Sometimes it's just best to keep your mouth shut.
However, it's always best to never be cocky or at least to know the difference between confidence and arrogance.
We have no idea what secret powers others hold.
And even if we are really great at something, it's best to be humble.
We can still kick someone's butt in whatever joust is thrown down though, just be nice about it, before you get slammed.
Redditor LightPancake914 wanted to know who has accidentally overstepped a few times by asking...
People of Reddit, has someone ever challenged you to something you are an expert at without them knowing? If so, how did it turn out?
Yes.... I enjoyed that day!
"I remember once in high school, there was an assembly in front of the entire school. Can't remember the exact topic, but at one point the teacher pulls up a slide showing the village in Wales with a 58 letter name (Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch)."
"Then he points straight at me and says 'can you say that?' obviously thinking whoever he points at is not gunna be able to do it. Little did he know that my dad had been able to say it as one of his party tricks, and had been teaching me for years."
"Yes.... I enjoyed that day!"
KormaKameleon88
Fly Away.
Giphy
"Guy told me all about how airplanes work, which planes are good, which are bad, you name it. Talked for an hour while sitting at the airport"
"I'm an airline pilot."
Washout22
The Mario Experts.
"My 9-year-old cousin challenged me to a round of Mario Kart (whatever the latest iteration is, he got it last Christmas). After thoroughly handing his ass to him, I pointed out to him that I've been playing the game since before he was born."
stealmyrecords
"My nephew tried this sh*t. he was doing 50cc races and winning and thought he could take me. the fool! I've been playing Mario kart since the beginning, even before his FATHER was alive!"
EricTheRedCanada
Tetris.
"Tetris. A version for Nintendo DS exists where you can link up via download, your cleared lines get sent to the other players screen, so it's a battle. The only other difference is you get a faster drop option."
"Freshman in college, on a trip and my friend was pretty confident (and determined) he could beat me at a game."
"34 undefeated games, just with him, and almost 2 hours determined that was a lie. People started taking turns after he gave up. Still undefeated."
NeonNintendo
Checkmate.
Giphy
"In my first few weeks of this deployment, I was challenged to chess matches pretty frequently, but nobody wants to play me anymore :("
"I grew up playing chess. I've played against my dad a million times and only ever beaten him twice. As of a couple years ago I started teaching my son how to play. As a 2nd grader, he was whooping 4th grader asses at chess. Good times."
Judoka229
"Was out at a bar once and a dude challenged me to game off chess. Im by no means professional at it or even good, but I'm good enough to the point where i can beat anyone that doesn't really play chess. In his drunk mind i was a grandmaster."
luddoro
Stay Humble.
"Not a challenge, but when I was in 5th grade, I was the fastest kid in school. Our school went from K-8 and every year we had our own track meet and the kids who placed in the top three in each category would represent the school in the countywide track meet. 5th-8th grade competed against each other at our school."
"I won every single race by quite a stretch. I have always been fast and have been challenged to race and won every single time. When I went to the countywide meet, I was pretty brash and even my classmates were talking trash to the other schools."
"I came in 4th in the 100 yd dash, 5th in the 50 yard dash. I learned that day not to be cocky and that I actually needed to train and not rely on talent alone."
duckmunch
2 of the old deputies...
"As an infantry Marine, especially in weapons platoon, you get really good at spades. And I mean, really good."
"I left the Marine Corps and worked very briefly at a jail where I met another Marine, even better, a mortarman. We never discussed spades, nor played together at any time."
"2 of the old deputies wanted to play one night and said they were the best and no one could beat them. Since most people have never played spades, nor have a lot of people heard of it, they were surprised when me and the other former Marine knew how to play."
Devil Dogs....
"We went over the rules to make sure the different play styles were addressed and then one person decided to bet us. They lost at an overwhelming pace. Where it started to feel bad on how fast and easily we were winning. We didn't even speak to each other, but read each other's mind while playing."
"Man do I miss playing spades with a bunch of war fighting devil dogs everyday."
TOWonthewire1
Challenges are dumb. Just go home.
Play Hard.
Giphy
"I play rugby in a club. Not really a pro but I can pull out a few moves and I definitely know how to tackle someone."
"A friend of mine challenged me to make him fall on the ground so I did a cathedral (I don't know if it's the right word, English, basically it's when you do a tackle but instead of taking him down to the ground the fastest way possible, you lift him first to make him recoil a bit before putting him on the ground) to him and he never asked me again."
dixthemean
StepMania...
"I used to play this game called StepMania (Think Dance Dance Revolution but with keyboard instead of a mat) all the time and was actually really good at it, but only 1 friend of mine knew. Another friend of mine was showing off how "good" he was in this new game he had been playing for a couple of weeks and dared us to beat him."
"I had only dreamt of such a moment before but that moment was finally there after about 10 years and he got absolutely destroyed."
bananapiece123
A Bird Duel.
"My girlfriend's sister kind of challenged me to a flipping the bird duel. For some time we flipped each other off unsuspectedly in creative ways. After a while I decided to send her a letter with a card I made. When you opened the card a printed finger unfolded and rose up like a Santa Claus in a Christmas card."
"I didn't sign it or anything. She kept the card and has it to this day. She told me she was really surprised and curious about getting a real letter via traditional mail. According to her boyfriend her reaction was berserk laughter. I won."
graablikk
15 Love.
Giphy
"I got challenged to a tennis match by a house mate during dinner."
