Questions we ask our parents

And answers they give us.

Over at Yellow Peril, Tze Ming Mok mentions the response she got when in her younger years, she asked her parents "What is tax?"

Like so many things do, that reminded me of a (possibly apocryphal) story about one of my cousins, in his formative years, lying on the carpet, studying a newspaper, while his parents relaxed nearby.

Suddenly, the curious youth looked up & asked "What's a hooker?"

My uncle & aunt looked at each other tremulously, there was a long awkward silence, then eventually, my aunt falteringly explained, "It's a woman.... who.... goes out with men sometimes.... for money."

My cousin digested this for a few minutes, but was clearly bewildered. He went back over the article he was reading that prompted the question, then finally asked his inevitable followup...

"In rugby?"

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