This is part two of my misinterpretations of a variety of concepts as a child. To me, these misunderstandings make the best of stories and show a peek at your perspective as a kid
2. China is Part of the U.S.
Before I fully understood geography, I believed, deep down, that China was included in the U.S. In my 7-year old mind, the whole country had just broke off from wherever it was and floated swiftly to America, crashing violently into the side. This is how I reasoned all of the problems in America had arrived from poverty to international affairs.
In my defense, my mother had told me that Wal-Mart was China’s creation. She also told me that the reason all of my favorite local stores and markets went out of business was because Wal-Mart had all of those things so no one needed to come and buy from those small stores. This made me angry.
In fact, I was very angry. I was so angry that I vowed to never purposely step foot in Wal-Mart again. Ever. Why couldn’t people even of poverty, realize that supporting your country would increase the wealth of the country and possibly them? (I never said I was an highly educated seven-year old)
Soon, Mom had to get groceries and most of the markets and small stores had been shut down, so, we had to go to Wal-Mart.
I still didn’t understand why.
I mean Wal-Mart is just a dumb place in general. Like, what does ‘Wal-Mart’ even mean?
Still, I stepped out of the car and soon decided that not going into Wal-Mart was quite unrealistic considering the many times Mom had left me. Thus, I declared to myself that, when I was grown, I’d never go to Wal-Mart for anything.
Anywho, that was only a fragment of my thought process when my sister quizzed me on geography.
“How many states does America include?”
“50! Wait, no. 51! 52…?”
“Um…What?”
“51.”
“Are you sure?”
“Duh,” I sang mockingly.
“Where do you get 51?”
“My brain,” I stated, curious as to why she asked. “Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, China…”
My sister looked at me with a blank face that seemed to barely hold straight a smile before bursting into laughter so strong that she was knocked backwards onto the floor.
“What!? It is!”
“Oh my gosh! You’re so dumb!”
“Um…no.”
“Um…yes.”
“It is!”
This went on until my sister walked by and we asked her. China is not a state. I repeat. China is not a state, no matter how many Wal-Marts there are.
This story is so cute. I absolutely love the way you portray your younger self, and I look forward to the other parts of it.
I like the idea of this series. Because, I too, had a ton of misconceptions as a child. Misconceptions in general are fun to talk and write about, but I think these posts are even better because of your memories tied in as examples and explanations. Great post!
I really like the idea behind this post. Revisiting your childhood thoughts and providing a story with it. I really loved reading it. Looking forward to the next post in the series
Is china NOT part of the US? Just kidding, this is a really good series you have going. I like that you draw from personal accounts so it is not fiction, but, at the same time it is storytelling. It’s a wholesome blog, good post!
I really like this series!! It’s cute, and thoughts from childhood are often neglected and discarded. It’s nice that you never forgot these things. It’s really heartwarming.