Stunning conversations you have with people

[rumborak]

Background: We flew an applicant into Boston from Indiana. The lunch conversation I had with him:

Me: "So, are you staying over the weekend?"
Him: "Nah, I'm flying out after this."
Me: "Oh ok, you'be been to Boston before then?"
Him: "Nah."
[awkward silence]
Him: "So, what can you do around here?"
Me: "Well, there's mountains to the north..."
Him: "Really?"
Me: "Well, we have Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine just to the north."
Him: "Oh, wow."
Me: "I also like playing beach Volleyball in the summer."
Him: "Oh cool. Is there a large body of water around here to do that?"

[...... unbelieving stare from me .....]

Me: "You mean, other than the ocean?"
Him: "Oh, is Boston close to the ocean? I knew there was a river here"

Let me just say it didn't help his chances of getting hired.

rumborak

[Phoenix87x]

There's a woman that I work with who I'm only barely acquainted with. A few months ago this conversation occurred out of the blue.

Her: I'm really upset
Me: Why?
Her: Jim just died last night
Me: Who is Jim? 
Her: My ex husband
Me: You were married? 
Her: I introduced you to him 3 weeks ago
Me: Oh... well, how did he die?
Her: He was murdered
Me: Murdered     Holy shit
Her: He was stabbed to death last night

and she walks away.

This was one of the craziest conversations I have ever had, and that it was so out of the blue that I was so stunned. She was married to this guy for only a few months and apparently when I met him they were formally divorced, but still seeing each other  .
She lives in a really rough neighborhood and stuff like that goes down all the time, but it was still shocking and very sad as well.

[Kotowboy]

Mine doesn't come close to that...but I work in a rehearsal studio for bands and some of them are so dim...

" Hi - which Room are we in tonight ? "
" It's the Big room right at the far end. "
" Oh. Is that the small room just here ? "
" No, it's the big room right at the far end. "
" Ah. Ok. "

Did you even listen ? I hate when people ask you something just to tell you the answer before you can reply and then walk away even though they're wrong.

And bands who fess up that they can't afford to practice - - AFTER they've finished practicing. Very convenient !

[WDADU]

I thought that there would be a policy where you have to pay in advance.

[carl320]

Let's see if I  remember this...  I was at work last week (I work at a trucking company) and had this conversation with a new guy.

Me:  Hey (new guy), did you load this pallet into a trailer without loading it in the computer?
Him:  I don't remember... why?
Me:  Do you have the paperwork?
Him:  Isn't it where it should be?
Me:  (Checking the computer trying to find it... it says that the pallet is in Indianapolis, but the pallet is right here.  I tell him that)
Him:  "Where's Indy?"
Me:  Where the terminal is.
Him:  Where's Indy?
Me:  Central Indiana.  The pallet is not here.  As soon as the trailer leaves, it's already in Indianapolis in the computer.
Him:  Oh.

[Kotowboy]

I thought that there would be a policy where you have to pay in advance.

It would get even more confusing ! Believe me, bands pull out all the time and then you'd have to reimburse them - plus charge  a cancellation fee ...

The way it works now is fine..

[Adami]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=32006.0

[hefdaddy42]

[GuineaPig]

 

[Implode]

I knew what that was linking to before I clicked it.

[Progmetty]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=32006.0

I didn't read into this thread but was Omega the problem there?

[Zantera]

My sister is pretty stupid sometimes. I still love her and everything, but sometimes when we have discussions or conversations, she says something that makes me want to facepalm my hand through my skull. I don't have any examples right now, but it happens quite often. 

[El Barto]

I have a coworker who likes to ask stupid questions.

Me, changing a lightbulb.
Him:  Whatcha doing?
Me:  Changing a lightbulb???
Him:  Oh.   Why?
Me:  ??

This sort of thing happens all the time.

[yorost]

Background: We flew an applicant into Boston from Indiana. The lunch conversation I had with him:
...

Out of curiousity, can you name which major Midwestern cities are or are not on the Great Lakes?

Yes, it seems ridiculous he didn't know that, but as much as East (or West) Coasters might like to think they're the centre of the entire country ...Midwesterners don't like or care about you.

