There’s a story that I read that I can’t say if it’s true or not, but it’s pretty neat either way. It’s a story that takes place way back when the telegraph was the fastest means of long distance communication. And it involves a young man who applied for a position as a Morse Code operator. He had seen an ad in the newspaper and decided that he wanted to apply, so he went to the address that was listed in the ad. When he arrived, he entered a large, noisy office. In the background a telegraph clacked away. He read a sign on the receptionist’s counter that instructed all applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.
So this young man completed his form and sat down with seven other waiting applicants. But after a few minutes the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door to the inner office, and went right in. The other applicants sat outside muttering to themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons. Who did this guy think he was? They took some satisfaction believing that the young man would be reprimanded for his actions and disqualified for the position.
But within a few minutes the young man emerged from the inner office escorted by the interviewer, who announced to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has been filled by this young man.”
The other applicants began grumbling once again, and one of them even spoke up. “Wait a minute—I don’t understand. He was the last one to come in, and we never even got the chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair.”
To which the employer responded, “All the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code: ‘If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. So the job is his.”