As valuable as it is to learn, this is often the result of first making a mistake. These tend to not be any fun, so a wise person does their best to learn from someone else's mistakes. Or even better, they just ask an expert what to do and not do in advance.
One netizen decided to ask the internet for insider information on what to avoid and professionals from around the world gave their best bits of advice. So get comfortable, make sure your posture is correct and that your eyes aren’t strained, and scroll through. Upvote the best piece of advice and also comment your thoughts and auditions below.
This post may include affiliate links.
I am a professional caregiver in an assisted living facility. I will definitely drive off a cliff before being locked in a memory care unit for dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
Brachycephalic dogs. Pugs, bulldogs, frenchies, all of them. I don't understand why we keep making them.
Verbal confirmations. Always get it in writing via an email ,a text, carrier pigeon ,a letter I don't care get it in writing,!
I learnt that the hard way when I was a trainee long time ago. Now, I even confirm my own e-mail to myself 🤣
As scary as contracts can be, the various pieces of advice here are correct, if it’s not in writing and signed, it is effectively worthless. This isn’t just some modern concept, even in the ancient world people needed ways to ensure that there was evidence of an agreement between two parties. In other words, before we even had paper, we had legally binding contracts.
How was this done, one might ask, well, simply put, the agreement would be literally carved in stone. Examples of these can be found in Ancient Greece, where some are still visible today, and Sumeria, among others.
Don’t volunteer info to anyone that you haven’t solicited to assist you.
Not the cops.
Not your employer.
Not your vacation plans on FB.
Information will be used against you, limit your exposure.
Used to work at FedEx ground.
Pack your s**t like it's gonna get dropped off a cliff. Package handlers do not care if your box says fragile or has orientation arrows. Stuff it with whatever, packing peanuts, expanding foam, bubble wrap. Pack. Your. S**t. Or even better pack that box and put a bigger box around it. They will toss your s**t, put heavy stuff on top of it. Use it as a step stool to reach higher boxes.
Pack. Your. S**t.
Historian here. Not labeling anything.
Meta data is your friend. Always better to add too much information rather than have too little. Label the backs of your photographs. Write clearly. For the love of all that is holy WRITE CLEARLY!
Be very careful about what kind of pen you use to write on the back of your photographs and make sure you don’t stack them with the picture side of the next one touching the writing, or else you can end up with a terrible mess of photos sticking together and the writing transferring onto the next picture.
These agreements would evolve in a number of ways, for example, in the Indian subcontinent, a hundi would be a type of contract that could be transferred. This allowed for people to have significantly more liquidity, as they could sell off a contract to raise money quickly. In other places, similar ideas would develop for debt and obligations, as well as the somewhat detested ability to transfer the debt to another party upon death.
Go on a date without notifying a friend or family member where I am and who I’m with. I work in law enforcement
I work in accessibility.
Do not hesitate or wait to put grab bars, a tub cut out etc in your house when you grow old or if you have mobility issues.
Put grab bars in your bathroom before you fall in the shower, not because you already had a fall in the shower.
Yeah, if the elderly weren't so stubborn. My mum can't walk straight, but still thinks she doesn't need a walk aid, or aids in the shower. My aunt fell twice and broke her hip twice, because she still can walk properly and doesn't need a stick. My father holds his phone far away with squeezed eyes and mouth wide open, but hey, he still doesn't need reading glasses. 🙄
End of life treatment. Good God, why anyone chooses to be a breathing corpse is beyond me. Whether on machines or due to oxygen interruptions, there is no quality of life... support. Give it the ol' college try, and if I don't respond in the first 10 minutes, peace out cub scout.
That's not to say I won't take end of life CARE. If I'm 90 and still won't throw in the towel, I still want help eating and cleaning myself. But the day i stop responding to the world around me, just give me a solid Kevorkian and free up bed space for the next poor schmuck.
If I can't breathe, eat, and respond for a sustained amount of time then pull the plug my body will stop on its own.
On a more accessible scale, some people recommended avoiding “smart” devices that need to be constantly connected to the internet. At first glance, it may seem cool, your smart fridge can play a jingle when you open it on your birthday. This is all fun and games until it needs to update in the middle of the night and reboots, melting all your ice cream. Or even worse, a minor wifi issue now means you risk all your meat spoiling.
