Over the hedge

The missing 'e' in the d corations

For many years, my husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law owned an electrical contracting company.

One year, the owner of a three-story apartment building for senior citizens hired their company to bring the building's electrical wiring up to code.

The day following the completion, my husband received a call from the owner, who said, "I want to hire you to decorate my building for Christmas."

Although it wasn't the kind of job the company ordinarily did, they agreed to adorn the building with a combination of miniature white lights, white icicle lights, and, on the front of the building, they would attach four-foot-tall letters outlined with green lights to spell out the word "NOEL."

On Dec. 5, as planned, the workers completed the Christmas decorations on the apartment building right at dusk, which made it easier to see if all the lights were in working order.

When they turned on the lights, to their dismay, the letter "E" did not light up. Before an electrician could correct the problem, a fellow walking his dog on the sidewalk across the street shouted, "Hey, I want to buy a vowel!"

Rounds of friendly banter ensued, while the dog walker stood watch and advised them when the "E" was glowing brightly in green splendor.

Georgia A. Hubley

Henderson, Nev.

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