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Education & Information

One person has crowdsourced the very best life advice from over 20 million people online

Keep this list handy. It could change your life.

Twitter

Chris Hladczuk on Twitter

Advice. It rarely comes when needed, but often arrives unsolicited, and—when found on the internet—is almost always pointless. If only there were a way to carefully curate those ultimate life hacks, so that we could forgo the endless scrolling. But seriously, who has the time?

Luckily, one person did. And we can all benefit from his efforts.

Chris Hladczuk (aka @chrishlad) regularly shares helpful and interesting Twitter posts, but this one takes the social media cake.

Hladczuk’s now viral Twitter thread began with:

“Most advice sucks. So I crowdsourced the best from 20 million people on Reddit. Here are 10 life tips you wish you knew yesterday.”

Whether you’re looking for sound mindset tips or simply wondering how to covertly exit from a troublesome phone call, Chris’ list has some useful (not to mention entertaining) pointers.

Family Treasure

Family Treasure

1) Get a blank book

2) Ask each family member over 50 to write down life advice that their descendants in 500 yrs should know

3) Keep passing it down

You now have a family treasure that gets more useful over time.
— Chris Hladczuk (@chrishlad) September 11, 2021

Even if the advice doesn't stand the test of time, it's definitely a keepsake that would last. And could maybe even create a few laughs.

Airplane Mode Hack

Airplane Mode Hack

"If you’re stuck on an annoying call, put your phone on airplane mode instead of hanging up.

The other person sees “call failed” instead of “call ended”.
— Chris Hladczuk (@chrishlad) September 11, 2021

No more more pretending to be driving through a tunnel.

Reframing Your Day

Reframing Your Day

"Instead of feeling that you lost the day after a bad morning,

Reframe each day as 4 quarters:

• morning
• midday
• afternoon
• evening

If you blow one quarter, just get back on track for the next one.

Fail small, not big."

- Gretchen Rubin
— Chris Hladczuk (@chrishlad) September 11, 2021

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed doesn't have to negatively impact the rest of the day.

Keeping Your Cool

Keeping your Cool

"If someone insults you during a meeting, pretend like you didn't hear them the first time.

Politely ask them to repeat themselves.

They'll either repeat the insult and look rude or realize their mistake and apologize."
— Chris Hladczuk (@chrishlad) September 11, 2021

Conflict resolution in a matter of minutes.

Venting at Work

Venting at Work

"Be careful who you vent to at work.

Just because they listen, it doesn't mean that they are your friend or have your best interests at heart."
— Chris Hladczuk (@chrishlad) September 11, 2021

Venting can be healthy, when given the right outlet. Perhaps there's a better choice than the water cooler.

If You Ever Want Software Online for Free, Don’t Search for "Free."

If you ever want software online for free, don’t search for "free".

Search for “open source” to avoid limited trial versions and malware.
— Chris Hladczuk (@chrishlad) September 11, 2021

Per usual, if something is labeled "free" online, it usually isn't.

“e.g.” and “i.e.” Are Not the Same

“e.g.” and “i.e.” are not the same

e.g. = for example

i.e. = in other words
— Chris Hladczuk (@chrishlad) September 11, 2021

Now you can impress all your friends with your etymology prowess.

Email Address Hack

Email Address Hack

• Add "+1", "+2" before the @ in your email address

• Websites will register it as a new email, but still send mail to your normal address

Makes organizing accounts or free trials easy.

Example:

Primary: Bob@gmail(dot)com

Bob+1@gmail(dot)com
— Chris Hladczuk (@chrishlad) September 11, 2021

Note: This only works on Gmail.

On Arguments

On Arguments

“What proof would it take to change your mind?”

If they can’t give you an answer, then stop wasting your time.
— Chris Hladczuk (@chrishlad) September 11, 2021

This goes for online forums as well.

Anger and Mistakes

Anger and Mistakes

"Getting angry at people for making mistakes doesn't teach them not to make mistakes.

