This Makes Me Laugh

First things first -- here is the answer you have all been waiting for:

Yes, that's right - a 'Chopstick Rest.' Note the regular price of $2.95. As badly as we wanted to, given the bargain and all, Amy and I refrained from this would-be impulse purchase.

No doubt we all remember my wife’s glowing post about what we did for the 4th of July. Well she left out (at my request) the single funniest event of the evening. Just to refresh everyone’s memory, we sat in the lawn section on the blankets side of the Miller Outdoor Theater, as we had no lawn chairs with us. This was rather tricky. It was very crowded, and it looked like some people had been there for eight hours or more just to get a primo location.

As we are making our way around the crowds, I saw an eight-foot by eight-foot section that is vacant in the distance; and I think to myself, "What a blessing! God Himself must have reserved that space just for us." I’m so proud that I march right over to it and then quickly notice why it is vacant. It has some sort of drainage problem, and the result is an eight-foot by eight-foot mud pit.

While I briefly consider whether our blankets will shield us from the mud pit, I come to my senses and accept that this location is not a suitable 4th of July celebration vantage point. However, I also realize that Amy and I are standing in an area that will work just fine despite being about five feet from the mud pit.

After we get settled, I decide that we need a snack. So I take a mental snapshot of our surroundings, carefully make my way AROUND the mud pit and leave my bride to people watch. When I return I am ASTONISHED to see that the mud pit is occupied. Oh yes! Someone also thought that God saved that spot for them as a little blessing, and they were not going to deprive God of his blessing come mud or high water.

The really funny part is that the people behind us actually remarked, "I cannot believe you're sitting there. Hundreds of people thought about it, but you ladies actually did it." To which the recipient of the blessing replies, "I just knew I should bring a vinyl tablecloth. I'm so glad I did." She completely acted like it was no big deal.

As if that wasn’t funny enough, when the mud pit was empty it cautioned all pedestrians that perhaps the area was unsuitable for human occupancy. However, now that it was mostly occupied, it wasn’t clear at all to pedestrians that they should use caution when walking in the vicinity. So yes, you guessed it, person after person stepped right in the mud. Some people lost shoes, others got mud up beyond their ankles, some just fell down. It was so funny, and for the most part the people sitting in the mud pit (on purpose) were just oblivious, acting as if there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Amy and I were laughing so hard. Trust me; I wanted to take pictures of the victims, but I would just burst into laughter so hard that I couldn’t get a picture for anything. So here is the one picture I did get of one of the girls who chose to sit in the mud and the obstacles that were eventually placed in the DANGER ZONE of the mud pit.

I can’t wait to see what happens at next year's 4th of July celebration, but I hope that it's half as good as this year's was.