A story tells of a merchant in a small town who had identical twin sons. The boys worked for their father in the department store he owned and, when he Died, they took over the store.

Everything went well until the day a twenty-dollar bill disappeared. One of the brothers had left the bill on the cash register and walked outside with A customer. When he returned, the money was gone.

He asked his brother, “Did you see that twenty-dollar bill on the cash register?” His brother replied that he had not. But the young man kept probing and Questioning. He would not let it alone. “Twenty-dollar bills just don’t get up and walk away! Surely you must have seen it!” There was subtle accusation In his voice. Tempers began to rise. Resentment set in. Before long, a deep and bitter chasm divided the young men. They refused to speak.

They finally Decided they could no longer work together and a dividing wall was built down the center of the store. For twenty years hostility and bitterness grew, Spreading to their families and to the community.

Then one day a man in an automobile licensed in another state stopped in … Read More »

Shown below, is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by a 96 year old woman. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times.

Dear Sir:

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to Pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have Elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of The funds needed to honor it.

I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my Entire salary, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only Eight years.

You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of Opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for The inconvenience caused to your bank.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused Me to rethink my errant financial ways.

I noticed that whereas I Personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging prerecorded, faceless entity Which your bank has be come.

From now on, I, like you, choose only … Read More »