stupid questions

Earlier this week, one of my co-workers asked if I was going back home for Christmas. I told him that I wasn't, was instead going to England to my sis. Then he says - Is it winter there now? Back in Trinidad? I answer - Trinidad, Caribbean, tropics, warm all the time. Helllooo.

How does any adult not know this? I mean, I don't expect everyone to know where Trinidad is exactly or where any small island is for that matter but general geographic locations should evoke something. Like Caribbean = tropics = warm/sun/rain/no winter ever. Shouldn't this be common knowlegde? Especially to someone who holds a PhD. You wonder if people like this also think that New Zealand is near Iceland. I hope they know isn't. He's not the first person to ask me this - if there's snow in the Caribbean. C'mon, everyone should know this. If you're curious about a country and you meet someone from there, before asking stupid questions, look it up!

Another similarly stupid question I get is - I met someone from there or I knew someone from there 3 years ago? Then they tell me the person's name. Like I'm supposed to recognize it. It's a small island, true, but it has a population of 1.3 million, not 25. Of course I don't know who they are. How many people do you know who know a million people? Such a stupid question which I usually answer with a question of my own - I met someone from (the small city I live in-population ~100,000), you've lived here all your life so I guess you must know them right?

I wish people wouldn't display their ignorance to me and keep such stupid questions to themselves. If I'm curious about someplace of which I know very little. I look it up, get a feel for the general geographic location. Then I ask questions, then at least you have a decent starting point.