There are a multitude of books extolling the virtues of not taking life too seriously. Sound advice, if you can take it, but some people can't seem to.
I've always felt adults take children's sports too seriously.
A 3rd grader in youth league soccer isn't playing in the World Cup, so why are parents screaming at them, their competitors, the officials, the coaches, other parents?
They're 8-year-olds! Calm down.
There have been actual fistfights between adults at T-ball games. The average age of kids playing T-ball in the United States is five.
There is no Olympic medal for T-ball. Your kid isn't going pro in the T-ball major leagues as soon as they turn six.
That level of intensity directed at children playing is utter madness to me.
Reddit user hogw33d asked:
"What is something you can't believe real grownup people take seriously?"
Community Theatre
"Community theatre. The DRAMA among grown adults is insane, worse than when I was in high school."
"Like, y'all, we are singing and dancing and wearing silly costumes. It’s not that serious."
~ MediocreVideo1893
"All these replies and not one mention of Waiting For Guffman, which is the most accurate portrayal of community theater that will probably ever be put to film."
~ loptopandbingo
"Community theatre is where theatre kids who couldn’t make a career of it go to be bitter about it."
~ Unicoronary
Office Romance
"My first job's office was teachers who would spread rumors and gang up on someone who was dating a woman that someone else in the office liked. So they supported said office buddy in believing said woman was 'his' and making up a clan about it."
"However inane it sounds, I can guarantee you it was worse. People would change their seats in the office to defend their 'allegiance'."
"It would be hilarious if it wasn't an office of people supposedly with the responsibility to educate children."
~ mrminutehand
MLMs
"I’ve explained to my mom so many times how they’re ALL predatory, but she still feels the need to buy from everybody’s Pampered Chef party and Mary Kay."
"Granted, those two specifically have products that are actually good, but the business model is such a sham."
~ hotdogmafia714
"I just don't understand how people keep falling for it."
"They always think that there's a difference. It's all the same pyramid scheme, y'all."
~ IsItTurkeyNeck
Flat Earth Theory
"I think it actually started as a sort of debating society for people to practice and become better at rhetoric/critical thinking."
"But they actually convinced some people and now, this is what we have."
~ Adddicus
"I swear it was started tongue-in-cheek to promote critical thinking, similar to the campaign against 'dihydrogen monoxide'."
"When I met a true believer, it took me a while to realize she was serious."
~ ManyDeliciousJuices
Alternative Facts
"Getting their ‘facts’ from some rando on YouTube—saying exactly what they want to hear—who’s an ‘expert’ because they said they are."
~ Rockindobbs
"My mom once sent me a YouTube video of 'this really great historian' who just so happened to confirm all her conspiracy theories.
"OK, and why is 'this really great historian' only on YouTube with a real small channel?"
~ Ok_Distance9511
Conspiracy Theories
"My dad once told me he believed that 9/11 was a hologram."
"How can anyone, any age, take that seriously? Like, I'm supposed to take advice from someone who believes in bizarre theories like that?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he believes in lizard people and spaghetti god; or, I don't know, we evolved from dolphins."
"How does any grown-up take him seriously?"
~ Haunting_Meal_3599
MYOB Is Free
"How other people live their lives."
~ Birdy304
"I've had more than one person on Reddit—while discussing tattoos—tell me that if I encountered them in real life then they would be quietly sitting in the corner judging me on my neck tattoo."
"I really do not understand why somebody would bother."
"That just sounds miserable. Why give a sh*t that somebody has tattoos in 2024?"
~ throwawaysmetoo
Crystals
"Crystals. I like rocks and sh*t. I'll buy one if it looks cool for the right price."
"But it never fails when I grab an interesting amethyst, the seller tries to tell me what it's good for."
~ JellyfishSavings2802
"Don't forget to charge it up with moonlight."
~ t20six
"Biggest tip, don’t go to a metaphysical store for your crystals, go to a geological store. The price difference is insane and the geological store 100% has cooler stuff."
"The Steamtown Mall in Scranton has a place called Rock 'N' Models—rocks and old toys—and the people who run it went out and dug up these rocks and crystals and they’re so much cooler than the polished and tumbled ones, and a hell of a lot cheaper."
