Let me start by saying we grew up in the 'country', and these new people we met grew up in the 'city'. This makes for a very complex difference in cultures, and what we perceive of people from different cultures can really make ourselves look bad, because assuming gets us nowhere.
Because we are from the country, my husband is very big into the hunting and fishing scheme of things. He's a real outdoors man, through and through, and honestly, I don't know what he would do if he was not able to participate in these areas.
Our wall is proof of what he enjoys, as he has mounts plastered on just about every inch of every surface, and he uses these mounts to proudly display his accomplishments with his outdoors activities. This is fine, but these very mounts became a pure sense of laughter for me, at least as of this week.
Anyway, so we meet these city folk that moved to our neck of the woods as the father of the group came to us to ask if we could use some help with our large yard. Of course, we don't, but we invited him in to get to know him.
Now, my husband just naturally assumes that people from the city know absolutely NOTHING when it comes to the great outdoors. He's been adamant about this fact for some time now, so keep this in mind when I share this conversation with you.
The 'city slicker' looks up at the wall mounts while my husband is busy grabbing beverages from the kitchen, and he's looking in awe of what my husband has accomplished. His eyes, as I'm following them, are tracing from the various animals we have hanging there, and they stop on one of the fish that my husband caught. This is a fish to be proud of, as this fish is as big as me, and is just a freshwater Northern.
So he says to my husband that's in the kitchen, "Wow! Did you catch that?"
My husband, who doesn't know what he is looking at, naturally assumes he is talking about the deer, and replies, "Heck no! How could I 'catch' that'?" He starts chuckling for all to hear, and then adds, "No one can just CATCH one of those. I shot that with my 22!"
I smiled, because I knew that guy had to be wondering what kind of a person shoots a fish with a 22, and doesn't use traditional methods. This guys face turned from being happy in our home, to a look of complete confusion, in just a mere ten seconds. LOL
The guy's face finally just registered a mark of horror, and then he returned the comment with, "Oh....", a brief hesitation, and "I would have never guessed that!" Then he said he had to go, and stepped out the door. Meanwhile, I'm now sitting on my couch cracking up, and my husband is standing there scratching his head.
He looked at me and said, "What's so funny?"
I said to him, "Well, hon, you just told that guy you never met that you shot your fish with a 22, and now he's running around town probably telling people what a crazy bugger you really are. He's probably also wondering how you got that fish out of the water now, and if you just jumped in and grabbed it by it's back fin and drug it to shore. He's thinking you are a real nutbar that you would go to such extremes for your outdoors activities!" lol I kept on laughing, and a smile edged across my husband's face. I told him, "You know hon, despite what you 'assume', I'm sure that city slickers understand you have to shoot deer, and use a pole with fish, and that's really what he was asking you. He wanted to know if you caught that fish on a pole." lol
I'll never quit smiling when I think of the look that was on that guy's face, and maybe I was wrong for not clearing it all up, but I thought it was a funny lesson well learned. LOL Don't assume someone isn't as intelligent as you are, just because they come from somewhere else. Sure, you might have some additional knowledge to share, but that doesn't mean you are the only expert. **wink**
My husband's attempt at assuming things really did make an ass out of him, and to be honest, additionally made an ass out of the other man who believed him. LOL Let this be a lesson for all of us.
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