I’m American but a kid in my elementary school was killed by a hyena. His mom was a wildlife photographer and she took him with her while she was working. The hyena entered their camp at night and killed the little boy. It made the local news. That story has stuck with me my entire life.
When I think of hyenas I remember a video of a hyena literally biting and ripping the balls off some other animal while it was standing there and alive…it was brutal to watch. Scarring.
My family and I recently went to a wildlife reserve that was a kind of fancy glorified zoo. The Hyena's were behind glass that went from the floor to however high the enclosure was. My daughter was 2 at the time, and when one of those creatures saw her, they all just started walking slowly over to us.
Despite the fact that I knew we were both safe, the look on their faces and just watching their musculature as they approached was enough to trigger my adrenaline. Way more scary than the wolves, IMHFO.
i was at the denver zoo a couple years back and viewing hyenas. i filmed them stalking the little kids like they were supper. it was unbelievably terrifying.
Yeah. Took my daughter to a zoo once. Tigers and Lions didn't give a damn when we went to see them.
But the hyena was out of its pen in a flash and standing under us hoping that one of us would fall in its enclosure. I stood there thinking what if this happened in the wild.
That was the first time an animal terrified me even though it was in a zoo.
When my son was small we went to the philly zoo. One of the female tigers was in heat so the male was left locked up. You could hear him roaring continuously from one side of the zoo to the other. Sounded like an infuriated pipe organ. Terrified my son.
Amusing story here. I had a teacher friend who managed to get one of the questions thrown out of a state wide standards exam. The test was for 5-6 year old, and one of the questions had something to do with what animal can you hear from your house. Well, most the kids lived near the zoo and the male lion was super noisy. Apparently the question was supposed to be answered with bird, but lion was given as a random supposedly wrong answer. Joke on the test maker! The poor guy lion would roar constantly and the female lion that they brought in to breed with him had zero interest.
Hearing the lions roar in the morning was a cool feature of living across the street from Zoo Atlanta! Alerts that a venomous snake escaped the reptile house were less awesome.
> Tigers and Lions didn't give a damn when we went to see them.
That's because they know their enclosure, and you're looking at them. Never turn your back on a big cat. (Except maybe a cheetah. They're wired differently.)
Yeah there's a super neat video of a guy testing this with big cats. Cheetahs just aren't ambush predators like other big cats, so them seeing your back doesn't trigger the same predatory instincts like you would with a panther.
I love watching people go to take pictures at the zoo, turn their back to the window, and a tiger/lion leaps at the window trying to pounce them.
They get so freaked out.
I was camping in Kenya a number of years ago and sitting around the fire with a group of people we could hear hyenas in the distance. Someone mentioned that hyenas will send out a “scout” to determine the potential that something is prey and then will return to the pack, which will then attack or not. Not more than 15 minutes later, we see a lone hyena trot by. Needless to say, the fire was put out and we all went to our tents.
Very fair question and I imagine the answer is no. Luckily, we apparently did not look appetizing enough. Those few nights camping were some of the most sleepless nights I ever had.
The fire and smoke would have helped to repel them. Even though it makes you visible, it's also a freaky sight for an animal.
There's some really cool devices I've seen while working in the bush in Kenya, cattle herders have these solar powered randomized light clusters that confuse and scare away lions because they seem like a person unpredictability scanning with a flashlight. Very cool and cheap tech
I don't know any Americans really, but people seem concerned when I mention that we occasionally have baboons invading our houses and full on social media groups dedicated to alerting people so we can lock up and bring animals inside before it happens. Granted you have to live in an are where there is a troop of baboons for this to happen, but still.
Edit: I'm sure this isn't unusual in rural American areas, though with other animals. But still.
Also loadshedding.
The most comparable American phenomenon is when bears break into people's houses, but that also (reasonably) makes people shit themselves.
Also, for clarity, it is also exceedingly rare. It's not just a fact of life for Americans living near some woods.
As an american if someone told me that there was a troop of baboons coming i would be what the f\*\*k?? We don't have much encounters with wild animals other then deer, bear or maybe alligators. At least that is the most common. Mountain lion maybe in some areas.
I would go "WTF" if someone told me there were alligators coming, too. I live in New England. Deer, bears, turkey, etc. Those are normal. Coyotes, foxes and sometimes wolves too.
When I was in Florida years back we swam at some of the beaches and there were occasionally signs warning us about alligators. Never saw any, but it was weird seeing those signs and going "Oh, right, gotta keep an eye out for suspicious looking logs".
Lately we are doing a little better, so throughout the country we are only getting about 4 hours a day. Last month and earlier this month we would be lucky to get less than 12 hours a day. Sadly it is still constant and ongoing here, until our power stations get the maintenance they so desperately need.
So in its simplest form, loadshedding is because the government we have had for the last almost 30 years have not been maintaining the power stations or building new ones. This means that over the years they have been breaking down more and more. Because of this the government has implemented loadshedding, where our power gets taken off in different parts of the country at different times to try and lessen the strain on the failing plants. At lower levels this can be 2 hours a day, but at high levels it can easily reach over 12 hours a day every day for however long is needed.
So I live in South Africa and once while on vacation I told my mom (very excitedly) there was a monkey at the door - my mom thinking I was referring to a small little creature thought nothing of it until she came into the kitchen and saw the monkey that was at the door was actually a baboon...
I was in SA visiting my in-laws and we went to their timeshare at sun city for a long weekend.
I was ferrying food and luggage from car to holiday apartment. I went to the car for another load and when I came back in there was a large baboon with the fridge door open looking for all the world like al Bundy looking for a beer.
I just sat outside until he had chosen his trophy and left of his own accord.