[KevShmev]

Yes, it seems ridiculous he didn't know that, but as much as East (or West) Coasters might like to think they're the centre of the entire country ...Midwesterners don't like or care about you.

Haha, so true, but, yeah, how can you not know where the Atlantic Ocean is?

[Fiery Winds]

Not only that, but if you're being flown in for a job interview, it behooves you to find out just a little bit about the area and see if it's a good fit.  That probably includes a quick gander at google maps and discovering there's a very large body of water nearby.

[rumborak]

Background: We flew an applicant into Boston from Indiana. The lunch conversation I had with him:
...

Out of curiousity, can you name which major Midwestern cities are or are not on the Great Lakes?

Yes, it seems ridiculous he didn't know that, but as much as East (or West) Coasters might like to think they're the centre of the entire country ...Midwesterners don't like or care about you.

That's all fair, but as the previous two posters said, not only does it behoove you to look up where the plane you're stepping on is flying you, it's also one of those things you don't want to happen to you in a job interview. Not sure where you get the idea from that East/West Coasters think that they're the center of the entire country.

rumborak

[Zook]

I believe it was third grade when we all had to pick a state and learn about the flag, state bird and stuff, and my state was Massachusetts. I still have the assignment. My point? I was in third grade learning about Massachusetts, knowing it was hanging off the US in the Atlantic Ocean. How could this guy not know something like this? Chances are, if you asked him what school he attended, there would probably be more awkward silence.

[yorost]

Background: We flew an applicant into Boston from Indiana. The lunch conversation I had with him:
...

Out of curiousity, can you name which major Midwestern cities are or are not on the Great Lakes?

Yes, it seems ridiculous he didn't know that, but as much as East (or West) Coasters might like to think they're the centre of the entire country ...Midwesterners don't like or care about you.

That's all fair, but as the previous two posters said, not only does it behoove you to look up where the plane you're stepping on is flying you, it's also one of those things you don't want to happen to you in a job interview. Not sure where you get the idea from that East/West Coasters think that they're the center of the entire country.

rumborak

[orcus116]

Him not knowing a very basic geographic fact has nothing to do with being anyone from the east or west coast being elitist.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Him not knowing a very basic geographic fact has nothing to do with being anyone from the east or west coast being elitist.

This. I'm a Canadian and I assume that to be common knowledge.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Kinda unrelated, kinda related, but I hate when people go "OMG THIS SONG IS SOOOOOO OLD" about songs from 2005-2008.

[yorost]

Him not knowing a very basic geographic fact has nothing to do with being anyone from the east or west coast being elitist.

Ah, reread what I said.  Midwesterners are going to know Midwest geography before they know anything about East coast geography.  I was taking a pot shot at the coast's elitism while more or less saying that, not blaming it.  I agree it makes him look stupid to not know, but it probably stems from him just not caring.  Where you live gives different perspective, how many of us North Americans would look like total idiots trying to place European cities on a map ...African cities?

[rumborak]

Come on dude, Boston is in the same country, Europe and Africa are different continents. And not only that, he was from Indiana, which is pretty Northeast as things go in the US.

And, what's with the animosity towards the coastal states?

rumborak

[Zook]

Kinda unrelated, kinda related, but I hate when people go "OMG THIS SONG IS SOOOOOO OLD" about songs from 2005-2008.

 

[TL]

Him not knowing a very basic geographic fact has nothing to do with being anyone from the east or west coast being elitist.

Ah, reread what I said.  Midwesterners are going to know Midwest geography before they know anything about East coast geography.  I was taking a pot shot at the coast's elitism while more or less saying that, not blaming it.  I agree it makes him look stupid to not know, but it probably stems from him just not caring.  Where you live gives different perspective, how many of us North Americans would look like total idiots trying to place European cities on a map ...African cities?

If a person has a job interview in a city, it doesn't matter where that city is; they should do a little research and know a thing or two about the city they're potentially going to be working in, before going to the job interview. If they don't, they're an idiot. Period. It doesn't matter if we're talking about a city on one of the coasts, or in the middle of Nebraska. It's common sense.

