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An Attorney and an Tax Accountant are sitting next to each other on a long flight from Los Angeles to New York. The Attorney leans over to the Tax Accountant and asks if he would like to play a fun game. The Tax Accountant just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks. The Attorney persists and explains that the game is really easy and a lot of fun.
He explains "I ask you a question and if you don't know the answer, you pay me $5." Again, the Tax Accountant politely declines and tries to get some sleep. The Attorney, now somewhat agitated, says "OK, if you don't know the answer you pay me $5, and if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $50!" This catches the Tax Accountant's complete attention, and he sees no end to this torment unless he plays, so he agrees to the game.
The Attorney asks the first question. "What's the distance from the earth to the moon?" The Tax
Accountant doesn't say a word, reaches in to his wallet, pulls out a five-dollar bill and hands it to the Attorney. Now, it's the Tax Accountant's turn. He asks the Attorney, "What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down with four?" The Attorney looks at him with a puzzled look. He takes out his laptop computer and searches all his references. He taps into the air-phone with his modem and searches the Net and the Library of Congress. Frustrated, he sends instant messages and emails to all his co-workers and friends he knows. All to no avail.
After over an hour, he wakes the Tax Accountant and hands him $50. The Tax Accountant politely takes the $50 and turns away to get back to sleep. The Attorney, more that a little miffed, shakes the Tax Accountant and asks, "Well, so what IS the answer?"
Without a word, the Tax Accountant reaches into his wallet, hands the Attorney $5 and goes back to sleep. |