How could we have been doing something so simple, so wrong, for our entire childhood? If you’re lucky enough, your parents at least mentioned something about those flaps being there, even if they fed you some bogus myth like “the flaps help you get the most liquid out of the box.” Instead, I was left with juice on my hands and a half-empty juice box after wrongly holding the box by its middle, which caused the juice to gush out of the straw. The horror.
Those flaps are meant to be turned outward to prevent this from happening. Easy to transport? Check. Spill-proof? Check. My whole life has been a lie? Double-check. Now that I know that the bulky flaps can be folded outward to make it easier for small-handed children to hold them, there’s no way I will let another child suffer from ignorance the way that I did.
Wooden Coat Hangers
Is your closet full of wooden coat hangers, plastic ones, or a mish-mash of both? Hangers can say a lot about an individual. But did you know why wooden hangers exist, to begin with? They are designed to keep away moths and other creatures that would damage your clothes. Heavy clothing, like coats and dresses made out of wool, is more vulnerable to various insects.
Wooden hangers are made from cedar wood which is known to naturally help repel moths and other bugs. It also absorbs moisture and odors. So if you find that bugs are attracted to the clothes in your closet, you know how to take care of the problem!
Color-Coded Ice Cream Scoops
To be honest, I worked in an ice cream shop for several years and never once understood why the ice cream scoops had different colors. I didn't even think to ask. Only years later do I finally know the reason. Each color represents a different-sized scoop. Whoops, guess I messed up one too many orders. No wonder why my customers were always so happy...
Ice cream scoops can be given in over a dozen different sizes. This is based on how many scoops go in a cup and how many scoops fill up a 32-ounce container. While the rainbow colors of the handles look joyful and cute, they serve a purpose other than making you feel warm and happy inside.
Ridges on Coins
We aren't sure if you've noticed this, but both quarters and dimes have rough edges (as opposed to pennies and nickles, which don't). Go ahead, we'll wait patiently for you to pull some coins out of your wallet so that you can compare the difference, that is, if you even have any coins considering that credit cards are taking over the world. To set the scene, the year is 1972, and the Coinage Act has just established the U.S. Mint. Back then, coins were stamped in different weights to show the real value of the coin.
In order to prevent criminals from filing shavings from the sides of the coins and selling the metal, minters put ridges on coins (a process known as reeding) to make it easy to tell if the edges had been shaved off. Another benefit to doing this was that it also made it more difficult to counterfeit the money. Nowadays, coins are no longer made from precious metals so this isn't an issue. But, we still have edges on our coins.
Detachable Headrests in Cars
This next one is up for debate. Do you know how the tops of the seat in a car are detachable? Come on, I know I'm not the only one that used to pull them out on family road trips and get my dad mad. If you think that there isn't a reason for this, then you're wrong. Well, there's a popular meme that went around explaining the reason for this madness. This meme explained that the reason for the tops of seats being removable is in case of an emergency.
If you're stuck in your car, you can pull out the headrest and use the metal bars to break through the window and exit the car. While they are really there to provide support for your head and neck in case of an accident, it does make you wonder why the headrests are removable. I'm choosing to believe that all those times I spent pulling the headrest out were practical and that I'll be the one who knows what to do when trapped inside of a vehicle.