Professionals Share Their Best 'It Doesn't Actually Work Like That Though' Experiences
A lot of people seem to have a lot of assumptions about the way the world works, and a lot of us don't have any experience to back up those assumptions.
Whether it's assuming that there absolutely must be another box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the back of the store that they can have if they can only convince the poor teenager stocking shelves, or that a photo editor will be able to magically make your blurry, pixellated photo look amazing, there's a lot of things people seem to think are true about different fields that just aren't.
Redditor Enguzelharf asked:
"What's your profession's myth that you regularly need to explain 'it doesn't work like that' to people?"
Stock
"I work in a hardware store and apparently people think we have a huge underground storage big enough to hide every product in existence."
"No, I can't just go and fetch a part for your 20-year-old fireplace or power tool from the backroom."
- Mjarf88
"Also- an extension cord with two sets of male ends isn’t needed for Christmas light installation. No, you didn’t but one last year. Yes, I know this. I worked here last year. We didn’t have them then either. There is a use for those cords but it’s not Christmas lights."
- pherring
"Retail. If an employee tells you they're sold out of that hot sale item. They're sold out. They're not hoarding them in the backroom, because f**k you. They know they're sold out, because you're the 10th person to ask about it, in the last 20 minutes."
- RagingHolly
Pain Meds
"Your terminally ill grandmother isn't 'becoming addicted' to her pain medication. She's dying in as much comfort and with as much dignity as we can provide."
- Aggressivecleaning
"As an add-on to this, the pain medication isn't going to kill them faster."
- fiducia42
"Honestly, I needed someone to remind me of this when we were at the morphine phase with my mom. They explain how they’ll stop all treatment and make her comfortable with the morphine, and somehow it just felt like we’d be killing her. The doctor took her time to explain that was not what was happening. I am a relatively smart person but in this situation I just really needed to hear this."
- Scullyxmulder1013
Antibiotics
"Antibiotics don't work on viral diseases."
- The_Max_V
Conservation Of Energy
"As an engineer, I have to explain a lot of time that the law of energy and mass conservation can't be broken."
- Bobraie
"Are you telling me that my childhood invention of a solar-powered car with a big lamp on it pointing at the solar panels *wouldn't* be able to run forever? I don't believe you.
- JayGold
"One time the HVAC went out in my office and my boss brought in a portable air conditioner. I asked where we were going to vent the hot air, and he was like 'What heat? It's an A/C, it just makes cold.' It took 20 minutes on a whiteboard to explain that you can't 'make cold,' you're just transferring the heat somewhere else."
- KickFacemouth
Accounting
"When someone finds out you're an accountant 90% of the time they will say "great, so you can help with my taxes haha" . There are loads of accountants who may never see taxes in their day-to-day and have minimal knowledge from their certification only."
- dahliafluffy
"So much this, and no I’m not busy in April because it’s tax season, it’s because the quarter just ended."
- jaaaaagggggg
Video Editing
"Video production. Your only options in the edit are what the camera captured."
- JhymnMusic
"Dude this. I have clients sometimes ask me to add slow motion to certain shots. 'Make it look slick and smooth.'"
"Well, you shot everything at 24fps so, no. It’s gonna look like sh*t."
- try_by
"'Just fix it in post' I will end you."
- DefinitelynotDanger
Grants
"There aren’t just buckets of grant money available for your wacky idea. You have to have a track record, an organization, a plan and a budget. It’s highly competitive."
- Soobobaloula
"I’m a professional grant writer too. The number of times I have to explain that the 'airport grant' cannot be used to replace East Main Street is too damn high."
- PrideofPicktown
"I tried to explain this to an interim administrator at the school where I worked. I had asked to meet and discuss ideas for grant projects, as writing grants had previously been part of my job. Wouldn’t accept that I couldn’t just say 'it’s for a school' and that would be that."
- Sheepeys
scrooge mcduck 80s GIFGiphyArboriculture
"Putting an angled back cut when felling a tree against the lean does absolutely nothing and will result in a tree falling on your house. Just pay us to do the job"
- spjnr
"Learned this the hard way when my landlord came over to take down a tree in the back yard by lassoing it with a rope tied to a water skiing handle and cutting a notch into the tree with a chainsaw. Turns out trees are heavy, who knew? Granted it was his house but my family living in it. We moved into our own place a little later and I’ve hired arborists ever since."
- Top_Chef
"Yep. Every good redneck knows to pull the tree down with a buddy's pickup."
"Preferably a buddy you don't like with a pickup that's not worth much."
