I agree with so many of these (especially diamonds, weddings, and the gay marriage “debate”).
I don’t get perfect green lawns. Why do I want to spend tons of money on chemicals and equipment and water and spend all my free time fighting everything that naturally wants to grow in the ground around my house?
I don’t get NASCAR (actually, most any auto racing). I mean, it’s all guys driving fast in circles and all left turns. Not saying that it’s not difficult, I just don’t see the point.
Might as well throw in country music. Most country music is completely alien to me.
I also don’t get why we Americans eat so damned much food that’s bad for us. I sometimes think it’s out of sheer boredom or depression… “I’ll have a Paxil, a Zoloft, a large fries and a supersized chocolate shake with that, please.”
I agree with almost everything that has been said so far, especially:
Religion. Particularly people who try to witness. I don’t see how they think they can change someone when they themselves are so unwilling to change.
Fast food. Especially fast food hamburgers. The thought just repulses me. Looking at a McDonalds can sometimes make me feel physically sick to my stomach.
Factory farming.
People being cruel to animals, or people who just plain don’t like animals.
People being ignorant to the needs and feelings of animals. I work at a vet clinic. A lady brought her dog in last week that had been mauled by a larger dog. She had actually tried to sew the dog up herself. With a needle and thread, I guess. At home. I was dumbfounded. I’m still at a loss for words on that one.
People who work out so much that they’re all muscle-y and bulgy. It looks gross.
Expensive wedding/engagement rings. My mother informed me yesterday that her ring was $3800. Jesus christ, find something more useful to spend your money on!
People who are materialistic or get off on owning “the best” or “the newest” or “the most expensive” whatever.
People who are obsessed with their cars.
People who abuse the elderly, children, or animals.
Most television shows.
People who can talk on the phone endlessly.
People who believe their religion makes them better than anyone else, and therefore entitled to tell others how to live their lives.
I don’t get the point of threads like this. What’s the purpose, other than to point out how holier than thou you are when it comes to sports/country music/religion/antigayness/big weddings/whathaveyou, and what’s the point of that?
zaboniracer. Um, your point again…?
Hmmm, and what’s the point of pointing that out to us?
Ok, and what’s the point of me pointing that out to you?
And what’s the point of . . . oh, forget it.
Regarding sports, I actually ‘get’ the enjoyment people have while watching sports. Even getting excited by good plays. What I don’t get if team fandom, in the sense of caring about games you didn’t actually see. The people who get emotional about hearing that their team won or lost. I mean if you didn’t see the game (or listen to a broadcast), what is it about the outcome that matters? Some people that you don’t know played a game somewhere and won - how did you get enjoyment from that? I can’t imagine that in other areas of entertainment.
I enjoy a certain variety of foods, and can see why some people would enjoy a greater variety, and other people a more limited menu. I don’t get why so many people can’t accept this situation. On either side of the aisle. “Oh my god how can you eat that??? I only eat american cheese!!!” “Come on, just try a bite, it’s so good, just one bite, come onem it won’t hurt you. You don’t know what you’re missing! Don’t be such a baby, what are you afraid of it??” I read the pit thread a few months about the whole issue, one of the more entertaining threads I can remember.
I don’t understand international diplomacy. With all the nationalistic attitudes, it’s amazing to me that we haven’t blown up the whole planet by now.
I don’t understand people who don’t understand math. It’s just self-evident logic.
Or people who can’t spell or use punctuation (especially apostrophes) properly.
Or people who survive a difficult surgery and thank the Lord, rather than the surgeon.
Or people who travel to other countries, yet expect everything to be just like home, including the language and food.
Worse yet, people who DON’T survive a difficult surgery and the relatives don’t blame God and sue the hospital/surgeon.
“Look Mr. Jones, God wanted your cousin to die and the best way to do that was to make the surgeon appear incompetent that day.”
People who can’t accept the fact that you don’t like the thing they think is cool and insult you when you say so.
I’ve found even this doesn’t always help - someone in my life did this and moved straight into his married home. And now he runs home to Mama whenever they have a fight, because you know, it’s a habit. It’s not healthy to be co-dependent that long, and everyone needs to live independently for a while. Away from parents, that is. Add this to the list of things I don’t get.
