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Most of us have heard the phrase, ‘There is no question that is a silly question’. And while that’s usually true, there are times when you can’t help but wonder if some questions are a little, well, ridiculous. For instance, when Reddit user BlueCaracal posed the question, "What’s something so obvious you couldn’t believe you had to explain it to another adult?" the internet responded in full force, sharing stories that ranged from amusingly clueless to downright shocking. Keep scrolling, Pandas, and brace yourselves—these questions might seem surprisingly obvious, but they’re definitely worth a look.
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#1
When COVID first hit the US and there were no real treatments for it or vaccines or anything, I caught it and got lung clots and had to spend a week in the hospital. Numerous people on the floor I was on died. The guy in the bed next to me had it and they had him under an oxygen tent. He fought with every single person that came in to check on him, refusing to believe that he had COVID. He thought literally everybody was lying to him about what was wrong with him.
He wound up dying about the fourth day I was there. To this day I hear people make comments that it doesn't exist or never did or whatever dumb thing they have to say about it. I have to turn around and walk away from them or ignore them on whatever platform I'm on to avoid smacking them up beside the head.
Dusty's mom 3 months ago
Husband had Covid twice. This was after receiving the original Pfizer inoculations. We caught new strains before we could be inoculated; they weren't even available in our area. Husband's boss was a scoffer and the office took no precautions. Believe you me, we stay on top of ALL vaccines now. I still mask in public, being a senior citizen. Both of us have Long Covid repercussions. It's a serious disease and morphs rapidly! Do not take Covid for granted!
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#2
I talked about this before and will until the end of days because this man deserves to be shamed.
A 23 year-old man, who had the right to vote, who had a driving license, who had a job, and could get married and start a family...
THOUGHT PEOPLE WERE HANGING THE MOON IN THE SKY.
Like, the moon, Earth's natural satellite, was being hung on the sky like... a painting on a wall?
I'm still reeling over that one. This man had gone to school, had a formal education and was actually going to college. He *learned* about that in primary school!
And the kicker? I was the one to explain it to him, because I was his girlfriend at the time.
And let me tell you, things unraveled real fast when I started paying attention and saw through the smokescreen.
Dude was willfully ignorant, and bone-dead stupid on top of it. He was really, really good at hiding it.
I dropped him like the mess he was and dived into more and more books to compensate the loss of brain matter I suffered from going out with him.
#3
I had to explain to my mom that my daughter was growing in my uterus and not my stomach so the hot sauce on my burrito wasn’t going to cause her skin burns. I also explained if she were growing in my stomach, my stomach would certainly cause way worse burns than hot sauce.
It was then that I understood why the school nurse had to explain to me in 5th grade why I kept bleeding through my pants every month at school, and not my mom.
Whether it’s at a party, at work, or during a casual conversation, we’ve all encountered situations where someone asks something that makes you want to pause and question the state of human knowledge.
Here’s the thing: asking questions isn’t bad—part and parcel of development and learning. None of us are born with all the knowledge in the world, and curiosity is an essential part of our lives. There are times, however, that people ask questions that seem to defy basic logic or common knowledge.
#4
I worked tech support for an internet provider a few years back.
A woman calls in, complaining her wifi isn’t working.
Go through the normal troubleshooting questions, what’s your device, how are you connected, and finally “what can you see on your screen?”
Crazy woman (CW): it’s black
Me: how do you mean? Are you getting errors?
CW: the whole screen is black.
Me: have you turned the laptop on?
CW: I can’t.
Me: …. Why not?
CW: I’ve lost the charging cable
Me: ok…uh, do you have another device I can help you connect with? Maybe a tablet or your phone?
CW: no, you need to get the laptop reconnected.
Me: …can you go and buy another charging cable?
CW: no, you need to send me one.
Me: we don’t supply them…also we didn’t supply you with your laptop, we just provide internet
CW: yes, and now you’re not providing me internet, so you need to fix it
40 mins this went on, as my team around me stared in incoherent disbelief that this woman couldn’t understand why her internet provider couldn’t connect wifi to a computer with now power.
I remember hanging up the phone and putting myself on break. My manager looked at me and told me to take a walk, while barely hiding her unrestrained giggles.
Andy Cran 3 months ago
know someone who was getting free use of a nextdoor neighbour's WiFi (all agreed and known) then said they didn't need it anymore as they now had access to a family member's netflix acc who lived miles away,I tried to explain that's not how it works but they wouldn't have it
#5
I was picking up Italian Liras one time (1999 - pre Euros) from a bank in Tennessee. The teller brought me the envelope. When I opened it to count the money, she looked at me with total surprise and asked, “Do other countries have different money?” A bank teller. 🤦🏽♀️
#6
That her power was shut off because she didn't pay her electric bill for three straight months, and the letters on neon yellow paper from the power company were sent to warn her of this happening.
She thought she was legally entitled to free electricity because "it's a requirement for human survival."
Edit to add: She wasn't in need. She worked a very well-paying job, and she enjoyed shopping for expensive things. This was *not* one of those situations where she needed assistance or mercy. She needed a foot lodged firmly in the backside, and the power company put on its boots.
You might find yourself sitting in a meeting when someone asks if the office will be open on Christmas Day—despite it being a national holiday. Or you may even be engaging in a conversation with one of your friends who, out of nowhere, asks whether brown cows give brown milk. You cannot help but blink at these questions, wondering what planet you are on.
But before we jump to conclusions, it is worth analyzing what makes such questions possible in the first place. There are situations where people are just credulous or ignorant about certain things. It could be, somehow, they never got the opportunity to know it, or perhaps they’ve been given wrong information.
#7
(from a vet tech)
1) That the ticks on a male dog were actually nipples...and that male dogs have nipples...just like every other mammal.
2) That a rabbit that clearly has visible testicles was a male.
3) That you cannot feed an animal that is strictly a carnivore (a ferret, fyi) a "vegan" diet (that thing so SO sick when it came in).
4) That yes, when you have two animals (same species) of opposite genders in the house and they aren't spayed/neutered...they will breed. Even if they're mother/son, brother/sister, different ages, different sizes, different breeds, etc. You'd be shocked at how many people "didn't think this would happen". O_o Like...do you understand biology at all?
