There’s a bit of a misconception that “educated” always means “smart.” That’s not to say that people with high academic standing are dumb , but that there’s more to smarts than school .
And on the flip side, being good at school doesn’t mean your common sense is 100% accurate. As the academics in this list prove, everyone makes dumb mistakes sometimes. Literally everyone.
One professor’s tweet went absolutely viral.
“Today I decided to test if a bottle of super glue was open by squirting it into my hand.”
Of course, there’s no way that was going to end well. But with all the attention this tweet got came more hilarious stories.
School doesn’t always help you remember your license plate.
There was definitely an easier way for this smarty pants to figure out he had the wrong car. But I guess even those of us who do well in school aren’t immune to accidentally trying to get in the wrong car.
This is apparently… not an uncommon thing.
I guess some people have their minds on so many different things that they don’t notice right away when they’re in the wrong place. Happens to the best of us. Literally.
Sometimes, you don’t realize your mistake until it’s too late.
Look, shredding things is a lot of fun. But you also really have to make sure that you don’t shred anything you might actually need, like the manual for the shredder.
You don’t have to be a decorated academic to make mistakes.
I feel like most of us have done dumb things like this before. I’ve definitely tried putting seatbelts on when sitting in places that aren’t cars. It happens.
RELATED STORIES
Showers can be tricky.
I wonder if somebody out there has a PhD in shower operation (not repair, just how to actually run a shower). Because some of those showers have weird knobs and trying to use them is kind of a pain.
You really have to be careful with super glue.
I wonder how common super glue accidents are, and if it’s more common among academics. Because this feels like the kind of thing somebody with a fancy degree would end up doing.
I guess mistaking a car for your own is REALLY common?
I think the funniest part of this story is the fact that she called the cops on herself. I wonder if being an attorney helped out in this case.
This was also me in school.
Some profs get pretty strict about alphabetizing your reference list, so you have to take extra care with the order. Preschool was really onto something when they taught us all the alphabet song. There’s probably a paper on the effectiveness of mnemonic devices in there somewhere.
Wait, what’s that huge light thingy in the sky?
On a very similar note, I know someone who once mistook a Burger King sign for the moon. I guess it just means that the night sky is full of tricks.
Always unplug your mixer before sticking your hands in it.
This goes double for when you’re about to stick your tongue on it. But hey, it’s a pretty easy thing to forget, no matter how much experience you have in the kitchen.
Those tubes look a little too much alike, if you ask me…
At least glue sticks are a lot less powerful than tubes of super glue. But still, that’s got to feel super uncomfortable, especially when you’re expecting lip balm.
No, no, you just have to pull the other way.
It’s so funny how so many people will mix push and pull doors up all the time. And they’re almost always clearly marked as either “push” or “pull.” But that won’t stop us!
If only there was a universal key for everything you owned.
Now that I say that out loud, a universal key would be the worst thing ever.
But I totally get that sense of panic when you try to open a door with the wrong key without realizing.
Brb while I text my phone to try and find my phone.
This goes down with trying to find your phone, or looking for the pair of glasses that are on your head. Or the keys you’ve already stuck in the ignition.
That’s one way to check if something’s hot.
The worst thing about something like this is the fact that you have to explain to people how you got hurt. Like, there’s nothing more embarrassing than telling someone how you burned yourself.
Is that why we say some people have “sausage fingers?”
Hopefully this person didn’t leave a nasty scar on his finger from that, but I guess it just goes to show you that school won’t negate the random mistakes you make in life.
My one true foe… towel dispensers.
I’m going to give this person the benefit of the doubt, because some of those towel dispensers are deceptively tricky. Like, how do people use them without any problem? It doesn’t make sense to me!
Please don’t put your laptop cord in your mouth.
I feel like the phrase, “fool me once, shame on you” applies to this really well. At the same time, though, I can’t really blame anyone for doing something so absentmindedly.
Better than accidentally deleting something.
As someone who’s absolutely deleted things by accident a few times, I’d take trying to use Ctrl+S on a physical notepad any day of the week. I think though, it just shows how used to typing on a computer we are.
