this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2026
593 points (99.7% liked)

Greentext

7776 readers
868 users here now

This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 34 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Ingiald@feddit.nl 5 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

The sparks are actually coming from the steel and not the stone. Flint is just a very hard and sharp stone that can make tiny bits of steel fly off, heated from the sheer friction.

A different stone that is hard and sharp enough would have the same effect, like pyrite also known as fool's gold. A different metal with, i believe, not enough carbon in it would not work. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 4 points 10 hours ago

When I was young I thought I'd need to really know the difference between gold and fool's gold as an adult.

[–] Zink@programming.dev 18 points 19 hours ago

I have two optimism-filled counterpoints to this.

  1. Happy childhood memories are often much nicer than actually existing as a child. Much more concentrated. You already have the good stuff.

  2. The only person stopping you from walking through the woods and finding cool rocks is you!

(insert caveats here about how adult life sucks for so many people right now and they don't have free time to wander in the woods. I know. It sucks. I can only encourage you to consider it a metaphor and find something realistic and rewarding that fits your life)

[–] AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world 43 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 4 points 23 hours ago (1 children)
[–] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 5 points 20 hours ago

Don't watch this. Just don't. Unless you want a brain aneurism. Source: im ded

Idk I'd probably be fune.. For a while...doodeedoodoo

[–] Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 28 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I’m impressed the guide demonstrated the flint’s sparking abilities and let the kid keep the rock. I know way too many adults who’d be like, “Oh no, danger!” and make a kid leave such a rock alone.

[–] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

People were a lot less weird about stuff like this in the past, even in the 90s and early 00s. My dad gave me a pocket knife when I was like 8.

[–] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 7 points 23 hours ago

Honestly the risks of giving children things varies by individual. 9 year old me with a knife? Perfectly safe and what wasn't safe was a learning experience. 12 year old me with matches? Literal dumpster fire because I have pyromaniac tendencies.

[–] tanisnikana@lemmy.world 136 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] grueling_spool@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

So many people seem to want to go back, though. Maybe we just need to coordinate

[–] tanisnikana@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

(the picture was taken in December ‘25, of my college I had graduated from twenty years prior. The absolute liminality, devoid of people, and night time environment, counter to how one would normally perceive a college, all adds to the unsettling effect. I added the text after the fact, and formatted it to fit. It wasn’t just hanging in space, but it should have been.)

Who all wants to get together to live at the local boarded up mall!

[–] mycodesucks@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I thought Tom Holland's first movie was The Impossible.

[–] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Correct. Tom Holland did not direct a TV series a year before he was born. This is the American Tom Holland.

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago

Tom Holland did not direct a TV series a year before he was born

What an underachiever.

[–] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 9 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

This is getting out of hand now there are two of them.

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

This reference is pleasing.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 19 points 1 day ago

Shit, I am a grown man and am still excited for OP, that's awesome!

I'm kind of an outdoors nerd though.

[–] AGD4@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

So Anon is 16 years old? They'll be just fine.

[–] Romkslrqusz@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago

Why can’t I go back Anons?

🍄‍🟫

[–] inari@piefed.zip 42 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I was expecting the rock to be Cesium-137 or something 

[–] Bustedknuckles@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I was thinking unexploded ordnance

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago

Hits it with some metal

It detonates, liquifying 15 scouts

Best day of my life

[–] doingthestuff@lemy.lol 24 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I'm not sure what shape a hearth is.

[–] addie@feddit.uk 18 points 1 day ago

It's the massive stone slab that lies in front of a fireplace, stops stray sparks for burning holes in your carpet or floorboards and burning the house down.

They're usually half-tonne rectangles of granite. Fair play to the lad for digging one out and carrying it home, it's normally a job for a forklift.

[–] eletes@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I thought it was a typo for heart based on the picture

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago

Nonsense. It was an important story, and OOP would have checked for spelling.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

did some quick doodles for you

idk whether that makes sense to anyone but me 😅

[–] Kanda@reddthat.com 6 points 1 day ago
[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I can’t believe the rest of you left that behind

[–] Jerkface@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I'll do better, I promise