16 Things We Thought Would Be Relevant To Life But Are Actually Useless

Every adult has figured out by now that school does a poor job of preparing us for the realities of adulthood. We don’t learn about taxes or how to purchase a car or navigating complicated work and interpersonal relationships, and the relevance of things we did learn varies wildly. 

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But school isn’t the only place that sets kids up with unrealistic expectations about what might matter in the future. Books and movies can do the same, as can just about every other thing in the planet that kids and teens grasp onto as they are learning about the world for the first time.

“When I was a kid, I literally thought doing paper mache and playing the recorder were going to be super important life skills,” @SahilBloom recently tweeted, referring to old hobbies popular among young kids both in and out of school.

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Hoping others might weigh in with their own misguided ideas from childhood, he asked folks to share things they thought would be “really important” in adulthood that turned out to be nothing at all. 

I’ll go first:

When I was a kid, I literally thought doing paper mache and playing the recorder were going to be super important life skills.

— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) April 7, 2022

Buckle up, some of these are going to be too real.

1.

My grandpa gave me $20 once and I remember sneaking into my room and being like:

“Oh shit, I finally made it. This is it.”

— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) April 7, 2022

2.

Rude. I will die on a cursive hill.

— Shawna Ohm (@ShawnaOhm) April 7, 2022

3.

I was confused by HOW the Guiness Book…bookkeepers KNOW when a record is being broken. I was imagining some sort of alarm system or scouts across the world ready to jump up on you with “ha!! you just broke a world record”

— Tili (@andr_tili) April 8, 2022

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4.

Lol! The lights in the car is perfect. Well done!

— J Ernst (@JErnst40) April 7, 2022

5.

This actually sounds like a very valuable life skill

— Louise Lamacraft (@NumberOne9661) April 7, 2022

6.

Hahahaha this one is good.

— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) April 7, 2022

7.

True. Unless it requires experience – children can do everything adults do. Sometimes better.

— gb (@GB03262056) April 8, 2022

8.

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9.

Being competitive with your peers. Has almost no value day to day. All about collaborating, empowering others, giving your teammates credit, delegating responsibilities, and finding ways to unlock others potential.

— arthur (@arthur09085042) April 7, 2022

10.

11.

I still feel it’s very relevant @akiller44! On that note – do you have general advice on how one I can get better at grammar? I could use some advice

— Neeharika Taneja (@_neeharika) April 7, 2022

12.

thought would be important but has not yet been useful:
– escaping from kidnappers
useful:
– changing sh*tty diaper 1-handed
– sales, sales forecasting, cap table mgmt
– playing bass (esp knowing nearly every song by Clash & grateful dead)
– learning to take a punch in the face

— Adam Metz (he/him) (@theMetz) April 7, 2022

13.

Similar thought but I grew up in mountain county. If you have to make a break for it run down hill – their hind legs are shorter.

— Sonia Beckwith (@SoniaBeckwith) April 7, 2022

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14.

It does enhance one’s approach to problem solving and logical thinking.

— altomentis (@altomentis) April 8, 2022

15.

The “permanent record”’in grade school. Hey, if you aren’t careful that’s going your “permanent record” and you won’t get into college.

— CitizenErased (@1CitizenErased) April 7, 2022

16.

High Schools had typing teachers. Now toddlers use keyboards.

— Vincent Jim Fazzino (@VJFazzino) April 7, 2022

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*First Published: April 12, 2022, 7:26 am