Old Mrs Brown down the road always said we should be thankful for small mercies.
She used to say at work – we worked knitting machines making gloves and stuff – this was years ago – she used to say that if she ever won the lottery she’d buy a milk shake for everyone. There were eleven of us. We reckoned that if she won the lottery, eleven milkshakes would be peanuts.
Well, she did win the lottery. We couldn’t shut her up. She said she’d continue to work. That lasted a day. We reminded her of the milkshakes. She bought them.
She bought one strawberry milkshake for herself, and a single lime milkshake to be shared between us eleven.
“You promised us a milkshake if you won the lottery,” we chorused.
“And you got it,” she said. “Be thankful for small mercies.”