Asterisks

You know what they say about reading the fine print before you sign. Well, Margo Blemp was telling Dorothy about how she got roped into a deal by not paying attention to the little asterisk on a sign. It seems Maybelle Sensehammer opened this new business. She got the idea when she attended a government sponsored seminar on survival in today's economy. They said, in so many words, that a person should survey their strengths, find something they were real good at, and use these skills to make money. The one thing Maybelle knew she was good at was giving advice. So she put our a sign that said: FREE ADVICE*. Margo passed by last week and since she was in need of advice dropped in and laid her problem right in front of Maybelle. Maybelle gave her council. Then she asked for five dollars for her services, Margo said she thought it was free. That's when Maybelle pointed out the asterisk and handed Margo a long list of exceptions. Margo gave her the money and asked if she would get the five dollars back if the advice turned out to be wrong. Maybelle told her it wasn't the rightness or wrongness she was paying for, she was paying for the certainty with which the message was issued.

Tales of Harper, short stories and poems about the fictional town of Harper, Mississippi is available on Amazon Kindle