She Didn't Believe I Would, So I Did

(The Story Behind the Picture)

Once upon a time (or just the other day), I had gotten home from work and was feeling thirsty. The day had been a scorcher, so something cold sounded enticing. I went to the fridge and spotted five bottles of Vitamin Water on the bottom shelf; each bottle a different flavor.

"Which one would M be least likely to drink?" I wondered aloud. "She obviously wouldn't drink something that tasted like raspberry and apple."

I grabbed the one called Defense and chugged it.

Five minutes later, M came home and saw the empty bottle.

"Aww man! That was the only flavor I wanted," she groaned.

"It was?" I said, shocked. "I'm sorry. I'll go to the store and get, like, seventeen of them to replace it."

I don't know why I said seventeen. The number just dropped into my head like one of those number balls the state uses for its lottery drawings.

"Sure you will," she said as she turned and walked away. Incredulous barely begins to describe her tone.

It was the tone that sealed the deal. I suddenly had a mission.

The next day, I ransacked every grocery store in a two-mile radius and temporarily wiped out the town's supply of Vitamin Water Defense. (The supply has been replenished by now, I'm sure.)

When M got home, she was shocked, but impressed by the stockpile.

And we lived happily ever after (which is roughly two months in the real world).

Moral of the story: When randomly picking numbers, stick with single digits. It's more believable and less costly.