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Just for fun: ridiculous things people have argued with you


MyThreeSons
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Let's keep this light, please. I'll start with one of my all-time favorites:

 

A Geometry student I was tutoring was surprised that I knew anything about trees. (There was a word problem involving trees.) After all, I had told him that I grew up in California. Because there are no trees in California. You read that correctly: he actually argued with me about whether there are any trees in California. Even though I spent the first 39 years of my life there, he knew better than I. California is all cities and beaches. No trees at all. 

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The other day DH was watching Mountain Men, and one of the men tans animal hide using the animal's brain as tanner. The man said each animal has just the right amount of brain to tan their hide.

 

Well, DH was amazed, took this as scientific fact. So I HAD to point out: I doubt the mountain man has any scientific proof that brain mass = exact amount needed to tan. Like, has he tried tanning with less or more?

 

ANYHOO...to make a long story short :p....we had a 10 min. convoluted argument on whether animals have just enough brains to tan their hides.

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When our twins were about a month old, we were followed around a Walmart by a woman who insisted that our two babies were not twins. I'm not sure why it was so important to her to be right, but she kept it up for about twenty minutes. I'm generally polite to just about everyone, but I finally lost it with her.

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Some people in other countries think everyone in the US lives in New York.  They also tend to assume New York is just New York City.  Years ago someone asked me where I was from and I told them CT.  They said oh so New York.  I said no...that's not New York at all.  They didn't get it.

 

 

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When my brother was in the Coast Guard in Long Island he had to argue with many people who were sure Oregon was IN California. When he told people he was from Oregon they assumed he was a Californian???? I have never had an argument dumber than that.

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dh had one - not really an argument per se, but his client *really believed* what she said.

 

they were talking about evacuations after a natural disaster and he asked her where she was going to go.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

another planet.  yep, you read that right. yep, she was serious.  she was going to evacuate to another planet.  didn't say how she was planning on getting there. 

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I had so many visitors resist/argue/ignore me when I told them to bring a jacket, put long pants and shoes and socks on when I was taking them from the city of Albuquerque to the Sandia Crest in spring time.

 

"It's cold. There's stil snow. You need to dress warmer."

 

"Nah, I'll be fine!"

 

Then later: "it's FREEZING up here!"

 

"Yep. That's why I said bring a coat."

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My MIL wanted us to get chickens. She offered this old playhouse that she had that we could repurpose into a chicken coop. I laughed (she couldn't be that serious, right?) and said I didn't want chickens. She responded "well, why not?" And launched into a ridiculously long argument for us getting chickens. I was speechless for a few minutes, but I finally convinced her it would not be happening.

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I had so many visitors resist/argue/ignore me when I told them to bring a jacket, put long pants and shoes and socks on when I was taking them from the city of Albuquerque to the Sandia Crest in spring time.

 

"It's cold. There's stil snow. You need to dress warmer."

 

"Nah, I'll be fine!"

 

Then later: "it's FREEZING up here!"

 

"Yep. That's why I said bring a coat."

 

This past winter was soooo ccccccold.  Advanced coldness....I've never experienced THAT kind of cold.  And I'm pretty hearty when it comes to cold because I've lived in places where we always have cold winters.  I can usually go outside in socks and no coat to shovel the steps.  Not this past winter.  Awful...

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I know a set of sisters, one is married to a man. Her sister is dating her sisters husbands brother. So two sisters with two brothers.

 

My own brother is completely convinced this is insest and is illegal. No one in the family can convince him otherwise. Sigh.

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An acquaintance in college was flabbergasted to discover that there was snow in Alaska because "it's right next to Hawaii!"   :lol:  She could not be convinced otherwise... :001_rolleyes:  

 

Please teach your children geography with a globe, not just a wall map.  Please.  :p

 

I had a boss many years ago argue that Australia was one of the States and Texas was its own country. No amount of discussion could change her mind. I'm with you on the need to teach geography!

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I had so many visitors resist/argue/ignore me when I told them to bring a jacket, put long pants and shoes and socks on when I was taking them from the city of Albuquerque to the Sandia Crest in spring time.

 

"It's cold. There's stil snow. You need to dress warmer."

 

"Nah, I'll be fine!"

 

Then later: "it's FREEZING up here!"

 

"Yep. That's why I said bring a coat."

 

Yes.  My standard conversation before people visit me in Scotland (even people from England).  Yes, it really is colder up here.  Including in summer.  Don't bring shorts.  Do bring layers.  Leave the floaty linen at home. 

 

It's worse with foreigners who are actually used to having a summer.  The Golf Open is taking place in Fife at present and there are a lot of chilly tourists here in shorts and sandals.

