written in some curious language that I can't really understand."

"No!" Renée exclaims. "If you reference something in your emails that makes me laugh…I will circle back to that. And if you've forgotten that you wrote it, I don't think I should be held accountable for that!"

abigaellanai/Instagram

This is truly a gamechanger.

Date nights are important for any couple with kids. But they can be hard to come by if you don't have lots of family nearby or have infinite money for, and access to, trustworthy babysitters. Enter the babysitting swap! It's a popular concept where couples with kids will take turns "swapping" babysitting duties with other couples they know so each can enjoy the occasional date night.

My wife and I have done this with friends, and it's great! It's free and it gives your kids a chance to play with their friends. But it does come with a few logistical challenges. Like the fact that two sets of children from different families will have different bedtime routines and needs. It can also be a lot of work for the babysitting couple to take care of twice the number of children, and then to have to navigate the different nighttime needs of both sets of kids all on their own.

Mom Abigael Lanai thinks she's 'cracked the code' behind the perfect babysitting swap.

As she explains in an Instagram reel, here's how it differs from your usual swap:

First, it starts later. In this version, the babysitting couple shows up for duty after the parents have already put their own kids to bed in their own rooms. So it means date night has a delayed start, but the kids get their own bedtime with their own parents which (hopefully) goes off without a hitch. And the babysitting couple just has to act as "warm bodies" in case of emergency—so, in most cases, they won't have to do much work.

You might be thinking, it only takes one person to be a warm body! And where are the other kids during all this? Now this is the twist! In Abigael's example, she goes over to her friend's house to "warmbodysit" by herself while her husband stays home and puts their kids to bed. Now, Abigael can relax on her own and watch Netflix or read on the couch, while her husband can enjoy a night to himself at home playing video games or whatever husbands like to do. And all the while, the other couple is out on a date.

“He’s getting a night to himself to play video games ... they’re on a date ... I am chilling on their couch, I’m going to watch their Netflix, I get a night off from doing my kid’s bedtime routine and watch whatever trash reality TV that I want," Abigael says. "It’s a win for everybody.”

Actually this is pretty much what Michael Scott would call a win-win-win.


gif of Michael Scott air-drummingthe office drum GIFGiphy

You can watch Abigael's full explanation here:

People had a lot of opinions on Abigael's secret recipe for more date nights and nights off. Most loved the idea.

Abigael's video went viral on Instagram to the tune of over 100,000 Likes and 2.5 million views. Her advice was a huge hit with moms who are desperate for more relaxing time in their lives.

"This is the 'village' I wish I had," one user wrote.

"As a mom who doesn’t really do well with other people’s kids, this would be a great option for me. I like the idea of not actually having to babysit, but just being the responsible adult in case of emergencies. I can do that," another said.

Commenters also had a few misconceptions about the method. The first being "This isn't a night off if you're taking care of other people's kids." But remember, the idea of warmbodysitting is that you won't have to do anything unless there's an emergency or the kids wake up! They're already asleep when you show up and, most of the time, moms like Abigael who warmbodysit for friends just hang out and watch TV. Sounds like a night off to me.

The second misconception was that the dads are getting off too easy in this arrangement. "He just gets to play video games while you do all the work?!" Don't forget that if dad stays back at home, he's putting his own kids down and doing bedtime at the house solo. So he's putting in plenty of work before he gets to relax.

gif of babysitter telling child, "By the way, you're actually my favorite kid I babysit for." Kid Babysitter GIF by HalloweenGiphy

Others brought up a more-than-fair point: Communities of friends and families helping to care for each other's kids shouldn't be unusual or even interesting. It should be the norm, and in some communities, it already is.

"This truly shows how little community at large is valued in mainstream (read: white) culture because this is a pretty reasonable and normal thing I have always seen done in my various communities. It’s sad that it’s ‘revolutionary’," a user wrote.

Now, this approach won't work for everyone. If your kids are in a phase where they're waking up a lot, it could be a problem. But luckily there are lots of different set ups you can explore to see what might work for you, your kids, and your lifestyle.