- imdatingaMk46
Ordering In A Bar
"I work in a bar. People frequently ask for drinks to be “extra strong”, but when I explain that they can just order a double, but we can’t add extra alcohol to their drink for free, they look at me like I’m speaking a language they’ve never heard before."
- Fabulous_Piccolo_178
"For a strong drink you either have to tip very well every time you are in, or be friends with the bartender outside of work."
- Idrinktears92
"Pretty much yeah. But if I’m not behind the bar, I can’t ask whoever’s bartending to f**k up their inventory by just giving away liquor—it’s like people don’t understand that we keep track of how much is in each bottle and when the sales reports don’t match the inventory, it’s a problem. Like if you work retail and somebody asks if they can just add an extra item to their purchase without ringing it up or paying for it you’re going to look at them like they’re insane."
- Fabulous_Piccolo_178
Photo Editing
"Photo editing. It's amazing how many people think they can give me a tiny, blurry, digital image of the back of their daughter sitting on a park bench, with uneven lighting in the shade, and think I can magically and quickly turn that into a banner of her standing next to the Eiffel Tower, smiling in the sun, facing the camera. Neither Photoshop nor I have any idea what your daughter's face looks like. I can't just 'turn her around'. I literally have to work with exactly what you are seeing in the photo you hand me or email me. Now if you give me several photos, some containing her face, some with her standing, etc., then yes, I can do some quite magical things."
- nollaf126
"ENHANCE"
- whateverathrowaway00
Super Troopers Reaction GIF by Searchlight PicturesGiphyThe moral of the story is: if someone who is an expert in a field tells you that something is a certain way, it's probably best to believe them.
People Explain Which Fictional Characters Are Only Idolized Because People Misunderstood The Story
It's always odd to hear about people who idolize the Joker and Harley Quinn. Isn't it very apparent that those two are in an abusive and codependent relationship?
You'd think so, but if you spend a little time on online message boards or looking at any memes, you'd see a host of representations of Joker and Harley Quinn as "relationship goals" when they should be anything but.
Clearly the people who read those comics misunderstood the assignment, and they are not alone.
People shared their thoughts with us after Redditor WhereDemonsDwell asked the online community,
"Which fictional characters are idolized by people who missed the entire point of their story?"
Walter White
"Walter White. You're not supposed to root for the murderous, ruthless, self-centred, ego maniac drug lord by the end of the series. People do."
NDStars
People tried to turn his wife into the villain. If anything, she was the only character in the series to stand up to him consistently and people hated it.
Tom
"Tom from 500 Days of Summer."
"Really liked the character and could associate myself with him in my younger self but he's living in his fantasies more than understanding his reality."
CrackerGuy
This is the kind of movie that hits different when you're in your early 20s compared to any other time.
Bonnie and Clyde
"Not fictional characters, but Bonnie and Clyde. Cool if you wanna have an adventure with your ride or die, just don't kill 13 people while doing it."
sosaidtheliar
People loved and adored them because they saw them as heroes taking on the banks that caused the Great Depression. No one really knew how terrible they actually were except the cops who were hunting them down.
When they were killed, their bodies were towed through the streets of a town and people crowded around crying and sobbing like two movie stars had been killed, then started ripping their clothes trying to get souvenirs.
The movie from the 1960s did not help.
Tony Soprano
"Tony Soprano. I don’t get how people could look up to him, when the whole show is about how he hates his life."
ClarkTwain
Because the show deliberately tries to trick you. David Chase constantly pulls you between sympathizing with Tony's very real, very human problems (most of the therapy scenes, the ducks, etc.) and smacking you in the face for even considering that he might be a good guy.
Holden Caulfield
"Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye. He wasn’t being refreshingly rebellious, he was crying out for help. He was probably mentally ill, and definitely emotionally scarred by his brother’s death and the unhealthy way his parents handled that tragedy."
GoingOn2Perfection
I think the brilliance of that book is depending on your stage of life you can take something very different each time.
The Joker and Harley Quinn
"Joker & Harley are still idolized as an example of crazy passionate love despite it being clearly established as an abusive relationship. It’s a shame the movies had to cut out most of the really bad Joker abuse because then maybe the point will be driven home."
[deleted]
See? What did I tell you? People acted like they were Gomez and Morticia which is... so not the case.
Vito Corleone
"Vito Corleone. Everybody knows Michael is a monster but he’s only his father without the “family man” charm. Both of them are ruthless murderers."
simplepleasures
And the story is a tragedy. You'd think people would have learned something...