It teaches them to hide their mistakes."
— Chris Hladczuk (@chrishlad) September 11, 2021

Mistakes should lead us forward, not keep us stuck in place.

If you’re itching to know what the other millions of people had to say, you can check out the original Reddit post here, and perhaps glean some gems for your own list.

This article originally appeared on 12.3.21

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Family

People are in love with the Tooth Fairy's clever letter to a young girl with a messy room

"The state of your room prevented us from performing a midnight retrieval."

via Tú Nguyễn/Pexels and Castorly Stock/Pexels

The Tooth Fairy doesn't like messy rooms.

A father from Syracuse, New York, is getting a lot of cheers (and a few jeers) for a letter he wrote on behalf of the Tooth Fairy that he gave to his 10-year-old daughter. The message? Your room needs to be cleaner for us to give you any money.

The situation started after the girl’s parents forgot to help the Tooth Fairy out.

"We had forgotten to play the part of the tooth fairy, and when she woke up in the morning, she was disappointed," the father, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Newsweek. "Since we had been trying to get her to clean her room for a long time, it provided an opportunity to learn a light-hearted lesson."

So, the dad left the young girl a note from the Tooth Fairy on her official letterhead that claimed that her agents couldn’t “retrieve” her tooth on two separate occasions because her room was too messy.

The letter was on official letterhead with the address 100 Castle Lane in Fairyland.

A letter to my messy daughter from the tooth fairy
byu/haggardnarwhal inMadeMeSmile

“The state of your room prevented us from performing a midnight retrieval,” the letter read. “The first attempt almost resulted in tragedy as one of our agents’ shoes got stuck to something icky on the floor. While attempting to free herself, a pile of socks tipped over and nearly suffocated her.”

Given the two previous failures, the Tooth Fairy was forced to have a rare "daytime retrieval" and a "grumpy" fairy named Greta to do the dirty work. Greta was successful and left the young girl some change.

The Tooth Fairy finished the letter with a warm thank you. “We also know that you have a choice when it comes to tooth disposal, and we appreciate the opportunity to meet this need. Kind regards, The Tooth Fairy.”

He later posted the letter on Reddit, where it brought a smile to many people’s faces because of the formal way that it was written. "It is silly to have this image of a fairy in your head that deals with young children and communicates like an adult,” the father told Newsweek.

"This is gorgeous. She will remember receiving this letter her entire life," SuggestionIll2192 wrote in the comments. "This is fantastic! I have a messy kid who I straight up forgot to get the last tooth from. She had to remind me to remind the tooth fairy….Going to use my own version of this with the next one, thank you for the idea!" Seatthetruthadded.

However, some people on the online forum aren’t too happy with the letter, claiming that the parents were manipulating their daughter. "Really surprised people are rooting for turning the Tooth Fairy into a guilt trip for a child," Yadayadabisuqe wrote. "Nothing like shaming your child into cleaning her room. There have to be better way to do that than this," VintageTimex added.

In the end, the girl gets her reward from the Tooth Fairy, but do her parents see any changes in her cleanliness after the letter? "

A lot of people have asked, and the answer is no, the note did not have any lasting cleanliness effects," the father said.

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Pop Culture

Woman confronts her husband for secretly 'sexting' a teenage girl and gets shocking response

The woman discovered her husband texting, "I can't wait to see you again," to a 15-year-old.

Canva

What a wild story.

A 26-year-old woman took to Reddit to share a potential discovery about her 34-year-old husband that had her “absolutely shaking.”

Here’s the gist: the couple had known each other for three years and had been married for six months. Everything was going swimmingly until they stopped at a gas station on a road trip and the woman noticed her husband had Instagram on his phone—something he had adamantly never wanted.

“I opened up his phone and decided to check what it was,” the woman wrote. "Upon opening it I found messages with a teenage girl.”

