Life never turns out the way you expect. That should be the first lesson ever imprinted on the youth.
What is that saying? "Everytime we make a plan... God laughs."
Well he must be in a constant state of guffaw watching kids grow into adults and learning that everything we believed to be true is either false, or some distorted version of what we imagined.
Adults, we know better, let's starting hitting the youth with hard truth now.
It'll make for a sobering reality.
RedditorThe_Halawanted to hear about all the things we believed when we were younger, that has thrown us through a loop as adults.
They asked:
"What’s something you imagined as a kid and it turned out to be wrong when you became an adult?"
I believed that soulmates were real, and that we had an automatic pull to finding one another. I type that sentence while sitting alone with dogs and chocolate.
Speed Machines
driving fast and furious GIFGiphy"I used to think cars cost a ton of money. Like, a whole hundred dollars or more." ~ Jaycatt
The Happy Ending
"I thought finding a career and a loving spouse just happened naturally." ~ SilasMarner77
"So did I, and everyone told me it happened that way, so it was very strange to reach 18 or so and suddenly be told 'what's the matter with you? You have to put yourself out there!' from all these people who had apparently just drifted into position like celestial bodies."
"I think a lot of kids are taught to never make decisions for themselves and fobbed off with the idea of things just 'happening' later, and then have no clue what to do with themselves when they are not under someone's control so suddenly have to figure it out for themselves." ~ JMW007
I felt so stupid...
"My mom used to tell me that if I turned on the little light in the back seat that we would instantly be pulled over and would be given a ticket. I believed that till about 3 years ago when my girlfriend turned on the light and I told her why we can’t do that and she told me that wasn’t even a thing. I felt so stupid smh." ~ INYOURCLOSET4
Unprepared...
"I thought every next step was going to be the thing I couldn’t handle. Jr. High. High School. Boot Camp. Fleet Marines. College. Business world. Turns out I was only really unprepared for marriage, everything else is pretty easy."
"I’d say this: if you don’t find yourself wanting to spend literally every moment possible with someone, don’t marry them. I’m solitary by nature, so I thought I’d want to spend time apart from anyone, but it turns out, I can’t get enough of my second wife."
"I really could have saved first wife and myself a lot of grief by not assuming ours was the best a relationship was going to get. We are both fine and probably each better off for the time we did spend together, even all the painful time, but I sure learned a lot about how not to be." ~ mojave_moon
Wisdom with age...
Knowing Cedric The Entertainer GIF by CBSGiphy"'You'll understand it when you're older.' Sure, I accepted it, but understand it? That's one hell of an overstatement. Lots of it's apply here." ~ FranticBronchitis
Acceptance is key. But you don't learn about acceptance until it's already too late and the illusion of life is destroyed.
Hit the Floor
jim carrey falling GIFGiphy"I thought I would have had to use 'stop drop and roll' by now." ~ crispypotatocake
Wing It...
"Adults have any semblance of how to handle every situation, especially the bad ones." ~ The_Soapmakers
"It's definitely weird when you come to the realization that we're all just winging it. I used to think my dad had all the answers."
"I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just I really thought he was in a position to know exactly how to handle any problem I came to him with. Now my kids look at me the same way and sometimes I can really feel the weight of the world on my shoulders because of it." ~ Handsome-Jim-2
Family Ties
"My dad's family is big as hell, my dad has 13 siblings (like 5 of them being step-siblings, and two of the 13 have already pass away) So my paternal family is more than 100 people, no joke. So... my dad's oldest sister is like 20+ years older than him and when my dad wasn't even born (Like 2 or 5 years before)."
"She had a child and the kid and my dad grew up and were raised as brothers (when they were actually uncle and nephew). And I just discover two weeks ago that he wasn't another of my dad's siblings, not even my uncle obviously, he was my cousin, my cousin which is 50 years older than me." ~ CChrysanthemumm
Lessons Learned
"As an early teen, I thought that LGBTQ was a load of garbage. I couldn't wrap my brain around why someone would be attracted to their own sex, or why they wouldn't feel like their assigned gender. I thought it was just a phase some people went through to be unique."
