Kevin Adderly was not going to give up on his punchline.
He’d invested too much to get to this point. He was so near the pay-off. He wanted this joke. He wanted to so much he could taste it. He could also taste the cabbage that Rock Samasa had just sprayed into his face with an ill-timed sneeze.

Here’s what happened:

He, Rock, and their wives were out to dinner at one of those fancy Japanese places. One of the dishes had come in a nest of crunchy cabbage shreds. The shreds were intended to be a garnish, but Rock had tasted them and found them delicious.
Kevin was telling a story and was just coming to the punchline when something ticked Rock’s nose and before anyone knew it, Rock had sneezed, spraying Kevin with a mist of sneeze, sprite and chewed cabbage.
Kevin had only paused for a moment, taking his glasses off and rubbing them clean with the restaurant’s linen while he finished the joke.
“I said sprocket, not socket,” he said with a flourish.

He would never know what they were laughing at.