The combs and the beach towel

The same night Alo and I went to a store and saw a very nice comb. You pressed a button, and immediately the comb came out of the case. I said, "This is something cute. I will buy it for Pahar, our Centre barber."

I wanted to buy one dozen. The man said, "If you come back tomorrow, the price will be reduced."

Since I went to that store quite often, I said, "I will come back."

Then Alo saw a beach towel with a sea horse on it. She thought it was very nice and wanted to buy it. But the man didn't want to sell the one on display, and they said that they didn't have any more in stock.

The following day I went to the store to buy the combs. Two old ladies were working there. One was very fat; one was very thin. The fat one was very, very good, and the thin one was very, very bad.

I said, "Can you ask your boss if there is a reduction on these combs?"

The thin lady said, "How can we ask that?"

But the fat one said, "Why not? Let me ask."

Immediately the thin one became insecure and jealous and said, "I will go and ask him." She went away but she didn't ask him. When she came back she said, "The boss told me that I can give you ten per cent off."

If I hadn't begged her, she would never have told me about the ten per cent discount. Then I asked her about the towel again. She said, "They are $12.99. But you can't get it. We don't have any more in the store."

I asked, "Can I have this one?" I pointed to the towel hanging on display.

She said, "No, you can't have it. I don't have a young man working here today, and I can't climb up and get it myself." The towel was hanging near the ceiling, and one would have to climb up a ladder to get it. I said, "I can climb up and get it. I will be responsible."

She said, "No, you can't climb up. You are an old man."

Then the fat one said, "Let me go upstairs and see if we have any there."

The thin one insisted, "No, we don't have any." But the fat lady went upstairs anyway to look for the towel. I followed her. She looked in one place, but there was nothing there. Then she went to another place, where there were not supposed to be any towels, and she found them. She saw that the price was $8.99. She said, "That rogue! She told you thirteen dollars."

I gave the fat lady thirteen dollars and said, "Since you were kind enough to tell me the correct price, you keep the difference."

She said, "No, I can't. Why do I need money? My children are grown up. Now they have children. Why do I need money? I only want my family — my children and my grandchildren — to be kind to me."

When both of us reached the register the fat lady was still mad at the thin one for quoting a higher price. She pointed to the price of the towel and said to the thin lady, "Not $12.99!" The thin lady was a real rogue.