I used to listen to a lot of Jerry Clower’s comedy. Among my favorites was his tale of a very religious general store owner, named Duvall Scott. Every time he made a sale and opened the cash register, he recited a Bible verse. A child buys a piece of candy. Scott rings up the sale, saying, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” If a child comes to make a purchase for one of his parents, he might say, “Honour thy father and mother.” As with most old country stores, there were usually some old guys sitting around playing dominos or shooting the breeze. God-fearing men themselves, they always waited with great anticipation to hear what scripture he’d quote next.
One day a city fellow drove up in an expensive pickup truck, pulling a fancy horse trailer. He stopped to buy a blanket for his horse. Duvall Scott walked to the back, pulled a blanket off his shelf, and came back. “That’ll be $10.” The city dude replied, “This is an expensive horse. I won’t put a $10 blanket on him!”
Mr. Scott went into the back again to pick out another blanket. (He only had one kind.) He brought back a blanket of a different color, and said, “That’ll be $50.”
Frustrated, the city customer said, “I have a prize-winning thoroughbred out there. I must do better than a $50 blanket!”
Again Mr. Scott walked back to his blanket rack. He picked out another blanket – another of a different color. He brought it out and told the customer, “This one is $100.”
“Now that’s more like it! I’ll take it,” said the satisfied city slicker, handing Duvall Scott a fresh $100 bill.
The customer departed, and the old store owner rung up the sale. The old guys – knowing he had only one kind of blanket – intently waited for Duvall Scott, to hear what scripture he could possibly come up with to fit this sale.
Mr. Scott, inserting his $100 into the cash register, looked reverently up to heaven and said, fittingly, “He was a stranger, and I took him in.”
[At least, that’s the way I remember it. It’s so much better when Jerry tells it.]
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