A short, heavy-browed man was up on a stool, holding a light bulb, and trying his hardest to turn the light fixture, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t turn the socket and the ceiling to get the bulb screwed in. A taller man with spectacles, walking by, observing this all, cried, “Don’t you have any common sense?!”

The shorter man with the bulb looked at him. “Oh … hold on,” he said, and climbed down from his perch on the stool.

The taller man watched as the shorter man then dug deep into his pocket, through his lint, coming out with two pennies, a dime, and a quarter. “Here you go,” the shorter man said, and handed the coins to the taller man, who couldn’t help but raise his spectacles from the bridge of his nose.

It was hard to see who pitied the other more … but it was easier to see who felt like the bigger dummy.

Roger McManus