People Describe The Most Basic Thing They've Ever Had To Explain To A Grown Adult

It's tough being a grown up.
Not only are you expected to have all the answers, you're also expected to be a master in all forms of everything, ever, in all of existence. A knowledge shortage can lead to feelings of inadequacy, as well as mockery.
Redditor, Steyn_03, wanted to know what you couldn't believe you had to break down when they asked:
"What is the most basic thing you've had to explain to an adult?"
As we get older, it can feel like technology slips further and further away from us. However, so long as you keep an open mind, willing to absorb the things you might have missed, then you'll be fine. Don't be like these people.
It Goes "One-Two"
"How to double-click a mouse. He didn't get it, despite repeated demonstrations. And I was supposed to teach this guy how to build a database. -.-"
Outcasted_introvert
"How did that interaction end?"
kipopadoo
"The chap in question retired. 😳"
Outcasted_introvert
Gotta Save Up Them Mega-Flop-Bytes For The Harsh Winter Months
"Turning off the router doesn't save WiFi"
Perxwxnkle
"I wonder if the digital generations of today will be as digitally handicapped when we get up in age and current technology has advanced to something that is almost unrecognizable to what we were brought up with."
DarthTheRaider
"I don't think it's the people that's the issue. If people resist learning the new tech, they become digitally handicapped. I know people in their 40s, 50s, and even late 60s who are perfectly okay with our tech and are not digitally handicapped. If you decide to learn new tech stuff as it grows and advances, you won't have this handicap."
SMGeet
Let's Go To The Blackboard
"When working retail: percentages."
"Our clearance was usually 50% off. Then at the end of the season it would be an additional 50% off. Our signage would normally say something about taking an additional 50% off of lowest sticker price. But then they'd see the small print on the sticker indicating it was already 50% off, and they'd come up to the register all in a tizzy."
"Like how dare we use deceptive business practices. If we honored our advertising this should be free because 50+50=100 and 100% off means free."
"I had to give way too many people basic math lessons in my nice customer service voice, all while they gave me the distrustful stink eye."
AhemExcuseMeSir
You Don't Recover From A Kid Burn
"I’m 14 and I had to teach my step mum how to use google, and she’s only 30, so she’s been around since google started"
HAIL-HOOTLER
Use Google To Ask Jeeves To Bing A Napster Song For Your
"My mom always presses the siri button, and as it is listening, she says, “Hey siri, google apple music play ______ by _____ in the album _____ featuring ____.” Or she’ll just list all the search engines she knows before asking siri to do something. I usually don’t say anything since she just ignores it, bur occasionally I’ll tell her she doesn’t need to say all that stuff. In case you don’t know, google isn’t a streaming platform."
New_Version2
Sometimes, skills slip through the cracks. Maybe your parents didn't teach you or maybe you forgot because it's been too long since you've done the skill in question. Either way, it's still a little funny when you forget how frying something works.
Still Don't Put Chicken On It
You have to cook the chicken all the way through."
"It's not steak, you can't have it "medium-rare"."
tbonemistake
"you could.. but it comes with salmonella"
purpleshirtbluepants
The Bunny Running Around The Tree Is Not The Only Way
"I had to explain to a coworker how to tie a trashbag so that it stayed taut around the rim of a trashcan. Legit didn't know how to tie the most basic knot."
Lowdridge
Where Do You Think The Name "Fry" Comes From?
"I have a friend who is not the brightest individual. We were hanging out at his place one night and had the munchies. He asked if I wanted some french fries, I said absolutely. Well 20 minutes later or so, he summoned me to his kitchen. He couldn't understand why the fries turned out a mushed mess."
"He had tried to "fry" them in boiling water, you know, like they do at fast food joints, lol. I had to explain to my dear friend that they aren't boiling the fries in water, its oil, you halfwit. That was 20 years ago and I still get a kick out of it."
1980pzx
Brush, Not Pick. Brush!
"not me but my friend."
"she is a dental assistant and had to explain to an 18 year old patient of hers that he needs to brush his teeth everyday with a toothbrush (he "brushed" his teeth once a day with a toothpick, yes, his gums were completely ripped and his teeth full of holes and caries). my friend had to go get a model and a toothbrush and show him how long and where to brush"
gryffingirl_
The Warm Air Gets Sucked Behind And, Ah, Forget It...
"Fans do not cool a room down."
