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33 Things People Said That Indicated They Don’t Realize How The World Really Works, As Shared In This Online Community
Article created by: Jurgita Dominauskaitė
People have the best knowledge of what they have experienced and to be more aware of what is going on outside their life’s bubble, they have to interact with people who are different from them and to actively search for that information.
Otherwise, they might make themselves oblivious and out of touch with reality, which could make them look stupid in front of others. Ignorance is not bad in itself as it is impossible to know everything, but sometimes it is hard to believe how certain knowledge has not reached a person.
Not realizing that there are people who can’t afford a house or having gaps in general education are some things Redditors considered to be common knowledge that doesn’t belong just to a single society group, but they were wrong and told some funny and frustrating stories answering the question “What did somebody say that made you think: ‘This person is out of touch with reality?’”
More info: Reddit
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#1
Me: telling someone I’m a type 1 diabetic
Rando: “you shouldn’t have eaten so much sugar as a child”
Also:
“Are you still diabetic” - P.A. At a checkup
Plus the limitless amount of “cures” people have for this incurable disease.
Lil be lil 6 months ago (edited)
An ex boyfriend donated a kidney to his older brother who had type one diabetes. If he hadn't gotten it he would've had to go on dialysis machine.
RELATED:
#2
Whenever a disabled person shares their experience and a non-disabled person tells them how they can "fix" all of those problems.
#3
my sister, who traveled from the US to europe for the first time when she was 15 and has now lived there for over 5 years. We were talking about reasons people join the military and I mentioned a friend of mine who grew up on a reservation with very little and joined because he wanted to travel and get out of the rez. She looked at me and said “why can’t he just save up if he wants to travel?”
I’m 27 years old, grew up with most of the same privileges as her, and have never had the time or resources to leave the country. But she thought it was reasonable for a historically disenfranchised community member, growing up with nothing, to save up his money in order to leave home and travel.
Lil be lil 6 months ago
A Philippine friend thought that University education was free for citizens of the US. I think many Europeans don't understand that there are disadvantaged people here and they don't just choose to live in poverty.
#4
Me, homeless at the time and working my way out of it.
Coworker: I don't know why people go on game shows for money, winning 100,000 dollars wouldn't be life-changing, anyway.
At Least I'm Not You 6 months ago
It really wouldn't be. You'd still have to work, pay bills, pay more taxes, etc. You'd have, like, one easy year, if that. I mean, $100K is a cr@p house and maybe covers student loans -- but again, you'd still need money for, you know, living.
Load More Replies... #5
My husband's friend insisted on taking us to the 'best, most authentic' Chinese restaurant in town.
I'm Chinese. He's a Jewish guy who has never been to any Chinese speaking country.
The food wasn't good, nor was it authentic.
He had the most smug look on his face when he sat back and quirked his eyebrow at me as if expecting me to heap praise onto him. Anyway, I didn't.
Best part is that they aren't friends anymore (I had nothing to do with that, I promise), so now I don't have to pretend that crab rangoons are the peak of Chinese cuisine.
Lil be lil 6 months ago
Chop suey and egg foo young are American invented by Chinese restaurant chefs.
#6
A friend of mine in college was absolutely shocked when I and several other friends pulled out our childhood/hometown public library cards at dinner one night. She could not fathom that all of our families went to the library regularly when we were growing up and that this is an extremely common experience for a lot of people. When I asked her what she did when she wanted to read books growing up, she said "My family just bought them all."
#7
My old boss was railing on me for placing an order late and getting charged more after missing the ‘early bird special’, when I had been reminding her consistently for at least two months (gradually increasing my urgency that she needed to make up her mind). She was yelling at me and then said, “$$$ might not seem like a lot to you but it is to me!”
This coming from the person who set my wage, signed my checks, owned 4 substantial homes, had MILLIONS of dollars worth of artwork, designer everything, etc… While I was living in a 250sq foot garden studio apartment with my partner, which flooded when it rained longer than two days, making her hundreds of thousands of dollars from sales, with no commission.
At Least I'm Not You 6 months ago
Literally no one is forcing anyone from leaving a job if they feel unfairly treated. If you don't like your situation and stay, that's on you.
#8
I was involved in a nonprofit for women in my last city maybe 2 years back. My ex (we were 27 at the time) was from a rich area of the state, and the mean income for this area was $31k. A teacher talked about how 500+ kids in her school were homeless, abs how seniors would pool their money together to get a hotel for days or weeks at a time.
I remember telling my ex about it, and how awful that’s gotta be to be 17 and living with 10 others in a hotel. He said “they’re stupid. If they had any brains, they’d buy a house so they could get equity; the hotel is just them throwing their money away and not getting anything from it.” He was 100% stuck that these 17 year olds, with no addresses, who are MINORS, can apply and qualify for a mortgage. I fussed at him and don’t regret it, because he is so out of touch with reality. Eventually he went on months later to say he talks down about other people and acts like he’s better than everyone because he is better than everyone.
