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Sometimes we do not know what we do not know, and we have to learn it the hard way. For example, if a person doesn't add water to the pot when they're boiling pasta, chances are, it will burn. So, in an attempt to figure out what (vital) skills people grow up without, Reddit user arual_x submitted a question to the platform, asking "What's the most horrifying 'how do you not know how to do this?' moment you've experienced with another person whilst adulting?"

I know the last word is enough to make zoomers cringe but let's not get into linguistics. It's the answers that count. Continue scrolling and check out the most upvoted ones.

#1

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple I was a drill sergeant in the US Army. The first time you have to show an adult man how to shave is a little shocking. The worst one was the 24 year old male that didn't know how to tie his boots. He had gotten through reception and pick up day by tightly lacing his boots and tucking the laces in. As they would loosen up throughout the day, he would just pull them tight again. The first Sunday I noticed his boots were barely staying on as he was marching back from dinner. I asked him what was wrong with them as it's common for privates to have the wrong size boots when they get to us. He didn't know how to tie them. At all. Not a single knot. I spent an hour showing him how I tie my boots and different techniques if he gets hot spots or blisters. Then I assigned his bunkmate the task of making sure they were tied correctly when he left the bay.

I kind of understood it. He came from a super poor neighborhood, single mom that worked all the time, he didn't have a lot of positive influences before joining the Army. I was a little worried about his comprehension skills since basic rifle marksmanship is kind of intense and takes some focus, but he did well. I was very happy that on family day he had his low quarters tied and was proud that he had learned so much.

irunfarther , wmfawmfa Report

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Hans
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I do not normally appreciate military stories, but some people are lucky to find a place where they can make up life skills they did not learn earlier.

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The idea for the post popped into arual_x's head when they were reminiscing about a useless ex with a friend. "We were sharing stories and I thought it would be fun to hear other people's stories too," the Reddit user told Bored Panda. "I guess you can't know what you aren't taught or don't bother to learn, and there are plenty of ways the modern world reduces the need to learn how to do things. If you can microwave something, why learn to cook? If you can pay someone else to do it, or someone else has always done something for you, why would you bother to learn to do it yourself?"

#2

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple You know, when they said "Wear a facemask, make it cover both your mouth and nose, don't touch it, wash your hands and stay home"?

Yeah, simple instructions, and a whole load of people can't follow them properly. That is messed up.

turboshitposter3000 Report

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TrickQuestion
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And those are the people complaining about things being shut down longer. If you'd just listened, it would have been a LOT easier to open things back up earlier.

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#3

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My roommate was making brownies from a box. The instructions said to grease the bottom of the pan before pouring in the batter. You bet your ass they picked up the pan, flipped it over, greased the BOTTOM of it, flipped it back over and poured in the brownie batter.

TopRamenisha , Katy Report

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If after going through the list, you discover that you too lack some of these skills, don't worry. It's never too late to learn. I know that sounds cliché but that is what literature suggests. Tchiki Davis, Ph.D., for example, said that you can build pretty much any skill to improve yourself—your emotions, thoughts, or behaviors.

"It doesn't really matter which skills you want to improve; the key to personal development is taking the right steps—steps that help ensure that you reach whatever goal you are pursuing," the consultant, writer, and expert on well-being, said.

#4

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple Had a guy constantly asking what time it is...by the 6th time I said "bro,there is a clock right there" he said " I don't know how to read it...grown ass man..

Couple weeks later on facebook someone shared a picture of cursive writing he made fun of the people who couldn't read it...I posted a picture of a clock and said what time does this say...he blocked me

shadownights23x , Matthew Paul Argall Report

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Karl Baxter
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Surprisingly common among a generation who grew up with digital watches

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#5

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple Co-worker announced she was pregnant, then immediately said she was sad that she couldn’t take a bath until the baby was born. I stared, confused, and asked “Why can’t you take a bath?” She looked at me as though I was stupid and said, “Because the baby will drown!” I had to walk away.

natgoeshome , Solveig Osk Report

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Botox
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And no more peeing! It's the same hole, you don't want to pee over baby O_0

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What are the most important personal skills? Well, Davis said it really depends on what you're trying to achieve. It makes little sense to learn how to code if you don't plan to be a coder or to bench press 400 pounds if you don't plan to be a weight lifter. Personal development is more about building skills to reach your personal goals. Here is a 9-step program that Davis has found to be important to successful personal development.

