3rd grade question of the day

[Georgie]

"Is the United States a country?" (That sound you hear is me banging my head against the wall....)

[WileECoyote]

Did anyone ever ask, "Is Alaska an island beside Hawaii like it is on the map?"

[robr]

Georgie,

You should have told him/her it is a conglomeration of tiny democracies, or an amagamation of semi-independant city-states, or, a salad bowl of small republics, or it's just a dream, the American Dream.

Then he/she would be really confused!

[stevebody]

Georgie-

Don't feel too badly. I once had a girlfriend - a grown woman of 42 - who swore that snakes aren't animals because they're cold-blooded. When I tried to explain the term "mammals" it just confused her. Here's your chance to prevent such things. God Bless you...

[Thomas]

Sometimes, it isn't possible. I once talked with a registered nurse, who was the head of a department in a hospital. She was in her mid forties. She did not know the name Florence Nightingale.

[stevebody]

Whoa...we're headed down a slippery slope toward a thread about Most Inane Things We've Ever Heard. Don't know about youse guys, but I've got some whoppers.

[WileECoyote]

My fiance and I were on a trip back from Nova Scotia and was playing name that capital to pass time. We were in NH and could not for the life of us remember the capital. We stopped at a toll booth in NH and asked the attendant. She says, in a NH accent, "I don't know, Manchesta?" She had lived there all her life. Needless to say, we looked it up and found out it was Concord. The best part was the accent of course.

OK, I think I have slipped down that slope...

[robr]

I had a 17 year old student who wrote a research paper about the Ghosts of New England, and all the locations she mentioned were in the UK. But, throughout the paper she kept calling it New England.

OK, it's not really that funny.

[andypandy]

Threads like this are fun...I'm up for any game that's played on a slippery slope.
When I almost moved to Alaska last year, my sister couldn't fathom how I would get my car, etc., over to the island of Alaska.
I'm always amazed at how many grown and supposedly educated people think that Africa is a country or even that Europe is a country, or how many Texans think that Texas is a country...

[robr]

Ba domp bummm! (that's a rimshot)

[Drew]

When I was supervising the Marine Unit for the Baltimore City Police a Lieutenant remarked how nice it was of the City to allow sailboats to stay in the harbor overnight without charge anchored to a dozen available "morning boys" [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img] (mooring buoys!)

Drew

[wondersofwine]

A fellow librarian asked for a source of information that would give the "birthing" capacities of ports.
A library technician requested a book that would "prove" reincarnation.
Now a good one on myself. I was playing bridge with three friends and we decided it was time to change partners. I suggested we all stand up and move one place to the right. Without giving it further thought they all stood up and started to move one place to the right before we realized that upon sitting down we would have the same partners as before!
As a child I heard that a family friend Jimmy had broken his arm. I said "can't they put it back on him?"

[Georgie]

Hotwine might take issue with that Texas remark.....

[Innkeeper]

The main reason why we ended up buying a home rather than building as we originally planned was that the company we were dealing with released the person we had first contacted, and hired in turn an air head. This person consistently did things like refer to an adjacent wall as the "wall behind" and things like that!

[hotwine]

Yeah, I saw Andy's comment on Texas. Ebberbody knows that it's like a whole 'nother country! (Just ask the Dept. of Tourism.... even THEY use that expression.)

We just commemorated the 170th anniversary of the Alamo's fall on 6 March. Salut!

[TheEngineer]

Just remember Hotwine, You need three Texas to be the same size as Ontario!

[TheEngineer]

I was in Paris walking around the Eiffel tower with an older couple from the US as well. They were very nice, looked very causal and up to date and they know what it meant to be respectful. A bunch of 20 somethings from the US (Montana I think it was..but of no consequence) came up to us and started talking rather loudly to the point where the older couple was looking for somewhere to hide.

The younger group was looking for places to go after Paris so I told them about Vienna, Salzburg, Milan, etc,.. They said thanks and then asked,..."so like is that far away or can we just take a cab?" I looked dumbfounded and the older couple broke out laughing......

[Georgie]

I hear several geography teachers moaning....

[andypandy]

I think I just heard a moan and a sigh from Joaquín, because he remembers the Alamo too...

[stevebody]

Dated another gal, years ago, who was about ten years younger than me. We parted ways after I mentioned Paul McCartney's work with the Beatles and she said, "He was in a band before Wings?"

Overheard a customer (not a regular, Thank God) who was describing to his girlfriend or wife the winemaking process. In less than three seconds, it was clear that what he was talking about was making whiskey.

Was actually standing next to Jimi Hendrix's grave, back in '95, when a 20-ish guy, there with a group of friends, asked, "Was this guy a musician or something?"

A guy I talked with during the last baseball season swore to me that an out was four strikes. "No," I said, "That's balls." His reply? "Not balls at all, it's the truth. Didn't you ever play baseball?"

A guy from the Washington State Legislative Liaison's Office came in to take a survey and, in the course of the questions, asked me if I knew who our senators are. I answered Cantwell and Murray. He said I was the first person to get it right all day - and he had made 14 stops.

I have an excuse. I started out dumb. A lot of people are embracing it willfully.