Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site cae780.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!zehntel!dual!onyx!amd70!cae780!gordon From: gordon@cae780.UUCP (Brian Gordon) Newsgroups: net.jokes Subject: Bureaucrats vs. logic (true story) Message-ID: <359@cae780.UUCP> Date: Sun, 26-Feb-84 05:03:40 EST Article-I.D.: cae780.359 Posted: Sun Feb 26 05:03:40 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 2-Mar-84 15:22:04 EST Organization: CAE Systems Inc. Sunnyvale, Ca. Lines: 26 [Living sacrifice to assuage the gods of first lines . . .] Once upon a time, while working at a "Government Agency Which Does Not Exist", the fellow at the desk next to me was on the distribution list for a (highly classified) memo, whose cover instructions were to initial the list after he had read the memo. He realized that he was not supposed to read that material, so he initialed the distribution memo and noted the fact that he did not belong on it. The proper bureaucrats realized that there had indeed been an error, and sent the cover sheet (distribution list) back to him to have him erase his initial from it. Since, however, the cover sheet itself was (mildly) classified, no erasures may be unaccounted for. Thus, the instructions he received were to -- you guessed it -- "Erase the initials and initial the erasure"! (Yes, it really happened.) FROM: Brian G. Gordon, CAE Systems USENET: {ucbvax, ihnp4, decvax!decwrl}!amd70!cae780!gordon {qubix, hplabs}!cae780!gordon USNAIL: 1333 Bordeaux Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089 AT&T: (408)745-1440 From the world of the middle of four-part harmony.