"The science is clear," she said. "The more ways we develop ourselves, the broader our skillset, and the more success we tend to have. So try learning some new emotional skills or do some activities to build new skills. You just might learn something that changes your life."

#6

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple Oh I have a really funny one, I hope it doesn't get buried!

Years ago, I bought a friend an electric kettle as a gift. Her boyfriend (who I'm still friends with and who passed along this story) came home one night to find her running out the front door of their apartment with the flaming kettle, and she threw it into the street.

She was screaming about how it was a piece of junk because when she put it on the stove, over a flame, it caught fire and started to melt.

He was laughing uncontrollably when he asked, "what did you think the cord was for?"

They broke up soon after.

ilikeyourswatch , Lee Haywood Report

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#7

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My relative tried to put her son on the school bus his first day of kindergarten and got upset when the driver refused to let him on because he wasn't on the list. She never registered him for school and just thought she could put him on the bus and send him.

whotiesyourshoes , Neeta Lind Report

Coming back to arual_x, the Reddit user said that, "even the most put-together people are probably lacking somewhere." And it's hard to disagree. Life is so multi-dimensional, you can't do everything.

"The stories might be hilarious but they're so commonplace that everyone has something like this to be embarrassed about and maybe everyone should focus on self-improvement ever so often," arual_x added.

#8

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple When my friend bought a house, a month into home ownership, she asked me when the city was coming to cut her lawn because it was starting to look like weeds. It was awkward when I had to explain that she needs to cut her own lawn or hire someone.

theantpantsdance , Nick Richards Report

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Nikki Sevven
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm pretty sure these are my neighbors. They moved in 18 months ago and haven't mowed the lawn once. Currently, it's a tangled mess of sweet grass, bittersweet, and poison ivy that harbors copious ticks, fleas, and mice. I'm going to have to call the city and report a nuisance, since the stuff is edging its way into my yard.

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#9

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple I asked my husband to make some herbal tea for me the first year we were married. I walked into the kitchen to find him standing over the stove with a mug of water sitting directly on the burner.

eternalsunshine85 , Swithun Crowe Report

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#10

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My wonderful, selfless, beautiful younger brother asked me how to make ice last year. He's 24.

Cat_Vonnegut , liz west Report

#11

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My ex–best friend told me that she had needed to buy another new vacuum cleaner, which was the third that month. I asked her what was wrong with it and she said, 'It's not picking things up anymore!' So I asked if she had dumped out the container. She didn't know that was a thing.

Winterlight8044 , Martin Abegglen Report

#12

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My Mom and I moved in with my Grandparents when I was 10 years old. You know, old enough to have learned how to do some basic chores, and certainly old enough to be taught more. Unfortunately my Grandmother, God bless her, was not only terrified of fire (her Mother had a problem with accidentally setting things on fire) but she was also a neat freak that insisted on doing everything herself so it was done right.

My Mom married my (step)Dad when I was 14 years old, and we moved in to a house together as a family. He was horrified to learn that, at nearly 15 years old, I did not know how to wash and dry my own clothes, iron, load a dishwasher, or even use the stove. I could use the oven because I baked with my other Grandmother when I visited, but I had never used the stove top. There are many more things he had to teach me, but those were the things that really had him worried about my ability to care for myself as an adult. It wasn't that my Grandmother didn't want me to be able to care for myself. Her fears were just so intense that she didn't think about how not knowing these basic skills would effect me later in life. I am forever grateful to my Dad for being the Dad I needed because God knows the biological one couldn't be bothered. Mom couldn't overrule her own Mother when we lived with her and by the time she married Dad she was sleeping at the hospital five nights a week because her schedule was so insane. I dont even want to think about who I would be if I hadn't had him to teach me, but I'm pretty sure I would have had to live off of chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and take out through my 20s if it weren't for him. I probably would've smelled pretty bad from the lack of clean clothes too.

