Some jobs people just take for granted. They look at them and think, "this is so easy", but in reality, they don't know s**t. Things can be way harder than they look, and you will never truly know until you attempt it yourself.
Reddit user FatBeforeFact asked:
What's a lot harder than people actually think?
True facts.
Quitting just about any bad habit you've had for a long time.
5 1/2 years smoke free. Hardest thing I've ever done.
Relationships are HARD.
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Maintaining a healthy, loving relationship.
People think it's always pretty easy, but it involves juggling a lot of plates together to make things work.
This is so true! Most people think that love just happens to you and if you fall out of love then you just move on and find someone new. But there are stages to love and after you get through the initial hot and heavy stage, it takes work to maintain it. You have to make time for each other and actively work to create a loving relationship together.
Sad, but true.
Finding worthwhile friends.
The other side of that challenge is striving to be someone that worthwhile people want to be friends with.
Ugh, yes.
Going to the gym. I don't mean working out itself, I mean the actual act of coming home tired after work and forcing yourself to go to the gym. Physically getting there is so psychologically taxing. It actually wears on me throughout the day at work, especially if it's a tough day at the job.
Main reason why I started doing gym in the mornings. Now, if I could just get used to waking up super early to go workout...
It's all about technique.
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Fighting.
My first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class I recall thinking "I'm a big strong guy, I know how to fight, I'll be ok at this"
Nope. Nope nope, just no.
A tiny older lady proceeded to mess my world up. I still have no idea how she stood on my face and threw me at the same time, but I was bottom over teakettle the entire roll.
My first striking class "well BJJ was tough, but I did karate as a kid, I can throw a punch and kick; besides my conditioning is better now. I'll be fine"
More nope nope!
Cue scrawny kid lighting me up, bruised for days and I'm convinced that I was kicked in the side while holding pads hard enough to cause brain damage.
Being good at fighting is hard. Aggression, strength and size can carry some people quite a ways, but goddamn there are some hidden monsters out there.
I'm sure that's not what you meant.
Exposing yourself. Emotionally speaking, not like swinging your d**k around, though I imagine many would also have difficulty with that as well.
"If we want the rewards of being loved we have to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known," - Tim Kreider
i.e: if you're too shy to take your pants off you'll never get any decent action.
Maintaining conversations with people. Most of the time, small talk would happen; it's absolute drivel.
I used to have the same problem, then I decided to learn communication skills by doing door to door sales. The key is to try to avoid asking simple questions that have simple answers, like yes or no answers or so forth. Instead ask open ended questions that require the other person to activate their brain to answer.
"What are you passionate about?" "What are 3 things you like about your current job?"
Don't just ask them what they do for a living because that will give you a flat one or two word response. Instead ask them what they do and then expand on it. "Oh, you're a teacher? If you could change one thing about your school day what would it be?" That should get the gears moving. Open ended questions are key.
That's the only way to learn.
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Reading and writing. Think about it, it takes years of direct instruction before you are minimally literate and you continually learn vast amounts of words into your late 20s.
The fact that most people know how to do it to any level obscures the challenge.
If anyone disagrees with this, learn a foreign language. It really puts into perspective how incredibly difficult, complex, and nuanced communication is.
This happens a lot, unfortunately.
Leaving an abusive relationship. People always say stuff, like "Why doesn't she/he just leave him/her?", but it rarely is as easy as this. Maybe this person still has some feeling for that persons.
Quite often the domestic violence victim is really afraid of the perpetrator and fears that the abuser might beat them up badly or even try to kill them when they leave. They also might, completely wrongly, believe after awhile that they did something wrong and the beatings are justified.
I have found in verbally abusive relationships that the person who is being abused thinks that, that is how relationships work, or oh I can fix him/her. It can get really bad when people on the outside keep telling you to break up with that abusive person, but no one likes to be told how to date, and sometimes double down and try to prove everyone wrong.
I know this because I went through this myself. People can just live in denial, and think that there isn't anything better for them because they have little to no self esteem.
An important lesson.
Recovering from multiple broken broken bones.
I broke 15 bones of my mountain bike a month ago. I was just cleared by the doctor to start being able to walk. It's like you forget how to walk and even though you think you remember you are not strong enough to walk. It's even worse for me because I broke my left wrist and collar bone so I can't even use crutches...
The lesson I learned from this is always be careful because one wrong move and you could change your life.
TRUTH.
