As much as advertising would have you believe that when you turn 30, you quit interacting with anybody other than your government-issued spouse and your hobbies narrow to leisurely jogging or preparing months in advance to do taxes, most people find that not much actually changes when they enter the new decade. Or so they think. In this thread on Twitter, people are revealing that while not all the ominous warnings they heard about aging are true, there are some of them that are, and they start early.
Here are some observations from people who are just reaching the big 3-0 and finding out what it has to offer, like the fact that even if you still feel like a teenage imposter in an adult suit, talking to an actual teenager will make you feel like your cultural literacy is a distant memory. Meanwhile, people who have been there and done that have some wisdom (and TMI) to impart.
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Until now, studies have overwhelmingly shown that in old age, people look back on their 30s as being the best decade of their lives, with various studies trying to estimate the optimal year at 33, 35 and 38.
This trend might be thrown off now that the generation in their 30s, or getting there in the next few years, are millennials, many of whom would laugh at the idea of the financial stability and positive work-life balance that earlier generations cite as the foundation that allowed them to spend their 30s on what they truly enjoyed.
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There is one thing that seems to be a universal experience after making it several decades into life, and that’s being baffled that people who were in diapers when you were in high school are now old enough to drive, vote, and call the music you listened to as a teen “oldies.” And if that makes you want to drink to forget, you had better think twice, unless you want to be glued to your bed for two days.
The world that we have built for ourselves is full of handy gadgets and products that we use to make our lives easier and more comfortable. Pretty cool, isn’t it? Yet there is a downside to all this convenience. We have become so reliant on all these things in our day-to-day lives that if they were to be taken away from us, we would struggle to know how to live without them!
This tongue-in-cheek Twitter discussion, initiated by Yowie Wowie, hilariously sums up this situation by asking: “You are a burglar but instead of stealing things you do things that are mildly inconvenient to your victims. What are you stealing?”
From phone chargers to Tupperware, Wifi code stickers and toilet paper, these evil geniuses are determined to find people’s weaknesses and exploit them to the maximum!
Scroll down below to see the hilarious thread for yourself, and feel free to come up with your own in the comments!
Yowie Wowie, whose real name is Keifer, is a New York-based Trinidadian who works as a musician. He really didn’t expect his tweet to blow up like it did, and has enjoyed reading through the responses. “I was curious to see what other people would come up with,” he told Bored Panda. “They were hilarious!”
Due to his love for music, Keifer told us that the item that he most dreads losing is his precious headphones. But what couldn’t you live without? According to Bustle, a study was conducted by UK-based loan service ‘Lending Stream’ where nearly 2,000 British adults were asked to name the things in life that they couldn’t live without.
For men, the majority of them (40 percent) said their TV was the most important thing in their life, while nearly 50 percent of women said it was their toothbrush.
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Things like shampoo, moisturizer, hair brushes, shower gel, and conditioner made the top 20 list of things women couldn’t live without, while things like going on a vacation, their sisters, their dads, and sex fell further down the list.
On the flipside, after television, 36.5 percent of men said they couldn’t live without their partners followed by their beds (35.5 percent) and their cars (32.5 percent).
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The study also found that the average person would be willing to shell out more than £4,000 (about $6,250) so they wouldn’t have to live a year without their favorite thing. Who could go a whole year without brushing their teeth?
Chris deBoer, CEO of Lending Stream which carried out the study said: “This is a refreshing snapshot into the attitudes of people and how they choose to spend their money.
“Far from being extravagant with money, it is the simple things in life that they can’t live without.”
Hold onto your grandma, or she may rush the stage.
Once classes end for seniors, the only thing standing between them and the rest of their lives is a graduation ceremony. These uppity events are full of speeches, applause, and awkwardly tense moments. While they’re meticulously planned, from the seating to the staging, there’s a lot that can happen unexpectedly when hoards of people are stuffed under one roof for several hours.