WhoDatKrit , Andrew Pantyukhin Report

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Ozacoter
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Its great that he learnt, altought being 14 and not knwing these isnt that uncommon I think.

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#13

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple In my honors dorm at Purdue there was a Computer Science major named Jeffrey. He was well known because his parents would stop by every week to pick up his laundry and bring him a case of Fiji water with expensive groceries. His dad was a doctor. We commented on Jeffrey's long gross toenails and how he needs to cut them. He told us they are long because his mom hasn't visited in weeks and she was the one who cut them. His mother cut her 19 year old sons toenails. Disgusting. We had to give him a lesson on it.

Drum-Major , Chun Kit To Report

#14

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My housemate (24 year old postgrad student) not realising that

You needed to preheat an oven.

You needed to defrost frozen meat before cooking it.

You need to use a baking tray.

After I caught her lining the bottom of our oven with frozen chicken drumsticks.

rabbles-of-roses , Thomas van de Weerd Report

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N G
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You can cook certain prepared meat from frozen. Otherwise innumerable ready meals wouldn't be.

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#15

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My ex and I were cooking together and one of the pans got too hot, and we had a minor grease fire.

She grabbed a bag of flour.

As tempted as I was to slap it out of her hands, I didn't want to aerate a bunch of flour next to a grease fire, so I grabbed it with both hands and forced it (and her, because she wouldn't let go) over to the countertop, and then dropped the lid on the pan.

I asked her what her logic was, and she said "well, you're supposed to put baking soda on a grease fire and not water, right?".

"Yes. Why did you try to use flour?"

"What's the difference? They're both white powder."

walkingknight , State Farm Report

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So lucky you got that flour off her in time. You may not be alive to tell this story.

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#16

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My roommate tried to make pasta by putting a pot on the stove, pouring the noodles in without adding water, and turning on the stove. Then she asked me, 'How come these aren’t getting soft like when my mom makes them?

TopRamenisha , Marco Verch Report

#17

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My best friend was sleeping with a new guy. She said she wasn’t sure of his sexual history but she was on birth control to prevent STDs. I was like, 'Umm...'

slohomo , Brianna Laugher Report

#18

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple Ooohhh I got one. I work as an EMT for a private company, so we mostly deal with nursing homes and the elderly. One day when I was about 6-8 months in, I got assigned a partner who was in my orientation class. He was a little older than me at the time, like mid 20's, but he seemed a little childish. "Maybe he's just sheltered, I think to myself."

Anyways, we got a patient I've had a few times before. She was a sweet, little old lady with COPD and CHF living at an assisted living. Call was for pneumonia. She's prone to this stuff so it wasnt a huge deal, slap her on oxygen and keep her sitting up til we get to the hospital. The first red flag though, was this kid didn't know anything. He didnt know how to take a blood pressure. He couldn't find the medical history or medication on the paperwork (which is clearly labeled). He didn't even push the stretcher, just walked next to it with a hand on it. When I asked him about all that, he said "My partners usually do that for me."

