A tourist walks into a curio shop in
San Francisco. Looking around at the exotica,
he notices a very lifelike life-sized bronze
statue of a rat. It has no price tag, but
is so striking he decides he must have it.
He takes it to the owner:
“How much for the bronze rat?”
“$12 for the rat, $100 for the story,” says the owner.
The tourist gives the man $12.
“I’ll just take the rat, you can keep the story.”
As he walks down the street carrying his bronze rat,
he notices that a few real rats have crawled out
of the alleys and sewers and begun following him
down the street. This is disconcerting, and he
begins walking faster. But with in a couple of
blocks, the herd of rats behind him has grown
to hundreds, and they begin squealing.
He begins to trot toward the Bay, looking
around to see that the rats now number in
the MILLIONS, and are squealing and coming
toward him faster and faster.
Concerned, even scared, he runs to the edge of
the Bay, and throws the bronze rat as far out
into the water as he can. Amazingly, the millions
of rats all jump into the Bay after it, and are
all drowned.
The man walks back to the curio shop.
“Ah-ha!” says the owner,
“you have come back for the story?”
“No,” says the man,
“I came back to see if you have a bronze Politician!”
