Things you should have learned a long time ago: Share your embarrassment here!

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

I know threads like this have been done before here on the SDMB, but there’s no limit to the things that we adults should have learned long ago, but somehow didn’t …

I was reminded of this this past weekend when Mrs. Spiff was chastizing the little Spiffettes for putting used Kleenex™ brand facial tissues into the toilet bowl. She said that Kleenexes don’t dissolve as quickly as toilet paper and that the Kleenexes would clog the toilet pipes.

I then stood up like a man, and told the assembled Spiff-beings that I was the culprit. And I confessed that I had never heard of this prohibition before.

So, any Dopers want to confess to not knowing something that should have been learned decades ago?

C’mon … confession is good for the soul!

#2

Bread crust does NOT contain more nutrients than the rest of the bread. You know, like vegetables and fruit.

I’m not sure where I picked up that tidbit, but I’m sure it had to do with something my mother said.

I was 33 the day the light bulb turned on. I was feeding my child healthy whole wheat bread, cutting it into bite size pieces so the poor thing wouldn’t choke. Of course, I gave him the crust pieces first to ensure he would be getting the maximum amount of nutrients before he got full, because everyone knows all the nutrients in the bread are in the…huh?

Waaaaaait a minute, the crust is just the outside of the dough that gets toasty brown when being cooked… :smack:

::sigh::

#3

To always look in the shower before turning it on. I usually get hit in the face with water due to the shower head pointed out and down.

To always check my sandwiches for other things that may be put in them when I take my lunch (ie a thinly placed napkin right between the lunch meat and bread)

Basically to not let my Dad run loose in my house when hes over for a visit.

#4

I recently discovered that there is a little trap door on the bottom of the toaster that enables me to empty out the crumbs. Well, “discovered” isn’t exactly the right word; my husband showed it to me after he found me shaking the toaster upside down over the trash can and finished laughing at me.

#5

I didn’t know that :smack:

#6

For a few years after switching to the single-cup drip method of preparing morning coffee, I would be periodically vexed when the filter would come apart at the seam, clogging the aperture at the base of the cone, polluting my java with grounds, and generally being a wasteful mess. I would try to avoid this by using even smaller drips than you might say are strictly necessary, focussed on the very edge of the filter, etc. Veerrry delicate… Veerry mindful, especially for early-morning activity.

Then one morning I woke up at someone else’s place and had the opportunity to watch them prepare the coffee – folding the crimped edge over before fitting it into the cone.

I didn’t say anything, but I’m sure my ears turned red.

Also, for years I would get frustrated when trying to press the back of my shirts, having to readjust the damn thing thirty times to get from shoulder to shoulder. One day I thought, “Goddamnit! Why are the ends of ironing boards so freaking narrow?! I’m not the most broad-shouldered guy in the world, but to get the creases out of my shoulder, I need more than that five inches of surface to work with. Why don’t they make ironing-boards that more closely match the general proportions of the body?”

I visualized what such an innovative ironing-board would look like. A 90-degree angle with a corner that approximated the curve of a shoulder would be just the thing, of course.

I considered a trip to Canadian Tire to get the materials to start on a nice DIY time-saver. Then I looked down at the other end of the board. :smack:

#7

The first time I used hanging file folders, I only put one side of the clear plastic tabs into the slots. Then, to keep the paper insert/label thingy from falling out, I scotch-taped over the bottom rather than just inserting both sides of the tab into the slots.