"Eight years old. Was begging my parents to teach me to ride a bike for well over a year. Maybe even 2? I felt like the last of my friends to learn and it was embarrassing. I finally went into my dad's toolbox that probably weighed as much as I did and tried about a dozen tools until I managed to figure out how to take off my little pink training wheels."
"I spent the next couple weeks nonstop teaching myself how to ride a bike with 0 help. Absolutely f*cked myself up numerous times. No one noticed or cared...except my friends who were stoked when I finally rolled up on 2 wheels."
"I am 30 now and I weirdly find this to be a pivotal moment of my life. It seems insignificant but to feel the power of self sufficiency at 8 was pretty dope and really built my confidence."
CommieDearestD
That's bittersweet. Like it's a totally baddy move that you did that, but it's sad that your parents didn't help.
"After getting jerked around..."
"I bought a house recently and the previous owners didn’t leave the mailbox key. I had a million other things to do, so I figured I’d call a locksmith and let them deal with it. After getting jerked around by 3 different guys who refused to even give me a ballpark on cost, I said f*ck it and drilled into the lock myself and replaced it."
"Got the job done for $30 (new lock + a wrench I had to buy) instead of probably $200."
[deleted]
Well done! And this actually inspires me to do some home repair, come to think of it.
"I called for my mom..."
"The very first day home after my second open heart surgery. I was six years old, sitting on the kitchen floor playing with my Hot Wheels, and I realized had to use the bathroom. After being in the hospital for weeks, I was taught I had to be very careful; I was dosed with morphine and couldn't feel that my sternum (which had been sawed in half) was still healing.
I called for my mom to come pick me up and help me to the bathroom. No answer. I called again. Nothing. Well I'm obviously not peeing my pants. I'm a big girl, dammit. So I very carefully pushed myself to my feet and walked unaided for the first time since my surgery. Freaked my mom out and she was super apologetic that she couldn't hear me calling."
Symnestra
I'd say that's pretty amazing. You did it!
"Part timer..."
"Part timer mopped the freezer. With water."
vexum7
As someone who used to work in a restaurant, this made me cry inside.
"Senior year of college. I was apparently the only one capable of actually doing anything hardware related for our senior design project. Told one of the group to do a basic thing, and he called me saying the whole system was broken. After that, I said f*ck it, took everything home, and did all of the build work while the other mainly did the write-ups."
yeeetheeey
You saved the project! Good for you!
"Literally..."
"Literally any group project in school."
MidnightRose645
I felt this in my soul. How I hated group projects. The worst.
"I'd still have to..."
"Every time I asked my ex to do something while I was at work, like the dishes or taking out the garbage. I'd still have to do them when I got home after 12 hours."
KittiesBeforeTitties
Hmmm... that's probably Reason 472 why they're your ex, right?
"Everyone..."
"Everyday at work."
Zero416
Been there. The amount of things I can get done in the time someone else does one thing is the very reason I say I’ll just do it.
"I picked an easy cut..."
"Cutting my own hair during peak Covid. I picked an easy cut and it came out pretty good!"
CaptainPlummet
I've done this for two years now and have saved so much money. Soooo much money.
"The day we were meeting..."
"I had a group project in college where my group completely flaked. Skipped meetings, missed deadlines, never delivered."
"The day we were meeting to combine all our parts into a single report, no one showed, didn't even e-mail their parts. Turns out, they all planned on writing their parts that day, the day before it's due. They had nothing, and now weren't even going to try."
So, f*ck it, did it all myself. Took all their names off it, added our e-mail chain as an appendix. It wasn't until I was presenting it in front of the class solo that they realized what happened."
MyNameIsRay
Again, I hated group projects. Had one in college years ago that went something like this. Stressful experience.
Admit it: People suck and annoy the hell out of you, don't they? Yeah... there's a reason why you're better off doing a ton of things on your own.
Have some stories of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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