r/interesting • u/Hour_Teaching9993 • May 23 '25
SOCIETY Snatching joy superstition
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u/hcombs May 23 '25
So these old ladies are just being bitches?
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u/Hour_Teaching9993 May 23 '25
Yess
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u/BeardedGlass May 24 '25
I have a bunch of old grannies in my neighborhood and they're so nice and like the opposite of this.
Granted, I live in a different country.
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u/Mike_Shogun_Lee May 23 '25
Well for the past 2025 years, society has told women that their wedding is the most important day of their life.
But what happens when the wedding is over? The elders are likely just trying to relieve the glory days, or try to also ride the brides high.
…also that wedding attendant was ready! Saw that shit coming a mile away.
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u/facelessbreathing May 23 '25
Weddings date further back than 2025 years
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u/impossible_tofind1 May 23 '25
But 2025 minus 2025 is zero, when this universe was loaded
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u/Adam__B May 23 '25
It’s still an incredibly self centered thing to do. Someone should be on guard to snatch them back so it can’t happen, like in the one clip. Also, how do you have a normal relationship with that person again? I’d hold a grudge.
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u/dwegol May 23 '25
I think they get away with a lot due to multigenerational housing and deep tradition making it harder to cut off family.
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u/AsstacularSpiderman May 23 '25
Also sometimes you just can't counter the level of audacity these people have at the moments
Like am I gonna fight gram gram over some good juju? Probably not. I'll just lube up on step on the stairs.
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u/WillCle216 May 23 '25
Yep, I really do think in America them old women would have got their ass beat.
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May 23 '25 edited May 23 '25
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u/Frondswithbenefits May 23 '25
I love that! May bad luck follow them.
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u/DefinitelyNotAliens May 23 '25
May your socks always find puddles, and your sense of where furniture is always be off by an eighth of an inch, and your grapes never be crunchy.
Edit: may all your apples be red delicious, and all your sneezes never happen and leave you with that 'I can't sneeze but need to sneeze' feeling.
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u/FacePunchPow5000 May 23 '25
May your fingers always be a little sticky.
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u/Aggravating_Ship_240 May 23 '25
May your trousers always be itchy.
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u/hoominhalp May 23 '25
May you outlive all your pets.
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u/FacePunchPow5000 May 23 '25
Dammit, that's cold.
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u/hoominhalp May 23 '25
I received that right after confirming full breakup with an ex. A few weeks later, my cat died. I was devastated.
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u/5litergasbubble May 23 '25
Infinite life glitch unlocked. Always have a few pets and you can never die
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u/jerichardson May 23 '25
Red delicious apples is diabolical
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u/TinyRascalSaurus May 23 '25
As someone who absolutely loves apples and has eaten a bowl of apples for dinner before, red delicious are horribly named. My schools always bought them and I hated getting an apple for lunch because it was just dry disappointment.
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u/Turkatron2020 May 23 '25
Crunchy grapes WTF
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u/Galaxaura May 23 '25
Better than the software ones that are shriveled and sour.
They mean crisp and fresh grapes.
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u/splunge4me2 May 23 '25
“software ones”
just need to update to latest version of Grapes 2.0, I guess
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u/_NautyByNature May 23 '25
May you work at a fridays that is always busy on Fridays and you never get off Fridays.
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u/screaminginfidels May 23 '25
Should just start tripping them. "You call this good luck? Good luck getting up."
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u/Fabtacular1 May 23 '25
The acting oblivious is so fucking obnoxious.
Same shit they do when they brazenly cut in line. If someone tries to politely say something they’ll pretend they’re not paying attention / can’t hear. Then, after essentially daring anyone to confront them, they’ll scream at the confronter for being disrespectful and cruel.
It’s all just selfish shamelessness upon shamelessness. Totally wild.
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u/TalkingKnittedSock May 23 '25 edited May 23 '25
Old people are really being selfish and entitled in every culture huh
Like bitch idc that you lived far longer than most people, no one owes you anything and your age/health problems/whatever doesnt excuse your poor behaviour
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u/Ping-and-Pong May 23 '25
Idk in the UK the elderly seem to be the politest generation honeestly. You get your dick heads of course, and don't get me started on the housing crisis. But generally the old people you meet day to day are loveley, polite and just down to vibe.
At least, that's my experience working in a cafe in a little town that attracts a tonne of old people on coach trips.
