I mean, come on!

[*********]

Oh! OH! I thought of something else, LOL.

 

Dh and I have a very nice friend. He's a well educated man, bright, good company. We just got back in touch with him after not seeing him for about two years. He came over for dinner.

 

He was talking to the boys about how much they'd grown. Then he turns to me...

 

Friend: How old are they now?

 

Me: 6 and 8.

 

Friend: Are they twins? They look so much alike...

 

Me: Nope, but a lot of people ask me that.

 

Friend returns to chatting with the boys.

 

I look at dh like this :001_huh:. Dh gives me one of these, ;), which I return with :D. Friend either didn't register what I answered him or didn't realize what he has said, I'm assuming. I mean, people DO know that twins are the SAME age, right? It was just so funny, but I didn't want to embarass our friend; he never did realize what he had asked. :tongue_smilie:

 

And people DO ask me a lot if they're twins, even though Zee is a head taller than Moose. But people *don't* ask right after I tell them that they're two years apart!

 

Funny enough though, that is the SECOND time someone has asked me if they're twins AFTER asking how old they are. The boys are 2 1/2 years apart!

[Catwoman]

Friend: How old are they now?

 

Me: 6 and 8.

 

Friend: Are they twins? They look so much alike...

 

 

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

You: "Why, yes. Yes they are." :tongue_smilie:

[LG Gone Wild]

I was thinking about this last night when I was watching "worst cooks in America" and was utterly dumbfounded when I realized how little these people knew about food! Not only did they not know where most of the food comes from they had zero knowledge of basic cooking skills. Not one of them could follow a basic recipe and come out with something edible!

 

LOVE THAT SHOW! One challenge was making a hamburger and the majority didn't know hamburger meat shrinks when cooked so there were some unhappy revelations during that challenge. My husband, who was in another room, called out "B*******! Who doesn't know hamburger meat shrinks? This is phony." Then I had to tell them that one lady rolled ground turkey in oatmeal to add texture. :eek:

 

Another guy didn't know how to use a knife and just used his hands to "cut" his chicken.

 

So like the OP, "I mean, come on". I did feel sad for them because they just simply did not know. I don't even think they had functioning taste buds.

[Virg]

I believe it. I can't tell you how many times I've had people tell me the exact same thing. Then there are the people who tell me that dh, who is allergic to dairy, can have ice cream because "it's not milk" and they're not talking about non-dairy ice creams either. Or those who tell me that my dh can't have eggs because "that's dairy". No, it's just kept on the dairy aisle at the grocery store but doesn't come from a cow!

 

:iagree: My son is allergic to all milk proteins and I hear these things ALL of the time.

 

I have done childcare and taught preschool for years, the things I have heard parents say makes me fear for our country's future! Children should eat toast, there are less calories and carbs after you toast bread. Sunny D is a perfectly fine juice to give an infant in their bottle. Their baby's favorite drink at 3 months old is Dr Pepper. All from parents in a high-paying profession!

[Virg]

Oh! OH! I thought of something else, LOL.

 

Dh and I have a very nice friend. He's a well educated man, bright, good company. We just got back in touch with him after not seeing him for about two years. He came over for dinner.

 

He was talking to the boys about how much they'd grown. Then he turns to me...

 

Friend: How old are they now?

 

Me: 6 and 8.

 

Friend: Are they twins? They look so much alike...

 

Me: Nope, but a lot of people ask me that.

 

Friend returns to chatting with the boys.

 

I look at dh like this :001_huh:. Dh gives me one of these, ;), which I return with :D. Friend either didn't register what I answered him or didn't realize what he has said, I'm assuming. I mean, people DO know that twins are the SAME age, right? It was just so funny, but I didn't want to embarass our friend; he never did realize what he had asked. :tongue_smilie:

 

And people DO ask me a lot if they're twins, even though Zee is a head taller than Moose. But people *don't* ask right after I tell them that they're two years apart!

 

Funny enough though, that is the SECOND time someone has asked me if they're twins AFTER asking how old they are. The boys are 2 1/2 years apart!

 

I used to nanny for boy/girl twins and people asked all the time if there were twins. I would reply yes. One boy and one girl? I would say yes again. At least half of the time they would follow up with are they identical? Ummm no. I used to think it was common knowledge that identical twins have the same DNA but it must not be.