Here are some other popular versions of babysitting swaps that can also be lifesavers — and marriage savers.

The daytime swap. In this version, Couple A goes out on a date while Couple B watches the kids, but just for a few hours during the day. Couple B just has to supervise a big play date, no stressful bedtime stuff necessary. Some people love being the babysitting couple in this scenario because, with the kids so pre-occupied playing with each other, mom and dad can get a ton of stuff done around the house.

The multi-family swap. If you can involve three or four different families, you'll have more kids in the mix but also more capable adults to help watch them. A four-family setup works well, with two couples going out and two couples watching all the kiddos. Plus, it's way more fun for the babysitting couple if they have friends there to socialize with while they're supervising.

The moms- or dads-only swap. Date nights don't have to be just for couples! A great way to get extra social time with your friends who are parents is for the dads to stay home with the kids while the moms go out together, or vice versa. It works great when all four people in the couples are great individual friends as well.

Parents need quality time with their kids, spouse, and friends—plus time spent alone to enjoy whatever they like doing. There simply aren't enough hours in the day to get them all! We need to be so much better at leaning on, and supporting, our community of parents so that we can at least attempt to fill our cups with the social, romantic, and alone time we need. Abigael's version is just one of many that give us a fighting chance.

@yourejustliz/TikTok

“Nice is different than kind."

It might have been pretty universally accepted during our childhood for daughters to be expected to reciprocate affection from adults, whether they liked it or not. A non consensual kiss to grandparents here, a forced “thank you” there. But times have changed.

However, this change in parenting style can sometimes make for some, well, awkward or even downright uncomfortable situations as moms and dads try to advocate for this kid’s autonomy.

Recently, a mom named Liz Kindred detailed just such an incident with her six year old daughter, which has a whole lotta other parents discussing how to navigate these unideal interactions.

As she recalls in a video posted to TikTok, Kindred was waiting in line with her daughter when a grown man turned around and said “My goodness, you sure are pretty” to the child.

“My six-year-old is gorgeous, yes, but she is also very in tune and perceptive, and she's an introvert so she grabbed my leg really tight,” Kindred said.

Doubling down, the man repeated himself, saying “You sure are pretty. Look at those blue eyes,” which only made her shy daughter grab her leg harder.

Noting that being in a 12 step program has taught her to be less “knee jerk reactionary,” the mom bit her tongue and offered a polite smile to the man, hoping that would be the end of it. It wasn’t.



“He's a boomer and, God love him, he said, ‘I guess your mom didn't teach you manners.’ And I let out an uncomfortable little [chuckle], and the pause was long. It was long. And under his breath he said, ‘Guess not,’” she said.

In what she called the most ”Jesus loving way” she could muster, while still bluntly making her point, Kindred told the man "If you assume that I didn't teach my six-year-old daughter to say ‘thank you’ to a grown, consenting man when he compliments her appearance, then you would be correct."

What followed was the “longest silence” of Kindred’s life.

The video, which has been viewed over 6 million times now, prompted a ton of parents to share how their own kids have established boundaries in similar situations—with their support, of course.

“An old man called my 4 yr old daughter a sweetheart at the store…she boldly responded ‘I am NOT YOUR sweetheart!’ I was so proud,” on person recalled.

Another added, “My 3 year old says ‘NO THANK YOU MY BODY DOESN’T LIKE TAHT.’”

Still another said “My 2 yo knows the boundaries song and just starts singing that anytime someone talks to her.”

While the response to Kindred’s video was overwhelmingly positive, there were a few comments defending the man as simply being “kind.” This prompted Kindred to do a follow-up video doubling down on her decision.

In the clip, she shared how she herself has dealt with seemingly innocent compliments in her life from men, which later turned into something else. Feeling like she “didn’t have a voice” to say something, “because I’m a nice Christian, Southern girl,” Kindred ended up being in unsavory situations (she didn't explicitly say what those situations were, but it's easy enough to piece together). She doesn’t want her daughter to have the same issues.


