As much as we take our bodies for granted, the truth is that we're merely a fleshy bag of brittle bones that could break a million different ways.
Frankly, the fact that many of us are alive today is nothing short of a miracle. As much as we take our bodies for granted, the truth is that we're merely a fleshy bag of brittle bones that could break a million different ways. To make matters worse, the world we so confidently strut about in is essentially a giant Hunger Games-style arena filled with booby traps designed to eradicate our species. And yet somehow, billions of people are alive and thriving even in the middle of a frickin pandemic! And since we'd like to keep it that way, how about we educate ourselves on some seemingly harmless everyday things in the world that are actually death traps waiting to get us?
This is exactly what Redditor Jkwon6227 wanted when they turned to the AskReddit community with the following question: "What seems harmless but can be seriously life-threatening?" The answers came flowing in and after reading to just a few of them, I must say, I have a newfound respect for life and my fleshy bag of brittle bones that has brought me so far. Here are some of the most terrifying responses on the thread:
"Springs in double pane windows. The windows are heavier than you think so the springs are pretty strong. A friend that works as a maintenance guy at an apartment complex posted a pic of one of the balancers (as they're called) that came lose and went completely through the motorcycle helmet he wears when replacing them. It still cracked his skull, and the ER doc said if he wasn't wearing the helmet he would have definitely died. Scary to think something as simple as a window can kill you. We all know garage springs are dangerous, but so are window springs." — across-the-board
"Mushrooms. There is a saying.:There are old mushroom hunters. And bold mushroom hunters. But there are no old bold mushroom hunters." — trax6256
"Walking around or behind a horse without keeping your hand on it. Horses can get very scared very fast and a well placed kick can beak your neck, leave you a vegetable or even stop your heart. If you must move around one, keep a hand on it after it is aware of your presence and slide it with you so it knows where you are, also stay very close to it the whole time so the potential kick has less wind-up." — ironwolf6464
"Carbon monoxide, since you can't smell or taste it you won't know it's there." — archSkeptic
"Saving someone with a heimlich grip. You can definitely rupture someone's organs with this move and people have died as a result of being saved by this procedure. Always send someone to the hospital after doing this as the victim might otherwise bleed to death in their sleep that night." — sebastiaandaniel
"For a serious (and somewhat generic) answer, probably not getting enough sleep or not drinking enough water. I am guilty of both of these things but it can really make you feel like utter shit and lead to serious health complications." — Few_Function_8059
"Cinnamon will dry your mouth and throat out badly, it’ll mess you up quick. That whole cinnamon spoonful fad a few years ago (maybe more than a few, I’m getting old) was super dangerous. I don’t remember if anyone died, but I know people ended up in the hospital." — jondesu
"Leaving a tampon in too long can cause toxic shock syndrome and it can be deadly." — spookyevilghostt
"'Pranking' someone with allergies by giving them a little bit of that allergen (I've seen articles of people putting peanuts into an allergic person's food)" — MysticAviator
"Sunburns can be very dangerous. Normally you don't think too much of them, just a few days of irritated/itchy skin, but if you aren't careful you drastically increase your chance of getting malignant melanoma (skin cancer) through a handful of decent sunburns." — Currdogger
"A cat scratching you and breaking the skin. Cat’s claws carry a deadly bacteria that, if untreated, can kill you." — HouseFanatic64
"Emotional neglect - when you have 'everything'. People always brush it off as being too needy or whatever, but in reality life long emotional neglect especially during childhood development it can impact your life deeply. You can become depressed, anxious and have anxiety. Untreated, this can lead to suicidal ideation or leading you to addictive behavior such as alcoholism, drug use etc." — elizacandle