The Bad Seed

by William March

“The arrogance of salespeople never ceases to astonish me. When I bought the dishes, the salesman said, ‘I’d better show you how to put it up, madam.’ And so I said, ‘My dear man, I can read a bit, I assure you; and the directions are plainly printed on the card.’ And then he smirked in that superior way men affect, particularly when there are other men around listening, and said, ‘The ladies aren’t much good when it comes to mechanical things. My wife can’t even screw in a light bulb and keep it straight.’ And so I said, ‘I daresay I can fix anything you or any other man can fix, and what’s more, it wouldn’t surprise me if I couldn’t fix a lot of things you can’t fix.’