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Redditors Share Their "This Person Doesn't Understand How The Real World Works" Stories

Redditors Share Their "This Person Doesn't Understand How The Real World Works" Stories

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Some people just have no idea how the real world works. Is it obliviousness? Sure. Entitlement? Definitely. Or maybe, certain folks just aren't gonna pan out, no matter what advantages they have in life. And it's usually the privileged few who are totally clueless.

celiman asked, What is your "This person has no idea how the real world works" moment?

Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.

Apparently "North" is wherever you decide to face. That's not how it works.

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My cousin and I were talking one day and I mentioned that I had a horrible sense of direction, whereas my brother could be dropped off in a cornfield and find his way home.

She replied that it was easy to find your direction, just remember "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" and you will know where North is.

I laughed and said that was for remembering the directions in order, not for finding which way was which. We argued for 20 minutes until I told her to show me how it works.

She stands up and points forward and says "Never Eat Shredded Wheat!" and points to the direction she was facing when she stood up. "That's North!"

So I told her to face me and then find North. She does it again... "Never Eat Shredded Wheat!" and points at me and says "that's North".

So ask her if North just changed? She says no. "But North was that way a minute ago?"

She looks confused and says "Why didn't that work?"

I told her it was because she was an idiot.

The key word here is "rent," ace.

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Guy sold his Rent-a-Center TV and couldn't understand why they threatened to charge him for theft.

I say let the case go forward. The judge can lay a "that's not how this works" smack down.

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My sister-in-law got into an argument with her brother/my husband and me, stopped speaking to us, blocked us on Facebook... and then threatened to sue us for visitation rights to our six-month-old.

Oh yeah this is going to go exactly as planned.

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My brother wanted to be a "game designer". I asked how that was going and what he had been doing.

Mom had gone to Walmart to pick up some art supplies so he could get "Designing".

He did not really know what coding was in terms of game design and did not know graphic design. He thought he could simply just draw up some swords and guns and shields and someone would pay him to do this for a living. With zero experience.

He's almost 30.

Getting "discovered" doesn't happen by not doing anything.

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My little brother who was (and I fear still kinda is) adamant that he would grow up to be an actor all through high school without trying to pursue any acting related things. Quit drama club freshman year and never looked back. Didn't work towards getting into an acting program in college. Spent more time on his video games than acting, but I guess he was just banking on being discovered and put into roles due to handsomeness. It's hard enough to make that dream work for people who are actually trying.

Oof, someone's in for a surprise.

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I was in the Army with someone who wanted to know when the maids came to do laundry in Basic Training.

I've... actually done this. Never underestimate lazy.

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They lived with a dark bedroom for 7 days waiting for the real estate manager of their rental property to come and change the light bulb.

Mortgages are 30 years, dear, not three.

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Had a woman call into work (banking) and ask for her mortgage payoff. It was like 40 thousandish.... she said there was no way that was right because her payment book only had 3 more coupons in it and she thought it was done when the coupons were. She couldn't comprehend that she had a 30-year mortgage and that she didn't get a coupon book for all 30 years, she only got three years at a time and because she had an adjustable rate. I had to call backups to explain to her that she still owed 27 more years.

Edit to add: Location: rural PA

Probably a tiny home that needs work, 40k is possible in this area still.

Coupon books tell you when your payment is due and what amount - if you don't bank online or want to mail a payment in. Amish and old folks still don't use the internet here as a norm.??????????????

They keep the elbow grease next to the baby oil.

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I worked on a group project with these two girls in high school. We had met up at a library over the weekend and when I pulled into the parking lot one of them said something about my car. I said "yeah, I love this car but someone keyed it in a parking lot all down the passenger side. Look how deep it is!"

I told her I couldn't fix it beyond some touch-up paint either because that would require sanding it down and all that. She looked me dead in the eye with a look like I was crazy and said "well why don't you go buy some elbow grease? I hear that fixes everything".

