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September 23, 2006
The Joy of Children
Had two girls in the truck today...Jennifer (8) and her girlfriend (7). They were saying how afraid they were of snakes. I tried to reassure them with statistical probability. Conversation went like this:
Me: How many people are there in the United States?
Girl 1: A gazillion.
Me: That's not a number.
Girl 2: A jillion.
Me: That's not a number either.
Girl 1: A tillion.
Me: There are about three hundred million people in the United States. Out of that three hundred million, guess how many die each year from snake bite?
Girl 1: Six hundred million.
Girl 2: Two hundred million.
Me: Twelve.
Girl 1: Twelve hundred zillion?
Me: Just twelve...twelve people. My point is that you're very unlikely to die of a snake bite. Statistically, it's almost impossible.
Girl 1: What about Markasins?
Me: I used to see moccasins all the time. But I was never bitten by one.
Girl 2: What about lions?
Me: Well,we do have mountain lions, but they hardly ever attack people.
Girl 2: Some people call them cooters.
Me: Yes. Cougars. That's right. Let's get some pizza.
Posted by Peenie Wallie on September 23, 2006 at 4:46 PM
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