Parenting is difficult. It's in fact one of the hardest tasks in the world. It's not that people have to be perfect at it, that would be impossible, but you can at least try your best. Parents... save some money for your kids therapy bills... you'll need it.
Redditor u/OGWhiz2 wanted to hear some hard truths from everyone about the past by asking.... What is something your parents did while raising you that you realized is screwing up after looking back on it?
Ummmm. What?
GiphyMy parents would ask my siblings and I which parent we would live with if we had to choose one. Oof-TotalTrashMammal
Not Mckiddie's....
My Dad took me to a bar for my 5th birthday. It was called McDougal's (it sounded close enough to McDonald's for me). He proceeded to get hammered and another couple at the bar saw it an distracted me by giving me quarters to play one of those glass table video games while they called my Mom. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but my Mom told me that was the day she decided to leave him. string97bean
Oliver Twist?
If I did something to get my dad mad at me, even if it was as little as not hearing him call me upstairs from my room, he'd make me stand outside and watch the family eat dinner. It could be snowing out and I'd be outside the dining room, watching them eat around the table. Judge_Bredd2
Dear Sister...
Didn't happen to me but happened to my sister.
Every-time my parents would argue, they would individually go to my sister and basically treat her like their personal psychologist and rant about things like "we only stay together for you" or "i'm so miserable."
Yea.... they got their crap together eventually but this really messed up my sister. Dracoqueen
Come on Get Happy.
GiphyThey always told me to be happy
Then gave me reasons why my happiness is wrong. Tonythetranstiger
When I was like 3 years old I watched strippers with my mom on TV. Couple of times I told my mom I didn't like it, but my mom was like: Why? Aren't you interested in looking at beautiful naked girls? They are sexy, beautiful and attractive. Then my dad came back home and was like: Jennifer, what the heck are you doing? This happened quite a lot until my parents had fight over it. Minimum_Lemon
I am Worthy.
Claimed credit for whatever I achieved.
I got an A in a test, that was because they had taught me (they hadn't). Best example - I aced map reading in Geography, top of the year. As my step-dad worked in transport, me acing the test was because of his job, nothing to do with me studying and working hard. I should be thankful that he wanted to spend that time helping me (he didn't spend any time helping me) because he wasn't my Dad and had no obligation to do anything for me, not even put a roof over my head. If I dared to say I worked towards it, I was reminded I only lived with my mother because my step father allowed it. (This was all from my Mother, although he was there and never corrected it)
Every single achievement was down to them somehow, and never me. Always followed up with a "she's a bit stupid /daft /never pays attention, are you sure she didn't cheat"
I was constantly told that I should just get a job as a hairdresser until I got married and had children as I just wasn't smart enough to do anything else.
I wish I could say I took their constant put downs, and used it to elevate myself, but years of being told I was stupid by my parents meant I thought the teachers were wrong about my potential. Victoria-belle
911....
Punishing me for not having the right answer in my homework whenever they decided to "help me"... tried asking less of their help throughout my youth but they left the job of raising me to my sister anyways. Alice8Ft
You don't know crap!
They ruined nearly all my hobbies for me because they had to constantly be telling me what I was doing wrong. Even when they didn't know crap about it. Also would lose their stuff if I got a B or lower in school. My district changed up the grading scale, A's went from 95 to 100 and they made it 90 to 100 in the new grading scale, and I'd have to hear a lecture about how that used to be a B any time I got anything from a 90 to a 94. Batman219
Be a grown up...
GiphyThey would be furious if I liked something that was either too juvenile for me or not marketed toward my gender. They would talk about how I'm being a baby, ask me how my peers would react if they knew I liked baby and/or girl stuff, they'd tell me how smart they thought I was and how I was ruining my intelligence by liking that stuff instead of doing independent study or whatever. Did I mention they would do this before I was even 12 years old? It's not like I was 25 and still living with them.
“'Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience'.” What's your best real life example of this?"
They Literally Won't be "Shut Down"
"When I tell people to just reboot your computer and it will fix all their problems and yet they won't 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."- niallaa
Some People Just Don't Get It...
"I used to argue a lot with my sister when we were kids."
"She would do this thing where she would say something, and then I would reference back to it literally a minute or two later to prove a point and she would say 'I never said that' or 'that’s not what I said'."
"Absolutely impossible to argue with someone who will just deny having said things that could hurt their argument."
"Also, trying to change the course of an argument if they feel like they are 'losing'."
"A coworker once called me an idiot for doing something 'incorrectly' when I was actually doing it the right way."
"When I politely explained to them that the way they suggested doing the task didn’t actually work, they started asking 'why are you getting so angry?? I was just trying to help' etc."
"So now we’re arguing about whether I’m angry or not instead of the right way to complete the task."- themightypianocat
Facts Are Facts...
"Arguing is pointless if you do not agree on a set of facts."- niallaa
Facts GIF by Judge JerryGiphyYou Can't Have It Both Ways...
