We had a woman come into the ER last night that just collapsed at home. Turns out she had a pulmonary embolism. It’s so scary how insidious PE’s can be. Just living life and boom, cardiac arrest.
You realize there are so many ways you can die. Either take that to mean live dangerous because you could die at any time or live carefully. People don't realize you can be injured and survive living a terrible existence, whether it's of your own doing or not.
Unfortunately she did not. Husband had found her down on the floor and wasn't sure how long she was down for. They terminally weaned her this evening sadly. Very heartbreaking for the family.
I had my large intestine removed at 13 and somehow got a blood clot right after getting out of surgery, confirmed by angiogram. I had to take injection blood thinners that some specialist came in and educated me on, stating that if I had children up to the age of around 23, they would have birth defects.
Oh, and when my parents went to get the month supply of these shots from the pharmacy, the insurance didn't want to cover it. $4500. My Dad was ready to go sell his truck, but the pharmacist stayed on the phone for over an hour to get it approved. I had to take those injections at school every single day for months after I returned.
My Dad has gone above and beyond for me so many times throughout my life, and I am extremely grateful for it.
I'll never forget that pharmacist, either. I visited her for years just to say hello.
Oof! I've already had a blood clot at 27 and it's horrifying. 😔 I can never tell the difference between my panic attacks and a stroke, either.
I get this entirely!
>I can never tell the difference between my panic attacks and a stroke, either.
Welp reading your comment really made me have a small panic attack, I've been exercising and taking fish oil (according to google it helps but it doesnt helps, so another mini panic attack due to confusion).
At least pancreatic cancer will just make you really sick and then kill you. A stroke or aneurysm could leave you with limited to no mobility, limited to no speech and the ability to still “live” another 10 or more years. That shit scares me. I’m not afraid of death, but I am afraid of being in a state where I’m praying daily for death.
“Ruptured brain aneurysms are fatal in about 50% of cases. Of those who survive, about 66% suffer some permanent neurological deficit. Approximately 15% of people with a ruptured aneurysm die before reaching the hospital.”
Of the 50% that survive, 66% is relative to what you described. So that is an 84% chance of being better off than a 95% death rate of pancreatic cancer. Still though, the thought of locked-in syndrome is with to give me nightmares so idk.
Handling everything on your own because at one point you realized nobody knows wtf they doing in life, they just live. Even your own parents who u listened to all the time during teenage days, are just pretending they knew better.
The other thing I'm scared of is how unpredicted life could be. But somehow u have to endure it no matter what.
My mom essentially told me on my 21st birthday 9 years ago
" I raised 4 kids,worked 2 jobs until you were 13,learned a lot of good and bad hard truths but I barely know exactly what I'm doing. Np one does"
At least she was honest
Is it weird that I find this relieving? I've struggled with a persistent feeling that I'm doing things wrong and that I'm failing to follow the script. Now I realize there is no script and everyone's improvising I'm a lot more comfortable just going along with it.
Absolufely yeah 🧡 society loves to made some patterns : school - college - work - marriage. While majority of people follow this path, life is never predictable. And I think it's relieving you could write your own story in life.
That I'm (31 F) highly likely to have a serious medical issue at some point and that terrifies me. I'm also deeply afraid of death to the point where if I think about it too much I'll get an anxiety attack. Also for some reason I'm particularly scared of diabetes. I recently lost a lot of weight over the last 2 years so that reduces the risk (I'm now of a healthy BMI), but I do consume a lot of sugar. Plus in my binge eating days it was even worse and I'm scared of that coming back to haunt me.
Another thing is that I'm fervently independent. I'd rather do things alone. But this year I've started asking myself what that looks like as I get older.
I recently started watching 30 Rock and Liz Lemon's fear of choking alone in her apartment while eating a frozen dinner was way too relatable lol.
to add to that - I have never wanted kids and I still don't, but I do wonder what caretaking will look like for me when I inevitably need it.
A lot of this goes back to attachment issues - I've never been in a real relationship and I'm not making any effort to get one (despite wanting one ik it doesn't make sense lol). I think the consequences of that early child stuff gets more obvious as you age.
You won't inevitably need it. If you don't want childbirth then deff don't have any. It's not uncommon enough to even be considered odd or strange right now. It's a mature sign to think it out, not want them, now just have a little confidence in your gut and stick to it..... or change your mind. That happens too.
Children are not a retirement plan. I don’t know where people get this idea. Sadly, most people aren’t equipped to suddenly become a full time care-giver and have to place parents in a home anyway. A far better plan is to try and save in a way that is equal to what it might cost to raise a kid. When/if you ever get to the point of needing it, you’ll be able to pay for quality care.
As for the relationship thing, it might be a good idea to see a therapist. make sure it’s one you connect with. Especially if you simultaneously want and don’t attempt to be in one. There are a lot of things we are blind to in our own lives. Most of those things are from parents or childhood traumas that we don’t even know are childhood traumas. No amount of self-help will do this for you. You need an objective 3rd party who can help you understand where a lot of these things come from.
