Shocking

Posted by MexicanVanilla22@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 88 comments

Were were just getting shocked all the time or what?

I was taking to my kids (15 & 17) this morning and made a reference to licking a battery. They had no idea what I was talking about. Like, you know, when you lick a 9 volt and it zaps you and leaves that metallic bitter taste in your mouth? Crickets.

What about like when you accidentally chew on tin foil? Mom, why would anyone ever chew on aluminum foil? Cause gum use to be wrapped in it? Anyway, our metal fillings would zap us.

What about when you play Operation and the tweezers shock you? The tweezers on my kid's game are plastic y'all. PLASTIC.

What about when someone offers you gum and you take it and it's a prank and it shocks you? Nope. That one was unexpected too.

My kids have never been shocked before. Were we just getting mildly electrocuted all the time like it was no big deal? Outside of static electricity my kids have no idea what the sensation feels like and I'm not sure if that makes me a good parent or not.

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mohosa63224@reddit

Strictly a millennial here...

1: I remember the 9 volt thing

2: Gum isn't in tin foil anymore (it's been a long time since I chewed gum)

3: Of course Operation is all plastic. What isn't nowadays?

4: Remember when you pushed in the car cigarette lighter (of which there were many depending on the make/model) and made an impression on yourself? Not exactly a shock, but still funny.

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MexicanVanilla22@reddit (OP)

Lol yeah. Or just mindlessly flipping open the ashtray in the backseat.

I don't even know how the game works without the tweezers being metal. So disappointing. It just sounds a little beep. I remember the loud ass buzzer, and the violent vibration. It wasn't a literal shock but it was startling enough that it felt like one with all that adrenaline. They managed to suck all the fun out of that game.

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mohosa63224@reddit

Speaking of shocking, I say we bring back lawn darts. How the hell anyone thought those were a good idea I'll never know.

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YogurtclosetDull2380@reddit

I think they're adding more cancer to things like carpet, which helps cut down on static.

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GasStationChicken-@reddit

I worked at a grocery store as a bagger in the late 90’s and we had the old style metal checkout lanes. There was one lane where if you stood at the end and put your fingers on the metal edge of the lane to your left and the lane to your right you’d get a current to run through you. It was super trippy and of course fun to see how long one another could stand it.

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Polymox@reddit

The bathroom in my childhood home had a fan switch that would shock me pretty good if I touched it with a wet hand.

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Worldly_Cupcake_5269@reddit

We used to get shocked if you touched the stove and the fridge at the same time. Probably not safe, but we survived.

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No-Alternative8998@reddit

I had an apartment in San Francisco that would do this if you opened a drawer while touching the fridge!It was the fucking worst. Don’t miss that place, but I do miss the 90s Tenderloin.

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principled_principal@reddit

I used to live at Polk and Eddy. I love the city, but I definitely don’t miss that hood 😂

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smoot99@reddit

Hyde and Ellis! The Ben Hur apartments I believe!

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principled_principal@reddit

I left in mid 2000s, before the recent modernization along Ellis. It was nonstop sirens, day and night

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No-Alternative8998@reddit

Yep, this would’ve been between ‘97 and ‘00. I actually wrote a short story based on some, um, neighborhood “events” from that time.

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No-Alternative8998@reddit

I think I know that building!

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No-Alternative8998@reddit

What, you don’t miss the hookers openly shitting on the street outside your window? Ha, I think it’s just nostalgia for the city as a whole. I moved to Oakland during the first dotcom bubble burst, then Chicago in ‘04. Going home is very weird now. It’s a different city.

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BusFew5534@reddit

What? I've never heard of this. Couldn't randomly experience it because of the distance between appliances, either.

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TurtleToast2@reddit

Look at Richie Rich over here with distance between appliances.

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Worldly_Cupcake_5269@reddit

Yeah, I have no idea why it did this.

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mosh_pit_nerd@reddit

Nothing was grounded back then so any stray voltage escaping the circuit just went wherever it could. Think of it like the two appliances being lightning rods. Touch both at the same time and now you’re the grounding conductor between them, giving that voltage a path.

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Objective-Dust4795@reddit

Grounding is optional depending on where you live. Or when you lived.

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TurtleToast2@reddit

Or if you lived.

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mosh_pit_nerd@reddit

This is why grounding in single family dwellings has been an NEC requirement since the early 90s.

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primemodel@reddit

Our stove was doing something like this for a while (you'd get shocked touching the stove and exhaust fan at the same time) and it turned out that when we had pulled it out to clean behind it and pushed it back against the wall, the plug had slightly jiggled out of place so that the top two prongs were still making contact but not the grounding prong.

