# Things that remind you that you and your SO live in very different worlds **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912 "2009-09-28T22:39:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/41 "2009-09-30T23:00:14Z")
The guy I’m seeing is three years younger than me. While I was either running around outside or quietly playing with toys indoors during my childhood, he was firmly planted in front of the TV. He watched the TV shows his parents liked, as well as the cartoons and sitcoms of the '80s, '90s, and beyond. He even caught some of his mom’s soap operas. I, on the other hand, can count on one hand the TV shows I regularly watched in the last decade. He also fell in love with the music from his parents’ generation, and never got into his generation’s music to the same degree. Not counting classical music, my musical tastes don’t go back farther than 1980. Consequently, we’ve had many conversations about TV shows and music that go: “Have you seen [show]?” “Nope.” “WHAT?!” “I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never watched it.” and “Have you heard [artist]?” “Unh-uh.” “No?!” “I’ve heard of them, but never actually heard their music.” All the shows and musicians he asks about were popular 20 years before he was born, yet he’s still a big fan and slightly disbelieving that I’m not familiar with them. I tell him that we were wrong before, that he’s the one who’s robbing the cradle, since he is clearly an middle-aged man in a 29-year-old’s body. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/42 "2009-10-01T13:36:03Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > You ever tell her where bacon comes from? 😛 Oh, she just about cried when I told her that we raised chickens and ate them. “You killed your PETS?!?” “No, honey, they weren’t pets…” ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/43 "2009-10-01T16:31:17Z")
My husband is British. I’m 100% American, born and raised. On a steaming hot day in California he will drink hot tea. On a freezing cold day in Birmingham (England) I will drink Diet Coke. And ask for ice. And get strange looks for it. That’s when the culture shock kicked in for me. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/44 "2009-10-01T16:57:47Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > …On the flip side, he calls every flower a chrysanthemum and doesn’t know the difference between an orc and a goblin… > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > It’s been a few years since I played, but orcs have at least one full hit die, are approximately human sized, and in some settings, orcs, or subspecies of orcs, or orc crossbreeds can be player characters. Goblins are smaller than humans, have less than a full hit die (I believe .5 or .25 hit die), and are just generally not as powerful as orcs. Goblins are frequently the first humanoid monster that players encounter, along with kobolds. I honestly thought \*\*Hazel \*\*was referring to flowers called “orc” and “goblin”, and thought \*\*Lynn \*\*was making up those descriptions. So I guess I don’t know jack about flowers OR whatever game you guys are talking about. But then, neither does my wife, so I don’t feel bad. **Hazel** , I actually think it’s hilarious that he calls all flowers chrysanthemums. I may have to pick that up. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/45 "2009-10-01T17:44:08Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > You ever tell her where bacon comes from? 😛 Tell her they shave the hogs and that’s why the bacon is in those thin little strips. Seriously, she is aware of where food comes from, right? That peas are little fetus plants, ripped untimely from their green wombs? ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/46 "2009-10-01T17:48:53Z")
I’m usually reminded when I remember that I’m a small-town white midwestern boy who lives in the suburbs and she’s a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx who lives in Brooklyn. So that’s most days. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/47 "2009-10-01T18:15:53Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Tell her they shave the hogs and that’s why the bacon is in those thin little strips. > > Seriously, she is aware of where food comes from, right? That peas are little fetus plants, ripped untimely from their green wombs? Mmmm, fetus plants. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/48 "2009-10-02T14:37:33Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > As do we all 😃 Wo-ho, yeah!!! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/49 "2009-10-02T14:43:57Z")
I can spend all day on my computer reading all kinds of stuff. I have a wide range of interests and go to a long list of bookmarked websites every day. I read gossip, book reviews, movie reviews, do research on things for friends and relatives, and spend some time here at the SD. Mr. Sali has a couple of friend he exchanges e-mails with once a week, and he’s into wood carving, so he looks at pictures. Of blocks of wood.:rolleyes: So he uses the computer maybe an hour a week and can’t understand what it is I’m looking at on the Magic White Box hour after hour. (On the other hand, he knows about digital photography, how to store pictures, how to make greeting cards, and other technical stuff.) ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/50 "2009-10-02T15:25:05Z")
My girlfriend is from Tehran, Iran. I am from a rural Texas town of 800. So, everything. But a quick example: Her car needs a brake job, and she is fretting about the cost of the repairs. She asked me how much it would cost, and I told her, “Meh, about 25 bucks and an hour or so if I take my time.” She replies, “Oh my god you can work on a car without going to car college???” Or clothes. I generally don’t buy clothes at all, I prefer clothes to magically appear at Christmas. If I am really desparate, I will go down to the resale store and find something without a stain on it. I don’t like clothes with logos or anything on it. Hers have to say “Abercrombie and Fitch” or “A|X” or some silly shit like that on it. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/51 "2009-10-02T23:17:34Z")
