“OH. Hot!”

My nephew is 14 years old. I watched him touch the gas fireplace the other day and then say, "oh. hot" as he pulled his finger away...He and I shared a moment when he looked at me and realized that logically, he should’ve known it was hot without touching it at all. We looked at each other with confused expressions and then started to laugh...and then he ran his finger under cold water...
What is it about people that makes us feel the constant need to find things out for ourselves? Sometimes I wonder why we aren't able to learn from each other's experiences. How many girls do you know who have gotten involved with guys who were "taken" and then ended up being surprised when eventually someone else took him from her?…”Oh. Hot.”…If he will cheat with you, he will cheat on you. We all know this to be true, but somehow believe that rules don’t apply to us as individuals. It's the same at any age. I would bet that if another kid had watched my nephew burn himself on the fireplace, it is very likely that the second child would try to touch it too…Yep. It’s still hot! I have often spent hours with friends talking through all the reasons why the direction they were heading wasn’t a good one. I have used my own experiences in addition to common sense on subject areas where one’s judgment may be clouded. Do you think anyone has ever heeded my advice?…Nope! It’s as though I can tell them, in vivid detail, what the negative outcome will be, but they continue on as if they have never heard me. It’s funny because eventually all of the details come true and they ask me why I didn’t warn them…Oh. Sorry…Hot!…I feel like that Greek Goddess who was given the gift of prophecy, but when she angered the God, he altered the gift to make people think she was lying about it and they refused to believe her…What was her name?…Don’t remember…Cool story though!
About a year ago, I was helping a friend through a rough time in his life. He was leaving his wife of nearly 20 years and desperately wanted to find a girlfriend. I have about 400 or so emails talking through the repercussions of meeting someone too soon by flaunting his money as his only asset. I worried that he would meet someone immediately and she would get pregnant and then he would start the whole cycle all over again. He agreed (on paper) that I was right and that he would proceed cautiously while he was getting his life in order…He is expecting a baby in 2 months….hmm…If only someone would’ve seen that coming! I guess he’d better work on getting that divorce now. I’m sure it’s true love this time!…Good luck with that!… “Oh. Hot!”…