The Consultant~

Consultant
===========

Once upon a time there was a shepherd looking after his sheep
on the side of a deserted road. Suddenly a brand new Porsche
screeches to a halt. The driver, a man dressed in an Armani
suit, Cerutti shoes, Ray-Ban sunglasses, TAG-Heuer wrist-watch,
and a Pierre Cardin tie, gets out and asks the shepherd: "If I
can tell you how many sheep you have, will you give me one of
them?"

The shepherd looks at the young man, and then looks at the
large flock of grazing sheep and replies: "Okay."

The young man parks the car, connects his laptop to the mobile-
fax, enters a NASA weather satellite, uploads the exact
location data using his GPS, opens a database and 60 Excel
tables filled with logarithms and pivot tables, then prints out
a 150-page report on his high-tech mini-printer. He turns to
the shepherd and says, "You have exactly 1,586 sheep here."

The shepherd cheers, "That's correct, you can have your sheep."
The young man makes his pick and puts it in the back of his
Porsche.

The shepherd looks at him and asks: "If I guess your
profession, will you return my animal to me?"

The young man answers, "Yes, why not?"

The shepherd says, "You are a consultant."

"How did you know?" asks the young man.

"Very simple," answers the shepherd. "First, you came here
without being called. Second, you charged me a fee to tell me
something I already knew, and third, you don't understand
anything about my business... Now can I have my dog back?"