Things you're shocked people don't know

[scotpens]

. . . I am shocked that more people haven't heard of Dusty Springfield. I absolutely adore her and I just can't get enough of her music.

On a related note, I'm amused that many younger people, if they've even heard of Julie London, remember her as Nurse Dixie McCall from the Jack Webb TV series Emergency. Thanks to video sharing sites like YouTube, they're just discovering she was also a singer!

And what a gorgeous, classy babe and what a great, underrated jazz vocalist she was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDFHPtJ4E8

 

[Emher]

That people don't know how to make change. If the cash register computer doesn't tell them how much money to give you back, they're stumped.

I've always been able to do that, but I do it quicker these days after I worked at a store with an entirely manual register for 2½ years a bit back. I did use a calculator for quickness sake, but often the power went out in summer and I had to do it manually and never had a problem.

Also due to that I can now estimate how much the change I have in my hand is worth, based on the weight

 

[Deckerd]

I think if one mentioned Ash Wednesday in Australia people would think that you were remembering 16th February 1983, the day when 75 people died in bushfires across South Australia and Victoria.

I have never met anyone who has put ashes on themselves on the first day of Lent.

They don't put the ashes on. The priest does.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Co-worker was talking today in the BR, profoundly confused why so many people today had "dirt on their foreheads."

I swore she was taking the piss but she was serious -and she's not nearly bright enough to act this stupid. She really is this stupid. I just didn't think she was that stupid.

So she was confused and wondering why so many people had this dirt on their foreheads and thought maybe there was a shelf or a door or something in the store that was dirty and people were resting/touching their heads on it while getting product.

Me: "It's Ash Wednesday."

Her: "What's that?"

Me: :facepalm:

This woman is in her late 20s, possibly early or mid 30s.

Her elevator obviously doesn't go to the penthouse.

I have a vague idea what ash wednesday means for Christians but I've never heard of or seen that particular practice.

 

[Amaris]

Co-worker was talking today in the BR, profoundly confused why so many people today had "dirt on their foreheads."

I swore she was taking the piss but she was serious -and she's not nearly bright enough to act this stupid. She really is this stupid. I just didn't think she was that stupid.

I got the same thing at the drive-through tonight. The clerk asked me if I knew I had dirt on my forehead. I told her I'd just come from church and that it's Ash Wednesday. Plus if I had anything on my forehead, I think I'd know.

For her part, Ash Wednesday did come rather early this year. I wouldn't expect most people to know it was this early. But still, who'd get this on their forehead and NOT KNOW about it?

Plumbers.
Trust me.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

It seems to be typical of teens now, sadly. They could care less about anything that's not sent in a text message.

"Couldn't".

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

I have a vague idea what ash wednesday means for Christians but I've never heard of or seen that particular practice.

Why should anyone be expected to know about the practice of a religion they aren't part of?

I've never seen anyone walking about in public with ash on their head. If I did, I sure wouldn't make eye contact.

 

[John Picard]

I have a vague idea what ash wednesday means for Christians but I've never heard of or seen that particular practice.

Why should anyone be expected to know about the practice of a religion they aren't part of?

I've never seen anyone walking about in public with ash on their head. If I did, I sure wouldn't make eye contact.

What about women from India, who sometimes decorate their foreheads with the "third eye"?

 

[Deckerd]

You mean a bindi?

 

[RoJoHen]

I have a vague idea what ash wednesday means for Christians but I've never heard of or seen that particular practice.

Why should anyone be expected to know about the practice of a religion they aren't part of?

I've never seen anyone walking about in public with ash on their head. If I did, I sure wouldn't make eye contact.

In the spirit of the thread, I am actually shocked at how many people here are unfamiliar with this tradition. I don't practice it, but I see people walking around with ash on their foreheads every year on Ash Wednesday.

 

[Jetfire]

^
I have never seen it.

 

[John Picard]

I have a vague idea what ash wednesday means for Christians but I've never heard of or seen that particular practice.

Why should anyone be expected to know about the practice of a religion they aren't part of?

I've never seen anyone walking about in public with ash on their head. If I did, I sure wouldn't make eye contact.

In the spirit of the thread, I am actually shocked at how many people here are unfamiliar with this tradition. I don't practice it, but I see people walking around with ash on their foreheads every year on Ash Wednesday.

Unless something has changed, I always understood it to be that only the Catholics smudge their foreheads for Ash Wednesday.

 

[RoJoHen]

Perhaps, but aren't there Catholics all over the place?

 

[Roger Wilco]

Could it be that it's specifically an Irish Catholic tradition? Because I've literally never heard of this before.
Or maybe people just aren't as devout here.

 

[B.J.]

No, not Irish Catholic. (Is that even a real denomination?) All Roman Catholics do observe Ash Wednesday, but a pretty high percentage don't go to that particular mass, even though it's a Holy Day of Obligation. Myself, I just completely forgot about it.

Several other Christian denominations observe Ash Wednesday, but I don't know if they do the ashes on the forehead as well. BTW, the ashes are supposed to be in the shape of the cross.

 

[Roger Wilco]

(Is that even a real denomination?)

I didn't mean that it's a special denomination, but I'm sure there slight regional differences in the way Catholicism is practiced, or not?

 

[RoJoHen]

(Is that even a real denomination?)

I didn't mean that it's a special denomination, but I'm sure there slight regional differences in the way Catholicism is practiced, or not?

Well, my experience is only with, um...Chicago Suburb Catholic.

 

[trampledamage]

(Is that even a real denomination?)

I didn't mean that it's a special denomination, but I'm sure there slight regional differences in the way Catholicism is practiced, or not?

Well, my experience is only with, um...Chicago Suburb Catholic.

Which, if my knowledge of TV is accurate, is pretty much Irish Catholic

 

[RoJoHen]

I was raised Methodist and grew up to be an Atheist, so what do I know?

 

[B.J.]

(Is that even a real denomination?)

I didn't mean that it's a special denomination, but I'm sure there slight regional differences in the way Catholicism is practiced, or not?

AFAIK, not really. I've been to mass in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Alabama, and I haven't noticed any significant differences. The differences I did note were just necessities due to the construction of the individual churches and size of the congregation, and those were very minor, not affecting the actual service at all. Of course, I don't know if there's any difference between my experiences and mass in other countries though, but due to the existence of the Pope and the Church hierarchy, I doubt it.