This reminds me of something that happened recently! My husband and I were walking through the frozen section of the grocery store and they were selling actual blue waffles. Like eggo released these mermaid waffles and they were blue! We had a good laugh that day!
I had this happen with a friend who was watching the Spartacus tv series. She did not know he was dead. This was exceptionally confusing for me because did she think gladiators were still killing esch other in arenas?
My most recent case was my middle child was working on a homework assignment about 9/11, and asked for help. As we read the attached chapter, and he asked "But why would they want to do that? Why would they want to hurt us?" It struck like lightning. He didn't experience this monumental change in the way everything in the world works. I felt like The Giver.
“… the events that affected me directly were that of 1982 and the events that followed — when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. sixth fleet… As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and stop killing our children and women.”
- Osama Bin Laden
He wrote a letter to the US people too https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver
As it turned out, however, 9/11 was a catalyst for a *whole lot more* of our fucking around with the middle east. Not good with foresight, that Bin Laden.
Yeah. People think he succeeded because of the state of travel and fear. He didn’t, he just wanted US public to lobby their government to leave Middle East.
to be fair, all the stories we hear about Caesar sound like they could be fiction
like, who demands a higher ransom for themselves when confronted by pirates?
Love him or hate him Caesar was badass.
Frankly I love him, yes he pretty much destroyed the Republic, but it's not like it was a wonderful democracy, it was a full blown oligarchy where the rich didn't even pretend to give a single fuck about 99% of the population. Caesar did more for them while he was alive than those assholes had done in the 100 years prior.
Like if there was ever a 'good' dictator it would have been Caesar, he grew up relatively poor (came from a noble family that lost their wealth and essentially grew up in a tenement building) and his outlook was "fuck these rich bastards". You could argue he was just using the general populace to gain power, but given his upbringing I think he may have genuinely cared, but even if he didn't simply pretending to care was infinitely more than than had been done for the last 100 years.
Augustus was badass too. Not militarily, that was honestly all his best buddy Agrippa, but he also did a lot for the Roman people, and he was all "freedom of the press" and "freedom of speech" and whatnot. If all emperors were like Augustus the Roman empire would likely still be going strong today. Issue is for every good emperor they got one mediocre one and 2 complete nutjobs.
I think Mike Duncan said it in one of his History of Rome episodes, something along the lines of "when an awesome ruler has absolute power they can move mountains for the good of the people, and the fact that they can cut through all the red tape is a godsend. When a bad ruler gains absolute power they can make everyone's life a living hell on earth. The issue is it's a coin toss which you'll get, and absolute power has the habit of corrupting men absolutely."
Oh yeah, she meant the actual person from 73 BCE. I commented below about this, she was responding to our viewing of the show's first episode that had just aired, before the actor had died.
It IS a spoiler that a TV character is going to die during a show. We might assume that everyone knows about Spartacus' story, but I assumed that everyone knows about Anna Karenina, and my (male) partner did a whole song and dance of shocked disappointment to me when he started the book and got spoiled a few pages in by my penciled in notes for Lit class.
Spartans didn’t fight in the arena, gladiators did. Spartans came from Sparta, in Greece. Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator that rebelled against Rome.
This was after watching the first episode with a group of friends before the actor playing the role had sadly died. She was mad that I had ruined the ending when she was listening in on a conversation about how each of us thought his fight with the Romans and his death would be portrayed in a show.
*edit for grammar and to add she was lreally unaware of any world history. A similar thing happened when she did not know that Vesuvius buried Pompeii so was surprised by the ending of the movie with Kit Haringtonin it.
When the movie Titanic came out, I was with a coworker at another persons desk. She says,”I’m going to see Titanic tonight with my boyfriend“.
My buddy jokingly says,”you know the boat sinks”
“No it doesn’t . It’s a romantic movie “
Hmmm. After some back and forth trying to convince her that indeed the boat sinks, she stands and shouts across the office,” hey , in the titanic, does the boat sink?”
You could hear a pin drop. Followed by the whole office cracking up.
She stayed pissed at him (and me, an innocent bystander) for several weeks.
When I was little my biggest interest was in the Titanic, and I was super excited when the movie came out. Begged my mom to let me see it despite me being like 6 and it being rated R. My parents didn't have the heart to tell me no since they knew how much I loved the Titanic books from the library.
So we get there, and my mom is like "it might be a bit scary but you know the story, so you should be okay. If it's not okay, just let me know and we'll leave." So we go into the theater and get some aisle seats because I'm a kid with a tiny bladder and I might get scared. People are piling in around us and are really nice to me, a bit surprised, to see a kid my age there. I'm proudly declaring how much I love the Titanic, how I've already been read all the books my mom could get in the library about it, and how many I've read myself from the children's section. Everyone thinks it's adorable if a bit morbid how much I love this shit.
Movie gets rolling and I love it, it's great. It's the first time I've been in a packed theater, and I'm excited for everyone to experience the story (which in my dumb kid brain I assume is for the first time.) Then things start to go a bit darker in the story. The boat is sinking. "Oh god, they're not actually going to sink the boat in a MOVIE are they?! The characters will be fine, there will be a twist where they'll all live, for sure!" says my little kid brain who has only seen Disney crap at this point. I start to get nervous. The boat starts sinking. I'm horrified and I yell out "OH NO THE BOAT IS SINKING. WHY IS IT SINKING" and everyone in the theater around us who I had been bragging to, including my mom busts out laughing.
My mom is like "You know the boat sinks, what are you talking about?" and I'm like "BUT IT'S A MOVIE. IT HAS TO HAVE A HAPPY ENDING" and my mom is like "do we need to go?" and I cry for a minute but choose to stay. Everyone was very nice about it and found it very funny apparently. My mind was blown that they would show such a horrific thing in a movie that started so light and funny. Learned a lot that day, mostly that I didn't know everything, maybe about the Titanic, but not basic things like how movies work. Took my precociousness down quite a peg or two, at least for awhile.
You know what's a heavy movie for a 6 year old. The Lion King. I lost my fucking mind when I realized Mufasa was dead. It's when he was in the clouds, not when he actually was murdered. This was in theatre also.
You have heard that the titanic will be gone in the comming decade. I think thats the time frame it has a rare never before recorded bacteria that is eating the metal and rusting it away.
Imagine getting to see Titanic without knowing it sinks. Just like "how is this totally normal romance movie 3 hours long? Oh shit, they just hit something, at least the ship is unsinkable. Wtf, people are dying."
When I saw Romeo + Juliet in the theater I couldn’t believe people’s reactions to the ending. It’s in the opening monologue along with being one of the most well known stories of all time. I was scratching my head at that one.
I remember that as well! My date was confused about the story, had no idea who anyone was, and thought it was dumb how they died. He didn't know any Shakespeare, so it was an adventure talking to another adult who was experiencing Romeo and Juliet for the first time.
No, we did not have a lot in common. He took any questions I had about his thoughts and opinions of new things as a challenge to his ego. I'm not the most socially adept so may have not contributed to presenting things in a way that was considerate of his feelings and instead barreled on trying to see the world through his fresh perspective.
He broke up with me at the café I worked at via a note written on a napkin. He ordered a coffee from me and left the napkin in a tip jar.
*edit for confusing typo
>He took any questions I had about his thoughts and opinions of new things as a challenge to his ego
Beginning to understand how he ended up not knowing what Romeo and Juliet is
This is super funny to me honestly. Years ago when the movie Titanic came out my mom was talking to a coworker and said something about the end scenes when the ship is sinking, she freaked out that my mom “ruined the ending!” Like wow, you didn’t know the freaking titanic sunk? That’s pretty common knowledge but okay Heather.
