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People Share The Dumbest Things They've Done That Have Made Them Question Their Own Intelligence

People Share The Dumbest Things They've Done That Have Made Them Question Their Own Intelligence
Photo by Ayo Ogunseinde on Unsplash

Sometimes you walk through life thinking, "I got this!"

This is not one of those times. This is one of those times where you walk through life going "How the eff did I make it out of bed today?"


Redditor d3dni asked:

"Hey Redditors, what's something that you've done that's so dumb that you question your own intelligence?"

Here were some of those answers.

Spelling And Cooking Don't Mix

will smith cooking GIF Giphy

"I wanted to make cookies for my mom that spelled "mom" and I ordered one "o" and two "m" cookie cutters."

CichaelMlifford

Water Under The Sea

"I realized this year that pufferfish fill themselves with water when they expand instead of air... I'm 25."

Dane_Gleessak

Smoosh

"Once I picked up a lemon, wondered "do lemons bounce?", and immediately threw it on the ground."

"It was the last lemon."

"They don't bounce."

evandolajakulater

Too Many Keys

"I've lived at my house for half a decade and I still get mixed up on which way the key goes in the front door. I'm starting to wonder if I should get tested."

ShoddyBiscotti1

Just Can't Stop

office space stapler GIF Giphy

"I've stapled my thumb at least once a year from grade six to second year university. The first stapling was because I was showing my friends how my classmate stapled his thumb and the rest of the staplings were from demonstrating to various people how I had previously stapled my thumb."

punkterminator

Hot N Painty

"I have 2 stories."

"When I was 7 I went outside to play and noticed a blueberry in the front lawn. Of course I pick it up and eat it. It was a paint ball and I instantly regret everything."

"When I was 6 I made a bowl of ramen noodles but didnt notice it was a spicy flavor. I put the bowl in the fridge and came back to it a few hours later. It was still spicy and I was very confused. Hot =/= spicy"

xXDevious

Hooked

"Granted I was young, but in the fifth grade I recall being stung by a wasp and my mother got out an epi-pen just in case I had an allergic reaction to the sting. I didn't and I was fine, but my curiosity got the better of me. Later that night I knew where the epi-pen was, and I wanted to know how big the needle was in case I ever had to actually use it (I had a big fear of needles, guess I just was hoping it was a small needle lol). Anyway, I went to take a look (not knowing how an epi-pen worked) and when I clicked the button the needle when straight into my thumb, bone and everything."

"(For anyone that doesn't know, epi-pens shoot adrenaline basically into you which helps combat allergic reactions, and the "button" I pushed is what actually deploys the needle and it's spring loaded so it's pretty powerful). So here I am screaming because there is a NEEDLE THROUGH MY THUMB (and also the junk in the needle is making my heart go crazy.)"

"I asked my sister to help me get it out but it was so far in that she could not pull it out no matter how hard she tried. When I found my parents outside my dad was able to yoink it outta my thumb bone, it couldn't come out because it bent like a fish hook in the bone of my thumb. In the end I was fine, but it freaked the hell outta me and my parents."

ErythematousRat

Not Far Enough

"In 5th grade we watched a video in class about this kid who carved an elaborate wooden boat, and he burnt a message on the side that asked whoever finds this boat, please return it on its journey to the ocean. He places boat in a creek. It drifts off down stream. The video follows the boats journey where a boy finds it stuck in branches hanging in water. He puts it back into the current. It goes to a river. Bigger river and eventually after a few human encounters, it makes it to the ocean. So...."


"I was inspired. But didn't live near a creek. My brilliant idea was to make a few paper airplanes. I had just learned a cool new design. I finish one. I write on the side... "If anyone finds this, please throw it back into the sky so it can reach the ocean." Went to front porch and reared back and threw it."

"It went 6 feet and nose dived onto the driveway. Picked it up. Threw it again. It looped and fell 2 feet from me. I grabbed it, crumpled it up and remember saying to myself, what the heck were you thinking?"

Cyrano55

Whoopsie Daisy

santa clarita diet drey barrymore GIF by NETFLIX Giphy

"So I was standing outside of a bar in the middle of winter (a little tipsy) and I went to kick the snow off my boots. Because of the icy ground I ended up kicking my feet out from under myself. My legs shot up over my head like I was a cartoon character. Lots of laughs were had. I hate the snow."

revelinravel

All The Same

"Just today"

"I'm in control of ordering and stocking medical supplies for my clinic"

"I unstacked 20-25 cases of saline with the intent to rotate stock so it won't expire"

"Once I finished stacking the new delivery (40boxes) and began stacking the older stock on top I realized they all had the same expiration date Oct/2020"

"I'm an idiot"

Brownale78

Going Up?

door garage GIF Giphy

"At my apartment complex, the doors are all different. When you're opening the door in the garage, the key goes up, when you're coming in from the street, the key goes down. It drove me so crazy for a while, I felt like I was going literally insane because I couldn't remember which was which."

