There's a commonly held belief that it takes 10,000 hours of practice or experience to really get good at something.
It's a false fact that's been debunked countless times, but the basic idea - that time, commitment, and effort will help you improve your skills - is a solid one.
Except that takes SO LOOOOOOOOONG. Can't we get a montage or something?
Reddit user Iron-Wall asked:
"If you could wake up tomorrow and be automatically granted 10,000 hours of experience in any skill of your choice, which would it be?"
Reddit had a lot to say on this one. Turns out, there's a lot people who want to learn but finding an hour here and there, much less ten thousand of them, is almost impossible.
Surprise!
Kristen Wiig Snl GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy"Piano. I want to be the kind of person to sit at a public piano and surprise people."
- FreedTMG
"I remember back to my days of in-school detention, there was another kid who was in there quite frequently who would sneak out and go play the piano in the other room. He was extremely talented."
"I think I overheard that he didn't know exactly how to read sheet music, but he'd memorized the songs he played. It was all classical music from the greats."
"Looking at him you would have never guessed, he looked like he should have been in detention."
"The teachers eventually knew where he would be if he was missing from his table and they would let it slide. They finally made him a deal to get all his assignments done and he could go play the piano."
"It was easier than trying to keep him in his seat."
- thedriftlessdrifter
The Split
"Speaking foreign languages."
- vyletteriot
"I would split it evenly between Mandarin and Spanish."
"Being semi-proficient in both of those languages as well as being proficient in English would mean that I would be capable of talking to almost everybody on the planet."
- AmNotSatan
"Split it 60:40 or even 70:30 in favor of Mandarin if you want to his similar proficiency in each - assuming you don't already speak Cantonese or something."
- ViolaNguyen
"According to Google, it takes about 2200 hours to learn Mandarin vs 600 to learn Spanish, so definitely favor the Mandarin here."
- Kaylagoodie
Walk In The Woods
Camping Season 4 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Foraging."
"I want to walk into any woods and immediately know exactly what plant I'm looking at, it's uses, medicinal purposes, everything."
- CrazedMuffinz
"I was just talking about this the other day! Great answer!!"
- urmama22
"Currently staying at a hotel and got a lil sunburn by the pool."
"I found an aloe plant by the vending machines, broke off a leaf, split it in half, and rubbed on my burns for some sweet relief."
"Felt like a part of nature."
- Thinkwronger12
Handy
"Handyman skills."
"I need to rebuild my rotting deck and replace some plumbing that is guaranteed to fail structurally. Plus I could do some light work on the weekends for some extra cash."
- BronzeAgeTea
"This is also one of the best ways to save money!"
"Being able to do everything from fix a dryer drum to replacing brake fluid will instantly save thousands of dollars per year."
"And these are skills which are not overly taxing on your time or energy once you know how to do it. They are just frustratingly hard when you first start learning, and often, due to mistakes, more expensive when you are learning."
- Qubeye
Sharpening This Skill
New Amsterdam Surgery GIF by NBCGiphy"My actual job. Surgery. Because you can never have enough experience."
"The second I feel like I’ve gotten enough experience will be the second I lose my humility. I can always get better at this and I won’t ever stop trying to sharpen this skill."
- hiyer2
Heard
"Origami: and every time someone came to me with their problems I would start by saying something seemingly profound like: 'ya know, life is a lot like origami...' "
"and they I would fold the ever-loving sh*t out of a piece of paper while basically repeating the person's problem back to them."
"They would then walk away feeling heard and one finely hand folded frog richer."
- somewhatclevr
Ulterior Motive Mechanic
Dog I Have No Idea What Im Doing GIFGiphy"Automotive Mechanics."
"For my area they're a dying breed, plus that's what I've always wanted to do."
"And there may be a cute guy that needs a few things done on his car. 😅 Free repairs AND he gets a free dinner if he lets me take him out? How could he resist?"
- purplesheepy
Cut Off From The Culture
"Speaking Korean."
"I was an infant during a time when it was pretty common for the relevant professionals in some regions to tell ESL parents not to speak their mother tongue to their kids at home ("it'll lead to an accent" "they'll have problems integrating" "other kids will make fun of them"), etc."