“Nice is different than kind. The kind thing to do is to teach our daughters and our children in this next generation that when you are uncomfortable with something you listen to your body and you set a firm boundary with that and you provide language around that. And you start that really really young.”

Yep. Well said.


This article originally appeared last year.

Internet

Hospice nurses share their patients' wildest death bed confessions, and it's eye-opening

Sometimes people wait until the very end to deliver a "mic drop" moment.

Impending death is the ultimate confessional, it seems.

Death comes for us all, and with it often comes one last opportunity to speak our full truth. Whether for religious reasons or to finally release psychological baggage, many find themselves wishing to expose long held secrets once they know the end is drawing near.

Of course, there are reasons why people wait until they are on their deathbed to make such confessions. Often they revolve around illegal activity, abuse, cheating, or other choices that might either incriminate themselves or hurt relationships if shared while they are still living.

Most of the time, these confessions aren’t even made to a family member or loved one, but to strangers providing hospice care. This undoubtedly offers an additional level of safety while disclosing sensitive information. However, for the nurses and other hospice workers, hearing these stories can’t be an easy part of the job.

Recently, nurses shared some of the more shocking deathbed confessions they’ve heard in their professional careers, and while the conversation shines a light on the darker side of humanity, it’s also a glimpse into the beauty of this brief candle that is life.

Many nurses shared moments when their patients simply knew the end had come.

This isn’t a confession, per se, but clearly a common phenomenon:

I've had a few people casually tell me, "I'm going to die today." The first time someone who was awake, alert and not-in-distress told me that (then died later that day), I was spooked. Then, I learned to believe them.

hospice nurse and patient talking to each other "I took her to the bathroom and right there in my arms she went home…Photo credit: Canva

Brought a pediatric patient back for emergency heart surgery (about 14yrs old). He was very nervous. Outlook looked grim. I held his hand as they began to induce anesthesia. He looked like he was about to cry. I told him there was nothing to worry about. He was gonna be just fine. He gripped my hand super tight as the propfol took hold, looked me in the eye and said 'I'm going to die, aren't I?' I told him I would be there in PACU when he woke up. He died on the table. I was the last thing he ever saw. 8 years later I still think about that kid. I still see his face. The fear in his eyes. I still feel guilty that I lied right to his face…

I don’t know if this fits in here, but the first death I witnessed was in a dementia ward. The patient has been sad and depressed as long as I’d known her. No matter what we did to cheer her up, it just didn’t stick. One morning I went in to her room to get her out of bed and make her ready for the day, she sat up in her bed with her feet straight out. She somehow looked like a little child and she was smiling. Delighted that she looked happy I exclaimed : 'Are you already up, friend?' She answered, so happy and so smiley: 'yes, I’m going home today' I took her to the bathroom and right there in my arms she went home…I was young and it scared me back then, but now I cherish that memory. We should all be so lucky to leave the world happy and content.

Then there are other signs, such as seeing an already deceased loved one, or seeing celestial beings.

When they tell me this or that deceased relative visited them the day or night before, I know something will go down.

I’m a nurse now and honestly have seen much more sudden and traumatic deaths since this one, but this one always is the first I think of…There was this one resident who was much younger than most there, only in her mid 60s. She was in really rough physical and mental shape due to severe liver failure and other compounding issues for years…The day I was wearing new scrubs and in there cleaning her like normal, she suddenly looked right at me and in a very soft, clear voice said, ‘you look like an angel.’ I remember being pretty shocked that she spoke out loud and kinda just said, ‘isn’t this a pretty color??’ She went back to being nonverbal the rest of the shift and I remember thinking about it a lot until I went home. When I got back 2 days later I found out she had died in her sleep that night.

