Growing up as a child, you look up to adults with a sense of awe and trust. They know exactly what they are doing. Adults have got it all under control and will make sure that everything works just as it should. Stepping into adulthood is going to be great!
Well, as we all know by now, that notion is nothing but a big fat charade. Adults are as clueless as kids half the time. Why didn’t they prepare us for actual life problem-solving? It turns out that there are a ton of unpleasant and unexpected discoveries that come with adulting. Instead of teaching algebra, religion, and other useless subjects, prepare us for some of the grim everyday problems of adult life instead!
A Twitter thread kick-started by Lauren Chanel Allen, people have been sharing their own funny problems that nobody has prepared them to meet. At times hilarious, insightful, and relatable, this list compiled by Bored Panda definitely makes for entertaining reading.
Scroll down below to check the best Tweets out for yourself, and feel free to leave your own in the comments!
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It's just much harder managing that when you live alone than with a larger family. Even the smallest portions can be a lot for a single person. My mom never had trouble with that when she cooked for us 4. Now that she's living alone, she's having these problems too.
My dad used to always say this and I thought it was just something old people thought. Youth is truly wasted on the young.
Story of my life. Even when you make relatively okay money, every f*****g thing is so so sooo expensive.
Wow, really? Maybe you should change jobs if you feel like you want to die or need to find excuses not to go! Working isn't that bad! I mean, of course it depends on each person's job, personal motivation, and other factors such as possible illnesses (I'm thinking of depression), but weren't you already more or less used to this sort of morning routine when you went to school? High school? University?
I'm 73. When i was younger, both my parents advised me to always have younger people among my friends. i have found this to be very wise advice.
Yup. Beds are suddenly crazy expensive. Tables and Sofas/ couches too! Suddenly, DIY carpentry and solution videos fill your YouTube play list. Then you begin to wonder how dad and mom didn't completely lose their s**t every time you jumped on the furniture..
i finally put together a four week turn-around menu. It took ages but now i know ahead of time everything we'll be having for dinner.
The best math class I took was business math. My dad didn't want me to but I had a hard time in pre-algebra in middle school. Business math was the same level as pre-algebra, but it was applied math. That was one of the most useful classes I took. I have always done my own taxes, even when the return was still on paper. I do wish they'd gone into stocks & mutual funds and that type of thing. We got a bit of that in economics in high school, but not nearly as much when you figure how much it can affect your life.
I think that at least one math class in high school should cover real-life issues that require math skills, such as balancing a bank statement, figuring out interest on a credit card, and how to create a reasonable budget. That sort of thing. Even better if they can cover the investing knowledge you mentioned!
Load More Replies...Way more useful than the math classes I had to take! Wish it had been offered when I was in school (during the Dark Ages!)
I found quantum physics and string theory useful in decovering where my money goes.
As Mark Kelly said, all you need to do taxes is covered in 4th grade (YMMV, depending on country), home budgeting is covered by by 1st grade math (it's the most basic algebra, really). And mortgages or credits can differ vastly, depending on the region and financial institution. Also, in my country the most common math task (especially in the homework) was the 'narrative task', where you had a problem described and you had to solve it using what you learned (you know, 'the train from station A leaves with the speed of 30 mph...'). Compound increment was almost universally describes as something along the lines 'you put $1000 in the bank and this increases by 1% monthly, how much will you have after 5 years'. So, you could learn pure math and its practical application. Not to mention that if you're employed (as most people are) you most commonly do not care about taxes at all - it is your employer's job to calculate, deduct and report it :)
Here in Finland taxes and other adult math stuff was taught to us in school when we were approximately 15 years old. That was good but the problem was that you don't remember anything about that when you are 18+ and move avay from your home...
Load More Replies...I'm so glad I learned about the Pythagorean Theorem for that time every year that Pythagorean Theorem season comes around.
I don't love my field of work, but I get by by enjoying being useful. Can do most jobs that way.
Yeah they do take work but it shouldnt be hard. I have been with my guy for 15 years, we met when we were 18 and went through a lot of changes and basically grew up together. It was actually a lot harder when we were younger. Now we say "I love you" every day and thank each other countless times throughout the day "thank you for cooking us dinner", "Thank you for picking me up from work". Being proactive and grateful, I believe, is the key to a healthy and long lasting relationship. Also, have lots of sex.