From blow-up sex dolls to fascist grandmas, here are some whacky graduation ceremony highlights:
1. Wake up call
“I fell asleep while they were calling names and totally missed my name being called. What’s even funnier is that neither of the two troglodytes sitting next to me thought about waking me up. We were NOT all in this together. I woke up somewhere around the Ls (fitting) and realized that everyone around me had their fake diplomas in a little red scroll. So what did I do? I got up and walked to the end of the line and made them re-announce my name because I deserve my moment. We all do.” – Matty, 20
2. Just popping in
“When we all go to throw our caps and give that liberating “CLASS OF 2013” screech, someone tosses a blow up sex doll (female) into the air! Of course it’s hilarious and we’re all chuckling but I couldn’t help but laugh twice because we were sitting in a church sanctuary! A sex doll was crowd surfing the fresh grads in the House of God. It only lasted a few moments before faculty came over and popped the poor naked lady.” – Savannah, 24
3. To speech their own
“Senior class ahead of me had a crazy party two nights before graduation, and the girl (#2 in her class) giving the speech at the ceremony attended. She had already gotten her speech approved by the principal but at the last minute changed the ceremony speech to a speech all about this party. I believe the first line was something resembling ‘Like many of you, I woke up in a barn Thursday morning with no idea where I was.’ She lost her scholarship and disappointed a lot of teachers and parents. She also posted the entire speech on Facebook.” –kcb92 via Reddit
4. Stoner outing
“At my high school graduation, they made a slideshow of all the students. They included a random photo in which I was with the ‘hazy faces,’ aka the stoners. My parents sat there and watched as a picture of me with an obviously super stoned dude was displayed. Thanks a lot, teach!” – Evelyn, 28
5. Eyes Wide Shut: Graduation edition
“We had a graduation mass beforehand and the power went out in this giant ass auditorium. The scariest part was that it happened during one of the hymns. So there I am, listening to a Gregorian chant sung by two dozen 18-year-old boys in a pitch black room. One by one, the tech savvy began using the flashlights on their phones to light up the night. For a good 30 seconds it was terrifying. I couldn’t see, and it sounded like I was about to be sacrificed.” – Dave, 20
6. Losing your marbles
“So one of the ‘popular jocks’ guys was trying to get us to play a prank on the principle when we walked across the stage. He wanted us all to carry a handful of marbles and when the principle reached out to shake our hands we would greet him with a cold, lumpy handshake of glass spheres. Of course I was just thinking logistically about how awkward I would look walking on stage with a clinched fist. Who is providing all these marbles? How loud is it going to be hitting the stage when they drop? Just loads of questions.
Most of us decided that was just too much going on to participate in so we went about the ceremony without it. As that guy who suggested it walks onto stage, you can clearly see his hand is full of something. When he reached out to shake the principles hand, he awkwardly started to unload the marbles into the principle’s hand who immediately pulled his hand back, letting them sprawl across the stage. Trying not to make a scene, the principle still shook his hand with a questioning look on his face and kept moving. Well, just as you would assume, the next girl behind him is beaming as she goes to walk her walk in her seemingly new espadrilles and she takes a tumble after stepping on a marble! That poor girl looked so embarrassed, as would any of us. Luckily she was the only one to catch a marble under her step, but you could see the staff on stage shuffling their feet trying to kick remaining ones off the edge.” – Regina, 24
7. Guns and lawn chairs
“So, because our graduating class was so large, we had to have our ceremony at an actual football stadium nearby. The stands were so packed with people, that families had to bring lawn chairs and set up camp in the surrounding grass to watch.
The ceremony was rowdy. The vibe was like a sporting event. Think confetti canons, airhorns, screaming.Halfway through the valedictorian speech (about unity and togetherness, of course) there was a massive commotion in the stands.
Come to find out, two families from rival gangs had children commencing that year and one of them pulled a gun on the other. The police were called, someone was tackled, and as confetti rained from the sky, 1,500 polyester-capped grads were specter to at least three people being taken away in handcuffs.” – Maddie, 23
8. Bake it until you make it
“Before each introduction, Ms. Bernard provided a cute biography before each student made their walk. I was a huge kiss ass. All year, to manipulate my teacher into liking me, I would bring baked goods my mom bought from a local bakery for us once a week to my teacher and told her my mom baked it from scratch, especially for her. My mom had no idea about any of this. And she certainly can’t make shit from scratch.
