# My roommate knows (and doesn't know) the weirdest things **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496 "2009-05-06T01:42:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/221 "2009-05-07T21:24:35Z")
I was hoping this thread would result in more examples of weird selective knowledge. Ooh, I have one about myself. If you give me a state, I am more likely to be able to name 5 people in its government (governor/Congress) than 2 of its sports teams, and even 2 is pushing it. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/222 "2009-05-07T21:30:02Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Prepare to be astounded: [There is.](http://www.trailrunner.com/state_trails/md_robertelee_park.htm) :smack: Damn! I am well acquainted with that park! It used to be my favorite place to take a new girl for a quick little getaway! Yet I already said (twice) that Baltimore and Maryland is split - others should note, and bibliocat will confirm I hope, that this park does in fact border directly on 2 of the neighborhoods I characterized as “Southern genteel’” - Roland Park and Ruxton (or is very very close to bordering it, IIRC, it has been nearly 20 years). Still, the distribution of such names and places drops off rapidly once you go north of VA, just as the likelihood of finding any “Gettysburg” schools goes down south of Maryland. ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/223 "2009-05-07T21:30:27Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > None of my classmates ever showed any sign of giving a shit about the Civil War. I don’t care about it either. It doesn’t affect me and never has, since it ended 123 years before I was born. What **do** you give a shit about? What **should** you give a shit about? Only the timeline of events since the day you were born? I’m genuinly curious as what your generation regards as “important.” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/224 "2009-05-07T21:32:21Z")
This isn’t so strange, but my mom thought that Blue Dog Democrats and yellow dogs were the same. (Blue Dogs are conservative, yellow dogs won’t vote for a Republican unless you point a gun at them.) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/225 "2009-05-07T21:33:37Z")
> [@Ruminator](#): > > What **do** you give a shit about? What **should** you give a shit about? > > Only the timeline of events since the day you were born? > > I’m genuinly curious as what your generation regards as “important.” You know, there’s an enormous difference between “not the Civil War” and “nothing before 1988”. But you keep building those strawmen. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/226 "2009-05-07T21:42:16Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Yeah, there are some. Most of them have boring names, though. I still don’t see how that actually affects me. It doesn’t make any difference to me whether I live on Nathan Bedford Forrest Road or Forest Whitaker Road. Those are public indications of what is important to the culture. Real people choose the names, who or what to honor. In this regard, I bet that, at least for older facilities, the names are no different for mteh rest of the culture in the state, and that would be counter evidence to your assertion that NoVa is somehow different. I think you already realize that naming public facilities for Confederate heroes is not a Northern habit, or even one from outside the Confederate states themselves. It is purely a public Southern cultural reminder, and it is no different in NoVa than the rest of VA, and the whole world can see it. So your claim that NoVa is somehow culturally different from the rest of VA is seriously weakened, if not destroyed, by the continued display of the same cultural markers. And the power to change is is in local hands - a local school board could probably change the name of schools, a local city council could change the name of a park. Yet they don’t. So what are others to think about your claim when no one takes steps locally to separate yourselves in a visible and meaningful way? You assert one thing, but as a group you act in a completely different manner. See? > [@](#): > > Because here’s the thing: nobody cares. It doesn’t matter. People don’t make a fuss about driving on Lee Highway because, for one thing, it’s not terribly common knowledge that it’s named after Robert E. Lee, and because, honestly, very few people here give the slightest shit about what buildings and such are named. Uh, yeah, it is pretty common knowledge who the road is named after. If they don’t care, then maybe they are not so strongly opposed to being part of the culture that was there before them as you say they and you are? You as new arrivals top NoVa probably do have sufficient numbers to change this at a local level anyway. But you can’t say you are both apathetic about the local culture and then rail against people who associate it with you and it with you. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/227 "2009-05-07T21:46:11Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > :smack: > > Damn! > > I am well acquainted with that park! It used to be my favorite place to take a new girl for a quick little getaway! I used to go there as a kid, but I haven’t been there in ages. It’s a nice place. > [@](#): > > Yet I already said (twice) that Baltimore and Maryland is split - others should note, and bibliocat will confirm I hope, that this park does in fact border directly on 2 of the neighborhoods I characterized as “Southern genteel’” - Roland Park and Ruxton (or is very very close to bordering it, IIRC, it has been nearly 20 years). Absolutely. It’s closer to the Roland Park and Guilford areas. It’s not too far from Ruxton, but doesn’t border it. Ruxton is very big on the Southern manners idea. Even the private schools in the area (Roland Park Country Day School, Bryn Mawr, Boy’s Latin, Gilman) are very big on the ‘Southern Gentility’ thing. We’ve had a couple of threads on this subject recently. One poster refused to believe that there could any southern influences in Maryland at all. He was incredulous that the KKK is still active in Cecil County, or that people still fly the confederate flag on their porch or have such stickers on their cars (well, pickups, mostly 🙂 ). ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/228 "2009-05-07T21:46:19Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > This isn’t so strange, but my mom thought that Blue Dog Democrats and yellow dogs were the same. (Blue Dogs are conservative, yellow dogs won’t vote for a Republican unless you point a gun at them.) Just curious - how is it you say you can name multiple politicians from every state (an impressive feat), and you seem into the distinctions between parties and even wings of parties, yet you don’t see the relevance of the Civil War to the current American experience? May I ask if you and/or your parents are both born and educated here? My gf and her family were not born here, she and her siblings were educated here. I think I will ask them about the Civil War when I see them all for Mother’s Day this weekend… ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/229 "2009-05-07T21:59:53Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > I used to go there as a kid, but I haven’t been there in ages. It’s a nice place. > > Absolutely. It’s closer to the Roland Park and Guilford areas. Guilford was the third. > [@](#): > > It’s not too far from Ruxton, but doesn’t border it. Ruxton is very big on the Southern manners idea. It is also where, as I have noted elsewhere, I woman I was pursuing invited me her parents house, and then, at a **very** opportune or inopportune time, depending on your point of view I suppose, decided to blurt out how she would never sleep with a Jew. She slept alone that night, and I never saw her again. > [@](#): > > Even the private schools in the area (Roland Park Country Day School, Bryn Mawr, Boy’s Latin, Gilman) are very big on the ‘Southern Gentility’ thing. These are among the most influential and connected schools in the state, and arguably in the entire Northeast. The 1st two are girls schools, the latter 2 for boys. There is also “Friends School” nearly equal in reputation in the neighborhood, but not so “genteel” as I recall. There is an incredible density of these types of schools all clustered together, St. Paul’s abuts the park itself IIRC, and McDonough is somewhat removed about 15 miles away. Go down the list of Maryland “elite” in any field for the last 120 years or so, and you will see these schools mentioned extremely often. Inside their alumni, the blood runs very blue. And where there is blue blood in MD, one should be very aware of signals regarding sympathy for the Confederacy or related prejudices. I have seen it slip out many many times. Hopefully with almost a generation passing since I was there, the effect will be lessened, but I kind of doubt it. > [@](#): > > We’ve had a couple of threads on this subject recently. One poster refused to believe that there could any southern influences in Maryland at all. He was incredulous that the KKK is still active in Cecil County, or that people still fly the confederate flag on their porch or have such stickers on their cars (well, pickups, mostly 🙂 ). 3 words: Del Mar Va 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/230 "2009-05-07T22:00:55Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > Just curious - how is it you say you can name multiple politicians from every state (an impressive feat), and you seem into the distinctions between parties and even wings of parties, yet you don’t see the relevance of the Civil War to the current American experience? Because the Civil War is much farther removed. > [@not\_alice](#): > > May I ask if you and/or your parents are both born and educated here? My father and I were, my mother was not. My older sister was (I think), my oldest sister and brother were born in California. From my birth until my 19th birthday, we were all in Vienna, though my brother went to boarding school in Rhode Island and my sisters both went to college out of state. > [@not\_alice](#): > > So your claim that NoVa is somehow culturally different from the rest of VA is seriously weakened, if not destroyed, by the continued display of the same cultural markers. > > And the power to change is is in local hands - a local school board could probably change the name of schools, a local city council could change the name of a park. > > Yet they don’t. Because they have better things to do than rename stuff that doesn’t bother anyone. From everything I’ve observed, people care about what shit does; what it’s _called_ is unimportant. You can argue that it’s a window into the society’s soul, and makes Alexandria and such totally Southern, but maybe people here have a different approach, because most people didn’t grow up here. Now, can we _ **please** _ end this hijack? No, of course not. ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/231 "2009-05-07T22:02:31Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > You know, there’s an enormous difference between “not the Civil War” and “nothing before 1988”. But you keep building those strawmen. Sorry, it may have sounded like a strawman but it wasn’t the intention. I REALLY WAS was wondering if the “fashionable” thing these days is to only consider the events during one’s lifetime. Seriously, what’s important? Vietnam War? WW2? What’s the cutoff and why? Is it because of the existence of [google.com](http://google.com) and wikipedia where all the answers are there? Is it because Iraq seems insignificant therefore all previous wars seem insignificant? I’d really like to know how your generation thinks which history (if any) is important. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/232 "2009-05-07T22:06:03Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > We’ve had a couple of threads on this subject recently. One poster refused to believe that there could any southern influences in Maryland at all. BTW, I would add that this intersection of Southern vs Northern colliding in Baltimore is the theme underlying the local films made by esteemed directors Barry Levinson and John Waters both. They each grew up in neighborhoods on opposite sides of the “genteel” divide, and their views on it color almost every scene since the beginning. I always wonder if folks outside of Baltimore pick up on that as a major theme while enjoying these films? ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/233 "2009-05-07T22:09:25Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > BTW, I would add that this intersection of Southern vs Northern colliding in Baltimore is the theme underlying the local films made by esteemed directors Barry Levinson and John Waters both. They each grew up in neighborhoods on opposite sides of the “genteel” divide, and their views on it color almost every scene since the beginning. Excellent point! ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/234 "2009-05-07T22:12:23Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Because the Civil War is much farther removed. > > You can argue that it’s a window into the society’s soul, and makes Alexandria and such totally Southern, but maybe people here have a different approach, because most people didn’t grow up here. Yes, it would be to the new people’s credit that all the new schools are not Longstreet or Lee or even Scarlett O’Hara, but rather Pine Woods or whatever. So they must have at least considered the issue, and made a big change in direction from the past way of naming. Why not finish the job? I don’t get why you complain about the results of the way the actual culture reflects on you when you (as a group and as an individual) have the ability to change it. It is not like most of the workers, or a really good portion of them, are not already doing work directly for the government or for government contractors. They clearly care about the public sector there and devote their lives to causes they care about. So why should anyone think this one is important to them if they can only complain and not act when they can and do act on other matters? ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/235 "2009-05-07T22:17:14Z")
> [@Ruminator](#): > > Seriously, what’s important? Vietnam War? WW2? What’s the cutoff and why? Is it because of the existence of [google.com](http://google.com) and wikipedia where all the answers are there? Is it because Iraq seems insignificant therefore all previous wars seem insignificant? > > I’d really like to know how your generation thinks which history (if any) is important. That is a really really really good question. May I suggest asking it in a new thread where it might get the wider attention it deserves? And let me know by PM or mention here if you do so? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/236 "2009-05-07T22:17:30Z")
Can anyone say where is the southernmost part of Northern Virginia? Or the northernmost part of Southern Virginia? ---
**Author:** ![Ruminator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Ruminator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruminator)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/237 "2009-05-07T22:33:25Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > That is a really really really good question. May I suggest asking it in a new thread where it might get the wider attention it deserves? I didn’t think there were many people of **Captain Carrot** ’s age here on SDMB so there wouldn’t be any replies to a thread targeted to a non-existent group here. (Disclaimer: That’s NOT a STRAWMAN… just a guess.) On the other hand, **Captain Carrot** already said history that’s 123 years old “doesn’t affect him” and it seemed like he said it with a hint of smugness. Therefore, I thought he was game for explaining his rationale. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/238 "2009-05-07T22:39:15Z")
If you google “Northern Virgina is not part of the south”, you get 4 hits, including this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/239 "2009-05-07T22:43:27Z")
> [@Ruminator](#): > > On the other hand, **Captain Carrot** already said history that’s 123 years old “doesn’t affect him” and it seemed like he said it with a hint of smugness. Therefore, I thought he was game for explaining his rationale. No, no smugness, it just seems that a war that ended so long ago doesn’t matter anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496/240 "2009-05-07T22:48:02Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > If you google “Northern Virginia is not part of the south”, you get 4 hits, including this thread. And if you google “Northern Virginia is part of the South”, you get 3 hits, two of which are this thread. What’s your point? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-roommate-knows-and-doesnt-know-the-weirdest-things/495496.md?page=13)