"Look kids! It's the plane that bombed Pearl Harbor!"

[olena]

We just got back from a week in DC. We visited the new Air and Space museum in Chantilly, VA. Among the many aircraft on display was the Enola Gay. That's what we heard a mother telling her kids as they stopped in front of it. Nevermind the plaque in front of them.

We walked away before we started laughing.

 

[monkeyboy]

I hate when people make stuff up

 

[MICKEY88]

it's amazing what you'll hear if you listen to other people,,,
on one trip to the Philly zoo a friend and I heard....

a mother ask her son what kind of bird they were looking at, he proudly answered bald eagle, the mother yelled at him and said don't be dumb, it has feathers on it's head, now what bird is it,, he repeated his answer..again she yelled at him...,, I casually walked up to her and pointed to the sign off to her side,,,yep, the one that told all about the Bald Eagle, she turned red and hesitantly apologized to her son,,

the same trip a young boy was with an older gentleman whom appeared to be his grandfather, they were in fron of the hippo exhibit, he explained to the young boy that this was a rhino,

I had to wonder what he was going to call the rhino once they got to that exhibit..


then while I photographing the wolves, a woman walked up to us and asked why they have dogs in the zoo....

and the mother who told her child the polar bears weren't in the water because it was too cold...,,
or the mother who told her child they were looking at a white tiger,, apparently my friend and I were not only hallucinating but somehow our cameras were also, the pictures we took of the tiger clearly came out orange and black...LOL

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I heard a guy on a bus at WDW say the monorail went to MGM. I had to turn away pretty quickly! And people like that always SOUND so smart that people believe them!
Robin M.

 

[nativetxn]

<i>The</i> plane that bombed Pearl Harbor? An <i>American</i> plane????

That is just sad

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I have heard some insane things when visiting the zoo. Like people who will just make up what type of animal it is. They are very entertaining. One lady was quite seriously telling her two children that the koalas she was looking at were pandas. And then she went off into a long , extended speech about how they could turn their heads completely around. It was so funny.

I also know a guy who thinks he knows everything. Well, I know ALOT about bats because I think they are one of the most underappreciated animals on Earth. Anyway, so this guy spent 30 minutes trying to seriously convince me that he'd been attacked by a bat the size of a small dog (they exist but not in Southern NH/or MA) that had razor sharp spikes on it's wings that it could release to shoot at people.

I just looked at him like he was crazy.

 

[fanofmickey]

Last year our family spent two weeks in suburbs of Boston. While visiting Plymouth Rock, we heard a mother saying to her children, "See, it says 1820 - that's when the Pilgrims landed here". Now, the carving on the rock is a little hard to read, but I believe that the Pilgrims landed in 1620. My DD and DS (17 and 14 then) had a hard time keeping a straight face.

 

[liznboys]

LOL!!!

Hey, isn't that a cool place?! We went there in January, our boys LOVED it. All those planes to look at! I love how big it is, lots of room for all the people. Do they have an actual Subway there yet? When we went, they hadn't had it set up yet, so it was just this little stand with premade subs and stuff.

 

[lisajl]

Oh my Gosh! These people kill me!!!

A friend of mine went to see the movie Pearl Harbor with her son.
She did not like them bombing Hawaii, and turned to her son and said, "Is this when we lost the war?" When her son told me that, I laughed so hard, I cried. Then I realized he was serious.
When I asked my friend about it, she said she was not "into history". Give me a break!

Lisajl

 

[Missy1961]

Here's the opposite.......

About 9 years ago, my sister and I took our 4 year old nephews to the Natural History Museum. We were asking them what the animals were, how to pronounce the dinosaur names, etc. because we knew they knew more than we did!

 

[Chicago526]

Olena---Well, at least they had the right war!

Fanofmickey---So, let me get this straight, the Pilgrams landed AFTER we fought and won the Revolutionary War (not to mention the War of 1812)? Oh dear...

 

[Tinks]

That is so silly. Everyone knows that the plane that bombed Pearl Harbor was the Spirit of St. Louis!




Truthfully, I think it's sad that so many people are content to go through life uninformed.

 

[Laura]

My SIL (DH's brother's wife) is named after the Enola Gay. I haven't gotten up the nerve yet to ask why....

 

[olena]

Originally posted by liznboys
LOL!!!


Hey, isn't that a cool place?! We went there in January, our boys LOVED it. All those planes to look at! I love how big it is, lots of room for all the people. Do they have an actual Subway there yet? When we went, they hadn't had it set up yet, so it was just this little stand with premade subs and stuff.

The Subway is open now. The security guards welcomed us to "America's Hangar". It was a great experience. There was the Space Shuttle Enterprise, a Boeing 707, a Concorde and so much more. My favorite item was in the rear. There was a display case with model airplanes representing airplanes and airlines of the past. There was a model of a Southern Airways DC-9. That's the airline that hired my father right after my birth. Nowadays, Southern is part of Northwest Airlines, but it was fantastic seeing the model.

 

[DVC-Don]

Nice place. We were there 2 weeks ago. The Subway was still selling the pre-made stuff and that was it for food. But, still a wonderful visit.

 

[poochie]

Originally posted by olena
We just got back from a week in DC. We visited the new Air and Space museum in Chantilly, VA. Among the many aircraft on display was the Enola Gay. That's what we heard a mother telling her kids as they stopped in front of it. Nevermind the plaque in front of them.

We walked away before we started laughing.

OMG, a plane just like this with the name FIFI painted by the nose, along with another plane from WWII was at the Buffalo airport this morning. Our office building is right night to the runway, and we all watched them take off. I do not care how old they are they are a beautiful thing to watch. Much more impressive than today's jets.

 

[olena]

Originally posted by poochie
OMG, a plane just like this with the name FIFI painted by the nose, along with another plane from WWII was at the Buffalo airport this morning. Our office building is right night to the runway, and we all watched them take off. I do not care how old they are they are a beautiful thing to watch. Much more impressive than today's jets.

How cool! I'd love to see a B-29 in action....

 

[cheyita]

I feel like I'm watching an episode of Street Smarts!

The story about Enola Gay - possibly just completely a slip of the tongue.

The zoo stories - how sad.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Originally posted by Chicago526
Olena---Well, at least they had the right war!

Fanofmickey---So, let me get this straight, the Pilgrams landed AFTER we fought and won the Revolutionary War (not to mention the War of 1812)? Oh dear...

The US won the War of 1812? Not to turn this into a debate -- but that's not how we learned it at school in Canada (and I think the French had something to do with the British loss at Yorktown.) I did love to cheer when the tour guides at the White House would answer my question, "Why is the White House painted white?" (amazing what a bunch of British soldiers and some paroled prisoners from Australia can do when they get shot at while carrying a flag of truce.)

As for the NASM -- what a great place!!! The Smithsonian has to be one of the greatest museums in the world. The Museum of American History is a great place to wander aimlessly -- the discoveries are wonderful.

I truly am not surprised that a mother would make such a claim for the Enola Gay. The education of today's adults (whether they are American or Canadian) is absolutely pitiful. So many have gained their education from Hollywood's horrible history (The Patriot & Pearl Harbour come to mind -- neither will ever have a place in my movie collection -- the history is revisionist at best and completely wrong at it's worst) -- is it any wonder our children often know more than we do?

Neil

 

[goofygirl]

I feel like I'm watching an episode of Street Smarts!

Yeah, that, or either Jay Leno when he goes "Jay Walking" on the streets of L.A.!


Well, at least she didn't think it was a plane for gay people! I knew someone who read that there was going to be an Enola Gay exhibit somewhere. They thought it was a gay exhibit!