Why is it that the simplest of questions become so complicated that confusion sets in so fast you’d think your head just spun a 360 in less than a millisecond?
Last summer, I asked my daughter where her husband, who was at a tournament, would be spending the night. Her daughter and son were away for the weekend and I thought that maybe the three of them would be spending the night in St. Louis with her brother- and sister-in-law who took the kids to another tournament in St. Louis.
Apparently, though, my son-in-law was at a different tournament. So when I asked where he would be spending the night (I wasn’t being nosy – they lived with me at the time), my daughter said, “Where everybody lives.”
I’ve learned not to let confusing statements pass. Thinking she was being a tad too evasive and that she was avoiding my question, I reiterated, “So Scott is spending the night where everybody lives.”
“Yes.”
Hmm. How does one respond to an answer like that? I didn’t know, so I said, “Earth?”
Her confusing look prompted me to consider other possibilities – the solar system maybe or perhaps a different dimension – the Twilight Zone or the sixth dimension (does one exist?) – instead, I returned her confusing look with my confusing look.
We stood there in a limbo state for a few seconds before she said, “Buddy, his friend?” And I thought, what does Buddy have to do with anything? Have we switched conversations and now we’re talking about Buddy? Did I ever meet Buddy? Do I know Buddy?
And then I figured out that what she REALLY said was, “Wherever Buddy lives.”
Well, if I had remembered that he had a friend named Buddy, I probably wouldn’t have been so confused. Probably.
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