Grandma Thought I Lost My ‘Pi

When I was a teenager, I was looking for my guitar pick while my grandmother—my mom’s mom, who was about 87 at the time—was sitting on the wooden bed. She asked what I was searching for, so I told her, “I’m looking for my pick.”

She looked confused and said, “How come you lost your Pi?”

I burst out laughing and told her, “No, not Pi! I mean the pick for playing guitar.”

She shook her head and said, “I don’t know what a pick is. I only know Pi.”

Even now, that moment still makes me smile. Thai grandmothers always hear what they want to hear.

Note: In Thai, Pi is a cute slang word for female private parts. It sounds similar to “pick,” which is why my grandmother misunderstood me.