"Think yoah smaht doncha!"

Whatever bumper stickers are made of- that shiny plastic with adhesive backing-- anyway someone brought in a pile of green stickers made of that stuff to church one Sunday morning. I think it was some local business’s safety slogan- the stickers were about the size of a large post card and they read “LIFE IS FRAGILE- HANDLE WITH CARE.”
I don’t know what we were supposed to do with the ugly green stickers- the donor thought maybe the Sunday School teachers would like them. I don’t recall any of the teachers being excited but the teens in the church enjoyed finding places to put these bumper-sticker-like signs “LIFE IS FRAGILE…”
John was about 15 as I recall (I think he is 53 now!!) and he was resourceful enough to find a use for even the margins that were left on the wax paper after the slogans had been removed from the center. When Sunday morning worship started he armed himself with a stack of “margins,” and each time the congregation stood to sing or pray or listen to scripture he peeled off a sticky green loop and laid it adhesive side up on the pew in front of him. In just a short time Sam Cook, the elderly gentleman who was sitting in front of John had a collage of green loops on the seat of his trousers. He made quite a sight as he left his seat on the aisle to walk to the rear of the church to take his place with the ushers receiving the offering.
The other ushers quickly peeled off the sticky loops so the entire congregation was spared ther scene John had had in mind. Just a few people had seen Sam Cook’s black suit decorated with the shiny green squares.
As soo as the offering was taken, and Sam Cook came back to his seat, not exactly in a worshipful spirit of love, he leaned over before he sat down and said in his native New England accent “Think yoah smaht doncha!”
John managed to keep his face straight but the row of teens were absolutely delighted with that morning’s service. “Think yoah smaht doncha!” became one of those short-hand family sayings every family has-- a phrase that stand for a whole story.