My poor brother

This is a nice example of why my brother probably whishes he didn't have a scientist as a sister.

sg brother: Hey, we had great weather the other day, and we had loads of ladybirds in the garden. We put some shelter for them.

stepwise girl: Gaah! Are you mad? Are you sure they were’nt that horrible invasive species?

sg brother: what? Hey, sgbrotherpartner! sg says we shouldn’t have done that, they’re probably invasive!

(sg frantically googles invasive ladybird and sgland and instantly finds some links)

sg: hold on, I don’t know, but you guys should probably check it out. I’m sure I can find some people who can help you figure what to do. I know some of these ladybirds species have been causing havoc and competing with indigenous species. That’s all I’m saying.

Stereotypical scientist, I’m afraid, casting doubt and then being unable to give firm recommendation.

Later on, I emailed them some links with local information and people who might be able to give competent advice. And then another one where I couldn’t help pontificating on my world view of invasive species. Did I mention I do not work on invasive species?

There have been a couple other occasions when I went “Gaah! You guys are crazy. You really think nature is all pretty and nice and healthy?”. I think I managed to ruin their aperitif in family dinners a couple of times doing that. I'm terrible.