People Share The Biggest Inconveniences They've Had When Someone Tried To Help Them
People like to try to help; they want to feel useful, and show gratitude to those who have helped them. Sometimes that "helping" turns out to be the exact opposite though, and it makes the job that much harder than it would have been in the first place.
Reddit user u/gregory_the_smarmy asked:
"What is the biggest inconvenience someone caused you when they were trying to help you out?"
20.
My two neighbours:
1: Hey this tree on the adjacent corners of our properties looks like it's gonna fall on /u/DoxBox's house.
2: Let's cut it down.
1: Should we take precautions to make sure it doesn't land on their house?
2: No.
19.
Today, my car did not start in my garage. I have had a battle with the dealer as this is the second time with some electrical issues always preceding the completely dead [in battery heaven) battery. T
They had me call the brand roadside service for a free tow to the dealership. My 3rd time doing this so I knew how this all wheel drive car needs towed.
The tow man does not seem to be as professional as who I have had before. He assures me that his way is as good, just different.
I always back my car in the garage, so it is an easy straight shot out. He is hitching using the hidden hook embedded in the front bumper, up the ramp onto the flatbed.
All of a sudden the clasp hook shoots off the car hook, and the car barrels down the ramp and into the back wall of my garage. It embeds a space heater into the wall, cracks the brick exterior from soffit to foundation, bulges the whole brick side of the wall, pulls the brick from the door frame, mashes the hood, bumper, and quarter panel. Easily $15-20,000 damage.
It is 15 ° and going to snow sleet, with openings in the Brick, and that wall has all the electrical panels, and generator panels. I have insurance claims in, but I am waiting for the emergency tarping of the exposed areas yet tonight.
This happened right before 5:00pm, today, Friday.
18.
A neighbor stopped by while I was outside on the ladder painting trim on the house.
He started to hand me an open can of paint (even though I didn't ask for it) and dropped it on the brick walkway.
The gallon of paint went everywhere and flowed along the length of the walkway leading to the front door, getting into all the "nooks and crannies" of the bricks.
17.
Was walking along a floating dock, and my leg slipped between two of the sections. They were pinned together forming a hinge.
Think --o-- with the o being the hinge. So, since I was putting weight on the two sections, and it was floating... it became \o/ and the gap became smaller pinning my leg.
Then my dad comes over (making the floats dip even more, and the gap close tighter)and tries to pull me out, ignoring me when I kept telling him to MOVE BACK YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE!
Finally he lets go and stands where I tell him on the other end of the section and I can just pull my leg free easily.
**Just because you have good intentions, doesn't mean you should ignore the person you're "helping"**
16.
I manage a restaurant. Super Bowl Sunday our hot water went out. No problem, we know what to do; heat water to 110° and set it up as portable hand washing sinks. Called the plumber and we waited for them to arrive. It really sucked that this was happening on one of the busiest days of the year, but we have procedures in place and can cope. Except...
The chef decided to start flipping circuit breakers to try and reset the hot water heater. There are 8 boxes of 24 breakers each. We are a 2 story restaurant.
There's no way the hot water heater and the POS terminals are wired anywhere close together, yet there chef goes and kills the power for every computer in the restaurant. I get where he was coming from and I was furious, but whatever, I can get over it. Again we have systems in place, so we bust out the hand tickets and manual credit card checks. Super annoying.
The terminal takes 45 minutes to come back on. We can finally start ringing in all the tickets, processing all the payments, and tracking all the orders.
Then 15 minutes later I'm talking to a guest and one of my servers comes up to me and says, "Hey Moolord, the lights in the office just flashed and now none of the computers work." Yeah, he turned it off again.
15.
My dogs try to help me when I am putting my shoes on. I don't know how they think they're helping, but they are definitely making everything much harder
14.
I did a lot of hardwood floor refinishing, and most of that is in refinishing apartments for new tenants.
While I've never had anyone walk in and try to "help" the other tenants would always come strolling into the apartment (had to keep the door open for airflow) just to ask me all sorts of questions and "see if they want to move in" because their own crappy apartment was already torn apart because half the people in this neighborhood live like animals.
