Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

LLMReb wrote:Well, not to hijack the thread, but FOD, you reminded me of a story from my undergraduate days. Back in undergrad we had a little party because my roommate had a friend who just returned from some sort of mission trip in Guyana.

She really had command of the group at the party telling tales of how she always wanted to visit Africa, she loved Africa. She traveled around, but did not go on a safari because she does not believe in confined animals. I walk in about 1/2 way through her little story, and was confused b/c she was talking about Guyana, but also claiming to be in Africa. Like any reasonable person, I calmly ask, "When did you go to Africa? I thought you just returned from Guyana?"

She was very holier-than-though, lecturing me on Guyana, you know, being in Africa. She was there for 10 months. I should know more about geography and travel more so that I do not look like such a fool by asking stupid questions about when she is going to Africa because if I knew as much as I thought, I would not open my mouth and look like such an idiot by confusing Guyana and Africa.

After her little lecture, I pointed out that Guyana is in South America. At this point, I was still a bit confused as to why she was lecturing me. She was talking about Guyana, but also talking about Africa. All I did was I mentioned that Guyana = South America.

Then she, still in sarcasm mode, explained that she was there for 10 months, so she knows which continent she was on, and it was Africa.

Then it dawned on me that this poor stupid person thought she was in Africa. But I also considered that maybe she was just trying to make her trip sound more exciting to this group of idiots that were listening and not questioning her. So I explained that if she were in Guyana, she was in South America. But perhaps she was in Ghana, and that would indeed be Africa.

Then she started bawling. She was this sort of hippie chick that believed she was collecting life points by going to Africa on a mission trip, when in fact she was not in Africa after all. She was in South America. I had ruined her entire world because she was not in Africa, but in South America. She was not very bright. So crying, she made one last effort to state that she knew where she was, and it as indeed Africa, so perhaps she had the country wrong. Maybe she was in Ghana after all.

Then my roommate asks, "Was the flight about 5 hours out of Miami? If so, you were in South America."

Yeah, South America; not Africa. No wonder she did not see any lions running around on the savannahs.

Geography is not the strong point of many people. My old roommate and I still talk about that one. And years later, I'm just curious b/c she had been back in the US for over 1 month, and told that story to countless people. No one had ever corrected her? Lord help.

KeyMonCha wrote:Nah, she wasn't wrong... They were just "alternative facts"!

Fat_old_dwarf wrote: ↑Tue 24th Jan 2017 04:24 pm You don't need post-high school education to look at a map.

LLMReb wrote: ↑Sat 4th Feb 2017 04:19 pm

Fat_old_dwarf wrote: ↑Tue 24th Jan 2017 04:24 pm You don't need post-high school education to look at a map.

FOD, keep in mind you are talking about the US educational system (and the Mississippi educational system at that)!

Now that I have a little 6 month old, the educational issues in the United States are more worrisome than I anticipated. Reading a map - pfft, that's not tested for governmental assistance, so it is not a skill the educational system teaches. There is much more rote memorization these days than when I grew up and had to learn 'why' math/science/English rules existed rather than today's children just learning so-and-so is the rule. And I'm in a very high end area where the schools are considered the best in the nation. It is such an issue that we are considering European boarding schools. My English is gooder than most ( , but if we can give the little man an opportunity to learn and not make an idiot of himself at a party with map reading skills, we feel that we should take advantage of that ability.