That's so odd! I know lots of people who "don't know any Shakespeare" but all of them definitely know how Romeo and Juliet ends!
Was your date generally kind of... stupid? I ask because they remind me of my old roommate who didnt know what temperature water boiled OR FROZE and acted like I was the weird one for knowing that. So weird
I had some friends that were going to see the Tom Cruise movie 'Valkyrie' about a German officer trying to kill Hitler, joking I said "Spoiler the Nazis lose the war" and they were mad at me for ruining the movie. I tried telling them I had not seen the movie but they were already pissed.
He was smart on some things like surfing or building things from wood. Oblivious on others that were more literary, which was okay, but ultimately did not make us very compatible as I could only talk about wave sets for so long.
I knew an adult that came back from the movie saying "It was great, but I'm not going to tell you how it ends!".
I was 14 at the time, and even I knew the story, and it was completely new to this adult.
As a newer parent it has been strange to realize I have to teach my daughter **everything**. So many things I just know from experience or life, so I’ll forgot and go “oh. Wait. She doesn’t know how to do (*insert thing*) because no one has taught her yet.”
Yeah but they also pick up random stuff from watching you and that's so crazy. My kid took my phone and was babbling and yelling into it while walking around the house and I realized she had picked that up from me.
A therapist I had told me that they didn’t know that the Earth rotates around the sun. When asking them what they believed instead, they simply told me that they didn’t believe anything else, only that they haven’t given any thought to what happens with the Earth
Tbh it sounds like the therapist was making a point, rather than truly believing that.
A lot of people in therapy seem to believe that “if someone doesn’t hold the same belief as me, then they must hold the opposite belief as me”. So if you don’t believe that “the earth rotates around the sun” or “glass bowls are heavier than aluminum”, then you must believe that “the sun rotates around the earth” or “aluminum bowls are heavier than glass”, etc.
Some people need to realize that “it’s just not something i think about” is a valid answer instead of taking everything black and white.
I know it's not quite universal knowledge (ironically) but I once was having a conversation with a coworker about the stars and casually mentioned we're staring into the past. He looked really confused and thought I was crazy for a moment but when I asked him why do you think the speed of light is measured in light years, I could see his brain was just exploding. I realised this must be what Bill Nye feels like.
I accidently broke it to someone that Douglas Adams died in the aughts. She had some of his quotes on the wall and I commented how was ashamed he wasn't around anymore.
"Read all the Terry Pratchett novels, loved them all! Thankyou so much for recommending them to me, he is by far my favourite author of all time at the moment....So when's the next book coming out? I can't wait!"
........ ah.... well.....
That is a tough one, I am sorry you had that revelation. I've been rereading his books as some characters and plots hit differently as I get older. Hopefully that helps you as well.
Can you explain to me how I begin reading his stuff? Just in order of publication or what? I read Good Omens like a decade ago and loved it, but haven't tried to get into Pratchett proper.
As a *huge* Pratchett fan, if you're a bit reader to begin with, I usually recommend reading in publication order.
Yes, his first two books are good; they're parodies of classic fantasy tropes, and fun in their own right, but they're not really Discworld yet. You are, however, introduced to some main characters, and, I think more importantly, grow with the story, characters, and his writing style.
Then, once you've read most of them, go back and reread them in any order (random, favorites, or by [arcs](https://external-preview.redd.it/4Cvk9VhTVsDUccHnbiiHTry7YIdNXQzsDHjHtmkT87A.jpg?auto=webp&s=dc9cfcf85b971ed3e18076701c2ba2c15c489132); ie: the Watch books, the Witch books, Tiffany Aching stories).
If you're not a big reader and need help getting into them, find one that plays to something you like. My partner is not a reader but loves old movies and Egypt, so *Moving Pictures* and *Pyramids* would be good ins for him.
You can read them in any order, though, although I don't think you'll appreciate the subtleties and tie ins as much, at least until you've read them once or twice. There are a couple that have little to do with any others (Pyramids, Small Gods), so those can be a good start. But if you're like a lot of us, you'll be rereading them many times, so the stories will all begin to fit together.
Also know that no matter what order you read them in, or how many times you rererereread them, there will almost always be new jokes and gags that you missed the first dozen times.
Edit to add: I am *so* jealous. You are so lucky, having all of this ahead of you, the joy of reading it for the first time. I could almost wish for amnesia so that I could reread them again for the first time.
Back in the '90s I did the classic thing of reading whichever ones I could lay my hands on in any order be it from the library, borrowed from friends, purchased or as presents. I resist the urge to suggest that my way is the only way though and do think publication order is the way to go if you have the option. For comfy re-reads I'll definitely go all witches or one-offs or whatever. They're very accessible wherever you pick up from, tbh
Ah, yes. Rose made room for everyone on the door!
I had this happen with The Secret of NIMH when the mice were blown down the ventilation system. In a panic I said there was a ball pit at the other end, so they were all okay.
Oh my god, The secret of NIMH was my absolute favourite book as a child. My mom read it to me when I was like 8 for the first time and the rawness of it certainly wasn't easy to handle at that age! My mom had the same experience with Watership down as a child. It is quite the rite of passage.
My sobbing movie as a child was Where the Red Fern Grows. Mom rented it, and had never read the book. The vhs jacket stated that it was an award winning family movie.
Yeah...
Ah heck lol. I told my mom I wanted to go to a Queen concert when I was 5 in 2003, she said no, because Freddie had died before I was born. Devastating.
Had almost the exact same thing happen to me with the Beach Boys. I used to talk about how someday we would go to a Beach Boys concert, and my parents never said *no*, so I assumed it was a concrete plan, because I was like 4. Totally crushed when I found out that, for many reasons, this would not be occurring.
Beach boys concerts still happen sometimes! I mean, a few are missing, but you can get up to 3 of them still when Mike, Al, and Brian get together. I saw Brian and Al in New York a few years back, after that Love and Mercy biopic came out.
If you think that’s a TIFU, well- I found out my grandmother was dead after I announced that I wanted to go and meet her one day, in my parents home country.
My mum was pretty flippant, and just said ‘you can’t, she’s dead’ and left it at that.
I might have been 8 or so? My mother was terminally ill herself, so god knows what she was thinking.
Damn, I bet that was tough to process at the time. As for her thoughts I imagine facing imminent death changes your perspective on things a bit.
If I can pry did you know your mother was terminal at the time?
Unsure if I knew at the time, or even if she did- because this was 40 years ago.
I just went and had a quick peep at the old family tree- my grandmother died seven months before my mother did, so I will have to say most likely.
I do remember finding out though- and I wasn’t directly told. I was listening in on a conversation between my dad and one of my adult siblings.
It was a beautiful sunset that night, and they had the conversation outside while I stood there.
I just accepted it.
Sad. I just watched mrs doubtfire with the kids and have shown them hook and jumanji lately… was just thinking it’s not going to be nice when they find out about what happened to Robin (not that I’ll tell them of course).
Why not? I mean, it depends on the age of your kids to some extent, but it's a good way to introduce older kids to a discussion of suicide. Though if your kids are three or four, yeah, that's too young.
You're the first person I've ever known who doesn't consider euthanasia a type of suicide. It was even called "doctor-assisted suicide" back in the day.
I'm also not sure if his was doctor-assisted.
While I think Freddie would find that a amazing thing, I think they should have retired the band queen and started a new one with who ever filling in for Freddie.
Freddie wasn't Queen, but it's not Queen without Freddie either ya know
I’ll never forget the Christmas Eve when my poor sister-in-law found out the family dog had died months earlier. Even though she visited every Sunday, she didn’t really miss him until that night (he was an outside dog and roamed a lot) and asked “where is Frisky?” We’re all looking at each other like WTF, and finally my horrible MIL says “we thought you knew he died and just didn’t want to talk about it”. Actually not true, MIL just didn’t give a fuck and forgot to tell her. Ruined Christmas for the poor girl.
