Exchanges with People that Make Your Brain Hurt

[Lynn2000]

Yeah, the weather often breaks my brain here in the Midwest. I was walking to work this morning, sunny, no wind, sidewalks relatively dry even though there's unmelted snow piled up on the sides, thinking how pleasant it was. Then I get inside and see that the temperature was something like 34F, which just seems really COLD to me! Other days it can be twenty degrees warmer, but cloudy and breezy, and it just feels miserably cold. I have lived here my entire life and still don't even understand how to dress during the winter... 

[Mental Magpie]

The funny thing is, I don't run hot, not compared to the Eagle anyway.  He sweats when it's barely any over 75F.  I don't really sweat all that much due to hot weather unless I'm exerting myself.  I have compared myself to others and don't think I run hot.  I think it's because I enjoy cold weather.  A lot.  In a way, it's not that I run hot, it's that I don't get cold easily because I enjoy the cold.  I get cold in movie theaters and sometimes in the office where I work (that's about 68-70F) but when I'm outside with the snow, I don't think it's cold at all.

[kherbert05]

That reminds me of another type of brain hurt-y exchange. Those who proclaim Catholicism to not be part of Christianity.

...huh? I need to look that up! I was raised Catholic (converted to some kind of atheist-but-tolerant-albeit-skeptical since) and I never even heard of that...

I've run into this several times in the US South. The bigoted arguement is that Catholics worship idols (Stations of the Cross, statues of the saints), Mary, and the Saints. That they want Jesus to suffer because they keep him on the cross (AKA Crucifix) - oh they also worship the Pope.


On the flip side the Catholic Church's rule restricting Communion to Catholics and a few other denominations that believe in transmutation is seen by other Christians as saying they aren't Christian. That isn't the position of the church. The RC considers the other denominations Christian, but to take communion you have to believe in Transmutation.

[Piratelvr1121]

That reminds me of another type of brain hurt-y exchange. Those who proclaim Catholicism to not be part of Christianity.

...huh? I need to look that up! I was raised Catholic (converted to some kind of atheist-but-tolerant-albeit-skeptical since) and I never even heard of that...

I've run into this several times in the US South. The bigoted arguement is that Catholics worship idols (Stations of the Cross, statues of the saints), Mary, and the Saints. That they want Jesus to suffer because they keep him on the cross (AKA Crucifix) - oh they also worship the Pope.


On the flip side the Catholic Church's rule restricting Communion to Catholics and a few other denominations that believe in transmutation is seen by other Christians as saying they aren't Christian. That isn't the position of the church. The RC considers the other denominations Christian, but to take communion you have to believe in Transmutation.

I was raised Catholic and heard this as well.  Mind you I didn't listen because I'd been lied to about Catholic policies in the past so I wasn't sure what to believe.  My granddaddy was raised Baptist but was never baptized and my grandmother was worried they wouldn't be together in the hereafter so she got her priest to go to the fishing hole Granddaddy loved.   Granddaddy agreed to be baptized "If that's what mama wants" but said he didn't want to be baptized as a Catholic, just as a Christian.  Father said that was fine, he could do that.

My mother told me later, years after Granddaddy passed, that he had been baptized as a Catholic.  I insisted no, Father said he was baptizing Granddaddy as a Christian because that's what he wanted.  Mom said snottily "Well, Father was a Catholic priest so therefore Granddaddy was baptized a Catholic."  That made me so mad on Granddaddy's behalf.  But I'm still not convinced she was right on that detail.

I'm now attending an Episcopal church, known affectionately as "Catholic Light" and our priest shared with a little discussion group that the bishop was not happy to learn that in our bulletin she had it written that anyone who wishes to receive communion is welcome at the rail. The "official" position is that you have to be baptized to take communion but she joked that she's not real good at recognizing if a person is baptized or not just by looking at them and she's not going to be asking for documentation of every one who approaches the rail. 

I think the Episcopal/Anglican church believes in transubstantiation, but I'm still relatively new to it, so I'm not 100% sure.

