Mom's sense of humor

Me Pops was well known for his sense of and good humor. That would not stop me Mom from sometimes playing a trick or two on him.

One time as they made their way home from a fast food restaurant, Pops stopped at a party store for whatever. While he was inside, Mom took a bite out of a hamburger and re-wrapped it. She stuck it in the bag but made sure he got it at home. He sputtered and stammered and was ready to run back to demand an explanation, refund, and whatever else he might force the restaurant manager's hand to do before Mom fessed up and took the burger she'd bitten for herself. Pops thought it was funny...several days later.

Another time he picked up pizza. Unbeknownst to him, one of the boxes (he had bought I believe three pizzas that day) was left empty. It was sheer inadvertence, and the pizzeria (Audia's, which I've spoken about recently) called before he had gotten back home to apologize and explain that they were sending a pizza by their delivery driver. Mom took the call yet didn't tell Dad.

At home at the kitchen table, he opened the empty pizza box. His jaw dropped in shock and surprise. But then the doorbell rang and one of us kids fetched the pizza before Mom could have much fun out of the situation.

That one me Pops did find immediately funny, perhaps because he hadn't time to get upset. Plus he knew the Audia family and knew they were good people and that it was a simple if silly mistake.