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Acting. I have studied acting now for six years, and it is still so complicated. It is not remembering lines, it's emotion, reaction, character, voice, breath, emphasis, memory, a knowledge of human behaviour, body language, and even knowledge on how to build tension or enhance claustrophobia.
Working in retail. When I was 15 I got my first part time job during school as a "check out chick" and I thought it was super easy. I was also a bit of an arrogant kid just because I had good grades at school and thought "this is gonna be super easy."
I almost had a breakdown on my first shift. They gave me no help, I was distraught at how fast adults moved their groceries along the belt and a these different payment methods etc. I had no clue on what half the vegetables were called (I only knew things I ate like carrot, broccoli etc) BUT NOT 9 different TYPES OF APPLES AND MANGOES. Customers were condescending and I had no idea what half the buttons did or how to do certain things and no one told me, I also had severe social anxiety at the time and wasn't used to talking to strangers.
It took me over half a year to finally be fully on my feet. Even then, I felt almost no confidence in my ability to do my job properly and also had to learn from each bad experience I had (e.g a customer would get mad if I didn't know how to do something right - because apparently they were perfect at their first job). Packing groceries and speed were also a nightmare for me because different customers liked different packing styles and different weights.
Anyway, it's been almost 2 years now and I have turned from a little anxious hermit into a very outgoing and cheery person who enjoys making customers' days better. It's also worth noting that I've certainly humbled out and have learned to appreciate every single job and person around me and that I am not the centre of the universe as I had been when I was a child. Heck, it even inspired me to use my education to hopefully get into med school because I both enjoy learning about medicine and interacting/ assisting with everyday people.
Anyway, long story short: Every job is harder than it looks - no matter the wage etc. Next time you feel like attacking a retail assistant - think of how you'd like to be in that position with no experience.
OMG!
Stiff Muscles.
At peak condition, or through electric Stimuli, your muscles can tense to a point where they can withstand being hit by a baseball bat and could even break it.
You just blew my mind if this is true!
A good method.....maybe.
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Getting motivation to study. Sometimes you really want to study, but when you finally come to it, you procrastinate, or get distracted. It's really hard to have a study properly. My advice? Irregular sleeping hours.
Obviously this might not work if you have school early in the morning, but during holidays, you may want to choose to sleep in the afternoons or in the mornings, and study at night instead. At night, no one is awake and everything is quiet, perfect.
I do this constantly and it's not really affecting my health. Just remember to change up your sleeping cycle a day before you have school so you don't get affected too badly by this habit.
No easy feat.
Pole Dancing. You wont look sexy after taking a one hour class. It's been over two months and I'm still waiting for the sexy to show up.
Not everything is as easy as meets the eye clearly.
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Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
Every now and then, a friend of ours might say something, or we might overhear a complete stranger say something that makes us stop in our tracks.
More often than not, what we can't believe we just heard is something so ridiculous, we can't help but put the person who said it in their place.
Other times, however, what we just heard might have stunned us silent because of how shockingly clever it was.
Resulting in our not wanting to scold or yell at someone, but rather give them a handshake.
Redditor SubmergingOriginal was curious to hear the sharpest and wittiest things they've ever heard, from friends and strangers alike, leading them to ask:
"Enough with the dumbest; what is the wittiest thing you've ever heard someone say?"
Don't Give Me So Much Credit...
'I was on a team at work that was on a project working insane overtime."
"One night after an 80-90 hour week, we were all sitting around the table trying to finish up so we could go home."
"Around 11, my buddy's wife called, dubious about the hours he'd been keeping."
"We heard her through the line - 'are you cheating on me?'"
"Exasperated, he looked at our boss, then replied 'honey, if I was cheating on you, I would have been home by now'."- lionbatcher
Eternal Optimism...
"Asked a blind guy if he'd been blind his whole life."
"He said 'Not yet'."- Feeling_Mode_6465
Free time Isn't The Only Thing He Has On His Hands...
"My brother got a vasectomy and when the doctor was releasing him and giving him instructions (with the nurse listening in), one of the orders was to 'come back and have a follow-up appointment after you’ve ejaculated 30 times'.”
"Without missing a beat my brother asked 'what time do you open tomorrow?'”
"The nurse couldn’t keep it together after hearing that."- UtahUtopia
Awkward Season 8 GIF by The Office
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Double Whammy!
"My pal uses the phrase 'he doesn’t look strong enough to carry information' and it cracks me up every time."
