this post was submitted on 05 Mar 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: 1

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • 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.
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[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 6 points 18 hours ago

Except people steal things that aren't money

You'd just do heists of physical goods. Stealing the diamond launch codes from a vault instead of cash.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

People are being robbed, by in-person, physical coercion, for their bitcoins.

I want to see a bank robbery movie, with masked gunmen, set at Kraken, or some other big crypto exchange. Instead of running out with bags of cash, they have a USB drive.

[–] helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world 4 points 19 hours ago

Okay, but it has to be accurate, I don't want any "movie magic". Flip it 3 times.

[–] ililiililiililiilili@lemm.ee 49 points 1 day ago (4 children)

What's wrong with holding people at gunpoint and requesting a cryptocurrency transaction?

[–] otto@sh.itjust.works 50 points 1 day ago (6 children)

I was shooting heroin and reading “The Fountainhead” in the front seat of my privately owned police cruiser when a call came in. I put a quarter in the radio to activate it. It was the chief.

“Bad news, detective. We got a situation.”

“What? Is the mayor trying to ban trans fats again?”

“Worse. Somebody just stole four hundred and forty-seven million dollars’ worth of bitcoins.”

The heroin needle practically fell out of my arm. “What kind of monster would do something like that? Bitcoins are the ultimate currency: virtual, anonymous, stateless. They represent true economic freedom, not subject to arbitrary manipulation by any government. Do we have any leads?”

“Not yet. But mark my words: we’re going to figure out who did this and we’re going to take them down … provided someone pays us a fair market rate to do so.”

“Easy, chief,” I said. “Any rate the market offers is, by definition, fair.” He laughed. “That’s why you’re the best I got, Lisowski. Now you get out there and find those bitcoins.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m on it.”

I put a quarter in the siren. Ten minutes later, I was on the scene. It was a normal office building, strangled on all sides by public sidewalks. I hopped over them and went inside.

“Home Depot™ Presents the Police!®” I said, flashing my badge and my gun and a small picture of Ron Paul. “Nobody move unless you want to!” They didn’t.

“Now, which one of you punks is going to pay me to investigate this crime?” No one spoke up.

“Come on,” I said. “Don’t you all understand that the protection of private property is the foundation of all personal liberty?”

It didn’t seem like they did.

“Seriously, guys. Without a strong economic motivator, I’m just going to stand here and not solve this case. Cash is fine, but I prefer being paid in gold bullion or autographed Penn Jillette posters.”

Nothing. These people were stonewalling me. It almost seemed like they didn’t care that a fortune in computer money invented to buy drugs was missing.

I figured I could wait them out. I lit several cigarettes indoors. A pregnant lady coughed, and I told her that secondhand smoke is a myth. Just then, a man in glasses made a break for it.

“Subway™ Eat Fresh and Freeze, Scumbag!®” I yelled.

Too late. He was already out the front door. I went after him.

“Stop right there!” I yelled as I ran. He was faster than me because I always try to avoid stepping on public sidewalks. Our country needs a private-sidewalk voucher system, but, thanks to the incestuous interplay between our corrupt federal government and the public-sidewalk lobby, it will never happen.

I was losing him. “Listen, I’ll pay you to stop!” I yelled. “What would you consider an appropriate price point for stopping? I’ll offer you a thirteenth of an ounce of gold and a gently worn ‘Bob Barr ‘08’ extra-large long-sleeved men’s T-shirt!”

He turned. In his hand was a revolver that the Constitution said he had every right to own. He fired at me and missed. I pulled my own gun, put a quarter in it, and fired back. The bullet lodged in a U.S.P.S. mailbox less than a foot from his head. I shot the mailbox again, on purpose.

“All right, all right!” the man yelled, throwing down his weapon. “I give up, cop! I confess: I took the bitcoins.”

“Why’d you do it?” I asked, as I slapped a pair of Oikos™ Greek Yogurt Presents Handcuffs® on the guy.

“Because I was afraid.”

“Afraid?”

“Afraid of an economic future free from the pernicious meddling of central bankers,” he said. “I’m a central banker.”

I wanted to coldcock the guy. Years ago, a central banker killed my partner. Instead, I shook my head.

“Let this be a message to all your central-banker friends out on the street,” I said. “No matter how many bitcoins you steal, you’ll never take away the dream of an open society based on the principles of personal and economic freedom.”

He nodded, because he knew I was right. Then he swiped his credit card to pay me for arresting him.

[–] frank@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 day ago

Shooting the mailbox twice is a line that gets me laughing every time

[–] ThePantser@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Doritos™ presents, I don't normally read long posts but I was hooked from the start.

[–] otto@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago

“Subway™ Eat Fresh and Freeze, Scumbag!®” I yelled.

[–] B312@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Absolute cinema

[–] A_norny_mousse@lemm.ee 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

New favorite copypasta. Mmmm!

(this comment is not endorsed by any company ✊)

[–] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That this has not yet been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature can only be described as a crime against humanity.