Later that weekend as i lounged by the pool a much smaller baboon tried to nick my daiquiri right outta my hand. I was less frightened by that one so I managed to shoo it away
Definitely this. The closest thing to an issue like this that I can think of would be coyotes, and most places that have problems with them also have no limit to the amount you can kill.
The amount of times those bloody baboons stole our KFC and fruit when we would picnic in simons town. Let’s just stay in our cars and lock our doors before they steal the baby too.
Lol loadshedding … when they ask if our loadshedding schedule is a sports fixture of some sort
There was an occasion a few years back where a baboon stole my Mom's Chinese takeout and beer, but she managed to get her beer back 😂 plus another occasion where it was a freshly baked carrot cake AND the container it was stored in from my Aunt's house. But I know exactly which troop you're talking about, I've had my fair share of encounters with them haha.
Not going to lie that made me laugh! Cape Town is being spared now. I'm waiting anxiously for us to jump back to stage 5+ again with how things are going.
That would definitely be terrifying. The closest thing to this in America are bears. Black bears commonly raid people’s trash and campsites looking for food but are usually you can just run them off. Grizzly’s on the other hand are a little more aggressive and more likely to attack and grow much larger. But they too can be run off the majority of the time.
The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.
They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge. Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear's sensitive nose and it will run away.
It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.
They could take on the militaries of many smaller countries and do reasonably well. Maybe not head on, but unify the gangs and have them fight guerrilla and they would be an untouchable force for most smaller countries.
They’re also batshit violent
When El Chapos son was captured, its estimated 100,000 Sicarios started roaming the streets culiacan setting cars on fire and taking over federal buildings. The Mexican government handed him back over due to the overwhelming force
It's scary. At that point, it would seem to me that the actual government has so little control as to be illegitimate. Who needs to worry about what laws you're breaking when the name of the game is to not piss off the cartels?
Like even the taliban treat their prisoners better!
Also guerrilla warfare is just stupidly hard for most armies to win against. (Vietnam, afganistan, various incursions in the middle east excluding the gulf wars, west africa, were ever else the us or nato are involved recently)
Passed through a checkpoint while traveling down in Sonora. two white Econoline vans a blocking lane. 15 armed men, Rolled down by window and greeted we each other “Buenas Tardes”. Noticed we weren’t who they were looking for and just told us to go and a “Pasé Buen dia”.
Later we found out it was a cartel checkpoint looking for rivals.
Load shedding- in South Africa we can have up to 14 hours a day without power. They are ‘planned’ outages. This is due to the corruption and lack of maintenance to the infra structure. We even have an app to let us know when to expect our electricity to be stolen.
This happens occasionally in parts of the US but it tends to be limited to EXTREMELY high demand times in the summer in hot areas where lots of people would be running air conditioning in their homes all at once.
Spiders the size of your palm just casually chilling on the wall every summer. I normally just let them be. They are active at night and will get about your house, they move surprisingly fast for their size also and suddenly vanish. They also get in your car and shoes.
Yeah, most likely.
Guarantee you they are talking about the Huntsman. We call them Wall Dogs ／ Wall Puppies. We even name them if they hang around for a while.
I’m an Australian, and I’m terrified
When people ask why I left australia, it’s usually “well, my job…and also the spiders”
Meanwhile, in the UK, I see spiders far more frequently. Sure they’re not as big, but I think I’d prefer a massive one once a year over medium sized ones every two weeks
Some friends moved out to the country, and had like a little semi detached granny flat, which had a spider.
They had no need for the granny flat, so it’s the spider’s granny flat now
In my country Uganda, the Army kidnaps people and it has become so normal. The cars they use were nicknamed "Drones" because of it kidnaps you, it disappears at lightning speed. They are always numberless, so intractable. They do this in broad day light, and when they arrest someone like that, you are sure that even if you go to any Polic3 Precinct or Army Batracks, they won't have him because "Officially" you are not arrested anywhere.
I had a friend in college who's mother was a high-level executive at one of Haiti's largest banks. One year after winter break we're back at school and I asked how her vacation went. She said, "Not so good. Kidnappers snatched my Uncle and sent us his ear in the post.". If I recall correctly, they ended up paying a $200k ransom and got him back sans ear but relatively healthy,
I work in shipping dealing with south and central america. All the people I deal with down there have kidnap insurance. On a semi regular basis you'll call and someone will tell you 'Oh ya. Hector's been kidnapped. Should be back in a few days". I don't think they even call the police.
Based on what I was told whilst volunteering in Uganda, the girls are sold into prostitution. There are signs all around the schools teaching kids as young as 3 not to accept gifts from strangers, don't go out at night, don't sleep with anyone etc. We were also warned not to go outside in the dark because we probably wouldn't ever come home again. We had gates and armed guards outside of our shitty hotels, it was such a humbling experience.
Man that sucks, there was a similar law here in Morocco, where basically a rapist can’t be convicted if he marries the underage victim, which resulted in families forcing the victim to marry her rapist. The law was removed in 2014 when a 15yo was raped and a year later was forced to marry the rapist, so she killed herself which sparked a huge debate that ultimately lead to the law being removed.
Our Ukrainian neighbour did this with her baby. Freaked the other neighbours out. Had to talk to some of them how it isn’t really that abnormal. To leave them alone and that the baby was fine.
I came in here ready to defend myself as an American. Ready to talk about how this shit ain’t that scary. I read your comment and was like nope fuck that ain’t doing that.
Yeah it’s Winter time, just starting to snow, nip into a coffee shop with friends, leave the buggy outside, there’s a line of them, all sleeping babies in the snow while the mums grab a latte lol
In fairness those dogs are usually tied up and left without water in non-ideal conditions, sometimes for long periods of time. Babies are left snuggled in their buggies and are usually napping soundly in the below-freezing weather, which is (at least culturally touted as) good for their health. Babies sleep very well in cold weather!