As hinted at earlier, there were a LOT of death bed confessions involving, well, salacious secrets.

nurse holds the hand of elderly person in bed“An old lady told me she had a 22 year long affair with a bus driver, and all five of her adult children might be his."Photo credit: Canva

Working in oncology at the time, had an older gentleman with liver cancer that had spread everywhere including his brain. Having brain mets made him very vague, often nonsensical, he was in and out of consciousness…He also had a thick Eastern European accent…Anyways, one day I’m taking his vitals and he grabs my hand, looks me straight in the eyes and just says to me ‘you know, I have killed so many people’ in his very strong accent. I kind of just froze and didn’t know what to say but he let go and went back to sleep/reduced consciousness.

An old lady told me she had a 22 year long affair with a bus driver, and all five of her adult children might be his. I didn't pass that along.

I work with dementia clients…A mind blowing confession I always think about was a veteran who confessed to all the war crimes he committed and how he felt so terrible for all the things he did. He said this was the reason he had no relationship with his family and to be honest I don't blame his family for not having anything to do with him.”

I've had a few senior women who are in different stages of dementia describe violent SA they experienced as children, many of the stories were similar in the sense of when they told their parents they were blamed or not taken seriously. Really heart breaking but I never knew if they were actually true stories.”

I once had a man who was extremely sick, confused and at the end stages of life. I had only dealt with him on 2 separate occasions a few days apart so wasn't super familiar with him. He confessed on both occasions to beating a woman to death in great detail…not sure if it was the confusion or true, but the amount of details he had and the way he said he was ready to be put away for it was really disturbing.

That none of her adult kids were her husband’s - and there were 4 of them , and none of them knew.”

woman helps an elderly woman walk with a cane in a room with other elderly people socializing "Approach everything with gusto ladies and gentlemen, like it might be your last time.”Photo credit: Canva

I work in a nursing home. One of our residents was a well-known local pimp in his younger years. It involved filming videos of young girls for his rental business. Nicest man in the world now…Another resident harbored a known serial killer when there was a statewide manhunt for him. She was related by marriage and this was what women did for the men back in the day… A third resident did hard time for having stockpiled explosives in his house…Those are just a couple of backstories I know. It can make caring for people…complicated. You really have to suspend judgement and deal compassionately with what’s right in front of you.”

Then there were some that really just fell into their own category…

That she liked Hitler because she was poor as a child and she would only get new shoes when she went to the train station to see the Jews off to the concentration camps.”

I've got several, but this is one of my favorites. 98 yrs old guy heart failure…I asked him ‘so, 98 yrs. What have you learned?’ His response was awesome. He said ‘sex. If I knew the last time I had it was going to be the last time, I would not have been such a gentleman’…Approach everything with gusto ladies and gentlemen, like it might be your last time.”

But on a brighter note, not every daybed confession contained so much gloom and doom.

Just as many stories, though still heartbreaking in their own way, revolved around forgiveness, gratitude, and a longing to feel or express love.

hospice nurse shows elderly woman in chair something on her phone"They basically just held hands and apologized to each other and died together.”Photo credit: Canva

A mother and son were cooking meth and the house exploded. They both had enough burns they were not going to make it. They basically just held hands and apologized to each other and died together.

Working in dementia care I was helping a resident with a bath having a typical conversation with him about his day, my day, etc…Near the end he thanked me [my name] for the help but then he quickly grabbed my hand saying “Thank you for being here [daughters name]”, she hadn’t visited him in a long time. He dozed off as I was cleaning up supplies and when patted his hand as a goodbye gesture not to wake him, I realized he had passed. I was 16, it really shaped my perception of both death and love.

Patient once told me he wished he had worked less and spent more time traveling and being with friends and family. He died the next day, not on my shift. It stuck in my head. A few years later I retired and this was one of the reasons. It changed my perspective.”

I had an elderly lady in for shortness of breath…She had been with us for about 5 hours at this point, she's ready for imaging so the husband goes to get her an overnight bag and we head to imaging. Fully lucid…[she] asks me to tell her husband when he came back that she loves him very much and has enjoyed her life with him. 15 minutes later we return to the room, I plug her monitor back into the podium and she arrests. She didn't get to tell him she loved him that one last time like I reassured her she would. I often think about that man, I think he would have shortly passed from a broken heart. The way he looked at her after 70+ years of marriage.”

