Don't Mess With Miss Kitty

I think it is a very bad idea for parents to give weird nicknames to things.

I really do. It's just way too confusing for a child and can necessitate years of therapy when they reach adulthood.

My sister and I grew up in the south with an aunt who would go to extreme lengths to avoid calling certain intimate things by their correct name. If you were a lady, it just wasn't done. Since my sister and I were so sheltered, we naturally never thought to question this until many years later.

Case in Point: For some reason we still don't quite understand, our aunt used to refer to a woman's private area as a "posse".

I cannot begin to tell you how disturbing it was for us to watch those old spaghetti westerns on TV. When the sheriff would tell a group of grizzled cowboys to "round up a posse" to help him catch the bad guys, Iris and I would watch with saucer eyes. You can imagine what we thought was going to come hopping around the corner of the local saloon!

We were firmly convinced that Miss Kitty was the most powerful person on Gunsmoke.

Therapy. Years of therapy.