Like College Acceptance, One Letter Makes A World Of Difference

We were buddies with the neighbors across the street while I was growing up. (My mom had grown up with their dad.) The kids in that house had a great nanny who everyone loved, and she stayed with that family until the youngest graduated from high school. She watched us grow up alongside the family she cared for. She was from Central America and had a slight accent that made her Ys sound like Js. (She was fluent in Spanish and English.)

My incredibly smart and scholarly sister got into Yale University. Our family was over the moon with excitement and loved sharing the news. My mom told [Nanny] a few days after we’d heard, and she was thrilled. She asked if she could share the announcement with others, and my mom said yes.

A few days later, my mom bumped into the neighbor dad and asked him if he had heard my sister’s news. He did, and he chuckled as he told her the story of how he’d heard. 

Nanny: “Guess what I just heard from [Mom] across the street!”

Neighbor: “What?”

Nanny: “[Sister] is going to Yale!” 

Neighbor: *Shocked* “What?”

Nanny: “Yes! [Sister] is going to Yale!”

Neighbor: “I don’t understand. She’s such a good kid. What happened? Do they need a lawyer?”

Nanny: “What do you mean? You know what a hard worker she is! She studied hard, she applied, and now she’s going to Yale.”

That’s when the penny dropped: with her accent, “Yale” sounded like “jail”! [Neighbor] and [Nanny] rolled with laughter when they realized the misunderstanding.

[Neighbor] wished my mom congratulations as they both laughed.