Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt

[MsMarjorie]

My sister had this exchange with a co-worker (both of them in their late 20's)

Sister "Oh I think I just saw lightening, get ready for the thunder"
Co-worker "You idiot, thunder is caused by clouds banging together not lightening, you're so stupid"

and co-worker continued to make fun of my sister and her "stupid" ideas for the rest of the afternoon (sister came home with sprained eyeballs).

[NyaChan]

This thread actually makes me sad sometimes.  Even just watching The Magic School Bus would correct some of these "facts," and that show included a bus shrinking and traveling through the body of a student!

[snowfire]

White Tiger Cub, I had almost that exact conversation with my Grandmother about 20 years ago.  She was a lifetime non-drinker, of the "alcohol is evil" school of thought.  We had invited some friends over for Thanksgiving dinner, including their ~3 year old toddler.  We were serving Martinelli's sparkling apple cider.  My Grandmother was absolutely convinced that not only was I serving wine, I was serving it to a CHILD. 

I'm still not sure I ever convinced her that it was just fancy apple juice.  I showed her the bottle, had her read the label.  Told her that even if I was serving wine, which I wouldn't do in front of her, that she ought to trust me enough to know that I would not give alcohol to a child.

Normally my GM and I had a fantastic relationship and she totally trusted me on everything, but for some reason this one bit of  just stuck in her head....

[Pinky830]

"Oh! You're from Illinois. Do you know my cousin?"

hahaha I get that too!  People somehow don't get that IL is a state, not a small town.  I especially love when it when I say I'm from IL and people go "Oh Chicago is a great city to live in!  You must love it!"  Well yes, I suppose it is a great city and I do love it, but I don't live there.  I live in one the other numerous cities in our state.

I've probably been to Chicago maybe 20 times in my life despite living 40 miles away for 34 years, so it makes me laugh when people want to know about it. A great place to eat? Several thousand.

I used to get the same thing about San Francisco.  I lived 60 miles away, and was there probably fewer than ten times in the 31 years I lived in the area.

I live in the greater Atlanta metro area, and my brother asked me once about my opinion of the recent mayoral election in the city of Atlanta. Me: "Oh yeah, they just had an election didn't they? Who won?" He still doesn't quite understand that downtown Atlanta is 45 minutes away and their local politics do not affect me at all.

[JustEstelle]

Not to mention there's US cities named after foreign capitals.  Paris, Dublin, and those are the two off the top of my head.

You must be from TX where the old fashioned Dr. Pepper is made in Dublin and Paris, TX has this starring attraction:
http://www.planetware.com/picture/paris-us-tx164.htm

Italy, Texas, is just south of Dallas.

Nice little town too! 
A co-worker of mine and her fiance drove a bit north to get married, so they could tell folks they were married in Paris.

[JustEstelle]

I live in the greater Atlanta metro area, and my brother asked me once about my opinion of the recent mayoral election in the city of Atlanta. Me: "Oh yeah, they just had an election didn't they? Who won?" He still doesn't quite understand that downtown Atlanta is 45 minutes away and their local politics do not affect me at all.

We live about a 45 minute drive from Dallas, and we have people all the time asking us about things that go on there.

[kareng57]

I live in the greater Atlanta metro area, and my brother asked me once about my opinion of the recent mayoral election in the city of Atlanta. Me: "Oh yeah, they just had an election didn't they? Who won?" He still doesn't quite understand that downtown Atlanta is 45 minutes away and their local politics do not affect me at all.

We live about a 45 minute drive from Dallas, and we have people all the time asking us about things that go on there.

Actually I don't think that that's terribly out-of-this-world.  I too live in a suburb of Big City  - downtown is about a 1 hour drive away - but I still know something about what goes on there; the daily newspaper and TV/radio news are based from there.

[Otterpop]

I live 1 hour outside of Los Angeles.  What goes on there affects us.  I keep an eye out for daily goings on too.

[violinp]

There was a person I knew who insisted that scientists could tell Da Vinci had a 4,000 IQ.

I don't even know.

