neighbourhood

I lived in the same house until I was twenty, so I wasn't familiar with the process of moving. I used to believe that people who moved had to swap houses with each other. It amazed me that so many people wanted each others houses!

When I was little, I went on vacation with my mom to a very far away place (about 400 miles, it seemed very far at the time). My mom and I would drive there and I used to believe that in order to drive anywhere, you had to learn and memorize all the maps at school and it sounded like an enormous task. Little did I know about folding paper maps and especially road signs...

When I was a child, I misbehaved occasionally. My mom used to say that if I misbehaved again, the garbage collectors would come and take me away. Since their trucks were big and made that whooshing sound, you can understand why I was quite spooked.

When I was little I thought that cabbage patch kids came out of cabbages in the grocery store . I would really upset me when my mom wouldn't let me stop to look in the cabbages.

I used to believe that everything was "clear" until it was painted. I remember having a hard time trying to figure out how construction crews could keep straight what they had built on a house, or where it was, until it was painted, and they could see it.

When I was young, my mom took my sisters and I to a public swimming pool in the summer. I questioned whether we were allowed in because we went to Catholic School (vs. "public" school).

I use to think that the salt silos next to the highway were houses of worship. my grandfather told me about the salt but I was convinced they were where people prayed to the salt lords - I was a dumb kid.

I used to believe that the dark spots on the pavement of grocery store parking lots were left from children that had been run over because they weren't holding their mom's hand.

My dad and I used to go to the library. On the side of the library was a big yellow sign that said "Fallout Shelter." I asked my dad what that was, and he said it was a place to go in case there was a bomb. I remember being really worried because I knew I could fit behind that little sign, but I didn't think my dad could.

Later it morphed into the idea that there was a tunnel leading from the shelter to the street that came out right behind the sign, and the sign was about 15 feet above the ground, so when you left the shelter you would just 'fall out.'

My friend lived on the side of a canyon, and his dad told him there was a kid named Echo who lived on the other side. He said Echo would answer if you called to him. My friend got really mad and kept yelling at Echo over and over for being such a mean kid and repeating everything he said instead of answering.

there was a virtual ride at epcot when i was little. on the ride they "shrunk" you and you and you went inside the human body to try and find the problem for the doctors to help them solve it. well my dad told me that we were actually going to be shrunk and i of course believed him, and would not go on the ride.

When we first got married, I told my wife (a native of Thailand) that athey sold garages at garage sales. Since we had a garage, we didn't need to stop. I never thought any more of it until she smacked me after one of her friends asked her if she would like to go shopping at some garage sales. Apparently she believed my story. Now if I can convince her about yard sales.

My parents are a big supporter of The Salvation Army charity and would talk about it a lot when I was little. And I remember my Dad saying he was going to take some old clothes to the Salvation Army store and I BEGGED to go with him and when we got there and I saw all the old clothes and furniture and stuff I started crying and asked my dad "Where are all the guns?" You know, cause it was the Salvation ARMY - I was picturing guns and bombs and soldiers marching. Until my dad explained it to me that day I never understood why my parents were supporting an army.

I used to believe handicapped parking spaces were spaces for people to park thier wheelchairs. My Mom always called them "wheelchair spaces" for some reason, and so I didin't understand that they were for cars. We must not have had many disabled people in our town, becuase it was rare to see the spot being used. I always hoped to see a wheelchair parked in its special place. I believed this for a long time!!!!

I always believed that the ladder on top of large RVs etc,led to a mini pool because the ladders look alot alike. To this day I still look twice.

After I watched Jaws for the first time when I was little I could not go swimming by myself. If I was swimming with family or friends and they got out of the pool I would sit on the steps in the shallow til someone else came in the pool. I used to think that Jaws would come out of the light in the deep end and eat me. I did this until I was about 16 and realized I was being childish.