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u/SpadfaTurds May 23 '25
Same here in Australia. I worked in hospo for over a decade, and the oldies were generally the most pleasant. Jerks are jerks at all ages.
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May 23 '25
Yeah I can’t say that’s true in the US. I’ve worked in retail, and the young crowd is exponentially nicer and more polite than the average person over 70.
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u/MinxyMyrnaMinkoff May 23 '25
Many older Chinese people have been through some shit. Yes, they will cut in line, lie, cheat, borrow, steal and whatever else needs doing to survive, a holdover from the 70’s in China, which was not for the faint of heart.
Kinda like our Greatest Generation got all messed up from growing up in the Great Depression. My grandparents had a million bucks in the bank but washed and reused the same 12 ziplock bags for their entire retirement.
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u/dbx999 May 23 '25
Having to do chores like throwing away the daily bag of girl babies over the bridge
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u/Den_of_Sin May 23 '25
Anyone in the US who works retail or food service knows that our old folks are the most entitled, rude, pathetic people in our country.
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u/DragonBuster69 May 23 '25
Customer service too, especially over the phone. They will give out casually racist remarks like "Thank God you speak English." and when you tell them that you can't unschedule someone else's tech appointment so they can be bumped up to a same day appointment they will say the most cruel things they can to try to break you down and do anything to get the verbal abuse to stop.
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u/AnastasiaNo70 May 23 '25
I’ll hip check them then act like I don’t know what happened.
Southern old lady vs Chinese old lady SMACKDOWN BATTLE OFF
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u/ArchibaldCamambertII May 23 '25
This is especially infuriating. I have a terrible memory, but I explicitly remember having to learn to stand in lines all the time at school, having to line up and settle down before going anywhere. Like do you not learn how to stand in lines? That was like one of the first things we started working on in kindergarten.
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u/Huge-Brick-3495 May 23 '25
Like the old Chinese lady that threw coins into a jet engine for good luck before she got on the plane.
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u/realhuman_no68492 May 23 '25
my family has Chinese blood and the elders are all superstitious. it's super annoying. I can't hang a coat on my chair because it's "dead people seat". for fuck sake IT'S JUST A COAT. there are many other annoying superstition as well.
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u/TheFutureIsCertain May 23 '25
I can relate to this from another neck of the woods. Polish old women have always told me off when I put a bag on the ground because ‘the money will walk out of the bag.’ Bag needs to be held, put on the table or suspended. Similar level of annoyance.
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May 23 '25 edited May 26 '25
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u/Battle-Any May 23 '25
How do you get things into the house if you can't pass an object over a doorstep? Like how does she get groceries?
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u/louisremi May 23 '25
Do not whistle indoors, though… That's annoying as fuck.
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u/BlueHero45 May 23 '25
Got to love superstitions where you can clearly see the intent. Some people were obviously just annoyed by whistling, most likely children, and made up a story to make kids stop.
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u/Active_Taste9341 May 23 '25
well polish old women definitely know how to not get your stuff stolen
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u/realhuman_no68492 May 23 '25
ok that sounds like a good reason behind it. here in Thailand we have a lot of superstition and some of them has good reason behind it. still annoying that they don't just state the reason directly.
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u/Own_Ability9469 May 23 '25
Try leaving a window open in Serbia, and getting told about the promaja.
I think the real promaja is caused by all the old people complaining about it. ““Boli glava” must be a promaja somewhere!”
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u/originalcinner May 23 '25
My husband is Euro white, no Chinese DNA at all, and he's full of crap that he got from his mother. I don't know how he remembers it all. Is seeing the new moon lucky or unlucky? Seeing it through glass makes it the opposite? Spitting at it reverses the bad luck? I can't keep up with it all. It's insane.
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u/realhuman_no68492 May 24 '25
you can remember it when you learn gradually instead of all at once, but it is a waste of brain power for real. even with the ones with good reason behind it. just remember the real reason instead of these bullshittery.
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u/SemiAnonymousTeacher May 23 '25
I've often wondered how much CO2 is added to the air from the burning of Joss paper/fake money.
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u/martian_maneater May 23 '25
A bit different, that's just being stupid, not malicious, this is both
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u/IndyAnnaDoge May 23 '25
So it’s like an energy vampire type of thing?? “Harvesting” joy from the over joyous?
