going shopping

I used to think that store mannequins were shoppers that had been kidnapped and put into some giant machine in the back of the store. Needless to say, I did not leave my parents side in a clothing store!

Lisa

When I was little, I thought a sweater outlet was where you took your sweater to get " let out" after you grew out of it so it would fit.

suzie

As a very squeamish child (my brother had a cartoon encylopedia of the human body that absolutely TERRIFIED me, if you want to know just how squeamish), I used to be afraid of any store that bore the name "Body Shop," as I assumed they sold organs for transplant. I kept visualizing a clean, white doctor's waiting room-looking place, with a back door that led to a freezer room full of bloody coolers. Needless to say, I caused quite a scene when my father needed to stop in.

Anon

Using an elevator as a kid (with my Mom) I was convinced that the elevator itself was not moving, but very fast-working people actually changed the scenery around the elevator; so when the door opened again we'd be in the same place only it had been quickly rearranged.

Barney

I used to believe that employees in stores like Wal Mart actually lived there, sleeping in the camping section and kindly sharing all their stuff with shoppers.

BTG

I thought the store Cost Plus was called that because everything cost more there and wondered why anyone would go there

Nate

My dad he used to tell me that mannequins were actually people who had been frozen.

Alecia

When I was a kid I thought the people who worked at K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and any other cashier job were the richest people in the world. I thought they got to keep all the money people used to purchase stuff with! *lol*

Jenny

This one belongs to my friend, April.

When she was little, her mom told her that they were going to Bed,Bath and Beyond (the store). April got all excited and said "REALLY? IN THAT ORDER?!"

gina

When I was younger up until was about 9 I thought mannequins were real people who did that for a living. I was even terrified to walk by the ones at walmart afraid they would jump down from the stand and grab me.

Shontel

When i was younger i used to believe that the black market was a physical marketplace just outside the city centre

I was always confused as to why the ploice just didn't go down there.

chris

When I was probably around 2 (unfortunately this is one of my first memories) I was in a video rental store and I strayed from my father and into the adult section. It was curtained off. I remember standing in there looking at all the jacket covers, and thinking to myself that behind every curtain there were pictures of naked people. Everywhere I went after that, I'd peel back curtains to check for the creepy naked people... dad told me you weren't supposed to be naked, so I wanted to tell on them!

Anon

I used to think that strip malls were places men went to shop, so they could buy everything and be entertained by strippers placed randomly throughout the mall.

Jessica

I believed that if an item on the shelf didn't have a price tag, it was actually free, due to the carelessness of the employees. I couldn't understand why my mom didn't want all the free stuff I found on the shelves.

Tim

I used to believe that a strip mall was a mall with people who stripped down naked. This stemmed from a TV show in which a person didn't want to work in one. I thought "duh,who would want to work in a place with naked people?"

Anon

If I was too late in jumping off an escalator I would be pulled underneath and ground into bits. My mum had to pick me up as we got near the end, as I got increasingly hysterical.

dips

I used to believe that when I bought a product tested 100 times, it meant that the stuff i was buying had actually been tested 100 times and I wondered why it didn't wear out and was expecting it to fall into pieces very soon.

Took me years to realize my mistake. I am a bit slow.

Chris (French but that does not explain anything)

When I was 6 or 7 years old, I heard a newcaster talking about things being bought and sold "on the black market" and I thought that meant it was an actual open-air flea market type place that had nothing but black painted tables, chairs, tents, booths and buildings. All the people buying and selling stuff in there had to wear all black clothes too. No wonder my parents looked at me and laughed when I said, "What's wrong with selling stuff in a place where everything has to be black?"

Anon

when i was mayeb 5 i used to believe that if i went into clothing store wearing something i had not bought at that store, they would be offended and would yell at me. same thing if i went into a store with toys in it, i always got really nervous when my little brother insisted on bringing a toy into a store with him, i was convinced that we would get in trouble.
needless to say, i really hated shopping with my mum.

Anon

I lived in NYC, and I would walk around a lot with my mother. Unfortunately, I didn't understand the concept of, "blocks." I believed that she was referring to individual concrete blocks in the pavement. A five block distance meant that every five sidewalk tiles, I would look up and ask my mother, "Are we there yet?" Eventually I decided she was a liar, and stopped asking.

Will Bator