Edit to add: to clarify, he suggested the high schoolers should all buy a house, not my organization. Household income was about 10k higher than individual. His parents were loaded, so he never had to really pay for anything until after college, and even then he didn’t have to pay for housing for the first 3 years of his career, and even still, 95% of his (nice) furniture and everything was given to him. It’s very easy to brag about your 401k when you NEVER had to allocate money towards rent, loans, etc.
#9
I’m a nanny and I’ve worked for some rich clients. Old money. These people know nothing about reality.
The best one I heard was this family I was working 12 hour days for. Good pay, terrible schedule. At one point I was bouncing their baby on my knee and the Mom goes “Being a mom isn’t that hard. I don’t know why other women complain about it so much”.
While her nanny is literally caring for the baby.
#10
Pretty much any time I see someone yelling at a Starbucks or other service employee. They come into a crowded shop, wave their big $5 bill around like a high roller, then yell at a 16 year old for making their coffee incorrectly. Lame. If you find yourself to be one of the people yelling at service workers, fix your own problems before telling other people what to do.
#11
There are a lot of older fugly apartment buildings near the house I grew up in.
My friend at the time that lived a very privileged lifestyle, $200-300+ weekly weekend dinners with the family, timeshares over the place, skiing and snowboarding trips, etc. She was like why would anyone want to live in these apartments? I would never
I was like, people that live there don't have a choice...
#12
Showed a parent the security footage of her 8th grader hitting a teacher. She claimed the footage had been edited. Sigh…..
#13
Went to a super rich girls house, she had had a baby 2 months prior, she had nannies coming in and out maids and a literal house manager plus PAs etc. and she was bragging about how she was back at work so soon and how she doesn’t know how people can stand doing ‘nothing’ for so long.
#14
"I'm entitled to my opinion" when presented with facts showing they were wrong.
#15
"Nobody has ever died from rationing their insulin, nobody" - My FIL. That was an odd take of his, I'm still kinda puzzled over it. People have died doing almost anything. He didn't think they died from rationing something that costs hundreds of dollars per week though.
#16
Sophomore year of high school, in my biology class, this one girl got into a conversation about what causes the winter season with the teacher.
And she goes, “winter happens because the sun turns cold, right?”
Honestly, I’m still having trouble processing that one, and it’s been eight years.
#17
Wharton students were interviewed asking what they though the average income was. 25% said 6 figures. The same question was asked at a local community college and the collective agreement was $15k
#18
I'm a 911 operator and had a man call 911 because the internet at the hotel he was staying at got disconnected. I told him it was not a police issue and he would have to talk to the hotel staff and/or just wait for it to reboot. He responded, "Not a police issue? This is criminal. If I unplugged someone's life support, isn't that a crime?"
#19
Had a coworker that noticed an item’s tag said Made in Vietnam. She’s said “ Made in Vietnam? That’s a place? I thought it was a war !! “
#20
I heard someone yesterday suggest that children should operate heavy machinery to address supply shortages.
Turns out that guy happened to be the fricken prime minister.
#21
I was 16 years old, in Driver's Ed, and the teacher asks us an extra credit question. "Why are there interstates in Hawaii? You can't drive there from any other state."
A girl in my class raised her hand and asked, "Was it because they were built before Hawaii broke off?"....This girl thought it was a possibility that Hawaii broke off, and drifted to the middle of the Pacific ocean, all in the last 50 years.
Also, Hawaii has interstates because, if a highway is funded by the federal government, it's simply called an interstate.
#22
i’ve genuinely heard someone comment on a homeless person asking why they “don’t just get a home”…
#23
Some guy whose parents paid for his college tuition mentioned to a coworker who has $107,000 in student loans say he should be able to pay it off in 5 years.
Coworker makes $23 an hour on 5-8s.
#24
Older coworkers asking me why poor people keep spending/borrowing money when they know they'll never pay it back..
Lol, like to live? What's the difference in $2k or $20k in debt when you know you'll only ever be paying back $0?
#25
One of my relatives "Joined the illuminati" on facebook.... On. Facebook. He was really serious too and excited about it.
#26
Nasa can land on the sun at night time
Lil be lil 6 months ago
Yea, that was the NASA mission that delivered the gases and then relit the sun while the spaceship vaporized in the flames! It was a s*****e mission and so there was no parade afterwards.
#27
When my boss said “My word is better than getting it in writing.” I can think of several instances where they’ve promised something or given their word on only to later renege on the deal.
#28
Former roommate declared, "I'm an only child, that means I don't have to be nice if I don't want to."
#29
My aunt is a bit into that. She's done really well for herself but has forgotten that not all of us are retired engineers who play the stock market for funsies part time. She suggested Thanksgiving at my place one year, and I had to remind her that I lived in a 2 bedroom apartment and inviting around 15 people there wasn't going to work.
#30
Classmate in college kept throwing his Starbucks cups on the ground and other garbage.
"They pay people to pick it up"
He was the son of a guy who owned multiple resorts in South America.
#32
If you don't like your job, quit and get a better one
#33
Had a girl ask what happened to the Mongolians in history class. She said “there’s not like a present day Mongolia or anything”. She sat under the ten foot wide world map, Mongolia was about two feet above her head.
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