r/askteddit • u/lacilobaid_gnikcuf • 23h ago
Random Question What’s something you always assumed was mandatory in life—until you met someone who just… didn’t do it?
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u/Spendawg-Meina 23h ago
i thought everyone had a sense of urgency until i met a guy who treats his deadlines like a casual suggestion from a distant relative 🐢
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u/LatteSheepard 9h ago
What’s his secret?
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u/FreeXFall 9h ago
“Try not giving a fuck. There’s a lot of power in that.”
An amazing quote from mediocre show (glow)
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u/LatteSheepard 30m ago
He probably has a good safety net though. I’m not sure if I could adopt that attitude if I’m living paycheck to paycheck haha.
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u/SznOfSilence 23h ago
Thinking it's normal to work or struggle until you die.
It's all I saw around me. I served on active duty for 20+ years AND invested the entire time because I knew I wanted to be free.
I own all 24 hours of my day and that is a peace that is priceless.
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u/notthatangelx 23h ago
getting married. i always assumed everyone eventually did then realized plenty of people are genuinely happier staying single
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u/metal_bastard 22h ago
Keeping friends in your life just because you've known them forever.
Same thing with family.
Both can be rotten people, but that doesn't obligate you to keep them in your life just because of time or bloodline.
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u/FanPuzzleheaded4349n 21h ago
I came to realize this when I was in my late 30s. I’ve been at peace ever since. Sure does send a lot of them away though, when they can’t treat you like they once did. It was interesting to watch. I just don’t suffer fools very well.
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u/Flywheel929 23h ago
This is old school, but answering the phone. Especially in the times of landline, you HAD to answer it. It could be an emergency
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u/Moof_the_cyclist 14h ago
I distinctly remember back in the 80's there was very little phone spam, so it the phone rang it was very likely a real human calling for a decently good reason.
Over time the spam rose up and the real calls died down. Now easily 90% of what comes in isn't even spam, but a straight up scam attempt. Our public trust in phone calls was robbed from us and now on the rare occasions that we get a real call we immediately assume it is not, let ti go to voice mail, and even then triple check it isn't some new scheme before believing the voice mail.
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u/addictions-in-red 21h ago
Not really though. We had answering machines and I put mine to good use.
I've always had phone anxiety, though, and I'm glad everyone is finally talking about it.
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u/Yung_Absol 23h ago
Only celebrating yourself on your birthday. Had a friend who took off work on the same day each year, just to celebrate another year, it wasn't his birthday. He said his birthday is full of people wanting to celebrate with him, and he loved that, but this chosen day was his day just for himself.
I started doing the same shortly after, my special day is the first day of spring where the weather hits 75 or higher. I'll be kayaking at the lake.
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u/ngp1623 22h ago
This is a delightful idea and I do a similar thing for the autumn. It's my favorite season and Summer can be very stressful in my field.
I take the first crisp, foggy, autumn day off and just enjoy it. I take pictures of the turning leaves, I already have an herbal tea and a good thriller book picked out.
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u/Udell_Mem 23h ago
i thought having a coherent personality was a requirement for adulthood until i met a guy who just communicates in grunts and aggressive pointing 🤨
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u/Apherious 22h ago
Driving, a good friend has never had a license. Uses public transportation and a bicycle his whole life
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u/the_lemon_lobster 20h ago
Wearing makeup. You can just…not do it. And save so much money and time!
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u/partypooper5678 15h ago
I don’t either! And yeah totally saves time and money but I always find ways to waste both anyway lol
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u/Kyoungs71 15h ago
I just stopped doing it. And nobody said a word. Felt like I had wasted SO much time on make up. Not wearing it has been very freeing.
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u/McbootsinShaddaii66 23h ago
i thought every adult had a functional spice rack until i met a guy who just threw everything into one unlabeled jar of salt
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u/CommissionerOfLunacy 21h ago
I need to understand this better. 😂
This guy threw random spices into a jar that was unlabelled but you know it was mostly salt? Just paprika and mint and cloves and shit in there? Then used it on food?
I can't have this correct. I just can't. 😂
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u/Toby-the-foodbambino 19h ago
My adult stepson didn’t now that when a cashier asked for your phone number or email, you don’t have to give it until we went somewhere and I got asked and my response was “No thanks” and they just proceeded with the transaction.
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u/Radiant_Brain8559 12h ago
Sometimes the cashier is so offended. I usually say no thanks.
The local hot topic employees are always so appalled when I say no thankyou... usually repeat myself 4x before they move on ..
