c/bad-take-rewind

A stranger in the checkout line made me rethink a decade of my own logic

I overheard a guy in the grocery line tell his friend that he used to swear by a certain diet plan for years, then found out the whole premise was built on one faulty study. It hit me that I did the same thing with a workout routine back in 2016, I followed it blindly because a forum post sounded confident. Has anyone else realized their old 'solid advice' was just repeating someone else's bad take?

My high school biology teacher told me vaccines cause autism and I believed it until 2019

Mr. Delgado in Richmond had a side gig selling essential oils and printed out a packet of 'research' that looked legit to a 16 year old. I skipped my own flu shot for eight years because of it. Then my nephew was born premature and couldn't get his vaccines on schedule, and I actually looked at the original Wakefield paper myself. Took about 20 minutes to see it was garbage. I still feel dumb about it, and I'm a nurse now. Anyone else have a teacher or family member who handed you bad info that took way too long to shake off?

I used to think hand-washing dishes was for people who couldnt afford a machine

Back in 2018 I moved into a place in Pittsburgh with no dishwasher and I honestly felt embarrassed about it. I told my buddy it builds character and that hot soapy water kills everything anyway. Then my roommate left a cast iron skillet soaking overnight and I had to scrub rust off it for 45 minutes with steel wool and vinegar. That was the moment I realized I'd been praising a lie just to feel better about cheap rent. I still dont own a dishwasher but now I just admit the setup sucks and I use paper plates when I'm lazy. Anyone else ever defend a dumb living situation just because you didnt want to admit you picked it for the price?

The 'settled science' phase I went through after one geology YouTube video

I spent 6 months in 2019 insisting to anyone who'd listen that the Grand Canyon was carved in a single flood, then a park ranger in Arizona showed me a cutaway of the rock layers and my whole 'theory' crumbled, so has anyone else had a hobby fact turn into a public embarrassment like that?

My buddy from high school made me confess I was wrong about pit bulls for a decade

Ran into this guy I used to skate with, Marcus, at a gas station in Tulsa last month. He's a dog trainer now and he had this big pit bull sitting in his truck, calm as can be. I made some dumb comment about how those dogs are ticking time bombs, and he just looked at me and said, 'Bro, I've rehabbed 40 of them, they're only aggressive when people make them that way.' That hit different because I grew up hearing my uncle talk about them like they were weapons. So I actually went to his facility the next week and watched him work with this scared rescue that had been chained up for 3 years. The dog was shaking the whole time but never snapped once. I had to sit there and admit I'd been repeating old school nonsense since I was like 15. Has anyone else had to eat their words about a breed they were dead wrong on for years?

I finally stopped putting ketchup on scrambled eggs after 31 years

My whole breakfast routine changed when I spent a weekend in Savannah last spring and a diner cook named Ray called me out for it. He said I was hiding the eggs' flavor and dared me to try them with just salt and hot sauce. Three months later, I still skip the ketchup, and now I actually taste the butter and cream they use. Has anyone else had a food habit that took a stranger's comment to break?

That time I swore 3D movies would kill regular theaters for good

Back in 2010 I saw Avatar in IMAX and told everyone within earshot that flat movies were basically dead by 2015. I even bought a 3D TV for $1,200 and convinced my roommate to pitch in on the glasses. That TV is now collecting dust in my mom's garage and I can't remember the last time I paid extra for a 3D showing. Anyone else make a bold prediction like that off one movie and then eat crow for a decade?

My cousin swore by leaving wet coils in the unit, cost me 2 service calls in Austin

He told me frost on the lines meant the Freon was overcharged, so I stopped defrosting the AC three summers ago. Took a tech from ABC Cooling to show me the airflow blockage and a $180 repair bill to undo that nonsense. Anyone else get handed a bad rule from a relative that made their system worse?

I used to think all foam rollers were the same, a $9 one taught me otherwise

Back in 2019 I bought a cheap foam roller from a big box store near Portland and used it for years, convinced the expensive ones were a scam. Then my physical therapist let me try her fancy one with the ridged surface and my back felt looser after 5 minutes than it ever did with mine. Anybody else have a fitness tool they swore was a gimmick until they actually tried the quality version?

Airport sushi in Denver, I was so wrong about it

Back in 2019 I swore airport food was always trash, especially sushi. I told everyone who would listen that eating raw fish in a terminal was asking for disaster. Then last month I had a layover at DEN and tried the sushi spot near Gate B. The salmon was fresh, the rice was actually seasoned, and it cost $14 which beat the $18 burger next door. Now I feel dumb for gatekeeping myself from decent airport meals for years. Anyone else flip on a food rule they had for forever?

I finally admit boxed brownie mix beats my from-scratch recipe after 14 years

So I've been making this fudgy brownie recipe from my aunt since college, swear by it, brought it to every party, got compliments every time. Last month my sister brings a pan of grocery store Ghirardelli mix to our family BBQ and mine was sitting right next to it. People grabbed hers first, ate all of hers, I had half a pan left. Ngl, I was salty about it and did a blind taste test at home with 3 neighbors. Hers won 3-0, hands down. Texture was better, crackly top, took half the time and about $4 less in ingredients. I still think my recipe tastes good but the convenience and consistency is hard to beat. Has anyone else had to surrender to a boxed version of something after years of homemade pride?

