# Cracked article that is more true than amusing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 19, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542 "2012-12-19T16:59:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/21 "2012-12-20T00:02:07Z")
I read it and then read this thread, and I’m still left feeling that I just got lectured to about something that’s pretty self-evident. I admit that I am not familiar with the “nice guy” meme. But are there really a lot of people walking around who don’t think have to do anything to earn their worth? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/22 "2012-12-20T12:48:56Z")
> [@Recusant](#): > > Hmmmm… So, confronted with a harsh and bitter world that demands a constant, all-consuming drive to complete whatever task you’ve been handed regardless of cost to personal life, the logical course of action is complete submission and perpetuation? I don’t know where that idea came from. The article has a simple message: if you want people to give you things - money, sex, love, friendship - you have to offer them something they value in return, and that often requires investing in yourself to make yourself valuable. > [@Slithy Tove](#): > > I also think it’s telling that while Mr. Wong castigates the young males for their sense of entiltement, all he expects of the young woman barrista is that she use moisturizer. As the father of a daughter who works full time while carrying a classload enough to qualify as a full-time student, I testify that there’s more required there than Maybeline can supply. It’s a gross oversimplification, yes, but his point was that she invests time and effort every day to increase her value to other people: > [@cracked.com](#): > > …the Zooey Deschanel lookalike in the bookstore that you’ve been daydreaming about moisturizes her face for an hour every night and feels guilty when she eats anything other than salad for lunch. She’s going to be a surgeon in 10 years. What do you do? The man-child who longs after her just thinks she’s attractive; he doesn’t realize (and Wong points out) that she spends at least an hour every day making her face pretty, and that she makes deliberate effort to watch her weight so her body looks good, too. His point is that one’s value to other people probably isn’t going to spring up unbidden from within; it will take some work. If the man-child wants the Zooey Deschanel lookalike to be attracted to him, he’s going to have to do some work to make himself valuable to her in some way. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/23 "2012-12-20T19:16:57Z")
I read that article a few days ago, and I think it’s on the ball. For example, wrt to the man fantasising over the book store clerk - I’ve known people do this or something very similar, and bemoan that they can’t get her because she can’t see what a wonderful future boyfriend they’d be if only she’d look past his slobby exterior. Of course she can’t - is she a telepath? And would you have those fantasies if she also had such a slobbish exterior? Rule 34 notwithstanding, the answer would usually be no. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/24 "2012-12-20T19:40:44Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Didn’t Bruce Wayne give the same message in Batman Begins: > “It doesn’t matter who you are underneath. It’s what you do that defines you.” While in general I agree I am not certain that Bruce Wayne should really be somebody whose therapy advice you should seek. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/25 "2012-12-20T20:14:26Z")
I too thought the breathless, revelatory style of the article a trifle amusing - yeah, it isn’t like “the world doesn’t owe you a living” is news, exactly. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SRM-ND](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SRM-ND](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SRM-ND)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/26 "2012-12-20T20:21:32Z")
who moisturizes for an hour a night, and who could finish their undergad organic chem and diff eq (well, maybe not diff eq) homework to get into med school to then become a board-cert surgeon if they moisturized every night? who ARE these impossible beings? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/27 "2012-12-21T16:13:30Z")
Some really good stuff in here: > **[6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person](https://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person)** > > You're going to hate hearing this. My only defense is that this is what I wish somebody had said to me around 1995 or so. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/28 "2012-12-21T16:33:00Z")
Yes good stuff. But they forgot #6. Trying to tell this to anybody who doesn’t already realize it, is a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/29 "2012-12-21T16:44:51Z")
I wish I had a nickel for every time my daughter had boyfriend issues or a problem at work and said “I’m a good person, why does this happen to me?” She _is_ a good person, one of the best, but she’s also way too passive. But I suppose I could apply the same rules to myself, with regard to how I react when she says this. What am I doing/have I done to make her think that being a good person is enough. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/30 "2012-12-21T16:51:42Z")
[Previous discussion](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=676093) I found it more “well, duh” than anything else but YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/31 "2012-12-21T17:18:57Z")
Not a bad article. I just wish sometimes that Cracked writers didn’t constantly work out their life issues in the name of “humor.” There is one writer who seemingly can’t help but mention: 1. He has a drinking problem, and 2. His childhood sucked In damn near everything he writes. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/32 "2012-12-21T18:12:33Z")
I like it and agree with it. I’ll still vote Democrat most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/33 "2012-12-21T18:20:34Z")
I’m dumber for having read that. I have a feeling that’s the author’s aim. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/34 "2012-12-21T18:37:39Z")
**Rand Rover** [like this article too.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=676311) Take that as you will. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/35 "2012-12-21T19:01:07Z")
I am now thinking that this article is like Gatorade: if you need it, it tastes good; if you don’t need it, it’s _horrible_. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/36 "2012-12-21T19:21:27Z")
I already fully realized the world owes you nothing. But it’s not enough to be a “nice guy”, you have to actively and constantly offer something special to keep a mate? Wow, that’s a depressing thought. It’s like a probation that never ends. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/37 "2012-12-21T19:33:13Z")
As someone who has been married a 13 years now, yup it’s constant work. The good news is that if you are in a healthy relationship, you are both working on keeping it that way. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/38 "2012-12-21T19:37:33Z")
I enjoyed it but I still believe you can be a successful go getter and still be compassionate, well compassionately kick asses I should say. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/39 "2012-12-21T19:39:07Z")
I suggest we merge the 2 threads about this article. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542/40 "2012-12-21T19:50:30Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > I suggest we merge the 2 threads about this article. Done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cracked-article-that-is-more-true-than-amusing/644542.md?page=3)