Dear Advice Columnist,
What are you
supposed to do when you know you're right and somebody tells you that
you are wrong like you're in second grade? Not that this happens often,
but it happened once and I got angry. Mostly I think it made me
mad was because it was about poison ivy (this person said that poison ivy travels under your skin), and I deserve to be an expert in
poison ivy after my experiences.
Ilana
Dear Ilana,
Thank you for your question! Ilana included a picture of herself with poison ivy with her request, and let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. She's had it many times, poor girl.
I've been in your situation before: my Romanian racquetball partner in Waco wouldn't let me drink water during our games, because she said that it would prevent weight loss. I can't tell you how many of my European friends have told me that air conditioning is unhealthy. Some of them also told Stearns that she couldn't sit on concrete because it would harm her reproductive capacities. Arguing with someone who holds a belief that strongly is almost always ineffective. You could google it to settle the debate if you had a smart phone, but, while google is sometimes useful for solving debates, that would just look condescending with someone who isn't a close friend. Plus, what is the fun of life without disagreeing about facts? Another solution would be to ask them to put money on it and then win the bet and take their money. But, probably the nicest thing you can do, and what I would recommend, is to smile and nod and sneakily revel in your own superior knowledge.
It's also important to remember that being adamant about the wrong facts can happen to the best of us--yes Ilana, even me: I was talking to some friends a couple of weeks ago when I insisted that Pitbull (who I'd only lately even heard of) was Polish. Polish! One of my friends replied, "Wow--that is odd, I always thought he was Cuban!" But I insisted that I knew that he is Polish. Well, in fact he is Cuban, which does make a ton more sense.
Your Aspiring Advice Columnist
7 comments:
My parents also told me that sitting on concrete was harmful, connected to the harm engendered by wearing short coats in winter that did not properly insulate the reproductive area against damaging cold temperatures. Not only bad for reproduction, but also a cause of bladder infections. This isn't true?! Well, phew.
Well, I'm not 100 percent sure that it's not true, it just really doesn't _sound_ true to me. Plus, people on the internet say that sitting on concrete causes dozens of different problems, without any explanation of how it causes those problems. My best bet: you're perfectly safe on concrete.
(I'm very curious, though, what causes this very prevalent aversion to concrete!)
thanks! also, great title.
My parents think concrete is exceptionally cold, or retains cold or something. They would make the same recommendation against sitting on ice, but no one does that. Other warnings from my parents: If you eat standing up, the food will go to your heels, and then your heels will get fat and not fit in shoes.
Oh my goodness! I love it. It sounds like they are good at making up creative stories to teach you good manners??
I totally agree with your advice on how to deal with adamant false-fact pushers. However, it has now caused me to wonder if you've given me the "smile and nod and sneakily revel" bit. :)
Hahaha: I don't remember ever saying that to you! Also, you're not one for being immovably stubborn about things--I'm pretty sure that's me...
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