The "L" word

You know the one. Leprosy. I knew you were thinking what I was thinking. When I was little, I was even more of a hypochondriac than I am now. I attached my childhood neurosis to two rare diseases; leprosy and leukemia. Why? I read about both in books. Lesson for today? Books are dangerous. They make you neurotic.

Seriously though, I read a book as a child about a guy who got leprosy (fiction by the way) and had never left New York City. I lived in Maine. That meant I was at risk too. Then I read a story about this kid who got a bruise on his leg and it wouldn't heal and finally he went to the doctor only to find he had leukemia. He eventually had to have his leg cut off. Translation? Every time 8-year-old Amy gets a bruise on her leg she rushed to her mom and said "Mom, do you think this is cancer? Is it going to have to come off? I don't want to lose my leg!". Not kidding. Using my infallible childhood logic I had concluded that bruises meant I had cancer (instead of what it really meant I was, am and always will be completely incapable of walking more than 100 feet with out bumping into something).

As ridiculous as those conclusions sound, don't we all make conclusions like that all the time? One time a guy named Steve was a really big jerk, that means all guys named Steve are big jerks. Not to say that learning from experience is bad, but I think even as adults we often take it too far. So, what is the irrational thing you've concluded lately?