There was once a couple named Nancy and Mike Tate, and it was their life's
 dream to have a compass company.  They finally saved enough money and
 started the Tate's Compass Company.  Luck was with them, for the first
 contract they acquired was to manufacture 750,000 compasses for the Boy
 Scouts.  Nancy and Mike worked feverishly day and night to meet their
 deadline, and finished just before the Boy Scout Jamboree was to begin.  On
 the day of the Boy Scout Wilderness hike, each boy scout was given a Tate's
 Compass to help them find their way.  Unfortunately, it was discovered a
 little too late that every single compass was made with the colored point of
 the needle facing the wrong way, so when one was facing North, the needle
 pointed to the South.  Needless to say, all of the boy scouts got lost and
 it was the biggest fiasco known in Boy Scout history.  The Tate's
 compass company went out of business, but from this experience came the
 familiar adage, "He who has a Tate's is lost."  (Say it out loud).
 

Wil Stark, wstark04 (at) pobox _dot_com

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