Whoops!: Common Mistakes People Make In Their 30s
Reddit user cthulhu34 asked: 'What’s a common mistake people make in their 30s?'
Most people think that by the time they're in their 30s, they'll have their life together.
It's only when they get to that point that they realize that's not totally true.
Maybe those in their 30s have a job, are in a serious relationship, and have a home. Perhaps they're married or have kids.
However, that doesn't mean they don't make mistakes.
According to Reddit, people in their 30s make all kinds of mistakes, and Redditors are ready to share what those mistakes are.
It all started when Redditor cthulhu34 asked:
"What’s a common mistake people make in their 30s?"
Toxicity
"Stay in unhealthy toxic relationships."
– Lavenderplatte
"Alternatively, leaving healthy relationships because you’re bored and want to have fun."
– numenik
Too Scary
"Romanticizing your 20s and fearing your 40s. (live where you are)."
– theresites
"This is so good. So easy to romanticize the past and fear the future. Life is organic and so are we. We will keep changing and often times in a good way (stronger, wiser, more confident etc.). I'm so happy to be who I am at 37."
– iamnottheuser
Compare and Contrast
"Comparing their lifestyle to other 30-somethings."
– Affectionate_Item_51
"This is a good one. Your peer’s success can seem perfect from afar and make you feel inadequate."
"But if you sit down and talk with them you will learn all sorts of shortcomings and difficulties in their life that will make you appreciate something about yourself and your situation."
"In other words we all just out here tryna function."
– ThunderBobMajerle
It's Never Too Late
"Thinking they are too old. Never too late to switch career paths or look for a new relationship or start taking care of your health."
– Mans_Got_Cheaks
"Almost 40, just started my MBA. Never too old!"
– AbsoluteCP
"It's absolutely never too late. I'm 42 and honestly feel like everything is getting better, ESPECIALLY dating and relationships in general. It's a relief to finally know myself and what I want."
"Also, I'm returning to study next year and looking forward to a career change. Having a beginner's mindset, always curious and learning. My dad is an inspiration, her had a stroke in his 60's and changed his life. After he recovered, he got a divorce, moved countries and decided to study medicine. He's now in his 70's living this dream and working as a doctor. It's never too late!"
"I feel and look younger than when I was 30! I know many people well into their 60's and 80's with this growth mindset and I'm determined to be like that until I die."
– Tank_Grill
Healthy Living
"Not exercising enough and eating a crappy diet. You can't get away with those things anymore like you did in your 20's."
– DeathSpiral321
"My doc told me at the end of last year that I'm not 16 anymore and now is the time in my life where I get to decide whether I want to see my daughters grow up or whether I wanna die of a heart attack in my 50s. Sh*t cut deep but I got the message lol."
"Dropped 40 pounds since January and might be in the best shape of my life tbh."
– Misdirected_Colors
Friends Forever
"Your 30s is when you are really in the thick of "adulting". It's easy to loose focus on what is really important to you among all the demands and responsibilities."
"Not Fostering Friendships: As you enter your 30s, maintaining and nurturing friendships becomes more challenging. It's a time when connections can fade, and forming new ones becomes harder. It's very important to invest effort in the friendships you currently have. Edit: A few people have commented about what to do when people don't reciprocate? My advise - keep trying! Everyone is under water in their 30's, they likely won't be able to make every attempt at outreach you make. But over time as things become less hectic they will remember you kept trying (without guilt) and will appreciate it and come back to you. But toxic people, yeah cut those out!"
– hyperside89
Romance
"Not Nurturing Your Romantic Relationship: Responsibilities increase in your 30s like careers, parenthood, and caregiving for aging parents. It's common for the most crucial relationship – your romantic partnership – to be inadvertently neglected. Avoid taking your partner for granted, assuming they'll always be around, or treating them as an outlet for your worst moments."
– hyperside89
Be Who You Are
"Not Preserving Your Identity: Similar to the previous points, your 30s come with a whirlwind of conflicting priorities that can lead you to lose touch with your identity. It's easy to forget what truly brings you joy and satisfaction. Maintain a hobby that gives your life purpose and regularly reflect on whether your job still fulfills your needs in terms of purpose, financial stability, and overall satisfaction."
