life in these united states
By Todd Stadler · Tuesday, December 4, 2001 6:59pm
Sometimes life imitates those stories people send in to Reader's Digest for money.
Beeman and I were at a party talking to someone about the small town she grew up in. She mentioned that something in that town (as you can tell, I was paying close attention to the conversation) was named Burnside, which also happens to be the name of a road in Portland.
Apparently knowing more about the namesake of the road than I do, Beeman said, "I wonder if [that thing in your town] was also named after the general."
To which the girl replied, "Which one?"
And then there was an awkward pause, after which Beeman said, slowly, "Um... General Burnside?"
I didn't say it was funny. It's not like I roll on the floor after reading Reader's Digest, either. How much did you pay to read this, again?