A man has forgotten something important... and has no idea what it is... :P
To Remember
He was watching the commercial on the TV, and he had the inescapable feeling that there was something he was forgetting.
There's nothing wrong with forgetting something, as long as you don't remember that you forgot it - that way it doesn't bother you. Or if you remember it once you find out you forgot it - that one sometimes happens. The main problem was that he couldn't for the world think of any reason at all a commercial about grilling should remind him of something. Other then hamburger. And burnt appendages.
Well, the fourth of July was coming up, that was important, he guessed. Ad he really did need to get his grill out for that one. It's rather amusing, he thought, that America celebrates it's independence from Britian by cooking food and blowing up small chunks of itself. He chuckled at that one. He wondered what the founding fathers would think of what their holiday had become. What would the old guys, with their long-rusted laurels and moth-and-worm-eaten suits, think of celebrating their (rather successful) attempt at treason. Would they approve of their child, this teeming nation born of the fruits of their minds, coupled with a nice helping of blood, sweat, and tears. Mostly blood and sweat, though - everybody knows ol' George and the rest of the bunch were much too manly to cry.
How far away was the Fourth? He didn't have a cell phone with a calender on him, or else he'd check. It wasn't that important, really. Couldn't be any closer then a week or two...
...still, that wasn't it. He felt he was on the right track with thinking about the Fourth, but it wasn't what he was supposed to remember...
His train of thought was derailed by a knock at the door. He opened it, and, lo and behold, his son was standing there.
After a moment or two of standing there in complete and total mental block, letting the air conditioning out, he finally beckoned his son come in.
After a few minutes of pleasantries, they settled down to a near-awkward silence. Awkward near-silence would describe it, as well - the TV was still on, blaring an advertisement for the thirty-fourth compilation of children performing pop hits. After all this time, you'd think they kids would be old by now, or at least have deeper voices. Or be able to pick better songs.
They started talking, actually, about how horrible the songs were - and the conversation evolved from there. They ended up talking and laughing for hours, sitting on a couch, making fun of summer TV commercials.
Around one o'clock in the morning, both of them ready to crash, the kid decided it was time he went to bed. After all, he had to head back to the campus early the next morning for class.
Slightly disappointed, the dad walked into the kitchen for something to eat. His wife was standing there.
"You really don't know why he showed up today, do you?"
He answered, "Not... really, no..."
"Let's see if you remember this one, then. We're expecting our first child, which turns out to be our only one. Despite the fact that I wanted a natural birth, you asked me to have a Caesarian. Not because it was safer or there were any complications, oh no! Because you wanted to remember your son's birthday! My due date wasn't close enough for you, didn't suit it, no!
She continued, "Not only that, but you gave me a list of the names which were "acceptable" to you - George, Thomas, Benjamin, John, Patrick, and Samuel! Nothing else was good enough, it wouldn't befit the holiday! I bet you don't even remember which name we decided on, do you? And you gave me the list!"
She cursed, and then said, "And you even made me marry you on Christmas Day, said you thought the snow was romantic! By the time we had... -oh, no, I'm not going to remind you of his name!- you couldn't hide it - you were just being selfish, just trying to give yourself hints to help you remember!"
I got the idea for this one while I was brushing my teeth last night - my train of thought went something like this. My cousin's birthday is on the fourth of July, which I thought was a pretty rare birthday. Then, it occured to me that it has the exact same probability as any other day, and that the only reason it's different is because of the other things we do on that day. The only thing which would change that would be people who have C-sections on that day - I then wondered why, exactly, someone would choose that day. And came up with a story.
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