25 Times People Slowly Realized Adults Are Just As Clueless As Them

Kids often defer to adults by default, expecting them to have all the answers or know all the solutions. At some point, however, the realisation dawns that perhaps age does not necessitate wisdom. People online have been recalling the very moment they caught on that the majority of adults are pretty clueless, and may actually be bluffing their way through life. The lives of grown-ups may look well put-together at first glance, and convince others that they have things under control. But under scrutiny, the flaws and cracks start showing. When someone asked, “What's a moment where you realised 'this adult has no idea what they’re doing,' and it genuinely scared you?”, Redditors came forth with a few riveting answers.

#1

Image source: noggerthefriendo, Mike Mozart I was working the drive thru at McDonald’s when a father asked what on the menu was suitable for newborns.

#2

Image source: Greygor, Brandon Mowinkel Friday January 20th 2017.

#3

When I was about 9 my previously atheist parents decided to try going to church, and dragged me and my brother along. I have a clear memory of sitting in a pew and listening to the minister talking about Jesus walking in water, and it slowly dawning on me that all the adults in the room believed this and I was in a room full of crazy people. Really unnerved me. Image source: maybenomaybe

#4

Image source: Zukazuk, Getty Images I work in a blood center reference lab. One of my coworkers called patient results to a local hospital. The patient had an antibody called anti-Jka or Kidd A. This is one of what blood bankers call the common antigens. It is on every antibody identification panel and is absolutely covered in school and on the certification exam. The hospital tech could not understand what she was saying, claimed to have no idea what she was talking about and said he had never heard of that antibody. Sometimes we get lab assistants on the phone when we call so she tried asking for the blood banker and he confirmed he was the only blood banker on duty. This man was in charge of transfusion for an entire 170 bed hospital. Absolutely terrifying. It's so easy to end someone by giving them the wrong blood.

#5

Image source: A_Filthy_Mind, Wesley Tingey Me after my first was born. The hospital did everything and walked you through everything the day or two you are there. Super careful, security on the maternity ward, everything. Then you check out, they walk you out the door, and ate like "ok, bye". I mean, I knew everything we needed to do, but there was a moment there that I was just stunned, like, Dude, you're trusting me with a baby?

#6

People in positions of authority who would rather be the winner than be correct. So going all in on an argument. Image source: Suitable_cataclysm

#7

Image source: anywineismywine, Valeriia Miller When I was 24 and working with children I had to write up a safeguarding report, the manager pulled me in the office and told me that I cant invent words on the form, i assured her that i had done no such thing and asked her to elaborate. She pointed to the word "pensive" and told me she couldnt even pronounce it, had never seen it or heard of it before ergo I must have made it up. I told her the definition. She wasnt having any of it A little frustrated at this point I leaned over to the office PC to bring the word up on Google for her She blocked me and ordered me to rewrite the whole thing. I literally found another job and left within the month She was English so no language barrier there apart from utter stupidity and willful ignorance.

#8

I really don't think anyone knows what they're doing. All the world's a stage. Image source: swheat7

#9

Image source: PigeonDoveRose, Patrick von der Wehd I work as a cleaner in a nursing home. The nurses and care assistants were going to do a fire drill where they had to find the source of the "fire" and clear out every room on one corridor. It was timed. I was asked by the director of nursing to act as one of the residents who doesn't want to leave their room, and was specifically instructed to go into the bathroom of one of the bedrooms and close the door. I waited for 20 minutes. I heard people come in and out of the room several times. I even shook the door handle to try to get their attention. Not a single person checked the bathroom. The director of nursing later told me she herself stood behind the curtains in another room, and it took them ages to notice her. I dread the day there's actually a fire here.

#10

Image source: Buttery_-_Balls, Karolina Grabowska My dad putting outlets into my neighbours kitchen when I was a kid. I suggested we turn the power off for the whole house, was told to shut up and not interfere. So I left him to it and went home. He came over half an hour later claiming he got an electric shock. He did not learn from that mistake. Don't mess with electrics. Get a professional...

#11

Image source: darkest_irish_lass, National Cancer Institute I was in the hospital for an MRI. I had an anaphylactic reaction to ct scan dye the previous week, so I was terrified of this new test. I was quietly panicking but trying not to show it. The nurse struggled to put in the IV. I asked for another nurse and when she came she said, "Oh, you have a PITA" and, I think deliberately, jabbed me painfully as she worked over my arm. That was the moment I realized I shouldn't expect anything from someone because of their profession. Just because they were a nurse or doctor it didn't automatically provide them with compassion. Just because they were a policeman didn't guarantee that they were calm and cool in a crisis, just because they were a politician didn't mean they were working for the public good or even their own best interests.

#12

Image source: wert989, Wonderlane Broadly? Working any customer service/retail job. Having to deal with fully grown adults, both coworkers and customers alike, who couldn't grasp the concept of "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" or "mess around and find out" made me scared for future generations.

#13

Image source: Smokingtheherb, Vitaly Gariev I'm going to to get hate for this. But I work in mental health with families, which means I regularly have to have meetings with social workers in child protection, health visitors, midwives etc...Seeing how they behave and the things they do in their professions has made me think this many a time. Downright negligence like 80% of the time, but there's an arrogance that often goes with it. If people really knew how these professionals behaved behind the scenes there would be public outrage. They have a huge responsibility for the lives of so many people and for many of them, I have to wonder how they even managed to get the qualifications or the job.

