Geography may not be everyone’s strong suit, particularly on Jeopardy.
Thank goodness for the birth of GPS.
So much of the world’s geography may be obvious for many while others may struggle.
What is the proper reaction to that situation?
Case in point…
Redditor raptorRAZZ9 wanted to discuss their experience and get some feedback. So naturally, they came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
They asked:
“AITA for being visibly shocked/dumbfounded that my GF (21, American) could not point out Florida on a map?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“While sitting next to my girlfriend on a plane I was bored as f**k and looking at the maps that are found in the back of the airline magazines.”
“A conversation led to her revealing that she did not know where Florida was on the map.”
“Keep in mind, she had graduated from a private high school and is currently going into her senior year of college.”
“Conversation progressed further into me finding out she could not point out AUSTRALIA either.”
“I was visibly astonished at this revelation and essentially said ‘…are you kidding.'”
“She immediately got defensive calling me an a**hole for making her feel stupid.”
“I do feel bad for making her feel stupid.”
“Although I feel as if my reaction to her not being educated on such elementary crap was warranted and may even be a wake-up call for her to learn some basic geography…”
“AITA?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared OP was NOT the A**hole situation.
“NAH. My husband did the same to me.”
“So I realized how straight-up dumb it was.”
“I downloaded an app for kids to learn basic geography.”
“Now I know where more countries are than he does!”
“Learning and realizing the need to learn things is so important.” ~ SarahSunShineDoh0
“I’m a scientist.”
“I used to work with a chick who was a scientist who, as a junior in college, did a semester abroad in Australia.”
“During her flight to Australia they were near Hawaii and the pilot mentioned if you looked out the window you could see the island.”
“When she looked at the island chain she was confused as to why she didn’t also see Alaska.” ~ sweetdawg99
“NAH – If you had rubbed it in and continued to press or make fun, you’d be the a**hole, but that’s a pretty normal reaction.” ~ KyrinLee
“I think it’s unfair to call her stupid.”
“She’s uneducated on this particular subject.”
“That doesn’t make her stupid.”
“But NAH as OP didn’t actually make fun of her.” ~ Tanzachick
“I think it’s pretty fair to call a citizen of the United States stupid for not knowing where Florida is on a map.”
“We learn this stuff numerous times through grade school, and Florida is one of the most recognizable states.”
“Any United States citizens out there that don’t know where Florida is – go find a map and teach yourself before you end up in this situation.” ~ hawkbearpig
“I wish I didn’t, but I kinda have to agree with you.”
“Florida is the most obvious state to name on a map. Along with maybe Texas and California.”
“It’s not like she couldn’t pick out Indiana or Missouri or one of those square states.”
“It’s f**king Florida.”
“And, and… Australia, too, Australia is its own continent.”
“Of which there are only 7!”
“How does one graduate elementary school without knowing this?”
“So, no, OP is NTA for being shocked/dumbfounded that his G[irl]F[riend] can’t find Florida on a map.” ~ jericha
“Florida, Texas, California, New York (or maybe that’s because I live there and saw it constantly in school).”
“Probably the most recognizable states.”
“Kinda unique looking.”
“Florida is the bottom right corner, looks kinda like a sad penis.”
“Texas is huge and kinda plus symbol shaped, California takes up most of the west coast, and New York looks like a duck head.”
“NTA, I could find Florida on the map when I was like 7.” ~ hikikomori-i-am-not
“Intelligence isn’t defined by what you do know, but by what you CAN know.”
“She’s not stupid, her school failed her and she never cared enough to make up for it.”
“Ignorant maybe, but you can’t claim stupid off of individual facts known or unknown.” ~ SamForestBH
“I’m not from the US, but I was shockingly ignorant about geography until recently.”
“I mean seriously ignorant.”
“Couldn’t have pointed to Germany or even England on a map.”
“In my case, it wasn’t stupidity.”
“I’m not gonna try to prove my cleverness credentials on Reddit because that just seems mildly tragic, but I was generally considered a gifted kid.”
“It was just my stubborn mental block that decided geography was boring and not something I wanted to bother learning.”
“That changed when I got interested in travel and wanted to know where places were in relation to each other, and when my daughter started getting interested in learning all the countries.”
