A young man was forced to change a tire
In front of an Insane Asylum one day –
And he noticed one of the inmates watching him,
In a quiet and yet curious way.
And he thought to himself, “I wonder if this young man knows
What a flat tire is all about –
I would say that his expression would indicate,
That he’s trying to figure it out.
Well, I’ll just do this job very carefully
And make a good impression –
And maybe I can teach this crazy guy
A good mechanical lesson.”
So he took the hub cap off,
Carefully turned it upside down,
Put the four bolts inside of it
Where he was sure they could be found.
And then as he jerked off the tire, he stumbled,
Hit the hub cap and Lo and behold,
Up went the four bolts in the air,
Down they came, and into the sewer they rolled.
He stood there scratching his head for a while,
Wondering what he should do;
And the young man inside the fence
Was still silently watching him too.
And he thought I might ask (don’t suppose I’ll get a good answer)
“I’ll see what he has to say.
Say, young man could you tell me if there’s a garage or hardware store
Not too far away?”
And the young man said – “Oh, yes
You’ll find up this road about two miles or more
There’s a little town that has
Both garage and hardware store.”
“Well”, the fellow said – “I guess I’ll have to hike it,
There’s nothing else I can do –
I can’t run this thing on three wheels –
Guess you have sense enough to know that too.”
The young man said – “Oh yes, but I’d like to make a suggestion –
If you do not mind –
Why not take one bolt off of each of the three wheels,
and I’m sure that you will find,
That three bolts will hold those wheels
For quite a little while –
And then you could ride to the hardware store,”
He finished with a smile.
The young man outside the fence
Was really taken back –
Saying “Thanks young man – that’s an idea,
Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Well, I might be crazy, Mister –
At least that’s what they say,
But you’ll admit I’m not hall as stupid,
As some folks that pass this way.”
