going shopping

When my mother and sisters would leave the house on errands without me, I would always ask, "Where you goin?" and my mother would always reply, "Crazy."

I used to believe Crazy was an interesting store on the eastern border of my hometown that I was never allowed to go to.

David.

when i was little, my parents would take me to the store and leave me in the car till they got back, and i used to beleive that when they didnt comeback after a while that they were being held hostage, and that everyone outside that had baggy clothes on was in a gang and after me.

eddie

I used to believe that if you weren't wearing rubber soled shoes when you rode on an escalator, you would be sucked into it unless you jumped before you reached the last step. ( My Grandmother used to tell me this!)

Anon

I was like 5 and I used to think that when you go into a store that you just have to show the guy behind the counter what you are getting and then you could leave (probably cause I couldent see above the store counter and never saw anyone give the clerk money) so one day when I was around 5, I left my house without telling my parents, walked all the way down an alley and into a liquor store grabbed like 3 boxes of boston baked beans, some sticks of gum and a beer that I was going to take home ofr my dad since he always brought stuff home from the store for me, when I showed the clerk he asked "wheres your mom or dad" and I jsut started crying, he called the cops,and the cop took me back home :(

Anon

Every time I entered a building that was built in/on a hill or slanted ground, I could not figure out how i could walk in the front door on the bottom floor, go up the escalator, walk out a door on the second floor and still be on the ground. it boggled my mind for years

Lauren

Sometimes as a child in Ireland if I did a silly thing my parents would tell me that I needed to get some "cop on".

To "cop on" is Irish slang for "to understand" or "to get with the program." It is also used as a noun meaning "common sense."

They began to enrich this admonishment by telling me I needed to "go over to Mrs Conaty the Chemist [pharmacist] and ask her for half-a-pound of cop-on."

Sometimes they would even put a few pennies in my fist and send me on my way, only to call me back as I was going out the door.

I really came to believe that this magical cop-on stuff could be bought in the Chemist shop and that it would make me more intelligent, less clumsy, less forgetful, etc.

As time went on I did notice my parents trying to supress smirks as they told me this. And I finally realized that they were just sharing a joke at my expense.

Fergus

I believed that you could get sucked into the gap at the end of the escalator, the moving stairs disappear into the floor. I was terrified of going on the escalator and would walk backwards on it until I worked up the guts to take a running jump over it. These days I sometimes let my feet slide off the escalator onto the ground just to prove to myself that I can't fit through the gap even if I try.

Tania

My sister and I used to believe that the "payers" (cashiers) in stores got to keep all the money in their cash registers.

Tracyca

when i was about 5 or 6 i asked my mom what a flea market was. i had been bugging her so she told me that it was a store that sold fleas just to get me to shut up. i believed her and thought it was true until i made a complete idiot out of myself when i was about 11.

Anon

I used to believe handicapped parking spaces were spaces for people to park thier wheelchairs. My Mom always called them "wheelchair spaces" for some reason, and so I didin't understand that they were for cars. We must not have had many disabled people in our town, becuase it was rare to see the spot being used. I always hoped to see a wheelchair parked in its special place. I believed this for a long time!!!!

Anon

I used to think that they only sold car boots at boot fairs!

Di

I used to think that the "shoplifters will be prosecuted" signs in stores meant that if you steal you will be killed

lololye

When me and my mum used to cross at the traffic lights she'd always say 'wait for the green man to come!.'
I always looked up at the sky and thought that some crazy real life green man would come flying down like superman. it was disappointing to eventually find out it was only a light :/

Anon

When I was about 5, I managed to misinterpret the concept behind "cents-off" coupons. If a coupon said "save 15 cents", I was certain that it meant you had to pay ALL your money except for 15 cents that you were allowed to SAVE, when paying for that product. And i really could not undertand why anyone though that was a good thing...

chrisboy

i used to believe that shoping carts were for slave children

kyle welch

I used to believe when you put a coin a Gumball machine, the coin would fall to the basement and a homeless guy with a box would sit there and wait for more coins.

Anon

I was about five and my mother was taking something to some re-sale shop to be sold and she said she was doing it for Christmas money. In my mind she was going to end up with all this gloriously shiny and all different colored coins. I could hardly wait to see that Christmas money.

Linda from Texas

My sister and I used to dig up the yard because we would think that if we dig deep enough, we will get to Toys 'R' Us and get all the free toys we want.

Rose

I used to believe that strip malls were bad because I thought you had to strip off your clothes to go there. I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to shop naked.

Anon

When I was little my mom always told me the "K" in K Mart stood for "kids" and that if I was bad she would return me and my sister for new children.

emma