Living in Bolivian

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Banking

Okay, maybe I need to find a new bank. Last time I went to the bank, the teller rubbed lotion on my hands. Today I needed to go again, and just for a change of pace, it was a fellow customer who decided to be weird. He looked perfectly normal, so I had no idea what was about to happen.

MJS: (waiting patiently, staring into middle distance)
Weird Guy: Do you want to hear a joke?
MJS: (polite smile) oh, uh, sure. Jokes are good.
WG: it's not really a joke.
MJS: Okay.
WG: My mother died two years ago, and Monday was her birthday.
MJS: Oh my! I'm sorry to hear that.
WG: Yeah, so my sister is kind of a bitch.
MJS: (edging away) Uh huh.
WG: I'm on my way to visit her in the hospital.
MJS: Oh, I see. Well, I hope she's all right.
(Line clears and teller becomes available. MJS nods at WG to indicate that he should go to the counter, as the "joke" has failed to materialize.)
WG: Oh, you can go ahead.
MJS (starting to wonder if this chap has any banking business to attend to): Are you sure? You were here first.
WG: So my sister fell down the stairs and broke her shoulder. She had to get surgery.
MJS: Oh, my. Well. I'm sorry to hear -
WG: So you can go ahead even though I'm on my way to the hospital.
MJS: No, really!
(Second teller becomes available. Neither MJS nor WG move forward.)
WG: So my other sister says, I wonder if Ma tripped her and made her fall! (Laughing)
MJS: (searching desperately for a facial expression) Ha?
WG: 'Cause it was Ma's birthday.
MJS: Ha?
WG: So I says, "She didn't trip her!"
MJS: Well, no I -
WG: She shoved her! (Overcome by his own wit, WG can barely restrain his laughter.)
MJS: Oh, the teller is signaling to you. Good luck at the hospital!

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