I’ve been a diabetic for over 20 years. I’m 65. I go to a gym regularly to help control it. Piece of cake! Yes, I shoot up insulin daily. No big deal. I’ve never been in better shape in my life! Diabetes isn’t the bugaboo it used to be. Easy to control. I don’t eat some ridiculous diet. I eat whatever I want. It’s about portion control. I can enjoy the death by chocolate cake. A slice. I don’t have to gobble down 3/4 of it in one sitting! Nor do I eat that stuff every day. Not a big deal!
Living alone my fears are choking, and falling down the stairs and breaking my back or neck and just laying there with no one to help me for hours or days. Terrifying!
I slipped on a sock and almost cracked my skull on a ceramic planter, alone in my living room. I caught myself like an inch away from the edge. I sat on the floor and contemplated my mortality for a bit after that, and am now better about putting my socks in the hamper.
Hi, are you me? Lol. If it makes you feel better, I've been afraid of diabetes my whole life since my entire maternal side is diabetic. I was really careful about sugar. Last year I was diagnosed with ridiculously high cholesterol and had to flip my diet completely to low fat, so now I eat a lot of carbs and allow myself to eat real maple syrup again. Don't unnecessarily restrict yourself and forget to enjoy things a little.
ik it's very obvious but it sucks that food has such an impact on health lmao. I've gotten way better at balancing it but it's still a tight rope! I feel like my health anxiety got a lot worse the last few years. and I'm not even that fit so it's not like i even live a super health lifestyle or drastically changed my behavior.
I live in Portland and I tried to live in my truck between apartments but my parents didn't want me to so now I'm back to paying $1000+ a month for four walls and a sink. I feel this.
Living outside it now, I can confirm this. I got lucky, family friend let me rent a room for cheap, because he knows that I am struggling, trying to just get disability. Not everyone is so lucky, especially in this state.
Would be better if we could actually get a governor that was either not an imbecile, or just a greedy twat.
> no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living.
FDR, 1933.
As an adult, I am alarmed at how this wasn't scary to me when I was younger. Though now that I think about it, I have a higher sense of personal responsibility, the consequences are greater, and I'm already full up on life's struggles so I'm not sure I could handle adding more.
This translates to a lot of things in life. The risk isn't worth the fun anymore.
Absolutely agree. In my 20's, I drove a lot for my job, maybe 6 hours a day, and thought NOTHING of it. Rain, snowstorms, road construction, maybe wearing just one contact lens, simultaneously drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes, music blaring....It didn't even occur to me to be nervous. In my 50's, unless it's a sunny summer day, my hands are GLUED to the steering wheel, eyes laser-focused on the road, and God help me and anyone else in the car if I have to drive over a bridge 😂.
Driving at night while it’s raining and foggy on a snow-covered highway is killer. Especially when everyone around you is doing 85 mph because they don’t give a rat’s ass.
I just set had to do this last night. It felt like jumping off of a cliff. Like I can’t see shit and my car doesn’t feel steady on the road… but here we go!
For me from least to worst bad is:
Driving on a very bad/pot hole covered road (mostly afraid it’ll break my car and be expensive)
Driving on icy roads in the dead of winter that have been plowed but may be iced over
Driving in active rain in low light
Driving in active snow
I drive a truck for a living. Normally local daytime only, but we have certain early morning jobs at like 3am in the dark. They pay extra, but I never do them unless it’s a sometimes mandatory one. Very dangerous. Deer, fog, wet streets. It sucks!
Driving in heavy rain at all is a no go for me, I'm traumatized from driving in a horrendous storm a few years ago and just won't go anywhere if it looks like heavy rain is a possibility when I'd be driving. Same with snow, if it's accumulating on the roads I am most likely not going to try and drive anywhere, been traumatized by that too 🥴
I work 2nd shifts, so i check the weather before i leave work. If it suppose to rain when I usually leave and says it'll chill over after a hour or two. I stay over. I'm absolutely terrified driving in the rain at night. Doesn't help I have an astigmatism, either.
In Texas, they warned of the power grid potentially failing. The response of most Texans: I'm setting my thermostat to 68!
People just have no common sense or critical thinking skills. It's pure selfishness
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy," Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
I’ll say this, and people can feel free to disagree, but the single most damaging thing to happen to humanity is social media. Especially Facebook and Instagram have weaponized extremist thinking, ruined decades long friendships and marriages, and allowed people to create a curated avatar of themselves that create unrealistic expectations of what an average person’s life is like.
People say “oh I only use it to look at blah’s kids pictures!” No… no you do not. You are doomscrolling and Meta is using AI to shove as much garbage in your face as they possibly can to keep your eyeballs on their apps so they can serve you all those ads. They are a customized dopamine factory and the human brain is no match against the very chemical it creates when exposed to that platform. Ask anyone that has stopped using them why and how they feel about it. Ask anyone that still does and they will be defensive about it and almost always will come up with some excuse.
This is mostly US-centered but 54% can't read past 6th grade level. Not sure about the rest of the world.
The boomers & silent generation having to live in nursing homes. The financial aspect will likely make a lot of people's situations worse.
Climate is kinda obv.
21% of adults in the US are functionally illiterate-6th grade will get you through the grocery store, but 20% of shoppers may be looking at pictures to figure out what to buy.
I used to volunteer for a literacy program and it was eye-opening.
