# Stuff that seems common, but outside your life experience **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968 "2012-03-16T15:15:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/21 "2012-03-16T17:36:28Z")
I’ve never been drunk either. Never want to. I don’t like the taste of alcohol, and I don’t want to put up with hangovers after the fact, and I don’t want to lose control of myself and do something I regret. I still don’t get why alcohol is so incredibly popular. Going to a movie theatre or cinema. I’d rather buy the DVD and watch the movie in the comfort of my own home and be able to watch it more than once and pause it and such. Buying overpriced luxury brands of things. A lot of my friends insist on buying Apple electronics when other brands offer the same functionality at a much better price. I don’t get it. Weddings in general. I can understand wanting to get legally married. I don’t really understand spending thousands of dollars on an elaborate stuffy formal ceremony and fancy rings and clothes you’ll only wear once. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/22 "2012-03-16T17:38:44Z")
Illegal drugs. One night stands. Religion. Watching American idol. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/23 "2012-03-16T17:43:32Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I have this feeling that people who grew up in a home with stairs have amazing muscle memory for stairs and never think twice about them. Yes, except for the _number_ of steps in stairs, which can literally trip you up if you expect to step one more or one fewer times at the top or bottom of a set of stairs. (And I’m not just speaking for me but for many other stair-grower-uppers-in) ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/24 "2012-03-16T17:46:42Z")
Promiscuity, especially in college. I flirted shamelessly but ineffectively. Didn’t have sex until I was in my senior year of college, and she’s my wife now. Having a social network in the neighborhood. My mother knows everyone who can do anything useful in the town where she lives, but she’s also been there for around 38 years. My wife and I have moved a fair amount, and I keep to myself most of the time. I don’t know anyone whose cousin is a really good florist or whatever. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/25 "2012-03-16T17:47:34Z")
When I was a kid, I was convinced that boarding schools and summer camps were either obsolete or fictional things which were just used in books because they made for an interesting setting. Still don’t really know of any…are y’all just pulling my leg? ---
**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:** [March 16, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/26 "2012-03-16T17:55:35Z")
> [@grude](#): > > … and do people really worry about vaccines when traveling? I’ve known a lot of people traveling and all of them including me buy tickets straight from the airline, and no one I know has ever bothered about vaccines again including me. > This also goes for a lot of general travel silliness, like being worried about traveling alone even in safe nations like Japan. Yes, people do worry about vaccinations for some places, not necessarily out of fear of catching something, but because some countries _won’t let you in_ without an in date vaccination certificate. I had a yellow fever vaccination for a holiday in Africa as a teenager, as it was a legal requirement for entry, and I didn’t fancy sitting in the airport for weeks while everyone else had a holiday. I can’t think of anything other than ‘having a lawyer’ myself- though I suppose my parents did have a regular one some years ago, but just for business legalese. I have a fairly diverse bunch of friends. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/27 "2012-03-16T17:57:11Z")
Buying DVD box sets of TV shows when they can be watched online for free. Buying DVDs (or VHS tapes in the olden days) at all, for that matter, to me they are just dust collectors. How many times are you really gonna watch that movie?! Going to counselling. Every time there’s a tragedy “counsellors are called in.” Every advice columnist’s advice seems to be “get counselling.” I never understood how paying money to talk about your problems with a complete stranger can help with anything. Yes I’ve tried it a few times and found the whole experience to be completely useless. Why on earth anybody would actively choose to get pregnant and have a child. Stretching your earlobes with big “spacers.” Bleech. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/28 "2012-03-16T18:00:48Z")
…also, buttsecks. Ewww, that’s where you POOP from! WTF!!! ---
**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:** [March 16, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/29 "2012-03-16T18:04:04Z")
All you members of the human race, around this quadrant of the galaxy, you are all mostly alien and abstract figments as far as I can tell, kind of like some of the more obscure derivations you see in advanced calculus textbooks. (I mean, except for the fact that I actually understood some of my advanced calculus.) Mental telepathy. Even if it’s at an unconscious level. I’ve concluded that you do some kind of mental telepathy, without necessarily even realizing it, sort of analogous to Vulcan mind melds. All the BSDL (bullshit, doubletalk, and lies) you have to exchange with one another, like a barrage of quantum force-mediating particles, in order to engage in interactions. With all the horse manure it takes, I’d think the incessant inconsistencies and contradictions would make it impossible. The very universe, as I know it (that is, as best I can figure it out), can’t exist. So there. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/30 "2012-03-16T18:08:53Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Yes, people do worry about vaccinations for some places, not necessarily out of fear of catching something, **but because some countries _won’t let you in_ without an in date vaccination certificate.** I had a yellow fever vaccination for a holiday in Africa as a teenager, as it was a legal requirement for entry, and I didn’t fancy sitting in the airport for weeks while everyone else had a holiday. Heck, back in the USSA, you can’t even go to school if you don’t have your vaccination dog-tags. My dear mommy and daddy didn’t have the Ogdamn sense to keep papers on me, so when I went off to college, 1969, I couldn’t prove that I had a smallpox vaccination (required in those days of yore), even though I had a very visible and distinctive smallpox vax scar on my arm. I had to get a new one. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/31 "2012-03-16T18:11:51Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Going to counselling. Every time there’s a tragedy “counsellors are called in.” Every advice columnist’s advice seems to be “get counselling.” I never understood how paying money to talk about your problems with a complete stranger can help with anything. Yes I’ve tried it a few times and found the whole experience to be completely useless. You’re right. It’s all a sham, a scam, and a flim-flam. Now just calm down and tell your $hrink all about it, and you’ll feel much better. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/32 "2012-03-16T18:29:49Z")
