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People Share 'There's No Way To Win A Argument With An Idiot' Stories

People Share 'There's No Way To Win A Argument With An Idiot' Stories
Westend61/GettyImages

Nothing can wrap up an argument like a lack of knowledge. If you find yourself in a situation where the discussion is getting out of hand, it's easier to just admit you don't know much about the subject and ask for the other person to fill you in. Or, you can plow ahead like a thick headed bull like in the stories below.


Reddit user, u/Gourd_Gamer, wanted to know the no-win situations when they asked:

What moment in an argument made you realize "this person is an idiot and there is no winning scenario"?

Self-Defeating Argument

Coworker would constantly preach against GMOs, parabens, only use oils when sick, etc. She told me I was going to get cancer from my deodorant, and the corn I bought was 'mutant'.

Then she'd go outside and smoke 3 cigarettes every two hours.

[usernamedeleted]

Lizzie McGuire's Cartoon Self Is A Totally Reliable Source

Giphy

An old roommate of mine was trying to say we were blackmailing her when we were asking her to take out her trash, etc. She said "Watch the Lizzie McGuire Movie; there's blackmail in there and it's obvious that's what you're doing to me."

I believe it goes without saying that she never clean up after herself nor did she understand that movie....

sbankss

Just Walk Away

My cousins are flat earthers.

When lack of evidence is just proof of a conspiracy, it's best to just disengage. You can't break into that prison - they have to break out.

swampjedi

Someone who is dating my roommate considers herself to be environmentally conscious. She claimed that napkins were bad for the environment and they increase one's carbon footprint. She ranted about it to me in my own home, even though I don't even buy napkins.

Maybe a week or so later, she noticed I use a re-usable coffee filter and berated me for not using disposable paper filters. I told her that using a re-usable filter cuts down on the amount of waste that we produce when brewing coffee -- so, not only do I not contribute to filling up landfills with paper filters, but I also save money from not buying them in the first place and just cleaning the plastic one.

She told me that since paper filters are biodegradable, there is no reason for me to refrain from using them.

But napkins are made of paper.

Napkins. Are made. Of paper.

She literally just wanted stand on a soap box and hear herself talk. She derives pleasure from telling others that they are wrong, regardless of whether or not they are actually wrong. There is no winning an argument with her.

protomanEXE1995

You Know You Need To Work, Right?

We had a new assistant at work who was not fitting in with the team. I sat her down and talked to her about expectations and reviewed the responsibilities of the position several times. In one last effort to help her, I thought I'd see which parts of the job she liked. I asked her, "What skill do you think is your strongest skill?" And she said, "Delegating."

Wide_Ocelot

Not Knowledgeable About How Bodies Work

After asking them to go home because they were quite clearly sick with a cold, being told "don't be stupid, there's no such thing as colds, it's just allergies to the cold weather."

ebmocces

He Was Called "The Master Of Horror" Forever

He had an aversion to Stephen King. Thought Stephen King only wrote gory trash with no redeeming value. That everyone who read Stephen King had mental issues.

And his favourite movie was The Shawshank Redemption.

Even after I showed the credits both on IMBD and Wikipedia he refused to believe that that degenerate Stephen King was in any way, shape or form involved with his dearly beloved film.

masshysteri

When You Can't Believe Video Evidence...

One of my brother in laws said he liked Jay Z and put on Nothing but a G thang by Snoop dog and Dr. Dre. When I told him it was Dr.Dre and not Jay Z he called me a liar and that I was too young to know.

Showed him the youtube video and googled it.

To this day he still says it was Jay Z

nomnomnom90210

Just Two?

A grandma, who spent her career cleaning hospitals, insisted that a woman only had two holes down there. I explained that there would be three (anus, urethra and vagina) cause how would a woman pee with a tampon in?

She claimed the would have to take it off. Finally called the hospital spoke to an ER doctor who was kind enough to quell the matter while on speaker phone. After her hung up she wasn't very convinced.

veritasverdad

This Is Medically Proven!

I was just in the hospital for a small operation and my roommate is the stupidest person I have ever met.

You are supposed to be sober for an operation. He comes in late and drank some coffee and water in the morning. I then said he endangers himself because his stomach is supposed to be empty in case he has to throw up. He then said:

"If I drink a coffee now my stomach will be empty"

In the end I convinced him that this is not the case and made him talk to the doctors. He ended up being operated on in the afternoon.

