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Annie Reneau

I am a writer, wife, and mother of three with a penchant for coffee, wanderlust, and practical idealism. On good days, I enjoy the beautiful struggle of maintaining a well-balanced life. On bad days, I binge on chocolate and dream of traveling the world alone.

Connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

Pop Culture

Billy Crystal's 'Princess Bride' ad-lib was so funny cast and crew had to leave the set

Mandy Patinkin actually bruised a rib from holding back laughter.

LionsgateFilmUK/YouTube

Billy Crystal created most of Miracle Max's lines off the cuff.

Comedic actors know how to deliver lines in just the right way with just the right timing to make an audience laugh. But true comedians are often funnier when they’re allowed to go off-script and let their gift for spontaneous humor shine.

Enter Billy Crystal, whose ad-libbed scene in “The Princess Bride” was so funny it took nearly 30 hours of work to get five minutes of usable footage. Cast members of the cult classic film have shared what happened when director Rob Reiner decided to take the reins off of Crystal, telling him, “Forget the lines, just go for it,” according to actor Cary Elwes. That invitation to improvise would prove to be one of the best—and worst—decisions he could have made for the film.

In the scene, Crystal plays “Miracle Max,” a crotchety old apothecary who argues with his wife (played by Carol Kane) and brings the "mostly dead" Westley back to life with his chocolate-covered magic pill. There were lines written for his character, but he didn't need them. He could—and did—ad-lib for hours, but it proved to be a bit of a problem because the cast and crew just couldn't stop laughing.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

The sound department had to start banishing people off of the set because they were ruining takes with their giggles. Reiner himself, who has a big, boisterous laugh, was one of the first people to go because he couldn't keep it together during the filming. Mandy Patinkin, who played Inigo Montoya and wasn't able to leave, shared that he sustained his only injury in the entire making of the film during the shooting of that scene—a bruised rib from holding in laughter.

Elwes said Reiner told him he needed to lie perfectly still and hold his breath in the scene, but Crystal's "medieval Yiddish stand-up" proved too hilarious and Elwes had to be replaced with his rubber dummy for much of the shoot. Patinkin said that Reiner nearly threw up from laughing so hard, and people in the cast and crew had to bite their hands to keep quiet. Production was nearly shut down for the day and the scene became one of the most expensive scenes in the movie because it used so much film, according to InCinematic. And the vast majority of what was filmed never got seen.

"Unfortunately, there's so many spoiled—brilliantly hilarious takes that we all spoiled," said Elwes. He also wrote in his book about the movie that Crystal never said the same thing or delivered the same line twice. Crystal's improv resulted in some of the most memorable lines from the film, such as the classic, "Sonny, true love is the greatest thing in the world—except for a nice MLT–mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean…"

Even the look of Miracle Max was from Crystal's brain child. He told his makeup artist that he wanted the character to look like a mix between Casey Stengel, former manager for the New York Yankees, and Crystal's grandmother.

Casey Stengel served as inspiration for the Miracle Max character in "The Princess Bride."Public Domain

People loved hearing about Crystal's comedic genius, wishing the footage that couldn't be used would be released.

"You can't plan a movie like The Princess Bride, when you've got the right people sometimes it just happens."

"Nothing greater as an improvising-comedian actor than hearing the words; 'Forget the lines, just go for it.'"

"Three straight days of Billy off the cuff is pure gold. I would've loved to have been on that set lmao."

"When the comedy is so good, you bruise your OWN RIB tryna hold it in."

"Release the tapes, raw and uncut. The people demand it."

We may not have access to the unseen footage of Crystal's improvised hilarity, but we can at least enjoy the scenes that did make it into the film by rewatching "The Princess Bride," which many fans do annually. The film even returned to theaters briefly for its 30th Anniversary in the fall of 2023, much to the delight of people who yearned to see it on the big screen again.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

This article originally appeared in January

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Community

Good news: Our pessimism about other people doesn't line up with reality

A new study shows that people are a lot more honest and kind than we think.

Photo credit: Canva

Lost wallet experiments show people are more benevolent than we believe.

