Harry had a bit of a drinking problem.
Every night, after dinner, he took off for
the local watering hole. He spent the whole
evening there, and arrived home, well
inebriated, around midnight each night.
He always had trouble getting his key into
the keyhole, and getting the door opened.
His wife, waiting up for him, would go to
the door and let him in. Then she would
proceed to yell and scream at him, for his
constant nights out, and coming home in a
drunken state. But, Harry continued his
nightly routine.
One day, the wife was talking to a friend
about her husband’s behavior, and was
particularly distraught by it all.
The friend listened to her, and then said,
“Why don’t you treat him a little differently
when he comes home? Instead of berating him,
why don’t you give him some loving words,
and welcome him home with a kiss? He then
might change his ways.”
The wife thought it was worth trying.
That night, Harry took off again, after dinner.
And, about midnight, he arrived home, in his
usual condition. His wife heard him at the
door, quickly went to it, opened the door,
and let Harry in.
This time, instead of berating him, as she
had always done, she took his arm, and led
him into the living room. She sat him down
in an easy chair, put his feet up on the
ottoman and took his shoes off. Then she
went behind him, and started to cuddle him
a little. After a while, she said to him,
“It’s pretty late. I think we had better go
upstairs to bed now, don’t you?”
At that, Harry replied, in his inebriated
state, “I guess we might as well. I’ll get
in trouble when I get home anyway.”