# Conversation with a niece who is going into Grade 10 \[inadvertent Avengers 3 spoiler\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2018, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136 "2018-06-15T04:35:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/21 "2018-06-15T12:57:39Z")
I would really hate to see a transcribed conversation between 15-year-old me and my judgy 40-year-old uncle. At least she spoke in complete sentences with some positive emotion. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/22 "2018-06-15T13:57:18Z")
The most surprising part of your conversation was this little bit: > [@ssgenius](#): > > Me: (in a joking fashion): If you go to Austraila, you might come back pregnant. I don’t get the joke, or even the context of the comment in relation to Australia. It makes you come across creepy. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/23 "2018-06-15T15:35:56Z")
Your niece sounds like an energetic, normal, lovely girl. The problem with the gratuitous “pregnant” remark is that it lets everyone know that you are thinking of your 15-year-old niece sexually. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/24 "2018-06-15T16:30:33Z")
The whole conversation seemed quite normal to me, except for the shocking pregnancy remark by the adult. That was way out of line. If I heard a family member say that to my 15 year old daughter, I’m not sure I’d let him be around her unsupervised any more. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/25 "2018-06-15T16:33:56Z")
Fwiw: It’s nice she would converse with you. Many high schoolers of my acquaintance are too self-absorbed or phone-absorbed to willingly hold up their end of a conversation with an adult. The rapid context switching seems normal for a youth, even more so for one of the internet generation. It’s been joked that attention span has been dropping steadily since the MTV generation. I am inclined to agree. I’ll also blame the geography thing (to a small extent) on the internet. People talk about the (never quite materialized) “end of history”. The internet is the end of geography. Where something comes from rarely matters or is even easily evident. It’s exceptional and weird when a national border gets in the way of something on the 'net. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/26 "2018-06-15T16:36:49Z")
The pregnancy comment was actually brought up initially by her mother. I just added a little bit more to it. IT WAS NOT INTENDED IN ANY OTHER WAY. Of note, she was named after her great grandmother who did have her first child at the age of 16 which is common knowledge in the family. It was in that context that this comment was made. I was surprised at her reaction of “Never” as opposed to “Maybe in a few years” I was also surprised that the pants she had on were purchased already pre ripped as opposed to being ripped from usage. I just found it interesting listening to a 15 year old girl who I have known since she was an infant. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/27 "2018-06-15T16:38:14Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > When I was 15 I doubt that I could have named more than 20 or so countries. Huh? I stopped geography lessons at 14 and was able to name far more. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/28 "2018-06-15T16:42:33Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Huh? I stopped geography lessons at 14 and was able to name far more. Our continent only has 3 countries. You can throw a rock at probably 6. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/29 "2018-06-15T16:43:54Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > I was also surprised that the pants she had on were purchased already pre ripped as opposed to being ripped from usage. I find it very hard to believe that in 2018 you were unaware of the decades-old practice of retailing pre-ripped jeans. > [@](#): > > I just found it interesting listening to a 15 year old girl who I have known since she was an infant. I don’t mean to be rude here, but I found nothing particularly interesting or unusual about her comments. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/30 "2018-06-15T16:44:08Z")
Also note that her father, and her mother. As well as the grandmother and grandfather of her father were also there. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/31 "2018-06-15T16:44:17Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > My conclusions: > > She relies a LOT on her smartphone. > She has a very good sense of what is fair and what is not. > She is VERY GOOD in manipulating her parents and grandparents. > She has a very poor perception of geography. > Academically, she is very dependent on her smart phone. 20 years ago, I knew a couple of elderly ladies who had both been school teachers. They bemoaned the fact that “students these days” were so dependent on their calculators. Do you see a potential pattern? ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/32 "2018-06-15T16:47:11Z")
I am well aware of the marketing of pre ripped jeans. I am just surprised at the extent of it. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/33 "2018-06-15T16:48:18Z")
