# Things that as a kid you thought would make sense when you grew up...but didn't. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 28, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199 "2014-04-28T17:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/21 "2014-04-29T00:46:56Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > I know I’m going to seem really dumb when it’s explained, but what’s a “BB” in this context? I assume a tiny metal ball used as ammo for a BB gun, a type of air gun. See [A Christmas Story](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085334/). ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/22 "2014-04-29T00:59:18Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > I know I’m going to seem really dumb when it’s explained, but what’s a “BB” in this context? Thank you for asking that. I read right through to the end, hoping to have my ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/23 "2014-04-29T01:26:26Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I assume a tiny metal ball used as ammo for a BB gun, a type of air gun. See [A Christmas Story](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085334/). Don’t watch that video! You’ll shoot your eye out! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/24 "2014-04-29T02:48:05Z")
And, before anyone has to ask, [the “BB” in “BB gun” doesn’t stand for anything; it’s named after the size reference code applied to a specific kind of shotgun shot which BB gun pellets are close in size to.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_gun) [Another reference.](http://www.pyramydair.com/article/BB_History_February_2006/28) [Previous thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=11477) ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/25 "2014-04-29T07:24:36Z")
> [@Quarter\_Girl](#): > > She totally freaked when she saw my sis on the bed. I mean she was beside herself! I think this is pretty simple: a girl must never be on a bed in the presence of a boy, because of _SEX_\*\*. Yeah, I know it’s stupid, but some people think that way. ---
**Author:** ![Quarter\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f475e1/32.png) [@Quarter\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quarter_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/26 "2014-04-29T18:56:17Z")
Sorry for the confusion. Yes, BB as in a small round metal ball. Derleth, I always thought it stood for ball bearing. Humph, learn something new every day. The more I think about the birthday debacle, the more I’m sure it had to do with sex although the boy was no where near the bed. The parents were always going on about how me and the boy (who hung out a lot) should be careful and not be alone together and such. We were totally innocent, both of us still years from being attracted to the opposite sex. Plus when the grandmother herded us into the living room and brought attention to the huge faux pas she actually told them I was sitting on the bed. Now I wonder if their shock and awe was because they thought I was trying to seduce their son. I can totally believe it, they were that strange. I pointed out that it was my sister and not me, one of the biggest regrets of my young life when I saw my sisters mortified face. I should have just taken the heat but I didn’t think it through fast enough. Mister Rik, love the whole VC Andrews series. So disturbingly dysfunctional. Dwyr, I wouldn’t think it was about the preservation of the box springs just because they acted like my sister did something dirty, not just merely rude. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/27 "2014-04-29T20:40:27Z")
A guess about the mannequin BB: perhaps it was intended as a magnetic attachment point to “pin” clothes on the mannequin using a small magnet so that they would drape a certain way? ---
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/28 "2014-04-29T20:54:41Z")
I remember that when I was in high school at a boarding school that there was a rule (which I recall as being fairly antiquated in origin) that on the occasions when we were allowed to have mixed-gender company in the dormitories, sitting (or worse, lying) on the bed with feet off the floor was not allowed (regardless of where the other people in the room were at the time). Something about the feet off the floor made it That Much Closer to S-E-X, apparently? Nah, didn’t make sense to us either. (And the kids who were actually having sex weren’t doing it at these times anyway, so whatever.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/29 "2014-04-29T21:02:40Z")
> [@raspberry\_hunter](#): > > I remember that when I was in high school at a boarding school that there was a rule (which I recall as being fairly antiquated in origin) that on the occasions when we were allowed to have mixed-gender company in the dormitories, sitting (or worse, lying) on the bed with feet off the floor was not allowed (regardless of where the other people in the room were at the time). Something about the feet off the floor made it That Much Closer to S-E-X, apparently? > > Nah, didn’t make sense to us either. (And the kids who were actually having sex weren’t doing it at these times anyway, so whatever.) Seems related to the Hayes Code for movies, but in that case I think only the man needed to keep one foot on the floor. Never made sense to me, sex is pretty easy with both parties having both feet on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/30 "2014-04-30T23:47:00Z")
