As If I Really Could (standard:humor, 906 words)
Author: Godspenman	Added: Jul 25 2023	Views/Reads: 283/151	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Sometimes it is better not to correct something but rather “suffer for well doing.” I’m still trying to learn that.

Have you ever had the feeling that you've been hoodwinked? You can't
point out the specifics, but something deep inside suggests you have 
been. 

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and I had a wonderful vacation at
St. Augustine, one of our favorite places to go. 

Something happened toward the end of our vacation that led me to suspect
I was hoodwinked, but I couldn't unwind the situation yet. 

The toilet in our bathroom had clogged, and The Gracious Mistress of the
Parsonage went to the front desk to get a plunger. 

She brought the plunger back to our room and for several minutes tried
fixing our toilet. I heard her in there working on it, but she didn't 
seem to be able to fix it, which surprised me. 

I walked by the bathroom, looked in, and said something stupid, "Can I
help you with that?" 

The problem with that question was the response from my wife. "Yes, you
can. Come in here and see if you can unplug the toilet." 

I had no expectation of fixing this problem; I just wanted to sound
friendly. After a few severe plunges, all of a sudden, the toilet was 
unplugged and working perfectly. 

Looking at me, my wife said, "Wow, you fixed it. You did a great job." 

Not realizing or noticing the hoodwinked element of what she was saying,
I smiled and responded, "I'm so glad I could help." 

Driving home the next day, she mentioned several times that she was
truly grateful for the wonderful job I did with the toilet. 

After an hour of driving and listening, I sensed something was wrong. I
could not put my fingers on it, but I felt something was wrong 
somewhere in the atmosphere I was living in. 

We returned from our trip, unpacked, and returned to our routine. 

The next day about the middle of the morning, The Gracious Mistress of
the Parsonage came to my office and said, "I was wondering, could you 
come and help me with something?" 

A leg on one of her tables needed to be replaced, and she could not
unscrew the bolt that held it together. 

Looking at me, she said, "Do you think you could unscrew that bolt for
me?" 

I have screwed up many things, but very few have I unscrewed. So I
picked up the wrench, and after several minutes of struggling, I 
finally got it loose. I smiled at my wife and said, "There you are, my 
dear." Then I walked back to my office. 

For the next several days, she called me to help her fix something, and
most of them I could not fix. Maybe I can unscrew a screw or a bolt, 
but that's the extent of my fix-it ability. 

At supper that night, she smiled at me and said, "I still can't get over
how you fixed that toilet on our vacation." 

As she smiled at me, I saw some twinkle in her eye that caused me to
think something was amiss. I'm not skilled in the hoodwinking business, 
but I was beginning to think that the Gracious Mistress of the 
Parsonage was. She is excellent in many things, and I'm beginning to 
understand that if anybody can hoodwink me, it is her. 

Am I being hoodwinked? And if so, what do I do about it? 

I had to think this thing through in developing a plan that would work.
She can see through many things, so I had to develop something to the 
far right of her seeing ability. I devised a plan but did not think I 
could go through with it. After all, there would be a lot of plotting 


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