39 Things You Have Got to Know As a Grown-Up

You should remove the cotton ball from pill bottles. It was put there to protect the pills during shipping. The cotton can draw moisture into the bottle causing the pills to decompose faster.

2. If you are ever exposed to HIV, male or female, going to a doctor or ER and receiving the 'HIV Plan B', Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, will severely reduce your chances of contracting the disease.

3. Unpaid internships where the employer derives any immediate benefit are federally illegal. They are required to pay you if you do any real work.

4. Even if you have an emergency window breaking tool, it is nearly impossible to break a modern car window if you hit the center. Hit the corner in order to break it.

5. If you find a wallet or a purse, you can drop it off at any U.S. post office box and they will return it to the driver's license address free of charge.

If you or a loved one has an ICD (Internal Cardiac Defibrillator) you should consider disabling it before end of life care. It can add hours of discomfort to the process of dying and witnessing that happen can impact the family member.

7. Your phone’s GPS and compass still work even without internet. Save an offline version of your maps so you can still navigate around if you lose service.

8. A red line moving towards the center of your body from an insect bite, scratch or any skin related wound, is a sign of a serious infection. You should go see a doctor if it happens to you.

9. In the US, it is illegal for medical staff to share any part of your medical record with law enforcement unless it is subpoenaed or you are under arrest.

10. Febreze kills ants and spiders on contact without the noxious smell of most indoor ant killers.

The official Wikipedia mobile app has a 'Nearby' feature which shows areas/landmarks that have their own Wikipedia page.

12. You can get Microsoft word, excel, and powerpoint for free with your school email address.

13. The Great Suspender, chrome extension suspends tabs automatically, allowing you to keep a bazillion tabs open simultaneously without killing your CPU and memory.

14. Grapes and raisins are toxic to dogs. It can caused kidney injury or even death. If your dog has eaten grapes, raisins, or maybe even grape juice within 2 hours, induce vomiting. Otherwise take them to the vet where they will likely give your dog something to help him or her vomit.

15. In case if you lost your Android phone, just type 'Where is my Phone' into google search when logged in with the same account as your phone.

The IRS will first contact you by mail if you have unpaid dues. If you get a call stating that they are the IRS, it is most likely a scam. Any phone call threatening you without prior contact by mail is a scam, especially if they’re threatening court action. Those always involve subpoenas and paperwork. If you get a call like that, just tell them to send a notice to your address on record and that you will respond promptly after that.

17. When recording the police, use the ACLU app and they (American Civil Liberties Union) will upload the content to their servers, and they will prosecute if necessary.

18. If Google misinterprets a voice command, you can correct it by saying “No, I said (the word it misheard)."

19. When buying oysters, you can request to see the “shellfish tag,” a legally required documentation of the harvest date and origin of the oysters. Every retailer and restaurant is required to have a shellfish tag for each bag of oysters that they purchase for up to 90 days after that purchase. One expert says, “if they don’t have that tag, I wouldn't eat those oysters.” She recommends looking for the most recent date on the tag (whether it’s the “final harvest date”, or “wet storage date”) - anything further out than 2 weeks won't taste as good and increases the risk of a bad oyster.

20. “Lifeline” is a federal program in USA that gives you a free phone and plans if you’re on medicaid, SNAP, or make less than a certain amount. The plans vary, but it normally provides 200 minutes, unlimited text, and 1 GB of data.

If you haven't heard from someone who lives far way and you are worried something may have happened, you can ask the police to do a “Wellness Check.” They will visit the person's home just to make sure everything is okay. If you live in the area then you can also accompany the police there, if you don't want to visit alone.

22. If you want to listen to music or an audiobook on your iPhone or iPad before you go to sleep, you can have it turn off automatically using the clock app.

23. In most major U.S. cities, it is common courtesy to use the right-hand side of an escalator for standing and the left-hand side for walking.

24. You can help fight human trafficking by uploading photos of hotel rooms you stay in via an app called the TraffickCam. Traffickers regularly post photographs of their victims posed in hotel rooms for online advertisements. These photographs are evidence that can be used to find and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes. In order to use these photos, however, investigators must be able to determine where the photos were taken.

25. Many lilies are poisonous to cats and can be fatal or result in severe kidney failure. Be careful when shopping for Valentine's Day bouquets if you have kitties.