HUMOR: garbled ref. request

["Alice H. Yucht" <YUCHT@ZODIAC.RUTGERS.EDU>]

Today, while volunteering at the Ref. Desk at my local public librszry,
a very serious young man (maybe 8 years old) asked me to hlep him find
information about the "Dead Sea Squirrels."  (I kid you not)  He is
attending the local Bible Camp, and this is his extra-credit assignment.
If he provides a complete -- and interesting report -- he is eligible
for a trip to Great Adventure!   Personally, I think just the statement
of the topic should win him the prize, but I did help him find what
he needed about the Scrolls, after we clarified the topic a bit.
After he
'd done some reading on the subject, he came back to me and said, perfectly
seriously, "I guess my teacher meant books, not animals, from old
Jerusalem, huh?  Too bad.  I mean, I really like squirrels, you know?"

I did manage to keep a straight face during most of this interaction...
but it wasn't easy.

Does this rank up there with the kid who wanted info on the
"Vampire State Building"?

Alice H. Yucht      yucht@zodiac.ruit
yucht@zodiac.rutgers.edu