“What Is Something You Thought Was Normal But Found Out It Isn’t?” (43 Answers)

We all have some things about ourselves that might seem weird to others. Maybe we have peculiar eating habits, and we see or do some things differently. And these things might seem like a norm to us. But what if one day you realize that what you thought to be a regular thing is actually a pretty rare occurrence for others? Reddit user @u/ComfortableMess3145 was curious to know what were some things that people thought to be normal until they realized that they aren't. 

The question that received 1.3K answers got some interesting responses. A lot of people shared that for the longest time, they didn’t know they had a certain condition such as astigmatism, ADHD, or some kind of allergy. Other users revealed that their “not normal thing” usually came from their household. The examples included being expected to always ask for every little thing instead of just taking or doing it, or being used to big family fights. 

Do you have something to add to this list? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below!

More Info: Reddit

#1

I have astigmatism so I see light in streaks. For the longest time I thought that was how everyone saw it.

Image credits: Onirity

#2

Subconsciously adapting my speech patterns to whoever is around me. I'll start picking up their accent, words they use frequently, etc. Turns out, this is a common thing neurodiverse people, and it's more seen in women if I'm not mistaken. It could cause me issues, however. Thing is, I'm much more self conscious about this when I talk to black people, bc I'm white... And I swear I'm not trying to do a "blaccent" on purpose. It just... Kind of happens.

Image credits: Upbeat-Quality1421

#3

The ability to make a roaring noise in my ears by tensing a muscle.

Image credits: Jmen4Ever

#4

Not everyone struggles to concentrate on a task or have the mental energy to take care of things. Apparently I have ADD. I found out two years ago life didn’t have to be a daily struggle when I started taking a medication for a sleep problem and one of its off label uses is to treat ADD.

I was actually told repeatedly as a kid I had ADHD but they always told me it was my fault and treated it as if the issue was voluntary. So I grew up believing I was just a lazy day dreamer who gets overly stressed by having too many tasks. I’ve lived my life thinking everyone else was better than me because they can get things done. Nope, I’ve just need meds my entire life. Now I wonder how different my childhood would have been if I had been treated back then.

Image credits: DeaddyRuxpin

#5

Hearing music play even when you aren’t listening to anything. And no I’m not talking about when you have a song stuck in your head and it’s just your thoughts singing the lyrics, I mean actually hearing music when nothing is there.

I use to think my house was haunted by a ghost that loved to play music. Later on as I got older I thought it just happens to everyone. Until I read about “Musical Hallucinations” online and found out how rare it actually is.

And no it’s not fun.

Image credits: VisitSecure

#6

Having to hide when you’re parents are fighting, I only found out this was not normal when I went to a friends house and their parents had a argument that I expected to turn into a screaming fit just like it does with my parents. I got up expecting to have to hide with my friend before they started full on fighting. I was then informed by his concerned parents that it’s not normal to have to do that.

Image credits: Ok_Pressure_4462

#7

Picturing things in your head. I have a friend with aphantasia and she was flabbergasted when she realized people could visualize things in their brain.

Image credits: Imperfect_Beluga

#8

Being able to blur and unblur your eyes on command ?

Image credits: evanwantsyourtoes

#9

having a good relationship with your own parents. wasn’t until i made good friends that i realised how lucky my relationship is with my parents bc so many of my friends did not like family life.

Image credits: wankybabyy

#10

Having a whole complex of rooms in your head and about 16 people in there chilling and having convos with them

It’s all positive, they’re kinda my way of getting things out and processing thoughts and emotions

I do all sorts in my subconscious mind palace and it’s very entertaining but everyone else finds it kinda wierd.

Image credits: martthethird

#11

When I’m on my period, I can numb my lower half of my body so I can’t feel cramps. After talking to my friend I realized she couldn’t do it and I was just confused as I have been doing it for years.

Image credits: QueenBee_Here

#12

Apparently most people can't reach their entire back with their hands. I never knew backscratchers had an actual purpose.

Image credits: dm-me-appletun-pics

#13

Being able to give myself goosebumps on command.

I only realised last year (I’m in my 30s) when watching Taskmaster and one of the tasks was “Give yourself goosebumps, fastest wins”, and I wondered why they didn’t all just induce them like I do.

Turns out it’s a rare ability that only 1 in 1500 people have.

Image credits: Dvdsmith2002

#14

I always thought the after effect for eating fresh cherries was a scratchy throat, with this weird tight feeling. Mild though but it would last about 30 minutes.

After eating 2 cherries earlier this year I ended up having a severe allergic reaction and discovered that cherries aren't meant to do that and I've just been allergic to them this whole time. ?

