7 Things That Seem Like a Good Idea at First (But Aren’t)
1. A Rousing Game of Monopoly
Photo by .A.A.
Playing Monopoly with a few friends or loved ones may seem like a delightful way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but it’s not. After 12 hours of bailing yourself out of jail and paying imaginary taxes, you simply don’t give an armadillo’s hiney if someone lands on your precious Boardwalk hotel.
Rumor has it that only a few brave men and women have ever completed an entire game.
2. Eating a Hot Pocket
Photo by Nestlé
When hunger strikes at 3 a.m., a microwavable Hot Pocket is just what the taste buds ordered. But beware… Nobody has ever consumed a Hot Pocket and not lived to regret it.
3. Pulling an All-Nighter
Photo by striatic
Dedicating an entire night to fighting sleep appears to be a promising endeavor at first glance. Whether you burn the midnight oil to be productive, or simply wish to have an extra eight hours of fun, you will feel like a real-life zombie by the time the sun rears its luminous head and the birds start chirping.
4. Ant Farms
Photo by Shabby Chica
Question: Who wouldn’t want to watch an entire miniature world prosper within the confines of their bedroom?
Answer: You, when you come to the realization that you have an army of nasty insects (which you received in the mail) living in your bedroom.
5. Crowd Surfing
Photo by icanteachyouhowtod it
Seeing your favorite band live can be truly exhilarating. You may get so into the music that you feel inclined to crowd surf. It seems like so much fun and you’re feeling uninhibited, so you go for it. You take a leap of faith into the heads of the crowd. You spend a good thirty seconds being passed along until you are eventually dropped flat on your face.
6. Cheap Chinese Food
Photo by ami23le
When you are starving and come across cheap Chinese food, it can be hard to resist. When you are offered a free sample, there’s no turning back. The sample always explodes with flavor and tastes absolutely delicious. You conclude that getting an entire meal will hit the spot, and you make the plunge. It tastes heavenly for a few bites, but then quickly begins to make you feel queasy. If you manage to eat it all, your poor stomach will need a few solid hours to recover.
Most of us tend to repeat this mistake at least a few times a year, despite “learning our lesson.”
7. Wearing an Elaborate, Uncomfortable Halloween Costume
Photo by qwrrty
Halloween is arguably the most fun holiday of the year, and there is no shame in going all out. But, when you wear that intricate gorilla suit (complete with realistic fur) to your best pal’s Halloween party, you will learn to regret it.
After an hour of blistering heat, limited sight, and unbearable itching, the majority of your costume will be resting on a table next to the refreshments and you will look like a half-primate freak.
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August 7th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Every single one of these is funny. The last two are my favorite. Good chinese - few things better; bad chinese - I’d rather eat dog food.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Pulling an all-nighter is something to be proud of!
When you’re in college that is.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Writer Dad: Thank you! I am completely with you that few things are better than quality Chinese food.
Davina: I agree with you that there is a level of pride in defeating sleep. If you can sleep all afternoon the next day, all-nighters aren’t bad… but when you are busy the entire day following an all-nighter, with no time for catch up sleep, it is painful to be awake after a while.
August 7th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
I love the food-related items. Hot pockets, bad Chinese food, can I add microwave dinner? I don’t know that I would rather have dog food as Writer Dad suggests, but I would definitely rather stay hungry.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:41 am
I’ll pass on the monopoly! Though, I may take up the Chinese food. And so true about ant farms.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:50 am
Vered: Microwave dinners is a good one! Whenever I have made the mistake of eating one, I immediately regret it.
Bamboo: Don’t give into the temptation of cheap Chinese food. Your stomach will not be happy with you.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:37 am
Hi FlyingLlamaFish,
I’m thinking, some of these really don’t sound like good ideas at all. There was a day when pulling an all nighter was “fun”, but then I slept the whole next day. It kinda defeated the purpose of the all nighter.
August 8th, 2008 at 3:28 am
… can you imagine combining all7 activities into one fun-packed evening?
This October 31st, why not invite round some friends dressed as furry animals to play an overnight game of Monopoly over a tasty meal of chow mein followed by a Hot Pocket dessert with the winner celebrating by being tossed in the air by the gigantic mutant ants you’ve fed on a diet of MSG from the cheap Chinese food
A perfect night of entertainment, if I’m not mistaken…
August 8th, 2008 at 4:05 am
This was great (and I like Scott pulling them all together in one giant live-to-regret-it-for-the-rest-of-your-life night). I definitely have a lot of food-related moments I’ve really come to regret.
