Jumping to Conclusions

There are many ways of looking at things, but it does pay to have as many facts as possible before coming to a conclusion.

Last night I went to Auckland with my 28 year old son to listen to jazz. We were on our way home to his place in Hamilton when I received a text from my husband telling me it had been raining hard and water was pouring over our driveway (only the second time in the nearly 12 years we have lived here.) So I decided that rather than arriving home at 1in the morning in a flood, I would stay at Steve's place and return in daylight when the water level should have dropped.

Version one:

It was getting on for midnight when I asked Steve to stop at a garage and while he waited in the car, I went to the night pay window and asked for a toothbrush. The attendant got a toothbrush from the shelf and served me. I was glad there was a security window between us as he seemed very peculiar, smirking and sniggering as he commented that "this is the last toothbrush we have - this really is your lucky night!" I smiled nervously and responded, "yes, I guess it is," though I couldn't really see that a toothbrush mattered that much.

As we drove on, I thought about the the rather odd young man, thought about the expression on his face, and thought about the snigger - and suddenly I recognised the expression and the snigger....

Version two:

A young man is working the late shift in a garage. It's getting on for midnight.  A car pulls in and parks in the dark to the side of the shop. The driver's silhouette is that of a man with a beard. A woman in her sixties gets out and approaches the night pay window and asks for a toothbrush! The young man serves her, telling her, "this is the last toothbrush we have - this really is your lucky night!" The old woman doesn't show the slightest sign of embarrassment as she replies, "yes, I guess it is." The young man laughs at the ridiculous concept of a woman that age going home with a man she'd picked up unexpectedly and thus having to buy a toothbrush on the way.