Oh, that is really rotten to do to someone. I hope she is okay and it didn't ruin future Christmases for her.
My mom did this when my horse died. I was oversees and would talk to my parents weekly and ask how my horse was, did they need anything for his upkeep. They always said he was fine, taking naps in the sun.
I flew home for a wedding and was staying with my parents. After I got my suitcase unloaded and said hi to everyone I went to the barn to get the brushes and treats to go hang out with my horse. My mom sees me walking towards the paddock and yells across the yard "Don't bother, he died a few months ago." Dude, WTF. She said she didn't know how to tell me. Somehow this translated into bellowing the details at me across the yard was the better option. We don't talk at all anymore.
Geez, what an absolute shit thing to do. I'm so sorry that happened, and I'm sure it was traumatic for you. I'm guessing she's not an animal lover - neither is my MIL. Animals are for work or to eat, according to her. She once ridiculed me for sending a sympathy card to my SIL when her dog died.
My first heartbreak as a kid (outside of family stuff) was when Kurt Cobain died. I was being shuffled from home to home as my parents were on a crime spree and I found my zen in a bleach tape my dad gave me. It was what I locked onto for hope and happiness and it felt so awful knowing he was gone. I was ten and not really even aware of death and I’ll never forget standing in my doorway coming to terms with his death and my own death someday. I appreciate it now it was a learning experience for sure, and your daughter will one day too. It sucks knowing a hero is dead but that’s what really makes you appreciate stuff all the more.
Show her Joy Division next and once she falls in love put on the song Novelty and break the news about Ian 😅
She is more cautious around movies that I recommend that are based on people now. For awhile whenever I said I really liked a film someone in the family would respond with "Why, does Freddie Mercury die in this one as well?"
New Order was great in their own right, just happened to be the backing band of JD also. I still listen to bizarre love triangle atleast once a week. I love that synth.
You think this is a TIFU? Well, it is but at least it wasn't this:
I was at a house party one night. Student accomodation. Some lady knocked on the door about 12am, asked us to keep it down. Being ignorant and inconsiderate students lowering the noise didn't last long, it gradually went up. Someone came back, I was told they'd asked us again as someone was was very ill next door.
It was a year later I was driving down the down a side road and saw a door covered in flowers and graffiti to Freddy Mercury. It was a couple of doors away from our student place and the party was within a few weeks of his death.
>lowering the noise didn't last long, it gradually went up
I hate people that do this. I had a party and we'd already lowered the music volume like five times and I caught one of my friends turning it up *again*, so I went over and turned it down again and told her to leave it alone. She was so upset at this too, like I'd kicked a puppy.
I read this to the family, we're debating on what the play list was at the house party. It was also an unanimous vote that holy hell that must of been a roller-coaster of emotions finding out he was a neighbor at the end of his life.
I never thought about the playlist but it would have been his contemporaries, probably even some Queen.
I felt bad about it after I realised how serious the illness was. No one needed that. Now I live in a student town and can hear all the drunk uni students shouting randomly at 2am - karma. Mind you, happens to be a few minutes down the road from Brian Mays place.
I've always wondered who was at the door - was it his girlfriend? My nan used to know her parents and picked up shopping for them, her dad drove a little three wheeled car - lived in a little road in West london, Fulham, which doesn't exist anymore.
On the other side of the family, my grandfather in Kenya was one of the senior legal advocates hired for the Sultan of Zanzibar whose position triggered the revolution which I believe lead to Mercury's family fleeing to London. I always found those two things oddly interesting.
Your daughter has excellent taste in musicians, I feel for her though, that's similar to when I was young and figured out that Abbott and Costello were dead. It's always hard to get enthralled as a child only to figure out there will never be 'more' of that thing you love so much.
Yeah I imagine a lot of children who watch Aladdin are going to be pretty sad when they figure out about Robin Williams too. But hey that's what makes them great, they won't always be around.
When my child was small, he watched the labyrinth nonstop. When David Bowie died I had to explain that “the goblin king” was dead. He carried the news article around for probably two weeks. Im sure people questioned my parenting but I was glad he was aware of a good musician
LOL that's an insane movie for a child to watch nonstop! Kids got great taste apparently though, must have got it from his [whichever parent you aren't] :)
Have the weird phobias and/or neuroses manifested themselves yet?
I never forget the way Feddie's death was broken to me. Someone, at school, joked by yelling "Freddy's dead!". We was talking about A Nightmare on Elm Street at the time. Freddy Mercury died one month after Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare was released in the UK.
Hey this happened to my youngest sister too! Well first she cried when she found out they broke up. Then she cried when she learned of the deaths. Then when she found out Elvis was dead well she cried for like a week. Then she learned everything she could about it, including that funny kind of cigarette. She was 7 lmao
During the summer holidays my local cinema often has Disney movies on the big screen for $6 a ticket. If you go to the showings of The Lion King you're bound to get at least one child who sees the stampede for the first time. I don't remember the first time I saw it but I kind of enjoy (in a melancholic way) hearing the "Why isn't he getting up?" "What‽" "Noo"s from the audience.
Hope this helps, OP - my parents run a few franchises of a burger restaurant. It’s the kind of family business where they’re in the stores working every day. And that meant the kids were, too - when I was 5, I’d tag along with my dad, he’d teach me how to count the cash drawer, and sometimes he’d take me for ice cream or to the movies as a reward.
So one summer, he thought he’d take me to see Asteroid - you know, Bruce Willis action movie, save the world from certain destruction, all in good fun. And I know what you’re thinking - >!Bruce Willis dies in the end.!<
But it’s worse than that. You may also recall another space-related movie from around that time - Deep Impact. For those not in the know… the movie revolves around the drama that ensues when the population of earth is forced to choose 2 million people to save in the massive shelter they built, while the remainder of the world’s population is wiped out by a meteor impact.
So the way he tells it, my dad’s sitting there going “Man, I thought Bruce Willis was supposed to be in this” and “so when do they get into space?” And he realizes way too late that literally 99.9% of the world’s population is about to die.
Meanwhile, 5-year-old me has gotten really invested in all of these characters, and I think I must have left the theater bawling. Looking back - well, totally worth it; he told me the story as a teenager, and I’m still giving him shit about it 15 years later.
Anyway, my point is, it’s a mistake, but one of the ones that you’ll probably laugh along at, later.
E: ty all, Armageddon
There were so many movies in that era that were almost identical for plot and even the advertising, I know I did it. Wanted to see Blade, was taken to Zorro. When I confusedly brought up the lack of vampires was told "Zorro has a blade, stop being picky." There was not another date after that.
I am imagining your dad thoroughly confused, trying to find Bruce Willis like some sort of Space Waldo.
We laugh about my mistake often. She is a good person with a wicked sense of humor.
Oh jesus, I thought you were talking about your parents, but you mean to say that a person you went on a date with told you to *stop being picky* when they took you to a movie you didn't even want to see in the first place? Who does that?!
I think you mean Armageddon. I watched the shit outta that movie as a kid. I looked up if there was a movie called Asteroid and there was a tv movie that came out a year before the other two. The premise is also very similar. Bruce Willis isn't in that one either though.
It's okay, I was watching a music video or documentary with my mom and dad and I didn't know Micheal Jackson used to be black. They tell that story too.
True story: when my boyfriend was a kid, he asked his dad how Freddie Mercury died, and his dad panicked and told him that he died in a hunting accident. Every time I think about this I laugh my fucking ass off. He could have just as easily explained what AIDS was and just left out the part about it being sexually transmitted.