"Calling someone stupid and weak in one fell swoop."- JennyW93
Can't Hide Your DNA...
'Whenever I jokingly insult my mum, she says 'that must be where you get it from'."
"She cracked the code."
"I can never offend her without offending myself."- JennyW93
Self-Sufficient!
"My brother was a line cook at a New Orleans restaurant."
"My mom was in town, staying at a fancy hotel, and he stopped by after work, still wearing his kitchen whites."
"He was reading a newspaper in the lobby waiting for her to come down when the shocked lobby manager sputtered at him, 'MAY I HELP YOU!?!?'
"He answered, 'thanks, but I know how to read',” and went back to his paper."- jobrody
Morph Current Affairs GIF by Aardman Animations
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A Miracle!
"My brother-in-law’s comment."
"The entire family went out for my mother’s 80th birthday and after the meal we all went to a local park, largely occupied by the elderly, to rest."
"My mother needed crutches at this point, and they were resting against her bench."
"My 10-year-old niece, who looked like every starving waif image from Dickens, grabbed the crutches and started hobbling round the park."
"All the OAPs were following her progress with looks of pity until my brother ran up behind her, and kicked away the crutches."
"There was an audible gasp from round the park and then my niece picked the crutches back up and started chasing my brother, clearly intending to hit him."
"In the confused silence my brother-in-law’s voice rang out 'Praise be! She can walk again!'"
"We still think this was the highlight of the birthday celebrations."- DdraigGwyn
Still Legal, Whichever Way You Cut It...
"I picked up my pleasantly tipsy boyfriend from a nightclub."
"We were stopped by the Police for a random breath test."
"They asked me my age, and I said, 33."
"My bf blurted out '33? You told me you were 22'."
"Police just laughed and let me go."- Aggravating-Corgi379
Music Video Police GIF by Andrew W. K.
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A Bit Too On The Nose?
"Business law class in college years ago, talking about the issues that black Americans had before the Civil Rights."
"Amendment, trying to travel through the south with the discrimination so rampant, trying to find restaurants to serve them and decent lodgings."
"My instructor was posing a hypothetical: 'So you pull up out front of this place, you're exhausted from driving for hours, and you see the sign out front says 'Ku Klux Klan Motel'."
"'What would you expect to find there?'"
"Without missing a beat, from the back of the room came this gem: "'Extra sheets in every room?'"- NedsAtomicDB
Not Yet, Anyway...
"I was working with my friend and his dad."
"My friend (26) heard an ice cream truck near where we were working."
"He asked his dad if he could have a couple dollars."
"His dad asked, 'what for?'"
"My friend told his dad that there was an ice cream truck in the neighborhood, and that they were playing music."
"My friends dad told him "'They don't charge anything to listen to the music'."- tatersalad1234567890
Words Escape You In The Literal "Heat" Of The Moment...
"A friend of mine is a teacher and her husband is known for his wit."
"She told this story to him:"
"One day at school a kid took the hall pass and returned reeking like smoke."
"She asked the kid if he’d been smoking and he denied it over and over."
"She was about to send him to the office when she noticed smoke coming from somewhere."
"She told the kid and he realized that he didn’t put his cig out completely and it was burning in his pants pocket."
"The kid noticed and frantically tried to put it out and someone finally poured water on it."
"Her husband sat listening to this with a weird look on his face."
"She asked him what was wrong."
“'What’s wrong???'"
"'This was probably the only chance you’ll have in your life to say literally, ‘liar,liar, pants on fire’ and you missed your chance'."- Luder714
On Fire No GIF by PEEKASSO
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Amazing What You Might Say A Few Drinks In...
"When I went to a renaissance faire once, I went to a beer tent and ordered a Newcastle Brown Ale (seemed the most fitting for the surroundings)."
"The beer wench, without skipping a beat, said, 'Everyone wants a Newcastle - no one wants to remodel!'"- jayhof52
Read The Room People!
"My dad wiped out when skiing down a mountain and lost a ski."
"After a few minutes of hunting for it, he gives up, slings the one remaining ski over a shoulder and starts walking down the mountain in his ski boots."
"About half-way down, another skier stops and goes 'Gee! Did you lose a ski?'"
"My dad instantly replied 'No, I was out for a walk and found one!'"- PeterJoAl
There's a reason your mother always told you to "use your words".
As clever remarks can have a much more lasting effect on people than a push or shove.
