One day a man came to City Hall and offered the Mayor a proposition. "I
can rid your beautiful city of its plague of pigeons without cost to the
But, you must promise not to ask me any questions. Or, you can pay me five million dollars and ask one question." The mayor considered the offer briefly and accepted the free proposition.
The next day the man climbed to the top of City Hall, opened his coat,
and released a red pigeon. The red pigeon circled in the air and flew up
into the bright blue Texas sky. All the pigeons in Houston saw the red
They gathered up behind the red pigeon. The Houston pigeons followed the red pigeon as she flew eastward out of the city.
The next day the red pigeon returned completely alone to the man atop City Hall. The Mayor was very impressed. He thought the man and the red pigeon had performed a wonderful miraculous feat to rid Houston of the plague of pigeons.
Even though the man with the pigeon had charged nothing, the mayor presented him with a check for 5 million dollars and told the man that, indeed, he did have a question to ask and even though they had agreed to no fee and the man had rid the city of pigeons, he decided to pay the 5 million just to get to ask ONE question.
The man accepted the money and told the mayor to ask his question.
The mayor asked: "Do you have any red Mexicans?"