Reddit

Calc Damage

"I wrote [2+2] to my calculator during a statistics exam and before I pressed [=] I uttered "oh."

"Not because I found out the answer, but because of the realization that I may have some kind of brain damage."

AUGUSTBRANDISH

"Funny thing is i had a problem once on an exam that was similar to this, I knew the answer because it was obvious, but I still used the calculator because I ain't trusting my brain lol..."

LukeTheGroundwalker

Stupid receipt.

"Bought a can of coke, walked out of the store with the receipt in my other hand. Immediately tossed the coke in the deepest trash can ever. Stupid receipt. :("

digmalick

"This reminds me of a video I saw once where a woman was feeding ducks by a dock with the bread in one hand and her phone in the other. You can see where this is going."

TheNightSentinels

Hand Seared

"One time I didn't want to dirty a plate to heat up my doughnut in the microwave, so I thought for a moment with myself I should try and just hold it in my hand while it cooked in there."

icexdragon

Beyond the SIlence

"Searching for my phone when getting out of the car while on the phone. Then telling your phone on the wire you can't find you phone..... The silence was deafening."

CanIGetAPaycheckBuff

"If it helps you feel better, my friend did that once, while I was next to her, and I helped her look for her phone. Her mom was laughing at us on the phone."

ScreamingPotoo

Protein Add ON

animation loop GIF by Rafael Giphy

"Very nearly tried to stop a blender blade with my fingers."

Owlmoose

"You mean to say you nearly added too much protein to your smoothie."

Forikorder

High Time

"I once was going to microwave water to make tea, I put an empty mug in the microwave with no water in it and I microwaved it."

Comrade_Wolfissimo8

"Same! But I remembered to add a tea bag...the smell of that burn will never go away!"

StrangeConnection

A walk off

"I once opened the washer to get the clothes, but got sidetracked by my dogs wanting to go out. When I came back in, I turned the dryer on and went about my business. Came back an hour later to fold them and the dryer was empty."

BustAMove_13

Give me Light!!

"Spent almost 10 minutes looking for my phone. Using it's light because it's dark. As if it wasn't bad enough to realize I was using my phone to look for my phone, I'm alone at the house. Why didn't I turn on the lights??"

a_bizz

"A lot of people make that kind of mistake once in a while. Just recently my phone 'disappeared', because I put it under a piece of paper for absolutely no reason and I spent way too much time looking for it everywhere except my room."

"Once I also left it in one of the cabins of my bathroom for some reason."

Zeddeling

Damn Auto

"I argued with an English teacher that it was spelt 'expresso' purely because I spelt it wrong once and autocorrect never corrected me."

Pengusta

Wire Crossing

"I threw an entire glass of milk in the recycling instead of the empty carton I just poured it out."

killerjags

"Having trash in one hand and freshly prepared food in the other is never a good recipe to start with. Just... the wires in your brain switch for a moment."

Melodramallow

Why Am I Like This?

"I spent a good 5 minutes looking for my soccer bag that was in my hand the entire time."

Reddit

"Every so often when I'm driving, I'll siddey check my pockets for my belongings. And for a moment I'll think, "crap do I have my keys?" Then I feel really dumb for a bit."

Waldolito

Finger Navigation

"When I'm at a gas station I usually take a minute to grab trash out of my car, except that I'm always holding important things in my hands too. So I have to navigate which fingers to move to throw away the Red Bull can, receipt, business card, straw paper and not my keys, phone, and wallet."

lucifer2990

Volume Drop

"I turn the the music down in my car when sometimes when I'm trying to turn on the air."

gratefooldread

"Your brain has a processing load limit, like a computer. So turning off music when you need to focus on something else frees up processing power."

Reddit

Avocado Danger

"Once when I worked at a Chipotle I was making guacamole. I had been employed there for about 2 years at this point, so I was going through the motions, tired as all hell, get about half way through scooping the avocados out of the skin, (about 24 of them), and looked down to see all the skins in the giant bowl in front of me, and all the avocado in trash can directly to my right. Covered in the blood from all of the steak and chicken I had marinated about 30 minutes prior."

༎ຶ‿༎ຶ

Atlas_is_my_son

Knob Control

I am a baker at a local cafe' today I burnt the same thing 3 times because I had the oven set to 350 instead of 300. Whoops.

ihadtopoop-

"My roommate was making bacon in the oven."