[Yarnspinner]

Oh my!  If I had a dime for every time I was told I was not a Christian because I was Catholic, I could probably have bought and sold the Vatican.  As a child, it didn't bother me much because when you are five those things don't make sense, but as a teen and an adult, I was first scared and then highly annoyed.

A dear friend/coworker who was an evangelical Christian once made the statement about Catholics celebrating masses in which they sacrificed children on the altar.  By then I was just plain mouth and didn't put up with this stuff and I said to her "Heck, when is THAT holiday?  There's a whole bunch of kids here I'd like to see sacrificed!"

After that she started questioning me about Catholicism and every other statement was "Well, we do that.  We do that, too.  Oh, we do that."  I don't know for certain, but I still hope that my fellow Catholic coworkers and I changed her mind about whether Catholics are also Christians.

On the flip side I once had a fellow Sunday School teacher (who was about thirty or forty years my senior) say to me "I have been praying for your father."

"Why?"

"He isn't Catholic, dear, and will be going to hell when he dies if he doesn't convert."

And after I picked my jaw up off the ground (who tells a 19 year old girl her father is going to hell?)  I said "Thank you for your concern.  Frankly, my Dad is a better man than many Catholics I know and his belief in God is stronger and if God isn't taking him in because of where he got baptized, then I don't think I would worship that God."

We did team teaching together and it was kind of chilly in our class room after that exchange.

[mmswm]

Oh my!  If I had a dime for every time I was told I was not a Christian because I was Catholic, I could probably have bought and sold the Vatican.  As a child, it didn't bother me much because when you are five those things don't make sense, but as a teen and an adult, I was first scared and then highly annoyed.

A dear friend/coworker who was an evangelical Christian once made the statement about Catholics celebrating masses in which they sacrificed children on the altar.  By then I was just plain mouth and didn't put up with this stuff and I said to her "Heck, when is THAT holiday?  There's a whole bunch of kids here I'd like to see sacrificed!"

After that she started questioning me about Catholicism and every other statement was "Well, we do that.  We do that, too.  Oh, we do that."  I don't know for certain, but I still hope that my fellow Catholic coworkers and I changed her mind about whether Catholics are also Christians.

On the flip side I once had a fellow Sunday School teacher (who was about thirty or forty years my senior) say to me "I have been praying for your father."

"Why?"

"He isn't Catholic, dear, and will be going to hell when he dies if he doesn't convert."

And after I picked my jaw up off the ground (who tells a 19 year old girl her father is going to hell?)  I said "Thank you for your concern.  Frankly, my Dad is a better man than many Catholics I know and his belief in God is stronger and if God isn't taking him in because of where he got baptized, then I don't think I would worship that God."

We did team teaching together and it was kind of chilly in our class room after that exchange.

My brain is now broken.  That woman needs to go back to Sunday School herself!

[Piratelvr1121]

Getting off the topic of religion, the house hunting thread made me think of this one.

In the county where I mostly grew up, since I was 8, the public school system is very competitive and people generally tend to be very well off.   So people are willing to pay extra for a house in a district for a certain high school that has high test scores.

What has always broken my brain is that people would buy their homes when their children weren't even born yet!! My parents were partly guilty of this.  They bought in that area when I was almost 8 and my brother wasn't even born yet.  They wanted both of us to be able to attend one of the more popular high schools in the area.

Well, guess what? Districts changed when I was a freshman. Since I was already there, I was grandfathered in, but my folks were bummed that my brother would not be able to attend that high school and would be bused to another one that was in one of the few areas of town that was a little too close to the working class part of town.  They did rebuild the school in the 8 years between when I started high school and when he did and it turned out to be nicer than the school I went to. 

But that always hurt my brain.   Do people really expect that districts aren't going to change in 14 years?  Why pay extra to buy a house in a certain area just to make sure your kid will attend there, when that child's not even born yet?

It does make sense in an area that's small and you have one of each kind of school that will serve a large area.  Like my bff's small midwest town.  Doesn't matter where you buy either in town or in the country, there's just one elementary school, one middle and one high school, and districts just don't change.   

