New hobbies are exciting. Suddenly, we have something that makes us feel happy and fulfilled, and want to do all the time. Quickly, however, something that once interested you can turn into a huge burden. Hobbies can both be born and die in a surprisingly short amount of time.
cancerous-potato asked: What killed your interest in a hobby?
You can't force something like that.
"Music production. My god parents pushed me to sell my music as much as possible despite the fact I only had a few years under my belt and wasn't really good at it yet.
It stopped being a fun hobby of producing crazy things and uploading them to show my friends and became an unrewarding process of starting a project and scrapping it when I knew it wasn't even worth a dollar."
Gotta hate those kayaking cliques.
Giphy
"I was getting in to whitewater kayaking and none of my friends or family had any interest in it. For obvious reasons it is dangerous to kayak gnar alone.
The people involved in kayaking clubs are the weirdest, most uncomfortable, strange power trip, passive aggressive people I ever met in my life. And I tried a few different groups. Plenty of nice people, but the group dynamics were awful.
I guess it wasn't meant to be."
It gets boring once it becomes work.
"After years and years of sewing gifts for children in my family and friends' kids, I finally launched an Etsy, then transitioned into IG and my own website.
It was stressful, customers were frustrating, custom orders were fun but could be problematic. Stock and supplies filled up our second bedroom in a small house. I had to be on my phone/computer/IG whenever I wasn't sewing. Collaborations were flaky.
It wasn't worth the stress and long hours to make very little after an entire year+ of work. Shut my shop down, gave most of my leftover stock away.
Tl;dr- turned my hobby into a business. Hated it."
Um...they said WHAT?
"I used to make cheese and cured meats. Like cheddar and prosciutto etc. I have a basement cheese cave, a curing chamber, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, temp controls, alllll of that.
I used to enjoy making it, aging it for months, then sharing at a big dinner party or something. Then people started, like, expecting me to make it. And would get pouty if I didn't share. Hey, sorry, that small Gouda is $25 in ingredients and 9 months aging, I'm not giving it away, I want to save it for myself this time.
Then someone close to me said I could give them the homemade stuff and go buy my own cheese from the store if I wanted more for myself. Annnnnd, I'm out. All the fun and joy of the process is gone so I've found new hobbies that are 100% mine alone."
That's so extra.
Giphy
"I was really into comics growing up. Probably 15 years or so. Then they started CONSTANTLY restarting the universe, restarting the title, and doing major events that required massive tie-ins.
It just got to the point where you could not just read a fluid, consistent story about a character or team for longer than like 4 months."
Keep it drama-free.
"I used to do community theater in a small town. Just a lark really, but there was some real talent.
A group if us would put together a show every couple of months, often well received by audience members. Soon some of the actors and crew started to think they were something really special. Egos grew out of control. There was talk of "my art, as an actor".
People took themselves WAY too seriously. Took all the fun out of the whole thing."
Didn't even know that was a thing.
"Used to love baking. Then I moved to a high altitude. You can't bake the same at a high altitude as you do at a low one.
All my recipes that I had spent years perfecting were suddenly terrible. I would try to find high altitude recipes on line, but they were always still for a few thousand feet lower than I was, so even on specifically high altitude recipes I'd have to adjust for the altitude, and even with a billion guides I just never was able to get the hang of it.
It was worse than starting over from scratch, because at least when I first started I could follow a damn recipe. So I just quit. Maybe I'll get back into it whenever I move back closer to sea level."
That's when you know it's time to switch to Red Dead Redemption.
Giphy
"I burned out on GTA Online because of a friend that was OBSESSED with it. I'd get game invites if I was playing something else or watching Netflix.
If we did play he'd spend up to an hour trying to exploit glitches to get more money, and maybe two or three missions afterward. I play video games to relax in my off time, and he turned it into a second job.
I ended up getting a PS4 and promptly refused to get Playstation Plus to avoid online entirely."
TRUE FACTS.
"Pretty much every hobby: The community.
Like, you find something that's fun to do, and you find other people who like that thing too, and it's great. But after a while it starts to 'congeal' for lack of a better word, and there start to be a lot of unwritten rules that define an in-group and an out-group and the "right" way to enjoy the activity. And then somebody comes up with a way to extract money from enthusiasts and it just keeps going downhill from there.
