Immaturity

I listen to quite a bit of NPR (National Public Radio) when I'm driving in my car. I appreciate its global perspective, I love to hear about interesting books, people, etc, and NPR does all those things for me.

Last night, as I drove to a concert, I was listening to NPR, and there was an interview with a man who wrote a book about the FARC (which is the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). "FARC" is an abbreviation. You don't say each letter like you would say USA, but you say it as one word. It rhymes with "lark."

The entire time they're conducting this very serious interview about the FARC, I couldn't stop giggling. It's not that it sounds like anything in particular, but "FARC" is just a funny word. Try saying it out loud. Go ahead. Does it make you giggle? Well, it made me giggle. It's funny to hear such a funny sounding word over and over again during a very serious interview.

Then, they got into a conversation about the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, and how he had been working to create an understanding with FARC. The expert explained that Mr. Chavez had hosted some members of FARC to discuss something (I have no idea what, even though I was working really hard to focus on the content of the article). The interviewer was surprised, asking if they had actually been in the presidential palace, and the expert replied: "Oh yes, there have been guerrillas in the presidential palace on a number of occasions."

When you're listening to the radio, however, you are at a disadvantage because some words, although spelled differently, sound exactly the same. So, whilst I'm giggling about FARC, this is what I HEARD:

"He has met with members of the FARC..."
"Really? In the presidential palace?"
"Oh yes, there have been gorillas in the presidential palace on a number of occasions."

At that point, I completely lost composure. It's a good thing I was alone in the car.

Clearly, I am not mature enough to listen to NPR.