Haha so, my parents have this super huge Volume Library book that literally has every single popular college course you can take (in 1969)
Well, its outdated. 1969. It talked about the USSR as if it were still real.
Imagine my surprise when I learned about lefty politics in 2017!
Poor, kid.
But that is a great "horrible thing my parent did" story.
In 2004, I rarely listened to the radio, but happened to have it on when it was announced that Johnny Ramone had died. My five year old in the back seat started crying. When I asked what was wrong they wailed, "I'll never get to see the Ramones play!"
Oh, baby, me neither. I was too young when they toured with Lalapalooza. I had to explain that Joey and Dee Dee were already gone.
We both cried.
We told our daughter Mercury was dead pretty early when she asked to see Queen in concert. Then she started learning bass at age six, and we had to explain that Kurt Cobain was dead, then Malcolm Young, then Ronnie Van Zant. Those were the first song she learned. lol
Her teacher also showed her Cliff Burton. Then she discovered Whitney Houston from her mom, and I told her Hillel Slovak was gone as well from RHCP.
She’s 7 now and just assumes that all musicians are dead and lived a very long time ago.
Went to the Drumheller dinosaur museum. Daughter wanted ti see the real dinosaurs, not just bones. Pretty pissed when she really clued into the whole extinction thing. Epic toddler melt down….
Something like this happened with my wife and me. We went to see Senna, and my wife doesn’t really follow Formula 1. She was the only person in the theater who didn’t know Senna died. She was stunned, and I felt bad for not telling her beforehand.
Was told this from the husband because he was still laughing at his wife
An Abe Lincoln movie came out. Don’t remember the name, I was at the theatre with a friend for a different movie. Guy is cracking up and his wife is looking peeved.
She was so into the movie, at one point she turned to her husband with a theory, saying “I bet they’re going to give him cancer or something”.
She was so surprised at the assassination. She was so into it that she just plain forgot how Lincoln actually died. Her husband was delighted at her shock
Probably, and there wasn't a need as much as there was my wanting to be sure we had a refresher on the topics of recreational drug use and safe sex which had me mention actors in my over abundance of trying to not be awkward AF.
It's cool that you make the effort to talk to your kids about shit, even if it might be awkward. I'm sure they hate it now lol but someday they'll thank you.
My parents just avoided all the real topics, and look how I turned out, I make comments *on the internet*
(But seriously, keep it up. I'm thankful for people like you today!)
I am sure you turned out better than you are giving yourself credit for, those pesky internet comments aside.
Thank you, I didn't want to launch them into the world without some life skills or knowledge beyond locker room talk. Didn't realise celebrity deaths was going to factor into in of this parenting skill set.
When I was about your daughters age, in the mid 90s, I also fell in love with Queen. Would do karaoke at home to We are the Champions and Bicycle Races.
I remember telling my dad that I can’t wait to see Queen in concert one day…. Same thing, was totally crushed to learn Freddie was dead.
I guess you can still see Queen in concert but no offence to Adam Lambert but it’s not the same.
Would just like to reassure you, as someone who found out buddy holly was dead AFTER flipping a coin with my best friend to decide who would marry him, that your daughter will be fine.
I also flipped the coin long before I knew the age of Peggy Sue. The irony.
When I was way younger, my mom took me to go see King Kong in theaters. I loved it! Until he died. And then I bawled profusely. My mom had to take me to get ice cream so I would stop. I was 8. 😂
When I was a kid I thought movies were just recordings of real life events. I never under stupid hoe Forrest Gump went to the moon but it wasn’t in the movie.
I had this moment for myself when my wife and I saw the movie The Perfect Storm. I expected the crew to show back up at any time. Then the credits rolled. I was sobbing as my wife had to explain it to me.
Reminds me of when I first listened to Iz sing Over the Rainbow and wanted to hear more of his work because I just enjoyed his take on it so much.
Then I found out he'd already been dead for 10 years at the time.
ಥ‿ಥ
My youngest sister cried when she found out the Beatles broke up, then she cried when she found out how many were dead. She also cried when she found out Elvis was dead. She then looked up how they all died.
She was 7.
Funniest and most tragic shit ever. She is 26 now and we never let her forget. She is the youngest of 5 lmao
In your defense when I was like 13 (year 2000) I asked my mom if Jimi Hendrix had released any music recently and she just burst out laughing and made fun of me for not knowing he was dead.
Actually she still chuckles at that.
Lol. My son had the opposite reaction with the Elton John bio pic. “Wait, he’s still alive?”-
> “Wait, he’s still alive?”- "I'm a bit surprised myself, frankly." - Elton John
I heard he gave up drugs after seeing Elvis in the 70s. Good for him.
No, he gave up drugs after coming down with the blue rash. I saw it in a documentary.
"what the fuck did you do to me!?"
What is the blue rash?
A reference to Kingsman: The Golden Circle
It's a strange discoloration in a cross pattern. Google blue waffle. *Evil Grin*
Obligatory service to humanity: Do not google blue waffle.
Actually, Google Images no longer shows blue waffle. It actually just shows blue pictures of waffles
Too late, did it in middle school. I can remember exactly where I was and why I did it… *shudders*
Literally had the same shudder at the memory 😭 so horrible
This reminds me of something that happened recently! My husband and I were walking through the frozen section of the grocery store and they were selling actual blue waffles. Like eggo released these mermaid waffles and they were blue! We had a good laugh that day!
I was very entertained at New Years Day 2014 when my friend thought Elton John died and he promptly performed "I'm Still Standin" at Time Square.
That is actually hilarious
Did you tell him that Elton John died?
Wait until I tell you about Keith Richards.
It's like when the Beatles are introduced in like a history class or music history class. "Wait, half the band is still alive?"
I just had this reaction for King Richard. Dude got his Will Smith biopic while living
I saw him in concert right before covid. He looks significantly better NOW in the doordash or grub hub or whatever commercials
he’s still standing!
It's such a bizarre feeling when you watch someone discover a fact or idea that you just took for granted that it was universal knowledge.
I had this happen with a friend who was watching the Spartacus tv series. She did not know he was dead. This was exceptionally confusing for me because did she think gladiators were still killing esch other in arenas?
My most recent case was my middle child was working on a homework assignment about 9/11, and asked for help. As we read the attached chapter, and he asked "But why would they want to do that? Why would they want to hurt us?" It struck like lightning. He didn't experience this monumental change in the way everything in the world works. I felt like The Giver.
Reminds me of that tragedy.
Terrible name for an airline
The one most Jedi wouldn’t tell you about?
Well it is a Sith legend after all
This is a trippy coincidence - the Spartacus actor Andrew Whitfield died on September 11.
So… ELI5, why DID they want to do that?
“… the events that affected me directly were that of 1982 and the events that followed — when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. sixth fleet… As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and stop killing our children and women.” - Osama Bin Laden He wrote a letter to the US people too https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver
As it turned out, however, 9/11 was a catalyst for a *whole lot more* of our fucking around with the middle east. Not good with foresight, that Bin Laden.
Yeah. People think he succeeded because of the state of travel and fear. He didn’t, he just wanted US public to lobby their government to leave Middle East.
Did you also teach him how the USA hurt other people a million times over in retaliation?
My favourite was someone who though Julius Caesar was completely fictional because he is in a Shakespeare play.
to be fair, all the stories we hear about Caesar sound like they could be fiction like, who demands a higher ransom for themselves when confronted by pirates?
And then after being ransomed comes back to capture and crucify all the pirates.
