Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down Which Things Don't Actually Deserve Their Bad Reputations

There are things we accept as inherently bad – like predatory animals or unhealthy foods – because we are socialized to believe they are.


For instance, Steven Spielberg's Jaws terrified audiences when it was released in theaters in 1975 and it kept people from going to the beach.

What many people don't realize is that humans are not naturally shark-food as they typically avoid food sources that are competitive in size.

And when you think about it, aren't people are the most dangerous species of all?

Curious to hear what strangers thought, Redditor BreachyJoe asked:

"What is something that doesn't deserve its bad reputation?"

"Dangerous" Animals

Most species in the animal kingdom will leave you alone if unprovoked.

Silent Predator

"sharks."

RudegarWithFunnyHat

"No kidding. The oceans would be a mess without them. They kill less people per year than mosquitoes, deer and PEOPLE. They're intelligent but so different from us that the bad rep was practically unavoidable sadly"

Megalon84

Nothing To Hiss At

"Black cats."

tehfraginator

"THIS ONE. I was absolutely floored this past October when I read somewhere that some animal shelters will not allow anyone to adopt black cats for fear that people will abuse them and/or sacrifice them ritualistically because we All Know that black cats bring BAD LUCK. LOOK. We own a black cat and he's Just A Cat. About the worst thing he does is drag his ass across the carpet because he has a sticky piece of sh*t sticking to his fur!!! 🙄"

RolandParr57

Creatures Of The Night

"Bats. Some of the best insect control/pollination help out there (depending on species). Plus they can give you good fertilizer. 'But they carry rabies.....' you know what else can carry rabies? Raccoons, rabbits, foxes, dogs, opossums....pretty much mammals. 'But they can carry cross species diseases....' So do pigs, chicken, primates, and now with [the virus] dogs & cats. I mean don't go hug them- but they are very useful & unfortunately on the way out."

lyme_aide

They Make For Good Pets

"Snakes. Majority of them are harmless. I understand if you live in an area with deadly snakes. But snakes are always represented as pure evil and villainous when most are just typical reptiles going about their little snake lives. They don't want to bother you, they just want to survive the next day and reproduce."

LeafeonMaster721

At Subways Near You

"Rats."

"They make great pets. Very smart and quite easy to train, very loving and loyal, inquisitive, and always up for playing with you."

"Rats are actually very clean animals, groom themselves a lot and don't like being filthy."

Driver_67

Eight-Legged "Freaks"

"Spiders. They just chill in their webs and eat annoying bugs that nobody wants around. They are scary looking but mostly harmless if you leave them alone. Those giant ones need to stay out of my house though."

Lanky240

People

People can easily be persuaded by the opinions of others, especially on the internet.

Misunderstood?

"Guy Fieri. What the heck did he ever do to anyone?"

nokittythatsmypie

"Dude is a bro! He's raised millions of dollars for grants to restaurant workers who have been hammered by [the virus] closures. He does tons of charity work for food security, and even performed marriage ceremonies for 101 gay couples in honor of his sister when that was still super controversial. His signature style may be Backstreet Boy-reject, but it also makes him instantly recognizable and helps in bringing attention to good causes."

Speakeasy9

Requires Discipline And Hard Work

" Fast food workers. I don't get the 'anyone can do it' argument. Through my time as a manager I've turned down applicants for not being up to our standard and watched all age groups quit because the job isn't as easy as they expected. It's a fast paced work environment with lots of memorization due to food safety standards. I've worked production, construction, warehouse, and others but working in fast food isn't easier than the others, just different."

mynameisshelly

Honest Living

"Garbage truck man, why does all people look them bad, they just want to live and take our trash away, like seriously."

Jaquinite

"Work super early in the morning, no matter the weather, and handle the grossest sh*t in society. They deserve good money."

05110909

Productive At Night

"Being a night person and sleeping late"

"Believe me we work better at night and we can be twice as productive."

"As someone who likes to build a lot in minecraft and writing the night is my best hour of creativity In the end, I also do all my tasks between midnight and 2 AM, the rest is to watch Netflix, YouTube, and Reditt."

AChildrenOfTheKorn

The Rocker

"Joan Jett."

Three_Day_Rider

"Yeah, but she don't give a damn about her bad reputation."

Casual-Notice

joan jett youre living in the past its a new generation GIFGiphy

Health

Some of the things we put in our bodies are stigmatized for various reasons.

But these people believe the following should not be blackballed.

Let It Flow

"Tap water. People have been manipulated by bottled water companies to believe that drinking tap water is somehow bad for you. Water quality standards for tap water in most 1st world countries is extremely high."

