this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2025
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

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    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
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Driving through Nebraska twice nearly broke me. The people who live there must be among the hardest motherfuckers alive. (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 38 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I did this drive once. Well, my husband did and I was in the passenger seat so I got a real GOOD look at all the nothing. Late at night we actually stopped and got out because 1) we needed a stretch and 2) there was a full moon. We were far enough out that there weren't any cornfields either, just undulating hills of sand sparsely covered with grass. It was beautiful in that light, and when we got back in I did some searches on the place.

You may not be surprised to find out that place used to be the bottom of an ocean. Doesn't look like it's changed much.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 days ago

You may not be surprised to find out that place used to be the bottom of an ocean. Doesn’t look like it’s changed much.

Presumably it's a bit less wet these days.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago

Huh! That's actually really cool and does give it a little more pizzazz.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I've driven through Nebraska. I have some family there too. It's an awful, empty place. Corn and dirt. Occasionally a manufacturer and a walmart. That's it. It's like depression manifest.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Most of the population lives in the southeastern corner of the state, in Omaha, Lincoln, Nebraska City, and some surrounding counties. I live in Lincoln and it's a very nice place to live. Western Nebraska is completely different and not many people live there, and most people in the state don't go there either unless they are driving through.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

How many tornadoes? Is the city progressive?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yeah the city is progressive. Tornadoes... Not as much as you would think. There was one last year that hit the outskirts of town a bit. Last one to do any damage before that was like 2017.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

Yeah Lincoln has lucked out compared to Omaha, feels like they’re getting worse every year here I’ve had a couple close calls in recent years that have required us to seek shelter. Power grid has gone out more frequently too. That said I love the city, it’s great for foodies, but driving I-80 through both Iowa and Nebraska I wouldn’t wish on anyone especially if they are at all fatigued, just a whole lot of not much to look at

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

This is how I felt driving through North Dakota, aside from Roosevelt National Park.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I drive through it a few times a year, living in Denver but have family in Minnesota/Wisconsin. As crazy as it sounds, at least you have small towns and corn fields along I-80. There are some areas in Colorado (stretches of I-76, US-287 between Hugo and Kit Carson) where there's just... Nothing. Like, you'd be surprised at how much more empty a corn field can be, and it totally does weird you out how far you are from a simple gas station, let alone a familiar McDonald's (neither of those towns have that; I believe you'd have to go from Limon to Lamar to get from one McDonald's to the next on that road, which is almost 2 hours)

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I lived in Utah for 6 years and loved driving through the empty parts of Utah and Colorado. Even Nevada sort of a little bit. I found it a far more stark, imposing, beautiful emptiness. Like "I could literally die if I broke down here...that's so cool." I remember one time driving out from SLC to Dinosaur, CO for the dispensary, and that stretch was just stunning. At one point, I had two dust devils spinning off to my right, and a rainstorm way off to my left over these lush, Shire-esque rolling green hills. I miss the west already.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Empty Colorado isn’t really flat though. It has rolling hills. Nebraska and Kansas are like Minecraft superflat worlds.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

Eastern Colorado might as well be west Kansas. Both areas I mentioned are in eastern Colorado.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Storytime?

[–] [email protected] 31 points 5 days ago (4 children)

Unfortunately, "I drove through Nebraska twice" is the whole story. It's impossible to capture how Twilight Zone-esque it feels. It just never ends and never changes. There's nothing. Corn and nothing. More corn and more nothing. I was recalling how a few months back, some of my dumbass nephews were running their mouths about going to a college football game IN NEBRASKA. AS VISITORS. And stirring up shit. And that makes me laugh, because I can't comprehend the kind of sheer numbness necessary to live in that place. It just feels like 1 out of 5 serial killers should be burly, corn-fed, bored-as-shit Nebraskans, but I don't believe that's the case?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 days ago

Kansas is very much the same, though it has some "hills" in one county. I cannot stress how oppressive it is to stand on a 3 story building and see the curve of the earth. The only thing I disliked more was the ocean.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 days ago

I’ve never been to Nebraska but I do know farming can be a 24 hour job so I’m not sure how bored they are but they are definitely likely to be corn fed, lol.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Have you ever been to southeastern Nebraska? Like... Where most people in the state live? It's nothing like western Nebraska. I live in Lincoln and it's a great place to live: progressive, lots of parks, great school system, nice downtown area, beautiful university campus, etc. Nothing like you're describing. Nebraskans don't actually go to western Nebraska very much.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

No, I haven't, and I'm sure you're right. My only experience of it is the interstate through it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago

nebrASKA probably sounded cool if they associated it with alASKA

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I mean… we don’t call it the Great Plains for nothing. Great used to mean big not necessarily good, for instance, Great Britain is the largest British isle.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 days ago

Could also explain a lot of MAGA confusion.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Nice diss lol

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Omaha resident. I don’t drive through Nebraska from end to end. I just live here.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago

Hang in there, friend. I can say this much: you all sure do have a lot of corn. All of the stories are true. So.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Like the Fremen. Harsh environments breed tough people.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

This sounds interesting. I’m just not sure it’s a shower thought. Is it?