Yesterday morning at work, before anyone else got in, Margaret asked for my help selecting a bouquet of flowers to send to a funeral. We chose an arrangement online, but when it came to order, we were a bit stumped.
“Name of the deceased?” the form asked.
Margaret’s cursor hovered in the space noncommittally.
“What’s the hold-up?” I asked her.
“I don’t know her name.”
“You’re sending flowers to someone and you don’t know her name?” I couldn’t compute.
“No, you dumb-ass,” she corrected me. “The funeral is for my friend’s mother-in-law. How would I know her name? I never met HER. In fact, this form is lame. Why does it want me to send the flowers to the attention of the deceased?”
pithypants 