23 Common-Sense Things Adults Explained To Other Adults
I believe that everyone should be offered some grace since it's everyone's first time living, and we're all trying to figure life out. However, I also believe that common sense goes...a long way. Recently, BuzzFeed Community members shared the things they couldn't believe they had to explain to another adult, and some of these stories are so bewildering that all you can really do is laugh:
"I was telling my sister, who was 35 at the time and thinks she's a genius, about how two friends of mine drove to Alaska. She asked, 'How does that work?' I told her that you cross the border into Canada and then drive the rest of the way to Alaska. She replied, 'Alaska is an island.' I informed her that Alaska is not an island and that she should never say she went to a better high school or college than me ever again."
—hlane09
"Someone said to me, 'Anne Frank is a fictional character.'"
"I walked in just in time to stop a coworker from cooking a can of corn in the microwave. An unopened can of corn."
—odaydaniel
"I had to explain to a grown human who went to college for nursing what a semicircle was. I had to literally tell her that it was half of a circle."
"One time, my older sibling and I had to explain to my cousin's husband (who was 35 at the time) that thunder does not come from two clouds crashing into each other. My soul left my body."
—oldpumpkin393
"I was explaining ovulation and fallopian tubes to my mother-in-law. She wanted to know why she didn't find eggs in her underpants every month."
"I had a colleague once (a grown man, mind you) who didn't know that indoor cats use litter boxes. He genuinely thought the cats did their business all over the house."
—katharinapape2111
"I've had a patient ask me if you could get the flu twice."
"I was working in a bike store when an older lady came in to return a roll of reflective tape. She said it didn't work because when she took the tape into her dark closet, she couldn't see anything."
—Anonymous
"I once got into a very heated argument with a married 45-year-old man over the fact that urine comes out of a different hole than the vagina. He was literally yelling at me, a woman, insisting that 'everything comes out of the same hole!'"
"My niece didn't know that pickles were made from cucumbers. She thought there was a pickle tree or pickle bush somewhere."
—Anonymous
"I was out with my husband and mother. My mom didn't seem to understand the difference between Mexico and New Mexico. She's traveled to Mexico before, yet she seemed stunned when she found out it's a different country. It was so weird."
"I once had to explain to a library patron that we couldn't change the time of our solar eclipse viewing party to better accommodate her kid's naptime. I had to tell another person that we did NOT have an audiobook of Macbeth ready to read by the author, and that no other place did. After nearly 25 years of customer service, there's little I don't believe."
—skiinggnat
"My sister was visiting from a different province, so I thought it'd be nice to take her to a museum with my son. The museum has displays and galleries of dinosaurs and various animals of various ages. We were looking at some dinosaur displays when my sister said, 'Can you imagine how difficult it must have been for humans to live among these dinosaurs?' My son, who was five at the time, and I looked at each other in amazement! Even my son knew that humans and dinosaurs didn't co-exist. I tried explaining it to my sister, but she didn't believe me."
"I had to explain to my grandmother that lamps do not 'leak electricity' when they don't have lightbulbs. Later, I found out that my mom and her sisters, my grandfather, and my grandmother's siblings have all tried explaining it to my grandma at one point or another. It clearly never stuck."
—Anonymous
"I had to explain to a 26-year-old college graduate who majored in geography that Kentucky is, indeed, a state."
"I spent years as a server and had to explain to countless people that mayo is, in fact, dairy-free. About half of our guests who've said they were lactose intolerant would ask for no mayo because they thought it was dairy. I guess the assumption is that if it's white, it's dairy?"
"My ex-spouse would turn down the radio whenever they were low on gas. I finally asked why. It turns out that they thought all of the car's systems were running on gas. They were 38."
"Once, my brother-in-law said that coconut milk came from brown coconuts and coconut water came from green coconuts. My mom, a retired science teacher, explained to him that the color of the coconuts didn't matter, and that the milk came from the white skin on the inside of the coconut, and the water was just whatever was inside the coconut. My BIL kept saying she was wrong, so they bet on it and had me Google the answer. My mom won the bet and got a free dinner out of it."
—Anonymous, 33, Florida
"I had to explain to my friend that, no, 'salmonella' is not Spanish for 'salmon.'"
"A passenger on a flight asked why we were delayed, despite the captain just explaining that the aircon was not working and that techs were repairing it. The passenger asked, 'How come we don't open the windows?' I stared at her for a long time, wondering if she was joking. Then, I stared longer, wondering if it was possible for her to ask such a question. I explained why opening the windows wasn't possible due to the cabin air pressure issue and the lack of oxygen as we go higher. She really believed we could open windows on an airplane and let air in. I was riddled with shock."
—Claudia, 50
"I had to explain to a full adult how time zones worked, and that you didn't need a passport if you're flying somewhere within the same country. I brought out a globe and everything."
Lastly: "Years ago, I made tamales and brought some to work to share. A coworker was eager to try them because they smelled so good. Later that day, she told me that, though the tamale was good, she had to take it apart because she 'couldn't eat the outer part.' She'd been trying to eat the tamales with the corn husk wrapping still on them."
—greyhedgewitch
*Sigh.* I need to go take a lap or something. What's something you couldn't believe you had to explain to an adult? Let us know in the comments, or you can anonymously submit your story using the form below!
