The nature of urban legends and chiggers.

[Onceuponatime]

Are you ever surprised when some people have trouble accepting something as an urban legend? I got bit by chiggers from walking in some tall grass, when I mentioned this to some relatives they all started exclaiming ,"Chiggers are nasty, they burrow under your skin and lay eggs."

Well, since I was the one bit, and a homeschooling mom :001_smile:, I was already armed with more than enough information on the habits of chiggers. When I explained, very nicely, to these very intelligent people that it's just the bite that itches, chiggers don't burrow or lay eggs under our skin, they looked at me as though I had two heads. I had to reveal my sources of information and they still seemed miffed.

 

Why? Whenever I find out that some bit of information that changes the way I think, it intrigues me and sometimes even amuses me. It doesn't upset me. At least not yet.

 

Do you get reactions like this if you dare to say that a banana plant never exploded from tarantulas, or a cockroach never laid an egg in a person's tongue? Or is it just me.

[Orthodox6]

Try this one, if you want another "fun fibtoid":

 

" The name " earwig " originates from the superstition that earwigs crawl into the ears of sleeping persons and bore into the brain. Although earwigs appear somewhat dangerous due to their forceps, they are practically harmless to man. "

[HappyCrazyMama]

Are you ever surprised when some people have trouble accepting something as an urban legend? I got bit by chiggers from walking in some tall grass, when I mentioned this to some relatives they all started exclaiming ,"Chiggers are nasty, they burrow under your skin and lay eggs."

Well, since I was the one bit, and a homeschooling mom :001_smile:, I was already armed with more than enough information on the habits of chiggers. When I explained, very nicely, to these very intelligent people that it's just the bite that itches, chiggers don't burrow or lay eggs under our skin, they looked at me as though I had two heads. I had to reveal my sources of information and they still seemed miffed.

 

Why? Whenever I find out that some bit of information that changes the way I think, it intrigues me and sometimes even amuses me. It doesn't upset me. At least not yet.

 

Do you get reactions like this if you dare to say that a banana plant never exploded from tarantulas, or a cockroach never laid an egg in a person's tongue? Or is it just me.

 

It was a cactus plant silly.:tongue_smilie:

[Mom-ninja.]

Maybe they confused chiggers with scabies?

 

I had scabies once. Ugh.

[lionfamily1999]

KH, I think a lot of people think the two (chiggers/scabies) are interchangeable.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I think people hear something so often that to change their mind (even knowing it's wrong) is like heading into the unknown. Like the idea that people only use a very small percentage of their brain, that's bunk, but people have a hard time believing that, because they've been told it SO MANY TIMES.

[Onceuponatime]

It was a cactus plant silly.:tongue_smilie:

 

 

Oops. My mistake. ;)

[Farrar]

Maybe they confused chiggers with scabies?

 

 

 

Oh no. I *know* that it's not true about chiggers laying their eggs in you, but it's something I heard for so many years growing up, from so many sources, that it's hard to not feel that it's true.

 

May I just add that putting nail polish on chigger bites is also an urban legend.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

You probably wouldn't believe HOW MANY times, as a teenager/young adult people would warn me that spiders could start growing out of a pimple on my face.

(Thanks, cuz teenagers and young adults just AREN'T SELF-CONSCIOUS enough about blemishes!!! THANKS FOR NOTICING!!!) :glare:

 

Just because it was in the movie Believers doesn't mean that it is REAL.

 

I used to say,"Oh, that's okay, I don't use that same powder as the character from the Believers!" :lol:

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

I didn't know that that was a myth (my grandmother told it to me as a kid.) I am VERY relived to hear it's not true!

I get arguments and disbelief from people when I say something that I learned as a homeschooling-keeping-myself-informed-mom. At my ds2's birthday party as an ice breaker for the adults I put names of animals on index cards on their backs and they had to ask questions to figure what they were. Everyone at that party argued with me and said that insects (I had a butterfly and a bee) were not animals :confused: No matter what I told them about the 5 classifications of lifeforms (or whatever it's called,) no one believed me. I had to go online and prove it to my sil after the party.

[unsinkable]

:lol: I thought this old woman was going to punch DH in the face when he told her heat lightning was just regular lightning from an ordinary far-off storm (too far to hear the thunder.)

[Carrie12345]

I go nuts when I see people on this board recommending smothering techniques for ticks. :leaving:

[Mrs_JWM]

I go nuts when I see people on this board recommending smothering techniques for ticks. :leaving:

 

OMGosh - YES! And :iagree: with all the other examples debunked above! However, it's sad that everyone probably rolls their eyes when they see us coming to be all know-it-all-y! :lol:

[Photo Ninja]

I still hear people talking about how microwaves cook from the inside out. They just don't believe that isn't true, even when I ask them if they have ever thawed a food item or even reheated food and found that the inside was still cold or frozen, while the outside was hot. They admit that they have, but still argue that microwaves cook from the inside out.

[Word Nerd]

My husband believes that chiggers themselves are an urban legend. I wouldn't wish my nightmare experience with chigger bites at camp when I was in high school on anyone, but... :glare: