45 Times Adults Didn’t Know Very Basic Things And Someone Had To Give Them A Reality Check
We all have at least a few gaps in our knowledge—that’s no secret. That being said, it genuinely feels like there are some core bits of education and fundamental life skills that every grownup should be well-versed in.
Members of the AskReddit subreddit took to a couple of mind-boggling online threads to share the things they’ve personally witnessed other adults not know, from how elementary biology works to how (not) to treat others. Scroll down to read the seemingly common sense things they’ve had to explain to grownups. But be warned, you might want to cringe and facepalm.
This post may include affiliate links.
Vaccines work
The Human is the cause for extreme climate change
Making better Gun Control Laws will reduce Gun Violence.
We(US) need to contemplate gun laws and the 2nd in the spirit in which it was added to the bill of rights. Were there semiauto weapons in 1791? Did they even have bolt action weapons in 1791...they did not. What they had were muzzle loading weapons which, if you were quick, would STILL take 30 seconds to a minute to reload.
And the Republicans completely miss the "well ordered militia" part of the 2nd amendment.
Load More Replies...First two have scientific backing but the last one does not. It is puerly a political usa centric take. So i disagree with it. Some countries have n+ guns per household or even capita... Yet nowhere near the catastrophic mass shooting of the usa. The problem is cultural or elswhere. Guns are also not the only thing unhinged ppl use in their atrocities. Many terrorists use trucks or diy explosives that are easier to acess. Guns are simply a tool afterall.
Do other countries allow civilians to have semi automatic rifles like AR-15s? I'm doubtful. There's more guns in the US than there are citizens.
Load More Replies...Yes vaccines do work !! Not to sure tighter laws will affect anything mind cos let’s face it crimans as cause the violence,aren’t known for following the laws now are they , that said guns are banned here in uk n we don’t got gun crime really however KNIFE crime is rife n I’m glad I live in the sticks in a village cos it’s now far safer to live in the bloody bronx than it is living in London these days !! LITTERALLY
It's difficult to kíll 30 school children with a knife.
Load More Replies...Some vaccines work. There is minimal man-made climate change. No correlation.
Scientists were aware of man made climate change at the beginning of the 20th century.
Load More Replies...Incorrect. Even "proper" vaccines (I think the COVID vaccine is proper but you seem to not, so) don't have a 100% protection rate. Having said that, they may stop you from experiencing worse symptoms, eg: carking it versus just getting sick. I've had the COVID jab plus boosters and never had COVID but that could be a fluke, I guess. But generally, the vaccines you list are ones that have more of a history of protecting versus minimising issues, so I'll give you that.
Load More Replies...Many gun deaths are accidents and impulsive acts. Plus, your average sch00l sh00ter may not have connections to the types of people who sell illegal guns.
Load More Replies...
That Freedom of Speech doesn't mean you can say whatever you want, without consequences of any kind. It just means the government can't arrest you for speaking out about the government.
* Terms and Conditions apply, see your local quasi-democratic western countries rules for details
But also you can say horrible things and there will be plenty of people who agree with you. That video a week ago of a white woman calling a 5 year old black boy a n***** in a public park led to her crowdfunding and raising over $700,000 because she was recognised for it and she’s the real victim of the incident. So many people said, “I agree with her. I’ll show my support by donating. It’s fine to use racist language to an innocent child.”
Load More Replies...Let's see how long that second sentence lasts in the next couple of years.
"You're a *Says nineteen slurs.*" "Shut up" "OH MY GOD YOU HATE FREEDOM OF SPEECH YOU HATE AMERICA-"
No idea why you got down voted. You were agreeing with the post.
Load More Replies...
The h*locaust was real, not just something they made up in movies.
How can you even start to educate people on it, when even the word gets censored !??
sadly too many people dont think it is real these days, and its why we need to better educate on the h*******t and how hate and blind obedience led to the genocide of 6 million or more Jews, 2 Million Romani, 800k Homosexuals, the mentally ill, and more. And then teach about other similar like the Armenians. But this study of US High School students through late 20s age people is depressing and disturbing https://www.claimscon.org/millennial-study/
In several states, children under 18 aren’t allowed to be taught anything unpleasant, controversial, or non-trumpian
Load More Replies...This is actively concerning. The antisemitism and holöcaust denial is rising.
People will believe any conspiracy on the internet if people say it loudly enough. Truth, data, scientific evidence, expert testimony, stories from survivors… nothing will convince someone who is determined to believe stupid conspiracy theories.
Load More Replies...Everything is fine in ba sing se! Move along now! Jokes aside Censorship has been backed by many ppl on BP due to usa centric political tribalistic unga bunga. "Orange man says censorship bad thus i go against that" at least that is the explination i got... Ppl follow insane ideal in the name of their tribe.
Load More Replies...Oi BP it’s H O L O C A U S T ! n yes it happens n it was awful at least have the decency to not censor it ffs !!
Truely an atrocity! i honestly fear for our current political position! we're going backward at a dizzying pace!
Reader’s Digest suggests that some of the fundamental life skills that everyone should aim to have include things like:
- Balancing a budget, paying your bill, and doing your own taxes;
- Having boundaries and saying ‘no’ to people;
- Cooking a meal and doing other basic tasks in the kitchen;
- Accepting criticism gracefully;
- Sewing on a button;
- Understanding the consequences of your actions;
- Changing a tire;
- Having a genuine face-to-face conversation where you listen more than you speak;
- Doing laundry;
- Navigating public transport.
That OCD doesn’t mean you like to keep things clean, it means Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. In simple terms it means you have a thing you have to do and if not done it’s like you cannot progress past that point wether it be beeping the microwave a certain amount of times, taking no more or no less than two steps per sidewalk tile or squinting your eyes when you blink. It’s a compulsion thing not a cleanliness thing.
