Toxic Assets

Edith: From the back seat "What time is it?"

Paul - no answer - driving the car and in deep thought

Edith: several seconds later "Babe? Hello?"

Paul: "What?"

Edith: "I asked you what time it was."

Paul: "Oh. I thought you said 'toxic assets'."

Edith: "What are toxic assets?"

Paul: "Toxic assets are the bad debt that is part of the mortgage crisis that is currently happening."

Edith: "WHY would I all of the sudden, breaking complete silence, say 'toxic assets'?"

Paul: "Maybe you were thinking about that."

Edith: "Well doesn't my blurting out 'toxic assets' deserve an answer?"

Paul - silence

Edith: several seconds later "toxic assets"

Paul: "It's 1:15 pm"