A man walked into a curio shop in Galveston Texas. Looking around at the
exotica, he noticed a very life-like, life-size bronze statue of a rat. It had no price
tag, but it looked so striking that he decided he must have it. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/yumyum.gif.0556df42231b304b9c995aefd13928a8.gif
He took it to the owner and asked "How much is the bronze rat?" //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/bowdown.gif.b85b23b82970bd22fb6b549c3392f016.gif
"Twelve dollars for the rat, a hundred dollars if you bring it back," said the owner.
The man gave the shop owner twelve dollars. "I'll take the rat; and I won't be bringing it back." //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/nono.gif.eca61d170185779e0921b0faa9704973.gif
As he walked down the street carrying the bronze rat, he noticed that a few real
rats had crawled out of alleys and sewers, and began following him down the
street. This was a bit disconcerting, so he began to walk a little bit faster. Within
a couple of blocks, the group of rats behind him grew to over a hundred, and
they began squealing. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/scared.gif.f134e57c6c93ccd0f15aa5ac32c7d4a0.gif
He started to trot towards the Harbor. He took a nervous look around and saw
that the rats numbered in the thousands, maybe in the millions, and they were
all squealing and coming towards him faster and faster. Terrified, he ran to the
edge of the water and threw the bronze rat as far out into the Harbor as he
could. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smash.gif.499e08a4a35ffaf54f4c8194fb8fe8ed.gif
Amazingly, the millions of rats all jumped into the water after it, and were
drowned. The man walked back to the curio shop. "Aha," said the owner, "You're
bringing it back !"
"Actually no," said the man. "I came back to see how much you want for that
little exotic bronze tube amplifier over there. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/idea.gif.5acb6a39a9b92425414c316dda202bad.gif