A guy stopped at a local gas station and, after filling his tank, he paid the bill and bought a soft drink. He stood by his car to drink his cola and watched a couple of men working along the roadside.

One man would dig a hole two or three feet deep and then move on. The other man came along behind him and filled in the hole. While one was digging a new hole, the other was 25 feet behind filling in the hole.

The men worked right past the guy with the soft drink and went on down the road.

"I can't stand this," said the man, tossing the can into the trash container and headed down the road toward the men. "Hold it, hold it, there buddy," he said to the men. "Do you mind telling me what's going on here with all this digging and refilling?"

"Well, we work for the State of Louisiana and we're just doing our job," one of the men said. "But one of you is digging a hole and the other fills it up. You're not accomplishing anything. Have you considered the fact that you're wasting the taxpayers' money?"

"You dont understand, mister," one of the men said, leaning on his shovel and wiping his brow. "Normally there's three of us: me, Leroy, and Tyrone. You see, I dig the hole, Leroy sticks in the tree, and Tyrone here puts the dirt back. Unfortunately, Leroy's job's been cut to save money, so not its just me an' Tyrone."