Daily Archives: October 3, 2010

For some inexplicable reason, I once agreed to babysit a five-year-old. I had decided to take her to a park where — excellent caretaker than I am — I immediately lost her. By the time I spotted the kid, she was deep in conversation with a man who had no legs.

I’m thinking, Oh God. Five years old. She’s probably saying something unintentionally offensive about his amputation.

So I sprint over and grab her by the arm.

“Katie!” I say, “don’t you ever walk away from me like that again! You scared me.”

Then I turned to the amputee, smiling. “I’m sorry. She must have just talked your legs off.”

* * *

A friend of mine actually one-upped me on that story.  In a debate class in high school, she apparently told her opponent — an amputee — that his argument didn’t have any factual basis or a logical syllogism; however, what she said was, “You don’t have a leg to stand on.”