1/18/99

Young man Murphy applied for an engineering position 
at an Irish firm based in Dublin.  An American applied for 
the same job and both applicants having the same 
qualifications were asked to take a test by the Department 
manager. 

Upon completion of the test both men only missed one of 
the questions.  The manager went to Murphy and said, 
"Thank you for your interest, but we've decided to give 
the American the job" 

Murphy: "And why would you be doing that?  We both 
got  9  questions correct. This being Ireland and me being 
Irish I should get the job!" 

Manager: "We have made our decision not on the correct 
answers, but on the question you missed." 

Murphy: "And just how would one incorrect answer be 
better than the other?" 

Manager: "Simple, the American put down on question 
# 5, "I don't know".  You put down "Neither do I ".