We can really only be experts at a couple of things in our entire lives. There is simply not enough time to grow unbelievably skilled and knowledgeable at several things.
So it's wildly exciting when, by coincidence, a person happens to challenge you on the very thing you are an expert at.
Often, the expertise arises as a career path is chosen and pursued.
But there is another universe of expertise: hobbies. In a recent Reddit thread, this was the primary type of example.
Video games, sports, and cooking are all prime areas for calling on a trove of expertise to dole out a sudden trouncing.
The moment begins with a challenge. Someone sees a place to compete and assumes an equal playing field. But unbeknownst to them, this is no equal match.
The other combatant carries a silent confidence, an inner calm that should need only seconds to deflate the challenger.
Struedolf asked, "Has someone ever challenged you to something that they didn't know who are an expert at? If so how did it turn out for you/them?"
Pizza: a Bizarre, Constant Source of Competition
"A neighbor on my block in Brooklyn challenged me to a pizza bake-off. I recently catered pizza for my daughters school and word got around the neighborhood my pizza was pretty darn good."
"My first thought was, 'This guy is a Brooklyn native, my pizza will be shite compared to his!' But there was something about him bragging that I couldn't resist the challenge."
"He talked up how pizza was in his blood, how his dad ran the pizza place around the corner years ago. I remained silent and let my skills answer for themselves. We even had total strangers try our pizzas."
"Every last person chose my pizza over his."
"I never mentioned to him that I've worked in pizza places almost every day for the last thirty years. I never mentioned that when I'm not working at a pizza place I'm making pizzas at home at least once every two days."
"I never mentioned that at nine years old I knew that I wanted to be a pizza man. Here I am 45 and getting ready to start my own pizza business."
-- Yogisogoth
Something to Brag About?
"My office announced a laser tag team-building event, two weeks after I played in the laser tag (Ultrazone) national championships. Which were an actual thing in 1997." -- Fluxxed0
"This dude I went to high school with (I'm 30 now) makes almost weekly Facebook posts showing his laser tag scores and boasting about still being the champ. I just imagine him smashing 8-year-olds relentlessly." -- VinnyinJP
Of the Older Generation
"When working as a teacher I beat a lot of students in Pokémon battles, cause they didn't think of me being like 15 years ahead of them in fighting experience. Noobs." -- Amegami
"My nephew challenged me to Super Smash Bros Ultimate once. Once." -- maleorderbride
"This is how I trounce my younger siblings at Smash Bros(every game really)."
"F*cking teenagers, think they're hot shit, no way their old-ass big bro is gonna beat them this time. I HAVE BEEN PLAYING SINCE YOU WERE A BABY!"
"Oh you got a new game, cool, I played something a lot like it on a Play Station with potato graphics. Get wrecked." -- BlackWalrusYeets
What a Stupid Bet
"Someone at a bar bet me there were only 30 days in a particular month. $20 if I could prove them wrong right then (pre-cellphone days). I was born on the 31st of that month, showed them my drivers license."
-- SeminalSage
A Historical Shellacking
"My uncle challenged Jack Nicklaus to a golf game in college, without a clue. The humiliation burns him to this day." -- MC_Glamour
"I had a crush on a girl in high school. Asked her out on the typical first date for teenagers in my small hometown, bowling. I GOT MY A** HANDED TO ME."
"Completely unbeknownst to me, she had been playing in a league of some type since she was 6 years old and her dad had been a touring pro in the '80s. She was probably the best, if not top 3 bowlers in her age bracket in the state."
"My favorite part about the whole thing was that she played it off completely straight-faced the entire date and didn't explain anything until the 3rd almost perfect game she bowled." -- Ah_Fiddle-sticks
More Grateful than Proud
"I was a competitive swimmer for 14 years, including 4 years of NCAA, but I'm on the shorter side so people don't assume I was any good."
"Was at a friends house on a lake one summer, and a macho guy challenged me to race to a buoy in the middle of the lake, to prove... something, I guess."
"The lake is deceptively large, about a half mile across, so I warned him that if he isn't a strong swimmer it could be dangerous. He was running out of gas after about 2 minutes, so I offered to let him off the hook, but he insisted he would finish."
"I went to the buoy and was swimming back when I found him floundering, so I lifeguard swam him back to the house. His ego took a deserved hit that day."
Robbing the Collections Basket
"While not a pro, I'm pretty darn good at poker. The church I was at had a Poker night and I was just going to watch. They insisted I join the 25 cent game."
"Came home with $200 and they decided to never have a poker night again."
Shake Down
"A local mall had a portable climbing wall with a 'make it to the top and win $100' side. The route was actually pretty challenging. As I walked by the guy asked me if I'd like to try: 'Nobody has made it to the top, you think you can do it buddy.'"
"At the time I was ranked top 12 climber in my age group and kind of laughed to myself."
"After taking my $100 I then proceeded to call the rest of my climbing team and one by one they went to the mall and claimed their $100."
