People Are Baffled That These 25 “Blue Whales” In The Room Are Consistently Ignored

At some point or another, we’ve all been in that situation where something awkward has taken place in front of us, but we don’t acknowledge it. Recently, they ‘Ask Reddit’ community saw a discussion about ignoring the elephant in the room -nay- the blue whale in the room. 

#1

Image source: Environmental-Age502, engin akyurt/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

My mom and brother got into a stupid argument when we were kids and out camping one time. It was truly some stupid nonsense kid argument, but it ended when she punched my brother in the face. And other than one of her annoying friends (who I later learned also was a child a****r) muttering ‘serves him right’, no one said a thing.

#2

Image source: VerityPushpram, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

I worked as a nurse in operating theatres

The anaesthetist was having an affair with the scrub nurse and the surgeon was the anaesthetists wife who knew about the affair

That was a VERY awkward case

Edited to add – nothing went down, it was a routine case with no problems

But the psychological tension could be cut with a scalpel.

#3

Image source: Godzirrraaa, Natilyn Hicks Photography/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Donald Trump has admitted twice on camera that he doesn’t ask God for forgiveness, because he likes to think he’s a good person who doesn’t do anything wrong. Also, he doesn’t have a favorite Bible quote, but rather, “It’s the whole thing, all of it.” Really, all 4,000+ pages? (That he also claims to have read.)

He’s the closest thing to the Bible’s description of the antichrist the world has ever seen, and Christians just bury their heads in the sand because he plays for their team.

#4

Image source: tryna_earn_a_crust, Panos Sakalakis/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

I’ve been the elephant. I had a substance abuse problem and went to rehab. Went twice in 2021 then 2022-2023 spent the better part of 18 months in a long term facility. I’ve been clean and sober since getting out and have been very open about my time and where i had been but a side from my parents the rest of my family refuse to acknowledge my treatment or rehab. The word and that place is taboo. It’s like for 3 years I just disappeared then suddenly I’m back and nothing ever happened. Rehab has an awful stigma around it even though it has been the best thing I’ve ever done.

#5

Image source: bigbel100, Gabriel Benois/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Work zoom call. One of the managers was running late and thought his camera was off – turns out it was on and he had just gotten out of the shower butt naked and everyone saw his huge shlong on camera. He soon realised and quickly turned off the camera.

The meeting went on like normal and nobody said a word, LOL.

#6

Image source: Heroic-Forger, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

The fact that the US Government is trying to slash the Endangered Species Act because of Colossal Biosciences’ so-called “dire wolves”. Like everyone’s roasting the hell out of them for their grift or making analogies to Jurassic Park but nobody’s pointing out the more insidious implications of the project. With the flimsy excuse that “we can just sort of recreate species if they go extinct!” they’re fighting to be allowed to cause untold ecological damage without consequence.

#7

Image source: Devir__, Mohammed Ibrahim/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)

The ongoing g*nocide in Gaza.

#8

Image source: YaBoyfriendKeefa, Janine Robinson/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

When Trump bluntly stated that they rigged the election. On live tv. Twice.

#9

Image source: WordWord1337, The Gallery/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

That the post-WW2 boom in the American economy was a fluke, and that it was unsustainable even with our military dominance. Many of the issues we’re facing as a culture are a direct result of this.

The golden era that the MAGA movement keeps calling back to — huge U.S. manufacturing, demand for American products, outsized credibility and influence with foriegn governments — all originate from a time when the rest of the world was crippled from the most destructive series of events in human history. America was one of the very few countries to benefit from it, and it lasted long enough that it created an entire generation who then assumed that the boom was the natural order of the world.

It’s baked into their worldview, and that will never change.

But the world has changed. Instead of accepting that, or ceeding power to a younger generation with a better understanding of the actual realities of the modern world, they would rather live in the fantasy. It’s infantile and entitled beyond belief, and it’s also very obviously unsustainable.

It’s killing our country and our planet, but instead of just acknowledging that things have changed we’re arguing about how much more money the rich old people need for things to get better.

#10

Image source: Mnemia, Molly the Cat/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

On a global level, the current ongoing collapse in biodiversity. We are causing a mass extinction and it’s barely even talked about. It’s at least as big a problem as climate change which gets way more press. I think it’s ignored because seriously addressing it might be even harder than climate change and we’re utterly failing at that.

#11

Image source: sunsetmothh, Kateryna Hliznitsova/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

When two people in the group clearly have something going on but they keep acting like we’re all blind, like babe your eyes do the heart emoji thing every time he talks pls.

#12

Image source: greyslayers, Charles Büchler/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

My old boss said “H*tler had the right idea about the gays” in front of me and some other people. I’m gay, and I’m pretty sure he knew, so I didn’t feel comfortable saying anything, but I paused waiting for the others to. No one said anything. So I just walked away. It was in the middle of a conversation and noticeable.

#13

Image source: Thisoneissfwihope, Cj/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Brexit in the UK. It’s the #1 driver of economic issues here right now and everyone in power is studiously ignoring it.

#14

Image source: thelesserkudu

I used to work in an office where my cubicle was next to the boss’s daughter. We were office buds and would chat and banter all day. Our cubes were also right next to the bathroom. Her dad, our boss, would use that bathroom and it was the most heinous thing I’d ever experienced. The most violent s***s I’d ever heard and they smelled truly awful. Like a dead opossum. I honestly wondered if he had some serious illness. This happened at least once a day. And of course his daughter and I would never acknowledge it. Her dad would go to that bathroom and we just immediately switched from chatting to staring at our computers in stone cold silence. Silence only interrupted by the most terrible sounds imaginable.