~ Pocketcrane_
Reality TV
"‘Reality’ TV. People get so invested."
~ Princess_Jade1974
"It's all fake, too. An acquaintance of mine works at a major studio. Those shows are all scripted and fake."
~ SpaceMonkey3301967
"It's manufactured, but not scripted—at least not in the United States. Scripted TV requires they hire WGA writers and SAG-AFTRA actors."
"Instead they manufacture conflicts, set up completely unrealistic scenarios, apply an unhealthy level of alcohol mixed with narcissists and drama kings/queens then film the train wreck while whispering suggestions to help the glory hounds get more screen time." ~ LakotaGrl
"Viewers issue death threats to them. Why? Because they got in a fight with another person over shoes."
"It’s always so ridiculous. I love to watch the Housewives for the trips, clothes, homes, etc... but there is no place online to discuss the show in a fun way."
"It is all 'this person is so evil they should be fired'. This same person can save a puppy from a burning building and it will all be orchestrated for evil reasons."
"People are complex and can do both good and bad things."
~ WeAreTheMisfits
Sports Fandom
"People take being a fan of a sport—or team—way too seriously, in my opinion."
"I promise you don't need to riot because 'your team' lost or won."
~ AdmirableProgress743
"One time one of my ex-coworkers got genuinely mad at me because I said I didn’t care which football team won the game that was happening that night."
~ blue-orangeade-txt
"I absolutely love baseball, but I never let a big loss bother me for more than like an hour. If we get knocked out of the playoffs, I'm over it by the time I wake up the next morning."
"I always tell my friends: Patrick Mahomes doesn't know you exist. He's not getting into fistfights and breaking bar stools when you get a traffic ticket, why are you doing it when he loses a game?"
"It's insane."
~ JMellor737
Horoscopes
"I’ve seen this excuse used for dating and to the person, it was a dead a** serious issue."
"Like, 'oh I won’t date him, he’s a Leotard' or Candy Corn or whatever."
~ FknDesmadreALV
"But my psychic told me they’re real."
~ germdisco
Gossip
"Gossip. I live in a small town and it is maddening how people here are so serious about it."
"It's not light fun chatting, it's all SCANDAL and we need to take ACTION."
"I swear a lot of people's problems would be immediately solved if they just stopped giving a sh*t what everyone else does."
~ buffalopantry
The British Royal Family
"I'm British and the royal family is a f*cking embarrassment. Why should we love these people so much?"
"They practically disowned one of them for marrying someone who wasn't White, meanwhile the actual f*cking pedophile rapist gets told he can't stand next to his King Brother Daddy as often in public."
"And that's just recently!"
~ paradeoxy1
"It's nostalgia for White supremacists."
~ Spirited_Childhood34
"Last week I found a Meghan Markle subReddit and it's full of adults who act like Meghan is their personal enemy and her existence is a threat to the whole royal bloodline."
~ aoi4eg
"Robert Smith from the Cure had an awesome bit about this."
"It was basically 'Why does anyone care about them at all? They don't do anything. They have no special skills. I wrote "Friday I'm In Love". That was actually hard. I should be king'."
~ JMellor737
Religion
"I had to sit through a discussion with religious relatives about how the Earth is probably just a few thousand years old, without laughing."
"These were college educated people with real jobs."
~ Upset_Mess
"I mean, what's the difference between Christianity and Scientology besides a couple millenia? They have older, crazier stories?"
"People who live 100s of years, entire populations born from 2 people and a lot of incest and inbreeding, and a White guy in the Middle East versus Xenu, Thetans, Tom Cruise and DC8 looking spacecrafts bombing the alien population of Earth."
"One doesn't sound any less crazy than the other."
~ fractal324
Strange Hill To Die On, But At Least You're Dead
"To be honest, most things."
"Most things are not that serious or dramatic as people think. People are willing to die on some really petty hills."
"And I think most people do it, but are just unaware how petty they can be sometimes."
~ Tweakichu
What do you think adults take too seriously?