Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Dictionary Definition

I was watching TV with Suegrita and Mi novio when a commercial for a cancer foundation came on. Somehow, it was brought up that my dad is a cancer survivor. Suegrita asked if he was OK, and I said yes. Then she asked it it was malignant or benign. I said, "Well, it was malignant, but he's fine now." She then proceeded to "clarify" for me that malignant meant that they caught it too late and there was nothing they could do; benign indicated that there was still time to do something. I looked at her with a mixture of shock, horror, and confusion. "No," I said, "malignant means that it's dangerous, but there could still be enough time. Benign means that there's no problem in the first place." But there was no convincing Suegrita of the accuracy of my statements. Afterall, she had been a nurse when she was younger. What's a young, inexperienced idiot like me to do? Clearly, I am no where near at her level of intelligence and common sense.

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