Having “my lawyer” is definitely one. Watching shows like Law & Order, you constantly see suspects calling their attorney, or yelling to the secretary or wife (or whomever) to call his lawyer. I always wondered if that was common for different groups of people, because no one I knew growing up had “their lawyer” who they could just call when needed. And like others, I’d have no clue how to GET my own lawyer, because how in the hell will I be able to separate good lawyers from crappy ones? Summer camp would be another one. Books, movies and tv shows often show kids/teens going to summer camp, either for a week or apparently months. I never knew _anyone_ who went to summer camp growing up, and figured it was one of those common kid themes in entertainment that wasn’t really done much at all. But online and talking to other people (especially from the northeast), there are a bunch of people who find it bizarre that I _didn’t_ go to summer camp. The only camps I’m vaguely familiar with around here are summer day camps (like at a church, or library or civic center) that have activities etc. Seems they’re mostly a way for parents to have someone to watch their kids when school’s out instead of having to find daycare or a sitter. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/33 "2012-03-16T18:34:36Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Heh I was going to post “Just let me call my lawyer” I don’t know anyone who has a personal lawyer on retainer. My lawyer was disbarred last year. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/34 "2012-03-16T19:37:54Z")
Vaccinations and immunizations are dependent on the country. You bet your ass I always took my malaria pills when I went to India. I still got malaria, because once I hadn’t started the pills early enough (you need a two week lead time). I have a lot of alienation sometimes just because I was raised in a Hindu culture, surrounded as much as possible with Indians. I still had to go to school, but the people there were weird and did weird things! Summer camps - people I know didn’t do that. Oh, we had a day camp from the Hindu temple, but nothing where you go away for a month or whatever. Lawyers, yes. Here’s a big one when I was young. Parents leaving their kids in the care of the eldest child, sometimes for a fucking weekend! I can tell you that NEVER happens in an Indian family. Very rarely do the parents even go somewhere without dragging the kids along, whether they want to or not. We don’t even get the opportunity to have big ol’ parties. Same with underage drinking. We almost never had an opportunity, unless we sneaked it from our parents’ cabinets, and what a kerfluffle that would have been! ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/35 "2012-03-16T20:02:26Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Heck, back in the USSA, you can’t even go to school if you don’t have your vaccination dog-tags. These days you can, just claim it’s against your religion… _sigh_ I do know a gentleman who called his congressman when the Social Security office told him that he wasn’t getting that month’s benefits because he’d been declared dead. :eek: After a WTF moment, he asked whether he could get his death benefits payout, being dead and all, and the person said he’d need proof he was eligible for those. …So apparently some bogus report or bad keystroke got him declared dead, but they’d need real proof to pay out. He called his congressman after more of this runaround, and that got him pretty swiftly declared to be quite alive and his SS payment reinstated. (You might have even [heard of this politician](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahm_Emanuel); he’s had more prestigious jobs since that time.) Can’t think of any “I don’t know anyone who’s ever X” examples myself, though. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/36 "2012-03-16T20:05:02Z")
Having friends who will help you move. I have moved a dozen times since turning 18, and the only time I had help was the very first time, from my parents (since I didn’t have a car yet). Ever since, I’ve moved all my shit all by myself (and given away a lot of shit, if I couldn’t move it). Years ago, I \*did \*help one friend pack up to move away. But, since she moved to Hawaii, I haven’t had a chance to call in the favor. Mostly, it’s that I don’t want to be a burden on others, but I also don’t want to be bugged to help other people move. I travel light, as a consequence–everything I own fits into 2 sedan loads (although now that I have a queen bed that isn’t inflatable, I may need to rent a u-haul next time). Also, cooking. I am capable of cooking, insofar as I know how to read and can translate directions and ingredients into something edible. But I can’t think of any other mundane, typical activity that I hate with such a _fiery passion_. My mom rarely cooked while I was growing up; it just was never a habit or hobby of mine. Our stepdad cooked pretty good dinners, not exactly gourmet but better than we were used to. And by then I was a disinterested 16 y/o, and it was too late to impart his enjoyment of cooking to me. I have always found cooking to be time-consuming, sweaty work… it’s boring, often frustrating, and the result is just _not_ worth the effort. If it can’t be microwaved, I’m not interested. Well, unless it’s a frozen pizza. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/37 "2012-03-16T20:38:31Z")
Being super-in to a band. I enjoy music. Hell, I LOVE music, but these people who scream and swoon when they see their band (Bieber), cover their rooms with their posters (Michael Jackson) or travel around to catch their favorite (Deadheads) are just beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/38 "2012-03-16T23:32:25Z")
Manicures, pedicures, waxing, and spa treatments. Having a salesperson help me try on clothes and giving their advice. I’ve never been to a fancy enough place where this happens, and I think it would probably creep me out. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/39 "2012-03-17T00:44:41Z")
Snack cakes. I know that millions of people love these things - I’ve even seen threads in Cafe Society two pages long where people discuss their favorites, but for the life of me I can’t fathom why anyone would ever eat these things. I have never eaten one in my life. I have nothing against donuts or pastries - you can get them and bring them home but if you don’t eat them in a day or two, they turn hard and you have to throw them out. They’re also available in the bakery section of the grocery store, yet I’ll see people unloading boxes and boxes of Ho-Ho’s and Ding-Dongs and little chocolate donuts onto the conveyor at checkout. Those little chocolate donuts don’t even look like food! They look like plastic! Why would you not choose a freshly made pastry over ones that have sat on a shelf for weeks? I will never understand the appeal, and I’m quite sure I will go to my grave never having eaten one. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968/40 "2012-03-17T01:06:31Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Buying DVD box sets of TV shows when they can be watched online for free. I can’t watch stuff online for free. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-seems-common-but-outside-your-life-experience/615968.md?page=3)