How well can you really know another person? Everyone has their secrets. Some run really deep, while others are smaller, little white lies. Often times, we learn strange things about other people that they themselves don't find strange at all. Once we learn them, we can't help but see them in a different light than we did before. Just take it from these people who recently found out a secret about someone they believed to be perfectly normal.
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#1 Milking It
My husband had no idea he was lactose intolerant. He just thought everyone had diarrhea every day. For years, he indulged in all sorts of milk-based products, from chocolates to cheesy goods. He’s 26 and just found out last year. How’d he find out? His mom told him. She knew his whole life. It devastated him when she told him because he absolutely loves milk.
#2 Selective Sleeping
My sister said to me once, “Hey, what dream did you choose last night?” I was so confused. She explained to me that every night, she enters a "dream room" and picks what she wants to dream about. What's even crazier is that the themes always change, so she never dreams the same thing twice. I'm not sure how she developed this, but when she told me, I got super jealous.
#3 The No-Face Friend
My friend can't recognize faces. I only figured it out for sure when he almost got into a strangers truck because he thought it was me. The only similarity between me and the stranger was that we both had red hair. I've known him for like six years and I never once suspected he went through that. He seemed really surprised when I told him that wasn't normal.
#4 Breathing Easy
In my early 20s, I started having a lot of pain in my upper left jaw. My dentist said there was nothing wrong with my teeth and that I should go see a sinus specialist. When I went to my appointment, they commented on how stuffed up I was. I was slightly baffled and told them that I could actually breathe much easier than usual. That was the day I found out that most people can breathe through their noses. It turned out, I was allergic to dust mites and had been experiencing an allergy attack for 23 years straight. That doctor's visit legitimately changed my life. I no longer had to choose between breathing and eating.
#5 Sick Remedy
In college, a bunch of my friends and I were sitting around talking about things we did as a kid. One of the guys in the group said, "Didn't you hate when you got a cold and your mom would give you an enema?" He soon found out that he was the only one. I'm not sure how he went on for years without realizing there was something off about that home remedy, but I guess when you grow up with something, you don't question it.
#6 Towel Trauma
I had a sleepover with a friend in middle school one weekend. I went to the shower and she gave me a towel. It had a weird smell to it, but I couldn’t find any other towels inside the bathroom, so I just patted myself with it lightly and air dried. It turned out, her whole family shared a single towel to prevent having to use new ones. I told her how weird that was and she was shocked to find out.
#7 Got Milk?
In senior year study hall, I was sitting with a dude I knew. I don’t remember the context, but at some point, he said, “It was around that time when milk started coming out of my chest.” I was like, “What?” and he explained, “You know... When the milk starts to come out.” I told him that wasn't normal. The face he made when he realized the reality of the situation was memorable. He asked me, “That didn't happen to you?” I was like, “No.” He then asked the rest of the guys in study hall.
#8 Itching For A Snack
I thought that kiwis made everyone's mouths itchy. I also thought mangos were spicy for everyone. Well, my wife informed me that I was probably allergic to those fruits since mangos aren't supposed to burn your mouth and kiwis shouldn't make your mouth itch. I truly didn't believe her. Months later, I was choking on mango. I couldn't breathe and my face was getting red. An EpiPen and an ER visit later, I discovered I was allergic to mangos, kiwis and a host of other tropical fruit.
#9 Two Brushes
My grandma has two toothbrushes — one for the morning, and one for the evening. I'm not sure why; I think that was just how she grew up. I told her once that she didn't really need two toothbrushes, but she told me it felt weird to use a single toothbrush for both her morning routine and her night routine. The only concern I have is that she spends more money than she needs buying toothbrushes in bulk.
#10 Donut Know That
Growing up, my mom would always tell me to grab donuts from the Walmart bakery area and eat them while we walked around the store (we lived in the country, so we only went to the store every two weeks). For a long time, I kept up this practice. In middle school, a girl who had a crush on me saw me eating donuts in Walmart and asked me if I just took them.
I responded, "Of course." She proceeded to take one herself and eat it with me to prove she was as cool as me, but I didn't understand. I relayed to my mom how the silly girl had no idea Walmart had free donuts. And that's when she told me she had been paying for them all that time. I couldn't believe it... For years, I unknowingly took from Walmart.
#11 Clean Cutting
My ex didn’t think you needed to wash cutting boards. I started to wash his cutting board when I was doing his dishes and he got upset. I thought that was a common sense thing that people, especially someone in med school, would know. He assumed that cutting boards were manufactured with a special type of wood that contained self-cleaning, antibacterial agents.
#12 Fish And Powder
I lived with a girl who would eat baby powder that she kept stashed in the drawer of the bathroom. She would walk by the bathroom and do quick shakes of the bottle right in her mouth. She would also buy whole frozen fish from Walmart, take them out of the freezer bag and slam them hard against the kitchen floor before cooking them in a stew.