[petepie2]

I'll try to refrain from passing judgment about the woman's intelligence, but I do say that it's quite hard to believe that an adult doesn't know that bread is made is from wheat. However, I think that Sherlock Holmes would sympathize with the dear woman. :D In Doyle's first Sherlock novel, Dr. Watson is completely astounded that Holmes doesn't know the earth revolves around the sun. Here is Holmes's reply:

 

"You see," he explained, "I consider a man's brain originally is like an empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so the knowledge that might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has difficulty in laying his hands on it. Now the skilled workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. I is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones."

[mirth]

Could it be that she asked you about rye bread, you heard white, proceeded to answer, and she was too polite to stop you?

 

It's nice that she asks about your daily kid details and about what you like to eat.

[stripe]

I had a nurse practitioner scold me for blending my child's soup. He needed to have it in chunks in order to get the fiber.

 

Seriously, this was 7 years ago and I'm still laughing because she said this in an office visit, in a professional capacity.

 

That being said, I try not to be too mean because I've stuck my foot in my mouth many times before.

[SKL]

Oh! OH! I thought of something else, LOL.

 

Dh and I have a very nice friend. He's a well educated man, bright, good company. We just got back in touch with him after not seeing him for about two years. He came over for dinner.

 

He was talking to the boys about how much they'd grown. Then he turns to me...

 

Friend: How old are they now?

 

Me: 6 and 8.

 

Friend: Are they twins? They look so much alike...

 

Me: Nope, but a lot of people ask me that.

 

Friend returns to chatting with the boys.

 

I look at dh like this :001_huh:. Dh gives me one of these, ;), which I return with :D. Friend either didn't register what I answered him or didn't realize what he has said, I'm assuming. I mean, people DO know that twins are the SAME age, right? It was just so funny, but I didn't want to embarass our friend; he never did realize what he had asked. :tongue_smilie:

 

And people DO ask me a lot if they're twins, even though Zee is a head taller than Moose. But people *don't* ask right after I tell them that they're two years apart!

 

Funny enough though, that is the SECOND time someone has asked me if they're twins AFTER asking how old they are. The boys are 2 1/2 years apart!

 

My SIL told me that she wondered if my brother and I were "identical twins." (Granted, she dropped out of school at 15, but she's fairly intelligent - about some things.)

 

I get the "are they twins" question a lot, and then when I tell people that my girls are 3 mos apart in age, some people have a really hard time figuring out how that could be possible. Think a little outside the box, folks!

 

I dated a top science student from China who had no idea that he could not have blue-eyed children. I thought every educated person knew that. Granted, eye color doesn't come up much in a country where everyone's are brown, while in the USA, it's a great example for discussing dominant/recessive genes.

[Lady Florida.]

I can't understand not knowing that bread is made from wheat, but I have to give her a break on picture books. I never heard them called that until about 10 years ago. I always just knew them as children's books. Children's books generally were stories with pictures, so there was no need to it a picture book. Where I came from (or perhaps "when" I came from?) it was a given that a children's book had pictures.

[SKL]

You remind me of a funny from my old work days. My boss and secretary did not have good chemistry at all. Once my secretary mentioned that she and her twin sister were celebrating their birthday. Boss acted all dumb and said "you guys have the same birthday?" He came to me later and chuckled about how silly she was for thinking anyone could be "that" dumb. Separately, she came to me to whisper her shock at how anyone could be "that" dumb. LOL. Neither one of them was dumb, but one was more flighty and the other more obnoxious.

[ChrissySC]

She's stupid. Call me snotty if you want. ;)

:iagree:

[SKL]

The more I think about it . . . was the lady foreign? Because bread is made all kinds of ways in different countries. They don't have anything like our "white bread" in traditional cultures. They have all manner of "bread" made from corn, wheat, rice, and other grains' flour, in various shapes and colors. If they came here, saw our weird sliced loaves, and heard "wheat bread" being discussed on one hand and "white bread" on the other, I could see how they would assume white bread is made from something other than wheat. Chances are, they don't eat it at home (neither do I).

 

For that matter, I wonder if my kids know . . . I make somewhat of a fuss about them eating brown bread since white bread is not as healthy. They probably think white bread is made of sugar or something, LOL.

[mirth]

I dated a top science student from China who had no idea that he could not have blue-eyed children. I thought every educated person knew that.

