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 Bob and Carol Burchell pulled into their driveway during the
snowstorm and were surprised to see their daughter, Katie, along
with her boyfriend, Randy Jones, sitting on the porch swing, wrapped
in a blanket. Both were shivering and smiling.
They followed her parents inside and in minutes had some hot soup
inside them. Randy and Katie watched a couple of television programs
together, and then Randy said good night and walked home.
"Randy seems to be a really nice boy, Honey," Carol said.
"Thanks, Mom. I like him a lot."
Bob sat quietly, sucking on a cup of evening coffee as though it
were dessert. He had a puzzled look on his face.
"Everything OK, Dad?" Katie said.
"Oh ... sure." He took another sip. "It's just ... well, I think
maybe one of you doesn't show a lot of good sense."
Katie looked surprised.
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Bob explained. "You see, it's one of those
what's-wrong-with-this-picture things. Here you have a perfectly
warm house, you have a key to the house, and here are two seemingly
intelligent young people wrapped in a blanket to keep from freezing
to death, sitting out on a frozen steel porch swing. Is that a smart
thing to do?"
"No, it isn't," Katie said. "That's what I told him. I said we
could go in and get something to eat where we'd be comfortable. All
he'd let me do is get that blanket."
"That was his idea, freezing on the porch?"
"Yes," Katie said, smiling. "Randy said if we went in the house
before you two got home, it might hurt my reputation, and he wasn't
willing to risk that."
Katie went into the other room. Bob looked at Carol and smiled.
"You know," he said. "I think I kinda like that boy."
[Text from file received from Slim Randles]
Brought to you by "Ol' Slim's Views from the Porch," available
at www.unmpress.com.
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