"After the 4th person they guy got suspicious and took the sign down."
Hiding in Plain Sight
"Basketball."
"So I'm actually pretty tall and I've played my whole life. In my twenties I was a pretty goofy stoner. I would show up to competitive opens gyms all over my cities and with my long hair and tall skinny body usually get picked last or near last."
"Well I can dribble, dunk, shoot threes and I'm 6'5". I was always asked back and never picked last when I went back."
-- tallz024
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk him about it.
There are a ton of jobs or favors that don't require much skill, experience, or labor, and people who are fortunate enough to get hired walk away with a king's ransom.
Looking for those kinds of "jobs," however, is like finding a teardrop in the ocean.
Few who struck gold, at least temporarily, shared their experiences when Redditor NikTheNerdBoy asked:
"What's the dumbest thing you were paid to do and how much were you paid?"
Good luck finding these well-paying tasks.
Running Errands
"Had a WFH gig working sort of as a personal assistant for a rich guy on the opposite coast from me. I did all kinds of wacky sh*t for him. For example, one time I had to break up with my boss's girlfriend because he was too wimpy to do it himself. That was literally my job."
"One day, I bought him a new pickup truck. Meaning, I negotiated the deal and paid for the truck with his credit card. All in all, I'd say the process probably took about two weeks, for which I was paid my usual wage at six hours per day. No big deal."
"Somehow, his dad found out about the new truck and he decided he wanted a new pickup truck too. He called me about a week after I bought the truck for my boss and said he'd pay me $2,000 to buy a truck for him. I called the same dealership back, spoke to the same salesman, told him what was up and basically said give me another truck, same price as before. The salesman was only too happy to comply."
"It took ten minutes to make the phone call and then a day or two to get the title and other paperwork sorted out. So, depending on how you look at it, I made $2,000 for just ten minutes worth of 'work.'"
"Somehow, my boss's rich friend found out about all this. He decided he wanted a new SUV. 'OhYeahThrowItAway, you have to buy it for me!' I told him the last time I bought someone a vehicle, I got paid $2,000. The friend was basically like F'k it, I'll pay you $3,000, just get it for me' and then he emailed me his wish list."
"That deal took a little longer, maybe two weeks."
"I made $5k extra in just two months buying vehicles for lazy (or dumb) rich people."
Staying Out Of The Picture
"I was paid $300 to move my car for a movie that was filming by my apartment."
Pack It Up
"Got paid 10k to leave an apartment because it was sold and new owner wanted to move in. I was tenant (renter) under previous owner. I had 4 months left in my rental contract. This was in Spain (Barcelona)."
European Vacation
"I was flown to Paris to do a compliance audit, the systems weren't set up for the audit, couldn't get access so spent the week being taken to restaurants and shopping. On 1 of the days and at the last minute the company decided to send me to London for a meeting, literally just to meet people. I missed the Eurostar because I forgot my passport (totally blanked that I was entering another country), they had to rebook the Eurostar. Nothing was achieved out of this trip. No audit was completed. Nothing came of the meeting. The cost to the company 25k+ for me to do nothing for a week. Corporate money is ridiculous money."
Not much labor was required for these so-called "jobs."
Ten-Minutes Of "Work"
"I used to work for a PR agency. Every month one of our clients wanted a handful of photos re-sized for their website; nothing fancy, just setting the width to 500px in Windows Photo Manager."
"It was maybe ten minutes of work every month, but the contract said the minimum amount of time we would charge them for was one day - and this was for the full team too, not just me. It must have cost them several hundred pounds every month."
"I showed the client how to do it several times, and explained that they could save a lot of money doing it themselves. They didn't seem to mind."
"In the end I made sure I got it in writing that I'd informed them of their options and let them get on with it."
Thank You, Goodbye
"$175 to do some kind of user study at Netflix, I show up in the lobby and then they go, 'actually we got the data we needed from the studies earlier today, you're free to go!'. Still got paid!"
– Lycid
Hush Money
"I did an event for a national association for deaf people at which they did every presentation in ASL. I am an audio engineer, who specializes in live sound and concerts. I did nothing for 5 days of show, $450 a day."
– murter95
Paid To Play
"I got asked to do 2 hours of barrier watch (Guarding a barrier ribbon while a crew did x rays inside a power plant). This was asked last minute after a 12 hour shift so the bonuses of staying happening to be a Sunday, etc I was being paid $110 to stand and play on my phone and make sure sure nobody tried to pass all the DO NOT ENTER DANGER DANGER signs during a time of day with minimal personnel."
– Hotel29
Movie Scene Dance GIF by FandorGiphyGotta Have Wendy's
"I was driving for uber. Picked up a bunch of drunks at like 2 AM. They were like 'Yo we gotta grab some Wendy' I go 'I'm sorry this is my busy period' they go 'Can we bribe you?' I go 'Absolutely you can bribe me.'"
"One the guys said I'll give you $100...I was shocked it was that high, another guy said '$150' and finally his wife said 'F'k it I want Wendy $200 and we buy you Wendy too.'"