"I argued with my warehouse manager because he had arranged some massive industrial fans to aim upward toward the roof, and outward over top of the employees."
"Because all that cool air would block the heat from the hot roof."
kek_provides_
Then there's everything else, the things that can't quite be categorized as a particular set of skills you need. Rather, these are the ones you'd hope you can pick up on through osmosis because asking someone about what "morning wood" is not a conversation you want to have.
Hire Me For The Right Reasons
"I’m a personal injury lawyer. I’ve had to explain to many potential clients that they need to be, ya know, INJURED to make a claim."
dcow12
Can't Quite Follow Directions
"Stock rotation. I have to do this (explaining) at least twice a week including to colleagues who have worked in store for over a decade."
Me - "You put the newest stock at the back of the shelf, and move the oldest stock to the front."
Colleague - "OK"
Colleague puts the new box at the front
Me - "..." Smacks head
TangerineCassidy
Do Your Research
"I have to explain marginal tax rates every year during tax season."
"It is shocking to see adults willingly turn down overtime and bonuses for fear of paying more taxes."
growingalittletestie
We Are Doomed To Repeat It
"That Jews can be German. It was maddening how hard it was for this person to understand."
timmytherigger
That's Not How Money Works
"Had to explain to my brother that he can't buy an 80k dollar car on his 12 dollars an hour job. Not even in payments, he wanted to save up the full amount. I literally had to sit down with him and do the math. It would've taken him 15 years to save up that money."
"Also it wasn't even for him he wanted to give it to his girlfriend for graduation lol he's 20 and she's 18. I told him bro just save that up for a house"
TheZamasu
"And this is how the 2008 housing crisis happened. People like this and banks that let them do it."
Midgetmunky13
Wow...
"Back in college, my girlfriend said, "I don't understand how you can find me so sexy first thing in the morning.'
"I asked, 'What do you mean?'
"'Well, whenever you wake up next to me, you're so... you know... down there...'"
"Apparently she had no idea what morning wood was, or that it had nothing to do with her."
captainmagictrousers
Don't feel bad about a gap in your knowledge. The problem with these people is they might not have been big enough to push their ego aside and ask for help.
There's always a chance to learn something you might have missed out on growing up.
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Advancements in science happen every day in every way.
But often it feels like we are still so far behind.
How have we not cured so many diseases?
Shouldn't we know more about space?
What is Jello really made of?
So much to ponder and understand.
Maybe one day.
We all have a bucket list of what we'd like to see cured or invented before our last breaths.
Let's discuss...
Redditor yoda2060wanted to discuss all the science that needs to be devoured before the sand runs out of the hourglass. They asked:
"What scientific achievement you would like to see before you die?"
Life is infinite and we'll never know everything that is possible. But let's dream of what could be...
New pieces...
"I want to see us grow hearts, kidneys, livers, etc... In labs and end the need for donations and waiting lists for transplants."
IMadeThisBullS*itUp
"I waited for a heart/bilateral lung transplant for over a year and I spent 8 months living in the hospital waiting for it. You’re basically waiting for someone to die."
"Which feels all kinds of wrong… but my therapist (all transplant patients sees a transplant therapist) kept reminding me that me needing a heart and lungs doesn’t cause someone to die…"
"And what made even harder was that my mom died of Covid about 5 weeks before my transplant happened. So while I was praying and hoping so hard my mom wouldn’t die… I was also praying for my transplant to happen. I had a lot of mixed and confusing feelings. My transplant happened last November."
Junebug1515
"Idiot Bottom Line"
"To build an environment friendly world."
deadprotocol_
"That depends entirely on how far you want to go with 'environmentally friendly.' Some amateurish pseudo-intellectuals will say that humanity itself is devastating the planet by it's very existence so we'll call that the 'Idiot Bottom Line."'
"So you have to find an acceptable level above that to declare environmentally friendly. For example can we still have hear exchangers? Space debris? Artificial Electromagnetic radiation? There has to be a level before you can declare such and so far no one agrees."
PoorPDOP86
“20 years, tops”
"Viable nuclear fusion."
AlterEdward
"Nuclear Astrophysicist here. I know the joke is that we been saying '20 years, tops' for 50 years now - who do you think came up with that joke? But seriously, we are really close."
"We need a reaction that is self-sustaining and puts out more energy than we put in. We can easily do a reaction that’s one or the other, just getting one that’s both is hard. And with recent updates to the Greenwald limit we found some relatively minor tweaks that doubles previous theoretical max output."
