# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/41 "2020-12-01T23:42:10Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I just took it as people who didn’t know much about Lynyrd Skynyrd. If that conversation happened between two teenaged guys today, it’d be no more remarkable than teenaged me, in 1980, not knowing how Glenn Miller died. But as @Shoeless relates it, ~35 years ago, one might expect the information about the plane crash which killed half the group would be more well-known. This is pretty much it. At the time, the plane crash that killed several band members was fairly recent history (six or seven years prior). So it was just kind of silly that a couple of guys who were familiar with Skynyrd’s music were apparently unaware of the band’s fate. (Of course they were right in a way - the band _had_ broken up, for a while anyway, after several of them died.) ---
**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:** [December 1, 2020, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/42 "2020-12-01T23:45:41Z")
In 2013 I was at a movie theater to see the new production of Much Ado About Nothing, and overheard a young man say to his date, “It’s, like, modern Shakespeare, but still in black and white.” This wasn’t overheard, but I’m including it because it’s so dumb. My dad worked with a woman who insisted it was good to dry cloth diapers in the sun because the baby could get vitamin D that way. ---
**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:** [December 1, 2020, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/43 "2020-12-01T23:51:45Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > My dad worked with a woman who insisted it was good to dry cloth diapers in the sun because the baby could get vitamin D that way. Maybe if the baby was wearing it at the time… ---
**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:** [December 2, 2020, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/44 "2020-12-02T06:29:27Z")
RE: The Skynyrd Thing I find it funny that they are _still_ going and never will seem to quit, despite deaths and plane crashes and anything. Break up? Shit! You can’t kill this band! As far as overheard shit, I used to have a few tidbits I used as sig lines way back in the day. But they won’t fly today. The Axl Rose one was my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/45 "2020-12-02T14:22:32Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > In 2013 I was at a movie theater to see the new production of Much Ado About Nothing, and overheard a young man say to his date, “It’s, like, modern Shakespeare, but still in black and white.” 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!) ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/46 "2020-12-02T14:49:59Z")
It’s a commercial, not overheard, but it fits in with the stupid conversation thing. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-p5wE31aK_M/hqdefault.jpg "Blondes LA County Fair Commercial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p5wE31aK_M) ---
**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:** [December 2, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/47 "2020-12-02T15:43:53Z")
Now _that’s_ genius. And I grew up in LA. YouTube’s trailer of other suggested vids includes a couple of the fair’s other ads that are equally stupid/funny poking fun at LA people. Worth a couple clicks at 30 seconds apiece. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/48 "2020-12-02T16:10:27Z")
While not a textbook fit for the OP, I feel strongly that this young lady would want to be included: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lj3iNxZ8Dww/hqdefault.jpg "Miss Teen USA 2007 - South Carolina answers a question") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww) ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/49 "2020-12-02T19:28:17Z")
Many years ago at an event, late in the evening a small group organized a casual poker game to kill some time (strictly penny ante). So everyone has pulled change and dollar bills out of their pockets (this was in the 70’s, everyone had all kinds of change in their pockets) and another person wandered by and the following conversation ensued: Bystander: “Are you guys playing poker?” Player: “Yup” Bystander: “Where are the chips?” Player (without missing a beat): “We’re using the money to represent chips.” Bystander: “Oh, cool” (wanders off) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/50 "2020-12-02T19:30:27Z")
To be fair, they sort of did. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/51 "2020-12-02T19:38:01Z")
As someone with a fear of public speaking, I sympathize with that woman. When I get in front of a crowd and start to panic, I get stupid. But you would think, as a pageant contestant, she would be used to speaking in public. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/52 "2020-12-02T19:46:28Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > The receptionist, a known dummy, was chatting with the office manager. The office manager was expressing her frustration at the difficulties she was experiencing to obtain a social security number for her son, who had been born in England. The receptionist responded with sympathy: “Oh, I know just what you mean. I went through the same thing with my son. He was born in Hawaii.” It would have been slightly believable had he been born in New Mexico given how many clueless people don’t believe New Mexico is a state, although it wouldn’t rise to an “I know just what you mean” moment because it would amount to once or twice in your life having to deal with a clueless bureaucrat (as opposed to dealing with clueless liquor store cashiers more often than that), versus having to go through processes that were placed there on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2020, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/53 "2020-12-05T03:50:21Z")
> [@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!) I overheard someone in the audience saying this at the Stratford Festival in Canada. “I like how they’ve modernized the language and made it understandable.” ---
**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:** [December 5, 2020, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/54 "2020-12-05T05:41:54Z")
To be fair, the Lynyrd Skynyrd kid was right, they literally did “break up” in a plane crash. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2020, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/55 "2020-12-05T05:58:13Z")
Overheard in a coffee shop downtown. I’m sitting at a table, reading the paper, and having coffee. A young woman at the next table is talking on her cellphone: “Well of course you can afford to join us for Spring Break in Jamaica. What do you think student loans are for anyway?” ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2020, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/56 "2020-12-05T05:59:24Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > The receptionist responded with sympathy: “Oh, I know just what you mean. I went through the same thing with my son. He was born in Hawaii.” The silence that ensued in response made me glad I was out of sight of the receptionist, I was laughing so hard. The receptionist was a Birther and she didn’t even know it!! Good thing he wasn’t born in New Mexico, or he’d have had to learn English too! ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/57 "2020-12-05T22:40:13Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > My dad worked with a woman who insisted it was good to dry cloth diapers in the sun because the baby could get vitamin D that way. I don’t think babies can get enough vitamin D this way, but I’m not 100% sure. I think they’d get some. In the case of humans I think we get vitamin D in the sunshine by excreting cholesterol in our skin oil, some of which the sunlight converts to vitamin D, and then we absorb that through our skin. I do know about cats, though – they excrete cholesterol in the oil that spreads over their fur, which the sunlight converts, and they clean themselves with their tongues and ingest it that way. So, depending on how good the laundry is at removing oily cholesterol from the diapers, babies may be able to get some vitamin D. Maybe the numbers don’t work out, but it’s not obviously ridiculous at first glance. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/58 "2020-12-05T22:51:45Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I do know about cats, though – they excrete cholesterol in the oil that spreads over their fur, which the sunlight converts, and they clean themselves with their tongues and ingest it that way. That’s amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/59 "2020-12-06T00:46:18Z")
Decades ago I was in a technical school learning to program on the very modern business computer, the AS/400. It used an 8-inch floppy drive, DSDD, to which we wrote our work at the end of the night (one at a time!). One night I was working in the lab and overheard two other students discussing the fact that one of their disks was out of space. The other student said, “It’s double-sided. Just turn it over and use the other side.” I was so stunned I didn’t correct this misinformation. No, I don’t know if they tried to do it, so I don’t know what the upshot, if any, was. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/60 "2020-12-06T02:26:23Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > In the case of humans I think we get vitamin D in the sunshine by excreting cholesterol in our skin oil, some of which the sunlight converts to vitamin D, and then we absorb that through our skin. Your understanding is incorrect. UVB rays convert a type of cholesterol to a precursor of vitamin D inside the skin. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D#Synthesis_in_the_skin): “The skin consists of two primary layers: the inner layer called the dermis, and the outer, thinner epidermis. Vitamin D is produced in the keratinocytes of two innermost strata of the epidermis, the stratum basale and stratum spinosum, which also are able to produce calcitriol and express the VDR.” (VDR = Vitamin D Receptor) This is why people in northern Europe evolved to have pale skin. Dark skin blocks UVB, so in the less intense light of northern Europe it can keep a person from developing enough vitamin D. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858.md?page=4)