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InfidelZombie@reddit

My local hotel had a pool with an arcade that you could pay a few bucks to use as a non-guest. There was always a puddle under the arcade machines and they were obviously ungrounded because they'd zap the shit out of you every time you dropped a quarter, but that was half the fun.

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bendybiznatch@reddit

Where are my fellow country kids with electric fences for the cows?

Good times.

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LumpyJump6091@reddit

One of my friends and I used to have contests to see who could hold onto one the longest. I secretly hoped it'd give me superpowers, but sadly no dice.

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bitsy88@reddit

I remember getting yelled at and called an idiot by my friend's dad when he caught us licking the electric fence. Don't ask me why we thought it was a good idea to start with nor why we didn't stop after the first time.

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Treadingresin@reddit

Don't pee on the electric fence!

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marigoldier@reddit

At the bowling alley in town if you touched the water fountain and a bolt on the side of the arcade game beside it at the same time you got a scary bad shock. I felt like I could hear the sound of it in my body. I only did it once, I can still remember how it felt.

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ConfidentAd9359@reddit

When I was pregnant with my 13 y/o he would constantly punch me in the bladder. Felt like licking a 9V, promised myself I would make him lick one so he knew what I felt 100+ times a day for 5 months. To this day he won't do it. But, he used to stick things in outlets, so I figure he's paid the price....

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random9212@reddit

My grandpa was an electrician and was doing some work on my parents house when I was young enough not to remember the event, but apparently according to the stories I was sticking something in a socket, shocking myself, crying, then doing it again. Rinse and repeat. After a few times my grama came over to where we were and started "yelling" at my grandpa he only responded with "he won't be an electrician till he learns to do that without crying."

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Defiant-Difference17@reddit

That made me laugh pretty good. High fives to Gramps for that zinger 🤣

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random9212@reddit

He was a great guy.

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red286@reddit

Whereas my father was an electrician and instilled in me a paranoid fear of electricity. Mind you, he worked for the power company, so the voltages he was dealing with would send you flying across the room as a charred corpse.

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random9212@reddit

When was the last time you had something that uses a 9v battery? I had a few things growing up that used 9v batteries so we would have 9v batteries around you were able to lick because your friend told you it feels weird and we didn't have anything better to do to entertain ourselves.

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upstatestruggler@reddit

Smoke detectors still do!

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mosh_pit_nerd@reddit

My detectors use AA batteries.

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red286@reddit

Mine are on the mains.

It's a concrete apartment building. If there's a fire bad enough to cut power, my smoke detector not going off isn't going to be the biggest concern.

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mosh_pit_nerd@reddit

Apartments are different and the whole building will have a dedicated fire alarm system. And if you lose power that system has battery backups in the main panel and distributed throughout the facility.

Source: Architectural engineer with a NICET 2 certification.

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Church_of_Cheri@reddit

My security camera’s batteries won’t charge if they get depleted and sit for a few hours. There’s lots of reviews online where people complain that they have to buy new batteries all the time… I used a 9v battery to jump start them instead and I’ve never bought a replacement battery. So I use 9v for that and for our smoke and radon detectors.

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TheRadHamster@reddit

Only the most annoying kids’ toys

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imhereforthevotes@reddit

My son finally got a chance to touch a low-grade electric fence the other day. I was proud of him. It wasn't very strong at all and he was quite interested (but didn't want to do it again). Preteen.

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TheZillionthRedditor@reddit

It’s why we are all so mentally healthy and chill. We had electroshock therapy built into everyday life.

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Church_of_Cheri@reddit

Hey, the way things are going my tens unit will be my only form of medical care in the future, so at least I’ll be prepared.

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JudgeJuryEx78@reddit

I actually do feel a brief, euphoric rush after a shock.

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SlavaSobov@reddit

We had an old electric organ that wasn't grounded right, and would get shocked every time we touched the toggle switch to turn it on.

Probably wouldn't have gotten shocked as much if we didn't bring home junkyard finds, but when you don't have much money...

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TheSentientSnail@reddit

I had a floor lamp in the house as a kid that was completely ungrounded. Discovered that when I went to turn it on while my other arm was touching something metal... yeah I never did THAT again. 😂

I wouldn't start with an ungrounded lamp (lol) but I feel like every kid should have at least an idea of what getting shocked feels like. If only to know how intently it needs to be avoided!

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ttredraider2000@reddit

Never been shocked? A tens unit can fix that for ya!

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TurtleToast2@reddit

If your kids didn't know about this until their teens it's because you failed them. It is your duty as a parent to trick them into licking a 9v by 8 years old, at the latest. I don't know how they'll ever recover those lost years of post 9v development.

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chawrawbeef@reddit

Did you eat a lot of paint chips when you were a kid?

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ttredraider2000@reddit

"Hahaha.... why?"

One of my all-time favorite movies!

