A woman was in town on a shopping trip. She began her day finding the most perfect shoes in the first shop and a beautiful dress on sale in the second. In the third everything had just been reduced to a fiver when her mobile phone rang. It was a female doctor notifying her that her husband had just been in a terrible accident and was in critical condition and in the ICU.
The woman told the doctor to inform her husband where she was and that she’d be there as soon as possible.
As she hung up she realized she was leaving what was shaping up to be her best day ever in the shops. She decided to get in a couple of more shops before heading to the hospital.
She ended up shopping the rest of the morning, finishing her trip with a cup of coffee and a beautiful cream slice complementary from the last shop. She was jubilant.
Then she remembered her husband. Feeling guilty, she dashed to the hospital. She saw the doctor in the corridor and asked about her husband’s condition. The lady doctor glared at her and shouted, ‘You went ahead and finished your shopping trip didn’t you! I hope you’re proud of yourself! While you were out for the past four hours enjoying yourself in town, your husband has been languishing in the Intensive Care Unit! It’s just as well you went ahead and finished, because it will more than likely be the last shopping trip you ever take! For the rest of his life he will require round the clock care. And you’ll now be his carer!’
The woman was feeling so guilty she broke down and sobbed…
The lady doctor then chuckled and said, ‘I’m just pulling your leg. He’s dead. What did you buy?
Vocabulary Help
- as soon as possible – assim que possível
- begin (begin, began, begun) – começar
- break down – desabar
- carer – pessoa responsável por cuidar de alguém
- dash to the hospital – ir rapidamente para o hospital
- dead – morto
- dress – vestido
- female – fêmea
- find (find, found, found) – encontrar
- finish – terminar
- fiver – cinco dólares
- glare – olhar com fúria, raiva
- go ahead – seguir em frente
- guilty – culpada
- hang up – desligar o telefone
- head to – ir em direção a
- husband – marido
- ICU (Intensive Care Unit) – Unidade de Tratamento Intensivo
- languish – definhar
- leave (leave, left, left) – deixar, abandonar
- proud – orgulhosa
- pulling your leg – tirando uma, gozando com a cara de alguém
- realize – compreender
- remember – lembrar
- ring (ring, rang, rung) – tocar
- round the clock care – cuidados 24 horas
- sale – liquidação
- shoe – sapato
- shop – loja
- shopping trip – viagem de compras
- shout – gritar
- slice – fatia
- sob – soluçar
- town – cidade