Monk, Season 8

Monk:
I don't know how you do it.

Lt. Disher:
What's that?

Monk:
How you take it. People joke around, tease you, you never get mad or upset.

Lt. Disher:
Mmm, it used to bother me when I was coming up in uniform. I heard people laughing, telling Randy Disher stories. And it hurt, you know? I almost quit.

Monk:
What happened?

Lt. Disher:
One night I got a call - a P-300 downtown. There was a bumper sticker on one of the cars, and it said, "Happiness is a choice." I mean, I know it sounds crazy, but it changed my life. I mean, I made a decision right there. I chose to be happy. I mean, I really believe that. I mean, you have the power. You can choose to be happy.

Monk:
I guess I should read more bumper stickers.

Lt. Disher:
[yawning] Everybody should. Okay, it's late. I'm gonna to go sack out.

Monk:
Yeah, good night.

Lt. Disher:
See you in the morning.

Monk:
Wait a minute. P-300? Isn't that a fatality?

Lt. Disher:
Yeah, it was pretty ugly. The driver hit a tractor-trailer head on. He and his wife were both DOA [Dead on arrival].

Monk:
And this was the car that had the bumper sticker, "Happiness is a choice"?

Lt. Disher:
Yeah, that's right. Well, actually, it was on fire when I got there, so it was hard to read.

Monk:
And this didn't deter you or make you think twice?

Lt. Disher:
[shrugs] It was an epiphany, Monk. You can't just choose where you get it. I mean it could come from a guru on a mountaintop, or it could be from a bumper sticker on a burning Subaru.