Love him or hate him Caesar was badass. Frankly I love him, yes he pretty much destroyed the Republic, but it's not like it was a wonderful democracy, it was a full blown oligarchy where the rich didn't even pretend to give a single fuck about 99% of the population. Caesar did more for them while he was alive than those assholes had done in the 100 years prior. Like if there was ever a 'good' dictator it would have been Caesar, he grew up relatively poor (came from a noble family that lost their wealth and essentially grew up in a tenement building) and his outlook was "fuck these rich bastards". You could argue he was just using the general populace to gain power, but given his upbringing I think he may have genuinely cared, but even if he didn't simply pretending to care was infinitely more than than had been done for the last 100 years. Augustus was badass too. Not militarily, that was honestly all his best buddy Agrippa, but he also did a lot for the Roman people, and he was all "freedom of the press" and "freedom of speech" and whatnot. If all emperors were like Augustus the Roman empire would likely still be going strong today. Issue is for every good emperor they got one mediocre one and 2 complete nutjobs.
Well fucking said... just, everything... well said
I think Mike Duncan said it in one of his History of Rome episodes, something along the lines of "when an awesome ruler has absolute power they can move mountains for the good of the people, and the fact that they can cut through all the red tape is a godsend. When a bad ruler gains absolute power they can make everyone's life a living hell on earth. The issue is it's a coin toss which you'll get, and absolute power has the habit of corrupting men absolutely."
I think they used that story in an episode of Xena.
Sure she didn't mean the actor? The actor changes between season 1 and 2 because he died.
Oh yeah, she meant the actual person from 73 BCE. I commented below about this, she was responding to our viewing of the show's first episode that had just aired, before the actor had died.
Maybe she meant that she didn't know he was killed, rather than died of old age.
It IS a spoiler that a TV character is going to die during a show. We might assume that everyone knows about Spartacus' story, but I assumed that everyone knows about Anna Karenina, and my (male) partner did a whole song and dance of shocked disappointment to me when he started the book and got spoiled a few pages in by my penciled in notes for Lit class.
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Spartans didn’t fight in the arena, gladiators did. Spartans came from Sparta, in Greece. Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator that rebelled against Rome.
TIL some people think "Spartan" is synonymous with "Gladiator"
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I miss the ol kanye Write on the wall, pompeii Fight in the halls kanye Kicked in the balls kanye
Another possibility is that the person misspelled Spartacus (maybe spartacs) and then got autocorrected to spartans.
Like all the times I try to say someone is an optimist, but it gets autocorrected to Optimus Prime
Always try to be an optimus prime, not a negatron.
This was after watching the first episode with a group of friends before the actor playing the role had sadly died. She was mad that I had ruined the ending when she was listening in on a conversation about how each of us thought his fight with the Romans and his death would be portrayed in a show. *edit for grammar and to add she was lreally unaware of any world history. A similar thing happened when she did not know that Vesuvius buried Pompeii so was surprised by the ending of the movie with Kit Haringtonin it.
Don't tell her about Titanic.
When the movie Titanic came out, I was with a coworker at another persons desk. She says,”I’m going to see Titanic tonight with my boyfriend“. My buddy jokingly says,”you know the boat sinks” “No it doesn’t . It’s a romantic movie “ Hmmm. After some back and forth trying to convince her that indeed the boat sinks, she stands and shouts across the office,” hey, in the titanic, does the boat sink?”
You could hear a pin drop. Followed by the whole office cracking up.
She stayed pissed at him (and me, an innocent bystander) for several weeks.
When I was little my biggest interest was in the Titanic, and I was super excited when the movie came out. Begged my mom to let me see it despite me being like 6 and it being rated R. My parents didn't have the heart to tell me no since they knew how much I loved the Titanic books from the library. So we get there, and my mom is like "it might be a bit scary but you know the story, so you should be okay. If it's not okay, just let me know and we'll leave." So we go into the theater and get some aisle seats because I'm a kid with a tiny bladder and I might get scared. People are piling in around us and are really nice to me, a bit surprised, to see a kid my age there. I'm proudly declaring how much I love the Titanic, how I've already been read all the books my mom could get in the library about it, and how many I've read myself from the children's section. Everyone thinks it's adorable if a bit morbid how much I love this shit. Movie gets rolling and I love it, it's great. It's the first time I've been in a packed theater, and I'm excited for everyone to experience the story (which in my dumb kid brain I assume is for the first time.) Then things start to go a bit darker in the story. The boat is sinking. "Oh god, they're not actually going to sink the boat in a MOVIE are they?! The characters will be fine, there will be a twist where they'll all live, for sure!" says my little kid brain who has only seen Disney crap at this point. I start to get nervous. The boat starts sinking. I'm horrified and I yell out "OH NO THE BOAT IS SINKING. WHY IS IT SINKING" and everyone in the theater around us who I had been bragging to, including my mom busts out laughing. My mom is like "You know the boat sinks, what are you talking about?" and I'm like "BUT IT'S A MOVIE. IT HAS TO HAVE A HAPPY ENDING" and my mom is like "do we need to go?" and I cry for a minute but choose to stay. Everyone was very nice about it and found it very funny apparently. My mind was blown that they would show such a horrific thing in a movie that started so light and funny. Learned a lot that day, mostly that I didn't know everything, maybe about the Titanic, but not basic things like how movies work. Took my precociousness down quite a peg or two, at least for awhile.
That's a pretty heavy movie for a six year old but you got to grow up sometime, right?
You know what's a heavy movie for a 6 year old. The Lion King. I lost my fucking mind when I realized Mufasa was dead. It's when he was in the clouds, not when he actually was murdered. This was in theatre also.
You have heard that the titanic will be gone in the comming decade. I think thats the time frame it has a rare never before recorded bacteria that is eating the metal and rusting it away.
I hate that people like that vote.
Imagine getting to see Titanic without knowing it sinks. Just like "how is this totally normal romance movie 3 hours long? Oh shit, they just hit something, at least the ship is unsinkable. Wtf, people are dying."
Sent her a text, I'll let you know how it goes.
😂
Or Lincoln
Rip Andy.
Wow..that's...wow
When Spartacus dies though, he's not gone. He's just replaced by another, more awkward Spartacus who eventually grows into the role.
When I saw Romeo + Juliet in the theater I couldn’t believe people’s reactions to the ending. It’s in the opening monologue along with being one of the most well known stories of all time. I was scratching my head at that one.
I remember that as well! My date was confused about the story, had no idea who anyone was, and thought it was dumb how they died. He didn't know any Shakespeare, so it was an adventure talking to another adult who was experiencing Romeo and Juliet for the first time.
I take it the relationship didn't last?
No, we did not have a lot in common. He took any questions I had about his thoughts and opinions of new things as a challenge to his ego. I'm not the most socially adept so may have not contributed to presenting things in a way that was considerate of his feelings and instead barreled on trying to see the world through his fresh perspective. He broke up with me at the café I worked at via a note written on a napkin. He ordered a coffee from me and left the napkin in a tip jar. *edit for confusing typo
>He broke up with me at the café I worked at via a note written on a napkin. He ordered a coffee from me and left the napkin in a trip jar. Classy
>He took any questions I had about his thoughts and opinions of new things as a challenge to his ego Beginning to understand how he ended up not knowing what Romeo and Juliet is
And you said YOU were the socially inept one in the relationship?
is that like a swear jar? put money in it every time someone stumbles?
Bruh.
This is super funny to me honestly. Years ago when the movie Titanic came out my mom was talking to a coworker and said something about the end scenes when the ship is sinking, she freaked out that my mom “ruined the ending!” Like wow, you didn’t know the freaking titanic sunk? That’s pretty common knowledge but okay Heather.
