Earl and Bubba had been best friends for as long as anyone in town could remember.

Every Saturday morning, before the sun had properly risen, they loaded an old cooler, two fishing rods and enough beer to survive what they called “a demanding day outdoors” into Bubba’s battered pickup truck.

That particular morning, the lake was perfectly calm. The fish were not biting, but Earl and Bubba did not seem concerned. Catching fish had never been the main purpose of their fishing trips.

They sat quietly in their little boat, chewing tobacco, drinking beer and staring across the water.

For nearly an hour, neither man said a word.

To them, this counted as an excellent conversation.

Eventually, Bubba shifted in his seat and sighed heavily.

Earl glanced at him but said nothing. He knew Bubba would speak when he was ready. There was no reason to rush a man who usually needed five minutes just to choose between two identical cans of beer.

After another long silence, Bubba finally said, “Think I’m gonna divorce the wife she ain’t spoke to me in over 2 months.”

Earl remained completely still.

He studied the water as though the answer might be swimming somewhere beneath the boat.

Then he slowly removed the tobacco from his mouth, spat overboard and opened another beer.

Bubba waited anxiously.

Earl took a long, thoughtful sip, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and looked his friend directly in the eye.

“Better think it over; women like that are hard to find.”