The poster added that while she only saw a couple of messages sent by her husband, the ones she did see were "I love you,” "I can't wait to see you again," and telling the girl, obviously between 14 and 16-years-old, that she looked "beautiful."

Fearing the worst, she concluded, “The fact he was cheating on me didn't even register in my brain and it was more so the fact that he was texting these things to someone underage. I did not have the chance to look further because he came back within 10 minutes. I don't know what to do. I am terrified, betrayed, and disgusted.”

Readers seemed to only add to her alarm with less-than-sound advice, suggesting she secretly take photos of the messages before he came back, or even going so far as to steal his phone and drive off in the car without him.

No one wants to be in this situation.

Canva

Perhaps the more rational tip was to not confront her husband until they had made it to a safe (public) location, which she did end up following, though it was excruciating. They sat together for a full four additional hours on the road, as she faked being sick to avoid being affectionate with her husband.

“I know I should go along with it and pretend for my sake, but I physically can’t bring myself to,” she lamented.

Finally, after not being able to take it anymore, the woman confronted her husband in their hotel room. And here’s where our story takes a more uplifting turn.

“I told him I found his messages on Instagram,” wrote the original poster in an update. “He immediately started apologizing and saying he wanted to tell me sooner but couldn't find the time. He was apologizing but not as intensely as what he could have done. So I confronted him about that and said ‘what a lousy apology coming from a pedophile.’”

Shocked, and more than a little hurt, the husband then revealed that the 15-year-old was his daughter.

She had even sent him a "Happy Father's Day" message

Canva

Apparently, the teen (named Sarah) reached out to the man a year prior via Facebook saying that he was her father—her mother being a woman he was in a brief and fleeting relationship with at 18 and who had one day disappeared.

Six months later, the man confirmed he was in fact the father…just as the couple was getting married. Not wanting to stress his partner out with the news and wanting to protect his daughter from her “strict” mother, he forged their relationship in secret on Instagram. He even showed his wife moments when Sarah called him “dad” and wished him a “Happy Father’s Day.”

Granted, this Reddit story is impossible to prove as true, but as wild as it is, it’s not hard to see how such a misunderstanding could occur. We don’t want to assume the worst of our loved ones, but it is human instinct to detect any possible danger. That, combined with unbridled imagination, makes it easy to jump to conclusions. Plus, the advice she received in the comments probably only added to her paranoia.

Similarly, though honesty is paramount to keeping a healthy relationship, there's no easy way of breaking that kind of news. So, while it might have been best for the husband to come clean early, it's also easy to see how the anxiety of not wanting to ruin a marriage that had only just begun might have prevented him from feeling brave enough to do so.

In other words—if we are to assume this situation did actually happen, mistakes were made on both sides, but a compassionate view can see where each side is coming from.

Luckily, the woman concluded the saga by taking accountability and showing true remorse for her actions. Both partners ended up showing empathy for the other, and understood “why the course of events played out this way.”

Whether or not this story did happen, it’s easy to see how it could happen. And it still contains a valuable lesson about transparency, discernment and above all, forgiveness.

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Family

Mom goes on strike after teenage son said he'd be better off without her. Did she go too far?

Her mother-in-law called her "petty."

via Pressmaster/Pexels

A mother with a megaphone goes on strike.

Every parent knows that sometimes their kids, especially teenagers, can say things in the heat of the moment they don’t really mean. But the mother at the center of this story took her teenage son’s outburst seriously and turned it into an opportunity to teach him a lesson. The question is, did she go too far to make a point?

A 35-year-old mom wanted to learn if she had been too hard on her 14-year-old son, so she shared her story on Reddit’s AITA subforum (we've abbreviated the forum's name to avoid printing foul language). AITA is where people vote on whether the poster was right or wrong in how they handled a situation.

“Lately, he has been acting out a little at home and school, so I decided to sit him down to try and figure out what was happening,” the mother wrote in a post that received over 800 comments. She said that the boy had been cursing out his parents as well as his teacher.