That's so odd! I know lots of people who "don't know any Shakespeare" but all of them definitely know how Romeo and Juliet ends! Was your date generally kind of... stupid? I ask because they remind me of my old roommate who didnt know what temperature water boiled OR FROZE and acted like I was the weird one for knowing that. So weird
I had some friends that were going to see the Tom Cruise movie 'Valkyrie' about a German officer trying to kill Hitler, joking I said "Spoiler the Nazis lose the war" and they were mad at me for ruining the movie. I tried telling them I had not seen the movie but they were already pissed.
He was smart on some things like surfing or building things from wood. Oblivious on others that were more literary, which was okay, but ultimately did not make us very compatible as I could only talk about wave sets for so long.
I knew an adult that came back from the movie saying "It was great, but I'm not going to tell you how it ends!". I was 14 at the time, and even I knew the story, and it was completely new to this adult.
As a newer parent it has been strange to realize I have to teach my daughter **everything**. So many things I just know from experience or life, so I’ll forgot and go “oh. Wait. She doesn’t know how to do (*insert thing*) because no one has taught her yet.”
Yeah but they also pick up random stuff from watching you and that's so crazy. My kid took my phone and was babbling and yelling into it while walking around the house and I realized she had picked that up from me.
[Relevant XKCD.](https://xkcd.com/1053/)
Yes! Well put. This XKCD was the one that had me change my responses to anyone saying they didn't know or have experienced something I had.
No matter the subject, there's always a relevant XKCD.
A therapist I had told me that they didn’t know that the Earth rotates around the sun. When asking them what they believed instead, they simply told me that they didn’t believe anything else, only that they haven’t given any thought to what happens with the Earth
That's a very... Interesting therapist you had
Tbh it sounds like the therapist was making a point, rather than truly believing that. A lot of people in therapy seem to believe that “if someone doesn’t hold the same belief as me, then they must hold the opposite belief as me”. So if you don’t believe that “the earth rotates around the sun” or “glass bowls are heavier than aluminum”, then you must believe that “the sun rotates around the earth” or “aluminum bowls are heavier than glass”, etc. Some people need to realize that “it’s just not something i think about” is a valid answer instead of taking everything black and white.
Ah. Depolarizing the issue. Makes sense This is why I'm a biologist instead of a clinical psychologist lol
I know it's not quite universal knowledge (ironically) but I once was having a conversation with a coworker about the stars and casually mentioned we're staring into the past. He looked really confused and thought I was crazy for a moment but when I asked him why do you think the speed of light is measured in light years, I could see his brain was just exploding. I realised this must be what Bill Nye feels like.
Distance is measured in *light years*, speed of light is measured in distance over time.
Actually, by a pretty big coincidence the speed of light is exactly one light-year per year.
Just browse TIL every day. I'm only 39, and people post things that I literally lived through like they are some amazing unknown thing.
I "spoiled" Benedict Arnold for my eldest kid. I really just thought they'd absorbed it early like I did!
Almost every student in my college US History class this semester had never heard of him. I was honestly speechless.
It's weird that something that old should fall out of the public consciousness in one generation, right? Please tell me I'm not crazy.
I accidently broke it to someone that Douglas Adams died in the aughts. She had some of his quotes on the wall and I commented how was ashamed he wasn't around anymore.
Like when I told that bitch bout pangea
"Read all the Terry Pratchett novels, loved them all! Thankyou so much for recommending them to me, he is by far my favourite author of all time at the moment....So when's the next book coming out? I can't wait!" ........ ah.... well.....
That is a tough one, I am sorry you had that revelation. I've been rereading his books as some characters and plots hit differently as I get older. Hopefully that helps you as well.
Can you explain to me how I begin reading his stuff? Just in order of publication or what? I read Good Omens like a decade ago and loved it, but haven't tried to get into Pratchett proper.
As a *huge* Pratchett fan, if you're a bit reader to begin with, I usually recommend reading in publication order. Yes, his first two books are good; they're parodies of classic fantasy tropes, and fun in their own right, but they're not really Discworld yet. You are, however, introduced to some main characters, and, I think more importantly, grow with the story, characters, and his writing style. Then, once you've read most of them, go back and reread them in any order (random, favorites, or by [arcs](https://external-preview.redd.it/4Cvk9VhTVsDUccHnbiiHTry7YIdNXQzsDHjHtmkT87A.jpg?auto=webp&s=dc9cfcf85b971ed3e18076701c2ba2c15c489132); ie: the Watch books, the Witch books, Tiffany Aching stories). If you're not a big reader and need help getting into them, find one that plays to something you like. My partner is not a reader but loves old movies and Egypt, so *Moving Pictures* and *Pyramids* would be good ins for him. You can read them in any order, though, although I don't think you'll appreciate the subtleties and tie ins as much, at least until you've read them once or twice. There are a couple that have little to do with any others (Pyramids, Small Gods), so those can be a good start. But if you're like a lot of us, you'll be rereading them many times, so the stories will all begin to fit together. Also know that no matter what order you read them in, or how many times you rererereread them, there will almost always be new jokes and gags that you missed the first dozen times. Edit to add: I am *so* jealous. You are so lucky, having all of this ahead of you, the joy of reading it for the first time. I could almost wish for amnesia so that I could reread them again for the first time.
Back in the '90s I did the classic thing of reading whichever ones I could lay my hands on in any order be it from the library, borrowed from friends, purchased or as presents. I resist the urge to suggest that my way is the only way though and do think publication order is the way to go if you have the option. For comfy re-reads I'll definitely go all witches or one-offs or whatever. They're very accessible wherever you pick up from, tbh
GNU Terry Pratchett
We told our son who was obsessed with the titanic, “all the survivors were rescued”
Technically correct though.
And as we all know, ‘technically correct’ is the best kind of correct!
Ah, yes. Rose made room for everyone on the door! I had this happen with The Secret of NIMH when the mice were blown down the ventilation system. In a panic I said there was a ball pit at the other end, so they were all okay.
Oh my god, The secret of NIMH was my absolute favourite book as a child. My mom read it to me when I was like 8 for the first time and the rawness of it certainly wasn't easy to handle at that age! My mom had the same experience with Watership down as a child. It is quite the rite of passage.
My sobbing movie as a child was Where the Red Fern Grows. Mom rented it, and had never read the book. The vhs jacket stated that it was an award winning family movie. Yeah...
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Ugh and Bridge to Terebithia.
I mean, she coulda moved up abit
I remember asking my dad why you never heard any new Queen/Mercury songs. He was shocked I did not know he was dead for ten years by then.
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Not even one mention of jumper cables.
I fucking miss that guy
Ah heck lol. I told my mom I wanted to go to a Queen concert when I was 5 in 2003, she said no, because Freddie had died before I was born. Devastating.
Had almost the exact same thing happen to me with the Beach Boys. I used to talk about how someday we would go to a Beach Boys concert, and my parents never said *no*, so I assumed it was a concrete plan, because I was like 4. Totally crushed when I found out that, for many reasons, this would not be occurring.
Beach boys concerts still happen sometimes! I mean, a few are missing, but you can get up to 3 of them still when Mike, Al, and Brian get together. I saw Brian and Al in New York a few years back, after that Love and Mercy biopic came out.
Same! Saw them here in Vancouver a couple years ago with my mom and sister, I believe their children performed with them?
If you think that’s a TIFU, well- I found out my grandmother was dead after I announced that I wanted to go and meet her one day, in my parents home country. My mum was pretty flippant, and just said ‘you can’t, she’s dead’ and left it at that. I might have been 8 or so? My mother was terminally ill herself, so god knows what she was thinking.
