covellistake

I used to think YouTube was absolute nonsense.

Not in a “this isn’t for me” kind of way, but more in a “what on earth is this?” kind of way. The kids would sit there for hours watching what I could only describe as… nothing.

Unboxing videos. Grown adults—or sometimes other kids—opening boxes. Just… opening them. That’s it. No plot twist, no grand finale, just someone peeling plastic off something and then not even doing anything with it.

Then there was slime.

Don’t even get me started on slime.

“How to make slime.” “Mixing slime.” “Slime hacks.” All sounds harmless until you realise it ends up everywhere. On tables, on clothes, in places you didn’t even know slime could physically reach. Anti-carpet, anti-parent, anti-everything. I’m convinced slime was invented purely to test the patience of adults.

And then, the one I genuinely couldn’t get my head around—watching other people play computer games.

Not playing them. Watching them.

I’d walk past and think, “You’ve got a console right there… why are you watching someone else do it?” It made no sense to me at all. I just assumed YouTube was a bottomless pit of randomness, designed purely to rot young brains while quietly driving parents to the edge.

So naturally, I dismissed it.

                  

Filed it away under “things I don’t understand and therefore must be rubbish.”

Classic mistake.

Because one day, the kids left. As they do. And they left YouTube on.

And that… was the beginning of the end for me.

I sat down, half-watching, not really paying attention. Then one video rolled into another, and suddenly I found myself actually… interested. Not in slime (I’ve got limits), but in something completely different.

Car stuff.

Now, I’ve got a 10-year-old BMW 3 Series. Lovely car when it behaves. Which isn’t often. If you know anything about older BMWs, you’ll know they have a special talent for lighting up the dashboard like a Christmas tree. Warning lights everywhere. You start the engine and it looks like it’s about to take off.

So I found a video. Then another. Then another.

Before I knew it, I was watching tutorials on how to fix things I didn’t even know had names. Blokes calmly explaining what’s wrong, how to sort it, what tools you need. No nonsense, no jargon overload, just straight-talking help.

And it clicked.

This isn’t rubbish.

This is bloody brilliant.

Within a few weeks, I’d fallen down the rabbit hole properly. Not just car stuff—everything. Old music videos I hadn’t heard in years, suddenly popping up like old mates you’d lost touch with. One minute you’re watching something sensible, next minute you’re 17 again watching Stone Temple Pilots rock out MTV (Kids today will never understand how good MTV Unplugged was).

I discovered a whole new world.

Yes, in a Disney way.

And once you’re in, you’re in.

Fast forward a few years, and I’m on YouTube at least once a day. Probably more if we’re being honest. It’s become part of the routine. Like making a cup of tea or pretending I know what I’m doing as an adult.

I’ve got my favourite channels now.

Matt Armstrong—absolutely mental projects, taking cars that look like they belong in a scrapyard and somehow bringing them back to life. Watching him is equal parts impressive and slightly stressful.

We Are Tottenham TV—which, yes, for my sins, I watch regularly. I’m a Spurs fan. A decision made over 35 years ago that I’ve been emotionally paying for ever since. But what can you do? Once you’re in, you’re in. Again.

Motomission with Brook Gill—proper quality content, easy to watch, and he comes across as a genuinely lovely guy, I love anything to do with motorbikes, or cars.. or anything that is oily or mechanical, you get the jist..

And that’s just scratching the surface.

Because the thing with YouTube is, whatever you want… you’ll find it.

Want to learn something? It’s there.

Want to fix something? It’s there.

Want to laugh, zone out, get inspired, or just escape for a bit? All there.

And then there’s the dangerous bit—the rabbit holes.

You start watching something normal, then suddenly you’re three videos deep into a conspiracy theory you didn’t even know existed. You’re sitting there thinking, “Hang on… is this actually a thing?” before quickly reminding yourself to calm down and maybe step outside for some fresh air.

It happens to the best of us.

I’ve got a follow list now as long as my arm. Channels for cars, football, random bits of history, music, interviews… you name it. It’s like building your own personal TV channel, but without the rubbish bits in between.

I even use it to fall asleep now. Which I never thought I’d say.

Stick on an old black and white war film, something steady, nothing too dramatic, and off I go. Or Sonny’s top 100 goals. Yes, Spurs again. And no, I don’t know why I still bother putting myself through it either.

But it works.

And somewhere along the line, I had to admit something I didn’t expect…

The kids got this one right.

All that stuff I thought was pointless? Turns out, it was just the entry point. Their version of YouTube isn’t my version—and that’s kind of the beauty of it. It grows with you. Changes with you.

What starts as slime and unboxing turns into tutorials, music, hobbies, interests, even a bit of education if you’re feeling adventurous.

It’s not just noise—it’s whatever you make it.

And I think that’s what I got wrong at the start.

I judged it based on five minutes of stuff I didn’t understand, instead of taking the time to see what it actually offered. Which, if we’re being honest, is something we all do from time to time.

Write something off too quickly.

Assume we’ve got it figured out.

Turns out, I hadn’t.

Now, I wouldn’t say I’m completely converted. I still don’t understand why anyone would choose to watch hours of slime videos voluntarily. And if I never see another unboxing video again, I’ll be absolutely fine.

But beyond that?

I get it.

I properly get it.

It’s useful. It’s entertaining. It’s a bit addictive if you’re not careful. And it’s there whenever you need it—whether you’re fixing a car, reliving old music, or just trying to switch your brain off after a long day.

So yeah, YouTube got my kids hooked.

And then, quietly, it got me too.

Didn’t see it coming.

But here we are.

So to conclude, either YouTube is genuinely brilliant… or I’ve just reached that age where I get excited about watching someone else engineer the shit out of something just for fun or,
It could just be me.