#13 Thorough Wash
My roommate in college thought you had to wash clothes on every single cycle on the washing machine. Our machine had a delicate cycle, a cotton cycle, a solo rinse cycle, a permanent press cycle, etc. He always complained about the washer taking forever. It was because he was washing his clothes four to five times every time he did laundry.
#14 A Wormy Situation
My friend thought that everyone was regularly taking deworming tablets to stop getting worms. It wasn’t until she got married and told her husband she was going to go pick up their worming tablets that she found out it wasn’t normal. Even after she found out, she still kept taking them because it scared her to go off the pills cold turkey.
#15 Dealing With Demons
A family member of mine thought that hallucinations were something everyone dealt with. She thought that monsters under the bed and other cultural tales of ghosts were real things. This later led to a diagnosis of schizophrenia. It progressed to a point where she couldn't cope well enough to deal with the symptoms and it became evident to family members.
#16 Stranger To Spaghetti
A co-worker of mine sat down with spaghetti one day for lunch. After twiddling the noodles around with the fork for a while, he looked and me and asked, “How do you eat this”? Thinking it was a joke, I laughed at him and kept eating. He looked at me with a straight face and said, “I’ve never had spaghetti.” Life is amazing.
#17 Bland Basil
One of my friends genuinely cannot taste basil. He always thought that basil was some tasteless leaf that people liked to put on pizza. He once ate a bowl of basil leaves like a salad and said he couldn't taste a thing. I told him he should go to the doctor to see if something was different about his tastebuds, but he said he didn't mind not being able to taste a vegetable.
#18 Numb To The Issue
My friend last night was like, "You know when you think you're starting to get sick and you're super tired, your nose is runny, and your throat is coated in phlegm? Do your hands go completely numb?" We were all like, nope, that's definitely just you. Apparently, she had numb hands every time she was sick for the past 24 years, thinking it was just another symptom.
#19 Mixed Milk
I had a friend whose parents would buy a gallon of whole milk and pour half of it in another jug. They'd then mix water into both to dilute them. She always just thought that other people got a different brand of milk because milk other people's houses always tasted different. Her grandparents did it too. It really weirded me out tp see her mom just pour milk into an empty jug, then mix water into it.
#20 Coming Clean
Growing up, I was conditioned by my mother to not only use soap on my body while showering but to use it in my hair too. Doing this made my hair feel insanely rough and dry, but I kept at it thinking it was the right thing to do. On a trip to California, I took a shower and they didn't have a bar of soap. I confronted my friend about it, asking what they used in their hair as a substitute for soap. Everyone in the room gave me a strange look and told me that soap wasn't supposed to be used for hair. I was around 18 years old when I found this out.
#21 Cradling Apples
I can only eat apples with both hands. I never thought anything of it until some of my co-workers pointed it out. I'm a big guy, so apparently, I look like a squirrel eating an acorn. I still find it awkward to eat an apple with only one hand. My entire life, I've always eaten apples with two hands. The crazy thing is, I only do that with apples.
#22 Preposterous Pizza Holding
My friend carried a pizza box sideways under his arm. I was so glad it made other people as uneasy as it made me. Every time someone talks about him, I'm like, "I knew he was strange since the pizza box incident." I'm not sure if he does it out of preference, or if he genuinely has no clue that holding the box sideways will ruin the pizza.
#23 Running Pains
My girlfriend asked me once: "How could you like running? Don't you get that thing where your teeth hurt when you run?"
#24 Swept Away
My family was raised on the saying "sweep the floor" in reference vacuuming. My husband was very confused the first time I asked him to sweep the floor. "Do you mean vacuum?" he clarified. I still say it because I grew up saying it. Now he's sarcastic about it. It's okay though, we have a lot of laughs about it.
#25 The Arnold Nerve
Whenever I clean out my ears with Q-tips, it makes my throat tickle. I thought this was completely normal until one day, my sister was in the room with me while I was doing it. I mentioned how I hated cleaning out my ears because it made my throat tickle and she was like, what the heck are you talking about. Turns out, there is this nerve in the face called the Arnold Nerve that has no effect on the majority of the population, but in rare cases, it can feel sensitive and cause a coughing sensation.
#26 Yeast And Crying In Your Sleep
A friend told me about her roommate who keeps a large bin full of bread under her bed. Every week, she buys a new loaf and adds it to the bin. She doesn’t actually eat that much bread but she always has a full bin. This reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend recently about sleep paralysis. I asked, “You know that feeling when you wake up with tears running down your face and you realize you've been crying in your sleep?” He replied, “No... Are you okay?”
#27 Baffling Breakfast
My stepmom puts mustard in scrambled eggs. One morning, my stepmom made a big breakfast for us and the entire family was genuinely excited about it. I took one bite of the eggs and stopped. They were terrible. I started to casually eat around them while talking to the family. After dragging my heels long enough, I took my brother aside and said, "Dude, what the heck was up with the eggs?" He responded with, "Oh, she puts mustard in them. It's not THAT bad." I was mortified.