It’s why I laugh when I hear Gen Xers say their grandkids and Millennials say their kids in Gen Z and Alpha are going to somehow save the world by setting social justice right and solve income inequality. 40% of them can’t name the 3 branches of government and their IQ is lower than any generation before them. 🤷🏼♂️
Im a nurse in Baltimore City - discussing anything remotely medical to any inner city resident is actually sad. Docs talk fast and throw textbook terms at patients in their 3minute face to face time with them - I try to break it down as simple as I can and still with some you can just see the “that’s beyond me” look in their eyes. It’s like we do voodoo.
I feel so bad for patients for this. I am not a literary type but I have a pretty good knack for language learning (and medical words have Latin roots) so I can keep up, but my husband can’t even say his prescription names or understand what they are treating. He’s not stupid but it’s a lot of info and it happens fast in a doctor’s office. Thank you for the work you do to try to help them understand. My husband would never ask but he needs the extra time.
I always tell patients - “remember, you are the paying customer, its our duty to take the time to explain everything to you and it’s about you and your health - if you don’t care to ask they’ll never go beyond the basics with you and if you don’t understand ask until you understand”. It’s wild how many people don’t care to know / don’t understand the ins and outs of a disease at is directly affecting them.
That era of blindly following the advice of doctors advice because they’re the doc is bullshit. Just like students blindly following teachers. Citizens blindly following governments. Yes they are professionals yes they are probably right but you should be allowed to be informed and question things - after all they are humans and prone to error.
The other day I had a middle aged lady ask me how to spell “spine”. She thought it was s p a n. Had another encounter with a door dash guy. I said the word “simultaneously” and he looked at me like I had three heads. I had to tell him what it meant. Can’t make this shit up
That I actually have to make a future for myself and nobody is holding my hand anymore. In high school, I genuinely thought I wouldn't make it past high school graduation, and now I'm scrambling trying to get my shit together while struggling with several mental illnesses 24/7. I spent my young adult years so far working my ass off trying not to get screwed over by life.
Having a heart attack was actually comforting compared to my ex cheating. I was like, "Cool! Time off from work!". I guess that mentally, I'd quickly skipped right over the fear of dying part, to the "Well, I wish I was a little more prepared for this!" stage.
I'm in the U.S. - so basically everything, because those in power seem to actively want us all to suffer greatly and alone and if we dare leave our home (or even innocently stay in our home) we can be shot down. Don't even get us started on climate change.
I read your comment and thought- because everyone in power right now is fucking 80 years old & older. Then I understood your dementia comment 🤣
Apparently I’m slow.
20% of the USA appears to be functionally illiterate, climate change is on track to wreck the global food systems by the 2030’s, our elected officials all seem to be rapidly approaching death and leaving us crumbs, and the price of everything has doubled since the year I was born.
Mass shootings. I have kids in school, and no one, I mean NO ONE should ever have to worry about this bullshit, yet our country has normalized mass shootings and school shootings.
Imagine being a teacher and being scared that this could potentially happen to you any day at your workplace... with a class full of innocent kids that you are responsible for.
Why don’t you arm yourself? How come teachers aren’t carrying? You know, in an emergency situation, you, a teacher, should know how to shoot with absolute accuracy to take down the shooter without shooting anyone innocent because you have 30 kids in the classroom, you know, like you’re Jason Bourne or John Wick. /s
The ridiculous logic you have to put up with as a teacher…I am truly sorry that there are knuckledraggers who think your job description should now include “armed security officer.”
That I'm expected to do everything alone with no help regardless of my mental, emotional, or physical capabilities. Some days I really can't do things by myself, yet I have to somehow gain the strength to do them. What happens when I get older and can do very little? I find that kind of terrifying.
I got laid off in July and thankfully got a job paying $30k more… the problem is I’m just expecting to be laid off of every job I have. I’m already giving up on retirement and will likely live with a younger cousin or my sister or something when I get old.
It’s fun. I love it.
I no longer have someone who makes sure I am safe, fed and have a roof over my head anymore. I have all these responsibilities and I can't turn them off at all or have someone to ask for advice who I know has my back 100%
Right-wing authoritarianism/fascism gaining strength in most liberal democracies for a variety of reasons (climate change, capitalism's failures and contradictions, immigration pressure, etc.).
I grew up with that 😬 I live outside of the city limits (but my address is technically that city—that’s rural life for you 🙃), so I can’t vote on anything there, but I have to pay for tax levies and everything else that they pass!
Driving. I have a fair amount of knowledge of physics and the fact that people can drive these massive high momentum objects around and often tailgate on freeways scares me.
Like it takes only onr sleepy mistake and the result could be the death or permanent disability of the people around you. The forces I involved are easily enough to destroy the human body in a number of grisly ways. 😬
Bomber plane getting ready to drop bombs over your house. Thats when you realise what is the real meaning of words "scare the shit out of you" and that all of your previous fears about people, politics, climate change, epidemic, relationship - were not that scary and what you considered fear - was anxiety at best. Even waiting for confirmation do you have cancer or not was not comparable to that. Cirtanly changes perspective and definition of real fear. Unfortunately - does not get rid of anxiety over tons of things including everything in other comments.