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relikter@reddit

You mean wall candy?

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Smokeythemagickamodo@reddit

I still ask some people this lol

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Shinespark7@reddit

Hmm. How experienced are they in jumping off furniture of questionable heights?

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Master_Ad7267@reddit

I got seriously shocked at an apartment once the outlet i think I was just trying to screw the plate in and the wiring was off.

I remember operation. I did the battery tester thing too with my tongue.

My kids won't know shock like we did hopefully they will learn with the stuff that's lighter shock vs toaster in tub

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lifeat24fps@reddit

“My kids have never been shocked before.”

You’ve got some work to do.

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MexicanVanilla22@reddit (OP)

Lol yeah there's already a shocking pen in my Amazon cart. Thinking of ways to incorporate the barking shockers into family game night 🤔

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Illustrious-Lead-960@reddit

You don’t just yada yada static electricity. It’s a BEAST.

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BearCat1478@reddit

We shocked my nephews with tazers to take care of that one!

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AlchemistMustang@reddit

This abomination of a "game"

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Dean_Proffitt@reddit

I worked in a one hour photo lab during a time when disposable cameras were all the rage. We used a metal can opener or screw driver to pop the film out. If you didn’t pay attention to what you were doing and popped the wrong end (battery side) you’d get a quite a shock!

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flamingknifepenis@reddit

Hell, my buddies and I had a form of “bug zapper currency” involving one of those hand held bug zappers that looks like a tennis racket.

Want to use the “good controller”? That’s two zaps to the stomach.

Out of money and want us to buy you a soda? One zap to the ass.

Ignoring us to go “talk to your girlfriend” on the phone instead of “building an IED with PVC pipe and a can of hairspray”? I’m sneaking up on you and zapping you under the armpit.

That one wasn’t negotiated, I’m just a dick.

Speaking of dicks, you’d be surprised how fast broke teenage boys can pool their money when one of them offers to let himself get zapped in the balls.

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AgentOrange1717@reddit

Lol I definitely remember getting shocked all the time! I never got the chewing on aluminum foil one because I had ceramic fillings but before I knew I needed metal ones, I really tried to make it work. And I had the shocking gum prank! I loved it so so much. To this day it is still one of my most favorite pranks.

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MerryJanne@reddit

How are kids going to learn risk assessment when they don't have mildly dangerous toys/household products to teach them?

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mosh_pit_nerd@reddit

THAT WILL BE A VALUABLE LESSON

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MexicanVanilla22@reddit (OP)

Exactly my conundrum! Maybe I'm a terrible, hovering, helicopter mom after all!

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This_hoe_dumb@reddit

The plastic tweezers for Operation is just diabolical.

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NativePA@reddit

Most girls didn’t like the surprise. A few did.

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greyshem@reddit

Early to mid teens, my buddies and I used to slightly unplug an outlet so we'd have access to the prongs while still leaving it live. Step two is to put your index and pointer fingers across the prongs to complete the circuit. Step three is to hold it for longer than the other guys did. That was the entire point.

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flamingknifepenis@reddit

God, teenage boys are stupid. My wife bristles sometimes when she hears some of the things we did just for (ahem) shock value, but then she seamlessly switches to talking about how girls were doing reasonable things like playing with Ouija boards and holding seances so really I’m not sure who’s dumber.

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Treadingresin@reddit

Grew up spending summers visiting a cottage on a lake. Outback in the shed was an old refrigerator filled with beer and pop. To avoid getting shocked while taking out a refreshing beverage one had to stand on the slice of carpet laid in front of it, this was particularly important when soaking wet in your bathing suit.

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FantasticAd4938@reddit

I wish I could say I didn't chew tin foil. I wonder why I did that.

But don't worry. Kids are still stupid. At my daughter's elementary school, two kids decided to eat the pencil shavings from the pencil sharpener....twice.

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Svenderhof@reddit

Mmmmmmm, forbidden sprinkles.

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samsghost28@reddit

Remember the sparks from the wintergreen gum?? In our actual mouths?

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Ms_ChiChi_Elegante@reddit

I remember kids would lick big red wrappers and stick them on their forehead. They’d get a big welt after taking it off lol

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Glass-Marionberry321@reddit

Don't forget the carpeting in the store DEB

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Money_Magnet24@reddit

I love the “cigarettes” gum with the powder sugar

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MexicanVanilla22@reddit (OP)

I gave those out in my kid's birthday goodie bags. Along with a deck of cards and a mini nerf gun. My SIL was giving me side eye like I was giving the kids crack.

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usernames_suck_ok@reddit

What about when you play Operation and the tweezers shock you? The tweezers on my kid's game are plastic y'all. PLASTIC.

Except for this, apparently I'm 15-17 years old. I will start giving one of these as my age from now on.