Phil walks into his boss’s office one day and says, “Sir, I’ll be honest with you. I know the economy isn’t great, but I’ve got three companies after me, and I’d like to ask for a raise, respectfully.”

After a few minutes of haggling, the boss finally agrees to give him a 5 percent raise, and he happily gets up to leave.

“By the way,” the boss asks as Phil leaves his office, “which three companies are after you?”

Phil replies, “The electric company, the water company and the phone company.”