– hyperside89
"I'm 33 and in the process of rediscovering who I am, what I like doing beyond just 'filling in time' and how I like to present myself. It's scary to be caught off guard by the realisation that you don't know you and just as scary trying to start down a path to change that."
"I'm happy with my job and my role as a mother. But as an individual... I just feel like a crusty 90's kid, wearing 00's fashion and focusing on everyone else's needs because it's hard to find a direction for me that will 'spark joy'. I want my wonder and whimsy back!"
– Makasaurus
Change Always Happens
"Thinking you're a finished product, not likely to change all that much."
– kat_Folland
"Have you tried not moving in the ocean? It’s damn impossible. You can’t be stagnant in the turmoil of this world."
– quanoey
NOT Forever Young
"Biggest mistake I made in my 30's was not enjoying them more."
"Young enough to party, still play some sports, and perfectly in place in any bar. You have energy, you have a circle of friends (that will get smaller, trust me)."
"Try to carpe a diem every once in a while, the decade passes VERY quickly."
– hockeynoticehockey
"Do whatever you can while you are young. 30s is a peak time. I'm 64 now, forced into early retirement, and I can't do half the things I "thought" I would be able to do in "retirement". Can't bend to do gardening, can't climb the ladder to get into the pool, can't handle a walk for more than a few minutes due to arthritis and more. I'm mentally "still young" but my body is telling me otherwise."
– saywhat1206
Life Is Tough
"Got laid off at 32? Just said F it, got 2 degrees in different fields (37 now). But I kept expenses really low and saved/invested a lot of money when I did work. I went from medical research, to analytics, to education, to computer science now."
"30's...uhhh not starting investing by 35, because that's the last stop on the compounding train."
"Also, I see people get wrecked by bad marriages/relationships. That's probably one of the biggest wealth and happiness destroyers I've seen."
"Also, waiting over the fertility window. People tried to have kids later on and it looks like an absolutely expensive brutal experience with the OBGYN visits and the $15k USD IVF rounds (multiples). Then dating over your thirties seems like a hopeless market from what I can see. I never really tried so I dunno (data analyst in me looked over the stats as a 5'7 East Asian male in North America, I'm out!)..."
"Oh yeah!!! Health! Working out is crucial. After 40 it gets super tough to achieve any exceptional fitness goals. That's the best case scenario. Some people come down with nasty metabolic diseases like diabetes, and the CVDs - hypertension, cholesterol, and heart disease - these are very difficult to reverse and they kind of stick to you with more aggressively the longer they persist."
"Also, daily brushing/flossing, apparently dentists are expensive in older age. Brushing avoids cavities, flossing avoids gum disease and cavities."
"Also, not constantly learning about economics and economic/social/technological/political trends, because the pace of technology will wipe out people's economic opportunities faster than their head can spin. I see a lot of people get broad sided by economic malaise because they didn't get their financial house in order before a crisis hit. Life can be rough!"
– Deleted User
I'm not 30 yet, but I sure will learn from these stories!
Things Foreigners Should Avoid While Visiting The U.S.
Reddit user AlainasBoyfriend asked: 'What should a foreigner avoid while visiting the United States?'
When I was in college, a cousin of mine who lived in London all her life came to visit me. We went out to my favorite restaurant on her first day and I warned her right of the bat not to order too much. She'd never been to New York, but I had been to London, and I knew there was a difference in portion sizes.
Portion sizes in England are usually just enough to satisfy you while potion sizes in America are usually too much to finish in one sitting. I explained this to her, but she waved me off. It was a point of pride for her that in any given group of people, she was always the one who ate the most, and the one who never slipped into a food coma.
Big mistake.
She was surprised to find that the chicken finger appetizer she ordered, which she refused to split when I suggested it, came on top of a mountain of loaded fries. She was struggling to finish it when the entree she ordered came out. She paled when she remembered it came with four sides.
In the end, she had to pack up a lot of the food, which was a totally new concept to her.
Ordering too much thinking you are going to finish it all is just one of the things foreigners should avoid doing when visiting America. There are plenty of other things to avoid or places not to go, and Redditors are eager to share what those things are.
