Steve Swain
12-28-2006, 12:29 PM
Back in the day, a cowboy rides into a small western town. He has to ride slowly because his horse has lost a shoe. As he rides by the dry goods store, he notices a man, who is apparently the proprietor, sweeping the boardwalk and he calls out, “Hey buddy, can you tell me where I can get a shoe for my horse?”
The man answers, “The stage line just got a new farrier in at the other end of town.”
The cowboy proceeds to stable at the stage line office and arranges for a new shoe. When he returns to get the horse, he inspects the job and is surprised to find a very poor shoeing. He leads his horse out of the stable and heads back into the town where he spies the dry goods store proprietor walking along and he calls out, “I can’t believe you recommended the guy at the stage line, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that’s the first horse he ever shoed.”
The man answers, “I didn’t recommend him, I just said he was a place to get the job done. And you’re probably correct, I don’t think the guy has much experience but that is his trade.” After a pause, the man continues, “You know the preacher at the church has been shoeing horses for nearly 20 years now.”
The cowboy nods and heads towards the church steeple. When he gets there, he spies a man who is obviously the preacher and he inquires about getting the shoe on his horse fixed. The preacher agrees and begins to work; all the while though he is espousing the good book. When the work is done, the cowboy is still not happy with the job but heads towards the local eatery.
Again he meets with the dry goods store proprietor who is eating his dinner. When he mentions that the job the preacher did is not that professional, the man replies, “Of course he’s not a professional. He is a man of God and shoeing horses is his avocation.” The man takes another bite of his food and mentions, sotto voce, “That why I do my own shoeing.”
The cowboy is amazed, “Why didn’t you tell me you shoe horses?”
The dry goods store proprietor answers, “You wanted someone willing to do the work. I don’t recollect you ever asking who was best qualified for the job. The first man I referred you to was a professional and the second man had a lot of experience. If you had any sense at all, you would have known that neither of those attributes are any gauge of the work being done.”
Did you get the moral?
Fancy phraseology distracts from the story. . .
The man answers, “The stage line just got a new farrier in at the other end of town.”
The cowboy proceeds to stable at the stage line office and arranges for a new shoe. When he returns to get the horse, he inspects the job and is surprised to find a very poor shoeing. He leads his horse out of the stable and heads back into the town where he spies the dry goods store proprietor walking along and he calls out, “I can’t believe you recommended the guy at the stage line, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that’s the first horse he ever shoed.”
The man answers, “I didn’t recommend him, I just said he was a place to get the job done. And you’re probably correct, I don’t think the guy has much experience but that is his trade.” After a pause, the man continues, “You know the preacher at the church has been shoeing horses for nearly 20 years now.”
The cowboy nods and heads towards the church steeple. When he gets there, he spies a man who is obviously the preacher and he inquires about getting the shoe on his horse fixed. The preacher agrees and begins to work; all the while though he is espousing the good book. When the work is done, the cowboy is still not happy with the job but heads towards the local eatery.
Again he meets with the dry goods store proprietor who is eating his dinner. When he mentions that the job the preacher did is not that professional, the man replies, “Of course he’s not a professional. He is a man of God and shoeing horses is his avocation.” The man takes another bite of his food and mentions, sotto voce, “That why I do my own shoeing.”
The cowboy is amazed, “Why didn’t you tell me you shoe horses?”
The dry goods store proprietor answers, “You wanted someone willing to do the work. I don’t recollect you ever asking who was best qualified for the job. The first man I referred you to was a professional and the second man had a lot of experience. If you had any sense at all, you would have known that neither of those attributes are any gauge of the work being done.”
Did you get the moral?
Fancy phraseology distracts from the story. . .