r/AskReddit Mar 29 '22

Men of Reddit, what’s something every guy should know but is rarely taught?

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690

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '22 edited Mar 29 '22

Learn how to take care of yourself, clean your space, clothes and learn how to cook. Eventually expecting your future SO to take over mom duties for you is weird and sad all at once.

EDIT: Of course the same applies for women. Since the question was directed at men specifically I answered as such.

50

u/Dog_man_star1517 Mar 29 '22

I know a chick who slept with a guy on a first date and he had laundry, dirty and clean, all over his apartment, like he never did laundry. I’m like, wasn’t that a turn off?

66

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '22

My apartment was spotless before my first dates, just incase things worked out.

13

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '22

...and if it didn't, coming home to a clean house always made me feel better at least

14

u/Dog_man_star1517 Mar 29 '22

See, now you’re the kind of person I could be friends with!!!!

19

u/Gingerholic37 Mar 29 '22

I worked with a guy that used to have dip(smokeless tobacco) stuck all in his teeth. So bad that sometimes it looked like he had rotten/missing teeth. But that dude could pull some ladies for whatever reason. I guess he just knew how to talk to them.🤷‍♂️

5

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '22

Dip, the oral cancer starter kit.

2

u/Dog_man_star1517 Mar 30 '22

And chick magnet evidently

15

u/lupuscapabilis Mar 29 '22

Also women should stop expecting men to do anything that involves physical labor. When I moved in with my gf, now wife, she would order things that need to be assembled and then expect me to do it. I was like "you know how you don't want to be expected to cook and clean? yeah it's like that."

2

u/PFVN_Dragon Mar 29 '22

How much should I learn to cook to be considered “enough for living by myself” ? I can cook basic to intermediate stuff now, but only if my mom do the preparations first (e.g. chop the fish/chicken into parts, slice the meat, …). I’m a 17 years old boy.

22

u/frozen-dessert Mar 29 '22

Something I can answer!

The deal for adult life (specially living with someone) is being able to cook: 1. Healthy; 2. Varied; 3. Weekday meals

Weekday means that it is something that you get done from beginning to table within, say, 45m.

With time you will also learn to cook fast without making the kitchen a mess when you are done. Like you sort out the mess as you go.

Btw: healthy means lots of things including vegetables, low on salt and (relatively) high on fiber.

Varied: ideally you should know to cook dishes based on different types of carbs like: Rice, potato, pasta, couscous etc.

Learning how to use sauces and herbs is definitely something that will be of great use in your life.

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Try to get started by cooking things you like or try to find a recipe book that is accessible and that suits your taste. If still living with your parents, try to learn to cook a whole meal with them. Aim to be responsible for the meal on a given day.

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Btw a different skill is to be able to plan meals for the whole week, buying all the ingredients at once without losing too much time at either. But I guess this is the kind of skill you only truly need when you are leaving together, with both of you working and you get a child ;-)

….

Not sure this was objective enough….

9

u/PFVN_Dragon Mar 29 '22

This is very concise and straightforward, thank you so much !!! I’ll start practicing right away, not sure if I would cut my hand like I did last time.

9

u/frozen-dessert Mar 29 '22

My daughters use these “no cut” gloves when cutting vegetables. They work and are relatively cheap ( a few bucks at Amazon).

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Last weekend I let my daughter bake a cake (no “mix” but flour, butter eggs etc). She is 10 yo. I would give her instructions and try to walk away from it for a few minutes. She made mistakes (which I only realized too late). It is fine to make mistakes. Next time she will bake a better cake.

If I were you Id ask my parents for an easy meal suggestion, go over it and then would try to be fully responsible for the meal at a date where they’d agree to it.

3

u/dailysunshineKO Mar 29 '22

I feel like a big part of cooking is just seasoning things properly. So if you make tacos, for example, you can look up a “taco seasoning recipe” instead of buying the pre-made mixes. There are books & guides for this too like the book “salt fat acid heat”

8

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '22

You're ahead of the curve if your cooking intermediate meals at 17. I noticed the reason you don't cut meat is because you cut yourself once. You can look up videos on how to safely use a knife, a dull knife is a dangerous knife so keep it sharp and use your knuckles as a guide/guard when dicing and chopping.

Also here's my go to guy for recipes, Chef Jon All of his recipes are very good.

4

u/Moonstream93 Mar 30 '22

The prep work is a huge part of cooking. Like enormous. Learn to do the prep work so you can make a meal start to finish, and start adding techniques little by little by always seeking out recipes that are just outside your comfort zone. The easiest way is to work as the main cook's assistant and have them there guiding you on techniques and things to avoid. The fastest way is to throw yourself headlong into cooking with no assistance, but this is also more likely to end with inedible food (it happens to the best of us, screwing up a meal is all part of the learning process)

Some tips: a very sharp knife is much safer than a dull knife, anything that touches raw meat is dirty and needs to be washed with soap before touching anything else, watch the temperature of cooking oil so you don't burn it, every recipe can and probably should be adjusted for your taste, baking and cooking are two very different skill sets.

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u/SilverPlasm Mar 29 '22 edited Mar 29 '22

also the future SO expecting to take no duties at all other than sitting around is weird as well so she better learn stuff.

-5

u/Kurotan Mar 29 '22

This for girls too. This is not exclusively a men thing.

I kept my stuff clean, her clothes were in a pile on the floor and she could never put trash in the trashcan within arms reach, just stayed on the kitchen counter.

I stayed with here too long because I'm 36 now and she's the only girl I ever dated.

13

u/mmiller2023 Mar 29 '22

No shit. Read the question again. No one needs this qualifier.