What’s the worst bit of advice you’ve ever received?

[skribs]

A couple of pieces I've heard (and rejected).

• "Just tell your dentist you're not going to pay any fee for missing your appointment, and if he still wants to charge you, ask for your records and find a new dentist." I asked what the fee was, and they waived it because I'd been a customer of theirs for 20 years and never missed an appointment before.
• "Just do Taekwondo until you get your black belt, then do something else, because you won't learn anything else after that." I'm a 3rd degree now, and I'm still learning. I do agree that I might have a more explosive growth if I learn something else, but I'm clearly not done learning.

 

[Chrisinmd]

A couple of pieces I've heard (and rejected).

• "Just tell your dentist you're not going to pay any fee for missing your appointment, and if he still wants to charge you, ask for your records and find a new dentist." I asked what the fee was, and they waived it because I'd been a customer of theirs for 20 years and never missed an appointment before.

Just asked the secretary at my dentist office to waive my missed appointment fee as well. She went right ahead and did it. I think the advice would most likely work to get them to waive the fee though. I think you can only use that type of threat once though

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

What’s the worst bit of advice you’ve ever received?

Did you know it was bad advice at the time or did you have to try it and learn this was not going to work for you?

1. Always keep your head vertical and never bend down - If there is a $100 bill on the ground, you will miss the chance to bend over and pick it up.
2. Never move your gravity center to be outside of your base - There will be no momentum if you don't move your gravity center to be outside of your base.
3. Never sweet when you train - Whoever gives you this advice must be a lazy person.
4. If you don't move, I won't move - If both you and your opponent don't want to move first, both of you will starve to death.
5. Use 5 oz to deal with 1000 lb - If you have 1000 lb, you won't care about 5 oz.
6. There is someone lives in the Herman's Peak who can easily beat up Mike Tyson - If you have not sparred for 3 days, your arms and legs will no longer be yours.

 

[Chrisinmd]

Most of the advice i got was from the "real men" generation so you can imagine.

"Stop being a *****"
"Be happy, no one likes depressed people who mope around"
"Just go out there and act tough and don't take ****"


You know, that kind of stuff.

"Pull yourself up from your bootstraps" narratives are a curse upon humanity. I've seen that same narrative be turned around on people when they finally are put into a situation where they've become someone else's periphery, and they expect empathy--and no one cares to listen to them.

What's sad is, is that generation is essentially just carrying around the voice of their parents, who likely were either physically/emotionally abusing them, or both.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

A couple of pieces I've heard (and rejected).

• "Just tell your dentist you're not going to pay any fee for missing your appointment, and if he still wants to charge you, ask for your records and find a new dentist." I asked what the fee was, and they waived it because I'd been a customer of theirs for 20 years and never missed an appointment before.

I can't imagine leaving a dentist that I've gone to for 20 years over what probably amounts to a $25 missed appointment fee. There are definitely reasons that I might switch, but that is nowhere near the list.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

What’s the worst bit of advice you’ve ever received?

Running will raise your gravity center and make your balance weak. A wrestler should not run.

If you can run faster than your opponent, even Mike Tyson's punch won't be able to land on you.

 

[skribs]

I can't imagine leaving a dentist that I've gone to for 20 years over what probably amounts to a $25 missed appointment fee. There are definitely reasons that I might switch, but that is nowhere near the list.

I believe it would have been $100. But still, it was my fault.

 

[Steve]

Having actually followed that advise I disagree. My mother gave me that little nugget of advise and while is sounds good, the reality didn't match up.
1st many kids that go to a trade school actually never follow a career in their chosen trade. Second the subliminal message is "rather than reach for the stars ,and try to fulfill your potential, let's aim your life at a low target and hope you get a job"
Tradesmen make good money and are great jobs and maybe in today's society going to a trade school is good advise when looking at the results the university is producing but sacrificing your future with low expectations is what I was really getting at

Your entire argument falls apart unless you fundamentally believe that people who work as carpenters, electricians, plumbers, welders, or in any other trade, are inferior to whatever it is that you do. I can't even begin to tell you how vehemently I disagree with you on this.

 

[Steve]

good and bad is context dependent. malevolent, now thats something all together different.

Evil or malevolent? I don't know. I do believe that half the country is stupid.