  • "Set the heat to broil instead of bake. Which wouldn't be a problem except broil defaults to 650 degrees."
  • "Set the timer to 3 hours instead of 30 minutes."
  • "Forgot to actually turn the oven on."

"This is the same thing that decided to use my very nice teflon pan to actually fry a grilled cheese and then forgot to turn the heat off."

"It's so damn hard to get burned carbon off teflon without scratching it to hell."

PolloMagnifico

Back to 8

"Google the definition of a simple word. It's like when in maths exam I check in the calculator if 3+5 is still equals 8. I keep doing this all the time."

Pipelin12

"Well come January 4th, from 10:32 am to 10:43 am, 3+5 will temporarily equal 7. So keep that in mind for any exams. Afterwards it will go back to 8."

"It's due to something called temporal balancing."

KalegNar

Thank you Sonicare....

"I was 16 and had a Brand spanking new Sonicare toothbrush. I was going about my daily, morning brush and was getting VERY aggressive in my side to side brushing to REALLY get in deep and in a moment I opened my mouth just a little too wide..."

"I proceed to aggressively brush my left eyeball in one swift movement."

"I remember trying to put the toothbrush back in my mouth before the searing hot, BLINDING (literally) pain made me drop my toothbrush in unison with my VERY loud yelp."

"After my dad stopped crying from laughter for what felt like 10 minutes, I washed my eyeball with clean cool water for about half an hour and though my eye was red for a week, I suffered no permanent long term damage"

"Except for my pride."

Morganithor

Keep It

"Pulled into McDonald's, ordered my food, paid for my food, then promptly drove off without my food. I've done this twice. Having to go in to get my food after that is embarrassing. It's my walk of shame."

BustAMove_13

"My mom has done this a few times lol. She gets embarrassed having to go in and tell them too. Thank goodness she realized it very soon after she drove off."

Fireyredheadlady

Eat Up

sandwiches GIF Giphy

"I once prepared a sandwich to pack in my lunch for the next day. Then I immediately absentmindedly ate that sandwich."

BaudelaireHeHoo

Dial

"I was browsing through my phone when I asked myself something and thought "I'll just check on my phone" and, then, reached for my pocket. My heart skipped a beat as I couldn't feel my phone in my pocket (which obviously couldn't be there because I'm holding the freaking thing in my hand!) and then I realized how surprisingly dumb we, humans, can be in just a few seconds."

redditbutdidntgetit

Seasonal Van Issues

"During the winter I'll leave my car running while I run inside to grab anything, then spend an extra 5 minutes looking for my car keys before I go outside."

lthmsg

"Depends on ventilation around where the car is and weather conditions."

"I work with vans, and we had to remind drivers to switch off the engines of their vans as soon as they came in because where we loaded them was under a canopy with really bad ventilation."

"The carbon dioxide would very quickly build up and some of the staff would complain about being light headed."

"So yeah, if your car is in a garage or something, I can totally believe this (not to mention that that is literally a method used to kill yourself)."

IndigoMichigan

Do What?

"While attempting to microwave something, the screen kept saying "do or". I spent about 5 minutes questioning " do or what???" Before realizing it was telling me to close the microwave door."

"Truly my lowest point."

LillyUpsideDown

To Me

presents wtf GIF Giphy

"I once sent a Fedex, priority, to myself."

"I wrote my info in the 'to' section."

kbutters9

Jump and punch it full force....

"I was cooking some fish when the smoke detector in my apartment went off. I was cooking on one too many pans at once so I was flustered already, but then I wasn't able to locate the smoke detector because I had just moved in. I was frantically looking for the thing with pans boiling over in the background. When I finally found it in the hallway my gut reaction was to... jump and punch it full force."

"It didn't go quiet but my knuckles got bloodied up quite nicely. I looked at my hands in amusement and just stood there dumbfounded at myself for a few seconds before finally doing the logical thing and pressing the button which shuts off the alarm."

HonkForTheDong

being 13

"One time when I was 13, I held my phone over a well just because I could, then I accidentally bumped it against something and it fell in. I felt like a complete dolt and an absolute cretin."

conaar

"Your phone died thinking it was murdered."

