| |
A
shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly
a brand-new BMW advanced out of the dust cloud towards him. The
driver, a young man in a Broni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses
and YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked the shepherd, "If
I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you
give me one?"
The
shepherd looked at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looked at his
peacefully-grazing flock and calmly answered, "Sure."
The yuppie parked his car, whipped out his notebook and connected
it to a cell phone, then he surfed to a NASA page on the Internet
where he called up a surveillance satellite system, scanned the
area, and then opened up a database and an Excel spreadsheet with
complex formulas. He sent an email on his Blackberry and, after
a few minutes, received a response.
Finally,
he prints out a 150 page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized printer
then turns to the shepherd and says, "You have exactly 1586
sheep." "That is correct; take one of the sheep."
said the shepherd. He watches the young man select one of the animals
and bundle it into his car.
Then
the shepherd says: " If I can tell you exactly what your business
is, will you give me back my sheep?" "OK, why not."
answered the young man.
"Clearly,
you are a consultant." said the shepherd. "That's correct,"
says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"
"No
guessing required." answers the shepherd. "You turned
up here although nobody called you. You want to get paid for an
answer I already knew, to a question I never asked, and you don't
know anything about my business. Now give me back my dog."
|
|
