# 10 Things I wish I'd known before I went outside into the real world **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2000, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138 "2000-04-17T20:22:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/1 "2000-04-17T20:22:00Z")
Ok, so it is the title of Maria Shriver’s new book. I haven’t read it. I thought it was a catchy title and should be a good question for everyone who has graduated high school here. Here is my incomplete list: 1. Contrary to what I’ve believed my whole life, the world does not revolve around me. 2. Trust my instincts. 3. It is easier to maintain a certain weight level and exercize three to four times a week than it is to get back into shape and drop the extra ten pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Angkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Angkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angkins)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/2 "2000-04-17T20:28:00Z")
I’m not sure if I should just start a new list or add to it, so I’ll add to it: 1. You can’t always get what you want. 2. The phrase “I wish I knew then what I know now” is true, much to my surprise! 3. When my mom said “I hope you have kids just like you”, she really meant it! * * * Thanks for the smile this morning. How do you feel about doing someone you don’t know? Please, please, please (on my knees) please, please _~~ originally posted by GolfWidow_ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/3 "2000-04-17T20:59:00Z")
1. Natural talent is no substitute for hard work. 2. Hard work can not make up for a lack of natural talent. 3. You may be able to win over a disinterested prospective employer. You can not win over a disinterested prospective girl friend. 4. It will cost you more to learn how to bet in poker than you will ever win back. * * * I understand all the words, they just don’t make sense together like that. ---
**Author:** ![WillGolfForFood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/82dd89/32.png) [@WillGolfForFood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillGolfForFood)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/4 "2000-04-17T21:12:00Z")
1. You can’t switch from trying to make your girl/boy friend happy to just letting the relationship coast after you’ve married her/him. (Took me a failed first marriage to figure that one out, but I believe I’ve learned my lesson since.) ---
**Author:** ![ChrisCTP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@ChrisCTP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisCTP)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/5 "2000-04-17T21:26:00Z")
1. A cigarette habit costs two or three times as much when you don’t have school keeping you from lighting up. 2. Buying cigarettes is much more crucial than paying rent. 3. Mom will help pay rent as long as you don’t tell her that you spent your last bit of cash on smokes. 4. Mom will get tired of helping you pay rent. 5. It’s way better to get a job and pay rent yourself than to get a roommate, because no matter how well you get along with someone before you live with them, they’re still likely to become the bane of your existence once you’re sharing space. * * * My Excruciatingly Commonplace Homepage: [FireMoon](http://www.crosswinds.net/~firemoonbcs) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/6 "2000-04-17T21:36:00Z")
1. Everyone else is so wrapped up in their own worlds of embarrassment, they don’t even notice the things I’m embarrassed about. ---
**Author:** ![jazzmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jazzmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jazzmine)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/7 "2000-04-17T21:50:00Z")
1. You really can’t go home again, and even more important, you won’t want to. 2. Nothing in your life is as dramatic as you thought it was. 3. You won’t really go back to school like you think you will if you decide to take a few years off after high school. trisha ---
**Author:** ![jazzmine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jazzmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jazzmine)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/8 "2000-04-17T21:53:00Z")
Learning to count is harder than you thought. ---
**Author:** ![EnochF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/779978/32.png) [@EnochF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnochF)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/9 "2000-04-17T21:59:00Z")
21 (or 20, depending on if you count Grover Cleveland) Important events always happen in big clusters. After five or six months of dull routine, you’ll suddenly encounter The Day When Everything Happens. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/10 "2000-04-17T22:50:00Z")
That discipline stuff turns out to be really, really important. ---
**Author:** ![inertia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d07c76/32.png) [@inertia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inertia)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/11 "2000-04-17T23:00:00Z")
See, that’s just typical of this SDMB crowd. I don’t think most “adults” have learned any of these lessons yet. Particularly “the world doesn’t revolve around me” and “Nothing in your life is as dramatic as you thought it was”. 1. It’s important to take advantage of a free education while you can. 2. Your parents lie to you in the interest of their own private agenda (or just to be mean.) ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/12 "2000-04-17T23:18:00Z")
1. That I would still be paying for $2000 worth of furniture, because I put it on a credit card & thought that the credit card fairy would take care of it fo me. Instead, I was visited every month by the demons of anual percentage rates & the late fee monster took up permenant residence under my bed. I hope there is some kind of financial responsibilities class being taught in high schools these days to keep you younguns from sinking into the credit card quicksand that has trapped a lot of us. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/13 "2000-04-17T23:21:00Z")
Most employers would rather you do a large quantity of shitty work that it takes three times as much time and money to fix than do a smaller quantity of high-quality work that won’t need to be done over. I learned this at my semi-annual performance reviews at my first job in a wire harness assembly plant when I was eighteen. * * * Seven out, line away, pay the don’ts and last come. ---
**Author:** ![Catrandom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@Catrandom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catrandom)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/14 "2000-04-17T23:29:00Z")
You have a lot less decisionmaking power over how your life is going to go than you were led to believe. It’s unlikely your parents had kids for the sole purpose of creating screwed-up adults. Catrandom ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/15 "2000-04-17T23:37:00Z")
1. Always double-check your VCR timer’s settings. Never assume you programmed it right the first time. 2. Mind your own business. Most of the time trying to intervene in someone else’s folly will only cause friction and resentment, and won’t fix what _you_ think they are doing wrong. (This mainly applies to things that are not actively hurting anything or anyone…like someone making a fool of themselves, or wasting their time, etc.) 3. Fill your tank when it gets to 1/4 full. 4. Bring an extra pair of clean underwear when you pack for a trip. I have a million of these… * * * ## **He was a lot older than I, but he was rich, so I married the old geyser.** Authentic Sig line by Wally! _Polydactyl Cats Unlimited “A Cat Cannot Have Too Many Toes”_ ---
**Author:** ![Fyodor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/958977/32.png) [@Fyodor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fyodor)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/16 "2000-04-18T00:19:00Z")
“Appearances are deceptive” - Aesop ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/17 "2000-04-18T03:00:00Z")
1. If you show up for work every day, you will be commended at your performance review for “having a strong work ethic”. Especially if you also stay late. Even if what you are doing when you stay late is stand by a co-worker’s desk and keep her from getting any work done while the two of you discuss her new puppy. 2. Just before you completely understand all the policies and procedures, they will be changed. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/18 "2000-04-18T03:02:00Z")
1. Old Age and Treachery will always overcome youth and skill. 2. Don’t speak unless it improves the silence. 3. Never pack more than you can carry. 4. A waist is a terrible thing to mind. 5. You will get further in life on dumb luck and ignorance than preparation and intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/19 "2000-04-18T03:05:00Z")
Hey, Kat snuck her’s in just before mine. Consider mine 34-38. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138/20 "2000-04-18T03:07:00Z")
1. When other people ask you your opinion, what they are really asking is to be agreed with. 2. Never ask a question that you don’t want to hear an answer to. 3. Never miss an opportunity to take a pee. (This is my “Golden” Rule of life.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-wish-id-known-before-i-went-outside-into-the-real-world/16138.md?page=2)