In the age of 24/7 news cycles and social media algorithms, it's easy to become cynical about humanity. Sensational videos of bad behavior catch people's attention and get pushed into our feeds, negative headlines reinforce negative feelings, and the cycle leads people to the conclusion that people in general are more selfish and dishonest than helpful and kind.

But is that actually true? According to the 2025 World Happiness Report, it's not. In fact, in reality, humans are far kinder than we think we are.

wallet, lost wallet test, world happiness report People are more likely to return a wallet if it has money in it.Photo credit: Canva

Researchers use a simple wallet experiment to test benevolence levels in a given area. If someone finds a dropped wallet, will they turn it in or will they keep it? The perception most people have is that only a small percentage of people will return a lost wallet, but the actual data negates that notion. In fact, overall, people are twice as likely to return a lost wallet than people believe. And perhaps even more interestingly, people were more likely to turn in the wallet if it had money in it than it if didn't.

And this result isn't new. Wallet tests conducted over the years have come to the same conclusion.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

"Collectively, these data on expected and actual wallet return show that people are far too pessimistic about the benevolence of others," the report states. In other words, people are much better people than we think.

Interestingly, our perception of people's benevolence is strongly linked to our happiness. The most social trust we have—believing that people will generally do the decent or honorable thing—the higher our happiness level. Ironically, we could all be a happier if we knew we could trust people more, but it's just our skewed perception of people that's getting in the way. "People may be made needlessly unhappy by their unwarranted pessimism," the report states.

And our beliefs about others doesn't have a small impact. The report says "believing that others would return a wallet predicts a larger boost to life satisfaction than a doubling of income." The positive effect of believing your wallet will be returned is also higher than the expected negative effect that unemployment, mental health issues, or violent crime would have on your life satisfaction.

— (@)

The good news is that we don't have to try to drum up feigned positivity about humanity in order to increase our social trust. We simply have to look at the data that demonstrates we actually can trust people more than we think we can and internalize it. Reality itself is the antidote to pessimism about humanity. Isn't that wonderful?

The World Happiness Report has a lot to say about people-to-people interactions and relationships, as research shows that social bonds are key to our wellbeing. There are several elements that can impact people's happiness—how much money we have, how healthy we feel, whether we feel a sense of purpose, etc.—but our feelings about and experiences with others is a big piece of the puzzle.

"This year’s report pushes us to look beyond traditional determinants like health and wealth. It turns out that sharing meals and trusting others are even stronger predictors of wellbeing than expected," said Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, economics professor, director of Oxfort's Wellbeing Research Centre, and an editor of the World Happiness Report. "In this era of social isolation and political polarisation we need to find ways to bring people around the table again — doing so is critical for our individual and collective wellbeing."

— (@)

So which countries are the happiest? Perhaps unsurprisingly, Finland topped the list for the 8th year in a row. Despite its cold weather much of the year and it's lack of sunlight in the winter, the Finnish way of life appears to lead to higher levels of happiness than other places. In fact, the Nordic countries in general seem to have a bead on happiness, since Denmark, Iceland and Sweden rounded out the top four spots.

The United States landed at the #24 spot, right behind the United Kingdom at #23, a slip in the rankings for both countries. Here's the list of the top 25 happiest countries:

1. Finland

2. Denmark

3. Iceland

4. Sweden

5. Netherlands

6. Costa Rica

7. Norway

8. Israel

9. Luxembourg

10. Mexico

11. Australia

12. New Zealand

13. Switzerland

14. Belgium

15. Ireland

16. Lithuania

17. Austria

18. Canada

19. Slovenia

20. Czechia

21. United Arab Emirates

22. Germany

23. United Kingdom

24. United States

25. Belize

Wherever your country falls on the happiness rankings, focusing more on social connections and a positive outlook on humanity may help give your own personal happiness a boost.

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Science

Forget what you know about bed bugs. Avoiding and getting rid of them is pretty simple.

And thankfully, there are no toxic chemicals involved.

Mark Rober/YouTube

Mark Rober subjected himself to bed bug bites in the name of science.

"Good night! Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite!" This sing-songy rhyme that has been around for centuries alludes to the fact that bed bugs were prevalent in the past. After a significant decrease post-WWII, however, the sneaky pests have been making a comeback. Since the 1990s, bed bug infestations have risen dramatically, leading people to look for ways to avoid and get rid of the blood-sucking little buggers.

