I am a medical student currently doing a rotation in toxicology at the poison control center. Today, this woman called in very upset because she caught her little daughter eating ants. I quickly reassured her that the ants are not harmful and there would be no need to bring her daughter into the hospital. She calmed down and at the end of the conversation happened to mention that she gave her daughter some ant poison to eat in order to kill the ants. I told her that she better bring her daughter into the emergency room right away.
Author: Dave
I've always been curious about the world beyond my own backyard. While many people spend their entire lives close to where they were born, I've been fortunate enough to travel across the United States and around the world. Every place I've visited has challenged my assumptions in one way or another and reminded me that, despite our differences, people often have far more in common than they realize.
I don't write to tell personal stories for the sake of telling them, and I don't believe every article needs to revolve around me. Instead, I enjoy using my experiences as a starting point for exploring larger ideas. Whether it's something I noticed while walking through a market overseas, a conversation with someone from another culture, or simply observing how different communities solve similar problems, I'm interested in the lessons those moments can teach all of us.
Travel has given me perspective, but it has also taught me humility. The more places I visit, the more I realize there is still to learn. Every culture has something worth appreciating, and every journey has a way of expanding how we see the world and our place within it.
When I write, my goal is simple: to share thoughtful observations, compare perspectives, and encourage curiosity. I hope readers come away having learned something new—not just about another place, but about the world we all share. If one of my articles inspires someone to look at a familiar idea differently, ask a new question, or venture a little farther than they otherwise might have, then I've accomplished exactly what I set out to do.
Catholic Elementary School Cafeteria
The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: ‘Take only ONE. God is watching.’
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, ‘Take all you want. God is watching the apples.’
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Blood Circulation
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, ‘Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face.’ ‘Yes,’ the class said.
‘Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position, the blood doesn’t run into my feet?’ A little fellow shouted, ‘Cause your feet ain’t empty.’
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School Photo
The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture. ‘Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, ‘There’s Jennifer, she’s a lawyer,’ or ‘That’s Michael, He’s a doctor’.’
A small voice at the back of the room rang out, ‘And there’s the teacher, she’s dead.’
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Ten Commandments
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to ‘honour’ thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, ‘Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?’ Without missing a beat one little boy, the oldest of a family, answered, ‘Thou shall not kill.’
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Drawing God
A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, ‘I’m drawing God.’
The teacher paused and said, ‘But no one knows what God looks like.’ looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, ‘They will in a minute.’
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Swallowed by a Whale
A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal, its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, ‘When I get to heaven, I will ask Jonah.’
The teacher asked, ‘What if Jonah went to hell?’
The little girl replied, ‘Then you ask him.’
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Hollywood Walk of Fame Stars – 1st Shoot
On February 21st, 2015 I went to Hollywood for the 1st time in my life and took some photos of the Hollywood walk of fame stars. I’ve decided that I will make a collection of the star photos that I shoot. Here are photos from the 1st shoot.
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Modern Culture
87th Academy Awards hosted by Neil Patrick Harris
Today I drove over to Hollywood to check out Hollywood Boulevard and they have a huge billboard draped down the side of the Hollywood/Highland Station building that has Neil Patrick Harris hosting the Oscars live on Sunday February 22nd, 2015 at 7 P.M. Eastern or 4 P.M. Pacific time.
There were a bunch of media that were setting up for the red carpet in front of the Dolby Theater. There were also people decorating and fine tuning the flowers to make everything perfect for the special event.
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Hollywood Sign
I have been really interested in taking photos of the iconic Hollywood sign that sits on the hills outside of Los Angeles, California. While I was in LA, I decided to take photos of the sign from different points of view from around the city. Here are my photos from the different vantage points. Can you spot the Hollywood sign in all of my photos?
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Men Do Remember
A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband is not in bed. She puts on her robe and goes downstairs to look for him. She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a hot cup of coffee in front of him. He appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall. She watches as he wipes a tear from his eye and takes a sip of his coffee.
‘What’s the matter, dear?’ she whispers as she steps into the room. ‘Why are you down here at this time of night?’
