A man stopped at a local gas station to fill his tank and buy a soda. Leaning against his car, drinking the soda, he noticed a couple of men working along the roadside.
The first man would dig a hole two or three feet deep and then move on to dig another. The second man came
along behind him and filled in the hole. This continued, one would dig and the other, 25 feet behind him, would fill it in. The men worked on and on, moving past the guy at the gas station and on down the road.
"I can't stand this," said the man observing, and approached the two men working. "Hold it, hold it," he said to the men. "Can you tell me what's going on with all this digging and refilling?"
"Well, we work for the government and we're just doing our job," one of the men said.
"But one of you is digging a hole and the other filling it up. You're not accomplishing anything. Aren't you wasting the taxpayers' money?"
"You don't understand, mister," said one of the men, leaning on his shovel and wiping his brow. "Normally, there's three of us: me, Elmer, and Leroy. I dig the hole. Elmer sticks the tree in. And Leroy, here, puts the dirt back. Elmer's job was cut . . . so now it's just me an' Leroy."