So, I put her on an oxygen mask and sit her all the way up, mildly agitated. I tell myself it's just one shift with this kid. He's in the back with her and I tell him to just switch the oxygen from the bag (which is a small tank) to the main tank (which is huge) because with the amount of oxygen we're giving her, the bag will run out not even halfway before the hospital. It's about 25 minutes, which normally wouldn't be a huge deal. But when we pull up to the hospital and I open the back doors, I'm fucking shook. The oxygen mask isnt inflated (meaning she isnt getting oxygen), shes pale as shit, I can literally see her accessory muscles moving, struggling to breathe. And this kid was sitting behind her, with a clueless half smile on his face, looks at me and says "The main tank is broken, so I left her on the bag." This women, who needs oxygen without pneumonia, was barely breathing for at LEAST 15 minutes. And this fucking idiot didnt even check. We take her into the hospital. I ask him to find an oxygen tank while explain to this women's daughter what happened. He says he doesn't know where to look. I fucking find it and told him to talk to the daughter.

When it's all said and done, I check to see what's broken. He didn't turn on the tank.

TL;DR EMT partner nearly kills a patient because he didn't know he had to open the oxygen tank to get oxygen to come out.

BamboozledBigTIme , Navy Medicine Report

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How did he even get the job in the first place and I hope he was bloody fired after that.

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#19

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple Girl I went to HS with: “why do people say a quarter of an hour? Like what does that even mean?”

Me: “it’s 15 minutes. Because 15 is a fourth of 60, so that’s a quarter of an hour”

Her: looking at me like I’m a f**king idiot “But a quarter is 25...”

Me: ...

maekae_ , Chris Jobling Report

#20

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My friend in college once lamented, 'Ugh. I have to pee and I just put a tampon in like five minutes ago. I hate having to pull them out dry.' Her mother taught her that there is only one hole down there and peeing with a tampon in isn't possible.

BroffaloSoldier , SouthernSun Report

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Kari Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At first, I read 'pull them out TO dry' and that was a very disturbing thought.

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#21

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple A girl I knew in college had her dad call to remind her to put oil in her truck. She did and then her truck started smelling like french fries and died. She couldn't understand that this was directly related to the quart of vegetable oil she put in the motor.

snowman818 , Matthew Paul Argall Report

#22

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple I remember when I first started dating my now husband, I was hanging out at his apartment waiting for him to get out of work. His place was a bit messy so I decided I’d tidy up for him a bit.

Fast forward to the next morning and he comes in a little shocked.

“Why would you load the dishwasher like...that”

I had never had a dishwasher before in my life lmao. We’re talking cups facing up, big ass pans shoved in, the whole nine yards. Thank god he stuck with me lol

kay37892 , Joanna Bourne Report

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Kari Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Can’t blame this person :) If they never had a dish washer, it‘s understandable that they wouldn’t know.

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#23

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple I had a roommate at university who’s “cooking” method was put baked beans in a Tupperware, seal the lid, turn on microwave, when lid pops and explodes beans everywhere they’re cooked.

Thejustinset , Scott Veg Report

#24

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple Don't think this aligns with your question, but while visiting my friend I found out he preheat his microwave.

Arodriguez2356 , Billy Mabray Report

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Amy Pattie
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hey, better pre heating your microwave than forgetting to pre heat your oven

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#25

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple I had to ask my roommate to please wash his hands after touching raw chicken. He thought it was fine to just go about his day before I asked.

GotGhostsInMyBlood , Michael Eccles Report

#26

College roommate did not know how to wash his body.

Yes. The SMELL.

After a week we threatened him. He took a “shower”.

We sent him back again. With soap.

Three days later he stank again. We told him to shower every day.

Then we taught him how to do laundry. And bought him a coat because he did not own one. In cleveland. In the winter.

Full genius dude, invented a WiFi security standard later on. But no idea how to care for himself.

cbelt3 Report

#27

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My dad couldn't spread butter on his toast when he met my mom.

PhD in neuroscience? No problem.

Building a successful business? Piece of cake.

Spreading butter on a bagel? Talk about unrealistic expectations.

Banksy0726 , Joanna Bourne Report

#28

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My friend who was almost 40 had never paid a bill before. When she got divorced and lived on her own for the first time, I got a text from her asking if my power was out too. She realized it was just her and her excuse was she never paid attention to the bills because she thought they were receipts and that the cost was included in her rent.