Unfortunately, a lot of the information about how to do that is flat-out wrong. Popular YouTube science communicator Mark Rober invites viewers to forget what we think we know and go on an educational journey with the leading bed bug researchers at Rutgers University's urban entomology lab. Not only did Rober subject himself to bed bug bites on purpose to see what happens when they feed, but he also conducted a series of experiments in the lab to find out what is actually effective at killing them and what is not.

Bed Bugs Belarus GIFGiphy

Bed bugs have a reputation for being nearly impossible to get rid of, which isn't really the case, according to Rober. When you know what works, it's actually a fairly simple process to kill an infestation. And the good news is that it doesn't entail any toxic chemicals—in fact the pest control chemicals sold for bed bugs don't work at all, according to Rober's tests.

In the process of learning about bed bugs, Rober shared a few "super wild" facts about the infamous creatures.

Fact #1: Bed bugs can live 3 to 10 months without feeding.

Eek. No wonder it seems like it's impossible to get rid of them. Starving them doesn't work. They can live in the resting stage for 3 to 6 months, and if the environment is cold enough, they can survive around 300 days, or 10 months, without eating.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Fact #2: Bed bugs don't transmit disease

Some good news here: Unlike blood-sucking mosquitoes, bed bugs don't carry or transmit disease. The bad news on the front is that because they don't pose a disease threat, only an annoyance, there's not a big incentive to fund research to eradicate them.

Fact #3: Bed bugs are attracted to vertical objects

In one of Rober's experiments, he placed a dish with a cylindrical vertical post inside it an a dish without a column, and nearly all of the bed bugs in the enclosure ended up in the dish with the column. "If you think about it, humans sleep at the highest elevation any given room. So their logic is just crawl up any vertical surface you see until you eventually find a warm-blooded meal at the top."

Part of how they find humans is by smell, which is why certain strong-smelling items can act as a deterrent for bed bugs. In Rober's experiment, Bounce dryer sheets, moth balls, baking soda, and essential oils all seemed to repel bed bugs (as opposed to ultrasonic pest repellers, which appeared to have no effect). However, none of those things did anything to kill them.

bed bugs, bed bug infestation, how to spot bed bugs Bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed.Photo credit: Canva

Fact #4: Before 1950, one in three homes had bed bugs

Yikes. Even with the resurgence, we're still nowhere near those numbers, thank goodness.

Fact #5: The way bed bugs mate is weird

The term used to describe it is called "traumatic insemination," and really, you should just let Mark Rober explain it with his visual metaphor. Start at minute 11:30.

bug GIFGiphy

Two things work well to kill bed bugs—diatomaceous earth and heat

In testing chemical sprays, foggers, and other items marketed for killing bed bugs, Rober found a "superstar" in a natural, non-toxic substance. Diatomaceous earth—pulverized fossilized remains of tiny aquatic organisms called diatoms—was the most effective at killing the buggers with a 90% mortality rate after 10 days as opposed to 12% with the Hot Shot bed bug spray. Diatomaceous earth is mostly silica, which absorbs moisture, and when the silica dust sticks to the bed bugs as the walk through it, it dehydrates them. A light dusting of diatomaceous earth around all the cracks and crevices of a room is one way to kill off an infestation, though that process can take days.

The other way to kill bed bugs is heat. Steam kills bed bugs, as does heating up a room to over 122 degrees Fahrenheit does the trick. Temps over 122 degrees kills bed bugs instantly, and as Rober points out, there's no way for them to build immunity to this kind of treatment. So steamers and clothes dryers set to high are the average person's best bet for killing off bed bugs if they have them. The "nuclear option" is to have a pro come in with big heaters and cook your home for a day.

checking for bed bugs, bed bug poop, bed bugs in mattress Checking mattresses for signs of bed bugs at a hotel can help you avoid bringing them home.Photo credit: Canva

How do you avoid getting bed bugs in the first place?

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that's true for bed bugs especially. Avoiding an infestation if there's already one in your apartment building is trickier, but a lot of people inadvertently bring bed bugs home from hotel stays. Checking the underside of a hotel mattress as soon as you come in the room is a good habit to be in. Bed bugs poop a lot, and there will be spots along the edges of the mattress if bed bugs are present.

