Three women die
and all three reach Heaven at the same time. There they meet St. Peter. He tells
them he has some other important business to transact and asks them to wait
outside. Finally he returns and calls the first woman into his office. He apologizes
for making her wait so long. “Oh, I don’t mind at all,” the woman
says. “I’m so thrilled just to be here in Heaven.” St. Peter is delighted
by her attitude. “Well, then, if you can just answer one question for me,
we can finish processing your papers. Now tell me, how do you spell `God’?”
The woman spells it for him, then she goes on into the celestial realm.
St. Peter calls
in the next woman and also apologizes to her for making her wait. “It will
be worth it, I’m sure,” she answers. “I am willing to wait one thousand
years if necessary in order to see God face to face.” St. Peter is very
pleased. He insists, though, on asking her one more question for the Records.
“Tell me, dear lady, how do you spell `God’?” The woman spells it
perfectly, then enters the Pearly Gates.
Finally, St. Peter
calls in the third woman. He also apologizes to her, but she refuses to accept
his apology. “It was quite rude,” she says angrily. “All my life
on earth I had to wait in lines. Wait at the checkout counter, wait at the bus
stop, wait for the kids to get home from school, wait for my coffee break. And
now you expect me to wait to get into Heaven? Well, I just won’t stand for it!”
St. Peter said, “I’m so sorry. If you’ll just answer one more question
for our records, then you can go on in. Tell me, how do you spell ‘Czechoslovakia’?”
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