Engineer
There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all
things mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30
years, he happily retired. Several years later the company contacted
him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one
of their multi-million dollar machines. They had tried everything and
everyone else to get the machine fixed, but to no avail. In
desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so
many of their problems in the past. The engineer reluctantly took the
challenge. He spent a day studying the huge machine. At the end of
the day, he marked a small "x" in chalk on a particular component of
the machine and proudly stated, "This is where your problem is". The
part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again. The company
received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his service. They
demanded an itemized accounting of his charges. The engineer responded
briefly:
One chalk mark $1
Knowing where to put it $49,999
It was paid in full and the engineer retired again in peace.
