17.
“For as long as I can remember, every time I pee, my eyes tear up. I don’t mean just a little watery-eyed moment, I mean full-blown tears streaming down my face, sometimes even a runny nose. The longer I hold it, the worse it gets. I always assumed this happened to everyone. Growing up without the internet, there wasn’t exactly a way to fact-check my experience, and honestly, it never even crossed my mind to ask my family about it. It was just…normal. Then, one fateful day in high school, I hadn’t adjusted to my new schedule yet, so I went for two full class periods without a bathroom break. By the time I finally made it to the restroom, the floodgates (both kinds) opened. When I walked back into class, my friends looked alarmed.”
“’Are you okay? Why were you crying?’ one of them asked. Confused, I just shrugged. ‘Oh, I wasn’t crying. I just really had to pee.’ Apparently, this wasn’t a universal experience. No one in my friend group had any idea what I was talking about. In fact, they didn’t even believe me!
Fast forward to today, and thanks to the internet, I now know this rare phenomenon is called Gustatory Lacrimation. It’s a quirky little glitch in the nervous system where the body gets its wires crossed, making my tear ducts go into overdrive when I relieve myself. If that’s not a completely useless superpower, I don’t know what is.”
—Anonymous
Discover more from InstiWitty Media Studios
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
