I love story telling and telling stories. We have several professional story tellers( those who make money telling stories) in our area of Western North Carolina and I have enjoyed listening and laughing at some of their tall tales. Michael "Badhair" Williams is one of the best and often tells of his trip over to West Virginia. The mountain roads were barely negotiable at best and he was driving along sweetly trusting in the good Lord when all of a sudden a car comes flying around the curve partially in his lane. Of course flying is an exaggeration, you can't fly on these roads, but the lady driving the car had her windows rolled down as did Michael, she hollered loudly at Michael,"Pig" as they nearly swiped each other.Thinking she had just insulted him, he yelled back, "Cow" with a somewhat sense of satisfaction he had adequately retaliated to her terse remark and name calling. Mike told me as he completed the curve , right square in the middle of the road was a big old hog. He said he felt a little sheepish for his calling the poor lady a cow.

Curtis Osteen is a great friend of mine and a wonderful storyteller in his own right. I love to hear this one he occasionally tells. A local fellow had won a trip to New York City. He had never been far from his own little mountain town and like most of us was pretty laid back and ignorant of the happenings in such huge towns,so he decided to cash in on his free trip. He would get on an airplane and fly to Kennedy Airport and stay in a nice hotel, go to Radio City Music Hall and see the Rockettes and maybe even venture out to see the Statute of Liberty. Before he left Carolina, a neighbor who had learned about his impending trip ask him to look up her son, John Dunn, who had recently gone to New York City and she hadn't " seen nor heered nary a word from him since he had left and could you please ask him to call home, if you by chance see him."

Curtis goes on: Well, he landed in Kennedy Airport without any difficulties, a little shaken from his first ever airplane ride and coming out of the terminal looking for a taxi to take him to his hotel and as fate would have it, happened to see a big sign on one of the skyscrapers, Dunn & Bradstreet. Thinking like a true mountain man and his desire to be accomodating to his neighbors request,, he made his way over to the enormous building and went inside.  He asked the receptionist at the front desk,"Do you have a john in  here?" She politely pointed in the general direction and told him which door. Just as he was about to enter he met a man  coming out. He asked "Are you Dunn, the man gave him a puzzled look and said,"Why yes." thinking he had just successfully found John, he told him, "Call home. you mama wants to talk to you!"

Maybe not the funniest thing you ever heard and maybe I didn't share it exactly as it was told but I think you get the idea.Stories that make us laugh at ourselves are sometimes the most funny and endearing.