# Things you're expected to know/do, but don't... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316 "2018-11-30T03:59:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/21 "2018-11-30T18:55:09Z")
I’m 44. I don’t drive and feel zero need to. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/22 "2018-11-30T19:11:57Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > …I lived in Colorado for 8 years. People were surprised that I had no interest in skiing. (I’ve been cross-country skiing a few times, but never downhill.) I live in the mountains of Colorado. The County I work in has Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin. Just a stone throws away is Vail and Loveland. I HATE to ski. I’m out in the cold and snow plenty as it is thankyouverymuch ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/23 "2018-11-30T19:30:21Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Being a librarian who has almost zero readers advisory\* skills has caused me more than a little grief over the years. Fact of the matter is that I don’t read that much and what I do read is limited to a couple of authors I can discuss at some length, and two _very_ narrow genres I can discuss generally. I’m much more of a “how much corn was grown in Nebraska in 1972?” kind of librarian. Well? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/24 "2018-11-30T19:44:38Z")
I played trombone in several bands from the age of 10 to about the age of 30 and I have a terrible grasp of music theory. I can count and stuff, but when it comes to notes and chords and keys I suck. I almost always just match the dot on the page with position on the slide. I am actually quite a skillful player and have played the first part most of my life but a deep knowledge of what I am actually doing eludes me. I’m about the same with my profession, Web development. I can do some amazing stuff with scripts, databases, code and functions but when it comes to understanding the technologies themselves, forget it. I’m a cut-and-paste-and-manipulate-until-it’s-right kind of gal. I’ve been doing this for 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/25 "2018-11-30T20:04:05Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Well? According to the USDA ([http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/nass/Agstat//1970s/1974/Agstat-04-23-1974.pdf](http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/nass/Agstat//1970s/1974/Agstat-04-23-1974.pdf)), 534,040,000 bushels of corn were produced in Nebraska in 1972. The trick is to get a report late enough to not have preliminary estimates but final counts. 🙂 Does that completely answer your question?\* \*_Librarian humor._ ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/26 "2018-11-30T20:56:30Z")
Because I’m a legal secretary, folks expect me to know some law. “Folks” include my relatives and members of the public cold-calling the firm looking for legal help. No, people, I don’t know any law. My job is word processing, revision of legal documents, getting things scanned, emailed, fed-ex’d, filed, and signed. If I was as knowledgeable as you think I am, I’d hold a law degree and make a lot more money. The thing is, they’re hoping to get free legal advice from me. They think I possess this knowledge but am just holding out on them. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/27 "2018-11-30T21:43:40Z")
My second sister is the only Asian I know who doesn’t eat rice in any forrm. If she one grain in her food, she’ll pick it out. And she doesn’t any type of starch with her food unless its specifically part of the offering either (like a side of fries or mashed potatoes). She said she stopped eating it in her early teens because of the taste and primarily because she had some memories of using it as paste when she was young. When we didn’t have glue or paste available in the house, we’d use mashed grains of rice. Works well on paper or lightweight cardboard. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/28 "2018-11-30T22:26:46Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Being a librarian who has almost zero readers advisory\* skills has caused me more than a little grief over the years. Fact of the matter is that I don’t read that much and what I do read is limited to a couple of authors I can discuss at some length, and two _very_ narrow genres I can discuss generally. I’m much more of a “how much corn was grown in Nebraska in 1972?” kind of librarian. > > - the part of librarianship where someone comes in and says “I liked Dan Brown’s last book, what should I read next?” Same here. I became a librarian because I like to look stuff up and help people find things out. I’ll guide them to “what do I read next” sites, or refer them to someone who I know will have good suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/29 "2018-11-30T23:30:16Z")
Because I love & own dogs, and showed for many many years, people commonly ask me ‘do you know where I can get a Shih Tzu/Dachshund/whatever puppy?’ No, I’m sorry. I can usually track down puppies in my preferred breeds because I know other people involved with the breed. But just random breeds? Or even worse… labradoodles and the like? That’d be a no. And even if I _do_ happen to know one of my show friends that has a litter upcoming, I doubt that they’d want to pay the price from a show breeder. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/30 "2018-11-30T23:48:46Z")
“You pharmacists must have the PDR memorized!” (holds up garlic and a crucifix - j/k) The only thing pharmacists regularly use the PDR for is as a doorstop. It’s fine for laypeople, but it’s biased and incomplete, and I could count on one hand the number of times I consulted it when I was in practice. Those times were to look up excipient ingredients, before the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/31 "2018-12-01T00:26:54Z")
