A Bad Day
A worried housewife sprang to the telephone and listened with relief to the kindly voice in her ear. “How are you, darling?” it said. “What kind of a day are you having?”
“Oh, mother,” said the housewife, breaking into bitter tears, “I’ve had such a bad day. The baby won’t eat and the washing machine broke down. I haven’t had a chance to go shopping, and besides, I’ve just sprained my ankle and I have to hobble around. On top of that, the house is a mess and I’m supposed to have two couples over for dinner tonight.”
The mother was shocked and tried at once to calm her. “Oh, darling,” she said, “sit down, relax, and close your eyes. I’ll be over in half an hour. I’ll do your shopping,
clean up the house, and cook your dinner for you. I’ll feed the baby and I’ll call a repairman I know who’ll be at your house to fix the washing machine promptly. Now stop crying. I’ll do every thing. I’ll even call George at the office and tell him he ought to come home and help out for once.”
“George?” said the housewife, ”Who is George?”
“Why, George! Your husband! … Is this 223-1374?”
“No, this is 322-1374.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I have the wrong number.”
There was a short pause and the housewife said, “Does this mean you’re not coming over?”
一个忧心忡忡的家庭主妇奔过去接电话，欣慰地听着耳边慈祥的声音。“亲爱的，你怎么样？今天过得如何？”
主妇伤心地流着眼泪说， “唉，妈妈今天真是糟透了。 婴儿不肯吃饭，洗衣机坏了。 我没有时间去买东西，而且， 我刚扭伤脚踝，不得不一瘸一拐地走路。 还有，家里乱糟糟的，晚饭时会有两对夫妇来做客。”
母亲十分震惊，立刻试图安慰她。 她说：“好啦，亲爱的，坐下来，闭上眼睛放松一下。我半个小时之内就到。我会帮你买东西，
收拾屋子，替你做晚饭。 我会喂孩子吃饭，再给一个我认识的修理工打电话，让他去你家赶紧修好洗衣机。现在别哭了，我会料理好一切的。我甚至会给乔治的办公室打电话，告诉他这次也该回家帮帮忙了。”
“乔治？” 家庭主妇说， "乔治是谁？"
"哟， 乔治！ 你的丈夫！ … 你那里是223-1374是吗？"
"不对， 这是322-1374。”
"哦， 实在抱歉。 看来我拨错号了。”
有一阵短暂的沉默之后，主妇说道： “这么说的话，你不会来了？”