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An acquaintance in college was flabbergasted to discover that there was snow in Alaska because "it's right next to Hawaii!"   :lol:  She could not be convinced otherwise... :001_rolleyes:

 

Imagine their face when they learned there's snow in Hawaii!

I know a set of sisters, one is married to a man. Her sister is dating her sisters husbands brother. So two sisters with two brothers.

 

My own brother is completely convinced this is incest and is illegal. No one in the family can convince him otherwise. Sigh.

 

Isn't that what caught up Catherine of Aragon? (Edit: Apparently not. I am heroically restraining myself from starting a ridiculous argument just for the lulz.) It's not illegal in the US (or anywhere I know of, but I reserve the right to be mistaken) but some cultures have historically considered it incest.

 

When our twins were about a month old, we were followed around a Walmart by a woman who insisted that our two babies were not twins. I'm not sure why it was so important to her to be right, but she kept it up for about twenty minutes. I'm generally polite to just about everyone, but I finally lost it with her.

 

LOL. "Okay, lady. You're right. They're not twins. Sorry, I'm all outta reward stickers!"

 

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New Mexico.  Yes, the state.  You would be shocked how many people think it's *not* a US state.  People who live in the US.  

 

Getting tested for tick borne diseases (in VA), I had to explain the doc's orders to the person doing the blood draw, on one test.  She'd never heard of the test, and couldn't figure it out.  I said it's a disease common in NM.  She insisted that they don't test for foreign diseases.   :svengo:

 

When the Olympics were in Atlanta, there was the woman who called the domestic line to get tickets.  When she said she lived in NM, they insisted she call the international line, that the line she'd called was only for people in the states.   :huh:

 

 

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I know a set of sisters, one is married to a man. Her sister is dating her sisters husbands brother. So two sisters with two brothers.

 

My own brother is completely convinced this is insest and is illegal. No one in the family can convince him otherwise. Sigh.

 

:lol: If they end up married, it makes for some strange explanations.  When I met DH, he got such a kick out of asking me if I could figure out how it was that he had one cousin who he's related to on both sides of the family.  Whaaaaa?  

 

Yep.  His parents married each other's siblings.  So - his parents were married.  And his mom's brother married his dad's sister.

 

It's not incest, but it's darn well confusing.

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Oh, and the gal at the newsstand in the airport who thought I was really stupid for believing that New Mexico is part of the United States. 

 

:lol:  She's probably one of those people who ask if there are flushing toilets in NM, too.  

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BIL's wife argued over and over that if they could buy everything at once, then the cost would be covered but if they spread things out there wouldn't be enough money to buy everything she wanted (she has a degree and was an elementary teacher). Nothing BIL or I said could convince her otherwise.

 

Please include Consumer Math in your child's education... :)

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My MIL once tried to explain to me that I make peanut butter jelly sandwiches wrong.  I couldn't even think of a retort so I just stared at her stupidly.  

 

We are great friends today, and no, I still don't know what she was talking about.  My children don't seem to be scarred by my obvious lack of PB&J knowledge.

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The dumbest arguments people had with me were when I was a kid. My maiden name sounds like a first name, so when I said my name it sounded like I was telling you my first and middle name. As an adult people didn't argue with me, though I did often have to spell what should be a simple name.

 

Let's pretend my maiden name was Ann (because it's really that simple)

 

What's your name?

Kathy Ann

No, your full name.

Kathleen Ann

No, not your middle name, your last name.

Ann is my last name. I don't have a middle name.

What do they call your daddy, honey, Mr. what?

Mister Ann.

Aw, she's cute.

 

Child Me -  :banghead:  :cursing:

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My MIL once tried to explain to me that I make peanut butter jelly sandwiches wrong.  I couldn't even think of a retort so I just stared at her stupidly.  

 

We are great friends today, and no, I still don't know what she was talking about.  My children don't seem to be scarred by my obvious lack of PB&J knowledge.

 

:confused1:  I have nothing to add to this conversation. I'm just dying to know how you make PB&J sandwiches. And what your MIL thinks you should be doing differently!

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(More often than it should happen) You're a Mormon?  How many wives does your husband have?  No, really, I watched a show on TV and Mormons all have more than one wife.  

 

(When we were moving from New Jersey to Idaho, from more than one person)  You're moving out west?  To Iowa? That's where they grow potatoes, right? No, really, Iowa's really far west. 

 

(When I was talking to a teenager in Kyrgyzstan who'd spent a little too much time talking to conservative Christian missionaries)  You voted for Obama?  Don't you know Democrats are amoral? And Mormons are unbiblical because you allow people to fight in wars.  (This was one of the weirdest conversations ever.)

 

 

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:confused1:  I have nothing to add to this conversation. I'm just dying to know how you make PB&J sandwiches. And what your MIL thinks you should be doing differently!

