Christmas time here in the office is full of Pepperidge Farms and pre-popped popcorn in festive tins and Sees Candies and packs of hot cocoa. Ugh.

I have a funny story.

Every year our office manager gives us a gift, usually something small; my first year here it was $5 gift certificates to a garden center, the next year it was a music cd, and last year we each got a 25 pound bag of onions from her mother's farm out in Eastern Oregon. A bit strange, yes, but the onions were top-notch and also nobody got sick last year. Plus we all learned how to cook onions: onion soup, broiled onions, baked, fried, stewed, sauteed onions... like I said, nobody got sick that winter.

We have one co-worker who is a single mom with two boys. She often takes home some of the treats the office receives, especially the Pepperidge Farms goodies, since we always get a jumbo pack and half our staff is dieting. When we got the bag of onions, she called her boys and told them she'd be home with a big bag of goodies that evening. Jumping to the most obvious conclusion, her oldest boy shouted, "Summer sausage!" with great glee, and she didn't contradict him. But later she called again, and explained no, it was in fact a big bag of onions.

He didn't believe her.

She told him don't be disappointed, but he wouldn't believe her.

Until she got home and he learned it was, in fact, a big bag of onions.