As children, we all looked forward to adulthood and enjoying what appeared to be the perks of being a grown-up. But once we experience the challenges of “adulting,” many realize that the real world isn’t as enticing as previously perceived.
So when someone on Reddit asked, “What’s an adult problem you were not prepared for?” there was no shortage of responses. Some shared their disdain for the amount of household chores they suddenly had to deal with, while others became aware of the fatigue brought on by making important life decisions.
As always, we’ve collected some of the most notable answers. Enjoy reading through them and see which ones you connect with the most.
#1
Coming to terms with childhood trauma and the realization your parent was emotionally abusive.
Image credits: EssEyeOhFour
#2
Decision fatigue. You’re telling me I need to decide what I’m going to eat for every meal myself? Plan ahead and make sure I buy the correct groceries to coincide with those decisions? No way….
Image credits: cryingwhimsically
#3
Wanting to do stuff but just not having energy. Like, I want to be creative and play video games but I just can't muster any energy to do it. I'm just so freaking tired all the time and I'm freaking tired of doing things. .
Image credits: My_Clandestine_Grave
#4
Doctors being the same age as you.
When you're young, doctors are kind, wise authority figures.
When you're an adult, they're just some dude that thinks you make s**t decisions.
Image credits: Fine_Turnover2031
#5
Idk if this counts as one but I’ve realized as I’ve gotten older I can’t stand loud noises.
Image credits: milkycoffee8
#6
Bad people get promoted at work, often for using their awful qualities in despicable ways. Being honest and hardworking are not considered leadership qualities at many large companies.
Image credits: tratratrakx
#7
Having a boss that's younger than me.
Image credits: johnnybiggles
#8
Having to spend money nearly every single day. Groceries, gas, rent, car maintenance, insurance, student loans, utilities, household supplies, subscriptions, medicine, parking fees… it just never ends. Even when you think you’re done spending, something will inevitably break down and you’ll have to shell out $200+ to get it fixed. It’s madness.
Image credits: ElegantPen5437
#9
There's something wrong with me (emotionally/mentally). It might be depression but I'm not 100% sure. .
Image credits: aesthetic_kiara
#10
Widowhood.
Image credits: slaytician
#11
Making friends. As a kid, you're in school, forced to be around a kid if others mostly like-minded. As an adult, you might connect with a coworker or two but generally making friends and strengthening this relationships are nearly a second job.
Image credits: dcp3450
#12
Getting fat.
Image credits: Sea_Amphibian_9933
#13
Understanding taxes and the endless paperwork that comes with them.
Image credits: BoldTarax
#14
Mostly the world getting worse.
I was the type of person that had all his ducks in a row and the world constantly changes to make sure no matter how high I climb, I'll always remain at the same level by keeping up with the cost of everything else.
The cost of food now is just insane.
It just baffles me that I live in a country like the USA and millions of full time workers still can't afford basic needs.
Image credits: OnlyTheBLars89
#15
Figuring out how to fix leaky faucets without calling for help.
Image credits: OceanGameGuru07
#16
That the worst part of being an adult is both having a job and not having a job.
Image credits: samuelson098
#17
The lack of caring. As a kid people (parents and teachers) cared if I showed up for things. They cared if I did my work. They cared if I got out of bed. Someone cared about what I did. As an adult no one cares about what I do. As a kid someone cared if I ate lunch as an adult no one cares if lunch is 4 martinis.
Image credits: WhatWouldTNGPicardDo
#18
How fast time has gotten.
Image credits: pm_me_coffee_pics
#19
Infertility.
Also our dishwasher is broken, which sucks too.
Image credits: GarfTurismo
#20
How many chores there are. I did a lot as a kid but wow are there so many now.
Image credits: ArtemisElizabeth1533
#21
Aches and pains but your not sure why or how you got them.
#22
The never ending grind. After a couple of decades, I'm left wondering how the hell I'm going to keep going like this.
Image credits: JackSchitt-716
#23
Going over health insurance options.
Image credits: Texas_sucks15
#24
How much constant work it is to take care of yourself. Exercise, add weight training as you age to keep bones strong, healthy eating, which means meal planning, grocer shopping, cooking and cleaning if you don't want to spend your entire check on meals out. Then washing up, stretching, tooth care, flossing, skin care, doc visits, house fixes, car fixes, car shopping. It doesn't f*****g end.
Image credits: chaos_rumble
#25
Realizing I’ve always felt entitled to challenge rules and that’s not how the real world works.
#26
No amount of sleep during the work week is adequate. I have to “waste” a portion of my weekend on sleeping in every week to catch up.
Image credits: Chad_Hooper
#27
Dealing with finances.
Did not pay enough attention when young and now at 55 fearing I may never retire as I won't be financially able too.
Image credits: Cooter1mb
#28
How quickly groceries vanish.
Image credits: SnowyGameMaster42
#29
“There is always a fire to put out “ so to say … that feeling of suspicion when things are too good for a little while.
Image credits: Interesting_Poem_684
#30
The discrepancy between pay and how much everything costs.
Like I look back at the 5 bedroom house I rented in 2018 for $1250 a month and thought that was hefty. That same house is renting for $3000 a month now.
Image credits: anon
#31
Wondering if you are in the wrong or not.
I can't tell if I am really being an a*****e or if people are just being f*****g childish.
I know I shouldn't yell but you shouldn't be [making love] in the bathroom. So many people do things you very obviously shouldn't be doing even if it is just to "cut loss" ever now and then.