The husband looks up from his coffee, ‘It’s the 20th Anniversary of the day we met.’
She can’t believe he has remembered and starts to tear up. The husband continues, ‘Do you remember 20 years ago when we started dating? I was 18 and you were only 16,’ he says solemnly.
Once again, the wife is touched to tears.
‘Yes, I do,’ she replies.
The husband pauses. The words were not coming easily. ‘Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car?’
‘Yes, I remember,’ said the wife, lowering herself into the chair beside him.
The husband continued. ‘Do you remember when he shoved the shotgun in my face and said, “Either you marry my daughter or I will send you to prison for 20 years?’
‘I remember that, too,’ she replied softly.
He wiped another tear from his cheek and said, ‘I would have gotten out today.’
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Signs That Make You Smile
4 Year Old’s 1st Paycheck
Here’s a truly heartwarming story about the bond formed between a little 4-year-old girl & some construction workers that will make you believe that we all can make a difference when we give a child the gift of our time.
A young family moved into a house, next to a vacant lot. One day, a construction crew turned up to start building a house on the empty lot. The young family’s 4-year-old daughter naturally took an interest in all the activity going on next door and spent much of each day observing the workers.
Eventually the construction crew, all of them “gems-in-the-rough,” more or less adopted her as a kind of project mascot. They chatted with her, let her sit with them while they had coffee and lunch breaks, & gave her 20 little jobs to do here and there to make her feel important.
At the end of the first week, they even presented her with a pay envelope containing ten dollars.
The little girl took this home to her mother who suggested that she take her 10 dollars “pay” she’d received to the bank the next day to start a savings account.
When the girl and her mom got to the bank, the teller was equally impressed & asked the little girl how she had come by her very own pay check at such a young age.
The little girl proudly replied, “I worked last week with a real construction crew building the new house next door to us.”
“Oh my goodness gracious,” said the teller, “and will you be working on the house again this week, too?”
The little girl replied, “I will, if those assholes at Home Depot ever deliver the fricken drywall.
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Interesting Flowers in San Diego
Here, I was walking out of a strip mall in San Diego, California and I found these flowers. I thought they were so neat that I decide to take a few photos of them. I don’t know what kind of flower they are, but they are pretty.
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Lone Ranger & Tonto
The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert. After they got their tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep.
Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, “Kemo Sabe, look Towards sky, what you see?”
“The Lone Ranger replies, “I see millions of stars.”
“What that tell you?” asked Tonto.
The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says, “Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter Past three in the morning. Theologically, the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorological, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What’s it tell you, Tonto?”
“You dumber than an Obama voter. It means someone stole the tent.”
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Canada
Kiwano Melon
I was at Walmart today and I came across this thing I think is a fruit. I’ve never seen one before in my life. It is called a kiwano melon. The interesting thing is that ever new place I go, I always find something new and interesting. This was the thing I found today.
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Irish Diabetic
One day an Irishman goes into a pharmacy – reaches into his pocket and takes out a small Irish whiskey bottle and a teaspoon.
He pours from the bottle onto the teaspoon and offers it to the chemist.
“Could you taste this for me, please?”
The chemist takes the teaspoon, puts it in his mouth, swills the liquid around and swallows it.
“Does that taste sweet to you?” asks Paddy.
“No, not at all,” says the chemist.
“Oh that’s a relief,” says Paddy. “The doctor told me to come here and get my urine tested for sugar.”
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Case Study
I was having a drink at a local restaurant with my friend Justin when he spotted an attractive woman sitting at the bar. After an hour of gathering his courage, he approached her and asked, “Would you mind if I chatted with you for a while?”
She responded by yelling at the top of her lungs, “No, I won’t come over to your place tonight!”
With everyone in the restaurant staring, Justin crept back to our table, puzzled and humiliated.
A few minutes later, the woman walked over to us and apologized. “I’m sorry if I embarrassed you,” she said, “but I’m a graduate student in psychology and I’m studying human reaction to embarrassing situations.”
At the top of his lungs Justin responded, “What do you mean, two hundred dollars?”