Youthful Misconceptions

[bwana39]

As I kid I had an image of some guy in a high crime area turning on the switches for all the street lights around NYC every night and then coming back and turning them off in the morning.

With the electric lights, that never seemingly was how it worked. Back in the days of GAS LIGHTS, the lamplighter came in the evening and lit them. In the mornings he came and extinguished them .

[bwana39]

So I know this isn't a highway-related misconception, but highway-adjacent...

When I was a kid/teen/probably a bit now, I always had really strange knowledge gaps about the weirdest things.
My best friend at the time, my mom, and I were playing a neat board game we found somewhere that was supposed to teach life lessons - my friend and I were 16 or 17 year old fairly intelligent and not particularly sheltered young women at the time, and I think it was more like a game to laugh at the absurd answers.........

Until I answered the open-ended,  "Your car is on fire..."  scenario with "call AAA."

So, I'd apparently been raised that when you have any car issue, you call AAA. My mother has not realized she'd accidentally and inadvertently taught me this, and spluttered through tears of laughter, "Right, nothing like getting in a middleman. I love getting bounced around customer service when I'm in something that's ON FIRE. For them to ask if they should call the fire department for you? Did you at least get out of the car for your little chat with AAA?"

My kids (now straddling 40) were teenagers. Their pickup truck caught fire and they called me and asked how to call 911. Admittedly, they had had mobile phones less than a year, but.....

[kphoger]

The real question might actually be how to get your phone out of 9-1-1 mode.

[Big John]

So I know this isn't a highway-related misconception, but highway-adjacent...

When I was a kid/teen/probably a bit now, I always had really strange knowledge gaps about the weirdest things.
My best friend at the time, my mom, and I were playing a neat board game we found somewhere that was supposed to teach life lessons - my friend and I were 16 or 17 year old fairly intelligent and not particularly sheltered young women at the time, and I think it was more like a game to laugh at the absurd answers.........

Until I answered the open-ended,  "Your car is on fire..."  scenario with "call AAA."

So, I'd apparently been raised that when you have any car issue, you call AAA. My mother has not realized she'd accidentally and inadvertently taught me this, and spluttered through tears of laughter, "Right, nothing like getting in a middleman. I love getting bounced around customer service when I'm in something that's ON FIRE. For them to ask if they should call the fire department for you? Did you at least get out of the car for your little chat with AAA?"

My kids (now straddling 40) were teenagers. Their pickup truck caught fire and they called me and asked how to call 911. Admittedly, they had had mobile phones less than a year, but.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TINdNEMhga4