A man is adrift in a hot air balloon. His b asket is engulfed in fog off and on for days, his compass has gone awry. Suddenly, the clouds part to show a sunlit meadow below. As they descend, they see a man walking below.

The ballonist yells to the figure far below, “Where are we?”

The man yells back, “About a half mile from town.”

The balloonists responds, “You must be a chief petty officer.”

The chief says, “Yes, I am, how could you tell?”

“That’s easy,” says the flyer. “The information he gave me was accurate, concise, and entirely irrelevant.”

“And you, Sir, must be an officer,” yelled the Chief.

“Yes, I am. How do you know, that?” replied the flyer.

“Because you are the one that is hopelessly lost and doesn’t know where he is, but somehow it’s my fault.”