# Amazingly stupid things overheard **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 28, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599 "2011-12-28T04:33:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![kjbrasda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/74df32/32.png) [@kjbrasda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjbrasda)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/201 "2012-01-03T13:22:08Z")
I might have shared this before. Years ago we were sitting around talking about my sister’s pregnancy and whatnot, my college friend mentioned that she would never want to breastfeed “because it would hurt too much to poke all those holes with the needle” cue blank looks and a few beats of silence from the rest of us… We then asked her what she thought wild animals did when they gave birth. “well, the just gnaw the end off don’t they?” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/202 "2012-01-03T13:51:47Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > _ **San Antonio.** _ I believe there is an at least humorous rivalry between Alaska and Texas abut being the largest state. I’d think everyone in Texas would know Alaska was a state just as everyone in Arkansas knows that Mississippi is a state. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/203 "2012-01-03T15:25:40Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > (To clarify: You’re in Taiwan now, correct?) Um, yeah. sure. Why not? 😉 > [@Koxinga](#): > > Why the hell don’t they leave Siam alone? Somebody ought to bring this to the UN Security Council. Yeah, leave me alone. But I wouldn’t want to make a UN case out of it. > [@Satchmo](#): > > Wait a minute, you’re telling me there’s a ‘New’ Mexico? When I lived in Albuquerque, some magazine ran a collection of folks’ anecdotes about people elsewhere in the US not realizing New Mexico was a state. Stories such as they would not ship to New Mexico because they said they did not ship internationally. Like that. There were quite a few. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/204 "2012-01-03T15:33:13Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > You should also add Iowa to your list. As I mentioned in post 162 there were apparently people there that don’t know Hawaii is a state. > > It makes me wonder how many birthers are people who don’t know that Hawaii was a state when Barack Obama was born there. Considering Hawaii [is in Asia](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9hPXHD4WH0), it’s easy to understand why a lot of people don’t realize it’s a state. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/205 "2012-01-03T17:49:42Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > You should also add Iowa to your list. As I mentioned in post 162 there were apparently people there that don’t know Hawaii is a state. > > It makes me wonder how many birthers are people who don’t know that Hawaii was a state when Barack Obama was born there. At the risk of hijacking the thread, isn’t the birthers’ issue with Obama their belief that he was born in Kenya and not in Hawaii at all? I’m sure they would have no issue with it if they accepted Obama’s birth certificate stating he was born in Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/206 "2012-01-03T19:42:25Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > At the risk of hijacking the thread, isn’t the birthers’ issue with Obama their belief that he was born in Kenya and not in Hawaii at all? I’m sure they would have no issue with it if they accepted Obama’s birth certificate stating he was born in Hawaii. We are discussing **stupid** people, not **paranoid** people. My comment about people not knowing that Hawaii has been a state since 1959 was intended to humorous. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/207 "2012-01-03T20:18:03Z")
I once overheard two people talking about collecting all the state quarters. They were wondering how much a complete set would be worth. Just a wild guess . . . but I estimate somewhere around $12.50. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/208 "2012-01-03T20:44:14Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > We are discussing **stupid** people, not **paranoid** people. My comment about people not knowing that Hawaii has been a state since 1959 was intended to humorous. I guess that one went over my head. Humor doesn’t always translate well in text. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/209 "2012-01-03T21:21:30Z")
Whenever my husband talks to a customer service person, he asks where they are, how the weather is there and so forth. He then tells them about the polar bears in the yard, the glaciers creaping into the yard, and the dog team in the garage. We live in Seattle. :rolleyes: It’s amazing how many believe him. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/210 "2012-01-03T23:30:23Z")
I was standing on the lawn outside the U.S. Capitol, in the shade of the rotunda, when two people came strolling down the path. One asked the other, “Where is Capitol Hill anyway?” A kid I once knew asked his father how much static electricity would build up in a car if not for the shock absorbers. In my (I mean his!) defense, I was only a kid, but not all that young, and certainly old enough that my (his!) father just gaped in response. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/211 "2012-01-03T23:50:01Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Whenever my husband talks to a customer service person, he asks where they are, how the weather is there and so forth. > He then tells them about the polar bears in the yard, the glaciers creaping into the yard, and the dog team in the garage. We live in Seattle. :rolleyes: > > It’s amazing how many believe him. A coworker and her husband were planning to visit friends in Montreal. She was going on and on about all the winter clothing they’d have to take with them. It was July. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/212 "2012-01-04T00:12:03Z")
