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What are some things that - as a child - you were lead to believe would be a bigger deal when you grew up

Dalek

Dalek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,007
1. Quicksand - For whatever reason as an 80s kid, I was lead to believe quicksand was everywhere and you could very easily drown in it at any turn.
survive-quick-sand-QUICKSAND0517.jpg


2. The Bermuda Triangle - similarly, it seemed like the Bermuda Triangle was one of the most important things in the world-planes disappearing left and right.
file-20200908-18-oxks10.jpg


3. Nude Beaches - I'm still looking for these so-called Nude Beaches that I was lead to believe would be everywhere and have beautiful women walking around.
1495638097-nude-beaches.jpg

I'm thinking that many of my unrealistic expectations were shaped by me being a latchkey kid watching lots of HBO.
 
entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
60,320
"What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

Figuring out your career. Outside some very narrow fields, career changing is doable, very common, and easier today.
 
Doran

Doran

Member
Jun 9, 2018
1,849
Growing up in general. Then you realize the guy picking his nose in 4th period is the same person but bigger and running shit now.
 
Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,714
United States
Halloween candy that's been tampered with to kill unsuspecting kids.

People with knives waiting in public restrooms to kill unsuspecting kids.

Kidnappers in windowless vans pretending to have lost their puppy to kill unsuspecting kids.

Strangers who call your house, ask if your parents are home, and then kill unsuspecting kids.


(My parents told me I was going to get killed a lot.)
 
GreenMamba

GreenMamba

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,340
Doran said:
Growing up in general. Then you realize the guy picking his nose in 4th period is the same person but bigger and running shit now.
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This is kind of what I'm thinking. As a kid you think there is something inherently different about adults, how there is some switch where you just kinda graduate into becoming an adult. Actually growing up you realize that you don't actually feel any different. Adults are just larger children.
 
Calamari41

Calamari41

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,111
TV and movies made it seem like every job is based on giving Big Important Presentations, probably because that's how the TV and Movie industry operates (pitches to network/studio execs)
 
Lord Error

Lord Error

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,373
- Wow, yes - quicksand fear was real back in the day. I can't even remember why precisely, but I too thought it's one of the scariest things in the world, and a likely way to die. Was this idea featured in many older movies? Books, comics?

- Nuclear fusion power reactors. They are still just 10 years away, with ~2030 being earmarked as a test for ITER.

- Human space flight. I thought we'd have a base on the moon at a minimum by now, and regular manned missions to Mars.
 
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The Albatross

The Albatross

Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,098
dude OP are you me.

As soon as I read the title I said "QUICKSAND."

If you were born in the mid-80s, quick sand played an outsized role in existential threats posed to humanity.
 

onadesertedisland

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,660
Adults having their shit together. Kids think parents and grown ups are some fount of knowledge, in reality, most adults are just larger children that hit a point and stopped trying.
 
The Albatross

The Albatross

Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,098
dude OP are you me.

As soon as I read the title I said "QUICKSAND."

If you were born in the mid-80s, quick sand played an outsized role in existential threats posed to humanity. As an 7 year old, I didn't know how to tie my own shoes efficiently but I knew the general idea of how to get out of quicksand.

Lord Error said:
- Wow, yes - quicksand fear was real back in the day. I can't even remember why precisely, but I too thought it's one of the scariest things in the world, and a likely way to die. Was this idea featured in many older movies? Books, comics?
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For some reason quick sand was a VERY popular trope in 1970s/80s TV shows. Tons of popular shows in the 80s had an episode where the characters got caught in quick sand, from children's cartoons like Scooby Doo, to TV sitcoms like Perfect Strangers, to blockbuster movies like The Princess Bride, videogames like Super Mario Bros 2.



There was a podcast episode about the rise of quicksand as a trope that I heard 5 or so years ago.... either... RadioLab, This American Life, stuff You should Know, etc. For a while entertainment really loved quick sand.


Yesss, thank you RadioLab:

Quicksaaaand!

Producer Soren Wheeler introduces us to Dan Engber, writer and columnist for Slate, who ran across a strange fact: kids are no longer afraid of quicksand.
www.wnycstudios.org www.wnycstudios.org

Producer Soren Wheeler introduces us to Dan Engber, writer and columnist for Slate, who ran across a strange fact: kids are no longer afraid of quicksand. To figure out what happened to quicksand, Dan immersed himself in research, compiled mountains of data, and met with quicksand fetishists. Dan tells Soren and Robert about his journey, and shares his theory about why the terror of his childhood seems to have lost its menacing allure. And Carlton Cuse, best-known as writer and executive producer of Lost, weighs in on whether giant pits of hero-swallowing mud might one day creep back into the spotlight.
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ZXdtYM.png


The apex of PEAK QUICKSAND was a lot of shows that ended up airing in syndication when I was a kid in the 80s... Like I think Happy Days had a quicksand episode, and so while peak quicksand was 50s/60s, probably because it was a cheap risk they could easily put together in a studio, it ended up coming back in the 80s with syndication.

