Burn Notice

Do you ever hear people say things that don't make sense? I do. A lot. There are lots of expressions that have absolutely no founding whatsoever. For example, "It's hotter than hell out here." Well, that may be true, but we don't know how hot hell is, do we? Perhaps hell is a mild 76 degrees and overcast. Then, there's the popular, "That tastes like crap." I don't know about you, but I don't have any experiences to draw on where that's concerned. But here's one that isn't exactly like the previous two examples, yet still, it's something I don't understand at all...

"She's in labor!"

"Quick, someone boil some water!"

All right, all right. In Camelot, maybe they boiled water to sterilize instruments for the delivery. Today, though? Why do people still say that? This has me thinking: all those people who say, "boil some water," haven't exactly thought this through, now have they?

What are they intending to do with this water? Are they going to toss it on the baby as it comes out? "Welcome to the world! Surprise! You're scalded and deformed for life! Yay!" Perhaps they intend to cook the baby. I envision a giant Hocus Pocus-style pot, and the doctor holding the child high proclaiming, "Tonight, we feast!"

Or maybe they plan for the baby to be exceptionally thirsty when he arrives, but they're afraid their water supply is contaminated. Yes. That makes sense. That baby is so demanding. He wants his fresh water, and he wants it now! It's, of course, entirely possible that it's a sort of sacred tradition, like how a bride used to present a dowry. The new family presents...a pot of boiling...water...to the...baby. Yeah. I'm not sure where I'm going with that.

And on that note, I'm going to slowly tiptoe away to work on...a new video! Coming soon to a blog near you!