# My ex was so dumb they thought **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 14, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047 "2020-12-14T20:16:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/101 "2021-05-30T15:09:48Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I know nothing about your ex, but my diploma (Queen’s University, Kingston) is ENTIRELY in Latin. I was surprised when my wife’s diplomas - from different universities - were in English. I assumed they all did it in Latin because it looks so smarty pants. True story: after my dad moved to Israel in 1971, he tried to get into Hebrew University in Jerusalem to get a graduate degree. They wouldn’t accept his college diploma because they couldn’t read the Latin. He had graduated from Yale. (We ended up going back to the States so he could go to NYU, which is why English is my first language). ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/102 "2021-05-30T20:24:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > True story: after my dad moved to Israel in 1971, he tried to get into Hebrew University in Jerusalem to get a graduate degree. They wouldn’t accept his college diploma because they couldn’t read the Latin. Probably still bent out of shape with that kerfluffle back around 70ad, Masada and all that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/103 "2021-05-30T20:29:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Back in the Olden Dayes of credit cards with the embossed numbers and the _Ker-Chunk!_ imprint machines I used to joke that > > > I _can’t_ be up to my credit limit; I haven’t worn the numbers off the card yet. > > Once in awhile between wife and I we tried real hard to get there though! I once (maybe twice) had to have a credit card replaced because the magnetic stripe was so worn that some store machines had trouble reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/104 "2021-05-30T22:24:12Z")
I knew a kid who opened a checking account so he could deposit his first-ever paycheck. Next day at the shop he was wondering aloud why he had so many more checks than deposit slips in the checkbook. Didn’t take long for him to work that one out. Dan ---
**Author:** ![omenran](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omenran/32/3318_2.png) [@omenran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omenran)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/105 "2021-05-31T05:36:38Z")
I’ve had to replace my debit card a couple times because of use. I’m not sure how long my current one is going to last either. I don’t ever carry cash, so I’m always using it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/106 "2021-05-31T12:13:38Z")
The newer chip cards are much harder to wear out than the mag stripes were. And tap-and-go RFID cards will outlast the technology to read them. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/107 "2021-05-31T13:21:11Z")
I love chip cards, because I tend to demagnetize the stripes (and always have to get a replacement hotel key card after a day or two). It’s a super power… that I wish had a practical aspect (Ooh, is there a brand of electronic vault door that I could deactivate, just by lounging near it?) ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/108 "2021-06-30T17:58:54Z")
My ex got new jobs the way normal people change clothes. She started her new job at a bank and found out she could get an advance on her paycheck. She did so. Then she couldn’t figure out why her paycheck was for less than she thought it should be. She didn’t realize where the advance came from- she thought it was just available extra money for the asking. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/109 "2021-06-30T20:56:53Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I love chip cards, because I tend to demagnetize the stripes (and always have to get a replacement hotel key card after a day or two). This is from getting your Covid vaxes? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/110 "2021-07-04T03:48:05Z")
Good one! At least then I’d know it was working (yeah, tinfoil hat people, it’s a bonus feature)! But I’ve been messing with the electron orbitals of credit cards for decades. I could think “Uh, oh, something’s wrong with me”, but nope, I just consider it a super power. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/111 "2021-07-06T04:20:35Z")
I am expecting to see myself in one of these threads one Day. A few years ago on a **very windy** day I was in a parking lot getting ready to go into the store to buy some groceries. The guy loading his groceries into his car said to me, “Damn it’s so cold with this F\*\*\*ING wind!!” I point up to the series of windmills on the the top of the mountains across the valley, and 'Maybe the wind wouldn’t be so bad if they shut those DAMN fans off !!!" and just turned around and walked into the store. I never did see his reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/112 "2021-07-06T04:23:41Z")
Windmills do not work that way! Goodnight! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/113 "2021-07-06T04:34:28Z")
Well played! ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/114 "2021-07-06T05:04:49Z")
I was at the car parts counter one day. The guy couldn’t enter the part number because the 5 on the computer’s number pad wouldn’t work. I said “Here, just use this one” and tapped the 5 above the R on the keyboard. He was a bit annoyed he hadn’t thought of it before. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/115 "2021-07-08T18:03:38Z")
I was showing my wife the circuit breaker box so she’d know what to do if one tripped. “See how that one says ON?” “It says OZ” “It’s sideways” ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/116 "2021-07-08T18:15:10Z")
I have an ex who insisted that everything was a 50/50 chance, because either it would happen or it wouldn’t, right? 50/50. Stands to reason. He would have been nice to my cats if I had any. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/117 "2021-07-08T18:42:27Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I was showing my wife the circuit breaker box so she’d know what to do if one tripped. > > “See how that one says ON?” > “It says OZ” > “It’s sideways” I’d never checked to see which way the lettering read, but why do circuit breaker boxes have the switches installed sideways like that? Is there any particular reason beyond it’s just the way it’s always been done? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/118 "2021-07-08T19:13:24Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > why do circuit breaker boxes have the switches installed sideways like that? Damn, that is a good point. That I have never thought about. Up=ON, Down=OFF is pretty well ingrained in most cultures. (…and Sideways = OZ) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/119 "2021-07-08T19:20:09Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Up=ON, Down=OFF is pretty well ingrained in most cultures. To the point where I will go out of my way to “fix” switches that are “wrong” (when lights can be switched from two different locations). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/120 "2021-07-08T19:48:38Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > why do circuit breaker boxes have the switches installed sideways like that? Is there any particular reason beyond it’s just the way it’s always been done? Uneducated guess: They fit better in the panel that way. If they were vertical, you might need three columns instead of two. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047.md?page=7)