About two weeks ago, after the science exam on Saturday evening, my buddy Jack and I went to the supermarket called SKYL Mall across from our school. At the store, we got off the shelves a lot of supplies such as snacks and tissues before we came to the checkout lanes and joined a queue.

Waiting in line at the counter, Jack, as innocent as a baby, spotted something he had not noticed before. On a rack at the checkout counter were candies, batteries and compact boxes. The neat little containers were beautifully packaged, with a picture of a man and a woman in bed printed on them. I suppose everyone in the world, except Jack, knows what they are. They are condoms.

Picking up a box, Jack started to comment on it. Then he went a step further. He set about reading out loud the instructions printed on the package. When he was going aloud through the how-to, all the shoppers around had their eyes riveted on my naïve friend.

So embarrassed was I that I wished the floor could crack and swallow me in. Turning to Jack, I said under my breath, “You shut up, Jack! I’ll tell you all about it after we are back.”

Hearing something extraordinary in my tone, Jack stopped short and put the box back onto the rack.