I am a free-spirited, philosophical, creative, neurotic mess (who has mastered concepts like ‘‘pragmatism’’ and ‘‘rationality’’ only to keep my life in order.) My husband is a graduate student of behavioral clinical psychology. I want to change the world, he wants to organize it. I am forever looking for my keys, he is forever making Excel spreadsheets to monitor every detail of his life. I ‘‘spend time’’ with him on a Saturday night, but he ‘‘interacts’’ with me. (I mean it. He will literally say, ‘‘I’d like to interact with you tonight.’’) A while ago, someone posted an IMHO thread called, ‘‘Once a cheater, always a cheater?’’ I read the responses with interest, trying to think of people I have known over the years who have cheated, and whether or not they continued to cheat. I thought of the various influences that might drive a person to cheat, such as boredom or dissatisfaction with the relationship, being stuck with the wrong person, etc. I thought about how a person might feel after they cheated, and how that might impact their decisions in the future. I couldn’t really come to a conclusion. I then asked my husband his opinion. He replied, ‘‘Statistically speaking, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.’’ He didn’t even pause to think about it. The last time I told him I was feeling depressed, he sat me down, shoved a pencil into my hand and made me write a list of possible activities that might improve my mood. He then made me rank them according to which would be most likely to help, choose two to three of said activities, perform them, and then record on a scale of 1 to 10 how they impacted my mood. Yes, it worked. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/52 "2009-10-04T15:00:22Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > The last time I told him I was feeling depressed, he sat me down, shoved a pencil into my hand and made me write a list of possible activities that might improve my mood. He then made me rank them according to which would be most likely to help, choose two to three of said activities, perform them, and then record on a scale of 1 to 10 how they impacted my mood. > > Yes, it worked. :mad: I am sure it did! Bet you don’t tell him you are depressed any more. So it must have worked. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/53 "2009-10-05T01:04:37Z")
Worked for him. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/54 "2009-10-05T03:48:44Z")
Drive-by pedantry– Quoth **Shirley Ujest** : > [@](#): > > These above two subject matters interest me about zero percent unless there is some kind of trivia involved as in the Flugel Hammer was invented by Jose Flugel who also invented the world’s smallest tuba. Cornets are smaller than flugelphones, and are technically tubas. But I didn’t know that the same dude also invented a hammer. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/55 "2009-10-05T03:51:22Z")
Marcie is living in our townhouse, doing God knows what. I am living with my sister, crying myself to sleep every night. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/56 "2009-10-05T04:03:13Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > …my fantasy-related geekiness attractive, but only if I’m wearing my glasses. :: swoons :: Ah if I was twenty years yonger, and lived in another country… ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/57 "2009-10-05T04:06:12Z")
We just discovered today that whether or not it is in any way reasonable to choose to delay upgrading software has the weight of a major religious issue in our marriage. He is a software developer, I like my computer to keep working the way it’s been working, thank you very much, and take the staunch conservative approach that if I can’t see it’s broken, why should I be strong-armed into ‘fixing’ it? After a small altercation, I ended up installing a bunch of patches and upgrades, and lo, shit does not work the way I liked it working. No doubt it’s ‘better’. He thinks I’m just stubborn. Well, I am. I think he’s being deliberately obtuse if he doesn’t accept that I have my reasons, even if he doesn’t agree with them! I think we’re both at a place where we will _never, ever, ever_ discuss it again. Different worlds is right. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/58 "2009-10-05T04:20:29Z")
> [@Idlewild](#): > > We just discovered today that whether or not it is in any way reasonable to choose to delay upgrading software has the weight of a major religious issue in our marriage. He is a software developer, I like my computer to keep working the way it’s been working, thank you very much, and take the staunch conservative approach that if I can’t see it’s broken, why should I be strong-armed into ‘fixing’ it? > > After a small altercation, I ended up installing a bunch of patches and upgrades, and lo, shit does not work the way I liked it working. No doubt it’s ‘better’. > > He thinks I’m just stubborn. Well, I am. I think he’s being deliberately obtuse if he doesn’t accept that I have my reasons, even if he doesn’t agree with them! I think we’re both at a place where we will _never, ever, ever_ discuss it again. Different worlds is right. Bah, he’s a lightweight. Be glad you really didn’t get into the deep end. This often involves upgrading things, then uninstalling them and installing a version older than the one you were used to, because it’s purportedly better. Now this can occasionally be good advice in some circles like drivers, but it gets a little crazy. Never, ever watch those people get into a programming client version war “\ 1.22, you’re in the stone age! 1.24 is so superior.” “Oh, yeah, I bet it’s so shiny and nice, but they screwed up the interface \. You like shiny things? I have some puurty keys right here, come on boy, fetch!” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912/59 "2009-10-05T08:39:12Z")
> [@Idlewild](#): > > We just discovered today that whether or not it is in any way reasonable to choose to delay upgrading software has the weight of a major religious issue in our marriage. He is a software developer, I like my computer to keep working the way it’s been working, thank you very much, and take the staunch conservative approach that if I can’t see it’s broken, why should I be strong-armed into ‘fixing’ it? May he never get a job involving SAP. Patches are completely optional. There’s parts of the main program which are completely optional. The compulsory parts are full of options (you must choose something, but there’s half a dozen choices offered, plus you can always program additional choices). 99% of the problems with that monster come from people choosing the wrong options and the other 1% are typos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-remind-you-that-you-and-your-so-live-in-very-different-worlds/511912.md?page=2)