ElGrappadura

*ultimate face-palm

From a friend in college, who when confronted with evidence that he was wrong stated:

"Don't cloud the issue with trivial facts."

IrishOverlord

Not To Be Political...BUT....

I'm not going to go "political soap box" here, but just about every die-hard Trump supporters hits this moment. I have several conservative friends, so it's not like I can't get along with people that hold different views, but when you see and hear people spew hate dialect that isn't based anywhere in reality, you kinda want to ask where they heard this or tell them the truth. Any Alt-Right talking point is a good jump off area, haha!

One woman, completely unprompted, started complaining about illegal Mexicans having more rights than US citizens, and when I tried to push for her sources, she said she just "knows people", and that we need that wall ASAP! Then came the magic sentence starter of "Well, I'm not racist, BUT....", and it confirmed she was a bigoted idiot. Anything more than a smile and a nod would lead to me being dragged down to her level, and being beaten with her expertise of being a PoS.

Kirchetorte

"I'm A Genius..."

I had a coworker within their first couple days ask me to hold up a monitor while they screwed it in with thumb screws. I said "here, let me show you how to do it by yourself. "

Their reply was: "No, No, I have done this ten thousand times. I am a genius, just hold it." If they said anything after that I wasn't listening anymore. I was actually in shock a little bit.

FuFuKhan

Change Is Constant

I was arguing with my cousin about evolution.

He said "how can an animal just change?" He still wouldn't believe me even when I i told him that there were skeletons of these animals before evolution and his response was "They're probably different animals."

Dogewahd

The Duds Keep On Coming

I work in indoor hydroponic agriculture, one of the guys I used to work with believed that removing leaves helped the fruit grow bigger. He went ahead and stripped entire room. When confronted, he proceeded to voice that it diverted nutrients to the fruit... I looked at him like what the f-ck?

Did you miss out on 5th grade science class? Leaves are solar panels and nutrient storage, only time you defo a plant is when the canopy becomes too dense and light doesn't fully penetrate the canopy.

He now works at another facility, he also came out with this gem. "The Earth has to be flat because we perceive everything as curved because our eyes are round." That was my favorite.

CopperHorizon

We Need To Teach What "Objective" Means

People who say stuff like "ok, that's your opinion, but I have my own" when discussing about objective facts, like science issues, meaning of words...

Edit: A lot of people seem confused with my wording. I'm adding a couple of examples of what I mean:

Science: "Water boils at 70°C, that's my opinion"

Words: "In my opinion, the Spanish word 'hola' means 'dog'"

So basically, facts which are either true or false and not open to opinions.

Dr_Chemiramen

It...Uh...Doesn't...Huh?

Giphy

When I was arguing with someone about why milk doesn't go in first when making a cup of tea (a very English debate) and his argument was "when you add boiling water to cold milk, you're warming it up, but when you add cold milk to boiling water, you're cooling it down, and I don't want cold tea".

I tried to explain how the end temperature will be exactly the same regardless but he was already celebrating his self-awarded victory.

Scholesyman

Right....Dummy.

A co-worker went on a rant about how all teachers are lazy and only work from 8-3 while taking loads of holiday time while doing minimal work. I come from a family of teachers, so I could see the time put in at home, the lost weekends, the days of doing work till 7pm, the last two weeks of every summer holiday spent in school prepping the classroom for the next year, buying materials out of their own pocket because the school budget wouldn't cover it...

My co-workers responser?

"Well, I'm a parent so I know more about it than you do."

I nearly flipped my lid.

Bendanarama

Homeowners Break Down The Weirdest Things The Previous Owners Left Behind

Reddit user Oblivious_Dude14 asked: 'People who bought a house. What is the weirdest thing you have found left by the previous owner?'

Old torquoise radio box
Milivoj Kuhar/Unsplash

Buying a home is a daunting task, but it comes with the comfort of finally having a place to call your own after the lengthy process of purchasing.

One of the things new homeowners look forward to is renovating certain areas of their newly acquired domicile.

However, embarking on this next phase of making a home their own can come with some surprises.

For example, doing a gut reno in the basement or tearing down a non-load-bearing wall can unearth unusual relics left from the previous homeowner.

These discoveries can either be treasures, or something very unpleasant.

Curious to hear from new homeonwers, Redditor Oblivious_Dude14 asked:

"People who bought a house. What is the weirdest thing you have found left by the previous owner?"

These will spark curiosity about former occupants.

