One of the best things about snacks is that you get to share them with the people you care about—if they want them, of course. However, some strangers feel that they’re entitled to your treats and won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. That can backfire. Badly!
Redditor u/LadybugGal95 shared how she was at an amusement park with her children when they came across an incredibly pushy kid and his mom. The OP was enjoying ginger candy, an acquired taste that helps with her nausea and motion sickness, but the tiny stranger insisted on having a taste. Well, he regretted it almost immediately. Read on for the full story and for a reminder of why it’s a bad idea to demand candy from strangers.
We reached out to the author of the viral post, redditor u/LadybugGal95, and she was kind enough to share her thoughts about what happened, and gave some great advice on dealing with motion sickness. Read on for Bored Panda's full interview with the OP!
Some people get motion sickness when they go on amusement park rides. Something that helps with the nausea is ginger candy
Image credits: Frans van Heerden (not the actual photo)
An internet user shared how a random kid insisted on trying her candy, and how he regretted it almost immediately
Image credits: Glen Carrie (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Anderson Schmig (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Marco Aurélio Conde (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Timur Weber (not the actual photo)
Image credits: LadybugGal95
The entitled kid and his mom wouldn't listen to any of the warnings about the taste
Image credits: Xavier Mouton Photographie (not the actual photo)
The author of the post had made it abundantly clear that the candy she was enjoying was an acquired taste. However, the random mom in the queue enabled her entitled son to take a piece. Of course, the OP’s warnings that he should taste the milder candy rather than the hotter sweets fell on deaf ears. He went straight for the second spiciest variant and soon found himself in pain.
“The kid rips it open, shoves it in his mouth, gets in three quick chews while my kids stare at him. Then, he actually starts to taste it and a look of horror comes over his face. He screams and tries to spit it out. He’s jumping around and flapping his arms. His mom is panicking and asking what’s wrong. He’s screaming that it’s bad and it’s hot and he wants it out,” Reddit user u/LadybugGal95 shared what happened.
The upside, however, is that this encounter probably taught the child a lesson about boundaries, politeness, and demanding random stuff from total strangers. Not only that, his mom is sure to be more careful about what she lets her child do from now on. It might have been a harsh lesson, for sure. But it was clearly a necessary one.
"When she called me greedy, I was shocked"
Image credits: Taylor Deas-Melesh (not the actual photo)
The OP told Bored Panda that she "truly did not think" her post would go so viral. At most, she expected a few hundred views and a handful of comments, "but nothing like the response" she got.
Bored Panda was curious about how the redditor first reacted to the strangers asking for candy. "At first, I didn’t think anything of the kid wanting a piece of candy. I mean, he was a kid. I didn’t really want to launch into a discussion about it being candy but not like any candy he’d had because I was there to have fun with my kids which is why I just said he probably wouldn’t like it," u/LadybugGal95 told us.
"I fully expected the mom to tell him in some form or fashion not to bother me. When she called me greedy, I was shocked which is when I decided to give them what they wanted. It was the easier and more entertaining path."
According to the author of the post, a few readers were unhappy with how she responded and said that she'd "tortured the kid or asked what if I’d gotten him sick/he had allergies. That wasn’t even on my radar," she said.
"On the sick/allergy side, no parent would ever ask for something unknown if their kid had allergies. As far as the torturing went, I’ve given them to kids before. For several years, I was a day camp director during the summer and I always brought ginger candy when we went to the amusement park. I encouraged kids to try them all the time and many did," the Reddit user recounted.
"Granted, I prepped them a bit better. They knew I wasn’t handing them a piece of chocolate but they got the same candy. While many didn’t like it that much and maybe half spit it out, they took it in stride. A nasty face and yuck were the worst that ever happened. My kids and I were eating the same thing. I never hurt the kid and I never would have handed him something I actually thought would hurt him."
There's a variety of ways to tackle motion sickness
Image credits: Conor Luddy (not the actual photo)
Meanwhile, Bored Panda wanted the OP to share her wisdom on dealing with nausea and motion sickness. "I’ve gotten motion sick off and on in the car since I was a child although rides didn’t bother me at all then. In the car, I’d either try to sit in the middle seat in the back so I could look straight forward and have my parents point the vents at me or I’d go to sleep," she told us.
"For years, sleeping was my go-to in the car. Somewhere along the line after college must have been when I heard about ginger because that’s when I started drinking ginger ale whenever I got car sick. I do still drink ginger ale as well. Some ginger ales work better than others. The one I have found to work the best is one produced and sold in Kentucky called Ale-8. I love that stuff. I’d love to be able to pick Ale-8 up at my local grocery store but, sadly, I only get it when we are traveling," u/LadybugGal95 said.
"I was at my local Asian market looking for a candy (a chocolate one) I’d had when I traveled to South Korea when I first ran across ginger candy. It’s becoming easier to find it every year. In addition to ginger and sleep (I still use that one), I sometimes use an oil called Motion-EAZE that I get at Walmart behind my ears. I do think it helps some but not as much as ginger does. Also, for me having something in my stomach helps. I know others who would definitely disagree with that one though."
What really gets us is that the OP tried time and time again to be the better person and to warn the strangers about the fact that her candy is hot. But when someone calls you greedy, it’s hard not to whip out some malicious compliance for a spot of gentle revenge. As it turns out, revenge isn’t just a dish served cold—it comes in the spicy ginger variety, too.
The CDC states that there are various ways to prevent motion sickness, but the best method is to avoid situations that cause it. Of course, that can be quite impossible if you have to travel or if, say, you’re taking your kids to the amusement park and want to celebrate summer to the fullest.
According to the CDC, staying hydrated and limiting how much caffeine you consume can help with motion sickness. Ginger candy and other flavored lozenges can also help with nausea. Meanwhile, you can try to distract yourself by listening to music.
If you’re traveling by car or bus, sitting in the front can help reduce the impact that motion sickness has. Alternatively, if you have the option, try looking at the horizon or lying down and shutting your eyes.
Ginger has plenty of health benefits, aside from helping with nausea
Image credits: Julia Topp (not the actual photo)
It’s not just nausea that ginger helps with. It’s a fairly versatile ingredient that has plenty of benefits. WebMD explains that fresh ginger, for instance, is full of chemical compounds that help your body fight off germs like bacteria and viruses.
That’s not only useful for your overall health, but it has a particularly powerful impact on your oral health. Ginger prevents bacteria from growing in your mouth which would otherwise cause gum infections and periodontal disease. It’s not a perfect solution, of course, so you still need to practice proper hygiene, instead of just munching and crunching ginger.
Not only that, but ginger can also soothe sore muscles, ease the symptoms of arthritis and period pains, and help with indigestion. It can also lower cholesterol and some studies have shown that it may slow down the growth of some cancers.
On top of that, ginger is great not just for motion sickness at amusement parks. It can fight against nausea during pregnancy, act as an antidote for seasickness, and can be a crutch for the nausea cancer patients feel after chemotherapy.
The author of the story discussed what happened with some of her readers
Here's how some other internet users reacted to the ginger drama
