Have you ever tried to impress somebody and looked silly doing it? Author Sidney Sheldon tells a memorable story about an embarrassing event that occurred to him years ago. He had acquired a lovely blue Rolls-Royce. A few days later he parked in front of a shop in Beverly Hills. He went inside, did his shopping, returned to his car and got behind the driver’s seat of the Rolls. An arm reached through the window and grabbed his shoulder, and a voice said, “What do you think you’re doing?” He looked out the window, and there stood an enormous Texan. “This is my car,” said the Texan.
“No, it isn’t,” Sheldon told him. “It’s mine.” To prove it, he started to put the key in the ignition. It didn’t fit. He realized what had happened. He said to the Texan, “I’m terribly sorry, but I’m driving the same model and color Rolls as you, and I obviously parked right in back of you.”
And as the huge stranger stood there watching him, Sheldon got out of the car and walked in back — to his wife’s white Volkswagen, which he was driving that morning. (1)
I love that. Have you ever done something like that? Have you ever tried to impress people and looked all the sillier for your trouble?
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1. Robert Morley, PARDON ME, BUT YOU’RE EATING MY DOILY! (St. Martin’s).