Government investigates rancher

The Wyoming Department of Employment, Division of Labor Standards, claimed a small rancher was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to investigate him.
    GOV’T AGENT: “I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them.”
    RANCHER: “Well, there’s my hired hand who’s been with me for three years. I pay him $200 a week plus free board and room.
    “Then there’s the mentally challenged guy. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90 percent of all the work around here.
    “He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night so he can cope with life.
    “He also sleeps with my wife occasionally.”
    GOV’T AGENT: “That’s the guy I want to talk to – the mentally challenged one.”
    RANCHER: “That would be me.”
    (Yes, I know it’s an old one, but with all the new rules and regulations being forced on us, it could well happen. Anyway, let’s hope things will improve in 2012. May you all have a Happy New Year! – Dick Perue)