 

I'll bet it has to do with putting the jelly on top of the peanut butter, rather than spreading it on the other slice. I've heard the statement that if you put the jelly on the plain bread, it will make the sandwich soggier than if you spread it on the peanut butter.

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OTOH, when I was about 5yo, I can remember having a heated argument with my mother about the color of my eyes. She kept telling me that my eyes are brown (which they are), but I kept insisting they were blue. (LOL)

 

Ds' eyes are a gorgeous blue. He's been getting compliments since he was a tiny thing (not that he had anything to do with his eye color). He used to argue with me and insist they're green. When strangers would come up to him and say something about his beautiful blue eyes, he'd mumble that he has green eyes

Now he doesn't remember that and can't imagine that he used to think he has green eyes. 

 

Then-

I have green eyes. 

No you have blue eyes.

 

Now-

I couldn't really have thought I had green eyes could I? I argued? No. I don't remember that. Are you sure?

 

I can't win.  :lol:

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We had a Saudi exchange student just beginning to study English who argued with me over English grammar.

 

Because I am a woman. So I must not speak English properly.

 

He finally went to ask my husband his grammar question. My husband set him straight by telling him that if there are grammar questions, I am the person in the house to ask. :D

 

Oh! AND he argued with my husband that women are not safe drivers, despite the fact that I managed to get him places safely and about half the drivers he saw on the streets here were women able to drive safely every day. We all want to talk on our cell phones instead of paying attention to driving. He did eventually amend that to Saudi women, but sheesh.

 

To his credit, by the way, he went back to SA with very changed ideas about women and education. (He still believed that women should not drive.)

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When I contacted our former phone company to update the name on the account to my married name, I was told that only the account holder could request a name change. I had to explain that I was indeed the very same person even though I had a different last name than I did at the time I opened the account.

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This probably won't make much sense to most of you, buuuut...

 

When I was a lieutenant in the Air Force, I had a captain vehemently argue with me that I did NOT have a Top Secret clearance, when in fact I did. His reasoning was that no lieutenants could have TS clearance, only Secret. But no, I actually DID have a TS clearance. (Long convoluted story as to how and why I had one, but I did have one.)

 

Now, to my knowledge, this captain had absolutely no access to my personnel record, so he actually had no idea one way or the other. But he was downright angry at me for even suggesting the idea that I had a TS clearance.

 

So, whatever.

He was an idiot!

 

We had a top secret clearance as Privates!

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I have had the argument more than once, typically with Americans, who think I live in a place that is perpetually snowy.  In fact one of dd15's online friends was arguing with her the other day that Alberta could not have desert, it is all tundra.  Um, nope.  The is tundra in the very north of Alberta, but we also have desert, and mountains, and plains all in the same province.  And while our winters are long and cold, we do in fact have summer as well.  And do not live in igloos or use dog sleds to get around or have to worry about polar bears (unless you are in Churchill manitoba, then you have to worry about them lol).  And yes those are all arguments I have had over the years. You would think they would believe me given I live here, but no apparently they know better about what it is like here.

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Imagine their face when they learned there's snow in Hawaii!

 

Isn't that what caught up Catherine of Aragon? It's not illegal in the US (or anywhere I know of, but I reserve the right to be mistaken) but some cultures have historically considered it incest.

 

 

LOL. "Okay, lady. You're right. They're not twins. Sorry, I'm all outta reward stickers!"

 

No, Catherine of Aragon married two brothers, Henry VIII and his older brother. This situation is two different girls dating two different brothers.

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Grandma owned a very tiny quadraplex of apartments in a very tiny town.  She managed them herself, she repaired them herself, and she lived just down the road.  The apartments caught fire (tenant had a gasoline can and her kids lit it up - thankfully no one was hurt).  After repairs were completed we needed to reestablish phone service to the 4 apartments.  I was on the phone with the phone company for over an hour on three separate occasions over the course of three days trying to get phone service reestablished but the phone service provider had just been taken over by a big company.  The people kept insisting they had to talk to the on site manager and tie the repairs to the on site manager's phone number and address.  I kept insisting there WAS no on site manager, it was my grandmother and I would be happy to provide them with HER number and address.  

 

"No ma'am, you must be mistaken.  You have to have an on site manager.  How else could you take care of the apartments?"

 

 "She walks over.  She lives right down the street."

 

"Ma'am, you must be mistaken.  You have to have an on sight manager."  

 

"We don't.  She doesn't need one.  Can't I give you HER number and address?"

 

 "No.  It must be the on site manager."

 

 "We don't have an on sight manager.   Would one of the tenant's numbers work?  We could reimburse for the bill."  

 

"No ma'am, it has to be the official on site manager."

