Random People On The Dumbest Solution To A Problem That Actually Worked (16 items)

• (#11) Will Work For Concerned Citizens Only

  From Redditor /u/SmokeyMcDabs:

  I called about a pothole at the entrance of my store. They said since it was in my entrance, I'd have to pay for it.

  I called back as a concerned citizen and it'll be fixed in 72 hrs.
• (#4) Take Two Yellow M&M'S And Call Me In The Morning

  From Redditor /u/CptHammer:

  My great grandmother was a nurse during the WWII. She was tending injured soldiers as they were returning home. She told me this story.

  "The poor boys were in such great pain and they had all the pain medication they were allowed to have. It was really strong stuff... We couldn't even give them aspirin most times. I got a clever idea to use a new candy. The boy's thought I was giving them pills. Time for a blue one, time for two yellows, those boys would be calm for an hour or two and sometimes rest. I was their favorite nurse because I told them I wasn't supposed to give them the E pills because they were experimental. I always had a pocket full of M&Ms."
• (#5) Way To MacGyver A Broken Fuel Pump

  From Redditor /u/Nevermind04:

  My first vehicle was a 1985 dodge ram that had around 300k miles on it. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly reliable.

  Anyway, my friend and I had tickets to go see a concert in a city that was about 3 hours away. We made it there just fine and had a blast at the concert. We couldn't afford to stay overnight so we started on the long journey home. If all went well, we would get home around 3AM.

  There was one stretch of highway where there was 60 ish miles between towns. It's pretty much the worst place to break down on that journey. There were big signs warning travelers to fill up with gas before leaving town, but I had half a tank. My truck sputtered out... halfway between the two towns. It sure sounded like I ran out of gas but the gauge still showed half a tank. All had not gone well.

  So there we were - 1:45 AM, stuck on the side of the highway in Texas, 30 miles from the nearest towns, no moonlight, and this was before teenagers had cell phones. We were screwed. After a bit of poking around with a flashlight, we discovered that we did have fuel but the fuel pump had died. We decided to sleep in the truck and mess with it in the morning.

  On those old dodge trucks, the fuel pump was inside the engine instead of in the fuel tank like a modern vehicle. It was powered by the engine instead of an electric motor. Essentially, the fuel pump would constantly pump gasoline when the engine was running and gas would always be available for the carburetor float valve. The extra pumped gas would just go back into the gas tank.

  I was just drifting off to sleep when I got an idea. I worked for almost an hour in the pitch dark. I used some extra hose from an agricultural fertilizer, a drink straw, screw clamps, and duck tape to rig the windshield fluid pump to pump fuel from the fuel line into the carburetor float line.

  I got in my truck, hit the windshield fluid lever, and the truck started right up. It took a bit of trial and error but I was able to get the timing down where I knew how often to hit the lever to keep the truck running.

  We made it back home just after 4:30AM. My dad wasn't immediately amused with my handy work, but he told all of his friends how clever his son was so I guess it passed the dad test.
• (#7) Catnip To The Rescue

  From Redditor /u/MissNickels:

  Our family cat hated our family dog. Rubbed the dog all over with fresh catnip. New best friends.
• (#13) Always Make A Reservation For An Empty Restaurant

  From Redditor /u/Atsur:

  My folks were in town, and my wife and I wanted to take them to dinner.

  We head to a nearby mediocre steakhouse at the request of my parents, and it's around 6:00pm.

  The hostesses tell us there's a minimum 45 minute wait. I get suspicious, as their parking lot had barely any cars, so I peek around into their dining area. There are several open tables that would fit a party of 4. Mildly annoyed, I ask the hostesses why we can't be seated at any of these tables. They reply that they're being held for future reservations.

  I get on my smartphone, open the OpenTable app, make a reservation for 6:15pm for a party of 4, and we're seated immediately.
• (#6) Muddy Lights Will Travel

  From Redditor /u/SSmtb:

  Drove to a neighboring town 80 miles away with one burned out headlight, remaining headlight went out while in said town. I had no money, and shops were closed regardless. These were dual beam, so although I had lost both headlights, the high beams worked. I didn't make it out of town [without] getting honked at and flashed repeatedly by angry passing motorists, and understandably so. What was I to do?

  I continued down the highway and made it about 15 miles before I'm pulled over by the first officer to see me. I explain the situation, officer has no suggestions (this was before cell phones), tells me I can go but that I won't make it home without getting stopped again. I pull over at the next exit, get a free water, dump it in the dirt, make a thin mud, and smeared it over my lights. Worked like a charm, no more honks or flashes, passed multiple officers.

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