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Dud swelled with pride to be hearing this from his hero, Doc.
"You know I try real hard to be scientific, Doc. Whatever you
need, I'll do it."
"Dudley, I want you to become the richest man in the world, and I
know just how you can do it."
This had attracted the attention of all the rest of us at the
philosophy counter at the Mule Barn truck stop, of course.
"Get rich?"
"The richest," Doc said. "Wealth beyond your wildest dreams of
avarice, my boy. You'd have to hire every one of us to help you
spend it. I mean... rich!"
"How do I do it, Doc?"
"Invent a waiting machine."
"A waiting machine?"
"Sure. What does a guy do more of than anything else in his
life?"
"Work."
"Nope."
"Sleep."
"Nope. Truth is, he spends most of his adult life waiting for a
woman. If a man spent half as much time fishing as he spends waiting
for his wife to do something or buy something or try on something or
return from the restroom, we'd all live to be 150 years old and die
with grins on our faces."
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"But a waiting machine?"
"Exactly, Dud. Invent something small that a man can carry with
him that will keep him busy doing something relaxing and fun while
he waits for his wife. I guarantee you riches beyond your dreams."
Dud sat quietly for a minute, basking in promised wealth.
"I've got it! A wristwatch!"
"We have wristwatches," said Bert.
"Not," said Dud, "that you can watch a football game on."
"True," said Doc. "I like the way you think."
"Maybe you can have a selection of channels on it," Steve said.
"If you don't like football, you can tune in rodeo."
"Or the Miss America pageant," chimed in Bert.
From such innocent conversations by members of the world dilemma
think tank at the Mule Barn come the great inventions of the world.
You're welcome.
[Slim Randles]
Brought to you by Imagination Theater. Hear what you've been missing
at
www.transmediasf.com/imag.html.
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