Other times, it could be possible they are nervous or distracted, leading them to ask something they’d usually know the answer to. We’ve all had those moments when we asked something we later realized was a bit silly. Let’s say you finally get to see your sports idol, and out of excitement, you ask rather silly questions like, “Do you like sports?”
#10
I had to explain to a friend of mine who had grown up with me that no you cannot vote for Trump in the Australian election. He is not a candidate for anything here.
#11
I hope this isn't too racy for this sub...
I had to explain to a grown (college-educated!) adult that no, a**l sex does not "cause" AIDS. That no, if both parties are HIV-negative, they cannot "create" AIDS by engaging in this activity. NO, Daniel, that's not how viruses work!
#12
Why a room below sea level on a cruise ship would not have a balcony
What’s more interesting is how many people are afraid to ask questions because they don’t want to appear stupid. The fear of looking foolish in front of others can stop us from seeking out the knowledge we need. In a way, this fear can be more damaging than asking an ‘obvious’ question. It hinders us from learning, growing, and understanding the world better.
#13
That the aztecs and incans are not interchangeable, they were in completely different parts of the americas, and that neither of them built the nazca lines. but especially not the aztecs, who were not in f*****g peru
this person kept trying to tell me it was "up to interpretation" like no its not!!! its geography
#14
Volunteered in a charity shop. Lady came to the counter with a top and asked if I could look in the back for one of the same colour but a larger size. Tried to explain we don't do that because we're a charity shop. She insisted that other shops, like H&M, have done that for her. Wouldn't take no for an answer.
Eventually I just went in the back for a few minutes, made a cup of tea for a co-worker, and came out saying we don't have any. She got mad at that too.
#15
When I was 19, I explained to a middle-aged woman that Jesus was not blonde haired, blue eyed, spoke English and from America.
SmooshyFries 3 months ago
Well as a little girl, I believed God wore Levi jeans, flip flops, had shoulder length dark shaggy hair and wore an orange Coors Beer t-shirt. Nooo idea where I came up with that
Consider a situation where you’re new at a job, and during the orientation, the presenter talks about “the cloud.” You know you came across the phrase some weeks ago, but you can’t place what it implies.
Everyone around you seems to know, so you hesitate to ask for clarification. Now since you were afraid to ask, it could potentially lead to bigger misunderstandings later on.
#16
When I worked at a doctors clinic, I had a lady on the phone wanting to book an appointment to have her flu shot. She specifically asked it to be a telephone appointment.
I could not believe that I had to explain to her that we cannot inject her through the phone.
#17
That the earth was bigger than the moon. Long story short- this was the beginning of the end of our marriage. He and I had an argument in front of the kids the entire five hour drive. He was telling the kids how stupid I was to correct daddy.
Omfg
#18
I had to explain to 2 teenage girls (15 and 16) that the reason the candle went out was because they put the glass lid back on it's jar. 1 of them said that fire can only be put out with water. I explained that fire needs oxygen and putting the lid back on it cut the supply. When they didnt understand after explaining a few times I had to explain it to them like toddlers. "Fire is hungry, so it eats the air. When all the air is gone, it goes to sleep. Bye bye fire." The double "ohhhh" was too much.
P.S. The look on their mama's face was so funny. She turned to me, threw her hands up, and said "I've failed." In the most defeated tone. That poor woman.
Edit: I would like to point out that we did, in fact, have a serious talk to these girls about proper fire safety, and when to NOT use water on an open fire.
Robin Roper 3 months ago
Two sheltered teens ask me in front of their mother if they could get HIV from a toilet seat. I explained to them that yes, it was possible but the following would have to happen: 1. a person with HIV would have to leave body fluid (blood, semen, blood, a**l fluid, or breast milk) on a toilet seat. Then, they with an open wound on their buttocks, or lady parts would have to, use the toilet in such a way that the still wet body fluid would come into contact with the open wound. I pointed out that if the open wound was on the buttock this wouldn't be difficult but if the open wound were on their lady parts, flexibility and dexterity would be required. I then asked them, if they entered a stall and saw wet body fluid on the seat, would they still use that toilet including straddling the seat so that their lady parts were touching or would they go to a different toilet. They said, they would not use that toilet. I could tell the mom was paying attention as well - she had no idea.
In reality, making requests, even the simplest ones, should be allowed and even encouraged. It’s easy to forget that at some point, everyone was ignorant of something.
The person who doesn’t know what the cloud is might be an expert in a completely different field, with knowledge you don’t possess. We all have gaps in our understanding, and the only way to fill them is by asking questions.
#19
That dogs are artificially bred, and that there aren't wild golden retrievers, wild chihuahuas, and wild Maltese just running about that we're catching to make into pets.
Skye Ragsdale 3 months ago
But wouldn't that be hilarious. I'm picturing a pack of wild chihuahuas bounding madly through the desert 😆
#20
That you can still get pregnant with the woman on top 🤦🏻♀️ "gravity doesn't work like that!"
#21
My husband had to explain to a co-worker that she couldn’t take a train from the U.S. to Europe. She insisted she had to because she didn’t like flying.
As a matter of fact, these are some of the most successful people in the world; they got to where they are today because they did not care how crazy the questions they posed were. It is the quest for answers—for more information, more detail—that fosters purpose and new ideas.
#22
That no matter how much you might want to put a camo pattern on your walls, you (not the paint) have to determine what that pattern looks like and you will also have to purchase multiple cans of paint tinted differently because "camo" doesn't come out of a can that way.
#23
I had to explain to a restaurant worker that eggs are not dairy. Chickens do not have mammary glands. Someone who is allergic to dairy can eat eggs and chicken. Mayonnaise, containing eggs and oil, is therefore not dairy.
She was looking at me like I was the stupid one, the whole time.
Trish Sullivan 3 months ago
I think a lot of people think eggs are dairy, because that's where you find them in the store.
#24
That each country does not, in fact, have its own sun.
Pill Nathan Whitely 3 months ago
Oh yeah? Well how come some countries are hotter and some are colder then, huh? Betcha didn't think of that, didja?
