Doesn’t Have A Stained Leg To Stand On

(I’m a student worker in my college’s theatre department, meaning my work involves set work for upcoming productions. At the time, it is two hours before opening, and I am helping the designer and another student with something when one of the theatre professors walks up to us.)

Professor: “[My Name], did you mean not to stain one of the legs of the table?”

Me: “What do you mean?”

Professor: “You missed a whole leg of that table you stained. Was that on purpose?”

(I am about to admit that I had missed it, because I was in a hurry to get dinner before the cafeteria closed, when I remembered a conversation about how theatre people can justify pretty much everything and decided to give it a whirl.)

Me: “Well, I figured the stain represented the lies that the characters tell, and the truth still shows through despite all these lies.”

(The other student who I was working with laughs since she had been part of the earlier conversation.)

Professor: “[Designer], do you want all the legs stained?”

Designer: “Yes.”

Me: “I’ll go fix that.”