I don’t know of anyone it’s ever happened to but me, which makes it happening twice all the more bizarre.
No, that is a dumb question. That’s like asking, “What flavor is the pineapple soda?”
Many years ago, my co-workers and I had the same problem. I’ve posted before about how we solved the problem (see here), but I’ll post it again:
The not-so-dumb part of it, IMHO, is that some people have trouble visualizing a circle that is 14" or 18" across. Some pizza places display different-sized pizza pans, or just painted circles, to show people what the different pizza sizes look like.
I’ve been playing guitar for 50 years and guess I should count myself fortunate that no one has ever asked me that question.
This is part of a question, rather than a full question. For many years I worked with US colleagues or clients, and several times I have been asked something-or-other about “British African-Americans”.
Yes, I know it’s a bit unfair - they are just being decent, sensitive people and forgetting who they are asking (albeit in a rather odd way). Hard to know quite how to answer, though.
j
Given how many times I’ve walked up to an apparently open register ringing somebody up only to have them tell me they’re closed, I’m not sure I can blame the people for asking.
In most programming applications 0 is handled differently from other outputs. The thing that’s not common, though, is looking for even/odd numbers. So as a dude who’s a couple decades away from an exam and who just yesterday wrote special handling to cover a 0 output, it’s not hard at all to imagine a test question where 0 might need special handling.
If you asked me that, you’d get a long and ever-growing list of all the things I’ve ripped off.
But you didn’t translate NYC. 
50 years is Back Before the Internet. But now, if you wanted to learn the guitar chords for Piano Man, you’d just go to youtube or tabs.ultimate-guitar.com
Or, here you go (Youtube lesson.) Note one of the comments: "Just had someone ask me if I played Piano Man…thanks for helping me expand my repertoire Marty!!
Yes, I know (or assume) the original post was a joke, but despite the song being about a piano player at a bar, I think it still sounds fine played on guitar (actually, listening to various acoustic guitar covers on Youtube, I may prefer it on guitar, but I’m not particularly fond of the song itself, despite piano being my main instrument.)
Just matter-of-factly say “Pact with Satan.”
So, can you?
I often get asked where my Artistic ideas come from. If I’m feeling silly I say “I steal them”. Sometimes I try to be mysterious and say they come to me while I meditate. It seems no one wants more info on those answers.
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When my late husband and I were living in the Carolinas, we’d get “So which one of you …ahh… errr…is the woman?” Neither! We’re both men!
Working in various offices, I apparently looked like someone who’d know where to find pens, toner, headset batteries, etc. The stock answer was “Ask your manager or your admin. There are seven business lines on this floor, and they all have their own supplies.”
I used to manage a franchise car rental agency.
The manager of the branch in the next town over was Lucas, from Brazil.
Our standard joke, whenever we got a customer from Brazil was …
Do you know Lucas?
Until one day I asked the question - and got a yes…
I think this happens fairly often to mixed-race families. One of my best friends as a kid was half Irish, half Sri Lankan, and she was light skinned, but her brothers were quite dark, and her Mum was always being asked if they were adopted. And another friend years later was a very dark skinned Black British woman with a husband as pale as you and their children resembled him a lot, so people generally assumed she was the nanny, which she understandably found pretty hurtful.
It’s understandable that people get confused sometimes, but vocalising it is just rude.
Somewhat similarly, I used to go to the local horse race track after work. Work required a jacket and tie, which definitely marked me apart from the usual racetrack denizens.
As a result, I got a lot of questions from people who thought I worked for the track. Many questions, I could easily handle (“Hey, you look like you work here; where’s the men’s room?”), but on some, I had to admit that I could not help (“Hey, you look like you work here; any inside tips?”). Buddy, I don’t work here, and if I had any inside tips, I’d keep them to myself.
FTR, it wasn’t a joke. I have had requests to play the song while playing live or at a party,etc… I’ve been playing over 40 years so I’ve played it before, it’s not particularly difficult and it would only take me a minute to deduce a chord progression (no Youtube or tab sites needed, thanks!)
I find it’s a dumb question because it’s not a song that’s really written for guitar. Could you do it, sure. but honestly, I’m a little above just strumming the accompaniment chords while trying to usher the crowd through all the lyrics.
…and I’m not against playing a “piano song” on guitar. I’ve played songs like “Desperado”, “Let it Be”,“Freebird” “Walking in Memphis” “That’s Just the Way It Is” and many others. “Piano Man” just doesn’t work as well.
I can’t think of any really stupid questions I’ve been asked more than once, but I once met a Gettysburg park ranger who shared some of his favorite dumb questions from over the years:
“Did the soldiers take cover behind the monuments during the battle?” (Uh, no, the monuments were built after the war)
“Why were so many battles fought in national parks?” (The battlefields became national parks later)
“Did the Americans win this battle?” (Yes, they did; they also lost it)
Wait, I heard another one regarding monuments are Gettysburg. Maybe you posted this elsewhere on SDMB??
Tourist seeing cannons pointed at a high angle: “Were these used as anti-aircraft guns during the battle?”