Sweet tea in hand, the first Southern matron sighed contentedly. “My husband erected this columned home when our first blessing arrived.” Her friend nodded approvingly. “What a thoughtful gesture.”
“A brand new Cadillac followed our second angel,” she continued. “What a thoughtful gesture,” her companion repeated, just as pleasantly. The็ซ่ continued with jewelry and finery, each announcement greeted with that same polite phrase.
When pressed about her own motherhood gifts, the second woman revealed her husband’s clever present: “Etiquette lessons, sugar. Now I can say ‘What a thoughtful gesture’ instead of ‘That’s ridiculous.'” Her sharp social awareness showed years later when she bemoaned her son’s “tragic” marriage to a lazy woman pampered with breakfast in bed, while praising her daughter’s identical situation as “a match made in heaven.”