Bad friends. ER doc. The amount of people that hang out with the wrong people and end up paying the price is astounding. I teach my kids - whatever your friends do to other people, they will eventually do to you.
Don’t get back surgery unless it’s absolutely last resort. You need to fix the root cause of the injury - usually it’s core strength weakness or Glut weakness. Go to PT first and really do the exercises. Most people who get spine surgeries have multiple ones over their lives because the level just above or below their surgery becomes injured for the same reason your first one occurred.
I can verify this. Had 5 disc operations from 30yo. Now 49 and paralysed with cauda equina syndrome and agonising pain 24/7. No bladder or bowel control. And had to spend 20 months in hospital.Wish to god I'd never had them done.(and I don't even believe in the big man)
Chiropractors- as a medical practitioner I have heard of (although never personally seen) horrific, permanent damage come about from their 'manipulations'
Many chiropractors these days also teach exercises like a physical therapist. Might as well go to a physical therapist and have your insurance pay for part of the treatment. Also Chiropractors are supplement pushers. They will have you buy hundreds of dollars of useless supplements. Applied kinesiology is another scam they use. Go to four different chiropractors using that and you will get four totally different lists of foods you are allergic to.
There have been cases where smart lights fail to switch off when Google servers have been down, a somewhat comical issue until you need to sleep. On a more serious note, there are legitimate security concerns if someone can hack everything from a car to a door. These devices, at the very least, will store some of your data that can be stolen, while at worst, your household appliances can be controlled remotely by malicious actors.
Large cruise ships. The number of suits against cruise lines filed in Miami by cruise ship passengers who got infectious diseases or food poisoning at sea is really staggering, only the absolute worst cases make the news but it happens ALL THE TIME, I've heard cruise ships described as "floating petri dishes" and that's putting it mildly.
I wasn't ever going to be on one BEFORE I went to Pastry/Culinary school. Now that I'm certified in sanitation and understand Norovirus in a new way, they should all be burned at sea
Explaining your side to the police. Just don’t do it. It’s fine to give them your license etc on a traffic stop, tell them where you’re going or coming from (be general if you’re like coming from a crack house; you can say “the west side visiting a friend”) also fine to say you haven’t been drinking (never ever that you have). But, DO NOT CONSENT TO A SEARCH OR A FIELD SOBRIETY TEST. Let them get a search warrant, call the drug dog, or arrest you for refusal and draw your blood (which also requires a search warrant). All of these things can be challenged in court, your consent usually can’t be and even if it can it’s MUCH more difficult.
If you did not witness a crime or are the victim of a crime and the police want to talk to you, you are a suspect. You know whether you saw or heard a crime or not. Police want to talk to you about your neighbor getting beat and you heard screams, saw him/her throw a punch, you’re a witness and it’s fine. Police come to ask you about where you were last night, whether you know someone, what you said on social media and you didn’t witness a crimes where you were last night or by the person you know or on social media-you are a suspect.
I’ve practiced criminal defense for over a decade. Only 1 time have I ever seen a Defendant get out of criminal charges by talking to the police. And guess what, he didn’t do it by himself. Lawyer found evidence to back up what he said yada yada yada, The DA made the call to drop the charges.
You know what, the police were PISSED. They targeted him when he got out jail because no matter all of that, they still believed he committed the crime.
When you’re a suspect talking to the police always ends badly. Always.
I grew up with the Chief of Police in my tiny town a friend of our family, the onky extra thing he taught my brother and i was to repeatedly say "I do not consent to this search"
Going outside without sunscreen on my face if nowhere else. I’m a Pathology resident and the amount of ears, noses, lips and other chunks of face I see that surgeons have chopped off due to skin cancers caused by sun damage is sobering. Please in the name of all that’s good an holy find a daily sunscreen that works for you and wear it.
My dad went bald very early in his life and didn't bother to always protect his scalp. Now he's a senior citizen and several times a year he needs painful procedures to remove and prevent additional spots of skin cancer. Some of them of very invasive and brutal to recover from. He definitely wishes he had worn a hat and sunscreen more often. :(
Of course, this is a bleak scenario, as not all smart devices are constantly connected to the net. But you probably have noticed that increasingly advanced devices become more and more complicated to use and understand. A coffee machine now might have a whole tablet menu to navigate. While this may be great in the long run, touch screens can be a pain, and as Michael Littman, a computer scientist at Brown University put it “If users need to learn different interfaces for their vacuums, their locks, their sprinklers, their lights, and their coffeemakers, it's tough to say that their lives have been made any easier."
