One evening, Stumpy shows his wife their latest telephone
bill. "Martha, you just have to cut down on your calls.
This bill is for over $300 and that's a very high cost
for just 1 month."
"You're right, darling," Martha says, "I promise to do my
best to curtail my calls."
"Thanks," says Stumpy. Stumpy starts to monitor the calls
on a daily basis and is pleased to see that Martha is keeping
to her promise. But then gradually, as he thought would
happen, he sees the daily elapsed time start to increase
again. Then one evening, as Martha dials a number and
makes another call, Stumpy decides to discuss the situation
with her when she puts down the phone, whenever that will
be. Fifteen minutes later, Martha puts down the phone.
"What a surprise," says Stumpy sarcastically, "how come
such a short call?"
"Oh, it was a wrong number, darling." she says.