“He is my only child, and his dad and I are still together. I tried to sit him down and ask why he was acting out…but he wouldn’t budge," the mother wrote. “I asked him whether there were any issues going on at school because if there was, I would be more than happy to help him.”

But all the boy could muster was that “all 14-year-olds should act out a little.”

When the mother pressed her child for an answer, he blurted, “My life would be better if I didn’t have a mother.”

The mother was immensely hurt by her son’s words, so she decided to show him whether his life was, in fact, better without her around and she went on strike.

Spoiler alert: His life wasn’t better.

That night, the mom made dinner for herself and her husband. “When my son smelt food, he came downstairs and asked where his was,” the mom wrote. “I responded, ‘I made dinner for myself and your dad. Since life is easier without a mom, there’s some heatable food in the freezer.’”

The next day when he got up for breakfast, there was none to be found. “Where’s my breakfast?” the son asked. “Your mother would normally do that for you,” the mom responded. “But if life is easier without one, you’ll need to prepare your own breakfast. Also, take the bus to and from school.”

After “a few swears,” the teen made cereal and hopped on the school bus. The mother believes the teen may have complained about his mother’s strike to her mother-in-law, who called her, saying that she was “a horrible mother” who was “starving my child” and “being petty.”

To see if she did the right thing by going on strike, the mom posted her story to AITA, and the commenters overwhelmingly said that she was right in the situation.

"It’s not like you actually deprived him of anything," Shrimp-34 wrote in the most popular post on the thread. "He still had access to food and a way to get to school. It was definitely petty, but he wasn’t harmed in any way, and maybe sometimes you have to fight fire with fire?"

"He isn't being starved, he's 14, he can feed himself,” bahahahahahhhaha wrote in a post that received over 2,300 upvotes. “He isn't being kept home from school, he's 14, he can take the bus. [You would be wrong] if you kept this going for weeks, but doing it for a couple of days to help him realize all the things you do for him and appreciate them better is actually a really good life lesson—and its natural consequences. He doesn't want a mom? You are letting him have his wish."

A few commenters thought the mother should have taken the high road.

"I know it's hard, but you can't take that stuff personally and then retaliate like a teenager," Turbulent_Cow2355 wrote. "You have to model the behavior that you want to see in your kids, and that means taking the higher road, even when don't want to. You are being petty. Don't teach your child that pettiness is a good idea for conflict resolution."

The good news is that the mother and son were able to patch things up, and the teen’s realization helped him avoid further trouble.

“My son had a half day, so I texted him asking if he would like me to pick him up or the bus,” the mom wrote in a story update. “He texted back, saying he wanted me to get him. So I did. In the car, he immediately apologized for what he said, and he said that his friends were acting out, so he wanted to fit in. His friends got suspended today for something they did, and they wanted my son to join. My son did not, and he said he was sorry for how he was acting. I also apologized for my actions.”

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Culture

People cast their vote for which fictional character would make the best president

Wikipedia

Leslie Knope, Jean-Luc Picard and Kermit the Frog.

A recent thread on Ask Reddit posed the question: Which fictional character would make a great U.S.A. president?

Some answers were simple and lighthearted. Others were drawn out and thoughtful. Some characters are well-known. Others are a bit more obscure. Regardless, it’s a fun read and offers an insightful way to look at what it really means to be a leader.

Optimus Prime—Transformers

optimus prime GIFGiphy

This comment was so passionate I had to keep the entire thing:

“He's the perfect balance of introspection, deliberation, decisive action, compassion, toughness, fighting spirit, humility, and inspires others to greatness not because of his ego, but because he sincerely wants the best for everyone. He's eloquent enough to work with intellectuals, strong enough to keep corruption out, hard working and honest enough to connect with and inspire the working classes, and an absolute paragon of ethics. When it comes down to it, he puts his own ass on the line without hesitation. I'd vote for Optimus Prime. I'd work on his campaign staff. I'd canvas for Optimus. I'd fight his fights. He's the heroic leader we need. I wish he were here.” – Cephelopodia

Jean-Luc Picard—Star Trek: The Next Generation

jean luc picard, star trek next generation

Well Done Reaction GIFGiphy

“Make it so” is an awfully good campaign slogan.