 

"We don't HAVE an on site manager!"

 

"You must be mistaken."  

 

"I am not mistaken!!!!"  

 

"I'm sorry ma'am but until you provide the on site manager's phone number and address I cannot generate a work order to repair the phone lines."   :glare:

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I went on a week-long trip to Iceland. When I got back to Ohio my co-workers were asking me what kind of food I ate. When I mentioned I had reindeer for dinner one evening, they looked at me like I was crazy. One said "But, reindeer don't exist!" I said "Well, the flying one's don't....??" They just would not believe me that reindeer exist outside of the Santa Clause story.

 

Another time I had an electrician come to my house to give me an estimate on redoing our wiring. The estimate was $1500. I thanked him for his time and let him know we'd start saving up so we could get the work done. He tried to get me to finance the work saying "If you pay $100 a month you'll have it paid off in less than a year!" I asked him how that was possible and his response was "Well, the minimum payment is $64/month and if you pay more than that it gets paid off faster. It'll be less than a year." I tried to show him the math that it would take at least 15 months to pay off, but to no avail.

 

 

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I'm from Kansas, so I must be amazed at seeing hills. Because, you know, Kansas is flat. We have no hills. Whatsoever.   :banghead:

 

Forget about the entire Flint Hills area. No walking around the KU campus, either! I'm pretty sure I got buns of steel during graduate school walking to class.

 

We're not even the flattest state!

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In high school, I required surgery and reconstruction done. It was very memorable (I have photos of the before and after) and very expensive (as my parents liked to remind me though the reasons were not my fault).

 

A few years ago, I was conversing with a family member when the relative claimed to have had the exact same surgery and reconstruction. I asked the relative's parent, standing right next to us, who said nope, no surgery. The relative continued to insist. The description and recovery exactly matched my experience; the relative and I were very close when younger and spent much time together. It was so strange and the relative was so convincing, for a few seconds, I wondered if I was claiming my relative's memory.

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Ds' eyes are a gorgeous blue. He's been getting compliments since he was a tiny thing (not that he had anything to do with his eye color). He used to argue with me and insist they're green. When strangers would come up to him and say something about his beautiful blue eyes, he'd mumble that he has green eyes

Now he doesn't remember that and can't imagine that he used to think he has green eyes. 

 

Then-

I have green eyes. 

No you have blue eyes.

 

Now-

I couldn't really have thought I had green eyes could I? I argued? No. I don't remember that. Are you sure?

 

I can't win.  :lol:

 

Reminds me of a song...

 

 

 

NEW ORDER LYRICS
 

"Temptation"

 

 

Oh, you've got green eyes

Oh, you've got blue eyes

Oh, you've got grey eyes

And I've never seen anyone quite like you before

No, I've never met anyone quite like you before

 

Heaven, a gateway, a hope

Just like a feeling I need, it's no joke

And though it hurts me to see you this way

Betrayed by words, I'd never heard, too hard to say

Up, down, turn around

Please don't let me hit the ground

Tonight I think I'll walk alone

I'll find my soul as I go home

 

Each way I turn, I know I'll always try

To break this circle that's been placed around me

From time to time, I find I've lost some need

That was urgent to myself, I do believe

Oh, you've got green eyes

Oh, you've got blue eyes

Oh, you've got grey eyes

And I've never seen anyone quite like you before

No, I've never met anyone quite like you before

Bolts from above hurt the people down below

People in this world, we have no place to go

Oh, it's the last time

Oh, I've never met anyone quite like you before

Oh no, I've never met anyone quite like you before

 

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I'm from Kansas, so I must be amazed at seeing hills. Because, you know, Kansas is flat. We have no hills. Whatsoever.   :banghead:

 

Forget about the entire Flint Hills area. No walking around the KU campus, either! I'm pretty sure I got buns of steel during graduate school walking to class.

 

We're not even the flattest state!

 

Nope! We're #7

 

We also have the Arikaree Breaks, Gypsum Hills, Castle Rock...

 

I just thought of another one: people from Johnson County who think Manhattan is "western Kansas."

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:lol: If they end up married, it makes for some strange explanations. When I met DH, he got such a kick out of asking me if I could figure out how it was that he had one cousin who he's related to on both sides of the family. Whaaaaa?

 

Yep. His parents married each other's siblings. So - his parents were married. And his mom's brother married his dad's sister.

 

It's not incest, but it's darn well confusing.

My great grandparents were the youngest in large families. They met as toddlers when a pair of older siblings got married...then another pair, and another pair. Finally my great grandparents grew up and decided to get married as well.

Yep, four siblings of one family married four siblings of another. Another sibling of family number one then married a cousin of family number two.

 

Talk about confusing family reunions.

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