A man lived by the side of a road and sold hot dogs for a living. He was hard of hearing so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes so he didn't read newspapers or watch TV. He put signs up on the highway telling about his hot dogs and he stood by the side of the road shouting, "Buy a hot dog" to cars passing by.
People stopped and bought his hot dogs. Business got better so he increased his meat and bun orders and he even bought a bigger stove. He made enough money to send his only son off to college. Then he got so busy that his son had to quit college to help him with the business.
But then something happened. His son said, "Father, haven't you heard?" There's a recession going on right now and business is terrible. The father said, "Well son, you've been to college, you read the papers, listen to the radio and watch TV. You ought to know!"
So they took down the signs, quit standing by the road to sell hot dogs and cut down their meat and bun orders. And their hot dog sales fell almost overnight. "You're right, son." the father said. "There is a recession and business is terrible."
This old story which originated after WWII was first printed in the Cleaning Digest magazine in 1974, then reprinted in 1980 and 1991. It seems appropriate to reprint it again!
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