# Life lessons learned the hard way
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 17, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104 "2021-03-17T17:39:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2021, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/41 "2021-03-18T22:15:53Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#):
>
> Make sure the lid is on the bottle before you shake it up to mix up the settled contents. Especially if you’re at work, had been sick the day before, and really needed the liquid.
I almost posted something similar: I had an old Jeep with the soft top. I wanted to lube the zippers with some graphite shit in a bottle, which I shook lidless as I sat in the driver’s seat. The new top was a PITA to install.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/42 "2021-03-18T22:22:03Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> > [@elbows](#):
> >
> > You CAN be MORE lost!
> >
> > And you CAN feel worse!
>
> This scares me at the moment. I’ve kept a journal for many years and at the end of 2019, I had thought, “It can’t get worse than this.” Then in 2020, things (not just Covid, but many other things as well) got bad enough that 2019 looked downright mild and sunny in comparison and I wished I could time-travel back to 2019.
>
> I’m now concerned that 2021 will be worse for me than 2020 and the pattern may continue.
Yeah, I hear that. My 2018-2019 royally sucked. 2019-2020 things turned around and were actually awesome. But then 2020-now things got much much worse.
I will say this. When the first thing you do after an interview is make a Facebook post indicating your reluctance to work for that person, you probably shouldn’t take the job, regardless of how much money they offer you.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2021, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/43 "2021-03-18T23:23:27Z")
Don’t co-sign a loan for someone unless you are prepared to make the payments.
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/44 "2021-03-19T05:35:35Z")
One of the toughest lessons I’ve learned is, “It’s not achieved until it’s achieved.” A good chunk of my life can be summed up as “Falcons blow 28-3 lead over Patriots.” Time and time again, valuable and important goals were well within my grasp, only for me to blow them due to dumb mistakes.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/45 "2021-03-19T05:36:48Z")
Didn’t happen to me, but happened to a friend: If total strangers are coming into your job and telling you that the relationship is a bad idea, listen to them too.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/46 "2021-03-19T05:39:25Z")
Bashing your ex on social media is also not a good idea, especially if you have minor children.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/47 "2021-03-19T05:40:59Z")
LIkewise, people who talk about how Christian they are, especially when it’s not relevant to whatever else is going on, might as well wave a giant red flag on a very tall pole.
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/48 "2021-03-19T05:46:57Z")
Life lessons learned the hard way, Old Person Edition: When you learn an important fact, or date of a crucial upcoming meeting/event, do not assume “hey, this is really important - no way will I forget.” Nuh-uh. Write it down, immediately if not sooner.
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/49 "2021-03-19T10:38:22Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#):
>
> Make sure the lid is on the bottle before you shake it up to mix up the settled contents.
My wife and I eat a lot of salads for lunch. Any time one of us is shaking the bottle of salad dressing, not only is the lid on, but we also keep a thumb over the lid.
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/50 "2021-03-19T12:16:14Z")
If you have a pot you use for boiling and steaming things, and you lose the top to it, don’t use a flat-bottomed pyrex pan as a cover. You may get away with doing so 100 times, but eventually it will explode into a million pieces.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/51 "2021-03-19T12:35:12Z")
Never put more effort into helping someone than that individual is willing to put into helping themself. They need to put in at least as much effort as they are able to.
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### Author:  [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/52 "2021-03-19T13:26:00Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> Before you sit down on the toilet, make sure your cell phone is not in your back pocket.
And before you bend down to flush the low commercial toilet, make sure your electronic device isn’t in your shirt pocket.
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### Author:  [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/53 "2021-03-19T13:49:20Z")
Don’t depend on oral agreements. If the agreement is important, get it in writing.
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### Author:  [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/54 "2021-03-19T13:49:36Z")
> [@Shoeless](#):
>
> Don’t co-sign a loan for someone unless you are prepared to make the payments.
And don’t lend anybody any money unless you can handle not getting it back.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/55 "2021-03-19T14:05:37Z")
> [@Kron](#):
>
> And don’t lend anybody any money unless you can handle not getting it back
Don’t lend anything to anybody unless you can handle not getting it back.
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### Author:  [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/56 "2021-03-19T14:29:12Z")
Check the shower for cockroaches before getting into it
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/57 "2021-03-19T15:06:54Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#):
>
> Never put more effort into helping someone than that individual is willing to put into helping themself. They need to put in at least as much effort as they are able to.
In my freelance grantwriting career, I coined a phrase which expresses a similar thought:
_“You can’t care more than they do.”_
This came about after repeatedly badgering clients for information I needed to meet a deadline and repeatedly meeting total indifference. Hey, it’s their project and potentially their $$. \
> [@blabbermeister](#):
>
> Check the shower for cockroaches before getting into it
Ohboyohboy… so true! And when I lived in the country, that applied to scorpions.
One time I got in the shower and without my glasses I assumed the reddish blob I spotted on the handheld shower thingie was leftover hair dye from a recent color job. But, being a prudent woman, I stepped out of the shower, put on my glasses, and took a closer look. A scorpion, which I would have either grabbed directly or at least applied to the top of my head.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/58 "2021-03-19T15:23:40Z")
Do not apply scorpion directly to the forehead!
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### Author:  [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/59 "2021-03-19T15:28:36Z")
When walking in a house with kids & pets, learn to shuffle slowly. Prevents lego lacerations and hissing kitties.
When unsure of the temperature of an item, try touching it with the back of your finger not the front. If/when you get burned, it hurts a lot less.
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### Author:  [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/60 "2021-03-19T15:28:47Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#):
>
> If you ignore that, and call in sick to work, don’t post later that day about what a great run you just took (true story. Contributed to the person getting fired, we think).
When I was a tyke one morning at breakfast my dad opened the sports section and started laughing his ass off. There was some PGA tournament in town and the top photo was whoever won sinking a putt. He pointed to a guy kneeling in front of the gallery who I recognized as one of his salesmen. “That guy called in sick yesterday.”
He went to work a little early and left the sports section on the guy’s desk with the photo prominent.
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