A ‘reader’ emails me
every so often
and, in that email,
she always makes
the joke
that I should be giving her
my books for free.
The first time
she made the joke,
I ignored it
and answered her other questions.
We all make
bad jokes
from time to time.
Now, I ignore her emails
because I realize
her ‘joke’ isn’t truly a joke.
She might say she’s joking
but she’s not.
She truly does think
I should give her
my stories for free.
And I suspect
she isn’t buying my stories
now.
If someone makes the same joke
more than once,
they likely aren’t joking.
Assume they’re serious.