A man observed a woman in the grocery store
with a three year old girl in her basket. As they
passed the cookie section, the child asked for
cookies and her mother told her "no." The
little girl immediately began to whine and fuss,
and the mother said quietly, "Now Ellen, we just
have half of the aisles left to go through; don't be
upset. It won't be long."

He passed the Mother again in the candy aisle.
Of course, the little girl began to shout for candy.
When she was told she couldn't have any, she
began to cry. The mother said, "There, there, Ellen,
don't cry. Only two more aisles to go, and then we'll
be checking out."

The man again happened to be behind the pair at
the check-out, where the little girl immediately began
to clamor for gum and burst into a terrible tantrum
upon discovering there would be no gum purchased
today.

The mother patiently said, "Ellen, we'll be through this
check out stand in five minutes, and then you can go
home and have a nice nap."

The man followed them out to the parking lot and
stopped the woman to compliment her. "I couldn't
help noticing how patient you were with little Ellen..."

The mother broke in, "Oh, no, my little girl's name is Tammy...
I'm Ellen."