Have you ever spent years doing something the same way, until one day you figure out - or someone shows you - an easier way? It can be a glorious feeling, mixed with wondering what took you so long to figure it out. A Reddit thread digs into this by asking, “What everyday activity did you do wrong for years, before someone finally showed you an important trick?” From the thousands of responses, these are some of the most interesting. And maybe you’ll learn something, too:
- "You can take the silverware basket out of the dishwasher when unloading it. 💀"
- "Someone showed me I'd been wasting celery for years. When it goes limp and loses its crunch, you can just soak it in water overnight, and it makes it crisp again."
- "When the soap bar gets to the last sliver, you can just stick it on to the new bar to use it up completely."
- "Those tiny, obnoxious cans of tomato paste. You can take both ends off with the can opener, and use a wooden spoon to push on the top. It comes out clean like a push pop!"
- "Sliding your thumb on the spacebar of your phone will move the cursor."
- "Opening a beverage can … I was d*mn near 40 years old when my buddy showed me you’re supposed to push down on the hinge portion of the tab with your thumb to raise the other edge of the tab so you can get your finger under it. I felt like an idiot."
- "Rinsing my hair. I used to rinse with hot water and assume I just had frizzy and dry hair. Rinsed with cold water once and realized I'd lived far too long with frizzy hair for no reason."
- "How to properly secure a towel around the waist after a shower. Instead of tucking the hem inwards, you fold it outwards and down, much more secure, you can like, run around and not worry about it falling off."
- "Taking the safety cap off of deodorant. I used to try to get my fingernails under it and pop it off. They were quite a pain in the *ss to get off. In my late 20s my roommate opened her deodorant and just twisted up the stick so that the cap came off. I was shocked."
"I used to open bananas by pulling the top, then I saw some documentary with monkeys opening them from the bottom and it’s ten times easier. I also learned that I'm more stupid than a monkey that day."
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