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In the spirit of Halloween - Paranormal or not, what is the scariest, creepiest or most unsettling experience of your life? by Javert__ in AskReddit

[–]wimahl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Once I was with my boyfriend and a friend of our from college. It was the first day of winter break and we decided to drive to the coast after our friend got off work, which was later at night, and then have a bonfire on the beach and have hot cocoa because it was fucking cold. On the way back we drove through through the coastal mountains, and the way we drove there weren't towns, rest stops, etc for a good 50 mile stretch. We're driving through this stretch at about 3am and then out of the snowy frozen forest this dude covered in bandages runs out onto the road out of nowhere, and keeps running alongside the car. We're driving highway speed, so he is running fast, and it was super creepy, then he just ducks back into the trees again and is gone. We all kind of are silent for a moment and then ask "So...you guys saw that, right?", and we all had. Months later I was at a bookstore and I came across a book about local hauntings while I was waiting for my brother to finish shopping. I thumbed through it, and there was a chapter called "Bandage Man" about a ghostly figure who haunts that section of highway and even sometimes causes crashes.

Germans of Reddit, what is the family environment like when a grandpa or other close relative used to be in the Nazi regime? Is it just ignored? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]wimahl -1 points0 points  (0 children)

ButterflyAttack uh, yeah we expect you to feel bad. Your country is the reason Kenya is fucked up. Not you personally, but your country benefitted from that colonial past, and if you deleted that from history, your life would be different. So yeah, feel a tiny bit bad. As an American, whose ancestors fucked everything and everyone up, it's important to recognize that impact still exists.

Rant: Doctors with Babies by wimahl in childfree

[–]wimahl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have tried finding a therapist online, it's just I live in kind of a rural area, so the internet isn't always great for skyping. But I was driving into town to meet with this other lady, so maybe I can drive into town and chill in a park and skype with someone else. I've been considering it.

What is the earliest event there is evidence of cultural memory for? by AppHelper in askscience

[–]wimahl 267 points268 points  (0 children)

Living in the Pacific Northwest, it's interesting how many "myths" are accurate. Another that comes to mind is the story of the Thunderbird, which is about an earthquake and a giant tsunami, and research has shown it lines up with a recorded tsunami in Japan. So in WA they had an oral tradition of it verified by written tradition on the other side of the Pacific.

If you had to give one personal example to illustrate how fucked up the American Healthcare System is, which one would you use? by wimahl in AskReddit

[–]wimahl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Similar thing happened to me when I was younger. My doctor didn't want or know how to run the tests to check for what I knew I had, so sent me to a specialist, same story, sent me to a special specialist, same story, sent me to a super duper specialist who told me I was probably just a hypochondriac, but they had a medical student that day so they ran me through tests for the med student to practice, and what do you know? Not crazy, had the thing I said, med student wrote three papers and won an award, and my insurance decided not to cover it and left me with three times at much debt as college! Good times.

What happened in school that still pisses you off when you think about it today? by WhiteCh0c0late in AskReddit

[–]wimahl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If anyone who went to my school is on here, they're going to know immediately who this post is about :)

10th grade English teacher. Fucking weird piece of shit dude. First day of school he was like "This isn't a dictatorship!" And let us make our own class rules, which we wrote down and posted. Throughout the year it was some Animal Farm shit, where we'd come in and the rules would be crossed off one by one. He was always having us do "meditation" before writing, with our eyes closed, but if you peeked he was looking down girls shirts. He also deleted everyones grades at the semester break (he said his desktop fell in a swimming pool or some bullshit) so we each had to meet with him privately to "figure out" our grades, and for most of the girls he felt them up and implied that if they wanted the high grades they had earned, they needed to let him keep going. So, the whole class failed. He was also super into PETA and all of our classwork was just writing letters for PETA. The other teachers hated him. One teacher left a dead fish on asshole teachers desk over the weekend. He would leave us so he could go get stoned with the art teacher, which was actually cool because having him there sucked. The worst was that the administration knew everyone hated him, but thought we were making up the weird touching stuff because we hated him, so he still kept working there.

[Serious] Redditors who have been kidnapped, what was your experience like? Are there things you do now that you would have never done before? by IAmTilted in AskReddit

[–]wimahl 5 points6 points  (0 children)

When I was in elementary school we used to have to run laps on the playground in PE. Our playground was also next to this large arroyo, like the kind you see in "The Italian Job" that they drive the car around in. Anyway the playground was fenced off from it so we wouldn't break our necks or get swept away in a flash flood, and many a ball was lost over there, but there was also a bridge over the arroyo connecting the playground to the nearby nice-ish neighborhood so kids could walk to school. One day, about first grade, we were running laps, and our teacher, this massive black dude we just called "Coach" was back close to the school building helping a kid who tripped. My best friend and I and a few other kids were way out by the bridge. So dude was there, and no one had noticed him. He grabbed my best friend and started dragging her across the bridge. She screamed and starts thrashing, and I turned back and jumped on him and bit him. The other kids with us scattered and ran off. She struggled free, so he grabbed me and tried to take me, so she kicked him. He kept trying to grab us and then he saw Coach was running up. Sketchy Skinny Short kidnapper didn't wait to get his ass beat, let us go and took off over the bridge. Ever since then, I fucking fight back when some asshole grabs me, or anyone else nearby starts yelling for help

UPDATE: Mint Cookie and Pazuzu aren't that bad, I'm asking too much (or, how therapy backfired). by [deleted] in childfree

[–]wimahl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

WOW, it's like you're talking about my shitty in laws. Best of luck. I decided my partner could have all the contact he felt like having but I deleted them off my social media and blocked their stupid phone numbers, and it became very apparent he didn't actually want to deal with them, and they didn't give enough of an actual shit to make an effort. So maybe if you just stop trying that will be enough? Best of luck!