ClathanNank

Squish

indonesia hamster GIF Giphy

"Squeezing a squeaky toy in one ear to see if the sound would go out the other."

echothemage

Ready to Save You... Eventually

"My boss told me to register and pay for a CPR class online and then take a photo of the front and back of the card and submit to her. She meant the certification card, not my credit card. I was brand new! I chalk it up to nerves and anxiety. My brain wasn't ready. I was promoted eventually."

deuce1028

Zoom In

angry jason terry GIF Giphy

"I was reading a magazine the other day and wanted to see a picture more clearly and tried to pinch-zoom with my fingers... this was not the first time I've done that."

Jedisolid

Still

"Got trapped once because the button to open the automatic door wasn't working."

"Forgot that you could still manually open the door."

"Stood there like an idiot for 5 minutes and texted a friend (who was nearby) for help."

IaniteThePirate

Enflamed

"Had a roommate deep frying some chicken tenders in a saucepan. It was boiling out of control and I grabbed it and ran outside, where it was raining to dump it out. It burst into flames and I almost caught myself on fire."

Reddit

Braking Along....

"I tried to tow my friend's truck using my truck and a towing strap. Hooked everything up. I got in my truck and he got in my passenger seat and off we went. The first moment I had to brake, which was like 20 feet I realized he should of been in his truck, braking along with me."

bullhead_red

Teawise

Sipping Kermit The Frog GIF Giphy

"I put my tea into the microwave for 2:00. The handle was on the right at the beginning. I became pissed that the handle ended up facing away from me every time. It took 8 or 10 tries before I wised up... sigh."

KitKeating

Less Than

"Reject something because it's less than I expected, leaving empty handed when I could have at least gotten something partial."

"It's even worse because I've done it several times already, it's like I just can't figure out that something, even if small and insufficient, is better than absolute nothingness."

elSenorMaquina

Ashes & Pop

stressed sylvester the cat GIF Giphy

"Once poured a can of soda into the kitchen garbage can, and emptied my ashtray into a glass of ice."

jahnudvipa93

Cycled Back

"I left my brother's new house, we both live on exits to the same canal but 13.5 K apart. I cycled out to him had three or four beers and left to go home. I start cycling and it seemed to be going on forever but it was a nice evening and I was tipsy listening to music. Next thing I see is Leixlip station and realize I've gone 8 K in the wrong direction. By the time I made it back to my brothers exit I had cycled 16 K of a 13.5k journey and still had 13.5k to go."

Doogie34

Debt Collector

"I took a loan on a car at the age of 19. Then traded that car for a new one and increased the loan. Now I'm in debt and can't go into school until my loan is paid off. I've been trying to sell the car for almost a year but since (not US or UK or any 1st world country) we are having very good economic times, nobody is buying used cars that are newer than 3 years. Yay."

botnarin

to ascend

"We were Christmas shopping at the mall and the escalators were out of order. We spent ages hunting around for a fire escape or elevator because we forgot you can just walk up them."

manlikerealities

We can't always be the brightest bulb in our dimmest moments. But at least they make for great stories.

People Break Down The Times They Had To Sober Up Real Fast

Reddit user Known_Challenge_7150 explained: 'What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?'

Shocked woman covering her mouth
vaitheeswaran Nataraj/Unsplash

When we're intoxicated, or even the slightest bit tipsy from having a little too much to drink, our immediate perspective on things is hazy.

But there's nothing like a bit of alarming news or a jarring incident to snap us out of the fog and focus on the moment.

Sometimes alcohol isn't always to blame for our impairment.

It can be a state of mind, like a perpetual numbness from being complacent in life, and all it takes is one shocking moment to rattle us back to our senses.

Curious to hear from strangers online about this type of scenario, Redditor Known_Challenge_7150 asked:

"What’s one thing that sobered you up real quick?"

These individuals were witness to shocking events that sobered them up right quick.

Bleeding Out

"Got out of a taxi and found a naked man profusely bleeding from his head crawling up the driveway in my condo. Called him an ambulance completely forgot I was absolutely wasted until 45 minutes later when I'd helped him translate and in to an amublance and stepped in my front door."

"Later a few days later learned he'd slipped in the tub and literally crawled out for help. Poor dude. He was fine but I genuinely thought he was going to die there."

– DongLaiCha

Tragic News

"At a bachelor party and we got a phone call that the groom’s father had suddenly passed."

– accountnameredacted

Bottom Of The Barrel

"I went to visit my parents back in July. I was homeless and deep into fentanyl addiction so I lost a lot of weight. My folks could see it. They knew something was up. Anyway, I spent the night and I was getting ready to leave in the morning and I looked at myself in the mirror for a good long time. I finally had enough and told them everything. They took me to detox, from there I went to rehab. Graduated in August and been living with them ever since then. I have 160 days clean and sober."

– Crotch-Monster

A reality check can be enough for some people to snap out of it.