The next morning, I woke up and started scrounging for food. My stepmom asked if I wanted some eggs. Naturally, I told her, "Uh, no thanks... I'm not hungry, just foraging." About an hour later, I was starving, so I decided to make some eggs and whatnot. I asked my step-brother if he wanted some and he said sure. I whipped up some delicious eggs and when he tried them, he said: "Whoa, what did you put in these? They are amazing!" NOTHING! FREAKING NOTHING!
#28 Dressing Down At Work
I was talking to my husband on the phone and he told me to hang on because he had to put his clothes back on. He was at work. I asked him what the heck he was doing and, apparently, he always takes his clothes off to go #2. Even at work. I knew he did it at home, but he always would then get in the shower after, so I figured it was just a preface to showering. He said he balances them over the stall door so they don’t get particles on them. I told him no one else did that.
#29 Orange You Strange
I know someone at work that eats oranges with the peel on. I'm pretty sure he is a psychopath.
#30 Hairy Habit
My wife collects all her hair that naturally falls our during the day, whether on the hairbrush, couch, or bed. She then wraps it around her fingers into a little ball and collects the wads in bags. I asked her what she did with all of the Ziplock bags of hair and she told me that she eventually burns them. It's just a habit of hers and she still can't explain to me why she does it.
#31 Massive Martinis
My friend didn’t know martinis weren’t normally served in giant water-sized glasses. She thought she was getting ripped off when she ordered one at a bar. Her parents were heavy drinkers, so it's not really her fault. Naturally, what looked like normal drink servings to her growing up were actually well above average.
#32 Anti-Modern Movies
Our best friend’s old girlfriend refused to watch a movie if it was made before the '90s. She never saw a single thing, from any genre, before 1990. I could never take her seriously after that.
#33 Eight-Year-Old Diet
I was roommates with a guy for several months and I began to notice that he was a picky eater. I would always offer him food and he always declined, sometimes looking at the food in disgust. Admittedly, I'm an adventurous eater, often eating a lot of various ethnic foods and unusual stuff. After a while, I got curious enough to ask him about his diet and he opened up.
The dude ate plain cheeseburgers, cheese pizza, mac and cheese, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, ice cream, and pretty much nothing else. He was about 25 at the time and had the diet of an eight-year-old. He openly admitted that he hated all vegetables and only ate bread, meat, and cheese. He hated Mexican food, Chinese food, salads, and anything even slightly spicy. And he thought I was the weird one, trying all these different types of food.
#34 Cold Showers
Me: "Don't you hate getting hit by those first few seconds of icy water when you turn on the shower?"
Roommate: "What do you mean?"
Me: "Like, in the morning, when you're standing in the shower and you have to turn it on for the first time. It's really cold on your skin."
Roommate: "Wait, do you turn the shower on AFTER getting in?"
Me: "...No?"
That was the day my mind was blown by the fact that you could turn the shower on BEFORE getting in. I was like 23 when I learned this.
#35 Justified Joy
I went 30 years without knowing I had clinical depression. I thought you were only supposed to be happy if you had a reason to be. I went to get Lasik and they gave me a Valium. I thought it was weird that I was happy for no reason. I am medicated now and my entire perspective on happiness has changed. Good thing I got Lasik.
#36 Star Struck
I was in high school when I found out that my mom believed the night sky was some sort of veil with light behind it. According to her, stars were just holes that were poked through the veil. It was like she had never opened a science textbook before. Immediately after she told me her incorrect theory, I showed her a YouTube video explaining the basics of outer space.
#37 Two Moons
One time, when I was eight years old, I was laying in bed looking out of my window. Suddenly, I saw two moons. It freaked me out, so I went to my mom, asking her if something was wrong with me and she said, “No, that’s normal.” Fast forward to me at about 17: I went to the eye doctor with my mom to get my prescription updated. I told the doctor I saw two sets of letters.
He took a closer look at my eyes and told me that I had a lazy eye, which was abnormal. My mom, who was right there, exclaimed, “That’s not normal?! I thought everyone saw double!” The doctor was just like... No. It turned out, my mom had the same eye condition, but it was never addressed, so she just figured everyone had it.
#38 The Convenience Of Corn Dogs
My fiancée and I were at the local grocery store shopping for our usual items. We usually keep some form of frozen chicken and veggies for a quick meal in the event that I’m too tired or lazy to cook anything for the week. Well, we were walking down the aisle that had the ice cream and all of the convenience items like hot pockets, pizza rolls, etc. on one side.
My fiancé was talking about something and came to a full halt with the stomp of her foot. She did a hard triple take and said: “Shut. The. Heck. UP! YOU CAN BUY CORN DOGS!?” I was like, “Ha. Is that a joke!?” She thought you could only buy corn dogs at the regional fair that comes to town in October.
