A young man was having some money problems, and needed $800 to get his car fixed and roadworthy again – but had run out of people to borrow from.
He called his parents via the operator and reversed the charge, saying to his father: “I need to borrow two hundred pounds.”
At the other end, his father said: “Sorry, I can’t hear you, son, I think there may be a bad line.”
The boy shouted: “Eight hundred. I need eight hundred dollars!”
“Sorry, I still can’t hear you clearly,” his father said.
The operator cut in: “Sorry to butt in, but I can hear him perfectly clearly.”
The father said: “Good. Then you send him the money!”
The village blacksmith finally found an apprentice willing to work hard at low pay for long hours.
The blacksmith immediately began his instructions to the lad, saying: “When I take the shoe out of the fire, I’ll lay it on the anvil; and when I nod my head, you hit it with this hammer.”
The apprentice did just as he was told. Now he’s the village blacksmith.
“Mummy, why are all the cars beeping their horns?” The boy asked.
“Because there’s a wedding going on,” his mum replied.
“But isn’t the horn a warning signal mummy?” He asked.
“Exactly, son.”