Tuba or Tivo?

My 17-year-old son and I had dinner alone last night so I asked him what he wanted for Christmas. Between shoveling in food to his mouth (he had come straight from basketball practice and was starving), and being at that age when words kind of blur together as if they have no consonants, he gave me a one word answer.

"That's great!" I said, very pleased. "I'll look on E-bay and see if they have any used ones."

"Used?" he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Well, you've never played one before...or any other instrument for that matter, so I don't want to spend the money for a new one."

"What do you think I said?" he asked.

"Tuba. You want a tuba."

"Tivo. I said I wanted TIVO."

"Oh."

Communication is huge! And hard to do, even when you're sitting at the dinner table, across from the person you're communicating with.

It's worth it to get it right. Double check your facts. Go back to your sources. Check your spelling. Ask for clarification.

Otherwise, you might end up with a used tuba.