“It Absolutely Blew My Mind”: 50 Traits People Thought Everyone Had, But Were Proven Wrong

I thought it was normal for people to suddenly burst into anger out of no where. Luckily I was wrong.

My father tried to teach my brother and me to lie about everything because "that's how it is in the real world!"

Nope! Turns out my father is either a narcissist or a psychopath (long story, but yes - those are very real possibilities).

I failed a test as a grade schooler because I got the definition of "true" and "false" wrong due to his influence. When I explained what he said to me to the teacher, she was aghast! That was the beginning of my father implementing the "don't tell anyone anything that is said in this house" rules.

Does it count when in about 7th grade I realised my eyesight was s**t and that yes, most of the kids actually could see the letters on the blackboard?

Driving a car.

There are people out there who can't even steer a shopping cart properly. How they managed to drive their car to the store is just scary.

Spacial awareness and common sense.

Having your s**t together. My mom is an organizational powerhouse and somehow my folks managed to hold down two full time jobs (my mom more like full and a half) and manage a household with three kids while always getting us to sports activities and do things with relatives over the weekend, etc. Always there to help with our homework, too.

Turns out most people absolutely do not have their s**t together but from my childhood perspective I just assumed everyone else was basically doing things the same. It takes a lot of work and burning yourself out to do what my folks did and I only really appreciate it now that I'm a parent, myself.

As a little kid, I legit thought eveyone else's dad was always at the bar too.

I didn’t realize that it was okay to ask people for help as well as asking if I can have something. My dad made me think it was an inconvenience to ask if I could have a drink if we went to a family member’s house.

Being empathetic.

I thought people actually did things the honest way until I started to realise most people find shortcuts (i.e. cheat) or embellish things.

Its not even about work smarter not harder.

I thought everybody walked around holding in an overwhelming sense of dread because of tiny coincidences, I thought everyone was constantly agonizing over intrusive thoughts and went to the same great lengths as me to prove those thoughts wrong.

Turns out I have OCD and depression, and while the diagnoses existed in the 80’s and 90’s that were my childhood; they were very much not the sort of thing that happened to ordinary folks living in small town Nothingsberg, Nebraska (not a real place)….

Trust and honesty. Boy was I wrong.

Thinking about how your words and actions teach other people how to think about and react to you.

Ex: When you lie to me about small things, it makes me think you will probably lie to me about big things as well.

Any partner: ????? *shocked and baffled and accusing me of being a manipulative mastermind*

The people you interact with -perceive you- by your words and actions, they can't read your mind. You are teaching them who you are and what to expect with your behavior.

Apparently this concept is rocket science.

Being hard of hearing. None of us are deaf or anything, but several people in my family have had a bit of hearing loss since birth. So in general, we all talk pretty loudly, even the ones with normal hearing. Didn’t hurt that we’re from a bit of a boisterous culture too.

Then I went to school. I didn’t realize that whispering was a real thing, and not just speaking slightly softer and praying the other person heard you. I thought everyone needed subtitles to watch Netflix. I didn’t realize it wasn’t normal to walk out of the movie theater only catching 80% of the movie. I was confused how people could keep up with multiple convos in big group gatherings. I was surprised that my friends’ families talked quietly at home and didn’t practically scream just to be heard.

I finally got tested as an adult and learned that I don’t have “selective hearing” as my friends always joked about. I actually have hearing loss.

Critical thinking. (Understanding regardless of right/wrong there is always a second opinion).

Wishing you were born as the opposite sex.

I have a birthmark on my tuchus, and when I was little I noticed my grandma had a nearly identical birthmark in close to the same spot. I just assumed everyone had a buttcheek birthmark from then on. 

Being able to play any musical instrument.
Our family was very musical, we owned all sorts if instruments and everyone tried to play everything.

I found out as a teen that just isn't normal when, playing flute in school band, we were instructed to choose a different one. I pick up a trumpet and started to play. Everyone just stared at me.

Being insecure somehow my parents made me feel like confidence = Arrogance.

Yelling and acting negatively over seemingly simple things. Neither of my parents modeled emotional stability and I actually thought it was normal to be crazy emotional all the time. They also put me down for ever showing emotions - i wasn’t allowed to have any, even if it truly spiked an emotional response.