The Sound of Joie . . .

is not the sound of silence, that's for sure ! Today, we heard the gentle clinking of the fork and spoon puzzle as someone tried to untangle it. The squeaking of the rubber duck. "To me that's an absolute disgrace" spoken in a British accent by the soccer sound machine. The yodeling of the pickle. The animatronic singing plush goat, channeling Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music. The Rites of Spring - wind chime version. Mozart on a music box. the oinking of the pig keychain. the crying baby of the get off the phone excuse machine. the excited voices of teenage customers (three teenagers can seem like a dozen) or kids crying "Mom/Dad - look at this!!" Sometimes all these sounds occur almost in the same minute. No wonder that woman had a hard time deciding whether to buy that $150 music box . . . . and no wonder we sometimes get a little confused while adding up a sales slip and reach for the calculator. Yet - we really mean it when we say "that's okay" when someone apologizes for pressing the Emergency Meow button - once you've been at Joie for awhile, you achieve a kind of Zen about it all. At least most of the time!