#39 Putting The Pieces Together
I just recently learned that when normal people ask, "Do you want to do a puzzle," they don't expect you to finish the whole thing in one sitting. I had never started a puzzle without finishing it. They were like board games for me—you don't just play a little bit each day. My wife thought I just hated puzzles because whenever I was asked to do one, I'd say: "That puzzle? Now? No way," thinking we couldn't possibly have time.
#40 Bittersweet Friendship
Meet my roommate, Cade: he's 6'4", somewhat portly, a kind of a quiet guy most of the time but also a pretty sassy gay dude once you get past the first barrier. Anyway, one day I came into the kitchen and I saw him washing the dishes. Cool, no big deal; we don't have an automatic dishwasher and it was his turn.
I was about to leave when I saw him pick something up off the counter, bite into it, then set it back down. I only stopped to look because I noticed the thing was bright yellow. It turns out, Cade eats lemons. Like apples. With the peel still on. I confronted him about it and he thought it was the funniest thing that I was so freaked out by it. Now, once or twice a week, I get a Snapchat of him aggressively eating a lemon. I think we're going to be friends for a long time.
#41 Problematic PB&Js
When making PB&J, my wife mixes the peanut butter and jam together in a bowl first. It is the only thing we've actually yelled at each other about. Not only does it give the spread a weird texture, but it also adds another dish in the sink for me to wash. It's a problem, whether you agree with my wife or not.
#42 Starving In The Sun
I have a co-worker who literally only eats once a day. He also won’t eat if the sun is out, with the exception of his morning coffee. He doesn't even pack a breakfast or a snack like a granola bar or a bag of chips. He walks home from work and will only eat once he gets home at night. I asked him if he ever gets hungry since he never seems hungry or cranky.
He told me he has built a “tolerance against nutrition.” He used to starve himself all throughout his younger years and told me, “I’m used to going four to five days without food.” He admitted to me that starving himself was just a bad habit. He gets super mad if someone offers him food. His response is always, “Naw, the suns out.”
#43 Evaporating Soap
I was eating at a friend's house and I noticed that her food tasted a bit like soap. I saw that the plate had a residue of soap on it. Later, I was in the kitchen when she started doing the dishes. She took a soapy sponge, cleaned the plate, and then immediately stuck it in the dish drainer. "Aren't you going to rinse that?" I asked.
She said, "No." She insisted that you don't have to rinse the soap off of dishes after you wash them. She said all of the soap just evaporates off. It took quite a bit to convince her that I wasn't the crazy one. Apparently, her parents were also both under this impression. They had been using dirty dishware for years.
#44 The Mystery Of Hash Browns
One morning, after a sleepover with a friend (we were about 17 at the time), I got up to make us breakfast. We went for the classic hash brown number with some eggs and toast. I whipped out the grater and started shredding the potatoes after washing them. She came into the kitchen, saw what I was doing, and looked at me like I was absolutely insane. It took me a second for it to register that she was actually serious. She didn’t know hash browns were made from potatoes.
#45 Peanut Butter And Pretzels
I went out to lunch with a friend and his wife for the first time to discuss some business. When we were choosing the restaurant, he said, "It doesn't matter where we go. I don't eat." The guy was always a little strange, so I just laughed. We ended up choosing a pizza place and no, he literally did not order anything. He got a drink and that was it.
I told him I had thought he was joking, and I asked if he really wasn't eating. His wife said he literally ate once a day and his meals only consisted of peanut butter sandwiches. His doctor said he had no reason to be as healthy as he was. It's not like he doesn't get hungry either, he just hates everything.
I don't think it's a taste thing either because he likes to drink and has preferences based on flavor. I have been to several other functions with this guy and have only ever seen him eat once. It was a soft pretzel because he just got in from a flight and went to a work function right after at dinner time. I'm not sure how long he'll survive.
#46 Mona Lisa Madness
I know a guy who experienced these weird hallucinations. Anytime he saw a picture of Mona Lisa, he would say she was talking to him. She would tell him all sorts of terrible things. It persisted, so he went to see a doctor. He got diagnosed with schizophrenia and was put on medication, but he was never able to shake off that hallucination. At that point, he got used to her and her terrifying threats.
#47 Air Dry
My roommate in college took the bus and forgot to grab his bags, which contained an assortment of things including his towels. Now, any normal person would simply go out and get more towels, right? Not this guy. He thought a perfectly good alternative solution was to get out of the shower, while still soaking wet, and get into his bed to let himself air dry. He did this every day. When he moved out, the rest of us walked over to his the mattress and sure enough, there was a large, green, human-sized circle from where he had been laying all year.
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#48 Dental Denial
My dad's parents never told him to brush his teeth and he told me that he used to eat a whole can of condensed milk every day as a kid! He still thinks it's perfectly normal, and I don't know what else to tell him. He still wonders why all of his teeth fell out one day. He also has never been to the dentist, despite knowing what they do.