One has to wonder what holding onto such things does to our quality of life. On the other hand, maybe there never is a right time to share our secrets, until there isn’t any time left.

Joy

12 strange everyday objects that make zero sense until you know where they come from

That weird tiny pocket on your jeans is an example of a phenomenon called 'skeuomorphism'

Sabine/Flickr, Unsplash, Andrew Ng/flickr

Somehow, they're common and mysterious at the same time.

There are certain words, phrases, or idioms in our culture that don't seem to make a lot of sense, and that's because they are holdovers from a time when the words had a different meaning or context. Still, we cling to them anyway as a form of shorthand that everyone understands. But did you know that there are real physical, visual, and (sometimes) tangible objects we interact with every day that have taken a similar journey of defying obsolescence?

These things are sometimes called "skeuomorphs," which Dictionary.com describes as: "an ornament or design on an object that mimics the form of the object when made from another material or by other techniques, usually one that reflects a previously functional element, as an imitation metal rivet mark found on the handles of prehistoric pottery."

If you've ever come across something that seems functional but has no discernible purpose, you might be looking at a skeuomorph. Sometimes these objects continue to exist for aesthetic reasons—because they look nice. Other times, retaining "outdated" features or design elements may help people quickly understand what the object does.

Confused? Here are some examples of skeuomorphs you'll definitely recognize. In fact, you probably see or interact with these almost everyday.

1. The infamous tiny jeans pocket

tiny pocket on pair of jeansA super common skeuomorph you didn't know was there.Andrew Ng/Flickr

Most pairs of jeans will, in addition to the main pocket, have a small additional pocket that has been baffling people for generations. There are a lot of rumors about where it comes from and what it's for—condoms, coins, matches, etc. But I think we can all agree that 99% of the time it's pretty much useless.

The truth is that this pocket on jeans is a skeuomorph stemming from the 1800s, when it was designed to hold the face of a pocket watch. Wrist watches didn't become widely popular until after World War I.

2. This computer and phone icon that everyone recognizes

Vintage floppy disk against white backgroundVintage Floppy DiskUnsplash

Skeuomorphs are really popular in the digital design world, where designers often try to mimic real-world counterparts (we'll get to plenty of these!).

Probably the most famous example is the universal "Save" icon, which mirrors an old-fashioned floppy disk from the 1980s. Floppy disks like the one above haven't been common for a long time, but their likeness is still globally accepted in this specific context, and probably will be for a long time to come.

3. The sound your phone camera makes

You might not be familiar with this sound at all if you're below a certain age and used to having your phone in silent mode. In some places, like Japan, phones are required to make a sound when a picture is taken—for privacy and safety reasons.

The sound is a digital mimic of the noise a physical shutter makes on an actual camera and is not required at all for any functional reason!

4. Email CCs and BCCs

When you add someone to an email chain, publicly or secretly, you'll use these functions—but most of us don't stop and think about where they come from.

CC and BCC—"carbon copy" and "blind carbon copy," respectively — come from the age of typewriters, when carbon paper was used to make multiple copies of a document at once. In fact, so much of modern email and keyboards harkens back to typewriters. The Shift key initially shifted up the case stamp to change lower case letters to capital. Caps lock, or Shift lock, locked it in place. And did you know that some people say the entire QWERTY keyboard that is standard today was not chosen because it's the optimal layout? Instead, they claim, QWERTY was designed to separate commonly used letters and prevent typewriter jams.

Others say QWERTY came about when typists were attempting to rapidly transcribe blazing fast morse code. In any case, who knew typewriters were so influential!

5. The teeny, tiny handle on a bottle of maple syrup

Close up of bottle of syrupWhat's that for, anyway?Joe Zimny Photos/Flickr

Look at that thing! No one could possibly grip it or actually use the handle to pour their syrup. So why is it still there?

Surprise! It's a skeuomorph. The tiny handle is a leftover from—or at least meant to evoke — old timey and gigantic stoneware jugs with which people used to store liquids. Ultimately, the tiny handles were a marketing gimmick meant to inspire nostalgia in potential customers.