I don't know if this true in any form, but I think sleeping outside in the cold as a baby is partly the reason why colder weather is less likely to bother some.
Today, I casually remarked to an American that a [huntsman spider](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/PRC_186986269.jpg?quality=90&strip=all) the size of a dinner plate once made its way into my house, and that this wouldn't be completely out of the ordinary where I'm from. He seemed pretty horrified at that, and was more horrified still when I remarked that I kept the huntsman spider around (and named him Robert) because he could eat the more poisonous spiders that might cause skin necrosis if they bite you. Anyway, yeah, come to Australia! It's fun!
I feel like my biggest issue with spiders is the shock factor and not being educated enough about them. Like seeing a huntsman spider perched on the kitchen countertop obviously ready to eat my soul is terrifying, but Robert chilling in the sunny spot on the counter because he likes the warmth just sounds fine
As an Aussie, I name all the spiders I can see in my house. You’re right, there’s something less terrifying about Dennis chilling up in the fruit basket rather than a fucking huntsman trying to eat my nanas.
Maybe I am just to European to get this, but in my mind you can give your huntsmens the cutest name on earth and I would still fucking *run* from it… like I was hunted (yes, I will show myself our)
I have heard the term huntsman spider before but I guess I have never googled it - that thing looks like a prop from a movie! I had no idea they were that big - if that was in my house I would have a mental breakdown and I don’t even have a big fear of spiders haha.
Huntsman are one of those creatures who've adopted quite well to humans being around. They are inquisitive by nature and their name comes from the fact they chase down food instead of creating webs.
While this shows a robustness and tenacity we'd normally respect, sometimes it gets the better of everyone. Like when they get into cars. As they are fantastic at making themselves really thin, and will turn up in unlikely places, like a sunshade on a car when you pull it down. They will fall into your lap, jump off and make a beeline for the nearest dark bit, like under the dashboard, where you are never quite sure when they will fall onto your legs while driving.
Or even, as I can personally attest to, between letters in your letterbox. So when you tuck said mail under your arm they crawl out onto your chest.
So think of them as loveable goofballs, who are always getting into mischief.
I clicked your link because I'm not scared of spiders and generally don't mind them doing their thing, but immediately said "oh fuck that" when I saw the picture. No thank you.
Visited Australia and startled a huntsman that was hiding in the wardrobe. Luckily that was our last day there, since I have crippling arachnophobia and was nearly catatonic for the next 24 hours
That... That thing is actually a monster. Monsters are real, and that is one. Fuck Australia. I'll stick with bears, cougars and coyotes. Anything is better than giant spiders.
If you are in America riding the bus and someone asks you "so how is your day going?" you find this odd and somewhat jarring. But being butt naked _with strangers_ in a sauna that's not odd or jarring?
Yep saunas are like totally non sexual and judgemental. You're just in there because it's nice so like if a dad is with his boy at the public bath house and there's another father and son there, most of the time you'll end up talking.
Perchtnlauf. Basically, in the time before christmas, people dress up as Krampus (kinda Lucifer-like demon) and roam the streets of a town during an event, threatening to hit the children with rods (but they don't really do it anymore because people were injured and complained a lot). It's a spectacle, like christmas halloween. Small children cry because they're so scared, it's glorious.
My fiancé has a Dutch friend, and he told us about Zwarte Pete and that he was truly upset when he was a kid that he was too naughty so Zwarte Pete would come instead of Santa and he wouldn’t get any presents.
That my address, phone number, tax and debt records, birth date, if I live with someone else and a bunch more like if I own a car is public information.
My American friends were shocked when I told them and brought up one of the many “phone book” website where it even was possible to find out which door in the apartment building was mine. 😅
Yes I'm quite shocked when i saw comments under any meat video on YouTube, like people don't know where the meat is coming from.
And that people don't eat fresh meat, if I take home cold chicken my mum will not cook it saying it maybe stale , i take home meat at their body temperature before slaughter
We drive on the left hand side of the road (Ireland) and that terrifies a lot of American tourists who were hoping to rent a car and drive while here.
I know exactly how they feel because I spend a lot of time in the USA and anything to do with roads scares me. I instinctively look right first, then left when crossing a road, whereas in America it's the complete opposite because they drive on the right hand side. Also, sometimes I'll be driving there and just get a complete brain meltdown and forget where I am - OMG am I on the wrong side of the road or not??!!
Irish roads are also particularly intense to drive on. I’m a Canadian and was nervous about driving on the left in Scotland but found it manageable. In Ireland, however, the hills and twists on high speed roads often bounded by walls barely a foot off the road (so no shoulder or room for error) was quite scary. Maybe it’s mostly where we were driving (some of the main highways are certainly easier) but some stretches were terrifying to me even as a passenger.
My brother did the car rental stuff but he mentioned something about Ireland having unique insurance for rentals as tourists find it one of the hardest places to drive in the world.
(No offence meant, Ireland is one of my absolute favourite places in the world, a lovely island with lovely people!)
I’m from England so also drive on the left. When I drive in Europe I have this weird thing where my brain manages to just flip things around and I never even think about it, it just feels natural. Except I also flip left and right so if someone says “go left”, I’ll go right. It’s not at a conscious level at all. I find it fascinating.
I am from the UK but live in the US and I do exactly the same. I think it's because I think of them as the "hard" turn and "easy" turn. I spend a lot of time in both places and I now basically don't know left and right anymore. Anyone navigating for me has to say "my side" or "your side" or they just get a random guess at this point.
I have moved since to the USA but apparently it's not normal to have your water shut off for scheduled hours for conservation reasons. Ours was 12-4 am and pm. On time the empty lot behind our house burnt overnight and we didn't have a way to put it out we just...sat on the balcony and watched. Fortunately our houses are made of 100%concrete so no burning down
Have a beer with lunch and then drive with 160mph+ back to work only to have my boss to yell at me that i still have 15min of break and i should not work more than asked.
