(no subject)

[auntiemeesh]

Oh I am the spammiest today.

I had an interesting experience yesterday. I was returning some books to the library and on my way out, a guy approached me asking where he might find toy wolves. I suggested the toy store about half a block away.

"Half a block?" he asked, very much in a 'what is this block you speak of' tone of voice. "I'm not familiar with cities," he added. "What does that mean?"

Now, I've lived in some fairly rural areas in my time, but this was the first time I encountered anywone who had never before been exposed to the concept of city blocks. My only conclusion is that he must have been an honest to goodness alien, just arrived from the far reaches of the Horsehead Nebula.

*pats little alien on the head and scurries out of reach before it can bite*

Comments

[topaztook.livejournal.com]

LOL.

Actually, I would guess that perhaps he was confused by some cities measuring their block lengths by the cross streets, and others measuring them by what seems to be an alley in the middle of what someone else would call a really long block.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

That's probably what it was, but he was just so weird about it, like he'd never actually heard the term before. I think his real problem was lack of social skills combined with a geekout because he was talking to an actual, real live girl.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

And you know, if lj would just acknowledge when I post comments, then I wouldn't have to rewrite them and post them twice. *sigh*

[shirebound]

A close encounter! Cool.

:D

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I hope he enjoys his stay on Earth and finds many wolf toys to take back to his girlfriend.

[lil-banik-slave.livejournal.com]

So how long / large / WTF is a block?

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

A block is the distance between one cross-street and the next. Wikipedia has a good definition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_block). If the guy was from out of the country I would have been more understanding of his confusion, but he was definitely American, and the term is pretty ubiquitous in the States.

[whtmtnwmn.livejournal.com]

A librarian posted in one of the LJ library communities a few weeks ago about a library patron who had never heard of New York--the city or the state!

Yup...the pod people are everywhere...
=D

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

They need to invent a PPI (pod people identifier) so that when we encounter these 'people' on the streets we know what to do.

[whtmtnwmn.livejournal.com]

The good news/bad news is that they seem to frequent libraries...
=D

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

What a lame pick-up line! Glad you didn't get bitten. :)

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

If it was a pick-up line, it was pretty pathetic, since he told me he was buying this stuffed wolf toy for a girl he really liked, lol.

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

OK - guess your martian theory is more likely! How bizarre.

[ctegan.livejournal.com]

I've run into that situation many times at work; usually, the people who are confused are younger than I am.

* I've given directions to someone (face to face) stating to go down two blocks, blah blah blah .. and then have the person repeat back, "Block?" while his eyes glaze over.

* I've given directions to the office to people over the phone and run into this problem. I ask if they know this particular restaurant (or other landmark), and if they say 'yes', I reply with, "We're on the same block, three doors down, on the corner of so-and-so." I've gotten in response, "So .. you're across the street from the restaurant?" To which I'd reply, "Um, no, we're on the same block, same side of the street .." and once someone asked, "Okay, so, across the street? Directly across or diagonally?" I explained to that person, "No, our office is on the same side of the street, on the same block of stores as that restaurant, only three doors down at the corner. We share the same sidewalk." When the person was still confused, I added, "Okay, imagine you're standing in front of that restaurant as if you're about to go in. Now, if you can, imagine walking, without crossing the street, three stores to your right .." Yeah .. oh! and ..

* I once ordered a sub from a place on the street parrallel to us, but on the same block we're on (you know - block as in, "We won't cross the street, Mom. We're just taking a walk around the block.") and gave them the address to deliver to me 'cause I was too lazy to walk there (plus, I was the only one in the office & wasn't supposed to leave). :P Anyway, they're like "Where on W. St.?" So I tell them, and they're confused, so I explain we're on the same block, parrallel to them & that they could walk the sandwich over .. "block? parrallel?" Yeah, so I say, "Okay, when you leave your shop, take a right and walk to the end of the sidewalk at the corner of C. & G. Streets. Don't cross the street; stay on the sidewalk and walk up G. St. to where it meets with W. St. Still staying on the sidewalk, turn to your right and walk up W. St. maybe 3 feet, and that's where we are." And the reply was, "So, wait, where on W. St. are you again? Do I have to go down as far as Blah?" (Walking to Blah requires crossing 2-3 streets and heading in the opposite direction.) So, I said, "I'll be there in a minute and a half. Have my order ready." *bg*

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I never realized 'block' was such a foreign concept, lol. My eyes have opened.