Hey Ratbags and Skallywags. What has Reddit taught you?
Posted by universallycommon@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 35 comments
Like many of us, I had an absent dad and a very disinterested mother.
I wasn't taught life skills, so my 20s was learning all the basics like cooking, cleaning, and dealing with adult life. Don't get me wrong - I loved it. Left home at 17 and made my own way.
I've no time for the dank hellscape of other social media, but Reddit has really come through for me a few times!
Two helpful things I learned here are to tilt your chin down when taking meds or vitamins and that you should do a rinse when mopping the floor. The latter had honestly never occurred to me!
These couple of nuggets, spa day on r/laundry and a bunch of cooking tips have really improved my life (rest assured I do actually have a suitability hedonistic lite Gen X life outside of house cleaning and cooking).
What Reddit wisdom has filled in some of the latchkey kid holes for you?
CawlinAlcarz@reddit
One day in middle school, a teacher said to me:
Think of the average level of intelligence of people... pretty stupid, right? Now considerr that something like half the people are below that!
Reddit has taught me just how scarily accurate this is.
7eregrine@reddit
George Carlin said it first.
CawlinAlcarz@reddit
Maybe... it was around 1983 when that middle school teacher told me that.
MaximumJones@reddit
I learned that it is wrong to anthropomorphize animals. They hate it when you do that.
universallycommon@reddit (OP)
Tell me more!
_WillCAD_@reddit
I went the other way - lived in my parents' house until I was 33, then got my own apartment.
By then I knew all the domestic skills I needed. Made transitioning to living along much easier than for many of our generation.
IMHO, anyone who graduated high school without knowing the basics of cleaning a house, doing laundry, grocery shopping, cooking a meal, balancing a budget, changing a tire, sewing on a button, filling out a job application, or getting through a job interview, were short-changed by their parents. All of that is shit parents are supposed to teach kids as they grow up. That's literally part of the job description of being a parent - teach kids how to live as adults.
Historical_Bath_9854@reddit
I actually learned all of those things in school 🤷 we had home ec, strategies for living, or independent living and all that.
universallycommon@reddit (OP)
I did a few of those subjects like cooking and sewing but they weren't that comprehensive. I don't remember doing anything like strategies for living. Probably would have been handy!
universallycommon@reddit (OP)
Couldn't agree more! My kids have all the skills they need to thrive when they finally go into their own homes. I deliberately parented them in a vastly different way to my parents.
sfdsquid@reddit
I recently found out (after 50 years and dozens of cats) that cats do not like to drink water that is too close to their food dish. Apparently it's some survival instinct thing about contamination by dead stuff. So their water source should not be near their food dish.
I also found out that "rinse and repeat" isn't just some bullshit ploy from Big Shampoo to make you buy more. The first application cuts the oils (or something) but doesn't lather well. Rise and "repeat" and the lather is amazing! Wow! (And it really doesn't make me use more shampoo since I was always adding more because it wouldn't lather. I think I actually use less now.)
Don't get me started on all the stuff I have learned about Hashimoto's ðŸ˜
universallycommon@reddit (OP)
Yes! I just started the double shampoo recently too! Great tip that one.
LadyNorbert@reddit
I actually use two different shampoos. First one is dandruff shampoo because, well, self explanatory. Second is a rosemary shampoo with biotin. The difference this has been making to my hair health is amazing.
Duchessofpanon@reddit
By far the biggest thing is finding out you should take your shoes off when going into someone’s house. I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable walking around in my socks or bare feet at someone else’s house, but apparently I am the spawn of Neanderthals for not knowing about this. Thanks, mom.Â
chimpyjnuts@reddit
We've gotten into the habit of bringing slippers to events. Comfy, and protection from the one (or more) people who don't take their shoes off.
sfdsquid@reddit
In my entire life I have been in a only a few houses where shoes were expected to be taken off at the door. The whole concept is foreign to me. Of course I am happy to behave appropriately "when in Rome" but the disgust over shoes in the house on Reddit was frankly shocking to me. I'm apparently a heathen, as is pretty much everyone I know.
HowsMyBuddy@reddit
You’re not alone. Taking shoes off inside is huuuge on Reddit, but in practice, it’s very regional and/or demographic. I imagine it’s way more prominent now, as people have fewer and fewer reasons to leave their home. I go in and out of my house 60-70 times a day. If I step in gum or shit or piss, yeah, I take my shoes off. Then I have to go in the garage and clean them. But I don’t walk through those things as often as some people do, apparently.