“This character has informed so much of what I think of as the political ideal that's it's almost absurd.” – Tactius_AMP

Aragorn—The Lord of the Rings

the lord of the rings GIFGiphy

The King of Gondor rallied some intense loyalty and humorous political banter.

“He would have my allegiance until my sons, sons die.” – Radda210

“Well, he’s got eight years.” – AutismFractal

Captain Raymond Holt—Brooklyn 99

Season 8 Nbc GIF by Brooklyn Nine-NineGiphy

The stoic, pragmatic and serious-to-the-point-of-absurd police captain would bring a level of sophistication to the role. Plus he stands up for what he thinks is right.

The only drawback is we might have the more frivolous holidays cancelled. Like Christmas.

President Josiah Bartlet—The West Wing

The West Wing Lesson GIF by HBO MaxGiphy

“During 2020 with all the presidential speeches that sounded non presidential, I kept thinking that we needed a couple of Josiah Barlet speeches during that time.” – southdakotagirl

Uncle Iroh—Avatar: The Last Airbender

Animated GIFGiphy

For those not familiar with "Avatar: The Last Airbender," Uncle Iroh was a fan favorite, arguably for being the show’s moral compass and source of wisdom. Which was pretty remarkable, considering he was technically on the “bad side.”

“Calm, wise, friendly and best of all he already got all that war crime stuff out of his system years ago. He’d be the best us President in history.” – Lord Noodles

“…Iroh is the benevolent father we need, with quiet dignity and terrifying power.” – spaceman_spyff

Kermit the Frog—The Muppets

Press Conference Kermit GIFGiphy

“The lovers, the dreamers, and me would vote for him” – DrOddcat

Steve Rogers—Captain America

captain america GIFGiphy

I mean, he does stand for America’s ideals like no other. He has integrity, courage, honesty and let’s not forget stamina. He can do this all day, after all.

Leslie Knope—Parks and Recreation

Season 1 Leslie GIF by Parks and RecreationGiphy

“Leslie wouldn’t get sucked in to corruption. She would negotiate and compromise, as one should, but she wouldn’t “make deals” like most politicians. Above all else, she would always be honest!” – Happy_Camper45

“And she has binders of plans for everything” – Big_Economy_1729

(Sadly, there were very few female characters I saw on the thread. I’m hoping I just didn’t scroll far down enough.)

Last but not least … Captain Planet

Captain Planet Film GIFGiphy

Maybe then we’d take climate change seriously.

Okay, look, maybe it’s impossible for a real-life person to 100% embody these heroic traits. But that’s the beauty of fiction: It reveals our ultimate potential (for both good and bad). It can’t always take into account all the complexities and inevitable drawbacks of the human condition. It can, however, inspire us to be better.

Maybe there is no President Picard or President Rogers out there, but seeing them portrayed in our stories is still important. Observing the virtues they represent (and let’s not forget that they are representations and symbols, rather than multidimensional human beings, after all) might help inspire the next generation of heroes, leaders and politicians. That’s what well-written characters do.

In the meantime, I’ll start working on my campaign for "Ted Lasso"’s Keeley Jones for President.

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Someone asked 'What's your favorite LONG song?' Here were some of the top contenders

Wikipedia, Wikipedia, Wikipedia

Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," Nina Simone and Weird Al Yankovic.

In the age of quick bops and catchy choruses, kids today have no appreciation of the value of long, intricate, dynamic musical pieces. Yes, I just used the phrase "kids today." It's happened. I'm old.

