John the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several
hundred young layers (hens, called pullets and eight or ten roosters,
whose job was to fertilize the eggs. The farmer kept records and any
rooster that didn't perform went into the soup pot and was replaced.
That took an awful lot of his time so he bought a set of tiny bells
and attached them to his roosters.
Each bell had a different tone so John could tell from a distance,
which rooster was performing. Now he could sit on the porch and fill
out an efficiency report simply by listening to the bells.
The farmer's favorite rooster was old Butch, a very fine specimen he
was too. But on this particular morning John noticed old Butch's bell
hadn't rung at all! John went to investigate. The other roosters were
chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the rooster s
coming, would run for cover.
But to Farmer John's amazement, Butch had his bell in his beak, so it
couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to
the next one. John was so proud of Butch, he entered him in the county
fair and Butch became an overnight sensation among the judges.
The result ... The judges not only awarded Butch the "No Bell Piece
Prize" but they also awarded him the "Pulletsurprise" as well.
... Clearly Butch was a politician in the making. Who else but a
politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted
awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace
and screwing them when they weren't paying attention?