Like sure let me just turn off my sander and shoot the breeze with you for an hour so you can ask me questions that I don't have answers to because I'm not the goddamn landlord.
And as soon as one person leaves another neighbor comes in to snoop.
And that aside from that I can't let these bastards out of my sight for an instant or my damn tools go missing.
I had to become a real hardass and be a real jerk to a lot of people just so I can keep doing my job and get paid.
For the hundredth time Frankie, I know that your unemployed and lonely and bored as hell, but we're not friends and I can't just "take a quick break" to hear you complain about your doctor taking away your painkiller prescriptions that you would turn around and sell four times a damn day.
13.
A random guy helping me jump my car battery hooked the cables up wrong and blew the side of the battery right out.
12.
Sometimes when my partner does the laundry he doesn't hang certain items up flat (shirts especially) so they dry all crinkled and I have to either iron them or wash them again.
11.
They emptied out the dishwasher and managed to put literally everything in the wrong place.
My friend's husband will throw out anything he can't identify or does not know where to put when he unloads the dishwasher. He says since he's never seen it before, it's not really something she uses so they should de-clutter. IT WAS IN THE DAMN DISHWASHER, so obviously she DOES use it, Dave. His name's not really Dave.
10.
I used to make everything bread based for a Mexican restaurant. One night we had a fixed-menu function, and due to reasons outside my control I was running behind on the prep. One of the kitchen hands was sent to help me make tacos (we needed ~120). It's worth noting that I didn't want his help because I knew he wouldn't do them to standard. But I was outvoted. Most of his were too small; only about 4 were usable. So not only did I still have to cook those 60 extra tacos, but it threw off my dough balance for the rest of the night, which of course ended up being busy.
09.
I'm a nanny. You have to let kids do things for practice, and of course you have to let them mess up. They have the best intentions (sometimes...) but are clueless. Common ones are:
"I want to help you cook!" opens 450 degree oven
"I want to help you clean!" wipes crumbs off table onto the floor
"I want to brush your hair!" rips a comb through my hair
"I'll push the stroller for you." pushes stroller at the insanely fast speed of .01 mph
08.
Bought a house. Previous owner filled in nail holes where pictures used to hang. Touched it up with the wrong paint and I had to paint every wall in the house.
07.
My sister pulled out all the keys on my keyboard and changed the order from QWERTY to ABCDEF.
06.
I demonstrated my complete lack of finesse by going to hold open a door for someone coming out the building as I was going in. They weren't paying attention to me, so as they reached for the door, I yanked it open and they tripped coming out and went sprawling. I helped them off the ground like a champ though.
05.
A random guy helping me jump my car battery hooked the cables up wrong and blew the side of the battery right out.
04.
My husband is a good cook, and I am average, but we share the cooking. ALmost every single time I am cooking, he tries to help. Problem is, he either micro-manages what I am doing, or just gets in my way. One time, famously, I am making lasagne. He claims he doesn't know how to make lasagne, but stands over me, telling me how much garlic to add, where to place the lasagnes sheets, How much mince to put in each layer etc. One sheet of lasagne pasta ended up getting wet in the sink. He thought he could help me by putting it in the lasgane anyway because 'it was wasteful to throw it out'. I said it was a 30cent sheet of lasgane, we weren't on the bread line and I don't want half soggy pasta. I ended up throwing it on the floor and shattering it, then storming off in a huff to get him to leave me alone. I like to do one one load of dishes all at once. He likes to wash things as he goes. So I'm trying to bake, using bench space, and having to move around him each time i go from side to side, because he is 'trying to help by doing some dishes"
03.
Every time someone tries to help me put on a coat. What? No, now I have no idea where to put my other arm! Go away!
02.
A friend of mine stayed at my apartment to care for my cats while I was on a short vacation. I suffer from depression and am visually impaired, so my place is usually far from spotless; this occasion was not an exception to that rule.
As a favour, my friend cleaned my apartment from top to bottom, including inside my cupboards and refrigerator. It was very thoughtful and super sweet.
