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Subject: If You Gotta Go, Start Early
This story is about a rather strange reply for a
campground reservation. It is said to be true,
but you be the judge.
A woman who was rather old-fashioned, delicate,
and elegant - especially in her language - was
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 thought she
was being too forward. So, she started all over
again, rewrote the letter and referred to the
bathroom commode merely as the B.C. 'Does the
campground have it's own B.C.?' is what she
actually 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 they couldn't
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 local Baptist Church, sat down and wrote the
following reply:
'Dear Madam: I regret very much for the delay in
answering your letter. I now take the pleasure in
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
know that a great number of people usually take
their lunches along and make a day of it. They
usually arrive early and stay late.'
'The last time my wife and I went was six years
ago and it was so crowded that we had to stand up
the whole time we were there. It may interest you
to know that right now, there is a supper being
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 to
be able to go more regularly but it is sure 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 do 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.'
Send this story to a friend 1 London, England:
The airline Virgin Atlantic plans to install bedrooms
complete with showers, Jacuzzis and double beds in its
747 jumbos to encourage travelers to join the "Mile High
Club", a report said Wednesday.
Ten to 12 rooms will be installed in the hold of airplanes
and be accessed by a staircase from the main cabin, the Sun
newspaper said.
The price of a trip from London to New York would be around
2,900 pounds ($4,600).
"You can do it on cruise ships and trains, why not on a plane?
Passengers will find it comfy and romantic," airline boss
Richard Branson was quoted as saying.
The paper said Branson also plans a Kiddie Class, where airline
nannies and clowns will entertain children.
Send this story to a friend 2 Watertown, New York:
It was eagle-eyed zookeepers who noticed first.
The DNA testing only proved what they already
suspected.
The Thompson Park Zoo's American bald eagle breeding
program was going nowhere. Not with two males, anyway.
"We had our suspicions right away. The birds are
virtually the identical size," said Director
Glenn D. Dobrogosz, who laughed Tuesday about the
gender mix-up that provided a comical start to the
zoo's new eagle breeding program.
"It happens. Not a lot. But it happens," he said.
The two American bald eagles - supposedly a male and
female - arrived at the zoo last July from the Bird
Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage, Alaska.
The two males became good buddies but zookeepers
quickly realized there would be no amorous flights
for these two, Dobrogosz said.
Because bald eagle males and females share the same
coloring characteristics, it is difficult to determine
gender by visual inspection. However, in most raptor
species, the female is slightly larger than the male,
he said.
Based on their size and behavior, the Alaska center
mistakenly thought it had sent a male and a female,
Dobrogosz said. It wasn't until the Thompson Park Zoo
took blood samples for DNA testing that it confirmed the
birds' sexes.
"Sure enough, they both were boys," he said.
Now that the confusion has been cleared up, zookeepers are
once again focused on the romancing.
One of the males is being sent to the Clinch Park Zoo in
Traverse City, Mich. Meanwhile, the Watertown zoo already
has received a new female from another raptor rehabilitation
center on Sitka Island in Alaska.
"We're positive this time," Dobrogosz said, heading off the
inevitable inquiry about the bird's gender.
Send this story to a friend 3