Our older sons, Alex and Taylor, are now working at the same restaurant. This could be a problem. As happy as I am that they are earning some of their own money and learning about holding a job, the potential for danger increased exponentially when both started earning and learning at the same spot.

Heading into last summer, Taylor, then 15, got a job at a fast food place. He went out and got the job completely on his own without letting us know what he was up to. He did well. Worked a lot of hours. Earned some good money. He got to where he could make a soft-serve ice cream cone with his eyes shut and, from the looks of his uniform each day, did. In the meantime, his older brother, Alex, applied at several places...often as part of a group of teenage boys. He came to find out that applying for jobs as part of a mob just didn't play well with folks in a position to hire. You're just sitting there in your "Knick-Knacks N' Such" shop, when in walks the cast of Porky's II. That's right...not even the good Porky's. Once he went out on his own, he, too, found gainful employment as a host at a sit-down eatery. He has gotten so good at it, that even at home he greets us at the door to the dining room and seats us quite cordially. Unfortunately, we are always stuck right by the kitchen.

Well, with the busy-ness of the new school year, Taylor decided to retire from the frozen treat trade and focus on getting the semester started on the right foot. However, he quickly found out that car insurance costs money...video games cost money...next summer's fun will cost money. I did my part to help by cutting his rent by 11 percent. As luck would have it, of the places he applied, it was his big brother's employer that brought him on board. It is a tribute to the good track record of Alex that they were happy to hire Taylor. However, having said that, I have a little word of warning and expression of concern.

When you put the two boys together anywhere near food, you are tempting fate. First of all, Alex will find it necessary to do entire Steve Martin routines, word for word, in an effort to make his brother laugh. Meanwhile, Taylor picks up the humor gauntlet and goes off on flights of fancy. Once, while we were eating a wonderful Sunday dinner, I mentioned how good the homemade rolls were. That set Taylor off. He created an entire story-line about the quest of a single, lonely roll to find his (or her?) way in life. We had some classical music playing at the time in our ongoing effort to appear more cultured than we actually are, and, that, led Taylor's doughy lead character to dance dramatically. He called it "Buntasia." The saga ended with "Buntasia" leaping...if a roll can leap...to his or her demise from the top of the stairs. Then, he or she was devoured by the dog. It was quite an epic and is still discussed in hush whispers around our house.

It could be worse...our other two kids could be working there, too. Samantha gets to laughing so hard, so often that the milk coming out of her nose is actually counted as one of Kansas City's eight million fountains. Harrison also goes in for a little performance art from time to time. Once, after polishing off a couple of chicken legs, he took the bones in this hands, then scrunched his arms up into his sleeves so that it looked like he had chicken leg bones for hands. Just imagine Foghorn Leghorn crossed with Edward Scissorshands. It was pretty goofy looking and set his grandpa to laughing so hard we thought we might have to call the EMTs. Grandpa's face looked like a grape with a gland condition, it was so purple with hilarity.

All I'm saying is that any restaurant that hires one of our kids is getting a good solid worker. Any restaurant that hires two of our kids is getting a potential comedy minefield. Any restaurant that would hire three or four of our kids should be investigated for financial shenanigans since it would seem obvious that they were hoping to collect on the insurance.

Well, maybe this particular place should go with the flow and start advertising a floor show with the meal: "Fresh from a long and successful engagement at The CopacaNichols, it's Alex and Taylor. Seating! Serving! Silliness! They have it all! Gentlemen, guard your ties! Ladies, hide your purses. You never know what might happen when The Happy Hosts are in the house! Alex and Taylor...Better Than CATS!...Messier than Dogs!"