Unfortunately it didn't occur to her that I'm visually impaired and was used to the loose organization as it was. A whole bunch of my groceries went bad because I couldn't see to find them. I couldn't find my cleaning supplies. I was basically lost in my own apartment for a couple weeks.
01.
My landlady tried to dig my brand new (black) car out after a snowfall.
She used a corn broom. Managed to scratch the hell out of my roof and doors. I'd had it for 3 months.
We get it, we're all super busy, and sometimes it's really hard to get all the chores done around work and living our lives.
But there are appliances we can have in our home, like a dishwasher, that can make those chores much more convenient.
However, they could really ruin our day, too, if we use them incorrectly.
Redditor Loud-Situation2643 asked:
"What should never go into the dishwasher?"
Can This Go Without Saying?
"The toilet brush! I read a story here about somebody that does that regularly."
- BOFHOOC
"That’s disturbing. I had a landlord tell me to put my cat’s litter box in the dishwasher weekly to keep the cat smell down. I did not take her up on that advice."
- annissamazing
"Your toilet brush. My friend found out the hard way her housemate was doing this WHILE DOING THE DISHES."
- raz0rflea
Apparently... Dinner?
"Fish. I worked apartment maintenance and a lovely old couple ruined, like, three dishwashers in a row by using them to steam fish. Very gross, considering the pre-wash cycle uses the gray water from the last cycle."
"Smelled pretty bad, too."
- poppykayak
"Lasagna."
- SiloueOfUlrin
High-Quality Knives
"I'll admit, we run some knives through, but only the crummy ones. The good ones, NEVER, and ideally those are hand-washed right away after use and not left to sit with anything on them."
- InannasPocket
Cast Iron Accessories
"I found a La Creuset Dutch Oven on clearance sale at crate and barrel of all places. I immediately bought it. Still, a lot of money to spend, but it was the best purchase I ever made for my kitchen."
"I fully understand why people pass these down from generation to generation. It’s in amazing condition for the number of times I’ve used it. And it’s dishwasher safe!"
"I still hand wash mine, because it’s like a child to me, and I don’t trust my partner to handle it! I always said I’d be a chef if I didn’t love what I do right now. So the fancy kitchen stuff I have always gets hand washed."
"P.S. their website says it’s dishwasher safe, but they recommend a hand wash for longevity and because the enamel can eventually wear down in a dishwasher."
- TheGhostofGiggy
Also, Wooden Kitchen Accessories
"Wooden Cutting boards."
- theSealclubberr
"This is one of my luxuries in life. Using a machine to wash your wooden spoons will shorten their life by a lot. Hand washed and well cared for a wooden spoon will last decades."
"A set of bamboo wooden spoons is like $12, so I buy a new set every year or two. $12 to not hand wash every night? Yes please."
- mwbbrown
Liquid Dish Soap. Enough Said.
"My daughter did this once, WOW, what a soapy disaster."
- CRCs_Reality
Also, Laundry Detergent
"When I first moved into my own apartment, my mom gave me a sandwich bag full of about a dozen detergent pods as a 'These will help you start off on your own' gesture."
"The first night of living in my own apartment, I fired up the dishwasher. 20 minutes later while playing video games, I noticed this wave of suds moving toward me from the kitchen. When I say a wave, I mean it. I have never seen so many d**n bubbles."
"That’s how I learned my wonderful mom gave me both dishwasher detergent pods AND laundry detergent pods in the same sandwich bag. I had a 50/50 odds and boy did I lose, lmao (laughing my a** off)."
"Needless to say, this happening on my first night living on my own had me questioning what I was doing, and if I would be better off living in my mom’s basement for the rest of eternity."
- mitten_man69
We Need a Storytime for This One
"The part of the blender that says, 'Do Not Immerse.'"
- PomeloLongjumping537
Protect the Detailed Glassware at All Costs
"All my PRETENTIOUS fancy brewery glasses. Those designs are staying where they are."
- JonathanWattsAuthor
"I put a printed shot glass into the dishwasher that was part of a set. It came out clean all right, picture completely dissolved."
- Luneowl
That Would Be Terrible
"Your secret cash stash."