It all started when Redditor AlainasBoyfriend asked:
"What should a foreigner avoid while visiting the United States?"
Rain, Rain
"Don’t be bullheaded when it comes to the weather. If the locals are worried, you should be worried."
– TakeThisification
"Friend was gored to death by a mountain goat. Right through the femoral artery."
– Sharp-Procedure5237
Say Cheese
"If you go to the national parks, don’t attempt to take selfies with the wildlife. A full grown bison will throw you through the air like a crumpled piece of paper."
– Juergen2993
"In Washington DC, avoid taking pictures in front of DC District court thinking it is the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is 6 blocks away."
"Also, the White House is MUCH smaller than you think it is."
– SafetyMan35
"And eat and eat..."
"Ordering a large at a restaurant, or especially a movie theater. I don't care how hungry you think you are, you will not eat/drink it all in one sitting."
– Amazing_Excuse_3860
"Especially stupid if there are free refills on drinks lol."
– sigaven
City Folk, Beware
"If you are visiting a more rural area, like Montana where I live, don't underestimate the rural-ness. You might not be able to get a hotel in a small town and there are plenty ty of places where there aren't any hotels or accommodations. You can take highway and run out of gas because there aren't any gas stations for 70 miles."
"Also, if it is a dirt road, and there are a lot of them in the rural U.S., don't ever assume that you will have cell/GPS reception or that the dirt road goes anywhere besides 50 miles into the mountains where you can get stuck or break down. It's hard to conceptualize for people who live in more populated areas."
"Your best bet is to plan ahead and read reviews. It is absolutely worth it to visit areas where there is wilderness. That is why I live here. That being said, it's dangerous in a different way than visiting a city."
– Violet624
"Damn, as an American city dweller, you made me scared of Montana."
– DasBeatles
Road Trip
"Driving from New York to LA."
– No_Finish_2144
"Unless you're planning to spend 2 weeks visiting places in between. The drive will not take just a few days!"
– VG88
"We had an exchange student from France staying with us (NY). one day, we saw her with a map of the US, said she was going to take a bus to California because she had heard so much about it on television."
"We had to sit down and explain it was going to take a week, each way."
– medicinaltequilla
"Yep. I lived in France for a longtime and took the bus everywhere. on a 10 hr ride there you could easily cross three countries..."
– No_Finish_2144
Six Feet Apart
"I find a lot of foreigners have about 2 1/2 inches of a personal space bubble, while us Americans value our space. Keep at least a 2-3 feet distance when conversing with strangers. I've had an Italian guy come so close I thought he was going to kiss me. Very uncomfortable for someone who isn't used to a lack of personal space."
– MasterPip
Keep Your Mind Wide Open
"Leave all your stereotypes about America home, it's a hugely diverse country and your experience in one part of the US will be very different to your experience in another. Keep an open mind and have fun."
– zerbey
"Well said. I don’t think most first time visitors to the US get just how different one state can be from the next."
– TacohTuesday
Smokey Home
"Don't smoke in public buildings, this is illegal."
"Don't smoke in someone's house, apartment, or condo without asking for permission. This isn't illegal, but it's still extremely rude."
– Max10imus
"This feels like common courtesy anywhere in general. Even in houses where people smoke, I still go outside to smoke. I'm really uncomfortable smoking in other people's houses."
– Conditions21
Don't Forget To Tip You Waiter
"Remember that our service staff do not get paid a living wage. They rely on tips to survive. If you can’t afford to tip, don’t eat out."
– kindest_asshole
"Tipping is compulsory here. It's super fucky, and really shouldn't be. But it is. Especially if you plan on sticking to one area and eating in a place more than once, you'd best tip. Don't toy with the people who handle your food out of eye-shot..."
– MothraWillSaveUs
Where To Eat
"Don't go to the big chain type places. Go to the mom and pop little restaurants and coffee shops and specialty shops. You will usually find new cool things you enjoy."
– ElectionProper8172
"Agree but check reviews. Not all small businesses are created equal. Chains are good if you don’t have time to do research. You know what you’re getting (probably)."
– UnihornWhale
American Health Care
"Avoid a hospital visit. Whatever you think it costs, it’s more."