Compulsions are not always required repetitive actions. The key thing is that you're trying to prevent something bad happening, and that can include washing repeatedly or poking buttons, but also avoiding certain areas or walking nowhere near a certain plant or touching no one's hands. Also you've missed the obsessive part, which is a set of obsessive intrusive thoughts, commonly involving bad things happening due to your actions. It's usually classified as an anxiety disorder, and often comes packaged with it. It's very much not nice, mine involves the ingestion of poison either on the hands or in food, so it makes me avoid certain plants and have some crazy disordered eating.
My dad had OCD. Whenever my mum or I went out, about half an hour before we were expected back, he would go to the front window and look to see if we were coming back down the street every two or three minutes until we got home. I think this stemmed from when he was a child during WWII and his dad (my grandad), who was away a lot in the army, didn’t/couldn't always get back home when he was expected.
Load More Replies...My son has OCD and for him it does have to doe with cleanliness. He washes his hands over and over, he has to shower very long after going to the toilet for the big one. He feels the dirt on his skin that isn't there, its some kind if halisination. He gets in the car with towels in it, so he sits clean and i cover seats at places he sits, otherwise he will stand. After every visit or activity he needs to shower. Its a lot if wirk, als9 expensive and he can hardly do anything.
We used to describe the kind of cleaning that now gets wrongly called OCD as being a**l about it. Presumably a Freudian thing…
It very much is in uk we call em neat freaks lol , I like a homely home lived in not a barren show house with no sense of feeling in it ! doesn’t mean it’s gotta be dirty mind just tidy ,
Load More Replies...My mother uses this term to describe her and her (now former) colleague's desk. I corrected her the first few times; I admit I just smile and nod now because it's obviously not sinking in but no, you and your colleague aren't OCD. You just like things clean. There's a big difference.
I had the same discussion with someone and, like you, I just smile and nod now.
Load More Replies...
That I can be a man and be a nurse.
Now imagine they're last name is also "Nurse", Dr. Nurse Nurse.
Load More Replies...And I bet a lot of the older patients call you doctor. As a nurse I've seen this happen a LOT.
Load More Replies...Men have always been nurses to , my grandmother I grew up with was the matron of a cottage hospital and they had males nurses even then , very few female doctors tho till the late 60.s early 70,s there were some just not many but , a good few male nurses ,
The Scots have entered the chat and are not happy
Load More Replies...
You can get pregnant if you have s*x standing up. Had to explain this to a woman in her late thirties that had a teenage daughter.
And should include a module on "consent" for both boys and girls.
Load More Replies...Coworker was going thru menopause. I said I had no way of knowing when I'd started it because my periods stopped when my uterus was removed. She said "is that where the blood comes from?"
Don't you automatically go through menopause when you're uterus is removed? I know a few women who've had hysterectomies and from what I understand, that's what happened to them.
Load More Replies...While this is pretty obvious to anyone with even a little intelligence, I'm more concerned that she gave birth to a teenager.
Knowledge gaps are fairly common. And the irony is that you’re rarely aware of them until someone challenges your (lack of) knowledge. You can be strongly biased or woefully uneducated in a particular subject without even realizing it. For instance, because you misinterpreted something you (half) read in passing in a handful of headlines on social media one time without cross-checking claims and doing your due diligence regarding source reliability. Or you may have never had the time or opportunities to learn skills that seemingly everyone else your age knows how to do well.
However, if you have a growth-oriented mindset, you won’t see the mistakes you make as personal failures. Rather, they’re opportunities to improve and learn new things. By messing up you—hopefully—become more self-aware, open-minded, and willing to put in the work to research topics that are both new and the ones that you previously thought you were well-versed in. In short, you want to have the mindset of a real scientist, checking how your assumptions and hypotheses line up with objective reality. And that takes a lot of humility.
How a period works and what it’s for.
Surprisingly common among men. I was once heard one former classmate ask his partner to "hold her period in". We were all in our masters degree. They are no longer together, BTW.
I worked in retail for too long.
One guys debit card declined, I told him so. He looked at me like I was an alien, and then loudly exclaimed, ‘how can a DEBIT CARD be declined?’ So had to explain that one to him.
Another person was traveling from a state that didn’t have sales tax, and expected me to remove the sales tax from their purchase because ??? apparently in their mind if you live somewhere without sales tax, you can travel the country and not have to adhere to those states rules I guess.
Another person tried to use a tax exempt card from another state (on Black Friday, mind you) and was mad that I couldn’t honor another states tax exempt card.
Honestly like it’s okay to not know stuff. But don’t be a f*****g a*****e when someone tries to explain to you what the hell is going on, lmao.
Adding tax on afterwards is very odd. Add the sales tax to the price beforehand so that the price on the shelf is the price you pay. Doesn’t that make it easier for everyone?
They did it to show how much government is taking just like the are now calling out the tarrifs as a separate line item.
Load More Replies...Some states do offer sales tax exemption to non-sales taxed state residents. Since OR, AK, and MT don't have sales tax, WA offers sales tax exemption at the discretion of the business. ND offers sales tax exemption to MT residents for purchases over $50. Now, to expect that universally is naive at best, and I get being upset with the obstinate, but condescension for those expecting it because they've experienced it seems rather unwarranted.
This also applies in some countries selling to foreigners as well. Similar to Duty Free at airports.
Load More Replies...As an Oregonian (no sales tax) with family in Washington (lots of sales tax), they used to be required to exempt you from sales tax if you showed your driver's license, since otherwise they were taxing you without representation. A few years back they changed it so the businesses charge the sales tax and you can file to get it back with your taxes each year. Obviously almost no one does, so Washington gets to keep a bunch of Oregon money, meanwhile Washingtonians come to Oregon to make big purchases because they don't have to pay sales tax. They are supposed to file and pay with their Washington taxes, but I'm pretty sure that's not happening much either. Sales taxes in general are horrible and should be universally banned and replaced with graduated income taxes which are much more equitable.
