"Hello, yes?"
"Ah, good morning! This is Phil
calling from Amalgamated Whistle Systems. To whom do I have the pleasure
of speaking?"
"Good morning, Phil. This is
Damian. What can I do for you?"
"It's about that order of yours.
The one for three million blast furnaces."
"Too many?" asked Damian. "If you
can't fill the order, we'll understand. How many can you deliver?"
"Oh, no, no! It isn't that,"
replied Phil quickly. "We can deliver the three million. It's your
company name."
"Our name? What about it?"
"'Terrors of Hell, Inc.?'" ventured
Phil hesitantly. "Is that correct?"
"Yes, it is," said Damian. "Anything
wrong with that?"
"That's what I'm calling to find out.
You see, we have a legal obligation not to sell to terrorists."
"Oh, we're not terrorists," laughed
Damian. "Where would you get that idea?"
"We look for certain tell-tale words
in company names," Phil explained. "Like 'bomb' and 'al-Qaeda' and 'Death
to the United States.' Or, in your case, 'terror.' If we see
one of those words, we have to verify with the customer that they're not
terrorists. A few weeks ago, a company calling itself 'Al Kayeda'
attempted to order some thermonuclear devices, but our software checks
for variant spellings and kicked it out."
"Gee, you sure seem to sell a wide
range of goods," marveled Damian.
"Yeah, we sell a heck of a lot more
than whistle systems, whatever they are. But back to the subject.
If you aren't terrorists, what do you do?"
"Oh, we just torture damned souls,"
Damian replied. "It's all very legal and above board. Well, below
board, but still legal."
"And what do you plan to use the blast
furnaces for?"
"Oh, garden variety torture," said
Damian. "Maybe a little climate control."
"Well, that's a relief," said Phil.
"Wouldn't want to sell to terrorists."