John Smith lived in
Staten Island, New York and worked in Manhattan. He had to take the
ferryboat home every night. One evening, he got down to the ferry and
found there was a wait for the next boat, so John decided to stop at a
nearby tavern. Before long he was feeling no pain.
When he
got back to the ferry slip, the ferryboat was just eight feet
from
the dock. Smith, afraid of missing this one and being late for
dinner, took a running leap and landed right on the deck of the
boat.
"How did you like that jump, buddy?" said a proud John to a deck
hand.
"It was great," said the sailor. "But why didn't you wait?
We were
just pulling in!"
