Don't Let An Absence Interfere with Productivity 

A fellow stopped at some Arkansas gas station and, after filling his tank, he paid the bill and bought a soft drink. He stood by his car to drink his cola and he watched a couple of men working along the roadside. 

One man would dig a hole two or three feet deep and then move on. The other man came along behind and filled in the hole. While one was digging a new hole, the other was about 25 feet behind filling in the old. 

"Hold it, hold it," he said to the men. "Can you tell me what's going on here with this digging?" 

"Well, we're union, and we work for the state," one of the men said. "But one of you is digging a hole and the other fills it up. You're not accomplishing anything. Aren't you wasting the county's money?" 

"You don't understand, mister," one of the men said, leaning on his shovel and wiping his brow. "Normally, there's three of us--me, Bubba, and Earl. I dig the hole, Bubba sticks in the tree, and Earl here puts the dirt back. Just 'cause Bubba's sick, that don't mean that Earl and me shouldn't work!"