Newsgroups: rec.humor.funny.reruns From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Anecdotes on old institutions Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 19:20:00 PST URL: http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/91q3/oldanecd.html
From: credmond@watmath.waterloo.edu (Chris Redmond)
In article <1882@disuns2.epfl.ch> riese@litsuns1.epfl.ch (Marc Riese) writes:
I agree that The Bay is a very special company for Canada for its long and "colourful" history, but I think it's a youngster in comparison to certain European companies (although I couldn't name one). I remember hearing a story of an American company negotiating a business deal with a Swedish steel company. In the proposition sent to Europe, the American company mentioned some reliability concerns and asked for proof that they could count on the Swedish company still being there in a year. In a terse letter, the Swedish firm replied that since they had existed more than four times the age of the USA, they didn't see why they would not be there the next year...
Comparable anecdote #1: At the 350th anniversary celebrations of Harvard University, one speaker said, "Harvard is intimately bound up with the history and culture of the United States -- an innovation in which we have taken considerable interest."
Comparable anecdote #2: Someone has calculated that there are in Europe 26 (this number is my best recollection of what was said) organizations that have been in continuous existence for at least five hundred years: the Parliament at Westminster, the Althing (parliament) of Iceland, the Roman Catholic Church, and 23 universities.
From: brad@looking.on.ca (Your Editor)
Anecdote #3, told by Greg Benford: At an Oxford college, they were debating what to do with all their money. The consensus was to buy land, since "for the past thousand years, land has proven to be a very wise investment for the college."
The crusty old patriarch piped in, "True, but the past thousand years have been atypical."
Newsgroups: rec.humor.funny.reruns From: dgil@ipsaint.ipsa.reuter.com (Gillett, David) Subject: More anecdotes on old institutions. Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999 19:20:01 PST URL: http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/91q4/oldbuild.html
My two favourite anecdotes on this subject demonstrate the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources. First the non-renewable:
The congregation of a small stone church (in England?) decided that the stone which formed the step up to the front door had become too worn by its years of use, and would have to be replaced. Unfortunately, there were hardly any funds available for the replacement. Then someone came up with the bright idea that the replacement could be postponed for many years by simply turning the block of stone over.
They discovered that their great-grandparents had beaten them to it.
Now the renewable:
An entomologist at New College, Oxford ("New" because its only a few centuries old), discovered beetles infesting the oak beams supporting the roof of the Great Hall. It was fairly urgent that these be replaced before the roof collapsed -- but anyone who has looked at the price of oak lately can tell you that this was not something the college budget was prepared for.
Since oak from a commercial supplier was out of the question, someone suggested that the college Forester be sent for. His job was to administer the various scattered tracts of land that had been deeded to the college when it was founded. The trustees hoped he might know of suitable trees on college land.
It turned out that there was indeed a suitable stand of mighty oaks. They had been planted when the college was founded, and down the centuries each Forester had told his successor: "You don't cut those oaks; those are for when the beetles get into the beams in the Main Hall."