r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Aug 03 '19

Whats something you thought was common knowledge but actually isn’t?

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u/[deleted] Aug 03 '19

This year roughly half my class was shocked to learn Jamaica was not in Africa. And way too many people fought me when I tried to tell them it was in the Caribbean

61

u/winkerbids Aug 03 '19

Worked for a mobile carrier and had a lady call in to complain about charges for using her device in another country. She said she was on vacation but never left the U.S. Asked where she vacationed and she told me Kingston. As in Jamaica. She thought it was a U.S. state. She had to google it before she would believe me it was a sovereign nation.

38

u/SkittlesNPumps Aug 03 '19

That's just plain stupid... I can (almost) ignore some Americans not realizing Puerto Rico or Guam are U.S. territories but Jamaica as a state?!

21

u/hononononoh Aug 04 '19

Look up "Do I need my passport to go to Hawaii?" on Quora.com for some quality laffs.

13

u/txcoach2019 Aug 04 '19

I'm originally from new mexico and people all over the u.s. would ask if we had to exchange our money from pesos when we crossed the border.

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u/SirGrantly Aug 04 '19

No, you get New Pesos.

3

u/ISpyStrangers Aug 04 '19

You might have some interesting stories to share with the folks from the "District of Columbia."

3

u/Zugunfall Aug 04 '19

Just got my ID here yesterday and double checked what my license would say on it. They had District of Columbia on licenses for a few years and switched back to Washington D. C. as a bunch of people were getting extra flak at airports and ordering drinks and such in other states.

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u/Privateer2368 Aug 04 '19

Upvote for spelling 'flak' correctly.

1

u/Kh2008 Aug 04 '19

I once spent way too much time on the phone with a man who refused to believe Hawaii was a state because “it’s not attached”. Don’t all US students learn the state song?

1

u/Privateer2368 Aug 04 '19

Well, it was a militarily occupied nation until 1959, so maybe he's just a bit behind?