Some questions, like 'What's the meaning of life?', are difficult to answer because they're, well, difficult. However, there's also the other end of the spectrum. I'm talking about questions that are so basic, you start wondering if the people who came up with them are alright. Recently, reddit user waldo06 asked the internet 'What's something you can't believe you had to explain to another adult?' and the responses started pouring in. It has received 15k upvotes and 11,462 comments in just days, proving that we all sometimes suffer from brainis fartis.
#1
Was tipped a twenty dollar bill to be spilt between myself and a coworker. I handed her $10 I had in my pocket and took the $20. She said it wasn’t fair that I had $20 and she only had $10. I tried to explain to her that I already had the $10, so another $10 equalled $20. She couldn’t wrap her head around it, insisting I was trying to rip her off. She gave me back the ten bucks, took the twenty to a register and made change of two 10 dollar bills. As she hands me mine I showed her that now I still have $20 and she has $10, but somehow she was satisfied she’d thwarted my attempts to short change her. Needless to say I didn’t stay friends with her after that.
This is made all the more ridiculous by the fact that she had once told me she was forced to repeat grade 12 math class because she got 100%, and the teacher accused her of cheating. The following year she got 98%. I’m thinking something fishy is going on there
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246points
Interestingly, when it comes to useless questions, "How are you?" is one of them. When you think about it, it makes sense since the person asking doesn't really want to know, and the person responding doesn't bother telling the truth.
But, according to Harvard researchers, the key to mastering small talk is to simply ask the other person follow-up questions. After analyzing more than 300 online conversations, the researchers found that those who were asked more meaningful follow-up questions (those that aren't "how are you?" or "what do you do?"), found the other person much more likable.
#2
Had to explain to someone that islands don't tip over if you put too much weight on the edge.
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237points
"When people are instructed to ask more questions, they are perceived as higher in responsiveness, an interpersonal construct that captures listening, understanding, validation and care," the researchers said.
At first, it can be tricky moving beyond the "hourly update" (traffic, sports, weather...), but try to get to things that are more important and personal to you.
If you're still not sure where to start, share some news that actually happened to you, for example, "I adopted a pet."
#3
My wife and I had to explain to the neighbor that our dog is part of our family, and no they can't just have him.
Their kids wanted our dog, which was cute, until the mother also decided that she wanted our dog and it was only fair that they got to have him on the weekends because we get to have him all week long
235points
Lastly, don't forget to commit to the moment and observe your surroundings. That means opening your eyes before you open your mouth. Find something to focus on in what's around you, like the piece of art on the wall, a quirky gadget on the table, there has to be something. It might ignite small talk and help lead the conversation into unique follow-up questions.
#4
I had to explain to my mother that muscles are meat.
A piece of meat was tough, and so I must have said something about what part of the cow the muscle came from. No, we weren't eating muscles, we were eating 'meat'. She was sickened by the concept that anyone would eat muscles. Somehow this got to the point of her claiming that humans didn't have any 'meat' on them because they aren't food.
I did not 'win' that argument. Humans have no meat, meat is not muscles. Period. Oh, it turns out people are not part of the animal kindom either.
It was a dismal childhood.
229points
#5
Scenario 1:
Them:” So where are you from?” Me: “South Africa.” Them: “Wait what?...Aren’t you supposed to be black?” Me: “uh yeah no”
Scenario 2:
Them: “So which country are you from?” Me: “South Africa.” Them: “Yeah but which country?” Me: “yeah I just said South Africa.” Them:”come on dude just tell me the country - I know where South of Africa is. Me:”No, actually South Africa is a whole country...”
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223points
#6
I had to explain to a teacher, in front of her class, that a penguin was a bird.
I didn’t want to be like that but she was adamant that if it didn’t fly, it wasn’t a bird.
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208points
#7
I had to explain to my friend that the earth wasn't 2019 years old.
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202points
#8
As a server, there are so many times I have to explain to guests that chicken can’t be cooked “medium rare”.
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201points
#9
Why a room below sea level on a cruise ship would not have a balcony
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196points
#10
My mom asked me why you couldn't see the borders of states when you were in an airplane.
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195points
#11
That I couldn’t just go to the bathroom and pee my period out to be done with it. He was about 19/20 at the time and obviously didn’t have sex education....been married 25 years. He will never live that down.
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189points
#12
Don’t bring your dog to work and let her pee/poop on the carpet. Tiny poop and little puddles are not ok just because they’re tiny. She weighs 4 pounds. He said she’s so little it doesn’t matter. He said he never even notices at home and if I had a dog, I’d feel differently. (Have a dog. Still don’t want urine and feces in my carpet—at home or at work.)
186points
#13
I had to explain to a lady that dinosaur bones at the Museum of Natural History in DC were real. She thought dinosaurs were mythical creatures...not real.
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186points
#14
That drinks have caloric content. A coworker was complaining how she was having trouble losing weight and didn't realize drinking 4 hot chocolates a day was not really conducive to weight loss.
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185points
#15
Had a coworker who said she didn't eat eggs because they're "forced abortion babies"... Chick refused to accept that unfertilized eggs don't hatch and she didn't have to worry because she's just eating the chickens' periods. After this conversation carried on far too long, she proceeded to eat a bowl of pasta that I'm 97% sure was made with eggs.
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184points
#16
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.
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179points
#17
When a 'smart' bomb strikes a building and blows it up, it doesn't just kill the bad guys, it kills everyone in the building. Smart only means it's going to hit the building instead of a random location.
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178points
#18
New Mexico.
Is.
A.
State.
You have no idea the number of people that believe we are a part of Mexico.
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177points
#19
Told my roommate that if he cooked food on less than the highest level of heat, he wouldn't burn as much food, and would generally have more success.
A week later, I explained to him that when he was just boiling water, high heat was okay.
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172points
#20
Had to explain to a female friend of mine that she doesn't have to take out her tampon to pee because it's two completely different holes.
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172points