George and Lenny decide to cross North America in a hot air balloon. However,
neither were particularly experienced balloonists, and Lenny’s mind quickly
drifted from navigation to thoughts of how clouds look like cuddly little bunny
rabbits. Upon realizing that they were lost, George declared, “Lenny — we are
going to have to lose some altitude so we can figure out where we are.”
George lets some hot air out of the balloon, which slowly descended below the
clouds, but he still couldn’t tell where they were. Far below, they could see a
man on the ground. George lowered the balloon, to ask the man their location.
When they were low enough, George called down to the man, “Hey, can you tell
us where we are?” The man on the ground yelled back, “You’re in a balloon, about
100 feet up in the air.”
George called down to the man, “You must be a lawyer.” “Gee, George,” Lenny
replied, “How can you tell?” George answered, “Because the advice he gave us is
100% accurate, and is completely useless”.
The man called back up to the balloon, “You must be a client.” George yelled
back, “Why do you say that?” “Well,” the man replied, “you don’t know where you
are, or where you are going. You got into your predicament through a lack of
planning, and could have avoided it by asking for help before you acted. You
expect me to provide an instant remedy. The fact is you are in the exact same
position you were in before we met, but now it is somehow my fault.”