50 Things People Never Thought They’d Have To Explain To Another Adult

My husband had to explain to a co-worker that she couldn’t take a train from the U.S. to Europe. She insisted she had to because she didn’t like flying.

That no matter how much you might want to put a camo pattern on your walls, you (not the paint) have to determine what that pattern looks like and you will also have to purchase multiple cans of paint tinted differently because "camo" doesn't come out of a can that way.

I had to explain to a restaurant worker that eggs are not dairy. Chickens do not have mammary glands. Someone who is allergic to dairy can eat eggs and chicken. Mayonnaise, containing eggs and oil, is therefore not dairy. 


She was looking at me like I was the stupid one, the whole time.

That each country does not, in fact, have its own sun.

I was amazed in my old workplace how many young adults, like early 20s or so, couldn't tell the time from the wall clock.

North is not whichever way you’re facing!

I work in travel. I've had to explain time zones more than you'd believe. So, if you leave Sydney at 2pm and fly ~14 hours, crossing the international dateline, you arrive in LA at noon - about 2 hours "before you left." I've watched this emoji 🤯 happen in real time.

That you have to have a printer to print things at home. Tech support, and I wish I was lying.

People on the internet can and will lie to you

That New Zealand, the country we were both born, raised and living in, is not in Europe. Edit to answer most of your questions: her reasoning is that when she fills out forms and has to tick a box for her ethnicity, she ticks "New Zealand European". She thought that option was there because we are European and therefore in Europe. I had to explain to her that just means SHE is of European decent. That her ancestors lived in Europe. I also had to explain that not every New Zealander ticks that box. That there are other ethnicities here too.

In regards to the North and South poles, neither is "the one that is always hot."

That women do not all have their period at the beginning of the month all around the world at the same time.

A girl was staying with my family and had brought her dog. The dog got hurt at one point (freak accident) that required surgery on a back leg and the "Cone of Shame" to be worn.

At one point, she started cutting off a bit of the cone.

Me: Careful, cut too much, and he'll be able to reach his stitches.

Her: That's alright. He'll be able to keep them clean.

I had to explain to her, very slowly, that the purpose of the cone was to keep him from licking the stitches and pulling them out. She honestly thought the cone was just an aesthetic thing.

I had to explain to a doctor's receptionist from Michigan once that Canada was not located somewhere mysteriously "across the ocean?", but rather across the border... from Michigan. My mom and I spent the car ride home in stunned silence.

That driving north meant the whole trip was uphill.

I laughed at her until I realised she meant it, ended up laughing at myself cos there’s no way I was going to explain it to her.

That raw meat juices, especially that of chicken, should in no way come in contact with other foods.

I learned this in 8th grade home ec, so I was 13 years old.
I had to explain to a 40-year old that no, you can't put grilled chicken back on an unwashed cutting board that still has raw chicken juices.

New England isn't part of Europe (to three different people). Get your s**t together, Arizona public school system.

Orange juice from concentrate doesn't come from a place called "concentrate".

Used to work at a daycare. One day a little mouse entered the premises and caused an uproar until we caught and released it in the playground. 

After the whole ordeal, one of my colleagues (who was the dumbest person I've ever met) said: "let's hope it didn't lay eggs anywhere!" 

I was too stunned to speak and just stared at her, while my room leader/friend said, in the most done-with-this-s**t way: "Mice don't lay eggs, ." and walked off. 

EDIT: I love how so many people in these replies are trying to find a different interpretation of what she must have meant, or say that she must have been joking :D but no, unfortunately I have to tell you she was 100% of the opinion that mice lay eggs because she even doubled down about it later.

A friend asked me how the sun knows the clocks have changed when we have daylight savings.