B.C. – Bathroom Commode or Baptist Church?
[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.
He knew that the Joe-kster lived in British Columbia, but that wasn’t what the
lady was referring to. 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!”