AH> even if those around you find it incomprehensible.  Your feeling of
 AH> being at a loss for words when somebody wishes you a "speedy
 AH> recovery" also reminds me of another.  Years ago I read an account
 AH> by the father of a young child with Down's syndrome.  One day a
 AH> neighbour dropped by & exclaimed "You let him walk on the
 AH> chesterfield??" (We know people like that.  I reckon many others in
 AH> this echo probably do too.) The father could have patiently
 AH> informed her that the PT had advised the family to encourage the
 AH> child to walk on various surfaces to improve his balance etc., and
 AH> that he attached a higher priority to his son's needs than to the
 AH> condition of the chesterfield... but this woman doesn't sound like
 AH> the type of person who would be able to grasp the concept.  He
 AH> could have told her to MYOB, but he may have wanted to maintain an
 AH> approximation of peaceful coexistence with her.  His response was
 AH> "Thank God he can walk!"  IMHO he put it in a nutshell there.  ;-) 

yes, he surely did that! my question is "what is a/the chesterfield??"

)\/(ark