Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Describe The Most Basic Thing They've Ever Had To Explain To A Grown Adult

People Describe The Most Basic Thing They've Ever Had To Explain To A Grown Adult
fancycrave1 from Pixabay

It's tough being a grown up.

Not only are you expected to have all the answers, you're also expected to be a master in all forms of everything, ever, in all of existence. A knowledge shortage can lead to feelings of inadequacy, as well as mockery.

Ask for help if you need it. Don't be like these people.

Redditor, Steyn_03, wanted to know what you couldn't believe you had to break down when they asked:

"What is the most basic thing you've had to explain to an adult?"

As we get older, it can feel like technology slips further and further away from us. However, so long as you keep an open mind, willing to absorb the things you might have missed, then you'll be fine. Don't be like these people.

It Goes "One-Two"

"How to double-click a mouse. He didn't get it, despite repeated demonstrations. And I was supposed to teach this guy how to build a database. -.-"

Outcasted_introvert

"How did that interaction end?"

kipopadoo

"The chap in question retired. 😳"

Outcasted_introvert

Gotta Save Up Them Mega-Flop-Bytes For The Harsh Winter Months

"Turning off the router doesn't save WiFi"

Perxwxnkle

"I wonder if the digital generations of today will be as digitally handicapped when we get up in age and current technology has advanced to something that is almost unrecognizable to what we were brought up with."

DarthTheRaider

"I don't think it's the people that's the issue. If people resist learning the new tech, they become digitally handicapped. I know people in their 40s, 50s, and even late 60s who are perfectly okay with our tech and are not digitally handicapped. If you decide to learn new tech stuff as it grows and advances, you won't have this handicap."

SMGeet

Let's Go To The Blackboard

"When working retail: percentages."

"Our clearance was usually 50% off. Then at the end of the season it would be an additional 50% off. Our signage would normally say something about taking an additional 50% off of lowest sticker price. But then they'd see the small print on the sticker indicating it was already 50% off, and they'd come up to the register all in a tizzy."

"Like how dare we use deceptive business practices. If we honored our advertising this should be free because 50+50=100 and 100% off means free."

"I had to give way too many people basic math lessons in my nice customer service voice, all while they gave me the distrustful stink eye."

AhemExcuseMeSir

You Don't Recover From A Kid Burn

"I’m 14 and I had to teach my step mum how to use google, and she’s only 30, so she’s been around since google started"

HAIL-HOOTLER

Use Google To Ask Jeeves To Bing A Napster Song For Your

"My mom always presses the siri button, and as it is listening, she says, “Hey siri, google apple music play ______ by _____ in the album _____ featuring ____.” Or she’ll just list all the search engines she knows before asking siri to do something. I usually don’t say anything since she just ignores it, bur occasionally I’ll tell her she doesn’t need to say all that stuff. In case you don’t know, google isn’t a streaming platform."

New_Version2

Sometimes, skills slip through the cracks. Maybe your parents didn't teach you or maybe you forgot because it's been too long since you've done the skill in question. Either way, it's still a little funny when you forget how frying something works.

Still Don't Put Chicken On It

You have to cook the chicken all the way through."

"It's not steak, you can't have it "medium-rare"."

tbonemistake

"you could.. but it comes with salmonella"

purpleshirtbluepants

The Bunny Running Around The Tree Is Not The Only Way

"I had to explain to a coworker how to tie a trashbag so that it stayed taut around the rim of a trashcan. Legit didn't know how to tie the most basic knot."

Lowdridge

Where Do You Think The Name "Fry" Comes From?

"I have a friend who is not the brightest individual. We were hanging out at his place one night and had the munchies. He asked if I wanted some french fries, I said absolutely. Well 20 minutes later or so, he summoned me to his kitchen. He couldn't understand why the fries turned out a mushed mess."

"He had tried to "fry" them in boiling water, you know, like they do at fast food joints, lol. I had to explain to my dear friend that they aren't boiling the fries in water, its oil, you halfwit. That was 20 years ago and I still get a kick out of it."

1980pzx

Brush, Not Pick. Brush!

"not me but my friend."

"she is a dental assistant and had to explain to an 18 year old patient of hers that he needs to brush his teeth everyday with a toothbrush (he "brushed" his teeth once a day with a toothpick, yes, his gums were completely ripped and his teeth full of holes and caries). my friend had to go get a model and a toothbrush and show him how long and where to brush"

gryffingirl_

The Warm Air Gets Sucked Behind And, Ah, Forget It...

"Fans do not cool a room down."

"I argued with my warehouse manager because he had arranged some massive industrial fans to aim upward toward the roof, and outward over top of the employees."

"Because all that cool air would block the heat from the hot roof."

kek_provides_

Then there's everything else, the things that can't quite be categorized as a particular set of skills you need. Rather, these are the ones you'd hope you can pick up on through osmosis because asking someone about what "morning wood" is not a conversation you want to have.

