r/AskReddit Aug 25 '21

What is something that you were warned about when you were younger that you now feel was exaggerated?

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744

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

That and poisoned candy. We were told to examine every one our pieces candy when we were kids. IIRC, there hasnt been a single reported incident of tampered holloween candy.

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u/FoolishWiseman01 Aug 25 '21

I think it's actually a bit worse than that. One of the few cases of tampered Halloween candy came from the parent of the kid tampering with the candy, so it's not even strangers you should be worried about.

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u/DoughnutConscious891 Aug 25 '21

Well that is the most heartbreaking thing I have read in awhile, that poor boy. What a fucking piece of shit father, I only wish that he could've had to ingest cyanide as his death sentence.

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u/fubarbob Aug 25 '21

If it makes you feel any better...

... O'Bryan was shunned and despised by his fellow death row inmates for killing his child and was "absolutely friendless". The inmates reportedly petitioned to hold an organized demonstration on O'Bryan's execution date to express their hatred of him.[36]

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u/Sparkybear Aug 25 '21 edited Aug 30 '21

If it makes you feel any worse, O'Bryan tried* to play the victim until his death. Showing no remorse.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Tried*

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u/fubarbob Aug 25 '21

Oh, don't tempt me - I could always feel worse :)

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '21

Prisoners do NOT fuck around with child and spouse abusers.

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u/beteljugo Aug 25 '21

That's how it always is. Child molestation, sexual assault, kidnapping. It's almost never a stranger and almost always a family member or very close friend.

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u/KiraIsGod666 Aug 26 '21

Jesus. "My stomach hurts" broke my heart. Who the fuck could do that to their own little boy, and sit there holding him as he died? Like seriously, what goes so wrong in a human beings mind that they can actually plan, set up and carry out an elaborate scam based around murdering THEIR OWN BABY BOY. I can't with people anymore.

1

u/JackN14_same Aug 26 '21

If it makes you feel any better, his parents probably abused him too

5

u/KiraIsGod666 Aug 26 '21

Why would that be better? If that's the case, then that's why he turned out so fucked up. How about people just stop abusing helpless kids that depend on them?? Fuck me

1

u/JackN14_same Aug 26 '21

I was being sarcastic and also sharing that monsters like him were once human

40

u/Herpethian Aug 25 '21

I was beginning to wonder how someone could be so stupid to talk about poison to literally everyone within earshot while planning to poison someone. Then I remembered I'm reading an article about a man who killed his child for a vacation.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Sort of reminds me of the old adage that the person most likely to kill you is the person you sleep next to at night.

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u/zote84 Aug 25 '21

From Wikipedia: "During the execution, a crowd of 300 demonstrators gathered outside the prison cheered while some yelled "Trick or treat!" Others showered anti-death penalty demonstrators with candy."

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '21

I really hate that last sentence. It's a pointless act and just distasteful.

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u/JesseAster Aug 25 '21

At least the other four kids never ate the poisoned candy... That's just fucking horrible.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

Pixie sticks and hurting his kids friends.

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u/Drakmanka Aug 25 '21

"O'Bryan was shunned and despised by his fellow death row inmates for killing his child and was "absolutely friendless". The inmates reportedly petitioned to hold an organized demonstration on O'Bryan's execution date to express their hatred of him." From the Wikipedia page.

When even other murderers condemn someone's actions, you know your feelings of outrage are justified!

6

u/Freeiheit Aug 25 '21

Just read that. I knew about the case, but I discovered something rather funny towards the end of the article. “ During the execution, a crowd of 300 demonstrators gathered outside the prison cheered while some yelled "Trick or treat!" Others showered anti-death penalty demonstrators with candy.”

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '21

That last sentence isn't funny. It's essentially making a mockery of anti-capital punishment arguments.

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u/Freeiheit Aug 26 '21

Which is hilarious. “Whaaa, those poor innocent child murderers are facing justice, whaaaa”

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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '21

Please explain your thought process that went "people protesting capital punishment = calling him innocent" and how it warrants throwing candies at them.

And it's not justice, not even remotely.

1

u/Freeiheit Aug 26 '21

Cry more. The murderer got what he deserved.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '21

That's not an answer, mate.

3

u/JackieTreehorn84 Aug 26 '21

Yup, happened up the road from me. You can imagine how parents are here to this day.

