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
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.
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536points
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
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.
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462points
#3
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.
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423points
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
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
408points
#5
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.
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395points
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
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.
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393points
#7
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.
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360points
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
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.
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348points
#9
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.
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336points
#10
My wonderful, selfless, beautiful younger brother asked me how to make ice last year. He's 24.
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317points
#11
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.
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310points
#12
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.
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289points
#13
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.
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287points
#14
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.
280points
#15
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."
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276points
#16
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?
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247points
#17
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...'
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245points
#18
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.
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244points
#19
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: ...
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239points
#20
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.
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237points