Earthblog

An OBX bar had been famous for quite some time.  It seems that Joe the Bartender had a running bet with his customers.  Big burly drinkers came from all over the world to accept the challenge.  Joe would squeeze a lemon over a glass and then give the lemon to his victim.  The challenger need only squeeze one more drop from the lemon to win $1,000.  Joe never lost a bet.

Then came Lisa, she was a very petite woman.  She was almost frail.  She wore a conservative business suit and carried a brief case.  It was obvious that she had not done a day of physical work in her life.  She spoke distinctly and articulately.  She was completely out of place at the Bar.

When Lisa accepted the wager with Joe, the bar was packed.  The laughter went on for some time.  As it died down, Lisa extracted a pack of new twenty dollar bills valued at $1,000.

Joe placed his money on the bar and a cheer went up.  He found a bowl of lemons and a tall glass below the bar.  Lisa inspected the glass and after scrutinizing three lemons, picked a fourth, seemingly unremarkable specimen.

Joe unceremoniously squeezed the lemon over the top of the glass.  In the quiet, you could almost hear the muscles in his forearm tightening as Joe's massive fist squeezed every last bit of juice from the poor lemon.  Then he shook the lemon over the glass getting to get a few more drops.  The lemon now looked like it had been left in the sun just a bit too long.

When Lisa accepted the dry, emaciated lemon.  She examined it from all angles as if she were viewing a lemon for the very first time.  She then grasped the fruit in her dainty little hand and held her fist over a new, empty glass.  Something about her pensive stare dropped a veil of silence over the bar.  She glared at her fist with the resolve of a person who had no doubt of her skills and her power.

The tension was profound.  Something about her stare made Joe squirm inside.  He wiped a drop of sweat from his brow, but he never took his eyes off that bony little fist. Almost without effort, Lisa gave the lemon a tiny squeeze.  Time seemed to stand still as the first drop took almost forever to fall from the little fist to the bottom of the tall glass.  Four additional drops followed.

The crowd was amazed.  Joe bought a round for everyone and Lisa gave out autographs and accepted gentle pats on her back.  When asked how she could have possibly squeezed five more drops from the lemon, she picked it up and squeezed out one more, stating simply said, "It's what I do."  His curiosity piqued, Joe asked what she did for a living.  He was not at surprised that Lisa was an Internal Revenue Service agent.