My teacher began a lovely story about a student who brought her fresh baked, (from scratch) treats weekly to brighten her week. Our morning chats over my ‘mom’s’ caramel coffee cake were the highlight of her week. After she said a few other things, she called me to the stage.
My mom and my sister were in such disbelief of my fabricated dessert scheme that they were laughing so hard they were escorted out of the Holiday Inn banquet room. We both told my teacher after the fact, she didn’t find it as funny as my mom did.” – Danielle, 24
9. Escorted by mom
“Boy next to me threw up during commencement. The vomit smelled like alcohol, there were a few splatters on my shoes. He walked up and what looked to be his mom walked him out of the arena after he got his diploma.” – Andrew, 22
“At my graduation, I was the elected senior class speaker. I gave my speech on mercy and guilt, and then it was time for the getting of diplomas. Now, there was a guy in my class who was an avowed fascist ‘of the Italian school.’ His thesis was on this topic.
When his name got called, there was a boo from the back of the room. It was very, very tense. Then, there was another speaker. As this speaker was coming to the podium, this utter rando girl runs on stage and snatches the mic. She lays into the entire assembled crowd for booing the fascist, because it was ‘an absolutely disgusting example of bullying.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ Anyway, things continue. It was painfully tense, I was just praying for it to end. As the music started for us to process out, there was one last event. The fascist’s GRANDMA rushed the stage. She started yelling ‘Shame on you! I am disgusted in this school and this ceremony! Shame!’ She wouldn’t leave. As people came to get her off the stage, she flipped everyone the bird. The music kind of resumed. We all jogged anxiously out of there.” – Fiona, 25
11. Snack major with a focus on Cheetos
“I wanted to decorate a cute grad cap like any gal would. I had been trying to get Cheetos’ attention online for a few weeks prior to graduation (ie. one provocative spring break pic), but my attempts had fallen short. My grad cap seemed like the perfect little stage to showcase my appreciation. I brainstormed long and hard to come up with the perfect design or quote. My final vision: a Cheeto mosaic covering the entirety of the grad cap. However, a college careers worth of procrastination kicked in and I found myself hastily hot-gluing Cheetos onto my gap way too close to the deadline. I attended commencement with a graduation cap less than half covered in Cheetos and most of them fell off in the heat.
Image: eve Obrien
After my failed mosaic I still had half a bag of Cheetos left which I kept in the billowing sleeves of my graduation robe as a snack. I walked across the stage and shook hands with our university president. As I approached the graduation photographer waiting just off the stage, I reached in and pulled out my Cheeto bag. I gripped it even more proudly than the slip of paper standing in for my diploma that day.
Image: eve obrien
College taught me that hard work really does pay off. No, I’m not taking about the Bachelors degree —Cheetos commented on my Instagram post!!!! They say you peak in college. I believe it.”– Eve, 23
Congratulations to all of the students that have survived their graduations. It takes bravery to walk across the stage, not to mention without tripping. Or falling asleep.
Editor’s Note: These stories have been edited for clarity.
Take a trip to Rome, Madrid, London.. Any major capital in Europe at least, and you’ll see the knockoffs. Products of dubious origin, (usually Chinese) with names like Adadis, Ray-Ben, Louis Button and Calvim Klain, which are displayed on mats on the pavement for easy transportation if any police happen to be in the area.
Because, for some reason, brands are super important to us humans, many small businesses will seek to boost their image and profile by associating themselves with something more recognizable. Piracy is a crime and while some businesses blatantly do not care, others go to hilariously ridiculous lengths to try and get away with it!
We here at Bored Panda have created a list of times when businesses did their best to grab some of the glory of the bigger brands, often failing with amusing consequences. Scroll down below to check it out for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
#1 Had To Do A Double Take
Counterfeiting and piracy are a form of theft that has been steadily growing in recent years, reaching an estimated value of up to US$917 billion a year for the illegal trade in goods alone, according to the International Chamber of Commerce. The global value of digital piracy in movies, music and software reached a further US$213 billion in 2015.
