# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/121 "2021-07-08T19:52:54Z")
Another guess: the breaker boxes fit between the studs, and it’s easier to expand vertically. ---
**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, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/122 "2021-07-08T19:53:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Uneducated guess: They fit better in the panel that way. If they were vertical, you might need three columns instead of two. That seems like a good guess to me. But some of those very old-timey boxes didn’t have a lot of switches in them! ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/123 "2021-07-08T19:57:13Z")
A tall circuit breaker box will fit in more locations as compared to a wide circuit breaker box. The common bus bars that the breakers hook onto are simple bars that run up and down the box. And the individual circuits which come out of the breakers just hook up to the other side of the breakers and run out of the box. It would be possible to make a tall panel where the circuit breakers were vertical, but the interior bus bars would be more complex - costlier. And the wire routing would be more difficult. ---
**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, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/124 "2021-07-08T20:52:12Z")
Thanks everybody! Ignorance fought. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/125 "2021-07-08T23:37:38Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Up=ON, Down=OFF is pretty well ingrained in most cultures. … Well, most American cultures anyway … And we have horizontal breaker boxes with horizontal (DIN) rails. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/126 "2021-10-19T18:57:57Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Except a minor chunk of New York. I wondered about that. Is it just in NYC that you can’t turn right on red? For various reasons, I’d come to believe that right-on-red laws are more the exception than the rule, so when I moved from California to Oregon I wondered if I would have to drop the habit. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/127 "2021-10-19T19:09:22Z")
Wouldnt not being able to turn right on red just make traffic worse? I cant understand the logic behind that law. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/128 "2021-10-19T19:11:39Z")
Maybe it is important for pedestrian-dense areas, where turning right on a red increases the risk of running someone down. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/129 "2021-10-19T19:14:33Z")
That makes sense. I would like to see a study of the busiest LA streets and accident frequency. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/130 "2021-10-19T19:15:57Z")
Just agree with me. I say “never let facts or data get in the way of a good theory” ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/131 "2021-10-19T19:16:56Z")
I agree!! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/132 "2021-10-19T19:20:41Z")
reminds me of a cartoon I saw: Man: What is the secret to a happy life? Wise sage: Never argue with fools - it is pointless. Man: That’s a stupid way to go through life! It makes no sense! Sage: I agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/133 "2021-10-19T19:31:39Z")
In downtown San Francisco, we have some [pedestrian scrambles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_scramble), where vehicular traffic is stopped in all directions to allow for pedestrians to cross. The Wikipedia article lists multiple pedestrian scrambles in L.A. County. Their purpose is to reduce pedestrian casualties, but drivers tend to dislike them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/134 "2021-10-19T19:42:43Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > My Ex was so dumb they dated me. You have an ex? I thought you got catfished! Sorry for the joke almost a year later; didn’t see this thread the first time around, and I couldn’t resist. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/135 "2021-10-20T00:24:35Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > [pedestrian scrambles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedestrian_scramble) AKA the Barnes Dance, after Henry Barnes, traffic engineer. When it was introduced in Baltimore, we peds loved it. Dan ---
**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:** [October 20, 2021, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/136 "2021-10-20T01:36:12Z")
Seattle has one, at “The Junction” in West Seattle. The city did away with it in the 70s, but everyone protested and ever since it’s been “Walk All Ways” (like one of my beloved t-shirts says, in a design just like the Seattle Sounders logo). That intersection (California and Alaska) is also home to the only record store that I’ve had breakfast at, out on the sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/137 "2021-10-20T05:20:05Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > I thought you got catfished! It’s a long story. Not really. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/138 "2021-10-20T13:45:14Z")
My ex was so dumb… How dumb was he? He didn’t know the lyrics to songs, but he’d make them up, sing them, and argue with you if you disagreed. For instance, the Pink Floyd song Empty Spaces. Correct lyric: “What shall We use To fill The empty spaces” Ex’s version: “Watch out”…trail away because what can you say after that? Or Alan Parson’s Project song Eye In the Sky. Correct lyric: “Don’t let Fire rush to your head” Ex’s version: “Don’t laugh Fire a rush to your head” performed with pantomime of hitting a bong. There are others. I can’t think of them at the moment, but let one of those songs come on the radio and I instantly remember Mr. Stupid’s version. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/139 "2021-10-20T13:53:25Z")
That could go into the [YOUR misheard lyrics](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-misheard-lyrics/727166) thread. I often make up lyrics if I don’t know the words or just to be funny. (Funny in my head. I’ve never shared them.) Maybe there should be a thread for intentionally changed lyrics. Like… On the road again Ain’t had no chicken since I don’t know when I found a farmhouse and I stole myself a hen Hey, it’s good to be on the road again. Not a Country music fan, so I never learned the song. As for intentionally changing lyrics I know, there’s Good Riddance by Green Day. Another turnip truck, a pork chop in the road… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047/140 "2021-10-20T20:20:34Z")
How about _We could have had it aaaaaalllllll! Rolling with the sheeeeeep!_ Together with its backing vocals _Rolling with the sheep Never had many feet Gee I’ve got to go Rolling with the sheep_ You’ll never look at that song the same again [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ex-was-so-dumb-they-thought/928047.md?page=8)