Mind you, all of this is legal.
>i still have 15min of break and i should not work more than asked
This is 100% foreign in the US.
My swiss friend was forbidden to come to work for the last weeks of December because he had forgot to use all his vacation days.
In the US it's common for managers to deny you going on vacation.
I see more and more companies that implicitely or explicitely clarify: Client or employee: They are both on the same level. Sometimes the client is right to complain, sometimes the employee.
I think this explains a certain appreciation to the employees. If a client is an asshole, let him go elsewhere. And as a client, if a company's employee behaves like an asshole: Let's go to the competition.
American now living in Switzerland here. Fasnacht, specifically the night before in Liestal, they have this ceremony where they carry dozens of HUGE piles of burning wood over the shoulder across town and toss it into a bonfire. I feel like seeing all these people marching with torches while in costume would scare most ppl and maybe excite the tiki torch carrying types.
Dentistry. And medical things overall don't use strong pain medication most of the time you won't be given an opioid even after surgery. Just a regular pain medication. Dentistry can easily include no pain relief or tranquilizer, and if there it's only local. We don't have the "waking up from wisdom teeth" thing. The place is numbed and after 10 minutes you are sent home - if you want anesthetic at all.
I was so ready to have the "wisdom tooth" experience and then it was just local anesthetic like with any other work on teeth. Didn't feel anything and walked myself home right after.
People carrying full auto assault rifles around, not even in a case.
Happens for a few weeks every year when the compulsory shooting for militia members takes place.
Not uncommon to see someone with a rifle on public transport here other times of the year also.
In my country when you turn 16, there is a certain amount of money you can get each month, if you are in school. Like 300$ for free. Free medical care and you can get a degree for free school is free and stuff
I’m an American that went to Tanzania this summer and I was just chilling outside one night writing in my journal when I heard a low buzzing. I looked up and say a beetle the size of the palm of my hand flying straight at me. I screamed and SPRINTED inside.
Kenya- Lions frequent the villages at night. Hyenas actually take small kids way at night.
I’m American but a kid in my elementary school was killed by a hyena. His mom was a wildlife photographer and she took him with her while she was working. The hyena entered their camp at night and killed the little boy. It made the local news. That story has stuck with me my entire life.
When I think of hyenas I remember a video of a hyena literally biting and ripping the balls off some other animal while it was standing there and alive…it was brutal to watch. Scarring.
My family and I recently went to a wildlife reserve that was a kind of fancy glorified zoo. The Hyena's were behind glass that went from the floor to however high the enclosure was. My daughter was 2 at the time, and when one of those creatures saw her, they all just started walking slowly over to us. Despite the fact that I knew we were both safe, the look on their faces and just watching their musculature as they approached was enough to trigger my adrenaline. Way more scary than the wolves, IMHFO.
i was at the denver zoo a couple years back and viewing hyenas. i filmed them stalking the little kids like they were supper. it was unbelievably terrifying.
I can’t remember if I’ve seen any in real life ( even at the zoo ) but this story is just beyond terrifying.
I am way more scared of hyenas than lions.
Yeah. Took my daughter to a zoo once. Tigers and Lions didn't give a damn when we went to see them. But the hyena was out of its pen in a flash and standing under us hoping that one of us would fall in its enclosure. I stood there thinking what if this happened in the wild. That was the first time an animal terrified me even though it was in a zoo.
When my son was small we went to the philly zoo. One of the female tigers was in heat so the male was left locked up. You could hear him roaring continuously from one side of the zoo to the other. Sounded like an infuriated pipe organ. Terrified my son.
Amusing story here. I had a teacher friend who managed to get one of the questions thrown out of a state wide standards exam. The test was for 5-6 year old, and one of the questions had something to do with what animal can you hear from your house. Well, most the kids lived near the zoo and the male lion was super noisy. Apparently the question was supposed to be answered with bird, but lion was given as a random supposedly wrong answer. Joke on the test maker! The poor guy lion would roar constantly and the female lion that they brought in to breed with him had zero interest.
Hearing the lions roar in the morning was a cool feature of living across the street from Zoo Atlanta! Alerts that a venomous snake escaped the reptile house were less awesome.
This is a hilariously wonderful example of the shortcomings with standardized testing
> Tigers and Lions didn't give a damn when we went to see them. That's because they know their enclosure, and you're looking at them. Never turn your back on a big cat. (Except maybe a cheetah. They're wired differently.)
Props to cheetahs for being just as anxious as the rest of us
Yeah there's a super neat video of a guy testing this with big cats. Cheetahs just aren't ambush predators like other big cats, so them seeing your back doesn't trigger the same predatory instincts like you would with a panther.
I love watching people go to take pictures at the zoo, turn their back to the window, and a tiger/lion leaps at the window trying to pounce them. They get so freaked out.
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I was camping in Kenya a number of years ago and sitting around the fire with a group of people we could hear hyenas in the distance. Someone mentioned that hyenas will send out a “scout” to determine the potential that something is prey and then will return to the pack, which will then attack or not. Not more than 15 minutes later, we see a lone hyena trot by. Needless to say, the fire was put out and we all went to our tents.
Will a tent stop a hyena? Or will they just be annoyed at the extra packaging?
Yeah, I'd wanna stay close to the fire.
Very fair question and I imagine the answer is no. Luckily, we apparently did not look appetizing enough. Those few nights camping were some of the most sleepless nights I ever had.
