This is either really funny or kinda sad...

[jagsfan]

I live in north Florida, 13 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Most of my friends are transplants from around the country.

They are content to be familiar with our area of Jacksonville, and know zip about driving elsewhere. When I give north and south directions, they are stupefied.

I'll try, "OK, you know the beach is east, right?" and invariably the answer is no.

A friend talked about getting a hotel room in Orlando but didn't know if he wanted to ask for Gulf view or ocean view. I said he wouldn't be able to see either because Orlando is in the middle of the state.

His response was "don't be ridiculous, Florida is a very thin state.".

I have to be honest, for years, when I was a kid, I thought the Ozark Mountains were in Africa!

 

 

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[klfrodo]

I work for a huge multinational conglomerate.

I was traveling to Djibouti Africa for work and needed a commercial invoice (for customs purposes) because I was hand carrying some equipment.

 

I filled out the paperwork and the response I got back was 'You need to change the country code to Africa." :o

My response was rather curt. Not sure where you went to school but Africa is a CONTINENT. Djibouti is a COUNTRY on the continent of Africa.

 

I'm sure they were pissed but received my commercial invoice the next day.

[sail7seas]

In 2008 I cruised to Alaska .I went to my local bank for Travelers checks . I had to get them from the branch Vice President . She asked where I was traveling to and when I replied she said she always wanted to go to the Country of Alaska.

 

 

Before we went to Alaska, I called my credit card bank to tell them we might be making some charges there. , The rep who was 'helping me' said she would have to connect me to International l Department. HUh???? When I ask ed why, she said, we 'll, don't you know you are going to a foreign country? WHAT !! ? I asked if she thought I should get a yellow fever shot. :D

[Pyrate13]

I worked in a large tourist attraction located in central Florida where folks from around the world came to visit and I can unequivocally tell you that the lack of geographical knowledge is not confined to Americans. Sometimes it amazed me what people did not know, even the most obvious questions baffled some. I agree, it's a lack of teaching but also, some will never comprehend it, even when there is an attempt to teach.

Makes us human I guess. Everyone won't be as smart in some subjects but could think me under the table in other areas. Gives us something to smile about anyway. ;)

[ldubs]

Did you try to convince them that the sun rose in the west because it was south of the equator. It probably would have worked.

 

 

DON

 

 

Come on, no one would really fall for that. Everyone knows it depends on which way you are facing. :D

[Swampbabe]

To be honest, I find it equally sad the number of people that post on this board that can't spell ADVICE, although I'm sure some poor teacher somewhere tried to teach them the correct spelling [emoji848]

[Pyrate13]

To be honest, I find it equally sad the number of people that post on this board that can't spell ADVICE, although I'm sure some poor teacher somewhere tried to teach them the correct spelling [emoji848]

 

 

True that!:D

[CruiseGal999]

Nope - the class was deffo called Geography!

 

It was about 40 years ago mind you. But that knowledge of tectonic plates and what igneous/sedimentary rock is has stayed with me forever! Pinpointing places on maps is something that I have learned through experience.

 

Maybe we did learn about different places and cultures, and my interest wasn't there? When you are 11 or 12 you never think one day you might be inside a glacier or standing on that same tectonic plate that your teacher is droning on about, so you kind of switch off. Maybe it's only people who are lucky enough to travel that bother to find out about the world?

 

History was my subject!

 

This is how I felt reading my geography book and seeing people floating in Salt Lake and learning about it. It was interesting and something I always remembered, but never thought I'd ever see the lake. Today I live about 20 minutes from that lake. You just never know.

[CruiseGal999]

Yes, that is very sad.

 

Here are a few examples of the general lack of knowledge I've encountered when people hear I was born and raised in Hawaii -

 

How did you learn to speak English?

What language do they speak over there?

How tall are the trees that pineapples grow on?

 

and (drum roll) does Hawaii accept American dollars?

 

:o:eek::rolleyes::(

 

I have to admit, on my first trip to Hawaii, I DID reference the mainland as 'the states'. It wasn't that I didn't know or remember that Hawaii was a state ... it was more I didn't know how to phrase what I wanted to say. The phrase or concept of 'the mainland' wasn't familiar to me then.

[CruiseGal999]

To be honest, I find it equally sad the number of people that post on this board that can't spell ADVICE, although I'm sure some poor teacher somewhere tried to teach them the correct spelling [emoji848]

 

I agree ... also the use of LOSE (not loose) or DINING (not dinning), etc.

[DRS/NC]

We were in S. Africa & Kenya (business & vacation) when my DD was in kindergarten. she quickly learned that she was from "the States", not "America" -- that was several countries.

 

I recall learning all the (then) 48 states & their capitals in 5th grade; later classes covered continents, countries & major exports. Later classes in history (it became my college major) reinforced my knowledge of geography. Both led to my desire to travel: 42 states; 44 countries/territories & counting.

 

OP -- I'm from E. Tennessee & I'm appalled, but not surprised, by your co-worker's lack of knowledge.

 

And thanks for this thread -- lots of laughs on this cold day! :D

[shipgeeks]

On a transatlantic and Mediterranean cruise we shared a dinner table with a couple who were supposedly very well-traveled. After our port days in both Gibraltar and Naples, they asked us "What was the name of the island we were on today?"

