As I walked the aisle of the local grocery store, the mom who was walking ahead of me was talking to her son. She was asking him what he had learned in school today. “We learned the same things today we learned yesterday. I don't know why I have to learn learn how to spell. And besides, many of the words we learn I'll never use anyhow.” OMG!
This could be a long year in school for this young lad. But it did cause me to pause to think about some of the things we have to learn. Being old and wise now, I understand the importance of some of the things I considered really dumb as a child. But there are facts we learn that seem to have no value at all, useless facts.
For example, did you know donkeys kill more people on an annual basis than the number of people who die in airplane crashes. I didn't even know donkeys could fly!
Did you know the electric chair was invented by a dentist? Oh my! There is some information to sink your teeth into.
For those who paid attention in science class, you may remember learning that the highest tides in the world are just over our border in Canada at the Bay of Fundy. There is a 53 ft. rise and fall daily.
The first person to survive the fall over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel was a teacher names Annie Edison Taylor. Lets hear it for the teachers.
Did you know the largest turtle in the world weighed just slightly over 2000 pounds.
Words provide us with numerous useless facts. For example, the word 'desserts' spelled backwards spells stressed. Isn't that what happens when you eat too many desserts? Dreamt is the only word in the English language that ends in 'mt'.
In China, the words for 'crisis' and 'opportunity' are the same. There must be a message there somewhere.
The words' race car' and 'kayak' are the same whether you read them from the left or the right. For someone who is dyslexic, no problem here. Did you know the names of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with. Disagree? Check it out.
The word “typewriter” is the longest word using only the top row on a keyboard. Speaking of size, “go” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language and for those who took typing in high school, “stewardesses' is the longest word that can be typed with only the left hand.
One can only wonder who has the time or the energy to research these 'useless' facts. As I watch baseball games, or any sport for that matter, I am amused at the number of statistics that make their way into the broadcast. Who hit what pitch in what inning to win the third game in some playoff game can only be out done by a record number of yards gained by a running back while only wearing one shoe. If not mistaken, I think he kept on running, right into the locker room.
But now on to more serious facts. I will spend at least two weeks of my entire life waiting for the traffic lights to change. The average chocolate candy bar has eight insects' legs in it. In 1933, Mickey Mouse received 800,000 fan letters. That's almost as many as I received last year!
Did you know the number of cars on the planet is increasing three times faster than the world population? You can bet the major car manufactures know that little tidbit. Not so useless, is it?
Sometimes, as I think about what I may write about, its like banging my head against the wall. If I were to do that for an hour, I would burn 150 calories. What a way to lose weight.
