Granny always considered common sense a rare, priceless thing. “You got book learning,” she told me one day. “I ain’t so sure about the common sense yet.” “Isn’t book learning good?” I asked. “It depends on what you are doing in life,” she said. “Look at this one,” she gestured towards my Mama as she stood at the stove. “This one is real smart when it comes to the books. Likes to act all fancy-pants smart-alecky about things. And look at her. She can’t boil a hot dog to save her life.” Sure enough, Mama had boiled the water out of the pot and was trying to unstick the burned carcass of whatever parts the animal could live without from the bottom. “She ain’t got no common sense,” Granny muttered. I thought she was being horribly unfair towards my Mama.