Pimples?

"What's that on your arm?" L asked the young girl in the corner grocery shop.

"Oh, nothing, just pimples," she replied.

L looked more closely. "Those don't look like pimples."
L saw marks all up and down the girl's arm, and then spotted more on the other arm.
"Those look like burn marks. They are burn marks!"

The girl looked embarrassed and shuffled out of the store.

L turned to the store clerk. "Who is that girl? Where does she live?"

"She is a maid. She lives across the street in the cul-de-sac."

L continued. "You know, in my country where I come from, people who burn children are reported to the police. It's illegal. If I know about it and don't report it, I can get into trouble."

The clerk said, "It's supposed to be illegal now. But, it's been done for years. It's a traditional way of disciplining children."


Our neighbors confess that they have burned their sons, too. The only difference is that they burn them in hidden places, not visible in public, like in the area beneath their underwear.

They say, "It's the only way to discipline naughty children to get them to behave."