The quizmaster was a composite of all objectionable masters of ceremonies; loud, brash, condescending and insultingly familiar. The contestant, a farmer's wife from Maine who was in town visiting her daughter, endured the quizzer's quips about her home state with quiet dignity, but her lips tightened when he burbled repeatedly about New England thrift and penny-pinching.
Answering question after question, the Maine woman won the jackpot with ease. Dangling the prize money before her, the quizmaster rehashed his jokes about New England thriftiness.
"And now," he asked theatrically, "what are you going to do with all this money?"
The woman's reply brought down the house.
"Count it," she said frostily.
-- Eugene T. Booth
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