The Whole Bean

A few years ago, Squeeze and I were at a thrift store near my parent's house with two of my siblings, Seahorse and Squig. The thrift store is owned and operated by a retirement community; the cashiers are resident volunteers.

Sifting through things, Squeeze found an impeccable copy of Mr. Bean - The Whole Bean (The Complete Set). PBS had whetted our appetite for more Mr. Bean, so we put it in the basket with our other treasures for purchase.

It wasn't marked, nor were DVDs listed in the price sheet on the wall, so when we took it to the counter, we asked the woman how much it would cost.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It is a DVD," I said, "it was over with the books and videos."

"A DVD...okay," she said quizzically "errr - what is that?"

"It plays movies, like a VHS tape - but it is a disc, like a CD."

She still seemed confused.

"It was over by the tapes and CDs," I finished lamely.

"Oh...ok...uhhhhh...uhhhhh..."

I waited.

"Uhhhhhm....one dollar."

SCORE!! I hated to celebrate pulling one over on an old lady, but shoot - we didn't do it on purpose. I did my darndest to try and explain to her what it was; it isn't my fault that she didn't have any idea of 1) what it was, or 2) its true value.

I paid my dollar; then Squeeze, Squig, Seahorse and I went out to the car, guffawed, and re-played the interaction like an old record. What a great way to get a Mr. Bean DVD, of all things. He's such a jackass, isn't he?