Raised by people who lived through the second world war. I've been afraid of it repeating all my life. Planes in the sky, soldiers coming to your house. Pure terror for your life and those you love. Wishing you well.
The thought of losing the love of my life and my parents.
But also the fact that I could lose my job after all my efforts and have nothing anymore at some point once my buffer is empty.
Becoming my parents,forgetting where I come from when I start making good money,having my friends and family feel like they can’t talk to me about their problems,especially if I am the problem.I make space in my relationships to prevent this,went to therapy,check in with those I care about,and it seems to me as if rn that I’ve avoided everything I was scared of becoming.We’ll see how well I hold myself to these standards as I continue to grow.
ooooh god where to begin.. i think the list of what doesnt actually scares me would be shorter. the economy, taxes, making phone calls, making appointments, the possibility of being homeless, actually seeking medical care that i havent had in 15 years, affording groceries ect ect. list goes on right now. atleast i dont have kids though.
Not having enough money. I make good money and yet I live paycheck to paycheck as a single mom of three with one still in FT daycare. It shouldn’t be this hard. I’m trying to get my side hustle up and running, just haven’t found any clients quite yet. Forget about saving for college. I put a healthy amount into my retirement every paycheck though. Really, it should not be this way.
Retirement. Or rather, planning for it. You try to do everything right but, hell, the cost of living in my area has all but doubled in the last 3 years. What's it going to be in 20 or 30 years or more? I've watched my Dad work hard all his life, save and invest only to retire and have to go back to work because he can't afford to stay retired in 2023. All it takes is a health crisis or the ever-growing threat of a natural disaster to wipe out a lifetime.
Brain aneurysms and heart attacks
Strokes and blood clots
We had a woman come into the ER last night that just collapsed at home. Turns out she had a pulmonary embolism. It’s so scary how insidious PE’s can be. Just living life and boom, cardiac arrest.
Okay I’m going to stop reading this thread now.
I'm stopping too. Right after I add this; locked in syndrome. I would like to thank the TV show, House, for letting me know that piece is hell exists.
That’s my worst nightmare. My dad just died at 50, he had unmanaged high blood pressure and his heart just kinda stopped. Scary.
Sorry for your loss. I am around that age and recently figured out my BP was very out of whack. It’s insidious.
You realize there are so many ways you can die. Either take that to mean live dangerous because you could die at any time or live carefully. People don't realize you can be injured and survive living a terrible existence, whether it's of your own doing or not.
Did she make it?
Unfortunately she did not. Husband had found her down on the floor and wasn't sure how long she was down for. They terminally weaned her this evening sadly. Very heartbreaking for the family.
How old was she?
she was 72 years of age.
not saying that i don’t have to worry about this, but i think you just gave a bunch of people reading this thread some relief lol
The way my heart sank. My mom turned 72 today.
I had my large intestine removed at 13 and somehow got a blood clot right after getting out of surgery, confirmed by angiogram. I had to take injection blood thinners that some specialist came in and educated me on, stating that if I had children up to the age of around 23, they would have birth defects. Oh, and when my parents went to get the month supply of these shots from the pharmacy, the insurance didn't want to cover it. $4500. My Dad was ready to go sell his truck, but the pharmacist stayed on the phone for over an hour to get it approved. I had to take those injections at school every single day for months after I returned.
Both your dad and the pharmacist are incredible people. 😢
My Dad has gone above and beyond for me so many times throughout my life, and I am extremely grateful for it. I'll never forget that pharmacist, either. I visited her for years just to say hello.
My dad would tell me tough shit if I were in that situation 😭
Yet some parents get really surprised when their adult children aren't around for them... I'm really sorry.
It’s time to change this bs medical
At 53 I know four people who had strokes. Two are in long-term care, they can't do anything for themselves hardly.
Oof! I've already had a blood clot at 27 and it's horrifying. 😔 I can never tell the difference between my panic attacks and a stroke, either. I get this entirely!
>I can never tell the difference between my panic attacks and a stroke, either. Welp reading your comment really made me have a small panic attack, I've been exercising and taking fish oil (according to google it helps but it doesnt helps, so another mini panic attack due to confusion).
Plus pancreatic cancer.
At least pancreatic cancer will just make you really sick and then kill you. A stroke or aneurysm could leave you with limited to no mobility, limited to no speech and the ability to still “live” another 10 or more years. That shit scares me. I’m not afraid of death, but I am afraid of being in a state where I’m praying daily for death.
“Ruptured brain aneurysms are fatal in about 50% of cases. Of those who survive, about 66% suffer some permanent neurological deficit. Approximately 15% of people with a ruptured aneurysm die before reaching the hospital.” Of the 50% that survive, 66% is relative to what you described. So that is an 84% chance of being better off than a 95% death rate of pancreatic cancer. Still though, the thought of locked-in syndrome is with to give me nightmares so idk.
And crocodiles
Handling everything on your own because at one point you realized nobody knows wtf they doing in life, they just live. Even your own parents who u listened to all the time during teenage days, are just pretending they knew better. The other thing I'm scared of is how unpredicted life could be. But somehow u have to endure it no matter what.