Image credits: ComfortableMess3145

#15

I was joking around with my friends in 8th grade History and we were trying to see how many pencils we could stick into my friend's afro (with his consent) and right as I was trying to lift my arm and put the pencil in his hair one of them cracked a joke that sent us into a fit of laughter. My arms went limp and when my friends started coaxing me to put it in I told them I couldn't.

They were noticably confused, so when I regained my composure I explained that everytime I laugh, my muscles go limp and I am not be able to move them. It ranges from droopy head and weak knees, to full body collapse.
Because of the term "roll over laughing" and portrayals of people in media falling over in laughter I thought this happened to everyone, and they were just better at controlling it. My friends all agreed that it in fact did not happen to them, and that I should get it checked with a doctor.

1 year later I was diagnosed Type 1 Narcolepsy: a sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, and Cataplexy. Cataplexy happens when a trigger, such as strong emotions like laughter or fear, trigger a sudden loss of muscle tone, making it difficult to move, stand, or even breathe.

I was lucky to be diagnosed as early and quick as I was, since the condition is widely unknown outside of the context of Narcolepsy patients and specialists. The symptoms of Narcolepsy are so common, in both puberty where it starts to present more heavily, and other diagnoses such and depression and anxiety. Its estimated that around 1 in 2,000 people have this disorder, and the lucky few that actually get diagnosed usually only do so later in life after 5-10+ years of multiple tests and misdiagnoses.


The takeaway from this is that if you think that other people "deal with it better" or "suck it up" or "control it better" chances are that's not normal, and you should speak up about it.

Image credits: Savannahisded

#16

I’ve played violin since I was 3 years old. So, I learned the letter names of each string and the finger numbers. And, whenever I heard a song, I always thought of a letter or number with each note. To me, it was plainly obvious what each letter and number was, and my brain even expanded the letter/number system to work with cello and the entire piano range.

Turns out, not every violinist has this, let alone absolute pitch (frequency in Western countries: 1 in 10 000). When I was 20, I discovered it was synesthesia, a harmless linking of senses/concepts in the brain.

That seemed to check out since people’s faces often have smells/tastes associated with them. Mine tastes like white sugar out of the packet. My brother’s is hard boiled egg. And whenever someone mentions a particular date on a particular year, I envision a giant number line.

Also, letters have emotions. E is happy, but lowercase e is even happier. Capital N is happy but lower case n is sad. And the months of the year go in a giant counter-clockwise circle, with my birthday in October being at the bottom. 2 is sad. 3 is happy.

Image credits: throw_aaway7777

#17

That most people aren't constantly aware of their heart beating, and dont get numb legs just from walking a few metres uphill, and don't lie in bed at night wondering whether they'll die in their sleep because their heart does funky things when they lay down.

Turns out I have a heart condition lol. I feel so at peace now that I'm on medication for it

Image credits: ceo_of_dumbassery

#18

I always thought when you try to talk to someone about something they do that bugs you or is just something that you feel the need to bring up because it effects you, that its normal for the person to get upset when you bring it up, and for them to disagree with you, resulting in yelling and fighting. I always thought this until I was talking with my friend about something they do that really pisses me off, and they just sat there, and thanked me for bringing it to there attention, and was completely chill about it, no yelling or argumenting. It was a weird feeling because I just kept waiting for the disagreeing and yelling to happen, and when it didn't I felt like something was missing? lol.

Image credits: _yUkO_IDK

#19

Having to deliberately learn all your social skills. I assumed other people just got more practice, because I didn't have many friends growing up. Years of work did help me a lot, but I only recently realized most people learn these things without thinking much about it.
I'ts like the difference between glancing at a sentence and immediately getting its meaning, vs. figuring out each word letter by letter.

Image credits: Sterna-hirundo

#20

I thought it was normal for every friend group to have one person that everyone picked on for no reason. I don't mean light roasting, I mean legitimately bullying them and putting them down. My brother's friend group had one, with my brother being a primary instigator. I was the punching bag in my middle school friend group. It took until the end of high school/the beginning of college for me to actually be treated like a person and realize that friends aren't supposed to make you feel like s**t about yourself.

Image credits: yeetgodmcnechass

#21

Visual snow. My whole life, my field of vision has always been covered by shifting multicolored dots of light. Similar to light snow on an old TV transmission, hence the name. I see it all of the time, I never don't see it, though it is worse in the dark, or if staring at the sky. In the dark or when I close my eyes, it is all I see. I thought everyone had this until my early 20s.

Image credits: smuffleupagus

#22

Two OREO limit. That was always the serving size in our house growing up. My first binge in college was a whole sleeve of OREOs.