 

There is a Chinese boy born with blue eyes ...

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095309/Someones-eating-carrots-Chinas-cat-eye-boy-dark.html

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Could it be that she asked you about rye bread, you heard white, proceeded to answer, and she was too polite to stop you?

 

It's nice that she asks about your daily kid details and about what you like to eat.

 

The more I think about it . . . was the lady foreign? Because bread is made all kinds of ways in different countries. They don't have anything like our "white bread" in traditional cultures. They have all manner of "bread" made from corn, wheat, rice, and other grains' flour, in various shapes and colors. If they came here, saw our weird sliced loaves, and heard "wheat bread" being discussed on one hand and "white bread" on the other, I could see how they would assume white bread is made from something other than wheat. Chances are, they don't eat it at home (neither do I).

 

For that matter, I wonder if my kids know . . . I make somewhat of a fuss about them eating brown bread since white bread is not as healthy. They probably think white bread is made of sugar or something, LOL.

 

 

She's not foreign. She's lived here all her life. Okay, so maybe not every one refers to picture books as picture books. I can live with that. She did not ask about rye. She and her husband both, along with my husband, did not really know what made white bread different from "wheat bread". (Although both men knew that bread was made from wheat.) I explained about the different parts of a wheat kernel. I wouldn't expect people to know what all the parts of a wheat kernel are called, but I would expect most adults to know that bread is made from wheat. Even most rye bread has wheat flour in it. Unless you get that real vollkornbrot German rye bread.

[SKL]

There is a Chinese boy born with blue eyes ...

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095309/Someones-eating-carrots-Chinas-cat-eye-boy-dark.html

 

OK, I was oversimplifying. He was hoping that if he married a blue-eyed woman, he'd have a good chance of having blue-eyed children. Not so. Had he had any blue-eyed ancestors, maybe.

[vonfirmath]

So if one has an advanced degree in a field other than nutrition, one gets a bye about common knowledge? IMO, the knowledge that wheat is ground into flour (white or wheat) should be acquired by about age 7 or 8. Acquired by everyone, (at least those belonging to a culture that considers grains an indispensible and nutritious part of one's diet,) not just those with specialized knowledge. But I may be wrong, of course.

 

For me, it may have been acquired way back then. But if I wasn't on the boards I am on I would NOT know it now.. I don't make bread from scratch hardly at all. And when I do, I buy "Flour" not "Wheat" to grind into flour.

 

And I would not put it past myself not to connect these in a conversation such as these since I don't (yet) have to deal with a gluten allergy. Bread is made out of flour. NOT wheat in my head. And yes, I know flour is made out of wheat. But it is not knowledge that just "pops up" when I hear wheat.

 

Oh and BTW? I've read the Little Red Hen recently and the two are STILL not connected in my head.

Edited February 20, 2012 by vonfirmath

[scrappyhappymama]

As a mom who's dealt with food allergies with my kids, I am not shocked at ALL. Lots of people I would consider to be intelligent have a hard time grasping what being allergic to dairy and soy and corn means. They often assume as long as there is not milk in it or soy beans or kernels of corn, it is a-OK. I try to explain that casein and whey are milk and vegetable oil is soy and dextrose is corn (just as a few examples) and so it's not as easy to avoid as it sounds, but then their eyes glaze over a bit. Of course I would have NO IDEA myself if I did not deal with it day in and day out.

 

My sister has celiac disease and you would be shocked how often folks think white bread is ok for her. I think it's that the brown bread is called wheat bread and the white is white bread and folks just don't think about it any deeper than that. It IS obvious once you think about it (or should be!) but I try to be understanding consider that perhaps they never have baked or read the Little Red Hen or done more than pick up a loaf on the store shelves.

 

My husband admitted to me once that he was an adult before he realized that meat was the muscles of animals. He just assumed animals had bones and blood and muscles and a meat layer. :D We got a lot of laughs out of that one, but you know, if no one ever explained it to him, is it really that intuitive? Especially for a city kid, with no experience slaughtering animals and never cooking meat for himself that didn't come chopped up in a package.

[Catwoman]

He just assumed animals had bones and blood and muscles and a meat layer. :D

 

So basically you're saying there's no meat layer??? :lol:

 

That completely cracked me up!

