Some people willingly weaponize their incompetence just to get attention, it's sad but true
this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2026
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Chapotraphouse
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I sometimes pretend to be illiterate when facing the byzantine beurocracy, because i don't want to fill forms. And for some reason the clerks are nicer to you.
Rude calling me out like that 
They don't seem competent enough to operate a motor vehicle and navigate a road system.
I'd say the number of times I've nearly gotten flattened by a 2,5 ton SUV in a grocery parking lot only to see that the driver is the person who struggled with the concept of having to carry things from his shopping basket he left at the front of the register is alarming.
they're capable of it, they push things onto the retail worker as a power move. it is their way of having a fractional servant
Beat me to it. They want to rub the power they have over you in your face, and it’s a uniquely American thing.
“Look at how incompetent I’m allowed to be and you’re not!”
It's a rudimentary form of having your brain be turned to mush by AI because you have outsourced your decision-making to it. Why do stuff for yourself if someone is getting paid and being abused for it.
AI has made it worse but these people existed before AI.
Yeah that's what I meant. That many people are perfectly happy turning their brain off if they know they'll still get what they want. Having worked in retail myself I've seen the transition happen in front of me.
It's something way older than Ai but it only has made it more pronounced because unlike retail workers the lying machine doesn't take breaks or close for the day
The brain is a muscle that needs to be worked to not atrophy. Studies of the mapping based center of the brain have shown terrible signs of degrowth since people stopped just learning how to map out their way around and started just relying on phones to do everything.
my job gave ChatGPT to some employees, but stopped. Apparently some of the ones who have it have someone hit their limit, which ive been told is pretty hard to do. There's already a large group of people who are fucking worthless and can't do even basic shit anymore.
I ran into some people during my time in retail that made me question how they survived to adulthood. The scariest part was that visiting the shop required operating a motor vehicle.
I'm convinced some of them must have spouses or kids who do everything for them. Driving I guess they pull off via muscle memory. But none of them can read signs so idk how they navigate.
I've been that partner/kid before. It's amazing to see someone who was utterly helpless and incapable of doing anything without you doing it for them suddenly rediscover how to pay bills before the power or water get cut off once you're out of the picture. Among other things. I'm pretty sure that house is getting condemned eventually for other things being neglected, but somehow the sewer bills get paid before the city puts a lien on the house! You see exactly where the lines are between "things I will offload onto others without shame" and "things I can and must do for myself". Weirdly, the people they respect don't get stuff dumped on their plates the same way those who aren't in that inner circle. So weird that they intuitively understand how power works! And weaponize it!
And, having done my time in retail, there's some people who just don't grasp how anything works and are doing their best, and there are some who have weaponized incompetence down to an art form and are perfectly happy to make a scene if you don't do everything for them they want done.
The former I am glad to work with. Let me blow your mind showing you how to do something I take for granted. Maybe somebody's got some literacy challenges and they're struggling with text. Maybe they're overwhelmed. There's a million things that could be going on. The vibes are totally different. How do you get through the day? No idea, but I'm glad you do. Solidarity.
The latter somehow grasp how to escalate up the management chain until they get what they want, even if you wonder how they remember to breathe while you're interacting with them. They know how to do things but it's easier or better for them to offload it onto you. And they are perfectly happy to punish you for non-compliance in ways that require they grasp how things work in a way that shows what they're doing for exactly what it is. Another commenter said it's a power move and it 100% is.
Years later I ran into a woman who just... never changed her oil. She was aware that oil changes were a thing, but she said, "Oh, I don't do that." She simply bought (or maybe leased, IDK) a new car every couple of years and traded in her rolling tomb of sludge. And yeah, her husband handled anything critical in the household.
I thought maybe that solved the riddle, but depressing to think how many people must be like that.
And yeah, her husband handled anything critical in the household.
Yeah if I ever do decide to date and my partner pulls this stunt, she's getting dumped.
Yeah that would be smart. They have a pretty dysfunctional relationship. She's an absolute nightmare and he's a huge misogynist so he considers her crazy behavior "standard woman behavior". Both of them have been miserable for decades.
Both of them have been miserable for decades.
Well hopefully they stay together so their misery doesn't spread.
Phone tells you where to turn now
But how you know what phone says it you can pay attention or read?
Oh my god my mom is some flavor of this type of person and living with her SUUUUUCKS!
Can we get some juicy examples, OP?
Some guy drove all the way here with a gas grill we had delivered, complaining the whole time he couldn't get it started and what a pain it was getting it into his truck. I literally hook a propane tank up to it, and then turn the knob to the little 🔥 symbol and hold it there for two seconds till it clicks and the burners ignite.
"Nobody told me to hold it there!"
"Well it works just like a gas stove sir."
dumbfounded look. "This is too complicated I want my money back."
There's also other things like people not being able to figure out where the exit is, despite it being right next to the entrance. Or when I point them to where the bathroom is they literally turn the opposite direction and sprint off that way.
Hank Hill would not have physically survived this encounter. May Allah have mercy on that man's soul.
People not understanding basic pointing is wild. But also basic directions don't work. So you have to physically guide them to the item.
Also they don't know numbers... Like what aisle is this in? Tell them the number... And what's a number... Like holy shit you can count right? Like 1 to 10?
And reading prices or names on a tag, completely impossible for these smooth brains. Basic math? Impossible.
Like holy shit you can count right? Like 1 to 10?
I don't mean this as an attack; given the functional illiteracy rates basically everywhere in the west I'd say there's a good argument they just actually can't in the sensory assault nightmare that is your average supermarket
Ricky didn't learn to read like a normal person does. He learned around the house cooking things, frozen food things all the instructions are numbered 1: Do this 2: Do this, That’s the way Ricky leaned to read so it’s the only way he can understand.
There's also other things like people not being able to figure out where the exit is, despite it being right next to the entrance. Or when I point them to where the bathroom is they literally turn the opposite direction and sprint off that way.
Self inflicted SCP-3008 lmfao.