Excuses

An old-timer sat on the river bank, fishing pole in hand, although the fishing season had not officially opened. A uniformed officer stood behind him quietly for several minutes.

"You the game warden?" the man inquired.

"Yes sir."

Unruffled, the old man began to move the fishing pole from side to side.
Finally, he lifted the line out of the water. Pointing to a minnow wriggling
on the end of the line, he said, "Just teaching him how to swim."

(from Jacob M. Braude, Braude's Treasury of Humor, (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1964)