August 8th, 2008 at 4:41 am
hahaha! 6 th point
August 8th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Very funny!-
Your picture choices were perfect- totally emphasizing your 7 “good” ideas gone bad.
Made me laugh-Thanks
August 8th, 2008 at 10:23 am
What a fun and funny post! I’m sure there is an 8th one out there somewhere about thinking that a cheap motel on a road trip is a good idea, too.
Thanks for the laughs!
August 8th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I didn’t know that there is an “end” to a MONOPOLY game! LOL
August 8th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
All Nighter is the one I am guilty of. I don’t know what gets into us when we meet loved ones after a long time. But an all nighter is like a ritual - has to happen atleast once.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
These are funny. Great list. It’s amazing how easily our minds can trick us into repeating the same mistakes over and over. And by amazing I mean agonizing, which means funny as hell to everybody else.
August 8th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
funny stuff. i with you on the board games, especially scrabble. i played with a friend one time and we haven’t played ever again. i won’t. kids are merciless when it comes to monopoly.
I never had a hot pocket, is it like the White Castle burger that will tear your stomach up?
August 8th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
“Whether you burn the midnight oil to be productive, or simply wish to have an extra eight hours of fun, you will feel like a real-life zombie by the time the sun rears its luminous head and the birds start chirping.”
Absolutely true.
Maybe not so much when you’re younger, but the older you get–no question.
Many times, I’ve stayed up all night so I could finish a project and because I want to have a really productive day working straight on through–by sunrise, I usually lie down to rest “for a few minutes” and end up sleeping till afternoon.
Proper sleep is crucial to a productive day.
August 8th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Barbara Swafford: You are wiser than the average bear! But, I think a lot of people see these things as good ideas at some point in their life.
Scott McIntyre: I shall see you October 31st for the most entertaining night humanity has ever known! All those in favor of fun, RSVP before spots run out.
Marelisa: Thanks! Scott did indeed do a great job combining all elements of fun into the most funtastic of Halloweens!
Raji: You have made the cheap Chinese food recently, haven’t you?
Patti: I’m glad you enjoyed the visuals!
August 8th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
SpaceAgeSage: Thank you! Staying at an extremely cheap hotel on a road trip… that’s a great one!
pelf: I don’t think anyone knows for sure if there is an “end.” Just a rumor I heard.
Avani-Mehta: When you see a loved one you haven’t seen in a long time it can be hard to not pull an all-nighter. I can relate to that.
Bill K.: So true, Bill!
Natural: The feeling is probably similar to eating a bunch of White Castle burgers… but a Hot Pocket is less satisfying.
Jesse Hines: I agree with you that it is basically impossible to have a truly productive day without any sleep.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Very funny - I love it! I”m with Scott on this one too - that would really be funny (as long as I wasn’t the one partaking).
August 9th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Cheap Chinese food, that’s my kryptonite!
August 10th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Halloween parties are great, it is true that dressing up too sounds good and will suck later on. I think your brother Bamboo was with me we went to some frat party. I went all out and dressed up on some werewolf custome, fur glued the face and all lol. I found out it looked cool but but kind of blocked me from macking on the hot girls lol. So i went ot the bathroom and washed all that crap off. It also got hot fast in it.
It was a lesson learned.
I love TV dinners. So don’t hate on it Verde
August 10th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Everyone hates on hot pockets just because Jim Gaffigan did in his stand-up special! Still, funny list. Good job!
August 10th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I will admit to doing all of these activities at least once, sometimes in the same day.
@technokid88 I love TV dinners, too. They are delicious and the perfect meal for the 95% of the time I waste all of my money on video games instead of on food. I’d much rather eat $1 meals for two weeks than miss out on Guitar Hero.
@Kris Not sure if you’re saying you like Hot Pockets or not, but I still do, even after laughing with friends while watching that special. As a matter of fact, I went and bought a few packages after watching that.
August 10th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Lance: Thank you!
Al at 7P: It’s my kryptonite too!
technokid: Your werewolf costume sounds pretty awesome, but uncomfortable.
Kris: Thanks! I haven’t seen the stand-up special, but I don’t think anyone could eat one and feel great afterwards.
Michael: These things are hard to resist.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
when my kids got too old for trick or treating, we had halloween parties at the house. i learned early to be creative with the costumes–the effect isn’t so good if the wearer won’t keep everything on! also, don’t have too many accessories you have to carry around. halloween yay!!! chinese food in general, hot pockets, monopoly, ant farms, crowd surfing, BLEH!