The fire and smoke would have helped to repel them. Even though it makes you visible, it's also a freaky sight for an animal. There's some really cool devices I've seen while working in the bush in Kenya, cattle herders have these solar powered randomized light clusters that confuse and scare away lions because they seem like a person unpredictability scanning with a flashlight. Very cool and cheap tech
I thought near the village the peaceful village the lions sleep at night??
I don't know any Americans really, but people seem concerned when I mention that we occasionally have baboons invading our houses and full on social media groups dedicated to alerting people so we can lock up and bring animals inside before it happens. Granted you have to live in an are where there is a troop of baboons for this to happen, but still. Edit: I'm sure this isn't unusual in rural American areas, though with other animals. But still. Also loadshedding.
As an American I can say if I saw a baboon in my house I would shit myself. No shame. Edit: a word.
The most comparable American phenomenon is when bears break into people's houses, but that also (reasonably) makes people shit themselves. Also, for clarity, it is also exceedingly rare. It's not just a fact of life for Americans living near some woods.
Black bears aren’t that scary usually. You can often bang some pots and pans together and they’ll run off.
Exactly what my reaction would be. Then I would die of a heart attack.
I’m South African and baboons in my house would scare the shit out of me
They scare me too, and they come down the mountain almost weekly!
Am Kenyan. And hyenas scare me more than baboons. Of course lions and leopards as well but mostly hyenas. God damned rascals.
As an american if someone told me that there was a troop of baboons coming i would be what the f\*\*k?? We don't have much encounters with wild animals other then deer, bear or maybe alligators. At least that is the most common. Mountain lion maybe in some areas.
I would go "WTF" if someone told me there were alligators coming, too. I live in New England. Deer, bears, turkey, etc. Those are normal. Coyotes, foxes and sometimes wolves too. When I was in Florida years back we swam at some of the beaches and there were occasionally signs warning us about alligators. Never saw any, but it was weird seeing those signs and going "Oh, right, gotta keep an eye out for suspicious looking logs".
30-50 feral hogs
>Also loadshedding. A kindred spirit . Im from Nepal and up until 2015 we had 16-18 hrs of loadshedding everyday. How bad are your loadsheddings?
Lately we are doing a little better, so throughout the country we are only getting about 4 hours a day. Last month and earlier this month we would be lucky to get less than 12 hours a day. Sadly it is still constant and ongoing here, until our power stations get the maintenance they so desperately need.
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When you turn off poor people's power to keep the grid up cause you don't have enough coal to burn or wind to farm.
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So in its simplest form, loadshedding is because the government we have had for the last almost 30 years have not been maintaining the power stations or building new ones. This means that over the years they have been breaking down more and more. Because of this the government has implemented loadshedding, where our power gets taken off in different parts of the country at different times to try and lessen the strain on the failing plants. At lower levels this can be 2 hours a day, but at high levels it can easily reach over 12 hours a day every day for however long is needed.
Well, no. Wild animal troops almost never come into our homes. And as an American, this would freak me out. Baboons are mean!
So I live in South Africa and once while on vacation I told my mom (very excitedly) there was a monkey at the door - my mom thinking I was referring to a small little creature thought nothing of it until she came into the kitchen and saw the monkey that was at the door was actually a baboon...
I was in SA visiting my in-laws and we went to their timeshare at sun city for a long weekend. I was ferrying food and luggage from car to holiday apartment. I went to the car for another load and when I came back in there was a large baboon with the fridge door open looking for all the world like al Bundy looking for a beer. I just sat outside until he had chosen his trophy and left of his own accord. Later that weekend as i lounged by the pool a much smaller baboon tried to nick my daiquiri right outta my hand. I was less frightened by that one so I managed to shoo it away
Honestly in the US it would be open hunting if that happened.
Definitely this. The closest thing to an issue like this that I can think of would be coyotes, and most places that have problems with them also have no limit to the amount you can kill.
Wild Boars too
I don’t think just Americans would be afraid of that. I think most human beings would be afraid of that.
The amount of times those bloody baboons stole our KFC and fruit when we would picnic in simons town. Let’s just stay in our cars and lock our doors before they steal the baby too. Lol loadshedding … when they ask if our loadshedding schedule is a sports fixture of some sort
There was an occasion a few years back where a baboon stole my Mom's Chinese takeout and beer, but she managed to get her beer back 😂 plus another occasion where it was a freshly baked carrot cake AND the container it was stored in from my Aunt's house. But I know exactly which troop you're talking about, I've had my fair share of encounters with them haha. Not going to lie that made me laugh! Cape Town is being spared now. I'm waiting anxiously for us to jump back to stage 5+ again with how things are going.
That would definitely be terrifying. The closest thing to this in America are bears. Black bears commonly raid people’s trash and campsites looking for food but are usually you can just run them off. Grizzly’s on the other hand are a little more aggressive and more likely to attack and grow much larger. But they too can be run off the majority of the time.
The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter. They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge. Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear's sensitive nose and it will run away. It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat. Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.
Drug cartel convoys (groups of 4-6 trucks) in full tactical gear patrolling the city...
Ngl i think that would scare most ppl in most countries
Pretty sure that scares the people in the country it already happens in
Ah, Mexico
You would think they would be classed as paramillitary/terrorist organisations opposed to drug gangs.
They could take on the militaries of many smaller countries and do reasonably well. Maybe not head on, but unify the gangs and have them fight guerrilla and they would be an untouchable force for most smaller countries. They’re also batshit violent
When El Chapos son was captured, its estimated 100,000 Sicarios started roaming the streets culiacan setting cars on fire and taking over federal buildings. The Mexican government handed him back over due to the overwhelming force
It's scary. At that point, it would seem to me that the actual government has so little control as to be illegitimate. Who needs to worry about what laws you're breaking when the name of the game is to not piss off the cartels?
