# Very stupid overheard conversations **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858 "2020-11-30T21:44:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/201 "2021-01-23T22:13:11Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > Reminds me of how some of my Shakespeare students are convinced, _after_ we watch a film clip, that the words the actors have been speaking are a modern-English translation, and are amazed to discover that the language is exactly the same as in their written text. (Why, yes, it IS English and you CAN understand it perfectly well, just like I’ve been telling you all along!) It really is much more easily processed when heard by actors and with emotions and visuals. Much more enjoyable, too. Which makes sense, since we’re talking about plays, not novels. It’s much closer to how the work was intended to be consumed. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/202 "2021-01-23T22:18:41Z")
I was walking into Hagia Sophia, in Istanbul. It is often cited as one of the architectural wonders of the world. An American tourist behind me said to his companion, “ my neighbor’s a contractor, he builds stuff like this.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/203 "2021-01-23T23:03:32Z")
No one is saying that they need to be located close to a fire alarm. Or in a lunch room or close to desks. They could be in a cafeteria beside the restaurant. I’m sure teachers in a school can manage to make toast or heat a sandwich. Where there’s a will, there’s a won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/204 "2021-01-23T23:34:00Z")
“You ate sand?” ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/205 "2021-01-24T17:06:44Z")
A friend of mine once told me he overheard a tourist, at Winchester Cathedral, say to her spouse “OK, honey, you do the inside and I’ll do the outside”. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/206 "2021-01-25T06:10:58Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > My (hospital building) lunch rooms were allowed to have toasters. Until the fire department got called out the third time. You need to forbid popcorn in microwaves, then. It was about sixteen years ago that City Hall was evacuated because microwave popcorn set off the alarm. I found out years later that the person who did it had gotten tired of having so many unpopped kernels in the bag and added time. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/207 "2021-01-25T16:55:57Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If you mean in lieu of the written voila! I totally agree: > [https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bottom-line-to-all-these-sovereign-citizen-cases/926331/61](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bottom-line-to-all-these-sovereign-citizen-cases/926331/61) > [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/950897/63): > > It’s the sheer non sequitur whimsy of invoking the awkward red-headed stepchild of the exquisite violin to declare victory. “Awkward red-headed stepchild”? You hold your tongue, sirrah! The viola is the queen of the strings, the level-headed, quietly beautiful sister to the violin’s screaming diva, the Beyonce to the violin’s JLo. I once dated a singer in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra chorus who told me that violas and violins are the same size; what’s actually different is the size of the players’ heads. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/208 "2021-01-25T16:59:02Z")
Never mind; just experimenting with Discourse. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/209 "2021-01-25T19:52:56Z")
Big problem with breakroom/lunchroom toaster ovens is **nobody ever cleans them** , and as time goes on the baked on crud, both solid and gaseous, emits and strong heavy funk that is as much tasted as smelled. Worse than dirty deep-fry oil. What baffles me is this though: how on earth could one want to eat any food that is heated/cooked _inside_ a sealed vessel where that retch inducing stench comes from? ---
**Author:** ![Quondam\_Mechanic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quondam_mechanic/32/3404_2.png) [@Quondam\_Mechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quondam_Mechanic)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/210 "2021-01-25T20:56:01Z")
Hunger. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/211 "2021-01-26T00:19:15Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > Big problem with breakroom/lunchroom toaster ovens is The bigger problem is the first time somebody tries to heat up/melt cheese on their sandwich, drips cheese onto the element, and sets the oven on fire. My toaster oven has been set on fire by in this manner by guests and people other than me half a dozen times. It’s like they’ve never used an oven before. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/212 "2021-01-26T03:33:37Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > violas and violins are the same size; what’s actually different is the size of the players’ heads. That was great. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/213 "2021-01-26T10:14:46Z")
In the 90s they opened a brand new, 400 bed hospital in our town. My wife was a nurse at the time, working in the Special Care Baby Unit, with tiny prem, and Very Poorly babies. At its opening, All wards were equipped with toasters. I am told that new mothers often have little appetite and toast is one thing that they crave. Nurses too, welcome some hot toast at 3am to keep them going for the last few hours of their shifts. I think it took a month and two callouts to the fire brigade before the toasters were all removed. When the alarm went off at the hospital, all three pump-ladder engines from the local station were dispatched. An engine from a neighbouring town would be sent to their station to cover any other emergency and a hydraulic platform would be sent from wherever it lived, so, no, it was not trivial at all. Later on, toasters were modified to only allow a slight browning. The problem seems to have been caused by staff who wanted toast cooked almost black or didn’t understand that the ‘highest’ setting resulted in burning bread. All the toilets were equipped with hot-air hand dryers. Much better than all that paper litter, yes? No, the hot air is great for distributing germs around, so all the hot air dryers were torn out and replaced with paper towel dispensers. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/214 "2021-01-26T11:42:26Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > No, the hot air is great for distributing germs around, so all the hot air dryers were torn out and replaced with paper towel dispensers. There’s been an ongoing subterranean war about that issue: [https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/25/hand-dryers-paper-towels-hygiene-dyson-airblade](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/25/hand-dryers-paper-towels-hygiene-dyson-airblade) ---
**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:** [January 26, 2021, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/215 "2021-01-26T14:27:18Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > The bigger problem is the first time somebody tries to heat up/melt cheese on their sandwich, drips cheese onto the element, and sets the oven on fire. My toaster oven has been set on fire by in this manner by guests and people other than me half a dozen times. It’s like they’ve never used an oven before. In fairness, I’ve never owned a toaster oven. I’ve only used one a couple times in the 50+ years I’ve been cooking for myself. I can’t be alone in that. Everybody, and especially adults, learn by doing. A big difference between an oven and a toaster oven is just how much of the floor area is covered by heater wires and how close together they are. I could randomly melt cheese on bread on a rack in a full-sized electric oven probably 100 times before any dripped directly on the heating rod. And if it’s a gas oven I could do that for years without starting a cheese fire. Same bread & cheese in a toaster oven? Probably at least a smoking mess within the first 3 or 4 tries if not a fire. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/216 "2021-01-26T16:32:36Z")
Sure, but it’s not like a hospital does not have cleaning staff. The secret of toaster ovens is to use tinfoil to catch drips. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/217 "2021-01-26T20:38:23Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > The secret of toaster ovens is to use tinfoil to catch drips. Oh, they’ll still catch on fire if people cook things too close to the heating elements. Like I said upthread, my toaster oven has been set on fire half a dozen times by guests who didn’t understand how to use them. All of them adults. Ascribing one’s own cooking skills to other people is a mistake in optimism. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/218 "2021-01-27T05:26:18Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > e problem seems to have been caused by staff who wanted toast cooked almost black or didn’t understand that the ‘highest’ setting resulted in burning bread. If you are toasting black bread - blakbrot - you want the toaster turned all the way to black, because effectively that’s the way the sensor works. It doesn’t smoke and it doesn’t burn. If someone later puts white bread in the same toaster without checking the setting (which is often illegible), that’s when it smokes. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/219 "2021-01-27T06:45:04Z")
Overheard at Ray’s Music Exchange: _“Who knew toaster ovens were so popular?”_ ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/220 "2021-01-27T10:16:05Z")
The only English TV I can get is CNN. About ten days ago, a guest answers every question with a sharp, down-spoke “So, . . .” I’m thinking WTF. A week later, a woman does the same thing. Then two more of them yesterday. “How do you plan to overcome this?” “So – We willl meet tomorrow . . .” To my ears, an instant “stupid sounding conversation” How long has this exploding neologism been a thing? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858.md?page=12)