THE teacher announced that to
practice
spelling, each member of the class would say what their fathers did

for a living and then spell the occupation.
Mary went first. “My Dad
is a baker, b-a-k-e-r, and if he were here,
he would give everyone
a cookie.”
Next came Tommy. “My dad is a banker, b-a-n-k-e-r, and
if he were
here, he’d give each of us a quarter.”
Third came
Jimmy. “My dad is an electrician.” But after struggling
through a
number of attempts to spell the word, the teacher asked him
to sit
and think about it for a moment while she called on someone else.

She then turned to Johnny.
“My dad’s a bookie, b-o-o-k-i-e,” Johnny
said. “And if he were
here, he’d lay you 8 to 5 that Jimmy ain’t
never gonnaspell
electrician.”