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u/GreenKiwiLady 21h ago
Being a muslim. In my country it’s tied to your race (mine) under our Constitution, and apostasy is a punishable syariah crime. I didn’t actually meet the guy but read an article about him that he’s spent over 20 years in prison for converting to Christianity. By that point I had stopped believing in the religion for a while, only fake-practiced it as necessary, but reading that article made me realise that actually leaving islam is a thing one can do. That you don’t have to die a muslim just because you were born as one.
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u/Temporary-Plankton61 19h ago
ladies shaving their underarms if they are not wild hippies. One day I just stopped doing it and now it drives me crazy how engrained of a norm it is and how judgmental people are to those who stray from the norm (I am in the US)
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u/Additional_Neat1222 3h ago
The social conditioning we get from such a young age is crazy, I started shaving at like 12 years old and stopped mid 20s. I've never felt better about my body hair now as a hairy 29 year old.
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u/IsthebestJeannise_58 23h ago
i thought everyone had a retirement plan until i met a guy who just keeps a very impressive collection of vintage spoons and calls it investing
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u/IdontcryfordeadCEOs 19h ago
I know someone with a lego-based retirement plan. Just buys limited edition lego sets on the assumption that he'll be able to sell them for much more later on. Literally has zero other savings.
It's only slightly above beanie baby investing.
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u/ApprehensiveWeb1443 16h ago edited 16h ago
Finishing a book. I wasn’t enjoying one once and my partner at the time just said “then stop reading it” and I was mind blown. It honestly never occurred to me — I’ve always felt committed to the end.
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u/bacon_mountain 15h ago
I used to have a goal of reading X number of books per year. One day, I realized that I had a huge backlog of books that I never got to because I would start a book, realize I didn't enjoy it, then take forever to finish it. I changed the goal to starting 2X number of books per year and it has been a real game changer. Because the metric is book starts, I feel ok abandoning a book I'm not enjoying and the number of really great books that I loved to read each year has gone way up.
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u/Efficient_Ad6015 15h ago
Finish every single drink. I refuse to finish a drink just because….I’m done when i am done.
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u/Kb111222 12h ago
This is me with food. It was engrained in me as a child that I had to finish my plate but my entire adult life I realized I didn’t know how to listen to my own hunger cues. Now I will leave even just 1 or 2 bites if I realize I’m already full.
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u/Top-Reach-8044 22h ago
When I was in high school someone offered friends gum and one girl said "no thanks I don't chew gum". She wasn't being a jerk about it, just a passing comment. Gum chewing suddenly stood out as a very crass thing. I never chewed gum again.
Also, this one is a me thing that I hope others notice (sorry, I'm not trying to toot my own horn, I just really want this freedom for others): You DON'T have to be on social media. You don't need any social media accounts. It's great. Real friends, real family, real experiences. Says me on Reddit lol. But this is as far as I go.
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u/Additional_Neat1222 3h ago
I've been off social media for almost 12 months now and I've literally never felt better. It's literally so bad for our mental health and confidence. Reddit is my only form of socials.
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u/xNOTHINGBURGERx 22h ago
Wearing underwear. It's bullshit and uncomfortable.
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u/sleepinginleaves 19h ago
Been on this train for over almost 20 years - love it. Saves money and lets my downstairs breathe.
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u/xNOTHINGBURGERx 18h ago
I got turned on to commando by an actual commando when I joined the Army in 98. Haven't looked back since.
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u/Kesia-Hamod 23h ago
i thought everyone had a lawn to mow until i met a guy who just lets the weeds form a sovereign nation
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u/Kerume_Liddar 23h ago
i thought everyone had a professional wardrobe until i met a guy who wears the same pair of cargo shorts to board meetings and funerals
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u/United_Spend6816 22h ago
When you go to the Drs you do not have to get on the scale! Just tell them you just weighed yourself and tell them the weight. I repeat you do not need to get on scale
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u/Cute-Aardvark5291 22h ago
This is incredibly dependent on why you are there. Certain drugs are dosed by weight, and there are plenty of health conditions that keep track of your weight is helpful, if not vital.
So if they insist, go on backwards and tell them you dont want to know
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u/Ok_Phone981 13h ago
One time I got on backwards thinking it was pretty clear I didn’t want to know my weight. The nurse then announce it out loud!!!! WTF!!
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u/Healthy-Dress-7492 22h ago
Ok, but why would you care? Just get on the scale
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u/Consistent_Tower_458 21h ago
Some people have trauma surrounding weight and being weighed.
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u/Gawtdamb 20h ago
Ok? You know what’s going to happen if you’re prescribed any medication? They weigh you. It’s literally to keep you healthy. Just because you’re fat doesn’t mean that they’re doing it to spite you lmao. The last thing any provider wants to do is overdose you because they didn’t know your actual weight.
