“Trust but verify” – Ronald Reagan

I had my first visit to the doctor today due to a minor ear irritation.  Since my Czech is still limited, I had to ask my husband to accompany me to the doctor.  When we got there, I was glad to be assigned to a young doctor who spoke English.  He was very good.  He explained everything to me.  As we were heading back home, I told my husband about the whole check-up episode.  In the examination room, he had an instrument where he can project my ear on the screen.  During the whole process of explaining what he found, a short phrase caught my attention.  He told me:  “You have to believe me.  That gray matter you see on the screen is your eardrum…”  I thought that was rather funny.  I never doubted him.  I told my husband that maybe it was just one of those lost-in-translation stories.  But then he told me that perhaps the doctor was serious.

Then I remembered a story he once told me about a friend of his.  This friend was sitting in the living room watching TV when his wife’s grandmother came in.  The grandma exclaimed: “Oh, so you understand Chinese?”  To which he replied: “No, this is English grandma.”  With a quizzical look on her face, she went on to say: “hmmm…. I better ask someone.”