ReddishWedding2018 , Motaz Altahir Report

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nanashi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this is why everyone, regardless of gender or age, needs to be independent and don't rely 100% on a single person. you could never know what will happen in the future if that person is no longer in the picture, and then you're left with zero common skills and knowledge.

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Hans
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Absolutely. It is fine to share tasks in a relationship, but a basic understanding of what is going on is always wise.

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GirlFriday
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My parents were married for 32 years when they divorced. While my mother is a very smart person, she was excluded from the family finances and my father handled them. It took a lot of back and forth with my brothers and I acting as the go-between to figure out the household bills and when/where they were due. Mom's electricity got shut off because the bills were forwarded to Dad's new address and he didn't tell her about them. It was a nightmare. The lesson is: whether you pay the bills or not, LEARN who you pay and when.

emtreidy avatar
Anne Reid
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ok, but I met a woman in her late 40s/early 50s at a gas station who didn’t know how to pump gas. She was nearly in tears. I asked if she was ok, and she explained that she just left an incredibly controlling, abusive husband. He wouldn’t allow her to do ANYTHING as a way to keep her from leaving. Pay bills, know their finances, drive anywhere other than drop the kid to school & grocery shop, on an allowance, etc. I showed her and her young teen daughter how to get gas. She went from living at home to living with her husband. Her high school sweetheart. Drove her mom or dad’s car until she was married. Don’t judge, you don’t know the road people have traveled. It might have been bumpier than yours. Oh, and electric is included in my rent.

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James016
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I generally take care of household bills, they are direct debits from my account but somethings are paid manually like the council tax, water bill. Recently we went through everything together in case something happened to me, she can easily take over.

ssnx01 avatar
Chich
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Knew a couple up north. Both teachers. Finally got their own place in their mid 30's. They were outraged when they found out they had to pay utilities on top of their mortgage.

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Barbara Vandewalle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This happens when the controlling spouse does not let the other know anything about bills, finances, etc.

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Donkey boi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is why 'home economics class' need to be revised. They should teach this in school. How to balance your bills and budget for groceries, how to see what is included in a rental agreement, how to cook 5 basic but very different meals and how to actually live as an adult.

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Nubmaeme
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was in the Air Force, my squadron deployed to Iraq. I was one of the few who were left behind. Several months into deployment, we start getting phone calls from the creditors of one of the young men. Upon visiting his wife, it was discovered that she knew nothing about paying the bills, etc and thought she could wait for his return so he could do it, as he had always done. We had to teach her how to pay her bills, balance her checkbook, and a whole list of other things that came with running a household. When the young man returned from deployment, he found a different, more confident wife than the one he'd left.

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Mary Peace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She might have had a friend whose bills were included in her rent, so she assumed it was the same for everyone.

christineschneider avatar
Beeps
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Receipts - that’s cute! I’ll have to start referring to mine that way. Hey, my credit card receipt just came in the mail today.

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Mewton’s Third Paw
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I knew a woman like that, she ended up being a very successful hotel owner and awesome person. But she was like 35-40 when her husband dumped her in a very painful way. She didn’t even know how to use a bank or pay bills. She learned though, and I look up to her now. A lot.

cheechee717 avatar
Sentinel
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She owns a hotel but didnt know how to bank? Wow its good if she can fully trust her team when it comes to banking matters i guess.

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Marilyn Ransberry
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Everyone should live on their own or with a roommate before marriage,

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Alla Boutamy
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I thought everyone lived on their own or with roomies before marriage/children since the late 70s. Apparently, I was wrong because there are too many inept, spoiled idiots out there that are incapable of basic, hygiene, devoid of common sense and incapable of managing themselves.

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Lady Snowfall
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My former coworker's husband died suddenly. She was in her 50s. Never wrote a check in her life. Didn't know what bills they had, or any assets he may have tucked away. She let him do everything having to do with finance without paying attention. It was such a mess, and she was so lost. I felt so bad for her, dealing with a loss and no idea how to take care of herself financially.

