The most ridiculous thing I ever heard

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard!” Now why in the world would I want

to put a slice of potato on my eye?

I saw the surprised look on his face and had to suppress the urge to snicker. It was

quite evident that he had never heard of the old wives tale. So I decide to enlighten him

on some old timey home remedies.

I could see that he wasn’t going to be an easy sell so I said “Listen Jeff, I know it

sounds funny but it works. I learned of it from my grandmother and she from her

grandmother before her". So what have you got to lose, I mean the sty will not be going

anywhere by itself now is it? ” It is not going to hurt you Jeff, I continued. The worse part

of it is getting use to the feel of the cold potato. Besides, you only have to wear it over

night. It is not like anyone is going to see you with a potato strapped to your face. Again, I

had to hide the fact that I wanted to laugh, not mind you at Jeff, but more at his reluctance

to believe that something as simple as a slice of potato could be the answer to his

dilemma.

“All the same I think I will pass on the potato,” Jeff said, as he gave his own nervous

little laugh. But as fate would have it, a little later he was asking what exactly the potato

did to help. I started by telling him that I did not understand the science behind it or

exactly what took place, only that I knew from personal experience that it did indeed

work.

He told me that he had been getting these sties for as long as he could remember and

that nothing he had tried had helped. In fact, he had even seen a doctor about them and

received a prescription for some salve to put on his eyelid, only to find that it did little if

anything for the reoccurring sties.

Finally, after some more doddling around, he consented to try the potato to see if he

could get some relief. I cut the potato and applied it to his eye and secured it with a piece

of tape. Leave it on over night I told him and remove it in the morning to see if it had

helped.

Early next morning, I received a phone call from Jeff and could hardly understand

him due to his almost hysterical ranting. “It worked, it worked,” he kept repeating. I

did not believe it had a snowballs chance in Hades, but it did it, it worked. He was

almost giddy with joy and I almost began to laugh myself. I’m happy for you Jeff I told

him. But you don’t understand… it worked. I mean it really worked. There’s no swelling

no redness, and most of all it’s not sore anymore. I know I said, isn’t that what I’ve

been telling you. “Yes” he replied but I still didn’t believe you, and it still the most

ridiculous sounding thing I ever heard, but it’s true. I just can’t believe it. It’s the weirdest

thing I’ve ever seen but it’s true.

So it is a lesson that we all could learn, that just because something sounds ridiculous

does not mean that it can't be true. Just remember, sometimes truth is stranger than

fiction.