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When my boys were growing up, I made an effort to teach them to be descriptive in their speech. For example, describing something as 'that thing' would always make me inquire exactly what that 'thing' was. One day, when my eldest son was about fifteen, he came running into my room, saying "Dad, come into the living room---I want you to see this thing."

"Son, what exactly is the thing you want me to see?", I asked.

"C'mon, dad, hurry! Come look at this thing!"

"I'm not going to look unless you tell me what the thing is" I said.

"Dad, you're going to miss it if you don't hurry."

He grabbed my arm, and practically pulled me to the front window, where I looked out on the street, and what I saw can be seen Here .


















Yup, it was a Volkswagen 'Thing'.

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