"While I still don't understand how most of LGBTQ works, I at least know that homophobia and transphobia is wrong. Discriminating against someone because of who they want to love/be is just wrong. one day LGBTQ going to be widely accepted. I hope that day comes soon so that the discrimination calms down." ~ placeholderNull
I'm Useless
gossip adults GIF by Halo Top CreameryGiphy"That adults knew what they were doing. I'm in my 40's and I still don't know what the hell I am doing half the time." ~ The__Riker__Maneuver
Oh, why couldn't it all just be a grand fairytale? What does so much have to be so hard? Alas...
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Curious to hear examples of these, Redditor lilac_cup asked:
"Which tv series has aged like milk?"
The handling of these controversial TV story lines seem so careless in retrospect.
Addressing Child Abuse
"The very first episode of Hill Street Blues has two cops breaking up a domestic disturbance caused by a woman finding her man f'king her 15yo daughter. The man is told not to be sh**ty, the woman is told to put out more and the child is told not to be so tempting. Then the cops leave, patting themselves on the back for a job well done."
– kifferella
The Teacher's Secret Relationship
"Pretty Little Liars. I think even at the time, the teacher dating his 16 year old student storyline was considered creepy, but in 2022 it’s honestly unbelievable that was ever portrayed in any kind of positive light. Also that her parents didn’t immediately just report him to the police."
– ColdFIREBaker
Forbidden Attraction
"Not the whole series but Ally McBeal. In one episode Ally found out her bf is bi and her reason breaking up with him was she afraid that one day her bf would be attracted to their son."
– thrussie
These reality shows would never fly in a "woke" world.
Racist Cringe
"There was a reality show on Fox called 'Black. White.' Where they put a white family in blackface and a black family in whiteface."
"Just reading about it, it turns out the white family wasn't even a real family. They were unrelated actors."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black._White.
– MichaelJAwesome
Extreme Makeover
"Extreme makeover. I remember watching this show as a kid and being like oh wow they’re fixing all these ugly people with plastic surgery and making them happy. I just think that caused a whole generation to think they could change their body with money. Show lasted like 4 seasons. Couldn’t imagine that show today."
– thenightshifters
Teen Exploitation
"Secret life of an American teenager."
"Just what…."
– carlirodriguez8
A Critique
"My god this show was terrible. My wife’s sister was into it and we ended up watching a lot of it when we were dating. I think they tried to make the banter like Gilmore Girls, but it ended up being the characters repeating their current plots and arcs over and over. I don’t remember the characters at all, but the main character was such a horrible person, and the audience is supposed to root for her."
"The main things I remember about it were the religious girl claiming she killed her dad by having sex with her boyfriend, and apparently you go to Bologna to get bjs."
– MachFighterG
So-Called Expert
"You Are What You Eat."
"Host Gillian McKeith (or to use her full medical title, Gillian McKeith) was an absolute quack with an online medical qualification from a Mickey Mouse university. She pretended to be a scientist by being recorded standing around in a lab wearing a white coat, spouted unscientific nonsense that anyone who had done a GCSE in science could see through, and was obsessed with getting people to shit in Tupperware boxes."
"It got cancelled after the final series when you had to have her move in with you. In the last few years she popped up again as a prominent anti-vaxxer once COVID vaccines became available."
– MattBD
These pageant shows glorifying good looks and talent would never be greenlit today.
Performing Pressure
"Dance moms- used to be entertaining, now all I can see is the psychological effects it must’ve had on those girls."
– KE789
"Americas Next Top Model has to be #1."
"From all the behind the scenes sh*t that went on in production to what the show actually shows. It’s all just horrendous."
– Nickster1619
From Ugly To Beautiful
"The Swan, was 2 women who are considered 'ugly ducklings' participating in a pageant against each other after undergoing a three-month transformative process aka having heaps of plastic surgery."
– twozedzed
Psychological Downer
"Right?! How were they allowed to do so many procedures in such a short time while completely isolating these women from their families? Making them diet and exercise while healing from a tummy tuck, breast implants, and veneers?! The 'therapy' sessions were a joke and were just for show while these poor women with low self esteem were preyed upon for entertainment. Just out of a safety and medical prospective…wow."
– Snoo-8746
Judging The Reflection
"Didn't they also not allow the contestants/patients to have mirrors the whole time so they were surprised when they saw themselves? Psychologically having massive changes like that and it being sudden is extremely bad for your brain, you can end up rejecting the reflection because it's not 'you.'"