Even if a question seems silly at first, it’s better to ask and learn than to remain ignorant. Life is full of mysteries, big and small, and the only way to solve them is by staying curious and never being afraid to ask.
#25
I was amazed in my old workplace how many young adults, like early 20s or so, couldn't tell the time from the wall clock.
Pill Nathan Whitely 3 months ago
Well it's all roundsy with multiple sticks pointing in multiple directions an' numbers an' stuff...
#27
I work in travel. I've had to explain time zones more than you'd believe. So, if you leave Sydney at 2pm and fly ~14 hours, crossing the international dateline, you arrive in LA at noon - about 2 hours "before you left." I've watched this emoji 🤯 happen in real time.
#28
That you have to have a printer to print things at home. Tech support, and I wish I was lying.
So the next time someone asks you a question that makes you do a double take, just like the ones in this list, remember that we’re all just trying to figure things out. Embrace the moment, share your knowledge, and maybe even learn something new yourself.
#30
That New Zealand, the country we were both born, raised and living in, is not in Europe. Edit to answer most of your questions: her reasoning is that when she fills out forms and has to tick a box for her ethnicity, she ticks "New Zealand European". She thought that option was there because we are European and therefore in Europe. I had to explain to her that just means SHE is of European decent. That her ancestors lived in Europe. I also had to explain that not every New Zealander ticks that box. That there are other ethnicities here too.
Pill Nathan Whitely 3 months ago
Here in the States we have a lot of people thinking they're Europeans because they have European surnames. Had a gent tell me, "I'm a proud Viking and the seas flows through my veins." Yeah, pal, you're a chubby warehouse worker who would get seasick if required to stand on the bus. Prolly cut yourself with your own sword, too.
#31
In regards to the North and South poles, neither is "the one that is always hot."
Pill Nathan Whitely 3 months ago
So someone can be flat earther dumb without being a flat earther.
#32
That women do not all have their period at the beginning of the month all around the world at the same time.
#33
A girl was staying with my family and had brought her dog. The dog got hurt at one point (freak accident) that required surgery on a back leg and the "Cone of Shame" to be worn.
At one point, she started cutting off a bit of the cone.
Me: Careful, cut too much, and he'll be able to reach his stitches.
Her: That's alright. He'll be able to keep them clean.
I had to explain to her, very slowly, that the purpose of the cone was to keep him from licking the stitches and pulling them out. She honestly thought the cone was just an aesthetic thing.
#34
I had to explain to a doctor's receptionist from Michigan once that Canada was not located somewhere mysteriously "across the ocean?", but rather across the border... from Michigan. My mom and I spent the car ride home in stunned silence.
#35
That driving north meant the whole trip was uphill.
I laughed at her until I realised she meant it, ended up laughing at myself cos there’s no way I was going to explain it to her.
#36
That raw meat juices, especially that of chicken, should in no way come in contact with other foods.
I learned this in 8th grade home ec, so I was 13 years old.
I had to explain to a 40-year old that no, you can't put grilled chicken back on an unwashed cutting board that still has raw chicken juices.
#37
New England isn't part of Europe (to three different people). Get your s**t together, Arizona public school system.
#38
Orange juice from concentrate doesn't come from a place called "concentrate".
DennyS (denzoren) 3 months ago
This made me laugh, I'm gonna use that next time. I only want juice that comes from Concentrate. lol
#39
Used to work at a daycare. One day a little mouse entered the premises and caused an uproar until we caught and released it in the playground.
After the whole ordeal, one of my colleagues (who was the dumbest person I've ever met) said: "let's hope it didn't lay eggs anywhere!"
I was too stunned to speak and just stared at her, while my room leader/friend said, in the most done-with-this-s**t way: "Mice don't lay eggs, ." and walked off.
EDIT: I love how so many people in these replies are trying to find a different interpretation of what she must have meant, or say that she must have been joking :D but no, unfortunately I have to tell you she was 100% of the opinion that mice lay eggs because she even doubled down about it later.
#40
A friend asked me how the sun knows the clocks have changed when we have daylight savings.
#41
My bosses wife was learning how to use a computer. She typed in the numbers 1 to 9 and then asked how you typed in a number 10.
We were very diplomatic.
#42
That you cannot give your child a “smaller amount” of medicine that is only to be given to an adult. Boy that was a stressful night of very close observation and many calls to the nurse/poison control line.
#43
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and Italy is not a town in France. Same guy. My sister dated him for far too long.
Pill Nathan Whitely 3 months ago
Someone I respect asked me if I visited the nation's capitol often, since I live in Washington state. I was gentle. Someone I cherish deeply, who is by no means unintelligent, asked me whether Milan is the capitol of Italy. I was kind.
#44
I had to explain to someone you can't buy like two pounds of lunch meat and eat it for a month. The concept of things spoiling was new to him. To be fair, we were both college students and he was living alone for the first time.
I used to work at a coffee shop and had to explain what filling something halfway meant to a woman I was training. She didn't understand the concept of half.
Vicky Phenny 3 months ago
I'm so bothered by the fact the story is about lunch meat but the image is hamburger.
#45
I had to explain to a 22 year old friend of mine when I was 18 what ovulation was. We’re both women, she had no idea.
#46
I had to explain to a fully grown adult that yes...your car's keyless entry remote does indeed have a battery in it just like a TV remote and yes the button stopped working because the battery is dead and you need to replace it. I also had to tell him that if you're going to buy huge bags of dry dog food and keep it in your garage which you leave open most of the time...you might want to actually close the bag and maybe even put the closed bag in a container with a lid instead of letting it sit completely open and then always wondering why the dog food is full of bugs, spoils fast and attracts rats and raccoons.
I wish I could say he was a super brilliant engineer or something but yeah...no.
Taibhse Sealgair 3 months ago
Fun fact, my wife's car has push button start that requires the working key fob be in the car. If the battery dies, you're supposed to push the button WITH the key fob. YMMV.
#47
I had to explain to someone that New Mexico is in fact part of the United States, not a part of Mexico. I assume they failed Geography.
