So I am chaperoning the winter dance At little Sage Ridge School in Reno, Nevada. Speaking with a dad who is a veteran of America's misadventures in the Middle East.
He tells me a story of a recently arrived soldier Who awakens one morning and begins to dress But forgets to shake his boots out first And inserts his foot directly into a desert scorpion.
He lets out a blood curdling scream That awakens the entire base People come running His agony lasts a long while.
The veteran dad also tells me Explosive devices sometimes land near the base Emergency procedures kick in People are protected.
What can you do if one actually lands Inside the base, near where you are living and sleeping? I ask somewhat naively. Bend over and kiss it, he says.