Advice

 shecallsmeherangel posted this on Reddit:

This may not be common sense, but I feel like people need to hear it anyway. I have three very different jobs, and I'll tell you a few things that I wish more people knew from each of them:

1) Do not remove an impaled object! Unless it is in your cheek, obstructing your airway, DO NOT pull it out. It may be the only thing keeping you from bleeding out. If you MUST remove it without medical personnel, pull it in the continuing direction that it was travelling. Never remove anything from the chest, abdomen, skull, or throat without medical training and assistance.

2) If you are frustrated with a baby, put it in the other room and WALK AWAY. Letting them cry themselves to sleep is a lot less traumatic for an infant than shaken baby syndrome. Walk away.

3) If you are nice to a cashier, they will be nicer to you. I cannot explain how far that a friendly, "Hi. How are you? .... Thank you. Have a good day." Will go! Be nice to your service workers! We can't make the world go 'round but we will sure as hell try harder for people who are nice to us.

4) If you accidentally break something in a chain-level grocery store, tell an employee immediately. You will most likely not get in trouble, you probably won't have to pay for it (if it is larger than a family-owned business), and it saves employees from having to stumble upon spoiled food and mess tracks hours later, or worse, another customer coming across it and screaming at workers to take care of it. Just tell us, please.

5) Do not cram the night before an exam. An all nighter before finals will not make up for a semester's worth of studying. You are better off going in well rested and unread, than sleep deprived and juggling information.

6) Just show up! Whether it is school, work, a job interview, a social gathering, an appointment, or whatever it is, if you are expected to be there, show up. Even if you are late, showing up is better than nothing! If you know you will be late, call ahead if possible; call to excuse your absence if you cannot make it before the event is over. This comes from two of my jobs: employers would rather have someone who is late than someone who is absent; and students will do better in classes if they are late than if they don't go.

7) Speeding will not get you to your destination any faster. Reckless speeding will get you into a hospital bed or a casket before it will get you to your destination. Fifteen miles an hour over the limit will get you fifteen miles further in one hour, but will add an approximate 16,500 N of force to any crash you get into (it only takes 4,000 N per in² to break your femur).