Tom is applying for a job as a signalman for the
local railroad and is told to
meet the inspector at the signal box. The inspector decides to give
Tom a pop
quiz, asking: "What would you do if you realized that two
trains were heading
towards each other on the same track?" Tom says: "I would
switch one train to
another track." "What if the lever broke?" asks the
inspector. "Then I'd run
down to the tracks and use the manual lever down there,"
answers Tom. "What if
that had been struck by lightning?" challenges the inspector.
"Then," Tom
continued, "I'd run back up here and use the phone to call the
next signal box."
"What if the phone was being used?" "In that
case," Tom argued, "I'd run to the
street level and use the public phone near the station."
"What if that had been
vandalized?" "Oh well," said Tom, "in that case
I would run into town and get my
Uncle Leo." This puzzled the inspector, so he asked, "Why
would you do that?"
"Because he's never seen a train crash."