Date: Thu, 26 Dec 1996 10:53:19 -0500 (EST)
From: Le matin de poil
Subject: BLAGUES-L: Christmas Tree

Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 19:23:05 -0500 (EST)
From: Philippe Reid
From: Roberto Matta

     A supposedly true story...

     In a local county courthouse the Clerk of Court hated fake Christmas
     trees, so he always put up a real tree in the Clerk's office every
     year. One year the Fire Marshal happened to do a building inspection
     of the courthouse just before Christmas, while the Clerk was out to
     lunch, and noticed the tree. In the belief that the tree represented a
     fire hazard, he proceeded to write a citation for a violation of the
     fire code, which prohibited "live" trees in a public building, and
     gave it to the Clerk's assistant.

     When the Clerk returned from lunch and was given the citation, he hit
     the roof. Determined that no Fire Marshal was going to spoil his
     Christmas, he decided to fight the citation. So he went to the morgue
     in the adjoining police station, and asked the Coroner for his help.
     The Coroner came over and put a toe tag on the tree, listing the cause
     of death as "Being cut off at ground level".

     The Clerk called the Fire Marshal back to re-inspect, and showed him
     the toe tag on the tree. He told him that when the Coroner pronounces
     something "dead", it is *legally* dead, and therefore the citation for
     having a "live" tree was obviously in error, and wasn't worth the
     paper it was written on.

     The Fire Marshal thought about it, and came to the realization that,
     since he would have to pursue the fire code violation in that very
     courtroom, this was probably one argument he wasn't going to win. So
     he let them have their tree.

     THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT TRIUMPHS OVER THE GRINCHES OF THE WORLD ONCE
     AGAIN!