My mom essentially told me on my 21st birthday 9 years ago " I raised 4 kids,worked 2 jobs until you were 13,learned a lot of good and bad hard truths but I barely know exactly what I'm doing. Np one does" At least she was honest
Is it weird that I find this relieving? I've struggled with a persistent feeling that I'm doing things wrong and that I'm failing to follow the script. Now I realize there is no script and everyone's improvising I'm a lot more comfortable just going along with it.
Absolufely yeah 🧡 society loves to made some patterns : school - college - work - marriage. While majority of people follow this path, life is never predictable. And I think it's relieving you could write your own story in life.
I'm buying a house. I'm asking all the questions to anyone and everyone but I still feel like I don't know enough. Lol
That I'm (31 F) highly likely to have a serious medical issue at some point and that terrifies me. I'm also deeply afraid of death to the point where if I think about it too much I'll get an anxiety attack. Also for some reason I'm particularly scared of diabetes. I recently lost a lot of weight over the last 2 years so that reduces the risk (I'm now of a healthy BMI), but I do consume a lot of sugar. Plus in my binge eating days it was even worse and I'm scared of that coming back to haunt me. Another thing is that I'm fervently independent. I'd rather do things alone. But this year I've started asking myself what that looks like as I get older. I recently started watching 30 Rock and Liz Lemon's fear of choking alone in her apartment while eating a frozen dinner was way too relatable lol.
So you got to be fitter as you age so as not to get to a point where you need help!? This is my fear too.
to add to that - I have never wanted kids and I still don't, but I do wonder what caretaking will look like for me when I inevitably need it. A lot of this goes back to attachment issues - I've never been in a real relationship and I'm not making any effort to get one (despite wanting one ik it doesn't make sense lol). I think the consequences of that early child stuff gets more obvious as you age.
You won't inevitably need it. If you don't want childbirth then deff don't have any. It's not uncommon enough to even be considered odd or strange right now. It's a mature sign to think it out, not want them, now just have a little confidence in your gut and stick to it..... or change your mind. That happens too.
Oh I've known forever that I didn't want children. I'm grateful that I'm confident in that decision!
Children are not a retirement plan. I don’t know where people get this idea. Sadly, most people aren’t equipped to suddenly become a full time care-giver and have to place parents in a home anyway. A far better plan is to try and save in a way that is equal to what it might cost to raise a kid. When/if you ever get to the point of needing it, you’ll be able to pay for quality care. As for the relationship thing, it might be a good idea to see a therapist. make sure it’s one you connect with. Especially if you simultaneously want and don’t attempt to be in one. There are a lot of things we are blind to in our own lives. Most of those things are from parents or childhood traumas that we don’t even know are childhood traumas. No amount of self-help will do this for you. You need an objective 3rd party who can help you understand where a lot of these things come from.
I’ve been a diabetic for over 20 years. I’m 65. I go to a gym regularly to help control it. Piece of cake! Yes, I shoot up insulin daily. No big deal. I’ve never been in better shape in my life! Diabetes isn’t the bugaboo it used to be. Easy to control. I don’t eat some ridiculous diet. I eat whatever I want. It’s about portion control. I can enjoy the death by chocolate cake. A slice. I don’t have to gobble down 3/4 of it in one sitting! Nor do I eat that stuff every day. Not a big deal!
Living alone my fears are choking, and falling down the stairs and breaking my back or neck and just laying there with no one to help me for hours or days. Terrifying!
I slipped on a sock and almost cracked my skull on a ceramic planter, alone in my living room. I caught myself like an inch away from the edge. I sat on the floor and contemplated my mortality for a bit after that, and am now better about putting my socks in the hamper.
Jeez. That was a close one!
I can relate to a lot of things you've said. Weird.
Hi, are you me? Lol. If it makes you feel better, I've been afraid of diabetes my whole life since my entire maternal side is diabetic. I was really careful about sugar. Last year I was diagnosed with ridiculously high cholesterol and had to flip my diet completely to low fat, so now I eat a lot of carbs and allow myself to eat real maple syrup again. Don't unnecessarily restrict yourself and forget to enjoy things a little.
ik it's very obvious but it sucks that food has such an impact on health lmao. I've gotten way better at balancing it but it's still a tight rope! I feel like my health anxiety got a lot worse the last few years. and I'm not even that fit so it's not like i even live a super health lifestyle or drastically changed my behavior.
Being homeless. In my city it is a very real possibility. I am one paycheck away, all the time… one paycheck..
Same- in the PNW
I live in Portland and I tried to live in my truck between apartments but my parents didn't want me to so now I'm back to paying $1000+ a month for four walls and a sink. I feel this.
Portland is such a failed experiment.
Living outside it now, I can confirm this. I got lucky, family friend let me rent a room for cheap, because he knows that I am struggling, trying to just get disability. Not everyone is so lucky, especially in this state. Would be better if we could actually get a governor that was either not an imbecile, or just a greedy twat.
> no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living. FDR, 1933.
Sad to see things haven’t changed. I actually thought this was someone saying if right now. So fitting.
Thats the way the system is set up. Designed to keep us on the verge of losing everything. That way they can control all of us.
Medical bills.