This needs to be higher. I see so many friends and relatives (and i did it for a while too until i realised how damaging it was) holding onto grudges from things that happened to them when they were kids.
The more prepared for a rainy day you are, the less they'll come. After all it's not a rainy day if you're fully expecting it.
YES! feel like im always living for the weekend when i should be making the most of my weekday evenings just as much
And the feeling of fear that comes with this responsibility. Are you really helping or are you just insulting them? And what if you are wrong? I really want an "owner's manual" for the human life.
"Will I remember this fight in 5 years, will it still upset me?" probably not, so best let it go now
Yes, one of the good things. It took me 2 divorces to be happy with just me and not worry about what others think.
When I had this epiphany it was both the most terrifying and the most liberating moment of my life.
That means they get to make different mistakes first and you can learn from watching
I could not agree more. Worse though when you might look like the bad guy because everyone around the toxic person either believes their manipulation or too new to knowing them
I take a deep breath, pretend to be someone who can cope, do what I need to do, go home and cry under the covers and sleep for a couple of days and do nothing else for weeks. Faking confidence has consequences. Friends are used to me being full on over the top when in public. It's how I cope. No sliding scale... full on or off. Usually chat via text, much calmer
yup...that about covers it...oh, and being 17 on the inside and 60 (yrs old) on the outside.
But you can make that easier for your children, if you accept a "no" from them then and when (when its not that important- f.e. no I don't want to go to grandma today is alright, no I don't want to brush my teeth/ go to school id not) so they get confident in saying what they really want
I rarely do this. I only do it now with my car insurance because that's the only way they will finance it, and they are good about giving me several warnings before they take out the money. I'm bad about forgetting things like that, and a few times I've had companies take out the money early and blow up my account.
Got laughed at for asking about pensions when I started working. Then laughed at by financial adviser for trying to get a pension when I earned so little ( they wanted 3 times my gross pay minimum to start a scheme) Still no pension and I'm closing in on retirement age
i always wanted to be career woman when i was a little kid soooo f*****g ambitious, and finally i am a career woman at my 26 now but turns out i wanted all the wrong things to be happy. I would've prefer to get married at a young age and being deeply in love, have kids with semi-domestic life would make me happier period.
I think nobody could ever imagine that you have to be prepared for "that".
I've battled mental illness since I was 10. What I always heard was "don't worry, it will get better once you (fill in the blank)" Whether it was get out of middle school, graduate high school, get to college, graduate college, move out of your home town, get a job, establish a career, fall in love, etc. That's all b******t. It's never gotten better, just different
My car was just totaled (while parked). Dealing with insurance has been a process, but not a very difficult one. The hardest part is just waiting for them to do the work so I can get my money.
My own parents didn't know about cleaning the lint filter in the clothes dryer. They had to call a repairman for it, and he told them it could have started a fire. My mom had always either gone to the laundromat or hung the clothes on the line, so she had no experience with that.
Love living alone. Used to go camping alone just to get away from people. Can't imagine having to share my space with anyone else. Is it allowable to get married and not cohabit?
I am glad well not glad but at least i am not the only one to feel such bad anxiety - it is crippling at times- i just lay in bed and think and think and then i think okay this is not real then i think more about what if that does happen..ugh
Oooh, yeah! That was a harsh lesson I learned. I picked up my mom's habit if saying to me whatever comes to her mind and give advice every step of the way. Unneeded advice. Imagine my shock when the world did not treat me kindly and it took me a couple times to realize why. Also when the 'Mom knows best' myth started to crumble.
Maybe it doesn’t fit here, but this one is very true. It’s f*****g gross.
That passion fades until one day you wake up feeling like you are in a Groundhog Day montage; wake up, feed the cat, take a shower, pack lunch, grab a cup of coffee and a granola bar, head to the office, answer the same questions, hear the same lame stories, file the same paperwork, drive home, feed the cat, make dinner, fall asleep in front of the TV, wake up and do it all again. Until you wake up and realize your life is half over and you have not rescued all the animals, destroyed evil with the power of your positive energy, cured disease, and written the greatest epic known to man; and really your greatest wish at that realization is that some doughnuts have magically appeared in the kitchen and someone else made the coffee.
