We all know the feeling.
Imagine this: You get caught up in an argument with someone. It's all going well until you realize you've been going with circles. And you've been going in circles because the person is a moron.
IT'S FRUSTRATING.
When Redditor whatadamyt asked the online community, "What is your example of 'It's hard to argue with a genius, it's impossible to argue with an idiot'?" people were quick to share their tales of woe.
"When I tell people..."
When I tell people to just reboot your computer and it will fix all their problems and yet they wont because they said if you wait long enough it will shut down, when in reality it only goes to sleep. Then when I tell them they have to completely shut it down they look at me like I'm an idiot and say they did. I tell them it seems like it but it only went to sleep. They argue back.
"Once I was trying..."
I'm Nicaraguan. Once I was trying to explain to an Ortega (president/dictator) supporter why it was illegal for Ortega to pick his wife as a vice-president.
Yours truly: If you read the Constitution...
Her: I don't read anti-government propaganda.
"Not my story..."
Giphy
Not my story but once my friend (friend A) was having a friendly (turned sour) debate with another friend (friend B) about how sometimes people just don't have a choice, in the context of, they can't just choose to live a frivolous life because of their family background etc.
Friend A proceeds to say, "what about starving children born in Africa, it's not like they had a choice." To which Friend B answered...."WHO ASKED THEM TO BE BORN IN AFRICA? JUST DON'T BE BORN THERE."
That's when we knew...
"I've learned..."
My dad likes to say things like "if you did the research you'd see...". Trouble is, his research is whatever FOX reports, and he doesn't consider mine valid.
I see FOX as the propaganda wing of the Republican party, and he sees anything that doesn't mesh with FOX as fake news and liberal bias.
I've learned not to bother arguing with him. The last time, he went on a 4 hour rant and I couldn't get a word in edgewise. He only stopped because he followed me into my room and I started changing into my pajamas just after midnight.
"While walking my dog..."
While walking my dog in my neighborhood park, I observed another dog owner not picking up his dog's poop. So I scolded him (and he complied). We encounter each other infrequently and it always ruins my day because I get an angry tirade about how I'm a huge jerk n' stuff.
Like, he seems to legitimately feel like I crossed some kind of boundary and have victimized him.
"A person from my high school..."
A person from my high school said in a class that poor people are the only people who should to pay taxes because they are the "biggest burden to society." That was his justification to why people who are not in poverty should not pay taxes. Same guy said I was "too much of a liberal" because I didn't want to use a plastic straw.
"It took over an hour..."
My ex, who believes himself to be a genius. It took over an hour to convince him that tea leaves naturally have caffeine, and I'm pretty sure he still believes that there is no tea in traditional chai tea, despite it literally being in the name.
"I'm a professor..."
Lewis County in the Adirondacks of New York has a total population of 26,000 people. It's unbelievably poor.
I'm a professor and have watched Lewis County locals explain to a college professor (in political science) that "All their taxes goes to welfare queens in New York City."
"I've had better conversations..."
Every time I meet an essential-oils-wielding anti-vaxxer. I argue with science and points that the typical person who is just concerned would listen to. They offer no points, no facts, and dismiss everything I say.
I've had better conversations with devout Mormons about scientific fact than devout anti-vaxxers. This only changes when someone dies (which is too late in my opinion).
"There was a long silence."
In a remedial community college algebra course, we had to learn how calculate a temperature in F and C, and convert back and forth. For whatever reason the example was water/ice. The professor came to an example of 10 degrees F.
Girl raises her hand and said "Ice doesn't get colder than 32 degrees. That's frozen" with amazing authority.
There was a long silence. The professor finally said "Just convert the 10 degrees F into Celsius."
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk him about it.
"Straight men of Reddit, what is the strangest thing you have been told not to do because 'that's gay?'"
The following behavior just screams, "gay," fellas. Watch out.
Song Choice
"Sing a Lily Allen song during karaoke."
– KentuckyFriedEel
School Protocol
"Advice I received in high school from other students:"
"Don't cross your legs with one knee over the other. Put one ankle over the other knee."
"When carrying books, palm them and carry them at your side. Don't rest one edge of the books near your waist."
"Never button the top button of your shirt."
– Gorf_the_Magnificent
Look, But Don't Look
"This one time, at summer camp, this guy who'd just been swimming in the lake told me you could tell how cold the water was by how hard his nipples were. 'But don't stare too long,' he said, 'because that's gay.'"
"You were the one who told me to look in the first place!"
– SonOfTheShire
Sandwich For Sissies
"When I was a kid, my dad called me a sissy because I cut a sandwich diagonally."
– captainmagictrousers
Getting Woodwind
"I played the clarinet. I got called Faginet a lot."
– Virtual_Caramell
"But that's one women do," one might argue.
Daddy Duty
"Changing my daughter's diaper. Mentioned it in the office one day. Called gay."
– Bullydaddy
A Lighter Shade
"Buying a white IPhone."
– Freshrendar
"Added my husband (then boyfriend) to my phone plan. Went to the store on my own to upgrade both our phones. We both just wanted the next gen Samsung. It was only available in purplish-pink in store."
"I shrugged and said it didn't matter, he's putting a case on it anyways. Guys working at the store kept trying to talk me out of it, actively pushing me to go to another store, making them lose commission, just so my partner wouldn't have a feminine phone. He used his pink phone for 3 years."
– Caity26
Life Skills
"I've been criticized for knowing how to sew and cook. Those are essential life skills!"
– placeholderNull
"My father was a Marine drill instructor in the 50's. Guess who did all the sewing in my house growing up?"
"Yeah, no one dared to call him gay for it."
– desrever1138
Here are examples of guidelines for being a manly man, according to manly men.
Manly Appetite
"Not a straight man but... back in my bartending days I asked a man if he wanted to see a dessert menu. He said 'if I wanted dessert I'd order wings like a real man.'"
"Weird flex but okay."
– BigJiggies
When I'm In The Mood, I Masticate
"When I'm feeling extra manly, I just take a bite out of a cow and then chew on some raw wheat."
"Like a man."
– AmigoDelDiabla
No Appointments Necessary For Straight Men
"I left a pick-up basketball game because I had an appointment to get a haircut. Evidently, the only straight way to get a haircut is as a walk in."
– patricksaurus
Abiding By The Law Is So Gay
"Using turn signals. And not as some sort of euphemism, but literally using them while driving to turn or change lanes."
– Sargatanus
In grade school, some fellow classmates asked me to check for gum on my shoe because they saw me step in some.
When I lifted my leg to take a gander, the boys were howling hysterically as if my actions confirmed something.
Well, it sure did. Apparently, if I l looked at the bottom of my shoe from in front of me, I was "normal," but since I bent my leg back and looked at the bottom of my shoe from behind, that made me "so gay."
Although, I didn't come out 'til years later, maybe those goons were onto something. Thanks for the heads up, guys.
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