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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
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USNAIL: 1333 Bordeaux Drive, Sunnyvale, CA  94089
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 From the world of the middle of four-part harmony.