August 10th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Ugh…bad Chinese food is horrible. You can always tell because you feel like lying down or puking after like 5 minutes. But really good Chinese food-now that’s the stuff. Might be a tad expensive, but worth every penny.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
No way! The only ones I agree with are 1, 4 and 7.
And please explain how you can regret delicious, pepperoni-filled Hot-Pockets?
August 10th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
The biggest seemed like a good idea but wasn’t…getting pregnant….trust me.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I eat hot pockets all the time…and have never felt any ill effects, otherwise I wouldn’t still be eating them
August 10th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Hmm… I’ve run a Monopoly game all the way through, but not since I was a kid. I figure I’ll probably have to repeat that within about the next 5-7 years since I have kids of my own now, and they’re bound to discover that game one of these days.
I’ve pulled about 40 hours with no sleep. I believe that was due to attending my dad’s wedding out of town while in college. Took a lot of sleep to recover from that trip!
Hot pockets - yikes!
August 10th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I am soo lacking of intelligence i eat hot pockets all the time and i always have to go after
August 11th, 2008 at 12:55 am
The one about haloween is stupid because if you live somewhere cold during october like I do it is quite pleasent having a fur costume, fool. Hot pockets are delicious as well only reason they’re bad at night is because when youre drunk and have to eat somethin you gotta wait for it to cool before you eat it still tastes good though.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:05 am
I’ve played Monopoly all the way through on many occasions, and I’ve won each time simply because I’m stubborn and can endure until all of my opponents are willing to start cheating against themselves just to end the game.
I’ve eaten hot pockets and bad Chinese food without consequence.
I’ve been an insomniac my entire life and have no idea what a real sleep schedule is like. I’m sure it’s heaven.
I like ants.
I don’t do Halloween.
And without crowd surfers there would be no one to drop onto the concrete just before the moshing starts.
There. I’ve had my moment of contradiction and impossibility for the day. I’m satisfied. ::grin::
Take care,
Azy!
August 11th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Great list and unique idea. This might make a nice series — I’m sure there are a lot of other things that sound better in the hearing than in the experiencing.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
crowd surfing = someone’s hand in your butt
August 11th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Our game of Monopoly always ended when my brother flung the board across the room in a snit.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
If you don’t like monopoly, then you’re not playing with the right people. It’s great when everyone’s making alliances with each other and selling property for cheetos. And when alcohol is involved, it’s even better…
August 12th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
i would add, getting a degree in interactive media design and working in the “field”. Good idea at first, ends horrible when you’re in a cubicle for years, only to be outsourced randomly and end up working at McDonalds….crap…I’m late for my shift!
August 12th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
How about playing Monopoly after pulling an all-nighter while eating a Hot Pocket?
August 13th, 2008 at 8:39 am
sir jorge- your funny!!
August 14th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Crowd surfing’s loads of fun, i’ve done it for years and never been dropped, though i know people that have. Anyway, I’ve never regretted it.
Staying up all night is easy once you get used to it and sleep deprivation can be a lot of fun.
August 15th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
[...] Pun Intended’s 7 Things That Seem Like a Good Idea at First(But Really Aren’t) [...]
August 15th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
So I’m sitting here on a Friday afternoon and I decide to do a little Stumblin’ So I come across this list while shoving CHOW MEIN down my throat and I nearly choke on its MSG goodness.
Cheap Chinese FTW !
August 16th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
If you’re a girl, DO NOT go croudsurfing unless you want to be felt up.
experience…
*shudder*
August 18th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I like Hot Pockets… a lot. I only eat the pepperoni kind, though. Tastes just like a pizza.
August 19th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Oh God, you must be spying on me. My seven year old has decided that he loves Monopoly and is making us crazy!!! It just keeps going!!!
August 23rd, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Haha - These are fantastic - the list could go on and on.
August 24th, 2008 at 12:22 am
I have a correction for number one:
Very few brave men and women have survived a game of monopoly without cheating.
I know I haven’t.
August 24th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I’ve finished many a game of monopoly, usually after no more than two hours. If you’ve never finished one its because you’re doing it wrong.
August 26th, 2008 at 4:17 am
sea monkies are not like ant farms. Sea monkies start out as a great idea and stay a great idea up untill the moment you are convinced to eat one of your beloved “monkey”.
