During the ten years I worked for the US Government, I have dealt with many patience-testing situations. Most people in the Government see themselves as the epitome of the Government. The cutting edge of the knife. So, I learned by injecting just a hint of humor into a situation, the dealings go much easier. You can compare humor to the grease of the wheel.

So, in setting up my retirement, I dealt with realms of paperwork, full of numbers and acronyms. In an attempt to adjust my insurance on my retirement, I needed the “account” of the paperwork. I put the word in quotes, because I have been getting my monthly retirement flawlessly since retiring, and the number that shows up on any paperwork I have, has a number that makes no sense. During phone conversations, people will ask me my account number and I give them what I have.

“Uh, no sir. That is not the correct number.” Then they go on to tell me what little box has the number; and I tell them, that is the number in the little box. I’ve had several more instances that are much worse than this one.

So, the need has come up to make a change on my insurance, so I decided to tackle finding the correct number once and for all. I found the email address for the information, and wrote a very concise message, after which I added the hint of humor. Many times the people ignore the hint or possibly never notice it, because they seldom read the entire message.

Well, the message worked. When I was in the bathroom this morning, beginning my daily constitution, I got a call from them. It took only a few minutes of explaining the situation, and the kind lady was able to help. I now have a number.

Then she added, “So, it says here you are going to dance at my wedding . . .”

That took me a little off guard and I started to say, “Don’t be silly,” until I remembered the hint of humor I added: “If anyone can find what number I have, or direct me to someone who can help, I will gladly dance at their next wedding provided alcohol is provided.”

So, I replied, “Huh, . . . is alcohol provided?”

After that, the conversation kinda fell apart, so I don’t remember if I have to dance or not. Just my luck, in the next few months, a black suburban will drive up to the house to take me to a wedding, and I don’t dance.