The other tip is to use the luggage rack to store your suitcase instead of leaving it on the floor or furniture and to hang clothes on the closet hangers instead of putting them into the hotel room's dresser drawers. Some people may even put their suitcase in the bathtub, at least until they've checked the bed for signs of poop.

Nobody wants to deal with bed bugs, but at least now we have clear evidence of what actually works to get rid of them and what doesn't. Cook them with heat/steam and dehydrate them with diatomaceous earth, and take some simple steps when traveling to lessen your chances of getting them in the first place.

Sleep tight, everyone!

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Joy

People share subtle, tell-tale signs that someone's genuinely a good person

The "shopping cart theory" still lives.

Photo credit: Canva

Returning a shopping cart can be one subtle sign of a good person.

The world is filled with genuinely good people who care about their fellow human beings and always try to do the kind or honorable thing. Unfortunately, there are also some charlatans out there who may try to convince people they are good when they're not. Grifters, con men, and narcissists can pretend to be kind, loving, or scrupulous, but it's all in service of some selfish motive. So how can you tell the difference?

It's not always clear, especially at first, but there are some subtle indicators that a person's virtues are real and sincere. People shared the tell-tale signs that tell them a person is genuinely good, and it's a helpful list to run through if you find yourself questioning someone's true character.

from AskReddit

They can admit weakness and apologize

"They’re willing to admit when they were wrong or when they don’t know something."

"They authentically apologize when they are wrong or when they make a mistake without anyone asking them to. They can let go of ego for the sake of what is right. On the opposite side of the same coin, they have a forgiving nature."

"They hold themselves accountable for their actions. They apologize and try to make amends. Are willing to learn from their mistakes and misconceptions."

They do the right thing when it's not convenient

"One of my favorite sayings is 'Principles only mean something if you stand up for them when it’s inconvenient.' When people stand up for what’s right at a time when it isn’t convenient, that’s a good person."

"A favorite of mine as well. I’ve always heard it as 'Values aren’t values until they cost you something.'"

"It's easy to be a good person when things are easy. A true good person will remain good when they are angry, or scared, etc. If your morals evaporate under stress, you don't actually have morals."

kindness, helpfulness, good people, good person Going out of your way to be kind is a sign of a good person.Photo credit: Canva

They're kind when they don't have to be

"They’re polite to people they have authority over."

"This is the one for me. Kind leaders are everything. Imagine if the leaders of the free world operated on this premise."

"They treat people that cannot do anything for them very well."

They speak well of others when they're not around to hear it

"Complimenting people behind their back."

"This is actually big. It’s super easy to gossip about someone behind their back but it’s always refreshing when people just have nice things to say about others even when they aren’t there."

"Or defending someone when someone is gossiping behind their back!"

i like him good guy GIF by Kim's ConvenienceGiphy

They are selflessly and anonymously kind

"They do good things for others without expecting something in return."

"And may I add that they do it without advertising their good deed, nothing on the internet, news paper, discussion with friends. They do it quietly and humbly."

"They do something kind without telling anyone else about it."

They include those who might feel left out

"They fill you in / include you in an existing convo that you’ve just joined."

"They are the one in the group who stops and waits for you while you to tie your shoe or they hold the door as the rest of the group keeps moving."

"When you say something that immediately gets talked over by the rest of the group or wasn't heard, and they make it a point to stop and add on to/ask what you said."

— (@)

They return shopping carts

"They always put their shopping carts away."

"Returning your shopping cart. There are no laws that say you have to, & there’s no rewards for doing it either, it’s purely an act of selflessness to benefit the people who have to work at the store & take care of the parking lots/carts."

"Shopping cart theory! Is it polite to return the cart? Does it ease the workload of a stranger? Yes! Are we punished if we don't? No! It's a great litmus test for social responsibility."

Are these diehard rules for what makes a good person? No. Are there other things that could be added to this list? Yes. Can animals always tell if a person is good? Maybe. (People were split on that one, mainly because if an animal was mistreated by someone they may naturally fear or dislike a person who looks like their abuser. No fault of the person themselves.) However, this list can give us some clues about people's character and maybe even help us take a look in the mirror and assess our own.

