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Dear Reader,
It's not the Eighth Wonder of the World to see lunch on my husband's shirt.
"Do you want a napkin, dear?"
"No, I'm good."
He's good, because jeans and a t-shirt are his everyday "uniform" and his t-shirt and jeans double as a napkin. So it's not unusual to see lunch on my husband's t-shirt, and truthfully it doesn't really bother me. Sooner or later he realizes there's a little extra admonishment on his t-shirt and he changes into another t-shirt. But the other day, it wasn't quite that simple.
My husband and I drove to the department store to buy a birthday present (a "fancy" t-shirt) for his father. As we were walking towards the store, that's when I saw four, huge splats of ketchup, mustard, mayo and relish (we grilled burgers for lunch), on the front of my husband's t-shirt. Even he was a little embarrassed and looked around to see if anyone else had noticed.
"No problem," my husband told me as we headed back to the car. "I've started carrying an extra t-shirt in the trunk. Navy blue. It goes with anything."
But he must have forgotten to replace the t-shirt after his last emergency, because there wasn't any backup shirt in the trunk. What to do now? My husband decided he'd wear his t-shirt inside out. "All the kids do it nowadays, it's in style."
But inside out, the washing instruction tags were hanging down, and the condiment splashes had soaked through the shirt to the inside.
"Wait here," I told my husband. "I'll go in the store, buy a t-shirt, you can put it on and then we'll shop for your father."
Finding a navy blue t-shirt was easy, and as the clerk was ringing up my order, he asked, "Did you get everything you need?"
"Well, for now I did." And then, I don't know why, but for some reason I kept on talking. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I have to take this shirt out to the car, so my husband can change into it before he can come into the store. You see, when my husband eats, his lunch ends up on his shirt..." By the time I finished my story, three clerks in the men's department were laughing.
"Thanks for shopping with us. We'll see you in a few minutes."
When my husband and I went back in the store, of course those three clerks were waiting for us. I expected them to be waiting, but they were so overly attentive, I thought for sure my husband would know I told them the story. Smiles, holding up shirts, offering gift suggestions for his dad, it was over-the-top customer service. Yet they were acting like they hadn't a clue. I was the one having a difficult time not laughing.
We found a fancy t-shirt for my husband's father (a fancy t-shirt has a pocket), and on the way back to the car, my husband commented that he'd never had such attentive service.
"Those were the friendliest clerks I've ever met, Suzanne."
"Yes, dear." (Wink, wink.)
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE SAD END OF POLICARPO QUARESMA, by Lima Barreto. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin tote bag, just in time for your summer reading! Goto: http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqR1AFEF3957A1&c=CLASSICS
AUTHORBUZZ: SECOND HELPINGS AT THE SERVE YOU RIGHT CAFE (Fiction) by Tilia Klebenov Jacobs
Out on parole after almost ten years in prison, Emet is repairing his shattered life. He has friends, a job, and his first date in a decade. But when the woman's deranged brother learns about Emet's past, he will stop at nothing to destroy him--and suddenly Emet has everything to lose.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on SECOND HELPINGS AT THE SERVE YOU RIGHT CAFE to find out more about the book and the author, Tilia Klebenov Jacobs. Send her an email, she'd love to hear from you.
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