Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think a lot of people are completely stupid?

294 replies

blaisealex · 19/06/2021 19:08

Someone posted a photo on a Facebook group of a Fabulosa product that is mean to keep artificial lawn clean and smelling nice. Said product is rammed full of toxic chemicals that are harmful to humans, animals and the environment. Hundreds of comments of people praising the product, tagging their mates in it. Lots of people going to be buying it, damaging the environment, probably harming their cats and dogs in the process. So bloody stupid. This cleaning craze of fabulosa and zeflora is beyond stupid.

Saw another post where people where complaining about paper straws and posting links of where others could purchase plastic straws. I mean, sure, I preferred plastic straws. They didn't go soggy and disintegrate half way through a drink but really, it's a small sacrifice to make. It's stupid and selfish.

Spoke to several people recently, ages varying between 20s and late 50s. None of them aware of who the suffragettes were.

So AIBU to think that so many people really are just stupid?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
BiBabbles · 19/06/2021 20:12

Completely? Not so sure. They may not have certain areas of knowledge, but then I may not have knowledge in an area they do.

I mean, with plastic straws - I learned I think it was last year or the year before when it started to be a thing to ban them how they were originally invented for hospitals and people who medically need them clean out and reuse them, even have containers to carry them around as they become less available. , They can be reused hundreds of times if cleaned properly, dishwashers make it really easy to clean and reuse them, but even those with just a sink there are ways to rinse them.

I don't have any since no one in my household needs them at this point, but it's something I've kept in mind in case that changes. I think most people are pretty average in knowledge, but no one knows everything. I've my areas of interest that I can babble on about, but I have a lot of gaps too.

Chicchicchicchiclana · 19/06/2021 20:12

Bleach, disinfectant and anti bac cleaners are phenomenally stupid unless there is an actual serious infection in the house.

Myonlysunshine123 · 19/06/2021 20:14

@OlympicProcrastinator
My BIL bought one of these, I tried to tell him wouldn't come like that, and he was so ashamed to show us the basic plush toy that arrived, it was so funny Grin

OldWomanSaysThis · 19/06/2021 20:15

A huge chunk of the population doesn't know the difference between "your" and "you're" so any knowledge beyond that is bonus.

Soubriquet · 19/06/2021 20:18

I hate paper straws. They don’t feel right in your mouth. So I got some reusable straws instead

I also can’t stand fake grass. Next door just laid some and it looks awful but I acknowledge that sometimes, it’s a necessary evil

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 19/06/2021 20:19

@HarebrightCedarmoon

Very brave of you to call them out for their "stupidity" on an entirely different website that they won't read Hmm.
🤣🤣🤣🤣

but don't we all do this a lot?
moan about people here because we know or at least hope they won't read it?

quizqueen · 19/06/2021 20:19

I recycle everything I can but I much prefer plastic straws over paper . I washed mine out and have reused the same packet for years now- I pour boiling water through them and have even put them in the dishwasher. I bought a packet of paper straws and couldn't even get to the end of a smoothie drink without the paper straw clogging up and I had to use 2. They can't be recycled because they get dirty and you can't recycle dirty paper stuff so they will end up in landfill.

Replacing plastic with paper- made from trees- is not the answer. Every tree felled means less oxygen being produced for humans to breath.

BackforGood · 19/06/2021 20:20

Woah. This is one mixed thread.

  1. There have always been people with widely varying levels of cognition and thinking
  2. There have always been people who had better education that others
  3. There have always been part of society that valued education and learning and those that didn't
  4. There have always been people that have had far more opportunities than other
  5. There have always been differences of opinion about what "education" is more important than other sorts of education

Completely separate from that is the fact that some people have knowledge about all the environmental things being raised on this thread, but do not care. That doesn't necessarily mean they are stupid, just they worry about different things from you. Or, potentially just have an "I'm alright Jack" attitude to life and don't care much for the environment or other people.

Stupid is quite an offensive word. Undoubtedly there are people who are slower to grasp things, and undoubtedly there are a lot of people who are not interested in expanding their horizons or knowledge.

doublemonkey · 19/06/2021 20:22

Is someone mixing up suffragette and surfactant?

HarebrightCedarmoon · 19/06/2021 20:29

^but don't we all do this a lot?
moan about people here because we know or at least hope they won't read it?^

Oh sure. But you'd think if the OP cared so passionately about the environment she might have addressed the people concerned directly.

ForeverSinging · 19/06/2021 20:31

I'm all for the plastic straws.