Hire Me For The Right Reasons

"I’m a personal injury lawyer. I’ve had to explain to many potential clients that they need to be, ya know, INJURED to make a claim."

dcow12

Can't Quite Follow Directions

"Stock rotation. I have to do this (explaining) at least twice a week including to colleagues who have worked in store for over a decade."

Me - "You put the newest stock at the back of the shelf, and move the oldest stock to the front."

Colleague - "OK"

Colleague puts the new box at the front

Me - "..." Smacks head

TangerineCassidy

Do Your Research

"I have to explain marginal tax rates every year during tax season."

"It is shocking to see adults willingly turn down overtime and bonuses for fear of paying more taxes."

growingalittletestie

We Are Doomed To Repeat It

"That Jews can be German. It was maddening how hard it was for this person to understand."

timmytherigger

That's Not How Money Works

"Had to explain to my brother that he can't buy an 80k dollar car on his 12 dollars an hour job. Not even in payments, he wanted to save up the full amount. I literally had to sit down with him and do the math. It would've taken him 15 years to save up that money."

"Also it wasn't even for him he wanted to give it to his girlfriend for graduation lol he's 20 and she's 18. I told him bro just save that up for a house"

TheZamasu

"And this is how the 2008 housing crisis happened. People like this and banks that let them do it."

Midgetmunky13

Wow...

"Back in college, my girlfriend said, "I don't understand how you can find me so sexy first thing in the morning.'

"I asked, 'What do you mean?'

"'Well, whenever you wake up next to me, you're so... you know... down there...'"

"Apparently she had no idea what morning wood was, or that it had nothing to do with her."

captainmagictrousers

Don't feel bad about a gap in your knowledge. The problem with these people is they might not have been big enough to push their ego aside and ask for help.

There's always a chance to learn something you might have missed out on growing up.

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Alexander Skarsgård Jokingly Reveals NSFW Reason He Didn't Move In With 'Harry Potter' Star Miriam Margolyes

In a parallel universe, Alexander Skarsgård might have spent his early Hollywood days sharing a kitchen with Miriam Margolyes, casually passing her the salt. In contrast, she would have given him unsolicited life advice or flirted a little. Alas, that universe never came into existence, but according to last Friday’s episode of The Graham Norton Show, it was surprisingly close.

Skarsgård, 49, and Margolyes, 84, found themselves on Norton’s famous red couch last Friday alongside All’s Fair star Glenn Close and Bridgerton breakout Nicola Coughlan. The conversation quickly veered into real estate comedy, queer history, and one baffled Swedish actor trying to remind a beloved British legend that they had met before. It was chaos in its most refined form.

Keep ReadingShow less
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Video Of Dancers Being Forced To Perform In Horse Poop During Thanksgiving Day Parade Sparks Debate

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a spectacle to talk about every year, and with performances by Busta Rhymes and Wicked's Cynthia Erivo and floats from Stranger Things and Toy Story, this year was no different.

But this year, people had something else to talk about, and the reason is pretty disgusting.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gavin Newsom; Pete Hegseth
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Gavin Newsom Trolls Pete Hegseth Hard For Trying To Meme Drug Boat Bombing Scandal

After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made light of his deadly attacks on alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean by turning the scandal into a meme featuring Franklin the Turtle, California Governor Gavin Newsom memed him right back to stress that the bombing of these boats constitutes a war crime.

Hegseth's original meme, which he inexplicably captioned "for your Christmas wish list," features a doctored book cover titled Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists and shows Franklin, the protagonist of the popular Canadian children's book series authored by Paulette Bourgeois and illustrated by Brenda Clark, firing a bazooka from a helicopter at boats in the water below.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ariana Grande attends the "Wicked: For Good!" New York Premiere at David Geffen Hall on November 17, 2025, in New York City.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Ariana Grande Shares Old Interview Clip As 'Loving Reminder' About Body-Shaming

Ariana Grande is once again urging fans—and the wider public—to pause before commenting on someone’s appearance. Over the weekend, the Grammy-winning singer reshared a clip from a 2024 interview, offering what she called a “loving reminder” amid another surge of unsolicited commentary surrounding the release of Wicked: For Good.

In the Instagram Story posted on November 29, Grande wrote:

Keep ReadingShow less
Kash Patel
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Damning Leaked Report Reveals Embarrassing Demand Kash Patel Made After Charlie Kirk Assassination

FBI Director Kash Patel is facing criticism after a newly released report by the “National Alliance of Retired and Active Duty FBI Special Agents and Analysts" revealed Patel flew to Utah the day after far-right activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination and remained aboard the aircraft until officials provided him with a medium-sized FBI raid jacket.

Instead of immediately stepping into his role upon arriving at the site of the killing of someone he had publicly called a close friend, the FBI director reportedly fixated on wardrobe details—delaying his exit from the aircraft over the precise jacket and patches he believed he was entitled to, rather than proceeding with his duties.

Keep ReadingShow less