#48
Incremental tax brackets. a dude at my work thought he was going to make less money if he got a raise
#49
When you save a file on Windows, the save window actually lets you save the file into a particular folder. You don't have to go into your recent items to find it and then move it to where you want it to be saved. This person had been working an office job at a computer for more than 5 years at that point
Skye Ragsdale 3 months ago
I hear younger generations are struggling with this because so much of what they do is on their phones, so they didn't get any formal computer education like so many millennials did
#50
Whales don’t lay eggs.
What do you think ?
Damned_Cat 3 months ago
We were watching a NASCAR race once when an accident occurred on track. My mom commented that they wouldn't have wrecks if they stopped driving so fast.
Noproblem 3 months ago
I had a coworker who had to be reminded numerous times how to spell our manager’s name. Our manager’s name was Tim.
Sam Lombardo 3 months ago
We had to tell our history teacher in 6th grade, that the statue of liberty was a gift from the French. A HISTORY TEACHER!
Marnie 3 months ago
At the elementary level, they don't become teachers because they are knowledgeable, but because they got a degree in education. I've found most K-12 teachers to have very little intellectual curiosity and don't care that they know very little. (One of the reasons kids are strongly encouraged to read fiction and are unconsciously discouraged from reading non-fiction, unless it's a textbook.) It's terrifying. I have a sister who was a teacher for a while. Academically she was very gifted. She is a good person. But she had the intellectual curiosity of a knat. I read one of her college-assigned books for fun, and she just could not understand why I did that, even when I explained.
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IamMe 3 months ago
In fifth grade, we moved to West Virginia, because my dad was building a dam there. I had to explain to my new teacher, that my previous home of "Ver-mont", was nowhere near "Californy". She was convinced it was, because I "talked like people from T.V." The quotation marks, are all as said, by the teacher.
Amelia Jade 3 months ago
My cousin's husband thought if you went over the international date line while in a plane that it would change from day to night like a switch had been flipped.
frederick clause 3 months ago
The number of people that slip through the cracks in the education system is staggering. It's almost as though the powers that be don't think an education is important.
Don Adams 3 months ago
Worked as office manager for a nationwide relocation services company. Had a coordinator that constantly would ask what state Washington DC was in. Could not accept it was a district (hence the D) and not part of a state. Also requested a replacement Desk calculator, fooled with it all day, then complained it was not working right, that the numbers would not change. I peeled the label off the display....
Freya the Wanderer 3 months ago
I get the impression that a lot of these people are ignorant rather than stupid. Ignorant is better than stupid because you can cure ignorance.
B Jones 3 months ago
Some of it is also willful ignorance. People will form an opinion with no facts or on what someone else told them once, and believe that as the truth forever no matter what evidence is later presented. A complete unwillingness to learn or change even if otherwise they are intelligent. If you challenge someone's opinion they will cling tighter to it.
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Bamamom2boys 3 months ago
I live along the Gulf Coast (U.S.). I used to work in vacation rentals. I can't tell you how many times I would get this question when a fire alarm was going off in a building; "There seems to be a fire alarm in the building. What do we do?" I would always answer as politely as I could, "Get out of the building!" I would also get these calls: "Yes, there are sharks in the water. Who do we call to get them out?" Me: "Well, no one. That's where the sharks live."
Dan Flo 3 months ago (edited)
Telling my co worker about a stupid online argument I read about someone wanted to know any food with high energy but low kcal. He didnt get it... So I told him that kcal is the unit for the amount of energy in food so you cannot have high energy and low kcal. He said, and I kid you not: "But there must be something with few kcal that gives lots of energy. Im thinking water... or is that zero kcal? No energy?". A part of me died that day.
Lee Stone 3 months ago
Water would provide fabulous energy if you only had the organs to process it and burn it. Storage might be an issue as no one wants to be known as "gassy".
Load More Replies... Michelle Seasor 3 months ago
Los Angeles and New York City are not close to each other or San Francisco. I also had to explain East Coast and West Coast
DeoManus Argentem 3 months ago
The father of one of my best friends in high school was so cheap he removed the light bulbs from their refrigerator to save money, but kept a flashlight with D-Cell batteries next to it so the family could see inside... As you may know, batteries (especially disposable) are expensive. I asked my friend if his father knew the light goes off when the door closes, he kinda just shrugs. Father was an immigrant from Mexico (maybe fridges work differently down there?), but neither poor enough to be that cheap nor uneducated - he was a practicing pediatrician (physician for children) in a wealthy area of the US.
Penny Hernandez 3 months ago
I wonder what, if anything, they are teaching in U.S. schools today. Most. if not all of of the ignorance displayed above, I learned in elementary school, during the 40s and 50s.
James King 3 months ago
We were on a cruise in the summer north of the Arctic Circle, so 24 hours of sunlight. The cruise was called "Into the Midnight Sun". A woman asked "What time does the midnight sun come out?" She actually thought a second sun would appear. I heard someone nearby mutter "We're not on Tattoine, ffs!"
M G----no 3 months ago
I had an air-headed cousin growing up. She was the princess of the grandparents and was spoiled rotten, so my bro and I never felt bad making fun of her. At my house, we grew up w/o a dishwasher, so we had to do dishes by hand. As she stood there complaining, my mom said, "Just think, before we had running water, we had to wash the dishes down by the creek. And my cousin replied, "Really???" Now, this was probably around 1990. Then once, while we were in the car, I turned to her and said, "Look! Trees!" and she replied, "Where?" ... as we were passing a forested area. I could go on with these. She also would go to pay for something that was maybe $12... she'd hand the cashier a $20 and walk off without change. She just thought that if it was above one denomination, you had to give a higher one and that was it. We had to explain that she would get cash back. She was a teenager at the time.
Charlotte A. 3 months ago
Small wasps are not "baby wasps". Fellow uni student, we were both in natural sciences. 30 years later she's still one of my best friends, though :) My sister, when starting biology class in uni had to explain to her fellow students that bumblebees don't "burn", but sting.
Papa 3 months ago
I worked as a beekeeper many years ago. It was not uncommon for people to ask me if I ever got bit. I could truthfully tell them that no, I had never had a bee bite me.
