Correcting strangers.

[Nr1Humanoid]

Have you ever overheard someone presenting and even insisting on a fact, and then been unable to keep your mouth shut because you know that they are wrong?

[Paul]

Sometimes. It depends on the person, the situation, and what the wrong information is.

[Nr1Humanoid]

I rememer this lady on the bus insisting the ph in Stephen is pronounced f, no matter how many times her grandchild correctly insisted it was v.

[BlackoutCreature]

I remember I was in a convenience store once buying a soda and an old man wandered in and just walked up to the guy behind the register and insisted the mountain silhouette on the Toblerone bars package was Mount McKinley (now called Denali) and tried to make its use into some kind of American exceptionalism and that those dirty Swiss were somehow stealing from us by using its image. It wouldn't have been so bad except this guy had no indoor voice and was absurdly arrogant about it. It took every ounce of restraint I had not to grab the guys neck and scream "IT'S OBVIOUSLY SUPPOSED TO BE THE MATTERHORN YOU STUPID OLD MAN!".

[paulbearer]

"this guy had no indoor voice and was absurdly arrogant about it"

You met Arthur Spooner ?

[BlackoutCreature]

Jan 1, 2020 22:22:52 GMT -5 paulbearer said:

"this guy had no indoor voice and was absurdly arrogant about it"

You met Arthur Spooner ?

If Arthur Spooner looked like he spent the last month living on the subway and smoking cigarette butts he fished out of garbage cans, then yeah, sure.

[Hobby Drifter]

Unless it's something important (a group of tourists about to board the wrong train, for example) I usually won't. It's just too awkward for me. Especially when people are both wrong *and* loud. I don't want to wind up in an argument trying to help somebody.

Few years back, I stopped by a used video game store in Akihabara after work. Two American guys thought that all the games for sale in this place were sealed and that JP games had the same value as their US counterparts. They were super loud about how they were going to make a fortune selling a bunch of this stuff on eBay.

The games at that place (in fact, most older Japanese games in general) weren't sealed. They were just shrink-wrapped on-site for various reasons. And JP games, by and large, aren't worth nearly as much as their US counterparts. This particular place was selling stuff for *more* than the stuff usually sold for online.

I still feel kind of bad about not letting them know. But they didn't look to be spending a fortune or anything.

(If somebody *asks* me for help with something, I'm more than happy to help, tho)

[BorneAgain]

Just remember, they're not allowed to get mad unless you start the correction with "Um, actually".

[I'm Team Bayley and Indi]

Jan 1, 2020 16:14:17 GMT -5 Nr1Humanoid said:

I rememer this lady on the bus insisting the ph in Stephen is pronounced f, no matter how many times her grandchild correctly insisted it was v.

*remember

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{SPOILER: CLICK TO SHOW}sorry, don't hate me. I couldn't help it.

[Push R Truth]

I work in a government office. I get this feeling about every 3-4 minutes.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Last night at the Circle K. She was buying cigarettes and asked for whatever. The guy gave her them and she said “You don’t have (what she asked for her) He said that was them. Looked like she was ready to launch into something on him and I’ve seen it enough there because they are Sikh and this is not a tolerant city. So I said “Cigarettes are all plain packaging now”. Suddenly it clicked for her and she said she forgot.

So in Canada all cigarette packing looks the same now, with the same font for the name and the names have changed because we banned terms like “light”. So everything switched to color coded, now it’s all the same but it’s rolling out slowly as old stock sells through.

[Allie Kitsune]

Jan 1, 2020 12:42:37 GMT -5 Nr1Humanoid said:

Have you ever overheard someone presenting and even insisting on a fact, and then been unable to keep your mouth shut because you know that they are wrong?

There have been a couple times I've had to break my usual bus-silence.

The biggest one was having to correct someone on something that I'm not comfortable going into any further detail with.

[Kyn]

Correct a stranger? I barely talk to people I know.

[Deleted]

Only their posture.

[Deleted]

No. Unless it affects me directly.

[The Spelunker!]

All the time. It’s pretty much what i get paid to do at work. But even outside, I ride the bus and I talk movies pretty regularly with the drivers. People will come and go, joining the conversation and I feel no problem correcting things like what actor was in the film, details of the plot, and what have you.

[Deleted]

Nah. I just mind my own business.

[arrogantmodel]

It's helped me get a window to talk to some cute girls at bars and stuff. 😊

For example, overhearing a group of girls talking about The Wizard of Oz. They couldn't remember where the good witch was from. So before anybody could Google it, I just said, "Sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. She was from the North." And they said thanks and we started talking about the movie and I knew weird trivia about it. So I only do it in light situations like that, or has mentioned, I hear people saying they need help with something I might know.

[SmashTV]

Jan 2, 2020 13:33:22 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

I work in a government office. I get this feeling about every 3-4 minutes.

Same here. Admittedly it’s over the phone, and I usually only correct them to be helpful if they’ve been given incorrect information. Of course, if they’re being a dick and completely unreasonable about things, then I take great delight in calmly correcting them with facts and logic.

[Kevin Hamilton]

To be honest, even friends&family I'll usually let slide cuz most of the time it'll be unimportant bullshit so I don't feel like bothering.

I don't usually want to talk to strangers AT ALL.