"So I grew up monolingual and then had no one around me to practice with or help me once I was old enough to be interested in learning."
"As a result, I was effectively cut off from my family and my mother's culture."
- enbymaybeWIGA
"I feel the same regarding the Korean."
"I had no interest when I was younger to learn, but now that I’m older and have in laws who are Korean and aging parents, I made it my goal to start learning at home through YouTube and free pdf workbooks."
"Not too late to start!"
- applefuzz
It's Hard To Suck
Guitar Rockstar GIF by WallowsGiphy"Guitar."
"Just started playing and committing at least 30 min a day. It’s so hard to suck at something, but I want my kids to see me stick to something and develop a skill, that things just don’t happen overnight for people."
"And it’s super therapeutic."
- Blueskyz8
Ideas Die Swiftly
"Carpentry for sure. Not even close."
"Owning a home fills me with all sorts of cool ideas. Decks, additions, shelves, tables, the list goes on and on."
"Then I say 'I’ll just do it myself!' and become completely overwhelmed. Then I get quotes from contractors and the ideas swiftly die."
"Doing it yourself is literally half the price. You just need the know-how and some tools."
- Rotanikleb
"I feel this in my soul."
"I could do it myself, but with what time, what tools, what money?"
"Oh, it costs how much for someone else to do it? I guess it's not getting done."
- dcux
"I've been a carpenter for 4 years and I would also choose carpentry lol. You can never stop learning new stuff."
- ImAPlebe
1 calendar year is 8,760 hours. So ten thousand hours is more than a year of time spent focused and concentrated on doing just one thing - not eating, sleeping, bathroom breaks, nada.
... Yeah, we'll take the montage or sleep learning.
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What grossed you out so much in a relationship that you just left?
Not So Subtle Manipulation
"We were in one of many fights and I told him I needed space, so we hadn't talked in maybe a day."
"I get a text from a random number saying it was his sister and that he was in the hospital after a bad work accident."
"I ask which hospital (knowing that it is him texting me using a number app, lying about being injured - BUT you never know, maybe it's real)."
"'She' tells me the name of the hospital and then sends me a picture of JUST his legs which are bruised, but they looked like how his legs always looked."
"And then she says this is the last picture they took of him before he was life flighted to the hospital."
"She said he had severe head trauma, a cracked skull, and his back was likely broken in several places."
"So...I called the hospital and asked if they had any patients by his name - they said no."
"I asked if anyone was life flighted in in the last few hours - they said no."
"I blocked the number and went to sleep."
"A few days later I got a text from ANOTHER random number claiming to be his brother."
"He sends me a selfie of him in a hospital gown in an exam room at a doctor's office."
"He looked totally normal - no cracked skull or broken back."
"And it was cute because the room was ocean themed with crabs and fish on the walls."
"Anyway, the text said he was in the ICU (the crab room) and he had just woken up from a coma!"
"Again, I ask which hospital and the 'brother' refuses to tell me, saying he'll be RELEASED within the hour so there's no point in a visit."
"I know it makes me sound like a bad person for not believing him, but this man lied to me on several occasions, told me he'd been shot, stabbed, poisoned."
"So many red flags and my mentally ill self was naive and lonely at that time in my life."
"Granted, this was a breaking point for me and I dove head first into therapy and never looked back."- coffeee_bean
Talk About Unhygeinic!
"(Briefly) dated a girl who never cleaned her adult toys."
"It was something I missed the first few times we were together due to lighting but once I did it was all I could do to not retch."
"I played it off like the batteries had died in it."
"Afterwards I took a peek at the rest of her collection and they were all the same, coated in crustyness.
"As far as I could tell she wasn't an otherwise dirty person either."
"He place was well kept and clean and every time we were together it was clear she had either just taken a shower, or we would take one together as part of our pre-game."
"Then again, I have anosmia and can't smell most things, so maybe she stank to hell, and I just couldn't tell?"- TheShandyMan
grossed out seinfeld GIF by HULUGiphyDoes She Even Own A Broom?
"Dated a girl for a while, always seemed really well put together."
"Nice clothes, hair and makeup."
"We usually hooked up at my place."