Scarface
"Scarface. So many wannabe gangstas and rappers with Scarface shirts and posters."
Leeser
That was my thought too. It's like everybody only watches the first half of the movie.
Tyler Durden
"Tyler Durden. Hands down."
[deleted]
Yeah I think the socioeconomic message was lost on most people who just paid attention to the first half of the movie.
Lolita
"Lolita. I hate that the name has become synonymous with young, seductive, coquette types. The entire book includes accounts that she was an unwilling participant and trapped."
notusuallyaverage
It's interesting how so many people pretend like Nabokov glamorized Humbert Humbert. Nabokov wrote him as a lying, murderous monster.
Chances are, you can think of people out there who misunderstood the assignment, too.
Like, is there anyone out there who actually idolizes Don Draper? (Answer: Yes. Sadly, yes.)
Have some suggestions of your own? Tell us more in the comments below!
There's some extremely common misconceptions flying around society.
Either that, or a lack of willingness to learn certain things. It's unclear which. But there are things that humans at large tend to completely either disregard or continually mistake without a thought or care, Is it intentional ignorance?
Some people are fed up with this lack of understanding, and seek to change the way society sees them.
u/Captain_Rex_501 asked:
What's something people misunderstand way too often?
Here were some of those answers.
Fries For Birds
GiphyBread is not good for ducks
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/czr7lx...
Tell that to ducks.. We have bought special feed for ducks and swans which is healthier. They test it and they ignore it and eats loads of bread from another person. It's like trying to sell carrots near McDonald's. You have no chance.
Silence Is Golden
Silence doesn't necessarily mean agreement.
Kindness doesn't necessarily mean that she/he interested in you romantically.
Flirt Up The Wazoo
Mistaking politeness for flirting for sure.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/czr7lx...
This is legitimately tricky, because one person's politeness might be another's flirting, even though the two of them do exactly the same things. Even the same person might do something to flirt in one situation and do exactly the same thing just to be polite in a different situation.
No way to really tell, unless you flirt/be polite back. Then you'll know because if it's flirting, they'll ramp it up, but if they're just being polite, they'll keep it at the same level or decrease.
Incognito Is Not Invisible
Incognito mode. All it does is it deletes your search history and cookies when you close out. It doesnt hide your IP or delete downloads.
It does hide your downloads, and by that I mean, the browser doesn't keep a history of what you download. But obviously what you download still ends up on your computer.
A Risk Willing To Take
What lactose intolerance is. It's not an allergy, you just can't digest it. Depending on the individual, people might have a little lactose with no effect, a small amount with a bit of gas/bloating, some lactose with stomach cramps or loads of lactose and get explosive diarrhoea.
Also different dairy foods have different amounts of lactose. Think of lactose like alcohol. A pint of beer would have little effect on you but a pint of vodka would ruin you. This is one of the reasons why lactose intolerant people sound cautious sometimes and don't care other times. Sometimes it's counter intuitive. Some examples;
Mozzarella, only trace amounts of lactose.
Milk Chocolate, a bit of lactose
White Chocolate, lots of lactose
Cream Single Cream, crap tons of lactose
Also, sometimes you just really want something and it's worth being on the crapper all next morning
Dark Water
That taking a lighter to a sprinkler in a building will not actually cause all of the sprinklers to go off as they show in the movies. Only that one sprinkler will go off.
Also, it will NOT be clean water, it WILL be black.
You And I
Disagreeing with someone isn't the same as disliking them.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/czr7lx...
I really like having a beer with one of my friends for the "argument". He's a super smart guy and very knowledgeable on heaps of subjects. It's awesome having my position challenged by someone who's opinion I respect. Sometimes he changes my position. Sometimes I change his. And sometimes we remain with our original position but I can't remember a single instance of either of us getting angry with each other.
It Makes A Difference
When the dictionary people include a new word, it's not because they think it's cool ... it's because people use it in real life and some people need - you guessed it - a dictionary to understand what it means.
So get mad at yourself when 'bling' or whatever becomes a word because you people as a society started using it not the dictionary employees as individuals
A Multitude Of Causes
That cancer is an umbrella term and not a single illness with a single cause.
If this was understood then the whole "Big pharma has the cure for cancer" conspiracy would hold much less sway over people.
Loner, Not Lonely
GiphyThat not everyone wants to talk all the time. If someone is sitting alone they aren't always sad, they may be perfectly happy just people watching.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/czr7lx...
I constantly have people asking me "are you ok? You look so sad and you're sitting alone over here" like I'm fine, I just have resting sad face and I like being alone lmao