As someone who lives in a state with sales tax, just across the border from a state that doesn't have it, it is relatively common for stores here to not charge it to residents from that state, to encourage cross-border shopping. If someone hadn't been further away from their state than that, it might not be that unreasonable to not realize that's merely a local thing.
so glad im not american and dont have to know any of these beyond the debit card one <3
When I first move to Seattle from Montana, I could buy things sales tax free - it is actually a thing. There are 3 states that do not have a sales tax - Montana, Oregon, and Alaska (not really sure about AK though) and, if you are buying something in a sales tax state but using it in a non sales tax state you can get (or could get - I moved here in '73 so the rules may have changed) an exemption. Of course the sales tax states want a 'use' tax if I buy something in a tax-free state but use it in ---- yadda,yadda,yadda
I know that in Seattle if you had an out of state ID/Drivers License, they will indeed, take the tax off your purchases at retail stores. I would go with my friend whenever I'd buy a new TV or furniture over $300 and have him purchase it for me. But I think they changed that law in 2019.
What consent is.
Sadly, yes. The videos ‘consent is like a cup of tea’ are a great way of explaining this to young adults and idiot adults.
Yeah, I'll never understand this. If my 3yr old nephew can understand the concept of consent then grown adults have no excuse!
I remember being told "It's a fancy word for permission" when I was like eleven.
According to Business Insider, some of the core skills that every functioning adult should have include:
- Accepting feedback gracefully;
- Learning to apologize sincerely;
- Managing your time well;
- Saying ‘no’ respectfully;
- Getting better at empathizing with other people;
- Learning to make friends;
- Communicating through your body language;
- Speaking a second language;
- Sticking to a budget;
- Getting comfortable with public speaking.
I once had to explain to a pregnant woman why she shouldn't smoke...next to a bunch of propane tanks.
She must have been really blown away...
Load More Replies...Nothing will happen if you smoke near a propane tank. People need to stop with this nonsense. You use propane tanks to light a grill, and open flame grill and the tank is near it and nothing happens but a small smoldering cigarette is going cause some massive explosion?
Not exactly. USUALLY, nothing will happen. However, if the tank is leaky, it absolutely can explode from an ignition source, such as a lit cigarette. Why take the chance? Just walk away from the tank to smoke. Then again, you're already killing yourself with the cigarette, so maybe you like playing the odds with your life. https://www.kherkhergarcia.com/fire-dangers-propane-tank-explosions/
Load More Replies...
No..a tampon is not like a d***o 🫠.
Yup, there is absolutely no pleasure using one. If you’ve ever tried to remove one that isn’t saturated and is a bit dry, it can be really painful. Menstrual cups for the win, although if they haven’t fully opened when you put them in (you fold it into a c shape or a multitude of other folds to position it), it’s a very weird sensation feeling it pop open!
And that is why i used pads. Flow to light for tampons. Still remember thst sensation. Shudder.
Load More Replies...I never liked using tampons. But then again, I've never used a d***o so I can't exactly compare.
Not me but my husband. Had to tell his best friend why jumping around in the woods with some deer antlers he had found on his head was a Bad idea. They were hunting.
I think I know why this is a bad idea, but can someone explain just in case.
Because a hunter might only see the antlers and shóót him.
Load More Replies...What are some absolutely must-know pieces of information and life skills that you think any grownup should have in their toolbox? What are some frustratingly common sense things that you’ve had to explain to other adults who should have known better?
What do you do to fill in any knowledge gaps that you’ve become aware of? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
That $2 bills are real, legal US tender.
Got chewed out at a coffee job, for accepting "fake money", because a customer paid with 2, $2 bills. My boss was in their 40s. Took 10 minutes and a google search to prove I wasn't lying.
My brother uses $2 bills to tip his servers. They remember him on his next visit. Yes, he is a generous tipper and uses cash so his server will actually get that money.
I do that, too. Not the $2 bill part, the tipping in cash part. And I hand it personally to my server, so their boss can't steal it
Load More Replies...My Grandma Lois would always slip a $2 bill in cards or care packages.
When I was 13 I had a 2 hour long conversation with a 19 year old guy about why r*ping someone is wrong. He just couldn't wrap his around why the victims can't just "relax and enjoy it". Never again.
Why the hell was a 19 year old guy talking to a 13 year old about that? What an absolutely disgusting creep.
Kind of jumping to conclusions aren't you? Maybe they were at a family gathering, or some other innocuous setting. By your logic, talking to someone not your age is creepy. How do you feel about little kids talking to "Santa"? That's a massive age gap, by your logic that would be creepy. Maybe the 19yo had autism, and is mentally not up to their age. Maybe he was creeping, but we don't have enough info to know either way. The word here would be "prejudice", as you are judging a person based on minimal info.
Load More Replies...An (ex) friend doesn't see what the big deal is about r**e. "It's just a little p***y." She's a woman.
Another candidate to show the consent is like a cup of tea video to….
Not me but my father had to do it. Parents were visiting my older brother, his friend was there, he finds out my father is an Engineer. Knows Air Conditioning well etc.
He tells my father, the central air in my house doesn't work. No matter how much I increase the power, it still doesn't cool. during winter I keep it at 70, but once summer came I increased it to 80 it still doesn't work.
My father looks at him... confused... then something clicks.
Slowly, my father replies, "The. Number. You. Are. Changing. Is. NOT. The. Power. It. Is. Temperature. If. You. Want. It. Cooler. You. Will. Have. To. Set. A. Lower. Number.
This was a guy in his late thirties and was an MBA.
Semantics question, if I want it to be cooler in the house, am I turning the AC up or down?
That's when you say, "I'm lowering the room temperature." 😉 Let's see...um... 🤔 You turn the heat, up so...hmm. I vote for 'down' because you want the temp to go down. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Load More Replies...Somewhat related to this, I am occasionally baffled by people who think turning the temperature up in winter (or down in summer) makes it cool or heat the room faster. No, it does not work like that. All the setting does is control at what room temperature it turns on and off.
