Challenge Question

Challenge Question stolen from CarTalk. Please don't play if you've heard it.

A young Electrical Engineer visits his aging Granddad on his farm up-state. While there, the young man volunteers to help the old guy in his daily chores. That morning, they hike up the hill behind the barn to chop wood. On the way, the old man stops at the barn, dons a pair of work gloves and picks up an old, rusted railroad pry bar. At about four and a half feet long, the bar looked to weigh about forty pounds so the young man offered to carry it up the hill.

At the top of the hill they find an old Model T Ford truck with no tires perched up on two long logs running across the frame, one near each axel. Behind the truck are an equally old hydraulic log splitter and a large pile of seasoned logs cut for splitting. Between the two is a long leather belt looped around the pulley on the hydraulic pump and the left rear wheel rim.

The old man starts the truck with surprising ease and leans back grinning at the sound of a well maintained engine. He then retrieves the railroad bar from his grandson and drives it into the ground behind the truck and leans forward, rolling the truck on the logs and tightening the old leather belt, thus starting the pump on the log splitter. With a final and well practiced jerk, he wedges the bar under the lip of the bed rail to hold it in place while they work.

The wood is well seasoned and light for its size. The morning is cool with a slight breeze. The two men work together in silence, both appreciating the quiet company of the other. In just two hours they split the coming week's worth of fire wood. Usually, the old man offers, he would be up here for four or five hours accomplishing the same task by himself. As thanks, he offers his grandson a cup of coffee back at the farmhouse. As they prepare to go, the Grandfather leans over with one hand and pulls the pry bar from under the lip at the back of the truck, allowing it to roll back and release the tension on the old leather drive belt. Then, after reaching in and killing engine on the truck, both men walk back down the hill together taking turns with the heavy pry bar.

After spending a long satisfying weekend with his granddad, the young man flies back to the city. Some weeks later, while surveying one of his projects in the field he sees one of the workers using a long pry bar with a fiberglass lever arm. The entire thing weighs just eight pounds. He excitedly asks about it and finds out where he can get one for himself. The next day he ships a long box containing the gift to the old man he loves and admires so much.

Two weeks later the young man receives a phone call, the town Sherriff is offering his condolences. The old man has had a heart attack. Although he had many friends in town, the young engineer is the only living relative. The funeral would be in three days. Devastated, the grandson books a flight out the following day. He doesn't sleep at all that night. He cries and he laughs at the memories of that fine, if obstinate, old man. In the morning he is still sad and hollow, but infinitely thankful for the time that he was allowed with his grandfather.

The day before the funeral friends gather at the farmhouse. The young man, dressed in a black button down shirt and denim jeans, is surprised at how many people show up and the stories they tell. They tell stories about the generosity of the old man and his unceasing willingness to help; about how he was a longstanding pillar of the community with an unwavering sense of justice and fairness. All of them are happy to finally meet the grandson they had heard so much about.

The town Sherriff introduces himself and again offers his condolences. The young man asks how it happened and did his granddad suffer? The Sherriff tells him the town Doctor said it was quick. They had found him at the top of the hill behind the barn, lying next to his old truck and a large pile of freshly split wood. The young man tells the Sherriff the story of the last time he was at the farm and the work he had shared with his granddad. He talks about the gift he had sent just a few weeks back and how he hoped that he had eased the old guy's burden before he died.

Just what kind of work, the Sherriff wanted to know, did the boy do back in the city? The young man indicated that he was an Electrical Engineer and that it was his grandfather who paid for his education. "He'd have been better off if you were an accountant. You should have known better, son. Turn around, you're under arrest."

Why?