One evening a factory owner saw one of the workmen leaving by the side gate pushing a wheelbarrow full of dirt. He didn't think much of this, but the next evening he saw the same worker coming out with a wheelbarrow full of dirt again.
There was something incredibly suspicious about this. And it didn't take him long to begin to suspect that the worker was waiting for the rest of the crew to leave so that he could steal from the work site, probably hiding his ill-gotten gains in the dirt.
The next evening, he waited for the worker. When the worker came out with the wheelbarrow, he confronted him and searched through the dirt. He found nothing and sent the worker on his way.
A few days later, he again confronted him and found nothing. This continued for more than a month. Each day the worker left a little later, probably to try and avoid his snooping employer, who waited outside to search him. But the employer never found anything, either in the dirt in the wheelbarrow or in the worker's pockets.
Finally he confronted the worker one evening and said "Look, I have been searching this wheelbarrow for seven weeks. I'm sure you're stealing something but for the life of me I can't figure out what it is. It's got me so worked up that I can't think straight and my work is suffering. I lie in bed every night trying to figure it out and I just can't. I admit it, you've got me beaten, but I have to know or I'll never get a decent night's sleep. So I promise you right now, if you'll just tell me what you've been stealing, you will not be punished in anyway.”
"Sir, I have been stealing wheelbarrows" the worker said with a smile.
