Once upon a time, at a busy airport, there was a new guy who had just started working as a baggage handler for a major airline. On his first day on the job, he was given the task of filling up the air tanks that were used to start the planes.
The new guy was a little nervous, as he had never worked on an airplane before and didn’t want to make any mistakes. So, he asked the veteran airline employee who was showing him the ropes for some guidance.
“Hey, how do I fill up these air tanks?” the new guy asked.
The veteran employee chuckled and replied, “Well, it’s pretty simple. Just open up the valve and let the air in. You know, like when you fill up a balloon.”
The new guy nodded, feeling a little embarrassed for not knowing such a basic task. He carefully opened the valve and began filling the air tank.
As he was working, a group of passengers walked by and noticed what he was doing. One of them, a little boy, asked his mother, “Mommy, what’s that man doing?”
The mother replied, “Oh, he’s just filling up the air tanks for the plane. You know, so it can fly.”
The little boy’s eyes went wide with wonder as he exclaimed, “Wow, that’s amazing! I didn’t know planes needed air to fly!”
The new guy couldn’t help but laugh at the little boy’s innocence and the irony of the situation. He looked over at the veteran employee and said, “I guess I should have asked for more specific instructions.”
The veteran employee chuckled and replied, “Ah, don’t worry about it. I was just joking. There’s no such thing as filling air into the air tanks. The tanks are actually used to store compressed air, which is used to start the engines on the planes. But hey, at least you now know how to fill up a balloon!”
The new guy blushed a little, feeling embarrassed that he had fallen for the joke. But he appreciated the veteran employee’s good nature and was grateful for the lesson. From then on, he knew exactly what to do whenever he was asked to fill the air tanks.
