THE BUTCHER
On a warm summer night, a young lady entered the butcher shop
with startling news for the butcher: The baby in her arms was his.
Nonplussed, the butcher didn't know what to do, and eventually
offered the only thing he thought he could - he offered to provide
her with free meat until the boy was 16. She agreed.
He had been counting the years off on his calendar, and one day the teenager,
who had been collecting the meat each week, came into the shop and said, "I'll be 16 tomorrow."
"I know," said the butcher with a smile, "I've been counting too, tell your mother,
when you take this parcel of meat home, that it is the last free meat
she'll get and watch the expression on her face."
When the boy arrived home, he told his mother.
The woman nodded and said, "Son, go back to the butcher
and tell him I have also had free bread, free milk, and free groceries
for the last 16 years and watch the expression on his face!"