At the Library today we talked about many interesting things. One of them was what do you say if you have to call 911. "Help!" is good. "Hello, how are you?" is not so good. Most, if not all, of the English learners I talk to do not have a home phone, but a cell phone. When you are calling 911 on a cell phone you need to know the address of where you are so any emergency medical people or police can find you. Even though your name will probably come up in the emergency dispatcher's caller i.d., you should give your name, address of where you are, and what the emergency is. If you are having trouble understanding or speaking English, tell them your English is not so good. They will send help, and probably tell you to stay on the line which means don't hang up. The most important thing in an emergency is to try to remain calm so you can think clearly.
We also talked about how old a child should be before he or she can be left alone. In Connecticut there isn't a law with a definite age. From what I have read, most authorities agree the child should be at least 13 or 14 years old, but it's a judgement call, meaning you have to use your own judgement. Some children are mature enough to be left on their own at that age. Other children are not mature enough at a much older age. I still can't be completely trusted on my own and I am 29. Ooops! I am 30 now, I keep forgetting.
One of my many tangents (a good word, look it up) of thought was about pirates. Many young boys like myself (wow! now I'm 12) fantasize about being pirates in the so called Golden Age of Piracy in the 1600 to 1800s. I read about most of the famous and infamous pirates when I was a boy: Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, and one of very few women pirates, Anne Bonny. Even as a girl living in her rich family's house she had a violent temper. Supposedly she stabbed a servant girl with a knife when she 13 years old. She was definitely a child that shouldn't be left alone. I knew there had been many different nationalites of pirates: Spanish, English, Irish, the Vikings from Scandinavia, Muslims, Arabs, and when I checked on Google I found one of the most vicious and infamous was a Chinese woman name Zheng Yi Sao who commanded what was then called the Red Fleet centuries ago. Zheng Yi Sao had 1500 ships under her command, and maintained discipline throughout her fleet by beheading (cutting their heads off) anyone who disobeyed her orders. She was a one tough boss.
Hard to remember all we talked about. We all tried to get someone to talk about an ex-boyfriend she mentioned. But she wouldn't give us any details. I can't tell you who it was, because she will hurt me. As always, I had too much fun. I should probably pay Literacy Volunteers to let me do this. But please! Don't tell them that. Hong! If you are reading this, you better stop and go study for your exam tomorrow...