[–] XTL@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

For an older, milder version, I recommend Jennifer Government by Max Barry. Company was fun as well.

[–] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 3 points 1 day ago

I also felt like there was a certain whiff of Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace about it, like how years are names after corporate sponsors.

Best copypasta of all time. We must always upvote these.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago (2 children)

“Just type in your private key and nobody gets hurt”

[–] otter@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago

I guess we'll need a variant of this comic

https://xkcd.com/538/

[–] Cruxifux@feddit.nl 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

nervously types 1234 into bank terminal

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

1234?? That’s the kind of code an idiot would have on his luggage

[–] kate@lemmy.uhhoh.com 4 points 1 day ago

this is a robbery put the bit coins in the bag 💥🔫

[–] htrayl@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago
[–] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Crypto wallet theft is already a thing, can do it from across the world in many cases

[–] qaz@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

"La casa de papel" a popular spanish bank heist series from 2017 is probably the answer to your hypothesis. It also doesn't involve stealing cash.

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

Isn't the first series involving cash? (the second is gold IIRC)

[–] fdjt@sh.itjust.works 0 points 17 hours ago

They would have to replace these lost plots with American politician biographies.

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

Have we already forgotten the plot of “Superman III”?

[–] HowAbt2morrow@futurology.today 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Like stage coach robberies. You don’t see them too often either.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

What? I did that last week! Made out with a monocle, and several hundred half pennies!

[–] leds@feddit.dk 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This has already happened in Denmark, coins are only used for shopping carts

[–] riot@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

This has already happened in Denmark, coins are only used for shopping carts

Denmark is not completely cashless. You can still pay in stores with cash and get cash from ATMs and banks.

Edit: And coins and bills are still being produced.

[–] leds@feddit.dk 1 points 8 hours ago

Yeah but bank robberies are pretty much a thi ng of the past since most people are cashless

[–] IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

In China, everyone uses WeChat to pay for stuff, but banks still have cash.

What I mean is, there will be a day where there is zero cash, and banks only exist as a customer support hub. Then, there's nothing in the banks to steal.

[–] shneancy@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

you can absolutely steal data stored by banks

[–] ribboo@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

I mean barely… Most bank offices in Sweden do not handle cash at all.

[–] NorthWestWind@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

They just rob data instead of money

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Huh. No more cash tips. No $20 in a birthday card. Sorry homeless people, go die in a gutter (preferably in a back alley)!

Lost your device? Too bad. Can't lock that card or use woogle pay, good luck borrowing someone's when they work all the time.

[–] BuckenBerry@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The homeless have already graduated to qr codes in china. I'm pretty sure something similar will happen in the rest of the world.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 2 points 1 day ago

Oh hey! USA.

[–] IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No more cash tips.

I mean, its been happening. Look at food delivery apps.

Sorry homeless people, go die in a gutter (preferably in a back alley)!

Homeless people have phones, well, they have cheap phones, but still a phone. They could probably set up a Cashapp/Venmo. Some places still gives free (government subsidized) phones, most of the US does, homeless people are definitely qualified to get them (as long as the current administration doesn't gut it 👀)

And even if the government guts the free government phone programs, there are still many cheap options. For example, in the US, there are very cheap usable phones that are like $50 or less. They are locked phones, but its the reason why they are so cheap. They could get the cheapest plan just to have usable number, and just hang out near a mcdonalds and use their wifi. There's Moto G Play that's $30 at a local Walmart/Target type stores. Won't be fun to use (with all the lag), but good enough to use Cashapp or Venmo.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

ITT: people who have never known homeless people that live* in food deserts with no fast food other than Lance crackers from the convenience store seven miles away, and one cell tower* serving two counties. I'm not being hyperbolic.

[–] IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oh lol, I've lived in cities most of my life, probably why I never think from a rural perspective.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 2 points 1 day ago

It happens. Eta: where I live, people have to have a permanent physical and mailing address to receive services. A homeless guy asked me during a trip to town for$2 to get a piece of chicken from the had station recently. I didn't have it and felt so so bad.

[–] madame_gaymes@programming.dev 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It would be interesting seeing "period pieces" where it's just normal banks

[–] 200ok@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Kind of like westerns where people had duels and accused each other of horse theft pew, pew!

[–] 200ok@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Reminds me of how the word "pirate" means something very different now than it did 100 years ago.

[–] TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Maybe a cyberheist will become the next big thing if meatpace has nothing worth klepping.

Imagine a story, where a crew of netrunners enters a datafort, and some of them get zeroed by the black ICE, but some of them narrowly escape with the loot. Yeah, that sound like a GPT prompt I could try.

[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 2 points 1 day ago

Swordfish has entered the chat

[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Iirc banks already don't typically have a lot of cash on hand, if you're looking to get a bunch of cash you need to give them warning so they can bring it in special order.

But I admit I'm no expert so I may have been mislead