Saturday, December 29, 2007

Moments of Envy

The general walked into the mess hall for the first time. He noticed that as the soldiers went through the chow line, they couldn't see the people serving the food due to some wooden screens. He said to an aide, "I don't like that." Within five minutes, the screens were down.

***


It was early morning. The elegant, elderly gentleman sipped the last of his coffee as he sat on the resort's veranda. He watched the distant lights of a ship cruising past the Hawaiian coast. The waiter brought the bill.


"I'm leaving for New Jersey today," the old man said.


The waiter replied, "Will you be back again next winter, Mr. Carson?"

"Yes."


***

The woman at the front desk helped the first group in fluent French, then shifted to Italian for the second, and spoke to an associate in German before turning to me and asking, "How may I help you?"

No comments: