To wonder what stupid questions you've been asked

[backtolifebacktoreality]

Last weekend I phoned a local florists
and asked them to send some flowers to a nearby friend.

The friend lives in a relatively small cul de sac. The florist obviously asked the address for them to be delivered to. I advised they lived at No 12.

She then went on asking all sorts of questions about how she could find the house once in the street, ie what side of the road etc. She then asked questions about what would make the house recognisable to her, ie what colour front door.

I had to bite my lip but really wanted to respond "the fact that is has the number 12 on the door"!

I took my son for his pre-school booster the other day and he nurse said to my son "so then, do you go to school?" She knew he was 3 and he was getting his pre-school Jab.

I live abroad, but was applying for a store card. The assistant asked for my date of birth. I said 6 . She asked 196 . Well yes, I haven’t come from the future, nor am I over 150 years old.

@iklboodolphrednosedpaindear

What if she had someone else driving? What if she was delivering on a push bike, like my local florist?

You're the one making the assumption of a disability. OP has already confirmed the florist doesn't.

The point is, you should never assume someone doesn't. There are lots of invisible disabilities - autism, ADHD, eye disorders, lots of mental illnesses. You wouldn't know from looking at someone and they most likely would not disclose them to you.

I can't believe it's 2021 and I still need to explain this.

"Can we walk from one side to the other when the tide is out" about the Avon, in Stratford. By a middle aged couple visiting from not very far away.

I also had to pretend to be MIL after she had died because, despite FIL explaining that she had died & sending them a copy of the death certificate, the company involved refused to change it to his name unless they had her permission

Years ago I started a new job and was given a few new starter forms to fill in. the first question on one of the forms was "Can you read? Y/N"

At my current job, I was giving someone my email address over the phone which is basically [email protected] and they asked me how to spell "hyphen"

@megustalacerveza

It sounds like the woman could well have had some kind of disability, such as a visual difficulty, OP. Lots of people have trouble being able to see house numbers, and the fact she asked for the colour of the door suggests this. She also doesn't actually know that your friend lives in a small cul-de-sac and that it would be fairly obvious which house it was. She delivers to dozens of houses every day and has probably wasted a lot of time trying to find houses, and having some hints about how to find somewhere more easily cuts down on the wasted time and delays.

Likewise, the person who asked if the form was complete - you must never have worked in an admin role if you don't know that it is in fact common for people to submit incomplete forms missing crucial information. There's a reason people ask questions like that.

I can't believe how many people jump to the conclusion that someone must be stupid for asking things like this, rather than the far more likely scenario that there's a good reason they're asking.

Has anyone ever suggested that you might have a problem with empathy and understanding where other people are coming from?

That's what I was thinking. In fact, it shows stupidity on many of these posters parts that they cannot for the life of them fathom why the person is asking what they're asking. Most of these, if you just think about it for a few seconds, you can see the logic in what the person is asking.

Is there any frozen broccoli?

From DH to me. He was at home, I was not

@AwaAnBileYerHeid I agree. A lot of people seem to genuinely struggle to understand that other people aren't them, don't have the info they have, the context and knowledge they have, the health status they have, etc. Which, ironically, means they're far more likely to be stupid than the person they're accusing of being stupid.

I live in SA, and went to visit family in UK.

I lost count of the amount of people who asked me if I had a lion as a pet.

I was singing along to a song, and my cousin asked me how I knew the words because he didn't think we had radios or electricity.

And then you get introduced to someone. Hi, this is isthis, she is from SA. Other person : ooh my neighbours son called Frank lives in SA, do you know him...?

Are they identical twins?

No.

Are you sure?

Yes. They are a boy and a girl.

This from many, many people.

I suffer from tinnitus (high pitched ringing in the ears). Many years ago my boss asked me if he put his ear next to mine would he hear it too 🙄

I think we share that name!

