I took a box of doughnuts to my office earlier this week.  Everybody thinks I’m such a nice, thoughtful person.

I have to confess, guys.  I did it out of embarrassment.  Let me explain.

It was a particularly hectic morning and we were racing out the back door before I had time to eat breakfast.  So after I dropped the kids off at school, I dropped myself off at Shipley Donuts for an indulgent treat.  The drive-through line was way long, so I parked and went in.

I waited in the aroma-filled room, my stomach rumbling and my mouth watering.  By the time it was my turn, my order went from one doughnut to two glazed and one chocolate-iced.  I couldn’t wait to bite into one of those still-warm-from-the-oven-made-in-heaven delights. 

“That’ll be 90 cents,” the girl said.

It was then that I realized I had once again encountered what I call the “early morning robbery.”  All the munchkins need money and they help themselves to my wallet.  I never know how much I’ll have when it’s over.  On this particular morning, it was three nickels and four pennies.  19 cents.

Well, that left me about 71 cents short and this was in the days before debit cards.  I looked around real fast (a) to see if there was someone I knew who I could borrow a dollar from and (b) to see if anybody around me noticed why it was taking me so long.  I was pretty embarrassed.  My face was red and my ears were getting that way.

“Do you take checks?” I asked meekly.

“For 90 cents?!” she inquired incredulously.

Well, if you think about it, would you take a check from someone who doesn’t even have a dollar in her wallet?  You’d surely wonder if there were any money at all in the bank account.

“Hmmm.  Gee.  Let’s see.  I’ll take another dozen doughnuts.” 

She was suddenly okay with taking my check.  She didn’t trust me to write a check for 90 cents, but $3.50 was okay.  I took my armful of fat grams and slunk out of there.  I was still so embarrassed.

But the guys at the office think I’m great!