Everyday Stupidity

So far this week we have talked about boasting, speculation, and education. What's next?

How about just general stupidity?

Of course, sometimes, general stupidity isn't so much stupidity at all, it's either ignorance, or an ingrained response that doesn't quite fit the current situation.

Case in point: Back in the 70's, I knew a guy that used "The Dry Look" (the advertising was that it was the first hairspray designed for men). Anyway, he normally kept his hairspray on the back of his toilet (on the tank lid). The flush mechanism started acting up, so he moved his hairspray, and took the lid off of the tank. He wasn't able to actually fix the problem, but he did find that it was easier to stop the toilet from 'running' inside the tank than just jiggling the flush handle. You've probably already guessed the next part. Next morning, he's getting ready for work, he sprays his hair, and goes to put the hairspray on the tank lid. That isn't there. Sploosh! That's not the stupid part. As soon as he realized what he had done, he looked around to see if anyone saw him do it. In his bathroom. The guy lives alone. At the same time, that's not really that stupid. Basically, he got double-whammied by two different ingrained responses: 1) He always put his hairspray in the same place, and 2) Whenever he felt he had done something stupid, he looked around to see if anybody saw him.

Another case: My mother worked for awhile for a guy that had a thing about computers. He had one computer in his office, and several typewriters. Anytime he needed a document, he would have one of the secretaries type it up on one of the typewriters, and then he would proof-read and edit it. Once he was satisfied, he would have her type it into the computer, and print it out, so that he could proof-read and edit it again. I'm not sure what his thing with computers was (If it initially goes in wrong, then the incorrect draft might print out later?), but I don't think that it was as much stupidity as just a mistrust of computers.

A friend of mine was working as an RDC for the Navy (RDC stands for Recruit Division Commander and it is the current title for the Navy's version of Drill Instructor), and he had a very quiet, soft-spoken wife. He used to spend long hours trying to instill discipline and professionalism into a group of about 80 Navy Recruits, and then come home to his wife. It generally took him a while to unwind at the end of his workday. Generally it didn't take very long for his wife to say something that he would chew out a recruit for saying (such as "yeah"--and that may sound kind of mickey mouse, but, there are some things that are tolerated, even expected in civilian life that do not fit with a military life-style), and he would respond with, "YEAH? WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'YEAH?'" Eventually she learned to say, "Don't take that tone with me; I'm not one of your recruits!" Again, for several hours of each day, this would be the correct response. This becomes ingrained. It isn't something that can be simply 'turned off' at the end of the workday (Try untraining Pavlov's dog).

I'd like to tell you about something stupid that I did, but I'm afraid that if I tell you something stupid that I did and then explain it away like I have these other examples, that would create the impression that my whole purpose for this blog was to justify my own stupid act. On the other hand, I don't want to confess to something really stupid and then have it come back and bite me later. That would be really stupid.

Here's one that combines my stupidity with someone else's, and could have caused some severe problems: Years ago, I had a room-mate that liked to set his alarm for 2:00 AM, and then, when it went off, get up and re-set it for 7:30. When I complained to him about that, he said, "Oh, but the most blessed sleep is the sleep you get after the alarm goes off." Soon he started complaining about my alarm going off at 4:00 AM. I'm not sure what he expected me to do about it--quit my job and then not have to set the alarm at all (I'm sure it wouldn't have taken him too long to complain that I wasn't paying my share of the rent). It wasn't like I wanted to get up at 4:00 AM--especially since, a lot of times, I was just getting back to sleep after hearing his alarm when I had to get up. After several bouts of him complaining that I was being 'inconsiderate,' I finally got clever enough to tell him, "Oh, but the most blessed sleep is the sleep you get after the alarm goes off." His response: "I think that only works if it's your own alarm clock." I said, "Exactly." I'm not sure if that just took awhile to sink in, or if he talked to somebody else about the situation, but he continued to set his alarm for 2:00 AM, and complain about my alarm going off at 4, for about three weeks after that, and then, suddenly, no more. During those three weeks, I refused to be dragged into a conversation about it. Whenever he would start in, I just ignored him. Much, much later, it occurred to me that I should have suggested that he set his alarm for 4:00 AM instead of 2, then I could get up and get ready for work when his alarm went off, and he could get his 'blessed' sleep... I bet I could have talked him into that; after all, he really just wanted the psychological effect of being able to turn off his alarm and go back to sleep--I can't believe it really would have made that much difference what time his alarm went off. To be honest, his alarm woke me more effectively than mine did, anyway (although, that may have been a psychological effect also, in that it really made me mad that he woke me up just so he could go back to sleep).

Of course, some of you are saying right now, "Hey, that's cheap! He said he was going to tell us about something stupid that he did, and the story that he told us was mostly about his room-mate's stupidity!" Yeah, you're right. How about that. There was some of my stupidity in there, but, most of it was his. I told you I didn't want to share something that might come back and bite me later... I suppose I could tell you about the time that I got cocky and cut an aluminum rail with a hacksaw after only measuring once (I am a firm believer in the rule, measure twice, cut once); that was pretty stupid, but I got lucky, my first measurement was right.

In any case, this is getting to be a really long post. I'm sure that I could come up with lot's more stupid stories, but I've rambled enough for today. If you really want more stupid stories, I bet you could google, 'stupid stories' and get a bunch.