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#49 A Dirty Man With OCD
He was a very strange person. He was homeschooled on a farm by his mom who barely knew English. He also scrubbed the shower and toilet before every use, had no eating manners whatsoever, and would frequently yell at people for no reason. He also thought girls were, and I quote, "icky." Oh, and he loved to warm up KFC in the microwave and then keep the bones in a drawer in his desk. He was somehow both super clean and utterly gross at the same time.
#50 Pepsi Family
My 13-year-old has a friend who didn’t know what he wanted from McDonald’s because his family never went there. He then proceeded to tell me that they only go to Wendy’s since they are a “Pepsi family.” When he tried McDonald's for the first time, he was conflicted—he enjoyed his meal thoroughly but felt guilty for betraying his family.
#51 Potty Blunder
I knew a guy who was super sheltered growing up. When he was getting potty trained, he was taught to get fully undressed and sit on the toilet backward. He always thought it was normal until he was in his late teens. One day, he was using a public washroom for the first time when a guy in the stall next to him noticed his feet were facing backward. He asked him what the heck he was doing.
#52 My Office, My Rules
A lawyer I used to work with would trim his toenails during conference calls in his office. Toenails, not fingernails, meaning he removed his shoes and socks and pawed all over his stinky feet while on the phone. Everyone in the office knew not to ever touch anything on his desk because his dirty habit was no secret to anyone. I never got over that.
#53 Fruitless Life
I was never served fruit as a kid because it was too expensive where I lived. Now as an adult, I can't handle the tastes or textures of fruit. Occasionally, I will force myself to eat some, but it is not something I enjoy. It might seem weird, but when you've been conditioned to avoid something as a child, that habit remains with you when you get older.
#54 Purple Cat
I used to hang out at my friend's house a lot after high school. We would work on computer stuff and his cat would often join us and chill in his dark room. Well, after some time, his cat got old and eventually passed. When I came over again, I asked where his purple cat was. He looked at me and said "What??" It was at that time I realized I had some form of color blindness.
#55 Headaches Or Epilepsy
I would get constant headaches in the morning. I just figured it was fine, nothing serious; just a regular groggy feeling that most people get in the morning that they drink coffee for. And then I had a seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy, so that's a thing.
#56 A New Take On Grilled Cheese
My mom always put jelly on our grilled cheese. At a college retreat, we made grilled cheese and I asked where the jelly was. The confused looks I got was how I found out that no one else ate grilled cheese that way. A few brave souls did try it though, and they said it was good. That, at least, made me feel a little better.
#57 Abnormal Headaches
I thought it was normal for people to have several headaches a week. I’m 23. It wasn’t until I went to the neurologist a month ago for a vertigo issue that I learned it’s not normal. I’m on medication now and maybe have only one headache a week, which is still abnormal, but a HUGE improvement. The lesson here is, if you feel something wrong with your body, don't assume. Just go to the doctor and find out what's up!
#58 Mint-Induced Sneezing
I sneeze whenever I eat something strongly flavored with mint or artificial flavorings: Altoids, NyQuil, some kinds of toothpaste, Triaminic, Pepto Bismol, etc. Also, soda out of a freshly popped can give me instant hiccups. As in, within milliseconds. I have to let it sit for a bit before I can drink it. I'm not sure if these are serious issues, but I'll probably talk to my doctor about it.
#59 Blackouts Are Never Normal
A friend of mine was nearly 50 before he found out that most people can’t hear their eyes move. He kept having terrible migraines, dizzy spells, and blackouts. When he went to the doctor and determined that he had an issue with his brain and cranium, that’s when the doctor told him it wasn’t normal. I felt so bad for him, thinking he had been suffering all this time.
#60 Looney Theories
It took me till my 30s and it’s super embarrassing, but you know when Daffy Duck would challenge Bugs Bunny to a dual, and he’d be wearing a top hat, monocle, and white gloves, then he’d take off one of those gloves, swing it across Bugs' face and say, “I challenge you to a dual in the Field of Onion!” Well, I thought Field of Onion was a legit, official place, until one day, I replayed it in my head and realized it was just a regular onion field.
#61 Cheese And Applesauce?
I dip my cheese in applesauce. My favorite is Colby Jack as it has a smoother texture. Sharp cheddar is a second favorite. My mom thinks it’s weird and no one else in my family does it. I’ve managed to teach it to my daughter and she loves it too. I also dip bread or toast into milk. Most people hate soggy bread, but I absolutely love it.
#62 Enzyme Sensitivities
I always thought everyone got an itchy, burning rash on their legs from running. Then I asked my doctor if there was something I could do to make it more tolerable and he asked me what the heck I was talking about. Turns out, I’m allergic to an enzyme in my own sweat. Also, I found out three years ago that green apple Jolly Ranchers DON'T take everyone’s breath away because they’re so strongly flavored. They just cause me to have trouble breathing because I’m allergic to one of the ingredients.