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Education & Information

A tiny Nebraska town has only one resident. At 89, she literally does everything.

Elsie Eiler serves as mayor, secretary, treasurer, librarian, tavern owner and more.

Andrew Filer/Wikimedia Commons

Monowi, Nebraska. Population: 1.

Big cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston are well known to people across the U.S. Even if you've never been to any of these cities, you likely know where they are and can name some facts about them. Small towns, on the other hand, tend to fly under the radar, and the smaller the town, the less likely people are to have heard of them.

But one small U.S. town in particular is so small that it barely even exists. Monowi, Nebraska (pronounced MON-oh-why) has a whopping population of one. As in only one person officially lives there. Her name is Elsie Eiler, she's 89 years old, and since her husband died in 2004, she's been the sole resident of the tiny incorporated village five miles south of the South Dakota border.

— (@)

As the sole resident, Eiler "elects" herself as mayor every year, and all of the official town duties fall on her shoulders, including record-keeping, licensing, maintenance and more. Some reports say she collects her own taxes from herself, but Eiler told travel vloggers Kara & Nate that that's not true. "I pay taxes like everybody else," she said.

What is true is that there's no city council to make decisions, no other residents to worry about—the entirety of the town is just Eiler, her home, her tavern, and the library she opened in honor of her late bookworm husband. And her playing every role in town makes for some humorous chains of bureaucratic steps.

“When I apply to the state for my liquor and tobacco licenses each year, they send them to the secretary of the village, which is me,” she explained to the BBC in 2020. “So, I get them as the secretary, sign them as the clerk and give them to myself as the bar owner.”

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Though it's never been large, Monowi has not always been this small. Nearly a century ago, it was a thriving farming community and home to 150 people. People riding the Elkhorn Railroad could stop there, and the town had all the normal amenities one would expect in a town—grocery stores, restaurants, a one-room schoolhouse and even a prison.

But Monowi was a casualty of the collapse of rural communities in the Great Plains after WWII. Eiler herself left to work for an airline in Kansas City, wanting to become a flight attendant. She didn't care for city life, thought, and at 19, she returned home to Monowi. She married Rudy, who she met when he was in the 4th grade and she was in the 3rd grade. They raised two kids in Monowi, and in 1971 fixed up the tavern that had belonged to Eiler's father.

Eiler still runs the tavern, personally serving up homemade burgers, hot dogs, and cheeseballs to the patrons who come from neighboring communities or who happen to be passing through the town. She also does all the dishes, as she's the tavern's only employee. As of 2021, the tavern was open 9:00am to 9:00pm six days a week.

She's also the librarian at Rudy's Library, which houses 5,000 titles and works on the honor system.

monowi, nebraska, rudy's library, smallest town in America Eiler created Rudy's Library in her husband's honor.Bkell/Wikimedia Commons

The rest of Monowi is made up of dilapidated, abandoned buildings, and the town's church, which last held a funeral when Eiler's father died, is filled with old tires and beehives. So what is it that keeps Eiler here? Essentially, it's home.

"I'm not here because I have to be," Eiler told Kara & Nate. "I could pack up and go anywhere I wanted to, but this is where I want to be." She told Nebraska Public Media the same thing. "I mean, basically I'm happy here. This is where I really—I want to be here, or I wouldn't stay here."

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Animals & Wildlife

A crow had to solve a 9-puzzle escape room to get some chicken nuggets. Watch her ace it.

It's no secret that crows are smart, but this is incredible to witness.

Photo credit: Canva

Crows are so smart it's almost hard to believe.

When you think of some of the smartest animals on Earth, you may think of dolphins, chimps, elephants, or even the surprisingly intelligent octopus. But do you think of crows?