'Went to her apartment once."
"The smell when she opened the door should’ve been enough."
"There were dirty diapers overflowing trash cans in every room of the house."
"There was a super small walkway through the mounds of dirty clothes to the bathroom."
"And to make it worse , there were used paper plates on top of the MOUNTAIN of dirty dishes in 'the sink'."
"She proudly pointed out a moldy dish and said that it was from when she cooked dinner for two of our mutual friends."
"3 months prior."
'Noped the hell outta there."- Jammin_neB13
Tragic
"When she doted on my kids as though they were hers/ours but treated HERS like they no longer existed or mattered."
"MASSIVE MASSIVE red flag."
"I was sooooo happy to get out of that relationship but years later I feel badly for her kids and pray everything turned out well for them."- Pittman247
Good Thing They Noticed!
"The swastika I found under her left t*t."- vensik
Definitely Not A Keeper
"My ex used to say, constantly, that she wanted to be inside my skin."
"It was her way of saying she desired me, but it was weird and off-putting so I asked her to stop and she couldn't understand what was so uncomfortable about what she was saying."
"Pretty soon after that I went on a week long work trip and three days into it she called and told me the whole time I've been gone she wanted to cheat on me."
"Then she asked me if she could see other people while I'm gone."
"I broke up with her pretty much instantaneously."- BashfulArtichoke
Not What They Did, But What They Were Thinking
"She was jealous of me spending time with my sister and implied our relationship ‘wasn’t normal’."
"I was so grossed out by the implication."
"Dumped her the next day."- Tygoodnight
One Hopes She Got The Help She Needed
"It was two separate incidents, but long story short, one night she got super drunk at my sister-in-law's house."
"After spilling a second glass of red wine on my SIL's white carpet, we opted to move her glass further away from the edge of the table."
"As soon as we left, she screamed, like full-fledged raged, at me for 'not defending her'."
"The very next time we were together, she got drunk again and accused me of trying to cheat on her (I've never cheated on anyone) and threw her purse at me."
"I let things calm down and explained to her that I grew up in a house chock full of domestic violence and that was an absolute line in the sand."
"And for that reason, I was out."- Zutes
When They Admit To Stalking, GET OUT!!!
"He showed me, with excitement, a box of things he'd been collecting from me without my knowledge."
"This included strands of my hair taped up neatly, bobby pins and hair pins I had in from prom, my finger prints and saliva sample that he took out of the trash from our forensics class experiments."
"He thought this was a romantic gesture or something, but it just made me really realize how creepy and obsessive he is."
"He was also very controlling and got jealous/mad at me for hanging out with my sister or spending time on my laptop or with my dog."
"And he also admitted to me that he stalked my FB interests to pretend he knew and liked what I liked, researching the games I played and music I listened to so he could bring it up in conversation."
"Total psycho."- puppycatpie
Rendering His Showers Unnecessary
"I showered at his place after staying over and I asked for a towel."
"He gave me one which had literal skin flakes on."
"I asked for a clean one."
"He asked what I meant."
"He did not realize that you need to wash towels because 'they just have water on them so they clean themselves'."- G1ngerbeer
towel talking GIF by South Park GiphyComplete And Total Lack Of Sympathy
"My mom died just weeks before and I was tired as f*ck, exhausted, and in a traumatic phase of grief after a year of cancer treatments and all the fuss of being there for a cancer battle."
"The woman I was seeing told me I need to get over it and can't just be alone inside all the time."
"Never spoke to her again."
"Went through my phases of grief and have been a resource to ppl in my life that are going through similar loss since then."
"Grief takes time or it doesn't; it's different for everyone."- Stevenerf
Trolls Aren't Just Found Under Bridges...
"Found out gf had several fake social media accounts she’d use to bully strangers and harass women she knew including my ex wife."
"Instant dump."- Zen4rest
Some people simply aren't meant for one another.
After reading some of these cases, however, one could honestly say that some people simply aren't meant for anyone.
Redditor GrouchyResolution974 wanted to know what the boys can't quite seem to grasp about the ladies, so they asked:
"Men of Reddit, what’s one thing you will never understand about women?"
Thankfully, I like boys, but's it's a fascinating topic. I'm listening.