- ThinkingOz
Ew ew ew.
"Mashed potato residue. Oh my god, it gets on EVERYTHING. Especially if the chunks are too large to fit through the filter. It just sits in the water and coats everything."
- ioncloud9
For the 'Friends' Fans Out There
"Paper, snow… A ghost!"
- TheAceBoogie
Divorce.
"I found out recently, you aren't supposed to put your girlfriend's collectible Starbucks cups in there."
"They melt."
- scumbag801
Reddit's Got Jokes
"A baby."
- DrunkWestTexan
"As a new father, I wish you'd told me earlier."
- ancalime9
And Feathered Jokes
"A duck."
- beetus_gerulaitis
"Who are you that you are so wise in the ways of science?"
- MacTechG4
While dishwashers were invented to make our lives a little bit easier when it's time to wash the dishes, there are some items that, when placed in there, could really ruin someone's day.
TV enthusiasts could argue that shows on television are a more compelling and superior form for media entertainment.
A story arc can be played out to its fullest potential without shortchanging the audience with a two-and-a-half hour duration of a film.
While movies are in their own category, TV shows–including short miniseries–can engage an audience over a span of seasons as long as there is more stories to tell.
Some TV shows break away from the formula and can feature anthology–or standalone–episodes that are impressive in their own right.
Whether it's a featured independent storyline or a memorable moment within a show's season, Redditor stevenpost asked:
"What's the greatest episode of a tv show ever made?"
These comedic shows offered up plenty of memorable laughs.
From "The Simpsons"
"Marge v. the Monorail"
– bloom_picayune
That Dark Mockumentary
"What we do in the shadows - 'On the Run' (the Jackie Daytona episode)"
– Bakedalaska1
Such A Snakehole
"The snake juice episode of Parks and Rec."
– GuinessForDinner
Touching Cameo
"The scrubs episode with Brendan Frasier. I didn't know a 22 min show could make me cry."
– metarinka
This classic TV show still resonates with newer viewers.
It's Hard To Choose
"The twilight zone episode monsters are due on maple street"
"The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices... to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill... and suspicion can destroy... and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own—for the children and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone."
"Will the real Martian please stand up is also a classic"
"Incident on a small island, to be believed or disbelieved. However, if a sour-faced dandy named Ross or a big, good-natured counterman who handles a spatula as if he'd been born with one in his mouth, – if either of these two entities walk onto your premises, you'd better hold their hands – all three of them – or check the color of their eyes – all three of them. The gentlemen in question might try to pull you in – to The Twilight Zone."
– theMothman1966
Here are some hauntingly compelling examples.
Based On The Tragic Event
"Chernobyl- Vichnaya Pamyat"
– hambone10
'... they mistakenly sent the one good man. For God's sakes Boris, you were the one who mattered the most.'
"Not the best line of that episode, but definitely in the top."
Shoutout To Firefighters
"It’s difficult for me to pick a 'best episode' from Chernobyl because in my mind it’s possibly the best television ever made from start to finish. Pacing is fast and there’s literally not a wasted shot in the entire series."
"Open Wide, O Earth is my honorable mention episode just for the inclusion of the firefighters. Full-blown body horror that hits even harder because it’s based on stuff that actually happened. The show has lots of excellent horror sequences but the firefighters arc definitely stands out as the most memorable to me."
– Hefty_Tendy
Picard's Wakeup Call
"The Inner Light - Star Trek TNG"
– Doit2it42
The Gripping Tracking Shot
"'Who goes there' of True Detective is a serious adrenaline ride. Great episode from a fantastic show."
– Smoque_
The Face Off
"Better Call Saul - Chicanery."
– earhere
One of the best episodes I've seen recently was from the penultimate episode of This Is Us.
After taking a break from watching the show after being overwhelmed with being behind, I was encouraged to keep watching it. I'm glad I did.
Not only did this particular episode profoundly give the beautiful show a worthy send-off, but it also helped me process a lot of emotions as I continue to struggle to deal with a family member living with a cruel mental illness.
Everyone has insecurities.