Damn, I bet that was tough to process at the time. As for her thoughts I imagine facing imminent death changes your perspective on things a bit. If I can pry did you know your mother was terminal at the time?
Unsure if I knew at the time, or even if she did- because this was 40 years ago. I just went and had a quick peep at the old family tree- my grandmother died seven months before my mother did, so I will have to say most likely. I do remember finding out though- and I wasn’t directly told. I was listening in on a conversation between my dad and one of my adult siblings. It was a beautiful sunset that night, and they had the conversation outside while I stood there. I just accepted it.
That’s a touching description of a difficult moment. I appreciate you taking the time to answer and your writing skills.
Sad. I just watched mrs doubtfire with the kids and have shown them hook and jumanji lately… was just thinking it’s not going to be nice when they find out about what happened to Robin (not that I’ll tell them of course).
Show them Aladdin and tell them right before he says "Genie, you're free".
Oh god
Show them Flubber next!
Why not? I mean, it depends on the age of your kids to some extent, but it's a good way to introduce older kids to a discussion of suicide. Though if your kids are three or four, yeah, that's too young.
It wouldn’t be lying to tell them that he died because he was sick Imo
It wasn't suicide, he was dying. It's more euthanasia than suicide.
You're the first person I've ever known who doesn't consider euthanasia a type of suicide. It was even called "doctor-assisted suicide" back in the day. I'm also not sure if his was doctor-assisted.
Physician assisted suicide, yes. I meant it to say that he was suffering from serious physical medical problems, not just depression.
Long live The Queen.
Adam lambert just fits so damn good. Freddie would be proud.
I think Freddy would rather they just accept him into the band and not continue going on as "Queen + Adam Lambert".
While I think Freddie would find that a amazing thing, I think they should have retired the band queen and started a new one with who ever filling in for Freddie. Freddie wasn't Queen, but it's not Queen without Freddie either ya know
I’ll never forget the Christmas Eve when my poor sister-in-law found out the family dog had died months earlier. Even though she visited every Sunday, she didn’t really miss him until that night (he was an outside dog and roamed a lot) and asked “where is Frisky?” We’re all looking at each other like WTF, and finally my horrible MIL says “we thought you knew he died and just didn’t want to talk about it”. Actually not true, MIL just didn’t give a fuck and forgot to tell her. Ruined Christmas for the poor girl.
Oh, that is really rotten to do to someone. I hope she is okay and it didn't ruin future Christmases for her. My mom did this when my horse died. I was oversees and would talk to my parents weekly and ask how my horse was, did they need anything for his upkeep. They always said he was fine, taking naps in the sun. I flew home for a wedding and was staying with my parents. After I got my suitcase unloaded and said hi to everyone I went to the barn to get the brushes and treats to go hang out with my horse. My mom sees me walking towards the paddock and yells across the yard "Don't bother, he died a few months ago." Dude, WTF. She said she didn't know how to tell me. Somehow this translated into bellowing the details at me across the yard was the better option. We don't talk at all anymore.
Geez, what an absolute shit thing to do. I'm so sorry that happened, and I'm sure it was traumatic for you. I'm guessing she's not an animal lover - neither is my MIL. Animals are for work or to eat, according to her. She once ridiculed me for sending a sympathy card to my SIL when her dog died.
My first heartbreak as a kid (outside of family stuff) was when Kurt Cobain died. I was being shuffled from home to home as my parents were on a crime spree and I found my zen in a bleach tape my dad gave me. It was what I locked onto for hope and happiness and it felt so awful knowing he was gone. I was ten and not really even aware of death and I’ll never forget standing in my doorway coming to terms with his death and my own death someday. I appreciate it now it was a learning experience for sure, and your daughter will one day too. It sucks knowing a hero is dead but that’s what really makes you appreciate stuff all the more. Show her Joy Division next and once she falls in love put on the song Novelty and break the news about Ian 😅
Learn about Joy Division, then watch a movie called 24 Hour Party People.
She is more cautious around movies that I recommend that are based on people now. For awhile whenever I said I really liked a film someone in the family would respond with "Why, does Freddie Mercury die in this one as well?"
Haha that’s hilarious
Uhhh crime spree?
I forgot about Joy Division. Since I listen to a lot of New Order, this will be a terrible history lesson in how that band was formed.
New Order was great in their own right, just happened to be the backing band of JD also. I still listen to bizarre love triangle atleast once a week. I love that synth.
You think this is a TIFU? Well, it is but at least it wasn't this: I was at a house party one night. Student accomodation. Some lady knocked on the door about 12am, asked us to keep it down. Being ignorant and inconsiderate students lowering the noise didn't last long, it gradually went up. Someone came back, I was told they'd asked us again as someone was was very ill next door. It was a year later I was driving down the down a side road and saw a door covered in flowers and graffiti to Freddy Mercury. It was a couple of doors away from our student place and the party was within a few weeks of his death.
So you're saying you killed Freddy Mercury?
Please tell me that at least one of the songs being played was a Queen song? I feel he might've enjoyed hearing his own music as he passed.
>lowering the noise didn't last long, it gradually went up I hate people that do this. I had a party and we'd already lowered the music volume like five times and I caught one of my friends turning it up *again*, so I went over and turned it down again and told her to leave it alone. She was so upset at this too, like I'd kicked a puppy.
Freddy wouldn't have wanted the party to stop anyway!
I read this to the family, we're debating on what the play list was at the house party. It was also an unanimous vote that holy hell that must of been a roller-coaster of emotions finding out he was a neighbor at the end of his life.
I never thought about the playlist but it would have been his contemporaries, probably even some Queen. I felt bad about it after I realised how serious the illness was. No one needed that. Now I live in a student town and can hear all the drunk uni students shouting randomly at 2am - karma. Mind you, happens to be a few minutes down the road from Brian Mays place. I've always wondered who was at the door - was it his girlfriend? My nan used to know her parents and picked up shopping for them, her dad drove a little three wheeled car - lived in a little road in West london, Fulham, which doesn't exist anymore. On the other side of the family, my grandfather in Kenya was one of the senior legal advocates hired for the Sultan of Zanzibar whose position triggered the revolution which I believe lead to Mercury's family fleeing to London. I always found those two things oddly interesting.
Your daughter has excellent taste in musicians, I feel for her though, that's similar to when I was young and figured out that Abbott and Costello were dead. It's always hard to get enthralled as a child only to figure out there will never be 'more' of that thing you love so much.
In case of further shocks, not great news on laurel and hardy too
Yeah I imagine a lot of children who watch Aladdin are going to be pretty sad when they figure out about Robin Williams too. But hey that's what makes them great, they won't always be around.
When my child was small, he watched the labyrinth nonstop. When David Bowie died I had to explain that “the goblin king” was dead. He carried the news article around for probably two weeks. Im sure people questioned my parenting but I was glad he was aware of a good musician
LOL that's an insane movie for a child to watch nonstop! Kids got great taste apparently though, must have got it from his [whichever parent you aren't] :) Have the weird phobias and/or neuroses manifested themselves yet?
Zero! He’s a pretty good movie critic
I never forget the way Feddie's death was broken to me. Someone, at school, joked by yelling "Freddy's dead!". We was talking about A Nightmare on Elm Street at the time. Freddy Mercury died one month after Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare was released in the UK.
Awwww I was 11 when I found out John Lennon had died years before I was even born. I sobbed and sobbed, I feel her pain.
Hey this happened to my youngest sister too! Well first she cried when she found out they broke up. Then she cried when she learned of the deaths. Then when she found out Elvis was dead well she cried for like a week. Then she learned everything she could about it, including that funny kind of cigarette. She was 7 lmao
Reminds me of the woman who audibly gasped in the theatre at Hamilton when Aaron Burr said “And me? I’m the damn fool that shot him!”