Duchessofpanon@reddit
If my shoes are dirty, I’ll always take them off right at the door, but other than that, I never even thought about it. I grew up fairly poor (but didn’t know it, thanks to a mom who could spend money she didn’t have like nobody’s business) so maybe the demographic is part of it. Once on my own I definitely broadened my horizons and moved up in the world, but still managed to not hear much about this until Reddit. So possibly it isn’t her fault, but so many things are that it’s easy to just throw that in too! (Only half-joking.)
Provocating@reddit
Nothing, Genx just figure things out. The most I have learned from reddit is there is s good chance you are commenting on a post from a bot.
universallycommon@reddit (OP)
Yeah I hear you. Its disheartening isn't it - barrelling towards the dead internet. But maybe on the other side is a golden age where our kids will strongly restrict invasive tech for their kids. We know thats better because we lived it. This 1984 nonsense we have now can suck my left one.
sfdsquid@reddit
I'm salty that I can't use the em dash anymore.
The whole thing reminds me of that time in 7th grade that my teacher accused me of having my dad write a paper for me because I had a good vocabulary.
universallycommon@reddit (OP)
Well now you MUST use it as much as you possibly can. Disrupt that system! Fuck that teacher! Its your responsibility as a Gen X to fight for your right to em dash.
Sunshine2625@reddit
The r/laundry group has been amazing. r/ChildofHoarder crazy therapy and r/Epilepsy for caring for my son who has had seizures for 22 years. But I'm not gonna admit I needed help with ANYTHING. Lol.
universallycommon@reddit (OP)
Yeah I think thats why I like learning a new skill or two on here. I don't actually have to admit I didn't know I should rinse my floor! But its also the genuine help people offer (minus a few dickheads). I appreciate it and just scroll on past any nonsense.
I"m glad you found support. You are clearly an incredibly strong and resilient person. But its all about community!
OreoSpeedwaggon@reddit
Reddit has taught me that no matter what the topic is, people love their echo chambers.
universallycommon@reddit (OP)
What would you like to see people talking about here?
OreoSpeedwaggon@reddit
I like seeing people talk about all kinds of things. I just wish so many people wouldn't retreat to like-minded subs that only affirm their opinions rather than challenge them, and wouldn't block people just for disagreeing on things.
Example: Someone in r/Television the other day was criticizing older TV shows (one in particular) for not being more culturally sensitive. I disagreed with their premise (with civility, not rudeness), attempted to explain why some shows were the way they were and that they were reflective of the times in which they were made, and I was genuinely interested in having a conversation on the topic to better understand their point of view. Instead, I was berated for not agreeing with their point of view, and when I tried to continue the discussion in the thread, the OP left one last insult before immediately blocking me.
That's just one situation I've encountered like that, but I just thought it was a silly overreaction to the situation.
universallycommon@reddit (OP)
Text just doesn't convey the nuance of your questions on any social media. So a genuine question is often met with confected outrage from someone dying to be outraged. The same conversation in real life would just be a normal interesting friendly debate!
OreoSpeedwaggon@reddit
Bingo.
Listen-to-Mom@reddit
That posters want validation, not advice. Most posters seem very needy.
Mental-Artist-6157@reddit
The support groups on reddit are lovely. I have both given & received so much intel, support & warmth. I also really appreciate this subreddit.
Sufficient_Stop8381@reddit
Reddit has taught me many new ways to waste my time
Quirky_Commission_56@reddit
I was the one doing all of the meal planning and cooking by the time I was 13 because my mom was always on some fad diet and the food she made was utter crap. Large curd Cottage cheese does not belong in lasagna EVER! But my dad taught me how to box and how to defend myself which came in very handy in some of the mosh pits I was in as a teenager. I was a 5’3 girl and 120 pounds of muscle.
universallycommon@reddit (OP)
Ironically, the only thing my mother hated more than cooking was letting me cook.
Ray_The_Engineer@reddit
This sub has taught me that a lot of GenX'ers like to spend their time whining about their lives instead of spending time improving them...more likely, we see the "squeaky wheels" here. I'd still like to think that we're a pretty tough group of folks, overall.
Flababulous@reddit
Shared perspectives. Life ain't easy, but communing with my fellow Xers helps get me through.