The other night, I picked up our oldest son from confirmation class.  Turning to my other boys, who were along for the ride, I suggested that we go to Target for slushies.  Other than one son continually trying to get a drink from the spout clearly glowing with the “Do Not Use When Lit” light, all was going fine.

“Son, I understand the overpowering allure of the ‘Blue Raspberry,’ but if it isn’t ready, it isn’t ready.”

Then it struck me, I don’t want any of these high sugar content, very sticky, and most likely to be spilt frozen beverages in my car.  We should walk around Target, while finishing the drinks.

So wandering through the toy aisles, I suddenly heard my 9-year-old son laughing uncontrollably.  One of those genuine strong belly laughs.  That’s when he emerged from the next aisle with this…

Fat Cat

Yes, that’s right, it’s a hideous fat cat ball.  It bounces.  It’s ugly.  It has a high likelihood of taking out an eye, but it’s funny.  Pure funny.

Playing with it in the aisle, I scanned it’s price tag.  $6 and some odd cents.  Hum.  Normally, I place a price ceiling on stupid purchases that make me laugh at $5, but this is really funny.  Plus, it makes for a great story and is something that most likely will get caught in the basketball hoop’s net.  Hum.  It’s worth it!

With shocked looks on their faces, my children saw me head toward the checkout lanes with the Fat Cat ball.  Then beginning to laugh, the young checker found her evening’s entertainment.  Turning to me she said, “So you guys said, ‘Hey, let’s go out to Target tonight and buy a cat ball’?”  Yep, pretty much.  That’s how we roll and now we know that the price of a really good joke has risen to $6.  Call it Chuckle Inflation, another sign of the times.

Plus, if you really want to give the kids a good laugh.  Turn the cat around to show the Fat Cat’s rear end.  Now, that might be worth even a little more than $6.  Just sayin’.