Scenes from the dorm.

[hannah]

Chatting with a girl about food and meals, I offered her some of my leftover duck stir-fry. She turned it down, citing she didn't like duck, and that the only meat she liked was chicken and turkey. Curious for more information, I asked her if she ate any mammals.

Her response was that chicken and turkey are mammals.

I blinked a couple of times and told her those were birds. She said then in that case she didn't eat any mammals. I did my best to fix the awkwardness by offering a chicken recipe I've got that makes good leftovers, but it'll take a while for me to recover.

We're in the same kingdom and phylum, but getting the class mixed up? I can understand a genus or an order, who hasn't gotten an order mixed up, but a whole class? It boggles the mind.

Comments

[ayalesca.livejournal.com]

dude one of my fellow grad students - yes in BIOLOGY - once thought birds were mammals ...

Although later I found out he was actually a programmer ... I'm just saying.

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

Maybe they're both sold in the same area of the grocery store? ...yeah, I've got nothing.

[shes-unreal.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised, honestly. I saw an article that cited a poll where 50% or more of American women think the Earth is bigger than the sun. Some people just don't pay attention to school... or to common sense, really.

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

I don't weep for my generation, just my gender. We need less Polly Pocket and more roller derby.

[shes-unreal.livejournal.com]

Damn straight ;)

I was just thinking this afternoon, recalling the dream/fantasy I had a couple years ago of teaching a bellydance course for teens and tweens - because I think it would be empowering for them and let them feel comfortable in their own bodies. A teen roller derby rec league would work too :)

[linaelyn.livejournal.com]

It's not gender, I don't think. One November, my sister worked in an office for construction work, and her (universally male) co-workers were discussing the purchase of Thanksgiving turkey. They were, to a man, going to comb the markets for the best hen turkey possible, carefully avoiding the pitfall of buying a tom turkey: no breast meat.

My sister tried (to no avail) to explain that female turkeys do not have bigger breasts than male turkeys BECAUSE THEY DO NOT SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG, BEING BIRDS. All the men thought she was CRAZY, or at least trying to have a joke at their expense!