> [@jayrey](#): > > Religion. Didn’t make sense to me as a kid, still doesn’t make sense to me. Oh, I understand the human need (in some humans, anyway) to want something outside of themselves to give life meaning and promise future comfort or security. The part I’ve never understood is needing to make other people believe the same way you do. What, strength in numbers? If a bunch of folks believe a certain way, it must be right? If you’re going to believe in invisible powers and promised but unprovable miracles, why do you need other people to believe in it, too? I’m no fan of religion, but I think you’re doing some lumping here. There are some religions (Christianity and Islam, for instance) which are proselytizing. (Many) adherents of those religions believe that it is a good deed to spread their religion to others. For other religions (Judaism, for instance), that is not the case. It makes a certain kind of Darwinian sense that proselytizing religions would end up being huge and worldwide, because by their very nature they expand. So even if only 1% of possible human religions feel the urge to spread (and honestly, I don’t think it’s that incomprehensible an urge… people like being part of groups), so of 200 religions started 6000 years ago only 2 were proselytizing, it’s not surprising that the world ended up as we see it today. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/31 "2014-05-01T13:16:31Z")
Relationships?.. Easy stuff. Religion?.. Trivialities. Science & Tech?.. Okay, challenging stuff but there are books and Google. What baffles me and keeps me awake at night is how people without any obvious talent or skill, climb to positions of influence when it is clear as day that they are neither qualified nor competent enough to be making the decisions they are making? I’m talking everyone from some some cut-throat petty project manager to grasping climbing director to out of touch senior executive to politician. And I’m not calling out all managers, executives or politicians. There are plenty who know what they’re doing and do their job well. But you all know who I’m talking about. The ones that have that reptillian quality about them. The ones that make you feel like you need a shower after every encounter with them. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/32 "2014-05-01T13:34:12Z")
I was raised Jewish (Reform), and I remember one particular day in Sunday School. I was maybe 7 or 8, and we were rearming about Abraham, and how he was the first monotheist, the first person to believe in one God. I remember the teacher going on and on about how we, like Abraham, believe in one God. I raised my hand and asked "Why is it better to believe in one god? What if Abraham was wrong, and what if we are wrong? Maybe some day we’ll discover that there really are many gods. The teacher just repeated that we believe in only one god. Starting back then, I always felt that when I was old enough, I’d understand this issue. I’m still waiting. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/33 "2014-05-01T16:02:10Z")
> [@Quarter\_Girl](#): > > The two sales women were crawling around on the floor near the mannequins looking for that BB. I heard one of them say, “It was on her leg, I swear. I don’t know WHAT happened to it!” The BB was the mannequins’ soul. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/34 "2014-05-01T16:25:19Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I was raised Jewish (Reform), and I remember one particular day in Sunday School. I was maybe 7 or 8, and we were rearming about Abraham, and how he was the first monotheist, the first person to believe in one God. I remember the teacher going on and on about how we, like Abraham, believe in one God. > > I raised my hand and asked "Why is it better to believe in one god? What if Abraham was wrong, and what if we are wrong? Maybe some day we’ll discover that there really are many gods. The teacher just repeated that we believe in only one god. > > Starting back then, I always felt that when I was old enough, I’d understand this issue. I’m still waiting. I was only six years old or so when I was told the story of Abraham in Sunday School. I was horrified by the idea he would kill his own son even if God told him to do it. I still am, can’t see how a religion got founded on that principle. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/35 "2014-05-01T18:05:38Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > A guess about the mannequin BB: perhaps it was intended as a magnetic attachment point to “pin” clothes on the mannequin using a small magnet so that they would drape a certain way? I suspect this is correct. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199/36 "2014-05-01T18:17:24Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I suspect this is correct. Pretty small attach point for a magnet. If it was flicked off that easily it was going to hold much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-as-a-kid-you-thought-would-make-sense-when-you-grew-up-but-didnt/687199.md?page=1)