What the dumbest question you've been asked?

[domwilson]

Went to a race a while back to watch some gassers. Asked a guy what was his setup. He gave me this grimacing look and in a harsh tone said, "Why do you want to know?"

[domwilson]

hmmm, surprised no has said this one yet.....

"Wow, that thing is cool. Can I try it?" Followed by the parents looking up at me as if they actually expect me to let their little kid try it. Then when they realize there's no hope in hell of me letting them even touch the transmitter, they turn back to their kid and kindly tell them they are too little.

Yep hear that from adults. Then the follow-up question when you say no. "Why not?"

[befu]

Questions

OK, first thing. I will NEVER EVER ask a women about a potential pregnancy. The only possibility would be if she is sweaty, yelling, legs up in a squat position and I can see the baby's head starting to crown out of her vagina. Maybe then, but I would be to busy explaining why I am there probably.

Dumb questions: I built a tug boat once and used coins to ballast it. When people ask about cost, I reply " I got about $20 bucks in it right now".

The best one was up in Kalamazoo Michigan. I was running a homelite rigger (yeah, before zenoah's were popular) on the north side of town at a small pond. After I bring it in, it is sitting on the boat stand. A guy walks up after seeing it run and starts asking why i don't change the bottom some? Add some slope or angle here, remove this, his ideas would definately make it go faster. You should have seen his expression and his friend ribbing him when I lifted it off the boat stand to explain that part stayed on shore! I think mike was there running a scale atlas at the same time. Might have been the same day we started his motor backward and after launching it I got chased out of the water by it going backwards!

Brian

[Meniscus]

...A guy walks up after seeing it run and starts asking why i don't change the bottom some? Add some slope or angle here, remove this, his ideas would definately make it go faster. You should have seen his expression and his friend ribbing him when I lifted it off the boat stand to explain that part stayed on shore! ...

That is very funny and worth a good chuckle this morning!

[marko500]

I've been asked plenty of dumb questions, but found a way around the "can I try it". We camp during the summer and most campgrounds have a pond or lake. When I get the can I try it question it depends on the persons age and how many people are there. For kids I'll pull out a ZigZag and let them try a few laps, if it's an adult I may pull out a MiniCat Velocity and let them try that. I also carry some business cards from the local hobby shops and have written on them the local RC website. Of course my decision also depends on alot of factors, age, how intelligant their questions seem, what or who is in and around the pond, etc. I've seen alot of smiles this way and a few laps and they're usually happy.

Mark

[Meniscus]

That's a great idea about the business cards and RC websites. I'll have to adopt that mentality as well. Thanks for sharing!

[Ctonez]

My favorite response to "Can I drive it?"...

Only if you are insured by NAMBA or another RC boat sanctioning body...

...no one has produced a card yet.
I usually invite them to a club race and direct them to the schedule.
An interesting note on the cool people in our club;
We typically have anywhere from 2-6 people come through the pits and ask Q's or just look. Everybody is always patient and happy to answer any questions. Last race a clearly intoxicated individual came roaming in. No one told him to leave or made him feel out of place, despite several not-so-informed questions which were repeated several times. First thing anyone said to him was "Hey, where's your boat?"...I thought that was pretty cool.

[Boaterguy]

I had a kid with a parent come by today, the kid was only bout 5, so I explained to the parent and let the parent translate into "little kid" for me. he seemed to understand when I asked him to repeat a question, because I was in the process of setting up and the esc beeped over some important stuff. the kid wanted to use her allowance to get one, i had to bite my tongue. usually when someone asks me to drive it, I give a long rant about how the boat works, and how the tunnel lifts, and pulls most of the boat out of the water, that is why they are so uncontrollable. the ones who seem not to lose focus or "have to leave" i let drive, because they obviously understand the importance of it to me. I just wish I could put a throttle limiter on my boat, something I "slip of the hand" flip a switch so it flips to half throttle, but that would spark the "why is it not as fast?" question

[ron1950]

if the person asking questions is 5 8 blonde in a tight tank top they can ask me all the questions they want

[Meniscus]

if the person asking questions is 5 8 blonde in a tight tank top they can ask me all the questions they want

Obviously you've never seen the people of Walmart.



I have a TX that does exactly what you're talking about. It's AM, but works well. Let me see if I can find more info on it when I get home. I'm thinking it is a CEN Mirage. Is that right?

[Boaterguy]

I guess I could use D.R., I run the HK T6A.. No comments please

[keithbradley]

I think people ask "where'd you get that?" and "how much is it?" a lot of the time because they want one and have no idea the cost or involvment.

The last one I got that was weird was when a guy said
"Nice boat, wow that thing's fast!"
when I was running my 50" brushless mono. I followed it up with a polite
"Thank you".
He then started laughing, and mentioned to me in a condescending way how ridiculous it was for me to say thank you. He seemed to think I was an A-hole for taking any credit. He then asked:
"Where'd you get it?"
When I told him I built it, he kind of laughed, then realized I was serious and said
"Really?...oh so thats why you said thank you?"
I told him no, that my mother taught me as a child to say thank you when someone gives you a compliment. I explained that if someone told me "nice shoes", I would also say thank you, even though I didn't take any part in making my shoes.
I don't understand people like that...
Even if it's a RTR boat, what am I supposed to say? "F- off, cause I didn't build it???"

I am also constantly shocked at the interrogation that takes place at times while Im running my boats. I understand people asking questions, but if Im running a 70mph in a tight area at full throttle, I have to pay attention. People may not notice this at first, so I make it obvious. I say "hold on", and then bring the boat to a stop. Once the boat is stopped, I turn toward them, and give them my attention. I will answer their question(s) and then go back to running the boat. It never fails, 10 seconds in and they ask me another question. I can't believe how many people aren't smart enough to make an easy assesment of the situation and just wait a minute or two to ask their questions. There is nothing wrong with the person who asks questions, but the people who continue after you take the time to ackowledge them and make it obvious that you can't or won't answer questions and run at the same time, are either rude and inconsiderate, or just plain stupid.

[dana]

Today I got.... "can I try it?". Nope lol

[Boaterguy]

I had a little kid fake tears when I wouldn't let him try a boat of mine a while ago, as soon as he realized he had no chance, the tears stopped, he gave a little pout, and left.

[tiqueman]

Man you guys are harsh. I dont look at ANY of these as dumb questions. Alright, maybe ridiculous for some, but not dumb. Some, no, MOST people who are passing by and see these either have never seen anything like it, or have but never had the opportunity to talk to someone who posseses such an impressive RC boat. Most people are familiar w/ the radio shack, Walmart, Kmart etc etc and think thats it. Yes people have asked me how much, very very few have asked if they can drive it, infact, out of the 19 years Ive been running boats, I think maybe 5 people have asked. Running deep V gassers, Ive offered for people to navigate one before and all but one turned me down. Little kids will ask and a simple "I dont think thats a good idea" is all Ive ever needed to say. And, most everyone who has ever tried to talk to me have waited until Ive stopped the boat, either intentionally or unintentionally or brought it back to shore. People do usually have minor cardiac problems when you tell them about how much is in it, and then usually following is a "whats the least amount of money I can get into this with?" I have on many more than one occasion taken the time to call the local shop and tell them that Mr or Mrs Smith is coming in and is interested in whatever.... Ive got many kudos from the LHS in doing so. I just feel that what some of you think is a dumb question, is just peoples lack of knowledge and curiosity. We all dont know everything about everything... at least I know for a fact I dont...... and at one point, none of us knew anything about FE boats. I think patience is the biggest thing you need to have w/ a spectator or places you may encounter such. If you cant handle it, run your boats somewhere where you wont be bothered.