on the lighter side

Last night, we went to have dinner with Ryan's great-aunt and his grandmother (who is visiting for the week) and it was really fun. At 82 and 75 (respectively) these two are still a hoot! I need a whole new website just for their wacky stories, these ladies will split your sides! As we're leaving, Aunt Irene puts a door hanger on the outside of her front door.

Ryan : what's that?
Irene : it's my 'dead or alive' sign
Ryan : your what?
Irene : hee hee, yeah. Mary [neighbor] gave one to me.
Ryan : so what does that mean? If the sign is up, sing Bon Jovi?
Irene : oh, mijo! You're silly!
Ryan : what's it for, really?
Irene : every night we put out our signs and every morning we take them in. If your sign is still up past 9am then one of the neighbors is supposed to call you and make sure you're ok inside the house.
Ryan : that is actually a really good plan
Irene : yeah, and if you don't answer the phone, then they call the paramedics
Ryan : that's a really good plan. But wait, couldn't you call it something other than the 'dead or alive' sign? Maybe 'all's well' or something?
Irene : no, we like the morbid name
Ryan : ha ha ha, ok then
Irene : in fact, Mary is upset with everyone because she forgot to take off her sign today until lunch time and no one had noticed. But with all the rain and stuff, no one went out, everyone grabbed their sign really quick and went back in the apartment. So she called already today to say 'thanks for nothing' and 'in case you were wondering, I'm not dead'.
Ryan : well, I guess you'll have to apologize
Irene : eh... she isn't dead, so oh well.