Misread, Mistaken

Spring is here, sort of. We've been getting snow (or something similar) every few days for the last two weeks. Winter just isn't quite ready to give up - it may be going, but it's not going quietly! But enough about that. With Spring here, Easter will soon follow. In fact, Easter has already come and gone. Talk of the Easter Bunny (not to mention the rabbits that keep running around in the back yard) make me think of a curious incident I experienced that involved rabbits.

A few months back, there was a story trending on Bing about a giant continental rabbit by the name of Atlas. In the "People Also Searched For" section, five different breeds of rabbit were shown, their name and a picture of one displayed. I wasn't paying very close attention to it, and I ended up misreading one of the names. I saw the name "Blanc de Hotot", but thought that I saw "Blanc de Harlot". (For those who don't know, "harlot" is an old-timey word for prostitute.) I was shocked by what I thought I saw, and felt more than a little embarrassed once I realized my mistake.

A little more recently (though still at least a few weeks back), on a University of Florida news site, there was an article detailing how the Gates Foundation was helping researchers in Haiti. That's what it said. What I thought it said, was that something was found near the Gates of Hell. That certainly got my attention!

These are by no means the first times such events have happened to me. I read through something, not really paying attention (usually skimming over the words). Suddenly, I see something offensive, or shocking, or both! I recoil in surprise, then go back to approximately where the word or phrase was located, only to find that I cannot locate it. What I can locate, however, are two or more words, usually on different lines, that make up most of what I thought I saw. Not all of it though, just most of it. My mind merges the words together, and fills in the blanks as needed.

I suppose all of this could serve as a (slightly humorous) cautionary tale. One should not simply plow through something like a charging bull. One should take the time to make sure that they understand the material as a whole, but also understand the individual components. Or simply pay attention to what you're doing.

Take from it what you will.