SapphireSeptember · 19/06/2021 20:33

Oh don't. I've had people tell me I need to 'up my medication' despite not being my doctor or counsellor. (Those meds would be the ant--depressants I was on for a month, last December, and which I haven't taken since, which my doctor was fine with me coming off, also been signed off by said counsellor because I'm much better, despite losing my job and a FWB in the interim.) I'd like to see their medical degree, or how they know more about my mental health than I do. Hmm
One of the people involved in this chicanery also keeps trying to get me to drink/smoke weed, because getting me addicted to harmful substances is going to do me the world of good (she even said weed would be better than my 'la-la pills'!) I despair sometimes. (I know I have an addictive personality, and I like to keep myself under control because of it.)

PseudoBadger · 19/06/2021 20:35

Mr Google says suffragans are bishops. I am confused. And my ability to admit that means I can't be stupid.

ReachedTheEndofCake · 19/06/2021 20:35

@doublemonkey GrinGrin

gamerchick · 19/06/2021 20:35

@OlympicProcrastinator

I recently saw a Facebook advert selling a, “toy dog that looked and behaved like a real puppy” and was accompanied by a video of an actual husky puppy being walked and jumping around.

The amount of people in the comments that were upset because they received a crap soft toy that…surprise surprise, didn’t behave like an ACTUAL real life husky was quite something to behold.

And the people that write ‘blue’ or ‘white’ into the Facebook posts that say, “tell us what Range Rover colour you’d like in the comments and we will send the winner a Range Rover in the colour of their choice” or the “ASDA are giving away a £500 voucher” posts.

Thick as arseholes.

Heh my husband fell for that. It was a total facepalm moment for me Grin I told him he was too little to buy things off Facebook pages.

The teddy was actually lovely though but I did rip the piss a bit so he would learn that lesson.

The baby shark con was hilarious the things people were sent...

MuthaFunka61 · 19/06/2021 20:41

It seems to me that many don't have the awareness to recognise how their actions effect the very thing they're concerned about.
I know I'm not perfect on this,but to have a conversation about climate change and the legacy we're leaving our children/ grandchildren and then see that same person burning plastics because they don't want to put it landfill demonstrates a lack of presence. This isn't a criticism but an acknowledgement of how much humans have become disconnected from their environment. I think two wars in quick succession has created a huge split in the human consciousness.

choosername1234 · 19/06/2021 20:42

@PseudoBadger

Mr Google says suffragans are bishops. I am confused. And my ability to admit that means I can't be stupid.
That's what my google says too. Clearly we're both too stupid to be here Confused
CassandraTrotter · 19/06/2021 20:44

I’m not sure I’d use not knowing who the suffragettes are honestly makes a huge difference in day to day life
Well, with the ongoing attacks on women’s hard-won rights, I’d say it abso-fuckin-lutely makes a difference in day-to-day life. If only people cared enough to actually pay attention.

I also think the issue is apathy rather than stupidity. People just don't care enough to know things.

Bluebird2021 · 19/06/2021 20:52

@blaisealex what’s the harmful component of the artificial grass cleaner

PseudoBadger · 19/06/2021 20:53

And if you google 'suffregands' [sic] this thread is the only place in history that word has been used.

Lora918 · 19/06/2021 20:53

@OlympicProcrastinator

I recently saw a Facebook advert selling a, “toy dog that looked and behaved like a real puppy” and was accompanied by a video of an actual husky puppy being walked and jumping around.

The amount of people in the comments that were upset because they received a crap soft toy that…surprise surprise, didn’t behave like an ACTUAL real life husky was quite something to behold.

And the people that write ‘blue’ or ‘white’ into the Facebook posts that say, “tell us what Range Rover colour you’d like in the comments and we will send the winner a Range Rover in the colour of their choice” or the “ASDA are giving away a £500 voucher” posts.

Thick as arseholes.

This made me laugh so much Grin
Lucifersladylove · 19/06/2021 20:58

Plastic straws are a necessity for lots of disabled people.
The change from recyclable plastic to non-recyclable paper straws in McDonald’s…now THAT is stupid.

daisychain01 · 19/06/2021 21:01

There is a complete lack of critical thinking - I think they stopped teaching it in school.

People were raging on Trust Pilot that Seasalt had been misleading them for years into thinking all their clothes are sourced and made in Cornwall. This, despite there being a whole section on their website about their partnership with local Indian companies who make the products. And all their labels say "Made in India".

A bit of a give away, but oh no, they have this fantasy that there are people sitting there in Redruth beavering away weaving and sewing their scarves and tunics by hand with seagulls wandering around.

gamerchick · 19/06/2021 21:01

@CassandraTrotter

I’m not sure I’d use not knowing who the suffragettes are honestly makes a huge difference in day to day life Well, with the ongoing attacks on women’s hard-won rights, I’d say it abso-fuckin-lutely makes a difference in day-to-day life. If only people cared enough to actually pay attention.

I also think the issue is apathy rather than stupidity. People just don't care enough to know things.

It's quite depressing really. Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat the bastard.
WayOutOfMyDepth · 19/06/2021 21:01

Some people don't think the same as you OP. It's a problem.