At the end of my middle school career, I took a few placement tests for fun, just to see where my smarts were at the time. I scored far higher than expected, even in Math -which shocked everyone--so I ended up in advanced courses heading into high school. By the time I reached my senior year, I was several credits ahead so I thought I would try my hand at Chemistry. At that time in life, Chemistry was an elective. It only took a week or two when I realized...
"Oh Merciful Jesus, how the hell do I get out of here?!"
I ran like I was on fire from a lab explosion. Formulas. Numbers. Chemicals. No thank you.
Redditor u/nonconformistnugget wanted to hear about the subjects in school that were not worth the effort or stress by asking... What's a red flag that screams "drop this class immediately"?
We all must have those handful of courses that ended up being more of a burden than a lesson. Every human brain is different, so the functioning is unique. We're not all meant to be a genius at all subjects. And there are so many classes we can't escape from. But when you can, you should. No shame.
I'm not doing your job!
professor Diogo GIF by Descomplica
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Professor starts off the first day with "I don't believe in teaching." Proceeds to explain that we should just teach ourselves advanced physics out of the textbook, and he has office hours if we really need it. Four people (myself included) had signed up for the class. I peaced out of there immediately.
How about a Magazine?
First day being asked to read a 300+ page novel by the next class. I'm sorry, I also have a job and 4 other classes, the world doesn't revolve around your class. I went straight to the registrar's office and dropped.
Déjà Vu
When the first day's intro is way over your head and includes concepts and terminology you've never heard of, and you look around and realize your classmates seem comfortable and familiar with what the professor is saying.
That's when I realized it was not the class for me. Happened to me twice.
Too Much at Once
Freshman me, first math class. The prof whips out a "The first few classes will be easy, so it's not really worth showing up the first month, but the school makes me do this as an introduction so here we go." Then he filled the entire 4 panel blackboard for a single exercise. I dropped out after a month.
Sometimes it's not the subject matter that is the issue. Sometimes it's all about the head of the class. Not everyone who becomes a teacher should be one. Being a teacher is a calling that requires patience, creativity, smarts, an agile game plan and just the plain old desire to want to educate. Certain "educators" need to realize when they should drop the class and find a higher purpose.
It's an "F" for You!
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The teacher being proud of having a low passing rate.
'not many people pass my class'
Maybe improve your teaching. Sure classes like organic chemistry will have lower passing rates bc it's memorizing a lot but come on, you want your students to understand your class. It's a teaching job, not a fail everyone you don't like job.
I Choose Option 3
"You'll be competing against one another for your grade," said in lower level classes.
Or
"This class will be done in all group projects."
The Replaced
Took a college course where the teacher printed a name tag for you on cardstock. Had to keep it in good condition the entire semester and got points taken off if it wasn't on display on your desk or if it became damaged. No replacements allowed.
Oh I had a version of this but we were allowed to make our own, so long as it was legible. So I at least got to frantically fold together the little toblerone shaped identifier before some classes with lab paper lol. (Yes it had to be shaped like that).
40% is too much...
"Look to your left, look to your right. Only one of you will pass this class."
I've seen this way too many times in this thread, which is a good indication of how common it actually is. My question is, what do teachers get by doing this? I had a prof like this once who just derived some sort of sadistic pleasure from knowing that she had failed 40% of her class and that they'd be stuck with her for another semester where she might have the chance to fail them again. Disgusting, honestly... why become a prof at all if all you're trying to do is play mind games?!
Learning is already difficult enough. Education, being a student, is a career. And at certain points in life you may be juggling more than one career to pay for your career as a student. That's a lot. So why do some schools and courses come with extra steps and hidden surprises? How do you make a class a requirement, but fashion it to be nearly impossible to conquer or even sign up?
Expectations
Microprocessors class. Online with no actual zoom sessions. Just email. Might as well be a self-paced instructorless course.
Resources include links to crappy or nonexistent YT videos, and a giant pdf of some outdated mind-numbing textbook, 80 pgs of assigned reading per week. Instructor has does not engage.
