the world

When I was a preschooler, my parents talked about "going to visit Miami." I did not realize "Miami" was a city in Florida, so for a long time I thought an "ammy" was another kind of relative, like a grandma or a cousin or an uncle. I kept asking them, "who's MY ammy?" and they didn't understand what I meant until, exasperated, I yelled, "well if YOU have an ammy that means I probably have one too!" Then they explained it to me. ;-p

I too used to think that you could just write a cheque if you ran out of coin and paper money, and didn't understand how you could ever have no money. I used to say that when I grew up, I wouldn't waste my money on the things my parents bought, but would buy lots of toys and lollies instead.

I believed the Frank Prudue of chicken fame and Ed Koch, former mayor of NYC, were brothers.

And my mom told me it was true. She still laughs about it.

When I was in the fourth or fifth grade I learned that The Washington Post was considered the authoritative newspaper regarding politics and the government. I thought the paper was in Washington state, not Washington, D.C. I never understood how a newspaper way out west could be considered the authority on the federal government in the northeast. That misunderstanding persisted until I was in high school.

When I was in elementery school I had a book that explained the three branches of the US government. There was a map of the United States that showed pictures representing each branch. For the Executive Branch it showed the White House in a circle on New Jersey and Pennsylvania. For the Legislative Branch it showed a picture of the Capitol on Virginia. And for the Supreme Court it showed a picture of the Supreme Court Building on Ohio. Ever since then I always picture the Supreme Court meeting in Ohio. Although now I know it meets in Washington, I can't shake the image of the court being in Ohio.

i used to believe that north meant up and south meant down. this resulted in the belief that oklahoma was actually really far above texas... like it was stacked. why else would you use planes?

I used to believe that there weren't any private quarters in the White House. That is, that the president and his family actually lived in the big ballrooms and such.

Growing up in upstate NY, I used to believe that Canadian coins, which are accepted as legal tender here (except by banks), were accepted all over the United States. I was kind of surprised and embarrassed when I was visiting relatives in Mississippi, handed over a Canadian quarter to pay for something and the checkout girl stood there staring at it and going, "What the heck is this?"

I used to believe that state lines were actually marked out on the ground somehow - that is, the whole borders of the states all around. I lost this notion pretty quick the first time we took a long car trip :-)

I used to believe that about 25%-30% of the U.S. population was Jewish. After all, there were so many famous Jewish people!

I used to believe that everyone in the United States voted using electronic voting booths of the style used here at home (in central New York state). In fact, I believed this until the 2000 presidential election, and was flabbergasted to learn it was not true!

I used to believe that checks were like free money, that you could write 1 million dollars on a check and you'd have a million dollars. I used to ask my mom to buy me toys, and when she told me they cost too much, I would ask her to write a check!

When I was little I used to be a huge wrestling fan. This was back when Gordon Solie and Freddie Miller were popular announcers. Sometimes when a wrestling match would start they'd introduce a wrestler and say he was from "Parts Unknown". When I was little I thought they said something like "Partsanon". I remember asking my mom several times where "Partsanon" was. LOL.

I thought that when people needed money they went to the Bank to get it. It wasn't until years later that I learned that you first had to put it in beforehand yourself.

My father was a little worried by my obsession with dimes when I was a toddler. He thought I was avaricious, but couldn't understand why, as I was too young to know about how to spend money. What he didn't know was that I was fascinated by the shiny silver with the perfect pictures on it. And I was convinced that the profile was a portrait of God.

When I was in second grade my teacher told me to find Greenland on a map. I figured it would be colored green of course because Greenland was green! I never found it that day