Most thermostatic radiator heads, very common over here, work with an internal pin that pushes in or out to control the flow, so in fact will start to reduce the flow of hot water before the local air temperature has actually reached the desired point. So in a freezing house, when the heat has not been on for some time, and/or there's not a lot or circulation, it can be beneficial to temporarily turn up the individual valves to keep the rads hotter for longer.
Load More Replies...This is how the portable radiant heaters work. When you turn up the power kn0b, you get more heat. The thermostat is to turn it off when it's getting too warm.
Yelling louder doesn’t make you right it just makes you the loudest monkey with a brain.
"I believe you are under the mistaken assumption that the volume of your voice is proportional to the validity of your argument. Common mistake."
all monkeys have a brain... I'll be here all week with more useless animal facts...
One day at work, the electricity went out. One of the higher-ups made her way from her dark office to my dark office to ask me to look up something on the computer for her. I said I could look it up when the electricity came back on. She didn't understand why I couldn't do it right that second. "Because the computer runs on electricity."
Not only was that higher-up an adult, but she was highly educated with a Ph.D and everything.
In a way, I kind of understand this. If you've ever experienced a power outage, you soon learn how much you depend on electricity: I think I'll bake a pizza. Nope. I'll just make some toast. Nope. I guess I'll go do some laundry. Nope. I'll go watch TV for a while. Nope. Never mind. I'll just take a nap. Yes!
Indeed! My laptop was charged when last we had a blackout, I was like 'yay!'. Then realised that without power, the modem isn't on and there's no internet 😅 Go go solitaire!
Load More Replies...Look up multiple types of intelligence theory--very interesting. IQ, EQ, SQ, and AQ --Intelligence Quotient, Emotional Quotient, Social Quotient, and Adversity Quotient are the minimum acknowledged. Intelligence can be broken up into up to 17 different quotients. There are savants in every type of intelligence. A multifaceted set of intelligence means individuals are well-rounded and we say they have 'common sense.' But even the best of us have brain farts once in a while.
My higher-up didn't understand that two workers can't do more work than three in the same time. Does it count?
why do people think that a PhD means someone is super smart. A PhD means you know a whole lot about something very specific. That's all.
Intelligent people can be stupid too sometimes. Just because someone has a PHD doesn't mean they know everything. Some of the most intelligent people I've ever met have loads of gaps in their knowledge and most of the time it's things that seem simple or basic to others. Some people are highly intectual/book smart but have no common sense or street smarts.
Higher degree does not equate to higher intelligence. Having no degree does not mean you're ignorant.
Having no degree does not mean you're stupid. You are quite possibly ignorant i.e. lack knowledge.
Load More Replies...Gotta watch out for those PHDs. Yes, they're smart, but some of them seem to lack common sense and/or general awareness.
I had to explain that bats were a real animal and not a mythical made up creature after telling an ex-girlfriend that I saw one flying above us and she thought I was insane.
There are so many really odd animals out there that are hard to believe without seeing photos - the duck-billed platypus, the narwhal, the capybara…
Load More Replies...There is a common myth in my country that a mouse that grows very old becomes a bat (is that a thing in other countries?). My elementary school teacher actually believed that...and she taught biology to kids...
Have 1000s in our public garden here in Victoria...well, flying foxes, protected species.
Flying rats. My ex was convinced there were flying hedgehogs once. That was a very short relationship. Mind I should have known he wasn’t very bright, after all he seeing me!
I suspect hedgehogs do fly, in the same way that tortoises do.... when an eagle picks them up and drops them!
Load More Replies...
That my best friend was gonna die if I didn’t take him to the nurse for his epiPen. She didn’t believe in allergies and was a teacher lmao.
If you hold down your finger over the image you get a drop down menu with share, copy, save options, and above that a description of the photo from the photo site they use, “person checking blood sugar with a lancet device.”
Load More Replies...How do you just…not believe in allergies? Not believing in god is one thing, not believing in allergies is just dumb.
RFKJr, US health czar. Also doesn’t believe that bacteria, viruses, mould, and fungi cause disease. Only that an internal weakness does
Load More Replies...That is not an epi pen photo. And as someone who has 20+ years in Fire Rescue EMS... Ain't no one injecting an epi pen into their thumb. Well, let me say that if they do, they will only do that one time. There is a reason it is done on the outside of the thigh.
aaah sometimes can't believe these kind of stories... which adult, and a teacher that has worked with kids for many years i assume, doesn't believe in allergies? who doesn't know about allergies???
Trump was elected twice. When you know that's not a fake news everything is possible.
Load More Replies...
No, my snake won't turn into two if you cut him in half.
hard to believe this is true, then again there are a lot of stupid people or maybe they just watched a documentary on flatworms and don't see the difference...
Wow. I didn't know this was a thing. I wonder what they think about twins. 🤔
It’s true with flatworms, which are not at all like snakes biologically. I know some people think this is true with worms as well but it isn’t.
Load More Replies...Thinking of the Hydra, probably... but even in this case its just the heads
No it bloody won’t it dam well dies , do not try this on my snakes lol , it be worms as turn in to two if u accidentally chop em in half when digging the garden ,
That Germany is in Europe.
Then when I was retelling the story later that day, another person was amazed by this tidbit.
I did have to look up Uraguay yesterday. But we only studied Europe and Africa.
Load More Replies...Where did they think it was? I’ve seen stories about some Americans believing Spain and Portugal are in South America because that’s where people speak Spanish and Portuguese, and that France is in Canada because people there speak French. But Germany doesn’t have that association.
Maybe the WWs and Cold War era, when they heard germans fought russians, and placing Russia entirely in Asia? Or they are just plain dumb.
Load More Replies...It's the simple things.....like the location of a country, that amaze us. I don't pretend to know where every country is located, but I'll look it up after.
I'd like the background information where these people thought it was located then.
My father-in-law asked me if I was born with the genetics to begin life only speaking Spanish when I told him that English wasn’t my 1st language lol
That was a fun conversation to have. Even my mother in law was dumbfounded by his question.
