Illustration: Priorities

When My Fair Lady was having its long run on Broadway, it was very hard to get tickets. One couple from Atlanta planned their whole vacation around the availability of tickets for a matinee performance. They had to secure their tickets about eight months in advance.

They went to New York City on the appropriate weekend. They got to the theatre in plenty of time, found their seats—they were good seats on the fourth or fifth row in the center section—took their seats and anticipated the play. Every seat was filled except the seat to the left of the man. The curtain rose, and no one had taken the seat.

At intermission, he turned to the woman on the opposite side of the empty seat and said, "This is amazing! We had to buy our tickets eight months in advance, and we get here and find an empty seat."

She said, "Well, that seat belongs to me, too. It was my husband's seat. He died."

The man said, "I'm terribly sorry..but…couldn't you have invited a friend to come with you?"

She answered, "No, they were all at the funeral!"