Image credits: JapaneseStudyBreak
#32
Trying to get a job when there's 600 billion teenagers trying to get the same job.
Image credits: AmusedGravityCat
#33
The hassle of making appointments for things and having to wait months for a specialist appointment that you were referred to. How is there such a high demand for GI doctors? Like why do I have to wait till December? I gotta figure out when to do this, I gotta see if I can get time off for this, if I drop my car off at the auto shop, I gotta make sure I can get it back by this day. It never ends.
#34
Having a child with mental illness.
#35
The fact that houses have a lifespan and no matter what I thought when I bought my forever home. That forever home physically rots, cracks, develops leaks, has parts that get blown off forever- I never knew how insecure a house can be and how normal it is to just live amongst something that feels like it’s falling apart around me.
#36
How much I miss my kids while im working.
#37
Enduring jobs I didn't like solely for the sake of a paycheck.
It really didn't sink it until the honeymoon phase of my first retail job finally went away. But it was the push I needed to mature faster and start working towards the kind of work I actually wanted to do.
#38
Everyone getting old and dying on me.
#39
Aging parents that need more and more help.
Free_Bingo:
And how expensive elder care is. It is absolutely outrageous.
#40
When an appliance or large/expensive necessity breaks. I don't like calling repair people and sounding like an idiot, I don't like having to search for a replacement thing, I always feel like whoever is fixing or selling me a new one is lying so I'll spend more money, and quite often, WHAT DO I DO WITH THE OLD GIANT BROKEN ONE? Sometimes it's fine because they'll take it, but sometimes it's my problem and that adds another layer of I don't want to deal with any of this.
Plus it's always expensive. So freaking expensive. And once one thing breaks, the rest of the appliances line up to die too.
#41
The decay in my face.
#42
You don't get a break from work when you get home. You work Monday through Friday at your actual job, and then evenings and weekends are spent maintaining your home in the form of "housework". If you take too much time relaxing, you suddenly have neverending housework you need to catch up on.
#43
When both you and your SO are sick at the same time and you have to take care of each other but are too sick to do it so you both just suffer together.
#44
I'm 39 and I have to gameify everything so that I do it. Dishes, laundry, yard care, car stuff, cleaning, bills, taxes, retirement planning, entertainment, etc. It's all work and takes a considerable amount of time.
It's been a decade since I started this grind and I'm left wondering, "so this is it, huh?".
Yep, this is it. Another 10 years go by and before you know it, it's time to retire and your life is essentially ending. Where was my growth and self discovery? Where was my great personal revolution supposed to be? All along the way, it turns out, but I just was too busy doing the little things that it passed me by!
#45
Having to settle the affairs of a parent after they unexpectedly and suddenly pass.
To any Redditor that stumbles across this: if you have kids or loved ones, have an ironclad will that spells out what you want done with your remains, who gets what/when/how, and what happens to your digital life (i.e. email, facebook, etc).
#46
The shocking and sad realities of the world. I was a pretty sheltered kid/teen and when I recently realized the cruelty of the system that we live in. Unless you are wealthy or from wealth, the odds are stacked against you. How the poor have to pay more in taxes compared to the income we make versus an affluent person who can use their purchases as a tax write-off. How we can easily feed everybody in the world, yet we can't even feed the people in our own country. Just how rigged the "justice" system is. I'm grateful to my parents for letting me have a magical childhood, but I was not prepared for this harsh reality.
#47
As you get older, your long time friends start leaving your life. Sometimes its just them moving far away or getting deep into a job. But sometimes its a fight or argument or a off the cuff comment that ends decades of friendship. Othertimes….. they die. Ive known people that have Overdosed, car wrecks, heart attacks…. Getting older sucks sometimes.
#48
Adults older than me behaving like teenagers: Emotional, passive aggressive, and giving you the silent treatment.
#49
How lonely it can be.
#50
When you're done with college and you start to fall into a routine and think, "so this is it?".
#51
Not being able to eat spicy foods anymore ???.
#52
Being expected to work a 9 to 5 while most places are only open between 9 and 5.
#53
How much slower the body heals after the smallest of injuries. It's ok, I'll survive, but damn... takes time!
#54
I wasn't prepared to lose my naieve faith in capitalism. The idea that hard work is rewarded is laughable in most companies.
#55
How I have to constantly scan my skin to make sure I don’t have skin cancer ?.
#56
Realizing that life is if snakes + ladders had a baby with monopoly.
When you start winning,
Big brother changes the rules.
#57
Figuring out how to live through a pandemic.
Groceries now costing 50-75% more than they used to for myself and two cats. Not being able to afford the same apartments I could afford in college.
#58
How stressful it can feel to be responsible for your own health. As a kid when something wasn’t right or you felt unwell you looked to your parents and they sorted it out for you. I knew if mom knew about it, she was on it and nothing bad was going to happen to me. As an adult you are the only one who makes sure your health concerns are addressed and you are the one who has to make the judgement call of when it’s time to go to the doctor.
#59
The floor in the master bathroom is wet. No one's taken a shower recently. A couple of the ceramic floor tiles on the concrete foundation make squishing noises when you step on them. Fortunately, I haven't booked anything yet for this upcoming vacation I had planned.
(I'm calling my insurance first thing tomorrow to see what they recommend. The leak is super slow but I have no doubt it'll become a problem pretty quick if I don't deal with it.).
#60
Getting an aggressive rare type of breast CA at 43 and having bilateral mastectomies. Grateful to be CA free right now but the journey through it was so rough. Emotional and physical scars are intense.
