Do you know what exactly some urbanists saw as almost the main environmental problem of big cities at the end of the 19th century? I’m willing to bet you’re unlikely to guess! So, scientists seriously believed that in the future, that is, for example, at the beginning of the 21st century, humanity would have to urgently solve the problem of recycling… horse manure!
And it’s true, these scientists argued – if the population of the Earth grew, then the number of horse-drawn carriages and cabs would increase – and numerous horses, of course, would pollute the city streets with manure. An example that clearly shows how far even the smartest of us can be from accurately predicting the future. So don’t laugh too hard at the stories in this list of ours, which collects people’s skills and hobbies that later turned out to be not even worth the time spent mastering them.
More info: Reddit
#1
In the 90s, my brother worked as fire watcher in Minnesota near the border. He lived in some remote location. Power but no phone. They cached his supplies for several months. Then nothing. Half-starved, he finally came out of the woods to see what was what.
He’d been laid off. No one told him. No money in his account. Everybody was laid off and gone. Office dark.
Image source: AutumnTop, Forest Service, USDA
#2
I took 2 years of French instead of Spanish in high school. I live in Texas.
Image source: neilader, Cottonbro Studio
#3
Indigenous knotting.
I used to be able to make the most beautiful dresses, armors, and regalia using traditional knotting and beading techniques.
Broke my arm about a decade ago, got fat, and got arthritis. Now my hands don’t even work well enough to teach the next generation how to do it.
Image source: SellingMakesNoSense, A Yee
#4
Being a decent, hard working employee for a large multinational corporation
Image source: Fake_Account_6669, Pixabay
#5
I built a customer service team from the ground up to support a client’s new product. Became the highest rated customer service group in the entire business. One day our phones went dead, called to test the line, was routed to a different customer service team. We’d been outsourced and they didn’t have the heart to tell us in advance.
Image source: Key-External8870, MART PRODUCTION
#6
Not hours per se, but lots and lots of money.
When I was a kid, CDs were king. This was also back when a typical cd was like $16 at Sam goody etc.
I’d mow lawns in my neighborhood – 4 houses on a weekend, and get $10 each, which was good for about a dozen albums a month.
My parents also gave me lunch money for school – $2 a day – which I pocketed for another album a week.
So basically I sacrificed nutrition and my weekends for the entirety of my middle school / early high school years to build up a massive album collection that was the envy of all my musician friends. It was glorious.
I thought for sure this would be the crown jewel of my adulthood and that I would pass them on to my kids someday.
….and then when the iPod / iTunes came out it was all pointless lol
Image source: roman_maverik, Brett Jordan
#7
I got an aviation degree because it used to be the only way you could qualify to become and air traffic controller. The age cut-off is 30 and I graduated when I was 29. Well, they decided to “restructure” the hiring process mere months after I graduated and cancelled all hiring panels for 2 years. I aged-out and now have a f*****g useless degree that I still pay students loans on.
EDIT: First, thank you for the huge response. This happened about 11 years ago. I am making a lot of money doing something I love in another industry so don’t worry about me. It was devastating at the time but I’m content in what I’m doing now. (Had to edit that again because of all the people who are negative about hearing “everything happens for a reason” and “living my best life”) I’m happy and successful and if you can’t live with that, go be negative somewhere else.
To answer the most common question on here:
Why is 30 the cutoff age?: This is a very high-stress job that requires you to have a sharp mind at all times. It’s like playing a mathematical puzzle that kills 300 people if you f**k up. They offer/encourage retirement with pension at 55, but you need 25 years of service to be eligible, hence the oldest you can be to start the job is 30 years old.
Image source: Sufficient-Step6954, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
#8
I played around 12k hours of soccer, got pretty good at it but it didn’t worked out so now I’m an engineer that secretly can play soccer at professional level
Image source: qnta1, Selma Bears
#9
Photography. Everyone with a phone thinks they’re photographers these days.
Image source: graemo72, Daniel Nugent
#10
Asian parent piano lessons. Didn’t make them happy, didn’t make *myself* happy, never got any good at it, gained no useful skills whatsoever for the several hundred hours per year for multiple years spent practicing
Image source: ThadisJones, MIKI Yoshihito
#11
I worked in high tech for 40ish years. Almost everything I learned became obsolete. It’s a treadmill.
Image source: zenos_dog, Olabi
#12
I got a B.S. in biochemistry, then drove a forklift for 14 years. Now I’m an electrician.
Image source: HazrakTZ, ucniss
#13
I managed to accidentally wipe the drive that held all my work. I’m a semi-professional game dev, there was 10 years worth of meshes, materials and code.
It’s been 10 days, I’ve just been in a sort of state of shock, having tried and failed to recover the lost files.
Image source: MrSpindles, Kory Twaites
#14
I know all the tricks to make a website look as good in Internet Explorer 6 as in Chrome, Safari or Opera.
