Monday, November 08, 2010

Out of the mouths of babes



I watched “The Antiques Roadshow” last night. The presenter was talking to a small boy. The conversation went something like this:

“How old are you?”

“I’m eight.”

“And what have you got in that box?”

[Opens box]: “An MBE.” [ie Member of the British Empire - a medal presented by the Queen to signify an award to a theoretically worthy person].

“An MBE?”

“Yes, I’ve always wanted one and my dad gave me one last Christmas.”

Baffled pause.

“Do you know anything about the person who got it originally?”

“I only know…” [there followed a considerable life history of a Colonel Someone who joined the army in 1915, was a member of the Royal Ordinance Corps and retired in ... etc].

“And… um… what do you do with it? Do you… wear it?”

“Yes, I sometimes wear it. But usually I keep it in my safe.”

Silence.

“You have your own safe?”

“Yes.”


Ah, such are the little gems that make life bearable.

7 comments:

  1. You can just tell the ones who are going to go far and be Prime Minister, can't you? Bless his cotton socks.

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  2. Aawww...bless. And to think my brother was just delighted to have a couple of regimental buttons from his daddy's khaki jacket.....

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  3. That's too cute! He sounds like a very grown up young man!

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  4. I saw this too and enjoyed the exchange enormously.

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  5. Baffled....just baffled...

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  6. I was amused by this, too. Whatever put an MBE into his mind I wonder - and what else does he keep in his safe..... husband suggests plans for world domination.

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  7. I am not telling my boys this story. Their christmas lists are weird enough already.

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