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On top of that, add in parents who deliberately brought in children who were sick (some of whom they KNEW had COVID) so they could get a break at home. It truly makes my blood boil." "In the midst of this, I had a friend who was furloughed but proudly told me how she was still bringing her 2-year-old to daycare at the height of COVID so that she could DIY her new home. All I could think of were the women (like my mother) who were risking their lives to care for my friend's child while she did crafts all day in an empty house. Needless to say, we don't talk much these days." —34-year-old, Northeast 17."I babysat for a family, and the mom told me that if the three kids got in the pool, that would count as their shower/bath time." —Anonymous 18."Once, we had a new little girl in our group, and her mom brought her in on the first day. The little girl started playing, and all seemed well, but as the mom was leaving, she stopped and told us that she 'really prefers it if her daughter doesn't walk.'" "After a short, confused silence, she clarified that when moving from one activity to another, or going to the bathroom or on outings or whenever movement was required, she wanted us to carry her daughter because she didn't want her to have to walk on her own. The little girl was 4 years old and clearly capable and happy to move around on her own. That was an odd encounter that has stuck in my memory." —kittyminkie88 19."There was a mom who cursed me out for telling her, per policy, that I couldn't put sugar in her child's milk and food. She withdrew her child immediately the next day." —Anonymous 20."I worked as a pre-K teacher for five years. In my five years, I became close to what I thought was the perfect family — an amazing mom and dad, and two really sweet and smart boys. I had both kids in my classroom at one point or another, and always greeted the family in the morning and made small talk. One morning, the boys are being dropped off with me, and the dad starts openly hitting on me in front of his kids and my entire class." "He made comments like: 'I bet you bring the sunshine wherever you go,' 'I love seeing you smile each day,' and 'You're the boys' best part of the mine.' He said all of this while eye-banging me. I felt so uncomfortable; all I did was laugh and shuffle his kids into my room. A few weeks later, the mom of the boys asked to speak to me privately. Turns out, the dad had been cheating on her for years! I was in shock — they truly seemed like the perfect couple. I guess you never know what goes on behind closed doors." —Anonymous 21."I'm a former preschool teacher. A mom asked if she could bring in CBD gummies for us to give to her 3-year-old when she threw tantrums." —Anonymous 22."The one that left me completely dumbfounded was when the mom, whose baby was a month younger than mine, asked me how I kept her baby's diaper on if she wasn't wearing a onesie. I (and the co-teacher) just stared at her for several seconds until we realized she was serious. I have seen and heard a lot in my 15 years in childcare, but that one actually made my mouth hang open! All I said was, 'Um, I don't know. I use a diaper that fits.' Bless her heart, she didn't think the diaper would stay on if the baby didn't always wear a onesie. The best part is that this was her second child!" —mister_nanda 23."I had a mom get upset because I allowed her 1-year-old to hold their own bottle rather than holding it for them." —antibeingkilled 24."I had a child who was sick. We called the mother, and she said, 'Do we have to come right now? We're enjoying our alone time.'" —Anonymous 25."I had a boy in my class from a divorced family. When he'd come back from spending the weekend with his dad, he'd gotten a new Black Panther action figure. This little man absolutely loved this action figure — he begged me to let him sleep with it during nap time and even had snack time with it. The day went on, and it was time for him to get picked up. His mom walked into my class and saw her son holding the Black Panther. Out loud, she made an Ugh sound." "At first, I just assumed it was because her son got another new toy. But she looked at me and said, 'I just don't understand why THEY need their own superhero. I'm part Native American,' — she was not — 'and I'm not looking for an Indian hero. Why do the Blacks need one?' I was shook! How did she think that was appropriate to say in front of children and me? Just because I am a white person doesn't mean I agree with racist comments. I simply looked at her and said, with a very condescending smile, 'Well, some people think representation matters.' She gave me a huge eye roll and left with her son." —Anonymous 26."I worked for an affluent family in the Bay Area that had four children for nearly four years in my early 20s. On top of taking care of their children, I was in charge of all the housework, like errands, laundry, etc. With laundry, I would scan the floors of each room as needed, pick up the clothes, and go on about my work. I can't believe I am typing this, but the mom used to leave her period-stained underwear on the ground of her bedroom, and I would pick it up!" "Also, more than once, I found tampons that you could tell had been used and pulled out strewn on the floor alongside their bed. Honestly, I never thought twice about cleaning it up. As a mom myself and in my 30s now, I can't believe they were so dirty and careless, and how it did not faze me in the slightest because it was my job." —Anonymous "Daycare teacher here. I had a parent come to me during group bathroom time and start the conversation with, 'Hey, I meant to talk to you about this do you remember two weeks ago if [child] pooped at school that day?' Ma'am, I don't even remember yesterday — no, I don't know if your child pooped two weeks ago?!?" "She was asking because she thought the kiddo ate a coin, so they'd ended up at the ER to check, but nothing had shown up on the X-ray. So, she wanted to see if I'd seen a coin in the kid's poop, and if I could keep checking the poop to see if one came out! No. I am not looking through poop. What?!? We get paid starting at $12/hr...I'm not digging through the poop of 4 and 5-year-olds." —Anonymous If you're a childcare worker or have worked with children, do you have any other parent horror stories you want to share? Let it all out in the comments, or you can anonymously submit your story using the form below! Don't worry, we're here for ya. Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
