the world

When I about 5 years old, my Grandmother went away on a trip. When I asked where she was going, I was told: "Buffalo". I cried for days afterwards, afraid for her safety. In my mind, Buffalo (NY) was a huge open space full of big, mean Buffalos. Eventually, my mother figured out why I was so upset, and set me straight.

Around age 8, I got to help my mom work the concession stand at the recreational soccer fields on Saturdays. She couldn't understand why I was so excited to sit in a hot shack all afternoon. I cried when I was told that I didn't get to keep the money from all the candy and Gatorade I sold.

When I was young I used to believe that we all lived inside the Earth. Not on it, but inside it, and that if we kept driving we would eventually hit a wall.

When I was younger my dad was in the military and we were stationed in Germany. I knew I was born in the USA and we used to live there, and my parents would talk about living back in the states. Having no understanding of geography, I always thought the moon was the other half of the earth, the half with the United States and airplanes took you back and forth.

I used to believe that different countries/continents were actually different planets, like Africa was a big, yellow planet. Strange, but true.

I used to believe that when football players were in a huddle, they were praying.

Dear god, help us win this game. Amen.

When i was younger i thought a boarder (like between countries) was an actual board, like a piece of wood that you had to walk over

I used to believe that money literally grew in the bank. Our parents tried to teach us to save money, and they told us that if we put all the change from our change jar in our own little bank account, it would grow. I always pictured the quarters and nickels just growing to larger sizes.

When I was in elementary school I thought maps were like real-time images of the world (like google earth only in real time). So when we were learning about war in a country looking at a map, I thought that if a bomb went off in that country, we would see an explosion image on the map!

When I learned about exchange rates from traveling young, I thought any country whose money went into the dollar was inferior, and any country where the dollar was worth less than their currency was superior. Hence the UK was superior, Canada was inferior, etc. I found out I was wrong in 12th grade but by then convinced a lot of people, including myself, that I knew what countries were superior or not.

I used to believe that Martha's Vineyard was where Martha Stuart lived and filmed her TV show. I imagined that it was full of gardens for her to make her food with.

My Dad told me when i was about 5 that there was a little man behind the ATM that took your card and handed you the cash. He described it to me as kinda like the guy who lives in the top of our garage to open and close the garage door.

I used to believe that if I touched a map or globe with my finger, a giant finger (mine) would come out of the sky and crush the city.

I used to think that checks turned into receipts. I saw the cashier stick my mom's check under the thing that would read it, and above it was the receipt printer. I saw the check go in underneath and the check come out above, so I believed that somehow the check became a receipt.

I used to believe the whitewater scandal meant a bad person polluted water to make it white. I was very cautious when I turned a faucet or drinking fountain.

When I was in kindergarten I used to believe that George Washington was the first president, Abraham Lincoln was the second and Jimmy Carter was the third. I just could never figure out why they started dressing so differently!