It was close to Thanksgiving. I'm a teacher and I had been sharing a book of turkey riddles with my preschool class. The following day we visited a supermarket for a tour and to talk about foods our families might serve for Thanksgiving. In each department there was a spokesperson who talked to the young children briefly about their area of the store.

The lady in the produce section let the preschoolers spray water on the fruits and vegetables. Big hit with the kids!

In the bakery department they had the chance to sample a cookie. Yum.

But the head of the meat department clearly had no experience with preschoolers. His talk included technical terms about meat inspections, USDA requirements, meat temperatures, and how meats were classified. The class grew very restless, but the speaker seemed unaware. At last it appeared that he was going to release us to the next department. We were all anxious to move on. But before we left his area he asked one last thing.

"Do any of you boys and girls have a question about meat?"

Chris raised his hand. I was stunned. What could this four-year-old possible want to ask about meat that our tour guide hadn’t already over-explained?

"Yes, son?"

All the teachers turned to listen. Chris’ question was thankfully simple.

Why did the turkey cross the road?

The teachers broke into laughter. The guy from the meat department was finally speechless.