Two and a half unconnected thoughts:
I am very fond of the expression: There is an elephant in the room. I'm going to try and stretch it to say, There is a lily in the room...but it doesn't quite work. That is the story of my life at the moment...and so I I will just stretch the elephant. I have a friend whose husband is very allergic to lilies. She and her daughter try to convince people that although the gesture of flowers is a very gracious gesture, their father/husband will stop breathing if they bring lilies into the house.
It doesn't matter...the lilies pour in. Now they have given up. They simply throw the lilies out before they come into the house. My problem is that given that situation, I would probably try to explain, to make my point. Hopefully, I would throw the lilies out, but I might be too busy trying to explain why one shouldn't be giving them!
I have always identified with the expression, the lights are on and there's no one home. Today I was in a discussion about whether or not an essay was a 5 or a 4 plus. I wanted to be silly. I wanted to say is: The high beams are on; the night lights are on; the day lights are on; one light is broken; the lights are on but no one is home; there's something wrong with the electrical system...It all needs fine tuning.