Recently, I stumbled upon a fun question with interesting confessions: “What fact is common knowledge in your field but almost unknown to the rest of the population?” An internet forum responded with these fascinating tidbits. Do you know them?
1. Elevators
Leave it to Hollyweird to propagate false ideas about how things work. Did you know that an elevator goes up to the top of the hoist instead of crashing to the floor in most catastrophic failures due to the counterweights?
A user notes: “And if it breaks, they don’t come get you through a hatch in the roof like in the movies. They just go to the machine room, hand hoist it to the next door, open it with a special key, and get you out.”
2. Explosives
Did you know that powerful explosives are so insensitive to shock that it typically takes a smaller, more sensitive explosive to set them off? This fascinating tidbit of information led to someone sharing another interesting fact about how C4 burns when put into a fire, so soldiers used it to cook food in the Vietnam War.
3. Luxury Homes
One user warns that the “high-end” or “expensive” neighborhoods that go up overnight aren’t built well. They elaborate: “Usually, gated communities and other semi-exclusive suburbs full of McMansions are built with the cheapest materials and poorest quality/ untrained labor. Never buy a “spec” home without serious research into what you’re buying. All that “luxury” is barely surface-deep.”
4. Cement and Concrete
Are you aware that cement and concrete are not the same things? It’s true. Cement is the primary ingredient in concrete. However, concrete is a mixture of cement, sand, aggregate, water, etc. A contractor admits, “I like to say the cement is to concrete as flour is to cake.”
5. Eyeglasses
Many eyeglass lenses are made of polycarbonate, the same type of plastic used to make bullet-proof windows. So it doesn’t shatter at all like glass. It deforms more like metal.
6. Public Defenders
Public defenders are highly competent despite the stigma attached to having one defend you. One explains that public defenders work with a specific set of cases with certain judges and juries daily. So, while they may not always have gone to top-tier law schools (many have, especially in federal court), they have invaluable experience.
Another adds, “Will say this as someone from the other side, I would cringe for defendants when I’d see them spend tens of thousands on a big name lawyer who’s more a salesman than litigator and who would inevitably plead their clients out so they could move on to the next one.”
7. Coffee Syrups
A former barista volunteers the amount of syrup in flavored espresso drinks is unreal. She elaborates on measuring the flavoring by grams. “If you got a large mocha, it would have 110 grams of chocolate sauce.” While many drag Starbucks for this, the truth is all coffee shops and stands are filled with sugary drinks.
8. Horses Reins
Have you noticed they yank on horses’ reins in the movies, practically ripping their mouths out? The horses are not having fun whenever you see their mouths open with the bit pulled way back in there.
A rodeo enthusiast shares: “Most of the commands and controls used on horses are in the legs and balancing body weight. The reins are for gently guiding and, at worst, for getting them to put their head in specific spots.”
9. Urinary Tract Infections
Did you know that urinary tract infections (UTIs) will often cause confusion in people over 70? Some individuals can get confused to the point of hallucinations and delirium. It also can cause increased weakness, leading to falls.
A mental health specialist admits: “Often, I’m told a loved one has dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc. I will ask about symptom onset, and they’ll say a few days or something similar. A round of antibiotics later, and the loved one is usually back to their baseline. UTIs in older folks are wild.”
10. Fungi
Are you aware that mushrooms are genetically closer related to humans than to plants? The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) explains the molecular evidence: “Computational phylogenetics comparing eukaryotes revealed that fungi are more closely related to us than plants. Fungi and animals form a clade called opisthokonta, named after a single, posterior flagellum present in their last common ancestor.”
11. Bed Bugs
Bed bug infestations have nothing to do with sanitation or cleanliness. Translation? Bed bugs don’t make you a nasty person with a dirty home. They’re an imported pest, hitching rides into your house, usually from infested clothing, luggage, and upholstered furniture.
Staying in hotels is a typical means of picking them up, and due to high turnovers and travelers across the globe, it doesn’t matter what the hotel’s star rating is.
12. Translucent vs. Transparent
A person who works in acrylic sheet laments: “The number of people who do not understand what translucent means is astounding. Translucent =/= Transparent. Translucent is a SOLID color that allows light transmission — it glows. Transparent is just that — transparent. We have customers call us All. The. Time. Telling us we filled an order wrong, that they received a solid color and ordered translucent red.”
13. Taking Medications
The number of people who do not know that you need to finish the entire course of prescribed antibiotics is shocking. Especially considering every doctor I’ve ever been to told me to take them all. You don’t suddenly stop taking them after you start feeling better.
On another note, you don’t just stop taking your antidepressants when you start feeling better. Taking your own life is a side-effect of the sudden stoppage of SSRI medications.
14. Garbage Cameras
A sanitation worker admits: “We have cameras that can see what is in your trash as we dump it. Some companies even take snapshots of every can’s contents to catch hazmat items. They bill the city with the address it came from, and the city could follow up with the homeowner for reimbursement if they choose.
We remember the houses with issues with people that try to double dump, overfill, and dump hazmat. We watch for those offenders specifically. The garbage man knows what’s going on in your neighborhood, almost as well as the mailman.”
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Elizabeth Ervin is the owner of Sober Healing. She is a freelance writer passionate about opioid recovery and has celebrated breaking free since 09-27-2013. She advocates for mental health awareness and encourages others to embrace healing, recovery, and Jesus.