My family just returned from a weekend road-trip to Dallas.

I was hungry when we left the house. My wife got hungry about half way there. And my kids started complaining while we were still an hour or so away.

The decision was now unanimous. We decided we’d stop and grab a bite in Waxahachie, a town just outside of Dallas.

Bad decision.

Apparently the people in Waxahachie don’t eat. Or at least, they don’t eat near the freeway.

With nary a restaurant in site, we kept driving. And complaining.

A few moments later I saw a sign for a restaurant. It had a funny name, but we didn’t care. All that mattered was that they sold food.

Unfortunately, as we got closer, it turns out they didn’t sell food. They sold Fords. I’d simply misread the sign.

Everybody got a good laugh at my expense. Especially my wife.

About 15 minutes later, she saw a sign for a restaurant. A real restaurant.

This one was located just a few miles ahead at an exit called Wintergreen.

I jokingly told my wife that it was probably just another Ford dealership.

She pointed to the sign and said, “You’re wrong. See. It says, ‘Eat at Wintergreen.’”

That’s when I pointed out to her that it actually said, “Exit at Wintergreen.”

Ah, revenge is sweet.

The funny thing is, once we ate, neither of us had any more trouble reading signs for the rest of the trip.

Of course, the fact that we tend to see what we want to see can be amusing. But it doesn’t take much of an imagination to realize that it could also be tragic.

Rather than ask each other, “How many fingers am I holding up?” maybe we should ask, “How many fingers are you looking for?”

Odds are, that’s how many we’re going to see.