The Stupidest Question EVER asked

Sirens are blaring out there.
I don't know why.
The Man just went out the back door grumbling "what's goin' on out there."
He called out "It sounds like Bugsy Malone just robbed The Third National Bank!"
which, visualizing that scene, made me laugh out loud.

Last Saturday we went to the Port of Cleveland to see our friend Captain Z
who had arrived aboard the Isadora, delivering steel from Ijmuiden Holland.
The ship is so familiar to us, the Bridge, the Captain's quarters, the stairways
and hallways looked and smelled the same. We had lunch in the dining room
and we sat in our regular seats with the Captain at the head of the table. Rafal,
the First Mate, was there, too. Of our three crossings, two were with Rafal.
We love him dearly. He's the hardest working, cheeriest man ever. Whenever
I felt afraid during bad weather, Rafal always gave me confidence and
reassured me that all was well.

During coffee in the Captain's suite, the Captain said that since it was the weekend
and no work was scheduled for Sunday, he could come to our house for the night.
This was wonderful news, but also a complete surprise to me and I began
hyperventilating about the state of our house, the dust, the disorder, Did I do
the dishes?, When's the last time I cleaned the bathroom?, What on earth
can I make for dinner?

I was unprepared, but all turned out well. We had a good time.

On Sunday afternoon we took the Captain to a shopping mall in downtown
Cleveland because he wanted to get some gifts. In particular, he wanted to buy
a Cleveland Cavaliers jersey for his son. We were looking around one sports shop
and I asked him, "who's your son's favorite player?" He said, "Lebron James."

I called out to the salesgirl "Is there some player on the Cavaliers named Lee Brown James?"

Two teenage boys were the only other customers in the store. You'd have thought
I'd lit off a firecracker by their reaction to my question. One jumped and shook
his head in disbelief and, I'll never forget the tinge of horror on his face. They both
were gasping and grabbing for each other. Then they hurriedly left the store, looking
back at me as if they were afraid I'd come after them.

I looked at the sales girl and asked, "What? Was that the stupidest question ever, or what?"
She grinned and sympathetically said, "Well, he is sort of famous."

I've mentioned this episode to friends and they all tell me the same things about this
basketball player, that he was drafted out of high school and that he played on the
Olympic team, etc., etc. They all end with, "He's the most famous player IN THE WORLD,"
with a silent "stupid!" at the end of the sentence.

I figure it's all okay. I can now add "stupid ol' white lady" to my curriculum vitae.