#63 Scrambled Eggs... And Jelly
When I was in high school, I babysat for a neighbor. One day, I had to be there early, before they were up, to fix them breakfast. Their mom told me to make them some scrambled eggs. No big deal, I made them all the time for my siblings. So I made them and set the plates on the table. They both looked at them. The older child, who was around seven at the time, asked: “Where’s the jelly?”
Confused me: “What?”
Older child: “Mom puts jelly in our eggs.”
I went over to get the jelly, then asked, “If I put this jelly in your eggs are you going to eat them?” Both of them nodded. And they did eat them. That’s the only time I’ve ever seen this. Their mom confirmed with me later that was the only way she could get them to eat the eggs when they were younger.
#64 Q-Tip Reaction
I didn’t know about the Arnold nerve in the face thing until I was older. Good to know I’m not the only one whose throat tickles when I use Q-tips. I also didn’t realize I was lactose intolerant until about a year ago. I’m 21. I just didn’t put two-and-two together about my reaction to dairy. I just thought I drank or ate too much.
#65 A Special Hole
I had a friend in high school who one day said something along the lines of, “You know how you can whistle through that hole in the roof of your mouth?” Um, no? Turns out, she had been born with a small hole in the roof of her mouth (which she apparently could whistle through) and had just assumed it was something everyone else had.
#66 Photic Sneezer
I am one of the 20% or so of people who are “photic sneezers." Basically, we sneeze when we walk into bright light. I always assumed everyone did, but my husband thought I was crazy. Imagine my delight when our son started doing it as an infant! Aww, he inherited it from me! Don't worry, it doesn't ruin your life or anything, it just means our noses get a little tingly in brighter environments.
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#67 Wrong Colors, Dude
I was coloring with my sister one time and my mom stopped me to ask why I was coloring the tree purple. I told her it was brown, but my mom said the crayon clearly said purple. I was 18 when this happened. About a year ago, I colored the Hulk's pants grey thinking it was blue until my boyfriend pointed it out. A doctor's visit later and I found out I'm colorblind.
#68 Migraine Mystery
Growing up, I always thought everyone walked around with headaches every day. I thought it was so normal that I didn't feel the need to talk about it. In grade school, I would get sent to the nurse's office regularly to sleep off my headaches. It wasn't until my late teens when they became regular migraines and I realized it wasn't normal. I've had chronic headaches since before I can remember. It's the reason I got glasses at three years old because my parents thought it had to do with my vision.
#69 How To Save Hot Water 101
When I was a kid, my mom told my siblings and me that we had to brush our teeth with cold water otherwise the toothpaste won't work. I was talking to someone about this in high school and they laughed, saying our parents lied to us about that. "That was a smart way for your mom to save money on the hot water," she continued. It took me a while to fully believe it, though and I STILL brush my teeth with cold water!
#70 That's Not 20/20 Vision
I have visual snow syndrome. Basically, everything looks pixelated to varying degrees (like snow on a TV). Add in astigmatism and I'm mostly night blind to the point where I'll never be able to drive at night. I realized in middle school that it wasn't normal, but I didn't find out until I was about 20 that it was an actual condition. The theory is that something messes up in the optic nerve or the vision centers in the brain, causing grainy images similar to an old camera.
#71 Jesse Is Not Charles
All the way up to high school, I thought Jesse was a nickname for Charles. I had a friend named Charles, but we called him Chucky. I asked him why he didn't go by Jesse and he looked all confused. "Why would I go by Jesse?!" he asked. I told him my dad's name was Charles and everyone called him Jesse. He laughed at me and pat my shoulder... My last name was James. Jesse James.
#72 "Bless Me"
My dad, as a joke, would always say, "Bless me" when he sneezed. I was in elementary school at the time. I honestly believed it was the normal thing to do. I never noticed that I was the only one who did that until my senior year of high school when one of my friends just looked at me and said, "Did you just say bless me?" My face turned red from embarrassment.
#73 Some More Chicken, Please?
Growing up, my parents taught me that all types of meat were just chicken. They thought it was the easiest way to teach me, plus I liked chicken when I was young, so I'd eat whatever meat they gave me as long as they said it was chicken. It wasn't until I started making friends and going to their houses for dinner that I realized they had lied to me. I had been asking for more "chicken" when it was obviously steak.... or pork... etc. It caused issues for me. I couldn't distinguish the types of meat for a long time because it confused me. Thanks, mom and dad.
#74 Fingernail Pains
I get this weird ache or tingle in the bed of my fingernails when I have to go #2. I always thought it was normal. I was making a fist one day to make the feeling go away and my friend asked me what was wrong. I told her about the tingle and she laughed. I explained, "I have to go #2 so bad my fingers hurt. Don't your fingers hurt when you have to go?" The only explanation for this is that my nerves are wonky.
