One dark night outside a small town, a
fire started inside the local chemical plant. Before long it exploded into flames and an
alarm went out to fire departments from miles around.
After fighting the fire for over an hour, the chemical company president approached the
fire chief and said, "All of our secret formulas are in the vault in the center of
the plant. They must be saved! I will give $50,000 to the engine company that brings them
out safely!"
As soon as the chief heard this, he ordered the firemen to strengthen their attack on the
blaze. After two more hours of attacking the fire, president of the company offered
$100,000 to the engine company that could bring out the company's secret files.
From the distance a long siren was heard and another fire truck came into sight. It was a
local volunteer fire company composed entirely of men over 65. To everyone's amazement the
little fire engine raced through the chemical plant gates and drove straight into the
middle of the inferno.
In the distance the other firemen watched as the old timers hopped off of their rig and
began to fight the fire with an effort that they had never seen before.
After an hour of intense fighting the volunteer company had extinguished the fire and
saved the secret formulas. Joyous the chemical company president announced that he would
double the reward to $200,000 and walked over to personally thank each of the volunteers.
After thanking each of the old men individually the president asked the group what they
intended to do with the reward money. The
fire truck driver looked him right in the eye and said, "The first thing we're going
to do is fix the damn brakes on that truck!" |