I’m commenting on a social media post. I witnessed the following comment exchange take place over the space of five minutes:

EU Commenter: “Yeah, I would love to get one for myself, but it’s €499.99, and I can’t justify that kind of cost right now.”

One of the commenters from the USA chimes in:

USA Commenter: “What the h*** is that funny ‘C’?”

EU Commenter: “You mean €? That’s the symbol for the Euro.”

USA Commenter: “Why are you talking about Euros?”

EU Commenter: “Because I am in Europe. I use Euros.”

USA Commenter: “But why are you talking about Europe? This is Facebook, so it’s American!”

EU Commenter: “My friend, what do you think the first two ‘W’s in www stand for?”

I was working as a cashier at a well-known video game store, located in a small town. Note, I’m a short woman with a high-pitched voice, and I’m Asian.

Couple: “Oh my gosh, your voice is so cute! Can you say something in Japanese?”

I think I was running on autopilot and was honestly too stunned at being asked that to say no, so I just said the first thing that came to mind.

Me: “Konnichiwa.” ^.^’

Couple: “Wow, it’s just like an anime! Oh, but you’re Chinese, right?”

I don’t know where they got that notion, but I politely laughed it off as I corrected them.

Me: “No, I’m Vietnamese.”

Couple: “What’s that?”

They looked at me, dead serious. Like, hello? Did you never learn about the Vietnam War?! I finished ringing them up and wished them a good evening. Thankfully, it was nearly closing time, so I didn’t have to worry about any other customers coming in to further ruin my faith in the American schooling system.

Customer: “Hey, I don’t have my glasses, can you tell me where this perfume was made?”

Me: “Sure thing.”

I start looking at the outside of the box.

Me: “It says here ‘Made in PRC’, which I’m pretty sure stands for People’s Republic of China.”

Customer: “Are you sure it’s a ‘C’? It could be a ‘G’?” *Gasps.* “Maybe it’s made in Prague!”

Sure, you keep thinking that, buddy.

I see a coworker in the office. It’s been a few months since we spoke properly.

Coworker: “How’ve you been?”

Me: “Good! A bit jet-lagged as I just got back from the big conference.”

Coworker: “The one in China? You went to that?”

Me: “Yeah, it was great!”

Coworker: “Did you visit the Chinatown?”

Me: “Ha ha, very funny.”

Coworker: “They must have some amazing Chinatowns there.”

I realize she is being serious.

Me: “Yeah, it was huge! Like, the whole country!”

Coworker: “Woooow.”

I’m in AP US History, in our sophomore year of high school. A girl in front of me, during a test, turns and whispers to her friend:

Girl #1: “Who won the Civil War?”

Girl #2: “Are you that stupid?”

Girl #1: “Oh, right. It wasn’t the Germans because if it were, we’d all be speaking German!”

She wrote an answer, and to this day I’ve always wondered what that answer was…