An underwear inspector, newly-hired, showed up for his first day at work.

He sat in the office of the manager of the underwear factory.

"You understand your job?" the manager asked.

"Yes, I think so," said the inspector. "I examine each pair thoroughly, then affix my little tag that says 'Inspected by...'"

"Five," the manager said. "You're number five."

"Right," said Inspector Number Five.

"Good," the manager said. "Well then, are you ready to begin inspecting?"

"Yes, sir."

The two men left the office. The manager led the inspector through hallway after hallway. None had windows, and the inspector could not see a single pair of underwear or where they might be produced.

Finally, they came to a door. The manager opened it, and the two men stepped...outside.

"What are we doing here?" asked the inspector.

"Your job," said the manager.

The inspector looked around. He could see, for miles, hundreds of buildings, some small shacks, some large warehouses.

"My job?" he asked.

"Get to inspecting!" said the manager gleefully, turning to step back through the door.

"Just a moment, sir," said the inspector.

"Yes?"

"Um...where are the underwear?"

The manager simply smiled, and shrugged.

"Are they in that big warehouse over there?"

The manager shrugged.

"Are they in one of the small buildings?"

The manager shrugged, and let out a tiny giggle. "Who knows?" he said. "They might even be buried somewhere out there, or in one of the caves in the back forty."

"The back forty?"

"Yes," said the manager. "We've got 50,000 acres, so the back forty is way in the back."

The inspector let out a thin groan.

"Right then," said the manager. "Any more questions? No...good. If you'll excuse me, I've got work to do, and so do you. Here are your 'Inspected by Five' tags. Do your job."

And with that, the manager turned back into the doorway, slamming the door behind him.