The Shepherd and the Suit
The Shepherd and the Suit
A shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of the dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Broni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked the shepherd, " If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one ? "
The shepherd looked at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looked at his peacefully grazing flock and calmly answered, "Sure."
The yuppie parked his car, whipped out his notebook and connected it to a cell phone, then he surfed to a NASA page on the internet where he called up a GPS satellite navigation system, scanned the area, and then opened up a database and an Excel spreadsheet with complex formulas. He sent an email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, received a response. Finally, he prints out a 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized printer then turns to the shepherd and says, " You have exactly 1586 sheep. "
" That is correct; take one of the sheep." said the shepherd. He watches the young man select one of the animals and bundles it into his car.
Then the shepherd says: "If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my sheep?"
" OK, why not." answered the young man. "Clearly, you are a consultant." said the shepherd.
" That's correct, " says the yuppie, " but how did you guess that ?"
"Well," answers the shepherd. "You turned up here, although nobody called you. You want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked, and you know nothing about my business.
Now give me back my dog."