#14

Image source: SoManyShades, Getty Images I remember the exact moment and it changed everything for me. I was probably 5 or 6 and I was playing with a few other kids away from our parents while my brother’s soccer practice was going on. All the sudden my nose started bleeding! Like a lot! It had never happened to me before…so I just went back to where my parents were. I think my dad saw me coming with blood running down my face so he came jogging up, alarmed. I said my nose started bleeding! He said, “Who hit you?” I was like…uh nobody it just started bleeding. Then he said, “Don’t lie to me. Tell me who hit you.” I knew I wasn’t lying. I also knew we got spankings for telling lies. And I knew I couldn’t prove anything. I felt totally trapped and powerless. I don’t remember the rest of what happened. But I do remember realizing I couldn’t trust my dad with my problems or I wouldn’t be believed. I had periodic heavy nosebleeds for years—a couple times a year—clear through to middle school. I never told anyone or asked for help. Eventually they went away.

#15

Image source: RedShirtDecoy, Yuriy Vertikov A mechanical engineer who didn't know how to restart a computer.

#16

Not really 'scared' in the normal sense, but... I coach kids soccer. When I was young, I played at a relatively high level, but I'm buy no means anything special in that regard. Well, there was this other coach who was always harsh with the kids, pushing them to drive harder, move faster, think more strategically. Keep in mind, these are young kids. The advice is generally sound... when dealing with higher tier players or adults, but that's not what this was. His methods were intense, and he chastised kids when they didn't play like he wanted. More than once he got into shouting matches with other coaches. He'd use all the right words to explain things, and so people would defer to him occasionally... maybe just because of his aggressive personality, or bravado. Unsure. Anyways, one day I'm dropping my son off at his practice and he's there. We know each other as acquaintances, and by name, but don't really chat much outside of that, but we strike up a conversation, mostly about soccer and how some of the teams are doing, the world cup. That sort of thing. He has a soccer ball and asks if I want to kick around while we wait for the practice to end. I say sure, and head to three other side. On his first kick I knew. I knew this man, who was so intense, who was adamant on the kids playing a certain style, with odd formations, who knew all the names for all the fancy tricks... this guy had never in his life kicked a ball in a competitive game. I'm not talking high level. I'm talking... he would not have made the cut to his own kid's team using his own standards. I wasn't that far away, but his passes never made it to me once. I ended up closing the gap and feeding him easy balls while he returned trash. You always hear about this, but this was the first time it was so plainly clear that someone who talked so much about the sport really hasn't played it much. A lesson, I suppose. Image source: xzieus

#17

Image source: Umlautless, Dark Dwarf In 1999 my high school health teacher said you could get AIDS from bobbing for apples. Even then, at 17, I was like 'there is a lot you can catch from saliva...but HIV isn't one of them.'.

#18

Image source: Imightbeafanofthis, Vitaly Gariev Doctor was removing pins from my wrist. He gave me a local which I was dubious about, but he was like, "No problem. You won't feel a thing." It was agonising because he had to force my tendons aside to get at the pins. AND as he fumblingly tried to get a grip on the pins (there were two) he kept muttering, "All it takes is a little bit of luck!" If I had been a couple of years older I think I probably would've punched him out, but I was a kid and I trusted my doctor to do the right thing. That was over 50 years ago, and when I think back on it I still think, "That jerk!".

#19

Image source: Popular_Giraffe_4579, DC Studio Watching my dentist pause mid procedure, stare at my X-ray for a solid 30 seconds, then mutter “huh, that's... interesting” before picking up the drill again. I asked what was interesting. He goes “oh don't worry about it” with the LEAST reassuring smile I've ever seen. Anyway, I have a new dentist now.

#20

Image source: 40421, Rodrigo Araya When I was a child, I hopped into the car with my grandma as we were supposed to go to a theme park. I didn't realize I had never seen my grandma drive until we were on the road... I genuinely was scared for my life. The engine failed multiple times to her not being able to shift correctly. We stood in front of a green light for ages with cars honking behind us and her swearing and telling me she didn't know what to do. She didn't put her blinker on - or put it on too long - confusing other drivers. There was a lot of swearing. I remember I kept asking if we were close to the theme park already. I get sweaty writing this, tbh. We did arrive at the destination but it was difficult to have fun there, since I kept thinking about that we were going to have to get back some way. She wasn't even that old, just a really really bad driver.

#21

Image source: Pormorpor, freepik I saw the mom of my daughter's friend spray Repel bug spray in her daughter's hair because she had head lice. I freaked out by calmy told the woman that it could have a negative impact on her daughter's health and that she should get proper anti lice shampoo from a pharmacy. The woman listened to me and washed the Repel out of her daughter's hair so fortunately she didn't become ill.

#22

Working in a university and interacting with some of the admin staff... there's no depth of comprehension beyond following steps they learned by rote. Image source: ntermation

#23

Image source: nomelonnolemon, asier_relampagoestudio I mean.. *Gestures around broadly.

#24

Image source: Osmo250, Getty Images I was working at a gas station. This guy comes in and says his pump isn't working. I glance at the screen and see the pump is active, so I say "it says you're pumping. I don't know what's wrong. Maybe try hanging it up and try again?" He comes back a minute later and says it's still not working. I go out, and he has the Diesel nozzle in his car, and he's trying to pump regular unleaded. Without saying a word, I switch the nozzles, slap the 87 and just walk away shaking my head Yes, I know he shouldn't have been able to fit the diesel nozzle in his car. He did. Don't ask me how. Yes, I know the diesel and unleaded are different color nozzles and buttons. He had the diesel in his car and was pushing the 87 going "see? It's now working". Like, the little light on the diesel button was flashing, but he was just too stupid. He probably should have never been given a license with how stupid he was acting. And no, he wasn't drunk. Just unbelievably stupid.

#25

Image source: futanari_kaisa, René Ranisch I remember watching a video where a firearms instructor was "teaching" a group of people while he had his finger on the trigger of his pistol. He fired the gun negligently but fortunately it was pointed toward the ceiling. Someone asked him "Did you mean to do that?" and the guy sheepishly said "yeah."