The Wrong Room

"I'd like to climb that big tree and trim off some of that moss that's hanging down and take it home."

"Come back to earth, Lana," Carol chided her. "We'll buy you some moss at the nursery when we get home."

"Oh, it's just not the same as saying I got it in southern Georgia hanging from a tree."

Carol shook her head. "First of all, you'd break your neck when you fell out of the tree, and second, you'd never be able to climb it. That is a huge tree."

"The two friends had finished a breakfast of Cheerios in their room, and were walking the few hundred yards toward the church building on the campground for the morning message. Each day during camp meeting there were three messages throughout the day. The morning and noon services were good, with good teachers and good gospel music, but the evening service was always the best. Lana loved this part of being in the south. The gospel music was different, and the spirit was different, and she enjoyed going to camp meeting each year with Carol who was a total package of a southern Christian woman, one who loves the Lord. The mid-July morning air was cool enough to enjoy the walk.

They reached the square, flat-roofed building that was the church building and wandered in to find a seat. The seats that lined two sides of the large room were padded pews that had been donated by different churches in the area, so some were padded with red material and some with gold. Most churches were doing away with pews and replacing them with more comfortable chairs.

They visited with a couple that sat close to them, then Lana excused herself to use the facilities before the class started. Maybe she shouldn't drink so much coffee, she thought to herself.

Carol left her seat for a few minutes to visit with an acquaintance that she had seen enter the room. This was the part that she enjoyed, seeing people that she normally didn't get to see during the rest of the year. When she returned to her seat, Lana was just hustling back into the room and, with a bit of a fluster, sat down beside Carol. Lana was beet red and trying to stifle her laughter, a bit unsuccessfully. Now what, Carol thought.

"What's WRONG with you?" 

Lana giggled and informed Carol that she would never guess what had just happened.

"I went into the restroom and stopped in front of the mirror to brush my hair. And guess who walked in!"

Carol just stared at Lana. 

"A MAN!" exclaimed Lana, but in a loud whisper.

"A man? Why would a man walk in?" Carol was confused.

"Because I was in the men's restroom!" again Lana exclaimed in a loud whisper. 

With that they both began to laugh, but had to quickly calm themselves because the piano was beginning to play and everyone began to stand to sing, Sweeter As the Years Go By. Everyone sang but Lana and Carol who were still giggling over Lana's error.

"It's always something with you," Carol mouthed to Lana, which was what Neil always said to Lana when she did something like this. And they laughed, quietly, all the more.

The message was good that morning, but Carol and Lana couldn't remember a word of it. Both were too occupied with trying not to laugh out loud, Lana, remembering the embarrassment and surprise she had experienced when she had turned to see a man walk into the restroom, and Carol, creating her own picture in her mind and enjoying the thought that Lana had done such a thing as to wander into the men's room.