30 Normalised Things That Are Actually Pretty Abnormal

Just because something is considered normal or widely accepted doesn’t automatically mean it’s morally or ethically right. Even if it seems like people have become indifferent or simply don’t pay enough attention to it, that doesn’t erase the fact that it can be genuinely problematic and in need of change.

Reddit users recently came together to talk about these issues, highlighting things that are commonly accepted as normal but are actually quite messed up. This discussion has gained popularity in a trending AskReddit thread.

#1 Child beauty pageants.

#2 Working 40+ hours a week to make enough money to still be in poverty.

#3 Zero tolerance in schools. Protects the bully and harms the innocent

#4 Phone use while behind the wheel. Every trip out is a death roulette game. I see someone nearly drift into my lane all the time.

#5 Poor care of “beginner” pets like goldfish, hamsters, leopard geckos etc.

#6 Dumping unwanted Cats off in “the country” because some farmer will take them in. No, no they won’t. Farmers already have enough Cats and the existing population will typically drive off outsiders, so now you have a housecat with no survival skills in the middle of nowhere being easy prey for Coyotes, Foxes, Owls, or farm Dogs. And that’s if they don’t get hit by a car like happens to a great many abandoned pets.

#7 Having to pay for vision and dental insurance in addition to health insurance. Last time I checked, your eyeballs and teeth were part of your body and should be considered under medical insurance.

#8 Having children when you’re not mentally or financially stable, said what I said.

#9 The amount of plastic we use. It’s absolutely insane.

#10 For profit healthcare.

#11 Forcing mothers to go back to work when their babies are like, fresh from the womb. It’s barbaric and cruel.

#12 The fact that so many people live on the streets when empty housing exists. I don’t care what just world fallacy people want to peddle, that s**t is ghoulish and inhumane. If there are empty homes, there shouldn’t be homeless people.

#13 Filming strangers without their knowledge or consent and posting it online for millions to see.

#14 Massive wealth inequality. As long as there are people starving to death for lack of food, there should be no such thing as a billionaire.

#15 delivery drivers and waitresses having their wages determined by customers and not their employers. aka, living off of tips while employers don’t pay enough.

#16 Child marriage. Look at how many US states allow child marriages with “parents permission”. If a f*****g child can’t consent to sex its probably wrong that their parents can consent to their marriage.

#17 CEO pay.

#18 Driving drunk/high among teens. People my age (18) often mention it in passing like it’s no big deal, then I’m treated like a wet blanket for making a thing out of it. No, Kevin, you don’t “drive better high” you’re just selfish.

#19 Parents posting their children’s entire lives on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and treating them as accessories instead of people. Imagine the horror stories we’ll probably hear from these “kidfluencers” in 10-20 years time.

#20 Corporate crimes having almost no consequences.

#21 Getting puppies for Christmas just to rehome a couple months later(dump at shelters).

#22 Having toddlers scroll TikTok so they shut up. Hell every human under 12 shouldn’t be anywhere near.

#23 Treating children like dirt and expecting respect in return.

#24 Doctors dismissing severe period symptoms because it’s ‘normal’ —> if you are vomiting, cannot move from pain and passing out from blood loss they don’t rly care and usually just give you a slightly better pain medicine like naproxen which does f**k all and tell you to get over yourself. If you had these symptoms and did not have periods you’d be admitted into hospital on the spot.

#25 Citing religion in government policy making.

#26 Trying to guilt the consumer into thinking that they are the ones who can really make a difference with recycling, when 98% of all waste is industrial, retail and restaurant and none of them are big on recycling if they do it at all. Figure is from science writer Elizabeth Royte’s book Garbage Land.

#27 Restaurants and grocery stores throwing away mass quantities of good, edible food and not being allowed to donate it.

#28 Most gynecological procedures, as they often don’t allow anesthetics and can be downright barbaric. Women get screwed when it comes to healthcare.

#29 In North America – tipping culture . It’s gotten out of hand.

#30 Expecting people to be contactable 24/7 and acting like someone is rude if they don’t respond relatively promptly.

Back when the main form of contact was calls, it was deemed relatively normal for people to not answer as they were busy or not home, therefore it was so much easier to switch off and enjoy other things. Now it’s expected that people are pretty much connected to everyone all the time and if you try to disconnect from that a bit it can almost get you socially ostracised. You can relate it to workplaces as well and the rise of employers basically expecting workers to be contactable 24/7.

Shanilou Perera

Shanilou has always loved reading and learning about the world we live in. While she enjoys fictional books and stories just as much, since childhood she was especially fascinated by encyclopaedias and strangely enough, self-help books. As a kid, she spent most of her time consuming as much knowledge as she could get her hands on and could always be found at the library. Now, she still enjoys finding out about all the amazing things that surround us in our day-to-day lives and is blessed to be able to write about them to share with the whole world as a profession.