How To Deal With Prickly Customers  

(I am helping my son and his girlfriend move into their new house when I take a hard turn, causing a small, potted cactus my daughter-in-law was holding to fall over and spill. She panics, trying to scoop up the dirt so she can fix it, but keeps pricking her fingers on it. She decides she needs a small shovel or a spoon. We are near a fast food place, so I pull into the drive-thru and order a couple of drinks. When we get to the window, the kid gives me my drink and asks if there is anything else I need.)

Me: “Yes, actually. Can she get a spoon for her cactus?”

(Cue my daughter-in-law smiling to him from the passenger seat, holding a bowl in her lap with a tiny cactus in it. The guy looked puzzled and just gave us the spoon. We realized how it must have looked and had a good laugh on the way home. The cactus made a full recovery.)