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Margaret Brazear 1 month ago
I had to explain to my mother, who had lived in London through two world wars and raised five children, that my rabbits would breed, even if they were brothers and sisters. I had to explain to a friend that dogs do not all know 'drop it', that they know whatever they have been taught and I could say fluffy pink fairy cakes if that is what the dog had been taught. I had to assure someone that going to look at a car in a muslim area was quite safe and they would not all be making bombs. I had to explain to my mother that there was nothing really clever about a 3 year old French child speaking fluent French. I had to explain to a 17 year old girl that the posters declaring 'don't drink and drive' were referring to alcohol, not just anything you drink. I am sure I can think of more.
Crycket 3 months ago
I had to walk someone through knocking on a door. I was at school and a co-worker went to knock on the custodian's door, as someone had sent her to get something. I gestured her to the custodian's office, and she reached for the doorknob of the closed door. It was locked. She then stopped in her tracks and looked completely lost. I had to explain to her that she could either knock on the door and see if the custodian was there, or to go and come back later. She had to be in her mid 20s.
Rebekah Krause 3 months ago
My friend had kidney stones and was told to pee into this strainer type contraption to catch the stone. She began to feel better but had not yet caught the stone- she theorized that because she was on her period maybe it got stuck on her tampon. She was over 40. I tried to explain to her how this was impossible but she absolutely could not grasp even after I pulled up a couple google image diagrams of female anatomy and pointed out the bladder does not empty into the vagina.
Marnie 3 months ago
My sister (an academically gifted and very sweet person) had some mental discrepancies. I told her when she was in college that the contents of every non-fiction piece of writing just came from someone's head - their imagination, their observations, their conclusions, their summation, their hypothesis. It was just a person. She was astounded. To her, books were sort of "written in stone". They just WERE. They simply existed. Yes, she knew they had an author. But it was like she couldn't question it, either to dispute it, or to wonder about additional information on the subject. She couldn't understand that a book was the product of it's time. She especially did not understand that you and I could also come up with hypothesis or summation, etc. It's hard to explain her mindset. Also, she became a K-12 teacher. She, a very sweet person with absolutely no intellectual curiosity whatsoever.
Lorraine R 3 months ago
Did you mean every "fiction" piece of writing -- not "non-fiction"?
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The Other Guest 3 months ago
Put a non-width joiner in the middle of the word. The censor-bot will read it as dr ugs but it will show up on the screen as drugs (for example). I keep the tab for one open all the time: https://unicode-explorer.com/c/200D
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Elizabeth Deighton 3 months ago
I worked in a nursery and we were having staff training. The deputy manager was talking about horistic play. All I could think of was holistic medicine. She asked if we all knew what she meant and I said no. She started to explain and the manager said It's what we called a bit box when we were young. Later, a student came up to me and admitted that she didn't know and was so pleased when I said that I didn't as she didn't like to admit it.
Neb Skram 3 months ago
i had to explain to my SIL that Trump is a Republicain. she has voted for him twice, stupid just cant be fixed
Stephanie Did It 1 month ago (edited)
My friend, an older woman, worked in the medical manufacturing field. She made post-mastectomy bras for women, along with inserts, wigs and other products for women. She believed that the color white killed germs and that's why bandages were white. This also applied to bras and prosthetics, even to doctors' white coats. She would not be persuaded otherwise. (P.S. I know white isn't technically a color; I'm using it as a descriptive term)
Margaret Brazear 1 month ago
I had to explain to a grown woman that training a dog to do something involved more than just telling him to do it.
Margaret Brazear 1 month ago
Driving my mother, a Londoner, through country lanes with fields either side, she remarked: All this land's wasted ain't it? They could stick houses on this. I asked her where she thought she got her weetabix and her bread from. Her reply: Supermarket of course.
Richienotsorich 1 month ago
Had to explain to a 40+yo colleague that that "$hit version of the Statue of Liberty" in the Seine is the original that the NY version was designed from and which the French built and gave to America. Do a little bit of research on your holiday next time!
Jen Nunyabiz 2 months ago (edited)
When I lived in Colorado, I got in five separate arguments with people who couldn't understand that at a four-way stop, if the car on your right goes first, that means traffic moves in a clockwise direction.
Maria-Luiza Lobo 2 months ago
Na transmissão ao vivo do eclipse solar de hoje, um cara perguntou aos cientistas se haveria eclipse de novo amanhã ...
Isabel Galvez 3 months ago
My ex boyfriend said our children should get my eyes and for that I had to drink a lot of juice to be strong.
Danish Susanne 3 months ago
I much prefer people asking stupid questions, to people not asking when they do not know. So many years ago I started asking questions at meetings, when I knew that others didn't know the answer even if I knew myself. The surprising outcome was, that the others thought me intelligent because of my questions.
Phil Cookson 3 months ago
I once asked a college educated intern to send an email to all the engineers in our tech company. I came by an hour later and asked if she had done it. "Still doing it. You know there are 84 engineers?" She was copying it, changing the email address and posting it, 84 times. I was too stunned to explain CC.
Catherine Hutt 3 months ago
I had to explain how the alphabet works to a high school student who was interning in our dental office - she didn’t know how to use the phone book. She also filed the patient files by first name instead of last.
Lorraine Woollands 3 months ago
I have always been treated as if I am stupid,,thick, but these make me feel like I am a genius
Wielder of Yielder 3 months ago (edited)
My mum had to explain to her husband's daughter-in-law that we live on the outside of the globe, not the inside. It's hard to make sense of, but from the way my mum told it to me, it seemed this 20-something woman thought that Earth was a shell around the universe (so, like, if you fired a rocket from Earth, and it kept going in a straight line, it would hit whichever country was opposite from yours on the inside of the shell - get the picture?). She grew up in Communist Czechoslovakia; maybe their education suffered under the political system? Might that be the case?
Patricia the Grey 3 months ago
My husband used to say that if we lived in caveman times, the dinosaurs would eat me because I am a late sleeper and wake up slowly. I was the first person to tell him that dinosaurs and humans did not coexist. He has a PhD!
Lady Clarimonde 3 months ago
When teaching my student the correct steps before a blood transfusion, I asked her what she thought she had to check first. We had been through it the day before. She told me to secure the patient's genre. She literally went to my patient and asked him "Excuse me, are you a man or a woman?". She was 22. The face of my patient was beyond words... And when she knew she had failed the practicum, she still asked me why.
