Three contractors were bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House in Washington D.C.
The first contractor was from Bangladesh, the second contractor was from China and the third contractor was from India.
They all went with a White House officer to examine the fence.
The Bangladesh contractor took out a tape measure and did some measuring, then worked out some figures with a pencil.
“Well”, he said, “I figure the job will cost about $9,000. That’s $4,000 for materials, $4,000 for my team and $1,000 profit for me.”
The Chinese contractor also did some measuring and figuring, then said, “I can do this job for $7,000. That’s $3,000 for materials, $3,000 for my team and $1,000 profit for me.”
The Indian contractor didn’t measure or figure, but leaned over to the White House official and whispered, “$27,000”.
The official, who was outraged said, “You didn’t even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?”
The Indian contractor whispered back, “$10,000 for me, $10,000 for you, and we hire the guy from China to fix the fence”.
“Done!” replied the White House official.
And that, my friends, is how the U.S. Government operates.
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