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Anna Repp
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is jus so sad! I hope you helped her out instead of making fun of her.

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Cigdem Kanburoğlu
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is sad. When you married (especially if you were young) you split duties. I remember our old neighbour was so sad because of his beloved husband's death. But then after a month, she needed to pay the bills, which she never did before. She said she broke into tears at the bank, the new difficulty and that reminded her of his lost husband.

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AzKhaleesi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is so sad and pathetic. I mean even if her husband paid the bills how did her parents not teach her? I have two older teens in my house that work, and they both pay their phone bills and pay a smaller house bill (gas or the like because it's next to nothing) just so they get used to paying a bill on the regular and managing their money. Now my 19 year old has a CC bill, her car payment, insurance, phone and the small house bill. (she still lives at home) I sat her down showed her how to budget and she's great with her money. My son is just starting out but he's doing great too. I can not wrap my head around why this isn't a normal thing.

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Paul Davis
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I once worked with a lady who was always making the most idiotic assumptions about how things work, and was constantly messing things up. When you would explain how it actually worked, she would endlessly repeat "but I THOUGHT it worked like (completely stupid way she just made up)". I could never tell if she'd even heard the actual explanation of how things work, because she was so wrapped up in what she THOUGHT.

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Douglas Mock
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Did she spend more time explaining her f*ck up logic than she did on repeating the correct instructions?

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Margaret Martin
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

These posts are the very reasons why "Consumer/ Home Economics' classes should be MANDATORY for EVERYONE who goes to School!

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J
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know someone who was like this, it took a lot of support and guidance but she's now on the right path :)

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Joyce Deering
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Receipts....sure... we get lots of those 'receipts' in our mailbox too.

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pamela nichols
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My great aunt when her husband died she didn't know how to pay bills and do simple maintenance on her house.

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Vicki Perizzolo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

so sad that so many women find themselves in this situation -- we HAVE to stand up for ourselves and learn about the finances in our lives!

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Deborah Blair-Krosnicki
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is my mother, unfortunately. Has relied on my father for literally everything financially. Sad.

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Marvin HoG
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This will be my husband if I go first lol. Poor thing hasn't got a bit of financial sense in him. I found out after we were married that his sister had tried to teach him finances for YEARS before finally giving up. I tried for years as well before giving up. Just not a numbers guy, I guess!

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Naomi Cline
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Totally understandable for a woman who goes from being taken care of by her parents to a spouse and never having to take care of herself. Those skills are learned!

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Mewton’s Third Paw
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s easy to learn really. Most utilities and places where you need to pay bills will have you set up an online account and you just fill in your credit card information and pay your Bill online. You can also call the telephone number and pay by phone. Most places now accept online payments and credit or debit cards, and most places bill you monthly.

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Michael Sanders
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To be somewhat fair there are many places that include utilities in the rent. That probably isn’t the case here, but it does happen

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Lorelai Dewrell
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this is why school should teach us how to pay our bills (i live in america ofc)

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Little Ms. Quirky
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3 years ago

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JuJu
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you have a partner who excludes you from anything financial, you can fall pretty hard after parting. Especially when your parents did all the stuff for you before.

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#29

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My friend from college tried making burrito bowls for dinner and complained that some of the onions were weirdly chewy. She didn't know onions need to be peeled.

thompsme , Paul Hudson Report

#30

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple This 19-year-old guy asked me how to cook a fried egg. I gave him instructions and when he came back, he said it took a few attempts because the yolk kept breaking and he thought breaking the yolk made the egg poisonous.

cynicalkerfuffle , Fredrik Rubensson Report

#31

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple One of my roommates in college would melt plastic spatulas like crazy. She'd always say it was due to the spatula being made of cheap plastic, but I finally caught her one day. She'd be cooking something and would walk away LEAVING THE PLASTIC SPATULA IN THE PAN WHILE IT WAS STILL ON!

