THE B.C.
My friend is a rather old-fashioned lady, always
quite delicate and elegant, especially in her language.
She and her husband were planning a week's vacation in
Florida, so she wrote to a particular campground and
asked for a reservation.
She wanted to make sure the campground was fully
equipped, but didn't quite know how to ask about the
toilet facilities. She just couldn't bring herself to
write the word "toilet" in her letter. After much
deliberation she finally came up with the old-fashioned
term "bathroom commode." But when she wrote that down,
she still felt that she was being too forward. So she
started all over again, rewrote the entire letter, and
referred to the bathroom commode merely as the B.C.
"Does the campground have its own B.C.?" is what she
finally wrote.
Well, the campground owner wasn't old-fashioned at
all, and when he got the letter he just couldn't figure
out what the woman was talking about. That B.C. business
really stumped him. After worrying about it for a while,
he showed the letter to several campers, but no one
could imagine what the lady meant, either. So the
campground owner, finally coming to the conclusion that
the lady must be asking about the location of the
Baptist Church, sat down and wrote the following reply:
Dear Madam: I regret very much the delay in answering
your letter, but I now take the pleasure of informing
you that a B.C. is located nine miles north of the
campground, and is capable of seating 250 people at one
time. I admit it is quite a distance away if you are in
the habit of going regularly, but no doubt you will be
pleased to learn that a great number of our people take
their lunches along and make a day of it. They usually
arrive early and stay late. If you don't start early,
you probably will not make it in time. The last time my
wife and I went was six years ago, and it was so crowded
we had to stand up the whole time we were there. It may
interest you to know that right now, there is a supper
planned to raise money to buy more seats. They're going
to hold it in the basement of the B.C. I would like to
say it pains me very much not being able to go more
often, but it surely is no lack of desire on my part. As
we grow older, it seems to be more of an effort,
particularly in cold weather. If you decide to come down
to our campground, perhaps I could go with you the first
time you go, sit with you, and introduce you to all the
other folks. Remember, this is a friendly community!!