Songs serve two purposes. One, to elicit a certain mood, feeling or ambiance. And two, to regale a compelling story. Longer songs can easily do both. There's something cinematic about them. And if done well, long songs become iconic. Case in point, the mini opera of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," which by all accounts should not have received astronomic radio play, but did.

A nostalgic, impassioned Reddit thread began when one person asked the simple question: "What is your favorite LONG song (over 7 minutes)?"

Here were some of the highlights. Maybe some you know, maybe some will surprise you.

“I Feel Love” by Donna Summer

Ah, this song is a psychedelic delight. It's so good, it's so good, it's so good that the Blue Man Group recreated their own kooky version of it. Yes, it's a dance song, but man does it transport you to a place where love is real, but time, somehow, is not. Is it dreamy? Oh yes. But is it pure fluff? Certainly not. Not to mention its innovative and artistic use of synthesizers gave disco music a never-before-heard futuristic up-level.

As this is the "beach day song" for me and my boyfriend, I was personally happy it made the list.

“Echoes” by Pink Floyd

Not sure we can have a "list of long songs" without mentioning Pink Floyd. This band is pretty much synonymous with intricate rock compositions. "Echoes" in particular is a fan favorite, and a song that surprisingly came by accident when a rotated speaker caused an interesting feedback sound that became the beginning of this legendary science fiction acid trip set to music.

Roger Waters explained in an interview that the meaning behind the song was to explore "the potential that human beings have for recognizing each other's humanity and responding to it, with empathy rather than antipathy." With lyrics like:

"Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me."

…I'd say that checks out. This song is really more of a rock 'n' roll mediation, above anything else.

“Roundabout” by Yes

Not many songs can boast popularity in both the rock and anime crowds. But this one can. The progressive rock tune from 1971 makes an appearance in the 2012 anime "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure" as the show's ending theme song.

But what really makes this song a standout is its use of "deceptive cadence," which is basically putting a note or chord in an unexpected place. Not to mention there are approximately 57 false stops where you think the song is about to end. It doesn't. Not for a whopping eight-and-a-half minutes. There's so much that shouldn't work musically in this song, that for some magical reason does. So it doesn't surprise me that it made the list.

“Sinnerman” by Nina Simone

Originally an African American spiritual song, "Sinnerman" weaves the tale of a man running from God on Judgment Day. Spoiler alert: He doesn't succeed. Simone masterfully mixes the Southern styles of blues and jazz, making it even more of a religious experience. According to an article on udiscovermusic.com, Simone would often close out performances with this tune in order to "shake people up." And since it has everything from plinking piano sound to an all out rock 'n' roll guitar solo, how could it do anything but shake people up?

If you've never heard Simone's epic "Sinnerman," listen now. And repent.

“Albuquerque” by Weird al Yankovic

That's right. The Parody King himself made the list. I truly saved the "weirdest" for last. This song, the final track of Al's "Running With Scissors" album, is just shy of 12 minutes. It's a long, meandering odyssey for the ears created as Al himself said, "to annoy people." The full lyrics never even made it to the album's liner notes (you know, those little pamphlets that came with the now-ancient CDs). Instead, it includes an apology from Yankovic and a cheeky message that the listeners will have to just finish the song to get all the lyrics. Well played, Al. Well played.

It's a story that starts off with force-fed sauerkraut that logically leads to a contest to guess the molecules in Leonard Nimoy's butt, and then a one-way ticket to (you guessed it) Albuquerque. Somehow a plane crash, donuts, weasels and a "one-nostriled" man are involved. Oh and a love story is crammed in there.

There were several honorable mentions I could list: Led Zeppelin, Tool, The Velvet Underground, Iron Maiden. But despite the subject matter of this article, I wanted to keep things brief.

One thing's for sure, there's still a hefty amount of appreciation for musical sagas that really take us on a journey. I'm sure Billie Eillish will get the idea eventually.

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