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Missing wallet
Bidding at a local auction was proceeding furiously when the auctioneer suddenly announced, "A gentleman in this room has lost a wallet containing $10,000. If it is returned, he will pay a reward of $2,000."
There was a moment's silence, and then from the back of the room came the cry, "Two thousand five hundred
Fish heads
A customer at Green's Gourmet Grocery marveled at the proprietor's quick wit and intelligence.
'Tell me, Green, what makes you so smart?'
'I wouldn't share my secret with just anyone,' Green replies, lowering his voice so the other shoppers won't hear. 'But since you're a good and faithful customer, I'll let you in on it. Fish heads. You eat enough of them, you'll be positively brilliant.'
'You sell them here?' the customer asks.
'Only $4 apiece,' says Morris.
The customer buys three. A week later, he's back in the store complaining that the fish heads were disgusting and he isn't any smarter.
'You didn't eat enough,' says Green. The customer goes home with 20 more fish heads. Two weeks later, he's back and this time he's really angry.
'Hey, Green,' he says, 'You're selling me fish heads for $4 apiece when I just found out I can buy the whole fish for $2. You're ripping me off!'
'You see?' says Morris. 'You're smarter already.'
Test for engineering job
A young man named Murphy applied for an engineering position at an Irish firm based in Dublin. An American applied for the same job and both applicants, having the same qualifications, were asked to take a test by the department manager.
Upon completion of the test both men had only missed one of the questions. The manager went to Murphy and said, "Thank you for your interest, but we've decided to give the American the job."
"And why would you be doing that? asked Murphy. "We both got 9 questions correct. This being Ireland and me being Irish I should get the job!"
"We have made our decision not on the correct answers, but on the question you missed."
"And just how would one incorrect answer be better than the other?"
"Simple," replied the manager. "On question # 5, the American put down, 'I don't know.' You put down 'Neither do I.'"
What is two and two?
A bank manager was interviewing four very different applicants from his short list for the position of clerical. He devised a simple test to select the most suitable person for the job. He asked each applicant the question, 'What is two and two?'
The first interviewee was a journalist. His answer was 'Twenty-two.'
The second applicant was an engineer. He pulled out a slide rule and showed the answer to be between 3.999 and 4.001.
The next person was a lawyer. He stated that in the case of Jenkins v Cromwell two and two was proven to be four.
The last applicant was an accountant. When the bank manager asked him, 'How much is two and two?', the accountant got up from his chair, went over and closed the door.
He came back, sat down, leaned across the desk and said in a low voice, 'How much do you want it to be?' He got the job.
365 missing wheelbarrows
A man got a job as a night watchman at a factory. There had been a lot of thefts by the workers on the night shift, and so every morning when the night shift workers passed through his gate it was his job to check their bags and pockets to make sure that nothing was being stolen.
Things were going along very well the first night on the job until a man pushing a wheelbarrow of newspapers came through his gate. Aha, he thought, that man thinks he can cover up what he is stealing with that newspaper. So he removed the paper only to find nothing. Still he felt that the man was acting strangely, so he questioned him about the paper.
"I get a little extra money from newspapers I recycle, so I go into the lunchroom and pick up all the ones people have thrown away."
The guard let him pass, but decided to keep a close eye on him.
The next night it was the same, and the night after that. Week after week it went on. The same guy would push the wheelbarrow of newspapers past the guard's checkpoint. The guard would always check and find nothing. Then one night, about a year later, the guard reported for work only to find a message had been left for him telling him to report to his supervisor.
He walked into the supervisor's office and before he could say a word, the boss said, "You're fired!"
"Fired?" he asked in total surprise. "Why? What did I do?"
"It was your job to make sure that no one stole anything from this plant and you have failed. So you're fired."
"Wait a minute, what do you mean failed. Nobody ever stole anything from this place while I was on guard."
"Oh, really," the boss answered. "Then how do you account for the fact that there are 365 missing wheelbarrows?"
Boss's idea
When a guy's printer type began to grow faint, he called a local repair shop where a friendly man informed him that the printer probably needed only to be cleaned. Because the store charged $50 for such cleanings, he told him he might be better off reading the printer's manual and trying the job himself.
Pleasantly surprised by his candor, he asked, 'Does your boss know that you discourage business?'
'Actually, it's my boss's idea,' the employee replied sheepishly.
'We usually make more money on repairs if we let people try to fix things themselves first.'
How to Truly Impress A Client?
I was in the airport VIP lounge en route to Seattle a couple of weeks ago. While in there, I noticed Bill Gates sitting comfortably in the corner, enjoying a drink.
I was meeting a very important client who was also flying to Seattle, but she was running a little bit late.
Well, being a straightforward kind of guy, I approached the Microsoft chairman, introduced myself, and said, 'Mr. Gates, I wonder if you would do me a favor.'
'Yes?'
'I'm sitting right over there,' pointing to my seat at the bar, 'and I'm waiting on a very important client. Would you be so kind when she arrives as to come walk by and just say, 'Hi, Ray,'?'
'Sure.'
I shook his hand and thanked him and went back to my seat.
About ten minutes later, my client showed up. We ordered a drink and started to talk business.
A couple of minutes later, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Bill Gates.
'Hi, Ray,' he said.
I replied, 'Get outa here, Gates, don't you see I'm in a meeting?!'
Occasional mistake
A building contractor was being paid by the week for a job that was likely to stretch over several months. He approached the owner of the property and held up the check he'd been given.
'This is two hundred dollars less than we agreed on,' he said.
'I know,' the owner said. 'But last week I overpaid you two hundred dollars, and you never complained.'
The contractor said. 'Well, I don't mind an occasional mistake. But when it gets to be a habit, I feel I have to call it to your attention.'
Sell him a houseboat
A realty salesman had just closed his first deal, only to discover that the piece of land he had sold was completely under water.
'That customer's going to come back here pretty mad,' he said to his boss. 'Should I give him his money back?'
'Money back?' roared the boss. 'What kind of salesman are you? Get out there and sell him a houseboat!'
Accounting
Rick, fresh out of accounting school, went to a interview for a good paying job. The company boss asked various questions about him and his education, but then asked him, "What is three times seven?"
"22," Rick replied. After he left, he double-checked it on his calculator (he *knew* he should have taken it to the interview!) and realized he wouldn't get the job.
About two weeks later, he got a letter that said he was hired for the job! He was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but was still very curious. The next day, he went in and asked why he got the job, even though he got such a simple question wrong. The boss shrugged and said, "Well, you were the closest."