Follicle Issues
Giphy"Based on the amount of hair I have seen in the bathroom, and that I somehow still keep finding in my clothes/bu**crack, how do you still have so much hair on your head?"
shartnado3
mark your territory?
"Are you planting hair ties and bobby pins everywhere to mark your territory?"
"This actually came up in a previous relationship when my girlfriend (at the time) found a 'foreign' bobby pin in one of the bathroom drawers, and freaked out about it until I casually explained that she is in fact not the first girlfriend I ever had and that I don't go through and scrub every square inch of my apartment after a breakup."
onamonapizza
Chaotic Sizes
"Why are women clothing sizes all over the place? One store a size 4 could be a 9 at a different store."
Zihark53
"We don't get it either, and we don't like it. The fashion industry refuses to standardize sizes, make bras for well endowed women at a reasonable price, or put useable pockets on our clothing. It's freaking MADDENING."
TattooedWenchkin
"This is a topic most of us rant about at LEAST twice a month, if not every time we go clothes shopping. My best friend says women’s sizing depends on your horoscope and your immediate proximity to a chicken."
queenlesbian99
Why so Small?
"Why are their pockets so small? Who started this?"
GBgabe13
"Pockets went away because 20th century fashion silhouettes were too slim for pockets, cost of installing pockets makes manufacturers not include them in designs, and women’s clothing is made of weaker fabrics that aren’t suitable for pockets. The purse industry thing is a myth. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W2zSSE9pgC8"
butter_milk
Chatter
Mean Girls Gossip GIF by Paramount MoviesGiphy"Starting a conversation, then continuing the conversation after walking into another room where you can't be heard."
therealfrankpenny
Women have super sonic hearing, it's a gift.
Bruh!
Jersey Shore Dancing GIF by Jersey Shore Family VacationGiphy"I'm going to McDonalds, want anything? No. *Proceeds to eat all of my fries, bruh."
california-whiskey
"'I'll just have some of yours.'"
"No I want all of mine, that's the point. I'll just get 2 and finish yours."
Idontdanceforfun
0 to 100!!
"How a woman can instantly tap into the rage (with 0 energy loss) they experienced from an argument we had 2 years ago, and I don't even remember it happening."
whatchlookinat
"It's because of the implications of the past rage. I think women tend to connect behaviors into a pattern more, rightly or wrongly. So X things is seen as a warning sign for something negative."
"Something happen twice is a pattern of behavior that indicates negative thing. I think men tend to view each incident as an isolated event. I don't think either one is right or wrong. I think you need both kinds of thinkers in a social group. A lot of women just tend to lean one way and a lot of men the other."
jittery_raccoon
Location?
"Where do you want to eat?!"
WhenAllElseFail
"As a girl, I absolutely hate having to choose. I will never turn down a place when my husband picks. If I actually want something I will tell him. It should be simple. I get stuck making dinner at home most days and make those decisions- don't make me also figure out food out of the house too."
nickygirl19
"Frankly this is a fair take that I’ve never considered."
flaming_carrot12
Hats off y’all...
"Why the f**k you would ever want to be pregnant. I watched my wife push out two kids with no drugs, and y’all have my undying respect. No freaking way I’d do that dude. Courage is defined as a woman who intentionally get pregnant, knowing what that actually entails and all the terrifying risks associated with it. Hats off y’all."
ToastFromTexas
Bad Company
"Toxic Positivity. Why are you always hang around people you don't like and pretend to be nice to them."
Way_2_Go_Donny
"It’s not necessarily a good habit for sure, but women's networks rely upon collaboration so if you burn bridges, women can do a lot of damage to you socially with a bit of well placed gossip. Sadly. Women’s weapons are psychological devices, vs mens which may be more overtly aggressive."
Dry_Representative_9
Googley Eyes
Want You Love GIF by NICOLE DADDONAGiphy"How they can look at men and find them attractive. I’m an overweight turd and somehow I’ve managed to find one that finds me attractive."
mrtouchybum
We thank these ladies for answering these questions so candidly, in hopes of catching some of the men up to speed.
Do you have any burning questions or things you'd like to answer? Let us know in the comments.