On a Tish
This morning on my walk to the cafe, I saw a used tissue on the sidewalk. I didn’t feel generous enough to pick it up.
My wife carries a tissue with her. I suspect it’s not just to catch a nasal drip. Might it be a tiny comfort blankie? After all, she calls it a tish.
Tishes are useful, of course, when you’re sick — from a drippy nose on up, or I should say, down.
Tishes help with emotion, from tears of laughter to well, you know.
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Or as the Trader Joe’s tissue box adds, “I’m there when you run out of toilet paper.”
If I gave you $10,000 and a year, could you produce even one tish? Yet you can buy 65 for two bucks in your choice of designer boxes. Or 85 tishes for a buck and a half at Trader Joe’s.
So, next time you see a used tish on the sidewalk, you might supplement your dismay with gratitude. You might even pick it up — by the part that seems snot-free.
Tish tip: As the Trader Joe’s box says, “Please don’t leave me in your pocket when you do laundry.”
I read this aloud on YouTube.
Marty Nemko’s 36 books include Light: short-short stories on life’s brighter side. You can reach him at mnemko@gmail.com
