10 Things You Never Knew You Were Missing

It’s never easy to prove otherwise, and it’s hard to pay attention to things you never notice. That’s the point. But there’s a whole secret world around us that works because we don’t know it works. Things that happen in the background, under cover of night, or far out of our range of perception because either it doesn’t matter or people don’t want us to know. Not sure what any of this means? Let’s take a look.

10. Disney's trash cans are emptied through tunnels

If you've ever been to a Disney theme park, you've probably enjoyed your share of rides, stood in too many lines, and hung out with the funniest, hottest, costumed people in the world. There's a lot going on. But what's not going on is garbage.

Despite the fact that more than 57,000 people visit the Magic Kingdom every day, no one has ever been seen taking out trash from the park's many trash bins. This is thanks to the park's advanced underground trash collection system. Every 15 minutes, pipes underneath the trash bins open and suck up everything that needs to be recycled and disposed of out of sight.

The pipes pull the trash out at 60 miles per hour and send it on its way to a compactor located behind Splash Mountain. The same corridors that the trash is transported through are used by the employees, so you'll never see anyone running from one part of the park to another without a suit.

9. You won't see foreign-made pickup trucks thanks to the chicken tax

Here’s something you probably don’t think about very often when you’re out and about. How often do you see foreign-made light-duty trucks on the road? The answer is no, and that’s thanks to something called the chicken tax. This tax has been in place for 50 years and ensures that foreign-made light trucks and small SUVs don’t make it onto U.S. roads, giving America’s Big Three automakers a serious advantage in this segment of the industry.

The so-called “chicken tax” is a huge 25 percent tariff on foreign-made trucks. Most foreign-made cars are subject to a tariff of 2.5%, making them more reasonable to import. It dates back to the 1960s. European countries imposed a tax on American chicken, and in response, America imposed a tax on trucks. The goal was to hurt European automakers like Volkswagen.

For companies like Ford and Chevy, the tax has been a huge advantage for decades. The Ford F-150 has literally been the best-selling truck for 46 years straight. It's hard to deny that's partly because competition is limited.

8. Flying squirrels are the most common squirrel in Ohio.

Squirrels are an integral part of life for many people in the United States and Canada. There are several species that roam freely around cities and parks, and they are usually gray and black, with a few red and white varieties here and there. Surprisingly, the most common squirrel found in Ohio is none of these; it is the Southern Flying Squirrel. No one sees them because they are nocturnal.

For most people, the flying squirrel is something of a novelty. People keep them as exotic and bizarre pets, but in the wild, they seem like something that should live somewhere else, in some other part of the world. It turns out that if you want to find them, you just have to wander through the Ohio woods after dark.

7. You won't see ties in Iran

In many parts of the world, the way you dress is dictated by culture. Some items of clothing are more traditional than others in certain parts of the world. In parts of Africa, you might see someone wearing a kanza. In Mexico, you might find a charro suit. And in Japan, you might see people wearing traditional kimonos. But other fashion items have spread around the world and have been readily accepted everywhere. There is probably no country on earth where you won’t find blue jeans or sneakers, for example. But what about ties?

In many cultures, the necktie has become a part of men's formal fashion. People wore suits in government and business in many parts of the world. And while you will find Iranian men in formal wear, including suits, you will almost never see an Iranian man in Iran wearing a tie.

In 1979, during the Islamic Revolution, the tie became a fashion casualty of the transition. Ties were considered a symbol of Western culture and ideals, so they were completely banished. They were not even allowed to be sold in the country.

6. You will almost never see macadamia nuts in the shell.

Sometimes you feel nuts, right? Peanuts, cashews, almonds, they're all delicious. And macadamia nuts are one of the most prized, although they can be a bit pricey. What you're unlikely to ever see in the store if you go looking for them is macadamia nuts in the shell, although most others are sold in that form. It's also for your own good, as you'll have a hell of a good time eating those macadamias.

Macadamia nuts are among the most difficult nuts in the world to crack. Even the companies that sell the nuts should give you advice on their websites on how you can crack them if you are determined to try. The problem is that they require 300 pounds of pressure per square inch to break. That is about twice the force of a human bite. Cracking them often requires a hammer and a little patience.

5. Most hotels never provide toothpaste to guests.

If you travel often, you probably have an idea of what you expect from any hotel you stay at. Maybe you know which chains have the best breakfast buffets or the cleanest rooms. And there are a few things you expect anywhere, like clean towels and a tiny bar of soap in the bathroom. Every hotel has those, right? But there’s one thing that’s almost never provided in hotel bathrooms, and that’s toothpaste.