"I finally said yes, FYI I hadn't said yes yet because the reality is $20-$40 would have gotten me to stop at Wendy."
"So there I sat at Wendy as those 3 drunks bought me wendy and paid me $200."
Substitute Chef
"One time I was at this super fancy dinner party. I'm talking servers and everything, I was in a freaking tux! It was outside and catered by a professional bbq company. I mean these guys had won international competitions. Well get this, they were double booked and didn't show. The other servers didn't know how to grill, and this totally smokin server in her 30s is just staring at the grill like a deer in the headlights. Well I don't want to be a hero but I ask if I can help. The entire staff spend the rest of the night bringing me drinks as I make this bbq and NOBODY realizes the award winning chefs didn't show up!"
Where Do We Apply?
"Ok this wasn't a job or anything.... But I got 10$ to eat half a watermelon."
Some opportunities present themselves.
When I was a kid, I hung out at a Japanese summer festival booth where you roll a bowling ball on a track that had two hills. The objective was to push the ball hard enough to get it over the first hill but not too hard to get it over the second hill.
I was fascinated with the challenge and stayed there for a long time as my parents were over by the food booths with their friends.
It was a slow day, and the dude working the booth wanted to peace out for a bit, so he offered to pay me $50 to "hang out" in his stead.
Of course, I said "sure."
No one ever came, and I earned fifty bucks rolling bowling balls for an hour. Was it the dumbest thing I ever did for money? Maybe, but I laughed all the way to the piggy bank that day.
That guy really must have despised his post enough to give a twelve-year-old kid $50.
Food is for survival. That was the plan. But over the years it has become somewhat of a way of life. Some of the most annoying people are foodies. They get so uppity about the preferences of others. Like, let me just enjoy what I enjoy.
Mom No!
Mom Smile GIFGiphy"I don't like my mom's cooking."
"Livestock have refused to eat my mother's cooking. She's a terror in the kitchen."
Take them OUT!!
"I hate walnuts in baked goods. It tastes like wood shavings and completely ruins the flavor."
"I love walnuts but I feel this way about raisins in baked goods, raisins are fine by themselves but not in sweets, I once ordered cinnamon rolls at Hardee's and bit into it and found out there were raisins in it, and I was grossed out and didn't want to eat it. At least freakin' McDonald's serves real cinnamon rolls without freakn' raisins!"
The Fart Ingredient
"I don't like kidney beans except in chili."
"I don't even really like them in chili. I'd rather have pintos in everything."
Oh thew Crunch...
"Pickles and onion make the best sandwich. I make most of my own pickles from stuff I grow or get from local farms in the fall, but I responded to another comment with two different heinous concoctions I enjoy. Crunchy, salty, sour. I really like pickles and onions to begin with."
"I use more than pickled cucumber though. Like the last one I made, I used garlic naan, mayo, red onion, scallions, pickled garlic, green olives, Kalamata olives, garlic dill cucumber, and green beans. Shallot, sour pickled onion, sweet pickled cucumbers, and sushi ginger on sprouted 14 grain bread is also also a favorite of mine."
No Sizzle
bacon GIFGiphy"I do not like bacon."
"I've been learning this over the years. If I'm gonna do bacon I much prefer the maple bacon since it's sweeter and doesn't overpower with saltiness."
- truije15
Who doesn't like bacon? That seems like a sacrilege. Right? But to each their own. Though I will never understand not loving walnuts in comfort food. Y'all need more self love.
Love the Big M
"Fast food tastes amazing, yeah its unhealthy as hell but don't you sit there and lie and say it tastes bad."
"Pisses me off when people act like they're better then McDonald's. What the hell? McDonald's is incredible and billions of people buy their food still. The same can't be said for other restaurants."
Blasphemy!
golden girls flirting GIF by HULUGiphy"Cheesecake is disgusting."
"I don't find cheese cake disgusting. It looks good. Smell delicious. Has ingredients in it that I love. But i can not eat more than one bite. It is too rich. One bite and i feel sick."
Too Many Legs
"Lobsters and crabs are giant insects."
"I don't really think that's that controversial, in my area of the world we even call this creature a 'Moreton Bay Bug' even though some fisheries try to give it the more appealing name of 'flathead lobster'."
bad bones
"Boneless wings are vastly superior to bone-in wings. I think bone-in wings are a ripoff because when you get half a pound of them, part of that half-pound is inedible. It's like if you ordered a quarter-pound cheeseburger, but the restaurant considers the weight of the plate to be part of that quarter-pound and you end up with just a slider. Just give me some damn meat."
The Slime
man oyster GIFGiphy"Oysters are truly disgusting and absurdly overpriced for quarter sized pieces of snot that tastes like salt water and hot sauce."
- C_23_s
Ok, I'm trying to stay calm. I don't want to judge. But some of these opinions... are leaving me shook. Except the oysters. That is that work of the devil. Look away...
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