Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt

[cabbageweevil]

A couple of days ago, I had someone tell me in all seriousness that, because I was in Central time and she was in Eastern time, this meant that I was an hour ahead of her and it was really 4:30 pm where I was, since it was 3:30 pm where she was.  I explained it was actually 2:30 pm where I was and that she was actually an hour ahead of me.  She snorted into the phone and said, "You're wrong!" very definitively.  Yes, undoubtedly my cell phone, landline, computer and clock are all incorrect.   

Plainly, she was being an idiot; but I have a tiny bit of fellow-feeling with her, because I have a truly huge mental block about time zones and people being "ahead of" or "behind" each other time-wise.  I usually have no clue about whether, when it's 3.30 in my time zone, it's 2.30 or 4.30 for someone in a neighbouring time zone.  In mitigation, I take it as certain that the other person will know better than me, what time it is where they are !

[oz diva]

There's an urban myth that people in Queensland refuse to get daylight saving, because it fades the curtains. (more sun, see).

[ladyknight1]

Continuing the calculator stories.

When I resumed my education, I took some required math courses. Each course had different rules regarding calculators. In the classroom you could use any calculator you wanted. Many students just used their phones and laptops.

Testing time was another story entirely. You had to stand in a line outside the testing center with your ID, pencils and erasers, your scratch paper, your testing book, and your sanctioned calculator without the cover. You were not allowed to get out any other materials once you went to your designated seat.

During the final exam for the semester, my calculator's battery suddenly died and one of the most excellent testing staff was able to lend me one. After that, I always carried two calculators.

[2littlemonkeys]

Yesterday, there was a tragic accident in my city.  (I'll white it out in case someone is sensitive)  A mom was stopped at a RR crossing and inexplicably decided to drive around the gates.  Right into the path of the oncoming train.  She didn't make it and her two boys are in the hospital.  The boys will probably be okay but now they have no mother.

WHY do people go around RR gates?  I will never be able to wrap my head around why people do this.  I mean, if you're going to decide gates aren't for you, wouldn't you at least check to see where the train was before trying to drive across the tracks?  In this case, the train was just coming to the crossing and there was no way ANYONE could have beat it.  I don't know what this driver was thinking.

At first I thought this was planned but the interviews with the family don't indicate any such thing.

[Midnight Kitty]

It was brain-hurty all around.  DH picked me up from work and said we have 5 errands to run on the way home.  Traffic was insane due to an oversized load taking out the pedestrian overpass, closing the nearby highway.  I was a bit flustered.  That's the only excuse I have.

I walked into the department store to pay my bill.  I handed my check and statement to the young man. 

He said, "Paying your bill?"
"Yes," I reply.

He frowns slightly and turns to the lovely young lady next to him, passing her my documents.  I now realize the puzzled look on her face was from her pained brain, trying to figure out how to tell the customer she is wrong when she she was trained "the customer is always right."

Text cannot convey the sweet, tentative tone she used to say, "This is Macy's" as she returned my Nordstrom statement.

[Diane AKA Traska]

If Not Always Right has taught me anything, it's that the expected response was a Cat 5 Swearicane.

[Virg]

ladyknight1 wrote:

"During the final exam for the semester, my calculator's battery suddenly died and one of the most excellent testing staff was able to lend me one. After that, I always carried two calculators."

Why didn't you just carry two batteries? 

Virg

[rashea]

ladyknight1 wrote:

"During the final exam for the semester, my calculator's battery suddenly died and one of the most excellent testing staff was able to lend me one. After that, I always carried two calculators."

Why didn't you just carry two batteries? 

Virg

Because then one would fry. It's inevitable. When I proctored exams I kept one on me as a spare in case a student needed it.

[Sirius]

Mr. Sirius used a slide rule when he was in high school, and he said he was harassed for it because other students didn't like him making them "look dumb" for using a calculator.  This was the era before cell phones, when cheap calculators were just becoming widely available.  (Then again, he's such a math whiz I'm surprised he even needed the slide rule.) 

[Iris]

ladyknight1 wrote:

"During the final exam for the semester, my calculator's battery suddenly died and one of the most excellent testing staff was able to lend me one. After that, I always carried two calculators."

Why didn't you just carry two batteries? 

Virg

Because then one would fry. It's inevitable. When I proctored exams I kept one on me as a spare in case a student needed it.

I don't know about at ladyknight's school but the calculators we use need unscrewing at the back to replace the batteries. We were discussing in the staffroom the other day what an annoying design that is. We (teachers) all went through school going to exams with calculator plus spare batteries and now that's just not a practical option. The young intern said that these days they do take in a whole other spare calculator.

Of course the conversation started because a student turned up for their final, statewide, HUGE, IMPORTANT exam without a PEN!! That really made our brains hurt...

[Twik]

If Not Always Right has taught me anything, it's that the expected response was a Cat 5 Swearicane.

Or at least a prolonged argument that while she THOUGHT she was working at Macy's, it was actually Nordstrom's all along.

[cabbageweevil]

There's an urban myth that people in Queensland refuse to get daylight saving, because it fades the curtains. (more sun, see).

Brings to mind one of the many stories of Eastern European Jewry's time-honoured location for "thick" jokes.  The Jews revelled in telling tales about the semi-legendary town of Chelm in Poland, almost exclusively Jewish-populated, where all the inhabitants were amazingly stupid. (There were presumably a few equally stupid Christians, to do Sabbath tasks for their Jewish neighbours.)

It was said that one time, the learned sages of Chelm held a debate on which was of more use to humanity -- the sun or the moon?  The question was hotly debated; but the final consensus was, that the answer was, the moon. The moon appears at night, when it's dark, and helps by giving at least a bit of light; while the sun is with us only during daytime, when it's light anyway.

[figee]

Adding to the daylight savings debate: not only does it fade the curtains, but it also confuses the cows.  And arguments against changing the currency from pounds, shillings and pence included (supposedly) that doing so would confuse the old people so that the change should be delayed until all the old people had died. 

[Ceallach]

Adding to the daylight savings debate: not only does it fade the curtains, but it also confuses the cows.  And arguments against changing the currency from pounds, shillings and pence included (supposedly) that doing so would confuse the old people so that the change should be delayed until all the old people had died.

The confusing the cows thing isn't necessarily brain hurty - if the milk tankers always come at a set time therefore the milking must always be done at a set time, it means that they suddenly start milking an hour earlier or an hour later which can certainly cause disruption to the animals and potential issues.    (Just starting earlier/later may not be an option on many farms due to other timeframes etc).

Having said that, considering the number of places that successfully have daylight savings where dairy farms flourish, I really don't think it's too big a problem!   

[Adelaide]

Today I was in line behind a boy about my age and an older woman. The cashier didn't speak to the boy, rang up his purchases, and handed them off to him without a word. She then proceeded to go out of her way to talk to and help the older woman, even coming out from behind the register to situate the woman's bags in her cart before telling her to have a nice day. When it was my turn, the cashier didn't say a word to me. It was only when I asked where the recycling bin was that she spoke-her reply was pleasant, but she didn't say anything else afterward. There was a couple at least 10 years older than myself behind me and as I was taking my bags I watched the cashier greet them and chat amicably, even cracking a mild joke about one of their purchases, at which all three of them had a chuckle. The only thing I can think of is that she doesn't like college and/or high school students. (I look like I'm in high school.)