I've been asked as a TV tech, if I bring a TV from England to Spain, will it speak English or Spanish
Ikr Well if they were lol I’d be speaking Welsh , I’m half Welsh mother was Welsh father English n cos she died when I was 8 mths old n my father refused to bring me up Welsh I don’t speak it , if it was genetic lol I would where do people get that c**p lol
Load More Replies...
Extra alcohol in your drink will cost you extra money. Extra food on the side? Extra money. Why do people not understand you have to pay for things lmao.
I think you mean "overentitlement". We are all appropriately entitled to the things we are entitled to. It's only when someone is overly entitled or has an overinflated sense of entitlement that it becomes a problem.
Load More Replies...I used a coffee machine in a Spar shop the other day that had the option for "Extra shot at no charge"!
lol spar shop hmm cheap crappy coffee u need extra shots to drink it lol
Load More Replies...While they shouldn't be surprised, giving out free extras (like extra cheese on burger or something) is a good way to get and keep customers. Most people hate being nickel and dimed on stuff like that. Like why should I have to pay $0.75 for onions on my hot dog, that should be included in the price. At this rate they will start charging for Ketchup and mustard!
While this is 100% correct and I agree...still get a little bit hangry when an extra pack of sauce costs me another .50 😂. I'll pay it....but I'll eat it with aggression
That Hawaii IS a state and that Puerto Rico ISN'T a state, but still a part of the US and it's people are citizens.
I have also told people who are from Puerto rico that they are US citizens and that is why they don't need green cards to come to the mainland to visit, work, move, etc.
People need to think of Puerto Rico being the same as England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland - separate countries but part of the United Kingdom.
But many people in America are confused about how the United Kingdom works so this won’t help.
Load More Replies...They really need to become a state (Puerto Rico). Basically the reason they haven't, comes down to taxes. Which is unfair to the rest of the US. If you are benefitting from being "part of" a county, then you should contribute to said country and pay your fair share of taxes. Plus then they would have reps in congress, whom would advocate for them.
They had to tell the orange MAGA potato, that he was the President of Puerto RIco during his first term. He asked one of his flunkies who the president of Puerto Rico was when he flew down, to throw them paper towels. You really can't fix that kind of stupid.
President Trump said "I met with the president of the Virgin Islands," a U.S. territory of which Trump is the chief of state. He really is dumb.
Load More Replies...I used to work with a Puerto Rican lady & after 9-11 her family had to get passports to go back and forth to visit family or a funeral
That's not true at all. My brother-in-law is Puerto Rican and doesn't have to have his passport with him when he goes there monthly.
Load More Replies...
8% interest rate doesn’t mean you only pay $8 a month in interest.
Finance should be taught at school. Tax, mortgages, loans, investments...compound interest...pensions...
The funny thing is that when I was in school I was terrible at math and failed a lot. So the remedial math class was all practical math for everyday life. I was undiagnosed ADHD and have the math dyslexia thing that I can't remember the name of and only found out about in my adult life. This was More than 30 years ago for context.
Load More Replies...The only helpful thing I learned in economics lessons - always check the APR. I still remember economy of scale too, but probably only slightly more helpful than how oxbow lakes form.
That would be nice for my homeloan, instead of the $1k+ I'm paying monthly.
That the Moon does not make its own light. It's actually the sun reflecting off of it.
And that it is not a hologram. And people actually landed on it.
I knew my long-term boyfriend was not going to be my permanent boyfriend when he tried to explain how no one has ever been to the moon. Oh...then he hit on my little sister. But d**n the moon conspiracy....
Load More Replies...
I was doing a spelling bee when i was 14, i won and the mom of the 2nd place winner came up to me and told me i cheated, because i spelt the word xylitol wrong?! she said it was spelled like zylitol, i explained to her about how letters sound different, she still was super rude to me afterwards.
It’s easy to not know the spelling of xylitol but WTH did the mom not go up to the judges or the person hosting it rather than trying to argue with a 14 year old?
Because OP was the weaker link. Arguing with adults was too much for her.
Load More Replies..."You're a loser and the mother of a loser! Why would I listen to you?"
That rabbits do not hatch from eggs for Easter like you see on commercials. I have rabbits that I bring places with me, a co- worker asked how big the eggs were? I had to explain that to an adult. My son has a big plastic egg, so as a joke I put a baby rabbit in it and showed him.
Upvote for the cute bunny! Rabbits ovulate when they mate (can’t be arsed to look up the correct terminology), so can get pregnant within days of giving birth. Hence breeding like rabbits….
I kept rabbits for a while and managed to catch copulation in progress. She hoisted her rear, he was on her in a flash, and about two thrusts later, his back arched and he fell over backwards and lay there. I could have been imagining it but she looked pleased. The entire sequence, about six seconds.
Load More Replies...I remember, as a child (so probably early 90s) one of the English TV channels did this as an April fools joke. I think it was on one of the news broadcasts. Had a whole segment filmed, showing the eggs, waiting to show the baby rabbits hatching... Even funnier when you realised how many people actually believed it.
Yep, and giraffes live underground ;)
Load More Replies...
How her husband m*sturbating didn’t make him gay.
Don't think so. Even watching gay stuff doesn't make you gay. Being gay makes you gay.
Load More Replies.....i'm scared for humanity. I thought common sense was called 'common' sense cause it was✨common✨
Agreed. Instead of Artificial Intelligence, we should focus on eliminating Natural Stupidity.
Load More Replies...
That 'simmer' does not mean leaving the gas on with no flame.... I went to the coffee shop and came back, instantly smelled that my apartment was about to blow up...
Low set gas flames can sometimes blow out. Gas still flows because there is no automatic shut-off.
Load More Replies...N that’s why I loath gas ! It’s down right dangerous , in my little village here in the Cotswolds there isn’t even a gas main in village at all it’s all electric, or oil fuel you get delivered in to tanks ,thankfully my house is all electric, it’s almost impossible to simmer on gas without it going out and for the restore NEVER EVER GO OUT LEAVING THE GAS COOKER ON as it can be blown out way to easy n boom !!