Counterfeiting has a damaging effect on business, the economy and the general population. Think of the health risks when taking a counterfeit medicine, for example, or using a product that hasn’t been subject to rigorous healthy and safety standards. It’s alway best to avoid counterfeits where possible!
#2 They’re Crappy, But Flattering
#3 I Saw This Movie Once
According to Lapixa, more than half (51.66%) of all counterfeits came from China, but were also produced in Southeast Asia (9.04%) and Eastern Europe (4.47%). The production costs in these countries are low due to the use of cheap source materials and poor working conditions, furthermore costs for development and marketing basically do not exist.
79 percent of all companies are affected by product piracy, even several times a year. The product counterfeiting occurs across all sectors and ranges from handbags to electronic devices to drugs, machines and entire industrial plants.
#4 When Hollywood Steals Your Idea
#5 Pikado’h!
Preventing counterfeiting is not easy, as the laws against it are full of loopholes and are often loosely enforced. Stricter laws are difficult to pass, because of fears that they will stifle creativity and allow bigger companies to bankrupt smaller designers with copyright infringement claims. How close in design does something have to be to infringe on your copyright? What are you allowed to copyright? Adidas claims the 3 stripes for example, but how do you stop a company using a similar design with 4 stripes? There are many grey areas.
Exact replicas are different however, with intellectual property laws ostensibly providing strong protection against this.
#6 Nothing Is Possible In China
#7 Found This In Vietnam. Beautiful
There are different ways to protect your intellectual property. Melwani & Chan LLP, a New York City Shareholder Rights & Intellectual Property law firm, give a brief overview on their website:
“Copyright protection is generally not available to a clothing designer for the garment itself,” they write. However, copyright protection is available for a print/or design pattern and the two-dimensional sketch.”
“Why is copyright protection available for the sketch and not available for a garment? Copyright protection is usually denied to clothing on the grounds that they are considered useful articles. Copyright will only apply when the article’s expressive design component is separable from its useful function. Since clothing is considered a useful article, a court will generally take the view that a garment’s expressive component cannot be separated either physically or conceptually.”
“A fashion designer seeking copyright protection from a knock-off designer must convince a judge that either the item of clothing is not functional or that its artistic design is separable from its utilitarian purpose. A court is unlikely to view the garment itself as not being utilitarian. However, courts will give copyright protection to the design pattern itself and/or the two-dimensional sketch, since they are considered pictorial works.”
“A distinction should be drawn between a garment and fashion accessories such as a piece of jewelry, since jewelry is generally considered to be non-utilitarian, and therefore eligible for copyright protection as pictorial and/or sculptural work.”
#8 These Knockoff Jordans Gave Michael A Great Ass
#9 Just Yelp For Help
“A patent is granted for a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter and it must advance the prior art in a way that that is non-obvious. A design in fashion is generally not considered a process, machine, manufacture or a composition of matters. Occasionally a design patent will be granted to a designer to protect the appearance of a fabric, garment, handbag, eyeglasses, etc. For example, Burberry has a design patent for its trench coat.”
“Even if courts allow a fashion design to be patented, the amount of time it takes to acquire a patent makes this process impractical for most designers. A United States Patent and Trademark Office application can takes years to review and only about half of them are granted a patent and by then the garment would most likely be out-of-season.”
“In some cases, pursuing a utility patent may make sense for a designer. For example, if they had invented a new fabric such as Goretex® or created a new technology, such as method for dyeing garments.”
#10 Looks A Bit… Phoney Doesn’t It
#11 Finally, A Brand That Totally Represents My View Towards Life
“A trademark is any word, name, symbol, device, or combination thereof that is used by a merchant used to identify their goods and distinguish them from those manufactured and sold by other merchants. For example, Louis Vuitton’s “LV” logo or Chanel’s “Double C” logo are trademarks. Trademark protection in the United States is very strong and potentially infinite in length, as long as the mark is being used in commerce to designate the source of the goods.”
“The key to determining if another designer is infringing on a trademark is the likelihood that ordinary consumers in the marketplace would confuse the original trademark and the allegedly infringing trademark. For example, Adidas won a 305 million dollar judgment against Payless Shoes in 2008 for selling two and four stripe shoes that looked very similar to Adidas’s three stripe shoes.”
