John could never resist a sales gimmick. If someone claimed it was revolutionary, life-changing, or “available today only,” he’d buy two.
His wife, Marsha, had stopped trying to talk him out of it years ago.
One evening, John came home grinning beside his latest purchase.
“It’s a lie detector robot,” he announced proudly. “Every time someone lies… it slaps them.”
Around 5:30, their 11-year-old son Tommy finally wandered through the front door, more than two hours late.
John folded his arms.
“Where have you been?”
“At the library,” Tommy replied. “Some friends and I were working on an extra credit project.”
Without warning, the robot marched over and SMACK!
Tommy flew sideways off his chair.
John smiled. “See? It works. Now tell us where you really were.”
Tommy rubbed his cheek.
“Okay… we went to Bobby’s house to watch a movie.”
“What movie?” Marsha asked.
“The Ten Commandments.”
SMACK!
The robot knocked Tommy out of his chair again.
Holding his sore face, Tommy sighed.
“All right! We watched Sex Queen.”
John shook his head.
“Son, I’m ashamed of you. When I was your age, I never lied to my parents.”
The robot slowly turned toward John…
…and delivered a thunderous slap that nearly sent him into next Tuesday.
Marsha burst into laughter.
“Well, you certainly had that coming! Besides,” she said between laughs, “you can’t stay mad at Tommy. After all, he is your son.”
The robot paused…
Looked at Marsha…
Then slapped her three times in rapid succession.
Tommy looked at his dad and whispered,
“So… should I assume Uncle Bob isn’t really my uncle?”
