The Balloon Story

Quite some time ago, someone sent me this joke, and to this day, it resonates.

A man piloting a hot air balloon discovers he has wandered off course and is hopelessly lost. He descends to a lower altitude and locates a man down on the ground. He lowers the balloon further and shouts:

“Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”

The man below says: “Yes, you’re in a hot air balloon, about 30 feet above this field.”

“You must work in Information Technology” says the balloonist.

“Yes I do” replies the man. “And how did you know that?”

“Well” says the balloonist, “what you told me is technically correct, but of no use to anyone.”

The man below says “You must work in Business Management.”

“I do” replies the balloonist with some surprise, “how did you know?”

“Well”, says the IT guy, “you don’t know where you are, or where you’re going, but you expect my immediate help. You’re in a situation that you deliberately created, but now you are expecting me to fix it.”