Be it speaking in public, wearing beach attire, or even one's profession, very few people don't have at least one topic of conversation that is bound to make them red in the face.
Some people are pretty adept at hiding their discomfort and can manage to persevere through their phobias with their dignity intact.
Others are not so lucky and often go to great lengths to hide their insecurities, only to make them even more apparent.
"What screams 'I’m insecure'?"
The Wisest People Are Those Always Willing To Learn
"When people are unable to admit that they don’t know something."- slimytoads
not listening no way GIFGiphyOther People's Success Are Not Your Failures
"Mocking someone else's achievement."- SuvenPan
Never Pick Yourself Up By Taking Others Down
"Belittling others."- Term-Haunting
"Always talking badly about others and trying to make them look weak/bad."- Pildith
The Simpsons GIF by MOODMANGiphyMaybe Honesty Isn't Always The Best Policy...
"When you're quick to be 'brutally honest' with others, but have a meltdown when someone does it back to you."-eF240uKX52hp
Not As Funny As They Think...
"People who tear other people down as a joke but then get mad when they get it handed back to them."
"Clearly they either aren’t joking or are too sensitive to be dishing out sh*t."- babythrottlepop
Being On Top Adds More Possibilities Of Falling Down...
"Trying to one-up people in every conversation."- Flanky_Bwai
"One upping people in conversation."
"If I tell you I had a great trip to X place, I don’t need to hear about your better trip to someplace else that’s ostensibly 'better'."- I_Am_The_Grapevine
kristen wiig television GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphySome Things Speak For Themselves...
"Constantly saying what kind of person you are."
"If you were, you wouldn’t have to tell us."- ubereddit
A Little Contrition Goes A Long Way...
"Never apologizing."
"Making excuses and even twisting the facts but never apologize."- SuvenPan
But Enough About Me, What Do You Think Of Me?
"Constant projection and self-serving compliments."- nhabz
Look At Me Kiki GIF by The Bachelor AustraliaGiphyWhat Are They Even Trying To Prove?
"Revving your vehicle loudly every time you pass another person."- msnmck
Superior By Association
“'You will address me by my husband’s rank!'”- Psychological-Stay16
PDA Much?
"Elaborate Instagram and Facebook posts declaring love for one’s significant other over and over and over."- jbmaun
Happy Married At First Sight GIF by LifetimeGiphyAlways Needing Validation
"People who can’t think or feel anything without being told that it’s okay to do so."- Diesel07012012
It's sad that so many people think the only way to overcome something which makes them embarrassed or afraid is by embarrassing or demeaning others.
When being open and honest about your insecurities might, instead, result in your finding common ground with others.
And making new, lifelong friends in the process.
People Confess Which Things From Their Childhood They Thought Were Normal Until They Were An Adult
Every family has customs or traditions which are unique to them.
Be it all gathering together to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol every Christmas eve or an annual fried chicken picnic with dark and stormies every fourth of July. They are well aware not everyone does this, which makes it all the more special.
However, depending on the way it was introduced to them, some children are raised to think certain customs or habits done by their family are, indeed, normal.
Only to grow up and realize that theirs might have been the only family in the world which partook in them.
In some cases, this discovery is met with laughs and maybe the tiniest bit of embarrassment.
Other times, it's no laughing matter.
"What's something about your childhood that you thought was normal at the time but realiszd as an adult that it wasn't?"
Seemed Like A Good Idea, Until You Read Why...
"Having a cooler in the car."
"My parents always packed one, there were cokes and waters in it."
"The weird part was there was also always beer in it."
"Didn't matter if we were going 12 hours or 1 hour, they packed a cooler."
"Didn't realize how much my mom was drinking until years later when she become a non-functioning alcoholic."- IslandsOnTheCoast·
Dad Of The Year!
"When i was a kid I thought that all the Korean candy stores were free."
"Like you could go in, take what you wanted and leave."
"I would make friends with other Korean kids, take them to my favorite candy stores and tell them to help themselves. which they did."
"So apparently, whenever we'd visit my family in Korea, my dad would talk to all the candy shop owners in the neighborhood and tell them to put anything me or my friends took, on a tab."
