Three Becomes Four

In another store in Singapore, I was looking at some shirts imported from Hawaii. After I had selected three shirts, a little boy came up to me and said, "You will be sorry."

I said, "Why?"

He said, "You need extra-large, not large."

I said, "No, I am a large."

But he took the trouble of getting the same shirts that I had selected-only in extra-large.

I asked, "Is there no place for me to try on these shirts to see which size fits me?"

He replied, "Yes, you can go there. But take both sizes."

So I took one large and one extra-large to try on. The large size fit me perfectly. It was even a little long. I came back and told him, "The large fits me."

The boy said, "Now that you have won, will you not buy one more shirt?"

I said, "Definitely I will buy one more." Originally I had selected three shirts; but because I won, it became four.

-20 December 1987