Five Cribs

The other day, my wife and I were searching for a baby crib. We knew what kind we wanted and asked one of the lady clerks to look for it in their store database. My wife wandered off so it was just me and this lady.

"Oh," she said, "I see we have five of these cribs in the back of our store."

Pause.

"Great," I said. "We'll take all five." Complete deadpan.

"Really???" Her shocked face was priceless. I waited a fraction of a second...

"No, I'm just kidding. We just need one."

"Phew! I was going to say, that's a little weird—"

"Actually, I wasn't kidding: we do want all five."

"Really???"

...I held the deadpan for a couple of seconds. Inside, I was howling with laughter.

"No, seriously, I'm just kidding. We only need the one."

"Ha ha, you got me. That was funny."

"Actually, no I really am serious, we want all five cribs."

She didn't fall for it a third time. But hey, it was worth a shot, right?

We laughed about that until my wife and I left the store. Fortunately, the lady had a good sense of humor about it (not everyone does). A simple practical joke like that can really lift spirits... and it costs nothing at all.

As my wife and I were buying the crib mattress at the checkout, that same lady came up to our cashier and told her, "Make sure they get five mattresses."

She must have thought she had the last laugh, but I happened to be back there yesterday and asked one of her colleagues to tell her that "some guy came in here asking for five cribs. Weird, huh?" I was sure she'd know it was me. She must have smiled all day because of that, because I know I did.