~~~~

Stevie sat patently throughout the staff meeting. She busied herself by
looking through several books that were shelved nearby her. The President had
introduced her to his staff before the meeting began. She'd recognized Josh
Lyman right away, he hugged her when he said hello.

"Okay people, I think that about covers it for this morning meeting." Leo
said.

Stevie looked up.

"Sam, if you'd take Stevie with you to your office..." Leo trailed off.

"Sure," Sam said. "Come on Stevie, you can help me right a speech for the
President."

Stevie glanced back at the President as he called, "Have a good day!"

"You too." She called back as she followed Sam out the door.

~~~~

"So, what do you think so far?" Sam asked a couple of hours later. He wrote
the speech while explaining to Stevie what the message of the speech was all
about. He had to admit, expounding on the speech as he wrote it really helped.

"I think some of those words are really big." Stevie said, after listening to
the speech. "Who's the President giving this speech to again?"

"A group of parents and children."

"And who's suppost to understand all of the words?"

"The parents and children." Sam replied.

"Umm... I'm a senior in high school and I don't even know what the word
contraindication means. And I've never even heard of the word, panegyric."
Stevie said.

"You need a vocabulary builder."

"Yeah, and so do most of the people in this country."

"Well," Sam said. "What do you think I should say?"

Stevie paused, "Something a whole lot simpler than, contraindication and
panegyric. Not to mention something a whole lot easier to say."

"Okay, hand me the thesaurus and let's see is we can't find some easier words
to say." Sam said.

Stevie handed him the thesaurus, "I'm sorry if I'm being a pain, Sam."

Sam looked up at her, "Hey, you're not being a pain. This speech is a pain!"
he smiled as she giggled. "You're not the pain."

"Thanks for letting me help you." Stevie said. "Although, I'm not sure what
kind of help I'm being..."

"You're being a huge help." Sam replied.

"Honest?"

"Honest." Sam said, crossing his heart.

Stevie smiled, "Okay," she looked back at the vocabulary builder in her hand.
"By the way Sam, what does something that makes a particular treatment or
medical procedure likely to be unsafe have to do with a speech to parents and
children?"