THREE CONTRACTORS
Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence on a government housing estate.
All three contractors go with a Government official to examine the fence.
One of the contractors takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works on some figures with a pencil.
"Well," he says, "I Figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit for me."
The second contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then Says, "I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me.
"The third contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the Government official and whispers, "$2,700."
The official, incredulous at the estimate, says, "You didn't even measure like the other blokes!
How did you come up with such a high figure?"
The smart contractor whispers back, "$1,000 for me, $1,000 for you, then we hire the second bloke to fix the fence."
"Done!" replied the government official.
And that, my friends, is how government contracting works everywhere.