When The Tall Tales Are True

I overhear a dad talking to his young son, maybe four or five years old, at the bookstore where I work. They’re looking at an animal picture book.

Dad: “I swear, giraffes are real!”

Son: “Nice try, dad, you got me on unicorns, so I’m not gonna fall for it this time.”

The dad makes an ‘ugh’ sound and then spots me.

Dad: “Hey, you work here. Can you please tell my son that giraffes are real?”

Me: “You mean the cheetah-horse with the twenty-foot neck and horn stumps and eyelashes for days?”

Dad: *Trying not to laugh.* “You’re not helping.”

Me: “If you think it’s tough now, wait until he gets to the ‘N’ section and discovers the Narwhal.”

I did eventually tell the boy that every animal in that book was real, including the giraffe. The boy, in his distrust, managed to leverage a future trip to the zoo to prove it out of the dad.