kids with leprosy

First, let me state that this post in no way intends to mock or dismiss the seriousness of children who really do suffer from leprosy. But during church yesterday, when the minister was talking about lepers during the sermon, all I could think of was this little vignette from high school.

For those who don't know, the game of Scattergories involves rolling a 20-sided die with letters of the alphabet on it. Whichever letter turns up is the letter for that round. Each player has a sheet with categories, and must come up with a word or phrase that fits the category and starts with that round's letter. For example, if the letter is "B" and the categories are "school activities," "fruits," and "cars," you could write down "band," "blueberry," and "Bentley." If someone else puts down the same answer, you don't get to count it; you only get points for unique answers. The directions give the example of putting down "knuckle" as a type of sandwich.

So anyway, one fine day in high school, G'COWA (the Grand Council Of Weekend Activities) decreed that we shalt play Scattergories. The letter was "K," and one of the categories was "things with spots." When time was up, we checked our answers.

Me: Things with spots. I got nothing.
Mike: I put down "kids with leprosy"!
Erin: Um... you can't count that.
Mike: Huh?
Erin: Um... I put down "kids with leprosy" too...

Hilarity ensues.

Edited to add: I should note that what made it funny wasn't the fact that it was leprosy, but that two people came up with something so obscure at the same time (generally, an answer like "someone who's well-known" would not be an acceptable answer on an "S" round for the category "well-known individuals," but we were known to bend the rules, such as the time we let Tom put four hotels on one Monopoly property). Along the "kids with" route, I would've thought "kids with chicken pox" would have been more likely.