Cut. It. Out!

So in case you were wondering why I've been spotty with the blogs lately, it's because little Ben and I have been hard at work developing a sales program for retrofit insulation applications. The tanking economy has been hard on everyone, and construction is no different. We're fortunate to be doing as well as we are, but business volume is a shadow of its former, glorious self. Anyway, the Segos are enterprising by nature, and Benny has been hard at work, and I feel like my bum has been glued to the office chair for weeks now. We're in the final stages of tweaking our program before the big launch, and were going over a few more things this morning in an informal meeting of the siblings and business gurus. Ben wanted a frequently-asked-questions form for training the new salesmen, and we discussed common concerns we field from clients about insulation. This, of course, was a fairly simple task, but the difficulty came in wording the answers in a way-- especially the salesmen-- could understand. Ben, though his spelling and grammar skills leave much to be desired, has an extensive vocabulary and is every bit as intelligent (if not more so) than the rest of the family. One of his prospective employees, however, is not so gifted in the use of $5 words.

Ben: So, I have a lot of people ask me if fiberglass and cellulose are safe to breathe. I explain to them that fiberglass is made primarily from silica, which is spun sand. As for the cellulose, it's made from ground up newspaper and cardboard, which is treated with boric acid that's used as a fire-retardant. But borax is used in soap and most cleaning products, so it's rather harmless. Still, I'm looking for a better word...

Rachel: How about "innocuous?"

Ben: The only problem is we've got guys like __________ selling for us, and I could just hear him say, "It's actually very innocual, which basically means that if you smell it, it won't in-knock you over."

Bah-ha-ha!
I think my brother should go on tour.
PS. We settled on "nontoxic" at Ben's suggestion.