# If I put my eye to a vacuum cleaners hose. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 12, 2006, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804 "2006-12-12T11:52:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![footbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@footbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footbag)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/1 "2006-12-12T11:52:09Z")
What would happen. I have a 1600 watt hoover and a morbid impulse to remove the brush and put my eye against the hose. What would happen if I had my eye tightly shut/wide open? Sleepy dust eh! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/2 "2006-12-12T12:04:54Z")
Firstly: Just don’t do it. OK, I’m guessing that with your eye tightly shut, it might just be uncomfortable, but don’t do it. With your eye open, I think you could suffer quite a nasty injury, quite possibly involving permanent damage to your eye, so don’t do it. I can’t imagine the outcome would be any more pleasant than those all-too-frequent vacuum cleaner/penis interactions (so don’t do that either). ---
**Author:** ![footbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@footbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footbag)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/3 "2006-12-12T12:46:20Z")
Don’t worry I wont do it. It’s just one of weird impulse things that people get. Like when you lean out of a high window and for a moment you get the urge to just dive out. I wonder what that feeling is and why it happens? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/4 "2006-12-12T12:52:20Z")
I don’t know, but I know exactly what you mean. I get the ‘what if I just jumped off?’ thing - I’ve also had the ‘what if I just picked up that [heavy object] and started smashing skulls?’ ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/5 "2006-12-12T13:00:40Z")
[QUOTE=footbag] Don’t worry I wont do it. It’s just one of weird impulse things that people get. Like when you lean out of a high window and for a moment you get the urge to just dive out. I wonder what that feeling is and why it happens? [/QUOTE] Well if ya want my opinion I reckon we are all descended from lemmings ---
**Author:** ![footbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@footbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footbag)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/6 "2006-12-12T13:19:39Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I’ve also had the ‘what if I just picked up that [heavy object] and started smashing skulls?’ [/QUOTE] Oh yeah I get that one too. WTF? You walk past an old nun and you think ‘what would happen if I just gave her a flying elbow’ . Even in primary school I used to get an urge whereby if a teacher was helping me one on one, leaning in real close like, I would have an impulse to lean in and kill them gently on the lips, knowing full well it would be social suicide. ---
**Author:** ![footbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@footbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footbag)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/7 "2006-12-12T13:20:49Z")
Kiss not kill. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/8 "2006-12-12T13:24:21Z")
[QUOTE=footbag] Kiss not kill. [/QUOTE] Heck of a Freudian slip! Think about how irritating it is to get a slight bump on the eye when you put on glasses etc then reverse and amplify it… I’m sure I can remember debates on here as to whether or not an eyeball can pop out of its socket or not, anecdotes were presented as to how it can be done surprisingly easily. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/9 "2006-12-12T14:26:31Z")
A med student once told me that it’s suprisingly difficult to remove an eye from a cadaver. I’ll never forget the way he said it… “You really have to torque it pretty good to get it out” … while making wrestling motions with his right arm. Yech. ---
**Author:** ![footbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@footbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footbag)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/10 "2006-12-12T14:39:34Z")
I am thinking that even with your eyes tightly shut, the strength of the suck would just plunk it right out. Don’t do it kids! I suppose this thread is more about strange urges. Anyone else take money out the bank and get the urge to just throw it into the wind? Maybe this thead is more MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/11 "2006-12-12T14:41:37Z")
[QUOTE=Patty O’Furniture] A med student once told me that it’s suprisingly difficult to remove an eye from a cadaver. I’ll never forget the way he said it… “You really have to torque it pretty good to get it out” … while making wrestling motions with his right arm. Yech. [/QUOTE] Even if that’s true, sticking a suction tube into it is probably going to do some damage. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/12 "2006-12-12T14:47:53Z")
I sometimes have urges to stick my hand in a fan, and wonder what a cigarette put out on my arm would feel like, but would never do either. ---
**Author:** ![footbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@footbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footbag)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/13 "2006-12-12T14:54:00Z")
Put your hand in an airy fan eh? That’s gotta hurt the other person more, surely. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/14 "2006-12-12T15:30:55Z")
I don’t know but I’ll bet it wouldn’t be good. I once put the suction cup of a milking machine up to my ear to hear what it sounded like. Popped my eardrum in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/15 "2006-12-12T16:02:12Z")
I get the strange desire to not turn with the curve in the highway and just let my car run right off the road. Ditto for not stopping when the road ends, and just crashing into the retaining wall or building at the end of it. Which is really weird, because I’m not at all suicidal, but it’s a strange, strong urge. To bring the thread around, I one put out a cigarette…on my eyelid. It was a total mistake, and it hurt like a…well, like putting out a cigarette on your eyelid. Nasty scab lasted for several weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/16 "2006-12-12T16:06:50Z")
[QUOTE=footbag] Don’t worry I wont do it. It’s just one of weird impulse things that people get. Like when you lean out of a high window and for a moment you get the urge to just dive out. I wonder what that feeling is and why it happens? [/QUOTE] Edgar Allan Poe called it [“The Imp of the Perverse”](http://www.kingkong.demon.co.uk/gsr/impperve.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/17 "2006-12-12T16:44:33Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] I sometimes have urges to stick my hand in a fan, and wonder what a cigarette put out on my arm would feel like, but would never do either. [/QUOTE] The fan’s no problem _on the exhaust side_. Your hand will glance off of the fan blades’ face. I saw a guy do this on Letterman _with his tongue_ in an _industrial_ fan. Sticking your hand into the intake side is asking for trouble, however. YMMV. Don’t do the vacuum cleaner thing, though. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/18 "2006-12-12T17:32:37Z")
Lately when I’m in line at the store and the person in front of me is counting out coins to the cashier or the cashier is counting out coins back to them I have the urge to hit their hands from underneath sending all the coins flying into the air. Then I try to picture how they would react to me doing that to them giving me a “WTF is your problem” look. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/19 "2006-12-12T17:51:47Z")
I wonder what it’d be like to trash my entire cubicle and beat every component near me into tiny pieces. Would feel alot better than a vacuum hose sucking my eyeball out. In scenario one, I’d feel good for a minute or two, then feel crappy and unemployed for a long time. Scenario number two has the potential to suck (no pun intended) from the first milisecond straight through to infinity. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PuddingCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@PuddingCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PuddingCat)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804/20 "2006-12-12T17:59:30Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] I sometimes have urges to stick my hand in a fan, and wonder what a cigarette put out on my arm would feel like, but would never do either. [/QUOTE] I’ve done this. It was one of those big room fans - the type on a pole about 4-5 foot high. If put my fingers in from the front first and other than a bit of pain, nothing happened apart from the fan grinding to a halt. However, I also put them in from the back and a 1cm wide strip was gouged from my finger. I must have lost 3-4 mm in depth before I realised what was happening and stopped. That day, I learnt that they engineer fans so if you accidently put your fingers in from the front, the blade swats against your finger and stops. If you do it from the back, the fans act like blades. Ouch. trmatthe [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-put-my-eye-to-a-vacuum-cleaners-hose/383804.md?page=2)