[megmogandog]

It reminds me of a friend in high school who convinced me that he grew scallions in his bathroom. It seemed weird but he described it in some detail, how the humidity from the shower is good for them, etc. Then when I believed him he said of course I don't do that, how could you think something so ridiculous. I don't and didn't feel like believing him in this context made me gullible for the same kinds of reasons you outline, why doubt something so inconsequential, communicated 'sincerely'?

[Clamchop]

I get just a little annoyed, a reasonable amount, when someone leans into a lie for a long time, gives details, won't give it up, and even if I started out skeptical, I eventually start to believe them, only for them to pull the rug out and call me gullible or stupid or something.

No, I just made the mistake of trusting you and your persistence!

[awwaiid]

Best response / revenge is to actually grow scallions in your bathroom.

Or at least pretend to.

[ethbr0]

Best response would be to sneak into your friend's bathroom and leave baby scallions.

[__MatrixMan__]

In the back of the toilet.

[topato]

I could easily imagine an episode of Seinfeld where Kramer grows scallions in his bathroom

[markdown]

They'd be destroyed by the elephant showerhead.

[ramesh31]

It's an important life lesson for honest people that yes, in fact many other people will lie straight to your face with things made up from whole cloth that they have zero incentive to lie about. You think "people wouldn't literally just make something up", but they do. They do all the time.

[adonovan]

My daughters recently showed me how easy it is to grow scallions: too easy. Just cut off the bottom inch (the white bit with little roots hairs) and stick in a jar of water by a window. A week later: a complete scallion!

[Dunati]

I was talking to my kids about this sort of thing recently, but in the context of scientific scepticism.

I don't think believing makes you gullible, is just that the consequences for believing in this case are negligible. At worst, you repeat the story to someone else, as second-hand fact. Mostly likely however, you'd never think of this conversation again, and it would have no effect on your behaviour. I think it says much more about the person telling the lie (this is a shitty thing to do to a friend) than the person accepting the lies.

Extraordinary claims may require extraordinary evidence, but it really only matters at the point where believing those claims affects one's behaviour and the consequences are tangible and different from refutation of those claims.

[tchaffee]

He may have gotten this from real story from a distant relative or family friend as this is a real hobby and the humidity is a key factor. At almost $16 for a small bottle of XO sauce[1] with the main ingredient being dried scallops, it's a highly profitable home hobby.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/XO_sauce

[hooverd]

Green onions, not shellfish. Close!

[tchaffee]

Gotcha

[hooverd]

I would like to know more about growing scallops in the tub. Bathtub aquaculture is the Bitcoin.

[Zuider]

You can use the Polynesian palm scallop, which attaches itself to the damp bathroom wall in picturesque clusters like roof shingles. It is an aerial filter feeder, capable of subsisting on household dust (which is mainly organic matter) though for faster growth, one can use a fine-mist spray of blended sausage meat and soggy marrowfat peas. They are also excellent for repelling rats, their natural predator, by emitting sharp bursts of ultrasound when the rodent's presence is detected.

The problem is in getting hold of them, as trade in this protected species is illegal.

[red-iron-pine]

given the temperature of the oceans these days, that might be true

[__MatrixMan__]

My wife grows plants in our shower for that reason. Not scallions, but it's other the same story. I bet he did have plants in his bathroom and for some reason switched gears about wanting to talk about it.

[aklemm]

Sure she does

[jimmydddd]

Agreed. I think the fact that it was just "scalions" adds to the credibility.

[ta8903]

Don't let it get to you, we live in a trust based society after all.

[Natsu]

Then they get you on the flip side when somebody does something way out there that's almost unbelievable. It took a couple of decades for Epstein to be shut down, after catching him once and him getting away with a slap on the wrist.