– Delouest
As audiences evolve, so does the writing and development of all forms of entertainment.
But because the changes are gradual, it is jarring when looking back and noticing how offensive and isolating some of these shows can be.
Times sure have changed in the world of entertainment–mostly for the better.
Curious to hear experiences from strangers online, Redditor WallStreetDoesntBet asked:
"People who moved out of the parent’s house before 30, how?"
Most people can't afford to live on their own.
Roommate Is Key
"yeah this exactly. I've never lived by myself, was roommates until I got a serious girlfriend and now fiance. There's exactly 0% chance of me being in the same position I'm in financially if I had been paying full rent all those years."
– lick_me_where_I_fart
Not A Care In The World
"I was 17, we had 4 of us in a ghetto 2bd apt (bunkbeds) we had a beer bong on a lanyard screwed to the ceiling. We'd have keggers, party's every weekend and always had randoms crashing on the floor. Could barely afford to feed myself and pay bills but still not a worry in the world and it was the best time of my life."
– ApprehensiveAd6006
One inconvenience shared by many was the sacrifice of a good, home-cooked meal.
Change Of Scenery
"Just needed a little R&R."
"Roommates and Ramen."
– SudoPuff
The "Wild" Years
"This, lol. I was kicked out at 16 and after couch-surfing for a few months I moved into a studio apartment with 4 other people."
"When I say we were poor, I mean poor - most of us didn’t have jobs. I lived off the worst of the worst food. Knockoff ramen. Dollar store canned veg. Rice and terrible year old pasta."
"It was a wild few years."
– Vetiversailles
Rice For Life
"Or rice. I lived off rice for a full year. Fancied it up by adding some salsa, and then extra fancy by also adding ranch dressing."
"Those were hard times."
– Ok_Opinion_
Having work definitely makes things easier.
Saving Up To Leave
"Started working while I was in school. Got out as soon as I could."
– ReallyIdleBones
Not Much Fanfare
"Yep, moved out for college in 2006. Came back for the summer in 2007, but thereafter I got an internship so I just stayed in the city. Got a job at the same place after I graduated."
"It was never some big moment for me (my parents are fine, just annoying), just a natural progression for me."
– Zerole00
Building A Life
"At 18. Worked in construction. Lived on a couch with 6 buddies in one house paying for college. Bought cheap land during the recession. Then built my own house."
– ReubenZWeiner
Not moving out by choice seemed to be a common shared experience.
High Turnover Rate
"Got kicked out at 14. Finished high school sleeping on friends couches while serving tables. Had a ton of roommates for the next 10 years. At any given time I was living with like 3 or 4 people, it was never boring haha"
– herriotact
Different Parenting
"I am hearing that so many people are actually kicked out in the really young age is well."
"But i am not getting that why parents are so tough because in my country they try to keep them under their wings."
– wowoao
Tough Love
"My friends parents were going to kick him out immediately after he graduated high school simply because 'That's what their parents did when they were his age.' His Dad fully expected him to go out at 18 and buy a house because 'he was able to.'"
"Then his Dad got pissed when my friend did not buy a house and went to live with his uncle instead. Even after his uncle broke down the whole 'Your mortgage is $2200/month with taxes and you expect your son, who works part time at $7.25 an hour to afford a mortgage? With no credit history?'"
"Some parents do it out of tough love. Some parents do it because they shouldn't have had children. Some parents still think the world is the same as it was in the 70s-80s and think minimum wage part time employees can thrive."
– bangersnmash13
Placed Expectations
"My parents didn't kick me out, but there was definitely an expectation for me to be moved out and financially independent at 18. My mother walked into a job as a radio DJ at the age of 18 and then became a journalist with only a high school education a few years later (early 1970s), so she had this expectation that I could do the same. The thought of me being able to do anything like that in the 2000s was laughable."
– pie12345678
I moved out of my parents' house because I booked my first professional gig on a cruise ship.
It couldn't have worked out better. I was paid to perform on board in the shows while my rent was already taken care of since I lived and worked on the ship.
I packed one suitcase and traveled the world doing what I loved for about two years. It was the best way to transition into an exciting new chapter in my adolescent life.
What's your moving out story?