After a while, it seems like every new hobby becomes an elaborate performative activity where people buy the right things and do the activity in a particular way for the purpose of being seen by other people, to demonstrate to them that you're part of the in-group. The actual activity around which the hobby is based becomes secondary.
And of course it's an endless feedback loop that keeps escalating as more people get into the in-group and the people who are already there raise the stakes to maintain the exclusivity."
That's DISGUSTING.
"I joined a very large online forum for people involved in the hobby. It spawned a few "name and shame" secret forums where people could anonymous ridicule and insult other members. It went way too far.
People becoming "secret agents" and befriending other members to gain their trust and confidence, then come back to the secret forum to "spill the tea" about health issues, family problems, financial difficulties, etc... Posting personal information, photos of houses and cars, photos of kids and spouses to ridicule their appearance.
Screenshotting pics taken inside houses from social media accounts, zooming in to try and see prescription bottles, and other items in detail to make up theories and "lore" about targeted members. Making up insulting names for members. Even contacting employers, neighbors, and other people to try and cause trouble. Occasionally they would have random stuff mailed to a person.
It was really disgusting and actually ruined my interest in the hobby."
The old wives' tales.
They are the stories of legend.
I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.
Where did they originate?
WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!
You don't hear about them as much anymore.
It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.
But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.
Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:
"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"
"Wait an hour to swim after eating."
What a crock!
So many summer hours wasted.
I want revenge for that one.
Say Nothing
Giphy
"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."
LonelyMail5115
"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."
I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA
Say Something
"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."
Severe_Airport1426
"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."
crappycurtains
"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."
AlbinoShavedGorilla
Body Temps
"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."
chriseo22
"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."
"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."
apocalypticradish
Arms Down
"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."
Fatmouse84
10 Years Actually
Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Giphy
"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."
"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."
Gecko-911
I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.
This tale is haunting.
High/Low
Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace
Giphy
"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."
LeastFormal9366
"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."
IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI
The Cursed
"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."
"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."
SmoreOfBabylon
Stay In
"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."
"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."
worldbound0514
Dreams and Facts
"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."
"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."
mattshonestreddit
"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."
Darthdemented
Cracked
Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office
Giphy
"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."
Choice-Grapefruit-44
"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."
MacyTmcterry
I love my knuckles.
Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
Every now and then, a friend of ours might say something, or we might overhear a complete stranger say something that makes us stop in our tracks.
More often than not, what we can't believe we just heard is something so ridiculous, we can't help but put the person who said it in their place.
Other times, however, what we just heard might have stunned us silent because of how shockingly clever it was.
Resulting in our not wanting to scold or yell at someone, but rather give them a handshake.
Redditor SubmergingOriginal was curious to hear the sharpest and wittiest things they've ever heard, from friends and strangers alike, leading them to ask:
"Enough with the dumbest; what is the wittiest thing you've ever heard someone say?"
Don't Give Me So Much Credit...
'I was on a team at work that was on a project working insane overtime."
"One night after an 80-90 hour week, we were all sitting around the table trying to finish up so we could go home."
"Around 11, my buddy's wife called, dubious about the hours he'd been keeping."
"We heard her through the line - 'are you cheating on me?'"
"Exasperated, he looked at our boss, then replied 'honey, if I was cheating on you, I would have been home by now'."- lionbatcher
Eternal Optimism...
"Asked a blind guy if he'd been blind his whole life."
"He said 'Not yet'."- Feeling_Mode_6465
Free time Isn't The Only Thing He Has On His Hands...
"My brother got a vasectomy and when the doctor was releasing him and giving him instructions (with the nurse listening in), one of the orders was to 'come back and have a follow-up appointment after you’ve ejaculated 30 times'.”
"Without missing a beat my brother asked 'what time do you open tomorrow?'”
"The nurse couldn’t keep it together after hearing that."- UtahUtopia
Awkward Season 8 GIF by The Office
Giphy
Double Whammy!
"My pal uses the phrase 'he doesn’t look strong enough to carry information' and it cracks me up every time."
"Calling someone stupid and weak in one fell swoop."- JennyW93
Can't Hide Your DNA...
'Whenever I jokingly insult my mum, she says 'that must be where you get it from'."
