How to Stretch a Dollar
Many years ago, two sisters inherited a family ranch. The older sister is very smart, while the younger sister is not so much.
Unfortunately, after just a few years, they are in financial trouble. In order to keep the bank from repossessing the ranch, they need to purchase a bull from a stockyard in a faraway town so that they can breed their own stock. They only have $600 left.
Upon leaving, the older one tells her sister, "When I get there, if I decide to buy the bull, I'll contact you to drive out after me and haul it home."
The older sister arrives at the stockyard, inspects the bull, and decides she wants to buy it. The man tells her that he will sell it for $599, no less. After paying him, she drives to the nearest town to send her younger sister a telegram to tell her the news.
She walks into the telegraph office and says, "I want to send a telegram to my younger sister telling her that I've bought a bull for our ranch. I need her to hitch the trailer to our pickup truck and drive out here so we can haul it home."
The telegraph operator explains that he'll gladly help her, then adds, "It's just 99 cents a word." Well, after paying for the bull, the older sister only has $1 left. She realizes that she'll only be able to send her younger sister one word.
After a few minutes of thinking, she nods and says, "I want you to send her the word 'comfortable'."
The operator shakes his head. "How is she ever going to know that you want her to hitch the trailer to your pickup truck and drive out here to haul that bull back to your ranch if you send her just the word 'comfortable?'"
The older sister explains, "My sister's very slow. The word's big. She'll read it very carefully... com-for-da-bull."