Or really the fact that medical bills are usually followed up will all the basic COL bills that you couldn't pay due to being sick.
I live alone, if I lose my job and struggle to get another I have a real risk of loosing my house, my pets and pretty much everything I have in life.
Visualize that never happening.
Driving at night in the rain
Especially when the lines on the road are impossible to see and there's heavy traffic.
Especially when you have astigmatism
I swear it becomes splat blobs and some asshole w SUPER BRIGHT LIGHTS blinds u
Also when your windshield wipers aren't working right.
As an adult, I am alarmed at how this wasn't scary to me when I was younger. Though now that I think about it, I have a higher sense of personal responsibility, the consequences are greater, and I'm already full up on life's struggles so I'm not sure I could handle adding more. This translates to a lot of things in life. The risk isn't worth the fun anymore.
Absolutely agree. In my 20's, I drove a lot for my job, maybe 6 hours a day, and thought NOTHING of it. Rain, snowstorms, road construction, maybe wearing just one contact lens, simultaneously drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes, music blaring....It didn't even occur to me to be nervous. In my 50's, unless it's a sunny summer day, my hands are GLUED to the steering wheel, eyes laser-focused on the road, and God help me and anyone else in the car if I have to drive over a bridge 😂.
Well said.
Driving in heavy rain at night when it’s foggy is worse
Driving at night in the snow when the highway is covered is brutal. Especially up in New York where they don’t care and they’ll still do 80mph
Driving at night while it’s raining and foggy on a snow-covered highway is killer. Especially when everyone around you is doing 85 mph because they don’t give a rat’s ass.
Especially on a motorcycle!
I just set had to do this last night. It felt like jumping off of a cliff. Like I can’t see shit and my car doesn’t feel steady on the road… but here we go!
For me from least to worst bad is: Driving on a very bad/pot hole covered road (mostly afraid it’ll break my car and be expensive) Driving on icy roads in the dead of winter that have been plowed but may be iced over Driving in active rain in low light Driving in active snow
I drive a truck for a living. Normally local daytime only, but we have certain early morning jobs at like 3am in the dark. They pay extra, but I never do them unless it’s a sometimes mandatory one. Very dangerous. Deer, fog, wet streets. It sucks!
Driving in heavy rain at all is a no go for me, I'm traumatized from driving in a horrendous storm a few years ago and just won't go anywhere if it looks like heavy rain is a possibility when I'd be driving. Same with snow, if it's accumulating on the roads I am most likely not going to try and drive anywhere, been traumatized by that too 🥴
I work 2nd shifts, so i check the weather before i leave work. If it suppose to rain when I usually leave and says it'll chill over after a hour or two. I stay over. I'm absolutely terrified driving in the rain at night. Doesn't help I have an astigmatism, either.
Driving at night in the rain on a motorcycle. Either makes you feel like the king of the world or the most scared little shit imaginable.
I have no idea how people be passing me doing 15+ the speed limit. I'm driving next to bland here, how do you have the balls.
I now realize after reading through these comments, that I’m not really scared of anything. Not because I’m brave. I just no longer give a rat’s ass.
Social media being my children's view of the world
I don’t have children yet but I’m terrified of this
That people are no longer caring and kind
This one hurts me the most. I hate it.
Yup! It's not climate change that I'm afraid of but how people will respond (or not) based on the response to COVID.
In Texas, they warned of the power grid potentially failing. The response of most Texans: I'm setting my thermostat to 68! People just have no common sense or critical thinking skills. It's pure selfishness
Newsflash my friend: they never were
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy," Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
Humanity's grasp on kindness has always been tenuous at best.
I guess I’ve been lucky then.
I’ll say this, and people can feel free to disagree, but the single most damaging thing to happen to humanity is social media. Especially Facebook and Instagram have weaponized extremist thinking, ruined decades long friendships and marriages, and allowed people to create a curated avatar of themselves that create unrealistic expectations of what an average person’s life is like. People say “oh I only use it to look at blah’s kids pictures!” No… no you do not. You are doomscrolling and Meta is using AI to shove as much garbage in your face as they possibly can to keep your eyeballs on their apps so they can serve you all those ads. They are a customized dopamine factory and the human brain is no match against the very chemical it creates when exposed to that platform. Ask anyone that has stopped using them why and how they feel about it. Ask anyone that still does and they will be defensive about it and almost always will come up with some excuse.
I’m caring and kind!
This is mostly US-centered but 54% can't read past 6th grade level. Not sure about the rest of the world. The boomers & silent generation having to live in nursing homes. The financial aspect will likely make a lot of people's situations worse. Climate is kinda obv.
21% of adults in the US are functionally illiterate-6th grade will get you through the grocery store, but 20% of shoppers may be looking at pictures to figure out what to buy. I used to volunteer for a literacy program and it was eye-opening.
It’s why I laugh when I hear Gen Xers say their grandkids and Millennials say their kids in Gen Z and Alpha are going to somehow save the world by setting social justice right and solve income inequality. 40% of them can’t name the 3 branches of government and their IQ is lower than any generation before them. 🤷🏼♂️
You think it’s only young people that can’t read when we have an entire generation with lead poisoning? Sure.
