# Stupid Questions: June 2009 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 22, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590 "2009-06-22T15:31:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/41 "2009-06-23T20:13:00Z")
> [@](#): > > In the clerk’s defense, the #1 combo is called “The Komodo Dragon.” It could have been worse. Imagine if they had a historical theme and the #1 Combo was the Admiral Togo Special. Then you could order “a Togo for here” and watch the clerk try to figure that out. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/42 "2009-06-23T20:15:20Z")
The people that bought our house had twin boys. Identical twins. Except that they were two years apart. It was very weird, especially since they were exactly the same height. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/43 "2009-06-23T20:22:20Z")
**gigi** –There’s a well-known book called “The Oldest Confederate Widow Tells All.” It’s actually sitting on my shelf at the moment, but I haven’t read it. > [@dwc1970](#): > > I’ve had a few people who confuse Idaho with Iowa. “Boise? How far is that from Des Moines?” Oh, not too far, only about 1,400 miles, give or take a few. I honeymooned in Idaho (loved it!), and I ran into plenty of people who mixed Idaho and Iowa up. Most of the time it was just a brain fart, but sometimes… I still find it hard to believe that there are people in this country who don’t recognize the name of a _state_! > [@](#): > > I occasionally get people who are pleased to hear an unaccented voice and know that they are calling a U.S.-based call center. Still, we have some workers with foreign accents who undoubtedly are either assumed to be in India or they are harassed by the callers for not being “domestic”. :rolleyes: I got the weirdest call at work the other day. Sometimes random calls that the operator doesn’t know what to do with get sent to me. So this guy had invented some new technology and wanted to talk to us about buying it. So I was about to transfer him to someone who might actually know what to do with him (or how to get rid of him) when he mentioned that he was actually responding to an inquiry from _us_. The reason that he didn’t call the person who called him back is that our main office is in Germany, and he didn’t want to speak with any Germans. He said something like “I only want to talk to my American buddies, if you know what I mean.” Huh? So I said, “well, we’re pretty close with our German buddies, you know?” Nope. He wanted to speak to an American. It’s a German company, so if he wants to deal with us, he’s going to have to talk to a German sooner or later. Anyway, I passed along the message, and quite a bit of consideration was given to having an American (as in a citizen) with a foreign accent call the guy back. Schmuck. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/44 "2009-06-23T20:24:35Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > The people that bought our house had twin boys. Identical twins. Except that they were two years apart. It was very weird, especially since they were exactly the same height. You mean they were identical in appearance but were not really twins, right? I went to school with a girl who was, according to school staff, virtually identical to her older sister _except_ for the height. So Heather at the age of 7 looked _exactly_ like Brenda did at the age of 7 (Brenda was two years older, I think). She once brought school portraits to school to prove it. I always wondered if as adults, with height no longer being a factor, if they ended up looking like genuine twins. They also had an older brother who looked remarkably like them too. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/45 "2009-06-23T20:41:37Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > You mean they were identical in appearance but were not really twins, right? Yes. To a scary degree. I remember seeing a picture of my cousin circa age 3. It was one of those novelty photos that was made to look old-timey. Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was actually his father. But the scariest look-alike experience I had was last fall when my brother came to stay with me. Imagine my shock when I turned around to see my father in my apartment. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/46 "2009-06-23T20:46:08Z")
The stupidest question I ever heard was asked 12 years ago by my father, normally a highly intelligent, extremely articulate man: Me: Dad, L---- and I are getting married! Dad: What!? Me: We’re getting married! Dad: To who!? Me: To each other, Dad. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/47 "2009-06-23T21:00:00Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > 1.) How old were the twins in question? I.e., were they young enough that they could have been mistaken for both boys or both girls? > > 2.) A year is not such a big gap that two siblings could not be mistaken for twins. 1. I don’t remember for sure but I can safely assume they were dressed in pink and blue and a cry had gone up that it was a boy and a girl. 2. Sorry for being not clear :smack: I meant this was when I was supine in the carriage (newborn infant) and my brother was sitting up in the stroller/seat part on the front. He used to get out of his part of the pram and this would flip me onto the floor! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/48 "2009-06-23T21:01:03Z")
> [@Tinkertoy](#): > > Customer calling about bill: You better speak English, I don’t want to talk to any foreign people. Where is this call center. > > Me: We’re in Idaho, ma’am. > > ccab: See I don’t even know where that is. This has left me so sad. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/49 "2009-06-23T21:07:19Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’ll do you one better; a friend brought in their twins, a boy and a girl. Another friend: “Are they identical?” I got that a lot of that when they were babies. I always answered “Exactly identical-- except for the penis and vagina.” Also, you’d be surprised how many people believe you can have identical twins of different sexes. People are dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/50 "2009-06-23T21:18:47Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > 1. I don’t remember for sure but I can safely assume they were dressed in pink and blue and a cry had gone up that it was a boy and a girl. > > 2. Sorry for being not clear :smack: I meant this was when I was supine in the carriage (newborn infant) and my brother was sitting up in the stroller/seat part on the front. He used to get out of his part of the pram and this would flip me onto the floor! Well, yet again, I’m foiled in my attempt to grasp at straws to find some way to excuse this deep stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/51 "2009-06-23T21:23:51Z")
I appreciate your effort! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/52 "2009-06-23T21:30:31Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Yes. To a scary degree. Ah, that makes sense. Yes, while Heather was my classmate, I do remember Brenda. Other than height, I remember that Brenda had much larger lips, but they were otherwise freaky similar. Like the two spooky kids in Kubrik’s _The Shining_ (but blond). ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590/53 "2009-06-23T21:36:17Z")
> [@dwc1970](#): > > Hey, I work in a call center, too, and I’m also in Idaho! Who knows, maybe we even work for the same employer! (I know Boise has several call centers, though). I work in a travel reservations agency. > > I occasionally get people who are pleased to hear an unaccented voice and know that they are calling a U.S.-based call center. Still, we have some workers with foreign accents who undoubtedly are either assumed to be in India or they are harassed by the callers for not being “domestic”. :rolleyes: I work for a call center in Pocatello taking calls for a satellite tv company. However since our center is half Brick and motar and half remote agents I get to work at home in my jammies and fuzzy slippers. Poky is a college town so alot of our workers are from other countries, but all employees must speak english very well. I wish I could say the same for the customers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-questions-june-2009-edition/500590.md?page=2)