[Jokes] How cold will this winter be?

[Chris McKenna]

I spotted this on a website I read:

How cold will [winter] be this year? I'm reminded of an old story.

Some years ago the native people on a remote reservation asked their new 
chief the same question. Like many of his people, he was caught between 
the old ways and the modern world, and he wasn't sure how best to predict 
the weather. In order to be on the safe side, he told his people that the 
signs said that the winter was going to be a cold one and that they should 
stockpile a large supply of wood for fuel.

Being a modern leader, with knowledge of science and meteorology, the 
chief also decided to consult the government's weather forecasting service 
to see what they said.

'Is this winter going to be a cold one?' he asked.

'Our long-range forecasts say this winter is going to be quite cold, yes,' 
the weather service's meteorologist replied.

So the chief returned to his people and urged them to stockpile even more 
wood for fuel in order to be prepared for the winter. Then, a couple of 
weeks later, he contacted the government weather service again to get a 
more up-to-date forecast.

'Are you sure this winter is going to be a cold one?' he asked.

'Yes, we're increasingly convinced that it's going to very cold,' came the 
reply.

The chief returned to his people again and urged them to stockpile every 
piece of wood they could find. And a couple of weeks after that he 
contacted the weather service for a final check on their forecasts.

'Are you absolutely sure that this winter is going to be a very cold one?' 
he asked.

'Absolutely, we've no doubt at all about it now,' the meteorologist 
answered. 'It's going to be one of the coldest ever.'

'How can you be so sure?' the chief asked, puzzled by the certainty of 
these government scientists.

'Well,' replied the meteorologist. 'The natives are stockpiling wood like 
crazy!"

-- 
Chris 'Awkward' McKenna

cmckenna at sucs.org
www.sucs.org/~cmckenna


The essential things in life are seen not with the eyes,
but with the heart

Antoine de Saint Exupery