Here I go with the “being an idiot about the Idiot of the Day” thing again — I forgot yesterday’s. Which means, to make up for it, we get two stories of stupidity today! Both are from reader Becky, who also happens to be a dear friend, so I can guarantee she’s the opposite of an idiot. First:

I was working, ever so briefly, at the Virginia Department of Health in the Vital Records office before getting a real job after college. I answered calls from those in search of birth, death and marriage certificates. One woman wanted her son Mark’s birth certificate. To facilitate my search, I asked if Mark was with a “k” or with a “c,” to which she replied with great exasperation, “It’s with an M!”

And second:

Also courtesy of the VDH: One of the employees in my office had a teenage son who was applying to colleges. She and her son had just returned from a weekend visit to one school, and she was describing the campus to her coworkers. To help them visualize the admissions building, she invoked the image of a familiar landmark, explaining, “It had the octagonal shape of the Pentagon.” I hadn’t been to D.C. in a while, but the last time I checked, the Pentagon was shaped like a freakin’ pentagon.

In the idiot’s defense… yeah, actually we can’t defend this one.