A man was flying in a hot air balloon when he became aware that he was lost. So he reduced height until he was able to call out to a man on the ground: "Can you help me? I promised my friend I would meet him half an hour ago, but I don"t know where I am."

The man on the ground said: "You are in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately twenty-five feet above this field. You are between latitude thirty-six and thirty-eight degrees north and between longitude forty and forty-five degrees east."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Well," said the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of you information, and the fact is I am still lost."

The man on the ground said: "And you must be a Republican,"

"That"s right," said the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Because you don"t know where you are or where you are going. You have made a promise that you cannot keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is that you are in the same position you were in before we met, but now it is somehow my fault."