Doctors and physicians are regular people, which means some of them really suck at their jobs (treating your health). Don’t ignore that feeling if you think you might have a bad doctor. There’s nothing wrong with consulting multiple professionals.
You know what you call someone who graduated last in their medical school? DOCTOR. You hired them, you can fire them.
Consultants. We get paid to interview your staff to document the issues and solutions they’ve already identified but can’t get approval to do. Then we put some cool slides and bogus ROI numbers around it so your executives will fund the work.
It’s super rare for a company to not have someone on staff who knows what needs to be done and has it 3/4ths documented already. Execs either don’t trust their own team enough or need an outside group’s recommendation to get through the political BS to implement change.
This. My Fortune 100 company spends millions every year on consultants who often repurpose presentations employees have made highlighting changes that need to be made. What is more annoying is we are constantly told we need to reduce costs.
Opening any links or attachment of an email without verifying the sender mail address
Even if the email address is verified the sender could have been compromised with a virus that sends out email with malicious attachments and spoofed addresses.
As a software engineer, internet-connected 'smart' home stuff. I don't need some internet random gaining access to my security cameras.
Not getting agreements in writing when it comes to loaning substantial amounts of money. Family, friends, doesn't matter. A loan without an agreement is a gift.
Not getting a DNR or having and End of Life plan when I become elderly/if I become incredibly ill.
I'm a carer in elderly care and the idea of having my life extended just to live in pain and losing all my independence is horrific. I don't want to leave it to family members who might not be willing to let me go or be in denial about how unwell I am to decide those types of things for me.
Humans are emotional and it's totally understandable to go into shock/denial when you find out your loved one is dying, but forcing them to be resuscitated or to go to hospital to prolong their life regardless of the quality is painful to see.
1 - I wouldn’t drink water from the tap without letting it run a few seconds first. Especially first thing in the morning.
I used to work for my state’s drinking water compliance program and would collect and analyze drinking water samples from all sorts of public drinking water sources, including people’s homes. All the contaminants, minerals, etc. from the water source to the pipes and even the solder (especially if old) leach and accumulate the longer the water sits in the lines. Letting the tap run for a few seconds flushes out that “stagnant” water and draws fresher water from the mainlines.
2 - Don’t be an a*****e to anyone in customer service - from retail to sales and food service - I worked in retail for many, many years. These folks are just trying to get by and aren’t responsible for whatever is that got you all upset in the first place. In fact, simply being nice to them in a difficult situation can more times than not actually work out in your favor as they may sympathize/empathize with you.
The last comment in part 2. Yes, yes. You will get a better result being polite, than being an idiot.
After working as a paralegal at an insurance defense firm, DO NOT TAKE ANY HELICOPTER TOURS. At least in Hawaii, a lot of the helicopters aren't well maintained and there are a surprising amount of crashes they manage to keep quiet. One of the evidence exhibits I helped put together for one case was a picture the family had taken in front of the helicopter before they boarded it and were all killed when it crashed. That was almost 20 years ago and that one sticks with me.
I have an uncle who flew jets and helicopters for the USNG and he refuses to get in any helicopter.
Wearing contacts in the shower/pool/any body of water. Worked as an ophthalmic photographer in Pittsburgh for seven years. College students were coming in with ulcers and amoeba in their corneas from swimming in their contacts and then sleeping in them for days.
How can anyone sleep in contacts for DAYS? I can barely last a few hours before they get too dry and irritated.
Not all confidential/anonymous surveys are as confidential/anonymous as you think
Always always always argue a claim denied by health insurance. They will arbitrarily reject claims with no justification.
EDIT: ALSO, insurance companies will always send you an Explanation of Benefits (EOB), which is not a bill, but has the amount that should appear on the bill. If there is any question in your mind about a bill, always compare the bill from the provider with the EOB.
I used to work in healthcare administration. Insurance will usually cave on the 3rd try. Send in a well written, factual re submission looking for answers, not pity. The next letter should reference the last letter but have more information or just reword it. Always be polite. If you are rude your file ends up in the closed files drawers.
Texting/emailing anything negative to anyone I work with about anything.
I work in HR.
Don’t build or buy a house in a floodplain or near a stream.
