Bill went into the fish market to apply for a job. The boss
thought to himself - I'm not hiring him. So he decided to set a test for
Bill hoping he wouldn't be able to answer the questions and he'd be able
to refuse him the job without getting into an argument.
The first question was, "Without using numbers, represent the number
9."
Bill says, "That's easy" and proceeds to draw three trees.
The boss says, "What in the world is that?"
Bill says, "Tree 'n tree 'n tree makes nine."
"Fair enough" says the boss. "Second questions, same rules,
but represent 99".
Bill stares into space for a while, then makes a smudge on each tree.
"There ya go sir," he says.
The boss scratches his head and asks, "How on earth do you get that
to represent 99?"
Bill answers, "Each tree is dirty now, so it's dirty tree 'n dirty
tree 'n dirty tree - that's 99."
The boss is getting worried he's going to have to hire Bill so he says,
"All right, question number 3. Same rules again, but this time represent
the number 100."
Bill stares into space again, then he shouts, "I got it!" He makes
a little mark at the base of each tree and says, "There ya go sir -
100."
The boss looks at Bill's attempt and thinks, "Ha! got him this time."
He then tells Bill, "Go on, Bill, you must be crazy if you think that
represents a 100."
Bill leans forward and points to the little marks at the tree bases and
says, "A little dog comes along and craps by each tree, so now ya got
dirty tree an' a turd, dirty tree an' a turd, and dirty tree an' a turd,
which makes 100. When do I start my job?"