[Kalimac]

Hmm, Rose, I'm not sure burglary is a profession *only* in Middle Earth. (Of course I'm coming from a skewed perspective; I do auto insurance adjusting which means that almost all I ever *hear* about, 9 hours a day, are break-ins and thefts/total losses. Enough to make me think that somebody, somewhere, must be doing this full-time). Don't be hard on yourself, though, there are plenty of differences still out there [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img].

Middle-Earthers are unfazed by talking birds and spiders as well as the occasional shape-shifter (Beorn).

There is no anti-tobacco, anti-alcohol or anti-longbow lobby in Middle Earth. In fact, the concept of opposing these things does not exist. Never will you hear anyone say "Best beer in the Southfarthing? Sorry, I don't drink, myself" or "Pipeweed? Do you know what that does to your lungs?" A corollary to that would be that in Middle-Earth the weed and beer may actually be completely harmless.

Wizardry is a respectable profession. There are people here who call themselves wizards, but they tend to get paid attention to only in very particular circles. In Middle-Earth, they get their pick of places to live (hence Saruman living rent-free in Orthanc) and homage from everyone in the vicinity, including royalty.

Communications in Middle-Earth are fairly primitive, and they like it just fine! (No Elvish Task Force trying to come up with a quicker, better, form of communication than quill and parchment; no Dwarves trying to get the Book of Mazarbul onto a stone disk).

Unchanging fashions. Hobbits, Elves and Dwarves have been wearing the same kinds of clothes since the dawn of time, and yet nobody ever says "I think *orange* is really the look in the Shire this season." The only recorded instance of fashion change in Middle-Earth is when Merry and Pippin briefly popularize the wearing of chain-mail in Buckland and Tookland.

OK, I know that wasn't very serious. There must be some others, though...