Like Father, Like Son

"Was driving a drunk friend home, he had been on a bender again and was smart enough to call me for a lift rather than try and drive. As I helped in to his house his mother came down the stairs and said 'your as drunk as your father' and went back upstairs. I haven't seen him drunk since then, he still drinks but the thought of turning into his dad scared him out of hard drinking."

– psycospaz

Busted

"Flashing blue lights."

– FiddleOfGold

"This sobered me up just thinking about it."

– redmaple_syrup

Losing Sight

"Woke up to no sight in one eye. I had cataract surgery so just thought one of the lenses had slipped and it was an easy fix. Eye doc says nope, you had a stroke. I loved soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and salty food, which caused high blood pressure, which caused retina damage. Over six months was able to get most of my eyesight back with medication, and all back within a year. Trying to navigate life with one eye was very sobering. Started taking HBP much more seriously."

– MissHibernia

Quitting The Bottle

"Looked up someone I went to highschool with who was an awesome guy. Found out he had been dead for 3 years from alcoholism, at age 33. I made an overnight change. I hadn't started drinking that night yet, 10 months ago. Haven't touched it again since."

– omgtater

These disturbing moments were enough for Redditors to immediately come to their senses.

Unplanned House Guests

"Me and a buddy Woke up in someone’s living room, realized neither one of us knew the people, they were just nice and let 2 drunk guys sleep on their living room floor. We didn’t even say goodbye."

– Oneinsevenbillion75

Serious Health Warning

"Elevated liver enzymes."

"And the knowledge that this sh** was gonna kill me and I just couldn't orphan my family over it."

"So I opted for recovery, instead."

"Clean and sober since June 5, 2009."

– Far_Meal8674

The Joyride

"Grew up in a rural area. The little town hosted dances at the hockey arena, everyone (adults and kids) went and they overserved everyone, regardless of age. I was maybe 16 or 17 and was absolutely sh*tfaced, and jumped in the back of someone's truck with about 8 other people to go back to someone's cottage for after dance drinking. The driver (still don't know who it was) started racing one of his buddies and we whipped around small dirt roads, flying around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, going god knows how fast. It was basically a disaster waiting to happen. It was crazy scary and I was sober and thankful to be alive when we finally arrived."

– foxfood9116

The human psyche is a fascinating thing, isn't it?

How we can automatically focus on something urgent at a crucial time, even after getting buzzed from drinking too much alcohol.

But as we're in the thick of the holidays, it's a good reminder to drink responsibly and stay off the roads if you drive to your celebratory destination.

Cheers. Stay safe. And happy holidays.

Woman holding multiple shopping bags
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

We've all complained or vented about something in our lives which, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't exactly a problem, or is very easily solved.

Then there are those who complain about things that others almost hope will happen to them at some point in their lives.

These are known as "first world problems", as they are problems that pretty much only the world's one percent faces.

From having to fly business class instead of first class, or being served Roederer instead of Dom Pérignon, these complaints are often met with amusement, bewilderment, or even anger.

Redditor jennimackenzie was curious to hear the most absurd "first world problems" anyone ever complained about, leading them to ask:

"What’s the most ridiculous 'first world problem' you’ve seen people get worked up over?"

"Tale As Old As Time..."

"I once knew a mom who was legitimately devastated, to the point of tears/grief, because a doctor predicted her 8 year old daughter's final height to be around 5'2","

"Which wasn't tall enough to get cast as Belle at Disney World."

"That was the child's (and her mother's) only dream in life, apparently."

"Didn't appreciate my suggestion that she could be Minnie or Mickey."

"Lol!"

"Only a face character would do!"- TravelLovingMom

"Must Be Funny, In A Rich Man's World..."

"My boss from about a decade ago was this insanely rich dude who always went to the bank to get fresh and crisp currency."

"He'd call the bank in advance to make sure they had some on hand."

"I think he was a germaphobe."

"He had a trash can that he'd throw $1 and $5 bills in that he thought was 'dirty' and regularly just donated it vs spending it."

"I asked him why he did this and he said it was too much trouble and asked if I wanted it."

"I said f*ck yeah dumped it into my bag and when I got home it was close to $400 in singles and fives.

"Another time, he wanted to upgrade all the computers in his studio, so we went to a store and bought 10 PCs."

"They all had $150 mail in rebates and he wasn't bothered to go through the trouble of mailing them in."

"3 weeks later I received $1500 after spending a whole afternoon filling out all those goddamn forms."- azninvasion2000

Money Burn GIF by nog Giphy

Who Wore It Better?

"When I was about 19 years old, I was at my boyfriends family BBQ."

