Things we may consider mundane can appear as a status of wealth to innocent eyes.
At the time, I thought a mini-bar in the living room was a signifier of great affluence. Maybe it still is.
Curious to hear about what strangers had to say, Redditor VeryIntrestingPerson asked:
What was the pinnacle of wealth to you as a child?
Generous Grandparents
"grandparents giving you money during holidays."
"My grandma would send us a card on our birthday, with the amount of dollars matching our age. And she'd send one dollar to the one that wasn't having a birthday, so everyone got something. That's a very grandma thing to do."
Fridge Feature
"If I went to a friends place and they had a fridge with an ice dispenser, I automatically assumed they were rich."
"My friends bought a house, and they inherited an ice maker on the fridge that came with it. They put a glass under it to get ice, and out popped a nip of vodka - someone stored their nips in the ice chest to keep them cool!"
– BTRunner
Backyard Bonus
"Having a pool at your house."
"An in-ground pool, not just a crummy above ground one LOL. Now that I live where virtually every house has a pool, I know what a money pit it really is."
Fancy Art Supplies
"Yknow those nice watercolours? Those huge box of unbroken crayons? A whole set of fabercastell colour pencils? That fancy box like pencil case? Pencils that look like pens but are refillable?"
"Yeah those."
"ah yes. the sweet smell of pencils out of their packaging, the feeling of god tier watercolor.. the satisfying-ness of seeing unbroken crayons..."
"i got to feel none of those things as a child tbh.. but it was my DREAM to own them.. alas.. it was 200 ringgit (so like 50 usd.. i know quite cheap in the us.. but in malaysia.. not so much... owo)"
"Anyways, on a brighter note, I actually got a pack of these for my birthday! (I'm a digital artist but have a fascination for these lol)"
– FR1725
Popular Dolls
"American Girl Dolls."
"I got the magazine/catalog in the mail. I would drool over the stuff in there. I always wanted a bunch of stuff from it. My parents never bought it for me."
Big Houses
"Living in a two story house. I was convinced living in a two story house was for the stuff of the ultra rich. Or everyone having their own rooms."
Full Courses
"being allowed to order starters and desserts when we ate out."
– graeuk
"That would be the good life. I remember maybe twice we had ordered some sort of starter, but dessert was really never an option. Usually we didn't even order soda, because it cost too much."
happy scooby doo GIF by Boomerang Official
Giphy
Arriving In Style
"Limos. When I imagined getting rich somehow, literally the only thing that changed in my fantasies was that I would ride to school in a limo and eat more junk food."
"I just kind of assumed that all the crazy things I wanted to do as a kid (like deep sea diving and snowboarding) weren't off-limits because they were expensive, but because my parents were boring."
Sometimes the things that come out of peoples' mouths are truly astounding. It makes you wonder, where did things go wrong? Why are they like this? As Forrest Gump once said, “stupid is as stupid does".
Here are a few of the most jaw-dropping lay stupid things that have been said by actual human beings. Not aliens trying to figure out how humans communicate--ACTUAL human beings. Thanks, Reddit.
U/cperr310 asked: What's the dumbest thing you or someone you know has said?
First up, what better people to hear ridiculous claims from than children? Here are some people that even teachers couldn’t help.
Well, that’s awkward.
I was in 5th grade like 20 years ago, and I am a male which is important later. My school changed an extra girls locker room into a computer lab. When my class got to go check it out, I say "wow, it looks so different!".
Everyone looks at me like I'm a creep. What I meant to say was "wow it looks so different that the boys locker room!" I still think about this when trying to fall asleep more often than I'm comfortable with.
....no. No it’s not.
War Guy GIF
Giphy
In my Spanish class where they were talking about Spanish countries
"What about Syria...isn't Syria Spanish?"
Worst part... NOBODY called her out on it to the point I was questioning myself. The professor had good English but it wasn't her first language and she dodged her question saying she's only going over countries in south america. I had to literally write myself a note that she literally asked that question. Then I got paired up with her like 10 minutes later for a group activity and I still wasn't over this question lol
Fake but also real but also demonic?
A kid in high school tried to convince me that men had an extra rib and that the earth is only a few thousand years old. Same kid said that ouija boards were full of magnets and gears which made them fake, yet they were simultaneously completely real and needed to be burned on sight to prevent demonic possession.
But sometimes it’s the parents of children who say the dumb stuff.
Back in 2014 I still vividly remember we were eating dinner, and my brother is chewing with his mouth open while my sister is talking. My dad, still thinking about her talking but talking to my brother said "Talk with your mouth closed." and my sister just went silent immediately.
Stupid can turn into ignorant really quickly. Here are a few examples of the not-so-harmless kind of dumb statements.
Fun fact: they don’t use the US Constitution in New Zealand. Who knew?
angela rye guns GIF by Third Rail with OZY
Giphy
After the church shooting in New Zealand, they banned guns. My coworker said that they can't do that since it violates the second amendment. We live in California.
Everyone knows New Zealand is the state below New Canada.
Uhhhhh that’s racist af.
Not to me but my husband.
He had to take an uber home from the Naval Base in San Diego (car was getting fixed) and the guy who picked my husband up was from Pakistan and they had small talk, telling him how he moved over here etc, dude was pretty cool.
My dumbass half sister whom we were staying with for a bit told him straight to his face, "Oh since you're military he probably wanted to like... murder you."
...What a f*cking ignorant, racist thing to say.
Just gonna leave this one here....
"And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside, because you see it gets in the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that out."
Well that’s a new one.
A trans friend got "You're registered as a man here, so I need to hear a male voice to complete the verification of your acount."
Not the first time the cable company pulled this 'female' account 'female' voice / 'male' account 'male' voice crap. But that one time was on a whole other level.
But most of the time, dumb statements are harmless, and make for a good story down the line.
I wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face either.
alvin and the chipmunks GIF by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Giphy
A few questions I've heard come to mind, I'm not sure which is the best/worst.
A few years ago my mom, in her 60s at the time, asked me if chipmunks grow up to be squirrels. Have you ever tried to keep a straight face while explaining to the grown-ass woman who was responsible for keeping you alive for ~18 years that chipmunks and squirrels are different animals?
In high school during a Spanish class as student asked "Do Spanish-speaking people think in Spanish?" After being told yes, her follow-up question was "Are they born speaking Spanish?" The teacher kept a straight face explaining that foreign language speakers learn their language the same as the student learned English, but there were a lot of other students laughing and brutally mocking her.
Ah yes, the two types of guitars.
Dumbest thing I ever asked was, "do you prefer playing electric or air guitar?" I really meant to say acoustic, like my dad's.
Air guitar. I don't know how to play the acoustic or electric guitars, but I never get a wrong note on the air guitar.
Did you change your birthday?
At the bank.
Teller: Is your phone number still 123-4567?
Me: Yes
T: Is your address still 123 Easy st?
M: Yes
T: Is your birthday still 01/01/2000?
M: laughing I sure as hell hope so
I can't even make fun of these. One time I asked my husband where the Newport Ferry sailed to.
Newport, obviously.
I think we all have slip-ups in our brains sometimes. It's part of being human, and hey, they stay alive as inside jokes for generations to come