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- THE GASTRONOMICAL BEAN STORY
-
-
- Once upon a time there lived a man who had a maddening
- passion for baked beans. He loved them, but they always had a
- very embarrassing and somewhat lively reaction upon him. By and
- by he met a girl and fell in love. When it became apparent that
- they would marry, he thought to himself, "she is such a sweet and
- gentle girl, she will never go for this kind of carrying on." So
- he made the supreme sacrifice and gave up beans (they were
- married shortly thereafter).
-
- Some months later, his car broke down on the way home from
- work, and since they lived in the country, he called his wife and
- told her that he would be late because of the misfortune, and
- that he would have to walk home. On his way home he passed a
- small cafe and the odor of freshly baked beans was overwhelming.
- Since he still had several miles to walk, he figured that he
- would work off any ill effects of the beans before he got home,
- so he stopped at the cafe. Before he had left he had eaten three
- large portions of the baked beans. All the way home he putt-
- putted, and after arriving, he felt reasonably safe that he had
- putt-putted his last. His wife seemed somewhat agitated but
- excited to see him and exclaimed delightedly, "Darling, I have
- the most wonderful surprise for dinner tonight." She then
- blindfolded him and led him to his chair at the head of the
- dining room table. He seated himself, and just as he was ready
- to remove the blindfold, the telephone rang. She made him vow
- not to touch the blindfold till she returned, and then went to
- answer the phone.
-
- Seizing the opportunity, he shifted his weight to one leg
- and let go. It was not only loud, but as ripe as rotten eggs.
- He took the napkin from his lap and vigorously fanned the air
- about him. Things had just returned to normal when he felt
- another urge coming upon him, so he shifted his weight to the
- other leg and let go again. This was a true prize winner. While
- keeping his ear on the conversation in the hall, he went on like
- this for ten minutes until he knew the phone farewell indicated
- the end of his freedom. He placed his napkin on his lap and
- folded his hands on top of it and smiling contentedly to himself,
- was the very picture of innocence, when his wife returned,
- apologizing for taking so long. She asked if he had peeked and
- he, of course, assured her that he had not. At this point, she
- removed the blindfold and there was his big SURPRISE. Twelve
- dinner guests seated around the table for a HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARTY
- for him!
-