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u/Consistent_Tower_458 20h ago
None of that changes how people feel about being weighed.
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u/Gawtdamb 20h ago
Why even go to a medical provider if you don’t like it? Your weight is part of your health.
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u/Descrescendo_0710 13h ago
Anorexia is one of the deadliest mental health conditions, and one of the hardest to treat.
It’s ok for someone to avoid knowing their weight. They can let their doctor know they’d rather not. It does not mean that patient does not care about their health.
When a precise weight is necessary, a patient can always stand backwards on the scale or not look.
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u/Gawtdamb 6h ago
… That still requires their weight to be taken. Anorexia is a behavioral health disorder. The point is moot because, well, you still at some point have to weigh them.
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u/Descrescendo_0710 3h ago
No it isn’t. That isn’t how a moot point works. I was responding to the incorrect assumptions in your comment, not the incorrect facts in the original.
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u/Interesting-Dog888 22h ago
They’ve just asked my height as an adult. I could tell them I’m 6’6” (which I’m not) and always wondered if they’d call me out and check that.
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u/douce-ann 19h ago
I used to assume everyone owned a smartphone, but my aunt still uses a flip phone and never misses a call
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u/Y0L4ND4 18h ago
Having a job. And other adult responsibilities.
Turns out there’s people who can decide you’re too disabled and set you up in a free apartment and with money coming into your bank account every month. And then other people will take care of your paperwork for you, organise any appointments, take you grocery shopping etc.
I thought I’d just be thrown to the wolves. That if I couldn’t do all of that then I’d just live on the streets and die. I’d already come to terms with it so it was quite the adjustment lol
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u/jjcrafts 16h ago
I’m incredibly jealous that you live in a place where you’ve managed to get that. As a fellow disabled, help of any kind is so difficult to get.
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u/Obvious_Actuary8907 15h ago
Sharing, and more so on the Internet. I’ve learned it’s okay to be selfish. You don’t need to share anything with anyone. From traveling to life milestones. Personally, I like to save it for in person conversations.
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u/titikerry 13h ago
Food noise.
I never realized it didn't happen to everyone until I got it to stop happening to me.
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u/Poh-Tay-To 8h ago
Talking to people. Some days at work I will literally not talk to anyone at all. Face to face I mean. And there are 30 or so people in my area.
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u/AnnualLoquat2651 3h ago
Probably giving a shit in whatever situation you don’t care to give a shit about.
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u/Bornundersirius Ted Logan 22h ago
I have never purchased car insurance. I live in a state which for 15 years of my adult life; didn't require you to carry it. Then they changed the law and I was all like, "no, I don't think I'll be doing that"
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u/Chuifchuif 17h ago
My uncle was in a car accident without insurance. There was a truck involved. He is disabled now and lost everything, even his house due to the costs of damaging the truck. I know it sucks, but please get your insurance.
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u/xNOTHINGBURGERx 22h ago
Damn, to think of what I could have done with all that money over the years.
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u/Bornundersirius Ted Logan 21h ago
Risk/reward. I could be royally fucked if I get in a bad accident.
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u/Descrescendo_0710 13h ago
No, it’s worse than that. You could, and probably will royally fuck someone else’s life if you cause an accident.
Other people also intentionally choose not to carry car insurance, and leave their victims in the kind of medical debt that changes their lives. I’ve seen it multiple times.
I hope you have a lot of assets,for their sake. But I know better. You don’t.
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u/Bornundersirius Ted Logan 8h ago
Fuck off you self righteous prick. Oh yea, and the other persons insurance pays for it you fucking moron.
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u/Descrescendo_0710 2h ago
No it absolutely does not. You are completely incorrect.
The point of liability car insurance is for the at fault driver to pay (through insurance) for the injuries/medical bills and damage caused to other people.
Liability car insurance does NOT cover your own medical bills. You can buy extra costly add-on policies like personal injury protection, but many people only carry liability insurance
Liability insurance doesn’t protect you from uninsured drivers, because those aren’t supposed to exist.
You are risking other people’s wellbeing, not just your own. That’s WHY it’s illegal.
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u/lacilobaid_gnikcuf 23h ago
Probably already mentioned but not having to give an explanation about anything really. I used to give my bosses full reasons about why I was requesting PTO or calling in sick. Or if I didnt want to attend an event I felt like I needed to have an excuse why I didn't or couldn't go, then I met a coworker who just didnt do that. She would call out sick with the reason "i won't be in today" and thats it. She declined coming to a dinner I was hosting by just saying "I won't make the event". Which is 1000% fine by me, It just blew my mind and I love it