this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2024
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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Like why do I feel like I’m supposed to be able to name the seven boroughs? I can’t tell you anything about L.A., Chicago, Boston, etc.

Edit: to clarify: I mean that everyone in America are expected to know NYC. Not just New Yorkers. Obviously everyone should know the layout of where they live.

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[–] diegantobass@lemmy.world 37 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Wait a minute, what?

I've been to a few cities all over Europe, lived in a couple of them for years, and I feel like having a general knowledge of the geography of where you live is a basic requirement of life.

Didn't you play the "capital city game" with friends as a kid?

I mean, it's cool with me if you or anyone has no idea of the layout of your local map, but that's a surprise for sure.

[–] minibyte@sh.itjust.works 27 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The seven burros – happy, sleepy, grumpy, sneezy, doc. I’m missing a few.

[–] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, New Jersey, ACAB Island, and Westchester

[–] ohwhatfollyisman@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

i'd hate to see what's "snow white" in this version.

[–] elephantium@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Central park?

[–] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 month ago

Long Island

[–] ricdeh@lemmy.world 17 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Definitely not in the world lol, I don't think most Europeans care for or have any idea of the geography of New York

[–] troed@fedia.io 7 points 1 month ago

We did listen to Beastie Boys over here too you know.

(So there are only five boroughs)

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 3 points 1 month ago

I don't know, I think maybe it depends on age? Most people exposed to US media will recognize at least the landmarks, but that's probably true of other cities as well.

But NYC has been in so many videogames I feel younger people with a passing interest in gaming will at least have a weird set of expectations. Of Manhattan, if nothing else. The twenty years of open world Spider-Man games alone are more exposure to an overhead map of a city than most people get of the place where they live in that amount of time.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

Like gamla stan in Stockholm, les Champs-Elysées Elysées in Paris or like the Colosseum in Rome?

I mean if it's known its known, but "people from the capital" sometimes (or to be cocky) thinks everything revolves around those places I guess.

[–] LoreleiSankTheShip@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 month ago

In Eastern Europe even the most illiterate citizen of a town/city knows the neighborhoods and where they are in relation to one another, if that's what you're asking.

[–] theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Lol wut. Literally anywhere you live in the world if you have a casual conversation with someone they generally expect you to have some knowledge of the local geography.

[–] ch00f@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

I mean every American is expected to know the layout of a specific city.

[–] ieatpwns@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago
[–] MirthfulAlembic@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

To be fair, four of the five boroughs have greater populations than multiple states (Staten Island being the exception). I don't think any other city in the US has comparable subdivisions.

It's also hard to overstate the historical and cultural significance of NYC in the US. And this is coming from a New Englander who is obliged to say, "New York sucks."

[–] Nollij@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

For many, maybe even most Americans, NYC might as well be a fictional place. It's featured heavily in countless movies, TV shows, books, etc. It's more common than Westeros, Middle Earth, or Hogwarts. And people are expected to understand these settings, at least as much as NYC.

And that's all before you consider places like Batman's Gotham that is very clearly NYC.

[–] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

your crazy. gotham is chicago on a good day and detroit on a bad day. metropolis is new york

[–] HappyTimeHarry@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago

I'm from long island and i wouldn't expect that, I don't even know that I'd expect people outside of the city to know about boroughs. New York state is basically just 3 areas you should know of, "the city", "long island", and "upstate"

[–] elephantium@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Wait, we are? TIL.

[–] Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yeah, IDK about that. Nobody in Ohio cares about NYC's layout anyways.

[–] Death_Equity@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There is a reason zoomers use "Ohio" as an adjective.

[–] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 1 points 1 month ago

I don't feel like im supposed to be able to name the seven boroughs and did not know there were seven. whos pressuring you???

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world -5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

And that for Americans, who have a hard time to locate even their own home town on a map.

[–] Saik0Shinigami@lemmy.saik0.com 3 points 1 month ago

Forget for a second that your original premise is basically completely wrong... You realize how fucking massive the USA is right? Based on the smugness I have to assume you're European. The USA is effectively the same size as your whole continent. The country is the size of your continent. Let that sink in. And unlike the Continent of Europe... Much of the middle of the continent has no notable landmarks on many maps.

Most people can absolutely give you the general area they live if you put a map of the USA in front of them. They may be off by a bit, but that's simply a function of how massive the scale of the map is you put in front of them.

[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Hurr durr, 'Muricans Stoopid

People like you crack me up, all butthurt cause Americans don't give a fuck about where you're from.

Just shows you want attention from Americans, like you're mad your crush doesn't know you exist.