I took my 87-year old mother and her dog Jasper to Central Park. My mother inched along the pathway with her walker while Jasper and I chased a ball in the grassy parts. After a while my mother stopped to sit on a bench that had a few other people sitting on it. Jasper and I walked over and somehow I got into a conversation with a couple at the end of the bench. I must have mentioned that my mother was from South Africa because the guy went on and on about how much he loved the place. My mother got up and when we started off the guy called out to her, “Do you miss South Africa?” My mother looked straight ahead and laughed in a sardonic way. The couple looked at me with appalling sympathy. After we’d gone a ways I said “Mom, why didn’t you answer that guy?” “Answer what?” “He asked you if you miss South Africa.” “Oh, … I thought he said, “Are you Miss South Africa?””
– Adam Simon