[*Inna*]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

You: "Why, yes. Yes they are." :tongue_smilie:

Oh, I'm *so* going to use that one when yet another person asks if my 8 and 6 year old are twins. :glare:

[melissad2]

LOVE THAT SHOW! One challenge was making a hamburger and the majority didn't know hamburger meat shrinks when cooked so there were some unhappy revelations during that challenge. My husband, who was in another room, called out "B*******! Who doesn't know hamburger meat shrinks? This is phony." Then I had to tell them that one lady rolled ground turkey in oatmeal to add texture. :eek:

 

Another guy didn't know how to use a knife and just used his hands to "cut" his chicken.

 

So like the OP, "I mean, come on". I did feel sad for them because they just simply did not know. I don't even think they had functioning taste buds.

 

The one last night had me :lol: and :banghead: because one of the ladies kept saying "tufu" instead of "tofu" and Bobby Flay kept correcting her. After she said it wrong like 4 times he was like "are you real?" Then another girl was trying to put a meat grinder together and after about 10 minutes of her fiddling with it Chef Anne goes over to help her out and she's like "lefty loosey, righty tighty!" and the poor girl still couldn't produce anything edible.

[stripe]

I'm not naming names, but I watched a video at a website showcasing various products and the person showing the range of the product pronounced the product's brand name wrong. Very wrong. I can't believe no one at this store knows how to say it? The manufacturer also has videos online where the company name is pronounced.

[Hwin]

My SIL is a sweet, kind hearted person, but I was brought up short and saddened when she saw me shredding cheese for a salad and said "Oh wow, that's fancy. You can do that at home?" and it took me a minute to realize she meant shredding cheese with a cheese shredder. Now, she is NOT highly educated, and has plenty of experience shredding cheese at fast food chains, but she apparently didn't come from a home where that was done. Maybe there was a perfectly good reason, but in this case I just felt so sad. I really didn't know what to say. I think I went with "Yes, I love my cheese grater" or something similarly ridiculous.

 

I would expect anyone who eats or buys food to know that bread is made from wheat. I'd give anyone a pass on picture book vs children's book, though.

 

I still don't really know what size 6X means in clothing. Is it like husky, or is an inbetween thing? I have NO IDEA.

[stripe]

I still don't really know what size 6X means in clothing. Is it like husky, or is an inbetween thing? I have NO IDEA.

I wonder the same thing. I thought it was husky but then it seemed that there's a gap year. :confused: Not sure why, though.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I wonder the same thing. I thought it was husky but then it seemed that there's a gap year. :confused: Not sure why, though.

 

The x means extra - it's a bit longer and wider. And yes, it is a gap year of sorts because that age is when kids start to change from a more preschool body with a tummy to a more girl's body with a waist.

[lovemykids]

No, that’s crazy, I think it is general knowledge that white bread is made from wheat. But thanks for the laugh!

:lol::lol::lol:

I’ll have to finish reading this thread later...too funny. Sometimes intelligent people do and say really stupid things. I think we all do from time to time...

 

 

Okay, last year, I had dinner with an attorney friend of dh's and when she was asking about our bedtime routine, I said that I read the kids picture books and a chapter book. She asked me what picture books were, and I said books with pictures in them. I mentioned this on some thread last year, and was chastised for being a little snotty about it in expecting a grown woman with young children to know what a picture book is.

 

We just got home from our annual dinner with this woman and her husband. I've been gluten-free since May, and when the bread came to the table I declined and she asked me if I wasn't hungry. I explained that I no longer eat gluten, and she asked what that meant, and I said, well, I can't eat certain grains like wheat, barley, and rye. So, later on in the dinner she asked me about the gluten thing again, and again I explained that I couldn't eat wheat. Then she said, "But you can still eat white bread, right?" I said, "Well, no, not if it's made from wheat flour." She said, "Why would white bread be made with wheat flour?" I said, "Well most of the bread sold in stores, and these rolls, for example, are made with wheat flour.", and then proceeded to explain about the various parts of a grain of wheat and the difference between white flour and whole wheat flour.

 

I'm asking seriously here- is this not general knowledge? Am I being snotty in my opinion that this lady needs to shut down her texting and start reading a book or something? Really. She's an attorney, for crying out loud. I wouldn't want her to represent me if she's that clueless about general knowledge. Am I out of line in thinking that an adult should know what bread is made from?

