Gentlemen,

I wanted a big cup of sorts to use as a dome over my Georgetown Scuttle to help trap the heat a little more for my brush. The fancy stores had some cups that would work, but at an enormous cost. Oh, please . . .

Then I tried the local Dollar Store. By Jove, I found the perfect cup, some thin ceramic number made in China. I would have preferred a thin ceramic cup of that size made in America, but it seems we're not that creative.

I gave the cashier $1, but she said my magic scuttle dome cost $1.15, plus tax.

"I thought this is the Dollar Store," I said.

She pointed to a sign on the wall. "Price hike," she said.

"So this is not the Dollar Store?" I said.

"Yes, it is, but I guess it isn't," she explained.

It reminds of the time I strode into a flower shop and ordered a dozen roses for my wife. The clerk wrapped 11 roses and rang the register with a charge of a dozen roses.

"Excuse me," I said. "These are eleven roses, but I asked for a dozen."

"Our dozen is eleven," she said.

"I always assumed dozen meant twelve," I said.

"It's eleven here," she said.

"Well, then," I said, "I'll go to a flower shop where they know how to count."

I thought of saying something similar to the clerk commanding the cash register at the Dollar Store, but it was late Saturday afternoon and you could tell she hated being there, in the Dollar Store where things cost $1.15. Well, I took my purchase home and this morning used it. Perfect fit.

I am proud of my magic scuttle dome. After all, it cost me $1.15 in the Dollar Store.

Regards,

Obie