I opened the order that had just been delivered from my local fruit and vegetable store.
No eggs.
I called Julia, the owner’s wife.
“No eggs.”
She practically tore the receiver out of my hands with her explosion:
‘YOU LIAR. YOU NO ORDER EGGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was stunned. I hung up.
“I’m never going to that store again.”
I hadn’t counted on my inner voice.
“Don’t be an asshole. The produce is great. The prices are great.
She’s Vietnamese.
She’s probably just translating an appropriate Vietnamese explosion into a Canadian one!” So I gave some thought on how I would handle this one.
The next day, I dropped into the store. (pre-covid-19 days!)
There was Julia behind the cash.
Before she had a chance to react,
I put a big smile on my face, stretched out my hand to shake hers, and said,
“Hi Julia, I’M MRS. LIAR!”
She was completely stunned.
No words came out of her mouth.
I went about the store doing my shopping.
The next time I came into the store, Julia beat me to it.
She had a big grin on her face, held out her hand and triumphantly said,
“HI MRS. LIAR!”
Immediately she apologized profusely for her un-Vietnamese boldness,
I broke out laughing,
She broke out laughing,
We shook hands.
We were friends!
End of story!