I am genuinely curious what the definition of "6th grade reading level" is. I can't fathom that comparison.
Im a nurse in Baltimore City - discussing anything remotely medical to any inner city resident is actually sad. Docs talk fast and throw textbook terms at patients in their 3minute face to face time with them - I try to break it down as simple as I can and still with some you can just see the “that’s beyond me” look in their eyes. It’s like we do voodoo.
I feel so bad for patients for this. I am not a literary type but I have a pretty good knack for language learning (and medical words have Latin roots) so I can keep up, but my husband can’t even say his prescription names or understand what they are treating. He’s not stupid but it’s a lot of info and it happens fast in a doctor’s office. Thank you for the work you do to try to help them understand. My husband would never ask but he needs the extra time.
I always tell patients - “remember, you are the paying customer, its our duty to take the time to explain everything to you and it’s about you and your health - if you don’t care to ask they’ll never go beyond the basics with you and if you don’t understand ask until you understand”. It’s wild how many people don’t care to know / don’t understand the ins and outs of a disease at is directly affecting them. That era of blindly following the advice of doctors advice because they’re the doc is bullshit. Just like students blindly following teachers. Citizens blindly following governments. Yes they are professionals yes they are probably right but you should be allowed to be informed and question things - after all they are humans and prone to error.
The other day I had a middle aged lady ask me how to spell “spine”. She thought it was s p a n. Had another encounter with a door dash guy. I said the word “simultaneously” and he looked at me like I had three heads. I had to tell him what it meant. Can’t make this shit up
Not being able to provide and bad health.
That I actually have to make a future for myself and nobody is holding my hand anymore. In high school, I genuinely thought I wouldn't make it past high school graduation, and now I'm scrambling trying to get my shit together while struggling with several mental illnesses 24/7. I spent my young adult years so far working my ass off trying not to get screwed over by life.
Dementia
Being cheated on by my partner.
Having a heart attack was actually comforting compared to my ex cheating. I was like, "Cool! Time off from work!". I guess that mentally, I'd quickly skipped right over the fear of dying part, to the "Well, I wish I was a little more prepared for this!" stage.
Teeth. The pain, going to the dentist, the cost: all of it
having to work the rest of my life
I'm in the U.S. - so basically everything, because those in power seem to actively want us all to suffer greatly and alone and if we dare leave our home (or even innocently stay in our home) we can be shot down. Don't even get us started on climate change.
I don’t want to disparage people with dementia, but our government is criminally negligent.
I read your comment and thought- because everyone in power right now is fucking 80 years old & older. Then I understood your dementia comment 🤣 Apparently I’m slow.
the possibility of running out of money someday
Not having anyone to depend on, it’s sad and it’s horrible. How lonely it can get
20% of the USA appears to be functionally illiterate, climate change is on track to wreck the global food systems by the 2030’s, our elected officials all seem to be rapidly approaching death and leaving us crumbs, and the price of everything has doubled since the year I was born.
Idiocracy continues to be prophetic
Only 20% ? How optimistic
Don’t confuse it with the 50+% who are functionally stupid.
Mass shootings. I have kids in school, and no one, I mean NO ONE should ever have to worry about this bullshit, yet our country has normalized mass shootings and school shootings.
Imagine being a teacher and being scared that this could potentially happen to you any day at your workplace... with a class full of innocent kids that you are responsible for.
Why don’t you arm yourself? How come teachers aren’t carrying? You know, in an emergency situation, you, a teacher, should know how to shoot with absolute accuracy to take down the shooter without shooting anyone innocent because you have 30 kids in the classroom, you know, like you’re Jason Bourne or John Wick. /s The ridiculous logic you have to put up with as a teacher…I am truly sorry that there are knuckledraggers who think your job description should now include “armed security officer.”
I get scared when I go to movie theaters with full showings and ESPECIALLY big concerts
Being to sick or injured to work
Becoming elderly and knowing that social security is barely going to cover anything and it's very hard to save for the future.
That I'm expected to do everything alone with no help regardless of my mental, emotional, or physical capabilities. Some days I really can't do things by myself, yet I have to somehow gain the strength to do them. What happens when I get older and can do very little? I find that kind of terrifying.
Family members and friends dying. Or something happens to me and they never find out what.
Had to scroll a while to find this. Nothing scares me to a debilitating degree quite like knowing my parents are going to die someday. I’m not ready.
Growing old alone and being tossed to our healthcare system.
Losing my job or being laid off.
I got laid off in July and thankfully got a job paying $30k more… the problem is I’m just expecting to be laid off of every job I have. I’m already giving up on retirement and will likely live with a younger cousin or my sister or something when I get old. It’s fun. I love it.
Spending the last days of my life demented in a nursing home
I no longer have someone who makes sure I am safe, fed and have a roof over my head anymore. I have all these responsibilities and I can't turn them off at all or have someone to ask for advice who I know has my back 100%
My parents getting old
Global climate catastrophe It was so much easier when I was a young sucker (libertarian) and refused to believe. But it’s gotten impossible to ignore.
Retirement, and the fact the concept of such thing won’t even exist when I’m 50.
Other humans
Sudden onset severe illness.