#75 What's A Summer Break?
I was homeschooled until high school and worked on my books whenever I felt like it. I never got all the way through them, to be honest. One summer day, I was trying to get through a chapter when some public school friends came over. They were confused about why I was doing school work, I was confused about why they weren't in class. It was the first time I had ever heard of summer break. I think I was 10 years old.
#76 Rated-R Child Drawings
When I was little, my mother told me my dad needed a liver transplant to survive. I asked what that was and she said, "They have to remove his liver and find him a new one." She didn't say how. So at school, they wanted us to draw what we wanted the most. All of a sudden, the school called my mom and said they needed to speak to her immediately. Long story short, I wanted my dad to have his transplant, but I thought the liver came out of him as a baby would from a mother. I had to explain why I drew what seemed to be a very obscene picture of my father.
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#77 All Sounds Are Annoying
I always thought that everyone hated the sound of crunching noises, or the road noise cars make, or even breathing... and they all just dealt with it better than I did. Turns out, I have misophonia, which is a type of synesthesia that links noise to negative emotions. Basically, normal people just ignore it when people munch on popcorn in the theater. But it sends waves of irrational rage and fury over me.
#78 Cross-Eyed
I had problems with my eyes. They were hurting and I didn't know why. It took me a few months to find out why. At that time, we were eating soup every day. When I eat soup, I look at the spoon because I'm scared of soup spilling and splashing back in the bowl and all over me. Well, when spoon gets closer to my mouth, my eyes cross, over and over and over again... and that's why my eyes were hurting. I still have to remind my self not to look at the spoon.
#79 Those Aren't Pop Rocks...
I thought, until VERY recently, that the intense tingle and stinging sensation you get in your mouth after eating pineapple is all part of the joy of eating the fruit. Nope... apparently not. My doctor was tipped off after I casually mentioned it felt like eating Pop Rocks. Turns out, I am so allergic to pineapple that I break out in welts after just touching raw pineapple skin. I found this out after 40 years... Go figure!
#80 Where Are The Cows?
This might be a country thing, but you know how they harvest hay and put it in those huge round bales in the field? Well, my mom and I were driving in the countryside one day, and I said, “Man, they must have a lot of cows!” She looked at me with the most disappointed look on her face. I swear I’m a smart person otherwise!
#81 Abbreviation Assumptions
I used to think that roads that started with SH and FM meant shipping and handling and FM radio. I just thought that all of the semis took SH to deliver their goods and all of the radio stations were located on FM. It wasn’t until I started my dating my husband and he told me when we were like, 18 years old that those actually stood for "State Highway" and "Farm to Market"...
#82 Texture Over Taste
I have the eating habits of an eight-year-old. I can count on one hand how many vegetables I like. Maybe almost both hands, about seven or eight. I love meat, fruit, and bread. And I can’t tolerate any spice. For me, food isn’t just about taste, it’s texture too. If the texture is wrong, I can’t eat it. My son’s fiancée is as bad as I am. We just generally don’t like the same things. Sometimes, I’m surprised that I’ve lived to be 62.
#83 Musician's Brain
I thought that everyone had a song playing in their head all of the time. For me, the song even changes according to events, things people say, etc. Anyway, about a year ago, I found out other people don’t usually hear songs in their head. When I told my family about it, everyone looked at me weird. My mom now calls my condition "Musician's Brain."
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#84 Rain Man
The roof of my mouth itches when it's about to randomly rain. And when I say randomly, I mean just that. There could be zero chance of rain, with clear skies and super-hot temperatures. If my mouth and back of my throat start to itch, I know it is about to start pouring rain. People laugh when they hear me say it, but within a few hours, it rains.
#85 Ear DJ
When I was a kid, I learned that I could make a roaring sound in my ears on command. It kind of sounds like a rockslide or earthquake. I thought everyone could do it until I asked someone in high school and they looked at me like I had grown a second head. I still have no idea what that is. I can also pop my own ears and eustachian tubes, which is very helpful on airplanes.
#86 What's My Name?
While my boyfriend was growing up, he was convinced he had a "school name" and a "home name." His name is Kenith, but we call him Kenny. At school, his teachers would always address him by his "school name," Kenith, and at home, he was called by his "home name," Kenny. He eventually figured it out. It's still one of my favorite stories he tells me.
#87 Sleepy Driver
I was an adult, probably in my early 30s, when I mentioned to a co-worker about my tendency to fall asleep at the wheel. That’s when I found out that not everybody does that. Turns out, I have narcolepsy. Also, I thought everyone got headaches. I was shocked when I met people who said they never had one, ever.
