Day 44

On the West Coast they tell a story of a plumber who
started using hydrochloric acid on clogged pipes. Though
he was pleased with the results, he wondered if he could
be doing something wrong. So he wrote to Washington
to get expert advice on the matter. In six weeks he
received the following reply:

   "The efficacy of hydrochloric acid in the subject
   situation is incontrovertible, but its corrosiveness
   is incompatible with the integrity of metallic 
   substances."

The plumber, who was short on formal education but
long on hope, was elated. He shot a thank-you letter
back to Washington. He told them he would lose no time
in informing other plumbers about his discovery. Five 
weeks later he got another message:

   "In no case can we be presumed responsible for
   the generation of pernicious residues from hydro-
   chloric acid, and we stongly recommend, therefore,
   that an alternative method be utilized."

The plumber was delighted. He sent his third letter in
the next mail. In it, he said that about 15 plumbers in
his city were now using hydrochloric acid for pipes. All
of them liked it. Now he wondered whether the good
people in Washington could help him spread the news of
his discovery to plumbers throughout the country. At
this point, the correspondence fell into the hands of a
rare Washington bureaucrat -- one who knew how to 
write to plumbers. Within a week the plumber was 
reading these words:

   "Stop using hydrochloric acid. And tell your 
   friends to stop too. It eats the hell out of pipes."