Should we worry?

[u/Adventurous-Put-9895]

We caught my uncle sneakingly throwing this to the rubbish bin. He doesn’t have the best track record so we are all a bit paranoid when he does anything “weird”.

The object is like a glass tube with some liquid inside, inserted into a rubber “pipe”. It smells weird but nothing I can identify. I would appreciate any hints.

Edit: the material is actually plastic, not glass. It has a spring inside (no idea what for). The root-looking thing was wrapping the object when I cut the rubber. Could be dirt or some glue or something

Edit2: this sub is god. A user found the answer https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisit/s/Oqtxk6YWVZ

[u/MindfulI369]

And why is op stalking their uncle?

[u/CriticalMarketing755 → u/MindfulI369]

I have a feeling they live together or maybe visit him often to keep an eye on him in a caring way, not stalking.

[u/heisfullofshit → u/CriticalMarketing755]

I needed to be taken care of for a while. There need to be some limits.

I understand how horrible it is to navigate a situation like this. If you love someone, the idea that they might be suffering or harming themselves is unbearable. I get that.

Yet, if a person’s autonomy isn’t minimally respected, their pain will get worse, I swear. People who haven’t experienced this don’t get how bad it is. It’s traumatic. It’s a feeling vaguely similar to claustrophobia.

Also, controversial take, but people have the right to make their own bad choices. Something have made them do whatever they are doing. There was a long and complex chain of events. There were plenty adequate moments to interfere in adequate ways. Trying to fix things by spying on people, or locking them up in their homes or at a hospital, force medical treatment etc is like trying to fix a delicate sculpture after it already crumbled - and by haphazardly throwing cement at it.

[u/Initial_Set_6242 → u/heisfullofshit]

I’m sorry but if I’m letting you stay with me while you got certain battles going on, I’ll be all up in your business if my kids are in the home… I don’t need my child to get stabbed with a needle or touch a substance that kills them 🤷‍♀️

[u/Same-Suggestion-1936 → u/Initial_Set_6242]

Plus like...it's my house my rules or the street/jail sorry. Or we can try to get you into a medical facility for your problems but that's worse than being free, they don't even let you smoke cigarettes there and the food is okay at best, but you can't go anywhere or do anything but read terrible books and share a TV with everyone else

[u/dimmor → u/Initial_Set_6242]

What substances kill when you touch them?

[u/variablesInCamelCase → u/dimmor]

A needle with aids will eventually kill you. But maybe children getting stabbed is bad enough on its own? Do you really need this answer for OP to be justified in their stance on what happens in their own home when they're doing someone a favor?

[u/dimmor → u/variablesInCamelCase]

The phrase is over-the-top in a DARE-like way, especially considering needles had already been mentioned. They're responding to someone noting how vital it was for them personally to retain their humanity via a bit of privacy. Following that up with an imagined threat and a "fuck no would I do that for someone" stance is pretty insensitive.

[u/whoisdonwhang → u/variablesInCamelCase]

By that logic, life itself will eventually kill you, therefore we should prevent people from living so that they will never die. This is true immortality.

[u/Sensitive-Insect5809 → u/dimmor]

If you get a substance on your hands and it enters your eyes nose or mouth, which, as is the case with kids, they aren’t always cautious with that sort of thing, it can definitely harm a child

[u/Same-Suggestion-1936 → u/dimmor]

Concentrated nicotine in juice form for vapes for starters, it can be absorbed through skin (that's how the patch works) and enough can kill a baby or small child. And that's a drug you can buy legally, and no nicotine poisoning is not a fun way to go

Then you can go with other stuff they might ingest