"I was wearing this pretty floral sundress."

"His cousins girlfriend showed up in the same dress and she was SO mad that she went and changed."

"I will never understand being upset when someone is wearing the same thing as you.'

"Did you really think that your shirt you bought off the rack is going to be unique to you?"

"No."- mertsey627

Seeing Red! Or Blue In This Case...

"The blue of the balloons wasn't quite the same as the bridesmaid's sashes."

"Years ago my wife and I attended a wedding."

"It was very low key."

"The dinner was in the dining hall at the university where the couple met, cinder block walls and all."

"It was a Baptist wedding - no booze and very serious."

"The dark blue balloons attempting to liven up the hall were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sashes on the bridesmaid's dresses."

"The bride lost here sh*t and absolutely raved for nearly an hour."

"I can't remember how they finally managed to talk her down."- mechant_papa

south park wedding GIF Giphy

See You In Court!

"Rich neighbors who end up in expensive court battles because they disagree about where a tree can be planted or whether the color of a fence fits in with the street’s 'amenity'."

'These disputes get really heated and rack up huge lawyers’ bills."

"The most pathetic part is after the judgement when they are arguing about who should pay the other party’s costs."

"Lots of affidavits filed citing the 'emotional distress' they had to endure, or painting themselves as brave warriors who were forced to take a stand to fight for 'justice'."

"Also lots of pompous litigants insisting that the judge refer to them by their 'Dr' title."

"An absolutely insane dumpster fire of entitled rich people problems."- ElectrocRaisin

It's Always People With Money Who Don't Want To Pay!

"I work in a public library."

"People will get so so mad if they have to be put on a wait list for a book."

"A popular book that just came out."

"Ok our services are not only free but so are the books."

"You’re welcome, a**holes."- Switchbladekitten

A Warm Butt Is A Happy Butt!

"My own."

"We have a bidet toilet seat (Fabulous! Everyone should have one!) and not only does it wash your bum and blow dry it, but the seat's heated!"

"It's shocking how much a heated toilet seat makes the whole process more agreeable."

"Except: We had a power outage and I went to use the toilet and the seat was cold!"

"Unacceptable!"

"This shall not stand!"

"I was really upset because it didn't feel good."

"Then I stopped and thought: This is the most first-world problem anyone's ever had."

"I was really pissed because my heiny was tepid."

"I got over it."- DeathGrover

homer simpson episode 23 GIF Giphy

Holy Matrimony!

"Weddings are a gold mine for this question."

"People get so hyped up over their 'most important day of their life'."

"They'll destroy friendships, go into debt, and have crazy expectations."

"It's not always the couple who go crazy, either."

"Sometimes, it's the parents or another family member who feels entitled to control the wedding."

"It's just a party."

"Be considerate of guests, have plenty of food and drinks, and enjoy it."- magicrowantree

When Fast Food Isn't Fast Enough...

"Having to pull off to the side to wait for a drive-thru order to be brought out to you because your food isn't ready and there's a line building up behind you."- demanbmore

In Case You Don't Think Customer Service Employees Are Undervalued...

"I was working the return desk at a Target next to a military base so I have so many stories."

"One of my favorites was a lady who had her baby shower before revealing the gender and was livid that she had received floral newborn diapers when she’s having a boy."

"It was a huge box of super expensive, all organic diapers, that we didn’t carry and therefore could not return."

"I cannot accurately express her fury and disgust."

"How dare either suggest her boy could wear feminine diapers."

"I suggested she donate them if she didn’t want to use them and she instead threw away the entire box."

"When she left we pulled it out and threw it in our donate bin."

"There have also been multiple times where mom’s order massive toys and when we bring them out to the car they get furious that they aren’t wrapped."

"We don’t offer wrapping services."

"Here’s the thing, if you don’t want your kids to see the toys you got them for Christmas or their bit to day DON'T BRING THE CHILD WHEN YOU PICK IT UP."

'I’ve had multiple women scream and curse me out that I had ruined their kids Christmas by bringing the toys they ordered out to the car like they requested."- clever-mermaid-mae

Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso Giphy

Happiest Place On Earth!

"I used to work for Disney."

"That in itself should tell you everything."

"However for fun I'll give you two specific stories one form our tech department and one from my wife who worked bookings."

"I specifically worked for their call center to help with technical issues with magic band and the website."

"Suddenly got worse huh?"

"A right of passage call everyone has at least one story of is the 'Dome call'."

"Basically there is a subset of Disney Guest (TM) that believes if it rains at Walt Disney world there is someone that will push a button to encapsulate the whole of Disney property in a dome to keep out the rain."