Cleanses and detoxes, your body does this with organs, lol. Specifically lungs, skin, liver and kidneys. Take whatever you want the body still needs those organs to get it out.
Chiropractor: "This (expensive useless supplement) will remove your toxins."
Allow a pet to fly as checked luggage. I haven't witnessed any mistreatment of animals during loading or unloading, but the whole process is generally stressful for them and most don't look very comfortable.
I flew my dog twice in the baggage hold in the 80s. Both times he was well taken care of. I wouldn't board until I saw him brought over and when he was unloaded, I had to match his tag with mine to make sure I was the owner. At that time, the holds were heated and pressurized. The pilot was always told if any animals were aboard and the airlines had a policy of any animal put in the hold was last on, first off. I remember watching at the window while the baggage handlers were waiting to load my dog and I can still see the handler bending over and talking to my dog. This was Western Airlines. I don't know about the airlines now, but then I had no fear of shipping my dog.
I’m a athletic trainer. Never letting my kids play football.
Your coworkers are not your friends, they’re your colleagues. Do not date people you work with. I’ve seen it a million times, and it seldom works out. I’m sure there are people who were coworkers that fostered happy relationships outside of work, but it’s rare.
Don’t get your honey where you get your money!
HR is not there for your benefit, either. No matter what they say, their end goal is to protect the company.
Health and fitness field- don’t argue with people who speak in “absolute” terms. Example: “___ is bad for you.” You’ll never win and it isn’t worth the time nor energy
TikTok and any short form social media video content. As a teacher I saw a rapid and significant drop in student’s attention spans when they got popular. It’s made me more self aware of the fact my own attention span is worse than it used to be when I started using them too. So I cut it all out and my attention span and general anxiety levels have dropped
I eradicated and completely deleted all of my social media profiles in 2016. My life has never been better.
The first production run of any product. I build and maintain automation. It's never perfect on the first try. Employees need time to learn how to assemble the product properly and trades need time to work out the kinks.
Not setting boundaries for your child/ren - daycare worker
I used to work for a ver large casket manufacturer. The deathcare industry (funeral homes) are some of the most predatory businesses I have ever dealt with. They pressure people who are usually an emotional wreck into making quick decisions about products that are ridiculously marked up by telling them “your mom is literally on ice and we need a decision”.
Funeral home reps hang out near hospitals and end of life care facilities like vultures that swoop in the minute someone passes OR they have agreements with these places to push their services. I’ve seen the sheets of paper these funeral homes gives to hospitals to pass on to literally anyone who just passed aways family. They aren’t snatching the bodies they are pushing their services as soon as someone passes. It’s usually just a “menu” of what they offer but I know for a fact some places do this. The markup on caskets is near 1000% in some cases. They promote a “white glove” service and I can tell you that is complete BS. We threw those caskets around as quick as we could and repairs were made in house with whatever we could use. We fixed scratches and dents in wood caskets with meted crayons and painted imperfections in metal caskets with nail polish. The rule of thumb was “if you can’t see it in dim light through watery eyes it’s fine” because most people stop paying attention to the details of the $3000 casket once it’s been “bodied” and the service starts.
When I die, cremate me and spread my ashes somewhere cool or just throw me away. If you put me in a Batesville casket I will haunt you.
Edit: Anyone who tells you a casket is protected from the elements is full of s**t. The gaskets on the hardware are cheap as hell and we NEVER replaced them when we were supposed to. Most of the caskets underground are full of groundwater and most of the caskets above ground will eventually leak remains. You don’t see the underground damage unless you exhume the casket and the ones above ground are placed in a way that the liquid collect and drips in a place you’ll never see. One more reason I want to be cremated is because I don’t wanna turn into a puddle of people goo and rainwater. Sorry to break it to anyone visiting loved ones gravesites but whatever is in there is disgusting.
Edit 2: I didn’t work at the production plant, I delivered finished caskets to funeral homes and had daily interaction with these people and when they get friendly they get talkative. Every single one was in it for the money and wouldn’t hesitate to brag about how much they could sell a casket for. We had one guy who was very proud of his ability to sell casket accessories that never went into the ground. “Oh your dad was a marine? For an extra $65 we can put a really nice metal and enamel EGA on each corner instead of those basic plastic ones bay are currently on there. And guess what, they are magnetic so you could even get it one for yourself to keep on your fridge that way you can always have something to remember him”.
