Mum's the Word

A Moment

Scene: The greeting card aisle of my local mega-mart. I saunter down the aisle to the "Birthday, Humorous" section and begin picking cards at random, hoping to score a good one for my best friend's belated 42nd. There is a woman a few years older than I am about three feet away, also browsing.

I pick a card, read it. I grimace. Replace it. Pick another card. Read it. Frown. Replace it. I repeat this at least half a dozen times. Where is the advertised humor? I can either guess the punchline ahead of time or it's so awful I'm glad I didn't think of it myself. Soon I notice that the woman near me is doing the same thing.

"They should hire me," I mutter. "I could do better than this."

The woman next to me looks up. "I know, huh? It's all bathroom jokes or over the hill junk. None of which I'm giving my Dad."

I momentarily think of my own Dad, who appreciated the good bathroom joke now and again. I'm sorry that I can't be in this aisle trying to select just the right potty joke card for him. I'd happily pop $2.49 to make him laugh again. To see him laugh again. But I also know what she means.

More tense silent reading of unsatisfactory cards.

Finally, I choose one. Read it. Snicker.

The woman near me looks up hopefully. "Find a good one?"

I shake my head, even though I did. "Not for your Dad."

Highlight below to see the card's contents:
Outside: What's the difference between a margarita and a hunky guy?
Inside: A margarita always hits the spot.

Labels: This one time I was at the mall and the weirdest thing happened...

posted by AnonaMum @ 8:36 PM