Forget-me-not.

An Australian travel writer touring Canada was checking out of the Spokane

Hilton. As he paid his bill, he asked the manager, "By the way, what's with

the Indian sitting in the lobby? He's been there ever since I arrived." "Oh

that's Big Chief Forget-Me-Not," said the manager. "The hotel is built on an

Indian reservation, and part of the agreement is to allow the chief free use

of the premises for the rest of his life. He is known as Big Chief Forget-Me-

Not because of his phenomenal memory. He is 92 and can remember even the

slightest detail of his life." The travel writer took this in and, as he was

waiting for his cab, decided to put the chief's memory to the test. "'Ello,

mate!" said the Aussie, receiving only a slight nod in return. "What did you

have for breakfast on your 21st birthday?" "Eggs," was the chief's instant

reply, without even looking up, and indeed the Aussie was impressed. He went

off on his travel writing itinerary, right across to the east coast and back,

telling others of Big Chief Forget-Me-Not's great memory. (One local noted to

him that "How" was a more appropriate greeting for an Indian chief than

"'Ello mate.") On his return to the Spokane Hilton six months later, he was

surprised to see Big Chief Forget-Me-Not still sitting in the lobby, fully

occupied with whittling away on a stick. "How!" said the Aussie. "Scrambled,"

said the chief.

Passing Maths

Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried

everything: tutors, flash cards, special learning centers. In a

last-ditch effort, they took Tommy and enrolled him in the local

Catholic school. After the first day, Little Tommy came home with a

very serious look on his face. He didn't kiss his mother hello.

Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. His

mother was amazed. She called him to dinner. To her shock, the

minute he was done he marched back to his room without a word and in

no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on

for some time, day after day while his mother tried to understand

what made all the difference.

Finally, Little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly laid

it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. With

great trepidation, his mom looked at it. To her surprise, little

Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiousity.

She went to his room and said, "Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?"

Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, "No!" "Well, then,"

she asked, "was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the

uniforms? WHAT was it?"

Little Tommy looked at her and said, "Well, on the first day of

school, when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they

weren't fooling around!"

The Monastery

There is a story about a monastery in Europe perched high on a cliff several

hundred feet in the air. The only way to reach the monastery was to be

suspended in a basket which was pulled to the top by several monks who pulled

and tugged with all their strength. Obviously the ride up the steep cliff in

that basket was terrifying. One tourist got exceedingly nervous about half-way

up as he noticed that the rope by which he was suspended was old and frayed.

With a trembling voice he asked the monk who was riding with him in the basket

how often they changed the rope. The monk thought for a moment and answered

brusquely, "Whenever it breaks."