The Receipt

"That's it!" She said. "It's over."

Then she handed him a piece of paper.

"What's this?" He asked.

"It's your receipt." She replied.

"My what?"

"Your receipt for our relationship."

"My what?" He was rightfully confused however the question came too late. She had walked away leaving him holding all that was left of his most recent relationship.

He asked aloud: "What am I supposed to do with this?"

A stranger overheard the desperate question. "Go to the address. The one on the receipt."
Surprised he confronted the stranger. "You know what this is?"

The stranger smiled compassionately and said "Just go to the address."

Depressed and with little else to do, due to his recently cancelled plans, he went to the address.

After a short walk he entered a government building. Viewing the building's tenant listings he saw the office he was looking for. In bold 3-d lettering was:

DEPARTMENT OF BREAK-UPS - Third Floor.

On the third floor he was greeted by a queue of long faced men and women. Quietly he joined the solemn and waited his turn. When it came, he was greeted by by a clerk with a sympathetic smile and a bureaucratic understanding of his needs. She asked for the receipt and then
excused herself. She returned holding a plain cardboard box. The clerk handed him the box, asked him to sign a form and wished him a nice day.

At home he opened the box. Inside was a bottle of shampoo.

"Shampoo!" He was incredulous. "Shampoo!" He said it again but it did not change the fact that all that was in his box was a simple bottle of shampoo. He was mad. He could not believe that his relationship came down to hair soap.

Disappointed, he placed his relationship back in the box and put the box in a cupboard.

Several months later he found himself in need of some shampoo. Not wanting to go to the store, he remembered his ex-girlfriend. With some lingering resentment he removed the shampoo from its box and declared that it was time to wash his hair with his former relationship. In the shower he read the usage instructions on the bottle. They were:

Apply to wet hair.
Place a small amount in your hand.
Bring to lather in your hair.
Rinse and repeat if necessary.

The next day he would ask the new girl in accounting out on a date.
Her name was Jill.