SUCKER

I was coming out of the grocery store today at about 10:30 a.m. and passed by a bunch of very cute little Girl Scouts stationed just outside the entrance literally shouting at the top of their lungs: 'Girl Scout Cookies ... Girl Scout Cookies ... Girl Scout Cookies ... Girl Scout Cookies.'

They say "there's a sucker born every minute."

Legend has it that P.T. Barnum, the circus guy, coined that phrase. It is however, unlikely, that he ever actually said it. Some have attributed it to Mark Twain - but best guess is that it was one of Barnum's competitors - David Hannum.

The story is that Hannum, like Barnum, in the business of thrilling the gullible public of the 19th century, had a large stone man-like object built, buried and then dug up again in Cardiff, New York. He billed it 'The Cardiff Giant,' and scads of people came to marvel at this stone man of Biblical proportion. When he started making real money at the venture, Barnum, not to be outdone, built his own stone man and insisted it was 'The Real Cardiff Giant.' Hannum, commenting on the naivety of those flocking to see Barnum's creation said: 'There's a sucker born every minute.'

So, those little Girl Scouts were just so cute this morning that I couldn't resist buying five boxes of cookies at $3.50 each. Well, there are only four boxes left now. After all, that was six hours ago.

Here's to the fulfillment of David Hannum's prophecy.

And be blessed.