Margaret Brazear 1 month ago
Nowadays, there is a choice of more than two. And I assume you mean gender?
Load More Replies...
ronniebeaton00 3 months ago
Over the years, I've had to explain to multiple people that if a bar or club offers "Three free drinks" but you have to pay a cover charge to enter the bar/club, then your drinks are not free.
Cory Tollman 3 months ago
I worked with a thirty something woman from Kansas City that did not know that it was on the Missouri river.
Ray Perkins 3 months ago
Car-pooled with a PhD (laser designer) who was always asking things like "how does a car work?", "how does a record player work?".
roddy 1 month ago
To be fair, most people just use these things without wondering how they work. Wanting to know is more a sign of intelligence than a sign of stupidity.
Load More Replies... Nitka Tsar 3 months ago
Hey, does anyone know what might be the reason for me making more and more errors while typing? Is it most likely that I‘m getring old or my fingers maybe getting to thick, or might it be something more serious? I‘m getting really frustrated here
The Other Guest 3 months ago
Had to explain to a man in his late 40s that the sticky side of a panty liner goes against the fabric, not the skin.
roddy 1 month ago
Oh, like a bandaid! Just seal it up, and no more problem.
Load More Replies... Caia Calabrese 3 months ago
It must be the d***s. Or the Soviet Union put something in the water years ago. Or anything like that. People can't be like that in the US! How did you manage to become so powerful!?
Marnie 3 months ago
We managed because we had a very large area of nearly untapped resources and made use of them during the Industrial Revolution. We also had learned scientists from other countries come here during our hey day. Now, as far as I can tell, many people cheat their way through college, due to parental pressure or greed. The Evangelical Christians, who used to just mind their business, now vote and put pressure on school boards to not teach. Republicans like that, because their corporate overlords thinks that makes us suspectable to propaganda, about which they are correct. I also suspect lead poisoning has hurt us worse than people realize, contributing to this. Another issue is the cultural idea of individualism. This has lead many parents to think that their kids just "need to learn to be independent" and then they've done their jobs well. As such, many, perhaps most parents don't actually teach their kids anything. And don't encourage their kids to treasure getting an education.
Load More Replies...
Sarah Léon 3 months ago
In high-school, there was this... very nice but very dumb girl. First cold day of the year, -15°C. I used my scooter with 2 pairs of gloves and a double mountain coat. I was warming up near the heater when she came in, all shivering, and told me she was *so* cold. She came in a moped and wore a crop top under a thin leather jacket. "But I have style"... Another day, I was listening to music with a friend during recess. It was Die Moldau (Smetana). She came in, listened a minute and asked what it was. I answered. She said "oh, ok. I thought it was classical music". I told her it was. "Oh, I thought classical music was Mozart". It was to much to explain. And last but not least, one day she told me she could never be a sports teacher. I assumed "yes it's a lot of work and studies and you have to understand the human body, it's not that easy", and she said "Yes ! And you have to wear the same sweatpants the whole day !". She passed her final exams with honors !
Freya the Wanderer 3 months ago
She passed her finals with honors? Who took the test for her?
Load More Replies...
Verena 3 months ago
In some countries, you have the choice out of numerous parties
Load More Replies...
Damned_Cat 3 months ago
We were watching a NASCAR race once when an accident occurred on track. My mom commented that they wouldn't have wrecks if they stopped driving so fast.
Noproblem 3 months ago
I had a coworker who had to be reminded numerous times how to spell our manager’s name. Our manager’s name was Tim.
Sam Lombardo 3 months ago
We had to tell our history teacher in 6th grade, that the statue of liberty was a gift from the French. A HISTORY TEACHER!
Marnie 3 months ago
At the elementary level, they don't become teachers because they are knowledgeable, but because they got a degree in education. I've found most K-12 teachers to have very little intellectual curiosity and don't care that they know very little. (One of the reasons kids are strongly encouraged to read fiction and are unconsciously discouraged from reading non-fiction, unless it's a textbook.) It's terrifying. I have a sister who was a teacher for a while. Academically she was very gifted. She is a good person. But she had the intellectual curiosity of a knat. I read one of her college-assigned books for fun, and she just could not understand why I did that, even when I explained.
Load More Replies... IamMe 3 months ago
In fifth grade, we moved to West Virginia, because my dad was building a dam there. I had to explain to my new teacher, that my previous home of "Ver-mont", was nowhere near "Californy". She was convinced it was, because I "talked like people from T.V." The quotation marks, are all as said, by the teacher.
Amelia Jade 3 months ago
My cousin's husband thought if you went over the international date line while in a plane that it would change from day to night like a switch had been flipped.
frederick clause 3 months ago
The number of people that slip through the cracks in the education system is staggering. It's almost as though the powers that be don't think an education is important.
Don Adams 3 months ago
Worked as office manager for a nationwide relocation services company. Had a coordinator that constantly would ask what state Washington DC was in. Could not accept it was a district (hence the D) and not part of a state. Also requested a replacement Desk calculator, fooled with it all day, then complained it was not working right, that the numbers would not change. I peeled the label off the display....
Freya the Wanderer 3 months ago
I get the impression that a lot of these people are ignorant rather than stupid. Ignorant is better than stupid because you can cure ignorance.
B Jones 3 months ago
Some of it is also willful ignorance. People will form an opinion with no facts or on what someone else told them once, and believe that as the truth forever no matter what evidence is later presented. A complete unwillingness to learn or change even if otherwise they are intelligent. If you challenge someone's opinion they will cling tighter to it.
Load More Replies... Bamamom2boys 3 months ago
I live along the Gulf Coast (U.S.). I used to work in vacation rentals. I can't tell you how many times I would get this question when a fire alarm was going off in a building; "There seems to be a fire alarm in the building. What do we do?" I would always answer as politely as I could, "Get out of the building!" I would also get these calls: "Yes, there are sharks in the water. Who do we call to get them out?" Me: "Well, no one. That's where the sharks live."
