Pentagon Contract

A contractor arrives home from Washington, D.C. and proudly tells his wife that he’s gotten the contract to fix a cracked walkway into the Pentagon.

“Two other contractors showed up to bid on the job,” he explained to her. “One was from Minnesota, the other from Tennessee. All three of us went to the Pentagon with an official to examine the cracked walkway.

“The Minnesota contractor took out a tape measure, did some measuring, then worked some figures with a pencil.

“’Well,’ he said, ‘I can do the job for about $9,000: $4,000 for materials, $4,000 for my crew, and $1,000 for me.’

“The Pentagon official told him to write up his bid and send it in for consideration.

“The Tennessee contractor then did the same, measuring and figuring, and then he said, ‘I can do this job for $7,000. $3,000 for materials, $3,000 for my crew, and $1,000 for me.’

“The Pentagon official told him to write up his bid and send it in for consideration.

“I didn’t measure anything. I just pulled the Pentagon official aside and whispered, I can do the job for $27,000.”

“The official was incredulous and said, ‘You didn’t even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such an incredibly high figure?’

“I whispered, ‘$10,000 for you, $10, 000 for me, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the walkway.”