Fantastic_Relief , Didriks Report

#32

Oh gosh, I have a few from when I first went to university, living in halls and realising some people literally did not know how to cook a THING.

There was one girl who bought chicken and kept it in the cupboard, despite being told by pretty much everyone else in the flat that it was meant to go in the fridge or freezer. Flat out refused to listen, kept putting it in the cupboard. Don't know how she didn't get sick.

Another flatmate who didn't eat potato for almost a year because he didn't know how to peel them and didn't want to try (I tried to teach him). Then he realised he could buy pre-prepared.

One guy who decided to take a nap whilst cooking sausages for dinner, just left them in the grill and only woke up when the fire alarms were going off and the whole building was being evacuated.

Finally two girls who again almost caused a fire if I hadn't found them... These two were actually my friends and I was looking for them, found them in one of the kitchens about to "cook" a stir fry. They had a wok with about an inch depth of oil in the bottom, SHIMMERING because it was so hot, and they weren't sure if it was hot enough to cook with yet. They were really glad I found them because they couldn't tell that it was boiling oil and were worried the food wouldn't cook. I was really glad I found them because if they had thrown their stir fry veg in there it would have probably caused a fire, or at least spat boiling oil all over them. I turned it off and tossed one piece of veg in there - turned black almost instantly.

Honestly I was just shocked and appalled that so many 18 year olds had never cooked for themselves before, and even worse that their parents had sent them off to fend for themselves not having taught them. It's actually scary thinking back!

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#33

Not sure if I'd call it "horrifying," but pretty ridiculous, nonetheless. It's about me. I just moved into my first home in February of this year. I live alone and am single. Earlier this month I mowed my lawn for the first time. I have never mowed a lawn before, but I'm thinking, how hard can it be? (The answer: not hard at all). Prior to that, I had roped my brother into coming over and doing it for me, but this time I figured I need to actually learn. The lawnmower is an old push mower of my dad's that he had brought over about a month ago, and he quickly gave me the rundown on how to use it, but I was half paying attention, plus..it's a lawnmower.

So anyway, I go to start it up, takes me at least 10 tries of pulling the cord as hard as I can with no luck until finally it fires up. I then proceed to begin mowing, and I KNOW this thing is self-propelling - it says so right on it, but I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why it's so hard to push. The wheels aren't locked or anything, so I just figure it's a combination of me not having much upper body strength and my lawn having a lot of uneven spots/divots that prevented the mower from moving smoothly. I finally finish, sweating my ass off like I had just finished seriously working out (my yard is very small...even I finished the front and back in about a half hour-40 mins). Upon reflection, I'm still not convinced that the mower was self-propelling. I mean I know I'm not strong and am somewhat petite, but STILL. So I'm sharing this story with friends and co-workers like wtf did I do wrong and they're all asking me about this lever, and I'm like yeah, obviously I had to hold the lever down or the motor kills. Well, turns out there's a SECOND lever that you have to squeeze in order to propel the lawnmower.

I manually pushed that MFer around my whole yard, divots, hills and all, ended up with a blister on my thumb, and sweating profusely through my shirt. Not to mention the few times I stopped it and had to re-start it, I pulled the cord literally at least 20 times to get it to start again; I was waiting for one of my neighbors to come over and ask me if I needed help, the struggle was THAT obvious (I also learned about the little button that you push a few times to make starting easier).

So yeah, mowed today, and let's just say that things went SIGNIFICANTLY better than last time. Growing up, my dad or brother would mow, and in college up until now, I have always lived in apartments or duplexes, nothing that requires residents to do any lawn care. So, at the age of 32, I have finally learned to use a lawnmower.

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#34

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple I had to jump a friend's car that wouldn’t start. After we finally got it running, she immediately turns off the car and said, 'Thanks so much, I’ll call you later!'

foundinthewild1 , Charles Williams Report

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#35

This is like 10 years ago. I was dating a 32 year old and he asked me if I wanted to get together to watch a TV show. I said sure, what time is it on. He looks it up and says to me "8 Pacific 9 Central...?"

