There once was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs.

He was hard of hearing, so he had no radio. His eyes not so good, so he didn’t read the newspaper.

But he sold good hot dogs. In fact, his were the best.

He put up signs on the highway telling how good they were.

He stood by the side of the road and cried, “buy a hot dog”

People bought, business was good.

He increased his meat and roll orders.

He bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade.

With his profits he sent his son to college so that he would have a better life.

One day his son came home from college with a freshly minted diploma.

His son said: “Father, haven’t you been listening to the radio?

There’s a big recession coming, people are cutting back. Your business will dwindle, your profits erode; you may even be forced to close!”

”Well, my son’s been to college, he reads the paper and he listens to the radio and he ought to know”.

So the father cut down on his meat and roll orders,

Took down his advertising signs, and no longer bothered to stand on the highway to tell people how good his hot dogs were.

Sales Plummeted, Literally Overnight!

“You were right son, sales have fallen off terribly”, the father said to the son.

“We certainly are in the middle of a horrible recession. It’s a good thing you’ve been to college so you know these things.”