 
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Deleted member 8752

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,122
I thought being an adult meant no fun allowed, and I would magically not want to do stuff that I liked as a kid like playing video games.

Turns out that is not the case.
 
OP
OP
Dalek

Dalek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,007
The Albatross said:
dude OP are you me.

As soon as I read the title I said "QUICKSAND."

If you were born in the mid-80s, quick sand played an outsized role in existential threats posed to humanity. As an 7 year old, I didn't know how to tie my own shoes efficiently but I knew the general idea of how to get out of quicksand.



For some reason quick sand was a VERY popular trope in 1970s/80s TV shows. Tons of popular shows in the 80s had an episode where the characters got caught in quick sand, from children's cartoons like Scooby Doo, to TV sitcoms like Perfect Strangers, to blockbuster movies like The Princess Bride, videogames like Super Mario Bros 2.



There was a podcast episode about the rise of quicksand as a trope that I heard 5 or so years ago.... either... RadioLab, This American Life, stuff You should Know, etc. For a while entertainment really loved quick sand.


Yesss, thank you RadioLab:

Quicksaaaand!

Producer Soren Wheeler introduces us to Dan Engber, writer and columnist for Slate, who ran across a strange fact: kids are no longer afraid of quicksand.
www.wnycstudios.org www.wnycstudios.org



ZXdtYM.png


The apex of PEAK QUICKSAND was a lot of shows that ended up airing in syndication when I was a kid in the 80s... Like I think Happy Days had a quicksand episode, and so while peak quicksand was 50s/60s, probably because it was a cheap risk they could easily put together in a studio, it ended up coming back in the 80s with syndication.
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Damn thank you so much for this. I'm going to listen to that right now. That's super fascinating!
 
jelly

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
Adults are wise and smart. Nope.

Honestly it's no surprise a lot of things are a shit show.
 
Swiggins

Swiggins

was promised a tag
Member
Apr 10, 2018
11,468
Being set on fire.

Stop drop and roll is taught so early, and with such frequency (in the 90's anyway) that I was sure that being set on fire was a fairly regular occurrence.
 
Griffith

Griffith

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,585
NostroDalek said:
3. Nude Beaches - I'm still looking for these so-called Nude Beaches that I was lead to believe would be everywhere and have beautiful women walking around.
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There was one in Gran Canary island between Maspalomas beach and Playa del Ingles (Playa = beach in spanish) but the least I say about it the better.
 
The Albatross

The Albatross

Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,098
NostroDalek said:
Damn thank you so much for this. I'm going to listen to that right now. That's super fascinating!
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Nude beaches and Bermuda Triangle were also major things that filled up my brain.

I was born in 84 but we probably watched a lot of the same shit tV/movies/etc. There was an episode of The Real Ghostbusters about the Bermuda Triangle that really stuck with me. Re: Nude Beaches, I also just figured they were these exotic beautiful beaches where beautiful women walked around naked and had sex, whatever my understanding of sex was.

One of my worst realizations was that nude beaches, nudist camps, and so on, are all filled with old people. Learned as a teenager that my uncle was a nudist and that ruined whatever possible interest I had in nude beaches. There's a nudist retreat at Cape Cod on some interior lake/pond, and yeah, basically attracts people like my 65 year old uncle.
 
The Albatross

The Albatross

Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,098
Seconding the candy thing.... CHECK THE CANDY FOR RAZOR BLADES!


Adding my own:

Drug pushers.

I really did think as a kid that like... when you got to middle school, that random people would PUSH drugs on you, like really pressure you to take drugs. I distinctly remember this DARE video (for non US, DARE was this anti-drug program in the 80s and 90s for school aged children where a cop would usually teach you about how bad drugs are at school) where these three kids were in the park just playing football or something, and a shadowy middle aged guy emerged from behind a tree to get the kids to take drugs, and two of them run off while one sticks around and uses drugs with this guy. Just like razor blades in kitkats, I assumed that like ... old men just hung around parks trying to get kids to use drugs, instead of using their drugs themselves.

Another one was being run over by a train. That one actually stuck I never, ever played around train tracks, but as a kid death by train was one of the top ways I assumed I'd die. In like 1st grade we had to watch this PSA video in school of why you should never play at train tracks, and the video was these kids... hanging around a train, and I think they were putting pennie on the track, and one kid got his ... pants or something stuck in the train tracks. The train comes by and FLATTENS HIM, like he gets FLATTENED by rhe train like it's Who Shot Roger Rabbit. That shit stuck with me for my whole life. Fuck today I go fishing at this pond and you can walk down this rarely used train tracks to get t othe fishing spot and I regularly think about my stupid pant leg getting caught in the tracks and a train killing me... TODAY 30+ years later.
 
