I was at this restaurant today, just sitting quietly and enjoying my food. There was a group of guys sitting beside me, and from the way they were talking, I could tell they were traders.
I wasn’t really interested in joining their conversation, so I just kept to myself.
At some point, one of them noticed me looking at my phone and asked:
“Bro, you trade?”
I smiled and said, “Yeah… I’m still learning though.”
The moment I said “I’m still learning,” these guys immediately became teachers. 😂
One of them looked at me and said, “You know candlesticks?”
I said, ���A little.”
Another one jumped in:
“You know what an uptrend is?”
I said, “Not really.”
He started explaining it to me like I had just discovered the financial markets yesterday.
“An uptrend is when the market is making higher highs and higher lows.”
I nodded seriously.
Then another one said, “And you need to understand downtrend too.”
He picked up his phone and started showing me charts.
“This is a downtrend. Lower highs, lower lows. You understand?”
I said, “Yeah, I think I’m getting it.”
They were enjoying themselves at this point. 😂
One of them started explaining support and resistance. Another started talking about candlestick patterns. Someone else said, “Bro, before you even think about making money, you need to understand market structure.”
I was just sitting there listening and occasionally saying, “Ohhh, okay.”
Inside my head, I was trying so hard not to laugh.
But I didn’t say anything.
I let them continue.
They started explaining entries, stop loss, take profit and risk reward.
One of them even told me, “Don’t rush into trading. Trading is very difficult. Most beginners lose money.”
I said, “That’s true.”
Then they started talking about their own trading experiences.
That’s when the story changed.
One of them said he had been trading for two years but was still struggling to become consistently profitable.
Another said he had passed a prop firm challenge but lost the account afterward.
Another complained about constantly getting stopped out.
And another said he was always finding himself revenge trading after taking a loss.
I just listened.
Then one of them asked me:
“So what strategy are you learning?”
I paused for a second.
I said, “I’m still trying to understand everything.”
They laughed and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll get there.”
At this point, I decided to keep the beginner act going.
They continued teaching me.
“Look at this chart.”
“See this higher high?”
“Yes.”
“And this higher low?”
“Yes.”
“That’s an uptrend.”
“Okay.”
“And when you see lower highs and lower lows?”
“Downtrend.”
“Exactly!”
I was getting a full beginner’s trading class right there at the restaurant. 😂
Eventually, the conversation moved to prop firms.
They started discussing accounts they had bought, challenges they had failed, drawdowns they had struggled with and how much money they were trying to make.
Then one of them casually asked me:
“So how has trading been for you?”
I said, “It’s been okay.”
He asked, “Have you ever made serious money from trading?”
I said, “Yeah.”
He looked surprised.
“How much?”
I didn’t give him a number.
I just said, “Enough to keep me interested.”
Suddenly, everybody went quiet.
One of them asked:
“Wait… you said you’re still learning?”
I laughed.
“I am. You never stop learning in this business.”
They looked at each other.
Then one of them said:
“So all this time we’ve been teaching you what an uptrend and downtrend are?”
I said:
“Yeah.” 😂
Everybody started laughing.
I grabbed my phone and show them this particular trade that is running thats where everyone kept shut and started asking “Who are you”?
But honestly, it was a funny reminder of how trading works.
You can never judge someone’s experience just by how they talk.
Someone can confidently explain candlesticks, support and resistance, market structure and trends and still struggle to make consistent profit.