One of the most wonderful things about children is their curiosity and eagerness to learn.
So, when they ask about things which seem like common knowledge to most adults, we will explain in detail with excitement, simultaneously broadening their horizons and, hopefully, improving their future decisions.
When we have to explain these same given facts to adults, however, we usually first greet them with a raised eyebrow, and force ourselves to hide our disbelief.
As no matter their education or upbringing, there are certain things one feels it should be safe to assume all adults know.
Redditor Lo-Fi_Kuzco was curious to hear things the Reddit community couldn't believe they had to explain to adults, leading them to ask:
"What's something you can't believe you had to explain to a grown adult?"
Oh, dear...
"He was only a college freshman."
"I had a conversation with a friend once that went like:"
"'Drug laws are really strict in Japan'. Like, you can actually go to jail'."
"'Dude, you can go to jail in America for drugs'."
"'No, no. My friend got caught with weed once and he just had to pay a fine to the cops and they let him go'."
"That was fun to unpack."- anportan
Unless you're a colonial prisoner...
"That Australia isn’t a part of the UK."- weedrangoon·
australia lesson GIFGiphyLet's hope they were talking to a man...
"How a period works and what it’s for."- R_cheese
"How the female body works."- Chromylon
Hopefully a realization made before they were told this?
"No, my snake won't turn into two if you cut him in half."- NyalaBoy
Rare, but legal.
"That $2 bills are real, legal US tender."
"Got chewed out at a coffee job, for accepting 'fake money', because a customer paid with 2, $2 bills. "
"My boss was in their 40s."
"Took 10 minutes and a google search to prove I wasn't lying."- DarkFae420
homer simpson dollar GIFGiphyMight as well as well have worn a target!
"Not me but my husband."
"Had to tell his best friend why jumping around in the woods with some deer antlers he had found on his head was a Bad idea."
"They were hunting."- ZubLor
It's a universal inconvenience
"The fact that female anatomy is capable of farting."- samara11278
How did this conversation even begin?
"You can get pregnant if you have sex standing up."
"Had to explain this to a woman in her late thirties that had a teenage daughter."- PygmyPuff_X
There's a high percent chance they don't get this...
"8% interest rate doesn’t mean you only pay $8 a month in interest."- Attarker
"I had to explain an accounting student, grown up, evening classes, how simple percent work."
"Like if you get 5% bonus off $200 it's NOT $5."
"And it was not during the class but a knowledge check in the end of a year."- lakmus85_real
Money Gold GIF by MediamodifierGiphySavvy shoppers they ain't
"I worked in retail for too long."
"One guys debit card declined, I told him so."
"He looked at me like I was an alien, and then loudly exclaimed, ‘how can a DEBIT CARD be declined?’ "
"So had to explain that one to him."
"Another person was traveling from a state that didn’t have sales tax, and expected me to remove the sales tax from their purchase because?"
" Apparently in their mind if you live somewhere without sales tax, you can travel the country and not have to adhere to those states rules I guess."
"Another person tried to use a tax exempt card from another state, on Black Friday, mind you, and was mad that I couldn’t honor another states tax exempt card."
"Honestly like it’s okay to not know stuff."
"But don’t be a f*cking a**hole when someone tries to explain to you what the hell is going on, lmao."- plsdontkillmelol69
Nbc GIF by SuperstoreGiphyA penny saved...
"That moving money from a regular checking account to a money market-type savings account will not 'put you in a higher tax bracket'."
"This happened with a guy I was dating some time ago, he was around 38 and making a salary of under $50K."
"He had just started saving money for the first time in his life and I suggested he open an account where he could earn some interest, instead of just keeping it all in his checking account."
"He only had like $3000 or so."
"He completely flipped out on me when I told him that a few dollars in interest wouldn’t put him in a another tax bracket, which is one of many red flags I unfortunately ignored…"- imaginaryblues
"I had to explain an accounting student, grown up, evening classes, how simple percent work."
"Like if you get 5% bonus off $200 it's NOT $5."
"And it was not during the class but a knowledge check in the end of a year."- lakmus85_real
Where do you even begin?
"I had to explain to a white person that people from Spain are Spanish and not Mexican."
"I’m white myself and they kept persisting that I was the foolish and disrespectful one because 'Spanish is a language, not a race!'"
"And I was like 'Girl..'"
simon cowell facepalm GIFGiphyLet's hope they were at least on time...
"Had to explain the difference between AM and PM to a patient over the phone."
"Was one of the dumbest conversations I've ever had."- Witchgirl2658
In the beginning was the...poodle?
"I’m sure everyone’s heard of the fundamentalist Christians that don’t believe in evolution at all, but my mother believed micro-evolution wasn’t real either."
"I asked her how she thought dog breeds came to be and she was convinced that all dog breeds just popped into existence 6000 years ago with the creation of earth."
"Like in the garden of Eden there was a f*cking poodle or something."
"Even my dad who got her into the fundamentalist stuff was like 'how are you this dense'."
"She also can’t name the 7 continents."- notthatplainjane·
A generational thing?
"That not all of the problems because of computer and phone, lol."- 11-th_harbinder_simp
Well that instills confidence...
"While I was working at McDonald's I had to explain that I don't know what's in the food I just cook it sometimes and no the ice cream machine is actually broken."- SafetyEquivalent7556
ronald mcdonald wink GIFGiphyIt's hard to imagine how some of these people functioned living adult lives if they needed explanations on these things.
One can only hope they took this information in the first time they heard it.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
Dunning-Kruger Times