"A couple is celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. Their model marriage had long been the talk of the town so a local newspaper reporter was interviewing the husband to find out the secret of their long and happy marriage. The man responded like this...

'Well, it dates back to our honeymoon, explained the husband. We visited the Grand Canyon and took a trip down to the bottom of the canyon by pack mule. We hadn't gone too far when my wife's mule stumbled. My wife looked at the mule square in the eyes and quietly said `That's once.` We continued down into the canyon a little further when the mule stumbled again. Once more my wife looked at the mule square in the eyes and this time she quietly said, `That's twice.` Again we continued down into the canyon. We'd gone less than half a mile when the mule stumbled a third time. This time my wife got off the mule, took a revolver from her purse and shot the mule dead.

When I started to protest her treatment of the mule, she looked at me square in the eye and quietly said, `That's once.` "