[MommyPenguin]

Getting off the topic of religion, the house hunting thread made me think of this one.

In the county where I mostly grew up, since I was 8, the public school system is very competitive and people generally tend to be very well off.   So people are willing to pay extra for a house in a district for a certain high school that has high test scores.

What has always broken my brain is that people would buy their homes when their children weren't even born yet!! My parents were partly guilty of this.  They bought in that area when I was almost 8 and my brother wasn't even born yet.  They wanted both of us to be able to attend one of the more popular high schools in the area.

Well, guess what? Districts changed when I was a freshman. Since I was already there, I was grandfathered in, but my folks were bummed that my brother would not be able to attend that high school and would be bused to another one that was in one of the few areas of town that was a little too close to the working class part of town.  They did rebuild the school in the 8 years between when I started high school and when he did and it turned out to be nicer than the school I went to. 

But that always hurt my brain.   Do people really expect that districts aren't going to change in 14 years?  Why pay extra to buy a house in a certain area just to make sure your kid will attend there, when that child's not even born yet?

It does make sense in an area that's small and you have one of each kind of school that will serve a large area.  Like my bff's small midwest town.  Doesn't matter where you buy either in town or in the country, there's just one elementary school, one middle and one high school, and districts just don't change.

Well, we're looking at houses right now, and we're homeschooling.  So it won't even matter to us how good or bad the schools are, for our own sake.  But at least for us, finding a house in a good school district matters because we'll need to sell or rent the house out eventually, and *other* people will be looking for that.   So it's an important aspect of the value of the house.  Of course, it's probably more important to us since we'll only be stationed there for four years, whereas that may matter less to somebody who expects to live in that house for the foreseeable future, maybe the rest of their life.

[Starchasm]

Your medical practice wouldn't be associated with my insurance company, would they?  My first ultrasound got billed in DH's name by mistake - and got rejected because the insurance company claimed his pregnancy was a "pre-existing condition."

AHAHAHAHA!!!  Oh my goodness, this made me do that creepy uncontrollable screamy-laugh until I was just lying on my side making a high-pitched wheeze!!!  THAT IS HILARIOUS!!!

Pre-existing condition!! AHAHAHAHA!

[Nikko-chan]

Your medical practice wouldn't be associated with my insurance company, would they?  My first ultrasound got billed in DH's name by mistake - and got rejected because the insurance company claimed his pregnancy was a "pre-existing condition."

AHAHAHAHA!!!  Oh my goodness, this made me do that creepy uncontrollable screamy-laugh until I was just lying on my side making a high-pitched wheeze!!!  THAT IS HILARIOUS!!!

Pre-existing condition!! AHAHAHAHA!

There are just so many things wrong with that lol.

[Diane AKA Traska]

Well, we're looking at houses right now, and we're homeschooling.  So it won't even matter to us how good or bad the schools are, for our own sake.  But at least for us, finding a house in a good school district matters because we'll need to sell or rent the house out eventually, and *other* people will be looking for that.   So it's an important aspect of the value of the house.  Of course, it's probably more important to us since we'll only be stationed there for four years, whereas that may matter less to somebody who expects to live in that house for the foreseeable future, maybe the rest of their life.

I'd still be concerned.  The better the schools, generally the lower the crime rate.

[Slartibartfast]

Piratelvr1121, we have that here too - one of the local public high schools is consistently in the top five in the nation.  Not surprisingly, the longer it keeps winning awards, the more houses in its zoned area end up with families who have high school students    They're going to be adding a third high school and re-zoning next year, because it's already bursting at the seams.  (The other high school in that town isn't bad, but it's nothing special.)  There is already a lot of yelling from people who bought houses specifically so their kids would get to go to that school eventually.

Some friends of mine have an eight-year-old and were thinking of maybe moving across town so their son could go there when the day comes.  Then they discovered that buying a comparatively-sized house in that district would be financially equivalent to sending their two kids to the ritzy private school here ($12-$15K/year) from now until then!  It's not like they're out in the country or anything now, either - the houses in that zone are just that overpriced.

