Solving the Lifeguard Mystery

Yesterday, while we were at the town pool, I wondered aloud why we hadn't seen one of the girls' favorite lifeguards in awhile. 

ME: I wonder if he quit working here.
JULIA: Uh, no, I don't think he would quit!  Maybe...well...maybe he got another job!

Right.  Which wouldn't entail quitting this one.

ME: Yeah, maybe.
JULIA: Or maybe he moved!
ME: Possibly.
JULIA: Wait.  Maybe he's on vacation!
ME: Well, he's been gone an awfully long time for it to be a vacation.
JULIA: Well, maybe he's sick!
ME: I was wondering if he's sick.
JULIA: Maybe he has PNEUMONIA!

At this point, Madeleine took things for a characteristically morbid turn.

MADELEINE: (quietly, to herself) No, I guess it's not that...
ME: What's not that?
MADELEINE: Well, I *was* thinking...maybe he DIED, but...it can't be that, because he DOESN'T even have gray hair!  He has PLATINUM BLONDE hair!

Yeah, duh.  You can't die until you have gray hair.  (And until you're 100, if Madeleine still holds to that logic.)


On an unrelated topic, Julia gave me even more information about the Mintz a few days ago.

JULIA: Mommy?  I pretend that the Mintz are all Greek, just like we are.  But...you told me that Greek last names all end with an "s."  Is it still okay for them to be Greek if their name ends with a "z" because it makes the same sound?
ME: Well, it's your imagination, so you can have it be any way you want it to be.  Or maybe it's like our family. Maybe their Daddy isn't Greek but their Mom is.  So their last name doesn't have to be Greek.
JULIA: Yeah, that's what I'll pretend it is.
ME: What are their parents' names?
JULIA: Jasper and Astrid.

Bingo.  Astrid=most Greek-sounding name ever.  She *certainly* wouldn't be mistaken for Scandinavian or anything.

Also, if Astrid is Greek, she probably doesn't have the platinum blonde hair that Julia imagines every Mintz to have.  But at least if her hair is platinum blonde that means she won't die anytime soon, right??