– pug_fugly_moe
"Whatever a European thinks is a cartoonish amount, and then triple it, and that'll cover the ambulance ride there."
– liketreesintheforest
"Right? I remember listening to a Dutch person complain that their Healthcare wasn't actually free despite what Americans said. He went on to explain that he has to pay something like a $20 copay to go to the dentist and some vague circumstance where you might theoretically have to pay close to a hundred dollars at some point. It was cute."
– UnspecificGravity
Get Me A Map!
"Avoid looking lost and unorganized in areas of big cities with high crime rates. Dress functionally, always keep the illusion of knowing where you are and where you're going, pay attention to your surroundings. Bad people will target folks who look lost and unorganized more often than people who appear oriented."
– xtrasmolpp
"That kind of applies to any big city in the world."
– the13bangbang
"If I am legitimately lost, I will walk with purpose until I find somewhere to sit. Once seated, the phone comes out and I try to make it look like I am texting someone and not studying a map. Nothing stands out like a group of people, standing in the middle of the sidewalk, all staring at one person's phone."
– Lothar_Ecklord
I'm not even a foreigner and I follow this rule all the time. Extremely important!
People Share The Craziest Medical Conditions They've Ever Heard Of
There are some wild medical conditions out there, and sometimes, I feel like we're never done learning about them.
It was just a few years ago that my brother told me about Cotard's delusion, a rare psychological disorder in which the person afflicted believes they are dead, immortal, or don't exist.
I didn't even believe him at first, but when I looked it up, it turned out to be a real thing (and I even based an entire short story around it).
A lot of crazy medical conditions sound like they are not real, but it turns out, they are. Redditors know this all too well and are ready to share the craziest medical conditions they've ever heard of.
It all started when Redditor TweekerAllWeeker asked:
"What is the craziest medical condition you've ever heard of?"
Frozen
"Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare muskuloskeletal condition where, after birth and progressively through life, muscles and tendons are gradually transformed into bone (a process called ossification). This creates a second “skeleton” of extra bone, which makes movement impossible."
– yParticle
"Idk if it's real, but I heard people with FOP have to chose, at some point, the position they want to spend the rest of their life in, standing sitting or laying down."
– aoi4eg
"I saw a show about this when I was a kid and the whole idea still f**ks with me."
– Jaway66
You Thinking What I'm Thinking?
"There are conjoined twins (the Hogan sisters) who are attached at the head and their brains are attached. Each one can see through her sister's eyes. Each one can taste the food the other one is eating."
– Fun_in_Space
Fragility
"I met a guy who practically had eggshells for bones. He broke them about 50 times or so doing simple things like just sitting on a couch or brushing his teeth."
– Odd-Package-4713
"That'd be osteogenesis imperfecta type 3."
– crimpytoses
"My nephew has osteogenesis imperfecta and is almost 8yrs old. CPS got involved when he was a baby and hadn’t been diagnosed yet, thinking there was abuse, which was so sad for my family. They later found out what it was and have made medical accommodations. Man, he’s such a sweet, happy boy despite his condition. He hasn’t known anything other than this his entire life, so for him pain is normal (which makes me so sad), but he is bright, engaging, and so very amazing in every way that I get pissed the f**k off that he’s dealing with this."
– Purse_Whiskey
Life Span
"That disease that ages people at an insane rate that often kills it’s sufferers before they turn 16. I think it’s called progeria."
– MascotGuy2077
"That is a wild one, also the girl that looks 8 but is in her 20's, it's crazy as f**k."
– IThinkMyLegsAreBroke
"At my old place, two of the kids in the community had progeria. I'd only ever see them once a week at most, but they always seemed happy when I came across them; their family made a real effort to make their time count. I've always wondered how they grapple with the reality of their situation at their young age, though. How do you even bring that kind of subject up as a parent?"
– miniman03
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers
"The Capgras delusion: the person becomes inalterably convinced that someone close to them has been replaced by an imposter who has disguised him/herself so cleverly that they look identical to the replaced person."
""Yes, this woman looks and acts just like my wife and knows everything my wife would know. ...But she is an imposter disguised to fool me and I will have nothing to do with her.""
"It's funny to think about in some ways but would be absolutely terrifying to have."
