Two remarkable things about zombie movies

Beau and I watched Dawn of the Dead last night and we realized two things.

1. (I give Beau complete credit for this; it's genius.) People in zombie movies never know what zombies are. The movies are set in modern times, but these folks have lived a completely zombieless existence. They've never seen a zombie movie (not even Serpent and the Rainbow) or seen a zombie comic book. Folks in vampire movies know what vampires are. Folks in alien movies know what aliens are. Folks in zombie flicks are utterly ignorant about their situation.
2. Zombie survivors are an eclectic bunch. Third-grade teachers, TV repairmen, nurses, grandmothers, IT specialists, nurses, etc. Most of these professions/lifestyles are pretty low-key. And yet, put a gun in their hands for the first time and every single one of them is a crackerjack shot. They can shoot a zombie--not just through the head, but through the EYE--at 30 yards. Granted, it's a slow-moving target, but it's a moving target all the same. They never miss. Put me in that situation and I guarantee that I'll waste five bullets and score with the sixth only because the thing shambled up to within a foot of me.