*Juan the Smuggler*
Juan comes up to the Mexican border on his bicycle. He has two large
bags over his shoulders. A guard stops him and says, "What's in the
bags?"
"Sand," answered Juan.
The guard says, "We'll just see about that. Get off the bike."
The guard takes the bags and rips them apart; he empties them out and
finds nothing in them but sand. He detains Juan overnight and has the
sand analyzed, only to discover that there is nothing but pure sand in
the bags. The guard releases Juan, puts the sand into new bags, lifts
them onto the man's shoulders and lets him cross the border.
A week later, the same thing happens. The guard asks, "What have you
got?"
"Sand," says Juan.
The guard does his thorough examination and discovers that the bags
contain nothing but sand. He gives the sand back to Juan, and Juan
crosses the border on his bicycle.
This sequence of events repeats every day for three years. Then one day,
Juan doesn't show up. The guard meets up with him in a cantina in
Mexico.
"Hey, buddy," the guard says, "I know you're smuggling something. It's
driving me crazy. It's all I think about. I can't sleep. Just between
you and me, what are you smuggling?"
"Bicycles," Juan says.
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