So one of my favorite advertising representatives calls up to ask if she can get an ad onto one of the pages in the Jordan Independent after the deadline.

Late ads are a fact of life. Once in a while this kind of thing happens, and I usually let it slide. Why shouldn't I find space for an ad that will, in a sense, help pay my salary?

Ad Lady is telling me about her ad and the space it will take up -- space where I was going to print a story, a photo, a birth announcement, or something else. Then, she gets sarcastic. She said she'd already gotten everything ready because she knew I'd make space for the ad.

You're so easy to work with, Ad Lady said in a complimentary tone.

Then, I made myself laugh with a goofy one-liner: "Well, you know. You scratch your back. I'll scratch my own."