Yep seen this exact "wait, what? Really?" expression from anyone that I talk to about it that has never done anything but 11M. It's just because the only propagation they know is 11M propagation. Unless they study, or talk to people with more experience than they have (usually not, or they don't listen!) they won't know how anything else works, and assume it's all like 11M propagation is.
And yeah, I think almost all the hams that I know personally, came from 11M. I started studying back in the 90's when they still had code tests, but didn't get licensed until 10 or 11 years ago, and only because when I jumped back into 11M after being out of it for about 5 years, I found that all my 11M friends got their "no code" licenses and were talking on VHF, and some on HF. So I jumped right in, studied for the tests for one week, took the tests, stopped at General (in one sitting). Was enough for me, I think the Extra, at least back then required a little more intense studying than the Tech and General did. My first ham rig (that worked) was a FT-101EE. It was completely jacked up when I got it, I made it work (and look) like new again. That's how all hams should start IMO, especially because of the no code, you skip a lot of the hard part, and building your own stuff part these days. Today, it's memorize answers to the test questions, take test, pass, get Call Sign, order a IC-7300, and become an instant appliance operator.
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