– dr3rdeye
Facial Blindness
"This reminds me of a condition where people lose the ability to see faces. Their eyes work, they can see anything, but if it is or resembles a human face it gets turned in an undeterminable blur."
– random_sh*tter
"Faceblind. I have this. Brad Pitt has this. The worst part is when I wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, think "oh that's what I look like," then promptly forget my face 5 seconds later. I cannot point myself out in family photos."
– GodsCasino
"Prosopagnosia. It comes in varying degrees of severity. I have it. I have a lot of trouble recognizing people in unfamiliar contexts, like seeing your teacher at the grocery store. I have to see somebody a lot of times before I can recognize their face, unless they have some distinguishing feature (like my friend with a long beard). My friends tend to be people who look or dress distinctively, because it’s so much easier for me to recognize them."
– linuxgeekmama
Cut It Off!
"Body integrity disphoria: people who desperately want to cut off a part of their body, a limb for instance. They have always been thought of as insane until someone decided to have a look at their brains and realised that the limb in question isn't registering in their brain. To them, it feels like an alien appendage was sewn to their body. I find that so fascinating."
– Deleted User
Is It Still There?
"Or the other way around, phantom limb syndrome. When one loses their limb but still feels itchiness or pain on that non-existent limb. They use mirror therapy which is quite interesting as well."
– trickydaze
Strange Immunity
"Knew a woman who couldn’t conceive with her husband."
"He could theoretically get another woman pregnant, and she could theoretically get pregnant from another man, they just couldn’t conceive together."
"He donated blood (maybe marrow) to her while she was being treated for cancer. This somehow made her body immune to his sperm."
"They wound up adopting a couple of kids."
– ShaolinDave79
Anti-Hydration
"Allergy to water. It's extremely rare, last I researched it I believe there were less than 10 documented cases. And yes, they are allergic to themselves. They can't drink straight water, typical hygiene is a huge no go, and even humidity can trigger bad reactions."
– KaliCalamity
"How do these poor people live…"
– Crackheadwithabrain
"Not well, and on a lot of antihistamines"
– KaliCalamity
"I knew one of those kids who has the disorder. His twin brother was diabetic, and I didn't believe him, but his parents confirmed it. His skin was constantly cracked and sloughing off. Poor kid. I felt so bad for him."
– arcticnerd
"How do they stay.... Hydrated? Do they have to drink insanely alkaline water? What about their blood? Like wtaf???"
– Grouchy-Place7327
"They can have small amounts of water, but at least in the documentary I saw, the couple of people it focused on usually stuck to things like juices and milk, as they're less reactive. The major danger is skin contact."
– KaliCalamity
Seeing Things
"My nephew had PFAPA (periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, adenitis). Basically he would get a very high fever every 3-4 weeks with no other symptoms other than the fever alone. One night when he was maybe 5 years old, he was going through an episode and called his mom (my sister) into his room. He told her that he was really scared because his bedroom was covered in bees. I guess the hallucinations aren’t always fun."
"He had his tonsils and adenoids removed and that was the cure!"
– emjayholla
A Whole Different Perspective
"Synesthesia. A condition where your brain mixes up sensory signals."
"With this condition, one might be able to taste words, or certain numbers will always appear a specific color, or you might literally see music or smell something and feel as though you're being touched."
– ChaoTiKPranXter
"I can hear color. Sounds have different colors to me. This is especially true of people’s voices. Barbra Streisand, for example, has a light amber voice."
– IoSonCalaf
"I have that! For a while I thought everyone did."
– RenegadeRabbit
It's surprising how many of these I've actually heard of (thanks to Grey's Anatomy) but that last one is completely new!
People Break Down The Most Expensive Mistakes They've Ever Made
When COVID first got bad, and my job became WFH, I didn't know the extent of it and thought we'd only be out for a few weeks, so even though I moved home because there were fewer cases in my hometown, I didn't give up my apartment, thinking I'd be back soon.
At the same time, I decided to go back to school, so I was paying both tuition and rent for a place I wasn't living in. It took about six months for me to realize COVID wasn't short-lived, and I let my apartment go. I wish I had known that before.
It definitely could've been worse, but I still did lose a lot of money for no reason.
