Mandela Effect

Jun 3, 2019 8:06:24 GMT Stammerhead said:

How many people actually thought Nelson Mandela died in prison during the 1980s? During that time he’d be mentioned in the news quite a lot so anyone who thought he’d died instead of Steve Biko must not have been paying proper attention at the time.

I know the "Looney Tunes" were never the "Looney Toons" because they were called Merrie Melodies due to the 1930s/40s playing classical music in the background. I also watched "Space Jam" on repeat and it was the "TuneSquad".

However, I do have memories of things that bother me.

My first experience with the Mandela Effect came when I looked at a painting of the Mona Lisa. I love art, and when I was in High School I tried to fill all of my extra curricular classes with art related courses. In 10th grade I recall my art teacher telling us to try this 'exercise' with the Mona Lisa. If you put one hand over her left side (your right side) she has no emotion or maybe even sad, if you put one hand over her right side (your left side) she is smiling. It was supposed to be something hidden in the painting. Well, in 2014 I was talking to a colleague of mine at work. This painting came up and I told him about this cool 'exercise' from my High School art class. We searched the image, and to my shock it doesn't work. Now, she is smiling on both sides of her face. I thought it was a photo shopped jpeg. So we Google searched the image and one after another, they were all the same. I felt so sick to my stomach. It was the first time in my entire life I felt like I was crazy.

So I brushed it off as "Maybe my art teacher had a print that wasn't the original and she was just wrong this whole time." After this event I talked to a doctor at my office and we loved to discuss history. It was always to my knowledge that the first attack on American soil was "Pear Harbor" and the second was "9/11" as far as terrorist or another country making a declaration of war attack on our soil. He told me about the "Black Tom" explosion at the Statue of Liberty in 1916 during World War I. I was puzzled and replied, "What are you talking about? I'm a history buff, I have watched countless documentaries about World War I, and II as well as other famous wars." So we researched it, and sure enough in 1916 German Agents destroyed 22 million dollars worth of American military goods as well as part of the Statue of Liberty. The torch has been closed to the public since 1916 and the restoration of the torch in 1984-1986 included repairs to the arm and torch including gold and copper plated parts. This was not true in my memory or timeline. Again, I felt sick. It was at this point I searched "False Memory" or "Alternate Memories" and MandelaEffect dot com came up and I read stories from others.

I began to read stories about the Berenstain Bears (It was Berenstein in my timeline), the Ford logo didn't have a squiggly tail on the "F" in my memories, and my mom's maiden name is Ford, we all drove Ford vehicles, I saw that logo every day of my life. I remember the Genie Sinbad movie. I specifically remember plot points. I remember there was a boy and a girl and one scene in particular where Sinbad (the genie) makes a taxi skinny so it doesn't get hit in traffic. I am not confusing this with the Shaquille O'Neal "Kazaam!" movie because I grew up near Orlando and he played for the "Orlando Magic" Basketball team. I was a huge fan. So I wouldn't mix those two up. I also remember Billy Graham's funeral happening once before. I know because my grandparents loved him and watched all of his televised stadium preaching broadcasts. I wasn't old enough to remember Mandela's funeral in the 1980s, so I honestly can't say one way or another about that. I do remember our geography being different when it comes to Australia. I used to draw a lot as a kid and remember trying to sketch the world map all the time.

The most recent case I have come across was "Payless Shoes" the store is about to go out of business. When I was a kid, I went there twice a year because we didn't have a lot of money to spend on designer shoes. The week before school my mom would buy me a pair of sneakers and in the spring my grandmother would buy me new dress shoes for Easter. I have been in that store countless times. I haven't been there in the past ten years or so because I'm an adult and shop where I like now that I have a post graduate degree and a well paying job. My wife told me they were going out of business so I decided to go with her for old times sake. I felt punched in the gut when I looked up at the sign, and to my surprise it read, "Payless Shoe Source". I don't know about your timeline, but in mine it was always "Payless Shoe Store."

I even have a personal experience that has nothing to do with memories or pop culture. I can't explain at all. I walked into an Olive Garden with my wife a few years ago in a town we never travel to. It was just a fun day trip to get away. In any case, we walk into the front lobby and as we are talking to the hostess a waitress makes eye contact with me from across the room. I immediately have emotions attached to her. I had no MEMORIES of her, I don't know who she is, but it is as if the emotions attached to a lifetime of memories were there. I was thoroughly shaken. The bizarre part is that she immediately felt the exact same way. I could tell by her eyes and facial expression. We sat down to eat and she was our waitress. We kept staring at each other but my wife was preoccupied with our small child. Near the end of our meal she took our young child to the bathroom. The waitress immediately ran to my table and said, "I know this is going to sound weird but I feel like I've known you my whole life." I told her how I felt too. It wasn't as if she were just some attractive female that caught my eye, it isn't that simple. It felt as if you walk into a room you've been to your whole life and see a family, friend, or loved one you have known for years with emotions attached to memories. I can maybe even describe it as nostalgic feelings (goose bumps), but no memories, just the emotions. I decided not to take her number or call her because I didn't want my wife to think it was something it wasn't. I still to this day can't get over what that was. I can't help but feel as if she was someone that was a huge part of my life, but my memories are gone. Though the emotions can't be wiped away. How do I explain how she felt the EXACT same way?