[Slartibartfast]

On the flip side I once had a fellow Sunday School teacher (who was about thirty or forty years my senior) say to me "I have been praying for your father."

"Why?"

"He isn't Catholic, dear, and will be going to hell when he dies if he doesn't convert."

The town I grew up in had the public schools and the parochial (Catholic) schools.  Kids in my neighborhood were pretty evenly split, which means I made friends when I was in preschool and then didn't see much of them after we went off to our opposite elementary schools.  I found out many years later that one of my preschool friends went home in tears because she had suddenly realized I wasn't Catholic so I would be going to hell and she didn't want me to go to hell, she just wanted us to play dolls together     Her mother knew immediately which adult it was who had been emphasizing that and had a long talk with that person about what sorts of theological conversations are appropriate for a four-year-old.

[kherbert05]

Oh my!  If I had a dime for every time I was told I was not a Christian because I was Catholic, I could probably have bought and sold the Vatican.  As a child, it didn't bother me much because when you are five those things don't make sense, but as a teen and an adult, I was first scared and then highly annoyed.

A dear friend/coworker who was an evangelical Christian once made the statement about Catholics celebrating masses in which they sacrificed children on the altar.  By then I was just plain mouth and didn't put up with this stuff and I said to her "Heck, when is THAT holiday?  There's a whole bunch of kids here I'd like to see sacrificed!"

After that she started questioning me about Catholicism and every other statement was "Well, we do that.  We do that, too.  Oh, we do that."  I don't know for certain, but I still hope that my fellow Catholic coworkers and I changed her mind about whether Catholics are also Christians.

On the flip side I once had a fellow Sunday School teacher (who was about thirty or forty years my senior) say to me "I have been praying for your father."

"Why?"

"He isn't Catholic, dear, and will be going to hell when he dies if he doesn't convert."

And after I picked my jaw up off the ground (who tells a 19 year old girl her father is going to hell?)  I said "Thank you for your concern.  Frankly, my Dad is a better man than many Catholics I know and his belief in God is stronger and if God isn't taking him in because of where he got baptized, then I don't think I would worship that God."

We did team teaching together and it was kind of chilly in our class room after that exchange.

Well the Monsignor told me my Grandfather was burning in hell after he died. I was three. Had nightmares of Pappa burning for weeks. Once Mom figured out why, she called the rectory every time I woke her up screaming in terror and woke up the monsignor. Thing is that isn't even doctrine.

Same guy refused to marry my parents unless Dad converted - also not doctrine. Another priest married them.

My family moved 3 times - and he ended up getting tranfered to each parish. The parish he left always had a big going away part - he wasn't invited.

When Sis got married, she told the lady that was booking things that she refused to be married by him. The lady basically said, We get that a lot - he doesn't do marriages unless specially requested and no-one ever requests him. (BIL isn't Catholic, so the Monsignor probably would have refused to marry them)

[Ereine]

Our high school might make brains hurt a little, but they don't have the problems with school districts because there aren't districts for high schools. Instead the students have to apply and the schools will take the best students that apply to that school, as many as they have places for. Which can lead to not getting into any high school, if your grades are bad enough. You don't also have to apply to schools in your own town which in my school meant that maybe half of the students were from neighboring rural communities, because my school was thought to be quite good (your grade average needed to be 8.3 when I applied, on a scale from 4 to 10). Which meant that if your grades weren't good enough you might have to go to a high school in one of the rural communities because there were schools that would take anyone. Other options would be staying an extra year in middle school to raise your grades or vocational schools, though some of them require grades higher than high schools.

It used to be that you had to make a choice when you were 11. You could apply to an oppikoulu (there was an entrance exam) which in turn led to high school and was pretty much the only path to university. If you failed the exam or your parents couldn't afford oppikoulu (they would have to at least pay for books, I don't know if there was tuition fees) then your options would be limited to vocation school, if that. These days you can get into university with a vocation degree, at least in theory.