Have you met a person like this?

[Anonymous]

My coworker will tell a story and then pause mid-story to ask me if I know what something is. For example, she once asked if I knew what a parallelogram was, and another time, while telling the teacher we work for a story about her son’s surgery, she stopped to ask if I knew what a uvula was. She’s nice for the most part, just a little odd sometimes

[slatyb]

Everyone imagines that others are like them. People with a little knowledge learned with difficulty imagine that other people are as ignorant as they were, and learn at the same rate as they do. Your coworker is not being patronizing. They have a small vocabulary, and likely believe that "parallelogram" and "uvula" are not commonly known. People who have difficulty with any task tend to believe that everyone else will also find it difficult. This is particularly noticeable in computer programming, where there are enormous differences in skill between average programmers and experts.

[Asker]

Thank you. You said that beautifully

[slatyb]

People tend to understand athletic or musical talent, but do not readily accept differences in intellectual ability, except for extreme outliers. In the US we often see comments asking why we can't just train Americans to fill programming jobs, but most people simply can't regardless of training, just like most people can't be trained to play professional sports.

[ProbablyClueless]

I have met people who like to be sure that the people they're talking to know what they're talking about, yes! lol

Is there something weird about the way she asks? I'm curious to know what about her behavior strikes you as strange. Making sure that the person you're telling a story to understands the story seems like a pretty basic element of effective communication

[Asker]

Well in my view some of it is common knowledge. It may not be to others but that’s one reason & the fact that I’m the type that would just ask if I didn’t know lol.

[ProbablyClueless]

Gotcha! I have been there. You kind of have to remind yourself that not everyone knows the same stuff that you know.