THE COUNTRY SALESMAN

A keen country lad applied for a salesman's job at a city department store.  It
was one of those massive stores that has every department imaginable.  In fact
it was the biggest store in the world --- you could get anything there.

The boss asked him, "Have you ever been a salesman before?"

"Yes, I was a salesman in the country," said the lad.

The boss liked the cut of him and said, "You can start tomorrow, Friday
morning,
and I'll come and see you when we close up."

When the boss looked up the young man the next day at closing time, he saw him
shaking hands with a beaming customer.  After they parted, he walked over and
asked, "Well, that looked good!  How many sales did you make today?"

"That was the only one," said the young salesman.

"Only one!?!" blurted the boss.  "Most of my staff make 20 or 30 sales a day.
You'll have to do better than that!  Well, how much was the sale worth?"

"Two hundred twenty seven thousand, three hundred thirty four dollars and
change," said the young man.

The boss paused for a moment, blinking a few times.  "H... H... How did you
manage that?!?"

"Well, when he came in this morning and I sold him a small fish hook.  Then, I
sold him a medium hook, and then a really large hook.  Then I sold him a small
fishing line, a medium one, and then a big one.  I then sold him a speargun, a
wetsuit, scuba gear, nets, chum, coolers, and a keg of beer.  I asked him where
he was going fishing and he said down the coast.  We decided he would probably
need a new boat, so I took him down to the boat department and sold him that
twenty-foot schooner with the twin engines.  Then, he said that his Volkswagon
probably wouldn't be able to pull it, so I took him to the car department and
sold him the new Deluxe Cruiser, with a winch, storage rack, rustproofing, and
a
built-in refrigerator.  Oh, and floor mats."

The boss took two steps back and asked in astonishment, "You sold all that to a
guy who came in for a fish hook?!"

"No," answered the salesman. "He came in to buy a blanket."

"A blanket?"

"Yeah, an extra blanket for the couch.  He just had a fight with his wife.  I
said to him, 'Well, your weekend's ruined, so you may as well go
fishing'......."