"I'm not kidding."

"If this button is not pushed they call our tech department to angrily ask why."

"My wife worked booking."

"Pretty much everything including Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique and Pirate's league."

"These two things did roughly the same thing difference being price and theme."

"BBB was expensive did more and was focused on princesses, pirates league did a bit less and focused on mermaids and pirates."

"Lady called up my wife, and got pissed about BBB being booked up (It goes FAAAAST)."

"Karen: 'Im going to give the phone to my daughter and I want you to tell her how you are ruining her vacation by not letting her do BBB'."

"Wife proceeds to explain how pirate's league is so much cooler and how she can be a mermaid or pirate and basically gets the kid to start demanding to their parents about how they want to be a mermaid instead of a princess."- trollsong

Disney World GIF Giphy

The horror!

Being booked into a junior suite at Disney World instead of an executive suite!

It's almost as bad as having no money for groceries, or no food to feed you children...

Said absolutely no one.


Four mistreated baby dolls are hung by barb wire
Photo by J Lopez

For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.

Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.

The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.

Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:

"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"

Serious Danger

"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."

"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."

oofboof2020

Waiting for Food

"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."

"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."

nowhereboy1964

Captain Hobo to the Rescue

"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."

"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"

"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."

FartAttack911

Survival

tsunami GIF Giphy

"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."

faithfulpoo

These Tsunami stories are just tragic.

On the Sand

Scared The Launch GIF by CTV Giphy

"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."

oyloff

Be Clever

"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."

OstneyPiz

Bad Jokes

"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."

Alegan239

YOU

Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN Giphy

"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"

PrettyLola2004

Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.

No one should talk to others in the dark though.

Woman stressed at work
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

When we hear about other people's jobs, we've surely all done that thing where we make assumptions about the work they do and maybe even judge them for having such an easy or unimportant job.

But some jobs are much harder than they look.

Redditor CeleryLover4U asked:

"What's a job or profession that seems easy but is incredibly challenging?"

Customer Service

"Anything customer-facing. The public is dumb and horrendous."

- gwarrior5

"My go-to explanation is, 'Anyone can do it, but few can do it for long.'"

- Conscious_Camel4830

"The further I get in my corporate career, the less I believe I will ever again be capable of working a public-facing job. I don’t know how I did it in the past. I couldn’t handle it in the present."

"I know people are only getting worse about how they treat workers. It is disturbing, embarrassing, and draining for everyone."

- First-Combination-12

High Stakes

"A pharmacist."

"You face the public. Your mistake can literally kill someone."

- VaeSapiens

"Yes, Pharmacist. So many people think their job is essentially the same as any other kind of retail worker and they just prepare prescriptions written by a doctor without having to know anything about them."

"They are very highly trained in, well, pharmacology; and it's not uncommon for a pharmacist to notice things like potentially dangerous drug interactions that the doctor hadn't."

- Worth_University_884

Teaching Woes

"Two nuggets of wisdom from my mentor teacher when I was younger:"

"'Teaching is the easiest job to do poorly and the hardest job to do well,' and 'You get to choose two of the following three: Friends, family, or being a good teacher. You don't have enough time to do all three.'"

"We all know colleagues or remember teachers who were lazy and chose the easy route, but any teacher who is trying to be a good teacher has probably sacrificed their friends and their sleep for little pay and a stressful work environment. There's a reason something like half quit the profession within the first five years."

- bq87

Creativity Is "Easy"

"Some creative professions, such as designers, are often perceived as 'easy' due to their creative nature. However, they may face the constant need to find inspiration, deal with criticism, and meet deadlines."

- rubberduckyis

"EVERYBODY thinks they are a designer, up until the point of having to do the work. But come critique time, mysteriously, EVERYBODY IS A F**KING DESIGNER AGAIN."

"The most important skill to have as a designer is THICK SKIN."

- whitepepper

Care Fatigue Is Real

"Care work."

"I wish it could be taken for granted that no one thinks it's easy. But unfortunately, many people still see it as an unskilled job and have no idea of the many emotional complexities, or of how much empathy, all the time, is needed to form the sorts of relationships with service users that they really need."

- MangoMatiLemonMelon

Physical Labor Generally Wins

"I’m going to say most types of unskilled labor and that’s because there’s such little (visible) reward and such a huge amount of bulls**t. I’ve done customer service, barista, sales, serving, etc; and it was all much harder than my cushy desk job that actually can be considered life or death."

- anachronistika

Their Memory Banks Must Be Wild

"I don't know if I'd call it incredibly challenging, but being one of those old school taxi drivers who know the city like the back of his hand and can literally just drive wherever being told nothing but an address is pretty impressively skilled."

