One dark night outside a small town, a fire started inside the local
chemical plant. Before long, it exploded into flames and an alarm went out
to fire departments from miles around.
After watching the firemen fight the fire for over an hour, the chemical
company president approached the fire chief and said, "All of our
secret formulas are in the vault in the center of the plant. They must be
saved! I will give $50,000 to the engine company that brings them out
safely!"
As soon as the chief heard this, he ordered the firemen to strengthen their
attack on the blaze. After two more hours of attacking the fire, the
president of the company offered $100,000 to the engine company that could
bring out the company's secret files.
From the distance a long siren was heard and another fire truck came into
sight. It was a local volunteer fire company composed entirely of men over
65 years old. To everyone's amazement the little fire engine raced through
the chemical plant gates and drove straight into the middle of the inferno.
In the distance, the other firemen watched as the old timers hopped off
their rig and began to fight the fire with an effort that they had never
seen before. After an hour of intense fighting, the volunteer company had
extinguished the fire and saved the secret formulas.
Joyous, the chemical company president announced that he would double the
reward to $200,000 and walked over to personally thank each of the
volunteers. After thanking each of the old men individually, the president
asked the group what they intended to do with the reward money.
The fire truck driver looked him right in the eye and said, "The first
thing we're going to do is fix the damn brakes on that
truck!"
