The sergeant rebuked the private angrily:
"Jenkins, why haven't you shaved this morning?"
"Why, ain't I shaved?" the private exclaimed, apparently greatly surprised.
"No, you ain't," the sergeant snapped. "And I want to know the reason why."
"Well, now, I guess it must be this way," Jenkins suggested. "There was a dozen of us usin' the same bit of lookin' glass, an' I swan I must have shaved somebody else."
OPTIMISM
The day laborer was of a cheerful disposition that naturally inclined to seek out the good in every situation. He was a genuine optimist. Thus, after tramping the three miles from home to begin the day's work on the ditch, he discovered that he had been careless, and explained to a fellow laborer:
"I've gone and done it now! I left my lunch at home."
Then, suddenly he beamed happily, as he added:
"And it's a good thing I did, for the matter of that, because I left my teeth at home, too."