criminals

I once thought, when I was three I think, that people would steal cars by just picking them up and running away! I had a little image in my head of a blond guy running up to our car, picking it up (as if it were only 5 lbs,) and running away! This made me wonder why millions of cars don't get stolen every day

Peter

I thought there might be a law that you needed to be a certain age to buy a cup of coffee. I was almost suprised as a teenager that I could get away with it.

Giselle

As a kid I didn't realize the severity of getting arrested. I though it was like time-out but for grown-ups; so I figured pretty much everyone went to jail at least once in their lives. I was shocked when I asked my parents if they had ever been to jail and they said no.

c

When i first heard someone talk about "ripping somebody off", i thought it meant they literally ripped the person's skin off their body.

Anon

When I was little my mum used to tell me it eas against the law to draw on myself in ball point pen, i believed her till i was 13

candy

I thought that Ted Bundy was a character on "Married With Children."

Patrick

I thought people at fast food joints were idiots for giving the food when they already had the money. I waited for the day they would catch on to what a profit they could make.

optional

I used to believe that joy riding was riding in the car without a destination or purpose so every time my mom would put me in the car to drive me around so I would fall asleep I would have to think of a excuse for the police for when they pulled us over for having a ‘fun time driving’ I lived in fear of being put in jail for having fun in the car!

Jaimie

When I was a little girl, about 5 years old, I believed drinking any beverage in the car was illegal. If we would get into the car and my dad would bring a Coca Cola or something, I would ride in silent fear that the police would get us because my dad was "drinking and driving".

Anon

Up until I was nine or ten, I believed that if you broke the law--for anything, ever--you would go to jail for the rest of your life. I didn't know that there were such things as five-year or even three-month sentences. You went to jail, end of story, never came out.

I was very confused when I watched the third Wallace and Grommit movie and the paper said "Grommit gets life" for being framed as a sheep-stealer. I thought that meant he was going to be executed.

Wordwizard

i could never understand why all countries were trying to attract tourists: who would want to have all that bombing and kidnapping? i imagined all this evil in the disguise of sunburned people in shorts wearing too large sunglasses.

jankai

Until the other day I believed that 'kerb-crawling' [picking up prostitutes in a red-light district] was the offence of driving too slowly and too close to the kerb [sidewalk], therefore making all the traffic slow down...how wrong I was!

Alice

I thought that blackmail meant sending black envelopes to people.

Anon

I used to believe that people with beards were murderers. I thought that my dad was one of them, but he shaved his beard every morning, so that no-one would know the truth.

Rachelle

When I was about 5, up until I was 7 or 8 years old, I used to avoid or run/sneak past any windows in the house when it was dark outside. I belived that there were snipers positioned outside who would shoot at me if they spotted me.

Anon

when I was little my mom told us never to have the radio and the TV on at the same time. I thought it was illegal to have both on. So when my little sister turned them both on at once I freaked out, I thought she was going to go to jail.

Anon

I used to think Jaywalkers were people who walked briskly whilst swinging their arms.. whoops!

Lisa

I used to believe that Prosecution meant Execution so whenever I saw a sign that said "Shoplifters will be Prosecuted" I thought "Oh my gosh if I steal this they're going to kill me!".

Sam

I used to believe that if somebody manages to break into someone's house, they are legally entitled to stay there, and that's why people lock their doors.

flarn2006

I used to think "shoplifters" were very strong people who literally got underneath stores and lifted the entire buildings over their heads like weightlifters. Once when I was in a drugstore with my mom, I saw a muscular man with tatoos and a buzz cut. I pointed him out to my mom and said "Look, that guy must be one of those shoplifters!" My mother shushed me.

Spark