South Dakota

It's late fall and the Indians on a remote reservation in South Dakota asked
their new chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild.

Since he was a chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old
secrets. When he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the winter was
going to be like.

Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was
indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect
firewood to be prepared.

But, being a practical leader, after several days, he got an idea. He went
to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, 'Is the
coming winter going to be cold?'

'It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold,' the meteorologist at
the weather service responded.

So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more
firewood in order to be prepared.

A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. 'Does it still
look like it is going to be a very cold winter?'

'Yes,' the man at National Weather Service again replied, 'it's going to be
a very cold winter.'

The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every
scrap of firewood they could find.

Two weeks later, the chief called the National Weather Service again. 'Are
you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?'

'Absolutely,' the man replied. 'It's looking more and more like it is going
to be one of the coldest winters we've ever seen.'

'How can you be so sure?' the chief asked. The weatherman replied, 'The
Indians are collecting firewood like crazy.'

Remember this whenever you get advice from a government official!