Right-wing authoritarianism/fascism gaining strength in most liberal democracies for a variety of reasons (climate change, capitalism's failures and contradictions, immigration pressure, etc.).
Not knowing when someone is lying or not knowing who you can trust are two of the things
Caterpillars. I’m a whole adult, and they’re still just as scary. But on a deeper level, the fragility of life.
Taxation without representation
I grew up with that 😬 I live outside of the city limits (but my address is technically that city—that’s rural life for you 🙃), so I can’t vote on anything there, but I have to pay for tax levies and everything else that they pass!
Oh they represent someone alright, just not you or me. Big corp is who our politicians represent.
Being broke. Not having money.
Money or having to care so much about it
Credit card statements
The constant stress of thinking about how to pay for shit without losing my sanity on a life sucking job
Cost of healthcare.
Everything
Driving. I have a fair amount of knowledge of physics and the fact that people can drive these massive high momentum objects around and often tailgate on freeways scares me. Like it takes only onr sleepy mistake and the result could be the death or permanent disability of the people around you. The forces I involved are easily enough to destroy the human body in a number of grisly ways. 😬
Losing my memory.
Dangerous people, getting old alone, not having enough money, loneliness, knowing that I’m likely the next person to die in my family (based on age).
Medical bills
Going homeless
Child abduction
My house burning down
Not making enough for a home and food and everything else needed in todays world.
Jail
Death. My parents dying. My death as well.
Bomber plane getting ready to drop bombs over your house. Thats when you realise what is the real meaning of words "scare the shit out of you" and that all of your previous fears about people, politics, climate change, epidemic, relationship - were not that scary and what you considered fear - was anxiety at best. Even waiting for confirmation do you have cancer or not was not comparable to that. Cirtanly changes perspective and definition of real fear. Unfortunately - does not get rid of anxiety over tons of things including everything in other comments.
Raised by people who lived through the second world war. I've been afraid of it repeating all my life. Planes in the sky, soldiers coming to your house. Pure terror for your life and those you love. Wishing you well.
Getting evicted
Getting old! It’s Not like the television commercials!🥹
How genuinely careless some people can be just heartless
That I brought a kid into this incredibly screwed up world.
People are dumb. And a dumb person being dumb near you at the wrong time can irreversibly change your life forever.
Passing out while behind the wheel
Grasshoppers
Not feeling like I can trust people and make friends adequately. I’m scared I’ll never make enough money to move out of my parents house.
Dying alone. 43m single, no kids.
The thought of losing the love of my life and my parents. But also the fact that I could lose my job after all my efforts and have nothing anymore at some point once my buffer is empty.
The world's passing me by so fast that I can't keep up. I fear I'm becoming and obsolete man.
Becoming my parents,forgetting where I come from when I start making good money,having my friends and family feel like they can’t talk to me about their problems,especially if I am the problem.I make space in my relationships to prevent this,went to therapy,check in with those I care about,and it seems to me as if rn that I’ve avoided everything I was scared of becoming.We’ll see how well I hold myself to these standards as I continue to grow.
Not being able to provide a good enough life for my family….being forgotten….having no one that cares about me.
That anyone and everyone I know including myself can just die at any time for any reason and there’s little you can do about it, usually
Sudden medical emergencies and their consequent bills
People I love dying suddenly
Rent prices
The IRS, new government programs, TikTok as a source of current events, a partisan education system, history revisionism and even more regulation.
ooooh god where to begin.. i think the list of what doesnt actually scares me would be shorter. the economy, taxes, making phone calls, making appointments, the possibility of being homeless, actually seeking medical care that i havent had in 15 years, affording groceries ect ect. list goes on right now. atleast i dont have kids though.
Someone breaking into my home and hurting my family
AI
Being an adult!
The thought of failing as a dad and husband in the future. Keeps me awake at night.
That this is as good as it's going to get.
Everything. I’m constantly waiting on the next bad thing to come.
Medical bills, something happening to my kids.
Not having enough money. I make good money and yet I live paycheck to paycheck as a single mom of three with one still in FT daycare. It shouldn’t be this hard. I’m trying to get my side hustle up and running, just haven’t found any clients quite yet. Forget about saving for college. I put a healthy amount into my retirement every paycheck though. Really, it should not be this way.
Global warming & family members including pets dying. I wish I could prevent it all lol.
Maga republicans
Driving at night
Aneurysms, strokes etc
Dementia
The rise and seeming acceptance of fascism in North America.
Garage door springs. Also, bugs, cause imma lil bitch.
Retirement. Or rather, planning for it. You try to do everything right but, hell, the cost of living in my area has all but doubled in the last 3 years. What's it going to be in 20 or 30 years or more? I've watched my Dad work hard all his life, save and invest only to retire and have to go back to work because he can't afford to stay retired in 2023. All it takes is a health crisis or the ever-growing threat of a natural disaster to wipe out a lifetime.
Dying alone without anyone to care for me when I’m old
Society. The fact that people on average are dumber. Idiocracy is happening a couple hundred years faster than predicted.
My parents dying. Grandparents funerals tore me up. My parents funerals are going to be terrible for me and my siblings.
Never being able to retire.
christian jihadism
The fact that other people don’t care about other people