Image credits: welchbw

#23

Not being able to watch Movies/Shows without Close Captions or subtitles. Also never understanding what they are sayin on the radio. Turns out, I have an Auditory Processing Disorder. If I don't see peoples lips moving my brain doesn't recognize they are words more than half the time

Image credits: SugarLily0420

#24

"Man, I am having so much trouble finding out which colors to use for these letters!"

"Just... use the colors from your head."

"The what?"

"That's what I did! The head colors? Y'know?"

"N..o."

Anyways I have color-grapheme synesthesia and somehow, no one thought much of me saying that the days and months and letters and numbers all had colors.

Image credits: ReviLogic

#25

I have a few medications I need to take for my mental health, some I need to take at night some in the morning. I've gotten into the habit of rather than reading the label for which ones I need, I will shake the bottle and know which ones to take based off of the sounds the pills make when they rattle.

Let me say I was shocked when I was informed this is not normal.

Image credits: fuckwormbrain

#26

Lice. Growing up I had lice almost every summer, I thought everyone got lice growing up. I thought lice was just a summer bug that we kids got! When I got with my ex and talked to him about my childhood and how we always got lice, he was SHOOK. It was apparently not normal for children to get lice on a regular basis.

Image credits: Kovong

#27

for YEARS i thought everyone got sick at the feeling of certain textures, kinda like seeing big bugs and stuff, like the same feeling that gives you, later learned i have a psychiatrist and therapist trying to figure out if i have adhd, or if im on the autism spectrum

Image credits: anon

#28

Ringing in the ears. I dont have a conscious memory of not having it. When i was about 5 years old I asked my grandma " what song does your head play?"

Image credits: liscbj

#29

Normal is just the running average of weird.

Image credits: Indigo_Sunset

#30

Not everyone hears their own thoughts audibly. I only learned that last year after describing to my husband that when I’m thinking I literally hear my thoughts as if they’re being spoken outside of my body.

Image credits: LittleFlowers13

#31

Asking for permission.

I was raised to always ask permission to have water, a snack, turn on the TV, or go to the bathroom any time I am in someone else's home. My best friend's mom thought it was weird that I would ask permission for small things. Like "May I grab a knife and fork for my pizza?" instead of "Where can I find a knife and fork?" was super weird to her.

Image credits: Awkward_Society1

#32

Abdominal pain. Turns out I have a gastrointestinal issue. But when everyone tells you as a kid to "suck it up", "be tough", "it's just a tummy ache", you get the idea that everyone deals with it and you're just being a whiny kid. Now when I get really bad flare ups, I end up in the ER on morphine.

#33

Having OCD. The thoughts that come with it I thought were normal for YEARSSS

Image credits: foxgirl1318

#34

Brushing my teeth before eating

Image credits: ShipInternational720

#35

I'm from Pennsylvania. Growing up, when we went to a restaurant and I ordered my favorite eggs, I would say, "2 dippy eggs, please". It wasn't until I got married and moved out to the western part of the country that I realized most people don't call them that.

I can still see the look on the waitress's face when I asked for dippy eggs. Apparently, most people call them "sunny side up".

Image credits: fourjoys99

#36

That I thought the human race existed only in my country (Denmark) when I was 9

#37

My parents are African and rice was a huge staple growing up. So when I went grocery shopping with my American college roommates for the first time they were surprised that I went to grab a 20 lb bag of rice.

They were white and were weirded out when they saw my lotion. They assumed it was for other reason besides moisturizing my skin and not being ashy.

#38

The ability to make dolphin sort of clicks with my mouth (I don’t know how you’d call it)

Image credits: cha45690

#39

I can blow snot off of my eye, when I was younger it just started happening. So whenever I blow my nose, I covered my left eye (one that snot comes out of) so snot wouldn’t shoot out. Found out not everyone does this a few years back!

Edit: to be more specific, it comes out the little tube in your eye that connects to your nose (to drain tears)

#40

My dad used to leave us in the car while he went in the bar to "see a man about a dog". We always thought he was in talks about getting us a puppy. I was an adult when it dawned on me he was in there drinking and see a man about dog was just an expression.

Image credits: anon

#41

allergies that cause anxiety.

basically a while back i got tested for a bunch of allergies, strawberries came up pretty high but i love strawberries and have never had a rash or anything from them so the doctor person said it probably just gave me extra anxiety
accepted it as normal and moved on.
the subject came up with my old biology teacher relatively recently and he was surprised and said that's very rare

i still eat strawberries. what's a little extra anxiety anyway?

#42

Only ever eating frozen food. I thought actually cooking was for professionals only. My first 20 years were only frozen food except for special occasions

Image credits: TheNameless00

#43

This reminds me of the person who said the hated getting into the shower straight away because it was cold

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