Mind Your Manners

Gerald, Chloe, and Sam decided to take a long lunch so they could ride their motorcycles to the lake for a picnic. It took an hour to get to the picnic spot overlooking a pristine mountain lake.

They unpacked their carryalls.

“I’ve got ham and cheese sandwiches,” Chloe said.

“I’ve got chocolate chip cookies and apples for dessert,” said Gerald.

“I’ve got three bottles of soda pop,” Sam asserted.

“Bottles?” asked Chloe. “Where’s the bottle opener?”

“Oh, no! I forgot it,” said Sam.

Gerald told him, “You’ll have to go back for it.”

“You guys will eat all the food if I do that.”

Chloe said, “No, we won’t. We won’t touch a thing until you get back.”

“Can I trust you not to eat before then?”

Gerald and Chloe promised. So Sam left. An hour went by and Gerald’s stomach was rumbling. After another hour, Chloe said, “I’m really getting hungry.”

Gerald said, “We’re going to miss the whole afternoon at work and they’ll dock our paychecks.”

“Maybe we should just eat and leave. We should run into Sam on the way back, so we can give him his lunch then.”

Sam popped out from where he’d hidden behind the trees. “I knew I couldn’t trust you. Just for that, I’m not going.”