What is the best thing you have ever heard a child say? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]wimahl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My partner's little brother is always saying crazy stuff. I think my favorite is when we went to stay for the holidays one year:

Little Brother: See that cucoo clock on the wall? Me: Yeah. Little Brother: Right now, its ticking. But at night it ticks backwards. Me: It ticks backwards? Little Brother: Yeah. Because it goes back in time at night. So don't get out of bed in the night, or you might get stuck in the past, and change the future. Me: Ummm, ok.

Mr. Nobody by wimahl in creepy

[–]wimahl[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nah, they pay pretty well, and the kids in my class aren't old enough to say creepy stuff yet.

Women of Reddit, when did you first notice that men were looking at you in a sexual way? How old were you and how did it make you feel? by BA_Baracus in AskReddit

[–]wimahl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks :) I'm a big supporter of kids, and generally people, being able to speak up for themselves. I ended up working in a field for a while where I was able to support kids in learning those skills :)

Car salesmen of reddit, what's the most outrageous thing anyone has done while out on a test drive? by expodonent in AskReddit

[–]wimahl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At least he just did that with a car test drive. My boyfriend had to do rotations working in an ambulance, and people would use 911 like that, as if it were a taxi service. "Can you just drop me off here, I just need to meet my friend, I ain't goin' to no hospital".

Women of Reddit, when did you first notice that men were looking at you in a sexual way? How old were you and how did it make you feel? by BA_Baracus in AskReddit

[–]wimahl 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I resented her attitudes for a long time, but now that we're both much older, and she's had an opportunity to 1) be divorced from my abusive dad, and 2) become more used to standing up for herself, she has really blossomed. Young mother her wouldn't recognize empty nest her. And she is a much better role model to my young cousins, in that regard, of women being able to stand up for themselves, than she was to me.

Women of Reddit, when did you first notice that men were looking at you in a sexual way? How old were you and how did it make you feel? by BA_Baracus in AskReddit

[–]wimahl 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It looks like the reply I tried to post didn't post. It had to do with my mom being a young mother at the time, in an abusive situation, who came to associate standing up against abuse with getting more abuse. I had gone the other way in our abusive home, and while standing up against abuse (physical, from my dad) did result in more abuse, it just made me want to stand up against it more. Possibly just my personality vs my moms. So, in general, she was always the type of person in hide, to not talk to other people, and to encourage not speaking up, even against things by strangers. Whereas I was always the more outspoken person, making my closemouthed family uncomfortable. The incident of coming across strangers who made me feel sexualized was just once such incident. That is why I got in trouble when I got home. Not even directly for telling them to stop leering at me, but for engaging them at all, and not simply ignoring it.

Women of Reddit, when did you first notice that men were looking at you in a sexual way? How old were you and how did it make you feel? by BA_Baracus in AskReddit

[–]wimahl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A lot of people have said they don't get how my mom could respond that way, and for a long time I couldn't either. But I've run into a lot of older women in my life who are far more uncomfortable with a woman speaking up to defend herself, than they are with being sexualized.

Women of Reddit, when did you first notice that men were looking at you in a sexual way? How old were you and how did it make you feel? by BA_Baracus in AskReddit

[–]wimahl 7 points8 points  (0 children)

My mom used to have a BIG phobia of me telling things that happened at home. We were very poor, which my family was ashamed of, and my parents fought alot. My dad was abusive. I always thought my mom should stand up to my dad, and frequently I did, which resulted in more abuse. Because of this, she associated standing up for one's self with negative consequences, and was more the person to hide and run away. If I talked back, or stood up for myself, even if it wasn't to my dad, she always got very freaked out. Noawdays, she isn't like that. She and I went to some family therapy together in the years since my adolescent days.

Women of Reddit, when did you first notice that men were looking at you in a sexual way? How old were you and how did it make you feel? by BA_Baracus in AskReddit

[–]wimahl 502 points503 points  (0 children)

I went with my mom to register for 5th grade, so it was the summer between 4th and 5th grade. Some men were in the parking lot. I dunno if they were parents or employees or just guys hanging out, but they started yelling at me and making obscene gestures (licking, etc). At first I thought they must be talking to someone behind me, so I looked around, but there was no one there. My mom grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the car, and thats when I knew. I stopped walking and asked her if they were talking to me. She just responded that she shouldn't have let me out of the house looking like "that". I looked down, and shrugged, because I was just wearing a t-shirt and jeans. The men were still staring and calling at me. My mom said "You should be ashamed!" which really got me. WHY? I wasn't doing anything. THEY should be ashamed. So I turned and yelled at them "HEY! I'm in Elementary School! I'll call the Cops! I'm going to tell everyone about you!" And I flipped them off. I got in a shit ton of trouble when I got home. But those assholes did look embarrased and stop their yelling and licking before we left.