It’s 1928 and two men are hammering railroad ties. A chauffeur driven Model A slowly drives by and the man in back sticks his head out of the window and yells out, “Harold? Is that you?”
The two men stop hammering and one says, “Why yes it is Charlie! Good to see you!”
Charlie then says, “Good to see you too Harold!” as the Model A drives away.
The men go back to hammering and one says “Wasn’t that the president of the railroad?”
“Why yes it was.” Harold responds.
“How do you know the president of the railroad?”
“Well we started work on the same day.”
They keep working and the other guy finally says “Tell me something, if both of you started work on the same day…how come you’re hammering ties and he’s president of the company?”
Harold stops hammering, takes his hat off, wipes his head and leans on his hammer.
“Well it’s quite simple when you really think about it.” he says with a grin of admiration.
“When I started that first day, I came to work for three dollars and fifty cents a day. When Charlie started that first day, he came to work for the railroad.”