DougCrackheadFord

It's In Everything

"Monosodium glutamate (MSG). It's just the sodium salt of glutamic acid, and it naturally occurs in many foods. There is literally nothing wrong with it if used in appropriate proportions, same as regular salt. But sadly it was demonized as part of the whole racist 'Chinese restaurant syndrome' that convinced people Chinese food was out to kill us all. The myth prevails to this day."

mercuryrising137

Eat Your Veggies

"i know i'm late but, fkn veggies bro. when your little its such a stereotype that toddler wont like broccoli but i love em and i have since i was a little kid."

ajs3136

Culture Cuisine

"Taco Bell does not give everyone diarrhea."

albinorhino63

"Honestly, my theory is that is not Taco Bell specifically, but that some people have the notion that Mexican Food gives you diarrhea. If you think about the people who say Taco Bell gives you diarrhea, it's largely the same people who think any ethnic food gives you diarrhea, black pepper is spicy, and that Taco Bell is Mexican food. They say the same thing about Indian food, for instance. South Park even had an episode where a running joke was that blood in your underwear was a natural result of eating Chipotle. So I think it's less about Taco Bell specifically than it is about people who think Taco Bell is Mexican food, and that any kind of "ethnic" food gives you the sh*ts."

livious1

Chemical Reaction

"Chemicals. 'Chemical-free' is marketing crap. Everything is a chemical."

Kittehbombastic

"Bacteria automatically gets a bad rap. But most are harmless and some are even beneficial to us. There's both good bacteria and bad bacteria."

sea8cloud8

Not The Singer

"Meatloaf is awesome."

"A friend of mine at work is Hispanic. He told me the story of growing up, they never had meatloaf. He said the only thing he knew of it was television shows where kids would say things like 'Aww, meatloaf again?' so he assumed it was terrible."

"Then one day, he had the opportunity to try it. He loved it!"

"This came up because the company we work for was giving out free lunches last year for those of use who had to work through the early part of the quarantine. One day, they had meatloaf. We both got the meatloaf and then he told me about growing up and thinking it tasted bad."

"This is one of my favorite stories."

will477

At the end of the day, a good or bad reputation should be about a personal experience and not generalized off of someone else's opinion.

Unless of course you're a consumer reading Yelp reviews and looking for the best products and services available.

But unless you had a limb swallowed by a shark, or gotten food poisoning from eating at Taco Bell, don't go hating on them.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Ashley Tisdale
@ashleytisdale/TikTok; Disney

Ashley Tisdale Hilariously Reveals How Her 'High School Musical'-Obsessed Toddler Lets People Know She's Sharpay's Daughter

For many Millennials and Gen Z'ers, the High School Musical films were appointment viewing, and the character of Sharpay played by Ashley Tisdale was one of the franchise's icons.

She was kind of the Cher Horowitz-meets-Regina George of her day, and with Tisdale's roster of other Disney hits like The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Phineas and Ferb, she's basically Disney royalty.

Keep ReadingShow less
Seven-time Grammy winner and entertainer, Toni Braxton
Christopher Polk/Variety/Getty Images

Toni Braxton's Controversial Graduation Look

Toni Braxton celebrated her son’s graduation from Howard University in a risqué outfit that made fans and fashion critics blush.

The Grammy-winning R&B singer posted a video of her son, 22-year-old Diezel Ky Braxton-Lewis, as he emotionally received his degree in film from the HBCU’s prestigious Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.

Keep ReadingShow less
Zendaya at the 2025 Met Gala; Law Roach with Entertainment Tonight; Anna Sawai at the 2025 Met Gala
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images; @entertainmenttonight/TikTok; Taylor Hill/Getty Images

Stylist Reveals Zendaya's Sweet Gesture After She And 'Shogun' Star Accidentally Wore Matching Met Gala Looks

Every year, the Met Gala asks their guests to dress to a particular theme. For 2025, the theme was "Tailored for You," which inspired entertainers to show up in looks that best modeled their figures or in some way emulated their greatest inspiration.

Zendaya showed up in an eye-catching white suit with a fitted jacket, vest, and embellished, crystal buttons, and well-tailored pants. To top it all off, she wore a fabulous, floppy white hat. She was styled by Law Roach, her suit was designed by Louis Vuitton, and her inspiration was Diana Ross and Bianca Jagger.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hasan Piker
Gerardo Mora/Getty Images for Real Good Touring

Liberal Commentator Alarmingly Grilled By Customs Over His Views On Trump While Returning From France

Hasan Piker—progressive political commentator, YouTuber, and Twitch streamer—revealed he was detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents for almost two hours at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Sunday as he returned to the United States from France.

Piker—a U.S. citizen born to Turkish parents in New Brunswick, New Jersey—said the CBP agents' goal was to intimidate him as they questioned him about his opinions on MAGA Republican President Donald Trump, Houthi rebels, Hamas, his bans from Twitch, and Israel. Piker has routinely spoken about the genocide in Gaza, advocated for Palestinian rights, and criticized the Israeli government.

Keep ReadingShow less
HBO Just Announced Its Streaming App Is Going Back To A Familiar Name—And The Internet Can't Even
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

HBO Just Announced Its Streaming App Is Going Back To A Familiar Name—And The Internet Can't Even

Max is getting its “HBO” back, says Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).

Starting this summer, the streaming service will once again be called HBO Max, a move the company announced as not just a name change, but also a strategy shift.

Keep ReadingShow less