We've learned a lot about crow intelligence since scientists ramped up research on corvids in the 1990s and 2000s, and we're still discovering things crows can do that people didn't think were possible. Some reports estimate that crows have the approximate reasoning and memory skills of a 7-year-old human, which is pretty darn impressive-sounding. But to watch that intelligence on display is truly mind-blowing.

crow, intelligence, stacking rings, toy, learning, corvids Crow GIFGiphy

Mark Rober, famous for his videos detailing elaborate experiments and breaking them down so that kids can understand them, found himself in a feud with a bird after his doorbell camera captured a neighborhood crow repeatedly stealing his DoorDash deliveries. In fact, the crow was so adept at scoping out his porch, recognizing when a delivery person was there, and grabbing his chicken nuggets as soon as the coast was clear that Rober felt like he was being targeted. After the crow knocked over his drink one day for no reason and then flew away cackling, Rober said he felt like the crow was bullying him.

Wanting to see exactly how smart these birds really are, Rober decided to dig in with his own experiment. He procured a rescued crow named Cheryl from a bird sanctuary and began setting up small tasks and puzzles to observe her behavior for a few months.

crows, crow behavior, tasks, intelligence, smart animals crows GIFGiphy

"It was really interesting to see how her curiosity would drive her to figure out clever ways to interact with objects in her environment, occasionally motivated by a strategically placed treat," said Rober. "It became clear she had a few favorite objects she loved to play with, [such as a] wooden ball, as she demonstrated a surprisingly deep understanding of cause and effect."

Rober then set up a 9-puzzle gauntlet for the crow to complete in order to get a reward—the coveted "nugs" that the neighborhood crow had been so keen on. But first, he had a group of kids complete the puzzles to demonstrate the difficulty level of them and what kind of reasoning or understanding they required.

From water displacement to facial recognition to cup stacking to tool creation, watching kids complete these puzzles and then watching a crow do it—sometimes better or faster than the children—is really something.

Cheryl's run through the escape room-style gauntlet begins at the 12:45 mark, but the whole thing is worth watching:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

The fact that the first puzzle required some understanding of physics made it a seemingly difficult place to start, but Cheryl figured out the first solution faster than the kids did. Several of the puzzles relied on activities Cheryl had previously engaged in in her enclosure, but that doesn't really diminish the impressiveness of what she figured out. Realizing that she needed a hook to get the little bucket out of the cylinder and then using her claws and beak to create one? Are you kidding? And the fact that see seemed to leave a dunked chicken nugget as a gift for Rober when all was said and done? Incredible.

People were blown away watching Cheryl solve the puzzles in sequence, and some commenters even shared experiences they've had with crows.

"My dad ended up getting trained by the neighborhood crows to do tricks for them... One day he noticed the crows throwing walnuts to the ground, clearly trying to break them but without much success, so he picked up the walnuts, stomped on them until they broke, and put them on the sidewalk for the crows. He did that a few more times on separate occasions, and the next thing he knew, the crows were waiting for him just to drop walnuts straight under his feet when he was passing by. They'd call him to get his attention if he didn't notice them. They trained him very well indeed... :)"

crow, corvid, crow intelligence, birds, mark rober Crows are some of the most intelligent birds on Earth.Photo credit: Canva

"You mentioned the crows throwing nuts in front of cars to open them. I have seen a fun variation on this. When I was a royal guard, and walking guarding outside a particular castle, the crows had noticed that we walked very particular routes, so particular that you can actually see the routes as the stones are more worn there. We had steel under our boots to make sound, and they would throw their nuts on my route, using me as they do cars to open their nuts."

"I got goosebumps this was such a cool video! I have been cultivating my girlfriend relationship with my neighborhood crows now for the last 3 years. They leave me presents, they come by all the time to say hello, and follow me on my walks. One of my neighbors lovingly called me birdman yesterday, and I couldn't help but smile. Thank you for this, Mr. Rober."

"You brought up crows doing things for fun. I used to live over in West Hollywood and would head up Runyan Canyon for exercise. The crows used to love diving down the side of the canyon and then doing barrel rolls once they hit top speed. They are some of the most imaginative creatures for their size and intelligence."

Seriously, crows are incredible. Just don't get on their bad side, apparently. They'll recognize you and torment you just for the fun of it.

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Joy

A writer shared how he alters song lyrics to make chores fun. Scores of people chimed in.

It's impossible NOT to sing along to people's delightful alternative lyrics.

Photo credit: Canva

Good luck not singing this every time you do laundry now.

