is anyone out there???

Watermelon: $1.98; Help from a stranger: Priceless

I figured I'd head over to Walmart first thing this morning and get it over with. It was surprisingly empty and quiet. I walked through the produce section and saw an older man over by the watermelons. I don't usually buy watermelons because Brian doesn't like them. But it's my birthday today and Nick's band is coming over this afternoon. And besides, it's my birthday.

The man was still looking through the watermelons when I approached and I felt awkward just picking up a random watermelon to put in my cart. I mean, he'd been selecting his for several minutes now. I decided to act like I knew what I was doing. I picked up a few watermelons and smelled them. The produce guy actually laughed at me, so I decided smelling them wasn't quite right. I remembered that my sister had knocked on the one we'd bought in Utah.

At this point I got carried away. I started knocking on every watermelon, putting them in piles according to what sound they made. I just couldn't remember if a hollow sound was good or not. After watching me for several minutes, the man next to me finally intervened. "You don't know what you're doing!" he announced, pointing to a watermelon. "Take that one." So I did.

I thanked him and started walking away when his wife came over to him. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "You don't know the first thing about watermelons!" I turned to look at the man. "I know," he mumbled. Then he looked up and saw me staring at him. "But I know more than SHE does." It was true. At least now I have a watermelon.