Once Over Lightly

SPEAKING OF EXCUSES: L. C. of Massachusetts sent in an anecdote about a young man with a drinking problem who was living with his parents. One chilly evening, his mother asked him to go outside and chop an armload of firewood. A few moments after he stepped out the door, a carload of his drinking buddies came driving by, and he couldn't resist. He took off with them, went on a three-day toot, and came back through the door red-eyed but with the armload of wood.