To date, this is the most expensive mistake I have ever made, and hopefully, it always will be.
Redditors are no stranger to expensive mistakes, and they are ready to share their own.
It all started when Redditor lugulaga asked:
"What is your most expensive mistake?"
Locked Out
"I moved in with the wrong people and lost 95% of my posessions. It's a long f**ked up story but basically they changed the locks while I was at work and I couldn't get to anything that proved I lived there and then they moved everything in a day with a moving service. I can't even track them down because they were using false names and were apparently subletting instead of owning and they used false names when they rented the property. It was the most f**ked I've ever been in my life."
"I haven't found hide nor hair of them since...I suspect they hauled off across the country..."
– nmeofst8
Buy For The Future
"Not buying a house when I was in the 3rd grade."
– LittleAmiDrummer
"Same. I saved my money for Ninja Turtles and Transformers. I should have be looking at the big picture."
– Smooth_Riker
"No joke, I had passed on buying a house a $45k because I thought "It will be fine I'll buy a house later." The same house is worth $200k+ now. It would be paid off by now if I had just gone through with it 😭"
– Looptydude
Didn't Last
"Selling my condo 8 years ago to move in with my now ex gf."
– Schumi_jr05
"I hear ya on that one"
– Ari2079
Unnecessary?
"Student loans"
– skinnipig
"This is it. I, among many I’m guessing, got my job without the need of my degree. It might’ve helped. But it didn’t help worth the amount of debt I’m in."
– CDawgbmmrgr2
"I was working for over 15 years in ten different jobs before an employer went and verified my degree."
– IrateGuy
Hurricane Wife
"Marrying my wife."
"She's like tropical storm - came wild and wet, and when she left, she took the house and the car."
"I wish that was a joke, but wasn't."
– spenalzo666
"Same here. My ex was horrible with finances, ended up being in 5-digit credit card debt, filed for bankruptcy, etc.. She almost had her car repossessed after she spent $2,000 to get it fixed and had two payments left on it (seriously???)."
"After the divorce, I ended up with about 1/4 of my 401K, I (voluntarily) gave up the house (I was moving back home anyway). She continued to rack up charges on my credit card (it had a low limit anyway) even though she was no longer authorized."
"Luckily, here I am 10 years later and much better off financially."
– draggar
Throwing Away Money
"In 2009 (or so, can't remember the date, but sometime between 2008-2011) my buddy got really into Bitcoin."
"It was back when bitcoin cost like, $5 per coin."
"I didn't understand it, I still don't really understand it. But back then, I had no desire to learn about this thing that seemed like a fad/scam."
"He did, however, convince me to invest, if only to shut him up."
"So I threw $50 his way and told him to get me 9-10, and he set me up with the bitcoins, and put them on a USB for me. Which, again, is another thing I didn't really understand or care about."
"So I tossed that usb in a box and didn't give a sh*t about it."
"When I later moved, I was packing things, and came across the usb I had labeled with something stupid. I still didn't care about bitcoin, and offered it to the guys I was living with."
"I remember one of them saying "dude, are you sure, bitcoin is at 10$.""
"I truly didn't care enough to learn about bitcoin, or even what to do with the usb to get the bitcoins off of it (or whatever you do with it) to bother figuring out how to recoup my $50 so I shrugged, tossed it at him, and moved out."
"Queue... the years that followed when I learned that my apathy and laziness had me give away what could have been today, something like $350,000cad, or closer to $850,000 at it's peak."
"So, yeah."
"My biggest financial mistake was giving away that $50. Could have really used that $50 over the years."
– Clay_Puppington
Lost Keys
"I was a head housekeeper at a small but very popular niche hotel. And expensive. I lost the master set of keys that could access every room in the place. My boss was on a 2 week trip in Africa and couldn't be reached. I had to use the company card to get a locksmith to replace all the locks on the doors quickly, because at that point, I didn't know if the keys had been swiped or if I had left them somewhere by accident..can't really f**k around with that though. I'm not gonna be responsible for someone getting murdered because I was too cheap to fix my mistake. It cost a ton of money. Boss was irate, but didn't fire me."
