Ball-point
I'd been left with the care of two kids: a boy in his early teens, and a girl a few years younger. My responsibilities primarily included getting them awake and dressed for school in the mornings, and fed dinner in the evenings.
After about a week, their mother returned and chided me firmly for having not made sure they had clean clothes. She took me into the boy's room, and it turns out he'd been wearing the same clothes all week long.
"And what about you?" she asked, pointing to a pile of my worn jeans on the living room floor. I scrambled to pick them up, while at the same time trying to apologize, and after a short time became distracted by the realization that in the back right pocket of every single pair of jeans, I'd left a black ball-point pen. These would have been ruined if I'd put them in the wash this way, I thought to myself.
While still talking and trying to make amends for the situation, I set the pens one at a time as I pulled them from each pair of jeans onto the table in front of me, careful not to knock any of the previous ones on the floor.
At that point, the woman became distracted by the seemingly endless succession of pens, and began to giggle.
After about a week, their mother returned and chided me firmly for having not made sure they had clean clothes. She took me into the boy's room, and it turns out he'd been wearing the same clothes all week long.
"And what about you?" she asked, pointing to a pile of my worn jeans on the living room floor. I scrambled to pick them up, while at the same time trying to apologize, and after a short time became distracted by the realization that in the back right pocket of every single pair of jeans, I'd left a black ball-point pen. These would have been ruined if I'd put them in the wash this way, I thought to myself.
While still talking and trying to make amends for the situation, I set the pens one at a time as I pulled them from each pair of jeans onto the table in front of me, careful not to knock any of the previous ones on the floor.
At that point, the woman became distracted by the seemingly endless succession of pens, and began to giggle.