[ZBomber]

And, what's with the animosity towards the coastal states?

Seriously.  Boston is a pretty major city too, and a very historical one at that. I wouldn't expect someone going into an interview to know everything about the city, but jesus, how do you not know that it is near the ocean? I'm assuming he flew into Logan too, which is right there.

[Xanthul]

Him not knowing a very basic geographic fact has nothing to do with being anyone from the east or west coast being elitist.

Ah, reread what I said.  Midwesterners are going to know Midwest geography before they know anything about East coast geography.  I was taking a pot shot at the coast's elitism while more or less saying that, not blaming it.  I agree it makes him look stupid to not know, but it probably stems from him just not caring.  Where you live gives different perspective, how many of us North Americans would look like total idiots trying to place European cities on a map ...African cities?

If a person has a job interview in a city, it doesn't matter where that city is; they should do a little research and know a thing or two about the city they're potentially going to be working in, before going to the job interview. If they don't, they're an idiot. Period. It doesn't matter if we're talking about a city on one of the coasts, or in the middle of Nebraska. It's common sense.

I agree. I wouldn't go to a job interview in a city I know nothing about.

On topic, a couple of years ago I was in a meeting with a coworker and we were told to do A instead of B. We go back to work and I see she's writing in our document that we are going to do B. The following conversation happened:

Me: Why did you write B?
Her: I don't know...
Me: They just told us to do A not even 30 minutes ago.
Her: Yeah...
Me: So? Any particular reason why you're not reflecting that in the document?
Her: So I need to change it, right?...
Me: *blank stare*
Her: Ok I will change it

[rumborak]

but jesus, how do you not know that it is near the ocean? I'm assuming he flew into Logan too, which is right there.

Yeah, he flew into Logan. Given how every runway at Logan borders the ocean, he managed to also not look out the window.

rumborak

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Kinda unrelated, kinda related, but I hate when people go "OMG THIS SONG IS SOOOOOO OLD" about songs from 2005-2008.

 

It's mostly cause I'm a teen, and all stereotypical teenage girls have iPods consisting almost entirely of songs that just came out, but they have a few songs from said time period. When those songs come on, their friends usually react with "OMG WHY ARE WE LISTENING TO THIS IT'S SOOOO OLD".

[yorost]

Come on dude, Boston is in the same country, Europe and Africa are different continents. And not only that, he was from Indiana, which is pretty Northeast as things go in the US.

Indiana is Midwest, culturally separated from the Northeast.  ...and how clearer can I be when I say it's ridiculous he doesn't know it and I think he looks stupid for not knowing it?  Where did I make excuses for him?  All I pointed out is what is likely the root of his ignorance.

The comparison to continents is to make more extreme the measure.  Not all people carry the same depth of familiarity.  I point out the continents because I think that is past the line of familiarity for most people.  Some might not go past country, other's might not go past region, or state, or maybe even their own city.  Just because we're a bunch of bigots with knowledge doesn't mean most the world pays attention to what we think they should.

[Zook]

Kinda unrelated, kinda related, but I hate when people go "OMG THIS SONG IS SOOOOOO OLD" about songs from 2005-2008.

 

It's mostly cause I'm a teen, and all stereotypical teenage girls have iPods consisting almost entirely of songs that just came out, but they have a few songs from said time period. When those songs come on, their friends usually react with "OMG WHY ARE WE LISTENING TO THIS IT'S SOOOO OLD".

Oh, I thought you were referencing a post of mine at 5/8. But yeah, I hate that too.

[jsem]

Kinda unrelated, kinda related, but I hate when people go "OMG THIS SONG IS SOOOOOO OLD" about songs from 2005-2008.

I hate this too.

[Jaq]

Cities tend to get cultural connotations. Boston does not immediately leap to mind as a city where you'd think BEACH VOLLEYBALL!

It doesn't excuse him forgetting the Atlantic Ocean is right there, but trust me, beach volleyball isn't the sort of thing I'd automatically associate with Boston.

[rumborak]

Oh, had the question been "Does Boston have beaches?" that would have been a perfectly valid thing to ask

rumborak