Hidden Message

"First time I took a hot shower in our new home. The steam covered the mirror, only to reveal the phrase 'HELLO, I SEE YOU' in large finger drawn writing."

"It freaked me out for a second, but made me laugh soon after that."

"It was such an inconspicuous yet obvious thing to leave for the new homeowner (me)."

– Individual-Common-89

A Special Request

"It's not really weird but I think it's kind of a nice story."

"One of the kids' rooms has a shelf going all around the top edge, and when my kid was putting stuff up there they found a letter from the previous kid. The letter welcomed them to the room etc and asked them to take special care of a rose bush in the front yard that was their special rose bush. My kid thought it was really cool to have that connection with the previous kid."

– catsaway9

Instructions

"Not really weird but they left a typed out and printed note about the house and how to take care of it. Detailing all the plant life in the backyard and how to prep for the winter. Described how to take care of the hot tub and gave random tid bits about the electrical."

"They were good people lol."

– pet_zulrah

Theses secret chambers piqued Redditors' curiosity.

Secret Dwelling

"Not my house, but the school my friend worked at."

"A pipe had leaked and ruined a wall in the building, one of the oldest schools in the city. It was a beautiful property. Anyways the pipe leaked so they pulled down the ruined wall and behind the wall found a door."

"A fully furnished apartment was there. Had a coal burning stove to heat it. Early 1900s appliances and decor. It was for the caretaker of the school."

– Used-Stress

Antique Showroom

"My ex-wife's family knocked down a wall in a 400-year-old house in Cornwall, and found a perfectly intact bedroom from the 1800s, still with all the personal effects where they had been left."

"Nobody knows why it was boarded up, or why things weren't taken out of it."

"Oh, and that house always appears in the guides for the most haunted locations in Cornwall, if you believe that kind of stuff."

– ledow

A Medieval Theme

"A basement room that was fully decked out as a 'dungeon.' Faux stone walls, a stocks (like where you lock your head and hands in ala ye olde England), candle scones on the walls, a metal-barred cage in the corner from floor to ceiling. Oh and the closet had a load of toys, some normal, some....not so typical."

– DisIsDaeWae

These Redditors got a glimpse into past lives.

Family Treasure

"Before I met her, my wife got a call from someone she worked with saying they'd just bought an old house and in the city, and in it was a steamer trunk with her family name (not a common one) carved into the woodwork on one end."

"As it turns out, it was the trunk that her great grandfather used when he came over from Germany, and it made the trip to my wife's hometown when he met her great grandmother on a visit, and subsequently moved to her city to marry her. We now have it and it's full of family portraits and albums."

– LateralThinkerer

Vintage Trickster

"My first house purchase in 2005 - bought an old farmhouse that was built in 1923. The basement was FILLED with crap - we told them they needed to clean it all out before closing, but they didn't do it. The realtor asked if we wanted to postpone closing, and we decided no - some of the stuff looked interesting enough. Maybe it will be worthwhile to go through."

"Most of it was just junk. Then, about half way through (we were working our way from one end of the basement to the other, because you could barely walk through), I went to pick up what I thought was a small box, only to quickly realize it weighed at least 75 pounds. Upon further inspection, it wasn't a box, but a wooden square, 4' wide and about 12'x12', with two thin masonite plywood covers on each side. On one edge were two bolts with wires coming off that had been cut."

"Very strange - had no idea what it was, but thought it was interesting. So I put it aside and we kept going. At the very back of the basement once we cleared everything else out, was a rickety gray cabinet, built into the house. Inside, were numerous strange small tools, vials of mercury, vials of a strange powder, and thousands - literally thousands - of dice blanks. Some actual dice, but mostly blanks without the dots. they were all in little boxes labeled 'dice blanks'. Also very strange..."

"Not too long after that, I met a guy and upon learning my address, he said 'can I come over?My best friend grew up in that house'. He came by, and proceeded to tell me stories for an hour and a half about his childhood best friends eccentric father: Someone who was a part of the 'Dixieland Mafia' in the 60s and 70s, and who made a living traveling around the US as a traveling gambler. The enormously heavy box was an electro-magnet. And the dice blanks were for him to make his own loaded dice with a little bit of metal powder under the inlaid dot, so he could set up his own table with the the electromagnet underneath, and turn it on when he wanted to persuade the dice. He told me many other stories, including that there was 'no doubt in his mind that he had killed someone'. Pretty fascinating."

