Heads or Tails #99 -- pile

In today's Heads or Tails, our mistress of ceremonies Barb asks us to write about "pile."

I tried, but failed to resist, the temptation to re-tell the old joke about the farmer up in the hills who never had any learning but wanted better for his boy. Maybe it will be new for someone:

The farmer was a proud man and he managed to conceal his inability to read from everyone -- but after his only son had been away for many years, and the stack of unopened letters from the boy had become quite substantial, the farmer found that his curiosity outweighed his pride. He confided in his preacher. The preacher took the letters in a bundle.

"You should be proud of your boy, Zeke," said the preacher when the old man opened the shack door a couple of days later. "The boy went and got himself a B.S. degree, then an M.S., and, just last year, a PhD." The old man didn't look too happy, so the preacher asked why.

"Well, Reverend," said the old man. "If he's happy I guess it's alright. But I had hoped he'd do better."

"What do you mean, Zeke?"

"Well, everybody knows what 'B.S.' is. I reckon 'M.S.' just means 'more of the same.' As for PhD, I expects that stands for 'pile it higher and deeper.'"