 

[dvcochran]

Most of the advice i got was from the "real men" generation so you can imagine.

"Stop being a *****"
"Be happy, no one likes depressed people who mope around"
"Just go out there and act tough and don't take ****"


You know, that kind of stuff.

"Pull yourself up from your bootstraps" narratives are a curse upon humanity. I've seen that same narrative be turned around on people when they finally are put into a situation where they've become someone else's periphery, and they expect empathy--and no one cares to listen to them.

What's sad is, is that generation is essentially just carrying around the voice of their parents, who likely were either physically/emotionally abusing them, or both.

Yep, and there is the ignorance of youth spelled out plain and clear.

 

[Steve]

Bad advice:

"Rub some dirt on it." - Eww. Good way to get a staph infection.
"Do what you love and you'll never work another day in your life." Problem for me is that the moment I monetize something I love, it becomes a job, which makes it work. The key for me is to find work that is challenging, interesting, and fulfilling, and use the money to fund the things I love on my own time.

 

[hoshin1600]

@Steve
Thats ironic, all my life I worked as a carpenter, handyman doing every trade in the book, graduated trade high school as a welder, worked 10 years as a machinist and by sheer luck supervise the machine shop now.
I hate to start this argument all over again but I've lived it. Its my experience I've worked in the trades my whole life because at 14 years old I thought I wasn't smart enough to go to college. That was wrong and I should have at least tried...that's the point.

 

[dvcochran]

Bad advice:

"Rub some dirt on it." - Eww. Good way to get a staph infection.
"Do what you love and you'll never work another day in your life." Problem for me is that the moment I monetize something I love, it becomes a job, which makes it work. The key for me is to find work that is challenging, interesting, and fulfilling, and use the money to fund the things I love on my own time.

I do not see why 'job' cannot be synonymous 'challenging, interesting, & fulfilling. It should be anyway.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

- If you train like this, you will understand power generation after 5 years.

If someone cannot explain to you how to generate power within 10 minutes, you should find yourself another teacher.

 

[Steve]

@Steve
Thats ironic, all my life I worked as a carpenter, handyman doing every trade in the book, graduated trade high school as a welder, worked 10 years as a machinist and by sheer luck supervise the machine shop now.
I hate to start this argument all over again but I've lived it. Its my experience I've worked in the trades my whole life because at 14 years old I thought I wasn't smart enough to go to college. That was wrong and I should have at least tried...that's the point.

I really am sorry someone convinced you that you weren't smart enough to go to college and also that people who aren't smart end up in the trades. Both of those are messed up. I don't see where you addressed this. Sorry if I'm missing it, but I don't see it needing to be an argument. Suffice to say, I have a lot of respect for people who work in any skilled field and don't see it as any less any other.

 

[Buka]

@Steve
Thats ironic, all my life I worked as a carpenter, handyman doing every trade in the book, graduated trade high school as a welder, worked 10 years as a machinist and by sheer luck supervise the machine shop now.
I hate to start this argument all over again but I've lived it. Its my experience I've worked in the trades my whole life because at 14 years old I thought I wasn't smart enough to go to college. That was wrong and I should have at least tried...that's the point.

Watch out fellas, the Mods might lock the thread because they think talking about life is talking politics.

 

[Buka]

I so wish I had good carpentry skills. I watch some finished carpenters I know make things and I watch them with wonder in my eyes. There's not just skill involved in good carpentry, there's an art to it.

A close friend of mine out here is a landscaper. When people ask what he does he says "I cut grass for a living." And that's the majority of the work he does.

He earns over 250 grand a year, every year. We call him the Marquise de Sod.

 

[Steve]

Funny thing about this thread is that it's hard for me to actually remember any bad advice. I can think of a lot of good advice that I'm glad I've heeded over the years.

 

[donald1]

Use rat poison as cough syrup.

Back in 2012, my senior year in highschool, I was selling chocolate to fund my senior trip. Some older dude came up. Weirdo. Was talking about how he used rat poison to cure a cough.he also was talking about how he wanted to tell president obama his secret cure for the common cold.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Funny thing about this thread is that it's hard for me to actually remember any bad advice. I can think of a lot of good advice that I'm glad I've heeded over the years.

And here I am thinking of good advice that I didn't heed over the years.