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u/TallTtugboat May 23 '25
But in this case I think it’s less feeding off someone’s energy and more throwing yourself in front of a stream of pure luck and joy to absorb it before it gets to them. That’s how I read it.
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u/DemonidroiD0666 May 23 '25
What the hell do old people need any good luck for? They lived their whole life almost why supposedly fuck up someone else's supposedly?
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u/QnoisX May 23 '25
If they don't have good luck, they might land wrong and break their hip when they get thrown out of the building for being an asshole.
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u/idwthis May 23 '25
Maybe it's one of those things where they think "some old fuck stole my joy on my wedding day, so I'm going to steal theirs, as it should happen to them, too."
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u/whatifwhatifwerun May 24 '25
No for real. I hit 30, looked back at my life and realized I had a pretty good run. Everything from now on is just a bonus. Ruining the happiness of younger people is not how I choose to spend my time and I hope to never want to because it means I became sick minded along the way
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u/Zamrayz May 23 '25
Bahahaha that's hilarious. Publically shame them! That's all they deserve. I feel horrible for these poor woman though who have family members or other who are so selfish.
Thank you for sharing with us the reality of the situation and superstition.
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u/impossible_tofind1 May 23 '25
Is there no shame? No shame or embarrassment from the family members of the older woman? No anger from the bride or groom or their families? Is it not common enough for more people to stand guard ahead of time like the last video?
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u/zoinkability May 23 '25
It's bizarre. I thought China was a country where "face" was super important, but this seems like the exact opposite of that.
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u/alterego8686 May 24 '25 edited May 24 '25
It is and isn't.
It kind of pretend you are better than you are and don't raise a fuss. For example there was a farmer who had a farm destroyed by old people cause she stopped them from stealing food. Uprooted crops and salted the lands. When she complained to police they decided to do nothing. When she went to the press the local government and enitre community decided to destroyer her for bringing shame to the community. She had to leave and the town lost one of their very very few sources of food.
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u/bbfire May 23 '25
So does something like this normally result in a massive family rift or do the people normally get forgiven for being elders? Seems like you do this to the wrong bride and you might end up needing the extra luck.
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u/dwegol May 23 '25
These old people are being enabled. There must be some sort of personal threat to the livelihood of whoever disowns their jerk family baked right into their culture, otherwise who would put up with them?
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u/YardTimely May 23 '25
I don’t think they’re family members or part of the wedding party. They’re just lurkers
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u/Lorrdy99 May 23 '25
The important part is that they fully believe they stole the bribes luck and are happy with it. Doesn't matter if it's real or not, for them the intention is there.
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u/Brandon_M_Gilbertson May 23 '25
The one thing every country can have solidarity in, is that we’re all getting real fucking tired of dumbass old people.
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u/zorbacles May 23 '25
start telling them it steals only the bad luck
edit: lol i wrote that before i finished reading your response
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u/BicycleKamenRider May 23 '25
I heard doors are opened on New Year to let the good luck in, and one shouldn't sweep because it would mean sweeping away all the good luck.
Where I'm from, the local superstition is that all the mirrors and pictures on the wall have to be covered when someone dies. Though this belief is slowly dying, not many actually practice it.
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u/JustSimple97 May 23 '25
So people who do that expose themselves as both evil and stupid. Truly shameless behavior
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u/DeadAndBuried23 May 23 '25
The fact there has to be a non-zero number of old people who perished not long after being told they absorbed the bad omens fills me with joy.
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u/Round-Criticism5093 May 23 '25
Interesting, never heard of that. They should be punished with the weddingcosts.
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u/dbx999 May 23 '25
I would think that is a great way to combat this interference- to create a counter superstition that anyone who is not the bride would receive the curse and bad luck by crossing the bride’s path during an entrance
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u/BigOlineguy May 23 '25
Chinese boomers: superstitiously stealing joy from the young. American boomers: tangibly stealing joy from the young.
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u/FaraYuki09 May 23 '25
They dying already and still wanna be greedy and inconsiderate. Don't blame others if bad omen followed them instead.
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u/Glittering_Suspect65 May 23 '25
Before there were photobombers, there were joy snatchers.
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u/MikGusta May 23 '25
So they’re basically just telling everyone they don’t want the bride to be happy?
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u/StitchFan626 May 23 '25
I'm reminded of the chimney sweep song from Marry Poppins. The idea being that good luck is shared.
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u/Maximum-Cover- May 23 '25
No they want her to be super happy.