"He thought that because I was fat he would beat me easily."
"After some deliberately condescending comments from me he got agitated and we settled on a bet; loser runs home naked (about 2miles through the city)"
"I was indeed fatter than him, my freshman fifteen had become a thirty."
"I also had 12 years of competitive tennis under my belt."
"Nothing spectacular in terms of talent, I had just liked the game a lot, but certainly enough skill to send his skinny butt walking."
"I almost died laughing after the first game already because he was terrible at tennis, wtf was he thinking?"
FeverTreat
Olympic Challenge.
"Classmate challenged me to a handstand contest not knowing that i've been a gymnast for 19 years. Got $100 and bragging rights."
growingtohatemyself
"Haha I was going to share a similar story. I was in gymnastics for a couple of years when I was a kid so I can still do cartwheels and handstands and I'm also pretty flexible."
"But now I'm pretty overweight so at a crossfit gym recently the trainer was convinced I couldn't do a simple handstand leaning against the wall and when I told him I could he was like ya okay sure show me. So I cartwheeled over to a wall and did a handstand and held it for at least 30 seconds."
its_julz
Not in my House!
"My nephews thought they could bring smash into MY HOUSE?!"
"oh you picked Fox? Uncle you must have never played this before have you hahaha, he's not very good"
"They don't want to play video games with mean uncle anymore after not being allowed to touch the ground."
manaworkin
Pok-e Master.
"I did some student teaching in a middle school, and some of my kids challenged me to a Pokémon trivia contest. I wiped the whole entire floor with them. Casuals."
SomeGuyInShorts
"Dumb fool middle schoolers. They don't know about the Pokémon masters of the 90s."
nzcnzcnz
The Lefty!
Giphy
"It's pretty well known that I'm good at tenpin bowling. On a work trip recently, my coworkers drunkenly decided to challenge me to a game - 'and to make it fair, you can only bowl with your left hand!'"
"I beat them solidly."
"(Am left handed.)"
seven_seacat
Dead or Alive.
"At the end of a party a colleague of mine took out his Xbox and asked with a large grin if we wanted to play the fighting game Dead or Alive."
"I was obsessed with it when I was younger but never told anyone I even play video-game. He didn't took a single round with his best character while I was drunkenly playing random characters."
"I even let someone else that never played the game before win a round to screw off my colleague."
Ntghgthdgdcrtdtrk
Speed ice skating!
"Speed ice skating! There was this really douchey guy in our group of friends who felt the need to show me up one night when a bunch of us were skating. I had played hockey growing up, unbeknownst to him, so I agreed to his challenge to race. After I lapped him (a few times) he just started laughing at himself realizing how cocky he had been."
"Turns out he was actually a really kind and caring guy, just so socially inept that it came across as rude. We became pretty good friends and I remember during a really bad flu i missed a few events and he was the only one who thought to call me up and see how i was doing. He got married recently and I couldn't be happier for him!"
JillandherHillsJillandherHills
I destroyed her!!
"When Pokemon ultra sun and moon came out I bought sun, my niece bought moon. I am 32 and have played since I was a little guy, she was a first time player. After a couple months of playing she cockily challenges me to a battle, like constant trash talk... I destroyed her. Like not even close to being close. As the battle ends I look up in triumph and she is crying. Like shaking crying. She throws her DS down and runs off to her room. I felt like the biggest fool in the world."
wham-alama-dingdong
"Indeed you do"
"At a social gathering, a guy that claimed to be a "music maven" <his words> talked on and on about J.S. Bach's Symphony No. 9, "Ode to Joy."
"Without mentioning that I taught music history, I simply remarked that Bach was a baroque composer and never wrote any symphonies - that "Ode to Joy" was Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, not Bach's."
"He emphatically said, "Well, I know what I know."
"And, as I described here in askreddit some time ago, I simply replied, "Indeed you do," and let it drop."
Back2Bach
Raw.
Giphy
"I mean, I would hope that they know I'm an expert on food, since they came to a nice restaurant where I'm the sous chef."
"But a small portion of the guests refuse to admit that they are wrong."
"The most memorable story is the rare seabass. This woman insisted that she wanted rare seabass, even after I told her that seabass doesn't have a temperature gradient like steak... it's either cooked or it's sushi."
"She complained that it was raw in the middle. No crap, lady."
cscott024
The Challenge
"My friend challenged me by giving me a WW2 quiz. Didn't turn out so well because i had, at that time known basically every event in the Second World War and was obsessed with it. Needless to say, I answered every question correctly."
ImTheFluffalo
I'm Dumb
"Back in college I went to go visit my best friend at his college. I don't know what he was thinking but he was feeling pretty cocky and challenged me to a drinking contest, 'I bet I can go beer for beer with you!' I'm 6'3" 200 pound frat guy, he is 5'8" 120 pound skinny kid. We are not even drinking anything heavy, basically Sam Adams and Shiner Bock."
"90 minutes later I'm polishing off beer number 7 barely even got a buzz, he is puking in the toilet. The best part we were laughing so hard, he goes 'I'm a f**king idiot' and we high five as he goes back to puking in the toilet."
RollThemBones
There are always lessons to learn. I do know things...
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
Money Burn GIF by nog
Giphy
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
south park wedding GIF
Giphy
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
homer simpson episode 23 GIF
Giphy
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
Customer Service Waiting GIF by Juno Calypso
Giphy
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
Disney World GIF
Giphy
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.