Knee Deep in the Hooah!

My thoughts were racing a thousand miles a minute the other day while I was running. I try to use the time I run to sort through my thoughts and to contemplate things that I normally would not have the time to dwell. So, as the thoughts of the day were racing through my brain a very funny memory passed through the lens of my mind’s eye, and it left me with a small, suspicious and crooked smile for a period of time. It’s about Mike.

Mike is a reader, and he always has been. He loves books. One year for Christmas when he was about 12-years old, the kid asked for 10 different book titles. He didn’t want anything else that year. Through his reading, when he was younger, he had picked up words that I didn’t expect him to know. They weren’t cuss words or slang, but real words that are just unusual to hear come out of the mouth of a young kid.

When he was about 10-years old he approached me one day with a very serious look on his face and announced to me that he was xenophobic. I only knew the term well back then because it had been a particular phobia we studied in one of my abnormal psych classes. I am not sure if my face said curiosity, confusion, or hilarity on it, but I looked at him and said “Do you know what xenophobia is, and if so, why do you think you are?” He took a deep breath and said “Xenophobia is the fear of foreign or strange things.” I was shocked at his text book definition. Impressed, I pushed for more information. “So why, then do you think you are xenophobic?” I asked him. “Because I am afraid of Chinese food and Chinese food is foreign and strange!” Aha! I had my answer. I imagine his fear of Chinese food has waned since then, or at least maybe with certain menu items.

Tags: Army Mom Posts //