Gleeful-Nihilist
Deep Within
"Figuring out what Dark Matter is, solving the mysteries of black holes. Proper thorough investigation of our own oceans."
fIumpf
So far, so interesting. We have so much to learn.
let me dream...
"Prosthetic limbs and organs that can work just as well as real ones. Affordably too. A cure for total nerve damage. Carbon neutral liquid fuel. FTL travel (let me dream)."
idonthaveanaccountA
Contact
"Making contact with another intelligent species in another solar system."
Pigs100
"That's probably not going to happen. I'd be overjoyed though if we discovered even just microbial life in the oceans of Europa or Enceladus. They'd be the first true extra-terrestrials ever encountered."
Cybyss
Going Places
"If we had teleports then we might also have other technologies integrated with it like instant dental work, instant food, instant surgery, things just unthinkable without the technology but before the steam engine travel was by horse so they could not imagine traveling cross country in any other way besides ships. Maybe with teleports we wouldn't need energy, just an infinite loop of the first spark."
Stickerdan
Sickness be gone...
"Cure for all cancer forms."
Kal-El1994
"I approached a nursing assistant with the question. They could describe it as trying to go after the stick of a lollipop. The treatments are mostly concerned with favors, not sticks. If they can discover a way to deal with the stick, then you may be able to treat cancer from there."
MissSara101
"I think it is important to add that there won’t be ONE cure to all cancers. Cancer is such a broad spectrum of diseases that sometimes have next to nothing in common. But hopefully we will keep getting the survival rates up with different medications for different cancer types."
TastyConsideration82
Simplicity
"Solve back pain please. We can do crazy sh*t like nuclear bombs, new fancy vaccines and space exploration, yet we don't have a solution to one of the biggest and most common ailments that existed though all of humanity."
inksane
I want to see all of this happen! Fingers crossed.
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Fast fashion is terrible for the environment, one of the largest polluters of clean water globally because of its all too common use of cheap, toxic textile dyes.
It also places producers under more and more pressure to manufacture more and more clothes on masse–the people working in the factories that make this stuff are being paid a pittance, contributing to much of the wealth inequality in less developed nations.
Additionally, it's estimated that the textiles industry produces 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 per year and that just two percent of all fast fashion emissions can be reduced through recycling. Ouch. Time to change habits, right?
People shared their thoughts on this and other topics after Redditor urmomsucked asked the online community,
"What should people seriously stop buying?"
"Pets..."
"Pets they can’t take care of."
WonderfulShop888
I have known several people who got puppies, decided they couldn't handle them, and dumped them. It's rage-inducing.
"Nestle products."
"Nestle products. Literally the most evil company currently in business. Unfortunately it's really hard to tell what brands they own."
I_used_to_be_hip
Nestle is responsible for the deaths of babies in undeveloped nations. It's sick.
"Designer clothes..."
"Designer clothes and accessories with logos slapped all over them. It wastes your money and makes you look idiotic."
Botryoild2000
The funny thing is, the designer clothes/accessories with logos slapped all over them are typically the cheapest options from said designer.
"Simple syrup."
"Simple syrup. It’s sugar water with an $8 price tag."
providentialchief
It's easy enough to make your own. Your iced tea will never be the same again.
"Cheap belts."
"Cheap belts. A quality leather belt will last you decades."
[deleted]
I have a few (quality leather belts, that is) and they've lasted for years and years. Can confirm.
"Cigarettes."
"Cigarettes. To anyone reading this, please just don't start even if it's out of curiosity. I'm 20 years deep into this and it's hell."
SeaSwimmer5386
Smoking is a brutal addiction to break. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently proposed rules prohibiting menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars to stop young people from picking up the habit.
"Garment workers..."
"Fast fashion. Garment workers get paid s*it, the environment suffers and you look like everybody else on the street with no personality or sense of individualism."
SenoritaBrownRecluse
This should be up at the top. The environmental impact is terrible.
"Unnecessarily large vehicles..."
"Unnecessarily large vehicles, which they'll then inevitably complain cost too much to fill the gas tank."
[deleted]
Gas guzzlers need to go. It's far past time that they be phased out.
"Anything advertised..."
"Anything advertised on Instagram. It’s a scam and those influencers are just making it look cheap AF."
megapintt
Or just avoid Instagram in general. That would solve a lot.
