this post was submitted on 22 May 2025
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
- No politics
- If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
- Posts must be original/unique
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If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.
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Just because YOU weren't didn't mean it isn't common. Your parents did it the hard way. For no reason.
I was leashed as a toddler in the early 90s. I am not ashamed of that.
You don't leash kids at parties, that's an enclosed private space with little risk of them running off, what a weird pointless anecdote. You apparently being sheltered isn't a good argument.
Sounds like you weren't going to places where very young children were in attendance. You use them in busy public places that require movement. Like a zoo. You see them all the time at places like that. It's better than a stroller and you don't have to worry about a half second of taking your eyes off the kids, they're jetting into the crowd. Even more useful if you have multiples.
Complete missed where I had traveled across the US as a kid.
I don't think I was a sheltered kid. 7 of us vs one parent at a time didn't leave a lot of bandwidth for them to be helicopter parents. Wasn't a latchkey kid either. I'd walk myself and my brothers home from school most days. During the summer we'd walk down to the pool on our own, or sometimes take a younger sibling with us if they wanted to go (surprise surprise, no leashes at the pool) or we'd walk across town and grab snacks from the grocery store (still no leashes).
Leashing kids is not normal, if you don't believe me, try to find video of a place where more than 3 are leashed in the background of a news report or puff piece.
The vast majority of kids aren't leashed. It's not normal.
Traveling across the US doesn't mean you went to places where small kids congregated. It's also more common NOW than it was back then.
Why are you acting like people are leashing 8-10 year olds. You use them when the kids are 1-3 so they're not stuck in their stroller the whole time you're at some public place (which is probably what your parents did with you). It really sounds like you think parents are tying their kid to a post, instead of having a connection on their wrist. Your arguments come across as if you have zero idea what we're talking about and only had a visceral overreaction to just hearing this concept for the first time.
The kids often enjoy it, too. They think they're the ones leading their parents.
What a stupidly arbitrary and specific demand for proof.
The kids I saw leashed were primarily in the 6-12 range if I had to guess. They absolutely were not 2-4.
I can find you a video of a news report with kids in the background where none of them are leashed in just a few minutes, mainly because the vast majority of children are not put on leashes.
I do not believe for a second that a 12 year old would sit there allowing themselves to be leashed. Some 12 year olds are basically full grown adult sized people.
I'm talking about toddlers. I've said that multiple times. You keep imagining dumb shit that is not happening. So you're right, the vast majority of non toddler children are not on leashes. Congrats. What a fucking stupid conversation this was. No one said otherwise. You invented a thing that wasn't happening to be angry at.
Well you're wrong.
Prove it
Amazon sells leashes sizesd for 12yr olds.
Special needs children do exist.
So do non-special needs kids.
Yes they do.
The leashes for 12 year olds though are used for special needs children.
Why are you being so obtuse?
This may come as a surprise to you, but special needs children are also human beings, and leashing them is wrong too.
Go back and re-read the thread
I’ve read every word. You’re being absurd.
You also spend way too much time watching other people’s children.
Do you have any of your own?
Well, you forgot what I put in my very first comment on the thread, so...doubt.
Way to make it sound creepy, but yes I see children when I go to zoos, aquariums, museums, national parks, banks, stores...etc.
No, but it doesn't matter. You probably agree with me that slavery is wrong? But have you ever had a slave? You don't have to personally experience abuse to recognize abuse.
Abuse.
Holy shit.
Clearly nothing I say is going to sway your opinion on this.
Well...
I guess you could provide a practical scenario where it is both necessary to bring a child along, and essential that they are leashed, but I have yet to see anyone actually propose this.
https://youtu.be/5Hb1ID12dzo
Took me less than a minute. Kids of all ages in the video, not a single one on a leash.
It's not normal to leash kids.
You can find one video of people not doing one specific things, really easily. I'm not sure what you thought this proved.
I was always, and still, only talking about toddlers. Are there 3+ toddlers in a crowded public space in that video?
Sure. 3 plus kids, in crowded spaces next to a STREET! It's amazing they all survived.
On a related note, I didn't have to do anything special to find you that video. I just looked for "New Community Festival" and picked the first one that wasn't about a mass shooting. You know why it was so easy to find? Because leashing kids is not normal.
I specified TODDLER. You keep only saying kid. There's a difference. I know you know that. But your are determined to have a completely different conversation than I am here
I didn't say you had to do anything special. That's my point. It's really fucking easy to find videos that are completely off topic from the conversation.
Guess what?
Leashing toddlers is wrong too...And reality doesn't give a fuck about what you specified. You don't mean shit to nearly everyone on the planet.
Yes it is really easy to find video and media of children not on leashes, which conversely shows how hard it is to find videos of children (or even toddlers, why the fuck not) who are on leashes, because it's not fucking common.
If you said "Amputees are common" and I said "If they're so common, show me some media with a bunch of amputees in it" and you have to fucking dig for it, while I can pick a piece of media at random and expect it not to have any amputees in it, it's probably a really good fucking indicator that amputees aren't fucking common, right?!
Maybe your parents should have leashed you, maybe you'd wander off the fucking topic less.
HOW is giving your toddler exercise when they'd otherwise be out in the stroller wrong? They're not embarrassed by it. They often enjoy it. Where is the harm? This is you PROJECTING your own stupidly conceived feelings into someone else who isn't feeling those things.
You still can't grasp your video thing isn't indictive of literally anything. You looking at videos of shit where the topic wouldn't be occurring will obviously show that thing not occurring. How fucking dense are you that you think this proves Jack shit? Common also doesn't mean literally everyone is doing it.
Baseless ad hominem.
Do you think it is possible to get your toddler some exercise outside of the stroller without using a leash? Hint: most parents don't use leashes on their kids?
It's much more indicative of my point than the video that you found supporting yours!