Also, people who are eternally sad. Depression & pessimism is one thing, but when they really have no reason to be depressed or pessimistic yet they still seem to enjoy being sad I don’t get it. It’s worse when their own sadness precludes them from doing anything about it, as in “Nothing I can do makes it any better.”
I also think the comment about tattoos & piercings was a bit snarky. I understand that he doesn’t get it, but it’s not always simply for decoration…my nosering is an ongoing effort to remain part of my culture while living in the States.
Gender. I have heard, very close to literally, anything about certain people attributed to their gender - any personal characteristic at all, no matter how often it occurs in other genders. Even when it doesn’t work.
It is so weird to me that people spend so much energy, time, and money trying to “understand women” or “understand men” and it never seems to occur to them to try to understand individuals.
I just can’t fathom all the complexes that people give themselves about gender - theirs and others’.
The cell phone culture.
I went in to a Telus mobility store the other day to get a cell phone. I asked for a phone, for the purpose of making and receiving phone calls, which fits in my hand, is not so small that I have trouble operating it single-handed or finding it amongst other clutter on my desk, has few or no moving parts, is robust enough to withstand the occasional drop on a table or whatnot, weather resistant enough to be able to talk when it’s raining, and with buttons large enough that I don’t press more than one at a time when attempting to dial. I have no desire for a still or video camera, GPS, PDA, universal remote control, personal media center, two-way radio, web browser, e-mail client, built-in flashlight, taser or 5-in-1 kitchen appliance. I just want a phone, with a ringtone that actually sounds like a ringing telephone, or some other subdued and neutral beeping, as opposed to Britney Spears’ latest or the Imperial March from Star Wars. I wanted this phone on a plan that would accomodate my frequent, short duration long distance calls, and predicted minimal usage of local calling minutes, and that would operate on the analog system outside the cities at the fringes of coverage areas.
After being shown the latest range of micro-miniature all-in-one consumer electronics gizmos in flimsy folding form factors, I asked if there was anything bigger. The salesperson looked at me like I was from another planet. Consequently, I still have no phone, and writing letters is starting to look like an attractive option.
LOL! I got a cellphone last year, and I asked for their least expensive model. After being shown what they had, I asked if there was anything with fewer features. “…Yes,” the saleswoman said hesitantly, “but they’re more expensive.”
I’ll tell you what I don’t get. How is that when car wheels are filmed, they look like they’re turning backwards? That makes me nuts!
Sports as religion.
I’ve heard baseball players talking about playing the game and you’d think they were just made pope.
Because tires have been doing the moonwalk long before MJ came around.
This phenomenon is known as aliasing. It is an artifact of the fact that film or video is captured at a particular frame rate - the equivalent of some 24 to 30 still photographs per second. When the wheel or other object in question is rotating, it also has a rotational speed and corresponding frequency of, for example, when a wheel spoke is in a particular position. If the frequency of the wheel and the frequency of the film shutter are exactly matched (or are exact multiples of one another), the wheel will appear motionless on film. Turning the wheel faster or slower will separate the frequencies and make the wheel appear to move. In some cases, although the wheel is turning forward, successive frames of film will capture it in a position which is apparently reversed a bit from where it was in the previous frame, even though the wheel actually rotated forward to get to that position. The result is a wheel which appears to be rotating backwards when the film is played back.
It’s not really my business. I just don’t know how other adults can stand living with their parents. I couldn’t wait to move out. And I don’t know how the parents put up with it, even if the adult child is kicking in some money. Their retirement is supposed to be a time to relax, they shouldn’t have to keep on being an active force in their offspring’s life. It’s just so perplexing!
***People who use cell phones but say that they’re “leashes” and they feel so free when they’re not carrying the phone. Is it that hard to forget that you carry a cell phone? Carrying my phone everywhere doesn’t make me feel like a prisoner. I’m not always thinking, “man, this cell phone is sure bringing me down.” If your cell phone depresses you that much then get rid of the thing, just don’t keep on bringing up the downfall of western civilization every time you remember you have it.