An acquaintance (an old friend from my youth) who’s a Luddite, to put it nicely, asked me whether I could pull up her high school website. I asked, what for? She said she wants to change somethings on her high school record. I told her something like that is not possible as if it is, everyone would change their record/grades etc… to that she angrily replied, “Then why would I buy a computer for!!” (I was trying to get her to get her own computer so she won’t bother me with all her asinine _little_ tasks). This was a few years ago but I was flabbergasted. But then, when I told her I can’t connect to internet with my laptop unless I’m subscribed to a mobile broadband plan etc. She said, “Then what good is (the portability of) a laptop!!”… I kinda agree in a way though… when are we getting free nationwide WiFi coverage? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/213 "2012-01-04T00:19:55Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > At the risk of hijacking the thread, isn’t the birthers’ issue with Obama their belief that he was born in Kenya and not in Hawaii at all? I’m sure they would have no issue with it if they accepted Obama’s birth certificate stating he was born in Hawaii. There was a variety of birtherism that claimed Obama was not a citizen because his father wasn’t a USA citizen(despite his mother being a USA citizen and being born in the USA), they somehow believed US citizenship passes through the father only. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/214 "2012-01-04T00:25:45Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > How many really entertaining dumb things do people say, when they are really just whooshing? I’ll be smart people do this a lot. > > When a waitperson asks me how I want my eggs, I often say “Medium rare”. I might have to use that. When asked how I’d like a steak cooked, I’ll occasionally answer “Grilled, please.” (I got this from an actual customer whose order I once took.) Another from when I worked in a dining hall back in college, I had two separate occasions on which a customer asked if a quarter chicken or a half chicken was bigger. The posts about _Troy_ remind me of another one. I once heard a person complain about having had the “twist” in the movie _Titanic_ “spoiled” for her; she had no idea the ship was going to hit an iceberg until someone “spoiled” it. I also knew a guy who had _Apollo 13_ similarly “spoiled”. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/215 "2012-01-04T02:24:58Z")
> [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](#): > > I also knew a guy who had _Apollo 13_ similarly “spoiled”. My daughter was in junior high when Apollo 13 came out, and she went to see it with some of her friends. When I picked her up after the movie, she asked, “Why did they change the ending for the movie? Didn’t they die in real life?” ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/216 "2012-01-04T02:34:39Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > Based on the people I know, most people have rather vague notions of geography. Even people who have traveled internationally may only loose ideas and just go where the plane takes them. This is true, especially people who travel for business. Distance is measured in hours, not miles, so you can end up with a very odd sense of geography, depending on your company’s preferred airline’s hub. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/217 "2012-01-04T02:49:44Z")
> [@kjbrasda](#): > > I might have shared this before. > Years ago we were sitting around talking about my sister’s pregnancy and whatnot, my college friend mentioned that she would never want to breastfeed “because it would hurt too much to poke all those holes with the needle” > cue blank looks and a few beats of silence from the rest of us… > We then asked her what she thought wild animals did when they gave birth. > “well, the just gnaw the end off don’t they?” Reminds me of a friend in law school who had just talked to an older relative about the importance of prostate exams. My friend told us she planned on getting her prostate examined regularly when she got older to catch any problems early. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/218 "2012-01-04T02:51:27Z")
Once was out grocery shopping with my mom. The lady in front of us was buying two half-gallon cartons of milk, mom was buying a gallon. My mom remarked to her that it was something like, $4.50 for two half-gallons of milk, but only $3.75 for the gallon. The woman replied “Oh but we can’t drink that much milk.” When I was a kid we found a pair of jeans on the 1/2 off rack and went to purchase them. They were originally $14. Mom mentioned to the cashier that they were half off. She went 😕. My mom said: “$7?” She replied “$7 off or $7 is the price?” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/219 "2012-01-04T03:22:53Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Reminds me of a friend in law school who had just talked to an older relative about the importance of prostate exams. My friend told us she planned on getting her prostate examined regularly when she got older to catch any problems early. These people are breathing my air. ---
**Author:** ![Soulcatcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Soulcatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soulcatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599/220 "2012-01-04T03:54:45Z")
Foreign Tourist: “Excuse me, but could you tell me where the Hoover Dam is?” Me: “Um, actually you are standing on it.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazingly-stupid-things-overheard/607599.md?page=12)