A man has spent many days crossing the desert without water. His camel dies of thirst. He’scrawling through the sands, certain that he has breathe d his last, when all of a sudden hesees an object sticking out of the sand several yards ahead of him.
He crawls to the object, pulls it out of the sand, and discovers what looks to be an old briefcase. He opens it and out pops a genie. . . . But this is no ordinary genie. He is wearing anInland Revenue ID badge and dull grey suit. There’s a calculator in his pocket. He has apencil tucked behind one ear.
"Well, kid, " says the genie."You know how it works. You have three wishes. . ."
"I’m not falling for this." says the man."I’m not going to trust a person from the InlandRevenue"
"What do you have to lose? You’ve got no transportation, and it looks like you’re agonner anyway!"
The man thinks about this for a minute, and decides that the genie is right.
"OK, I wish I were in a lush oasis with plentiful food and drink."
***POOF***
The man finds himself in the most beautiful oasis he has ever seen, and he is surrounded withjugs of wine and platters of delicacies.
"OK, kid, what’s your second wish."
"My second wish is to be rich beyond my wildest dreams."
***POOF***
The man finds himself surrounded by treasure chests filled with rare gold coins andprecious gems.
"OK, kid, you have just one more wish. Better make it a good one!"
After thinking for a few minutes, the man says: "I wish that no matter where I go beautifulwomen will want and need me."
***POOF***
He is turned into a tampon.
The moral of the story?
If the Inland Revenue offers you anything, there’s going to be a string attached.