The Broken Chair

The chair broke on a Monday morning. Ravi sat down, and one leg went to the side. He did not fall, but it was close.

He put the chair by the wall and wrote a note: "Do not use." Then he took another chair from the empty room and worked until five.

On Tuesday somebody moved the note. On Wednesday somebody moved the chair back to the table. Nobody sat on it, because everybody knew.

Three weeks later a new woman started. Her name was Selma. She came early, found a free table and sat down on the chair by the wall.

The leg went to the side again. Selma stood up slowly and looked at the chair for a long moment. Then she carried it out of the room.

At nine Ravi asked where the chair was. "Outside," Selma said. "A note is not a repair." Nobody had an answer to that.