Chuck was a popular member at the golf club, but he just finished up a terrible round of golf and wasn’t in the mood to visit the clubhouse after walking off the 18th green. So he headed straight out to the parking lot and started changing his shoes.
Just as he was closing the trunk of his car, a police officer spotted him. The policeman, stern-faced, walked over to Chuck and asked, “”Did you tee off on the sixteenth hole about thirty minutes ago?”
“Yes,” Chuck replied, “yes I did. Is something wrong, officer?”
“Did you happen to hook your tee shot?” the policeman asked.
“Yes, I did,” replied Chuck.
“Did your ball fly over the trees and off the course?” the policeman asked.
“Why, yes, it did,” said Chuck. “Why are you asking me these questions?”
The police officer replied in a very serious and stern manner: “Your ball, sir, flew out onto the highway and crashed through a driver’s windshield. That driver’s car went out of control and spun into a guard rail, where five other cars hit it. Then a fire truck, that was racing to a fire, smashed into the pileup!”
The policeman’s voice was rising with consternation. “The fire truck couldn’t make it to the fire, and the building burned down! All that because you hooked a tee shot!”
The policeman was red-faced, and he paused to catch his breath. “What do you think you should do about all this?” he finally asked Chuck.
Chuck was a sensitive man and an upstanding citizen. He thought it over for a minute, then replied.
“W
ell,” Chuck said, “I think I’ll try opening my stance a little.”