"New phones..."
"New phones when their current is just as good."
[deleted]
You've got that right. People buy a new one for the hell of it without even thinking about it.
It's pretty clear that many of us need to change our habits now. Our wallets will thank us later.
Have some suggestions of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
If you make too many funny faces, your face will stay that way permanently.
Watch too much tv and your eyes will fall out.
Break a mirror and it's seven years of bad luck.
These are among the many myths and superstitions we heard as children, more often than not from our parents and teachers as a way of scaring us into behaving.
But while there is not one ounce of truth to any of these tall tales, there are many who still believe them, and many more.
Redditor RedditPersonIf was curious to learn what superstitions people continue to believe are true, leading them to ask:
"What myths are obviously false, yet most people still believe they are true?"
When they fly the coop...
"If you take care of a baby bird, the mother won’t want it anymore because it’ll smell like a human."- GreatXs
No amount of fiber can help you
"If you swallow gum, it'll stay in your digestive tract for 7 years."- stinky_cheese33
It was every other subjects he had trouble with
"Albert Einstein failed math in school."- Nothingreallyend
Though it does make shampooing easier
"Shaving your hair will make the hair grow back thicker.'- RunWithScissorsss
Sleep with your mouth closed
"The amount of spiders you eat while being asleep."- pantsofafatman
Just... No...
"That you are supposed to pee on a jellyfish sting to ease the pain."- Actuaryba
Olé
"Bulls not liking the color red."
"Bulls are partially color blind and can only see yellow, green, blue, and violet."- Rogurzz
Call a Lyft instead
"Coffee, speed, and uppers sober you up."
"Nope!"
"Too drunk to drive?"
"Now you're drunk AND on drugs, you just don't feel the effects of the booze but your motor skills, reaction time and decision making are all still drunk AF."- kirkrjordan
Best let nature run its course
"The damn alpha wolf."
"It was one study under captivity, the poor researcher made it his life's work to try and set it right."
"If you want a brutal hierarchy where everyone pecks down, what you're looking for is chickens."- raxeira-etterath
Give this one some thought
"We can only use 10% of our brain."- UnbearableHuman
A little bit of research will clear up any doubt you have on these old superstitions and beliefs.
And for anyone who helped out a friend who got stung by a jellyfish, no need to be embarrassed.
Who hasn't looked at a scarf someone knitted for a loved one, a flawless homemade birthday cake, or an immaculately planted garden and thought, "I wish I could do that"?
But you'd never dare try to attempt it yourself, knowing that it's well beyond your personal skill set.
But is it?
Intimidating as they may seem, some skills might be deceptively easier than they appear to be, or might come more naturally to you than to many others.
Redditor halfmoon599 was curious to hear what skills people believed to be much easier than they seem, leading them to ask:
"What skill is actually easier to learn than what other people think?"
Everyone can be ambidextrous!
"I'm left handed and and I wanted to learn to write with my right hand."
"it was much easier than I thought and now I can write with it making it look somewhat decent."- JE3V4N_
"Using your off hand skillfully."
"I worked on this when I owned a woodworking business and it has helped so many times over the years."- karg_the_fergus
Should you ever forget your keys...
"Picking a lock."
"It only takes about 1 or 2 hours to learn, contrary to popular belief." - DifficultAd5113
Can't get to the genius stand? No problem!
"Fixing computers."
"It's just a lot of googling and YouTubing."- theassassintherapist
"Basic IT troubleshooting."- usmarine7041
You'll have a blanket done in no time!
"Crocheting!"
"It looked really difficult to me but I was really pleased how easy it was to pick up."
"Especially with YouTube tutorials."- geeltulpen
But do get a license first...
"Flying a small airplane is actually very simple."
"It's everything else like weather and flight planning, emergency mindfulness, airspace and traffic, and confidence in yourself that gets tricky, but any person with eyeballs and a pulse could fly a plane."- Clyde-MacTavish
With practice, of course
"Parallel parking."- Feels2old
Give your arms a rest!
"Unicycling."
"It takes just 10-20 minutes a day for 3-10 days.'
"Find a railing you can lean on to start."
"At some point, you'll be able to let go and ride!'- Vegan_BTW_VR
... Is it though?...
"Driving a stick shift."- fantazja1
Next time you think, "aw, I wish I could do that," rather than keep wishing, why not just give it a try?