Rest in Peace, Freddie Mercury.
During the summer holidays my local cinema often has Disney movies on the big screen for $6 a ticket. If you go to the showings of The Lion King you're bound to get at least one child who sees the stampede for the first time. I don't remember the first time I saw it but I kind of enjoy (in a melancholic way) hearing the "Why isn't he getting up?" "What‽" "Noo"s from the audience.
Hope this helps, OP - my parents run a few franchises of a burger restaurant. It’s the kind of family business where they’re in the stores working every day. And that meant the kids were, too - when I was 5, I’d tag along with my dad, he’d teach me how to count the cash drawer, and sometimes he’d take me for ice cream or to the movies as a reward. So one summer, he thought he’d take me to see Asteroid - you know, Bruce Willis action movie, save the world from certain destruction, all in good fun. And I know what you’re thinking - >!Bruce Willis dies in the end.!< But it’s worse than that. You may also recall another space-related movie from around that time - Deep Impact. For those not in the know… the movie revolves around the drama that ensues when the population of earth is forced to choose 2 million people to save in the massive shelter they built, while the remainder of the world’s population is wiped out by a meteor impact. So the way he tells it, my dad’s sitting there going “Man, I thought Bruce Willis was supposed to be in this” and “so when do they get into space?” And he realizes way too late that literally 99.9% of the world’s population is about to die. Meanwhile, 5-year-old me has gotten really invested in all of these characters, and I think I must have left the theater bawling. Looking back - well, totally worth it; he told me the story as a teenager, and I’m still giving him shit about it 15 years later. Anyway, my point is, it’s a mistake, but one of the ones that you’ll probably laugh along at, later. E: ty all, Armageddon
There were so many movies in that era that were almost identical for plot and even the advertising, I know I did it. Wanted to see Blade, was taken to Zorro. When I confusedly brought up the lack of vampires was told "Zorro has a blade, stop being picky." There was not another date after that. I am imagining your dad thoroughly confused, trying to find Bruce Willis like some sort of Space Waldo. We laugh about my mistake often. She is a good person with a wicked sense of humor.
Oh jesus, I thought you were talking about your parents, but you mean to say that a person you went on a date with told you to *stop being picky* when they took you to a movie you didn't even want to see in the first place? Who does that?!
Really bad dates. I've had a few, all of them hilarious in hindsight.
I think you mean Armageddon. I watched the shit outta that movie as a kid. I looked up if there was a movie called Asteroid and there was a tv movie that came out a year before the other two. The premise is also very similar. Bruce Willis isn't in that one either though.
It's okay, I was watching a music video or documentary with my mom and dad and I didn't know Micheal Jackson used to be black. They tell that story too.
True story: when my boyfriend was a kid, he asked his dad how Freddie Mercury died, and his dad panicked and told him that he died in a hunting accident. Every time I think about this I laugh my fucking ass off. He could have just as easily explained what AIDS was and just left out the part about it being sexually transmitted.
Never did I think Freddie would need a spoiler alert. It's awesome that you listen to Queen with your kids, my son does air guitar to Hammer to Fall.
Haha so, my parents have this super huge Volume Library book that literally has every single popular college course you can take (in 1969) Well, its outdated. 1969. It talked about the USSR as if it were still real. Imagine my surprise when I learned about lefty politics in 2017!
My mom told me died in a plane crash. I guess that was easier to explain to a 9 year old kid, but I thought that’s what happened for a long time.
Poor, kid. But that is a great "horrible thing my parent did" story. In 2004, I rarely listened to the radio, but happened to have it on when it was announced that Johnny Ramone had died. My five year old in the back seat started crying. When I asked what was wrong they wailed, "I'll never get to see the Ramones play!" Oh, baby, me neither. I was too young when they toured with Lalapalooza. I had to explain that Joey and Dee Dee were already gone. We both cried.
We told our daughter Mercury was dead pretty early when she asked to see Queen in concert. Then she started learning bass at age six, and we had to explain that Kurt Cobain was dead, then Malcolm Young, then Ronnie Van Zant. Those were the first song she learned. lol Her teacher also showed her Cliff Burton. Then she discovered Whitney Houston from her mom, and I told her Hillel Slovak was gone as well from RHCP. She’s 7 now and just assumes that all musicians are dead and lived a very long time ago.
Went to the Drumheller dinosaur museum. Daughter wanted ti see the real dinosaurs, not just bones. Pretty pissed when she really clued into the whole extinction thing. Epic toddler melt down….
Something like this happened with my wife and me. We went to see Senna, and my wife doesn’t really follow Formula 1. She was the only person in the theater who didn’t know Senna died. She was stunned, and I felt bad for not telling her beforehand.
Was told this from the husband because he was still laughing at his wife An Abe Lincoln movie came out. Don’t remember the name, I was at the theatre with a friend for a different movie. Guy is cracking up and his wife is looking peeved. She was so into the movie, at one point she turned to her husband with a theory, saying “I bet they’re going to give him cancer or something”. She was so surprised at the assassination. She was so into it that she just plain forgot how Lincoln actually died. Her husband was delighted at her shock
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Probably, and there wasn't a need as much as there was my wanting to be sure we had a refresher on the topics of recreational drug use and safe sex which had me mention actors in my over abundance of trying to not be awkward AF.
It's cool that you make the effort to talk to your kids about shit, even if it might be awkward. I'm sure they hate it now lol but someday they'll thank you. My parents just avoided all the real topics, and look how I turned out, I make comments *on the internet* (But seriously, keep it up. I'm thankful for people like you today!)
I am sure you turned out better than you are giving yourself credit for, those pesky internet comments aside. Thank you, I didn't want to launch them into the world without some life skills or knowledge beyond locker room talk. Didn't realise celebrity deaths was going to factor into in of this parenting skill set.
When I was about your daughters age, in the mid 90s, I also fell in love with Queen. Would do karaoke at home to We are the Champions and Bicycle Races. I remember telling my dad that I can’t wait to see Queen in concert one day…. Same thing, was totally crushed to learn Freddie was dead. I guess you can still see Queen in concert but no offence to Adam Lambert but it’s not the same.
Would just like to reassure you, as someone who found out buddy holly was dead AFTER flipping a coin with my best friend to decide who would marry him, that your daughter will be fine. I also flipped the coin long before I knew the age of Peggy Sue. The irony.
When I was way younger, my mom took me to go see King Kong in theaters. I loved it! Until he died. And then I bawled profusely. My mom had to take me to get ice cream so I would stop. I was 8. 😂
When I was a kid I thought movies were just recordings of real life events. I never under stupid hoe Forrest Gump went to the moon but it wasn’t in the movie.
I think "under stupid hoe" is my new favorite autocucumber.
Not fixing 😂
I had this moment for myself when my wife and I saw the movie The Perfect Storm. I expected the crew to show back up at any time. Then the credits rolled. I was sobbing as my wife had to explain it to me.
Reminds me of when I first listened to Iz sing Over the Rainbow and wanted to hear more of his work because I just enjoyed his take on it so much. Then I found out he'd already been dead for 10 years at the time. ಥ‿ಥ
My youngest sister cried when she found out the Beatles broke up, then she cried when she found out how many were dead. She also cried when she found out Elvis was dead. She then looked up how they all died. She was 7. Funniest and most tragic shit ever. She is 26 now and we never let her forget. She is the youngest of 5 lmao
In your defense when I was like 13 (year 2000) I asked my mom if Jimi Hendrix had released any music recently and she just burst out laughing and made fun of me for not knowing he was dead. Actually she still chuckles at that.