I Used To Believe newsletter: December 2009
Hi,
This month we learn that "more haste, less speed" actually means that it's possible to run out of running - so slow down in case of emergencies! Happy holidays and a prosperous new year from IUTB.
Looking for last minute Christmas gifts or stocking fillers? You can buy the book of the site, Butter Comes From Butterflies, from Amazon and all good booksellers!
Have fun,
Mat.
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I used to believe that BBQ Ribs came from humans. When my older sister and dad ate them I closed my eyes, thinking of the person who gave up a rib for them to eat. I though all the way till I was 12!
Anon
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I used to think that if a movie was advertised on the side of a bus, that meant it was really good.
Aretia
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My dad told me when I was really little that roosters simply "walked over" an egg in order to fertilize it. I was recently in a conversation with my boss at work and argued that this was true for at least ten minutes - before realizing that my dad had simply told me that in order to avoid giving me the sex talk! My boss still laughs at me over that one.
Ami
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When I was young I believed that you stored up speed. So, if I wanted to race someone I would laze around for an hour or two to gain an advantage. Because of this and my neurotic nature I believed I should NEVER EVER run my fastest, just in case I ran into a cheetah and needed all my speed. I was the slow kid in gym class and would always feel superior as the other kids darted past me, thinking a cheetah would eat them right up
SuperSpeedster
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When I was in elementary school, my mom would always complain about the large number of cops on the roads at the end of the month. She always said that they were "getting their quota in"... I thought she was saying "quarter" and for the longest time I thought cops got paid a quarter for every person they pulled over.
Mary
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When I was little, cartoons would sometimes show the characters sneezing after breathing pepper that was in the air. I tried it myself by inhaling some to see if it would work. I spent the next 30 minutes with a wet towel up my nose because of the stinging. And no, I never sneezed.
Megan
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I used to believe that petrol was something you bought in jars and looked similar to mayonnaise, and that everyone had a large stash of these jars in the boot of their car.
Anon
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My mum told me that you should live everyday like it was your last. When she said this, I thought that I was going to die the next day so I did everything that I wanted to do with my friends - that included sharing a cubicle in the girls loos at school! (I was about 6 at the time).
crazy death
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I used to always get the hiccups from laughing too much, so I thought they were caused by smiling. So, logically, I thought the way to get rid of them was to frown a lot. Problem was, hiccupping makes me giggle, so I would physically use my fingers to hold the corners of my mouth down as I tried to rid myself of those pesky giggling hiccups.
rachel
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I used to believe the cold war was a war in the snow. Instead of bombs it was snowballs. I was shocked when I learned about it at school.
Anon
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I used to believe that nuclear power stations consisted of a giant room where they set off nuclear bombs, then siphoned off the energy from the explosions. Therefore the main danger of these power stations was that the giant room might be unable to hold in the explosion.
Anon
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For some reason, my father told me when I was very young that they don't have ducks in America. For years I would relay this interesting 'fact' to people as a piece of trivia, until I asked an actual American "is it weird not having ducks over there?" and was promptly laughed at.
Kate
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When I was very young, I asked my mother what would happen if the house burned down, and she said not to worry because we have insurance and they could replace everything. I thought for a long time after this that the insurance company knew exactly what we had in our house and would give us replicas of everything we had. I was very amazed by this and comforted that all my stuffed animals were safe.
Shari
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When I was little me and my twin brother used to think people would drive big trucks into the ocean and pour salt in the water.
Temple and Jack
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I used to believe Adolf Hitler was called "Adult Hitler". I asked my mother "Why do people always cough when they Hitler's first name?" When I was 10 I realized Adolf was his name and not Adult. :S
Oh Dear
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I used to believe that it was perfectly OK to pee on the tire of someone's car. My Dad told me this was what you were supposed to do at tail-gate parties. Meanwhile, he and buddies were probably laughing their asses off, drunk on beer.
thad
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When I was about 5 or 6 years old, I thought, I could count up to 1 million. I counted correctly to 100, but then 101, 102, 103,.....108, 109, 1000, 1001, 1002, 1003, ....1008, 1009, 1 000 000. I was very proud on this ability and always wondered why I didn't get very much respect for this by grown-ups.
Anon
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