"Two days later I cleaned out my purse to switch it. Found the keys had slipped into a hole I didn't know was there in the liner.... never told a f**kin soul till just now."
– Friendly_Afternoon19
That Company Sure Grew
"I'm in Finance. I bought 100 shares of a little company because it pissed me off that Blockbuster charged me $88 in late fees. With this I could watch them whenever I wanted for a flat fee each month and as a bonus, they actually mailed the DVD's to you in the mail...you didn't have to drive to town and go inside and rent them. I thought it was a cool idea. We didn't really have much money back then so when we budgeted poorly I sold them for a $2000 profit. Was kinda happy about too lol."
"Damn, Netflix....I sure could use that $700,000 I missed out on 🥲"
– Dad_Is_Mad
We'll Make You A Star!
"I don't know if this is still a thing, but back when I was a kid, there were these "talent agents" that would "hire you" because you had the looks/talent to be a star. This was just a scam for you to pay them a bunch of money ( i think it ended up costing my parents around a grand) for acting classes that weren't real classes and other random fees."
– Crazy_Stable1731
"I knew someone that did this. I was there when someone said, "if they think your kid is so talented why arent they paying you?""
"Obviously real celebrities need to have an agent, and pay them, but the look on the woman's face when that was asked was pretty telling that she hadn't realized she was being conned."
– PumpkinPieIsGreat
"I would have these people walk up to me and hand me a card literally every time I went to Astroworld when I was a teenager. In my head I was always like "sweet! Easy gig, free money!" But my dad always shot it down and said it was all just a scam and wouldn't let me pursue it. Stupid parents always being right..."
– SweetCosmicPope
Time To Move To Canada
"As a newly wed, my wife felt very strongly that we get adequate health insurance. We had some from my work but it wasn't enough. We got a $4k check for a tax return and started shopping.. we found an agent, asked for a good year policy and paid him $4k. We paid for a year in full."
"The moment the check clears, the new policy sends us a letter saying that everything we thought we were paying for was no longer covered because we had another (primary) policy and would only cover certain events when my other crappy policy reached the out-of-pocket maximum of like $10k.. I paid $4k extra and still didn't have affordable access to regular Dr visits or preventive care."
"This was American Family Insurance. Absolute scam artists."
– Firebolt164
Pretty Packaging
"Renovating my house before selling it. In the end, the renovations didn't increase the selling price a bit. Now the new owners have an amazing house and I don't have the money I was going to use to renovate my own."
"Renovate a house for yourself, not someone else."
– capilot
That Tracks
"I don't feel comfortable telling you the names of my kids"
– flaming_poop_chute
Yeah, there are few things less expensive than a child. Luckily, they're also a blessing, so it should even out!
People Break Down The Biggest Problems Apocalyptic Films Never Properly Address
Some people say, "It's just a movie. There's no need to think so deeply about it."
However, some plotlines are just too problematic not to notice.
Despite people pointing these problems out, they are rarely ever addressed.
These problems can be as minor as a woman having perfectly manicured nails despite being trapped in a cave for an extended period of time to something as big as characters not contracting life-threatening diseases despite not having proper nutrition, shelter, or medical care for years.
Redditors have noticed this too and were ready to share what they think are the biggest problems in apocalyptic films that are never addressed.
It all started when Redditor ShinyDisc0Balls asked:
"What's a problem that's never addressed in apocalyptic movies?"
Vroom, Vroom
"If it goes on long enough, keeping cars operational. Tires going bad, gasoline going bad, even fuel lines going bad if a car's been sitting for a few years. Mice chewing on the wires. Sometimes they'll show the effort to obtain gas (but never address it going bad over time) and sometimes they'll show a battery being jumped, but mostly it's hop in a car you just found and drive off."
– froglover215
"Station Eleven (the novel, haven’t seen the show) was very fixated on the idea that gasoline goes bad after about three years. After that, it’s all horses all the time."
– Yellwsub
Medical Issues
"No one has dysentery. Everyone would have dysentery."
– YaBoyfriendKeefa
"Especially if you’re on the Oregon Trail."
– rapalosaur
""Where are we going?""
"Oregon"
""F**k""
– Buckus93
"Disease. Seriously if most doctors and infrastructure are gone, people would be dying left and right, and zombies or radiation would be the least of their problems."
