Humor

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"Excuse me but are those my towels?" The man with a European accent asked me. Half dazed from the Caribbean sun, I blinked my eyes just in case the rays had impaired my vision for from the looks of things, he already had a bundle of towels and definitely did not need an extra.

Many times I have traveled to this island and at every resort, clean towels were a rare commodity. Not only did guests have to guard the towels with their lives, even the staff was very tight with the towel cards that they handed out. One card was distributed to each guest. If you lost your card or towel a $50.00 fee would be charged to your room.

He interrupted my thoughts, "Excuse me, Miss, but are those my towels?" I could not believe what I was seeing and hearing. I started to get angry with this guy but then realized the tremendous humor of the situation. I could not contain my laughter as I asked, "How could you possibly think that those are yours when you're already carrying four towels on your arm?"

He looked shocked but after glancing at his bundle he, too, let out a healthy stream of laughter. As quickly as his laughter erupted, it disappeared into all seriousness. "I'm not joking. Are those my towels?"

Manhattan was his name. Towel theft was his game. Actually, the real name was Eugene but I gave him his nickname for he lived in the city.

From that incident, we became friends and enjoyed the vacation. Laughing like children, we dove for seashells and stored them in every square inch of swimsuit fabric until we could swim to shore to unload our treasures.

Admist the laughter, Manhattan became serious. "I cannot believe you accused me of stealing towels. I am an honest person. I would never lie. This really hurts me." From the look on his face, I decided there would be no more teasing about towels. I felt terrible.

Manhattan disappeared to get some drinks as I settled into my lounge chair to visit with his roommate. Michael reached into a bag to hand me some sunscreen. To my surprise, four towel cards slid out of Manhattan's bag! And to think that I felt terrible after hearing his plea of honesty!

Manhattan reappeared with drinks in hand, looking as innocent as a newborn baby. But he didn't fool me! I landblasted him with the evidence and questions and he tried to explain everything but it all ended up in hysterical laughter as he dug himself deeper.

After the laughter, I said, "Just tell me one thing. How did you get four towel cards?"

"I just gave the reception desk my room number," he replied as he announced the number of his room. Once again I was speechless as he and I both realized that he was giving out my room number by accident! This explains why he was given four cards: Card One for him, Card Two for his roommate, Card Three for me, and Card Four for my roommate.

Manhattan was his name. Towel theft was his game.

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