Every single morning my two office mates will (separately) ask how my previous night was. Each day around 10:30 they'll ask if I brought "something yummy for lunch". (Always those exact words.) By 3:30 it's "Whatcha got going on tonight?", to which the answer is almost always "Same old stuff." If it's Friday, talk about the forthcoming weekend starts by 3. Monday morning is "How was your weekend?". Repeat ad nauseum. I don't think they realize they do it, so I've been able to get away with giving the same answers every time.
Load More Replies...As a kid you don't want to sleep.When you are older you cant sleep enough.It is also hard to meet and hangout with new people.As a kid you just start to play with other kids.
No one tells you as a kid that as you grow up a lot of the magic, wonder and fun leaves the world. I miss when the simplest things like having a sleepover or going to the beach was like the most exciting amazing thing ever!
:( well that's sad to me.. You should do something that you LOVED from your childhood and try to find joy in that.. I'm not a very good adult, but I do like the fact I haven't let my inner child die. I still get excited for bubbles, swings, new adventures/places, etc...
Load More Replies...Oh man, I thought this list was going to be clever/funny, but it turned out to be whiny/depressing. Downvote.
Children need to be taught about s**t splatters under toilet seats. Wasn’t prepared for that.
Treadmills of work, pay bills&work some more is there to keep us all occupied while life passes us all by! Life is such a fragile yet precious thing that we cling onto but never really think about...Wake Up Your Brain, before its all too late
That 90% of potential boyfriends are absolute dirtbags. Finding anyone kind and respectful is a rare gem.
I understand you so well! You have to learn to protect yourself. I didnt imagine i could suffer so much because of harrassment from men! I grew up with so many friends who were boys, i expected to find the same sense of companionship in adult men.. but you have to choose your friends well, i guess. Im so disappointed and disgusted by men, now, that i just gave up on the whole “love” thing. I think my gem maybe is somewhere out there🙂
Load More Replies...I miss being a kid and adulting is hard. However growing up at least (Generation X, Y, Z ) we do not live through World Wars as the previous generations did. Of course we hear of wars elsewhere but somehow not as bad as World War I and II. I remind myself this each day just to get me through and I feel like living Erma Bombeck's articles, her thoughts about raising a family and her thoughts about death of her husband's friend. When I learn about people dying in their 40s with heart attack or cancer I always thought, no, not our generation. Please not us yet. But time flies.
Facial and body hair...no one tells you how much tweeting you will have to do...constantly!
Raising teenagers. No one warned me about the emotional roller coaster, because I don't remember being anything but perfect ;)
How to leave jobs that are not good for you/don't make you happy, without burning bridges. Picking and choosing your battles. Speaking up for yourself (sometimes). Saying no. Guilt. Remorse. Regret. Holding back. (emotions, fears, tears, etc) Losing your sense of identity. Losing friends. Not having enough money. These are all/have been too real, and they are things I was never taught or knew how to pre-pare for.
No one tells you as a kid that free stuff is complete bs. LIke you have to buy everything. Don't forget about the plates, or the salt and pepper.
When friends commit suicide around you from drugs and or life is getting too hard
I was optimistic as a kid-or maybe I wasn't and just thought things would still be fun as an adult. friends are good and my son and sisters etc. but the loneliness and day to day grind of stuff is exhausting. I know someone who just spends money to make them happy-travels, runs with kids 24-7, tones of hobbies and is totally stressed out-and they suggest the same to me. but the thing is as a working adult A-cash doesn't grow on trees and debt takes forever to go away or even go away at all....so just blowing it looking for fun and happiness.....can't buy happiness-but you can buy part time freedom. and being stressed with a full plate? no thanks. even if someone told me being an adult is boring and mundane....you wouldn't have believed them and you can't do anything about it at all.
Apparently I was pretty well prepared for adulthood. My parents were very open and honest about finances with us as we were growing up though. And I actually paid attention to what was going on in running the household. I didn't have a particularly easy childhood either, so I guess I turned out alright.
That passion fades until one day you wake up feeling like you are in a Groundhog Day montage; wake up, feed the cat, take a shower, pack lunch, grab a cup of coffee and a granola bar, head to the office, answer the same questions, hear the same lame stories, file the same paperwork, drive home, feed the cat, make dinner, fall asleep in front of the TV, wake up and do it all again. Until you wake up and realize your life is half over and you have not rescued all the animals, destroyed evil with the power of your positive energy, cured disease, and written the greatest epic known to man; and really your greatest wish at that realization is that some doughnuts have magically appeared in the kitchen and someone else made the coffee.
