Subject: Predicting a very cold winter
It was autumn, and the Indians on the remote reservation asked their
new Chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild.
Since he was an Indian Chief in a modern society, he had never been
taught the old secrets, and when he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the hell the weather was going to be.
Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared.
But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea.
He went to the phone booth, called Environment Canada and asked,"Is the coming winter going to be cold?"
"It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed," the
Meteorologist at Environment Canada responded.
So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even
more wood in order to be prepared.
One week later he call Environment Canada again. "Is it going to be a very cold winter?" he asked.
"Yes," the man at Environment Canada 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 wood they could find.
Two weeks later he called Environment Canada again. "Are you
absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"
"Absolutely," the man replie d. "It looks like it's going to be one of
the coldest winters ever."
"How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked.
The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting firewood like
crazy."