Stu’s bobby pin was lost.

It’s not like he didn’t know where it was. He knew exactly where it was. It was on the ground behind his bedside table. It had fallen back there when Stu threw it in a bowl on the table, and it bounced out and into oblivion. Stu was just too lazy to dig around back there in the tight spot created by the table and the wall to retrieve his bobby pin.

Stu would just have to make do without it.

Two weeks after losing the pin to the void behind that blasted corner table, Stu couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to get a hold of another one. His teenaged daughter Kirby was bound to have one.

What teenaged girl didn’t have a bobby pin?

“Kirby, sweetheart. Do you have a bobby pin I can steal?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Kirby proceeded to look through her dresser.

“A small one would be best.”

Kirby found the requested bobby pin. “Here you go,” as she handed it to Stu. “What are you going to do with it? Do you need to unlock a door or something?”

Stu didn’t really want to tell her the truth. “Uuuummmm, yeah. That’s it. Let’s say it’s exactly that.” Kirby made note of the look on her father’s face. It would come in handy they next time they played poker.

Stu was good for now. He had a new bobby pin.

A few days later, Kirby approached Stu. “Dad, can I have my bobby pin back?”

“Uuuuuuummmmm, no.” Stu didn’t want to give it back.

“Why not? It’s not like you need it. Men don’t use those things. Besides, you’re bald.”

“Honey,” Stu had to get out of this discussion. “It’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever get that bobby pin back.”

“But why? What did you stick it in?” Without knowing better, Kirby had just given her father a way out.

“Tell you what, Kirby.” Stu leveled with his little girl. “Regardless of what I stuck that pin in, you aren’t going to want it back. Even if you do get it back, you aren’t going to want to put it in your hair.”

Kirby ended her interrogation. Stu got to keep his bobby pin.

Case closed.