Rural/urban wisdom
Posted on: January 7, 2012 - 12:45am
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Rural/urban wisdom
So I live in rural Alabama and recently all these rural/urban bits of wisdom have been really pissing me off. Allow me to explain.
Yesterday my sister got uber pissed at me for drinking the last Sprite because she needs it for nausea, as if a sugary carbonated drink has some kind of medical effect.
Many people won't go swimming shortly after eating because they think they'll get a cramp and possibly drown.
My mother sometimes gets pissed at me for going outside without a jacket because she thinks you can catch a cold.
I think these qualify as "irrational". So! Please post and add more rural/urban bits of wisdom to my list!
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My usual answer to "catch a cold" thing is, I don't catch a hot in the summer , so why would I catch a cold in the winter? Of course the whole "colds are caused by germs" thing is common knowledge, but people still hang on to those irrational myths for some reason.
You also have to consider the psychological aspect of it. If your sister truly believes that a Sprite will alleviate her nausea, it most likely will unless it is caused by a strong physiological impairment.
My pet peeve is the homeopathy medicine movement. Here (in Canada), it is quite main stream. My favorite news channel has a segment where a guy, identifying himself as a doctor for the longest time, keeps going on about alternative medicine. A year or so ago he has changed his title to Homeopathic doctor thankfully. I hate that segment with a passion, but it is so short, and I find the local news channel so informative, that I can't justify giving it up because of it. I see some of the stuff that he gives advice on to be border line lawsuit material. Alas, he must have a good editor because he never quite crosses that line. There is always a disclaimer about seeing a real doctor or something among those lines, but it is but a burp at the end of the segment, easily ignored by your friendly neighborhood irrational ignoramus.
"Don't seek these laws to understand. Only the mad can comprehend..." -- George Cosbuc
There's actually some truth to that, but only the cramping part, lol. Seriously, if you're such a bad swimmer and so out of shape that you'll drown in a small swimming pool due to a stomach cramp....you probably shouldn't have been there by yourself in the first place.
I wonder if another disease was called a "cold," people would think that's caused by being cold.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare
Old wives tales are usually more funny than useful. I used to keep a list of them, but then I found Snopes.com, which has a much bigger list, and the tools to investigate them.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
Snopes.com is the first place I go when I get one of those wacky e-mails. I don't know why they're in all caps so often with five exclamation points at the end of sentences; it sounds like they're out of breath and just have to tell you right away. I can tell they're wrong but Snopes gets into detail. Usually there's some truth in there so it can try to slide under the radar. Nice try!