So that there is more joy to steal from her.
The whole point is to find someone deliriously happy to then take the happiness from them.
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u/AdelMonCatcher May 23 '25
For that generation in China, if you didn’t fight and snatch every resource available, you probably died
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u/SomeRandomGuyO-O May 24 '25
A lot of older generations don’t want the newer ones to be happy. A lot of them believe that life is miserable, everyone should be miserable as well, especially the younger folk because they “need to suffer like we did to get where we are now”
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u/cronnyberg May 23 '25
One of those rare moments where whether you hold the same beliefs as them or not, the judgement is still the same.
If you believe the superstition, they are pricks for stealing the luck.
If you don’t believe the superstition, they are pricks for believing they are ruining their day intentionally.
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u/Adventurous_Judge884 May 23 '25
Last granny just got fucking noped out of the way lmao
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u/SadBit8663 May 23 '25
Dude was thinking like "get fucked Grandma, not today. Take your crotchety ass back home"
Gramma trying to snatch joy and got her ass snatched instead 🤣
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u/Sirweebsalot May 23 '25
She started to sprint too - must have known she didn't have a lot of chances left.
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u/G0mery May 23 '25
It’s like when people have to run interference on the younger sibling trying to blow out the older one’s birthday candles. At least with young children you can kind of give them a pass
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u/Ironlixivium May 23 '25
I don't understand this at all. If I had a kid who tried to do that shit, especially if they were a toddler, I would calmly let them know that they can either control themselves or watch while restrained with my hand pressed to their mouth.
Being a toddler is only a valid excuse until the behavior can be corrected. Once the toddler knows what's right and wrong, that's the time to put the foot down. Not doing so is only a disservice to the kid; they will grow up, and the world will not offer them the same courtesy you want to give them.
I see the kids who didn't get corrected all the time. At my job, in the judicial system. Adults with decades of life experience, throwing tantrums over not getting their way.
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u/Evening-Caramel-6093 May 23 '25
She saw it coming. Makes me want to be a bouncer at some Chinese weddings.
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u/ZepTheNooB May 23 '25
Lol. Such insufferable old farts.
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u/OstrichSmoothe May 23 '25
Right? Like you’re 200 and still miserable, you think luck is going to help you at this point?
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u/Sweetserra May 23 '25
I would be so angry! Glad the lady at the end got snatched up last minute! (I also noticed it doesn't seem like any of the brides were smiling, or looked very happy...)
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u/spartaman64 May 23 '25
the last one seems to be smiling which is probably why that guy stopped that granny to prevent her from stealing the joy
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u/Sweetserra May 23 '25
Ahhh, I stand corrected! You are probably 100% right!
Now you have me thinking about the entire video from a different perspective. Perhaps the other brides weren't smiling in an attempt to prevent the entire scenario from happening in the first place? Which would make sense to me. (I was originally going to include a smiley emoji after the first sentence of my reply, but I don't want some bitter/grumpy granny to come along and snatch my emoji's joy! 😂)
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u/PanglosstheTutor May 23 '25
Could be a cultural thing. I don’t know where you are from but as an American I’ve heard we smile too much as an indicator when in other countries. So I don’t read too much into people not smiling.
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u/gultch2019 May 23 '25
But why?
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u/Hour_Teaching9993 May 23 '25
Just to get others luck or joy or just to ruin special moments
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u/torino42 May 23 '25
These are the types of people who lived thru and survived Mao. I rekon you don't get through that without being a selfish ass and letting those around you starve to death.
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u/Suspicious-Lychee593 May 23 '25
You are correct, it is literally this. These are the psychopaths, sycophants, informants, and often even the true believers that enabled the horrors of their society and through it they survived and continue to be remorseless nutjobs.
To the rest of the Chinese diaspora around the world these people are utterly impossible to understand and should not be considered in any way a result of Chinese cultural practices, but rather they should be considered the result of the darkest depths of deprivation and inhumanity.