Personal hygiene and the importance of doing laundry on a regular basis, it was always an awkward conversation.
This is when aunts and uncles can help. "Because you stink, that's why! Your parents are too nice to be direct, but you smell like the bottom of a dumpster and people can tell. You need to..."
The only excuses are untreated depression and being in an indie/punk touring band.😁 The two are not mutually exclusive.
That Kim Jong Un is not a fictional character.
When you round numbers you have to round up if the last number is 5 or greater. They would round say $1.99 to $1.
I mean, that's why companies do have these 99 cent prices. So people are tricked into thinking this and so they buy more.
Which I actually did ! Well math wise I got kicked out for being to thick pfft so I left school n was working at 15 now 60 lol n not having shed loads of paper saying I’m clever has never done me any harm ! Oh and I have far more logic n common sense than anyone with loads of paper saying they are clever lol different kind of smarts ! Much more useful ones at that
Load More Replies...Not always. I write payroll software, and HMRC (The UK's IRS) round DOWN at five or less in certain circumstances.
Probably "round half to even"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rounding#Round_half_to_even
Load More Replies...Not necessarily true. In some situations they always round down or up. At my work (processing rent payments), we can't legally charge more for rent, but we also don't want to charge rent rates that are uneven and have cents in it (eg. Rent= $1500.55), so we always round down when prorating rents. And gas stations always round up. But in general, unless otherwise stated, this is correct and you round up when it ends in a "5".
Then it isn't actually rounding - just truncating.
Load More Replies...
Where babies come from. I was 22, he was 30...
Does the stork still bring them? Or do they use drones these days?
My grandmother once told me that I was found on the downside of the garbage can cover.
Did they just told hin where the babies come from or how they get there, too?
Not quite a grown adult, but I once had to explain what "gay" means to a 17 year old in an online game. There was a pride month event and he said he was "scared of gay people", turns out I blew his mind with the concept of two men being in a relationship.
Explaining animals can be gay is also a great conversation amongst religious people who declare it a life choice.
Like those gay penguins who, if I remember correctly, adopted orphaned chicks. Super sweet story.
Load More Replies...You’re assuming he is from America. In some countries being gay is illegal so I’m sure people don’t talk about it ever and it would never be allowed to be shown on TV. But I think that if you have access to the internet to play online gaming then the lack of knowledge is a bit odd - it’s not like they’re living somewhere with restricted internet.
Load More Replies...
My parents think it's racist that they aren't allowed to say the N word because they are white. Oh boy what a fun convo that was.
I don't think anyone should use the N word. Black people using it among themselves just keep it out there.
People tried to police how LGBTQ+ people use language too. It's not a good look.
Load More Replies...So, as someone who teaches about the n word, you can say it. Go ahead! You might get knocked the f**k out, or fired, or dumped, or shown to be the racist piece of s**t you are. You are free to say things, but you *will* deal with the consequences of it! Freedom to say something isn't freedom from consequences. And to those who think the -a is not the same as the hard R: you need to do more reading about the history of the word, what it means, and the 400+ years of pain that is tied in, wrapped up, and embodied by a single word.
Philosophical question that has been debated before; what about a white person singing along to a song that says the N word?
Load More Replies...If you are white, and choose to use that, or any other racially derogatory words, then please do not cry foul, when the consequences for your arrogant stupidity, are dealt upon you. Also, please be prepared to accept your Darwin Award. I may even visit some consequences upon you myself.
Needs to be taught with a critical look at the historical context and social impact. A buttload of pre-teaching is needed and if the class or students can't handle it appropriately, there are other books that can teach similar lessons.
Load More Replies...Sure they can say it all they want as long as they don't mind getting hurt or dead
That muslim isn’t a language.
No, that would be muesli (just keeping the joke going)
Load More Replies...
That Pepsi and Coke are two competing companies, and there isn’t some mega corporate conglomerate that controls all soda.
I mean what about about Dr. Pepper-Keurig? They have the second best selling soda in the US, just edging out Pepsi for that slot. 90% of the US beverage market (non store-brand) are 3 major conglomerates, who compete to but up every new rising brand. Most small brands these days aim to become successful enough that 2 or all 3 of the big boys bid to buy them out.
The US is not that big that that would make them a big worldwide soda conglomerate ffs
Load More Replies...
Why a hot glue gun didn’t work when it was not plugged in.
Washington the state and Washington DC.
Donald Trump launched a campaign ad in 2024 in the state of Georgia which he erroneously illustrated with a photo of the country of Georgia
Load More Replies...I always surprised travelling around the US (most recently in Texas and Chicago) that when people ask me where I'm from and I say "Washington" they automatically assume I mean DC. So now I say Washington state
They are places in the world, where USA's geography and it's administration layout is not thaught in schools to every detail. Mainly in every other country, what is not the USA. However, if the clueless person was from the USA ....
I have to admit, I had to be explained this too. and I live in the USA (unfortunately for me.)
You can't just walk up to women and sniff their hair, JFC.
Or walk up into a person's space, to smell their cologne or perfume. I had a civilian woman, passing by, do that to me while I was in uniform, at attention, at a line of duty funeral. She complimented my aftershave. I was like WITHELFH?!?! But could not move, to get away.
i would take that as a compliment for someone doing that to me but I'm weird and still know that's super creepy.
I suppose it would depend for me too. Sometimes it's the whole context. I have definitely had someone walk past me or stand next to me in line and they smell wonderful, I will occasionally compliment them and ask what cologne or perfume they are wearing. Some shampoo and hair products leave an equally pleasant sent. But I wouldn't bury my nose in someone's clothing or hair and grunt the words "you smell pretty" 🤣
Load More Replies...
That the earth does not infact orbit the moon...
Hey, at least they accepting, that Earth is orbiting, and not held motionless by 4 turtles.
