A man was walking down the street of a big, busy city. As he did so, he
scattered over the road some salt that he was carrying in a bag over his
shoulder. Most people ignored him because they'd seen him do the same
thing every day for many years, but a woman new to the city stopped and
talked to him and asked,

"Why are you doing that?"

He replied, "To keep the elephants away!"

Confused, she said, "But there are no elephants around here!"

Elated he replied, "See, it's working!"