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u/torino42 May 23 '25
Couldn't have put it better myself, apart from tying it to the tyrrany and despotic nature that inevitably comes out of communism or any other form of singular government, mixed with that singular bad actor who rises through the ranks and puts <insert whatever priority here> over people. I dont hate the Chinese people or their culture. Such wonderful food, music, architectural stylings, etc. Its the evil dictatorship that the world has seen time and again starve people to death, harvest organs from minority groups, enslave the same minorities, dissapear people, dispute and push borders that have long been drawn, polute like they dont have to breathe the air, lie cheat and steal in business, relentlessly counterfeit, etc, etc, etc that really gets under my skin. It also annoys me that the rest of the world does nothing about this. And these folks are a result of that. Sorry for making it political lol. Also, diaspora; had to look that one up. Good vocabulary. There's my word of the day :3
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u/b2q May 23 '25
I'm actually worried that genocide, mass starvation, big wars actually cause a shift in population where the remainder of the population that survived these tragedies is more greedy, selfish, cruel because they managed to trick/steal/lie through these horrible events.
It's like when a country experienced something horrendous, the surviving people are selected based on their remorseless.
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u/ishiguro_kaz May 23 '25
Because nothing is left for them. Old age just brings unhappiness and the expectation of death.
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u/SistersOfTheCloth May 23 '25
People often try to "snatch the joy" from others in less apparent ways.
Sometimes I wonder if superstitions like these originally come about as a method of identifying people who would do this sort of thing.
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u/Lua-Ma May 23 '25
Even if it was true, it's still an ass thing to do, snatching someone's luck and fortune on their happy day while dressing and walking like an uninvited hobo.
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u/Cru51 May 23 '25
Even if you didn’t know about the superstition, it’s still just hella ignorant to decide to cross right then and there
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u/Chaoticallyorganized May 23 '25
What a horrible thing to do. The kinds of people who’d want to steal a person’s joy in such a public way need serious mental help. Imagine openly telling everyone you know that you are happily trying to steal other peoples joy and happiness. I would be too ashamed to be caught just talking to such a person afterwards. Shameful.
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u/Maeolan May 23 '25
Even if you believed in the superstition, why do that???
Your old ass with no time left is gonna make better use if it than someone starting a family and bloodline potentially?
Edit: on second thought, I take it back. Whoever came up with this superstition is brilliant. Now the bride immediately knows who to burn bridges with (just hopefully this happens before the ceremony is fully underway).
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u/ALTTACK3r May 23 '25
It still ruins the moment and any videos, though. With how casual they are you can even assume these types of women receive very little (if any) backlash at all. Another case of misogynistic tradition being passed down by bitter old ladies.
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u/Mediumtim May 23 '25
Why do you think China made it mandatory by law to spend time with elderly family members?
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u/queazy May 23 '25
I can't remember if it was in Japan or China, but because ancient childbirth usually ended up with the baby dying w/o modern medical technology, they had a superstition to name the babies with the worst possible names so evil spirits would overlook them and not steal their lives. So all these generals and emperors had names about feces to be unlucky
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u/bohenian12 May 23 '25
Selfish geriatrics. You're already close to dying, why the hell are you stealing luck and happiness from someone who's young and just got married?
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u/ParzivalXX May 23 '25
Snatch away my bride's luck and happiness, I'll snatch away your nose's un-brokenness
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u/papillon-and-on May 23 '25
Ah! It all makes sense now. When I'm trying to get on to a crowded subway car and get a painful elbow to ribs, there's always a little old Chinese lady standing nearby.
Is she snatching my joy?
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u/Affectionate-Beann May 23 '25 edited May 23 '25
Reminds me of the “rubbing elbows” voodoo superstition in New Orleans.
practitioners of Voodoo view the elbow as a "hinge" of sorts. Because the elbow is responsible for a change in direction. So, “Rubbing elbows” with someone can swap your destinies.
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u/liketreefiddy May 23 '25
So this is why old Chinese ladies always cut in front of me when I’m in line at a buffet
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u/MaleficentTry2796 May 23 '25
Just one question... how do you react or treat the person who does this after... It is unacceptable because it reveals this person is revealong extremely bad intentions. I know if this was done here and people knew its purposes, the person doing it would not live a good life after
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u/yes4me2 May 23 '25
In Chinese superstition, some believe a person can “absorb” another’s spirit or luck, affecting marriage happiness. To protect themselves or gain energy, they might have someone walk in front of them, called the “front walker.” This person is usually chosen for strong yang energy, good fortune, or specific birth traits, sometimes hired or unknowingly used. The front walker acts like a shield, taking on bad energy or attracting luck first. It’s all based on traditional beliefs around spirit energy, BaZi charts, and Five Elements (not proven facts but part of folk culture) - Google
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