CHC

CHC

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,247
"Paying the bills"

I mean yeah it sucks but I always remember my mom with a calculator and checkbook and like 10 million papers stacked up. I literally just have internet, electricity and rent and they all just auto-deduct from my account when it's time. Takes me 0 minutes per month to actually do assuming the money is in my account.
 
thebeeks

thebeeks

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
1,353
Texas, USA
cwmartin said:
acid rain
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Totally. I also thought it was more serious than it sounded, like one day I'd be trapped outside with no umbrella or shelter to get under and the acid would land on my skin and eat it away.

Also, and this might sound weird, but briefcases. Especially in an office job like I have now. I don't think I've ever seen anyone at work with a briefcase. I guess we don't really need to be walking around with fancy paper holders anymore, but I'm still kinda surprised at the lack of briefcases. TV and movies made them seem weirdly prestigious.
 
Zukkoyaki

Zukkoyaki

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,312
Writing checks from a checkbook.

Some people, and even some schools, reeeeally clung to that one for dear life.
 
coldcrush

coldcrush

Member
Jun 11, 2018
786
I have used very little to zero I learned in school in my professional life despite being really studious and working really hard. I feel like I should have enjoyed my youth more
 
dalq

dalq

Member
Feb 13, 2018
1,110
Every six months there were teachers telling us to take care because drugdealers were giving away candy laced with drugs to get us hooked.
It never made sense, why would they spend money giving free drugs to children when they could be selling? And why did no one ever offer me an LSD laced chocolate?
 
Ultimate Bear Cub

Ultimate Bear Cub

Member
Mar 30, 2019
9,087
Witches.

My grandfather was superstitious about them and warned me of a girl next door who was a witch. So I acted paranoidish around her. Thanks abuelo.

This was in Puerto Rico when I was visiting in the summers, but I never forgot his warning of bewitchment to brainwash/corrupt me or something.

She was very cute though and honestly, the fear of her being some witch made me excited to see her more. And that is why I sorta like Wiccans.
 
Silvergun-Blue

Silvergun-Blue

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,944
For the mot part, adulthood. There was always this feeling that adulthood was just an entirely different state of being.
 
SamAlbro

SamAlbro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,367
The Albatross said:
dude OP are you me.

As soon as I read the title I said "QUICKSAND."

If you were born in the mid-80s, quick sand played an outsized role in existential threats posed to humanity. As an 7 year old, I didn't know how to tie my own shoes efficiently but I knew the general idea of how to get out of quicksand.



For some reason quick sand was a VERY popular trope in 1970s/80s TV shows. Tons of popular shows in the 80s had an episode where the characters got caught in quick sand, from children's cartoons like Scooby Doo, to TV sitcoms like Perfect Strangers, to blockbuster movies like The Princess Bride, videogames like Super Mario Bros 2.



There was a podcast episode about the rise of quicksand as a trope that I heard 5 or so years ago.... either... RadioLab, This American Life, stuff You should Know, etc. For a while entertainment really loved quick sand.


Yesss, thank you RadioLab:

Quicksaaaand!

Producer Soren Wheeler introduces us to Dan Engber, writer and columnist for Slate, who ran across a strange fact: kids are no longer afraid of quicksand.
www.wnycstudios.org www.wnycstudios.org



ZXdtYM.png


The apex of PEAK QUICKSAND was a lot of shows that ended up airing in syndication when I was a kid in the 80s... Like I think Happy Days had a quicksand episode, and so while peak quicksand was 50s/60s, probably because it was a cheap risk they could easily put together in a studio, it ended up coming back in the 80s with syndication.

Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


I actually did step in quicksand as a kid in the nineties, by a creek behind a family friend's house. Sunk one leg up to my knee, pulled my leg out pretty easily and reached in to pull out the water shoe that came off when I pulled my leg out.

AaronMT said:
Calculators. "You won't have one in the work-place".
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This one's great. Imagine going back in time to every teacher who told you you wouldn't always have a calculator on you and show them a calculator app on your smartphone.
 

TKM

Member
Oct 28, 2017
540
Best friends and favorite things. Thought it was weird when I asked my uncle what his favorite movie was, and he answered with several, 1-2 in each genre. I'd nod yah yah, but what's your FAVORITE movie? Don't adults know themselves?

I half expected that one day I'd be interviewing for a job, and be asked what my favorite color and food were. Now I'd refuse to answer, because they are fishing for security questions and are scum.

Similarly, you can have friends but must rank them and choose the best.
 
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