It's four elephants, not four turtles. They stand on the back of the turtle... who stands on the back of another turtle... "it's turtles all the way down"
Load More Replies...Actually, it does, after a fashion. They orbit a barycenter, approximately 2902' from Earth's center. Certainly, though, the moon has a larger path around the earth than earth has around the moon. I've never heard of anyone thinking the moon was the center of the system.
Please tell me you've not just given scientific information in feet?
Load More Replies...
The little flag on the mailbox in front of your house is to let the mail carrier know there’s outgoing mail. No need to drive to the post office to mail a letter.
I didn’t know you could send outgoing mail from your house in the US. That’s handy. Here you have to go to the nearest postbox.
I’m not from America but I always thought the mailman put it up to let you know he’s put something in your mailbox.
Load More Replies...Genuine questions from an Australian here: How does this work in apartment blocks? Where do people buy stamps if they don't have a post office nearby?
There’s usually an outgoing mail box for the apartment complex, or you can use a free-standing one in your neighborhood (those don’t have flags as they’re just for outgoing mail.) Grocery stores also sell postage stamps.
Load More Replies...Unless... your mail carrier does not have any mail for you that day, or ignores that there is outgoing mail.
This is one thing that I've thanked my parents for letting me know, 100% (from the US here), although if the contents are important or contains something that someone might want to steal, just go to the post office. Or if it doesn't fit in your mailbox.
Many people have locks on their letterboxes so people can't take their mail, so I don't think it would work in Australia.
Load More Replies...
I work for an early intervention program where therapists work with little ones in homes and daycares doing speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, etc. I had a parent get upset over the phone when I told her her child's provider cannot come to the home if the child has hand, foot, and mouth disease because it's contagious and since they visit several homes a day all day and also work with medically fragile kids, they can't spread illness around. She wasn't having it. We've had providers get URI's and gastro bugs and spread them around the office because parents don't let them know they or the kids are sick because they don't want to cancel appointments.
My brothers went to a special school (for kids with physical and intellectual disabilities) and even there parents would send their children when they were sick!
Sales tax goes to the government. She thought companies just got to keep it.
That Africa was a continent and not a country.
This seems to be in every naive/entitled person's mind...
Kissing doesn't get you pregnant actually I told a few that thought it did.
Cleaning the Dryer lint after every other or every use/load.
And also, cleaning out the duct from the dryer to outside periodically, as lint will build up in there also.
My dryer lets me know this by having the lint catcher fall out when you open the door! We have a dryer that can be hung upside down to mount it above the washing machine but they didn't think that part through.
Here's one: Daughter and SIL got a washer/dryer set which is tucked into a half bath. I figured the dryer had a split exhaust duct as there was lint everywhere. We pulled the set out and...NOPE! no hose at all! They just pointed the dryer exhaust toward the through-wall fitting.
Had to explain to the doctor who rented my house in Canada why he can’t just turn off the heat in the house while he went on vacation for 2 weeks in the middle of winter so he could save a few bucks on the heating bill... Yeah. The pipes froze.
If the doctor was from Spain -for example- that's kind of understandable.
That the moon phases doesn't affect your hair growth, at all.
That marketing emails are automatic and sent to many. no one is actually sending them emails.
You don't need to create a new email address for each device. You only need one.
You have to change your bedsheets at least once a month. This guy moved out and for 4 months did not clean or change his sheets.
We actually need to change our bedsheets more, most of the time we're doing so much other laundry we sometimes forget (large family) :(
Had to explain to my teenage brother that the USA is a country in North America and that Florida isn't.
I'm sure, that most USA people would love Florida to be a separate country.
Because USians are taught that they have the right to co-opt THREE continents in their self-important nickname. They are the United States OF America (of which there are three continents, the U.S. being only one small part) or the United States or the U.S. Citizens are USians, because anyone living in North, Central or South America is an "American". But they think they are the only country that actually matters.
Oh man been waiting for this , I recently had to explain to a young (adult) coworker that dogs came from wolves.. she literally must have skipped that part of what , 3rd grade science we all learned about how dogs were domesticated over the years into your lovely doodles pugs and frenchies.. she literally thought all dogs existed in the wild somewhere around the world in diff countries. I was so in shock she was so serious and was like no the Chow chow is from china and the chihuahua is Mexican that’s their territory .. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed for so long and so openly at someone at work In my life … I honestly felt bad for laughing but just the thought of like a tiny yorkie or like pug fending for itself in the wild is so laughable like how could she possibly think these dogs we have are wild animals … my dog is a fat lump of some type of poodle mix and I wipe his little feet and butt every time he goes outside or he gets itchy and needs grain free diet aha .. It really really through me for a loop . I had to pull up the ol’e google to show her the truth . She just kept saying I don’t even remember that … Just wild .
I don’t usually care about spelling mistakes but OP is an a***hole. Someone they know had a small and understandable gap in their knowledge and, “I’ve never laughed for so long and so openly at someone at work.”
Load More Replies...I don’t remember learning about it in school. Not saying we didn’t learn it in science lessons but I’ve forgotten most of what I learnt in school. I might have learnt that knowledge from anywhere - my parents telling me, reading it myself, watching a TV programme… Plus how much time do you spend learning about the evolution of animals? If it’s only a couple of days then a student might have missed the lessons completely.
How the equator works. My mom really thought that the southern tip of Chile was just as hot as Ecuador.
To cover their mouth when they sneeze or cough.
And we still have this after Covid. Cough or sneeze into your elbow not your hands, to not keep spreading germs using your hands. I don't want to shake your hand if you have just sneezed into it.
I remember decades ago there was an advert during flu season or because of high levels of cold viruses going around, “catch it, bin it, k**l it,” (sneeze into a tissue, throw it away then clean your hands). From that moment onwards I noticed the amount of people who sneeze into their hands and then carry on with their day touching everything.
I worked at a family dollar last year and had a young kid start and had to show him what the change was Penny's dimes nickel and quarter. I'm 50 at the time and for the life of me couldn't figure out how someone doesn't know this.
