While walking back from work today, I had an experience odder than any I ever had with my archnemesis (the National Forests guy). A guy holding a video camcorder and a girl holding one of those long, skinny microphones like they used on game shows in the 70's were standing in Mallinckrodt. Curious (and because no one else was around), I walked by and was flagged down by them to participate in a "survey".

So the guy turns on the camcorder and the girl (who apparently did not know how to operate the microphone because she waved it around like a flag even when one of us was talking) looked at the camera, then looked at me and asked that immortal question that man has trying to been answer since the dawn of time..."Have you ever let your girlfriend touch your isthmus?"

No, that's not a typo.

If you're like me, you would have given the girl a crazy look and informed her that an isthmus is a geographical formation, not a part of the body. She, however, informed me that the isthmus is in fact a part of the neck right smack in the middle between your two lymph nodes.

That was the end of my candid interview, so I walked away and immediately kicked myself for not asking what exactly the purpose of their little survey was. At first I thought it was one of those Letterman-style street surveys where they go up to a group of what must be the dumbest people in America and ask them how many states we have in America and one person answers something like 23 while the others nod in silent agreement. However, a quick scan of Google reveals that the isthmus is, in fact, the part of the neck in the middle that connects the two lobes of the thyroid.

So my strange occurrence remains as mysterious as ever. Please e-mail me if you have any idea what it meant.