Dead serious. Girl had heard about "just give it some elbow grease" and got it into her head that this was a product you could buy to fix just about anything. She did not contribute much to our group project.

Apparently, student loans are free.

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Fellow college student: I don't understand why other students keep looking for free food. If they really need more money, why don't they just get more student loans?

I had to explain to him that, at some point, they stop giving you student loans. Also that not everyone had parents who were willing/able to support their children, and that even if you did pull out more loans then that's more money you have to pay back after university comparative to your expected entry-level pay schedule in your field.

Someone, please, turn this couple into a TV show.

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At our marriage prep retreat, there was a couple who was 20/21 years old. The girl was still in college, her fiance worked at a radio station. She said their plan was to get married right after she graduated and start having kids, and she would be a stay at home mom. One of the other couples asked if they had discussed how the finances would work with that, and she said she doesn't have any bills right now so it shouldn't be that hard.

Isn't college supposed to teach independence... meh, nah.

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One time I made the mistake of trying to do laundry in my dorm's laundry room during parents weekend. I walked in to see rows of haggard looking mothers with massive bags of their children's clothes. Laundry is free at our school, and the machines are ridiculously simple to use.

Oh that kid is not gonna be happy when he realizes that's not how it works.

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This kid at my school thought taxes weren't real and just a story.

Having your parents pay for everything isn't how the world works, but also... why not take the free trip?

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Was good friends with this girl in college. I knew she was spoiled (free reign of daddy's credit card) but it was never a big deal. After college, she couldn't grasp why I couldn't spend the next 6-12 months backpacking through Europe with her, which she wanted to do because she didn't feel like getting a job yet. The idea that I had to get a job to support myself and start paying back student loans was completely foreign to her. Her answer to everything was "have your parents pay for it!". Sorry honey, that is not how the real world works.

Just gonna leave this one here because, wow, not how it works.

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Met a guy at uni who thought Chinese people would be unaffected by the rise of superbugs because they were too smart to fall victim to it.

Both a pharmacy student and a Chinese person could not convince him otherwise.

Parents who do this aren't doing their kids any favors. And it makes driving more dangerous for everyone.

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When I sold my first car, the guy who bought it from me got it for his son. Who was on his fifth car. He'd had his license for less than two years.

And they weren't a wealthy family - he had to keep buying cheaper and cheaper cars each time. I'd heard it through the grapevine that he had crashed my old car too.

You can actually rent a box of kittens for an hour at a time.

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My dad asked if he could borrow my cat. I said no. He replied, "It's okay, I'll just rent one." I didn't point out that cat rentals aren't a thing. I still don't know why he needed a cat.

Lessons in divorce 101: leave me alone.

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My ex-wife demanded to know where I was going on vacation and who I was going with. I had to explain to her for the 871st time what "divorced" meant.

I'll take "things entitled pricks do" for $1000 Alex.

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Former barista here. A customer came through the drive-thru one afternoon, ordering a custom drink that cost about $5. While on the phone, he dug change out of the corners of his van and handed me what amounted to less than $3. I continued looking at him with my hand extended, half full of dirty coins, when he just shrugged and said, "That's all I got." I repeated the total and said he hadn't given me enough. "Can't you just spot me with your tips?" Um, EXCUSE ME? First, no, that's literally my grocery money, and second, our company had a strict policy against doing just that. But I simply apologized and said no, I couldn't do that. He blew up at me, saying I wasn't "being very neighborly." I again apologized and explained how I relied on my tip money to, you know, EAT. Instead, he screamed at me again, "You suck, you REALLY suck!" before driving away. Side note: it was a small town and most people there don't know how the real world works.

A used car dealership? In upstate New York? Baller.

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A friend of mine saw a guy getting arrested in college- the kid was struggling and cussing out the cops like crazy- "do you know who my father is?!" A cop humored him and asked. "He owns the number one used car dealership in upstate New York!"

We were in Massachusetts. They were unimpressed by his legacy and took him in.

EDIT- I do not know any used car dealers in upstate New York and this was 1995

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.