I asked what was confusing him and he told me he wasn't sure if the show was on at 8 or 9. My man did not know what timezone we lived in.

So I was like "Ok, well you know what ocean we're near, right?" cuz I was trying to get him to think about the Pacific timezone in terms of the giant body of water for which it was named and he immediately got defensive and for real said "Why would I know that? I'm from Texas."

He'd been living in San Francisco for 5 years and could see the Pacific Ocean out his window.

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#36

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple When I first met my Ex he didn't know how to cook. 40 something year old at the time I met him. He only knew how to use a microwave and the best thing he thought of cooking was chicken thighs.

Chicken thighs cooked in the microwave, everything was cooked in the microwave. Wet, soggy, colorless flesh with no flavoring, that's not how it works, that not how any cooking should be done.

Rageagainstmisogyny , Ewen Roberts Report

#37

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple I took a food safety course and someone asked if they could wash a turkey with dish soap.

SaltyJerm , juliegomoll Report

#38

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple I had spent the night at my ex boyfriend's place and stayed a bit longer in the morning to help clean the house. I was folding some clothes when I noticed him go from one side of the bed to another without actually doing anything. I looked at him and he looked clueless. He said "can you please make the bed? I've never done this, no idea where to start". I didn't mean to have a strong reaction to it but man did it leave me speechless... he was 26 at the time. That day I realized his mother often visited his house to make the bed and clean... Yeah...

throwingverbalrocks , Michael JasonSmith Report

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StrawberryParfait
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Leave him where you found him. He's looking for another mommy to look after him.

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#39

Three months into our freshman year of college a friend of mine developed a rash. I suggested he look into hypoallergenic sheets and swap out his others. His response: "I've used the same sheets since we moved in, it's not the sheets." Mind you, not the same of sheets, but the same exact sheets unchanged and slept/eaten upon/etc. for three months.

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#40

I guess we were still in high school, but we were 18. Me and my buddy Ferris were just getting into going to the gym. We went with Ferris’s friend Tom. After working out, in the changing room during some small talk I saw Tom putting on a shirt. Tom put the shirt over his head, but didn’t put his arms through the sleeves. He managed to pull the shirt over his torso so that it was adequately on before wiggling all about and bending his arms in odd ways to get them into the sleeves. I didn’t take much notice to it the first few times. But after a few months it was apparent he did this every single time. Tom didn’t know how to put on a shirt. At least efficiently. Eventually we asked Tom why he put his shirt on like that, and he said something along the lines of “Wait what, don’t I do it the same way you guys do?” I guess he had never really thought about it before then.

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#41

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple Someone told me that their husband would put shampoo in their hair and not rinse after applying. The husband for his entire life wondered why his hair was always greasy.

TwistinFoolGames , flickr Report

#42

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple Every few weeks, I catch my roommate trying to put his metal tea strainer in the microwave in spite of the fact that our first week living in this apartment, he destroyed the microwave doing this.

MeesterPepper , Toshiyuki IMAI Report

#43

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple My wife's entire family did not grasp that you need to put water in a steam iron.

hadleybox , Quinn Dombrowski Report

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Rose the Cook
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I knew a woman who refused to put water in the iron because she feared she would be electrocuted.

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#44

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple First year at uni, a girl in my hall was microwaving some food and left it in the metal foil container. It took three fire engines to put out the fire and we had to have a new kitchen installed.

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Sum Guy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also something that is not wildly known... my coworker was heating food with the fork in his food the other day

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#45

45 People Share How They Witnessed Someone Being Completely Clueless At Something So Simple I had to teach my boss how to go down to the next line by hitting 'Enter' on his computer keyboard.

Kcups , Corey Fariello Report

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Vic
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"I had to teach my boss how to go down" the line break appears at the most unfortunate place on my phone.

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