– GIjokinaround

A Soldier's Story

"A diary of an American soldier in WW-II, South Pacific Theater. Found it above a door when remodeling 20+ years ago. My wife and I tried everything we could think of to find a descendant, but to no avail."

"UPDATE: I just posted photos of it with the person's ID info on r/WorldWar2."

"Last Update: Thanks to all the help from this community, and those at r/worldwar2, this diary is now in the hands of its writer's son who came to my office this morning to retrieve it. I am so thrilled to have been able to facilitate this!"

– Factsaretheonlytruth

These folks really hit the jackpot.

Forgotten Stash

"$1200 in cash above the door on the inside the closet. I found it while painting."

– whymetoo

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

"A glass bowl. It was kind of pretty, with horizontal blue stripes."

"We kept fruit in it. We thought about dropping it off at the local charity shop, but never got around to it."

"Then one day I was at an antique fair and I saw for sale glass bowls that looked almost identical to ours. I went home to get my bowl and brought it to be assessed."

"Turns out it was a vintage Orrefors crystal bowl. The assessor valued it at around $800."

"We no longer keep fruit in it."

– khendron

When my great aunt passed away, our family went over to her and her husband's home in Pomona, CA to clear it out in preparation to sell.

They emigrated from Japan in the late 1930s and brought with them many decorative figurines, sculptures, and wooden carvings from the homeland.

One of the pieces was a kabuki doll on a wooden base. As we were placing the item in a box, a tiny envelope that had been taped underneath the doll's base came loose.

I opened it and found what looked like instructions for something. I kick myself to this day that I didn't keep the letter and never bothered asking my parents what the note said as we were frantically trying to empty the house.

But man, my imagination ran wild. Was it a treasure map? Who knows. I still wonder to this day what the note said and tossing it aside remains one of my life's greatest regrets.

test tubes
Talha Hassan on Unsplash

The saying "it's not brain surgery" hasn't meant the same thing to me ever since Ben Carson took his place on the national stage.

The saying "it's not rocket science" doesn't hit the same with me ever since one of my life-long friends became a rocket scientist.

I don't know Ben Carson—just his many public blunders—but in the case of my friend, he's an absolutely brilliant guy.

However I often wonder how my friend managed to survive this long and apparently this isn't an unusual phenomenon.

But more about my friend later at the end of this article.

Keep reading... Show less
person holding black remote control
Erik Mclean on Unsplash

Back in the 1980s the threat of nuclear war was pervasive in daily life.

That fear and paranoia made the TV films Threads and The Day After particularly effective. People were genuinely terrified or traumatized.

Both told the story of an atomic apocalypse, with Threads set in the UK and The Day After in the United States. I wasn’t familiar with Threads until about 5 years ago, but The Day After was a TV event everyone seemed to be talking about in the USA.

But fear inducing isn't quite the same as creepy.

For creepy, you need something like The Twilight Zone, Creepshow or Night Gallery.

Keep reading... Show less

Content warning: abuse and suicide.

There is a level of devastation caused by being cheated on by a partner, especially if it's someone you trusted and have been with for a long time that people who haven't experienced it can't understand.

I've been lucky in that I've never been cheated on myself, but I've had friends who have gone through it. My college roommate told me it was the worst pain she's ever been in when she found out her boyfriend cheated on her, and she couldn't imagine anything worse.

It was indeed horrible. My confident, strong roommate was crying all the time and wondering why she wasn't good enough to keep her boyfriend's interest, even though that had nothing to with it.

Redditors agree that being cheated on is painful, but also are prepared to share things they think are emotionally more painful.

It all started when Redditor Darkterrariafort asked:

"What is something more emotionally painful than getting cheated on?"

Medical Helplessness

"Watching your most precious person die a painful and scary death and knowing there’s nothing you can do about it. F**k cancer."

– coastalliving40

"This. I watched my husband starve to death from gastroesophageal cancer."

"It was like watching a nightmare repeat of my dad all over again. 😞"

– NedsAtomicDB

Mama Who Bore Me

"Death of your child."

– NBA_Fan_76

"I truly cannot imagine a deeper pain."

– theawkwardmermaid

"Your child being serious injured by your ex, and custody court keeps forcing the kid into contact with their abuser."

"You spend years of your life dealing with court homework where you recount every excruciating detail of your own abuse at the hands of this person, in addition to the crimes against your child."