Dan Flo 3 months ago (edited)
Telling my co worker about a stupid online argument I read about someone wanted to know any food with high energy but low kcal. He didnt get it... So I told him that kcal is the unit for the amount of energy in food so you cannot have high energy and low kcal. He said, and I kid you not: "But there must be something with few kcal that gives lots of energy. Im thinking water... or is that zero kcal? No energy?". A part of me died that day.
Lee Stone 3 months ago
Water would provide fabulous energy if you only had the organs to process it and burn it. Storage might be an issue as no one wants to be known as "gassy".
Load More Replies... Michelle Seasor 3 months ago
Los Angeles and New York City are not close to each other or San Francisco. I also had to explain East Coast and West Coast
DeoManus Argentem 3 months ago
The father of one of my best friends in high school was so cheap he removed the light bulbs from their refrigerator to save money, but kept a flashlight with D-Cell batteries next to it so the family could see inside... As you may know, batteries (especially disposable) are expensive. I asked my friend if his father knew the light goes off when the door closes, he kinda just shrugs. Father was an immigrant from Mexico (maybe fridges work differently down there?), but neither poor enough to be that cheap nor uneducated - he was a practicing pediatrician (physician for children) in a wealthy area of the US.
Penny Hernandez 3 months ago
I wonder what, if anything, they are teaching in U.S. schools today. Most. if not all of of the ignorance displayed above, I learned in elementary school, during the 40s and 50s.
James King 3 months ago
We were on a cruise in the summer north of the Arctic Circle, so 24 hours of sunlight. The cruise was called "Into the Midnight Sun". A woman asked "What time does the midnight sun come out?" She actually thought a second sun would appear. I heard someone nearby mutter "We're not on Tattoine, ffs!"
M G----no 3 months ago
I had an air-headed cousin growing up. She was the princess of the grandparents and was spoiled rotten, so my bro and I never felt bad making fun of her. At my house, we grew up w/o a dishwasher, so we had to do dishes by hand. As she stood there complaining, my mom said, "Just think, before we had running water, we had to wash the dishes down by the creek. And my cousin replied, "Really???" Now, this was probably around 1990. Then once, while we were in the car, I turned to her and said, "Look! Trees!" and she replied, "Where?" ... as we were passing a forested area. I could go on with these. She also would go to pay for something that was maybe $12... she'd hand the cashier a $20 and walk off without change. She just thought that if it was above one denomination, you had to give a higher one and that was it. We had to explain that she would get cash back. She was a teenager at the time.
Charlotte A. 3 months ago
Small wasps are not "baby wasps". Fellow uni student, we were both in natural sciences. 30 years later she's still one of my best friends, though :) My sister, when starting biology class in uni had to explain to her fellow students that bumblebees don't "burn", but sting.
Papa 3 months ago
I worked as a beekeeper many years ago. It was not uncommon for people to ask me if I ever got bit. I could truthfully tell them that no, I had never had a bee bite me.
Load More Replies... Margaret Brazear 1 month ago
I had to explain to my mother, who had lived in London through two world wars and raised five children, that my rabbits would breed, even if they were brothers and sisters. I had to explain to a friend that dogs do not all know 'drop it', that they know whatever they have been taught and I could say fluffy pink fairy cakes if that is what the dog had been taught. I had to assure someone that going to look at a car in a muslim area was quite safe and they would not all be making bombs. I had to explain to my mother that there was nothing really clever about a 3 year old French child speaking fluent French. I had to explain to a 17 year old girl that the posters declaring 'don't drink and drive' were referring to alcohol, not just anything you drink. I am sure I can think of more.
Crycket 3 months ago
I had to walk someone through knocking on a door. I was at school and a co-worker went to knock on the custodian's door, as someone had sent her to get something. I gestured her to the custodian's office, and she reached for the doorknob of the closed door. It was locked. She then stopped in her tracks and looked completely lost. I had to explain to her that she could either knock on the door and see if the custodian was there, or to go and come back later. She had to be in her mid 20s.
Rebekah Krause 3 months ago
My friend had kidney stones and was told to pee into this strainer type contraption to catch the stone. She began to feel better but had not yet caught the stone- she theorized that because she was on her period maybe it got stuck on her tampon. She was over 40. I tried to explain to her how this was impossible but she absolutely could not grasp even after I pulled up a couple google image diagrams of female anatomy and pointed out the bladder does not empty into the vagina.
Marnie 3 months ago
My sister (an academically gifted and very sweet person) had some mental discrepancies. I told her when she was in college that the contents of every non-fiction piece of writing just came from someone's head - their imagination, their observations, their conclusions, their summation, their hypothesis. It was just a person. She was astounded. To her, books were sort of "written in stone". They just WERE. They simply existed. Yes, she knew they had an author. But it was like she couldn't question it, either to dispute it, or to wonder about additional information on the subject. She couldn't understand that a book was the product of it's time. She especially did not understand that you and I could also come up with hypothesis or summation, etc. It's hard to explain her mindset. Also, she became a K-12 teacher. She, a very sweet person with absolutely no intellectual curiosity whatsoever.
Lorraine R 3 months ago
Did you mean every "fiction" piece of writing -- not "non-fiction"?
Load More Replies... The Other Guest 3 months ago
Put a non-width joiner in the middle of the word. The censor-bot will read it as dr ugs but it will show up on the screen as drugs (for example). I keep the tab for one open all the time: https://unicode-explorer.com/c/200D
Load More Replies... Elizabeth Deighton 3 months ago
I worked in a nursery and we were having staff training. The deputy manager was talking about horistic play. All I could think of was holistic medicine. She asked if we all knew what she meant and I said no. She started to explain and the manager said It's what we called a bit box when we were young. Later, a student came up to me and admitted that she didn't know and was so pleased when I said that I didn't as she didn't like to admit it.
Neb Skram 3 months ago
i had to explain to my SIL that Trump is a Republicain. she has voted for him twice, stupid just cant be fixed
Stephanie Did It 1 month ago (edited)
My friend, an older woman, worked in the medical manufacturing field. She made post-mastectomy bras for women, along with inserts, wigs and other products for women. She believed that the color white killed germs and that's why bandages were white. This also applied to bras and prosthetics, even to doctors' white coats. She would not be persuaded otherwise. (P.S. I know white isn't technically a color; I'm using it as a descriptive term)
Margaret Brazear 1 month ago
I had to explain to a grown woman that training a dog to do something involved more than just telling him to do it.
