The answer to the riddle is "Yay! I found a new commenter!" Wait, no, thats not it. The REAL answer is that the woman needed another funeral. Congrats, Jennifer!

But, is that the end of the story? Have you EVER known me to have a one-sentence story? Lol. Sometimes I crack myself up.

So, it all started when Sam called me ...

Samantha called me last week with that riddle. I was just idlely chatting. You know, loading the dishwasher, handing out cheese-sticks, making sure no one took raisons in the computer room again (don't ask), etc. Without giving it another thought, I muttered the answer. While making a note that we needed more grape-juice.

Lucy: She needed a funeral.
Sam: (after big pause) (in a tight little voice) Why would she need a funeral?

Lucy: (exasperated) Obviously, if the man came to her mother's funeral he might show up for her sister's funeral. Although it would have been smarter to kill her Mother's best-friend. Its likely that if he didn't sign the guest-book that he didn't know her, he was probably there with someone who DID know her, and since he was about her age he could have been the son of one of her Mother's friends.
Sam: (dead silence)

Lucy: Thats the answer, right? Right? Are you still there?
Sam: Yes. (weird, scrunched voice)

Lucy: What's wrong with you?
Sam: This riddle is a question used to evaluate sociopathic tendancies.

(dead quiet)

Lucy: Don't be ridiculous. You got it. Didn't you?
Sam: (still sounding weird) No. No one has gotten it except JohnDoe (a guy we both know that is truly diagnosably sociopathic and/or narcisisistic)

Lucy: You can't be serious.
Sam: Ummm.

Lucy: YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! First, its not that I approve of the behavior. He would. Second, HOW could you NOT get it after spending years with The Sisters!?! ("The Sisters" being my mother and her five sisters)

Sam: (Sounding both relieved and normal) Oh! RIGHT! Of course you'd get it. Of everyone, YOU would get it.
Lucy: Hrumph! (Yes, I make that sound out loud. It can be VERY effective)

Pay attention to the part where Lucy and Jennifer are NOT sociopaths! (According to American Heritage "sociopaths are interested only in their personal needs and desires, without concern for the effects of their behavior on others.") Just because we knew the answer doesn't mean we approve of the answer. (I took a quick look at her site and feel comfortable giving her the benefit of the doubt :)

And its likely that we'd good witnesses to a crime. Most people aren't because they focus on the victim. Apparently, Jennifer and I would focus on the criminal. I like to think that would have made us good boy-scouts. "Always Be Prepared", and you can't be prepared if you take your eye off the ball.

And its not to say that my mother is out killing small animals. THAT would be a psychopath.

What it does mean is that you know more about "Lucy" that you thought you'd be learning today. And its not really depressing. No surprise that everyone has baggage of one kind or another. You know how in the story of Cinderella, things start out well, and then there's the icky part, and then the happy ending? Well, I found my very happy ending ages ago!