#15

Image source: SuperiorityComplex87, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department

The Epstein client lists. They think this similar s**t with Diddy got us distracted enough to forget.

#16

Image source: serberusno1, Nelson Ndongala/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)

Strange that nobody is mentioning the geopolitical and social upheavals currently happening before our very eyes.

The illegal mass deportation of non-white but completely legitimate US citizens
The obliteration of the American system of law bit by bit
The gutting of US government agencies- all of whom are clearly just an obstacle to the very people making these sweeping changes
The purposeful collapse of the US economy only for those with the resources and connections to buy everything up when the prices hit rock bottom
The fact that uber wealthy billionaires are the ones behind this and have done an amazing job at deceiving the public and changing things for their own benefit so far
Russian interference in US elections and government
And how about Russia invading another country- a country that made a deal to get rid of it’s nukes in return for protection from the US (and other countries) who has now officially turned it’s back on it

And on top of all of this- nobody really seems to be doing anything about these issues. There’s a certain amount of outrage and complaining online- but where are the mass protests, the arrests and the actual enforcement of laws against the people who are causing catastrophic to millions and millions of people and bringing us closer every day to tyrannical control, economic collapse and/or war?

#17

Image source: Prudent-Proof7898, Aaron Burden/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)

How litigious America has become and, as a result, workplaces are completely micromanaged. Instead of solving a problem with a human approach, we do everything based on the possibility of being sued.

#18

Image source: Kozeyekan_, Memento Media/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Just about every time there is a corporate meeting where HR assures everyone it’s a “judgement free, safe space” yet the heads of departments are in there too.

Everyone knows that they’re being overworked and under-recognized, but anyone saying that is putting a huge target on their back by embarrassing their boss in an open forum, and the idea of a consequence-free acknowledgement of the boss demanding work over weekends or yelling at staff publicly destroying morale is something everyone knows, but no one mentions in front of them.

#19

Image source: tryingtobebettertry4, Andrej Lišakov/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

My cousin disappeared for like a month once.

Like full on disappeared. He stopped showing up to work with no explanation, stopped messaging his mother, didnt say a word to any of his friends or on/off girlfriends. His sister even went to his apartment, it looked like he had just vanished one day leaving all his stuff. I think a missing persons report was even filed.

He resurfaced claiming he’d been over seas interviewing for a job. Clearly something checked out because the report was dropped, but that is literally all that he said as far as I know.

We had a family get together not long after he resurfaced. Nobody asked him anything, nobody even made a joke. Everyone just acted like he never left. It was weird. Especially as my family *love* the opportunity to rib each other. The closest any of my family have come to addressing it is my uncle joking that my cousin got replaced by a lizardman in disguise.

#20

Image source: palecrystala, M. Cooper/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

When your boss clearly shows up drunk to a Zoom meeting and people are like “technical difficulties?

#21

Image source: remembering_things, Pars Sahin/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Went to a birthday party for a friend’s 4 year old. Mom of the birthday kid has a “super sweet” dog who was an absolute menace throughout the party. Barreled into everyone, especially when they first walked in the door, causing multiple kids to fall and many parents to drop the presents they brought. Stole food directly from people’s hands. Giant tail whapping around bruising peoples legs. Knocking kids over. During “Happy Birthday” a dad was trying to calm his kid down and kiddo fell onto the dog’s back, causing it to freak out and growl and snap. I thought I was about to see a child get torn apart but the dad of the birthday kid just pulled the dog over to the side and laughed. I wanted to say something but the friend I came with told me to not even try, people had talked to the mom for years and no good ever came of it so everyone just ignored it.

#22

Image source: SpaceCowboy_32, Rowen Smith/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Many years ago when I was a younger teen, my estranged uncle wanted to have thanksgiving dinner at his house to try and reconnect with the family and prove he had gotten over a lot of the substance abuse issues that caused the rift with the rest of the family.

With several young children in the house, and in front of his parents, my grandparents, things seemed to be going well at first. Outside of the MASSIVE collection of VHS p**n tapes that literally filled up two entire racks of tape storage just sitting next to the TV. There was some extremely hardcore stuff in there too just out in the open for all of us to see. What’s worse was he kept trying to make comments about whatever football game was on at the time, but you literally couldn’t look at the TV without seeing several videos that had naked women on the front.

This awkwardness went on for a little bit while we were there till my mom, who had been in the kitchen helping cook since we got there, came in and saw the videos and lost it on him and we left almost immediately. I never found out why he thought it was a good idea to leave them out. Or why no one else said anything to him up to that point. But I never saw him again after that and no one else ever brought it up again. I guess morale of the story is that when you’re trying to prove to the rest of your family you’ve turned over a new leaf, don’t leave hardcore pornography in plain view for children to see.

#23

Image source: mellotronworker, Getty Images/Unsplash (Not the actual photo)

What happened to the report on Russian interference in the UK government, Boris?

#24

Image source: Lord_Bentley, Curated Lifestyle/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Saw my high school friends pass around a tin of Altoids with a white powder in it with a rolled up $1 bill as they all took turns going to the bathroom with it. I was so naive, I thought they were snorting crushed up Altoids!

#25

Image source: asimov-solensan, Adam Nowakowski/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

At a global level, the cambridge analytica scandal.

I literally think we have lived the french revolution of our generation.

If the french revolution marks the end of feudalism in favor of parliamentary democracies. The cambridge analytica scandal marks the end of democracy.

It showed that is perfectly possible to change the outcome of elections and it just got worse, and propagated to other countries. Its not only cambridge analytica, nowadays there are dozens of companies doing the same thing.

So essentially they have got the knowledge, the tools and the money to do whatever they want with people.

We are in a completely new social era.