Trending Now
I feel like I’ve spent a significant portion of my life just trying not to look dumb.
But in the process, could I have possibly been depriving myself of smart stuff?
what is a smart thing that looks dumb?
byu/nicewiz inAskReddit
Let’s see what Reddit thinks might have a deceptive look to it.
1. Wearing lots of sunscreen
I’m in vacation at the beach here in italy with my friends.
They all laughed at me for using sunscreen.
Now they are all burned as f**k and i’m all good.
– SlyJokes
2. Being honest about your product’s capabilities
Went to a meeting made of up senior VPs, and executives. I was a lowly business analyst, but I knew our product well. I had read the proposed brief, and what they were hoping to do. It was two projects, one “major” one, and one “smaller” one. (Difference was a few thousand bucks in work.)
My job was to run the demo, and answer questions, which I did. At the end, a gentleman asked what I thought about using our product for their major proposal. I was honest with him. I didn’t think that what they needed would be helped by the strengths of our product. That there were other products that would do what they wanted much better. However, I told him that I felt the smaller imitative would be perfect, and I thought our product could add real value there.
The gentleman turned out to be their CEO, and he thanked me for my honesty. We did end up doing the job for them, and they liked us enough to sign a support contract. The added bonus was since the smaller project was in our wheelhouse, the development was a breeze!
– Easternwind
3. Makeshift tools
Basically the stuff you make when you don’t want to spend money on that specific thing.
As a welder, i have a sh**ton of makeshift tools, and i often find myself using tools in ways that they’re definitely not meant to be used.
But the job needs to be done, and I’m gonna get it done one way or the other.
– Nos-BAB
4. Parasols / sun hats
Why have parasols practically disappeared? I want one.
Sunhats pretty much never fit over my complicated updos.
Either bring back parasols or bring back giant Edwardian hats and hatpins.
– tarnishedhuntress
5. Cupcake style
Cutting a cupcake in half and putting the bottom half on top of the frosting.
You now have a cupcake sandwich with the perfect frosting to cupcake ratio.
But people will look at you like you should be in the back of the classroom wearing a dunce hat while you do it
– TheHobbitOnStilts
6. Taking real notes
I sometimes feel like such a weirdo bringing in a notebook to class instead of a laptop to take notes, but I swear it is far superior to typing notes… not to mention half the people who I see in lecture are doing anything other than actual note taking on their laptops and I’m honestly no better sometimes now in the age of zoom lectures… it’s just so easy to get distracted
– meagalomaniak
7. Wearing knitted stuff
Knitted wool mittens and scarves and hats.
There’s a really good reason we put them on kids: They’re warmer than ‘modern fabrics.’ (And mittens are WAY warmer than gloves.)
– A40
8. Driving an affordable, crappy car
No kidding. Have a 15 year old, 133K mile Scion xb. Bought it new.The alternator went out today. That will be the first non-regular maintenance repair put into that car.
I will gladly pay the tow fee (we limped home) and repair money to keep it going.
– awalktojericho
9. Admitting what you don’t know
Multiple other people have said it already, but I’ll say it again because I have stuff to add to it: admitting that you don’t know something, and then doing the research to learn it.
I’d be willing to guess that about 90% of all misinformation started with someone not doing this and bulls**tting an answer because they were too prideful to admit they don’t know.
– LieutenantSteel
10. Paris Hilton
She worked that dumb blonde stereotype and laughs all the way to the bank.
She “only” got around 5 million when her grandfather died, but her net worth is close to 300 million.
– DelsMagicFishies
11. Lift technique
Proper posture when lifting and moving heavy objections.
I feel and I’m sure look like my spine just locked up but it makes things so much safer and a lot easier once you build some muscle doing it the right way.
– Teri_Windwalker
12. Not being defensive
Not defending yourself against everything all the time but letting it slide sometimes.
Basically picking your battles, it might look like you are weak but I think it’s really smart
– duck9415
13. GPS for your commute
Superficially it sounds dumb, because obviously you know how to get to work.
But any modern GPS is going to be traffic-aware and so can route you around any slowdowns that aren’t normally there.
– Amiiboid
14. Riding a Segway
The Segway is a triumph of engineering and they ride like magic.
They look so stupid that Kevin James got the idea for Paul Blart when he saw a mall cop riding one, and that movie made $130mil in profits.
– awildmanappears
15. Going vegan
While at a glance people might be concerned about not getting enough nutrients etc, but in reality it is very healthy and is the best thing we can do for the environment and to help animals.
– MrX2285
If being right is wrong, I don’t want to be right. Or something.
What else would you add to this list?
Tell us in the comments.