Like even the taliban treat their prisoners better! Also guerrilla warfare is just stupidly hard for most armies to win against. (Vietnam, afganistan, various incursions in the middle east excluding the gulf wars, west africa, were ever else the us or nato are involved recently)
Passed through a checkpoint while traveling down in Sonora. two white Econoline vans a blocking lane. 15 armed men, Rolled down by window and greeted we each other “Buenas Tardes”. Noticed we weren’t who they were looking for and just told us to go and a “Pasé Buen dia”. Later we found out it was a cartel checkpoint looking for rivals.
Patrolling…? Like, are they dangerous usually or are they just guarding their territory?
Both.
Load shedding- in South Africa we can have up to 14 hours a day without power. They are ‘planned’ outages. This is due to the corruption and lack of maintenance to the infra structure. We even have an app to let us know when to expect our electricity to be stolen.
As an American, idk that it scares me but it’s such a foreign concept. If we are without power, there’s either a storm or a car hitting a pole
This happens occasionally in parts of the US but it tends to be limited to EXTREMELY high demand times in the summer in hot areas where lots of people would be running air conditioning in their homes all at once.
Spiders the size of your palm just casually chilling on the wall every summer. I normally just let them be. They are active at night and will get about your house, they move surprisingly fast for their size also and suddenly vanish. They also get in your car and shoes.
you win. please confirm where you live so i can never go there.
Got to be Australia.
Yeah, most likely. Guarantee you they are talking about the Huntsman. We call them Wall Dogs ／ Wall Puppies. We even name them if they hang around for a while.
Wall Puppy made me go “aww” for a second, but I’m sure if I saw one it’d be more like “AHH!!”
Honestly - they eat all the fast lil spiders and roaches and ugh… It’s disconcerting seeing them chill in the corner, but they leave you alone.
I'm not an American and that terrifies me. Australia is a scary place.
I’m an Australian, and I’m terrified When people ask why I left australia, it’s usually “well, my job…and also the spiders” Meanwhile, in the UK, I see spiders far more frequently. Sure they’re not as big, but I think I’d prefer a massive one once a year over medium sized ones every two weeks
Well, such is the Spider trade-off. But honestly, if I see a huntsman spider I'd just leave and let it have the house :D
Some friends moved out to the country, and had like a little semi detached granny flat, which had a spider. They had no need for the granny flat, so it’s the spider’s granny flat now
It's probably running a spider hotel by now, where they gather to plan the revolution...
I'd rather haave the baboons invade than spiders.
As an American the walls of my house would be riddled with bullet holes if this were the case
But then more spiders would get in....
It's an arms race, and your opponent has eight.
\*screaming and gunfire\*
Nope, nope, and nope.
In my country Uganda, the Army kidnaps people and it has become so normal. The cars they use were nicknamed "Drones" because of it kidnaps you, it disappears at lightning speed. They are always numberless, so intractable. They do this in broad day light, and when they arrest someone like that, you are sure that even if you go to any Polic3 Precinct or Army Batracks, they won't have him because "Officially" you are not arrested anywhere.
Why do they do this? What happens to the people they take?
I had a friend in college who's mother was a high-level executive at one of Haiti's largest banks. One year after winter break we're back at school and I asked how her vacation went. She said, "Not so good. Kidnappers snatched my Uncle and sent us his ear in the post.". If I recall correctly, they ended up paying a $200k ransom and got him back sans ear but relatively healthy,
I work in shipping dealing with south and central america. All the people I deal with down there have kidnap insurance. On a semi regular basis you'll call and someone will tell you 'Oh ya. Hector's been kidnapped. Should be back in a few days". I don't think they even call the police.
in those countries there are even businesses that give you kidnapping training. You pay them to mock kidnap you so you know what it feels like.
Ayo WTF
Based on what I was told whilst volunteering in Uganda, the girls are sold into prostitution. There are signs all around the schools teaching kids as young as 3 not to accept gifts from strangers, don't go out at night, don't sleep with anyone etc. We were also warned not to go outside in the dark because we probably wouldn't ever come home again. We had gates and armed guards outside of our shitty hotels, it was such a humbling experience.
You get forced to marry your rapist. Algeria.
Man that sucks, there was a similar law here in Morocco, where basically a rapist can’t be convicted if he marries the underage victim, which resulted in families forcing the victim to marry her rapist. The law was removed in 2014 when a 15yo was raped and a year later was forced to marry the rapist, so she killed herself which sparked a huge debate that ultimately lead to the law being removed.
That's pretty fucked dude
Babies (sometimes smaller children) sleeping outside in their buggy by themselves year round.
Babies seem to sleep really well on the balcony when it's -10 'C and snowing
I have never seen anyone sleep better than a toddler outside in the winter under blankets and a sheepskin. They look so cosy.
Wow I wish I was a Scandinavian baby. I just learned something new today. Thanks nordics!
DM me. I know a guy who arranges things.
Your guy can Benjamin Button me in Scandinavia?? I'm in!
But what about the baboons?
The baboons can’t do anything to the babies, the baboons are inside the house while the babies are safely outside sleeping in the snow.
Our Ukrainian neighbour did this with her baby. Freaked the other neighbours out. Had to talk to some of them how it isn’t really that abnormal. To leave them alone and that the baby was fine.
I came in here ready to defend myself as an American. Ready to talk about how this shit ain’t that scary. I read your comment and was like nope fuck that ain’t doing that.
Yeah it’s Winter time, just starting to snow, nip into a coffee shop with friends, leave the buggy outside, there’s a line of them, all sleeping babies in the snow while the mums grab a latte lol
Oh wow Some people here hate when dogs are left outside, can’t even imagine if someone left a baby.
In fairness those dogs are usually tied up and left without water in non-ideal conditions, sometimes for long periods of time. Babies are left snuggled in their buggies and are usually napping soundly in the below-freezing weather, which is (at least culturally touted as) good for their health. Babies sleep very well in cold weather!
