The woman blinked.
“Tight?” she repeated. “At my age?”
The doctor smiled and asked gently, “May I ask how long you’ve had them?”
She thought for a moment and replied honestly, “Oh… since I was a young woman. They were well-made.”
The doctor nodded, doing his best to remain professional.
“Well,” he said, “sometimes even the most reliable things need to be replaced.”
The Real Punchline
The woman sat quietly for a moment, absorbing everything she had heard. Then she laughed—a soft, surprised laugh that quickly turned into a full, genuine one.
“So,” she said, “after all this trouble, it’s not some terrible condition at all?”