When asked for some alternative internet resources, says "any search engine will help you with that." Has "super high expectations" but then randomly gives you 100s or says that the assignment was secretly extra credit and doesn't matter anyway.
Also just looks like an absolute prick based off of his avatar.
Required Mess
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I was in college a long time ago, before you signed up for courses online and the burden was on the students to check out all the pre-requisites.
I signed up for what I thought would be an elective course to fulfill graduation requirements, only to find out that this course had two pre-requisites I had not completed.
The very first class was incredibly confusing. I dropped the class after checking the course catalog again.
Oh the Quizlet...
When the teacher is absent for half a freaking year then assign a crap ton of work and doesn't even teach. Then you come to find she takes all assignments from a quizlet so you 1, can cheat on all tests, and 2, you can just teach yourself and say thank you to the original quizlet owner bc they teach better than your crappy chem teacher.
Be a Grown Up
Professors who refuse to let students use the bathroom during class. Or just generally treating college students like they're children.
Listen, craphead. If I'm 22+ and paying to attend your lectures for my degree, I'm going to go pee when I need to. Get off your high horse, this isn't middle school where I need to ask for a hall pass.
It's All Too Much
Over It Drinking GIF by Saturday Night Live
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Tried really hard to get in limited seats in Japanese class.
Only because I loved learning new languages and cultures. 2 days in, anime guys started showing up and converted it into daily anime convention. The professor was easily overwhelmed. Dropped in less than a week.
With the amount of money higher education costs these people can't be serious. If there was ever proof that education, all education should be free. Hello... can I get a refund?
For Nothing
"None of your other courses matter - this is the most important course to you" yep sure prof.
My capstone/senior project class senior year, the prof said, "For the next sixteen weeks, you belong to me." It was valid, since it was my senior project that did require a ton of work, but I was just like... uh, sir, I have Many other commitments that also need my attention.
Can you explain?
Oh God years ago, I was taking a math course in college and multiple people had gone to admin because the prof had such a strong accent none of us could understand him, even after requests to repeat things and to slow down his speech. He was as frustrated as we were. Everyone failed as even the assignments weren't clear. At the tail end of the semester, they finally got an interpreter. We all passed because we'd been put in an impossible situation.
And you education is?
I had a professor that pretty much had his students do the work for him. We were put into groups, he gave us a list of topics and each class 2 groups would do a presentation.
That dude didn't teach one class himself.
Huh?
Confused Excuse Me GIF by GIPHY News
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I took an American folklore class taught by a Japanese prof with a THICK accent. I could have gotten used to the accent, but she was extremely soft spoken on top of it. It was an ASMR dream, but I couldn't hear shit. Quit after 3 classes.
No "A's" for you!
"I don't give out A's"
Attendance is mandatory.
Syllabus is a distant memory by the second class.
Your grade depends on anything outside your direct control (including - especially - other students).
And this might be a bit specific to CS, but if you've been working in the field professionally for years and the professor spends half the first lecture ranting against "industry hacks" that care more about "git 'er dun" than elegance and algorithmic efficiency... You're not going to have a good time.
These are the people who are suppose to be teaching us all hw to be professionals right? I'm not crazy. Am I? Maybe I should get a teaching position. Sounds like my daily life already. LOLOL
You're not at Home...
I had a professor who would come into the classroom 10 minutes before class started, take off his shoes, sit cross legged on a chair, and refuse to talk to any students before class started. He also was extremely condescending and wore hideous suits. He ran the class like a high school class, like you had to ask to go to the bathroom and stuff like that.
Worst part is, it was too late for me to drop that class by the time I spotted the red flags.
The Racket...
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Textbook is mandatory.
Textbook isn't available electronically.
Textbook is written by the prof.
Sometimes I think about enrolling in college again. Not as a full time student but I could just take a class here and there. Maybe stroll the quad in some fresh kicks, learn what the cool kids are jamming about nowadays. I could discuss philosophy or dissect the human brain in Psych 101. And at this age, I can legally--not ethically or morally--date my professors. But then I read chains like this and I realize... nah, that's why God invented Google.
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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.
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.