"It costs you about $100,000 in legal fees, and you still aren't able to protect your child. It keeps going on indefinitely, and perversely, your ex tries to send you to jail because the child runs away from them."

– JadeGrapes

"Being responsible for your childs death directly."

– Kanulie

"My father passed very suddenly and unexpectedly two summers ago. It was the deepest, unimaginable despair that it was almost like a dream. Being walked to the little room at the hospital where they let you know he didn’t make it on the ambulance ride was surreal and up to that point the worst moment in my life."

"One month after he passed, I was in a four wheeler accident with my then three year old. And we were alone as my husband was out of town. I wasn’t being negligent- it was just a terrible, terrible accident. But, in the chaos of being thrown off and being in complete shock, I thought the four wheeler was pinning her down. I was screaming at the top of my lungs and crying and trying everything I could to lift it up. Remaining calm simply wasn’t a possibility when you think you’re killing your own child."

"She wasn’t pinned-and actually didn’t have a scratch on her. EMT checked her out and I went to the hospital because I had ripped the top part of my thigh off trying to lift the ATV."

"The whole thing was eye-opening in the worst way possible. Because, I could never, ever, ever, ever imagine losing my daughter- especially to my own fault. What if she had been hurt or died that day? I would be living in my own constant hell. I didn’t think there could be worst pain that when I lost my dad, but now I know there is. Just the thought alone of losing my daughter brings tears to my eyes."

"Life is really rough sometimes. But it gets better."

– BoredMillennialMommy

Going Down

"Seeing a loved one go on a downward spiral and you can do nothing to stop it."

– New_me_old_self

"Extension of your comment: Seeing a close one(wronged by their protectors) going down the spiral."

"You tried to help them a lot but they dragged you down with them and left you not just empty but drained."

– Sullen_Wretch

So Hard

"Suicide bereavement."

"I lost my best friend in 2022. Found him. Everyday is a struggle to not be in my grief."

"I’d take 100 heartbreaks, 100 nights of going to bed hungry, and 100 punches right to the face just to have him back."

– KatastropheKraut

"It does. I got wasted and said far too much about myself once. One of my friends verbally smacked the f**k out of me, got me to see that people do care about me and that my relationships aren't all just superficial, really just hit my sorry a** over and over again with the idea that I'm deserving of love not because other people get something out of being with me but because I am a human being, and it slowly does get better."

"It stopped me, I was going to kill myself in two months on new year's."

"When I can't live for myself, I live for other people, even when I start doubting other people actually like me, I still don't do it or hurt myself at all, because there's always, no matter what I feel in the moment, a chance that they do truly just care about me."

"If I end myself now then I give so many other people survivor's guilt, I leave all the people I care about wondering for the rest of their lives how it all could've been different if they had just tried a little bit harder to help me. I won't elaborate now but I feel a similar sort of regret when it comes to a number of aspects of my own life. I could never leave someone with something so unfathomably more painful than that."

– pissandsh*tlord

Sounds Awful

"Mental instability. It's cruel because it's your own mind killing you, you can't run or hide and it's long-winded. I couldn't say a single event has been more emotionally stressful than what's happening."

– Country-Road--

"It’s like you’re dead in your twenties but haven’t been buried til you’re 65."

– Gmr33

Tragedy You Never Get Over

"Having your mother pass away in your arms."

– Repulsive_Cricket923

"Something similar happened to me when i was 4. My parents sent me over to get babysat by my grandmother and she sat on a chair and passed as i was sitting on the floor playing with my toys. I only thought she was sleeping at the time, but later learned the truth as i never saw her again."

– Lucidnuts

Just Done

"As far as relationships go, being abandoned by your former partner is pretty damn painful."

– heyitsvonage

"Mine did this to me after 2.5 years and it was f**king devastating, it took years to get over. He acted as though everything was fine, I was his everything, we were actively planning how we would elope after I finished my degree that term, and BOOM NO DO-OVERS YA DONE."

"It was immediately what came to my mind when I saw this post."

– paprikashi

My Work

"When someone steals your research, hands it in first, gets the high distinction, then everything you submit is plagiarizing that a**hat."

– StaunchMeerkat

"This is two steps worse than, "hey can you put my name on your paper too.""

– karmagod13000

Rather Be Cheated On

"When the person stays with you but they secretly still yearn for that other person (even if no cheating occurs)."

– Deleted User

I actually didn't think there was anything worse than being cheated on after watching my friends go through it.

I stand corrected.

Do you have any stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/