You may have never thought about it, but it seems odd when you consider that soap, shampoo, and conditioner are always the standard. Why not toothpaste? There are actually a ton of reasons.

To begin with, many people don't ask for it, so hotels aren't interested in providing it. But hotels also don't want to provide it. Toothpaste is classified as a drug for regulatory purposes in the sense that many over-the-counter products are classified that way, making it more expensive to buy even in bulk.

Finally, toothpaste is not worth it. In order to get the highest rating you can get as a hotel, whether it's five diamonds or stars or whatever, toothpaste is not a requirement. If a hotel can get a top score without providing toothpaste, they don't have enough incentive to provide it.

4. The Simpsons house has a rarely seen fun room

This is one of the more unusual entries on the list, and it plays fast and loose with physics only insofar as there are no physics involved, because it's all made up. There's a room in the Simpsons house that you almost never see. It's the Noise Room, not the kitchen.

Obviously, no one expects a cartoon, least of all "The Simpsons" , will depict the world with any realism or accuracy. But there is at least a thread of semi-consistency in Springfield. The Simpsons live at 742 Evergreen Terrace. Ned Flanders is their neighbor. They have a dog and a cat. These things change a little from time to time, but tend to return to the status quo by the time a new episode airs.

However, the noisy room is a strange exception to reality. The Simpsons . It wasn't a one-time spectacle that never needed to be repeated, because it actually came back. They used it in eight episodes out of the 740-plus that existed. It just popped up on the rare occasions when it was needed, and then disappeared again when it wasn't.

3. You almost never see baby pigeons.

In some cities around the world, pigeons are a serious nuisance. At one point, pigeons were blamed for causing about $1.1 billion in damages a year in the U.S., mostly due to their droppings. It’s estimated that there are four million of the birds in New York City alone, and they seem to be in almost every major city. So, when was the last time you saw a baby pigeon? Have you ever seen one?

This is almost a trick question, but since people in cities are so used to seeing pigeons, it might give you pause for a moment. To be fair, you almost never see the chicks, because they stay in their nests. It's just that pigeons are so common in human space that it seems more unusual that we never see the babies.

Baby pigeons do live where you'd expect them to live - in pigeon nests. But the nests are usually hidden away for obvious reasons. And when the pigeons are able to leave the nest and fly, the young birds look almost exactly like the adults, so we'll never be able to tell them apart.

2. You will almost never see a mosquito at Disney World.

We already know you won't see trash pickup at Disneyland, but that's not the only thing conspicuously absent from the Florida theme park. Also noticeably absent are mosquitoes, which is not at all typical for the area.

There are actually 80 different species of mosquitoes in Florida, so they're usually hard to escape. But Disney World isn't called the Magic Kingdom for nothing. Their mosquito defense system is surprisingly in-depth, and includes surveillance, as well as an insect repellent in the form of liquid garlic so it's non-toxic, natural predators in the form of bats, and carbon dioxide traps so they can gas the little baddies and then study them to make sure they're fighting them as effectively as possible. And that's just the beginning.

The park has as little standing water as possible so that mosquitoes have nowhere to breed. The park is filled with drainage ditches so that standing water does not flow into populated areas and so that the water is always moving. All water is moving either because it flows somewhere or is circulated by a fountain. Even the buildings are designed so that there is no place for water to accumulate.

1. Most elevators do not have a 13th floor button.

If for no other reason than Friday the 13th, both in movies and on the day itself, most of us know that the number 13 is considered unlucky. The origins of the superstition hardly matter anymore, it is so ingrained. In fact, it is taken so seriously that you are unlikely to ever see a 13th floor in a building, even if it has more than 13 floors.

Obviously, in a 20-story building there is a 13th floor, we can't change the basic math. But we can change the buttons on the elevators, and that's what most of them do. Otis Elevators, one of the largest elevator manufacturers in the United States, said that about 85% elevators don't have a 13th. They usually go from 12 to 14. You'll even see this in stairwells when you go up a sign that says the 14th floor, right after the 12th,

Skipping 13 is more common in hotels and apartment buildings. And all because of superstition, or rather, the fear of the management of these buildings that the residents will be superstitious and will not want to pay for living on the 13th floor.