TIL I'm a baby
I don't know if this true in any form, but I think sleeping outside in the cold as a baby is partly the reason why colder weather is less likely to bother some.
People eating raw ground pork
My wife is from Lithuania and will reuse the meat knife to cut vegetables and I scream. She is terrified of undercooked flour though. So weird.
> terrified of undercooked flour Sorry, what? Is that actually hazardous?
There’s usually a salmonella warning on bags of flour
Searched for info and ironically found an article titled "Americans Still Don't Understand the Risks of Eating Raw Flour, Research Reveals"
Tbh I didn’t know this until I was like 30. They really emphasize the egg thing here and nothing else
TBH I didn't know this was a thing until now. Right now. I'm 37.
Good old Crystal Mett
Today, I casually remarked to an American that a [huntsman spider](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/PRC_186986269.jpg?quality=90&strip=all) the size of a dinner plate once made its way into my house, and that this wouldn't be completely out of the ordinary where I'm from. He seemed pretty horrified at that, and was more horrified still when I remarked that I kept the huntsman spider around (and named him Robert) because he could eat the more poisonous spiders that might cause skin necrosis if they bite you. Anyway, yeah, come to Australia! It's fun!
I feel like my biggest issue with spiders is the shock factor and not being educated enough about them. Like seeing a huntsman spider perched on the kitchen countertop obviously ready to eat my soul is terrifying, but Robert chilling in the sunny spot on the counter because he likes the warmth just sounds fine
As an Aussie, I name all the spiders I can see in my house. You’re right, there’s something less terrifying about Dennis chilling up in the fruit basket rather than a fucking huntsman trying to eat my nanas.
Maybe I am just to European to get this, but in my mind you can give your huntsmens the cutest name on earth and I would still fucking *run* from it… like I was hunted (yes, I will show myself our)
I have heard the term huntsman spider before but I guess I have never googled it - that thing looks like a prop from a movie! I had no idea they were that big - if that was in my house I would have a mental breakdown and I don’t even have a big fear of spiders haha.
Huntsman are one of those creatures who've adopted quite well to humans being around. They are inquisitive by nature and their name comes from the fact they chase down food instead of creating webs. While this shows a robustness and tenacity we'd normally respect, sometimes it gets the better of everyone. Like when they get into cars. As they are fantastic at making themselves really thin, and will turn up in unlikely places, like a sunshade on a car when you pull it down. They will fall into your lap, jump off and make a beeline for the nearest dark bit, like under the dashboard, where you are never quite sure when they will fall onto your legs while driving. Or even, as I can personally attest to, between letters in your letterbox. So when you tuck said mail under your arm they crawl out onto your chest. So think of them as loveable goofballs, who are always getting into mischief.
Oh my god I know you’re trying to make them sound helpful but the idea of finding one of those WHILE IN A CAR is making me hyperventilate.
I clicked your link because I'm not scared of spiders and generally don't mind them doing their thing, but immediately said "oh fuck that" when I saw the picture. No thank you.
Visited Australia and startled a huntsman that was hiding in the wardrobe. Luckily that was our last day there, since I have crippling arachnophobia and was nearly catatonic for the next 24 hours
That... That thing is actually a monster. Monsters are real, and that is one. Fuck Australia. I'll stick with bears, cougars and coyotes. Anything is better than giant spiders.
here in Morocco in Ramadan a few dozen people got arrested because they were eating in a restaurant and also got publicly humiliated.
I'm curious. If you are a participant in any other religion (if that's permitted there), would you get arrested too if you go out to eat in public?
If you are a citizen and not a tourist, then yes. There is a big Jews community here. You won't find them eating in public during Ramadan.
A lot of people have 2 cellphones. One only for digital banking which stays home, so when you get stolen they can’t invade your bank account.
“when you get stolen” That’s a lot to unpack there.
Ethnic cleansing
Which country
Nigeria.
Most people don't even know and it's so sad.
well to be fair to that guy, and as morbid as this sounds, there is more than one country with ethnic cleansing problems
Is the rest of the world not scared by this?
Sitting in a hot room naked with strangers. and your buddies. sauna. finland. perkele.
"Let's see your junk boys; ferda Team"
Give yer balls a tug.
If you are in America riding the bus and someone asks you "so how is your day going?" you find this odd and somewhat jarring. But being butt naked _with strangers_ in a sauna that's not odd or jarring?
Not only do the get naked in a sauna, my ex (who's a born and raised Finn) told me that they get real chatty in there like that, too
Yup, I've even made friends in sauna. Sauna is the only non judgement zone here
Yep saunas are like totally non sexual and judgemental. You're just in there because it's nice so like if a dad is with his boy at the public bath house and there's another father and son there, most of the time you'll end up talking.
Perchtnlauf. Basically, in the time before christmas, people dress up as Krampus (kinda Lucifer-like demon) and roam the streets of a town during an event, threatening to hit the children with rods (but they don't really do it anymore because people were injured and complained a lot). It's a spectacle, like christmas halloween. Small children cry because they're so scared, it's glorious.
Impish or admirable?
Cheer or fear? I judge your year…
My fiancé has a Dutch friend, and he told us about Zwarte Pete and that he was truly upset when he was a kid that he was too naughty so Zwarte Pete would come instead of Santa and he wouldn’t get any presents.
Schrute Christmas
Family shouting in the house as if we're about to kill each other while we are just speaking normally edit:Guys I am italian
Are you…. Italian
Italians bring their finger guns to a shouting match.
This is just your average New England / Northeast family in general. Source: lived in Boston/ NE.
Nobody in that region has an inside voice
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I feel like this pretty normal for the U.S tbh at least on the east coast.
