Friday, December 3, 2010

Slow Day

It's a slow day in the small town of Pumphandle, Saskatchewan - the streets are nearly deserted. Economic times are tough so everybody is in debt and everybody is living on credit.
A tourist visiting the area drives through town, stops at the motel, and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying that he would like to inspect the rooms upstairs before picking one for the night.
The motel owner gives him a key and as soon as he walks upstairs, the owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the Co-op.
The guy at the Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her "services" on credit. The hooker rushes to the motel and pays off her room bill to the motel owner. The motel owner then places the $100 back on the counter so the traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment, the traveler comes down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, so he picks up his $100 bill and leaves.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything ... However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism.
......................And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a Stimulus package works.