a man, who might or might not have been a bible salesman, walked into a burger king in knoxville tennessee
or it might have been in medford oregon
he had been disappointed in life
which he had begun with such promise
the young woman behind the counter
had also been disappointed in life
though perhaps starting it with lower expectations than the man
can i help you, the young woman asked the man
yes, the man wanted to say
you can help me find my way
you can smile at me
and give me a reason to get through another day
and tell me that life has some purpose
you can get on a bus with me and we can go far far away where no one has ever gone before
you can tell me a joke
or tell me your secret dreams
but what he said was
just plout mirgtrew biokly defumploy
and she replied,
excuse me. sir, i didn’t understand a word you said
and he said
i will survive, as noah survived the flood, as jonah survived the whale, as joshua survived the battle of jericho
and she said, again,
excuse me?
and he said,
a large black decaf, please
when the young woman returned with his decaf, he smiled and said
i always get it right the third time
and he thought she smiled back but he could not be sure
do you think the young woman should have smiled at the man, because that is good business practice?
or, do you think she should not have smiled at him because he was an overbearing sexist pig attempting to exercise his patriarchal right to comfort from a female wage slave ?
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