Image source: CanisArgenteus, Christiaan Colen
#15
WoW. I haven’t talked to any of my old guildmates in years. I got server first kills and worked my a*s off to be the top of my game, and it means next to nothing.
I look back on the time I spent fondly and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. But it really does nothing for me.
Image source: kynthrus, Bethany
#16
This is the life of a geneticist.
The field moves quickly with the technology and techniques, but they are all very complex and difficult to learn. More than once in my life, I have poured myself into a specialized skill to be the best in the building, only to have that skill be obsolete the next year.
It never feels that bad, though, because the replacements are almost always faster, easier, and get you better results or else they don’t really take off.
Image source: zazzlekdazzle, U.S. Department of Agriculture
#17
I am a professional fingerboarder.
e: some [footage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKZpk8ISwsM) lol
Image source: Elisionist, herotype0
#18
I spent half my Army career in various schools learning to repair nuclear missiles. Now I’m doing desktop support and teaching the new guys how to install printers remotely.
Image source: gadget850, @USArmy
#19
Flintknapping. It always was pointless(but not, eh? Get it?) but so much fun
Image source: redditghost1234, Joshua Tree National Park
#20
I have a bachelor’s degree in Astronomy from one of the world’s best universities.
I now work as a software engineer.
Image source: JC3DS, Mount Rainier National Park
#21
My PhD. Its f*****g worthless and im done with academia. Now i work in a corp mindlessly filling excel spreadsheets for twice the money i was paid and i ve never been happier in my entire life.
EDIT: I ve got PhD in STEM, still its f*****g worthless cuz nobody is hiring out here and i dont have some crucial skills to move abroad and get a decent job. Im sick of working overtime for free, deans’ stupid policies, falsyfing results. I got a notification on LinkedIn that a financial corp is opening new branch in my city, i applied for “Junior Data Analyst”, but honestly all i do is filling excel spreadsheets, making bar charts and reporting anything unusuall.
Image source: Yomommasaurus, jeanbaptisteparis
#22
I spent over a decade learning how to draw, studying design techniques, etc. Tried to work as a professional designer and illustrator and it was terrible and made no money. Now I’m a software developer. Every once in a blue moon it’s useful for making graphics, but really just pointless.
Image source: xain_the_idiot, gdsteam
#23
Drinking alcohol.
Image source: Carpetmilk, doctyper
#24
Self development books, psychology books, and biographies to find out what the f**k is wrong with me.
One 30second information video about ADHD changed my life. The clouds parted.
I’m now on medication, and living the life I wanted to create for myself by taking a simple pill every morning. It took 37 years, but I’m now the person I felt was locked in there since I was a child. I’m so happy I could cry. Well almost. I still haven’t cracked the code on that one, but I’m pretty damned happy. Not to mention a better husband, father and worker.
EDIT:
The tik tok video in question just made me curious about ADHD. It basically said: “Hello you’re probably seeing this because the algorithm thinks you have ADHD, look at my channel for more.”
I scoffed, because I thought ADHD was something completely different, but I checked the channel out. There was this doctor (I think) listing signs and symptoms of ADHD. The videos made me curious enough to learn more about ADHD, so I took some online tests and read a little about it before contacting my doctor get a proper diagnosis.
I can’t find the video itself, I deleted tik tok a long time ago.
Edit 2: If you suspect having ADHD, please get a medical professionals opinion. Do not self diagnose.
Tip: do a little research on your own beforehand, and make a list of the things you have problems with in life that you think can be traced to ADHD. It makes the doctor or psychologists job easier, and might speed up the process.
It could be things like;
not being able to hold a job, pay bills on time, stay in relationships, blowing money on new hobbies every month, not being able to study, lack of impulse control, and a lot more.
There is alot of different types of ADHD, it’s a spectre. You can also have ADHD traits without having enough of them to get a diagnosis.
Image source: EasilyMechanical, Jesper Sehested Pluslexia.com
#25
Beta -> VHS -> DVD -> digital -> 4k
How many times?
#26
When I was 20 I got a job at an up and coming tech company. 6 months later they went IPO in a big way, and I was worth $2M on paper.
6 months later the market crashed and the stock tanked. Before I was legally allowed to touch the shares
Image source: Tharniia, Nataliya Vaitkevich
#27
It took me 8 years to get my Chemical Engineering degree. I never worked a single day as a Chemical Engineer. I’m a Data Analyst now.
Image source: NormieInTheMaking, NTNU, Faculty of Natural Sciences
#28
Sorting and organizing my mp3 collection
Image source: my_anon_account_, Joe Anderson
#29
Working out without dieting properly
Image source: Henson3812, samuelemunemu32
#30
moderated a subreddit
Image source: archit1405, Jeff Keacher
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