#88 Allergies Suck
I used to feel bad for a kid I used to babysit because he had to get weekly allergy shots. I thought they must have had REALLY bad allergies compared to me. Then, in my mid-30s, I went to an allergist. Turns out, I’m allergic to 84 environmental allergens and have asthma. I had to get four shots at a time weekly for a little over a year. I still take allergy and asthma medication, but I never realized how miserable I constantly felt until I felt better. I thought that was just how everyone felt. How I functioned all those years is beyond me. Thank goodness I met Dr. Tamboli. She changed my life.
#89 A Late Diagnosis
Pantyhose does not feel like razor blades on most people’s legs. Looking someone in the eyes isn’t painful and shouldn’t make you nauseous. Most people don’t mean everything literally and sarcasm is a thing. Patterns and events changing don’t send most people into crying meltdowns. Most people don’t arrive 25 to 45 minutes early for everything. Turns out, I was an undiagnosed autistic person.
#90 The Trippiest Thing Ever
I thought for the longest time seeing colors with sound or music was normal. It’s only recently my boyfriend informed me that it isn’t. It's actually a mental condition known as chromesthesia. It doesn't affect my life too much; in fact, it actually makes my life a whole lot more interesting. Seeing colors with sound or music makes you appreciate them so much more.
#91 Ranch On Tacos?
So... I put ranch dressing on my tacos. It’s just how I was raised and I thought everyone did this until I spent the night with a friend. They had taco night and I asked where the ranch was. They looked so confused. I was like... What? Apparently, I was the first person they ever met who put ranch in tacos. They were reluctant at first, but they eventually tried it and they said, "Okay, we see your point."
#92 A Laundry Myth
I was doing laundry at my mother-in-law's. She pulled the sock out, turned it inside out, and said: "No, no silly, you have to turn them inside out so the insides get cleaned." I looked her in the face and asked "So then, how do the outsides get cleaned," curious as to what her logic was. She just laughed and said "You're so cute," then proceeded to turn all of our socks inside out before throwing them back in the wash.
#93 Exercise Makes Me Itchy
It took me until I was 15 to learn it's not normal to not dream of faces. It wasn't until I was 25 that I learned it's called facial blindness. I probably developed it from my brain trauma as a baby. There are also apparently people whose faces don't get itchy or whose noses don't run after they exercise? I dread the itchiness so much that I avoid a lot of exercises.
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#94 A Different Shower Sequence
I had a roommate in college who always turned on the water AFTER he got into the shower. It was weird. The guy was beyond obnoxious, so I left a surprise for him on our last day of classes. I unscrewed the showerhead, poured in a pack of red Kool-Aid powder, screwed it back together, and left. I've always wondered how that turned out.
#95 Feet Problems
In high school, I mentioned to my friend that I couldn't understand how other people could stand for eight hours to work in pain. She was like, "What do you mean?" I explained, "Because your feet hurt after you've been on them for a while." She just got more confused. Apparently, I have orthopedic problems. So did my brother. We used to sit on shelves and stuff when got groceries as kids to get off our feet because we'd be in pain, even after just standing for a short time. Our parents just thought we were lazy. I thought everyone was in pain when they walked and I was just a wuss for not wanting to tolerate it.
#96 Modern-Day Genius
I had a friend who thought he was the only one who knew things that were actually common sense. One day, I ran out of napkins and he said, "Did you know that you can use paper towels as napkins?" I said, "Yeah, everyone knows that." And he looked shocked. He thought he was sharing a secret when he said he figured out that facial tissue can be used as toilet paper in an emergency. He was also surprised that other people hide keys outside their houses.
#97 Cold Showers
I shared an apartment with a roommate years ago. After two months, he came to me to complain that I would leave the knob up for the shower when I finished. Apparently, he would get into the tub, pull the curtain close and turn the knob on and COLD water would spray out of the showerhead rather than the spigot. That explained the little screams I would hear followed by cursing each time he'd shower. I didn't change my habit as I would laugh out loud each time. He'd find ways to get back at me.
#98 Dreamweaver
I've rewritten my dreams before. Something will happen that I don't like, then I would "rewind" the dream and do something different. I miss those dreams. Nowadays, my dreams are usually so realistic I can't tell the difference. I don't know if this is some sort of psychological phenomenon, but I've always lived with it and I don't think anyone else I know can relate.
#99 Taking Picky Eating To The Next Level
Picky eater here. The textures of certain foods throw me off and some flavors do too. I just can't do it. Celery is stringy, tomatoes are slimy, peas pop, I shudder at the thought... Lettuce is just gross. I can keep going. Pork tastes like the smell of a farm. Only within last few years, have I been able to tolerate onions IF and only if I sautee them in butter first, then add to whatever I'm cooking. I don't choose to be this way.
#100 Wash Your Money
My stepmom is Hispanic and she washes money if she gets it from someone she thinks is bad. She is also careful not to leave things like hair where she thinks others could get it. She says she's not sure why she believes it, but why take chances? You never know who's going to grab a piece of you and use it for some creepy voodoo ritual.
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