Hot take: I thought the 1969 moon landing footage was faked until I found the actual transmission logs last month

I was digging through a NASA archive website for a project and found the raw telemetry data from Apollo 11. The signal delays and fuel numbers matched perfectly with the video timestamps, down to the second. Has anyone else had a conspiracy theory fall apart after seeing the hard evidence?

Swore by paper maps for 15 years, now I can't read them at all

Back in 2018 I drove cross country from Ohio to Oregon with a giant Rand McNally atlas on the passenger seat. I would plan every turn the night before and write the exit numbers on a sticky note. My buddy laughed at me but I felt like a real navigator. Fast forward to last month, my phone died on the way to a job site in Columbus and I had zero idea where I was. Parked at a gas station, tried to unfold the old atlas I kept under the seat, and just stared at it for five minutes. Couldn't even find the highway I was on. GPS rewired my brain completely. Anyone else lose a basic skill after relying on apps? Or am I just getting old?

Thought frozen pizza dough would make good breadsticks, got flat cracker slabs

Spent a whole evening last winter in Chicago kneading and shaping that stuff into little ropes, then they came out of the oven looking like sad, crunchy pennies... Has anyone else tried to cheat bread-making with store-bought dough and just ended up with a worse version of both?

Spent $80 on a 'as seen on TV' pasta maker back in 2019, still kicking myself

I bought this thing from an infomercial at 2am because I was convinced homemade pasta would save me money. It came with 5 attachments and a drying rack, and honestly the noodles came out like chewy cardboard. I used it twice, then it sat in my garage until I gave it to Goodwill last spring. Meanwhile my buddy makes better pasta with just a rolling pin and a knife, for zero dollars. Has anyone else blown cash on kitchen gadgets that seemed like a steal but totally flopped?

Hit 10,000 miles on my running shoes last Tuesday. dumbest thing I ever believed.

I used to think you could just keep wearing running shoes until they fell apart. Thought the cushioning was a gimmick. Then I logged 10K miles on a single pair of Asics. My knees felt like gravel. Took me three months of hobbling to admit the shoe store guy was right.

PSA: I thought the 'great white shark' was the most dangerous ocean predator for years

Just found out from a NOAA report last month that actually, the box jellyfish kills way more people globally than sharks do each year. Around 50-100 deaths annually from box jellyfish vs like 5-10 from sharks. Kinda blew my mind since sharks get all the movie hype. Anyone else buy into that shark hype for way too long?

Used to think you had to rotate your tires every 1,000 miles without fail...

My dad drilled it into me growing up. 'Rotate at every oil change or you'll wreck the tread.' I did that for like 5 years straight. Then I talked to a rep from Goodyear at a car show and he just laughed. He said most modern tires can go 6,000 to 8,000 miles easy before rotation. I was wasting time and money for nothing. I still rotate them, but now I wait until I hit around 5,000. Has anyone else had a car myth they believed way too long?

Hit my 50th day without sugar and it felt like nothing

Ngl I used to think cutting sugar would change my whole life, but I hit 50 days yesterday and honestly I just feel normal. My coworker brought in donuts and I didn't even care, which surprised me more than any big milestone. Has anyone else hit a random number like 50 or 100 and realized it wasn't that dramatic?

Shelled out $80 for a 'professional grade' pizza stone that cracked on first use

I swear I followed the instructions to the letter, preheated it in a cold oven and everything. First pizza slid on fine, but when I went to pull it out the thing just split right down the middle. $80 down the drain because I thought I was too good for a basic baking sheet. Has anyone else been burned by this ceramic stone hype?

Was I wrong about boxed cake mix or is my sister right about scratch cakes?

Went to a potluck last weekend in Austin. My sister brought a from-scratch chocolate cake she spent 3 hours on. I brought a box mix with canned frosting. People ate both and nobody could tell the difference. She says scratch is always better. I say for a party nobody cares. What do you think, is box mix fine or am I just lazy?

Bought a $60 juicer that sits in my cabinet now

Thought I'd save money on orange juice but I only used it twice. The cleanup takes longer than drinking the juice.

Paid $200 for a "life coaching" course that told me to charge crystals in moonlight

Thought I was saving money buying cheap trash bags for 5 years

I used to buy the 13 gallon bags from the dollar store because they were $3 for a box. Then my neighbor told me he uses Glad ForceFlex and they never rip so he can actually fit a full bag. I finally tried a box last week and I threw away twice as much before taking it out. Anyone else waste years avoiding the obvious upgrade?

Hot take: I argued that wireless earbuds were pointless and wired ones were superior for years

Back in 2019, I was dead set that my $15 wired earbuds from the drugstore were all anyone needed. I told my coworker Sam that Bluetooth earbuds were just another way to lose $80 and deal with charging issues. Then I got a pair of cheap wireless ones for my birthday (reluctantly) and realized I was constantly getting tangled up in my pocket cord. Within a week I gave away my wired stash and now I can't go back. Has anyone else held out on a tech change way longer than they should have?