Sucker!

I took Evey with me to the barber shop the other day. The wait was long, but she did good. She stood right in front of me while I was getting my hair cut, enraptured by the process.

After I was done, Mike offered Evey a sucker, and she took it. But Evey doesn't like much candy except for chocolate. I knew she wouldn't eat it. No problem.

We walked down the block toward the car, and I decided to pop into Love Garden, see if Evey would give me some time to peruse. Brilliant on Love Garden's part, they have one of their old cash registers set up in the corner, at knee level, with some small person stools around it. Evey found this and started playing. "Dad, if you need me, I'll be over here," she said.

Perfect. That cash register bought me some time to shop.

I checked on her every few minutes. Eventually, I saw her unwrapping that sucker. "She'll be giving me that soon, once she figures out she doesn't like it," I thought to myself.

A minute later, Evey was pulling on my jacket while I was cruising through the used CDs. "Dad," she said. "Can you take this? I don't like it."

"Sure, Evey," I said. I was about to put the sucker in my mouth -- no sense in letting it go to waste -- when...

"I dropped it on the floor -- it's yucky."

The sucker is inches from my tongue. I look at it. It's got dirt on it, a black hair, half a dust bunny. It was disgusting.

I'm so, so glad I didn't put that thing in my mouth. Thank you, Evey, for the last-second warning.