Every single morning my two office mates will (separately) ask how my previous night was. Each day around 10:30 they'll ask if I brought "something yummy for lunch". (Always those exact words.) By 3:30 it's "Whatcha got going on tonight?", to which the answer is almost always "Same old stuff." If it's Friday, talk about the forthcoming weekend starts by 3. Monday morning is "How was your weekend?". Repeat ad nauseum. I don't think they realize they do it, so I've been able to get away with giving the same answers every time.
Load More Replies...As a kid you don't want to sleep.When you are older you cant sleep enough.It is also hard to meet and hangout with new people.As a kid you just start to play with other kids.
No one tells you as a kid that as you grow up a lot of the magic, wonder and fun leaves the world. I miss when the simplest things like having a sleepover or going to the beach was like the most exciting amazing thing ever!
:( well that's sad to me.. You should do something that you LOVED from your childhood and try to find joy in that.. I'm not a very good adult, but I do like the fact I haven't let my inner child die. I still get excited for bubbles, swings, new adventures/places, etc...
Load More Replies...Oh man, I thought this list was going to be clever/funny, but it turned out to be whiny/depressing. Downvote.
Children need to be taught about s**t splatters under toilet seats. Wasn’t prepared for that.
Treadmills of work, pay bills&work some more is there to keep us all occupied while life passes us all by! Life is such a fragile yet precious thing that we cling onto but never really think about...Wake Up Your Brain, before its all too late
That 90% of potential boyfriends are absolute dirtbags. Finding anyone kind and respectful is a rare gem.
I understand you so well! You have to learn to protect yourself. I didnt imagine i could suffer so much because of harrassment from men! I grew up with so many friends who were boys, i expected to find the same sense of companionship in adult men.. but you have to choose your friends well, i guess. Im so disappointed and disgusted by men, now, that i just gave up on the whole “love” thing. I think my gem maybe is somewhere out there🙂
Load More Replies...I miss being a kid and adulting is hard. However growing up at least (Generation X, Y, Z ) we do not live through World Wars as the previous generations did. Of course we hear of wars elsewhere but somehow not as bad as World War I and II. I remind myself this each day just to get me through and I feel like living Erma Bombeck's articles, her thoughts about raising a family and her thoughts about death of her husband's friend. When I learn about people dying in their 40s with heart attack or cancer I always thought, no, not our generation. Please not us yet. But time flies.
Facial and body hair...no one tells you how much tweeting you will have to do...constantly!
Raising teenagers. No one warned me about the emotional roller coaster, because I don't remember being anything but perfect ;)
How to leave jobs that are not good for you/don't make you happy, without burning bridges. Picking and choosing your battles. Speaking up for yourself (sometimes). Saying no. Guilt. Remorse. Regret. Holding back. (emotions, fears, tears, etc) Losing your sense of identity. Losing friends. Not having enough money. These are all/have been too real, and they are things I was never taught or knew how to pre-pare for.
No one tells you as a kid that free stuff is complete bs. LIke you have to buy everything. Don't forget about the plates, or the salt and pepper.
When friends commit suicide around you from drugs and or life is getting too hard
I was optimistic as a kid-or maybe I wasn't and just thought things would still be fun as an adult. friends are good and my son and sisters etc. but the loneliness and day to day grind of stuff is exhausting. I know someone who just spends money to make them happy-travels, runs with kids 24-7, tones of hobbies and is totally stressed out-and they suggest the same to me. but the thing is as a working adult A-cash doesn't grow on trees and debt takes forever to go away or even go away at all....so just blowing it looking for fun and happiness.....can't buy happiness-but you can buy part time freedom. and being stressed with a full plate? no thanks. even if someone told me being an adult is boring and mundane....you wouldn't have believed them and you can't do anything about it at all.
Apparently I was pretty well prepared for adulthood. My parents were very open and honest about finances with us as we were growing up though. And I actually paid attention to what was going on in running the household. I didn't have a particularly easy childhood either, so I guess I turned out alright.