"For a short while, I worked as a line cook at a Cracker Barrel, and there was a little saloon style door that led to the staff section (kitchen, bathroom, etc)."
"There was a staff only sign on the door, above the doors, and on the wall behind the doors at eye level."
"Usually if someone from the customer side comes in, they said, 'Coming in' before opening the door, so they didn't hit anyone, but of course customers didn't know that."
"So when this dude opened the door and hit a waitress carrying a ton of drinks, we were reasonably upset with him."
"He said, ;You should really put a sign up'."
"We showed him all the signs, and he goes, 'That seems a bit excessive'."- GreyFoxHound1
So Wrong.
"Had an employee sign an NDA about an upcoming art installation that had investors."
"He told everyone."
"He argued with me the NDA only meant he couldn’t disclose anything with the people in the company."- BosskHogg
He Knew What He Was Talking About
This was best said:
“'Never wrestle with pigs'."
"'You both get dirty and the pig likes it'.― George Bernard Shaw"- Zerowantuthri·
pigs GIFGiphySome Outdated Inventions Are Definitely Not Missed...
"I’m showing my age here but I used to work for an estate agency, and we had sales offices set up at the site of large new housing developments."
"Our primary method of communication was fax."
"One of the sales associates telephoned our office to say that the fax machine had run out of paper."
"No problem, I said, one of the guys is coming your way later for a house tour, I’ll give him a box of paper to give to you."
"We then had an almost 20 minute long argument when they kept insisting 'NO, YOU JUST SEND ME A BLANK FAX BECAUSE I NEED THE PAPER, IT WILL JUST COME OUT OF MY FAX MACHINE'.”
"It was like trying to nail jelly to a tree."
"Difficult, irritating, and it achieved nothing."- BettieKat
Very Few Hills Are Worth Dying On...
"I had a friend in university who was a world-class high school debater."
"Over meals, she liked to pick a ridiculous proposition and then talk circles around people until they had to concede to her point, no matter how absurd."
"When she tried it with me, I just stonewalled her."
"Met every point with a solid 'I don't think that's true'." or 'That doesn't make sense'."
"Eventually she gave up and never tried it with me again."
"It was the only time I've ever used the tactics of the stupid to win an argument."
"But, to be fair, if you're not arguing with me in good faith, I feel no obligation to respond in good faith."- kitskill
IS The Customer Always Right?...
"Working retail."
"Especially when I worked in the tech shop or a computer store."
" Trying to convince someone their $500 laptop is never going to be a gaming system no matter how many of the very few replaceable parts we throw at it can be exhausting."- MOS95B
happy episode 7 GIFGiphyEducation Only Matters If You Learned Something....
"Was arguing with this dude about something math-related."
"He didn’t know how to read a study that involved statistics. claimed he was in multiple AP math classes."
"Tried saying that I 'probably don’t even know basic integration'."
"Gave me a common integration problem."
"He wrote it but forgot the minus sign, making it unsolvable."
"I pointed it out and he edited the comment to make it correct."
"Told him that some people can see when you edit comments."
"He claimed that he just capitalized a letter. on and on and on."- SaturdayNightCity
Good Legal Counsel Might Be Worth The Splurge...
"I asked a representative from the Friend of the Court to explain something she said and she told me that I understood what she was saying."
"I replied that I wouldn't have asked her to explain if I had understood."
"She said if I was going to be difficult, she would hold me in contempt."
"My X chimed in that she didn't quite understand what she had said and was greeted with a smile and an explanation."
"From that point on I always disagreed with the Friend of the Court on EVERYTHING, so that I could be seen by the 'Actual Court' and a Judge."- PURPLEPEE
Season 4 Episode 21 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphySore Winners Are No More Attractive Than Sore Losers...
"Once worked with a guy who, by his own admission, got his rocks off by picking fights."
"He'd start an argument over the smallest thing."
"If you said it was white, he'd say it was black, just to try to start something."
"The one that always stood out for me was the weather app competition."
"One day he asked me what temperature it was, so I read it off my weather app."
"He got all offended, because his weather app said it was a couple degrees warmer."
"So he decides we're going to have a weather app competition."
"He was going to chart what our apps said the temperature was, and at the end of the week, whichever one was closest to that day's high would be the winner."
"And the loser would have to start using the winner's app."
"To which I said, "What is your f*cking problem?'"
"So, yeah."
"For the first few days, he'd make a big performance about marching into my office, recording the temperature off my app, jotting down some notes, and walking off."
"This started on a Monday."
"He gave up after Wednesday."
"Either because I was winning, or he was disappointed because, despite his best efforts, I just did not give a f*ck about weather apps."
"Or maybe the boss told him to stop because I filed a complaint that this was bordering on harassment."- originalchaosinabox
Im Always Right GIF by ZionGiphyIt should perhaps be said calling someone an idiot, or even thinking it, is not a particularly nice thing to do.
Even so, if you're tempted to do so when you're in the presence of a particular individual, probably best not to provoke them.
After all, if you're so determined to "win," does it really make you any better than them?