Everyone needs some good advice from time to time.
Note that I said good advice. Bad advice , on the other hand, often seems more prevalent.
On r/AskReddit, a poster asked, “What is the worst advice you’ve ever received?” . The answers reveal a plethora of well-intentioned, if utterly useless, advice.
Medical problem? No need to see a doctor.
“‘No need to go to the doctor, it’s just a little rash.’
“It was Lyme’s and I nearly died.
“Edit: it was the Urgent Care nurse who said this. I believed it, my mom didn’t, the next place sent me to the hospital.”
Date your stalker.
“A guy who was stalking me sent flowers to my workplace (I hadn’t told him where I worked). A coworker of mine said that was such a sweet gesture, and I should break up with my long-term boyfriend and date this guy instead.”
Never admit to personal failings.
“When I was an aspiring educator, I received a lot of scary advice about how school teachers should run a classroom from people who were well intended, but were completely out of touch. The most memorable was from a woman who had been a special education teacher for years and her nugget of wisdom was to ‘never say sorry to a student and never admit you’re wrong.’ My philosophy as a teacher could never be more opposite.”
Effort is the first step to failure.
“My father once told me, when I was in my teens, ‘don’t ever try anything new because you might fail.’ That’s like the opposite of what good parents are supposed to say.
“He had recently went out and tried a career change and failed.”
– u/rujoe
Computers are just a fad.
“In 1984 I was told by a friend’s mom that computers were ‘a fad’ and that I shouldn’t major in computer science in college.
“I ignored that advice, it was obvious even then this was a crazy take.”
Don’t go to college, work retail instead.
“I was 19, thinking about maybe going to college or getting a job in finance. My friend’s mum said ‘No, don’t do that. You know where the real money is? Shops. Working in shops.'”
Don’t be schizophrenic, be happy.
“‘Try to think of happier things when you hallucinate.’
“Yeah.. let me just think of a unicorn, I can totally control schizophrenia. That’ll help me not see the blurry faceless man following me in the hallway. Maybe I won’t be so paranoid. That how that works, right? Happy away the illness.”
Don’t take a better job.
“On leaving a 40 hr a week consultancy job with 21 days annual leave, to go to a 37 hr a week client side job with 28 days holiday, and with a pay rise.
“The boss said to me, ‘You don’t make your career on your days off.’
“Too right mate, but what I will do is look after my young family and mental well-being!”
Never move anywhere, ever.
“‘Don’t move abroad’ ‘you’ll hate living in Germany’ then, once I was already in Germany ‘don’t move to Bavaria’, ‘you will not like south of Germany’ etc
“Anyways they were WRONG. Glad I didn’t follow their advice.”
Why try if others are better than you?
“‘Don’t join that Karate school, because all the kids who were there longer than you will always be better than you, so there’s no point in trying,’
“It turned out that I was the only one that actually stayed. I’m probably better at it than all of them now, and even became an assistant teacher before I was 25.”
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Ignore bullying.
“To not say anything when people bully you or are mean to you because they will get bored and quit. No,they WONT. It’ll get worse because they see you as weak with low self esteem and the person who won’t speak up so they keep doing it.”
Rabies isn’t a big deal.
“I once got bit by an aggressive stray dog. Later that day, while talking to a buddy of mine, I was complaining that I needed to go take anti-rabies shots, just to be safe. He said that I probably shouldn’t bother with doctors unless I started getting symptoms.”
You’re allergic to cheese. Trust me.
“My mother telling me not to eat pizza for my entire life because I was allergic to cheese. I didn’t eat my first pizza until I was 20 after receiving my allergy test results which showed I wasn’t allergic to cheese.”
Don’t be bipolar, be happy.
“There’s nothing you have to be sad about. I’m bipolar, Madison, I’m not just a little bummed today. When you can’t get out of bed and want to die, call me. (But I’ll give you the same [expletive] advice).”
HR is your best friend.
“This isn’t advice I’ve taken but anytime I hear it I cringe – ‘You need to complain to HR about that.’
“So many careers and jobs lost by people thinking HR is there to protect them from the company and not the other way around.”
Fat shaming is fine.
“‘They’re your relatives, it’s okay. You can’t do anything about it.’ Yes a relative publicly shamed me and called me fat when I was pregnant, and I’m 5’4 and 140 lbs pregnant body. Here is a piece of advice from my own mother.”
Bullies like you.
“‘If somebody’s mean to you it’s because they like you.’ Can people please stop telling kids this? I used to believe it, too. Yeah, maybe sometimes it’s true, but most of the time it’s not! Especially above the age of seven.”
Going to college will give you a great job.
“If you just do your best, go to study and college you’ll end up having a good paying job and your house and family.
“- Every single of my teachers when I was age 8 till 16.”
Wait ’til you’re older.
“‘You’ll understand when you’re older.’ No Dad, you’re just wrong. You used that line when I was a kid, when I was a teenager, when I was a young adult, and now that I’m in my 40’s with a wonderful family and a successful career you are still just trying to hand wave away my beliefs.”