So it turns out that using 4 stripes can get you into trouble after all! Especially if your company can afford good lawyers like those at Melwani & Chan LLP. Scroll down below to see the rest of the list, and let us know what you think in the comments!
#12 I Love These
#13 Found In Costa Rica
#14 The New Spinoff Sounds Delicious
#15 Why Get The North Face When You Can Get The Huge Mountain
#16 Aids
#17 Watch Out Microsoft, Michael Bindows Is Comming
#18 My Friend And I Died Laughing In The Store – Seen In Taiwan
#19 Laundry
#20 Infinitiy War Is The Biggest Crossover Event In Histor-
#21 Would You Like A Oreo? Nah I’d Rather Have A
#22 I Choose You, Chikapu!
#23 Can’t Decide Where To Buy From
#24 Just Visited The New Mall That Opened Recently And Saw This Beauty
#25 Another Great Find In China
#26 Trans Boy
#27 I Found A Japanese Knockoff Of The Movie “It”
#28 Ordered This From A Chinese Company On Amazon And Thought You Would Like It
#29 Gender Equality Meets Retro Gaming
#30 My Little Terrified Pony
#31 My Favorite Crossover Movie
#32 “Winnie The Pooh” Blanket
#33 Bazoongis
#34 This “Playstation Controller”
#35 Don’t Know If This Is Crappy Or Clever Off Brand
#36 Definitely A Legitimate, Actual Apple Location. Very Real
#37 How Did They Get Away With That!
#38 The King Of The Magic Rings
#39 I Present You The Pinnacle Of Shanghai Markets, A Hot Glue NY Yankees Hat
“Back in my day, we used to walk 5 miles to school in sub-zero temperatures without batting an eyelid. Not like you spoiled little brats these days!” We all have an older relative who says things like this, despairing of the coddled youth with their smartphones, crappy music and parents that seemingly can’t say no to their every demand.
And you know what? They might actually have a point. Although the world might seem like a more dangerous place now, kids of previous generations had to make their own entertainment, learn to look after themselves from a younger age and take far more risks while doing so. Parents didn’t have things like Mumsnet to help them with every little issue or, alternatively, guilt and stress them out for giving kids too much freedom to learn from their own mistakes.
To celebrate the more eccentric approaches of old-school parenting, we here at Bored Panda have put together a list of parents and their kids doing things that would horrify the mommy and daddy bloggers and Instagrammers of today. What’s your opinion on the evolution of parenting over the years? Scroll down below to check out the vintage photos for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
#1 Me Back In 1991 Just Your Typical Aussie Kid Drinking Xxxxlight Beer(I Wasn’t Aloud Heavies Back Then) And Holding A Baby Crocodile
#2 If Your Mum Didn’t Lay On The Ground Making Herself Into A Ramp For Your New BMX, Did She Even Love You? 1980’s
#3 My Mother And Grandmother Demonstrating Safety Standards In The 1960s
#4 California Marijuana Initiative Rally 1972. That’s Me In The Box And My Parents In The Picture
#5 My Dad And His Veterinarian Mother, With Their Pet Lion Which They Raised For Two Years, 1959
#6 A Couple Ice Skating With Their Baby, 1937
#7 Princess Yvonne And Prince Alexander In Germany, 1955
#8 Car Seat Safety In 1958. Not Strapped In To Anything, These Seats Relied On The Mother To Put Her Arm Out And Stop The Baby From Falling Forward
#9 Infant Me, My Mother & Father At A Bar Because That’s How Parents Rolled In The Early ’80s
#10 The Pinnacle Of Parenting: 1930s Swimming Lesson
#11 My Mother-In-Law Riding A Bear At 2 Years Old
#12 My Hilarious Father (With The Magazine) And My Grandfather, Grandmother, And Uncle At His Bar Mitzvah In 1972
#13 Harley With A Baby Seat, 1962
#14 My Dad Showing Off His Parenting Skills 1985
#15 A Photo Of Me Dressed Up As My Dad, With My Dad (1982)
#16 My Mom In The Hospital After Giving Birth To My Sister. Canada 1978. Smokes And Roasted Chicken
#17 Back In The Day. 1950s To Be Exact. Checkout That Car Seat
#18 My Mom Showing Off Her Parenting Skills 1978
#19 Me, 1958, Relaxing After My Bath With Toby, I Was Never Again This Cool
#20 13 Y/O Dad Having A Taste While The Grownups Are Busy Playing Cards; Upstate New York, August 1954
#21 My Father And His Pet Lion Priscilla, California 1970’s
#22 My Adorable (4 Year Old) Mother At A Zoo In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 1970
#23 Just A Photo Of Yours Truly (At 11 Years) Petting A Full Grown Tiger. My Mom Calls It Her “Bad Parenting Moment”
My name is Matt Benedetto and I am a product designer from Burlington, Vermont that is on a quest to design products to help solve the most difficult problems in the world…that don’t really exist. My collection on unnecessary inventions is filled with products that no one is asking for but I have taken it upon myself to bring these products to life.