"Maybe it was because i barely even spoke korean, but that whole situation just seemed perfectly f*ckin normal to my oblivious little self."- yaybunz
Boundaries Exist For A Reason
"In hind sight I realize that what I thought was 'freedom' was actually neglect."
"Kids aren't supposed to be left to themselves in such a degree that they end up raising themselves."
"From personal experience doing so leads to a lot of misunderstandings on how things are supposed to be."- Hattkake·
A Little Sensitivity Does Go A Long Way
"Being really sensitive to people's emotions because you never know if they could be in a bad mood."
"Turns out I learned that from my dad to make sure I don't make it worse."- UpstairsDifficult966
Think Carefully If You Have What It Takes To Be A Parent...
"Parents aren't supposed to make fun of their kids, complain about what they have to do for their children, and break down when they don't feel validated by their own child."- Doobledorf
"My mom never cooked, and there would be a lot of nights where I went without food because she didn't buy any."
"I thought it was normal for a mom to sleep the majority of the day."
"In reality she was always f*cked up on painkillers."
"Then, with my grandmother, she was controlling over whatever clothes, shoes, and how my hair looked."
"I always had to look like a good Christian boy."- Additional-Soup3853
Wait, what?
"I was in college before I learned that you don't have to get your mother a gift for your birthday because 'she's the one that did all the work that day'."- lylertila
Kind Of Sad To Think Self-Sufficiency Is So Rare...
"Being able to fix things myself."
"My dad is an engineer and throughout my childhood we'd come up with random creative projects to build stuff, he'd show me how to fix things and what safety precautions to look out for."
"Now if something happens at my flat I know how to fix it (or I call my dad and he'll guide me)."
"My boyfriend and friends have no idea how I know this stuff or how to do these things themselves, I always thank my Dad!"
"It's great because I get to save a lot of money, and I've saved money for my friends too!"
"Also, it means a lot to me because at the time and the town I was in girls weren't encouraged to do engineering, but my dad didn't care."
'I was little girl and thought it was essential for me to know how to do these things myself."
'I think he also hoped I'd one day become an engineer!"- imhere2913
Sadly, Not As Common As You Thiink...
"My parents were happily married and our home was happy and loving."- IllChampionship5
"Actually liking your parents/siblings/family."
"Almost everyone I know can't stand the people they grew up with, which I find strange."- ThatDukeGuy
Making A Custom Even More Meaningful
"Every Christmas my parents would buy me and my siblings one Christmas ornament to decorate the tree, which typically highlighted a special event or something important or a topic we were highly interested in that year."
"The tree started off rather bare at first, but after five kids and twenty-five years, that thing was filled from top to bottom, and shows a history of our lives."
"I thought it was how everyone decorated family home Christmas trees for awhile, but apparently it’s pretty unique to us."- RummelNation
Leading To A Massive Vocabulary No Doubt...
"Having a room full of dictionaries."
"I was baffled when I met kids in secondary school (as an adult doing a teacher training course at the time) who didn't even understand the basics of how to use one in their own language, let alone a two-language one."
"My dad was a translator so growing up it was just a normal thing, and I would sometimes just take one and look up random words in different languages for fun."- MrLuxarina
Unbelievable That This Isn't Normal
"Being taught to care about everybody, regardless of race, religion, or politics."
"We were lower middle-class farmers and we played with everyone."
"Everybody was welcome in my parents home."
"We had a ginormous garden and my parents gave our neighbors food out of it."
"My parents taught if you give out love, it’s returned 10 fold."
"Needless to say that bit us in the butt some times."
"But my parents died living and believing that."- SCGranny64
Not Exactly Normal, But Far too Commonplace
"When it would rain we would put pots and pans down to catch the drips."
'I would be sent to go have a slumber party with cousins whenever the electricity would get cut off due to nonpayment."
"I thought it was commonplace for people to go thru stuff like that."- RacksDiciprine
Ultimately, everyone's childhood is unique.
Many are grateful to learn just how unusual or special their childhood is.
For others, the discovery proves to be far too little too late.
Do you have something to add? Let us know in the comments.