[GingerPoppy]

One of my :confused: moments was at my dd's 6 or 7 month well-baby check-up. This is a doctor I only went to the one time, because she was a little brusque, bossy... and, well, this:

 

Doc: "So, have you started feeding her solids?"

Me: "Yes."

Doc: "What have you fed her?"

Me: "Pureed carrots and a few other fruits and vegetables, plus pureed brown rice."

Doc: "What about cereal? Have you started her on cereal?"

Me: "Yes, I give her pureed brown rice."

Doc: "No, cereal. You know, cereal from a box?"

Me: :confused: good grief!!

 

I just can't respect that from a doctor, of all people. :001_huh:

[lovemykids]

One of my :confused: moments was at my dd's 6 or 7 month well-baby check-up. This is a doctor I only went to the one time, because she was a little brusque, bossy... and, well, this:

 

Doc: "So, have you started feeding her solids?"

Me: "Yes."

Doc: "What have you fed her?"

Me: "Pureed carrots and a few other fruits and vegetables, plus pureed brown rice."

Doc: "What about cereal? Have you started her on cereal?"

Me: "Yes, I give her pureed brown rice."

Doc: "No, cereal. You know, cereal from a box?"

Me: :confused: good grief!!

 

I just can't respect that from a doctor, of all people. :001_huh:

 

Yes, with doctors that you are entrusting your children’s lives to- stupidity of any kind is not to be tolerated. Too risky. :D

 

You need to have someone that you can at least have a cohesive dialog with..

[Silvina]

Well, on the topic of "people should know this, right?"...

I was in the hospital elevator with my one week old baby, going for a check up. A middle aged man, after congratulating me about the baby, and asking me how old he was, went on asking me if it was my first.

"yes, it is my first" I said.

"Oh"... (looking at me) and you are already expecting your second!"...

(No joke. He thought my belly was another baby...!!!!)

I guess he needed a biology 101 refreshment on reproduction...

[Forget-Me-Not]

I was thinking about this last night when I was watching "worst cooks in America" and was utterly dumbfounded when I realized how little these people knew about food! Not only did they not know where most of the food comes from they had zero knowledge of basic cooking skills. Not one of them could follow a basic recipe and come out with something edible!

 

The lady that said that Sweden was in Switzerland . . . :svengo:That show baffles me. How can people be so completely clueless? Why did they not pick up a book, or even do a Google search for YouTube cooking tutorials? Although I might claim to be clueless in the kitchen to get a few lessons from Bobby Flay :)

[melissad2]

The lady that said that Sweden was in Switzerland . . . :svengo:That show baffles me. How can people be so completely clueless? Why did they not pick up a book, or even do a Google search for YouTube cooking tutorials? Although I might claim to be clueless in the kitchen to get a few lessons from Bobby Flay :)

 

I caught that one also! I was like.... Ummmm ok??? The Asian lady garnished her meatballs with like a hundred bucks worth of saffron too! And the same lady who kept mispronouncing tofu was mashing it up in the pan with a spatula trying to get it to melt, then she turned over the food processor on the counter to get the sauce out because she couldn't figure out how to get the lid off!:lol:

[tex-mex]

People who do anything else are seen as "those nice but strange health freaks." It wouldn't surprise me to learn that your lawyer friend has a lawyer board she logged onto so she could complain about how weird you are.

:smilielol5::smilielol5:

 

 

 

I think this is what struck me. Do you consider her a friend?

 

The valedictorian of my high school class had astonishingly little common sense. It happens.

 

I have to agree with this one.

 

It is one thing to wonder about a quirk or flaw in a personality. But it does seem like the OP is looking for many of us to side with her -- JAWM? That being said, it seems very petty of the OP to be getting this upset over what the majority of Americans lack in knowledge. Another reason the Jay Leno show does the bit on current events on the street and we laugh over the results of lack of knowledge. ;)

Edited February 24, 2012 by tex-mex

[NASDAQ]

When I was practicing law full time, it was very hard to read outside of that particular little field. Law already involves so much reading.

 

Not every lawyer has a wealth of common knowledge. Until the end of college, I didn't know that the Superbowl was in February (right?). I couldn't have put it in the correct season, or named a single football player until this Tebow thing ended up all over the news. Are these the sort of things that are known to even the least observant North Americans? Sure. But it's amazing what you can miss when you're just not interested.