You’re from Alaska? Do you know Jimmy Putzucker? Or: You must love to hunt. Nope, haven’t done that since I was 17 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/32 "2018-12-01T00:28:56Z")
Dialogue from movies I have never seen. ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/33 "2018-12-01T00:33:18Z")
As a father of seven I seem expected to know pretty much everything. I’m trying to whittle that expectation down to knowing how to find out the answer instead. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/34 "2018-12-01T03:28:55Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > If you don’t mind me asking, does this mean you don’t watch things on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime or other streaming service? > > The reason I ask is I had some friends who always said “We don’t watch TV” but it turns out that binge-watching shows on Netflix didn’t count as “watching TV” 🙂 You weren’t asking me, but you can count me as someone who (mostly) doesn’t watch TV when you include all the streaming services. Except at least one TV stays on in the house at all times; I just don’t watch it. I will watch something on Netflix rarely but not enough to say it’s something I “do.” The last thing I watched was Cobra Kai using the Youtube Premium free trial. I watched that series in 1 day whenever it came out and don’t think I’ve had any interest in anything else. I’ve tried to watch a comedy special or something here and there. Because I’ve been “on the internet” 25 years I’m aware of just about everything pop culture but I don’t consume it. I know about “Game of Thrones” and “The Walking Dead” or whatever but I’ve never seen them. Could even include movies. The last non-kids movie I saw in a theater because I wanted to see a movie was 8 years ago and I mostly just wanted to get out of the house and hide from my wife. When people talk about movies, tv shows, music, video games that just came out it’s all the same for me - a general awareness but no consumption. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/35 "2018-12-01T03:55:29Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > …When people talk about movies, tv shows, music, video games that just came out it’s all the same for me - a general awareness but no consumption. Same for me and my wife. The closest movie theater is 45 minutes away. We will go maybe twice a year. Have no interest in watching new shows. And your suppose to plan to watch them at a certain time to keep up? Bah. We like our movie collection, and older sitcoms. And now, Friday and Saturday night is playing chess, drinking some beers and a toke or two with classic rock in the background. An odd thing. I learned chess as a child from my father in the '60s. I started playing again on [chess.com](http://chess.com). My Wife became interested and here we are. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/36 "2018-12-01T04:59:37Z")
You’re from New Zealand? A rugby man, huh? Go All Blacks! Can you do that funny dance they do? No. Please go away now. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/37 "2018-12-01T05:14:35Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > You weren’t asking me, but you can count me as someone who (mostly) doesn’t watch TV when you include all the streaming services. Except at least one TV stays on in the house at all times; I just don’t watch it. I will watch something on Netflix rarely but not enough to say it’s something I “do.” The last thing I watched was Cobra Kai using the Youtube Premium free trial. I watched that series in 1 day whenever it came out and don’t think I’ve had any interest in anything else. I’ve tried to watch a comedy special or something here and there. Because I’ve been “on the internet” 25 years I’m aware of just about everything pop culture but I don’t consume it. I know about “Game of Thrones” and “The Walking Dead” or whatever but I’ve never seen them. Could even include movies. The last non-kids movie I saw in a theater because I wanted to see a movie was 8 years ago and I mostly just wanted to get out of the house and hide from my wife. When people talk about movies, tv shows, music, video games that just came out it’s all the same for me - a general awareness but no consumption. Hollywood movies or stars. Me 😕 I think the last Hollywood movie I saw was Glee or some Harry Potter movie, so that was what, 2011? And when my friend was talking about Shia Labeouf (had to Google the name), I said “Oh, I think I’ve heard of her!”.:smack: I have cable, but the only channels I watch are retro TV, history or food, so I rarely see any current movie trailers. The few network shows I watch are after the fact On Demand. Now, ask me about Asian (Japanese, Chinese or Korean) movies, I’ve either seen it, plan to see it or at least know about it. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/38 "2018-12-01T05:28:30Z")
> [@ASGuy](#): > > Them: You have a degree in printing? You probably know how to read upside down and backward! > Me: As a matter of fact, I do. Wait. You can get a degree in printing? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/39 "2018-12-01T07:40:17Z")
Them: You lived in Japan for 25 years? How was Mt. Fuji? Me: Hell if I know. It’s a boring climb, I always went on other mountains. My friend has a MS and PhD in EE, but studied imaging. He has to ask about basic circuits since his BS is in math and he doesn’t do the design work. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316/40 "2018-12-01T11:44:30Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > When we didn’t have glue or paste available in the house, we’d use mashed grains of rice. Works well on paper or lightweight cardboard. It works amazingly well. When I make sushi maki, I mash a wet grain or three of rice to seal the nori and it _never_ comes undone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youre-expected-to-know-do-but-dont/825316.md?page=3)