We all know someone who grew up at least a little sheltered and were surprised the first time they learned about something that is totally common knowledge. So, when a Reddit thread was posted asking what "screams" that someone has been sheltered, tons of people chimed in.
Sometimes being "sheltered" can stem from money and privilege, and sometimes it stems from overprotection from parents. Hopefully, sheltered children learn as they grow that the world isn't as simple as they thought! But either way, here are 16 stories of people whose parents did NOT prepare them for adulthood.
1. "I worked for an airline, and a passenger called. She was 19, and a bunch of her college girlfriends were going to Cancun to party. She was calling from the airport the morning of their flight because her friends all had passports, but she didn't, and she couldn't figure out 'where in the airport to buy a passport.' I thought her parents might want to reconsider her tuition."
2. "'Oh, I don't know how much beer costs. My maid always got it for me.' —One of my suite mates in college."
—u/Tyrigoth
3. "I have a friend who couldn’t understand why no one else can have their parents loan them $200k to help buy a house, because that’s how she did it. She will often mention she 'did it by herself' when telling people she got a house, meaning that her partner didn’t help her. She just omits the fact that her parents gave her such a significant portion."
4. "In college my best friend’s roommate was a very sheltered and religious girl. Her boyfriend from high school had come to visit, and my friend had met him, and he was nice. [My friend] was getting ready to leave the dorm, and her roommate stopped her and said, 'Oh, you’re leaving? We can’t be left alone in a room together.'"
—u/Kkarotcake
5. "A coworker when were both 25 told me to 'just put it on your Christmas list' when I said I couldn’t afford something I needed. I had to explain that the last Christmas list I wrote was to Santa, that my mom was widowed, retired, living on social security, and had stopped buying me gifts when I was a teenager."
6. "I once had a uni mate tell me to 'just ask your mum to pay for the trip.' LOL, Megan, no, I can’t just ask my mum to pay for the trip. There’s a reason why I’m working nights at the club and living in the cheapest of accommodations."
—u/wildgoldchai
7. "The biggest symptom is when kids do a bunch of stupid stuff in college because it's the first time they've ever had freedom to go party unsupervised. Being sheltered is sort of a naivety that comes from having never been allowed to go and experience life and make mistakes before adulthood."
8. "My niece was told she had to wash the dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher. She asked, 'Is that safe?'"
9. "Went to college. The second day there, the guy across the hall was asking people about housekeeping services."
10. "Irish person here. I once knew a guy from a rural area in the midlands, and on going on a trip to Belfast with his friends, asked, 'What'll I do if I meet a Protestant?'"
11. "A friend of mine was quite frustrated at me when she went shopping and couldn't find the brand of several products she'd heard me reference. She told me, 'I checked the whole section, and there was no Store Tuna.' I found out she legitimately thought 'store brand' meant someone made a company called 'Store,' rather than 'the cheap crap this particular store has made under their own label to undercut pricing on the mainstream brands.'"
12. "One of my best friends was in a sorority with a girl raised with money (like, a home staff, maids, etc.) and said the other girls had to explain to her why you can't put avocado pits in the garbage disposal."
—u/Pia_gee
13. "When you go to visit a place and people who haven’t even left their own town try to tell you to be careful when you visit. For example, my girlfriend is from Portland, Oregon, and we live on the west coast. Friends and family will warn us of all the Portland dangers when we go there to visit. I've been there a dozen times, and it’s always been absolutely fine."
14. "I had to look for a new apartment last year because the place I was at wasn't renewing the lease. When I told a friend, her answer was, 'That's okay, there's a couple houses going up for sale on our street!' All I could manage was, 'I don't really want to buy a house right now.'"
15. "My wife and I are considering moving and looking to sell our house. I told a coworker, and his response was an utterly bewildered, 'Wait, you're not going to keep your old house? I thought you guys loved it. Why don't you go back in the summers?'"
16. "My boyfriend came from a very privileged background. The first time he tried bottled OJ, he spat it out, thinking it had gone bad. He’d only ever had fresh squeezed."
Do you disagree or have something more to add? Comment below! You might have an anecdote we haven't heard before.
Note: Some comments have been edited for length and/or clarity.