Pour Me Out

"Doctor's Faux Pas"*

*The doctor looked benignly at the woman who
had come to him for an examination.

"Mrs. Brown," he said...

"I'm glad of that, doctor, but I'm Miss Brown."

"Miss Brown," said the doctor without changing
expression, "I have bad news for you."

************************************************

"Pour Me Out"*

*A man who had been battling a mental disorder
for years finally seemed to have improved to the
point where it was thought he might be released.
The head of the institution, in a fit of commendable
caution, decided, however, to interview him first.

"Tell me," said he, "if we release you, as we are
considering doing, what do you intend to do with your life?"

The inmate said, "It would be wonderful to get back
to real life and if I do, I will certainly refrain from
making my former mistake. I was a nuclear physicist,
you know, and it was the stress of my work in weapons
research that helped put me here. If I am released, I
shall confine myself to work in pure theory, where I
trust the situation will be less difficult and stressful."

"Marvelous," said the head of the institution.

"Or else," ruminated the inmate. "I might teach. There
is something to be said for spending one's life in bringing
up a new generation of scientists."

"Absolutely," said the head.

"Then again, I might write. There is considerable need
for books on science for the general public. Or I might
even write a novel based on my experiences in this fine institution."

"An interesting possibility," said the head.

"And finally, if none of these things appeals to me, I can
always continue to be a teapot."
Received on Wed May 27 08:06:08 2009