Good-bye Mother
A young man was walking through a supermarket to pick a few things when he noticed an old lady following him around. Thinking nothing of it, he ignored her and continued on. Finally he went to the checkout line, but she got in front of him."Pardon me," she said, "I'm sorry if my staring at you has made you feel uncomfortable. It's just that you look just like my son, who just died recently."
"I'm very sorry," replied the young man, "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yes," she said, "As I'm leaving, can you say 'Good bye mother!' it would make me feel much better."
"Sure," answered the young man.
As the old woman was leaving, he called out, "Good bye mother!" and felt quite good about himself that he did a good deed and made someone feel happy.
As he stepped up to the checkout counter, he saw that his total was $127.50. "How can that be?" he asked, "I only purchased a few things!"
"Your mother said that you would pay for her," said the clerk.
お母さんさようなら
若い男がスーパーでいくつかの物を買おうとしていると年取った女性が後をついて来る。別に気にも留めずに彼は女性を無視して買い物を続ける。そして彼がレジの列に並ぶとその女性が前に入って来る。「ごめんなさい、」と彼女は言う、「じっとみつめて落ち着かなくさせたりしたらごめんなさい。ただあなたが最近無くなった私の息子に良く似ているのよ。」
「それは大変でしたね、」と男は言う、「何か私にできることはありますか？」
「ええ、」と彼女は言う、「もう私は帰るけど、「お母さんさようなら！」と言ってくれないかしら？そうしたらきっと気分が良くなると思うの。」
「いいですよ。」と彼は言う。
そして年取った女性が去る時に、彼は呼びかける「お母さんさようなら！」 そして彼は誰かに対して良い事をしたと自分でも気分が良くなる。
そして彼がレジに行くと、合計が１万５千２００円になっていることに気付く。 「これはおかしいんじゃない？」と彼は聞く、「ちょっとしか買い物してないのに！」
「あなたのお母さんがあなたが払うって言ってたのよ。」とレジの人は言う。