I think it’s far more important to have the wherewithal to actually look up knowledge, than necessarily retaining that knowledge. So many people don’t know anything, and they ALSO refuse to look it up, despite having a smartphone in their hand with the sum of the world’s knowledge if you only bother to look. If she doesn’t know, but says, “I don’t know, but I can find out!” that’s far better than “I dunno.” as they stare at you and don’t do anything. Eventually after looking things up, you retain the most important things to you. Geography, unless you have the funds or job to travel…really not that important to the average person’s daily life. So I think she’s doing just fine. At age 15 it’s easy to believe whatever your friends tell you, and it’s also easy to spread bad information because you heard it from a friend who was told a tall tale by their older brother as a joke, and nobody verified it. Encourage her looking things up on her phone even MORE, even, to verify facts. Tell her to look up the ozone layer and how NASA put out a report that it’s doing better, for example. The ability to look things up, be flexible, and come up with solutions is how you get ahead in the world. And if I knew MORE pop culture as a kid, I’d have fit in more. Nobody likes the kid who says their favorite music is Mozart and has never seen South Park. You need that small talk connection of pop culture to make friends. So don’t hate for her knowing a lot about Marvel movies. It’s how you make friends and don’t grow up socially isolated. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/34 "2018-06-15T16:53:51Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Huh? I stopped geography lessons at 14 and was able to name far more. Some people are good in some subjects, some people are good in others. I have known adult Canadians who could not state how many provinces Canada has. The number is 10, which you would think is more or less the easiest number one could be asked to remember. However, in no way were these people especially stupid. It’s just not something everyone’s got a firm grasp of. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/35 "2018-06-15T21:38:52Z")
Thanks for the comments. Yes, she does look things up on her “Smart Phone”. I have known her for most of her life. I am just amazed how quick she can transition from texting to a conversation. She is a splitting image of Susie from the Calvin and Hobbes comic in her actions and looks, if I had to describe her. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2018, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/36 "2018-06-15T22:57:04Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > When I was 15 I doubt that I could have named more than 20 or so countries… > [@Quartz](#): > > Huh? I stopped geography lessons at 14 and was able to name far more. Well then you win. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/37 "2018-06-16T00:38:12Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I’m pretty certain the ozone hole has repaired. In any case, the last place it would affect is New Zealand, where everything is constantly cold and damp. The ozone hole has not repaired, it is hoped it will reach pre 1980 levels by 2075. New Zealand ozone levels drop by 10% each year after the Antarctic hole breaks up dispersing ozone depleted air outward from the pole. Anecdotally, I get burnt far worse in NZ than I ever do in Australia. It’s not high temperatures that cause sunburn. > **[Ozone depletion](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_depletion)** > > Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone layer) around Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. There are also springtime polar tropospheric ozone depletion events in addition to these stratospheric events. > The main causes of ozone depletion and the ozone hole ... ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2018, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/38 "2018-06-16T01:46:01Z")
Seems I don’t know diddly about the ozone hole. I have learned a couple of things today. I’ve never had sunburn while living 30 years in New Zealand. I just got horizontal rain. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/39 "2018-06-16T03:29:51Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Seems I don’t know diddly about the ozone hole. I have learned a couple of things today. > > I’ve never had sunburn while living 30 years in New Zealand. I just got horizontal rain. You were living in the wrong parts! ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136/40 "2018-06-16T04:21:59Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Some people are good in some subjects, some people are good in others. > > I have known adult Canadians who could not state how many provinces Canada has. The number is 10, which you would think is more or less the easiest number one could be asked to remember. However, in no way were these people especially stupid. It’s just not something everyone’s got a firm grasp of. Exactly. We all have our strong suits and our weaker ones. My wife has a master’s degree in English and has taught at the college level. She probably knows less geography than the OP’s niece. Somehow that shortcoming has not yet ruined her life. Marrying me, on the other hand… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conversation-with-a-niece-who-is-going-into-grade-10-inadvertent-avengers-3-spoiler/816136.md?page=3)