A husband and wife were married for forty years. When they first got married, the husband said, “I’m putting a box under the bed. You must promise never to look in it.”
In their 40 years of marriage, the wife never looked. However, on the afternoon of their fortieth anniversary, curiosity got the best of her…she lifted the lid and peeked inside. In the box were three empty beer bottles and about $400 in small bills. She closed the box and put it back under the bed. Now that she knew what was in the box, she was even more curious as to why.
That evening they were out for a special dinner at their favorite restaurant. After dinner, the wife could no longer contain her curiosity, and she confessed, “I am so sorry. For all these years I kept my promise and never looked. However, today the temptation was too much and I gave in. But now I need to know, why do you keep the bottles in the box?”
The husband thought for a while and said, “I guess after all these wonderful years, you deserve to know the truth. Whenever I was unfaithful to you, I put an empty beer bottle in the box under the bed to remind me not to do it again.”
The wife was shocked, but said, “I am very disappointed and saddened, but I guess after all those years away from home on the road, temptation does happen. And I guess that three times is not so bad considering the number of years.”
They hugged and made their peace.
A little while later the wife asked the husband, “Why do you have all that money in the box?”
To which the husband answered, “Whenever the box filled with empties, I cashed them in.”