"Appendicitis. I didn't even think of things like that! People would die of pretty routine stuff that they couldn't get treated easily."
– Affectionate_Ad_7802
"The big killer with food poisoning is all the water you lose when your body literally flushes out whatever you ate."
– P-Tux7
Or Dental Issues
"Dental care. How many people would be straight up dying from abscesses, or in pain from f**ked teeth."
– softcore_UFO
Silence Is Golden
"Why do "traditional zombies" only make noise when they're right up in your business?"
"Zombie moving through the woods in stealth mode, no branches snapping, no leaves rustling, no moaning or growls."
"But right when they're about to get their funky zombie mitts all over your throat, they are loud as sh*t."
"What's the deal?"
No Escape
""Speaking of which, why don't they ever use bicycles to get around? They're quiet, comparatively low maintenance, can go over most ground, and definitely faster than any zombie."
– Sayakai
"Realism" (within the context of zombies) has always been my go-to for why slow zombies are scary enough on their own and fast zombies are a lazy shortcut."
"Yeah, they're slow and loud and clumsy. A brisk walk is enough to get you away from any zombie, or group of zombies. In a fight, they're predictable and slow. But they're immune to pain, and immune to fatigue, immune to fear or bribery or demotivation. And their main physical vulnerability - "destroy the brain" - is way more difficult than TV and movies portray: headshots are tough to pull off with guns, and skulls are actually pretty durable. Get into a physical altercation with one, and that's actually serious trouble - you'll get tired real fast but the zombie will not, and one f**kup will be enough to get you bitten."
"Briskly walk away? Sure, you can probably sustain that for a while. But where are you going? Zombies are everywhere, so you might be briskly walking from one meat grinder to another. And of course there are potential dangers on your chosen path. And still, you'll need to eat food and drink water and sleep and the zombies will not."
"In reference to the old fable of the tortoise and the hare -- the tortoise won the race. And slow zombies are the tortoise."
– effseadot
Perfect Looks
"Body hair for women."
"I mean, you will see this woman in rags, covered in dirt, with the stringiest hair that looks like it hasn't been washed, much less conditioned in a year. Yet, they have perfect brows and look like they've had a full-body wax within the past week. So, they must be doing this somehow."
– zazzlekdazzle
"Also, they'll still have perfectly straight, white teeth."
– Buckus93
Cold, Cold World
"Camp setting in general. You know what is bad for your health? Cold ground. You want to have a failure in your every organ below the ribcage? Couple of months of outdoor sleep would definitely do it. Sleeping bags are great, but they are designed to keep you from losing heat into the air, not into the ground — think of them like of portable blankets. You don't see apocalyptic survivors making an insulated bed or sleeping in a hammock."
– Alex_Downarowicz
"Can You Hear Me? Over."
"Charging their walkie talkie batteries."
"Zombie apocalypse and they always have freshly charged radio batteries that last... forever."
"Just once I wanna see someone sit down and stick their radio in a charging cradle."
– dirtymoney
"Or furiously turning the crank on one of those crank-operated radios or flashlights."
– MedusaStone
Hygiene
"Don't forget tampons!"
– Nightmare_Fuel-
"Ellie in the Last of Us was soo pumped when she found a box in one episode, also Joel was excited to have a fresh pot of coffee as well."
– Will0w536
The Grass Isn't Growing
"Lawncare/overgrowth."
"Not all of them, but TWD for example, all of the lawns were tended to as if there WASN'T you know, a zombie apocalypse happening."
– Plus-Statistician80
Unrealistic Travel
"People in movies often travel a lot of distance with next to no food or water on them. If you are on foot you would need a descent amount of calories to sustain your energy. And a good pair of shoes. Your feet would be a mess in no time. And you would stink to high heaven."
– KevinDean4599
"And that would attract zombies….the scent."
– RedditRee06
Addiction
"Caffeine and nicotine withdrawal. After a week, there are going to be a bunch of very grumpy people around."
"Cigarettes and coffee are going to be valuable exchange items."
– rosanymphae
As if a zombie apocalypse isn't scary enough without thinking about the loss of coffee!