in the street

Begin a big fan of Stephen King when I was a kid, I came across the word 'mausoleum', and wondered what the purpose was. I asked my mom (who obviously got the word confused with 'asylum'), and she informed me that mausoleums were where they 'locked up all the crazy people'. For years after, whenever we drove past a cemetary, I would listen for the hoots and howls of the crazy folks locked inside he little stone buildings.

Jim

I used to pass this sign for a warehouse that was "Open to the Public". Every time I saw it, I got mad because I thought they were discriminating against Catholics by only letting the "Public" in.

Anon

When someone was awarded the "key to the city" I thought it was a real key which operated all the city's locks. Then I was worried that the recipients could gain access to my house!!!

Nathaniel Tiffany

There was a house around the corner from my best friend's house that was in pretty bad shape. One day we were walking past that house with our moms, and one mom said to the other "That house looks like it's on its last leg!" I was totally freaked out, picturing the decrepit, hairy, lonely leg under straining to hold up that house!

Anon

I thought that the role of Lollipop ladies was to give out lollies. Shame!

Helen

Up until I was about nine or ten, I believed the shady man on the "Neighborhood Watch" signs really existed! So did my friends! We would 'see' him hide behind a telephone pole out the corner of our eyes. And he could stand at the exact angle to hide his shadow too. What's even funnier is that since he reminded me so much of the Spy vs. Spy character I thought he'd leave booby-traps everywhere to catch kids. *LOL*

Jenny

I firmly believed that gas stations pumped gas right out of the ground. And my proof was the fact that there were intersections w/ 2-3 gas stations--clearly that's where the gasoline was!

Vivian Carol

I used to believe that a house down my block was haunted. Me and my friends would always daringly walk up to the door and peek through the mail slot and run away. One time we did it and got a good look inside, and then heard a high-pitched screaming sound, panicked, and ran away. I still don't know what that noise was.

I work at the Baqi bank~

As a kid, my brother, sisters and I were told that for a letter to arrive at its destination, we had to say the name of the city and state aloud into the mailbox. Why? Because a very small man waited inside the mailbox to collect and sort the mail, and he needed to know which pile to put it on.

Although I never believed this story, my younger sister did until she was almost 10. My brother and I caught her in the act one afternoon--but she realized she'd been duped when she heard us laughing hyterically. The truth can be cruel.

Shylda Odell

In an upper window of a building opposite my father's workplace was a sign saying "Invisible Menders". No prizes for guessing what I thought it meant!

Emerald

I used to believe that Pine Street, the main thoroughfare that ran behind our house, went all the way around the world. When we moved when I was 13, we moved east about 20 miles along the same road and even though I knew it by then it didn't go all the way around the world, I was still disappointed when my mom took us to the end of the street a few miles past our house.

Rose

Shop windows and walls from time to time have signs up saying 'BILL POSTERS WILL BE PROSECUTED' - i.e. people who illegaly stick up thingemajigs on these properties - and I was told (and believed) that there actually was a man called Bill Posters, who everybody seemed to dislike and want to prosecute. My heart went out to him. I mean these were up all over the country!

dylis

I used to believe that if I was walking along the street and I saw someone walking in step with me, left foot same time as my left, right same as my right, that that person would some day help me.

John Hetland

My brother and I believed that when a streetlight went out at night, as you were sitting/walking/driving near it, it was because your brainwaves caused it to.

Jim

I used to beleive, upon viewing half demolished houses, that they had in fact 'fallen down'. Thanks Mum and Dad.
Went home wondering when ours would collapse in on us.

andy mac