Unfiltered Story #299091

My mother has been known to make “mom jokes.”

We’re shopping at a clothing store when a salesperson points out a rack of sweaters to my mom.

Salesperson: “This week, all of the sweaters on this rack are half off.”

Mom (joking): “Oh, so does that mean that half of the sweater is missing?”

Salesperson (completely serious): “No, actually, it means we take half off the price.”

(Long awkward pause.)

For years, my family laughed about this incident as an example of either (a) my mom’s jokes being unfunny or (b) a salesperson too oblivious to realize that my mom’s ridiculous question was a joke.

Now that I read Not Always Right, I see it completely differently. It’s more likely an example of either (a) the fact that my mom’s question was probably not the stupidest question that salesperson heard that day or (b) a salesperson who was sick and tired of customers’ dumb jokes.