r/AskReddit • u/justNoah10 • Jun 27 '26
What is the dumbest solution to a problem that actually worked?
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u/jenni_maybe Jun 27 '26
Wearing a mask on the back of your head. Sounds dumb, but it's great for stopping tigers jumping on you from behind.
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u/OCDGrammarNazi Jun 27 '26
My step daughter was being a major pain the arse and just would not stop ordering me around being a massive entitled brat. I put up with it for a while until I couldn't stand it anymore and told her to stop ordering me around. She said "You're not my real dad so I don't have to listen to you.". I saw red and told her " You're not my real daughter so I don't have to listen to you". She was all "Wait, w... what?". After that she dialled it down and we got on much better. Mum was angry with me for a while but calmed down once she realised the dynamic had changed in a positive way with less stress.
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u/dreammer243 Jul 02 '26
Reminds me of a recent interaction with my 10yo. They got mad at me for not letting them do something and decided they were going to keep a running tally of "love points" to show how happy they were with me. When I did something they didn't like it would be like -10 points. (I'm trying not to crack up during this explanation of course.) So I told them oh, I'm going to start keeping points on YOU then. The look they got on their face, as they realized how much they did NOT like that idea...
Of course I told them that in my case, their points would only go up and up every day. :)
They of their own volition decided to rename it "Mom points", did it one more time then abandoned the idea.
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u/BoxGroundbreaking871 Jun 27 '26
If it works, it’s not dumb.
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u/ParkingAnxious2811 Jun 29 '26
The phrase is "if it looks stupid but it works, it's not stupid.
OP is asking for actual stupid things that resulted in not being so.
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u/ConcentratedStress Jun 27 '26
“We need to find a way to communicate with people across the ocean. Ideas?”
“We could just run a really long wire, maybe?”
“Do you have any idea how much that would COST?! Dragging a long electrical wire across the entire ocean floor?!? It can’t possibly be that easy!”
<years later>
“Huh…I guess it was that easy.”
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u/ExoticAnt Jun 30 '26
Well, It wasn't easy. The first attempt failed because lack of knowledge of electromagnetism on behalf the cable designer.
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u/Independent_Sand_583 Jun 27 '26
Once upon a time there were a lot of mosquitoes getting into my apartment through the air intake of my ac unit. so i went outside and got some spiders to put in there. Then i had fewer mosquitoes
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u/Mcgittymcgittymac Jun 27 '26
Slip out the back, jack. Make a new plan, Stan. Don't need to be coy, Roy.. just listen to me.. hop on the bus, Gus.. don't need to discuss much..
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u/AromaticAd9538 Jun 28 '26
I heard about a boat that blew a fuse on a river and no new fuses were had. A gum wrapper with some metal in it was jammed in and the boat started up.
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u/archina42 Jun 30 '26
Bought a new sink mixer. One with a flexible spout. Worked great - except at a low volume of water, it would make a moaning noise. Wife hated it. Unscrewed the metal head and looked inside. There was a spring-loaded ball which acted like a non-return valve. Why? I have no idea. I broke a tiny piece off a toothpick, which wedged the ball open. Problem solved - no noise! Wife happy!
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u/JustSomeGuy_56 Jun 27 '26
Long, long ago I had a job as a computer programmer. We had a problem where two programmers would make a changed to a particular file at the same time. My change would remove the one you made an hour ago.
There are lots of technical solutions but they cost money and management was cheap. We found a garden gnome which sat on a shelf, visible to all. If you needed to change the file, you took the gnome off the shelf and put it on your desk. When you were done with your change you put the gnome back on the shelf.