[UA] The mysterious case

[Timothy Toner]

Hrm.  That reminds me of the old joke about the factory owner and the worker
who experienced a reversal of fortune when the Tsar was overthrown.  The
owner was now relegated to manual labor at a saw mill, and the laborer was
now the security guard at the gate.  After the first day of work, the former
owner headed for home, pushing a whellbarrow full of sawdust.  Amused by
this pathetic attempt at smuggling, the guard searches the pile and finds
nothing.  THe former owner explains that the foreman said it was okay to
take the sawdust home with him.  The guard lets it pass, but the very next
day at closing time, there's the former owner and the wheelbarrow full of
sawdust.  This time the guard tips over the sawdust, sifts through it, finds
nothing, and orders the former owner to clean it up.  After he leaves, the
guard realizes that it's a setup.  The former owner is trying to lull him
into a false sense of complacency, and when it becomes ritual, then the REAL
smuggling will begin.  SO each day, he tips the whellbarrow over, sifts
through the dust, finds nothing, and sends the former owner on his way.
This went on for FORTY years.  At last it was time to retire, and they both
were a little tired of the games.  The guard takes his badge off, places it
on a bench, and asks him, "Were you smuggling something all these years?  I
really must know.  I will not report you if you did--but the question is
killing me!"  The former owner smiles, "Yes, I was smuggling something."
"What?!?!  What could it be?"  "Wheelbarrows."

Maybe the case was a former container of The Football, and someone can use
its unutilized potential for world devastation as some sort of a spell.


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