Whatever is in a casket will be gross no matter if rainwater leaks into it or not.
That certain plastics that we use regularly really shouldn’t be exposed to high heat and a lot of the disposable products we use aren’t as safe as we truly think. A lot of plastics break down when hot and a lot of our coffee cups and things are lined with plastic that also isn’t superb at high temps. Also, a lot of our “recyclable” goods can only be recycled in a handful of facilities in the U.S. which means most of this still ends up in the trash
The myth of single stream recyclying. Also, shiploads of US plastics are sent to other countries as components of trade and relief agreements.
If you're a creative--actor, musician, painter, etc--avoid self-proclaimed coaches that charge you an arm and a leg telling you they'll get you into the industry quick.
I'm coming from the world of voice over. There are a thousand and one "I'll teach you everything you need to know!" type of coaches who charge hundreds of dollars for a single hour or two. They'll promise to train you, do your demo, etc. Truth is, their business isn't voice over, it's education. *You* are their job. And you will overspend and burn out for very little return.
If you want a coach or class, look for people who are known by everyone in your industry and who have verifiable results from their own work. And for goodness sake, **don't wait for formal coaching to start doing what you want to do!** A book or YouTube video is enough to get you started in almost every case; the best thing you can do is work on it every day.
Note: this post originally had 97 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
For me it was Bariatric Surgery. I worked for one of the top hospitals in my state with well-respected, very talented surgeons and it had a VERY rigorous program - as in, you'd be lucky to be under the knife within six months. It was necessary, they needed to make sure patients were ready for the demands of post-op lifestyle changes (because, guess what? You still need to engage in diet and exercise plans after this procedure - shocker, I know). Even with all that prep, though, the number of people I had calling my line for revision consults or who were having issues YEARS later was astounding. Understand, this was not a reflection on our surgeons - their hernia patients, appendix patients, anyone outside of bariatric I never heard from again unless there was an immediate post-op concern or I was scheduling their post-healing follow up. I truly believe it's the procedures that are the problem. They just don't seem safe enough if years later patients are coming back with complications.
Rest in peace, Lisa Marie Presley. The medical reports show damage from her bariatric surgery was what led to her death.
Load More Replies...
After working as a food safety microbiologist I avoid eating bagged salad mixes, premade deli salads (potato, pasta ect), buffets, salad bars, soft serve icecream and raw milk.
Legit question here!! So, I eat at Chang's Mongolian Grill, like all the time (its my only pregnancy craving 😅) It's a restaurant where you build-your-own bowl (of raw ingredients) and then the chef stir fries it on a huge 550°F (we asked cause husband was curious) cast iron grill and then its handed directly back to the customer by the chef. Go ahead and google the restaurant if I didnt describe it well enough, lots of photos of the way it works there! Is this safer than a precooked, grab-and-go buffet?
Load More Replies...
For me it was Bariatric Surgery. I worked for one of the top hospitals in my state with well-respected, very talented surgeons and it had a VERY rigorous program - as in, you'd be lucky to be under the knife within six months. It was necessary, they needed to make sure patients were ready for the demands of post-op lifestyle changes (because, guess what? You still need to engage in diet and exercise plans after this procedure - shocker, I know). Even with all that prep, though, the number of people I had calling my line for revision consults or who were having issues YEARS later was astounding. Understand, this was not a reflection on our surgeons - their hernia patients, appendix patients, anyone outside of bariatric I never heard from again unless there was an immediate post-op concern or I was scheduling their post-healing follow up. I truly believe it's the procedures that are the problem. They just don't seem safe enough if years later patients are coming back with complications.
Rest in peace, Lisa Marie Presley. The medical reports show damage from her bariatric surgery was what led to her death.
Load More Replies... After working as a food safety microbiologist I avoid eating bagged salad mixes, premade deli salads (potato, pasta ect), buffets, salad bars, soft serve icecream and raw milk.
Legit question here!! So, I eat at Chang's Mongolian Grill, like all the time (its my only pregnancy craving 😅) It's a restaurant where you build-your-own bowl (of raw ingredients) and then the chef stir fries it on a huge 550°F (we asked cause husband was curious) cast iron grill and then its handed directly back to the customer by the chef. Go ahead and google the restaurant if I didnt describe it well enough, lots of photos of the way it works there! Is this safer than a precooked, grab-and-go buffet?
Load More Replies... 