Margaret Brazear 1 month ago
Driving my mother, a Londoner, through country lanes with fields either side, she remarked: All this land's wasted ain't it? They could stick houses on this. I asked her where she thought she got her weetabix and her bread from. Her reply: Supermarket of course.
Richienotsorich 1 month ago
Had to explain to a 40+yo colleague that that "$hit version of the Statue of Liberty" in the Seine is the original that the NY version was designed from and which the French built and gave to America. Do a little bit of research on your holiday next time!
Jen Nunyabiz 2 months ago (edited)
When I lived in Colorado, I got in five separate arguments with people who couldn't understand that at a four-way stop, if the car on your right goes first, that means traffic moves in a clockwise direction.
Maria-Luiza Lobo 2 months ago
Na transmissão ao vivo do eclipse solar de hoje, um cara perguntou aos cientistas se haveria eclipse de novo amanhã ...
Isabel Galvez 3 months ago
My ex boyfriend said our children should get my eyes and for that I had to drink a lot of juice to be strong.
Danish Susanne 3 months ago
I much prefer people asking stupid questions, to people not asking when they do not know. So many years ago I started asking questions at meetings, when I knew that others didn't know the answer even if I knew myself. The surprising outcome was, that the others thought me intelligent because of my questions.
Phil Cookson 3 months ago
I once asked a college educated intern to send an email to all the engineers in our tech company. I came by an hour later and asked if she had done it. "Still doing it. You know there are 84 engineers?" She was copying it, changing the email address and posting it, 84 times. I was too stunned to explain CC.
Catherine Hutt 3 months ago
I had to explain how the alphabet works to a high school student who was interning in our dental office - she didn’t know how to use the phone book. She also filed the patient files by first name instead of last.
Lorraine Woollands 3 months ago
I have always been treated as if I am stupid,,thick, but these make me feel like I am a genius
Wielder of Yielder 3 months ago (edited)
My mum had to explain to her husband's daughter-in-law that we live on the outside of the globe, not the inside. It's hard to make sense of, but from the way my mum told it to me, it seemed this 20-something woman thought that Earth was a shell around the universe (so, like, if you fired a rocket from Earth, and it kept going in a straight line, it would hit whichever country was opposite from yours on the inside of the shell - get the picture?). She grew up in Communist Czechoslovakia; maybe their education suffered under the political system? Might that be the case?
Patricia the Grey 3 months ago
My husband used to say that if we lived in caveman times, the dinosaurs would eat me because I am a late sleeper and wake up slowly. I was the first person to tell him that dinosaurs and humans did not coexist. He has a PhD!
Lady Clarimonde 3 months ago
When teaching my student the correct steps before a blood transfusion, I asked her what she thought she had to check first. We had been through it the day before. She told me to secure the patient's genre. She literally went to my patient and asked him "Excuse me, are you a man or a woman?". She was 22. The face of my patient was beyond words... And when she knew she had failed the practicum, she still asked me why.
Margaret Brazear 1 month ago
Nowadays, there is a choice of more than two. And I assume you mean gender?
Load More Replies... ronniebeaton00 3 months ago
Over the years, I've had to explain to multiple people that if a bar or club offers "Three free drinks" but you have to pay a cover charge to enter the bar/club, then your drinks are not free.
Cory Tollman 3 months ago
I worked with a thirty something woman from Kansas City that did not know that it was on the Missouri river.
Ray Perkins 3 months ago
Car-pooled with a PhD (laser designer) who was always asking things like "how does a car work?", "how does a record player work?".
roddy 1 month ago
To be fair, most people just use these things without wondering how they work. Wanting to know is more a sign of intelligence than a sign of stupidity.
Load More Replies... Nitka Tsar 3 months ago
Hey, does anyone know what might be the reason for me making more and more errors while typing? Is it most likely that I‘m getring old or my fingers maybe getting to thick, or might it be something more serious? I‘m getting really frustrated here
The Other Guest 3 months ago
Had to explain to a man in his late 40s that the sticky side of a panty liner goes against the fabric, not the skin.
roddy 1 month ago
Oh, like a bandaid! Just seal it up, and no more problem.
Load More Replies... Caia Calabrese 3 months ago
It must be the d***s. Or the Soviet Union put something in the water years ago. Or anything like that. People can't be like that in the US! How did you manage to become so powerful!?
Marnie 3 months ago
We managed because we had a very large area of nearly untapped resources and made use of them during the Industrial Revolution. We also had learned scientists from other countries come here during our hey day. Now, as far as I can tell, many people cheat their way through college, due to parental pressure or greed. The Evangelical Christians, who used to just mind their business, now vote and put pressure on school boards to not teach. Republicans like that, because their corporate overlords thinks that makes us suspectable to propaganda, about which they are correct. I also suspect lead poisoning has hurt us worse than people realize, contributing to this. Another issue is the cultural idea of individualism. This has lead many parents to think that their kids just "need to learn to be independent" and then they've done their jobs well. As such, many, perhaps most parents don't actually teach their kids anything. And don't encourage their kids to treasure getting an education.
Load More Replies... Sarah Léon 3 months ago
In high-school, there was this... very nice but very dumb girl. First cold day of the year, -15°C. I used my scooter with 2 pairs of gloves and a double mountain coat. I was warming up near the heater when she came in, all shivering, and told me she was *so* cold. She came in a moped and wore a crop top under a thin leather jacket. "But I have style"... Another day, I was listening to music with a friend during recess. It was Die Moldau (Smetana). She came in, listened a minute and asked what it was. I answered. She said "oh, ok. I thought it was classical music". I told her it was. "Oh, I thought classical music was Mozart". It was to much to explain. And last but not least, one day she told me she could never be a sports teacher. I assumed "yes it's a lot of work and studies and you have to understand the human body, it's not that easy", and she said "Yes ! And you have to wear the same sweatpants the whole day !". She passed her final exams with honors !
Freya the Wanderer 3 months ago
She passed her finals with honors? Who took the test for her?
Load More Replies... Verena 3 months ago
In some countries, you have the choice out of numerous parties
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