While you may look at some of my inventions and think they may be useful or you may know someone who would actually use them, I assure you they are all completely and utterly unnecessary.
Be sure to follow along for all of my inventions as I continue to solve the world’s unnecessary problems.
Meet The AirSticks
My inspiration comes from a mix of simply having fun, expressing my creativity and poking fun at online consumer shopping these days. I think sometimes people forget not every project you work on has to be completely serious and serve a purpose – and I wanted to bring these inventions to life simply because I wanted to!
The Chopstick Extensions for your AirPods
Listen to music on your way to a sushi lunch
And never forget your own chopsticks!
Also, it sort of makes fun of some of the ridiculous products out there in the world that people spend money on. Almost every post I have someone comment: “but I would actually buy this!”
The Anywhere Hook
Your personal coat hook!
That goes with you anywhere that you go
Each project takes about 2-5 days to go from idea in my head to a 3d sketch, then actually creating it, then taking the final photos.
The PillowOne S
The mattress in a box for your smartphone!
Your phone deserves a good night charge too!
With the projects, I straddle a line of pretending they are serious products while making fun of the people who want them. I always go for a robot/deadpan look in any of the modeling photos to show that I’m sort of dead inside actually using the product.
The Do Not, Paint Roller
Curb your OCD and need to label everything
Even the walls you aren’t supposed to paint!
Maybe one day if I design a product that seems so overly unnecessary that people simply have to have then I’ll sell a few. And if it comes to that, I think people might purchase it like a piece of art and maybe display it on a bookshelf, etc. rather than buying it to actually use it. Appreciate the item for its over-design esthetic of being unnecessary rather than purchasing an item for its tactile use.
The Inferno Knuckles
The essential at home nighttime protection device
Illuminate the way as you check and protect yourself from a home invader
The No Booze Ice Cube Tray
Trying to drink less during the week but still craving your favorite cocktail?
Ditch the booze while still mixing yourself a “Vodka” cocktail with this no-calorie alternative
My Perfect Hogan
Have you always been jealous of Hulk Hogan’s pristine handlebar mustache?
– – – – Look no further with this new shaving staple to get the perfect replica handlebar mustache for your face
The CalfScratch
Stop reaching down when your knee-high socks are making your legs itchy
Conveniently scratch your calves anywhere & anytime
The Driver Snack Tax Tube
On those road trips, transport your favorite snacks directly from the backseat into the drivers hands safely and easily
Don’t hog all the good stuff back there!
The Front2Back Case
Quit only getting photos of your friends when you know you are looking good!
These African kids got the moves. When you combine those skills with a sound they have never heard before (the sound of a fiddle), thing go really crazy really fast. Kids be dancin‘!
People still get amazed and surprised by the sound you produce when helium is involved. Don’t ask me the scientific stuff behind all that, all I know is this girl produces some amazing music when on helium.
As a true musician, you don’t care about your audience. You just want to express yourself in your (hopefully beautiful) music. Naturally, you might find yourself one day performing in front of a wild audience of kittens. Fun!
Chickens can do anything they set their mind to, we all know that! But what if a chicken goes where no other chicken has gone before? What if they tried to play the piano and not suck at it? This chicken dared to dream and succeeded formidably!