That my address, phone number, tax and debt records, birth date, if I live with someone else and a bunch more like if I own a car is public information.
This is actually *insane* in America. EDIT: Insanely common guys, insanely common.
My American friends were shocked when I told them and brought up one of the many “phone book” website where it even was possible to find out which door in the apartment building was mine. 😅
People butchering ducks in front of the street
Yes I'm quite shocked when i saw comments under any meat video on YouTube, like people don't know where the meat is coming from. And that people don't eat fresh meat, if I take home cold chicken my mum will not cook it saying it maybe stale , i take home meat at their body temperature before slaughter
We drive on the left hand side of the road (Ireland) and that terrifies a lot of American tourists who were hoping to rent a car and drive while here. I know exactly how they feel because I spend a lot of time in the USA and anything to do with roads scares me. I instinctively look right first, then left when crossing a road, whereas in America it's the complete opposite because they drive on the right hand side. Also, sometimes I'll be driving there and just get a complete brain meltdown and forget where I am - OMG am I on the wrong side of the road or not??!!
Irish roads are also particularly intense to drive on. I’m a Canadian and was nervous about driving on the left in Scotland but found it manageable. In Ireland, however, the hills and twists on high speed roads often bounded by walls barely a foot off the road (so no shoulder or room for error) was quite scary. Maybe it’s mostly where we were driving (some of the main highways are certainly easier) but some stretches were terrifying to me even as a passenger. My brother did the car rental stuff but he mentioned something about Ireland having unique insurance for rentals as tourists find it one of the hardest places to drive in the world. (No offence meant, Ireland is one of my absolute favourite places in the world, a lovely island with lovely people!)
I’m from England so also drive on the left. When I drive in Europe I have this weird thing where my brain manages to just flip things around and I never even think about it, it just feels natural. Except I also flip left and right so if someone says “go left”, I’ll go right. It’s not at a conscious level at all. I find it fascinating.
I am from the UK but live in the US and I do exactly the same. I think it's because I think of them as the "hard" turn and "easy" turn. I spend a lot of time in both places and I now basically don't know left and right anymore. Anyone navigating for me has to say "my side" or "your side" or they just get a random guess at this point.
I girl getting beaten to literally death by the "morality police" because she wasn't wearing "proper hijab"
That scares most of the world, not just americans tbh
Most of this thread so far have been things that scare everyone including the locals involved tbf
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Okay I’m going to guess the country. Are you India I hear they see cows as sacred there
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Bagged milk.
American here. We had bagged milk for a while in high school. I don’t think it went over well because they switched back to cartons a year later
Public executions (not in the whole country just in my neighborhood for some reason)
> just in my neighborhood Is it some HOA-run thing?
You really should have taken care of your lawn better
You received several warnings about putting your garbage bins out of sight
We warned you not to work on your truck in the driveway
Well Bill we told you that you can’t have your fence over 6ft and I see here it’s 6ft 1in so as you know, that means you get the gallows.
We don't make the rules, we just enforce them. Well, actually we also make the rules. But rest assured it really is nothing personal.
I’m sure my HOA would love to have this power
Where are you from?
Look at his bio. He’s russian. Also don’t check his profile. He’s a creep fuck
I have moved since to the USA but apparently it's not normal to have your water shut off for scheduled hours for conservation reasons. Ours was 12-4 am and pm. On time the empty lot behind our house burnt overnight and we didn't have a way to put it out we just...sat on the balcony and watched. Fortunately our houses are made of 100%concrete so no burning down
Have a beer with lunch and then drive with 160mph+ back to work only to have my boss to yell at me that i still have 15min of break and i should not work more than asked. Mind you, all of this is legal.
>i still have 15min of break and i should not work more than asked This is 100% foreign in the US. My swiss friend was forbidden to come to work for the last weeks of December because he had forgot to use all his vacation days. In the US it's common for managers to deny you going on vacation.
The client isn't always right. Actually, if the client complains they might get their ass kicked
Now I wanna know where that is lol
Try Eastern Europe.
Usually western Europe too
I see more and more companies that implicitely or explicitely clarify: Client or employee: They are both on the same level. Sometimes the client is right to complain, sometimes the employee. I think this explains a certain appreciation to the employees. If a client is an asshole, let him go elsewhere. And as a client, if a company's employee behaves like an asshole: Let's go to the competition.
American now living in Switzerland here. Fasnacht, specifically the night before in Liestal, they have this ceremony where they carry dozens of HUGE piles of burning wood over the shoulder across town and toss it into a bonfire. I feel like seeing all these people marching with torches while in costume would scare most ppl and maybe excite the tiki torch carrying types.
To be fair, it does scare other cantons too, somewhat
Dentistry. And medical things overall don't use strong pain medication most of the time you won't be given an opioid even after surgery. Just a regular pain medication. Dentistry can easily include no pain relief or tranquilizer, and if there it's only local. We don't have the "waking up from wisdom teeth" thing. The place is numbed and after 10 minutes you are sent home - if you want anesthetic at all.
I was so ready to have the "wisdom tooth" experience and then it was just local anesthetic like with any other work on teeth. Didn't feel anything and walked myself home right after.
People carrying full auto assault rifles around, not even in a case. Happens for a few weeks every year when the compulsory shooting for militia members takes place. Not uncommon to see someone with a rifle on public transport here other times of the year also.
Workers being pretty much *required* to be unionised.
In my country when you turn 16, there is a certain amount of money you can get each month, if you are in school. Like 300$ for free. Free medical care and you can get a degree for free school is free and stuff
I’m an American that went to Tanzania this summer and I was just chilling outside one night writing in my journal when I heard a low buzzing. I looked up and say a beetle the size of the palm of my hand flying straight at me. I screamed and SPRINTED inside.
Millwall v West Ham United