34 People Who Have Noticed An Alarming Number Of Individuals Not Knowing Basic Facts Share What They Are

That homelessness isn’t just caused by bad life choices. It’s very often caused by things outside the person’s control. It’s also a lot harder to come back from homelessness than many people think.

paraworldblue , Timur Weber Report

The little stick on the left side of the steering column of every car is your turn signal. If you push it up, it will tell people around you that you are turning right and push it down to indicate a left turn.

Patrick2337 , Jose and Roxanne Report

The “essential” in essential oils does not mean essential for human health.

Agent4D7 Report

To not stop in the middle of the sidewalk and have a conversation, causing everyone to move around you

wrteq , Mathias Reding Report

That your local pharmacy doesn’t have any control over the actual production of your meds.

Why is cough medicine out of stock? I don’t know. Maybe a factory in Ukraine blew up and they are our main supplier. Maybe Jeff pressed the wrong button and contaminated all the medications in the production line. I DON’T KNOW.

And yes, I am well aware that a pandemic is currently occurring. Thanks for the reminder.

I hate people.

FilthySingularTrick , Haley Lawrence Report

Idk if this is considered basic knowledge but it’s really good to know:

If your car gets stuck in snow, take out the floor mats and stick them under your tires as best you can, in the direction you are wanting to go (so the tires can drive on them). This helps give you some traction. You can reuse this technique as far as needed, just parking, getting out, and moving the floor mats back to right in front/behind your tires.

It irks me when I watch TV shows where the characters get stuck and can’t get out of the snow, when they clearly have floor mats in their car. It has come to my attention over the past couple years that a lot of people don’t know this, so now I try and bring it up every time it remotely comes up in a convo.

Also, keep emergency supplies in your vehicle. Jumper cables, a flashlight and batteries (keep them stored separately because corrosion), food/water, gloves, winter boots if applicable where you are, etc. Also, look up the underwater car episode of Mythbusters, just good to know :)

EDIT: as u/ruetheblue says below, if the snow is covering the tailpipe TURN THE CAR OFF. (Carbon monoxide)

aita_writing , NOAA Photo Library Report

When your turn signal starts blinking at 2x speed it’s a warning that one of your turn signal bulbs is out.

gbarfoot , Markus Spiske Report

Ladies, don’t flush your tampons. It doesn’t matter if you are on city sewer or a septic system, it is _terrible_ and causes all kinds of issues.

Ag0r , Pixabay Report

A yield sign means to let the other vehicle go before you, not you trying to beat the other vehicle.

Always_B_Batman Report

Each time you make a credit card purchase, you are taking out a short term, high interest loan which will accrue interest if you don’t pay it off by the end of the month.

wrathfulgrape , energepic.com Report

Don’t put water on a grease fire. This is when your pan/pot catches fire while cooking.

Cover it with the pot or pan lid and turn off the heat

Edit: people in the replies have also added that baking soda and salt can work to smother the fire. Additionally a grease fire safe extinguisher is a good thing to have in your kitchen.

MakennaTalia , RODNAE Productions Report

Drinking alcohol makes a person FEEL warmer but you’re much more susceptible to freezing to death.

skabamm , Ibrahim Unal Report

Just basics of using a computer. Especially nowdays when most things are done digitally.
It’s just mind boggling when co-workers wifi does not work, or a program froze and they just don’t know what to do. Then when I reset the router or restart the computer they proceed to call me a Wizard. Like dude, what the heck?

blgbra6 , Eduardo Dutra Report