AH> even if those around you find it incomprehensible.  Your feeling of   
    AH> being at a loss for words when somebody wishes you a "speedy   
    AH> recovery" also reminds me of another.  Years ago I read an account   
    AH> by the father of a young child with Down's syndrome.  One day a   
    AH> neighbour dropped by & exclaimed "You let him walk on the   
    AH> chesterfield??" (We know people like that.  I reckon many others in   
    AH> this echo probably do too.) The father could have patiently   
    AH> informed her that the PT had advised the family to encourage the   
    AH> child to walk on various surfaces to improve his balance etc., and   
    AH> that he attached a higher priority to his son's needs than to the   
    AH> condition of the chesterfield... but this woman doesn't sound like   
    AH> the type of person who would be able to grasp the concept.  He   
    AH> could have told her to MYOB, but he may have wanted to maintain an   
    AH> approximation of peaceful coexistence with her.  His response was   
    AH> "Thank God he can walk!"  IMHO he put it in a nutshell there.  ;-)    
      
   yes, he surely did that! my question is "what is a/the chesterfield??"   
      
   )\/(ark   
      
    * Origin:  (1:3634/12)