6. The little bow on women's underwear

A surprising majority of women's underwear features a tiny little bow prominently placed on the very front. It looks nice, but serves no purpose functionally—so why is it so pervasive?

The most likely explanation is that they are a holdover—skeuomorph!—from the days before elastic, when undergarments and many other types of clothes were held up by a piece of ribbon that had to be pulled taught and tied. When elastic came around, the bow was no longer necessary, but too cute to ditch completely, apparently.

7. Window shutters

yellow house with green shuttersWindow shutters add style and flare, okay? Photo by Evan Wise on Unsplash

Homeowners fuss and fuss over the color and style of our shutters, and meanwhile, they don't do a dang thing.

Shutters have been around for hundreds of years. Originally, they were the only way to open or shut a window, long before glass was readily available. By 1920, they were pretty much made obsolete by modern windows, blinds, storm windows, screens, and more, but again, they looked nice so we kept them!

Similarly, muntins—the thin bars that separate most windows into smaller panes—and mullions —the thicker vertical bars that separate one large window into two smaller ones—were originally necessary for support, but fell out of favor as larger single panes of glass became available. But we liked the way they looked, so they eventually found their way back to our homes.

8. The noise your vacuum cleaner makes

Early versions of vacuums were extraordinarily loud. Rumors have persisted for years that modern vacuum manufacturers could almost completely eliminate the noise, if it weren't for the fact that consumers prefer it. When a vacuum is loud, we perceive it to be powerful—so some manufacturers add it back in.

Similarly, electric vehicles make almost no noise. But a lot of people miss the sound of a roaring engine, which has prompted certain manufacturers to artificially add it in even though it's not necessary, according to Cheddar, an authority in financial news and tech coverage. Skeuomorph!

9. Fake pockets, buttons, and buckles

The only thing weirder than the tiny pocket on jeans is having a completely artificial pocket!

Jeans have been around for a really long time, becoming popular during the California Gold Rush thanks to Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis. With such a long history, we're pretty used to seeing pockets in the usual spot. But at some point, some designers decided pockets were disrupting the cut and aesthetic of their clothes—particularly in women's clothes. The solution? Create a fake pocket. It'll look like what we're used to without altering the lines of the garment.

You'll also see plenty of clothes with fake buttons or fake buckles on shoes, likely holdovers from features that used to be functional but weren't necessary anymore.

10. Grills on electric cars

The grill on a car allows air to enter into the engine and help cool the radiator. Electric cars, which are becoming more and more commonplace, don't need this feature. While they do still need airflow, they need much less—yet you still see many of them with a large grill in the front.

Turns out people just really like their EVs to look as much like regular cars as possible.

11. Candle-shaped lightbulbs

a chandelier in a room with a marble wallHave you ever stopped to think about how weird these are? Photo by Edoardo Botez on Unsplash

Here's an obvious but extremely prominent one. Most of us really love candles, lanterns, and other fire-based sources of light. But unfortunately, working with real fire just isn't practical in a lot of cases.

Light bulbs are safer and more convenient most of the time, but we've put a lot of effort into making them look as much like candles and lanterns as possible. There are even light bulbs that artificially flicker like a real flame!

12. Half the apps and icons on your phone

Skeuomorphic design was really common in the early days of smartphones, and it's still fairly prevalent today.

You'll probably recognize a ton of examples: A Notes app that looks exactly like a sheet of paper. A calculator app that looks exactly like your elementary school calculator. A podcast app that looks like a cassette tape playing in a tape player.

Skeuomorphs are extremely common in icons and logos. The Gmail app logo itself resembles a letter in a paper envelope. The universally accepted symbol for phone calls resembles an old-fashioned handheld phone receiver, not a cell phone. The battery symbol looks nothing like modern lithium ion batteries, but much more like a AA.

Skeuomorphs are everywhere you look! Not only do they often look cool, they quickly convey meaning and function to people who may not be familiar with the app or design.