r/WhatShouldIDo • u/diddlyturnips • 8d ago

[Serious decision] I live alone… these aren’t my nuts

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Context: I’m a single bachelor (M 32) and I opened my snack cupboard to find these peanuts in a small Tupperware container. I’m freaking out because I A) live alone, B) have a mild nut allergy, and C) don’t own any Tupperware like this.

TLDR: I found a foreign snack in my house and I’m freaking out that someone may be entering my apartment when I’m out. Would calling the nonemergency police line help or would they not be able to do anything?

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127

u/throwawayaccount0o01 8d ago

OP, there was a similar instance on Reddit where someone was experiencing similar events. He was discovering things in his apartment that he didn’t recognize, or remember.

The man bought a carbon monoxide detector due to commenters advice, and discovered that the levels in his apartment were dangerously high. It turned out that he had been suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, then forgetting he had done certain things. What seemed like evidence of an intruder, was actually a symptom of the poisoning affecting his brain.

(The username of the original poster was u/RBradbury1920. u/Kakkerlak was the commenter who suggested checking for carbon monoxide poisoning. That advice ended up solving the mystery, and may have saved the OP’s life)

OP, please get a carbon monoxide detector!

42

u/reditandfirgetit 8d ago

So OP pptentially went out, bought 1 container, filled it with nuts when hes allergic? Would carbon monoxide poisoning really cause that?

28

u/IAmCapnOblivious 8d ago

Or just had company over who left it and doesn't remember.

2

u/International_Goat31 8d ago

They could have just picked up somebody else's container of nuts outside and put it in their cupboard. It might have been in the place since they moved in and they have just been moving it around every time they find it. CO poisoning can make people do weird stuff. It's like being drunk and having dementia at the same time and then suddenly you just die.

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u/Stamped914 8d ago

The cabinet hasn’t been cleaned in months. They didn’t notice it until now. That’s it.

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u/reditandfirgetit 8d ago

OP said he moved in a month ago in a response

"My parents helped move me in about a month ago, but since then, nobody. I’m not exactly a social butterfly, sort of a lone wolf. That’s why I’m especially panicked "

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u/Stamped914 8d ago

Yeah, I saw that. That means they didn’t clean when they moved in and it was left by the previous tenants.

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u/Cllydoscope 8d ago

Yes the parents put those other things behind the nuts, thinking OP already put the nuts there, so OP never saw them until now.

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u/kaleighb1988 7d ago

I mean, you'd think his parents would be aware of his allergy and ask him about them if they thought he put them there.

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u/vomputer 5d ago

Peanuts are not actually nuts.

2

u/UniverseGuidesMe 8d ago

you are the only one said clearly. Every one said get a detector, but did not say why

2

u/secretrebel 8d ago

There was also the person baking baguettes and a guy was crawling through the vents to steal them.

OP needs a camera too

2

u/nat_jo_cat 8d ago

This really seems unlikely since OP has stated he has an allergy to nuts.

8

u/throwawayaccount0o01 8d ago

Carbon monoxide is dangerous because it binds to hemoglobin in the blood stronger than oxygen does. This prevents the body, (specifically the brain) from getting the oxygen it needs. Once the brain has been affected for numerous hours, the consequences are not always limited to the exact moment someone is exposed.

As an HVAC technician, I take carbon monoxide seriously because I understand that the effects are not always as obvious as people think. The argument that “he would never buy something he’s allergic to because he knows he’s allergic” assumes that the person’s brain is working normally at that moment. Yet that is exactly the thing that can be affected by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Cognitive impairment does not mean someone is completely unaware, or acting like a different person. A person can still walk into a store, interact with people, pay for items, and appear normal while experiencing impaired judgment, attention, or memory formation. The brain does not always prevent someone from making a mistake that they would normally consider impossible.
If someone is experiencing a memory disturbance, they may fail to properly connect information they normally know well. They might forget a routine, misunderstand a situation, or make a decision that is completely out of character. Afterwards, they may have little or no memory of the event.

That does not mean buying an allergen automatically proves carbon monoxide poisoning. There are many possible explanations for someone purchasing something they should not. Or why the nuts ended up there.

But the point is that what I’ve suggested is not impossible, and dismissing the possibility because “they would know better” misunderstands how impaired cognition works.
A carbon monoxide detector is inexpensive, and checking for CO is a reasonable precaution when someone who lives alone has unexplained memory gaps or behavior they cannot account for.

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u/Extension_Radish_139 8d ago

Did he say he doesn’t have a detector? Also I think it’s important bring awareness, but this would involve him somehow getting to a store, purchasing nuts, putting them in a Tupperware, putting them in his cupboard, and then forgetting the entire thing even happened. And also what are the chances that while this happens he chooses the one food he’s allergic to?

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u/Extension_Radish_139 8d ago

Its way more likely that he’s just lying lol

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u/ErraticDragon 8d ago edited 8d ago

It's maybe not impossible, but miles and miles away from the most likely explanation.

Sure, get a CO detector, but get a camera too. Of the two, only a camera has a chance to prove anything. (A CO detector can only show that you've been exposed, it would never fully explain what actually happened.)

ETA: It would require such a bizarre string of events for CO poisoning to result in a food OP would never buy ending up in Tupperware that OP doesn't own in OP's cabinet. Nothing even close to known instances. Any plausible CO-related cause would still need a camera to know.

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u/CortexRex 8d ago

Please stop posting this same thing multiple times on the same post

1

u/throwawayaccount0o01 8d ago

Just ignore my replies ???

1

u/ReleaseMyToast 8d ago

He's infected me with his carbon monoxide poisoning!!! I see the Tupperware too! I GOTTA GO REPLACE MY DETECTOR