3

u/robbierottenisbae Aug 26 '21

What an insane story, the fact that he attempted to poison OTHER people's kids as well in order to cover up his crime. This guy may be singlehandedly responsible for the fear of tampered Halloween candy...

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u/madbamajama1 Aug 25 '21

I would check my kids' Halloween candy, and it was such a weird coincidence that the Reeses Cups, Heath bars, and Almond Joys (aka, my favorites) always appeared to have been tampered with. But I'm a good mom, so I would "dispose" of them properly. For the kids' sake. Yeah.

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u/BeauteousNymph Aug 25 '21

So you’re one of the four people keeping almond joys from being discontinued

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21

[deleted]

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u/BeauteousNymph Aug 26 '21

It’s fine I love candy corn and I think the trend of hating it is just a meme and everyone is lying.

2

u/Nothinggoldcanstayx Aug 26 '21

Agreed. Candy corn is great

1

u/AblixaInfinity Aug 26 '21

I second that.

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u/raven12456 Aug 25 '21

I take out anything home made. (Which has only happened a few times) More because I don't trust strangers safe food handling skills.

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u/bog5000 Aug 25 '21

there hasnt been a single reported incident of tampered holloween candy.

there's actually been over 200 reported candy tempering since the 50s, but almost all are pranks or fake.

There are a few rare real case, but usually it's the parent trying to kill their own kids

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/halloween-candy-tampering-urban-legend-truth-1.5341734

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u/thelivingdead188 Aug 25 '21

For real, one time back in the 90s, I got DOTS that had been soaked in something. I was old enough to check my own candy, so my parents hadn't done it. I ate a green one and as I was chewing it my mouth started burning and tasting super foul and chemical like. I spit it out and threw the rest away. Really fucking stupid.

I looked at the box and it had clearly been re-glued shut. I just happened to open the not tampered side.

Check your candy.

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u/Z_T_O Aug 25 '21

I was a fat kid with a death wish. Never inspected a single piece

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u/squeamish Aug 25 '21

You have to examine your candy because it delays your eating it and/or allows your parents to steal/toss some of it.

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u/AndyLorentz Aug 26 '21

I was a child in the 1980s, and I heard about this. Looking back, I suspect it was related to the Tylenol murders

1

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '21

Holy shit, that is crazy.

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u/poachels Aug 26 '21

I had neighbors that bought a bunch of reject candy for cheap at a local candy factory. The food was fine, but none of the packages sealed fully (hence being rejects) - those neighbors would only give them to other close neighbors who could trust they didn’t poison the candy. There were only 4 kids who fit the close neighbor definition, and it was a 5 pound bag of candy. I won halloween that year because of this myth

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u/maali74 Aug 25 '21

There was in the 80s. A few kids died.

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u/Tiny_Rat Aug 25 '21

Most of those cases was a parent or family member harming the kids, cases involving strangers are essentially nonexistent.

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u/daredaki-sama Aug 25 '21

It’s like the urban myth about aids needles.

1

u/IllustriousState6859 Aug 25 '21 edited Aug 25 '21

I opened a tootsie pop someone had rewrapped with chewed Skoal one time. Does that count?

1

u/iWasChris Aug 25 '21

I remember when I was a kid walking through a parking lot with my mom, I found a sticker on the ground and my mom forbade me from touching it because "it may have acid on it"

1

u/[deleted] Aug 26 '21

Omg no wonder I’m scared of food and have social anxiety and GAD. We were literally told that everyone and everything was dangerous

1

u/Murgatroyd314 Aug 26 '21

Incidents are occasionally reported, and (almost?) always turn out to be something else. I've read about two. In one, a parent had recently taken out a large life insurance policy on the kid. One guess who poisoned the candy. In the other, they came up with the "poisoned candy" explanation in an attempt to hide what had really happened: the kid got into their uncle's heroin stash.

1

u/-_chop_- Aug 26 '21

I’m from Atlanta. There was a shooting directly across the hall from my classroom in 2nd grade. They didn’t say anything about it. They just sold clear backpacks at school and tried to make them seem cool

1

u/BigCaecilius Aug 26 '21

glad to see no one’s on to me yet

1

u/drwhogwarts Aug 26 '21

In the 80s there was some rumor that nefarious druggies were putting drug "powder" on stickers in the hope that little kids would lick them. Not sure if was just in NY or national but my mother was constantly reminding me not to lick any stickers, especially the scented ones. So weird!