"Not sure if it's still like this, but British cabbies used to be legendary for this. I'm 40 and I don't think most young people appreciate how much the quality of cab service has gone down since the advent of things like Uber."

"Nowadays it's just kind of expected that a rideshare/cab driver doesn't know exactly where you're trying to get and has to rely on GPS directions that they often f up. Back when I was in college, cabbies were complete experts on their city."

"More even than knowing how to get somewhere, they could also give you advice. You could just generally describe a type of bar/club/business you're looking for, and they'll take you right to one that was spot on. Especially in really big cities like NYC."

- Yak-Mak-5000

Professional Cooking

"Being a chef."

- Canadian_bro7

"I would love to meet the person who thinks being a chef is easy! I cook my own food and it’s not only OK to eat but I make a batch of it so I have some for later. So, to make food that is above good and portion it correctly many times a day and do it consistently with minimal wastage (so they make a profit), strikes me as extremely difficult."

- ChuckDeBongo

Team Leading, Oof

"Anything that involves a lot of people skills and socializing. I thought these positions were just the bulls**t of sitting in meetings all day and not a lot of work happening but having to be the one leading those meetings and doing public speaking is taxing in a way I didn’t realize."

- Counterboudd

Not a Pet Sitter At All

"Veterinary Technician."

"Do the job of an RN, anesthesiology tech, dental hygienist, radiology tech, phlebotomist, lab tech, and CNA, but probably don’t make a living wage and have people undervalue your career because you 'play with puppies and kittens all day.'"

- forthegoddessathena

Harder Than It Looks!

"Sometimes, when my brain is fried from thinking and my ego is shot from not fixing the problem, I want to be a garbage man... not a ton of thinking, just put the trash in the truck, and a lot of them have trucks that do it for you!"

"But if the robot either doesn't work or you don't have one on your truck, it smells really bad, the pay isn't what it used to be, you might find a dead body and certainly find dead animal carcasses... and people are id**ts, overfilling their bags, just to have them fall apart before you get to the truck, not putting their trash out and then blaming you, making you come back out."

"Your body probably is sore every day, and you have to take two baths before you can kiss your wife..."

"Ehh, maybe things are not so bad where I am."

- Joebroni1414

Twiddling Thumbs and Listening

"Therapist here. I’ve always said that it’s pretty easy to be an okay therapist—as in, it’s not that hard to listen to people’s problems and say, 'Oh wow, that’s so hard, poor you.'"

"But to be a good therapist? To know when your client is getting stuck in the same patterns, or to notice what your client isn’t saying? To realize that they’re only ever saying how amazing their spouse is, and to think, 'Hmm, nobody’s marriage is perfect, something’s going on there'?"

"To be able to ask questions like, 'Hey, we’ve been talking a lot about your job, but what’s going on with your family?' And then to be able to call them on their s**t, but with kindness and empathy? Balancing that s**t is hard."

"Anybody can have empathy, but knowing when to use empathy and when and how to challenge someone is so much harder. And that’s only one dimension of what makes being a therapist challenging."

- mylovelanguageiswine

Constant Updates

​"For the most part, my job is really easy (marketing tech). But having to constantly stay on top of new platforms, new tech, updates, etc etc is exhausting and overwhelming and I really hate it."

"Also, the constant responsibility to locate and execute opportunities to optimize things and increase value for higher-ups. Nobody in corporate roles can ever just reach a point of being 'good enough.' More and better is always required."

"Just some of the big reasons I’m considering a career change."

- GlizzyMcGuire_

Performing Is Not Easy

"Performing arts and other types of art. People think it’s a cakewalk or 'not a real job,' not realizing the literal lifetime of training, rejection, and perseverance that it takes to reach a professional level and how insanely competitive those spaces are."

- ThrowRA1r3a5

All About Perception

"I suspect everything fits this. Consider that someone whose job is stacking boxes in a warehouse has to know how to lift boxes, how many can be stacked, know if certain ones must be easily accessible, know how to use any equipment that is used to move boxes around."

"Not to mention if some have hazardous or fragile materials inside, if some HAVE to be stacked on the bottom, if a mistake is made and all the boxes have to be restacked, etc."

"But everyone else is like, 'They're just stacking boxes.'"

- DrHugh

It's easy to make assumptions about someone else's work and responsibilities when we haven't lived with performing those tasks ourselves.

This gave us some things to think about, and it certainly reminded us that nothing good comes of making assumptions, especially when it minimizes someone else's experiences.