Secrest out
August 26th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Sea monkeys are also a bad idea when you knock their bowl off the fridge and you have them all over the floor…
August 30th, 2008 at 5:31 am
I had an ant farm growing up, and I loved it. What made me sad was that the ant were shipped to me via the USPS and by the time the tube got to my house, there were quite a few little ant corpses in it. =( I was upset about it, but still thrilled that my mom let me have “pets” since having my own cat or dog was out of the question. Watching the ants tunnel and stuff was enjoyable, but then they started dying off at a rapid rate and I was sad again.
…ant farms are really quite depressing, Don’t buy them for your children. Ever.
August 30th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
@ Trixy: hahaha… Thank you for sharing that.
August 31st, 2008 at 2:04 am
This list is awesome. The all-nighter part was spot on. But even though I feel like crap in the morning, and the whole time I am doing it I want to go to bed, I still love doing them. I guess it gives me a feeling of accomplishment (sad, I know).
Same goes for the Monopoly part. I never liked that game. Ever.
September 1st, 2008 at 1:20 am
Crowdsurfing is great fun! Ah, to be young and reckless again…as opposed to just reckless…
September 1st, 2008 at 3:51 am
Okay, I am one of those brave souls that have completed a game of monopoly, on quite a few occasions, but we finished at like 3 on a Sat/Sun morning or during school holidays. Haven’t played in years though. reading this list has made me miss it and crave to play it again!
Plus I have a friend who pulls all nighters a lot. Then he complains about headaches. mmmmmm…….
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:21 am
You forgot to list walking around your house at night with a blacklight.
It will show you all the mold/mildew/dirt, old dog pee stains and lots of other neat things that are not visible under the white light.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:18 pm
My family used to play the “quickie version” of Monopoly, where you just deal out the properties at the start of the game instead of buying them. It makes it go a little quicker, but it was still took a really really long time. Might be a good tip for Kate though…
September 5th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Monopoly’s easy enough, the real “good idea at the time” is a game of Risk, once you get passed the rule-book that reads like the Geneva convention and lay out the board and half-million tiny pieces you can get started with the only game to accurately replicate WWII in both complexity and time.
September 6th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I loved Monopoly as a kid. Never could find anyone to play with me though, so I ended up with a computer version that just never seemed to be as much fun.
But I did finish MANY games. I enjoy Dane Cook’s bit about monopoly. “Where’d you get the pink fifties, GRANDMA?!” haha. Good stuff.
September 6th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Jagermeister isn’t on the list?
Schnapps??
September 7th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Never been crowd surfing. All nighters are okay on weekends.Hot Pockets rock. Never had an ant farm. Never want one, either. Cheap Chinese food is a bad idea. Halloween costumes like a gorilla.. bad idea as well.
September 7th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Oh COME ON! I play full Monopoly games ALL the time! It’s so much fun wtf.
September 8th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Monopoly may not be for everyone, but I too have played entire games many times. I think so many people just have such short attention spans. Seems to be getting worse these days. Maybe I’m just getting old? (I’m 29)
I like the “Here and Now” Monopoly with the current properties (Las Vegas Blvd), utilities (ISP), and transportation(LAX) and the larger denominations of money (10k-5mil).
I love board games but usually can’t get anyone (except my 7yo daughter) to play with me. My husband and friends won’t play trivia and word games with me because I “win too much” and won’t “let somebody else win” once in a while. Guess that’s what I get for being a nerd.
September 13th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Cheap chinese food are always a good choice, only if you know where you’re buying it to.
September 16th, 2008 at 4:02 am
Yeah, definitely the last one. I was a kissing booth (essentially a cardboard box) for Halloween two years ago. I got shoved up against and pinned to a wall at a frat house by the massive amounts of people there; couldn’t move for at least 10 minutes.
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Ha … awesome list. Monopoly is a great game though. Although I’m a table-top gaming nerd so Monopoly is probably on list of “short” games. Risk as well (and Risk is easy, try one of the nerdy minis games if you want a lot of rules … literally dozens of books worth, with different editions!)
I did an all-nighter just last week. Nearly killed me … I’m too old for that now
October 23rd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Monopoly shouldn’t take more than 3 or 4 hours max if you play by the rules, and an average game will be 2 hours. The #1 mistake people make is putting money in the center of the board and giving it to whomever lands on “Free Parking”. Don’t do this! It’s just a dumb tradition someone made up, and it makes the game go on much longer than it should. The less money in circulation, the better. But there’s no excuse for cheap chinese food.