So maybe she doesn't have as much sense/cents as she thinks she does.
Load More Replies...This has been one of my pet rants for years. They’re learning calculus in school but they can’t count change!
Alrighty then, I'mma need an American to explain this to me because I don't get it either. They don't have value on them? Like, a quarter doesn't have 25c written on it? How much is a penny, dime, nickel worth then?
Penny 1c. Nickel 5c. Dime 10c. Quarter 25c. Half Dollar is 50c. Pennies and nickels do say the value on the back. Dimes, quarters and half dollars typically do not. Special editions might...
Load More Replies...Debit/credit cards. Did you tell him how to count change if the change-maker didn't work?
My wife (a nurse) had to explain to a coworker (also a nurse) that you can not get pregnant via a**l. I have no idea how she passed nursing school.
If the spöoge drips from one hole to the other, you absolutely can. This can happen with anäl and is why I have more than once heard "we only did anäl, why are we pregnant", because they didn't use a cöndom and it dripped.
It is unlikely though. But it is more likely than getting pregnant from a toilet seat.
Load More Replies...I met a nurse who thought that a hairy baby in a maternity meant that its father was an animal, like a dog. Literally. She was scandalized by the mother's b********y.
This sounds like a joke but sadly i have learned through life that people can in fact be this ignorant.
Load More Replies... My district manager at CVS (not a pharmacist) received a customer complaint that I had told a patient 15 minutes for a waiter.
They said they could not understand why any prescription could take that long.
I assume they mean a 15 minute wait, because what they wrote doesn’t make sense.
Load More Replies...I have had to explain that NZ & Australia are real countries and that we don’t go to work on a kangaroo!!
That women have three holes "down there." PSA for those lacking in basic s*x education: The urethra and the v****a are separate openings, we do not urinate out of our vaginas, and we can't "hold" our period like holding our pee. Edit: Seriously BP? censoring v****a? It's basic human anatomy, not a naughty word.
My coworker asked if Jews and liberals were the same people. It turned out that he didn't know what either word meant, so we had to explain both terms to him. He was raised conservative and Christian (shocker), and he's actually a super nice and friendly dude, just kind of a dumb*ss.
At least he was open to learning. The far right can only get/keep power by keeping their "people" ignorant of basic facts. It's been proven you can effectively "erase" someones racism purely by exposing them to the people they hate. There is one black guy who goes around and talks with K*K members, and has successfully converted many people away from the K*K.
Load More Replies...I once had a young man ask me if it costs anything to borrow books from the library. Of course, it did make me wonder where he came from that he didn't know how libraries work, but my job isn't to judge. I simply explained library cards and directed him to the desk where he could get one.
I once had a co-worker who was a couple of years younger than me. She didn't know that cows and hens are female. I explained to her at length about communism, the Soviet Union and East and West Germany (she thought it was just something on tv). She thought that bearded dragons breathe fire.
Something I had to explain to my mum; She said that you SHOULD want to have s*x with the person you're married to. I told her to phrase it differently because there are folks who don't want s*x with anyone, and to say something like 'You should only want to have s*x with your partner' instead. She interrupted me about four times, but I think I got the message across.
Just because a person is intelligent does mean they have no common sense and/or are nieve.
True. My brother in law was an academic genius. He had degrees in maths and science and yet I once had to demonstrate to him how to work his washing machine. Another time I had to explain to him how to make pancakes.
Load More Replies...I once had to explain to my dad what that rubber sheep with the hole in the butt was for. We were at a flea market/fair and one of the stalls sold s3x toys. It was so weird that my dad could not even imagine inside his own head in silence what it was for. 😬😬😬😬😬🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈
Let's be honest, they're almost exclusively gag gifts. I can't imagine they're 'used' very often.
Load More Replies...I have had to explain that NZ & Australia are real countries and that we don’t go to work on a kangaroo!!
That women have three holes "down there." PSA for those lacking in basic s*x education: The urethra and the v****a are separate openings, we do not urinate out of our vaginas, and we can't "hold" our period like holding our pee. Edit: Seriously BP? censoring v****a? It's basic human anatomy, not a naughty word.
My coworker asked if Jews and liberals were the same people. It turned out that he didn't know what either word meant, so we had to explain both terms to him. He was raised conservative and Christian (shocker), and he's actually a super nice and friendly dude, just kind of a dumb*ss.
At least he was open to learning. The far right can only get/keep power by keeping their "people" ignorant of basic facts. It's been proven you can effectively "erase" someones racism purely by exposing them to the people they hate. There is one black guy who goes around and talks with K*K members, and has successfully converted many people away from the K*K.
Load More Replies...I once had a young man ask me if it costs anything to borrow books from the library. Of course, it did make me wonder where he came from that he didn't know how libraries work, but my job isn't to judge. I simply explained library cards and directed him to the desk where he could get one.
I once had a co-worker who was a couple of years younger than me. She didn't know that cows and hens are female. I explained to her at length about communism, the Soviet Union and East and West Germany (she thought it was just something on tv). She thought that bearded dragons breathe fire.
Something I had to explain to my mum; She said that you SHOULD want to have s*x with the person you're married to. I told her to phrase it differently because there are folks who don't want s*x with anyone, and to say something like 'You should only want to have s*x with your partner' instead. She interrupted me about four times, but I think I got the message across.
Just because a person is intelligent does mean they have no common sense and/or are nieve.
True. My brother in law was an academic genius. He had degrees in maths and science and yet I once had to demonstrate to him how to work his washing machine. Another time I had to explain to him how to make pancakes.
Load More Replies...I once had to explain to my dad what that rubber sheep with the hole in the butt was for. We were at a flea market/fair and one of the stalls sold s3x toys. It was so weird that my dad could not even imagine inside his own head in silence what it was for. 😬😬😬😬😬🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈
Let's be honest, they're almost exclusively gag gifts. I can't imagine they're 'used' very often.
Load More Replies...
