Commentary: Just For Laughs

Here's a good joke:

A developer walks into a planning board meeting. He tells the board members that he can put them up in a new building with a tawny address and pretty landscaping. But there's a catch. The board has to give this developer a big plot of land that it owns down the block. On top of that, it has to pay rent at the developer's new building.

The board members scratch their heads. Redeveloping that plot of land would mean temporary displacement. They'd have to pay for interim office space and movers until redevelopment is completed. It could cost the board a lot of money!

On the other hand, the board could give up its land, move into the developer's new building and still have enough money for a new cappuccino machine. They could save a ton of dough!

The joke doesn't have a punchline yet. If the board chooses to stay on its land, then the joke is on the developer. How audaciously zany it is to believe that a public institution would surrender what it owns, only to move into a rental.

But if the board chooses to make the move because it's cheaper in the immediate future, then the joke is on the tax-paying public. Not only would the board--that is, the public--pay rent endlessly, but it would lose property to the development of townhouses and condos. In this case, the only one laughing is the developer.

The people deserve the last laugh.

Image courtesy of MusicDesktop.com.