"A young man wearing overalls and rubber boots walked into a car dealership in the city of Bodo, Norway, and said he wanted to buy 16 cars. Annoyed, the salesman told him to buzz off, as he didn't have time of jokes. The young man then went across the street to another dealership and made the same announcement. The dealer there took him at his word. It turned out that the man was part of a 16 man fishing crew that had just been given large bonuses for bringing in a record catch. The crew had authorized him to go car shopping for them, figuring they'd get a better price if they bought all the cars at the same place. The second dealer sold him 16 cars at the equivalent of $160,000, a deal the first salesman could have had if he hadn't been so quick to judge.
One person who made a habit of not judging too quickly was President Herbert Hoover. Once, Hoover was riding on a train that passed a flock of sheep, and a fellow traveler mentioned that they had just been sheared. 'Well,' the cautious Hoover replied, ' on this side anyway.'"
~ excerpt from Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice
No comments:
Post a Comment