[Elfmama]

My sister had this exchange with a co-worker (both of them in their late 20's)

Sister "Oh I think I just saw lightening, get ready for the thunder"
Co-worker "You idiot, thunder is caused by clouds banging together not lightening, you're so stupid"

and co-worker continued to make fun of my sister and her "stupid" ideas for the rest of the afternoon (sister came home with sprained eyeballs).

I wonder if co-worker was told that as a small child, maybe by someone she trusted, and never wanted to know the truth, because that would mean that Trusted Adult had lied to her.

I remember my beloved grandpa telling me much the same thing, but when Teacher told us what caused thunder, thinking "I wonder why Grandpa didn't know this?" 

[twiggy]

There was a person I knew who insisted that scientists could tell Da Vinci had a 4,000 IQ.

I don't even know.

That reminds me of a very special co-worker I once had. He claimed an IQ of around 700. When it was pointed out to him that IQ measurements don't go that high, he informed us that he scored 100% on his IQ test.

He also claimed to have trained his sister's cat to not shed.

[suzieQ]

White Tiger Cub, I had almost that exact conversation with my Grandmother about 20 years ago.  She was a lifetime non-drinker, of the "alcohol is evil" school of thought.  We had invited some friends over for Thanksgiving dinner, including their ~3 year old toddler.  We were serving Martinelli's sparkling apple cider.  My Grandmother was absolutely convinced that not only was I serving wine, I was serving it to a CHILD. 

I'm still not sure I ever convinced her that it was just fancy apple juice.  I showed her the bottle, had her read the label.  Told her that even if I was serving wine, which I wouldn't do in front of her, that she ought to trust me enough to know that I would not give alcohol to a child.

Normally my GM and I had a fantastic relationship and she totally trusted me on everything, but for some reason this one bit of  just stuck in her head....

Did you point out it was *not* Hard Cider? I think of apple cider as just being juice, but I know a lot of people who think apple cider is always *hard* cider, which does contain alcohol.

[RingTailedLemur]

White Tiger Cub, I had almost that exact conversation with my Grandmother about 20 years ago.  She was a lifetime non-drinker, of the "alcohol is evil" school of thought.  We had invited some friends over for Thanksgiving dinner, including their ~3 year old toddler.  We were serving Martinelli's sparkling apple cider.  My Grandmother was absolutely convinced that not only was I serving wine, I was serving it to a CHILD. 

I'm still not sure I ever convinced her that it was just fancy apple juice.  I showed her the bottle, had her read the label.  Told her that even if I was serving wine, which I wouldn't do in front of her, that she ought to trust me enough to know that I would not give alcohol to a child.

Normally my GM and I had a fantastic relationship and she totally trusted me on everything, but for some reason this one bit of  just stuck in her head....

Did you point out it was *not* Hard Cider? I think of apple cider as just being juice, but I know a lot of people who think apple cider is always *hard* cider, which does contain alcohol.

In British usage, "cider" is always alcoholic.  "Juice" is not.

[BabyMama]

That reminds me of a very special co-worker I once had. He claimed an IQ of around 700. When it was pointed out to him that IQ measurements don't go that high, he informed us that he scored 100% on his IQ test.

I remember sitting in class in high school. Two girls were discussing our recently-delivered ACT scores. One of their friends scored a 17 (highest score you can get is 36.) They were stunned at his score--it was "sooooo high", and he was the "smartest person they knew." 

I also remember a girl in my American Studies class asking "who is that on the TV?" It was Vice President Cheney. "Oh," she said. "I thought he'd be hotter."

[violinp]

That reminds me of a very special co-worker I once had. He claimed an IQ of around 700. When it was pointed out to him that IQ measurements don't go that high, he informed us that he scored 100% on his IQ test.

I remember sitting in class in high school. Two girls were discussing our recently-delivered ACT scores. One of their friends scored a 17 (highest score you can get is 36.) They were stunned at his score--it was "sooooo high", and he was the "smartest person they knew." 

I also remember a girl in my American Studies class asking "who is that on the TV?" It was Vice President Cheney. "Oh," she said. "I thought he'd be hotter."

Blahah!