A conversation with a customer, over the phone :

Me: is that a zero or an 'O'
Cust: what's the difference?
Me: one is a number, the other is a letter...
Cust : wow

@MsAgnesDiPesto

My maiden name was a colour. A common, everyday colour. One syllable. Can only be spelled one way. Yet endless people asked me how to spell it! For years!

I'm trying to work out what your surname could have been!

@Africa2go

Boy and girl twins.

"Are they identical?"

Repeatedly. And more than once by a medical professional

Yep, me too. I took to saying: 'Yes, but her willy fell off'.

Stbxh - every time I spoke to him.
"Can you move your trainers from the front door?" "What? Why? Oh yes."
"Would you like anything from tesco?" "What? Why?"
And so on...

The application form one is a stupid question.

I agree that lots of forms will not be fully complete, but if someone is handing it in they clearly believe it is complete as who would waste their own time knowing they'd left half it blank?

A better thing to say would be that that people often forget to fill in x and Y, are they sure that those bit are complete and would they like some help? Or simply "did you manage to fully complete it okay or is there anything I can help with?"

Being asked if it's complete, I'm unlikely to reply "nah, but I thought i'd hand it in anyway"

About 40 years ago, me and some friends were trying to get into a nightclub. We weren't quite old enough so had worked out what our dates of birth should be for when we got challenged at the door (before the concept of carrying ID). I gave a date in June and my friend gave a date in November for the same year. The doorman looked at us both intently (we looked a bit alike) and said "are you twins?". I said yes, our mother kept her legs crossed for 5 months in between births. Surprisingly he let us in .

We had conjoined twins come into our office with their dad. They were adorable and some staff came over to say hi (admittedly some more for the wow factor unfortunately). The dad was very patient and answered all the questions. Well, all except one. "Are they twins?"

I had fraternal twins and know not everyone knows the difference between fraternal and identical but when asked if they are were identical and I'd tell people know and add that was because they're fraternal so from two separate embryos and not one that had split I'd sometimes get told I was wrong and that they were identical (both girls one blond blue eyes and tiny and one brown eyes brown hair)...or asked again how I was so sure...I was there during IVF and scans and birth so saw them from the start I'd answer and still at times get an eye roll or told I'm wrong, usually an old biddy or a div bloke not listening properly so I'd just walk away laughing.

Recently, our teen DDs persuaded me to accompany them to a night club discotheque (for Heaven's sake). Placidly waiting in the queue I was astonished when the doorman asked for my ID! Just to be clear, I'm definitely not one of the Mumsnet Unicorns who easily pass for 24 despite being in their 40s. I am 51. And I look 51.

I pointed out that I was the mother to the 2 teens he'd just allowed into the club. He still insisted on seeing some ID 'for fire safety purposes' There was no way I was going back to the hotel to get some ID, so we were at somewhat of an impasse

Eventually he agreed to let me in the club (my DDs were laughing hysterically just inside the door) but I had to promise to remember my ID the next time!

I'm adopted. I don't mind the question "Don't you want to find your birth parents?", but when I answer 'No', don't be stupid and ask "Well, why not?". Just leave it. It's none of your business and if answered invariably leads to being told what I 'should' do and 'should' feel. Oh, and FYI, NEVER refer to an adoptee's birth/bio parents as their 'real' parents. It's ignorant and hurtful.

Caveat: if you are an adoptee yourself or adoptive parent, I don't really mind being asked why as long as it's phrased "I'm adopted/adoptive parent, do you mind if I ask....". Chances are you have a personal/ emotional reason for asking.

@SilverHairedCat

“For infertility "Have you tried relaxing / can't you just adopt / stop thinking about it then it'll happen". Wankers. Every fucking time. Stop it.”

THIS 🤣 ⬆️

@SilverHairedCat so many people told me I didn’t need ivf including a reflexologist I was seeing who told me I needed to howl at the moon 🤪

I was in M&S yesterday with my daughter and a shop assistant pointed to her and said, "is it her first Christmas?" My daughter is four.