A Engineer and an Programmer are sitting next
to each other on a long flight from LA to NY. The Engineer leans
over
to the Programmer and asks if he would like to play a fun game.
The
Programmer just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines
and rolls over
to the window to catch a few winks.
The
Engineer persists and explains that the game is real easy and a lot
of
fun. He explains „I ask you a question, and if you don’t know the
answer, you pay me $5. Then you ask me a question, and if I don’t know
the answer, I’ll pay you $5.“
Again, the Programmer politely
declines and tries to get to sleep.The
Engineer, now somewhat
agitated, says, „OK, if you don’t know the
answer you pay me $5, and if
I don’t know the answer, I’ll pay you $50!“
This catches the
Programmer’s attention, and he sees no end to this
torment unless
he plays, so he agrees to the game. The Engineer asks the
firs
t question: „What’s the distance from the earth to the moon?“
The Programmer doesn’t say a word, but reaches into his wallet, pulls
out a five dollar bill and hands it to the Engineer.
Now,
it’s the Programmer’s turn. He asks the Engineer „What goes up
a
hill with three legs, and comes down on four?“
The Engineer
looks up at him with a puzzled look. He takes out his
laptop computer
and searches all of his references. He taps into the
Airphone with
his modem and searches the net and the Library of Congress.
Frustrated, he sends e-mail to his co-workers — all to no avail.
After
about an hour, he wakes the Programmer and hands him $50. The
Programmer politely takes the $50 and turns away to try to get back to
sleep.
The Engineer, more than a little miffed, shakes the
Programmer and asks
„Well, so what’s the answer?“
Without a
word, the Programmer reaches into his wallet, hands the
Engineer
a $5 bill, and turns away to get back to sleep.
