A CHANGE FOR THANKSGIVING Harry, who lived in Ohio, was pleased when his friend sent him a parrot from Guyana as a gift. After a period of apparent shyness, the parrot, to Harry’s delight, began to speak, but also to Harry’s dismay, the parrot’s words were absolutely filthy. Harry tried to change matters by speaking in the best, kindest language to the bird and encouraged it to change its language. But to no avail. The parrot seemed to get worse. It was a few days before Thanksgiving and Harry was expecting a large number of his best relatives in America to have dinner at his home. He despaired at what his relatives would think when they heard his foul-mouthed parrot. When nothing he thought of would work, Harry angrily snatched the bird, tossed it in the kitchen freezer and slammed the freezer door shut even as the parrot clawed the air and squawked loudly in protest. After about a few minutes, he began to feel guilty and pulled it out. The parrot was quiet at first, but later said “I know I must have hurt you by all the ugly things I said. I am very sorry and I promise never to say such things again.” Harry was relieved and thanked the parrot. More silence. Then the parrot said “May I ask a question? ….. What did the turkey do?”
