Here is the rest of today’s joke.
Mrs. Whitaker had taught fourth grade for thirty-eight years. She had corrected homework at the kitchen table, written spelling words on Sunday nights, and kept a drawer full of red pens long after she retired.
One Tuesday morning, she walked into the small-town library with a hardback book tucked under her arm.
The librarian smiled. “Good morning, Mrs. Whitaker. Returning something?”
“I am,” Mrs. Whitaker said. “And I suppose I owe you a little money.”
The librarian opened the book and found the old paper card still inside. The due date was stamped forty-two years earlier.
She looked over her glasses. “Mrs. Whitaker, this book was due back in 1984.”
“I know,” Mrs. Whitaker said.
“Were you worried about the fine?”
“Not really,” she said. “I have been saving nickels in a jar just in case.”
The librarian tried not to laugh. “Then why bring it back today?”
Mrs. Whitaker patted the cover.
“Because I finally finished it,” she said. “For forty-two years I was too busy telling children to read. Retirement is the first time anybody let me get to the last chapter.”
Did that one get you?
