Set in his ways, a man went to the same hairdresser every month, this despite the fact that the hairdresser had the annoying habit of belittling whatever his customers said. One month the customer said he had bought a new car.

"What sort?" asked the hairdresser.

"A Mercedes," replied the customer.

The hairdresser was quick to pour cold water on the purchase. "You shouldn"t have got a Mercedes," he sneered. "A Ferrari is much classier and with a more comfortable interior. No, you"d be better off with a Ferrari."

The following month the customer revealed that he had bought an executive house on a new development on the outskirts of town. "Oh, you don"t want to move there," said the hairdresser. "It"s in the middle of nowhere. There are no amenities nearby, and I"ve heard the land is liable to flooding. You see, they"ll be giving those houses away soon."

At his next appointment, the customer said that he was going on holiday to Rome.

"What do you want to go to Rome for?" asked the hairdresser. "There"s nothing much there. It"s all ruins. No, if you must go to Italy, go to Florence."

"As a matter of fact," said the customer, struggling to get a word in, "it"s always been my ambition to meet the Pope and, if possible, to get to speak to him."

"You speak to the Pope?" mocked the hairdresser. "You"ve got no chance. You won"t get anywhere near him. I"ll bet you two hundred dollars that the Pope doesn"t talk to you."

The customer was so fed up with the hairdresser"s attitude that he accepted the bet. A month later he returned for his next haircut and was asked how he had got on in Rome.

"Don"t forget our two hundred dollars bet," crowed the hairdresser. "You can pay by check."

"No, actually you owe me two hundred dollars," said the customer. "The Pope did speak to me."

"How did you manage that?" demanded the hairdresser indignantly.

"Well," said the customer, "I was wandering around St. Peter"s Square one morning hoping to catch a glimpse of the Pope when, to my surprise, I saw him walking towards me. And then amazingly he stopped beside me and began talking to me."

"What did he say?" asked the hairdresser.

"He said: "Where on earth did you get that terrible haircut?""