A similar thing happened to a friend of mine when we were in high school. We stopped at a Burger King after taking our SAT tests. His mind must have been pretty frazzled by the end of the testing because he ordered a Mc DLT. The counter person responded, “Sir, this is Burger King”. He said, “I know, and I want a Mc DLT!” We had to tell him that they didn’t serve that at Burger King. He was so embarrased. We still razz him about it.
Once while buying a diamond, the jeweler was pulling loose diamonds out of a little bag with needle-nosed pliers. Before my brain to mouth filter kicked in, I blurted out “Isn’t that going to scratch the diamonds?”. The expected blank stare from the jeweler followed.
Actually, according to the this Grant’s Tomb site:
Saruman I concur with tracer. That was not a dumb question. Maybe irrelevant to the topic being discussed at the time, but- what’s stupid about it? Scientists ask themselve stupid questions like that all the time. Like how much energy can you get out of one kilo of matter.
(a little like Einstein asking himself if I’m on my motorcycle driving at the speed of light and I turn on my headlights, what happens? Good joke. Excellent question.)
salior, I dunno, that sounds like a perfect example of “No such thing as a stupid question.” That is, the guy obviously didn’t understand the water cycle. But instead of spending his whole life in ignorance he asked and now he’s less stupid. That’s what questions are for.
I suppose I should contribute my own stupid question at this point. Unfortunatly I have never asked (or stated, or done) anything stupid in my entire life. Either that or I am repressing memories to painful to deal with.
During a criminal justice class in high school we had a guest speaker. He was a jail deputy, and he was showing us the sleeping arrangments of the prisoners and everything.
A friend of mine raised his hand and asked, “Where do the gaurds sleep?”
obfusciatrist – that wasn’t really stupid because you really didn’t know. I wish to the Goddess I had been your teacher because I would have been very clear with you that he had been killed. And not made you feel “stupid” for not knowing that. Just because it was such a media event for your parents doesn’t mean YOU should have known.
I’m sorry, but sometimes we do that to our children. We think if WE know it, they should too. That’s not the real case. Remember the time difference, folks. What was big news in our life time is old history to our children. I remember the very date we, the USA, landed on the moon, because I was three. It was a major deal in my home and my dad woke us up to watch it. It’s one of the very first real “memories” I have.
I agree with you, there are no stupid questions. Even when someone pulls the “gry” thing. I didn’t for the longest time, know what the hell they were talking about. I do now. But for the most part, no, I don’t think there are any stupid questions. I look at the age of the person asking, run them through my bullshit meter, and then go from there.
I think, at times, we take “community information” for granted when it isn’t. And you really don’t even want to KNOW about the stupid seeming questions I’ve asked! ;0
How high is the sky? Who created God?
Check it out dude. I once asked this dude how high the sky is and who made God. Really stupid huh? Wait! I just asked that five minutes ago. SHIT! :(:(:(
I need a hug.
When I was a kid I called a radio station to request a song (OK, it was that “Ghost Riders in the Sky” remake in the '80s – and I’m not going to open a thread about what kind of crappy music we liked when we were young). The DJ that answered the phone said “If you would turn your radio on, you would realize that we are playing that song right now.”
Urk.
There was the time I was in the deli and I ordered a BLT. The girl looked up as she was writing my order and asked, “do you want lettuce and tomato on that?”
When I was in 7th grade my class went on a field trip to Columbus, Oh. We went to the top of the tallest building in Ohio. Don’t know what I was thinking but I asked the tour giude if you could see Kings Island (which is in Cincinnati) from here. The tour guide says, “no, that’s about 100 miles away”
Picture this. Superbowl, 1997. A small blond Megling is in her first year of college, watching her frist Superbowl and surrounded by large men wearing face paint who jump around and hit things when something good happens. Innocently, the hapless freshman female turns to the nearest hairy beast and utters this phrase, “How many quarters are there in a football game?” Dead silence.
Doh! I’ve never felt so dumb in my life.
There’s a gardening call-in show on one of the local radio stations here. I’ve never understood why people choose to call in and ask for advice and then argue with it. Typical conversations go like this:
“I need some help with my (whatever). Two years ago all the leaves turned brown, then they fell off. They haven’t come back.”
“Your plant is dead. Take it out.”
“Does it need extra fertilizer?”
“No, it’s dead.”
“How about if I give it more shade?”
“No, it’s dead.”
“Should I be spraying for insects?”
“No, it’s dead.”
“Should I water it in the morning, or later in the day?”
“Doesn’t matter, it’s dead. Hi, you’re our next caller.”
Two or three calls like that make my Saturday complete.
In high school, wanting to get the temporal relationship between some events in WWII straight, I asked,
“So FDR was still kicking, right?”
Thought about that one for a while.