Are You Alert Enough To Get The Message?

A shipping company had advertised a job opening for a ship's radio operator and the outer office was crowded with applicants for the position.  They were waiting to be called in turn, and were talking to each other loudly enough to be heard over the sound of a loudspeaker.

Another applicant entered, filled out an application, and sat quietly for a few moments.  Suddenly, he rose and walked into the office marked "Private."  A few minutes later, he came out wearing a broad grin--he had been hired.

A man in the waiting room protested.  "Look here," he said.  "We were here first, why did you go in there before us?"

The successful applicant replied, "Any one of you could have landed that job, but none of you were listening to the Morse code signals coming over the loudspeaker.  The message was, 'We desire to fill this position with someone who is constantly alert.  If you are getting this message, come into the private office immediately."

- submitted by William F. Stehr, Parables, Etc. (September 1992)