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[quote=Anonymous]Sometimes people in this area stress me out so much. I'm a reasonably intelligent person but there are of course lots of things I don't know about the world because of lack of experience or exposure. That's really normal! There are things I know that other don't because of where I grew up or what I studied in school or jobs I've had or experiences I've had. No one knows everything, even very smart, curious people.

But I have found that when I express ignorance about something in this area (the DMV) people will often pounce on it and act like it is completely unacceptable that I didn't know whatever it was. And it could genuinely be anything. Recently I admitted I hadn't see a classic movie from the 80s (think [i]Fast Times at Ridgemont High[/I]) and the people I was with acted like I'd just said I was born on Neptune. I also recently expressed surprise about a certain aspect of the US medical system (relating to what kind of specialist you would see if you have a specific condition I've never had) and again, was met with scorn and "I can't believe you don't know this." I feel like this happens to me all the time because I am someone who is unembarrassed by admitting I don't know something or that I just learned something. I don't think there is shame in it. But around here, a lot of people really do seem to think it is shameful to admit you don't know everything there is to know about everything in the universe.

It just makes social situations feel very stressful to me and I find I speak less and less as the years go on and am less likely to ask questions or to voice an opinion on something because I am nervous that I will get something wrong and be called out for it. I have started to feel that certain people think I am genuinely stupid which is frustrating because I read all the time and have a graduate degree and while I'm not all-knowing, I think I am reasonably intelligent with a good capacity for understanding things.

I just wish people would be more forgiving of everyday ignorance, I think it's unreasonable to expect any person to know everything about current events, science, business, the economy, medicine, the arts, etc. Also, it would be boring! I like meeting people who know a lot about things with which I'm unfamiliar. I like learning from people. [/quote]

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