“She knows all the countries in the world now, at eleven – I definitely don’t, but I’m MUCH stronger on Europe and know a decent chunk of what goes where in Africa and South America too.”
“And we compete by timing ourselves to name all 50 states of the US.”
“I couldn’t tell you where they all are yet, but I can generally tell you what around 46-48 of them are called.”
“It’s surprisingly hard.”
“There are a LOT. (Um, fifty, actually. Fancy that.)”
“My other mental blocks I’ve since overcome include astronomy/outer space, biology/medicine, and very basic engineering.”
“Maybe one day I’ll ‘get’ maths and sports and car engines too; maybe not.”
“We all have gaps.” ~ PuddleOfHamster
“NTA. That’s pretty unfortunate, Florida is the iconic dongle of the US.”
“But most many people are stupid dumb and they don’t know things and they don’t bother nor care to know things.”
“It sucks but you can’t make people learn.”
“Very recently I saw a video where some people didn’t know what dinosaurs were, completely blew my mind away.” ~ REDDIT
“NTA but be careful.”
“My wife said today she thought Sweden and Switzerland were the same place.”
“She’s a brilliant doctor who can explain to you in silly detail how your body metabolizes all foreign substances.”
“Ignorance doesn’t equal stupid by a long shot.” ~ justinblair333
“What’s more astonishing is how she is almost finished college and still doesn’t know where Florida is on a map!”
“Shows how much colleges in America only care about profits.”
“Her private school must have been the same thing.” ~ REDDIT
“NTA. I’m a teacher.”
“There are college kids who can’t tell you the CENTURY when the American Revolution was fought.”
“No level of abject ignorance surprises me.” ~ LovedAJacka**
“NAH – some people are geographically weak.”
“She could be a music major and has no sense of geography whatsoever.”
“As long as you kept your surprise to yourself YNTA.” ~ quebecoisejohn
“NAH I mean understandably she’s upset.”
“But you weren’t trying to be rude or make her seem stupid, just seems you were legit shocked she couldn’t find two of the most recognizable land masses.”
“I mean Utah I could understand a little more, it’s hardly got any shape to it.”
“Points for not laughing at her, ’cause I sure would have.” ~ REDDIT
“NTA – Admittedly I tease my husband that he can’t name five state capitals.”
“But in fairness, a lot of people forget the basic stuff taught in elementary school.”
“I mean there was a television game show called ‘Are You Smarter than Fifth Grader’ to highlight this very issue of grown adults not knowing things they learned in elementary school.”
“Let me just say that a lot of players on that show went home saying they were no smarter than a fifth grader.”
“So maybe go a little easy on her.”
“I’m sure there are things from grade school you forgot too.” ~ ScaryAngelClone
“NTA. You weren’t making her feel stupid.”
“She just felt stupid because she couldn’t point out a state in her own country.”
“Typical defense, though: It’s your fault I slept through geography and you’re mean.”
“Unfortunately, this lack of basic geographic education is common with private school education.”
“Was it a religious High School?”
“They’re just the worst.”
“My husband’s parents went to religious High School and religious College.”
“I distinctly remember them asking me why I would want to read any book (except the bible) which I didn’t have to read for school.”
“I was 27 and reading Heinlein’s ‘Stranger In A Strange Land,’ at the time, and couldn’t put it down.”
“This completely mystified them.”
“They also couldn’t point out any states or countries on a map of the world. Truly sad.”
“I frequently asked my husband if he was sure he wasn’t switched at birth.”
“The man was brilliant, and he came from them?? Wowzer.” ~ ConvivialKat
“NAH – you weren’t trying to be mean, you were surprised.”
“But everyone hates feeling stupid.”
“I know I have that problem with my boyfriend because he uses sarcasm a lot so I never know when he seriously doesn’t know something.”
“I learned US geography in 5th grade, and that’s about all I was ever taught.”
“Everything else I had to learn on my own.”
“So I’m honestly not surprised when people don’t know geography.”
“Lots of people don’t know things I would consider basic.”
“You may want to apologize for making her feel bad, even if you didn’t mean to.”
“Maybe next time you could say ‘Really? It’s right here.’ Instead of ‘Are you kidding?'” ~ imaginearagog
Well OP, Reddit understands the issue with your GF.
Though maybe a more subtle approach would work better next time.
Can’t hurt to go buy a globe and start spinning for fun though.