Music is such an ubiquitous part of our lives that we often don't notice how frequently it enters our consciousness. (All the more reason to support arts education and pay working musicians what they're worth, but that's a whole other article.) One perfect example of the big role music plays is how often we sing to ourselves, sometimes in the most delightful and hilarious ways.

Writer Jonathan Edward Durham shared that he sings "La-un-dry" to the tune of The Cranberries' "Zombie" every time he does the wash, and that admission launched a chorus of people sharing how they, too, sing to themselves with altered song lyrics to make chores or mundane life tasks more interesting or fun.

See on Instagram

Try to read through these "silly little song" responses and NOT sing along.

"When I take my dogs outside, sometimes I sing 'Come on doggies, let's go potty' to the tune of 'Barbie Girl.'" – Lindsay

"I sing 'I've got to shower' to the tune of the 90s Snap song '(I've Got) the Power.'" – Tracy

"'Simply haaaving a wonderful breakfast time' to my dog as I get his breakfast ready." – Candice

"When making mojitos (or similar non-alcoholic lime-based beverages), I like to sing, 'Macerate good limes, come on.'" – Marion

squeezing limes, mojitos, drinks, making drinks, fun songs, singing Sung to the tune of "Celebrate."Photo credit: Canva

"As I drive past a delivery driver standing on the pavement, I sing 'Stand. By. Your vaaaaan…'" – Lara

"Coffee coffee, you're the one. You make morning somewhat fun. (Sung to rubber ducky tune.)" – Charell

"I sing 'Med-i-cate the dog' to the tune of 'Celebrate' twice a day when…medicating the dog. There are verses. It's a work of genius." – Anna

"Instead of 'Rock the Casbah' I sing 'Sift the Catbox.'" – Heather

"C is for coffee, that's good enough for me. Coffee coffee coffee starts with C." – Judy

"My laundry song is to the tune of All of Me…'Laaauuuundery, I'll laaauunder you…then I'll take you to the dryer, like a warm and cozy fire.'" – Ruthie

laundry, washer, dryer, fun songs, singing Sung to the tune of "All of Me" by John Legend.Photo credit: Canva

"1) Every time I put on sweatpants, I sing 'Sweat-Pants' like David Bowie sings, 'Let's Dance.' 2) When my cat Jasper has climbed up somewhere I don't want him to be, I sing, 'Get down, get down, get down, get down, get down' from the end of KC and the Sunshine Band's 'Get Down Tonight.'" – Jen

There were more. People on Instagram chimed in with even more examples, and it's apparently something so may of us do it's nearly universal, but most of us do these things when we're alone, so who knew?

"When my kids were little and I was giving them baths, I would sing 'Everybody (yeah), Wash you body (yeah), Everybody, Wash your body right, Bath time's back alright!' to Backstreet Boys' 'Everybody.' My daughter thought I made up the song and was shocked when she heard the real version on the radio one day not too long ago."

"'Pruning my hydrangea' to the tune of Losing my Religion."

hydrangea, gardening, pruning, R.E.M., fun songs Sung to the tune of "Losing My Religion" by REM.Photo credit: Canva

"Every time I realize I have forgotten to drink water, I always (mostly in my head) sing 'Why’d you have to go and make me so de-hy-drated?' like Avril Lavigne’s 'Complicated.'"

"I sing 'I have to go pee-ee' to Queen’s I Want to Break Free."

"When I have to go to the bathroom but I have to wait until I finish doing whatever I'm doing or for someone to get out of the bathroom, I sing 'I'm about to pee my pants, up in here, up in HERE' like DMX."

"Anything that has the right syllables to the Muppets Manamana. 'Banana bread... doot do de do do.'"

"Every time I say 'Pasadena' I have to stop myself from singing, 'Passss A Den Yaaaa' like I'm in The Lion King. Often, I am not successful."

In all seriousness, though, making up song lyrics to make boring tasks more fun or simply to add a little humor to your day is a super solid coping mechanism. Life isn't easy. Finding ways to eke more joy out of life, even in small ways, can add up to big shifts in our well-being.

Humans are delightfully quirky, especially when no one's looking. We need to share these things more with one another so we know we're not alone in our silly little sing-songy habits.

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