[MicCanberra]

so, i returned from my western caribbean cruise a few weeks ago, and my co-worker, bill, just came back to work this morning after his eastern itinerary. We were comparing notes when a third co-worker, karen, joined the conversation.

bill asked me what ports we visited.

i responded, "two stops in mexico, honduras, guatemala, belize, and.....oh! Grand cayman"

karen gave me a funny look. "did you say you went to the grand canyon?"

i laughed and told her no, that would have been tricky.

"yeah, i didn't think you went to canada."

lol, :d

[griffy116]

My daughter ran into an old classmate and was asked where she had been. When she said she had been living in Key West, the girl asked what it was like to live in a foreign country. It's not our public education that's the problem. My daughters and my Grandson are all public school teachers. They're taught these things in public schools, but then they go home, and never travel beyond the state they were born in. You would be surprised at how many people, before the hurricane didn't realize that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. Too many people don't travel beyond their own state. When my Grandson mentioned to his students that he was born in Key West, they asked if he was now a U.S. citizen. They are taught these things in school but their home life has a lot to do with it. We have friends that have said they have no desire to go and see places outside this country. They thought we were insane when we said we were going on a cruise that included Turkey. It was the most amazing country we've visited. You have to have a desire to see beyond your own backyard.

[MicCanberra]

 

But the location of the GRAND CANYON? Surely that's something you should just KNOW - isn't it one of the top things in the world?

More like the bottom as it is a hole and not a mountain.;p

[maggie cruises]

And this is why I bought and framed large world and us maps and hung them in our hallway outside the kids bedrooms. This is why I always made sure there were fun educational books and geography and history et al trivia games under our tree each Christmas and this is why I always took my kids to museums...the more obscure...the better

 

My hs junior is still shocked at the lack of reading rightin and rithmatic skills of some of the kids at her school. Fortunately our hs has an incredible honors and AP curriculum which she is in....but outside the classroom she tutors at lunch and is amazed at the lack of skills some kids have.

 

My kids were fortunate that we had an incredibly well run academically advanced parochial school to attend until grade 8 so I suspect that helped them lol along with my insistence on a well rounded childhood...sports..academics..travel...leisure time...plus they all earned their own money by age 14

 

 

 

 

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[maggie cruises]

Totally agree!!

 

 

 

Today's youth is losing out on a quality education by schools dropping those subjects.

 

 

 

And bring back Latin!!

 

I remember lamenting to another parent years ago about this and their response to me was..."nobody speaks Latin anymore"

 

Omg and smh

 

 

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[maggie cruises]

On a transatlantic and Mediterranean cruise we shared a dinner table with a couple who were supposedly very well-traveled. After our port days in both Gibraltar and Naples, they asked us "What was the name of the island we were on today?"

 

 

 

Let's hope they meant that they took an excursion to Capri or Ischia and that they were so tired they just couldn't recall the name.

 

I know I know but it's a thought

 

 

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[maggie cruises]

Last June when the days were long my very well educated sometimes irritating dh was actually complaining about how long it was taking for the sun to move from our back yard to our front yard

 

I know I know. Lol but he wanted to sit on our front porch and in the sunny area.

 

So I played ....with a very straight face and a very plausible delivery...(I'm a college prof btw so people do tend to listen to me sometimes lol) I told him..."I guess you didn't see the report then? Didn't it show up on your computer feed?"

 

So he bit and asked....I told him that I had just gotten an update that the Earth actually stopped rotating for 90 minutes today. That this never before occurrence is being blamed for the tsunami forming as we speak in the pacific and for the huge polar ice sheet that was spotted moving south just 30 minutes ago!

 

I was very convincing.

 

That was on Sunday...and it wasn't until Tuesday that he said "you were kidding about the rotation thing right?"

 

 

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[sailing canary]

We were on a road trip from Wyoming to Las Vegas. At one of our stops, on hearing our British accents, we were asked if we had driven all the way from home!! No idea there was an ocean in the way!!!!!!

[sfaaa]

We were on a road trip from Wyoming to Las Vegas. At one of our stops, on hearing our British accents, we were asked if we had driven all the way from home!! No idea there was an ocean in the way!!!!!!

 

May be they thought you drove from New England.

[CruiseGal999]

We were on a road trip from Wyoming to Las Vegas. At one of our stops, on hearing our British accents, we were asked if we had driven all the way from home!! No idea there was an ocean in the way!!!!!!

 

What .... you didn't take the tunnel? I heard it was finished now!

 

:'):'):')

[MicCanberra]

People amaze me sometimes, and then I remember a quote from scott adams - You can never underestimate the stupidity of the general public.

[DirtyDawg]

People amaze me sometimes, and then I remember a quote from scott adams - You can never underestimate the stupidity of the general public.

 

Good quote. I personally Ben Franklin's quote;

 

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."

It looks like a lot of people are working a lot of overtime.... :D and :(

[MyTMo777]

Well, it made me LOL at my desk at work, so I'll go with funny! I'm a transplanted American living in Canada, so that makes it even funnier to me.