"She cracked the code."
"I can never offend her without offending myself."- JennyW93
Self-Sufficient!
"My brother was a line cook at a New Orleans restaurant."
"My mom was in town, staying at a fancy hotel, and he stopped by after work, still wearing his kitchen whites."
"He was reading a newspaper in the lobby waiting for her to come down when the shocked lobby manager sputtered at him, 'MAY I HELP YOU!?!?'
"He answered, 'thanks, but I know how to read',” and went back to his paper."- jobrody
Morph Current Affairs GIF by Aardman Animations
Giphy
A Miracle!
"My brother-in-law’s comment."
"The entire family went out for my mother’s 80th birthday and after the meal we all went to a local park, largely occupied by the elderly, to rest."
"My mother needed crutches at this point, and they were resting against her bench."
"My 10-year-old niece, who looked like every starving waif image from Dickens, grabbed the crutches and started hobbling round the park."
"All the OAPs were following her progress with looks of pity until my brother ran up behind her, and kicked away the crutches."
"There was an audible gasp from round the park and then my niece picked the crutches back up and started chasing my brother, clearly intending to hit him."
"In the confused silence my brother-in-law’s voice rang out 'Praise be! She can walk again!'"
"We still think this was the highlight of the birthday celebrations."- DdraigGwyn
Still Legal, Whichever Way You Cut It...
"I picked up my pleasantly tipsy boyfriend from a nightclub."
"We were stopped by the Police for a random breath test."
"They asked me my age, and I said, 33."
"My bf blurted out '33? You told me you were 22'."
"Police just laughed and let me go."- Aggravating-Corgi379
Music Video Police GIF by Andrew W. K.
Giphy
A Bit Too On The Nose?
"Business law class in college years ago, talking about the issues that black Americans had before the Civil Rights."
"Amendment, trying to travel through the south with the discrimination so rampant, trying to find restaurants to serve them and decent lodgings."
"My instructor was posing a hypothetical: 'So you pull up out front of this place, you're exhausted from driving for hours, and you see the sign out front says 'Ku Klux Klan Motel'."
"'What would you expect to find there?'"
"Without missing a beat, from the back of the room came this gem: "'Extra sheets in every room?'"- NedsAtomicDB
Not Yet, Anyway...
"I was working with my friend and his dad."
"My friend (26) heard an ice cream truck near where we were working."
"He asked his dad if he could have a couple dollars."
"His dad asked, 'what for?'"
"My friend told his dad that there was an ice cream truck in the neighborhood, and that they were playing music."
"My friends dad told him "'They don't charge anything to listen to the music'."- tatersalad1234567890
Words Escape You In The Literal "Heat" Of The Moment...
"A friend of mine is a teacher and her husband is known for his wit."
"She told this story to him:"
"One day at school a kid took the hall pass and returned reeking like smoke."
"She asked the kid if he’d been smoking and he denied it over and over."
"She was about to send him to the office when she noticed smoke coming from somewhere."
"She told the kid and he realized that he didn’t put his cig out completely and it was burning in his pants pocket."
"The kid noticed and frantically tried to put it out and someone finally poured water on it."
"Her husband sat listening to this with a weird look on his face."
"She asked him what was wrong."
“'What’s wrong???'"
"'This was probably the only chance you’ll have in your life to say literally, ‘liar,liar, pants on fire’ and you missed your chance'."- Luder714
On Fire No GIF by PEEKASSO
Giphy
Amazing What You Might Say A Few Drinks In...
"When I went to a renaissance faire once, I went to a beer tent and ordered a Newcastle Brown Ale (seemed the most fitting for the surroundings)."
"The beer wench, without skipping a beat, said, 'Everyone wants a Newcastle - no one wants to remodel!'"- jayhof52
Read The Room People!
"My dad wiped out when skiing down a mountain and lost a ski."
"After a few minutes of hunting for it, he gives up, slings the one remaining ski over a shoulder and starts walking down the mountain in his ski boots."
"About half-way down, another skier stops and goes 'Gee! Did you lose a ski?'"
"My dad instantly replied 'No, I was out for a walk and found one!'"- PeterJoAl
There's a reason your mother always told you to "use your words".
As clever remarks can have a much more lasting effect on people than a push or shove.